Kitchen – Simplify With Smith

Meal Planner — emeals

I came cross emeals on Groupon yesterday. How have I not heard of this before? I cannot tell you what a lifesaver this is going to be. I’ll let you go to the website to see for yourself how it works, but basically:

1) you can choose what types of meals you want to cook each week or even what grocery store you shop at.

2) You get emails once a week of a 7-day dinner plan. What I LOVE about it though, is that it has the recipe, ingredients, and directions for each recipe all together. It also uses recipes each month with store sales in mind.

3) The groupon was $29 for a years worth of meal plans. Normally it’s $59, not bad, considering how much money you’ll be saving with impulse shopping or going into the store without a plan

Freezer Organization

I love these bins!! My husband, Frank, even puts away the food in the correct bin! You’ll no longer have to throw away expired food!

Fridge Organization

I bought these clear bins at The Container Store to store my food in the fridge. These are multi-purpose bins, actually found them in the home office section! They work great for food storage because it eliminates any stick or wet residue on your fridge shelf.

Storing Your Flyers

This is the best way I’ve found to store weekly flyers, even my husband puts them away!! I bought a cute wall bin at Jo Ann Fabrics, nailed it up right near the fridge ( I put it here because as I’m looking at the weekly ads, I can look in the fridge and see what we have).

When the new one’s come in the following week, just swap them out and recycle the old ones. DO NOT, seriously, DO NOT keep weeks worth of flyers!! There’ll be ads and sales e very week for the rest of our lives!

The Grab & Go Fridge Bin

To be honest, until recently, I hadn’t really thought too much about putting my food in storage containers in the fridge or then labeling the containers. I had an idea of where everything was, so thought that that was fine.

But, as I was looking for a snack one afternoon, I realized that I totally would eat carrots and hummus if everything was already cut up and prepared…the only thing was, they weren’t peeled or anything yet. So in the moment, I was too hungry to take the time to get it ready, so ended up just having some chips. I really would eat healthy, but convenience is crucial!! Am I right?

So I decided to buy a Dollar Tree bin, label it Grab & Go and put all of my fruits, veggies, nuts, and cheese in ziplock baggies so it would be super easy to grab….and go! :) Love it!

Junk Drawer Organizing

I bought these little 3×3 plastic containers at The Container Store to hold my different office supplies. You can use these for your kitchen junk drawer, as well! The key is that every little thing that you have needs a home!!! Dump out everything in your drawer, sort it out, pitch what you don’t use, need, or love, and then contain what’s left in containers similar to this.

Coffee Station

Since I work from home, I thought it would be fun to set up a home office coffee station. I know I could walk into the kitchen and get my coffee there, but during the day, if I’m working on something at my computer, it’s so much easier to get a cup of coffee right there. Plus, it’s just fun to have! All of my K-cups are in the white labeled IKEA container, while a few are contained on a Command holder against the shelf wall. Makes use of vertical space!

Junk Drawer Containers

Love this:

-Really, no one should have “junk drawers.” I’m serious!! If you must, line your drawer up from front to back and left to right with these drawer containers. Each container can only have 1 specific type of item. I.e rubberbands, pens, tape, chapstick, and so on. By leaving no space for empty space you will be less likely to throw stuff in without thinking about it. Every little thing will have a home!