You may remember my last post about me getting my kitchen organized. My pantry was a HUGE mess and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with. I was thinking I was going to have to do a total remodel but after checking out my local Walmart I decided there were many items that would help me get organized without taking my budget off track.
I made this video a while back and since then I no longer use the Rubbermaid pull out drawers as they just wwere not a good fit for my pantry like I thought. However the show organizer has been a huge hit and I even added a 2nd one on the back of my closet door where I keep my stockpile.
With adding another adult to the family and now becoming a family of 5 you can collect a lot of shall we say “stuff”. In our home we love kitchen gadgets but our kitchen counter tops were starting to look like a new episode for the show “Lost”.
Cookbooks scattered everywhere, snack bowls over flowing and more. We also have a weird pantry. The shelves go really far back and you can’t find anything so basically it’s just wasted space that is unusable. You try to pull something out and everything falls on top of you.
I can’t stand clutter and I hate it when you can’t find anything. So much so that it stresses me out. One day while shopping at Walmart I found some really cute see through canisters for around $4 that would look so great sitting on my counter tops. I decided to pull out the things we use the most like sugar,flour,kosher salt as well as our dishwashing tabs to save space in our pantry and make these items more accessible.To keep a limit on how many times the kids were getting into the pantry we bought clear candy jars to organize candy and snacks. They are now accessible to the kids without mom worrying about a tornado going through the pantry and the lids are easy off an on. We also had a huge pile of cookbooks that we organized in the black magazine holders that we found in the office supply isle at Walmart.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to organize your countertops and make them look good.They also have a lot of other items that would help keep your organize. here are a few of my favorites.
Here’s a little tip for those of you who are on a Gluten-Free, low-carb diet or just health conscious! Instead of wrapping your enchiladas in a tortilla, use a leaf of cabbage! It’s less calories, gluten-free, cheaper, and just all around healthier for you!
To do this carefully remove the outer, larger leaves of cabbage. Running the cabbage under hot water will help loosen the leaves. Then place them in a pot of hot water and let them boil for a few minutes. This will soften them up and make them easier to wrap. Just fill them with your favorite enchilada filling and enjoy! I even topped mine with cheese and baked them in the oven just like a tradition enchilada. The kids liked them because it was something different!
Tacos are a go-to meal in our family. It’s a meal that’s easily gluten-free when you use corn tortillas. The only problem is I have a picky eater. I’ve found that if I change things around and make food more fun, she’s more likely to eat it. So instead of the traditional taco I found a neat and easy way to make mini taco bowls! They are super easy to make and fun to eat!
Preheat the over to 375 degrees.
Then rub 3 corn tortillas with a little water and put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This will soften them up and make them more pliable so they won’t break.
Now take a muffin tin and turn it upside down. Spray with a little oil.
Place the tortillas in the gap between the cups. You can make 3 per average 12-muffin tin.
Bake them for about 10 minutes, or until they are starting to brown and are holding their shape.
We have been talking about freezer tips here on My Royal Kitchen and we recently posted about the Foodsaver system. This week we made a video on how we save money using the Foodsaver system that we would like to share.
DISCLOSURE**I am apart of the WalMart Moms programs. I was compensated for this post. As always the thoughts and opinions are our own
If your like me, I am always looking for items I can freeze for a quick meal.Freezing meals can save you time and money. If you follow our money saving blog Consumerqueen.com , you know that we talk about buying up items when they are cheap and free.Freezing foods and being happy with the quality of the taste can sometimes be quite difficult.Food stores at 0 degrees will always be safe.The longer you keep items in the freezer the more the quality suffers.Always freeze your food at peak quality.
Items you can freeze:
Shredded Cheese – Add a little cornstarch before you freeze and it will help keep the cheese from sticking together.
Chips – Yes you can! It preserves the freshness and they never freeze solid. You can eat them right out of the freezer.
Saltine Crackers
Bread- Wrap in foil or paper towel then place in freezer bag. Do not let any moisture in or out.
Baked Goods
Coffee
Tea Bags
Berries & other Fruits – Buy them in season and freeze at the peak of freshness. You won’t have to pay higher prices in the off season.
Nuts
Butter/Margarine – Can be frozen up to 8 months.
Herbs
Pasta sauce
Granola
Yogurt
Whole Milk (Pour about 1 cup because it will expand when you freeze)
Cut up veggies and freeze for later.
Freeze leftovers of course.
Meats (thats a given)
Dried beans
Rice
Some quick time savers:
Don’t forget you can freeze things later for crock-pot meals.
Break apart hamburger meat into 1 lb batches. Cook up the batches with different seasonings such as taco, spaghetti and season salts. When you need a quick meal you just thaw and heat up.
Make your own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches warp them in foil and freeze them. (mark them with a sharpie so you don’t forget what they are and when you froze them) Put them in your kids lunchboxes and they will thaw by lunch time.
Make up batches of waffles and Pancakes and separate them by wax paper. Kids can pop them in the toaster.
Crack eggs and freeze them in 2′s. They work well when baking.
If your freezing meals to go directly into the freezer, add a little extra liquid as it will thicken when frozen.
Do you always have just a little bit of veggies left over from your meal? Instead of throwing it away add it to a freezer bag. Keep adding different left over veggies to the same baggy and use it for vegetable soup.
What items do you like to freeze? Share a freezer tip as well.
We recently talked about getting your freezer ready for winter.While freezing foods can save you time and money there are a few things you should not try.Check out the list of items below that we recommend NOT freezing.
Mayonaise
Sour Cream
Whole Eggs in the Shell
Battered or Fried Food
Skim Milk
Cottage Cheese
Cream Cheese
Custards
Dishes with a lot of sugar in them.
Fruits and Veggies with a high water content
Starchy Vegetables
What items have you tried to freeze and ended up having the “Uh Oh” factor?
Now is the time to start thinking about getting your freezer ready for Fall and Winter. Freezer maintenance is very vital to making sure you are not wasting energy and draining your wallet. We are going to start a series on getting your freezer ready for Fall and Winter and we will start with Freezer Maintenance Tips and then follow with foods you should start freezing now.
Check out these tips to make sure your freezer is ready:
Clean out all expired items
Donate items that you think your family won’t use before it goes bad
If you have a Chest Freezer make sure the frost on the sides don’t accumulate more than 1/2 inch. If does its time to clean it out.
To remove odors add a box of Baking Soda to your freezer. It will only cost you .50 to $1.00 and can make a big difference in the taste of your food.
Save money by making sure the temperature of your freezer isn’t set to low as it will waste energy. An upright should be set at 5 degrees F and a chest should be set at 0 degrees F
This is a good time to check the seals to make sure no cool air is leaking out and your freezer isn’t working over time.
Clean the Coils. Make sure there isn’t any excess dust that could shorten the life of the appliance.
Do you have any freezer maintenance tips you want to share?
