As we’re all going through the same global pandemic with various levels of “stay the F home,” I thought it would be fun to highlight the good things in each week, instead of dwelling on the negatives, the unknowns, and the uncertain future. I tend to do some kind of wrap-up or rundown of my week/month/etc. on Fridays each week (often linking up with Friday Favorites/Currently) so this isn’t too much of a diversion from that.
✨ Cooking and Baking
I know I’ve been talking about this a lot (probably too much for a book blog??) but we’re still making a lot of good stuff! We did a lot with the Cravings cookbooks (post to come, sorry not sorry) and I made Zucchini Bread finally. I can’t believe this only called for one cup of shavings (one zucchini) because now I have two more ready to go for more bread 😉 It looks terrible and ugly because of the parchment paper creases and folds, but good lord – it’s SO tasty. Also pictured are two Cravings recipes – the chipotle-honey chicken with mango-avocado salsa and blueberry cream cheese pancakes.
✨ Mother’s Day
We did a run around to our three parents’ houses on Mother’s Day to distantly say hello and drop of our traditional flowers. My mom has a brown thumb for sure so she loves a hanging plant for her front yard each year – nothing else. Chris’s mom and my stepmom both have impressive gardens, so we get them things they can enjoy in the pot and/or plant soon. It was so nice to see everyone and spend the day out and about in the minimal way that we could. It was freezing on Saturday and snowy (!!) in some parts of the state, so we were really happy that we had a nice day on Sunday to hang outside from a distance.
✨ Kitchen Tool Upgrades
Chris and I have been slowly upgrading our kitchen tools and utensils. We bought a lot of dollar store items when we moved in together in 2013, so it was high time to get things that hold up better. We basically got a lot of silicone, stainless steel, and wood, so we don’t have to worry about temperatures and such. We got a new acacia wood cutting board (and a few plastic ones for meats coming next week), utensils, mason jars for food storage (more on that later), and a baking/cooling rack.
✨ Mason Jars and Airtight Containers
It’s a well-known fact that properly prepping veggies and fruit makes you more likely to eat them before they go bad. I’ve been googling how best to store different types of produce so they last longer. With grocery trips being few and far between and some items being out of stock when I do go in or get groceries delivered, I tend to stock up. I’m also trying to slowly stock up on meats in my freezer so I’ve been buying less frozen veggies (which are my usual go-to) to keep space for meat. I tend to freeze fresh meats immediately when I get them too since I’m bad about eating them in time. Working from home means that I can defrost them in the sink during the day. We’ll see how this works haha. ANYWAYS the mason jars are an upgrade because we got larger ones for storing produce. Chris also uses them to make butter. We’ve been pickling too, so lots and lots of uses! I also ordered some of the OXO pop airtight containers so we could move cereal, rice, and pasta into them. I preferred the sizes that came in the five-piece set instead of the small ones they include in the ten-piece, so I decided to order two of the five-piece instead! It’s a lot of containers but hey, we have a lot of food right now.
✨ More Kitchen Organization
Already Arrived/Using
We just got some new kitchen organization items in as well! In addition to the utensils, we got a holder for the kitchen counter (as you saw above) to keep things on hand and free up space in the other drawer. We got small shelves to organize the jars and other things in a cabinet – just adding another layer of space. I ordered a small basket that hangs on the inside of a cabinet too so I can have extra hanging space! These microfiber cloths have been awesome – we’re trying to use less paper towels and these have been perfect. We keep one on the dish drying rack so we can wipe dishes with a clean cloth if we need to dry them faster and put them away. We also keep a second towel on the counter for wiping things down when we would usually use a paper towel.
On the Way
I ordered more things this week that I think will be helpful too! We got a beautiful acacia wood cutting board but I wanted to get some thin plastic ones to cut meat on and keep it cleaner. I ordered more bins for the fridge and freezer because it’s a hot mess in there with all of the groceries. I got a small rack for holding things in the cabinets too – I’ll be using this for pot covers/lids. I got another over-the-door kind of organizer for plastic bags because we have a messy ass cabinet under the sink and this would be super helpful for organizing everything. And lastly, some lazy susans (2) for cabinets or the fridge. Not sure which yet!
✨ Homemade Dole Whip
I bought materials for this a few weeks ago and we finally made it! I’m trying to work on eating things from the freezer so we can get some meat and bread in there (see this Twitter thread if you want to know how annoyed I am with myself), so it was high time. Disney shared that it’s one big scoop of vanilla ice cream, 4 oz. of pineapple juice, and 2 cups of frozen pineapple. It tasted REALLY good – we had to add a bit more pineapple juice because our very crappy blender couldn’t handle it. We also kept a few pineapple chunks (mostly because of the blender issues but also because it was tasty!).
Doesn’t if feel good to have high quality utensils and things in the kitchen? You spend so much time in there, it’s worth it. It looks like you are having a lot of of preparing those new, delicious-looking recipes!
I am so impressed by all of your quarantine cooking!! We have those Oxo containers and LOVE them, have been especially helpful right now since we try to disinfect and/or toss packaging from the store due to COVID 19.
I love Chrissy Teigan’s cookbooks. The recipes are super easy and the food is so good! Thanks for sharing some of your kitchen organizational tips. I might order some of those microfiber cloths.