2015 ... the year to be more organised

At work, I am probably one of the most organised people I know.
At home ... not so much. I mean, I try to be ... but I think I use up all my organisational mojo at work and then by the time I get home, well... you get the idea.

This year (2014) I made a huge change by implementing the budget and food plan. I even managed an exercise plan (for a few months - I really need to start that up again.

For 2015, I have decided to join an organisation plan. I know that there are a few blogs which offer a week by week task to organise your home, but I have decided to join this one: http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/organized-home.html#join because they even have a Facebook page which you can join.

New Years is just over a week away, and if you want to make a resolution that truly inspires you to change, then it's pointless just saying "this year I am going to exercise" or "this year I am going to eat healthy".

If you want to make a change, then you need to have a plan. I have my plan ... what is yours?

Remind me never to be this productive again

Before I start, let me just say that being this productive has been a work in progress.

I have been fully inspired by this blog post: http://www.aturtleslifeforme.com/2011/06/freezer-meals-on-cheap.html, and although I am still not completely this organised, I am well on my way, and I think it will be worth it.

And so it was that I spent my Sunday afternoon doing the following:
(the carrot and pineapple was made last week, but I've included some of the pics here)

1. Making parrot chop

About 4 weeks worth of parrot food

2. Chopping up the fruit that didn't make it into the mix - either to give to my parrot frozen, to use in infused water or for smoothies

If you freeze the fruit in ice trays individually first and then put them into bags, it prevents them from sticking together.

 

3.Chopping up veggies for the month

Corn and cauliflower - these are "dry veggies" so if you freeze them in ice-trays, they will crumble when you take them out the ice tray. If you want them to hold their ice-cube shape, add a bit of water to the veggies before you freeze them

Green pepper and onion - these are "wet" veggies, so they will retain their ice-cube shape when you take them out. If you don't want to use them in ice-cube sizes, then you can always place them on a baking sheet in the freezer and flash-freeze them this way before moving them over into a ziploc bag.

Grated and chopped carrot. These are also dry veggies, although previous experience has taught me that grated carrot will hold its ice-cube shape without water. I did add a bit of water though, just to make sure. The chopped carrot I left dry.

Once I put the chopped carrot in the bag, I bashed it up a bit with the end of a wooden spoon to break up the cubes.

I also made up some veggie mixes for future meals

4. The onions were the last veggies I chopped up, then I took a tea break to clear my kitchen of the onion fumes which were making me cry.

5. Chopping up all the meat for the month.

Before and after - I always like to write the dates on the packs

6. Because I was feeling industrious, I also marinaded some of the meat before freezing

And after that, I was full-on exhausted. I don't know if I will ever do this again! 

But if I do: I will start with the meat, so that I can make the chicken stock while I do the rest of the food. As it is now, I still have to make chicken stock sometime this or next week. On the other hand, I don't have much space left in my tiny freezer, so maybe it's a good thing to wait until next week.

If I ever decide to do this again, and do it all in one day, I won't do it on a Sunday afternoon because I was pretty much done energy-wise and I didn't have a chance to recover before hitting work on Monday. Definitely would prefer doing this on a Saturday afternoon or even a Sunday morning, so that I have some time to relax and recover.

Although I was pretty exhausted afterwards, I was pretty happy with myself. Joking aside, I think I will do it again, and maybe I can even prepare some of the sauces beforehand as well - either to freeze seperately or to marinade with the meat.

One more thing I like to do when making sauces is to make double, and freeze half, save myself a bit of time and energy next time around.

So this may (or may not) be my last kitchen / food blog for a while. Now that I have learned all my important lessons and organised my kitchen for the month, I intend to focus my energy on some other things for a while.

Progress Report: Month of Organisation

No, I haven't organised my entire house yet
Yes, it was an ambitious project to begin with

I am pleased with what I have accomplished though:
- My kitchen, bathroom, bedside table and dressing room table have all been organised
- Mr and I tackled the study and threw out a lot of things that we had been accumulating for no reason, I also sorted out my knitting supplies and my magazines

Things  I am still working on:
- My filing has gotten a bit out of control lately
- My bedroom closet needs a serious sorting
- My linen cupboard needs to be organised

Organisation projects that are going to be Craft projects:
- My recipe book
- Photo album

June is therefore still going to be primarily about organisation. I found these great tips to me motivated:

http://craftivitydesigns.blogspot.com/2014/03/175-organizing-solutions-for-your-home.html

May - the month of organisation

Well, there is nothing like an armed robbery to mess up your whole routine.

My new partner-in-crime is busy working out a new exercise challenge, cos clearly that is the only way I am going to get any exercise done and reach my fitness goal.

But this month was supposed to be the month of organistation. I had visions of a beautifully organised home just before winter hit and I would be too cold to do anything.

I started off really well ... unfortunately most of my photographic evidence was on my iPad which is now no longer in my possession.

But the one thing I am proud of sorting out is my tuppaware cupboard and for 3 weeks it has stayed neat - so there is hope yet.

I don't have before pictures - but trust me, it was a giant mess.

I started by buying these handy containers. They have a handle, so they're easy to take in and out of the cupboard, as well as for keeping things together.

Then I got rid of all the tuppaware that had no lids, and all the lids that had no containers. Some of them I kept for using when I paint or other craft projects.

Then I repacked it and was amazed at how much space there was in the cupboard! All the lids go into the container, so no more hunting for lids. The tuppaware I stacked neatly.

There was so much space left over that I even managed to clear out a kitchen drawer of all my measuring cups and other baking tools, which went into another container. And the last container now keeps all the smoothie shakers (we have way to many) which also cleared up space in another cupboard.

So now everything is in its place, and I managed to declutter my tuppaware cupboard and streamline my kitchen.