I have a small kitchen, and have had to do various things to maximize my space. One of the things I have done in order to make the most of my food storage, while also looking attractive is to store many staples in different glass containers. Some are stored in traditional cannisters, while others, like my dried beans are stored in less conventional containers. When looking for something to store my beans in Lindsay came up with the idea of using juice pitchers. I loved the idea and we have 7 of them each holding a different type of bean. They will hold close to 3 lbs of beans. I have them on top of my refrigerator as a type of storage art.

Last summer Gene worked on a set of shelves to be used as a pantry. They are 18 inches deep, 6 1/2 feet long and close to 7 feet tall. I spent yesterday and today re-organizing them, and boy were they a mess! It felt so good to have them all organized and neat again. I had considered making a curtain to put across the front, but decided against it. If it had a curtain, it would constantly be getting in the way, which would be frustrating to me. My kitchen is the heart of our home, where real work is accomplished. Why do we try to hide that fact and make it a showplace? Here are some pictures of the pantry. It will be fairly obvious that I can display OCD tendencies when it comes to organizing things. In my mind there are ways I could organize it a little better, but the space doesn’t seem to work with that, so I can handle having breakfast foods on more than one shelf. At least I think I can.

On the top of the shelves you will see my cracker jars which are holding (from left to right): egg noodles, potato flakes, pancake mix, whole wheat flour, oatmeal & brown sugar.

On the shelf below that I have more baking supplies and dried fruit.

The shelf under that is spices, seasonings, oils & vinegars.

The last shelf that you can see in this picture holds teas, coffee, sweeteners & syrups. You may ask yourself, how can that take up so much space. Well, there are 50 different types of teas on that shelf… o.k. I have a compulsion for teas.

The top shelf in this picture is a mixture of things. In the jars (there are more behind the one you see) are tapioca, barley & grits. Next to that there are hot cereals, and granola. Then a basket with items that are in packets, such as taco seasoning and chili mix. In front of the basket and to the right of it are miscellaneous staples.

On the next shelf there is canned fruit, canned milk, a basket with more dry beans, then canned beans. I promise we do eat more than just beans around here.

On the bottom shelf there are canned soups, ramen noodles, canned veggies (that aren’t beans), canned meat and then tomato products.

If you will notice under the shelves there is a box, which contains potatoes and onions. Beside that is a box that contains jello and Vietnamese noodles.

On top of this side you will see an enamel ware kettle, platters, and a ceramic box.

On the top shelf is stored some of my glassware that is used often. I have about 6 glass bowls that are stacked with the no-slip shelf liner between them for protection. There are several glass vases, in addition to a cake plate. I have also stored many candles and candle holders on this shelf.

The next shelf holds many of my dry staples. From left to right: prairie gold flour, unbleached flour, sugar, Dyno-bites cereal, and bran flakes. Behind these there is a basket with extra bags of flour, cereal, and then a jar with Rice Crispies and a jar of brown rice.

The shelf under that holds pasta, potato mixes, crackers, bread & chips (in the basket).

One of the things the pantry did was to help create more storage space for my bigger kitchen items. On the shelf under the pasta I have stored my roaster oven, a small crockpot and a my large crockpot.

On the next shelf I have pots, pans, skillets and a rice cooker. In the back there is an electric kettle.

On the bottom shelf I have bowls, a salad spinner, an ice shaver, blender base, another electric kettle and usually the food processor is there. It’s still out from soup making.

Under the bottom shelf we are storing soft drinks, and ramen noodle cups.

Here is a picture of the pantry as a whole.

I hope this will give you some ideas on how to organize your kitchen, even when space is limited. I will be posting some more on this topic in the next few days.

Tonight I made Chicken Soup using part of the stock I made yesterday. It goes together pretty easily, and the girls love it. I do a few thing differently than most would because I have a couple of people who dislike chunky vegetables, so I food process them. I’ll explain more about that in the recipe.

1 cup onions chopped (I cheat and use the frozen diced onions)

1 cup diced bell pepper (I cheat here as well)

1 cup chopped celery

3 carrots, sliced

16 cups homemade chicken stock

2 cups chicken

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. organic all purpose seasoning

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

4 cups whole wheat egg noodles

2 T olive oil

Slice carrots and steam. Put oil in bottom of soup pot, once it has warmed add onions, celery, & bell pepper and then saute. When they are finished combine with carrots in food processor. I add the water from my steamed carrots to this mixture to help them blend smoothly; if there isn’t enough water, add a little stock. I then add all ingredients except noodles to the pot and bring to a boil. Once it has begun to boil add noodles, reduce heat and cook for thirty minutes at a simmer. Enjoy!

Today I have been quite busy in the kitchen, organizing and cooking.  I have been organizing the pantry shelves with the help of Hannah and Rachel, and when we get finished, I’ll post some pictures of it.  I also cooked and de-boned 20 lbs of leg quarters, with the help of Rachel and Caroline.  I then bagged it into quart bags with 2 cups in each bag.  I have found that to be the perfect amount for soups, casseroles, or quesadillas for the whole family.  After I de-boned it, I used the water I had saved from boiling the chicken, and added the big bones back in, along with onions, carrots, celery,  salt, pepper, organic all-purpose seasoning and poultry seasoning.  I cooked this for about 2 hours on a high simmer. I then strained it and put it into containers for the refrigerator and freezer. I put up about 3 gallons of stock, which I will use for soups.  Our weather here is cold and wet, so tomorrow I will make a chicken soup, which the girls love.  When they are feeling under the weather due to their asthma, and don’t feel like eating anything; they will always eat my soup… in massive quantities.

I  hope that you are staying safe and warm this weekend, it seems as if bad weather is everywhere.  If you need to warm yourself up, try making this version of hot chocolate.  I love Starbuck’s hot chocolate! I don’t drink coffee, but their Peppermint hot chocolate is awesome.  Since I can’t afford to go to Starbuck’s all the time, I set out to find out how to copy their hot chocolate.  It is so simple, it’s silly.  Take 1 cup of milk (I use 1% and it still tastes great) and add 3 Tablespoons of Hershey’s chocolate syrup to it.  Heat it in a sauce pan on medium heat.  When it reaches about 110 degrees I use a stick blender (you could use a hand mixer) to make it frothy.  When it’s about 125 degrees, it’s finished.  Pour into your mug, add whipped cream and sprinkles for that special touch.  Then sit back and warm yourself up.

Life is starting to have a sense of normalcy, at least as normal as it seems to get around here. The girls are still sick; these winter storms play havoc with their asthma, so it seems we will be in this mode indefinitely. I’m trying to organize my life more and to that end I have begun planning menus again. I’m am doing it electronically now, as opposed to writing it on paper each week. Lindsay set up a calendar for me in Thunderbird (similar to the Google calendar) and I have created different categories for everything from menus, to bill payments, to birthdays. Each category is color coded, which helps me when glancing at the calendar. On the right side of my e-mail window is a box that has reminders in it of what is on my calendar for today, tomorrow and soon. I think this will help me keep things more organized, at least in this regard to my life. Here is a picture of this month’s calendar, if you click on the image, a larger one will come up.

Around the house I am in a major organization push. Last night I rearranged the living room. I still have a few things to do, but they are sort of like giving a pig a pancake. First, I have to empty and move the bookshelf, then Gene has to install a phone jack, then I have to empty the desk in my room and move it to the living room, after that I have to move the girls’ computer to the family room, and then move the table that their computer was on, to my room where my desk used to be. Whew!! I’m out of breath just typing that! I hope to post pictures along the way.

Here is my menu for the week, I hope to add some recipes from it as I cook them.

Monday: Bar-b-que pork and skillet potatoes

Tuesday: Soup made with ground turkey

Wednesday: Breakfast pizza

Thursday: Taco Quesadillas

Friday: Italian Shepherd’s pie

Saturday: Red beans & rice

Sunday: Roast chicken, stuffing & sweet potatoes

Make sure you click over to Laura’s blog to get more great ideas for your menu.

Right now we are all battling various illnesses from sinus/ear infections to stomach viruses, and I have a touch of some type of bug.  I have been wanting to post, but have been covering many bases due to the sickness.  Hopefully, I will feel better quickly; as I hope the rest of the crew will.