I stood in my beloved kitchen last Thursday looking around, trying to get reacquainted with this “long, lost friend” after being away for almost three weeks. There was plenty of food in my pantry and freezers…but it seemed there was nothing to eat. Ever felt that way?
There are plenty of ingredients to be found, but unless my family is willing to chew on some grains of wheat with a side of coconut flakes for dinner this week…I’m going to need to get busy.
I’ve had a hard time deciding whether to spend several hours cooking…or several hours (days?) wading through all the emails I have now become so much more behind on after being “on Christmas vacation“.
Slowly but surely, I’ve been doing both. That’s why there may be a little bit of coconut oil or ketchup on your emails when I finally get back to you to answer your questions. Here’s a napkin just in case you need it.
After this week, I’m hoping my kitchen will be re-organized and functional again. The Christmas dishes will be put away until next year, the fridge will get a good scrubbing…and I’m gonna cook and bake and fill my fridge and freezer with some healthy convenience once again!
Here’s a list of what I have in mind to make. I’ll share the results of what I actually accomplish later in the week.
- Mini Apple Pies
- Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
- Honey Whole Wheat Bread (x2)
- Poptarts
- Sloppy Joes (x3)
- Corn Dog Muffins
- Homemade Peanut Butter
- Ranch Dressing
- Healthier Rice Crispy Treats
- Cream Cheese Apple Dip
I created the following video of my kitchen and pantry and posted it for you to see a couple of years ago…but I thought you might be interested in me posting it again for several reasons:
- Some of you are new here and probably haven’t seen my kitchen. I’d love for you to “visit” the kitchen I spend so much time in!
- Malachi popped in a time or two while I was recording and he makes the kitchen so much cuter. Ah, he was so little then…
- My kitchen was really, really clean when I shot this video. It’s not nearly that clean right now. I really need to get busy. If I show you this video, maybe I’ll be motivated to get the kitchen that clean again.
- Feel like telling me something fun about your kitchen?
Marsha says
Laura, I know what you mean about getting reacquainted with your kitchen. We were gone for 3 weeks and 3 days. The first day home, I couldn’t remember where my potholders were! Hubby had to tell me! It’s great to be home! Hope you have a great week.
Ezzy says
It sounds like when we remoldeled the kitchen. Two weeks in the hotel room and a week before moving everything out so the contractors had room. The bathroom is off the kitchen.
Ezzy says
Sorry we were redoing the bathroom, not the kitchen. The kitchen is going to be done later
Debbie says
loved the comment of nothing to eat unless they wanted to eat grains of wheat of coconut. I have felt the same way because we also have an abundance of wheat and coconut and walnuts. Your pantry reminds me our ours and I totally love it!
Debbie says
oops- grains of wheat or coconut.
Danielle B says
I know!!! When I left my hubby and kids for what seemed like months, they ate everything out of the freezer. THEN, hubby had to start cooking lol. Luckily he can! But many many many a times I look in the pantry, freezer, and fridge and find nothing to eat. Just because nothing sounds good at that moment.
Only thing interesting about my kitchen… it has my work pc set- up lol. It’s acting as my home office/kitchen. UGH… I do need to move it.
Jen says
I loved your video! It was nice to hear your voice and I have to say I have kitchen envy! Your pantry is AWESOME and you have SO much countertop space!!! It’s no wonder you can make all those noodles and pie crusts and such. ;-) And, yes, Malachi is a total cutie in the video – my boys had that same Wiggles guitar and used to “rock out” with it! LOL!
Hezzie says
Our kitchen is almost as small as some of the apartment kitchens I had when I was single. It is a “dream” of mine to have a big ol’ Farm house style kitchen. I have now added your pantry (and those moving shelves!!!)to my dream.
Anne R says
For living in an apartment, my kitchen is pretty big. The funny thing about it is that I had to take the doors off the upper cabinets because they were too shallow for my plates. So it looks kind of urban/loftlike (not typically my style) but it works. I don’t have a huge amount of cabinet space for food storage, but I do have a nice HVAC room in my kitchen were I can store my dry and canned goods. (added bonus – my coconut oil is always pourable since the room is warm). Your kitchen has good counter space – always a bonus! I had to add a long narrow wood topped island to increase counter and storage space….couldn’t be happier now!
Mkcoehoorn says
I want your kitchen. If you guys move can we buy your house?
Lynda Sander says
I had to laugh…My son had that same guitar! He was even about the same age when he had it…I don’t know how many times I was serinaded in the kitchen with “Play the guitar with Murray, Play the guitar with him…” Then last night, he came in with his aucoustic and strummed while singing his own version of the Beatles “love,lovey do” (however it’s spelled?). They grow up fast!
Lisa says
I just wanted to tell you that I made your Sloppy Joes last week. My husband told me, most emphatically, that he does not like Sloppy Joes. And then he ate what I made. And he loved it! Perhaps we’ll call them “Sloppy Lauras” ;-)
susan says
i love the wiggles guitar!! and i’m jealous of your pantry.
Karen @ Abundance on a Dime says
I know that “lots of food but nothing to eat” feeling – it happens more often than I would care to admit :) “Here kids, gnaw on some uncooked barley and raw chicken thighs, why don’t ya?” I find it hard to build up a freezer stash of anything since I have 11 & 13 yr old boys and they are the food-eating equivalent of seek-and-destroy missiles! I try to make sure there are always some “grab and go” snacks around (fruit, muffins, quickbreads, yogurt) but we go through everything so fast that if my food production schedule falls behind, the stash gets depleted quickly. I’m planning on doing a lot of baking in the next couple weeks to get back in the groove.
Erin says
I feel for you. I was out of town for a month with the two kids, while my husband stayed home. That was torture. But what got me was how long it took to get back into the flow of everything. Cooking, cleaning, laundry…all took awhile to get reaquinted with. But been home a week now and its coming together again.
Erin
GymboCraze.weebly.com
Danielle B says
I hear ya!!!! If you’re caught up can you come and help me catch up?
I’m STILL doing laundry. I don’t think my hubby did ONE load while I was gone! And I’ve been home two weeks!
Erin says
My husband admitted that he didnt do any laundry until the day I was coming home. I still have plenty of laundry to catch up on, so sorry, can’t help you out. But I am pretty settled back to cooking and cleaning again. I still need to figure out when to do my azure order and get back in contact with my chicken egg farmer. Good luck getting back into the flow. I am home a week and 3 days now.
Ashley says
I am just so completely and totally jealous of your kitchen… it’s amazing!
Holly in Virginia says
Your kitchen is wonderful! Look at all that counter space! We live in a 2 bedroom apartment and my kitchen is the size of a postage stamp. I’ve taken to storing my beans, grains, pasta and home canned goods on bookshelves in the dining area, because anything looks pretty in a jar, right? I’m planning on making curtains for the shelves, so that my things are protected from the light, but for now I make do. And my hand hubby fixed up the coat closet for me, he built some shelves out of scrap wood and made it into a pantry! I store ugly things in there, like my bulk bags of flour and rapadura, more canned goods, and several appliances like my crock pot and bread machine. People are always amazed when they visit our apartment, that I do so much cooking in such a small kitchen. The good thing is I can turn from the sink to the stove to the fridge to the counter all without taking more than 2 steps.