I’ve always kept my recipes in binders. I have different binders for different categories (entrees, breads, cakes and pies, cookies and other desserts, and then other). Each binder is divided into subcategories (for example, the other binder has apps, soups, veggies, potato, pasta, condiments, beverages and more). Once I started my blog, many of the recipes I created ended up being posted there, as well as recipes I’d tried and blogged about. I find it really convenient to just come to my blog and search for the recipe I want. However, the bulk of all of my recipes are in the binders. And sometimes it takes me forever to find something since the recipes themselves are not alphabetized or sorted in any way. Often I just kind of know where the recipe I am looking for is placed within the section, but sometimes I page through endlessly trying to find something.

So I’ve concluded I need to convert to a more modern system. But what? Here’s what I’m contemplating:

• I could scan in every last page I have and then save them by name and create folders for the different categories. It would take me months to scan in the recipes in those giant binders though.
• I could start to save recipes digitally now so that at least moving forward things will be easy to access, and just leave the print recipes in the binders. That makes it hard to know where to look when I want a specific recipe though.

A big sticking point for me is that when I want to find a recipe I am usually in the kitchen. My computer is upstairs. Yes, I could save it all to Google Drive, but I find that things can be hard to see on my phone, particularly if I’m looking at a scan. I could use Evernote which would allow me to create tags which could be useful, but it’s the same problem with trying to see it on my phone. So I’m not entirely satisfied with the digital option, at least not as it stands today.

How do you organize your recipes?

I’ve always kept my recipes in binders. I have different binders for different categories (entrees, breads, cakes and pies, cookies and other desserts, and then other). Each binder is divided into subcategories (for example, the other binder has apps, soups, veggies, potato, pasta, condiments, beverages and more). Once I started my blog, many of the … Read more →

Half the world read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo before I got around to it. I might have been late to the party, but I still have a lot of thoughts about this concept.

I found the book to be kind of puffy – lots of filler and not a lot of meat, but it sounds like her follow up title will offer more specifics which I suspect a lot of people will appreciate. It’s one thing to tell people to organize things, but another to actually show them how to do it.

Some of the book feels a bit woo-woo, but I found that there were some concepts inside the woo-woo I could get on board with. Kondo talks a lot about getting in touch with your belongings. She wants you to thank them for what they’ve done for you, offer them appreciation and respect, and think about what they might need (space, a new home, etc.). It sounds a little silly since that pair of pants you’re putting away is not an animate object, but I do appreciate the idea of treating objects with respect. This is a very Japanese approach and something we encountered a lot on our trip to Japan. While I don’t think my belongings have feelings, it’s true that if you treat the things you own with care and thought that they perform better (are easier to find and don’t get broken or damaged). You also will like them more. I find that if you fill your home with items that have been thoughtfully and carefully culled and arranged that your home begins to feel neater and more controlled.

One of the basic tenets of the book is that to sort things you’ve got to sort everything in one class, so she says to get ALL of your clothes out and sort through them all, discarding some and keeping some. It’s actually very true because you can’t see what you have unless you assess it all together. I did this with my clothes and did a huge purge.

I was struck by her advice to only keep things that bring you joy. This isn’t completely practical because the pooper scooper we use in the dog yard does not bring me joy, but it is a useful tool we need. However, this is a way of thinking I’d actually been applying for a while without realizing it. Slowly over the years I’ve been weeding out things in my house so that I only keep the items that have meaning to me. I’ve gradually replaced all the wall art with paintings we’ve bought on our travels. Nearly all of my “stuff” is now either family heirlooms, items that have a special memory associated with them, trip souvenirs, or items for a specific holiday. While some of the framed art I decorated with when we first bought our home were nice enough, the items didn’t resonate with me in the same way items I’ve bought while traveling do and so I’ve slowly gotten rid of them. I’ve done the same thing with clothes. I was hanging on to items that “could” be useful but in truth I didn’t really like. Wearing them didn’t make me feel happy, so I stopped keeping them.

The impetus to get things organized so you can see them and find them is a good one.  I  have found it to be true that once you really organize something you don’t ever have to go back and redo it. The only exception to that I can find is our pantry. It’s just not big enough for all the things I need so every time I get it nice and neat it falls apart into a disaster within about a month. Kondo would say that means there are things in there I need to get rid of but despite my purges, I’m unable to get it down to a small enough size so that the space works. I found it hard to get a lot of things organized in my home until my oldest moved out and I suddenly had a lot more closet space. You also need to have time to organize. I feel as though I was never really able to get organized until my kids were no longer little. When they were small and we were both trying to be good parents and work full time, there were not enough hours in the day to do more than the glaringly obvious things that needed to be done around here. Once they got older and I had more time, organizing became easier for me.

One thing I am struggling with is that I have some family heirlooms that I just don’t care for. They aren’t displayed, but they are stored in boxes in our basement. It is hard to give them away. It’s one thing to give them to another family member, but harder to just donate them. I agree with Kondo though that keeping these items stashed away in a box is not a good use of them, yet I’m still struggling with the step of just giving them away. I’m rationalizing it by saying my kids will be getting married and starting their own families in the coming years and maybe they or their spouses would like some of it then.

My favorite organizing tip in the book is about storing clothes in drawers like you would file folders. Fold things and place them upright in the drawer like a folder. This way you can open the drawer and see every single item right in front of you. I did this with my jeans and yoga pants and it’s a system that is working well for me. I love being able to pull the drawer out and know exactly what I have to choose from.

If you’ve read the book, what did you think of it?

Half the world read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo before I got around to it. I might have been late to the party, but I still have a lot of thoughts about this concept. I found the book to be kind of puffy – lots of filler and not a lot of … Read more →

I despise unloading the dishwasher. I don’t mind loading it because doing so makes my kitchen look cleaner. But unloading it is so tedious. My mom gets up and unloads hers first thing in the morning. I can’t face that. I wait until it’s time to make dinner then I kick myself for not doing it sooner. My procrastination has led to my new method and hack for unloading it.

When I come into the kitchen to make dinner, I open the dishwasher and pull one of the racks out. I pull out what I need to cook and set the table. Suddenly it’s looking emptier. Then as I move about the kitchen I make a point to grab something on my way and put it where goes. So as I walk to the fridge, I snag the plastic food storage container that gets put in the drawer next to the fridge. As I walk to the pantry I grab a couple of glasses and put them in their cupboard on the way. As I head to the stove, I pull out bowls and put those away. Before I know it, it’s almost completely empty and then I feel motivated to put away the stragglers so I can start to load in the dishes I’ve used while cooking so my kitchen will start to look neat again. And somehow I’ve unloaded the dishwasher while I’m making dinner without realizing!

I despise unloading the dishwasher. I don’t mind loading it because doing so makes my kitchen look cleaner. But unloading it is so tedious. My mom gets up and unloads hers first thing in the morning. I can’t face that. I wait until it’s time to make dinner then I kick myself for not doing … Read more →

Stock ice cubes

Two things that are always rattling around my fridge are open containers of chicken/beef/veggie broth and opened jars of spaghetti sauce. I tend to use some and then the rest hang out in there for God knows how long. When I go to grab an open container of these items I never know how old it is and I often end up just throwing it out to avoid eating contaminated food. It gets quite wasteful though so I decided to take control of this situation with a two-pronged plan.

1. Labeling. When we open a jar of sauce, we write the date on the lid. The longest a jar of clean sauce (not touched by a contaminated spoon and not removed from the jar) is officially considered safe is two weeks. The acid in the tomatoes offer some protection, and some people in this house are willing to eat it if it smells ok and looks ok, but I’m just too suspicious for that. Now that the jars are dated, I throw them out after they are open for 2-3 weeks. This has also given the before mentioned people a deadline for using up the sauce they have opened and provides some incentive to use it or lose it.

2. Freezing. If I have most of a jar of spaghetti sauce left, I’ve been dumping it into a plastic container and freezing it. All the leftovers can be used up together the next time I make spaghetti.

3. Ice cubes. I asked for a set of ice cube trays for Christmas. When I open a container of stock or broth, I pour the leftovers into an ice cube tray and freeze it. The next day I dump the cubes into a zip-top bag and label it and stick it in the freezer. I can then add as much broth as I need the next time I’m cooking and I don’t have to worry if it is contaminated. This has saved me huge amounts of money since I often open a cardboard container of stock and use just a little and the rest of the container would end up getting old and being thrown out.

Two things that are always rattling around my fridge are open containers of chicken/beef/veggie broth and opened jars of spaghetti sauce. I tend to use some and then the rest hang out in there for God knows how long. When I go to grab an open container of these items I never know how old … Read more →

Today I’m announcing the release of my newest book, The Divorce Organizer and Planner, second edition. In my former life I was a divorce attorney and this book is the culmination of everything I used to tell my clients. The book helps you organize the many documents you need to give to your attorney, offers checklists for getting through the divorce, and provides advice about how to win a custody case, make a good impression on the judge, and stay sane.  The tips in the book allow you to save on legal fees because you are able to present your attorney with carefully organized documents and evidence, reducing the work your attorney will have to do in your case. It also helps you think clearly at a time when clarity is something you desperately need. The book comes with a CD containing forms and checklists. It’s an invaluable resource if you are in a divorce or considering filing.

Today I’m announcing the release of my newest book, The Divorce Organizer and Planner, second edition. In my former life I was a divorce attorney and this book is the culmination of everything I used to tell my clients. The book helps you organize the many documents you need to give to your attorney, offers … Read more →

I’m lucky in that I have an large upright freezer in the basement in addition to the side-by-side fridge in the kitchen with a freezer side. I keep most long-term things in the basement. I use the upstairs mostly for breakfast things, ice packs, nuts, and vegetables. It doesn’t sound like much, but lately it has been a jumbled mess. Which has led to people in this family writing things on the shopping list that I KNOW we have. I couldn’t stand it a moment longer and I emptied the whole thing out.

Up until now things sort of got stashed wherever they looked like they would fit. I sorted everything into piles on the counter: vegetables, nuts, ice packs, meats, gluten bread and gluten-free bread. I purged some old stuff and I consolidated everything. Instead of 20 plastic bags with one bagel in each, I combined them into several ziptop bags. I did the same with the nuts. Then I took a hard look at the shelves and baskets and decided what would best fit where.

I got my trusty PTouch labeller and put a label on each shelf and basket so that no one could wonder where they would find what they needed and also so there could be no shoving things in randomly.

So far the system is holding up and it’s making my life SO much easier!

I’m lucky in that I have an large upright freezer in the basement in addition to the side-by-side fridge in the kitchen with a freezer side. I keep most long-term things in the basement. I use the upstairs mostly for breakfast things, ice packs, nuts, and vegetables. It doesn’t sound like much, but lately it … Read more →

Before

Before

I have been fighting a losing battle with the linen closet for a while now. It was so full that it didn’t seem to matter how much straightening I did. Towels, sheets, blankets and tote bags were falling out all over. I spotted some Space Bags while at Marshall’s a few weeks ago and couldn’t get them out of my mind! Finally I went on Amazon and ordered a set. I got 5 jumbo, 4 large and 2 medium bags, as well as 3 of the roll up bags for $34.

Space bag pre-vacuum

Space Bags are heavy duty plastic storage bags you vacuum the air out of. They compress things down, making them easier to store. The roll up bags are meant for travel – you remove the air from them by rolling them.

The bags were easy to use. We filled them to the fill line, zipped them and then held the vacuum hose to the nozzle in the bag. It sucked the air out and quickly compressed the bags down. It was actually quite amazing how much space we saved – it reduced it by about 2/3, which is a significant difference when you’re tight on space!

We used 4 space bags and have tons left for future use. They were very easy to pack and shrink. They’re waterproof and reusable and also airtight. It’s a great solution if you need to store something in an attic or basement. I can also see using these to

Space bag after vacuum

store winter clothes if you are pressed for space.

The bags solved my closet problem. I had lots of blankets, comforters, mattress pads, pillows and sheets that we don’t use but I can’t bring myself to get rid of. No one likes flannel sheets, but I keep them thinking “What if we lost power for a week and were cold?” I also can’t help but think that my kids will soon be going out on their own and they will want to have extra blankets and pillows, so it seems like a waste to get rid of them!

As you can see, the space bags made my closet much easier to organize. The things we don’t use are now in the bags, compressed down and completely contained, leaving room to neatly stack sheets and towels we do use. Nothing is falling off the shelves and I can see everything now.

I did do a little purging. We donated some of the tote bags I always seem to have too many of, as well as two pillows. I had been hoarding those plastic zipper

After!

bags sheet sets come in, but I threw out a ton of those. Now that I have Space Bags, I don’t need them.

After!

I have been fighting a losing battle with the linen closet for a while now. It was so full that it didn’t seem to matter how much straightening I did. Towels, sheets, blankets and tote bags were falling out all over. I spotted some Space Bags while at Marshall’s a few weeks ago and couldn’t … Read more →

I got my ears pierced the summer before 6th grade. It was a big deal since my mom didn’t have pierced ears. I can still remember the earrings I got: they were gold with a center that looked like a pearl. That was more than 30 years ago. A girl collects a lot of earrings. And unlike clothes, they don’t take up a lot of space, you don’t change size, and there’s no reason not to keep most of them. I have culled some out of over the years, giving them to my daughter or to charity. But I still have a lot. My storage solution for earrings is very inexpensive. Buy cheap plastic divided boxes – the kind used for fishing tackle. Take the lids off. Glue them together and put them in a drawer. Presto.

If you don’t have 30 years worth of earrings, you could keep one pair in each compartment. I have a few pairs in each, but find it works well and makes it easy to find what I’m looking for.

I got my ears pierced the summer before 6th grade. It was a big deal since my mom didn’t have pierced ears. I can still remember the earrings I got: they were gold with a center that looked like a pearl. That was more than 30 years ago. A girl collects a lot of earrings. … Read more →

We live in Buffalo. Insert your own joke about snow here. Therefore we have a lot of hats, mittens, gloves, scarves and other cold weather paraphernalia that floats around. For years we stuffed all of this in the hope chest in our front hall. It was a disaster. Nothing stayed together. And people always piled stuff on top of the chest, so we could never get in it! I tried keeping all of this winter weather stuff on a shelf in the coat closet. This was an even worse idea. Nothing stayed on the shelf and no one could see or reach anything.

My solution? A fabric mesh shoe organizer. I attached it to the inside of our coat closet door. Each pocket nicely holds together pairs of mittens/gloves and keeps hats and scarves easy to find. It’s also nice because you can assign each person their own row/column, so there’s no mixing up of belongings, making it a lot easier to find that pair of gloves you want when you’re heading out the door.

We live in Buffalo. Insert your own joke about snow here. Therefore we have a lot of hats, mittens, gloves, scarves and other cold weather paraphernalia that floats around. For years we stuffed all of this in the hope chest in our front hall. It was a disaster. Nothing stayed together. And people always piled … Read more →

Before #1

I’ve won one storage battle. The kids’ bathroom has a little narrow closet I use to store medications and supplements, as well as first aid supplies and any potion or lotion you can name. I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to this stuff. While I do regularly purge and toss expired prescriptions, I have managed to gather a pretty large A to Z collection of vitamins and supplements as well as OTC meds. The ones that are taken regularly live in a drawer in the kitchen. The rest were in this closet. Yes, it was ugly. I am loathe to throw them out since we seem to cycle back through ailments pretty regularly. However, even though I KNOW I have, say, ginger, or stinging nettle, I’m usually damned if I can actually find it when needed. I’ve been saying for a long time that what I need is a supplement library, where I could store everything alphabetically, so that I could find it when I need it.

It occurred to me that although this closet is tiny, the

before #2

shelves are set in pretty far and there is room to put shelves on the backs of the doors. Genius moment. I Googled to find shelving.  Here is what I  ordered from DrawerSlides.com. It was hard to find shelving narrow enough for this tiny door, so these were a bit pricey. We ordered three of them so we could outfit the door from top to bottom.

We installed the shelving (simple job with a power drill) and I got to work. First it was time for another purge, so I sorted through everything and filled a garbage bag. Next I organized supplements and OTCs that we would be mostly likely to use on the door. This was a challenge since some of the shelves were not very wide. I had only three shelves that would hold big bottles.

I organized it in roughly alphabetical order so I can find things. The shelves are so narrow that there is just one row per shelf, so there’s no chance of anything getting lost. Then I organized what was didn’t fit on the door. Prescription meds went into one plastic bin. OTCs went in another. Big bottles stood on shelves. First aid supplies went into two smaller plastic boxes.

After

I also tackled the job of the top shelf of this closet which holds extra shampoo (people and dog!) as well as sunscreen and bug spray. I tossed a lot of almost empty bottles and used a plastic shoebox to put all the sunscreen together in one place so I can just pull it out instead of rummaging in the closet for it.

Total time for this project: about an hour. Total cost: $90

Satisfaction level: Priceless!

I’m so happy with how this worked out that I’m ordering more of this shelving to put inside a similar closet in the master bath.

Check your house for backs of doors where you can add some extra storage. I’ve done this in my pantry. The doors under your kitchen and bathroom sinks are usually a good spot to add some extra storage if you don’t have a closet like this!

I’ve won one storage battle. The kids’ bathroom has a little narrow closet I use to store medications and supplements, as well as first aid supplies and any potion or lotion you can name. I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to this stuff. While I do regularly purge and toss expired prescriptions, … Read more →