Post It’s Designer Labels

Apparently, I have become a mother even into my blood and my brain. On a quiet Friday, instead of baking cookies like I used to do or browsing the specialty grocery store for food and snacks, I labeled the cereal jars, flour and sugar canisters, and the arts and crafts closet with organizing Post It Designer ID labels.

This is not a sponsored post, I did not work with Post It on this. I simply saw the idea in HGTV magazine last month and ordered the labels from Amazon. The ideas in the magazine were really cute, one was a chalkboard surface and one was dry erase, I think. But these were the cheapest and easiest, and I thought it would add color to our pantry.

I actually used to have homemade labels on our baking supplies of a torn off index card with tape and shriveled sides, but it was a little “ghetto” looking, as my old high school language would have said. This is way more dainty.

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Since they are labels, you can stick them into your printer, but I just wrote on them as I stood in the pantry organizing. The only problem is the labels are paper, and not laminated or made of dishwasher safe material, so you can’t get them wet, or wash your canisters. Luckily, one pack has 75 labels, so when the rare occasion comes that I wash these, I will just use a new one.

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Since I was on a roll, I also stickered the bins in my crafts closet to say what is in each bin. This is rocket science, I know. But why hadn’t I used cute labels before? What else can I label? I have 75 to use! And now I need to find time to bake cookies.

My Kitchen Favorite Things

Here is something a little different for a Friday. How about a look into some of the things I’m eyeing for the kitchen, and some of my favorite things I use often?

1. I saw this Cuisinart Immersion Blender in a Sur La Table catalogue and it comes in about 10 fun colors for under $30. I don’t know why we never bought one, but I think Santa might bring one this year. Immersion blenders are mostly for soups to puree in a soup pot so you don’t have to pour a hot soup into a blender. We have done that plenty of times, but for $30, maybe we’ll make more soups this winter.

 

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2. Last year in Destin, we bought a Le Creuset cast iron skillet at the outlet store. It was a great idea. Le Crueset goods are very heavy and high quality allowing you to cook with them on the stovetop and move to the oven. We have used our skillet less than a handful of times probably, but we are glad to have it. Le Crueset items are very durable and great for cooking meats. Jeffrey really likes this item.

I also have a lower-end Le Creuset soup pot for the stove but not oven and use it often. Great brand, just heavy pieces!skillet.jpg

3. Silpats. These are baking sheets that go on top of your baking sheet. Does that make sense? They are basically nonstick silicone sheets that protect your cookies and your baking sheet. I LOVE Silpats. I don’t bake cookies without them. They are amazingly nonstick. NOTHING sticks to a Silpat. And for me, the best part is the cookie sheet goes right back on the shelf because it didn’t get dirty. These are dishwasher safe.

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4. This item is not on my “want” list or something we have. But I thought you might be interested because they are trendy and gaining popularity. It’s a Breville Juicer. I watched a movie called “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” a few months ago and wrote about it, and it’s all about how great juicing is for your body.

Juicing takes a LOT of produce and I have heard that these machines are quite messy. We aren’t much for the juice drinkers, but many blogs I read that promote juicing love their juicers. It’s a great way to get in a lot of produce!

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5. Along the same lines is the Vitamix. Also not something I really want right now, the Vitamix is like a commercial grade blender. It is verrryy powerful and can blend about anything smoother than your regular blender. They are quite pricey–around $500–but many people who love to blend really love their Vitamix.

I have seen a lot of TV ads lately for the Vitamix. I think they are trying to get more mainstream. They used to be very high end for chefs and restaurants I think.

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I have a thing in my kitchen about not wanting appliances that take up a lot of space with few uses, like a juicer or waffle maker. Did you know I didn’t have a toaster when I lived by myself?! Took up space and I really didn’t eat toast! We do have one now, but for the longest time, we had a toaster oven because I liked the dual use. Then it died, and now we have a normal 4 slice toaster.

What’s on your kitchen want list this year? Happy gift giving!

What I’m Loving

For a  little break from food and fitness, I have a few things to share. The first is my current music selection. I typically only listen to my iPod at the gym or when exercising outside, and not any other time. This is my “Summer 2011″ playlist. I categorize all playlists by season. Does anyone else do that? I really only listen to the same few songs over and over until I tire of them. For exercise, I like fun and fast music.

Other things I’m loving lately:

  • Of the songs above, I am loving The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars and Honey Bee by Blake Shelton.
  • I am loving taking screen shots of things, have you noticed them popping up more?
  • I am loving my Bermuda shorts from JCrew.

  • I am loving the forecast in Aspen, CO.

  • I am loving the long periods of sunlight.
  • I am loving Tina Fey’s book Bossypants.
  • I am loving the Roped In tote by Anthropologie.

What are you loving today?

What Pinterest’s you

There is a new website out there called Pinterest. I know you probably don’t want another site to go to daily or every so often, but I’ve added it to my repertoire to visit, and it’s gaining popularity, so I want to tell you about it and show you how to use it, if you’re curious. I just want you to be an informed internet user! I joined a few weeks ago, but didn’t really spend much time on it to understand it until this weekend. And now I’m checking back often.

What’s Pinterest? If you are familiar with the trending topic of “inspiration boards” where you collect images or fabrics or ideas in one place for a room in your house or  goal to accomplish, this is like a virtual inspiration board. You “pin” photos to boards you create, like “kitchen ideas,” “beautiful furniture,” “wedding,” “baby nursery,” anything you want to create.

The good thing about Pinterest is that it’s not related to a blog, so you don’t need one to join. Some photos may take you to a blog, but it’s not necessary. It’s also a free tool.

How to use Pinterest: (Reminder, I just played around and took some screen shots, I’m not an expert at the site.) Once you sign up, you should start following people. You can access Twitter and Facebook and email to see if any of your friends are members too. When you follow someone, you can see their boards. Below is an image of one person I follow and all of her boards to the right. The board open is called “yummy food.”

Once you see boards, you can “repin” pictures you like to your boards. That’s how you build your own collection. To create your own boards, make up some categories of anything you want. It’s a great site for home design, cooking, weddings, fashion, and just beautiful photos.

Why use Pinterest: Well, it is another time sucker, but it would be great if you were decorating a house for sure. I just like seeing pretty photos, especially of food. You could use this as a place to find recipe ideas. For instance, I typed “tortellini salad” into the search box because I wanted to make something like it, and I got a list of photos where I could click them and see a recipe.

If you are a blogger and want to share photos, you can pin your own photos to a board. I create a board called “food from my kitchen” where I put all recipes I thought had nice photos. Then people can view or share. If you’re looking for traffic, it’s not like posting on Food Gawker or TasteSpotting.

Pin it bookmark button: There is a convenient button to add to your toolbar. You open a page you like, click “pin it,” and that image goes right to Pinterest on a board you choose. No uploading necessary.

There are also ways to share your pins via Facebook and Twitter, and there’s an iPhone app for easy viewing and pinning.

Any questions?

On Summer

Memorial Day weekend means summer is really here. It doesn’t matter that the calendar says we still have a few weeks to go. In Houston, Memorial Day means the cool temps are long gone, sweaters are only needed in office spaces kept too cold, and soups and stew pots are literally kept on the back burner. Welcome to summer in Texas where we start to sweat just by walking the dog in the front yard.

Summer used to mean lazy days, ice cream trucks, long vacations, and camp. It was for dark sun tans, pool parties, new bathing suits and weekdays that run into weekends. Not anymore are our days like that, but working through the summer is more bearable knowing there’s still daylight at the end of the day.

As much as I complain about not liking the heat often on the blog, there are some things I like about summertime. Let’s begin…

  • Watermelon–so juicy and watery, what’s not to like? I can’t wait to try it in salads this year.
  • Summer soups like gazpacho, summer corn, grilling—things that make you go mmm.
  • Long summer days and nights–the sun setting so late means more time left in the day. I’d be lying if I said I take walks after work or eat outside. It’s over 100 degrees! I enjoy the daylight from the indoors.
  • An excuse to eat ice cream flavors like “Southern Comfort” and “Blackberry Cobbler” by Blue Bell. These flavors are really good. My sister found them last year.

  • Sundresses and flats–Luckily, these are cute because pants are too hot when they stick to your legs! Closed toed shoes make your feet swell even more from the heat. That’s the real reason dresses and open-toed shoes are in my wardrobe!
  • Bermuda shorts–Again, shorts are more comfortable than pants, and they are cute. I found GREAT ones at J Crew this year.
  • Beach vacations–We’ll be going to the beach twice in July and to cooler temps once in June and once in August. I’m very happy that our travel plans this year include some cooler weather trips! A nice respite from the heat.
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What’s your favorite part of summer? Have a great holiday weekend!

Thoughts on Eat Write Retreat

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Over the weekend, I attended my second blogging conference, this one in Washington, D.C. called Eat Write Retreat. It was the first year for the conference, and I was drawn to it because of its small size which meant for more hands on work, and its focus on writing and technical blogging skills.

I learned from Foodbuzz Fest in November that taking away a few things makes the conference worth it. From Foodbuzz, my main takeaway was camera skills from Ashley and meeting many bloggers who I already read and new ones too. It was really nice to meet people in real life and get to know them as people. Seeing beautiful San Francisco was a perk too. Fast forward six months and I went to the other coast for another conference. This one was much smaller and I was hoping to gain some writing and photography skills now that I’m more comfortable with blogging and have a better idea of my goals and voice.

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Between some very long and heavy meals and a few boring and not so great panels/speaker sessions (I  liked parts!), I did pick up some useful take-aways. For one, it was great to meet people from Oxo and Calphalon. They gave away some great loot (knife set! frying pan!), but it’s really nice to meet people from the brands. Face-to-face time is valuable in connecting and making relationships, and I hope to pass along promotions or reviews to my readers. Both brands are ones I already use and love in my kitchen, and I hope to learn more about their brands.

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There was a session on food styling, which was interesting, but not incredibly useful. I will not be buying large white boards and lights to set up in my house. Nor will I build a salad on mashed potatoes to make it look taller and fuller. I wanted to learn some everyday skills, not how to make food look good for a cookbook.

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Tip–the tomatoes and cucumber in these photos were sprayed with water to make them look juicy. I cleaned the white space on the plate to take smudge marks off. The prosciutto was tweaked with tweezers to fluff it up. Everything was placed deliberately, including the angle of the camera.

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The lights were so powerful that when I moved the plate out of the lights and took a picture with the same camera settings, it was black.

Take-aways

The biggest takeaway for me was to think about my own blog and remember why I blog and what I want to get from it. My very favorite part is sharing stories through food. I like trying things in the kitchen and telling a story. I want to share what works for me and what I suggest. I blog for healthy living because I think anyone can plop ice cream in a bowl and call it dessert. But finding healthy alternatives takes creativity and research. It’s nice when I know people are reading, and nicer when lots of people are reading, but stats tend to make me want more and worry about the marketing more than the writing. Why was Wednesday so good and Friday so weak? Is anyone out there? What will my next great recipe be with a good photo opportunity? Will people want to read about my garden? What will I write about next Monday?

These are common things I wonder, and thinking about that takes my thoughts away from food and writing. I want to go back to the quality of writing and creativity and spend more time on my posts. My posts are not hurried, and many are written long before they are published, but I want to focus more on the words and descriptions and share in more detail.

I realized that the word blogger doesn’t make me a writer or a foodie. It’s a type of communicator that encompasses writing, editing, publicizing, marketing, web design, layout, photography, photo editing, and story-telling. Those are the parts that go into every post. The most important of those qualities to me is writing, and I want to spend more time on that.

The photography part is my latest hobby and I absolutely plan to continue and grow that hobby. The publicity part was important but it was clouding my writing. I want to write regardless of who is reading and publicize knowing I’ve written my best.

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Back to lighter topics tomorrow. There’s a birthday in our house!

Wacky Wednesday

Who likes wacky Wednesday? Today I want to share three things I’m loving, not related to food. One is fitness related, two are nerd alert related.

1. Fun fonts

When I was in high school, I loved fonts. I downloaded them for free and used them for scrapbooking, school projects, extra curricular projects, and anything else I printed pretty much. I had a Word document with each font typed out in its font. It hung next to my computer. When I bought a new computer for college, my fonts didn’t move, but I always remembered my fun fonts!

Fast forward to this week when I found a great blog called Kevin and Amanda, who have free fonts for download. I downloaded one and then two, three and six and my obsession returned. I haven’t used them on anything yet, but I will! Just wait.

2. Google Calendar colors

I have been using Google as my primary calendar for about a year, and just yesterday did Google finally add a color custom to its calendar. This is something I used often in Microsoft Outlook, but never had the option in Google. Now I can color code travel, appointments, reminders, things for Lily, dinner plans, etc. It’s so colorful! So necessary. The little things…

3. Define Body

Two weeks ago I saw an online daily deal for Define Body, a workout studio in Houston. Define is an independent studio similar to pilates meets barre method meets core fusion. I had been wanting to try for a while, but drop in prices are expensive, and I have two gym memberships already (story for another day). They opened a second studio about 0.5 miles from our house and have plenty of convenient time offerings. I really wanted to try even more. The Houston Tidbits deal was five classes for $35.

I have now gone twice to the 6:30 a.m. class and really enjoy it. I don’t plan to make this a regular addition to my week unless something else gets dropped, but it’s really refreshing to take a class and not feel beat up (sorry CrossFit). I love CrossFit classes and know it makes me very strong in mind and body, but Define is just nice. It’s small movements with 2 and 3 pound dumb bells, little squats or pulses or crunches that really get your muscles fired up They really start to burn! It’s one hour, the studio is beautiful, the music is good and the instructors are nice.

What are you loving lately?

Blogs I’m loving Friday

Whew it’s Friday! This week has been quite busy and I have neglected my Google Reader a bit! I wanted to share a few blogs that I never miss, some are recent additions. If you like to read blogs but don’t use Google Reader, I recommend you start. It’s a great timesaver for knowing where to find the blogs you love and to see when there’s something new to read. And it’s accessible from your iPhone so you can read when you aren’t at a computer. Major time saving.

1. Oh She Glows: Angela writes this from Canada. Although I don’t know what she means when she gives temperatures in Celsius, I do love her photos. There are some blogs I skim through, and some I print from regularly, and Angela’s is great for recipe ideas even though I’m not vegan. Her photos are so beautiful that no one would turn down a muffin of hers I am sure. I never miss a post, and have tried many of her recipes. Angela has a very inspiring story of how she started eating the way she does, and about entrepreneurship and following your dreams.  I especially loved the Cookie Dough Ball Bites and the Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf.

2. Kath Eats: Everyone wants to be like Kath. She is literally the cleanest blogger we follow, as she has a “Home Neat Home” series to teach us how to keep our homes neat and tidy. She takes beautiful pictures and is also very knowledgeable of photography and all things Google. Need to learn something about Gmail? Check out her Nerd Kerf tab. We have tried a few of her recipes too, including crackers inspired by her, and she’s the queen of oatmeal. I met Kath at Foodbuzz Fest in November, and she is almost like a celebrity to small food bloggers like me.

3. Plum Pie: Brooke is actually a friend in real life. We used to work together in Dallas, and she moved to Charlottesville, VA with her husband, and I’m in Houston now. I was following her on Twitter and realized she has a food blog too. Her recipes are beautiful and look delicious, all with a little southern charm too. This is another blog that I diligently read and never skim. I really love her photos and stories.

4. Edible Perspective: Ashley writes this blog. She’s also meat-free, and focuses a lot on oatmeal and breakfast. I love Ashley’s site because the site itself is user friendly, simple, and informative. Her photos are gorgeous and she takes the time to explain how she got the shot. She’s also the one who taught me the most about how to use my DSLR camera at Foodbuzz last Fall. I didn’t even have the camera then, but took notes and reread her packet over and over. She’s also an expert at experimenting with oatmeal.

5. Daily Garnish: Emily is just fascinating! She is a vegetarian chef and teaches through her blog. Her recipes are so educational that I really learn something all the time. I learned how to make tofu from her site, and I’ve since tried many of her other recipes. She also got hit by a car last October, was sued by the company I used to work for in Dallas for copyright infringement (whaa?) and by next Fall, she’ll have a new baby and have moved to both coasts of the country within a year. Her life is crazy, but it’s fun to follow along!

There are many, many others I read all the time. You can see my Blogroll on the bottom right of my site to see a few, and my Reader is filled with a variety of blogs, some about food, fitness, baking, or life in general.

What’s your favorite site? Leave it in the comments!

What’s inside my pantry

Thanks for participating in the Picky Bars giveaway! The winner is: Lynn of The Actor’s Diet.

Congrats Lynn! I’ll email you for your address.

And remember that you can buy Picky Bars straight from their website.

Welcome to my pantry.

I have shown you my refrigerator and freezer as part of a kitchen organizing series, and now here’s another look at dry food storage.

We have a pretty great pantry with lots of shelves and storage space. I am the family cereal hoarder, and Jeffrey does the same for chips.

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The first picture is the front view of the pantry. The top shelf is chips in a basket. This was a great idea to keep small bags in one place so they aren’t everywhere. To the left is boxed chips and crackers.

Below is a row of cereals in containers. I would like them all to match, but they are different brands because I keep adding. The ones I like best are Oxo with a pop top. They’re the most sleek.

On the bottom shelf is a group of canned foods (soups, pumpkin, beans), along with baking goods like flours, sugars, and boxed mixes.

 

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This is my group of dried fruits and nuts. Instead of keeping things in their packages that are half eaten, I move them all to little containers. These are pint sized with lids and hold a good amount of raisins, apricots, craisins, dates, and a variety of nuts. I also use Ball jars for almonds.

The little shaker that used to be ground cinnamon now holds chia seeds. I thought this was a smart idea! They fit perfectly through the shaker holes and are better than being in a plastic bag.
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On the door is our spice rack. Lots of dry spices and herbs, and also things like soy sauce, vanilla and salts.

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The floor is useful too. We store water and cokes here, and I keep excess to the side like the rest of a box of cereal, extra rice, and newer peanut butter jars of condiment jars not opened yet.

The top of the pantry is also great for storing large serving pieces that don’t get a lot of use, cocktail napkins, plastic cups, etc.

What is one random thing in your pantry?

What I’m Loving Lately

I wanted to take a break from food and share some things I’ve been loving lately and announce a new idea I have for the blog.

Introducing: Sharing Stories

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A lot of the people who read my blog don’t have a blog (I think) so I had an idea to share stories on my site, kind of like a guest post. You can email me a recipe that you’ve created, a story of a baking adventure or exercise challenge you’ve tried, and I’ll post it as a special recurring. I will create a place on the site for archived posts. I always want my blog to be a place where you learn something new, and I am sure there are things that readers do that I don’t, so I want to share your stories too.

If you’d like to share a story, send it to me at marci1684@gmail.com. Please leave a comment here or email me if you plan to submit something so I can see if there is any real interest!

Remember, sharing is caring.

Frieda and Nellie Jewelry:

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For my birthday, my sister sent me a bracelet made by a girl in our sorority who started her own jewelry business in New York City with a friend called Frieda and Nellie. Go read their story, their website is so fun. The name is after their grandmothers and the bracelets are based on vintage style jewelry mixed with bohemian designs. It’s elegant and playful at the same time.

The Apple Store:

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I am loving the Apple store. I got a new computer about 6 weeks ago and also bought the One-to-One service to move over my files from one computer to the other. With that service, I get a year of personal lessons on a variety of curriculum topics that the store offers. I have been to two lessons, one about digital photography using DSLR cameras, and one about using iPhoto better. I really enjoyed the advanced digital photography session, and learned new things that the manual didn’t explain as well. In a short time, I understand my camera so much better and know how to make it do what I want. With these cameras, there is always something more to learn and more to buy (like a second lens, lighting, tripod, etc), but learning to use the camera is the first step! I only wish they offered classes on blog design or design programs!

Smart Children:

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I am so intrigued by smart little children. Last Sunday, we went to dinner at Jeffrey’s boss’s house and he has two smart as whips elementary school boys. One even won the city-wide bilingual spelling bee last summer. That means he spelled words in English and Spanish and won! He beat 100,000 3rd-6th graders (he is in 5th grade now), some who speak Spanish naturally. He even stays up late to read school books. And has good manners.

What are you loving lately?

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