Recipe Organization

I'm taking a diversion from my usual adoption and/or Abram posts to talk about my favorite hobby: organizing.

Over a year ago, I organized my recipes into this handy, categorized book of recipes. At least that is what I thought at the time.It was a 3-ring binder with clear plastic photo pages that I put my recipes into.

At the time, it seemed like a fabulous way to organize my recipes. I stored it in one of my kitchen drawers and thought I was on my way to cooking more because I had my recipes organized. :)

Well, that didn't happen. In fact, most of my well-used recipes ended up in a pile in my drawer, OUTSIDE of the not-so-handy-after-all recipe book. To get a recipe, I had to get the book out of the drawer, look for the recipe, put the book back and then dig out the book again to put the recipe back. It took awhile, but I finally realized that I hated dragging that big book out of the drawer. And it really hindered me from using my recipes. It was just not efficient. And when something is not working efficiently or well at my house, that means it is time to organize . . . or in most cases, RE-organize!

Enter the recipe box:

It is actually not a recipe box, it is a photo box (from Walmart). It is bigger than what I need, but that gives me room to grow and I currently use the back part of the box to store napkins, straws and my can opener (random, I know). I bought a package of 3-ring binder tabs and cut them to fit the box as dividers.

I store my new recipe box on my counter. And that is the secret to success for me! I LOVE having my recipes on the counter without a lid! Because I am not intrinsically motivated to cook (I'd rather be organizing something!), having my recipes super accessible really does help me.
As a side note, the container of green towels next to my recipe box are my "non-paper"towels. Knowing that we were going to adopt and that our monthly budget will have to grow in some areas, I have looked for ways to cut down our monthly budget in other areas.

I found the idea to use cloth towels instead of paper towels at groceryshrink.com. They are called surgical huck towels. The one tip she told me was to put the towels in a container on my counter. She made a great point that paper towel makers started making a killing when they introduced paper towel holders that put paper towels conveniently at arms-reach in our kitchens! I'm not motivated to use cloth to save the earth . . . I'm just trying to save us some bucks. And I must say that I love using the cloth towels. They are very absorbent and great for cleaning up spills, drying dishes, etc. I don't really miss paper towels at all. I do keep a few napkins around for the few times I really need them.

And lastly, I'm going to leave you with my favorite smoothie recipe (I don't remember where I got it from, but I'm sure I've modified it to some degree):

1 cup PureAlmond Vanilla milk

1-2 handfuls of spinach

2 bananas (the original recipe called for one, but I use two to make it more sweet)

1 cup blueberries

1 cup strawberries (I don't really measure the berries . . . mixed berries work, too)

Ground flax seed (about 1/4- 1/2 cup)

It makes about four glasses. I usually feed one to Abram and put the rest in individual cups in the freezer. Then, I defrost them in the microwave when we are ready to eat them. I love this smoothie because every single ingredient is super healthy and it is a great way to get my picky-eating toddler to eat his fruits and vegetables!

Great Quote

I saw this quote on a friend's email signature recently and have to share it:

The Bible calls debt a curse and children a blessing, but in today's culture we apply for a curse and reject blessings. Something is wrong with this picture.
--Doug Phillips

Sending Another Package to the Kids

I'm getting ready to send what I think may be the last package to our kids. I don't think I ever posted the second package I sent in November. In that package, I was able to send things to Isaiah for the first time: shorts outfit, flip flops, pants outfit and socks (it gets cool at night), a sweatshirt, one of Abram's old blankets (that I LOVED), a puppy dog (this is the second one I bought...Abram fell in love with the first one I bought for Isaiah so I let him keep it), two little diggers, a book and our photo ablum.I have been very curious how these clothes fit Isaiah so I can get a better feel for how big he is. We just got new pictures of all three kids a week ago and Mr. Isaiah is SWIMMING in his 2T shorts. I swear he looks bigger than Abram in the few pictures we have, but now I'm thinking they might be the same size. Oh, I can't wait to see those boys together when the kids come home!

Here is what I sent to Zoe in the second package: a dress, shorts outfit, sweater, p-pops, socks, necklaces, notepad, stickers, pens, a doodle pad and of course a little bag to keep all of those treasures in.

Zahra got the same things, just a different variety.

This time around I am sending them backpacks for their trip home! Sonja said that they will bring home all of the things we have sent them. I found these super cute travel pillows (with matching blankets Grammy bought). I thought the pillows and blankets would not only be good for them to have on their plane ride home, but also possible keepsakes, representing their travel from Africa to the US. Also in their package is a stuffed elephant, coloring book, colors, two books and little pet shop dogs/my little ponys.

Isaiah got a football travel pillow, cars, books, a doodle board, two balls (if we remember to put them in his bag - Abram has been obsessed with them!), 24 month pants, short outfit, socks and some of Abram's p-pops.

And these below are not going to Africa, but will be awaiting our African princesses when they arrive home (or in the van at the airport in Chicago...I haven't decided). I have wanted them to have black baby dolls, but didn't like the options I was finding online. When I saw these Tiana princesses (from Princess and the Frog, which I hear is not a good movie for kids to watch), I loved them. Thanks to my aunt and uncle for the Target gift card to get them with!