Kitchen Planning

I haven't been completely idle.  I've spent the last 2 weeks deep scrubbing the kitchen, thanks to Mr. Dead Rodent.  I finally found the right tool to get the finger grease from decades of use on the kitchen cabinets and the walls beside the oven off.  Yes, some of the cabinet wood is a bit "worn", but I don't mind -- at least I now know it's clean.  When we first moved in my mom and I used every cleaner we could think of - de-greasers, Goo-Gone, vinegar, baking soda... the list goes on.  I won't tell you what I finally used, because it's a bit embarrassing, but it's now, finally, clean.

As I deep-cleaned, rearranged, organized, etc., I kept a running list of small repairs that the kitchen needed.  As Tim was waiting for something to dry or set-up, he came in and knocked a couple of those repairs off the list.  The kitchen is finally beginning to come together.  I still need a new floor, sink, counter, faucet and bright yellow paint with blue accents; but overall, it's a room I may be able to spend some more time in now. 

Doesn't everything just gleam?!  Mr. Dead Rodent is only a faint memory in the area of the cabinet by the 'fridge...

Another thing I did, based on an idea I saw on Home MadeSimple, was make a What's For Dinner Menu Planner.  Over the last week I've had everybody in the family tell me what their favorite recipes and meals are and wrote them down.  I also went through my four most used cookbooks, in which I keep notes, and wrote down the favorites from those.  I included the cookbook title and page number.

Yesterday I bought a magnetic/dry erase board and extra magnets.  I typed in all the recipe names (and cookbook info if necessary) and printed it all out on card stock.  I cut the card stock into individual "cards" and the kids selected 6 recipes at random for the week (one day is for leftovers or pizza night). Then, each kid picked a random day of the week to cook.  The thought/hope is that they'll learn how to cook, not based on what they like or already know, but by being challenged by the randomness of it all.  It should encompass most things.  I hope.

I decided to try this out for several reasons... first, we eat out too much.  Second, we don't eat healthy enough and finally - my son leaves for college in August.  While he can make an awesome omelet and knows his way around a mac and cheese box, he needs to be a bit more kitchen savvy than that.

It begins tomorrow... let's see how it works!