I am not an advocate for buying more stuff--far from it. But lately, as I keep reaching for the same items in my kitchen, I've been thinking about how these items (all purchased within the last two years) have radically simplified my life, especially at mealtimes. The bonus is they've also made my life a little greener. How many of these items are you using to simplify your mealtimes?
1. Small colander. No, it doesn't have to be a gorgeous, fire-engine red like the one pictured above, but it certainly livens up the room (and has made it into about 5,000 of my photographs). I use this mini-colander every single day to rinse off fruits and vegetables (healthy points!), and it's small enough so it fits right into the top rack of the dishwasher. No paper towels necessary for drying off the produce.
2. Custard cups. (There's that fire-engine red again!) I use these little stoneware cups for countless things, none of them involving custard. I break eggs into them so it's easier to fish out the shells. I use them at parties for dips or sauces. I save leftovers in them (they come with lids). I serve yogurt or applesauce in them to the kids, because we all know "the foods can't touch each other!" And I don't want to use those plastic segmented plates for kids anymore--ever since the dangers of BPA made the news, I'm just waiting for the next report on which plastic is toxic to our systems. These stoneware cups avoid the plastic issue altogether.
3. Cookie cutters. It's fun to bake with the kids (and it keeps them focused on a positive activity instead of arguing about who owns that meaningless yellow pencil on the floor). Baking our own cookies cuts down on processed snacks (we know exactly what's in our cookies--mostly organic ingredients), as well as cutting out "the middle men" of manufacturing, packaging, and shipping. Better still, if we bake them on weekends, the lunchbox snacks are all taken care of for the week ahead. (Yes, we include the aforementioned fruits in the lunchboxes, too.)
4. Natural Choices Orange 100. One 32-oz. bottle is going on Year 2 in our house. We need just a few drops mixed with water (one little ounce for every gallon) in a spray bottle and--presto!--the counters are clean, shiny, and smell like oranges. What's not to like? (No, I'm not getting any money for plugging it--I just love it!)
5. Dinner bell. I don't know if it's more like "Downton Abbey" or Pavlov's dogs, but I do know it's a lot easier to summon the kids to dinnertime by ringing a pretty bell than screaming at the top of my lungs like a maniac with a house on fire. We had a dinner bell like this in my childhood home, but since it went missing decades ago, I got this antique school bell on eBay for about $10. (Plus, it's greener to buy antiques--old, well-loved things--instead of brand-new stuff that's most likely made in China.) Saved by the bell, indeed!
What do you use to make your mealtimes a snap?
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