Cohka’s Place

42 Learn to Cook for the Week Ahead and Save Both Time and Money

Okay, so you’ve worked hard to get your home organized and you’ve developed some strong skills to use at the office as well. You might be thinking you have it all covered at home since your pantry is organized immaculately and everything in your kitchen has its place. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re still busy working all day and driving kids to practice, running errands or taking care of your household in the evenings. Another thing you can learn to do to simplify your life is to plan your meals and cook in advance.

Meal planning and bulk cooking are both wonderful techniques you can utilize and modify to fit your families needs. The idea behind this is simple. The principle is that you cook and or prepare your meals ahead of time and then preserve them by either freezing refrigerating them. It can also help stretch your food budget dollar further, since you can cook one large meal and get two or three other meals from it with the proper planning.

Start by writing down a list of your favorite meals and plan on preparing a grocery list that will coincide with your menu. Since you’re learning to cook in bulk, your shopping list will have to change accordingly so you’re sure to have enough ingredients on hand when the time comes to do the cooking.

The most important tool in meal planning and bulk cooking is your freezer. Freezer bags are a great space saver if you have a small freezer. You can fit many in the same space of a few storage containers. Be sure to incorporate lots of quick and easy meals that your family can warm up and serve themselves in the event you’re not able to be at home for dinner or you just need to grab something that’s quick.

You’ll also learn to love your slow cooker. Experiment with different recipes and variations on your favorites. They also make easy work of cooking whole chickens or roasts which can be frozen or refrigerated for later use very easily.

You’re only limited by your own imagination when cooking in bulk for the week ahead. Factor in the time you save by not having to do a lot of after dinner cleanup or dishes, and you’ll be glad you took the time to master this important organizational skill.

Attractive Arrangement of your Furniture Enhances your Room’s D?cor

Arranging the furniture in the right manner ensures that the room area is efficiently used. A clever furniture arrangement can also highlight a favorite piece of furniture. However, figuring out the best way to utilize space and create a comfortable atmosphere can be a difficult chore. But with some planning and creativity, it can be accomplished easier than you think.
Before you move anything, you have to decide what the focal point of the room is going to be. Focus your efforts around that location or item. Before arranging furniture in the room, decide on what will be the focus of the room. Center your furniture arrangement around that focal point. It can be anything; a fireplace, a picture window, a home entertainment center or a wall painting.
Chairs should be placed within about eight feet of each other to encourage conversation. Position a table in such a way that it is easily accessible from every chair. Keep a light source near the seating area. Coffee tables should have a clearance of about 14 to 18 inches from the sofa. Side tables should be at least as tall as the arm of the chairs or sofa to make serving easy and discourage accidental spills. When arranging furniture, make sure you provide enough space to move around the room.
In a multipurpose room, arrange furniture in a way that you divide the room into separate living and dining spaces. A strategically placed screen or curtains hung from the ceiling are simple and inexpensive ways to accomplish this. Make sure the room stays balanced and that the sections or divisions don’t fight one another. Area rugs are a great way to define areas and groupings. Small pieces can easily get lost in a large room, so be sure to group them with larger elements.

Conquer Bathroom Clutter Simply and Effectively

Bathrooms seem to be notorious for becoming cluttered and unkempt. Between small makeup compacts, medicine bottles, hair accessories, razors and the like, it can be quite easy to lose things in the shuffle. Assess your bathroom and its contents and utilize a few simple ideas and you’ll find more space and tranquility as a result.

First, take a good look at your medicine cabinets. Ironically, it’s probably not a good idea to store medicine in your medicine cabinet, as most bathrooms become hot and humid during showers and baths, and can be detrimental to medication that requires being stored at room temperature. Don’t keep medicines past their expiration date, even if you’ve never opened them or have used them very little. Try storing your medications on a high shelf in your linen closet with a lock-tight lid. This will help lengthen their shelf life as well as keep them out of reach of curious little hands.

The same should be done with old makeup. Generally speaking, most makeup will last about 18-24 months, with the exception of mascara, which lasts about three months, and liquid eyeliner, which lasts about three to six months. Nail polish generally only holds up for about a year, so if you have any older than that, get rid of them. And since many makeup products have animal-based ingredients, it’s also important to pay attention to how they smell. If they smell like they’ve gone bad, they probably have, so toss them. Try using a permanent marker to mark the purchase date on the back of the item, so that way you won’t have to try to remember just how long it’s been since you purchased something.

If you take a look in your favorite discount store’s home organization aisle, you’ll find lots of inexpensive storage containers that can easily be utilized in bathroom drawers, under the sink, and for shower and bathtub areas as well. Since bathrooms are full of small things, they can easily be organized in small bins, baskets or boxes.

Efficiently Organizing your Small Bathroom Makes Big Sense

Small, cramped bathrooms with little space and lots of stuff can present big problems for a busy family. With items strewn across the bathroom countertop with no designated space make it difficult to find that favorite pot of lip gloss, box of dental floss or can of hair mousse when morning routine time is at a minimum. You can conquer this problem with an honest assessment of your bathroom’s contents and some creativity.

First of all, look around your bathroom. If you have products in your bathroom that you didn’t like after the first use, or that someone who previously visited left there and your family doesn’t use, get rid of them. This can be a tough pill to swallow if you focus on the money that you spent on buying it, but if it’s taking up valuable space in your cramped bathroom quarters, it’s costing you more in headaches and stress than it’s worth. You’ll probably be amazed at how much space you can free up by clearing out these unused, unwanted items.

After you’ve cleared these items out, assess what’s left. If there’s a drawer for makeup, but nothing in it is sorted, consider some small boxes or baskets to place them in. Place lipsticks and glosses in one bin, another for makeup compacts, and another for makeup applicators such as brushes and sponges. If there are a lot of hair products, consider using a larger basket to place them in and stored under the sink which can be easily removed and put away each morning.

If you’re in the habit of stocking up on those products you seem to go through quickly such as toilet paper, lotion, or toothpaste, consider storing those in a pantry or linen closet instead of in the bathroom itself. Make sure all family members know where to look for a replacement or refill should they run out.

Most importantly, get your family to agree on using and maintaining the organization system that’s been developed. It’ll do no good to organize only to find things disheveled and unorganized the following week. Ask for input when devising a system, and make sure it’s one that everyone involved can live with.