Kitchen Cure Week Three

The Kitchn Cure has its weeks begin on Thursdays, and I have to admit, I slacked a bit during this last one, too. I am feeling a bit unmotivated, mostly due to stress at work, desperation for actual spring-time, and having pretty much no money. Here's the post for week 3. Doesn't seem too challenging, right?

- Cook something from whatever you have in your pantry. Use just what you have.

- Buy 1 - 3 items of locally grown produce and cook with them.

- Finish up and cleaning, organizing, and purging from your kitchen cabinets and fridge.

Well for the first item, that's pretty much how we roll all the time. If we don't feel like going to the store, someone is pretty darn good about McGyvering thing up.

The second item I forgot about, but was also not going to the store any time soon, either. Maybe Friday. I should really be better about this anyway. At Schnuck's I try to buy from the organic selections, but I don't pay much attention to the location things come from. Do they even really say? Also, the two Farmer's Markets closest to me aren't open till May, and the big one is just produce re-salers (not local farmers) until then, too. But Local Harvest is sure to meet these qualifications...I just need to have some cash.

The third item is also something I need to do, and it's just a simple lack of motivation here. I know I can get rid of some stuff, and should finish cleaning the freezer and organizing the cabinet below the china display, but I don't feel like it.

Alright, that's enough whining! I think I'm skipping the post-work wine tasting / happy hour on the Science Center bridge and heading home to be productive. I'm not too keen on spending any more time on work stuff than I have to.

Oh, and before I forget - in other food-related news, we ate at Revival last night and it was AMAZING. Highly recommended. I had yummy beef short ribs and one of our desserts was bread pudding with Dr. Pepper sauce!! Not too pricey and really really nice quality. And of course, that place is a cool spot, anyway. Looking forward to summer-time and checking out their patio.

Ok - back to work! :)

Week 4: Where did you go?

Here I am posting at work again...I promise to be quick. Most of my nights this week are booked though, and sadly enough, Blogger is nicer to use on the Windows PC at work than it is at home on my Mac. It's so sad that I might look into Mac-friendly blog software. But not today...I've actually got a big project that's coming down to the wire and a big fat subsidy for some difficult apartments we own is riding on my shoulders. I'll have my nose to the grindstone here in just a bit.

How did I do on my Week 4? Not so great, as I imagined. Not much I could do (no $), and I took Alana's advice from last week and didn't deal with the photos. Too much distraction, they need a rainy non-Cure Saturday and a few more albums.

My list:

1.) Clean the living room/related closets: Not so much, it wasn't really messy (it is a bit messier now though!), and it doesn't have a related closet.

2.) De-clutter books and media: I'll make a quick swipe through the bookshelf before I drop off my outbox stuff at Goodwill. The CDs and few DVDs I have are all hidden in my TV cabinet. I never look at them, but I don't think they're in the way. Probably need to upload a few, and I'm sure I can get rid of a bunch of them, but who will take them? This is a project for another day, too. At least they aren't on the ugly CD rack in the corner like last year. Hmmm, out of sight, out of mind? Yes.

3.) Cancel 75% of your catalogs: Done, in week 3 actually. I think I posted about it then, too.

4.) Empty your Outbox: Not done. Still growing a bit, and I'll do it all at once. Probably later this week or next.

5.) What do you need to increase/decrease color? Hmmmmm, more color in the living room, and more stuff on the walls in there and in my bedroom. And more pink and navy blue in my bedroom. Just a little of each. And cuter fabric on the chairs in the dining room. And a painted backsplash (grassy green) in the kitchen. Easier to think about that I though!

6.) What do you need to increase/decrease softness? Also a big hmmmm. More stuff on the walls in the bedroom and living room (decreases softness). Maybe some new toss pillows and a throw for the living room (increase).

7.) Cook three meals at home: This is a stretch. Cooked dinner for myself in about 10 mins one night, I made a delish egg sammich breakfast Sunday (with another bloody mary made by the boy), and the boy cooked a really tasty dinner (chicken sausage, couscous, asparagus) on Sunday (ok, I did help a bit on that, too). That's three!

Back to work now! I'll try to post about Week 5 soon, because I DO need to do some stuff with my office corner. Mostly tackling the cords. They seem impossible. I'll probably break out the plastic to help with a solution for that. It's worth it.

Week 4: I'm a Slacker!

So it's Week 4 of the Spring Cure, and I'm not exactly as gung-ho as last time. BUT I think the improvements I made last time (and in the time between then and now), really held strong. Plus, once you get rid of many years worth of stuff, you don't (or I don't) re-aquire that much that quickly.

So the Week 4 tasks are centered around the Living Room, and also how much color and softness you need to add or subtract in your home.

More specifically:

1. Clean the living room and related closets
2. De-clutter all books and media (and I'm including photographs, too - yikes!)
3. Cancel 75% of your catalogs
4. Empty your Outbox
5. Consider what you need to increase/decrease color in each room.
6. Consider what you need to increase/decrease softness in each room.
7. Cook three meals at home.

I'm definitely a slacker though because I haven't made a ton of plans for my living room. It's hard because there isn't too much cleaning and de-cluttering to be done (some, but not much) and all improvements that I'd like to make require $ which I so do not have right now. But I'll work on it, and post some plans soon.

Also, I shouldn't be posting this during the day while I'm at work, but it's getting on my last nerve right now and I needed a break. And that's all I'll say about that. Except that sometimes I just wish I could take out a bunch of student loans to live off of and quit work to go get my MPPA. Wouldn't that be nice?