Org Roundup - Command Center

So I've been desperately trying to get back into the Org Junkie Challenge, but I haven't seemed to have the time to get the first, ummmm, eight months done before the deadline to post, if it even gets done at all. You would think I was busy having a baby or something. ; )

But lo and behold! I managed to get this one done, by the skin of my teeth. This challenge had to be done for many reasons, the biggest being that I didn't have a command center before this. And the biggest pain in the rear reason is my husband complaining about how the mess builds up on the island by the door and takes over the kitchen every afternoon.

See? Yikes!

So I decided to migrate the mess to the corner of the kitchen where my dust collectors, a.k.a. my mixer and blender, live. They got new homes and I hauled all of the stuff that had squatted there to better places.

Disclaimer: I did not decorate my kitchen! The previous owners tried to disguise the ugly brown tones of the 70s tiles with ugly wallpaper from the 80s. You should see the duck border that runs around the entire room at the ceiling. Blech!

Here's the before:

And here's the after:

The bottom shelf has room for the diaper bag, by pumping supplies, reusable grocery bags, and my travel coffee thermos that I fill everyday for work!

The second shelf is for my purse, our lunch boxes, and seasonal needs. Finally on the top I have my coupon and receipt files, things pending a trip to the basement/car, and my library books.

Since my decorating scheme is so advanced I thought I would shake it up a bit with the Husker board - Translation: I couldn't find another board that didn't cost an arm and a leg, plus this plays the Husker fight song!

But my favorite pieces are these adorable little fluer-de-lis hooks that you just hammer into the wall, only 2.64 for a package of 4 at Target!

We'll see how this works for a while. Maybe when we can finally afford to gut the kitchen, I might have a better idea of how I should lay it all out not to mention the fact we can tear down the time to make more room for shelves.

Lunch clean out

For Org Junkie's round up this month is recipes. She has already challenged us to getting rid of all of those cookbooks that we don't use in favor of just keeping a few recipes.

But what do you do with "heirloom cookbooks?"

These are all the cookbooks that contain recipes of family, friends, teachers, and congregations? I have six!! (Seven if you count the Joy of cooking given the me by Jeff's Grandma with all of her handwritten notes.)

Do I move these somewhere else?
I usually only consult the front three for holidays, but they are all tried and true classics from my family and childhood.
But the three in back were wedding gift so do I keep them for sentimentality?

Anyway . . .

Here are the basics of my kitchen that I couldn't part with. . . .

Three for reference: Betty Crocker, Good Housekeeping, Joy of Cooking.

Three Rachel Ray - Which I flip through monthly for new ideas.

Slow Cookers Recipes - Which I consult monthly (at least!) for new ideas.

Paula Deen Kid's cookbook - This is a great new addition with many ideas to get Alaina involved in making meals.

And here are the trouble makers . . .

The Marlboro cookbook.
Jeff received this free many years ago when we still both occasionally smoked (Naughty us!) But it is the best grilling cookbook I have ever seen. We try new things from it every summer and there are several burger recipes that I could never part with and they have great pictures for every page!

Morgan Freeman and Friends
This is a new addition and is all carribbean recipes. I bought it late last year for a dollar and haven't had the time to flip through it and jot the recipes that I want to try.

Party Cakes for Kids
I can't part with the party cakes book because it is decorating pictures and instructions and since I don't have any other books like it, it had become a cookbook shelf book.

Great german recipes book
This is new from my sister straight from DisneyWorld/Germantown. I will treasure it always for the german phrases inside, the traditional recipes, and the cultural tidbits inside! The good news is I think it will fit in my new recipe box I received for x-mas!

I have one book that I plan to donate as soon as I go through it one more time to get any recipes that I want to try. It is a 15 minute cookbook from Light Cooking magazine. It has some good ideas in it, but the whole thing isn't worth keeping. So it is outa here by the end of this challenge!

So the results are in and (Drumroll please)

I kept 19 cookbooks.

I don't think I did a very good job . . .

My first Roundup!

I have been dying to do an org junkie roundup since last year, but being the procrastinator that I am . . .I've failed.

Until Now!

I participated in the files round up and the best part is . . .so did Jeff! Jeff must have been channeling the org junkie because he sat down to do this on New Years Day, before I even know what the 2009 challenges would be! (What a smart man!)

Of course that means I don't have any before pics, but I can still show off our beautiful filing cabinet drawers. (See the slideshow in the next post, I couldn't get it to play nice in the same entry!)

I'm so excited for the rest of the years challenges, that I've taken before pictures of all of the challenges to ensure that I can show off more next time.

Not to mention with the fact that I will be out on Maternity leave in June, I expect to get a head start on the challenges for the last half of the year. Because after I start working again time will not be on my side!