Erin Wooddell
Living in the same town as one of your best friends is seriously the coolest thing ever. Most of you may know this firsthand and are rolling your eyes at the observation, but it’s a new thing for me.
Growing up as a "military brat," I normally found my best friends right before I had to move away. Writing letters, emails and making calls was a great filler, but I always had a hole in my heart from missing my friends.
Not to get all sappy on you, but having a friend here has made the biggest difference in the transition. The move has been unlike any other, all thanks to a great support system.
In addition to the obvious perks that come along with living so close to a best friend, I’ve also discovered that being around crafty and creative people makes you feel crafty and creative by association. Co-blogger Emily is the kind of person who can make something from nothing, whereas I try to use a stick of glue and somehow my fingers are the only things that end up stuck together, resulting in an inner temper-tantrum like that of a 4-year-old who doesn't get their way. Case in point:
Living in the same town as one of your best friends is seriously the coolest thing ever. Most of you may know this firsthand and are rolling your eyes at the observation, but it’s a new thing for me.
Growing up as a "military brat," I normally found my best friends right before I had to move away. Writing letters, emails and making calls was a great filler, but I always had a hole in my heart from missing my friends.
Not to get all sappy on you, but having a friend here has made the biggest difference in the transition. The move has been unlike any other, all thanks to a great support system.
In addition to the obvious perks that come along with living so close to a best friend, I’ve also discovered that being around crafty and creative people makes you feel crafty and creative by association. Co-blogger Emily is the kind of person who can make something from nothing, whereas I try to use a stick of glue and somehow my fingers are the only things that end up stuck together, resulting in an inner temper-tantrum like that of a 4-year-old who doesn't get their way. Case in point:
(Guess which craft spot belongs to whom:)
(You guessed it! Mine is the one on the right that looks like a herd of gnomes or elves were walking around with paint on their shoes.)
Over the past couple weeks, we decided to start working on a bunch of different crafts we've been putting off for awhile. Our first big (to me) project was to make magnets for meal planning.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I struggle to make decisions on what to eat every week. I’ve tried every meal planning suggestion out there, and none seem to stick. I either decide I’m not in the mood for whatever I planned for a specific day, or life gets in the way and I don’t cook as much as I’d hoped.
Starting this new job, I did a budget overhaul and looked at my last six months of expenses. Instead of spending most of my money on clothes, jewelry or nice makeup like most girls, do you know where the bulk of my spending money goes to? The grocery store. Blame it on a love for fine cheeses and lots of spices. Sometimes I think I idly spend time in the grocery store because the idea of making all these wonderful recipes brings me joy. (You know what doesn’t bring me joy? Buying ingredients for said fancy recipes and NEVER making them.)
When leaving Virginia, I cleaned out my pantry (well, the one shelf of a cupboard I was given in my Craigslist room-for-rent situation) and was appalled to see all the canned goods I’d bought, then forgotten about and never used. It was disgraceful. Luckily, most canned and boxed goods have long shelf lives, so they didn’t go to waste.
Vowing to stop spending so much at the grocery store and being more conscious about what I buy, cook and eat, I wanted to try a new form of meal planning I discovered in the blog Decor and the Dog.
Over the past couple weeks, we decided to start working on a bunch of different crafts we've been putting off for awhile. Our first big (to me) project was to make magnets for meal planning.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I struggle to make decisions on what to eat every week. I’ve tried every meal planning suggestion out there, and none seem to stick. I either decide I’m not in the mood for whatever I planned for a specific day, or life gets in the way and I don’t cook as much as I’d hoped.
Starting this new job, I did a budget overhaul and looked at my last six months of expenses. Instead of spending most of my money on clothes, jewelry or nice makeup like most girls, do you know where the bulk of my spending money goes to? The grocery store. Blame it on a love for fine cheeses and lots of spices. Sometimes I think I idly spend time in the grocery store because the idea of making all these wonderful recipes brings me joy. (You know what doesn’t bring me joy? Buying ingredients for said fancy recipes and NEVER making them.)
When leaving Virginia, I cleaned out my pantry (well, the one shelf of a cupboard I was given in my Craigslist room-for-rent situation) and was appalled to see all the canned goods I’d bought, then forgotten about and never used. It was disgraceful. Luckily, most canned and boxed goods have long shelf lives, so they didn’t go to waste.
Vowing to stop spending so much at the grocery store and being more conscious about what I buy, cook and eat, I wanted to try a new form of meal planning I discovered in the blog Decor and the Dog.
With the intention of taking the humming and hawing (AKA guesswork) out of meal planning, I set out on the path to make these little magnets.
While making plans to conquer this task, Emily discovered an awesome site called PepperPlate—an easily organized online recipe box! It’s amazing. You can upload recipes, pictures, select recipes to be added to your shopping list, etc. It even itemizes your grocery list according to sections of the store, AND you can delete items from the list that you already have. I was completely on board; thrilled with the idea of not having to search through my multitude of (OK, five) cookbooks in order to find particular recipes every time I set out to cook.
After uploading and organizing our favorites, we searched for our craft tools. They included:
While making plans to conquer this task, Emily discovered an awesome site called PepperPlate—an easily organized online recipe box! It’s amazing. You can upload recipes, pictures, select recipes to be added to your shopping list, etc. It even itemizes your grocery list according to sections of the store, AND you can delete items from the list that you already have. I was completely on board; thrilled with the idea of not having to search through my multitude of (OK, five) cookbooks in order to find particular recipes every time I set out to cook.
After uploading and organizing our favorites, we searched for our craft tools. They included:
Deciding to take this method a bit further, I decided to create two piles of magnets: One full of recipes I know to be keepers, and one full of recipes I want to try. The plan is to take out two well-loved recipes each week and one new recipe. |
Growing up, my mom made two-to-three new recipes a week. While I have no problem eating my favorite meals regularly, everything can become stale after awhile. I figure this will be a way to try out my culinary skills and ensure I contribute more winning recipes to my growing arsenal. (If you choose this method, I recommend getting two jars so that you have a designated place for old recipes, and one for new.)
The craft process was easy. We painted each disc, one side at a time. When they dried, we put hot glue on each magnet, and stuck them to a disc.
This was the result:
The craft process was easy. We painted each disc, one side at a time. When they dried, we put hot glue on each magnet, and stuck them to a disc.
This was the result:
This week I’m trying out this meal-planning method for the first time—and so far it's going great!
Have a great meal-planning method that works for you? Let us know @adventuringMISS!