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I arranged today’s guest post from Erin, of Coupon Cravings, a couple of weeks ago to run this week while I’m tied up with moving.  Then just a couple of days ago I received this timely email question from a reader:

I recently bought an iPod touch and I canNOT believe there are NO apps to aid in menu planning. I have searched for hours. I was wondering if there’s anything we can do to get this changed. I know a lot of Mom’s would use it. Thank you for any ideas you may have. Connie

Well Connie, you’re in luck.  This post is sure to help you out!  I don’t have an i anything but after reading this post I definitely want one now :)

And you don’t want to miss the fun giveaway at the end of today’s post either!  There will be four winners chosen, woohoo!

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a whiz in the kitchen. I stick to a handful of recipes I can make with my eyes closed, but if in the process of making dinner I realize I’m missing an essential ingredient, I freeze. I have four kids, so it’s not easy to run out to make an impromptu trip to the grocery store. Fortunately, I’ve found five iPhone apps that have kept me more organized (and far more sane) during the dinner hour.

ZipList (free): Some of my recipes require ingredients with longer names that don’t always make it onto my shopping list in their entirety (e.g., organic diced tomatoes with basil and garlic). I like that ZipList, a shopping list app, lets you scan product barcodes to add specific items to the weekly grocery list. This reduces the amount of time I spend standing in front of the diced tomatoes like a deer in headlights thinking about which variety to buy.

AllRecipes Dinner Spinner (free): If you’re here at I’m an Organizing Junkie, then you may already be a meal planning expert (do you use Laura’s printable Menu Planner Template?). If you’re like me and need a little inspiration sometimes, check out the Dinner Spinner. I like that I can choose dish type (main dish, side dish, etc.), ingredients and desired “ready in” time to get ideas on the fly. Saves me from flipping through the cookbooks in my pantry.

Smart Chef Substitutions ($1.99): If you don’t have, can’t find or don’t want to spend money on a certain recipe ingredient, then Smart Chef Substitutions is for you. This app has helped me out in a pinch (no pun intended) with over 300 substitutions for spices, herbs, vegetables, etc. You can also try Handy Replacements. It’s a free app, but you’ll find a much abbreviated list of substitutions (baking powder, tomato paste, etc.)

Kitchen Calculator ($1.99): I love the Kitchen Calculator app because as my family grows (and eats more!) it makes it easier to convert recipes for more servings. This is nice too when you need to convert recipes with measurements like milliliters, pints and even jiggers (jiggers?). This definitely keeps me from ruining recipes and having to order take-out.

CookIt ($.99): One of my biggest problems is timing my meals so that everything is ready at the same time. I like to have dinner on the table at a set time every night, so this is useful in reducing the number of times I hear “Is dinner ready yet?” in my house.

Now if only there was an iPhone app that also did the dishes. One can dream.

So, what are your favorite iPhone apps that keep you more organized and less crazy at mealtime?

Erin Gifford is a working mom of four who blogs at Coupon Cravings. She also works for new online shopping list and recipe search service, ZipList, which is rolling out free tools to enable bloggers to integrate recipe boxes and shopping lists into their web sites. She can be found on Twitter at @eringifford.

GIVEAWAY

Erin has kindly provided me with FOUR Blue Avocado Reusable Grocery Bag Starter Kits (each kit includes one carry-all, one stuff n’ go and one produce bag) courtesy of Ziplist to giveaway to four lucky readers!!  Simply leave a comment on this post prior to Wednesday, August 4th at 4:00 pm PST.  Winners will be chosen randomly.

Thanks Erin and Ziplist!

{ 162 comments }

Menu Plan Monday ~ July 26th

by Laura on July 26, 2010

in Menu Plan Monday

Hello!  So I heard really positive feedback from many of you on the thumbnail linky list last week.  A few of you mentioned that it was easier to read through the links this way and keep track of where you left off.  I really liked it as well because it brought some great visual interest to each of the links and made it way more personal.  Loved seeing your pretty faces and of course who doesn’t love beautiful food pictures too :)  So I’ll be using it again today.  If you have any problems with it please let me know in the comments and I’ll see what I can do to help you out.

So the slew of boxes just continues to grow and grow.  Look at what got packed today:

My containers!  Hold tight sweet friends…I’ll free you from confinement soon!

So this week for me is going to be crazy and all over the place.  I’m not even going to bother planning a menu.  I think it will be just grab and go eating for the next couple of days.   I’d feel bad if I didn’t leave you any links though so I’ve got a couple of great resources for you instead:

Refrigerator Magnet Menu Planner (fun free printable) ~ @ Heart of Wisdom Blog

Still struggling with menu planning?  Read all about the Hidden Benefits of Meal Planning over @ Life Nickel

And if you’d like some recipe ideas, be sure to check out my Family Favorites Recipe Index and all these other really fabulous recipes indexes.

Have a great week everyone!!

WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?

(Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here)

{ 75 comments }

Take Note ~ Weekly Links

by Laura on July 23, 2010

in Link Love

I get so excited to do this feature every couple of weeks.  I’m addicted to reading blogs by such  creative, clever, talented ladies and I love sharing my favorites with all of you.  After all an addict always likes company you know :)

DIY Hanging Storage Baskets ~ love it! @ Ucreate

Organizing My Bathroom ~ @ Joyful Creations 2 Honor Him

More Bathroom Storage ideas ~ @ Creative Outpour

Girls’ Catchall ~ a very cute DIY project for hairbows and jewelry @ Martha Stewart

How Much Do You Love Stuff? ~ @ Gail Vaz-Oxlade

Rethinking how you use your space ~ @ The Inspired Room

Getting Kids to Actually Play With Their Toys ~ @ Lifetime Moms

Love these gorgeous printable canning labels and I don’t even can! ~ @ Sweet Preservation

Some great Quick Clean tips for prepping your house for company fast ~ @ Domestic Indecision

Be still my heart, super cute and fun DIY Storage Bins ~ @ Mod Podge Rocks!

House Envy ~ @ 30-Minute Martha

Why Do We Struggle So Much Organization? ~ @ To Love, Honor and Vacuum

Ahh so pretty ~ Project Book Receptacle ~ @ Call Me Laura Jane

My friend, Laurie, from Tip Junkie, is hosting Christmas in July everyday this week (and next week too!) and will be featuring hundreds of tutorials for Christmas crafts, cards, gifts and more.  Talk about organized!  She’s also doing a ton of giveaways as well, so go check it out!

And a BIG thank you to all who voted for me in the 2010 BlogLuxe Awards in the Chief Executive Officer category.  I was so excited to see I made it into the Top 5, you gals are the best!  Winners will be announced during BlogHer this year which sadly I won’t be attending.  However I WILL be attending Blissdom Canada at the end of October in Toronto.  Super yay!  Would love to know if you plan on attending so we can meet up!!

One final thank you to Awarding the Web for including me in their great 2010 list of Top 40 DIY Home Blogs.

MBA Online
MBA Online

Over and out.

{ 13 comments }

Organizing children’s clothing can be an overwhelming chore for sure.  Today’s guest poster is here to help us simplify this process.  Please welcome Daisha Johnson from The Family Scientista blog.

My husband and I are coming up on our 8th wedding anniversary. Every single one of those years has been spent as students living in very small quarters with our four young children. As a family of 6 the only way to stay sane is to stay organized! I’m excited to share one of my orgnaizing tips that will help you save time and money, a definite plus for those with a busy life on a small budget like us!

With four children, three being girls, we’ve got stacks of boxes of hand-me-down clothes waiting to be worn. When one of the kids is beginning to grow out of a size I usually dig through the closet to find the box of clothes the next size up. I try to plan ahead to see what they might need. This becomes quite tiresome with four kids growing at a rapid rate. I was in those closets and boxes more than I wanted or needed to be.

While shopping a few weeks ago I realized there had to be a better way to keep track of my children’s clothing. I had them sorted out in sizes and in labeled boxes, but I didn’t really know what was inside. A mental picture of the previous wearer at that age just wasn’t cutting it, nor was digging through boxes. I wanted to know what was in the box without having to open it.


So one afternoon, while the kids were napping and my husband was gone, I pulled all the boxes of clothes out of the closets and into the living room. I emptied the boxes one by one taking an inventory of all my children’s clothing, coats, and shoes. Now I know exactly what and how many of each item we had.

For each gender and size (3-6 Month Girl, 3T Boy, 6 Girl etc . . .) I wrote down categories and how many items I had for each. The categories I used were:

Onesies

Pajamas

Short Sleeve

Long Sleeve

Shorts

Jeans

Pants

Dresses

Sweaters

Coats

Misc.

You may also want to add underwear, socks, belts, swimsuits, snow clothes etc….to your list.

Be sure to take inventory of what your kids are wearing that day, clothes that are in their room, clothes in the laundry hamper, coats hanging in the closet and shoes in the basket to get an accurate record.

I chose not to write down details like color or style. It would take more time and those details weren’t important to me. I just wanted the item count.

Having 3 daughters who vary in size and girth I’ve come to realize that keeping shoes in the clothing boxes wasn’t working. My girls haven’t had the same size feet when they’ve worn a certain size of clothes. I’d been muddling through multiple boxes to find shoes that fit. To solve the problem I set aside a separate box for shoes, boy and girl, and wrote down a quick description and size.

Once I took note of all the kids clothes and shoes we own I typed up the inventory, printed it out, and taped it to the boxes. Now my boxes are clearly labeled, looking nice and neat. I have the document saved on my computer for quick reference. I also printed out a mini version to keep in my purse – perfect for taking along to the store.

It took some time and work but now I have a record of all the kids clothes and shoes we own.  No more excuses for over buying or getting the wrong size. The best part is no more shuffling through closets or boxes to find out what’s inside! Time saved is time well spent.

Do you have a system for organizing your children’s clothing?

{ 16 comments }

Home is not my stuff

July 21, 2010

These past couple of weeks I’ve been slowly dismantling the house.  Bit by bit the house is being stripped of its personality and vibe of who we are as a family.  The walls are bare and there is a hollowness now that wasn’t there before.  And yet with each box I seal up I realize [...]

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Menu Plan Monday ~ July 19th

July 19, 2010

How did your week go?  Are you finding it harder or easier to menu plan in the summer?  Are you pulling out the crockpot to avoid heating up the kitchen?  How about enjoying yummy summer salads?  I love a good potato or pasta salad, something you just can’t beat on a hot day that is [...]

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Baskets galore and a new promotion!

July 16, 2010

I always get so excited when I find a blog post featuring baskets, baskets and more baskets.  Woohoo!  Now you know I love my dollar store baskets.  Love them!  I have them in just about every drawer and closet in my home.   However for storage not tucked away in a drawer or closet I [...]

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OpenSky now accepting applications

July 15, 2010

As many of you know I am an OpenSky Seller.  I’ve been very happy with my OpenSky partnership and absolutely love being able to share my favorite products with you.  As a work at home mom with three kids I just wouldn’t have time to run a successful shop all on my own.  OpenSky [...]

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Is It Possible To Feel Organized While Moving? 6 Tips to Help!

July 15, 2010

It looks like a big chaotic zoo in my house right now with boxes piled everywhere.  To help me I called in an expert to share some professional moving tips with us today.  Please welcome Kirstie Berzanski, President and Founder of Moving Box Delivery.

When moving you are truly in a state of mayhem and chaos.
The [...]

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Packing jewelry for a move

July 13, 2010

Today is the day I’m going to ask YOU a question because I’m really stumped on this one and could use a little help here.   Remember last year when I shared my inexpensive jewelry organizer with you?   It’s been working great but now I need to know how I’m suppose to move it to another [...]

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