Category: Keeping House

Elizabeth

Overdue Week

Keeping House, Kids

Going overdue with my recent pregnancy gave me time to…keep up the family tradition! My mom, sister, and I are now ten for ten on overdue babies. Cheers to consistency!

During the 39th week of pregnancy, I was so optimistic that “the baby could come any minute now!” When I got to the week before the due date, however, realism set in and I resigned myself to going overdue again. Surprisingly, this mental shift actually gave me more energy and will to do other things besides wait for labor. I opened up my Nesting List…

Elizabeth

Canisters

Keeping House

(Why I love them and why I hate it when my kids touch them.)

Canisters. A humble fixture of the pantry—or the counter top or baker’s rack, depending on your setup.

I like using them for a few reasons. First of all, they’re more air-tight and easier to track how much is left inside than a folded-over bag. It’s easier to measure flour, with a light hand and without making a mess, from a canister than from a paper sack. I buy dried rice and beans from the bulk section at Sprouts, but I prefer…

Elizabeth

How to Save Time at the Grocery Store

Keeping House

My five minute trick for preventing forgetting and backtracking at the grocery store, and for keeping cold items as cold as possible.

Almost nothing is more frustrating to me than realizing I have to walk back across the store for one more thing in the grocery aisles, once I’m in the produce department. Especially when I have kids with me, because I know my minutes of pleasantness and cooperation are limited. Over the past five years of being the primary shopper in our household, I’ve developed a grocery list method that mitigates the chances of forgetting something and having to backtrack, that really works. Here it is:…

Elizabeth

Let There be Coupons

Keeping House

After dropping off big sis at preschool today, little man and I headed to Kroger, our nearest grocery store. I had a short list of staples we were running low on: bread, Nutella, coffee, deli turkey, maybe berries depending on price.

I have tried many off brand chocolate-hazelnut spreads, and perhaps it’s that my time in Spain, where Nutella was as inexpensive as the store brand is here, ingrained the habit too deeply, but in my opinion, none of them measure up. So, I’m always willing to pay full price to have the real deal. It goes on toast…