Frugal In Florida

I gave myself 15 minutes (instead of the usual 10) to see just what I had in the pantry. Only the top part which is where the majority of the 'staples' are kept. Ummm. I probably should have done the bottom as I'm baking cookies this week and I've no real clue how much flour, sugar, etc. I have in there. Anyways. There were lots of gaps and little dug out holes from all the homemade stuff we've been cooking =D. I see that I'm quite set on beef broth, but the chicken broth is getting low. Beef Broth x 11 Chicken Broth x 3 Veggie Broth x 3 Hmmm... Then I have the powdered/cube stuff ... dare I count? 2 veggies 2 beef and 1 better than bouillon jar of chicken (organic). I think I need to get crackin on some french onion soup which will be MY old standby recipe after the last one I made. 3 large cans of crushed tomatoes (time to make the red sauce !) Lots of cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups ... I've come across a lot of GOOD...

Have I ever mentioned how HUBBY is a freaky neat freak? I mean, as in, NO clutter, NO piles, etc. Everything is in it's place. Sometimes, lately, he's been a little absent minded and 'forgets' where he put something. It's comical except that he gets REAL irritated with that as everything has it's place. (I know it's the medication he recently started, and I'm sure I need to say something to him about it, but for now, faintly amusing)... Back to the story ... I, however, can be a total and complete slob. Make piles. Make lists. Put the list on the piles. When the pile gets too tall, that's when I would prefer to deal with it. Which is stupid because it's more work at that point. So when I went to pick up my purse one morning, I must have just had a moment because I stopped, scolded myself and asked, OUT LOUD: Just when did THIS become acceptable? There, on the floor, under the beautiful table, was my purse, the exercise mat, the ...

I have a spice cabinet. In the corner and it has 2 shelves that rotate around. Oh wait, is that a Lazy Susan? Ahhhh... Anyways. It's a big corner cabinet and we are constantly moving stuff around in there trying to find the celery salt, or that BIG container of chili powder I bought not that long ago. And sometimes, we come across things ... which is what prompts me to do today's Take 10 ... seasoning salt that has a use by date of ... are you ready? 02/01/1999. Yes, 1999 ... just like that song. Uggg. So here we go. This is just the bottom shelf that is suppose to be for all the TALL containers. Notice some little guys back there? Those are the ones we lose. I was getting a little ruthless ... And I can't believe I'm throwing out ginger and curry ... ack! But alas, those were from 2005 and as they say, old spices loose their potency so let's see if I have to adjust my seasoning at all (yeah, I was using some of those!) And then a mere 10 (ok, maybe...

In this case, I suppose it really came down to 15 minutes ... as you can see, I started BEFORE I set the timer: I've decided that I'm actually looking forward to the kids leaving the house so that I won't be dealing with construction paper on this level ... This is the guest hallway linen closet.  Yes, typically, such a closet would hold linens, health and beauty items, etc. But in this house, it holds pillows, sheets, office supplies and kids artsy crafty crap. Oh, and a box of tax returns (shudder). As you can see, with kids (mini adults, not toddlers, mind you) the stuff is just shoved around and pulled and crammed here there and everywhere (should have seen it BEFORE all the paper ended on the floor). So, 15 minutes or so later: Ahhh, much better. Not perfect, but good enough.