2022 is The Year of Organization

The start of a new year always brings excitement stemming from the endless possibilities of what lies in store for us over the next 365 days.  Possibilities such as what changes will take place, what challenges we might face, what obstacles we will need to overcome, what joys we might experience and what amazing things we will accomplish over the next 12 months.  It's a fresh, new start, a flip of the calendar and an opportunity for self reflection.  Self reflection then usually leads to defining some New Year’s resolutions.

Resolutions  

The tradition of crafting resolutions for the new year is still alive and well.  Some people simply state things they would like to do in the new year, others journal about them or create a vision board. These all serve as inspiration and motivation to put into action whatever it is we are seeking to accomplish.  Popular New Year’s resolutions are often health related.  Losing weight, starting or improving upon an exercise program, and eating healthier are great examples of popular health related resolutions.  I admit, my annual declaration of self improvement plans have always included health related resolutions and this year was no exception. 

 The Year of Organization

I have declared this the year of organization.  I plan to organize closets, drawers, counter tops, book cases, my email inbox and whatever else may need my attention. All of these things have been screaming for my attention for too long,  but here is where I need to extend some kindness and compassion to myself.  I have had a full plate being a homeschooling mom of two. I have not had the time or energy to make home organization a priority.  I'm sure many of you can relate. There are some things that just have to wait when you have very young children to take care of.  My kids are a bit older now, so I have some time to chip away at the disorganization throughout the year.   

Priorities

So, what does getting organized have to do with health?  Serving my family home cooked healthy meals has been and always will be a daily priority. What we eat plays a large role in improving and maintaining our health. I also know that teaching and practicing good eating habits will serve my children well as they continue to grow into adults, who are equipped to make healthy food choices.  I put time and energy into each and every meal I prepare.  Preparing healthy home cooked meals goes beyond chopping, mixing, cooking and after meal clean up.  Preparing home cooked healthy meals also includes planning a budget friendly, weekly menu and shopping for the items needed to make the meals on the menu. 

Over the years I have tried to streamline some of these tasks such as cooking once and eating twice tactics, using grocery pick up services and often reusing the menus I have created to save time planning.  All these strategies work well and save me time and energy, but I knew there was something else that I could do that would also save me time and energy on meal prep... reorganize my kitchen!! Reorganizing my kitchen would improve efficiency, which in turn will help me to maintain my priority of serving my family home cooked healthy meals. 

 Evolving

When we first moved into this house over a decade ago, I spent lots of time unpacking all of the boxes labeled kitchen.   I felt I did well organizing our kitchen while filling our shelves and cabinets with all our essentials.  As the years have gone by, our family has grown, we have accumulated more kitchen tools, lost some others and my cooking habits have evolved for the better.  During the early years I needed to designate shelves and drawers to house baby bottles, sippy cups, kid plates and kid utensils, which meant that I had to fill other drawers and cabinets to the brim. I had to stack, pile up and use every inch of room available. As most of us know, when your drawers and cabinets are full and you need to take something out, such as a pan, it involves much energy, magician-like tactics to prevent everything from falling out, and of course it's very noisy.  It's also the same when you are trying to put clean dishes, pots and pans away.  Lift this up, slide that over, put this lid on that put and then stack them inside each other.  It takes time, energy and a whole lot of patience. It can be a deterrent to preparing a nice meal too.   My goal was to thin out each cabinet so that pans didn’t have to be stacked three high and I didn’t have to take 5 things out to get to the one item I needed. I also needed to reorganize cabinet storage so that the things I used most often were close by and easy to access.  

The Process

To begin, I surveyed the amount of cabinet space I had and all the things I wanted to store.  I started to take everything out of the cabinets and put it all on the kitchen table and breakfast bar.  I threw away things that were broken, designated a space on the table for items to donate and a space for everything I was going to keep.  Once I had all my cabinets emptied I thought about what items I used the most and how they should be in closest proximity to where they are used.  For example, keeping the pots and pans in the cabinet closest to the stove and keeping food storage containers in the cabinets nearest the refrigerator made sense.  As I was plugging away, I had many moments of, “What was I thinking putting this here?”  A great example, I had my supply of cake baking pans and cake decorating tools in a cabinet near the stove which is my main prep area, so prime real estate as far as cabinets go.  I only use those tools and pans a few times a year for birthdays and other special occasions, so why would I have something I hardly use so close to where I prepare the meals?  Live and learn, live and learn.  The cabinet now houses my cutting boards and mats, strainers and my Crock Pot, which I use often. My cake pans and tools are on the other side of the kitchen.  I continued to thin out and reorganize until every last item had a new home.

 Worth the Investment

  I am so happy with how things have turned out.  Everything is so much easier to get to, which is such a time saver, and the things I use most often are close by.   Investing my time into this project, which was less than 2 hours, has already paid big dividends in efficiency.  I love the feel of the newly organized space and the ease it provides in the daily cooking of those healthy meals for my family.  I still have much more home organizing to do over the year, but the kitchen was a great place to start!  Happy New Year friends!