8 Random Things About My Kitchen

I've been tagged by Flo. I have to confess, even though I talk about my home on this blog all the time, when I get tagged I get nervous trying to come up with anything interesting to share. Here goes...

1. We drink exclusively bottled water at home. We use those big polycarbonate bottles that you buy at the health food store (they don't leach plastic into the water). We have not tested our well water, and in town the water has nasty stuff like chlorine and fluoride in it. We also add a calcium supplement to our water.

2. My computer is in my kitchen. Although it is a terrible distraction at times, it is also the best cookbook ever. You can find recipes for anything on the internet. One of my favorite sites is Cooks.com.

3. I have acquired quite the collection of gluten-free baking supplies since we figured out Hannah's gluten intolerance. Flours: brown rice, white rice, sweet rice, tapioca, sorghum, potato, buckwheat (and I'd like some teff, coconut, almond and amaranth). Xanthan or guar gum is another weird thing used to hold together baked goods. All the different flours have different flavors and textures, suited to different kinds of baking. Really, this makes more sense to me than the all-purpose flour concept. Match the flour to the texture of product you want.

4. I have so little counter space that the only gadget I keep on the counter is the toaster. Well, the microwave too, I guess, although I've been dreaming up a way to move that too.

5. I always have a wall calender. This is one organizational thing I learned from my mom. We don't plan a ton of things, but appointments and out of town guests and birthdays and playdates are kept in a place where Nick and I will both see them.

6. I use all-natural dish soap, dishwasher soap, hand soap and disinfectant. At this point I often buy them pre-made because I am lazy, but since our Dave Ramsey plan is cracking down on this part of our budget, I may start making them. Some of the dishwasher soap doesn't work at all, but I like the Ecover tablets and Citridish. 7th Generation stuff leaves scrum on the silverware. Yuck.

7. The past two weeks I have tried meal planning again. I have done this on and off because I know it is a good way to save money on groceries, but it takes time. Anyway, it has been a complete success, and we have actually decreased our food budget by...more than I care to admit. I also like not having to think, "what are we having for dinner tonight?" I just look at my pre-thought-out-according-to-our-schedule list, and start getting things out.

8. Not in the kitchen, but kitchen related: we sit down at the table at almost all meals. At dinner, we require the girls to sit with us for a reasonable period of time, usually 10-20 minutes. I feel that it is important for them to know how to do this, we get time to interact as a family, and it's better for their digestion anyway. We are very able to take our kids to restaurants because they have learned how to sit for a little while. Of course, we can't stay for hours, but we can usually have a pleasant short experience.

So, there ya go. I tag Christina, Saraw, LizT, and Laura
How come so many of you guys don't blog, or blog where people can't read it? :)