In My Kitchen - March Favourites

Welcome to In My Kitchen - March edition!

Nothing new or exciting has happened in my kitchen this month.... its been quite a busy month really. So I decided I would share with you some of my kitchen favourites before the month is over!
You can link your kitchen on the Fig Jam and Lime Cordial blog. Thanks to Celia for this wonderful idea and hosting! 

When we were looking at buying a home I saw the pictures of this kitchen and I wasn't convinced at all that I would like it.... then when we came to have an inspection I instantly fell in love with the kitchen!
I do believe Nigella Lawson when she says "The kitchen is the heart of the home". If you don't enjoy being in your kitchen then meal times become a real chore. And I really do believe that meal times are very valuable to family life.

Here's our kitchen:

 

Well half of it..... the side where I'm standing to take the photo has a fridge space and a walk in pantry.

I love our walk in pantry. Its incredibly spacious and so easy to access.
I do tend to keep it overstocked though...... 

I don't like having the fridge full of magnets and other clutter. A messy fridge stresses me! And it scratches the fridge to have magnets on it! There is only one magnet allowed on our fridge:

 Because we can all do with some extra veggies in our life! ;-)

I love having a microwave shelf. It frees up valuable bench space.

I also love the green microwave cover that we use. I picked it up from Ikea and it helps to reduce splatters and keeps the microwave more clean. I wish the blue one was available when we bought ours... it would definitely suit our kitchen more!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a dishwasher! Washing up is my least favourite home duty. Packing and unpacking the dishwasher is so relaxing for me!

We made little magnets to put on the front of the dishwasher saying 'clean' and 'dirty' so that there is no confusion! (We don't usually have both on the front, I just did that to take the picture!)

When we moved in I wondered how I would use a little half/side cupboard. I found that it stored our tupperware containers perfectly. Its such an easy way to have these regularly used containers easy to get at. I like to keep the circular containers on one shelf and the rectangular/square ones on another shelf. I find they stack much more easily that way.

I also love having a few big drawers under our oven/grill. Its so easy to store all our baking trays and pans in a drawer. I have mixing bowls, measuring cups, cookie cutters, electric beaters etc in the other drawer. Its also really handy to have all the baking supplies in one easy spot to access right near the oven. 

I also love our outlook from out kitchen window. We used to live on a very busy highway and it was not nice to have that view or the noise. This window view is so relaxing for me - made all the better by my addition of curtains :-)

I cannot leave my kitchen without mentioning my coffee machine!
It is used daily and much loved. I swear by Sunbeam espresso machines - they make great coffee!

And to finish off I'll add a picture of something that will probably be all finished by the time next month comes!
Slim Me Noodles... I was fortunate enough to win these. Check out Claire's amazingly awesome blog full of wonderfully tasty and easy recipes at Almost Skinny Vegan Food. 
These 'noodles' are made using the vegetable root of the konjac plant. They are very low in calories and are free from gluten, sugar, fat and soy. Their texture is quite similar to pasta. They are really easy to 'cook' (just need to be soaked in hot water) and don't really have any taste so you can eat them with anything! My opinion is they are best eaten with lots of sauce! You can read about them and purchase them from this link. 

My mother used to have a plaque in her kitchen with this poem - I really love it! I don't know who wrote it but I think its very sweet and clever :-)

If ever I find one then I will definitely buy it and hang it up too!

My Little Kitchen Prayer

Bless my little kitchen, Lord

I love its every nook

And bless me as I do my work, 

Wash pots and pans and cook.

 

May the meals that I prepare

Be seasoned from above

With Thy Blessings and Thy Grace,

But most of all, Thy Love.

As we partake of earthly food,

The table Thou hast spread,

We'll not forget to thank Thee, Lord

For all our daily bread.

So bless my little kitchen, Lord

And those who enter in,

May they find naught but Joy and Peace

And Happiness therein.

Question of the day:
What's your favourite part of your kitchen?