Sunday, March 24, 2013

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?

8 comments:

  1. 1. Thank you so much for your kind words :) I'm so lucky to have found such a great blogger friend!

    2. I am so jealous of your kitchen!!! I should photograph mine for you haha (although my fridge is absolutely covered and would drive you nuts), it's tiny and oldddd (ah the joys of renting) it's literally 3 steps by 3 steps and has our dining table in it. I dream of the day when we have a dishwasher...

    3. I love that poem. I'm not overly religious but was raised catholic but I just love it's message. Plus- we all know that the best food is made with love. If you're angry or upset when cooking you can taste it, no matter the ingredients whenever people go nuts for my cooking it's been when I've had the best day in the kitchen and am excited about feeding others :)

    4. Apologies for the lack of recent comments- uni has taken over my waking hours (actually I've been having nightmares about it now too). It's not for lack of reading or thinking of you though! xxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hehehe i had small kitchens for years so I must admit I felt so rewarded when we got this one!!!
      True re meals carrying our 'feelings'!
      I know you've been busy - don't feel like commenting needs to be on your to-do list ok ;-) xxx

      Delete
  2. You have a lovely kitchen and thankyou for sharing. I enjoy my kitchen also - its not big but for the 2 of us, its perfect. I might have to do a kitchen blog and follow on from you!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes yes yes come and join the fun! :-) I'd love to see you add a post to 'in my kitchen' :-)

      Delete
  3. I love your kitchen!! It seems really well designed and that pantry is brilliant. I like the dishwasher magnets too - great idea :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks :-) I couldn't survive without our dishwasher magnets now!!!!

      Delete
  4. Sandy, thank you for the lovely tour! It's nice to see a kitchen which is so well loved and so well used! May it bring you years of cooking joy! :)

    ReplyDelete