Make the Most out of Limited Cabinet Space + a coupon.

I have a very small kitchen.  Not only is it small, the layout was poorly planned 50+ years ago.  And there is very little storage/cabinet space. 

Grace's things take up an entire cabinet.  This cabinet holds her quart-sized formula bottles, containers of juice, baby food jars, boxes of baby cereal, assorted baby/toddler snacks, sippy cups, plastic dishes, her utensils, etc. 

Every time I would put Grace in her high chair, I would have to run to her bedroom to grab a bib.  We live in a rancher, so it's really not that big of a deal to run down the hall to grab a bib, but with every meal, it was just getting to be annoying.  Besides, I would usually remember that I needed to grab a bib after Grace was already in her high chair and once she's in her chair, she wants to eat right away!  She doesn't want to wait for me to run to her room. 

I didn't want a pile of bibs sitting on the kitchen table all the time and I just didn't have any more space in "her" cabinet.  Or so I thought. 

A couple of months ago, I had an idea.  Attach a hook to the inside of the cabinet to hold Grace's bibs.  I started to make a mental note to call Joe and ask him to stop at the hardware store for some sort of hook to screw into the cabinet door.  I was thinking a cup hook or some other small hook. 

I then remembered that we used some of those Command Hooks by 3M to attach our garland to the top of our mantel over the holidays.  So, I went out to the garage and grabbed one and attached it to the inside of the cabinet. 

I can squeeze about 5 or 6 bibs on that hook and as long as I remember to replace the dirty ones with clean ones, it saves me running down the hall while Grace is making it known (loudly) that she's ready to eat! 

Here's a picture of the Command Hook by 3M in use: 

I love that this can easily be removed once Grace refuses no longer needs to wear a bib!   And there won't be any holes left once it's removed like there would be if I used a cup hook like I originally planned. 

When I went to link to the Command website, I found a couple of printable coupons.  One for $1.00 off Command Picture Hanging Strips and another for $1.00 off Command Hooks. 

Click here to download and print the coupons.  Act fast, these coupons expire 3/31/10. 

I'll be linking this post to the following blog carnivals:  

• 
  
  Frugal Friday, 3/19/10
• 
  
  Make Do Monday
  
  
  Kitchen Tip Tuesday, 3/23/10
• 
  
  Works for Me Wednesday, 3/24/10

Be sure to read my CSN Stores / Le Creuset product review that I posted on Thursday afternoon! 

Make-Do Monday ~ Using What's in the Pantry

I'm a little late in posting this today, but still wanted to share my Make-Do Monday tip with you....

Make-do with what's in your pantry.

Sometimes I want to try a new recipe. Especially now, when there are so many food related blogs on the Internet. But sometimes, I don't have all the ingredients.

There are a couple of options open to me. Skip trying the recipe until the next shopping trip OR I can see what missing ingredients can be substituted with items I already have in my pantry.

Today, I chose to substitute.

I've been wanting to try Cowboy Stew for a while now. I saw the recipe on the Crock Pot Lady's blog.

I didn't have tomato sauce that her recipe called for, so I checked to see what I had in my pantry and found a can of Ready-To-Serve Tomato Soup that my husband bought a while back (instead of the condensed soup that I needed at the time). I hate plain tomato soup and had no idea how I would use up that can of soup. Until today!

I was so pleased to be able to use that can of soup and not worry about it going past the expiration date before I found a use for it. And I was really glad that I was able to make the meal that I wanted without having to wait for the next shopping trip! I think that is a double success story for today!

Here is the link to MY version of Cowboy Stew. It's posted on my other blog.

Make Do Monday: Oven Repair

We purchased our home 2 years ago. It's an older home, I think it was built in 1955. I also think that the only upgrades that were made to the house by the original owner was the whole house vacuum system that was installed it he 80s and the avocado green and gold carpets from the 70s.

While I'm loving the whole house vac, the carpets were ripped up and thrown away on our first day in the house!

We still need to do a lot of work on the house, but time (and money) is always an issue.

Last year, our wall oven broke. As with everything else in the place, it's the original oven that was installed when the house was built. It's small, it's ugly, it's old, but it's all we've got at the moment.

For us to replace the oven with something more updated, we would have to do an entire kitchen remodel. That is something that is so not in the budget right now, or in the near future.

When the oven died, I tried to get by without it as long as I could. I didn't really think I used it as often as I actually do.

Finally, my husband found an appliance repair shop a couple of towns over. He told the owner that he believed that the heating element went in the oven. He gave the owner our model number and serial number and was able to order a new heating element for the oven.

A few weeks later, the shop owner called my husband to let him know that the part was in, my husband picked it up on his way home from work and installed it himself when he got home!

So, for $40, I have my small, ugly, old oven back! Hoping it will hold up and allow us to make do until we can afford the kitchen remodel!


For more Make Do Monday tips, visit My Practically Perfect Life.
I am also sharing this post at Life As Mom's Frugal Friday.