Cooking & Entertaining

Mary Potts

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Organizing

Back to School

How to Set Up a Lunch-Making Station

Saving money, eating better, creating less waste—what’s not to love about bringing lunch from home? Well, for many of us there’s always at least one obstacle that gets in the way. Whether it’s lack of time, not having the right materials, or simply being in need of inspiration, we’ve got solutions to get your lunch-packing back on track (before you’re tempted to hit the drive-through again!).

Set Up a Lunch-Making Station 
Equip yourself for success by keeping brown bag essentials in one area of the kitchen. Stow food containers and their lids neatly in an organizer rack or on a turntable for easy retrieval from the cabinet. Snacks can either be stashed away in tidy, clear bins or displayed on the counter. Handy over-cabinet hooks hold lunch boxes and totes, while a pretty fruit tray ensures no apple is ever left behind again.

Smarter Food Storage 
There are so many cool, customized ways to enjoy food on the go. Choose containers that best fit your needs, and you’ll be more likely to reach for them again and again.

Salad-savvy: These sets are designed to keep ingredients fresh and dressings separate until you’re ready to toss and enjoy.

Dinner encore: Picks to make last night’s dinner today’s lunch, made from microwave-friendly glass and silicone.

Lunches for littles: from graze-friendly bento boxes to insulated jars that keep foods hot, sending kids off with their favorites is easy. &nbsp;

Ready the Veggies 
Fresh produce can do a lot of heavy lifting for a lighter lunch, from salad and sandwich fixings to healthy dippers for hummus and other spreads. For an easier week, do all the washing and chopping of your veggies on Sunday, and keep everything crunchy in the fridge with special containers that regulate airflow and moisture. Kids can even lend a hand with safe cutting tools of their own.&nbsp;

Keep Your Chill 
No one wants to be left fumbling around for a lost ice pack before that first cup of coffee. That’s what makes these all-in-one freezable lunch bags so ingenious. They keep today’s lunch fresh, then go right back in the freezer overnight for quick lunch packing in the morning.

Here’s to a lunch time that’s satisfying and stress-free! For more inspiration in packing healthier meals to go, check out <a href="https://www.choosemyplate.gov/node/5762">MyPlate.</a>

7 Ways to Step Up Your Mental Health Self-Care

Ideas

It’s not always easy to prioritize mental health. It’s especially difficult when there are outside stressors and when you’ve had a change in routine. But no matter what’s going on, mental health and self-care are important.

For us, it helps to not go it alone. There are myriad tips, tricks, and products we rely on to help us stack the deck in our favor. Here are a few of our favorite ways to take care of ourselves.

Journaling

Keeping a journal and committing to writing in it daily (even if it’s only for five minutes) may reduce feelings of stress. Use it to write out your thoughts and feelings, jot down poems, keep track of your great ideas, organize your daily tasks to make them more manageable, or anything else you’d like. If you’re really struggling for ideas, look for prompts online, which can be helpful. For those just starting out, we recommend making it either the first thing you do in the morning or the last thing at night. If it’s helpful, set a reminder on your phone with an alert.

Meditation

We’ve all heard by now that meditation is good for you. Even if you’re a beginner and haven’t quite gotten it down, just taking the time to attempt to meditate is a great way to unwind. Committing to a few minutes each day (even if it’s just five or 10 minutes) to sit quietly by yourself is a great first step. Focus on your breathing, and relax your shoulders. Using an app like <a href="https://www.headspace.com/">Headspace</a>, which provides themed sessions and guided meditations, is a good place for beginners and the time-challenged.

Fitness

“I regret working out,” said no one ever. Have you heard of the runner’s high? It’s a real thing. Exercise can put you in a good mood, and you don’t have to spend hours in the gym pumping iron. You don’t even have to go to the gym at all. Body weight workouts at home, jogging, yoga, or a brisk walk will do the trick. Carve out some time a few days per week, and get moving!

Get Creative

Putting energy into something creative is a great way to spend your time, clear your head, and focus on something other than work, family, and the everyday stresses of life. Plus, it’s something that’s just for you. Write, draw or paint, try a new recipe, take a dance class—whatever speaks to you!

Take a Warm Bath

We know a shower is faster, but a bath is a great way to relax. Making time to do it regularly (even if it’s just once a month) can work wonders! Grab a book or a glass of wine, add your favorite salts or bubble bath, and enjoy the serene moment.

Discover a New Hobby

Finding something to do with your time outside work and your family can be incredibly beneficial to your wellbeing. Learn to cook or bake, take up hiking or biking, volunteer, attend a dance class. What the hobby is isn’t important. Find something that speaks to you, and dive in!

Put Away Devices

This one isn’t easy. We know how tempting it is to want to have all of the latest information all the time. But, stowing your smartphones, tablets, and other screens can be really helpful. Commit to something, like no cell phones at dinner or no TV before bed. It doesn’t have to be a huge change. Use the time to read or explore that new hobby. You’ll be surprised at how much time (and sleep) you get back when you power down your devices for periods of time. The news will be there when you come back.

Stay well!

How to Organize Your Spices

Spices are quite literally the spice of life and the essence of any truly great-tasting meal. But it’s tough to keep track of them, keep them fresh, and keep them organized—hence, the three containers of coriander in our pantries and that one weird old bay leaf we totally meant to use at some point but never did.

Here are a few of our best spice-organizing tips and tricks.

Take Stock

First, assess what you have. Go through your spices (yes, all of them) and decide what to keep and what not to keep.

One thing to note: Spices don’t exactly expire. And you won’t get sick from using them past their prime, even if they’ve been sitting in your pantry for years. But they do start to dull and lose their flavor over time. With (most) ground spices, this happens pretty quickly—after about five months, you’ll notice a difference. Whole spices (again, most) maintain their freshness longer, for up to a year. To keep your spices as fresh as possible, as long as possible, store them in airtight containers, in a cool, dark place, away from moisture.

Ultimately, what you want to keep is up to you. How much does the loss in flavor bother you? How far did you travel to get the spices? How expensive were they? How often do you use them?

Here are some general guidelines when getting organized:

<ul>
	<li>Keep only one of everything. Those three corianders we mentioned? Keep the one you bought most recently. Haven’t the faintest idea? Smell and taste each one to figure out which is the freshest.</li>
	<li>If you can’t remember where or when you bought a spice, chances are you’ve had it too long (and don’t use it often). Toss it.</li>
</ul>

Create a Storage System That Works for You

Do you want to organize your spices alphabetically? By cuisine? By how often you use them? Any of these are great methods. Pick one that makes sense for you, your kitchen, and the way you cook, and stick to it. Whatever you decide, label and date your spices. That way, you’ll know when it’s time to say goodbye.

Use Space-Savers

The good news: you can keep a lot of your spices in a small cabinet. The bad news: you can keep a lot of your spices in a small cabinet where they’ll get lost. Store your spices upright or on a carousel so you can see and access all the containers.

Additional Spicy Tips

If, say, you use a lot of oregano but only a small amount of saffron, then buy your spices (whole) in bulk (only what you’ll use in the next few months) and grind them yourself. Whole spices stay fresh longer too. And you’ll save money since you’re not tossing out all the saffron that’s past due.

How to Set Up a Lunch-Making Station

BY Mary Potts

A no-more-excuses guide to packing a delicious (and easy!) lunch.

How to Organize Your Spices

7 Ways to Step Up Your Mental Health Self-Care

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