Since yesterday’s Frugal Challenge already had us reorganizing our pantry, I thought I’d pick something quick and easy for today’s Tidy Tuesday Task.

Where do you keep your pots and pans? I have them all shoved into a low cabinet right across from my stove. Pots and pans are stacked just about as high as they will go in there.

It’s time to do something about that….

photo credit: cybrgrl

Step 1: Get it All Out

Let’s start by getting all our pots and pans out of the cabinet (or wherever you are keeping all of yours.

Step 2: Sort Through

Next it’s time to decide what pots and pans stay and who gets a ride to the trash can. I know I have some things in there that I know I will no longer use because they are just in pitiful shape. I also have quite a few cast iron pans, more than I actually end up using and am planning on giving one or two of them away to make a little more room.

Step 3: Time To Clean

Since all the pots and pans are already out anyway, this is a great time to clean both the cabinet and any pots and pans that haven’t been used in a while.

Step 4: Put It All Back

Last but not least it’s time to put everything back in place. If you’ve been able to get rid of some of your unused pots and pans in one way or another, you should have no problem reorganizing them in the cabinet.

Don’t forget to fix yourself a cup of coffee or tea and relax for a bit after all that work.

photo credit: RobotSkirts

Ready to tackle the rest of your kitchen? Get Organize Your Kitchen and Pantry in a Weekend for a step by step plan to do just that.

Are you ready for another frugal challenge? This week, I’d like you to take a good look at your pantry. I don’t know about you, but before I came up with a good plan for my pantry and all the dry goods stored in it, I ended up wasting a lot of food each month. Bread and rolls would get lost toward the back of a shelf only to be found much later squished, dry or worse – moldy. I’d come across several open jars of peanut butter and would end up tossing them out since I had no idea how old they were. Same goes with dry cereal and potato chips. By the time they were rediscovered, they no longer tasted good at all.

I spent a day emptying my pantry, sorting through everything I had and then reorganizing everything that was still deemed edible. It mad a huge difference. It takes me about 10 minutes a week now to straighten the pantry back up, something I usually do while I’m making my grocery list for the week since I need to check on what I need to pick up from the store anyway.

I challenge you to give your pantry a makeover this week. And then keep it organized and fully usable from here on out. You’ll be surprised to find two things.

1) There’s a bunch of food in your pantry right now that you probably forgot about. Use it over the coming weeks to cut down on your grocery budget.

2) Over the coming weeks and months, you’ll throw out less food, thus again reducing your grocery budget.

Let me know how it goes.

Happy Frugal Fun Friday… since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I thought we could all share some fun foods and recipes to make for that special, romantic day. Hubby and I usually don’t do much for Valentine’s day, but it’s always fun to come up with a little something special.

This is also the first year that out daughter is really getting into Valentine’s Day. She’s been busy making cards and little bags of treats for her friends. I thought it would be nice to surprise both her and my hubby with some Valentine inspired dishes tomorrow.

Breakfast

For breakfast I was thinking of either making some heart shaped pancakes, or take it a step further and make some two tone pancakes. It’s basically a matter of making a batch of pancake batter and then dividing it evenly in two bowls. Use food coloring to turn one half of the batter red or pink. Then make the pancakes as usual. When done, use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut a heart out of the middle of each pancake. Gently take out the heart. Put a red heart inside the cutout shape of the plain pancake and vice versa.

Dinner

I’m going to make a heart shaped pizza for dinner tomorrow night. We have pizza quite a bit on Saturdays anyway, but this will give it a fun twist. I’m going to use this quick and easy pizza recipe. Of course you could also ask your favorite pizza place to make you a special heart shaped pizza.

Of course you could also cook a nice romantic dinner for just the two of you. We did this on our anniversary last year. We waited until our daughter was in bed, then set the table with a tablecloth, a candle and our good china.

Here’s an idea for a romantic 3 course dinner. You may also want to pick up a bottle of wine.

• Crockpot Minestrone SoupI like the idea of using a crockpot because you’ll have time to enjoy the evening and don’t have to worry about finishing this first course. Serve a small serving as the first course, then save the rest for lunch tomorrow.
• Pick a simple meal that you can stick in the oven and cook without having to watch over it the entire time. I like this oven pot roast. Just roast some potatoes, onions and carrots in a separate pan alongside your roast.
• How about some homemade brownies for dessert. Cut each of you a piece, place each on a plate and drizzle with chocolate syrup for a stunning dessert.

Ok, now it’s your turn. Got any good frugal Valentine ideas?