Home Management: Simplified & Streamlined, The Kitchen

So far in this series, Rachel and I have been focusing on time management. If we're not managing our time well in general, it will be awfully difficult to streamline other areas of our lives!

This week, we're are moving into the kitchen.

As one who is passionate about feeding my family real, whole, nourishing foods, I find I spend a lot of time in the kitchen most days. The food prep., the cleaning--it all takes time. And there are days when I totally get why families eat pre-packaged meals most nights. ;)

Since we're not going to be doing that, I'd like to streamline my kitchen so I can continue providing my family the nourishing foods they need and hopefully spend a little less time doing it.

A few goals for my kitchen:

::Decluttering. I want everything in my kitchen to be useful. Otherwise, it just gets in the way.

::Filling the freezer. I haven't done much freezer cooking, and what I have done hasn't been ultra-successful. But, with Ben's current diet and a new baby coming (just 11 1/2 weeks until my due-date!), I would love to fill my freezer with some tasty food to make the post-baby days smoother.

::Streamline menu planning. I spend a pretty good chunk of time each week planning our menus. It's definitely a valuable tool, but it would be even better if it didn't take me a couple of hours every Saturday.

::Getting breakfast and lunch on the table faster. I don't mind when dinner takes a little longer, as the day is winding down. But I love when I can get a nice breakfast or lunch on the table quickly. Since breakfast is starting the day off and lunch is right in the middle, it's more important to me that they take less time to prepare--while still providing lots of good nutrition for my people.

Week 6 Project:
This week, we'll be decluttering our kitchens. I intend to choose a small section each day and go through it, deciding what to keep and what to toss. I want a clean, clutter-free counter top and clutter-free cabinets. And, ahem, I guess I should probably shoot for a clean pantry too. We'll be back next week with our results!

Be sure to visit Rachel at Intentionally Simple to see her goals for streamlining her kitchen!