Mealtime can be easier with a few simple tools.

Let’s solve your daily frustrations with minimalist solutions that don’t cost money.

Big changes can occur with simple ideas. 

We recently presented a workshop on the topic of Minimalist Solutions to Every Day Frustrations. We broke the ideas down based on the 7 Ingredients for an Extraordinary Life (if you haven’t read our book, you can buy it here). Those 7 ingredients are Body, Mind, Work, Social, Family, Stuff, and Giving Back. Those headings are to help guide us in discovering our frustrations. 

So, take 3 deep breaths and shake some part of your body.

Now, think about your daily life, your routine or lack of routine. Do you have any frustrations that come to mind?

Example: Not having enough motivation to exercise, impulsive shopping, too many activities and feeling overwhelmed, poor relations with family members, etcetera.

The acknowledgment of these frustrations is not meant to make you feel bad. Once you can identify a frustration you are then more able to take steps to eliminate them. And if you can’t think of any frustrations that’s okay too. Smile and be proud that you’re in a good place.

Scroll to the area that matches your frustration.

BODY 

In order to feel well each one of us will need different amounts of sleep, food, and exercise. If one of those areas are being neglected it can leave us feeling frustrated with our Body. The following are 3 minimalist solutions to help get you back on track.

MIND 

It’s a power centre and requires attention to stay healthy. Some of us need more stimulation and others require a pull at the emergency breaks. 

STUFF 

If you want to take steps to evaluate your belongings please start by reading our post on decluttering.  

FAMILY 

The best minimalist suggestion we have for you is to communicate. If face-to-face visits are challenging or physically impossible then we recommend writing letters, making phone calls, or a digital version of both. Also, preserving memories can be a very healing and happy experience.

SOCIAL 

Take a moment right now and ask yourself, “Do I need more social activities or less social activities?” There is no magic number, everyone needs different amounts of social engagement. The following suggestions will help you be accountable and have some fun. 

WORK 

A vast majority of us will spend a good chunk of our time on work. Whether you work 9 to 5, shift work, or are seeking a new position our suggestion remains the same.

GIVING BACK 

The final area. An area of your life that should come when you feel you are ready to give your energy away. We don’t recommend jumping into this when you aren’t feeling able to look after yourself. Avoid burn-out or compassion fatigue by making sure your cup is full before Giving Back.

We believe that this can be one of the most rewarding areas of your life. The easiest way to be able to do it often and with intention is by looking after yourself and trying to stay away from frustrations in your own life. Also, giving back is a great way to gain perspective, maybe even feel a bit more gratitude. 

If you’re currently not in a position to give back consider accepting help from someone around you. Accepting help can be a great way to catapult yourself into feeling well again, which will then put you in a better position to give back to others. Do you see? It’s a beautiful ripple effect. So the only minimalist solution for this area of your life is to look after yourself so that you’re then able to look after others. 

Inside A Professional Organizer’s Home Kitchen

Before and After

We get vulnerable and show you inside our home kitchen.

We love our home. If you met us you’d know that we literally tell people that we dreamed of our current home. In 2013, we made a list of all the things we’d love in a home – it’s location, how many rooms, must-have’s, and price – and we got what we asked for. Samantha happened to be walking down the street with a friend and saw a sign that read “2 Bedroom Apartment For Rent” and it all fell together from that moment on. 

So what’s the point of my story?

Well, I’m glad you asked.

Even though we love our home we try every year to declutter our spaces. We pick a space that has a few frustrations and block off some time in our calendars to spend time making it better. We give ourselves permission to make decluttering a priority because every frustration we solve results in our day-to-day life feeling better.

So join us for a tour of our Home Kitchen and Pantry. We have created 5 videos to help share our story and a few How-To’s along the way. If you’re unsure of what Decluttering is I encourage you to read this blog.

Do you love your kitchen? Post your thought below.

Learn how to make mealtime easier and fun Quick fix at five – CTV Kitchener

Rosie Del Campo (CTV Kitchener) and Emilio Jose Garcia (KW Professional Organizers) share with you tips to make mealtime easier. 

Secrets to making mealtime easier

One of the first and most important things to make mealtime easier is to eliminate frustrations. Take a moment right now and reflect on your own habits around cooking. Can you quickly identify any frustrations? 

For example, you regularly put a pot of soup on stove to heat up and leave the room, returning to find a mess all over the stove. Or maybe it’s making the decision on what to have to eat everyday and getting overwhelmed by choices.

Getting everyone in the house on board with mealtime habits and routines is also a great way to ease frustrations around mealtime. Although it takes time to ‘train’ new habits into other members of the house, it is well-worth the investment as they become solidified into the new norm.

Ways to make mealtime fun:

• pick a theme (example: specialty dishes from different cultures, finger foods, breakfast for dinner, bbq)
• each person has a responsibility (example: Samantha cooks, Eva sets the table, Emilio clears the table)
• pick a topic to talk about over dinner (example: what’s your favourite animal and why? the best covid-19 friendly places to visit, what is your favourite dinner?)
• create a great atmosphere ( example: set the table, light a candle, select music that moves you, put away all devices and distractions)

Tools to use:

• shelf dividers
• lazy susans
• a timer
• meal planning app
• glide out shelfs
• small electronic appliances: hand emulsion blender, toaster oven, food processor, crockpot, rice cooker or instapot 
• physical calendar or meal plan

Enroll in Meal Planning for Any Diet course from our KWPO Academy for in-depth explanations, how-to’s, and recipes.

Top 5 Products to Optimize Your Kitchen Storage.

After decluttering and organizing kitchens since 2012, we have mastered what kind of products work best to optimize your kitchen storage space. In this video, we are sharing with you the top 5 products we use on a regular basis.

We always recommend not buying any products before doing a decluttering session. The reason is that most times, you will end up with extra space after decluttering. Also, you may be able to use existing products that you already have, saving you time and money.

Make sure you declutter your kitchen and only keep the items that you need and serve a purpose. It doesn’t make sense to organize items you don’t need/use.

If products are needed, now is the time to measure your cabinets, and the items you need to store, to make sure that you buy the right product.  

When we do a kitchen organizing session, we always bring with us the main products that we use all the time, and we only charge what we paid for at the store. This way we can be very effective with our time and finish the project faster. If you feel like you may need to buy products in advanced, make sure that you keep the receipt in case you need to return them.

We hope you find this post valuable. Please share with us your comments below.

Meal prep and planning is the best kept secret to every great restaurant, so why should it be any different in your home?

At first it’s hard to imagine making 5 star meals in your home every night, but it’s possible, it’s simple and it’s all about the Meal Prep!

I know what you’re thinking… bah! This person is crazy! But really, take it from me that I used to hate the thought of Meal Planning. I thought I would lose my ability to be spontaneous and that I would eat the same boring food all the time. However, when Emilio convinced me to try it 4 years ago the results were the EXACT opposite.

Meal prep and planning actually resulted in:

• more spontaneity
• more diversity in every day meals
• healthier food choices
• less spending on last minute foods or restaurants
• way less stress when it came to making the meal
• way more money saved because food waste NO LONGER HAPPENED! #truth

Here are the key weekly tasks and habits that have made the transition to meal planning easier!

Organized Meal Planning could be your solution to saving money, reducing stress and eating better.

According to StatsCan, food costs represent a large portion of where Canadians spend their money.  Following the costs for Shelter and Transportation, Food represents an average household spend of $7500/year (monthly average $625). A number that doesn’t include what Canadians spend in restaurants which is an average household extra spend of $185/month. Do you know how much you and your family spend on food per month?

KW Professional Organizers’ recognize a need in Waterloo Region for Organized Meal Planning.  After working with clients in their kitchens for the past 3 years we have heard a consistent message.

“I feel stress when I get home and have to make dinner.”

“I feel overwhelmed when I look in my cupboards and don’t know what to make.”

“I work on a budget, but I am always spending more than I budget.”

Organized Meal Planning: A System that works!

You can follow these basic steps if you’re just getting started. Once completed you will need to work hard at developing the habits that come along with Meal Planning.  Once you create habits that fit you and your family, you’ll be on your way to reducing stress, saving money and eating better!

1. The Why? Determine what it is that is driving you to make a change. You’ll need this information to know whether you’re achieving your goal!
   Example:  You’re overspending each month and want to reduce your monthly food costs. GOAL: To Save Money
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2. Inventory Your Tools! Go through your kitchen and storage spaces to see what you have to work with.  Is your kitchen an inviting place to create meals? Example: Open a drawer or cupboard and really look at what you have to work with. Are your tools accessible? Do you have items you no longer use or need preventing you from easy access?
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3. Ideas, Recipes & Inspiration! Think and research the meals, snacks, and lunches you want to make. At this point getting others involved to decide on food choices is very important.
   Example: Research online recipe sites, pull out your cooking books, or watch some cooking shows. Keep track of the ideas that really motivate you — REMEMBER — don’t select too many choices all at once, limit yourself to a handful to try first.
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4. Create an In-Home Inventory & Shopping List. Do not create a shopping list until you have inventoried your pantry and food storage spaces! Use what you have first – then buy more.
   If there are still food items missing then create a shopping list.
   Example: If you usually store canned tomatoes in your pantry and a recipe calls for the use of them — make sure that you use what is currently on hand before adding it to the shopping list.
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5. Form A Plan! Write out the days of the week on paper, in a phone application, on a whiteboard, etc. Decide your main meals first, lunches & Breakfasts may not be necessary.  Be sure to include any social outings or engagements you have on the meal plan!
   Example: If you have a meeting every Tuesday try to choose meals that require less prep time. On evenings when you’re free you can choose meals that take more effort and time to cook.
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6. Sourcing Food & Grocery Shopping! This can be fun for some and a nightmare for others. Arm yourself with your detailed shopping list and stick to it (avoid making purchases of items that are NOT on the list).
   Consider alternatives to grocery stores: CSA’s, Food Delivery Services, buying direct from farmers, farmers markets, personal gardens, or meal delivery services.
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7. Food Preparation & Cooking! After creating a plan and sourcing your food you MUST schedule the time to prepare and cook it.
   Example: If you know you like to grocery shop on Sundays, try scheduling 1-2 hours after your shopping to properly prepare veggies, freeze items into proper portions, or even start cooking. Some people will take a larger chunk of time to prepare several meals in one day so that it lasts over a week or month!
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8. Food Storage & Freezing! The most important thing to know for storing foods is properly labeling those items. Food labels should always include NAME, MONTH & YEAR. (click to learn more about Food Safety)
   There are many options for storage make sure you find something that suits your portions and fits your storage spaces perfectly.
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9. Maintenance! Set yourself up for success and develop the habits necessary for maintaining your Meal Plan. You will need 1 place where you can record information, keep lists & include details.
   If there are several people using your food prep space there needs to be collaboration for the meal planning to work. Make sure everyone is on the same page.
   
   Example: An erasable surface in the kitchen or pantry where you can write out weekly your meal planning. The space should include a place to store writing instruments, a pad of paper for shopping lists, a timer (to keep you on track when cooking or prepping), a space for recording what is needed in the next shopping trip and finally space to include what events are happening during the week. There are great phone applications available, but be sure that everyone in the household has access to your system!

Learn a step by step method to take full control of your meal planning!