It all starts with an organised pantry:

before

pantry after

Now that we are on the tail end of the school holidays (as you might have guessed by the amount of sibling fighting going on in your house), here are a couple of points I find/found helpful over the years:

Don’t buy the school uniform too early. When I helped at my kid’s primary school at Orientation day in October, I couldn’t believe how many parents bought every item available, even winter clothes. Kids can grow considerably in three months.

Same goes for shoes

Buy at least two school hats

These are our favorite lunch boxes. They have a hinged lid so you’ll never lose the lid. And I am very happy to report, that they are available from Woolworth. I used to import them from Switzerland – complicated and expensive. They come in different sizes, so you can avoid buying overpriced single wrapped snack/ treat items. Just put two biscuits in one of these and you’ll save the planet from too much packaging. And if you can pack the sandwiches separate from the fruit, you don’t have to use any glad wrap. So that can’t be blown away on the playground, because my kids tell me, that’s what seals get wrapped up in.

To keep all the boxes in one place use one big container. The best all year round ones are the slightly isolated with a zipper. The sipper should open on the big side, so you can access all the boxes at once, rather than have to fish them out one by one from the top.

Stock up on lunchboxes (I never thought I would use the word: stock up!) you’ll never find the same variety throughout the year. And you might need them. Some kids lose a lot. Others just give up in term III (the lunchboxes not the kids). For some reason boy’s lunchboxes are quicker sold out than girl’s.

Water bottles. Well, this is a bit of an issue. Decor used to have these very flat ones out of hard plastic, but they don’t make them any more, and I have been searching all of last year. There is plenty out there in that sort of size, but I am not too keen on the softeners in the plastic. So if anybody can point me in the right direction….?I also like them nice and flat, so they can act as a cooling pad in summer. Fill it with water up to 2/3, then top it up in the morning. Otherwise it might not have defrosted enough by the time the first brake comes.

there are other specialised containers out there. I found these at “Chalet” but didn’t buy them yet. I am contemplating the green one, because bananas are really hard to transport, and once they ripen in our garden, I have to feed them to the crowds.

Reading through this, I actually realised, that there are a couple of tips for my “no kids” customers. Maybe one of your New Year’s resolutions were to save money. So what about starting to take a sandwich from home instead of buying lunch in the city. You’ll save yourself a staggering $1500 a year – and don’t spend that on another handbag!!!!!

“The sheer amount of clothing in my cupboards used to confuse me and I thought I had nothing to wear!  Now that I have put the summer clothes away I have much less in the cupboard but strangely, no urge to buy a lot of clothes. I can see what I’ve got and where the gaps in my wardrobe are and plan accordingly. It’s like magic.
I loved getting your worksheets  and I am pretty chuffed at the progress

I have been putting labels on shelves in the kitchen so I can see instantly where things are (even though I think I “know” where they are) and it has been so helpful when making a shopping list. It is saving me money already. So proud of myself for doing all this.

I went to Bunning’s and got the new shelf  today and have been re organising the linen etc closet. What has amazed me is how much better I am at planning and making the changes we worked out together. I make lists and only get what I need, and if they don’t have what I need I don’t buy anything! Particularly surprised  at how little I really  need to buy to get all this done.
I have a little list of items to get tomorrow, with measurements. Can’t wait to get this place really humming.  Susanne, I can’t thank you enough. It has actually been FUN! I reorganised my desk drawer tonight and enjoyed it! ”

Sally-Anne, Drummoyne

Over the last week I have been following Jamie Oliver on twitter and his mission to educate people so they can feed their kids sustainable food. One commentator on a blog wrote at length about Jamie’s astonishment when he found out, that there are a lot of kids in America growing up not using knives and forks to eat. For them food is always finger food.
I found this quiet shocking too and I don’t think that we here in Australia are much different.
I think it’s a parent’s duty to give their kids basic manners and social skills – and I know it is hard, I am still struggling with two of my kids using the knife as an aid to put things onto their fork (the knife as a cutting device is much more appreciated by the boys.)
I think we have to distinguish between eating as the task of putting food in one’s mouth so you don’t starve and eating as in family dinners, sharing stories and food. I am talking about the later, because I honestly believe, that’s where eating disorders start. Food needs to be appreciated – kids have to develop a relationship with food, they have to learn about food, and, to come back to where I began, to learn the socially accepted way to eat it.
But it’s not just lack of cooking skills, time and ability to use a knife and fork. I am coming across a lot of families that basically don’t have a dinner table they can use.
And that’s not because they don’t have one, but because it’s so full of clutter that nobody eats at it.
So mums feed the kids in front of the TV, that’s easy and very non confrontational. And when dad comes home, the parents do the same, balancing their plate on their knees.
I would say, no wonder kids grow up with some sort of eating disorder, either too much or too little, because who would go to the effort of cooking nice food if nobody really gets what’s eaten , distracted by watching TV.
So, I am going to  tweet to Jamie Oliver to show him this other obstacle in the way to fulfill his mission of family dinners.

When I started my computer this morning I found a mail from a journalist asking me to comment about food wastage.
According to her 5.2 billion $ a year are wasted in Australia on food that’s bought but doesn’t get eaten.
I think everybody is guilty of throwing some food out – but it should be the exception, not the rule.
Here is what I have to say about this topic:

• People have a very high standard when going shopping and all good intention to “home cook this week”. And then never get around to it.

• Lack of planning ahead and impulse buying.

• People can cook and would love to do it, but are so overwhelmed with the clutter on bench top and dinner table that they rather feed the kids baked beans in front of the TV.

• Sometimes it is the second generation eating like this. A lot of my clients tell me, that they never learned.

And here are a couple of ideas to get started to not contribute to this 5.2 billion $ price tag:

• meal plan

• Shop with a shopping list.

• Organise your pantry – every half year!!!!

• Ask for help and learn

• Always unpack the dishwasher – this one sounds a bit out of line, but if you treat the dishwasher as a cupboard for dirty dishes rather than clean ones – you are not going to have to clean away mountains of dirty plates before starting to cook.