Category: Housework

Good Ideas: Paprika App

Published on by Kim

If you like to pick up recipes from friends or browse Pinterest for delicious new ideas, this is an option for you! The Paprika app is a great way to store various recipes you find online, as well as a helpful tool for using them in your kitchen and routine. If you would like to try it, please note that there is a cost (currently $4.99).

IMG_7095You can store all the recipes you find in one place. All those recipes you find on Pinterest or links emailed from friends — in one place. Each recipe can be categorized and rated as you like. It is not as convenient for the family recipe book or the notecards passed down from your grandmother, but you can also type those into the app database to use.

You can scale recipes. Once you have the recipe in the app, you can choose to make it for the servings listed or cut it in half or increase up to 100-fold. All this is without doing math, just changing the setting.

IMG_7094You can plan your menus. If you do your menu planning in the app, you can pull the recipe into your plan with one click. The plan includes up to three meals and snacks for each day, and you can view your plan by day, week or month.

You can track your grocery list. Once you have your meal plan set, you can add the ingredients you need to a grocery list. The items are pulled off your recipes, and you have the choice of de-selecting items you don’t need to get before adding everything to your grocery list in the app. Just like that.IMG_7093

You can track your pantry. For a little more effort, you can keep track of what you have on hand and won’t need to add to the grocery list. The app will keep those off the grocery list when you carry over the recipe ingredients for your meal plan. You’ll also know what you have to use without a trip to the grocery store.

It’s a beautiful tool, whether you just use the recipe storage or max out all the options. More information on it can be found here and here.

If you already use this app, how has it helped you and what tips do you have to add?

Laundry Tips

Published on by Kim3 Comments

We all have it — the never-ending cycle of laundry. It can be a real struggle to stay on top of it. Now, it really is just a job that never ends and simply needs to be done, but there are some things that may help you as you work.

For starters, it is a continuous process. It’s not a full-focus activity with modern washing machines and dryers, so it doesn’t need to dominate our time and attention for an entire day. It can fit into small pieces of time all week. Also, letting it pile up may be too overwhelming and hurt rather than help. Staying on top of it a little at a time can keep it manageable.

  • Constant sorting — Don’t let it pile up in the hamper. If you sort on a consistent daily basis or at least often, the chore won’t take long and loads are ready to go when the pile is big enough to throw in the washer. You won’t feel as if you are at the start of a long haul before you even can get a load in the washer.
  • You may want to do one load every day — Start in the morning. Circle back later on to transfer the load to the dryer. At some point in the afternoon, empty the dryer and fold the clothes. From then on, grab a stack to put away every time you walk by. Before you know it, it’s done. You are eating the elephant…
  • If you are picky enough to not be able to go to bed under a pile of clothes, you can drop the freshly-dried load on your bed. It will physically remind you to get them folded and put away before you go to bed, instead of being out of sight and out of mind.

Also, remember many hands make light work — teach your children when they are young to help with the process. They learn a valuable skill, and the load is light for everyone.

Finally, there might be the first world problem of too many clothes, perhaps? Occasionally there isn’t room in the dresser or closet to put all the clean clothes away. This is especially a problem when children are helping with laundry. They will have a much easier task with less to manage while they learn.

If you run into this overload, take it as a cue to look at the bottom layer of the drawer or the back of the closet rod to see what hasn’t been worn for a year or two. Maybe it’s time to donate a few things and make it easier to finish up the laundry and put clothes away.