Organization Archives - The Zen Maker

Holiday finds at Restaurant Supply

Posted on December 29, 2010December 29, 2010 by The Zen Maker

When you need something for your kitchen or for entertaining in your home, where do you go? Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel? If you would like an affordable alternative place to shop, I recommend your local restaurant supply company. Most of these stores are open to the public and they have a lot of great items that can make your life easier during the holidays or when you are entertaining.

If you need extra wine glasses, silverware or serving pieces, the restaurant supply store has a variety to choose from at reasonable prices. Also, if you are feeding a large number of people, they have big restaurant sized pans, cookie sheets and platters. In addition to having these items on hand for the holidays, in the case of the wine glasses, they usually come in boxes that can be used to store the glasses when you don’t need them. Two things that I have purchased there that help me during the holidays are stainless steel tongs which are about $2.75 and are the best tongs that I own. I also have a large stainess steel sheet pan that I use to pour my homemade caramels in to cool. I think that sheet pan ran me about $9.00, but to me it is priceless.

In addition to having regular kitchen items, these stores carry items that you don’t find in regular kitchen stores but you may find helpful. One of these items is a sign holder. You find these at buffet dinners and they have a small sign telling you what food it is you are about to enjoy. Using sign holders to identify which food has nuts or which punch has alcohol can really make your party go smoothly when entertaining a lot of people. They also have professional grade stainless steel tables, storage racks and bag sealers. Some of the items could be used in your kitchen or in other parts of your home such as your garage or craft room.

The next time that you need an item for your kitchen, think about venturing into your local restaurant supply company. Spend some time looking around at what they have available, you never know what you might find that will make your next holiday party a lot easier on you!

Organizing big events with less stress!

Posted on October 6, 2010 by The Zen Maker

Have you been to an event where it seemed like the person who organized it forgot that they were having guests? It is understandable that at big events such as weddings, baby showers or graduation parties that it is all about the people being honored. However, if when you are planning a party or an event and think about it from the point of view of the people attending, it can make it more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Here are some tips to consider when planning an event or party:

*How is the parking for your guests?

If you are holding an event at a venue, is parking included or are your guests going to have to pay. Is there enough parking and how close is it? Are people going to have to walk a mile in fancy shoes to get to where the event is being held? I attended a wedding that was out in country and the bride and groom hired a shuttle service to get their guests from their hotels to the wedding location and then back again. This was a thoughtful service that made the event that much more enjoyable.

*What about the weather?

How likely is it that it is going to rain? Do you have cover for people to stay dry? Is it going to be sunny and hot and will there be shade? Do you have elderly guests that will need to be out of the sun and may need air-conditioning?

All of these things are very important to the enjoyment level of everyone attending the event. It may mean renting an extra tent or some fans but it will be money well spent so that you are not worried about it during the party. Also, think about having beverages available to help alleviate the either cold or hot that you cannot control. Coffee and cold water that is readily available can go a long way in providing comfort to your guests.

*Think about starting on time.

Right after the weather and the parking, the time that the event starts and if it starts on time is a major factor in whether your guests enjoy themselves. A few minutes is not a big deal but when you start 20 minutes, 30 minutes or 45 minutes late, it can put a damper on your party. For some events, this is not a factor because people show up and the party starts whether you are ready or not. However, some events don’t start until you say they do and this is where you should think about getting it started as close as possible to the time on the invitation. Some people have hired babysitters or have something to do after the party. Be respectful of your guests and their time by not starting late.

*Think about getting some help.

When we are the host of an event, we sometimes feel obligated to do everything ourselves. However, delgation can be a helpful skill in having a successful and stress free event. Not only can family members help but you can also enlist an event organizer, wedding coordinator or personal assistant. A big event is full of people that you have not seen in a long time. It is a chance to visit and catch up with them. If you have too much on your plate with the organizing and running of the event, it can decrease your enjoyment a great deal which in turn decreases the enjoyment of everyone at the party. Someone who you hire can be completely focused on running the event so you can attend the event. It can make the difference in whether you come away feeling good or exhausted never wanting to host anything ever again.

What other tips do you have when organizing a big event? Have you had an experience either going to or hosting an event that you will soon not forget. Let me know!

Getting online recipes in line – finally

Posted on August 20, 2010 by The Zen Maker

Most people who cook today in the technological world we live in, get recipes online. It is convenient and people post how they liked the dish, whether it is too spicy or bland and how easy it was to make. People also list additions, subtractions or problems that they had with the recipe which can save you a lot of time and energy when making it for the first time.

I usually print the recipe to put into my recipe holder and at the same time, I copy and paste the recipe into an e-mail that I send to myself. It is important that you don’t just e-mail the link to the recipe. A lot of websites that provide recipes give you an option to do this but a lot of them do not allow permanent access to their recipes. Instead, they are just available for a period of time. I keep a folder in my e-mail marked recipes and I always put the recipe title on the subject line. I have found this to be very useful for many reasons.

If something happens to the printed recipe, you always have a copy to refer to and reprint. Also, if anyone wants a copy of your recipe, you can just e-mail it or print it for them on the spot. If you put all your recipes in a folder in your e-mail, you can use the search function on your e-mail to find a recipe quickly.

I hope that you will incorporate my technique of e-mailing your online recipes to yourself and keeping an e-mail folder for them. I think you will find it to save a lot of time, energy and unneeded searching when you need to get down to the business of cooking.

Pantry and refrigerator lists

Posted on July 5, 2010 by The Zen Maker

One of the ways that I stay organized is by creating lists of the regular items I keep in my pantry and refrigerator. The lists are alphabetized to make items easy to find and placed on the fridge door or on a hook in the pantry. Putting the lists in plastic covers and putting a sticky note on top makes it easy to write down items as you run out. If you create the lists on the computer, it is easy to update them when you need to add a new item that you are consistently purchasing.

The time and energy it takes to create the lists pays for itself with less trips to the grocery store mid-week to pick up an ingredient that you forgot for that night’s dinner. It also saves a lot of time when making out you grocery list and when planning your meals for the week. Another advantage of keeping a well-stocked pantry, is if you end up having one or two unexpected guests during the week and need to pull something together at the last minute.

I hope that you will consider taking the time to create pantry and refrigerator lists for yourself and see how easy it will make keeping your home stocked and ready for anything that comes your way.

Double it up Double it up

Posted on June 4, 2010 by The Zen Maker

A great time saving tip that I recommend for busy people is to double up recipes. Why, you ask? Well, for one thing it really doesn’t take much extra effort to just make more of something. You already have the ingredients out, the measuring cups or pans are already dirty and you are already in the kitchen cooking. The reason it will make your life easier is that when you don’t have the time to cook, pulling a homemade ready made meal out of the freezer is easy. Instead of stopping to get pizza, you can have a healthy meal that you prepared in advance.

The other great thing about making extra is having left overs. You can take them to work so you don’t have to buy lunch or you have them for dinner in a couple of nights. It saves time and money when you cook in larger quantities.

It is also nice if you are having company over that may be unexpected or last minute. You can pull out one of your delicious dishes from the freezer and still have time to tidy up before they get there. They will be amazed and you will be less stressed if you have a back-up plan. With a busy family comes uncertainty and a back-up plan is always a good thing to have.

One of my favorite recipes to double up on is cookies. I never make one batch of cookies. I always double it and freeze most of the dough. I separate it into smaller containers and whenever my family wants fresh cookies, I just pull the dough out of the freezer and in 20 minutes we have freshly baked homemade cookies. It does not take long when you pull the dough out of the freezer for it to soften enough to drop it onto a cookie sheet. Make sure that you lable and date anything you put in your freezer so you can rotate and use the oldest first.

I hope that the next time you go to make chili or chocolate chip cookies that you will double the recipe and then pack some away in your freezer for the next rainy day or cooking craving!

Dust off your slow cooker and save time

Posted on June 1, 2010 by The Zen Maker

When you are looking for ways to make your life easier, sometimes you need to look towards the tools in your home that you already have that you are under utilized. I love my slow cooker. I use it on a regular basis to cook delicious and hearty meals. With a little planning, it can help make meal time easier after a long day at work.

You can make one dish that you can stretch to make two or three dinners in a week saving you time and energy. For example, you could roast a chicken in the slow cooker and enjoy that on the first night. The next night, you could take the left over chicken, shred it and add some taco seasoning to have chicken tacos. If you have more chicken left over, you could stretch it a third night and add it to salad with egg, bacon, avocado, tomatoes and some cheese for Cobb salads.

The other nice thing to do with your slow cooker is to make a large batch of your favorite dish of chili, stew or soup and have it for dinner one night and freeze the rest to have in the future. That way when you are at a loss for what to have for dinner, you can just pull out a serving of your homemade slow cooker masterpiece and just add a salad or some rolls for a complete meal.

Another great use for the slow cooker is for parties. I often cook pulled pork in my slow cooker when having people over for a party. I serve it with buns and coleslaw and people love it. It cuts down on the amount I have to prepare before the party as I just put it all in the slow cooker and forget it.

A great website for slow cooker recipes is The Taste of Home Slow Cooker Recipes: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cooking-Style/Slow-Cooker-Recipes. I like these recipes because they have reviews and include nutritional information for each recipe.

I hope that you will take a moment to plan a meal to cook in your slow cooker. You will be glad you did when you come home from work and smell the delicious dinner that is hot and ready to eat.

Get your Groupon Coupon!

Posted on May 31, 2010 by The Zen Maker

My favorite fairly new discount website is groupon.com. This website offers discounts of usually a minumim of 50% off of the value of the daily offer. How it works is that there is a daily coupon for a local business such as a local restaurant, wine bar, tour, museum, experience or merchandise in Seattle. The offer will be for $40 worth of food or merchandise at the discounted price of $20. Then, if enough people buy the groupon, then the deal goes through and you get your discount. You then get your certificate e-mailed to you and you just print it to take with you and enjoy your discount. You do have to check to make sure that follow any restrictions. You may need reservations or there may be a restriction that you can’t use it on Valentine’s Day. However, in my experience, I have not seen a lot of restrictions for the groupons.

Groupon offers daily coupons in many major cities. You can look up any city you like such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. or San Francisco and they will have a deal of the day as well. If you are travelling, it is nice to watch the groupon offers for that city for a few weeks so you can see if they offer anything that you might want to do while you are visiting. I recently did this on a trip to New York City. I got $60 worth of food for $30 in a restaurant I probably would have never found and it was the best meal of our entire trip. Groupon also offers tourist type activities such as discounts on local attractions. You might be able to get a tour or museum ticket that you were going to buy anyway but you can get for half-price. You can also become a tourist in your own city by taking a tour that maybe you have been meaning to do but haven’t gotten around to it. If you can do it at half-price, it would make it all the easier to go.

You can sign up on the groupon website to get a daily e-mail of the deal of the day. It just takes a few seconds to glance at the e-mail and see if it is something your interested in or not. The groupon usually expires at the end of the day unless there is limited availability and it sells out. I have only seen that a few times. So by all means, get your groupon!

Being organized = less stress

Posted on February 16, 2010 by The Zen Maker

Do you find yourself stressed and rushed as you leave for work? A little evening planning can alleviate the stress and get you to work early instead of late. The more that you do the night before to prepare for your day, the easier the morning can be for you. For example if you go to the gym after work, pack your gym bag the night before. That way, you won’t be running around trying to find your favorite gym shoes before you have had your morning cup of coffee. Another great tip is to make your lunch and your snacks for the day and have them ready to grab on your way out the door in the morning. You can save money by not eating out and it will probably be healthier too.

If deciding what to wear is always a challenge or takes up too much time, you can decide on your outfit and lay out your clothes the night before. This is also a great tip for children that struggle with getting out of the door on time. Another tip for kids is making sure that their backpacks with their home work, permission slips and gym clothes are packed and ready to go. Leaving those things to gather in the morning can lead to forgotten items or documents. Being organized helps make responsibility easy for children and hopefully their day will go better too.

The Battle against being over-scheduled

Posted on February 1, 2010 by The Zen Maker

Being a personal assistant, I love helping busy people organize their lives and make things easier by taking tasks off of their plate. That being said, I believe that it is always good to re-evaluate what you have in your daily, weekly and monthly schedule. We can become slaves to our schedule and it is good to ask yourself occasionally, “Is this really how I wanted to be spending my time?” If you are involved in a community organization and find that it has started taking up much more time than you originally committed to, it could be time to re-assess and set some new boundaries. It is important to keep your activities in check so that you are not exhausted which could lead to you neglecting your mental and/or physical health. If you are giving more of yourself than you are comfortable with, it could also result in feelings of being taken advantage of and being under appreciated. It is good to re-set your boundaries with whatever activity it is that has started to take over your day. If you do that, you will find you enjoy the activity more and you will have more time for yourself which gives you a more balanced and healthy you!!

What do to with that old cell phone? Help someone else!

Posted on January 20, 2010 by The Zen Maker

A question that comes up when I am assisting my clients with cleaning out their spaces is, “What do I do with my old cell phones?” The good news is that a lot of charities will accept cell phones and it is good to recycle. Old cell phones have a huge impact on the environment and if they can be repurposed to help someone, everyone wins. Cell phones, even without a wireless plan, can always call 911 for emergency help. This allows old cell phones to be of great use to vulnerable populations. Some of the places that you can donate old cell phones are to senior centers, women’s shelters and senior citizens with disabilities or limited income. Another option is to donate your old cell phone to soldiers serving in the military. They can use a calling card to call home while they are serving our country. An important thing to remember is that you will want to erase the data on the phone before donation. Most cell phones have a “master reset” function which will clear your information. You will also want to verify that your account has been cancelled with your service provider. Donate away!!!