Pantry Organization

What it looks like now

If you are like me, you love the look of a fully organized fridge, cabinets, or even a pantry.

I mean honestly, I binge watched ALL of the Home Edit series on Netflix in two days during maternity leave. If you haven’t watched it, I am NOT liable for the amount of cleaning, organizing, and purging that will ensue. You can apologize to your significant other for me right now…

The before…

So after watching this and completely tearing apart and organizing my kitchen cabinets and my pantry, I decided that I really just hated my pantry set up. I have disliked it since we moved in. So, I took to my handy-dandy Pinterest and began dreaming up ways to redo the pantry that met our needs for storage and was more functional.

Searching for inspiration wasn’t all that easy because sooo many of the “Pinterest perfect pantries” are HUGE. Like, walk in, multiple wall shelves and mine is definitely not that size. So I began to look for qualities that I liked, and the first thing that jumped out at me was APPLIANCE GARAGE.

To make my appliance garage:

  • First, I made a list of all the appliances that I wanted to go into my garage
  • Then, I measure out the dimensions of said appliances
  • Once they were all measured, I organized them functionally factoring in the weight of the appliance and how often I truly use it to stack the order.

As you can see, my bread maker is at the top because it doesn’t get used nearly as much as my mixer or my crockpot.

Once my appliance garage was set I studied the heights of my storage containers, and mapped out the shelf heights that we wanted based on weight of items and again, functionality. If it was an item that I was CONSTANTLY using, I wanted it to be at eye level or just a little bit lower so it was easy to get to. Conversely, if the item is a “special occasion item” it could be stored near the back.

Creating Appliance Garage and Shelves

We ripped down 2×2 sheets to make frames, screwed the frames into the studs in the wall, and the clad the shelves with 1/4″ plywood on the tops, bottom, and side of the appliance garage for a finished look.

Using the framing allows for good support and concealed hardware.

To attached the plywood we used a variety of adhesive and small screws if needed.

Once the shelves were clad, I decided I really liked the raw shelf look and left that part natural while only painting the frame white.

One huge space saving idea is to take the cabinet divider organizers and stand up all your bakeware, which I did behind baskets and bins that pull out for easy access to the bakeware behind them.

After my shelves were fully put together, I tried to group the snacks together as well as the “protein items.” I picked up most of my organization bins from Menards, and Amazon.

Of course, my items will always be moved around so stay tuned in a few months I’m sure I will once again rearrange.

I want to leave you with 5 simple tips to get your pantry straightened up and organized.

  • 1. Pull all the items out of your pantry and group together like items
  • 2. Use clear containers with labels to cut down on boxes (and please recycle them!). Clip expiration, cooking instructions, or nutrition information and tape to the underside of the container
  • 3. Organize based on functionality, meaning most used items should be at easy grabbing height and easily accessible
  • 4. Designate an “overstock area” if you buy items in bulk so you don’t have 25 jars of tomatoes taking up space in your main area
  • 5. PUT. THINGS. BACK. WHERE. YOU. GOT. THEM. Immediately. Seriously–this will save you time. As you are cooking and baking, put the items back as you finish using THAT item, it makes for less cleanup and its much easier to stay organized.

I’ve teamed up with some other bloggers to bring you more organizing tips, tricks and hacks! Be sure to head to each of their blogs to find out what kind of organizing tips they have for you!

Allison
https://lifebyallison.blog/

Laura
http://www.noturaveragemomof5.com

Jessica
Www.mamabearwooten.com

Trista
https://findingournextadventure.blog

Leave a comment below of your LEAST organized area, and check out my Instagram video for a quick transformation.

Holiday Stressors

The holidays are a lot of fun for some, but for others they can be a source of a lot of stress and anxiety.

Below are three tips that may help to mitigate some stress that you might feel during holidays.

Its okay to set boundaries with people in your life. Create clear expectations of what you want. The boundaries can be about conversation topics, time spent with certain individuals, or even people allowed at your house.

Boundaries keep you safe and comfortable whether that person is family or not.

This year your holidays might look a little different. Allow yourself the time to grieve the different. Your kids and your family don’t need to always see you pretending to be happy. Its okay that sometimes its hard to be thankful, even when you still have many blessings.

Its also okay to grieve if you are missing someone new, or even someone who has been gone a while. Acknowledging that you miss them can help others in your family expression their emotions and feel more comfortable in their grief, as well.

2020 has been tough on everyone. Maybe you lost loved ones, maybe you lost your job or a large part of your income. Maybe you haven’t experienced these, but you are struggling with the shut downs and mental effects of COVID 19. Honestly, the reason that you are struggling isn’t super important.

What you deserve to know is your struggle is valid. Your feelings matter. One small thing to work on for Christmas and New Years is to be thankful for even the small things.

Do you have COVID? Be thankful for the extra time with your family.

Even the smallest of things can be big wins with 2020.

Have a wonderful, hopefully less stressful, holiday season.

Merry Christmas

Lexie.

Baked Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cups

I always seem to have bananas that mysteriously don’t get eaten and left to get overripe. Its almost as if my husband is trying to tell me that he wants something made with bananas.

My usual go-to is banana bread, but I am still breast feeding our six month old and something that I have found to be true for myself is that when I eat oatmeal, my supply goes up–but let’s be honest; even when I am done breastfeeding I will still continue to eat oatmeal because I love it.

I wanted to share with you this quick and easy recipe that allows you to use up those ripe bananas and tastes great too.

What you need:

  • 1 heaping cup ripe bananas ( I used 4-5 ripe bananas)
  • 2/3 cup of your favorite milk ( I used Ripple Original, non-dairy milk)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups rolled oats, old fashion (NOT instant oats)
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup, pure
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (I also had some butterscotch chips left I added)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl, mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Line 12 cup muffin pan with muffin liners and spray with nonstick spray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Let cool completely–store in fridge for up to a week or in freezer for up to 3 months in sealed container.

Nutritional Info: 12 oatmeal cups; Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories: 192 Fat: 10g Saturated Fat: 2.7g Carbs: 23.3g Fiber 3.9g Sugar 8.7g Protein 5.7g

We are Rebranding!

When I started my blog, I was at a VERY different point in my life than I am now.

I was excited to share our adventures, but little did I know our biggest adventure yet was about to begin!

I wouldn’t change it for the whole world. But as I focus on what my blog subjects are about. I want it to represent the entire picture

So without further ado-Emerge is rebranded as The Undem Family Adventures.

Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram 🥰

Dealing With Uncertainty

Hey guys.

This has really been weighing on my heart, so please hear me out.

I see both sides of the arguments here with COVID 19, I see people not wanting to lose their freedoms and I see people concerned about government overreach.

I see Healthcare workers struggling, and family’s losing loved ones. I see people struggling for weeks or even months with lasting after effects of having the coronavirus.

I see Christians calling names and nonbelievers being compassionate.

I see Christians helping people, and nonbelievers attacking others.

Everyone’s emotions have run high, and people can be both intentionally and unintentionally hurtful.

People are sick of being scared, but also scared of being sick. I fall firmly in both categories.

You guys, having a baby two months into a pandemic (whether you believe its real or not) has been single handedly one of the scariest experiences of my life.

Keeping a newborn safe and healthy is already tough enough, and now all us new moms have a new virus added to the list of all the things I DONT want my daughter exposed to.

I don’t have a set point here, I just wanted to share my point of view, and it’s that people can be wonderful in times of need and people can be really harmful, too.

Remember us who are just trying to get through life as a new mom, trying to keep our babies from getting sick, and stay sane during an insane time. These uncertain times are hard on everyone, and we can all benefit from trying to walk a mile in each other’s shoes.

Be kind to those around you, and stay healthy ✌