tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940375117370631601.post6346860306044049360..comments2023-08-29T09:03:19.065-05:00Comments on Just Another Jenny: Flow in the KitchenJennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13472686909226073213noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940375117370631601.post-14562818076347569162016-03-19T00:38:35.571-05:002016-03-19T00:38:35.571-05:00Your fridge looks great! "Good enough" i...Your fridge looks great! "Good enough" is better than it was before, right?<br /><br />I agree that with your configuration, a drying rack takes up too much room to be out all the time. It also gives you a place to let dishes pile up. We put dirty dishes straight into the dishwasher, then empty it after running, and no longer use a dish drainer except for times of heavy baking/bulk cooking when pots need to be washed repeatedly between uses.<br /><br />the one cup per kid rule is awesome!<br /><br />MeredithAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940375117370631601.post-57359183230183769412016-03-17T21:21:34.205-05:002016-03-17T21:21:34.205-05:00I have a kitchen with a reasonable amount of count...I have a kitchen with a reasonable amount of counter space, but one end of the long counter is my homeschooling "teacher's desk". <br /><br />I try (and am much, much happier when it happens) to "pre-party" in the kitchen ("pre-party" is what we called it at college when the drinking began in your dorm room prior to actually going out). If I can get the *day* dishes done before time for the *night* dishes, things work much better. "Pre-party" for me means the dishwasher is unloaded from yesterday's wash, the sundry things from the drying rack are put away, and the sink is emptied from anything that may have accumulated during the day. We eat on paper towels as our "plates" for lunch (sandwiches) and often breakfast (toast), so the "day" dishes are often limited--maybe I ran the blender for smoothies, maybe I made muffins for snack, maybe we finished leftovers for lunch, maybe folks had cereal for breakfast. But if I can go into dinner with an empty sink (or one that only has supper-prep things in it), my after-dinner clean-up is much easier and quicker.<br /><br />I also often store food in the fridge in the container it was cooked in (so yes, I just put the soup pot with lid on the bottom shelf after the first night's soup and take the whole thing out to warm up again the next night). I do casseroles in corningware, and fridge it with its lid. I also cook with plans to serve each meal at least twice, so I only cook every-other-night, and I plan to use the leftovers on specific days (like days we have homeschool PE, where I *really* don't want to have to cook when we get home).<br /><br />And what this has to do with "flow" is this: I don't bake on days I'm also cooking supper, because it's TOO MUCH WASHING UP. I can bake on leftover-using days. <br /><br />Also: each kid gets one cup per day. It gets rinsed out and either put back at her place at the table *or* right next to the sink in age-order, so they don't get mixed up. Kids are responsible for rinsing out their cups if they drink milk at breakfast. The rest of the day, water is their only option.<br /><br />We also rinse-after-use-and-set-aside-for-later things like apple-cutting knives so that they don't pile up in the sink.<br /><br />Could you have a (hopefully small) after-lunch dishwashing chore? Or even an after-breakfast one? Or a use-out-of-the-drying-rack-first rule, where the drying rack slowly but surely gets at least partially emptied as the day goes on?<br /><br />As for staging for supper, what if you has a clear-the-table and set-empty-plates and then you just served at the table? Not necessarily planning on leaving the serving dishes on the table, but carrying them over, dishing out, and then returning them to the stove (or whatever)?<br /><br />I do have to say this: when you first put up photos of your kitchen, about halfway through, I thought, "I know what's coming next!!" because it is EXACTLY the same layout that we had in the apartment we lived in when we were first married! I really enjoy reading about how you're figuring all this out. It's inspiring and really awesome. You are in my prayers.<br />Jennynoreply@blogger.com