Spice Girl

Back when I first started blogging, I wrote a lot about my kitchen. I was excited about it because I was just learning to cook. And I was just learning to cook because I had a lot more time on my hands: I didn't have a full-time job or kids. (Man, those were the days! Why didn't I appreciate them more?)

But since having kids I haven't written about my kitchen as much. Oh, I'm still in there plenty--making separate meals for everyone. Frank likes a hearty, carby meal. I'm now gluten free (more on that later) and Leo...well, Leo has about five things he eats (mac and cheese, "eggs he may pick up with his hands," pancakes, oatmeal and...make that four things).

So today I wanted to show you some fun things I've done to improve my kitchen. I'm most excited about my spice rack replacement. I had this cool double-decker lazy Susan spice rack but it was starting to buckle under the pressure of my multitude of spices. I temporarily removed the spices and when I went to throw away the spice rack, Leo had a gazillion questions about why. I thought it was cute when he said, "But we can fix it!" Now that's thinking like his Popsy (not like mommy who prefers to just scrap it and buy something new).

For a few days we lived like this. Oh, the horror!!

But then I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought this contraption that I had seen on TV. Love how it's compact and makes it easy to see my spices.

I do not like that it didn't fit in my cabinets (my cabinets' fault, not the spice rack's) or that it didn't hold my big spices.

While I was at B, B and B I picked up a few other things. Even though I love this olive oil holder from my MIL, it had started to get, as my friend Liz would say, "Dundies." As you can see the oil had affected the color on the holder and as you can't see, the spout came off all the time. Now this is sort of a lame example because I failed to take a picture of the new one. It's not nearly as cute as this one; it's just clear. But still, I am pleased with it because I can see how much olive oil is left and it doesn't spill.

Now I have two "afters" without "befores." My new dish soap pump will hopefully be with me a long time. As you may recall I have tried so many of these (including olive oil holders!) and finally went with the pump. But my last pump wasn't working out for me. The soap was oozing out of the wrong places. This one looked sturdy and like it was made just for dish soap so I'm counting on it to last.

You know, I take back what I wrote about being most excited about the spice rack. I am actually most excited about this silverware holder. Before I had a plastic white one. Why live that way when these lovely wooden (bamboo?) ones are not very expensive! Every time I open the drawer I smile. (Frank does too, although he would be embarrassed that I'm telling you that.)

And speaking of bargains, B, B and B let me use my 20% off even though it had expired AND allowed me to throw in my $5 off coupon too. Y'all, I got all this for $50! That's a spice rack, a silverware holder, a dish soap pump and an olive oil dispenser! Okay, my male readers (if they have even gotten this far) probably don't realize that's a bargain but trust me, it is! It's practically a kitchen remodel. I'm done for awhile though. Next thing to go, I'll let Leo take a crack at fixing it.