When my husband and I bought our house more than eight years ago, the first room we updated was the kitchen. The old kitchen was fine. It was okay. But we had a vision for something better than okay — something that didn’t involve the industrial linoleum tile flooring and boring basic white appliances.

Our kitchen update started with a new floor, which Shawn installed with the help of friends. Installing it ourselves (well, sort of) saved a ton on the cost of that update. We only had to purchase supplies (and pizza and beer). And better yet, Shawn learned how to tile a floor, which meant he was able to update other rooms in the house too. We also repainted the kitchen, choosing a soothing gray tone, and updated all the appliances. And we also transformed a broom closet into a pantry, which gave us some much-needed additional space for storing stuff.

A few years later, we upgraded the counter tops to granite too.

I’ve always said that the kitchen was the room that we really paid the most attention to when moving into our house — and it’s true. It’s also a really good thing, since I have used it like crazy since then.

Of course, it has been eight years since our initial updates, and I often look at the kitchen and start daydreaming about a fresh coat of paint in a hue that’s not so blue. And perhaps a different floor too, since the tile isn’t my favorite. The nice thing about revamping a kitchen? It doesn’t have to be a big, huge, expensive thing.

It could be something as simple as a new paint. New drawer pulls. A little reorganization. Even a new floor, when installed yourself, is totally doable.

What updates have you made to your kitchen?

More Tips on Kitchen Revamps from Home Depot

The post Thoughts on Revamping a Kitchen appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Let me run you through a normal week in my eating life:

• Saturday: Glance through cooking magazines, cookbooks and notebooks to try to decide what to make this week. Ignore all of it and make a rudimentary meal plan … write a grocery list, trying to remember everything I need. Go grocery shopping with the kids and fail to buy everything on the list (thought process: “Eh, we don’t really need that.”) Inevitably forget a key ingredient (or two … or three).
• Sunday: Cook 3-4 recipes, mostly testing new recipes for work. Share with family and friends. Things are off to a good start.
• Monday: Defrost appropriate meat per meal plan. Decide at 5:30 that I am too busy to cook dinner and order a pizza instead.
• Tuesday: Don’t feel like cooking dinner, but force myself too so the meat from Monday doesn’t go bad.
• Wednesday: Stick to the meal plan. Feel good about it.
• Thursday: Forget (ok, maybe it’s a semi-conscious decision) to defrost ingredients for dinner. Make a quick pasta in a pinch after going to the grocery store for the ingredients.
• Friday: Decide that I am so stressed out over food and need a pick me up. Buy a sandwich at the deli and feel better. Remember to defrost everything for dinner but realize that I never bought the ingredient I forgot on Saturday. Hit the grocery store too, and am ultimately seduced by things we don’t need. Make the dinner that was supposed to be eaten on Tuesday. Realize that I skipped two days of planned meals.
• Saturday: Feel awful about the fresh ingredients that I didn’t use during the week. Wonder how I can use them. Some end up going to waste. Start the whole process over.

It’s stressful, since I rarely stick to the plan and often change my mind. But those things are unnecessary. I make last minute menu adjustments because I can … That doesn’t mean I should. So, I decided to do something about it. I decided to go on a Spending Diet. As a result, this week was 100 percent different.

The Plan: No spending from Saturday until the following Saturday. Cash in wallet can only be used in a true emergency.

What Happened: In any given week, I go to the grocery store at least three times. By the third run, I hate it and think how absurd it is that I can’t consolidate all the shopping into one trip. But until now I haven’t really done anything to shop the cycle.

This week I did. After several trips into the city last week for work and a dinner party on Saturday, I felt like any more spending this week would be way too much. I needed a spending break … so I took one. I haven’t stepped foot into any stores all week and although I have done some heavily online window browsing, I haven’t bought anything. This week was a $0 output week.

I described it to a friend in an email how this week was turning out to be awful and wonderful all at once. It really was. My house is always pretty well-stocked with food, so we did have everything we needed on hand. Plus, by following the meal plan I wrote, I actually was never left dreading a decision about dinner. Also, since I knew that the grocery store wasn’t an option, I didn’t forget to defrost anything.

Ultimately, we ended up being a lot more efficient and I got a little more creative. It was really a great experience.

Challenges: The biggest trouble came yesterday when hamburgers were planned for dinner. Originally when I planned for this week, I intended to hit the grocery store for the rolls so they would be fresh, but once the spending diet kicked in I couldn’t. That’s how I ended up making rolls. And you know what? It was totally worth the effort — not only did I save $3, but they really tasted great.

There were other spots of imperfection too. Since I didn’t make the plan to stop spending until after my last grocery shopping trip, we did run out of a few things: peanut butter, bread, milk … but Shawn picked up some milk to supplement. Obviously, I need to work on the planning aspect of things, which I have been. I started a running list of all the things we need and I feel like my shop tomorrow will be way more successful than any other one.

Benefits:

1. We used pretty much everything we bought/purchased for the week. Leftovers became lunches. Pantry items supplemented for convenience items.
2. We used up several perishables (like the sundried tomatoes in the pasta above) that would have otherwise gone to waste after being forgotten.
3. We were able to get a clearer picture of what we really need to buy. It’s easy to overlook needs when you make a bunch of mini trips to the store.
4. The money in my wallet has stayed there. My bank account has grown.
5. I, personally, ate fewer calories. Also, instead of losing hours to trips to the store, we spent more time outside this week (which the good weather clearly helped with).

What’s Next?

Tomorrow is Saturday – the day when I can officially shop again. I plan to take my list and meal plan and pick up all the things we need, get some gas (I am down to about a half tank — which is fine, but this is about curbing mid-week spending) and do any other errands that involve money. On Sunday, I will start week two of my Spending Diet.

I am considering this somewhat of a spending detox. Next week, I will take a look at how things went and decide if I want to continue or allow a little more flexibility.

Have you ever gone on a spending diet? Why? How did it work for you?

The post My Spending Diet: Week One appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Before it does though, I wanted to tell you about a great organization that brings a little something extra to the lives of people who are down on their luck. While it might not fill a clear-cut need, I think something that brings a smile to faces fills an absolute need of delivering a little happiness … a little feeling of being special … to people who really need it.

Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting Lydia Walshin of The Perfect Pantry at the BlogHer Boston conference. She is a food writer and founder of Drop In & Decorate, a Rhode Island-based, tax-exempt nonprofit organization. This organization provides support for cooking decorating events held around the country and abroad, with the cookies produced being donated. This year, the nonprofit has support from some major companies who are making it easier than ever to just drop in.

What’s it all about? Here’s the basics, direct from Lydia:

The idea behind Drop In & Decorate is simple: bake some cookies; gather a group of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, your worship group or book group to decorate the cookies together; donate the cookies to a nonprofit agency serving basic human needs in your own community. It’s a simple idea in a complicated world, and  something anyone can do.

If you’d like to host your own Drop In & Decorate® event, Pillsbury and Wilton would like to help. Pillsbury has donated 50 VIP coupons, worth $3.00 each, off any Pillsbury product — including sugar cookie mix, icing and flour — to be distributed, first come, first served, while supply lasts, to anyone who plans to host a Drop In & Decorate event (max. 5 coupons per person). And we’ll include a Comfort Grip cookie cutter, donated by Wilton, while our supply lasts.

Write to lydia AT ninecooks DOT com for more info on how to get your free coupons and cookie cutters.

It’s such a simple thing: to bake and decorate cookies. But it can mean so much. If you are looking for something charitable to do as a family, group or school this holiday season, check into Drop In & Decorate.

The post Holiday Project Idea: Drop In & Decorate appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

I think it might be time to invest in some child proofing gear …

The post Inside the Cabinet appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Ok. So yes. I am a native New Yorker (however living outside of New York, but still close by). And yes, I had never been to The Container Store . . . until today. Oh. My. God. I am such a container junkie (and no, I actually didn’t buy anything due to an unreasonably long line).

Here are some items of interest though that I located and plan to purchase later:

• Salad Blaster Bowl - This AWESOME bowl lets you transport your salad and dressing in the same container without having them mixed (which everyone knows causes wilting). When you are ready, you push in a button on the lid and the dressing falls onto the salad. How cool is that?
• Snack and Dip - Ok. I wasn’t convinced when I saw this, but the more I’ve considered it, the cooler I think it is. Honestly, I do take a lot of dips and dippers to work, and this handy container lets you compactly transport them together. YAY!
• Sandwich Plus Lunch Container - I don’t take many sandwiches to work, but this is such a nifty container with to parts – one for the sandwich and a second with divided portions to store whatever else you bring like (mmmm) pickles, fruit and veggies. Take a look. It’s very cool

The post Container Junkie appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Three things that are ALWAYS in my fridge:
1) Salsa
2) Barbecue sauce
3) Cheese

Three things that are NEVER in my fridge:
1) Grape juice (I hate the stuff and have since I spilled it on me while in my sleeping bag at camp when I was 11)
2) Horseradish (YUCK!!!)
3) Scallops (They make me so sick)

Check out Sweetnicks for a roundup.

The post I can’t believe I am revealing this . . . appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.