Passionate about organizing, Jennifer from “I Heart Organizing” shares DIY ways to make organizational tools like storage bins and drawer dividers, plus discusses how she makes organizing fun for her whole family. 

Tell us more about you! When did you start “I Heart Organizing” and what drives your passion for organization?

I have always had a love for organizing– it dates back to when I was younger and would color code my school folders and organize my locker.  Then it was my office spaces at work, and later it became the home I would live in with my growing family.  I have always felt I function better with a clean slate around me, and that I can save time and money by keeping order.  A few years ago, I stumbled across blog-land, and realized that I share many of the same passions and ideas as many of the fabulous folks I was tuning into each day.  I also realized that a blog would be a great way for me to share my own tips and tricks with my local family and friends.  So, back in September of 2009, “I Heart Organizing” was born!

Not only does your site offer storage solutions, it offers some DIY ways to make organizational tools! What has been your favorite DIY storage solution to date, and why?

Fabric-Covered Storage Bins

Ooh, that is a tough one!  Anything that can take an ordinary object and make it extraordinary storage is a huge win with both me and my readers.  I would have to say my favorites are taking a standard ol’ box and covering it with fabric to create storage bins, and another is taking cereal boxes and covering them with pretty papers to create drawer dividers.   Both involve taking something free, repurposing it with items I already had on hand, and coming away with effective, beautiful storage.

Cereal Box Drawer Dividers

Which room in your home was the hardest to organize and why? How did you tackle that room and get it organized? Can you offer our readers advice on how to get that room organized?

The kitchen.  It is the busiest, hardest working room in the home.  We have done pretty well with getting it organized and functioning well for us throughout the years, but it was trial and error and is always evolving.

1. Take note of how you use the space each day.  Jot down things that slow you down and frustrate you.
2. Empty out every. single. cabinet.  We put everything out on the counters and table.
3. Referencing your notes about the space, and reenacting your daily routine, put things back where they make the most sense for YOU.  Not where the builder thought they should go or how you were taught to store them.  Think about emptying the dishwasher and easily putting dishes away.  Think about cooking and storing pots, pans, and utensils next to the stove.  Think about food storage and keep daily necessities at arm’s reach and less common items up a bit higher.
4. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.  Nothing has to be permanent and keep tweaking things until you are using your space with ease.

There’s a whole section in the project gallery dedicated to organizing kids’ belongings! What are some of your organization projects from this section that our readers would like?

School Cubbies

Organized Playroom

Some of my favorites are the school storage cubbies, toy basket labels, displaying kid’s artwork and organizing our boy’s shared closet.  We live in a home without a designated entryway or an abundance of storage space, so we do our best to create our own.

Kids' Art Display

Pantry Makeover

“I Heart Organizing” also features tons of Printables! Where did you get the ideas for all these printables?

Many of them have come from our daily needs and demands.  If I am leaving the kids with a babysitter, I want to have a lot of details for that person, so I created a babysitter notes printable.  We try to help our kiddos create a consistent daily routine so our mornings and nights run smoothly, so a printable worked great for those situations.  I would love to say I am always three steps ahead, but often times, the printables stem from something we have needed to improve upon and something I wish to be easier next time around.

 What are your top five organization tips for moms? Also, do you have any ideas on how to make organization fun?

• Keep it simple.  Anything too complicating or a challenge to maintain will fall apart before it becomes effective and helpful.
• Clear storage containers rock my world.  I love quickly being able to see when we are running low on things.  And that goes for everything from snack to laundry detergent.
• When organizing with kids, picture labels are hands down the best solution.  By giving your kids tools they easily understand, they can be helpful and learn some helpful skills at a young age.
• A little time invested on the weekend or even the night before, goes a long way during the busy week.  We meal plan and lay out clothes during the weekend, keep our breakfast routine the same each week, and make lunches the night before, so make for simple and quick mornings.
• If you have fifteen minutes per day to spare, create a daily cleaning checklist and assign a few simple tasks to each family member.  By doing these items each day, you don’t have to go on cleaning rampages before the arrival of guests, and also gives you more time to play during the weekends!

Not everyone in my family has the same love for cleaning and organizing that I do.  However, I try to keep everyone on board, smiling and excited by playing lots of music, keeping everything simple, and integrating rewards.  Also, since I love to craft, paint, and build, we incorporate our hobbies into the act of organizing, which offers extra satisfaction in the end!

Photo Credit: Darrell Byers/Reuters/Corbis

Leaders from the country’s largest youth organization, the Boy Scouts of America, will be gathering this week to vote on whether or not to lift the ban of gay Boy Scout members, The Associated Press reported.

This policy, which prohibits both homosexual youth members and adult leaders from joining the organization, has been in place since 2000, making it a policy that’s been in action for over a decade.

According to wbng.com, the policy was set in motion after a narrow Supreme Court vote of 5-4, where it was determined that the Boy Scouts have the right to exclude homosexuals because they are a private organization.

Since this ruling, the Boy Scouts of America’s policy has become a hot and controversial topic, especially when the organization reaffirmed its commitment to the ban just last year.

After stirring much debate among both supporters of gay rights and conservative organizations, the Boy Scouts of America’s Executive Committee created a resolution that proposes the ban be lifted on the youth members, but not on the adult leaders.

This controversial proposal will be voted on by 1,400 leaders from around the country, and the outcome will determine the direction the Boy Scouts will go in the future.

ABC News shared that the final vote will take place today, May 23, 2013, in the Dallas-Fort suburb of Grapevine.

According to an online survey of more than 200,000 Boy Scout members and leaders, 61 percent are in support of the ban that is currently in place, and 34 percent are against it.

In a webcast, Wayne Perry, the president of the national board, said “Our membership standards have always been about leadership […] Kids belong in scouting and are better off in the scouting program.”

What is your opinion? Do you want the ban to be overturned or not? Comment and let us know your thoughts!

Lucy has just written a new cookbook called “Flavored Butters”. Her recipes are unique and perfect for families! Get a sneak peek into what you can expect from Lucy’s newest cookbook!

Tell us more about yourself, your site, and your family.

I’m obsessed with all things food. I love to eat and cook, and I collect cookbooks and cookware from around the world. When I’m not fooding, I’m writing and teaching about fooding…

Everything I do is about teaching cooks confidence in the kitchen. I develop recipes, write cookbooks, blog, and teach cooking classes with a focus on the fundamental cooking and baking techniques that all cooks need to know. In other words, I demystify chef techniques for everybody. I’m the author of Seared to Perfection: The Simple Art of Sealing in Flavor and Flavored Butters: How to Make Them, Shape Them, and Use Them as Spreads, Toppings, and Sauces, which I also styled and photographed myself. Currently I’m working on a cookbook all about marinades and teaching at Clark College Vancouver, WA and at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, OR.

My blog, which recently broke 250 recipes, is another way for me to reach out to home cooks. The name “Hungry Cravings” comes from my desire when I was first learning to cook for a single comprehensive collection of recipes to satisfy all of my cravings. I especially love the blog because it’s a creative outlet and a way to share my cooking with my family, who live several states away.

You have a new cookbook, “Flavored Butters”! What should readers expect from the book?

My goal with this book was to show how flavored butters, which are effortless to whip up, can transform mundane meals into gourmet greatness. Clearly presented information on how to make compound butters, clarified butters, and brown butters, and fifty recipes for both sweet and savory flavors with suggestions for how to use them as spreads, toppings, and sauces will give readers lots of inspiration and the confidence to turn that inspiration into reality.

What did you enjoy about writing your cookbook?

My favorite thing about the book is that I actually use flavored butters all the time at home. So as I was writing it, I didn’t have to look very far for inspiration and I felt like I could really stay true to my culinary self. It was also a lot of fun to come up with all of the different variations.

Do you alter your cooking based on the different seasons?

Of course! My cooking is largely inspired by what’s in season. I love to go to the farmers market, pick up whatever looks best, and then figure out what I want to do with it. Other people may look forward to spring and summer, but I look forward to asparagus season, morel season, strawberry season, raspberry season, cherry season, apple season, chanterelle season…I could go on and on…

Why do you think home cooking is so important?

Well, that’s a big question! Mealtime is the single best opportunity we have to nourish ourselves and those we love both body and soul, so I believe it’s important to take the time to do it right. Cooking from scratch at home is the best way to ensure that the meals we eat are not only wholesome and nutritious but also delicious, deeply satisfying, and an opportunity to come together.

What are your favorite spices or foods to include in a recipe?

I’m not sure I have any specific favorite spices or foods to include in my recipes, I just like to use ingredients that are of the best possible quality. I’m a strong believer that one’s cooking can only be as good as the ingredients that go into it. But if you really press me, I do love to cook with chiles. And chocolate. And flavored butter of course!

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Your family will love these no-bake dessert recipes! Nags, who loves creating new recipes, shares her best desserts that are fun and easy! Get her recipes for Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake and No-Bake Biscuit Brownies.  

Tell us more about yourself, your site, and your family.

I am from a lovely town called Kottayam in Kerala, the southern-most state of India. Although my family has been settled in Kerala for many generations now, we are originally from a different part of India and have our own language and style of cooking which has now blended with the Keralan cooking style making way for some interesting combinations. I currently live in Singapore with my husband and work full time at Google. Edible Garden is a hobby that takes up more energy and time than a hobby should but I really wouldn’t want it any other way.

Where do you find the inspiration for your recipes?

As with most people, my mom has influenced my interest in food and cooking a lot. I remember how she would experiment with baking cookies and cakes and puddings in a place where finding an oven in the store was difficult. She managed to source her ingredients, make her own butter, and make delicious goodies for all of us. My maternal grand mom was a great cook too, going with her gut rather than measurements or recipes. She used to make peanut butter in the traditional stone pestle and mortar at home. Those were the days when peanut butter was this amazing American thing that not many people had even tasted in Kerala. I do have more exposure to International cuisines than they did so I draw inspiration from everywhere around me – a magazine, a restaurant menu, other food blogs, and even grocery stores

The “Cookies and Brownies” section on your site has incredible recipes! What are your favorites?

I have an incredible sweet tooth and it’s hard to pick just one recipe so I’ll choose two. The Snowball Cookies were a regular back in my childhood when we used to get them from a popular bakery in Town. The Basic Brownie Recipe is my go-to recipe to bake any kind of brownies. I use this recipe as the base and add in nuts, dried fruits, candy bits, and pretty much anything else I feel like at the moment.

You also have many delicious “No-Bake Recipes”. What are a few you recommend?

The no-bake section became quite popular in the site so based on reader feedback, I added more recipes to it. My absolute favorite recipe is from a school friend of mine – the Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake. The No-Bake Biscuit Brownies are another favorite and is incredibly easy to make, not to mention delicious.

Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake

No-Bake Biscuit Brownies

Have you ever taken cooking classes? What are a few lessons you’ve learned from cooking?

I haven’t taken any formal lessons although I did attend one cooking class in Singapore with my team at work. It was fun to cook together.

Cooking, to me, goes beyond just putting some ingredients together and getting a meal on the table. It’s about connection, the satisfaction that comes with it, and one of the most interesting things is how food can bring people together irrespective of language or background. I learned how to make Aloo Paratha from my aunt’s help in Mumbai who speaks nothing but Marathi, a language I don’t know. I have made countless people in my family cook for me, often wielding my camera at their faces and trying to learn in the process. I have never been met with anything but enthusiasm during any of these adventures and unofficial cooking lessons. Turns out people love talking about food irrespective of whether they are obsessed about it like me or not.

Aloo Paratha

What would you want as a last meal?

That’s a very morbid question, but if I had to think about it now, I’d say rice, Kerala-style spiced buttermilk, yam fry, and Kerala fish fry. My mom has to be the one cooking all of this though.

Yam Fry

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Pamela gives us healthy eating advice and how she gets her family to eat well. She is a certified holistic health counselor and creates fresh, home-cooked recipes. Try her Raw Kale Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette and Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos!

Tell us more about yourself, your site, and your family.

First and foremost, my favorite job is being a mom to three great kids, ages 16, 14 and 9.  Although I have always loved to cook since I was a little girl, I didn’t become super interested in nutrition until I had other mouths to feed.  That’s when I started reading labels, books, studying everything I could get my hands on, and eventually going back to school to get certified as a holistic health counselor.  I think cooking from scratch is a huge part of supporting good health and I also think it’s fun and therapeutic to be in the kitchen.  That’s why I left the corporate world and turned my passion for cooking healthful foods into teaching and inspiring other parents to get back in the kitchen.  My website is just an extension of my cooking classes so I can share as well with people who don’t live near me, but are still interested in cooking nutritious foods for their families.  Everything I teach in my classes or feature on my website has been tested (many times!) on my husband and kids.  I have seen them all grow with me on this journey and I have watched them learn to try new things, develop a taste for whole, unprocessed foods, and more importantly, be conscious of how they feel when they eat this way.  That doesn’t mean I don’t have a picky eater or teenage girls with a sweet tooth.  But my job is to stay the course and provide a wide variety of foods for them every day balanced with the occasional treat.

Is there anyone in particular who influenced you to start cooking?

My mom’s sister (my aunt) is the most amazing cook and I always loved going to her house for a meal.  We all did!  I thought that was cool– the way her cooking could get us all excited.  My mom also had a subscription to Gourmet Magazine.  When I was a kid there was obviously no internet, and my mom had very few cookbooks, so I devoured that magazine when it arrived.  My aunt and I would always talk about it every month in great detail and she always inspired me to experiment in the kitchen.  Actually, she still does!

Do you have any funny memories from cooking in the kitchen with your kids?

I used to cook more with my kids when they were younger and we had so much fun together.  Now I have to allow my teenage daughters to play their music in order to get them to cook with me.  But once I start singing along and dancing, they’re like “This is so embarrassing.  We’re outta here.”

What advice can you give to someone who is hosting a large dinner party?

Be organized so that you feel relaxed and can enjoy your guests.  I’m a big fan of making lists and prepping in advance.  But no matter happens, you just have to roll with it.  There’s always a solution for any mishaps and your guests won’t care if everything doesn’t turn out perfectly, especially if you’re serving a great cocktail.

Do you have any signature dishes you can share with us?

One of my favorites is my Kale Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette which has converted kale fearers into kale lovers.  We eat that once/week.  I am also obsessed with my Quinoa with Spinach, Feta and Dill as well as the Brown Rice Bake with Kale and Mushrooms.  But if you ask my kids, they would eat Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos any night of the week.

Kale Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

Quinoa with Spinach, Feta and Dill

Brown Rice Bake with Kale and Mushrooms

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

What would you want to eat as your last meal?

Oh gosh, I love to eat so I dread the thought of that!  But I had a meal in Italy once that wasn’t even a “meal,” but it was mind-blowing.  We had tomatoes (the best I’ve ever had in my life) and basil right out of the garden, next to hand-made mozzarella all drizzled with a locally-made olive oil.  We ate this with homemade bread that was grilled and rubbed with garlic.  It was insanely delicious.  I still dream about it.

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