Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Organizing and Baking........

In my attempt to be more organized with meal planning I actually started using my chalk board in my kitchen:
As you can see I even wrote down our weekly menu plan in the hopes I will follow it.  I even ticked off the meal we had eaten:
I decided to do some baking on Monday afternoon.  After seeing this recipe on Simple Living for some flapjack.  I followed the recipe to the letter, other than I melted the sugar in the pan with the butter and I used a 9 inch cake pan to cook it in.  In my oven it only took 18 minutes to cook.  Oh and to make things a bit easier I lined my cake pan with parchment paper.  **Also make sure you cut it into portions when still warm.**
Now remember I am a lazy cook!!  So I made a couple dozen sponge buns/cupcakes using a cake mix.  
A dozen were made into Fairy/Butterfly buns.  For those of you who do not like the mountain of frosting on regular cupcakes, this way you get a little frosting and the added bonus of jam.  Not sure how to make them; I explain in a bit more detail on this post.  Dh will be whining though as I put glace cherries on them to make them fancy and he hates glace cherries....LOL
I also made a batch of peanut butter cookies.  Made around 4 dozen using this recipe.  This is one of the first recipes I posted on my blog.  I have been using this recipe for over 25 years.
We have nine foot ceilings in most of this house.  Our upper cabinets have four shelves in the kitchen.  If I stand on tip-toes I can reach the second shelf.  So I have a little set  of steps to reach the higher shelves.  I had them out on Monday afternoon!!
I spent around 2 1/2 hours in the kitchen.  Put two packages of cookies in the freezer along with a dozen cupcakes.  I have enough frosting left to frost those in the fridge, I used the Betty Crocker Whipped White Frosting.  I also cooked the chicken pot pie when I had the oven on.
 There was enough for both of us for supper and enough for dh for his lunch.
This is the second day we have eaten from the menu plan!!

All in all a productive afternoon.

26 comments:

Joolz said...

I love a good productive baking day. All of your goodies look fantastic. I can't wait for cooler weather when I can do a few stews, pot pies and pea and ham soup.

Morgan said...

I do love to see what other people are cooking - thanks for sharing the photos xx

Anonymous said...

Your baking looks amazing, especially those little cakes x

Karen said...

Wow Gill Im so impressed, first the main courses and now the sweets, you definitely are in the organising mood. Everything I have seen looks delicious.

Love the chalkboard, I have been pestering hubby for one like that! i think I will be bending his ears again today :-)

Have a lovely week and enjoy the fruits of your labour x

Maggie said...

Love your chalkboard!

I'm going in search of the peanut butter cookie recipe :-)

Do you freeze the dough or the baked cookies??

Laura said...

It all looks great Gill! I miss my chalk board! We had a huge one at my old house and it came in so handy!

Boopnut said...

Very good idea. I also heard that when you plan your menu, you save money on groceries.
Deb

Debbie said...

I love the chalk board and your sitting area. It appears very peaceful and cozy.

Scrappy quilter said...

I'm coming to your house for a meal. Great job on menu planning. And that food looks scrumptious!

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

I love that you have a chalk board in your kitchen. That is really cool!

One Family said...

I love your chalkboard! It's so cute....and I wouldn't mind a couple of your peanut butter cookies :-) Yum!

Rose said...

Wow, you have been busy...I haven't checked the recipes yet, but bookmarked this post especially. I LOVe peanut butter cookies.

We are headed to Lorelei's house in a minute...she is sick again. Hopefully the dr. can tell them something this time.

Rustic Pumpkin said...

I don't think I could ever be so organised ~ more power to you!
Everything looks so yummy. Hungry now ~~~
~~~Deb in Wales

Country Gal said...

WOW ! You have been busy in the kitchen ! All looks YUMMY ! Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !

Unknown said...

I plan all of our meals weekly too. It means we only buy what we need and there is a greater variety in the food we eat. Your baking looks amazing! I wish I wasn't at work now otherwise I would whip up some cookies too!!

William Kendall said...

That is a lot of baking and cooking!

Linda aka Crafty Gardener said...

A yummy day of baking. Your chicken pot pie looks so delicious, that is one of my favourite meals.

Living Alone in Your 60's said...

Thats a really good baking session and it all looks delicious. Its quite rewarding hen you look back at a good day in the kitchen. The organisation is coming along leaps and bounds. Love the chalk board.

EG CameraGirl said...

Congrats for sticking to the plan so far! Bravo! And how great that you have packed away a few goodies in your freezer for later!

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious! Can I come and have supper at your house please? :o)

Belinda said...

Your chicken pot pie looks amazing! And your new chalk board is adorable. I like that idea.

Margie said...

Thank you for visiting me, Gill. It's always nice to meet a fellow Canuck! Your baked goodies look very yummy!

DeniseinVA said...

Everything looks delicious. I made a shepherd's pie for dinner with extra to freeze, though am following no menu plan right now. That sounds like a great idea.

I like the chalk board with it's decorative touches below, and also your kitchen looks lovely.

Linda said...

Gill,

You have lovely handwriting! I haven't eaten chicken pot pie in such a long time, I bet yours was great!

Anonymous said...

I am new to your blog. I seen oyu on another one. So your a English gal. I met my first email friend Lesley.

We have been friends for 10 years.
She loves to read so I will let her know about the books. You mentioned.

My Mom was English and she has passed on many years ago.

My Mom was baking also and a good Gardner. She taught me to bake.

I Will look at more of your blogs.

I will be back.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

You certainly did have a productive and delicious-looking few hours in your kitchen, Gill. I cooked a chicken in the crockpot last night and was wondering how to use the leftovers until I saw you chicken pot pie...now I know! Thanks for the photo and everything looked so good, especially peanut butter cookies!

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