Shareable Grocery List Phone App

My husband and I have been using "AnyList" for the past year or two. It's a free iPhone app where you can make a grocery list and share it and whoever you share with can update the list immediately. So I can text my husband that I'm going to the store, and he can check the list and add anything I've forgotten. 

There are several nice programs that do this; we like some of the features in AnyList. I like that I can make shortcut lists of frequently-bought items, so I can go through that list and tap on the ones I need and they get added to the shared grocery list. I only rarely use the recipe features, but they are very helpful for shopping for a recipe you make regularly.

Chalk Markers for labeling

I use chalk markers to label almost everything - everything stored in glass or plastic. From refrigerated leftovers (shown) to craft supplies (not shown), these "flourescent wet erase" markers are used in almost every room in my house.

Monthly storage of kid art

I have the kids put all their precious creations in a scrapbook storage box labeled with the month. I start a new box each month, and the old box works as an archive. The older box (in the photo, December) gets moved to cheaper real estate (basement, under parent bed, etc) and I have a month to pick through it for a few gems. The rest goes to recycling, and since it's been 6 weeks at that point, I don't worry about a kid coming to me to find some old piece of art.

Sticky-side-out packing tape inside a kitchen cabinet door

Collecting box tops for school is tedious, but I've made my life easier by putting a sticky-side-out length of packing tape in one of my kitchen cabinets. Now I just cut out the box top and stick it to the tape. When I run out of room, I send the tape to school and start a new one.

Companion crafts and activities for your kid's favorite books

Again, maybe I am late to the party on this, but google the title and author of a kid's favorite book along with the keywords "PDF printable" and - oh my! Enrichment! 

I discovered this because it seemed obvious there would be resources for Marceau's "Windblown", but then I fell down the rabbit-hole of other book series. Serieseses. 

If anyone else tries this, I would love for you to share what you found in the comments.

Write down what we had for dinner

I know that the best thing is to plan a week's worth of meals and spend Sunday prepping all the food or whatever, but I rarely plan dinner 24 hours in advance.
I have a bunch of go-to meals, but I worry about having some of them too often, especially the less-healthy ones like mac-n-cheese with peas.

Solution!
I write each meal down (after dinner) so I can keep track of when, and how often, we are having each meal. It also helps me track how often we order out. As you can see in the photo, I'm not specific about the meals; just enough to get the gist of the main course.

An unexpected benefit is that I can use the calendar to come up with the night's meal by seeing what I *haven't* made in a while. It also helps me figure out how old some of the leftovers in our fridge are.

Reuse glass jam jars for nuts and dried fruit

My husband has expensive taste in jam. Or should I say fruit preserves. He buys this fancy, boutiquey brand. It seemed extravagant... until I realized how lovely and useful the jars can be.

The labels come off clean in the dishwasher top rack (without falling apart), and the jars and lids stand up to the dishwasher top rack for repeated washes. The 8oz size is just right for keeping snacks on hand.

We buy our raisins and craisins in bulk, so it's helpful to have a convenient jar to grab for sprinkling on cereal instead of the enormous Costco bag. The rest of the bags of nuts from Trader Joe's go in the freezer, to keep the oils in the nuts fresh, donchaknow.

I like to cut the labels from the bags and stick them on the jar with clear packing tape. The tape can weather a few runs in the dishwasher, but it's not a tragedy to peel it off and start over.