Wrap-n-Mat

At the beginning of the summer we ran out of ziploc bags.  I decided to take this as a challenge. How long could I go without them?  We made it through summer camp season with loads of little tupperware-like containers.  I bought a set of about fifteen small containers at Ikea--with lids that fit pretty well but not always perfectly...and I went to Chinatown (to the basement of the Elizabeth Mall) and found a perfect Sanrio-style set of three rectangular containers, with pretty designs that my daughters love--because it's SOO much fun to spend money on fun new things in an effort to go green.  My middle child went to a camp that required completely disposable lunches every day so we just went ahead and did that--but in general we were pretty green and it felt pretty good.  By the time school started I felt like we were on a roll, and decided to enter the school year ziploc-bag-less.  It helps that one of our school's beloved fourth grade teachers has decided to stop having a homeroom in favor of being the school's roaming green guru--determined to teach the kids about recycling and other good awareness-type things.  But of course I did feel a little bruised when my oldest came home from school saying that he'd been called out for using tinfoil.  Wrap-n-mats to the rescue!  I saw these things on a fantastic website called reusablebags.com a few months ago and thought they looked pretty great. Plastic-coated (not sure the specifics but it seems to be plastic that's been vetted pretty well) cloth squares cut and sized to wrap perfectly around a sandwich, and close with a velcro tab.  I sent my daughter to school with her sandwich folded in one for the first few days and we're all in love with it.  (That green teacher even spotted it and is going to hold it up as an example for others next week).  So I just went online last night and ordered two more.  I had to browse around a bit to find patterns that wouldn't embarrass my 5th grade boy--but in the process discovered that they make a blank beige one that can be personalized with fabric markers or, I suppose, sharpies, in addition to some great polka dot prints in sophisticated color combinations.  I'll never be one of those people who makes all sorts of crazy sacrifices to keep our level of trash down as far as we should--I compost our tea leaves and coffee grinds because I can just toss them in our garden, but everything else would be too time-consuming and messy--but I have to say it feels good now to know that my three kids' home lunches aren't resulting in a speck of trash.

RL

Nyttja Picture Frame

Can you tell that an Ikea just opened up in Brooklyn?  The wonderful thing is that it doesn't feel like do-or-die shopping like it used to, when I'd have paid $9 to cross the Verrazano Bridge so the pressure was on to spend at least a hundred dollars to make up for the fact that I'd just shopped in a no-sales-tax state (NJ) but had to pay a toll that would match the sales tax of a hundred dollar purchase in NY.  (Welcome to my head).  My latest Ikea obsession is their NYTTJA frame collection.  The 8 1/2" x 11" colored frames--very nice smooth finished edges (not like the raw unfinished blonde wood RAM frames which I also like);  primed and ready to turn any regular paper-sized artwork into a masterpiece.   If your kids go through your printer paper as quickly as mine do, chances are you have TONS of 8 1/2 x 11 art in your house too.  FYI the link here sends you to something that doesn't look like what I'm talking about.  I'm wondering if this is an in-store purchase only.  They're lightweight and cardboardish on the back, so a good strong double-stick tape will hold it, I suppose you could even put some magnets on the back and have it make refrigerator artwork look even more polished. The colors are great.  But the price is what's so remarkable.  $1.99 per frame.  And I'm proud to report that since the Ikea's so close to me I can dash over there and pick up a few frames at a time (enter through the cashiers in front to avoid the rat-in-a-maze showroom experience).  I'll probably spend a hundred dollars on these frames eventually--between framing my own kids' work, my own artwork, birthday party favors and gifts--but at least I don't have to do it all at once, like in the old days.

RL

Ikea Grater

We eat pasta several times a week. My son is a parmesan cheese freak and I love having him grate his own cheese. I'm not much of a cook (see the first sentence) and am not intuitive enough in my own kitchen to know how to delegate out little tasks to the kids. Pitiful I know. But grating their own parmesan cheese is the perfect little way for them to get involved, especially if you have this great (no pun intended, really) grater from Ikea. It's a satisfying frosted tupperware-like container with a tupperware-ish lid. You put the grater top on top of the bowl and grate away. The good news is that you can keep your grated stuff in its own tupperware container if you, I don't know, have leftover parmesan cheese? (I know we never do) The really wonderful part is that the bottom has a skid-proof rubberized coating so an enthusiastic nine-year old parmesan cheese fan can grate all he wants and there's never any mess. No metal pyramid to balance with one hand over some unattached bowl or plate. Just one perfect little unbudging grater. I've never been good at keeping lids with tupperware so I lost the optional lid a long time ago, but it doesn't matter to me at all. What might matter is that the grater I purchased five years ago was white, and now I see that they make them in different colors. Looks like I need another trip to the Ikea Marketplace. *Sigh*

RL

Spot On Magnet Hooks

A new friend walked into my kitchen one day, turned in a slow circle, and then remarked 'wow, I don't think I've ever been on a kitchen before without realizing it was a kitchen!'  Perhaps this was because of our towering leafy plants, or maybe it's because we have nothing resembling traditional cabinets, maybe our long unkitcheny Ikea curtains threw her off?.  Or maybe it's that the usual tell-tale kitchen giveaway is the refrigerator and ours was almost completely hidden under an over-the-top but artful arrangement of children's artwork, photo magnets, and souvenirs. I used to feel kind of guilty that my fridge was so cluttered, but I've come to realize that my own personal aesthetic involves lots of colorful meaningful things, and that my fridge most certainly reflects that.  But personal style aside, I'm also raising three children in less than 1600 square feet, and I've come to realize that no surface should be under-utilized, living rent-free; everything should be pulling its own weight.  And that's why these Spot-On Hooks come are so perfect.  I discovered them in A Cook's Companion on Atlantic Avenue (one of those dare-to-dream kitchen stores where I can only usually afford the tchotchkes near the register).  I've since found them online at several other places (including The Container Store). These babies have totally earned their keep.  Each one is strong enough to hold a cast iron skillet, so now all of my frying pans and sauce pans dangle from the side of the fridge closest to the stove (amidst laminated robots, and framed newspaper clippings), and the kids' lunchboxes hang from them too.  And to top it all off they're really beautiful-big circles with little hook 'cut-outs' and they come in gorgeous colors:  avocado green, mango yellow, cool retro blue, chocolate brown, .... So they're doing double duty: helping us save all sorts of precious space and adding to the colorful vibe.  I never don't need more of these.  In fact, as I sit here typing this, I'm realizing I could put about five more to instant use.

RL