Kitchen Food Prep

A quick update on the master bedroom, bathroom and hallway renovation:  IT'S DONE!  Wellllll... almost.  Our painter underwent hand surgery on Saturday so we're anxiously awaiting his healthy return.  I don't want to reveal the new spaces until all the cabinetry is painted and everything is perfect (clearly I have issues).  Anyway, since there are no more construction men roaming about whilst traipsing dirt and dust and lord knows what else through our house,  I've been back in the kitchen and cooking.  PLEASE don't be fooled.  When I cook it's NOT like watching a relaxing episode of Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis.  It's more like watching the Tasmanian Devil run about like a wild bull in a china shop.  In an effort to tame the wild animal from within, so to speak,  I've designated and organized an area in the kitchen as my Prep Space.

Our kitchen is not huge by any stretch but with the simple shuffling and re-organizing of a few things I pretty much have all the essential prep and cooking items within this one zone of the kitchen.  The pantry and refrigerator are on either side of the prep counter making it easy to quickly grab food or spices.   All my pots, pans and mixing bowls are in the lower cabinets. And if I'm baking... well you may remember my designated baking cabinet in the upper cabinet.

I'm loving our new carrera marble countertops but you pretty much have to treat them like you would a nice dining room table.  That's where these great cutting boards from Ikea come into play.  They were... wait for it... $9.99 each! They are plenty big which gives me ample space to work and they perfectly hug the counter allowing them to stay in place.  There was a similar item in the Williams-Sonoma catalog this month for $200!  SUCKERS! 

Like any proper Italian woman does, I use my fair amount of Olive Oils when cooking.  This tray neatly holds all the items I pretty much use everyday.  I picked up these cute decanters at World Market.

And a cute spoon rest helps to avoid any sauce stains on the wood cutting boards.

After answering the everyday question of "What's for dinner," I post the recipe to the fridge using a magnet clip so I can quickly reference it.  I was constantly rifling through cookbooks and recipe printouts while in the middle of mixing or sautéing something leaving all sorts of food smudges everywhere.  What a time suck and... ummm gross!

All knives, spatulas, spoons, can openers, thermometers etc are close by.

I even moved the food wraps in the draw where all my spices used to be (click here to see where my spices are now).  This makes it easy to clean up and store any leftovers.

So there you have it - my very own Prep Counter.  I'm still kind of a maniac in the kitchen but I seem to be able to get dinner on the table much faster than before.  Hey... every little bit helps.  Especially when you have two 2-year olds latched onto your legs while you're cooking!