If you have lots of different sauces for cooking that get lost in your pantry, get a plastic basket from your supermarket, line with kitchen paper/towel and put all your sauce into the basket. If you are making Asian dishes that requires lot of blending of sources, simply lift out the whole basket on to your bench and you have everything you need at hand. The paper towel is to catch any drips so that your pantry shelves don’t get slimy! You can do the same in your fridge with all the curry pastes, chutney’s etc.
Welcome to Green Apple Organising Blog
October 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Green Apple Organising was created by Adele Blair of Blair Lifestyle Management Pty Ltd, a Brisbane, Australia based Professional Organising company. During our years of business we are always asked for information and our opinion on organising and organising products.
Whilst there is a lot of organising information on the market, we were inspired to create our own Marketplace for Free Organising Ideas in Bite Size pieces. The reason we chose this approach to organising is that many of you just need help with little slices or organising, not the whole barrel.
So we have written some of our own Books, Fact Sheets and Workshops together with sourcing organising products that we think are really useful and unique.
We hope you enjoy Green Apple Organising! Don’t forget to sign up for your FREE copy of The Juice. We will only contact you via the The Juice when we have something new and exciting to report.
To keep up to date with all our organising ideas, click here.
Why Bother?
October 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Hmm …. I’m thinking that if you are reading this Blog you have some interest or inclination to get organised – yes?
But your head is saying “why bother”,” I’ve managed OK up until now, it’s just the way I am”, or “I wasn’t born with an organising gene”, “I wish I was more like my sister, she just good at that kind of stuff” or “I wish there was an easy way to do it”.
Well believe it or not, not everyone is born with an “organising” gene, just like not all of us are born with the “jogging” gene. Granted some folks are good at organising, but for most of us it takes practice or the need to create a habit, just like running a marathon doesn’t instantly happen, it takes a lot of training and practice to achieve your goal.
In addition to practice you need tools for the job, ie good running shoes, clothing and perhaps even a personal trainer! The same rule applies for organising, you need to make sure you get the right tools, information and maybe even a professional organiser to help you get started.
So again, why bother to get organised or even run that marathon? Well, think about how your current state of organisation (or disorganisation) makes you feel? If it’s less than fabulous then you should at least give it some thought! Being dis-organised can have a serious impact on your health, emotional well-being and especially your hip-pocket, so there are a few more reasons to think creating some new habits in your lifestyle that will enable you to get organised.
Classic Green Apple Martini
October 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Whilst we are all about organising, we also like to have a bit of fun!
Try this Classic Green Apple Martini – perhaps a reward after you have finished your next Organising Project!
Ingredients:
- 1 part Vodka
- 1 part Apple Schnapps
- Splash of Dry Vermouth
- Garnish: Apple Slice
Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with apple slice.
Organise Critical Household Information
October 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Do you have a central place in your home that contains your critical household information such as, phone number for the Vet, a check list for the Nanny, the number for the Plumber or a note of what days you can water the garden?
Often sourcing this information at short notice or in the case of an emergency can add to the stress of the situation you are already in. Perhaps details are scattered all over house, the odd fridge magnet, in your home office … somewhere or maybe you don’t even have this kind of critical information anywhere and you rely on your memory or the good old Yellow Pages!
What kind of information should you have in your Critical Household Information?
- Contact details for all emergency services.
- Contact details for all the good tradespeople you have used in case you want to use them again or refer them to a friend.
- Details of the Children’s vaccinations and when any boosters are due
- School book lists, school holidays, uniform lists and other essential school information.
- Details of where you Will documents are lodged
Basically, this folder should contain everything that is important to you that you need to get t6o quickly and easily.
Thankfully there is a great product on the market that has done all the hard work for you! My dear friend Brigitte Hinnenberg created “Did You Remember The Milk? The essential home organiser for very busy people”, a folder which is a template, if you like, of all the information you should keep close to hand. There are separate sections covering each party of your lifestyle to make it even easier to retrieve information. Check our website for more information on this fantastic idea!
Green Organising Tip
October 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Now that most supermarkets are phasing our plastic or paper bags, we are encouraged to use our own “green” bags for shopping, but how many times do you get to the checkout only to realise you have left them at home?
To make sure you remember your bags, when taking your groceries out of the car, leave one bag behind, take everything else to the kitchen to unpack and take back theempty green bags to the car to collect the last bag – this way you will have at least all (bar one) Green bags in your car ready for your next shop.
5 Tips to Help get organised for Summer
October 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment
With summer upon us, now is a great time to take care of those tasks inside the home that are often put to one side during the cooler months. Try some of these to get you going.
1. Let in fresh air. On a mild day, open your windows to rid the house of stale winter air and indoor pollutants.
2. Plant some spring annuals. If you have a window sill, you have enough room to pot some seedlings or even a packet of seeds from the supermarket. Care for them with the cold water, often wasted, whilst waiting for the hot to arrive.
3. Purge your winter wardrobe. Now that you have all your summer clothes out of hibernation, turn your attention to your winter clothes. Create a charity basket for those items you didn’t wear last winter.
4. Organise your home office. Now is a great time to work on your home office; preparation for Tax (if you haven’t already done it, but if you have filing all the documents you presented to your accountant away)! Go through files and get rid of unnecessary papers. Don’t forget your PC; organise, file or delete documents, then do a back up to a CD.
5. Sort your photographs. Pick a rainy (hopefully) day to sort photographs into albums. If all your images are digital, create a disk for each event or holiday and create a CD Album.
Green Apple Pie
October 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Ingredients
- 4 cups – Green Apples Cored, Peeled and Sliced
- 1 cup Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- Butter
Combine sliced green applies, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice. Place all ingredients into an unbaked pie shell.
Add a few knobs of butter.
Top with unbaked pie crust (be sure to cut slits in the top crust to let steam escape). Bake in preheated oven on 375 of 180 oven until top crust is golden brown
Organising tip – charity
October 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Put a good size garbage bin in your laundry and line it with a green garbage bag. Each time you sort your clean laundry and you spot an item that you didn’t enjoy wearing, is too small for the kids pop it in the bin. When it’s full, pull out the bag liner and take it to your favourite charity.
6 Simple Organising Tips
October 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Ever have a “To Do” list so big that you need another list to help you tackle it? If that sound like you, my guess is you are feeling a bit overwhelmed right now? Before you know it you will be sitting in the dark because you didn’t pay the electricity bill, the fridge will be bare and your loved ones’ birthdays will have passed you by unacknowledged. Not a good look for an otherwise perfect “babe”.
Don’t let this be you; grab a cuppa and a notebook and read on. You will find that keeping your life simple and organized can be easier than you think.
These tips will get you started.
1 Manage your Meals - Choose 10 meals you enjoy, be sure to include lots of variety, and rotate them for a few weeks. Make a standard grocery list to prepare those meals and just take the same list each time you visit the supermarket. Better still, do your grocery shopping online and save your grocery list so that each time you need supplies you can submit the same order.
2. Beat the Bills – You can set up automatic bill payments either via your credit card or internet banking. Work out which method suits you and just do it. Once it is done all you need to do is check the bills when they arrive and then file them straight away – no double handling. Saves time and you won’t be sitting in the dark!
3. A Grip on Greetings – Keep a supply of greeting cards on hand – just grab a few whenever you are buying something from a store that sells them – it is easier to find ones you like when you aren’t looking for a specific card. You can even buy greeting cards on line. Once a month over a glass of wine on a Sunday afternoon, write out all cards for the next month, address, and stamp them and put them in your bag ready to post.
4. One Thing at a Time - Rather than worrying about everything you’d like to organize/clean/tidy, work on one area at a time and focus on it for a minimum of 15 minutes; an hour max. Do this a few times a month and these tasks won’t seem so overwhelming and you can feel positive that you have worked on something that has been on your mind.
5. The Perfect Plan – Whilst spontaneity is the spice of life, sometimes a little planning can go a long way. Every busy Babe should keep a calendar/schedule to manage how your precious time is spent. You don’t have to schedule every minute of every day, but you should start each week day with a plan and try to stick to it. Make sure you give yourself at least one day off each weekend to enjoy “spontaneity”.
6. Halt on Handling – Fill the dishwasher as soon as you’ve finished your meal, action your mail as soon as you open it, if possible empty your Inbox at the end of each day, fold clothes as soon as they come off the line – in other words only handle things once – this will save you time and keep things under control.
