I have a kitchen filing drawer full of recipes. They are a mix of precious heirloom recipes, old Specific Carbohydrate Diet recipes I no longer use, recipes from friends, and recipes culled from magazines. While this system of organizing recipes has served me well, I wanted to adopt a new approach in keeping with how I use recipes today.
Unless I am searching for an old family favorite, I am unlikely to go drawer diving for a recipe anymore. I typically go to AllRecipes.com and then follow the recipe on my iPad. Although I like the website, am a supporting member, and have their iPad app, I did a little research to see what was the best method of accomplishing what I wanted. Some approaches I considered:
– Scanning my recipes to Evernote – www.plantoeat.com – Paying BigOven to convert my recipes for use with their website from an iPhone photo – Scanning my recipes to specific computer folders – Emailing myself recipes that would then be archived in Gmail folders – Entering everything into the Shop ‘n Cook software I have on the Mac
Ultimately, the time, expense, or lack of features (e.g., no way to menu plan or create shopping lists) made me decide against each of these. Here is the super fast and effective method I decided on:
1) Go through recipes section by section and throw away any that I know I won’t use 2) Check on AllRecipes.com for the recipe. If I haven’t tried the recipe I am searching for, I look for a top-rated recipe for the same thing and throw away the original. I add the digital recipe to my AllRecipes box. 3) If I can’t find the recipe by name, or if I can’t find a close enough match, I click on ingredients and search for the signature ingredients. If a find a match or something close enough, I make the addition to my digital recipe box. 4) If I can’t find what I want in AllRecipes, I add a new tab to my browser and search for the recipe by name or ingredients on Google. If I have the recipe from a magazine, I include its title in my search terms. I typically find not only the recipe, but a great photo to go with it. I scan several search results until I find the recipe I want. I highlight the URL in the address bar. Right click and choose copy. Now return to my AllRecipes.com tab. Click on my Recipe Box. Click on options at the top and choose Add Weblink from the Dropdown options. Left click in the URL box, then right click and choose paste. Enter and I have the option of selecting no picture or from the images on the website. Categorize my link at the bottom as appetizer, main dish, etc. Save it, preview it, and add the link. The recipe now appears in my box. I throw away the paper recipe unless it’s a keepsake. 5) Make a pile of recipes that I can’t find. Hand enter these on AllRecipes.com (I don’t have many). I will scan the picture to add to these recipes if I have one and care to take the time. I throw these recipes away when I’m done unless they are heirlooms. 6) Scan or photograph precious recipes. I should have a digital version of these in my recipe box now, but typically the handwriting and stains mean a lot to me. I will make sure I have a backup of these scans. I will add the originals to a recipe scrapbook I am creating. 7) Access my recipes from my AllRecipes iPad app and get cooking! I love seeing the modifications people make to recipes, having a shopping list, and just letting the app inspire me with yummy-looking recipes that I may want to add to my box. I also love the built-in timer. If you are an AllRecipes user, look up melphd. By the way, I haven’t been given anything in return for this promo. 8) Enjoy or utilize the freed up recipe space.
When dealing with a brat, we are inclined to make rules for behavior and to make them easy to follow. I explained in yesterday’s post that rules should be avoided for rebels and today I will explain that we shouldn’t make life easy for our inner rebels either.
If we are struggling to get things done, we typically assume that the task is just too hard. So we might:
– Tell ourselves to pick up one item from our filthy bedroom floor – Eat one serving of fruit or drink one glass of water a day to lose weight – Set the timer for five minutes to focus on the task at hand
There is no question that these approaches work! I have recommended them and used them many times. The problem is that the typical rebel isn’t underachieving because the task is too hard, but because it’s too easy. Rebels are perfectly capable of picking up, losing weight, and focusing. They just don’t want to because we have given them no good reason to do so.
I remember having a genius sixth grader in my class, when I was an elementary student, who had been arrested for armed robbery. School was absolutely no challenge for him; getting away with other people’s stuff was. I likewise struggled to accomplish any of the steps toward getting my Ph.D. until my husband told me I had to finish it in record time. Not only did I finish my Ph.D. in a matter of months, but I had a great time showing the psych department that it could be done.
Your inner rebel can get things done when you make it a real challenge for her.
– Challenge her to completely makeover her home in a month and submit the photos for a contest or publication – Challenge her to enter a 12-week weight loss or transformation competition – Challenge her to write a novel in a month or get all of her work done for the week by Wednesday (if you’re really crazy, four hours)
Your rebel can get great things done, but not if you expect too little of her. What kinds of challenges has your rebel met in the past? What kinds of challenges could motivate her today?
In my book, So You’re Not Wonder Woman, I describe the resistance to change as being the fault of our inner brat (a label borrowed from Pam Young). When I think about what brats need, my first thought is a good whoopin’! That’s where the brat analogy breaks down.
When our inner brat doesn’t do right, we often try to whoop her. We berate, punish, and lay down the law. That might work if we were really dealing with an undisciplined brat. However, my recent experience raising a strong-willed teen has convinced me that we are not dealing with inner brats, but inner rebels. Trust me, you do not want to whoop a rebel!
I realized that although I knew what to say and do with respect to the real life rebels in my life, I was not applying those same principles when it came to the rebel in me. After beginning to practice rebel-friendly principles for self change, I am enjoying increased productivity and peace. If you want to make important life changes, achieve your goals, and get things done, you need to learn how to relate to your inner rebel, too. In a series of upcoming posts, I will share strategies for getting along with your rebel so you can get great things done.
Wondering when to tackle a given task can lead to procrastination and overwhelm. The GTD philosophy advises dividing all our to do’s into contexts (@computer, @office) etc. That structure can help you group activities by tool or location, but it gives us no structure for when we should be doing certain tasks.
I like my newly developed day-based contexts which just expand on those I learned from www.FLYLady.net.
Money and Mail Mondays – These are the days I will focus on work related tasks and will get stuff in the mail. These are the tasks I enjoy least, so I want to get them out of the way at the beginning of the week.
Teaching Tuesdays – These are days I will focus on school-related tasks.
Windows Wednesdays – Wednesdays will be the days I focus on computer-related tasks.
Thinking Thursdays – This is the day set aside for projects that require time or focus.
Fun Fridays – This is a day to accomplish all the quick, enjoyable to do’s like watching You-Tube videos or reading links friends send.
Shopping Saturdays – This is my grocery and errand day.
Sweet Sundays – The sweet reminds me to be sweet with the Lord, family, and friends. I will take care to correspond with people and spend special time with them.
Obviously, I can’t work or teach or do computer tasks only on the day assigned. And I better not restrict my sweetness to Sundays! But when I have a non-urgent, irregular task, I can absolutely save it until the appropriate context day. I use www.goodtodo.com to manage my tasks which makes this approach super simple.
Let’s say I get an email saying that I need to send a registration form and check for my child’s activity to a given address. I simply forward the email to Monday@goodtodo.com, archive the email, and move on. I read that a friend’s parent has passed on Facebook and I want to send a sympathy card. I have a few options, depending on the day. I can email a note to buy a sympathy card to Saturday@goodtodo.com (or add the task by opening the app on my phone or computer). I could also send it to Sunday if I already have a card or Wednesday if I want to send a card from www.SendOutCards.com.
Not only will context days help you group your tasks for efficiency, but they enable you to automatically schedule tasks as well. You can keep your email inbox empty and have peace of mind knowing that all your tasks are scheduled. Can’t get to everything? If the task still isn’t urgent, simply redate for the following week (it’s so easy with goodtodo). I received nothing for this recommendation from goodtodo, but I might email Monday@goodtodo.com to remind myself to ask them for some $ off my subscription. 🙂
I dig summer, for one, because I can devote time to some personal goals. My friend, Deb, posted her goals for the summer. I wanted to share mine, too, and I hope you will share yours!
1. Complete my top 3 scrapbooking projects. This may be overly ambitious, but I have almost finished one of them and it’s a major step down from completing all of my scrapbooking projects this summer. 🙂
2. Educate myself about investing. I have dabbled in it and now I want to learn it and then teach it to my kids.
3. Streamline and simplify my home and life. I would like to spend time purging files and toys and lots of expectations.
4. Have a ton of fun with family and friends. I doubt I will look back fondly on the summer of 2011 as the year I completed goals 1-3, but I may remember goal number 4!
I have been spending time lately with women who are avid gardeners. As I look at their lovely flowers and vegetable beds, I think, “I should garden more.” (Or more accurately, I should start one).
I have noticed women whose shoes, purses, jewelry, outfits, and nail polish are stylish and coordinated and I think, “I should shop more.”
I have been reading women’s blogs that are monetized and are followed and retweeted by hundreds and I think, “I should blog more.”
I hear about homeschooling moms who follow a prescribed curriculum or schedule religiously, go on fascinating field trips, or have their children in any number of impressive classes and I think, “I should school more.”
I look at recipes using organic, home-ground, probiotic ingredients and I think, “I should cook from scratch more.”
I check out beautiful handmade clothing, afghans, photos, and scrapbooks and I think, “I should craft more.”
I see picture-perfect closets and spaces and I think, “I should organize more.”
At various times, I consider that I should be serving more, writing more, playing tennis more, selling more, speaking more, entertaining more, producing more, reading more, playing with the kids more, cleaning more, praying more, investing more, exercising more, and even relaxing more.
As I consider all the things I think I should be doing more of, I am overwhelmed and insecure. Can you relate? As I sought the Lord’s counsel on what more I ought to be doing, I was reminded that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He whispered to me that I could let some of my burdens go. (Bye bye garden!) I was reminded that I am more than enough for Him.
What burdens do you feel the Lord calling you to let go because you are more than enough for Him?
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
