Spring has Sprung

It was in the 60's all week, so it finally started to feel like spring around here. Of course today it was in the 40's and rainy, but you know what they say about April showers.

I spent a lovely week enjoying the breeze from the open windows and cooking all sorts of things in the kitchen.

First, I "perfected my pizza recipe", according to my husband. I made a homemade pizza with Pioneer Woman's pizza dough recipe, and we inhaled it. There were no leftovers, and last time I made pizza we had half a pizza left! Since we're both desperately missing our Chicago style pizza, this homemade pizza is pretty satisfying. It's also a lot kinder on our waistlines since I do simple changes like turkey pepperoni and low-fat cheese. I'm making another one in a day or two (the dough is "aging" in the fridge as I type), so I'll try to get some pictures before we inhale it again.





I also tried Annie's Eats chicken gyros on her whole wheat pita bread. Gyros are another favorite from Chicagoland that we've never been able to find anywhere else that tastes 'right'. And since we don't regularly have lamb on hand, it's tough to duplicate at home. I've tried a pork recipe before that came close, but the smell was all wrong. This chicken recipe was delicious though. The pitas were delicious, but I'm a sucker for bread. Jeff and I both liked the chicken flavor, and loved the sauce. I've been eating the leftovers for days. I added more garlic than she called for (you shouldn't find that surprising, I come from a family addicted to garlic), so the garlic flavor just got stronger each day it sat in the fridge. Mmm. It's demolished, but I'm tempted to make some more just for snacking since I have some greek yogurt in the fridge...

Anyways.

The warmer weather and promise of spring has given me the urge to de-clutter and organize the apartment. It's crazy-we've only been here maybe three months and it already feels like we have stuff everywhere! It has a lot to do with our quick and dirty unpacking plan. We got everything out of boxes, but never really organized and put things in spots that made sense. So now it only takes one lazy afternoon to trash the place.



So tonight I started to deep clean and really organize the place. I started in the kitchen since it gets the most traffic and needs the most organization. The pantry was overflowing with recycle piles, since garbage service was limited after the earthquake. I finally combed through the piles and straightened things up in there. I also cut down the boxes so we could actually get things into the recycle bins without moving everything around. The tops of the boxes used to come flush with the bottom shelf, which just didn't work). Now all we have to do is slide the trashcan left or right, not out of the pantry completely.



Then I re-organized the food items to make the most sense for what we grab first and what needs to be out of sight (i.e. potato chips, etc.). I hung the broom, mop, and dustpan up off the floor, since they had a tendency to fall on me when I was reaching for some item in the pantry. Not to mention things just look neater when they're hanging instead of propped in a corner.



Although it's just a small start, it feels good to get things organized. Since I had it in my hand, I went ahead and mopped the floor (it's amazing how quickly the floor can get covered in food and dust when I'm cooking every night), so I'm using this post as a time waster until it's dry and I can get my hands on all the cabinets. Although the rest of the kitchen has stayed relatively organized, some things can use moving around. The little inconveniences, like having my blender on one side of the kitchen when I always use it on the other side. Sure it's a small kitchen, but why not put it in the cabinet right under the counter space I always use it in?



With that theory in my head, I'm hoping to work my way through the whole apartment this week. I figured I'd start at one end and finish in the office, which has no organization at all right now. I'll attempt to put things where we use them and tame the chaos that happens every week. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll be showing you our organized and finished office!




P.S. Yep, we had another earthquake the other day, followed by a 14 hour power outage. No damage on base, just the inconvenience of a power outage. The most common question I had was about my wall collage! Rest at ease, it stayed put. It still looks just like it did when I photographed it a few days ago.