Thanks to We Are THAT Family for hosting Works for Me Wednesday.

Does your family enjoy Eggo waffles?  Make your own at home for a fraction of the cost.  I use a Kenmore waffle maker that we got years ago for Christmas.  I see them new from $20 and you can get them used at your favorite thrift store for a few dollars.

I use a recipe from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  This recipe is similar to the one I use.  I also add in a handful of frozen fruit and nuts for a little extra nutrition.  The estimated cost of the waffles plus fruit and/or nuts is $2.00.  Here’s what I got from that $2.

That is 40- 1/4 waffles, or 10 very large waffles.  My husband and I will eat one large waffle each and my daughter will eat 1/2 of a waffle.  I freeze the waffles and toast them up just like Eggo’s.  And of course they taste much better!

How long did it take me to make this pile of waffles?  About thirty minutes from start to finish.

Bon appetit!

In a 2-gallon pot near our front door, we grew salad greens.  The seed packet was $1.89.

This picture was taken a few days after we planted the seeds in March.

I picked only about  1/4 of the greens this past weekend and this is what I got.

This was enough for my husband and I to have a large dinner salad.

Fresh salad mix picked at my convenience…it works for me!

Thanks to We Are THAT Family for hosting Works for Me Wednesday.

Thanks to We Are THAT Family for hosting Works for Me Wednesday.

I learned this tip from my husband who is a cleaning and sanitizing fiend now that he is bottling his own beer and wine.  

To remove paper labels from glass containers, soak the bottles overnight in a solution of five gallons of hot water and 1/2 a scoop of OxiClean Free Versatile Stain Remover(this type of cleaner won’t leave fragrance on your bottles therefore ruining your food).  When you wake up in the morning, rinse your glass containers really well.

Here’s a bottle Mr. Petrie used for his homebrew:

Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post to sign up for our Casa Petrie giveaway!

My best friend in middle school was from an interesting family.  Her mother was Japanese and her family did exotic things like eating tofu (don’t laugh, this was in the late 80s).  Her mother always kept a big bowl of red apples on top of their piano.  The kids (there were 4 of them) were encouraged to eat  apples if they were hungry.  Every time I went over, I craved those juicy looking apples!  At my own home, my mom practically had to shove apples down my throat.  Sorry about that, Mom.

A couple of years ago, I was at Pier 1 after the holidays and I saw this basket that I knew would look great on my living room bookshelves.  

When I got home, I knew I could keep fruit in the basket.  The basket is right next to the sofa and television.  The fruit is easy for my kiddo to grab and snack on if she gets hungry.  And when other kids come over, they always want to snack on fruit, too!  

Thanks to We Are THAT Family for hosting Works for Me Wednesday.

Thanks to We ARE THAT Family for hosting Works for Me Wednesday!

When we moved into our house, our kitchen looked like this:

The kitchen is small, but the main problem was that I needed to prioritize what we use every day.  We’ve lived in this house for three years, so I’ve been able to fine-tune our organization and storage within this limited space.

A view of the kitchen today:

We’ve done a lot of cosmetic work, but organizing the space really makes it work for our family.

The previous fixture was a bare bulb.  Now we are able to light all the important spaces.  And let’s face it, this fixture is awesome.

I use the space above the fridge to hold the cookbooks I use most often.  The leather box holds our chips.

The coffee station keeps all our supplies together and off of valuable counter space.

Over time, I have weeded out kitchen gadgets that we don’t use or that we had several copies of.  Our cabinets are neatly organized so it’s easy for me to get to what I use most often.

I keep all the spices in these funky wall-mount containers.  I also keep cloth napkins in this area.  And, just to be super obvious, I label the spices.

Magnetic strips keep the most important instruments at hand.

I use containers for easy access.

Eventually, I want to have herbs where we have these plants.

I put meaningful objects throughout Casa Petrie.  My mom collects antique irons.  She let me choose an iron for my kitchen when we bought our first home.

We love to eat at home.  This basket of oil keeps our options close to the stove when we are cooking.

What storage solutions work well in your kitchen?  Thanks for stopping by Casa Petrie.