More Stuff than Space?

 Pandemic re-org project.

This is what some of my spices looked like when I started the process

This is what it looks like afterward.  There is a container for oils, vinegars, sauces and a spice riser.

I have been working from home since the Covid 19 shutdown in March.  I have never worked from home in my life other than when I wasn't working and working on my blog and other projects.

This time felt weird and an opportunity at the same time.  When it started we thought we would be home for a couple of weeks and things would slowly get back to normal.  I thought it would be a nice break to save 10 hours a week travelling to and from work and I could spend more time cooking meals at home and doing other things.

Well things didn't exactly turn out as I thought it would.  A couple of weeks has turned into 6 months already and I can't even believe how much time I have spent at home alone.  My bubble has been very small and I didn't see my friends for at least the past 6 months except for my tiny bubble of my best friend's family.

When it started I thought I could finally get to the home organizing that has been on my mind for a long time but because my day job was taking all my energy I didn't have the time or energy to do the things I had on my to do list.

It started with a broken dresser.  I took most of the stuff out of my broken dresser and had it piled in bins in the corner of my room.  I had to start my purge and organizing.  I finally got a new dresser when I was able to go to Ikea with my friend and it's sitting in boxes in my room waiting for my friend to assemble it.  I also purchased a bookshelf cabinet that has been assembled and is semi organized.  That's also another project to finish but it holds a lot.

Before with a half shelf

after shelf removal and using a divider for trays

Then I moved on to my living room and took everything off the shelves on either side of my TV because it was looking very cluttered.  I organized my cookbooks on one side covering 3 shelves and moved photo boxes and other things to the other shelves while removing things that stuck out or didn't have a function or as Marie Condo says "spark joy".  I started a pile of donations in the other corner of my living room and that pile has been growing.  I don't know how I crammed so much stuff into this space because now that I am re organizing it isn't all fitting back in.

My living room was close to being less cluttered and then I had to deal with the kitchen because of maintenance that needed to be done.  I had to remove everything from the cupboards in the kitchen and I put them in bins that I then stacked in my living room.  It is like a renovation or a move.  It kinda feels the same way.  I didn't have the dust but I had the boxes and stuff everywhere and it's still not done.  The kitchen project has been going on for a couple of weeks.

When you see the Youtube videos of people organizing their kitchens and it's wrapped up in a 10 minute video....well that's not reality for sure.  Maybe if you clean one cabinet.. but not a whole kitchen.

Before - baking and mugs 

After- baking and bowls and easy access for tea and coffee

The reason it's taken me a long time is because it's been hot so I can only do so much before literally dripping in sweat.  Also I have been working so I can only do it around my work.

And I have been cleaning the shelves and handwashing everything before it goes back in.  I have been decanting things and switching containers to just fit the contents saving some space and using mason jars and Oxo containers.  I have tried to put most things into clear containers to see how much there is so I know when I have to replace.

In the organizing process when I removed everything I have tried to sort like with like so that's when you really see the amount of stuff you have.   I have 5 ice cream scoops, 5 vegetable peelers, and a bunch of other duplicate things.  Here's the thing.  I haven't actually purchased all of the duplicate things.  A lot of it came from events that I have attended or maybe I couldn't find something or something didn't work well and I purchased another one and never got rid of the not great one.  Some things have come from when I did Food Revolution events and had to purchase things for demos or when I had things at work.  For example I used to make food waste soups at work so I had a little spice kit at the office and some tools I used to make the soup.  When we moved offices I couldn't do it anymore so I took the spices and things home.

My friend Adam is a great friend but he loves to bring me random foods from his shopping trips.  He does all the grocery shopping and has a habit of always buying too much and he likes to share.  So I had a pile of food that I picked up on sale that I couldn't even put into the cupboards.  Time for a re-org.

In the re-organization I decided to move things around and put things in the spot where I could access what I use most.  Being short an out of shape means that I have the bottom shelf of the top cabinets that are the only ones I can get to without having to stand on a step stool.  That means the plates and spices and other things I need quick access to had to go there.

I also had piles of stuff and to much stuff on my counter.  Huge appliances that took up all the space.  I decided that I will sell my food processor because it's huge and has a bunch of attachments that take up too much space and because it has so many pieces it's really a pain to clean after I use it which isn't that often.  I will just get a smaller simple one.  I used to have yearly parties and I cooked a lot but I haven't done that in a few years so it doesn't make sense to have huge things anymore.  I am getting rid of a huge casserole dish and roasting pan because I have a size smaller for each that can be used and if needed I can get those disposable aluminum trays if I have to cart anything anywhere so why take up the space in a small apartment.  

When I moved in I was used to living in a house with a basement that had a second freezer and shelves for the appliances and extra stuff that wasn't used often.  I don't have that option anymore so I have to adapt better for my current situation.

This is a long post because it's been a long process and I have learned a lot over the past few years after having to downsize from a house full of stuff to a one bedroom apartment and accumulating more stuff along the way.

I like nice things and I am always looking for things that make things work better.  I also like to bake when I have a craving or with my friend's 5 year old when she used to be able to come over. She likes sprinkles and we used to do cookie and cupcake decorating so I have a whole box of sprinkles and loads of instant baking mixes for surprise visits.

She hasn't been over since February but I think she will be allowed to visit soon so I hope I am ready to bake again in a more efficient space.

The big thing I learned after spending a whole lot of money on organizing things is that I probably should have just had less stuff because it's been costing a lot of money to get organized and a lot of sweat equity.  But at this point I can cook almost every ethnicity food and bake a whole host of things when I am inspired.

What I have also learned is to take a hard look at what you have and get it all organized in a smart way and purge the stuff you don't use or need.

After- lid rack, purged and moved from other spaces, in the back a pan rack

After- I purchased the sliding shelves and a new recycle bin. 
The metal container holds plastic bags and the bin holds gloves, and swiffer cleaners.


In the re-organization I have purchased things like risers, lazy susans, I kind of hate that name but that's what they call it.  I have purchased new spice containers,  racks, cannisters, bins and things that hang on cupboard doors and all kinds of other organizer tricks. 
These things sometimes save space, sometimes just make things easier to get to and sometimes don't actually save space but make it easier to see and find things.

I still have 2 bins of stuff and have the equivalent of a shelf and a half to put it into.  I also have an equivalent of a bin full of food containers that I have not figured out where they will go.

So I think I am going to have to cook a lot of the food that has been waiting on those shelves and a lot more baking to make some more space.  Things look less cluttered but it's going to be a work in progress for a long time until I adapt to the new way of doing things.

During the pandemic while all the usual things I did like go to events, movies and out for dinner with friends all disappeared.  All I could do was go grocery shopping and retreat to my kitchen to feed myself the foods I missed and deal with my boredom.  I tried to make new things like Korean pancakes,  so I shopped for foods I didn't use before and because you can't always buy the quantities you actually need this stuff just takes up space after you use what you needed.  I need to try and use up some of those things more now.

This was a lot of work and it's not finished yet but it was necessary and unfortunately I would have preferred to do this in the winter but because I was  not sure how long I would be working from home I also wanted to get this completed before we return to a more normal life and possibly go back to commuting life and life with friends and fun things to do.

The only accomplishment I will have to show for 2020 is that I hope to have a more organized life and be ahead of the game instead of always trying to catch up and keep up.

I know I have inspired a couple of people to organize their stuff and like I mentioned before I have a lot of blogger friends and we have gotten a lot of promotional things at trade shows and events that accumulate pretty fast.  I plan on doing a big donation to either Value Village or the Diabetes organization but if you need anything let me know.

I hope this inspires you to either get organized or shop wisely.  And what I learned also is to leave room to grow which happens fast.

Happy Organizing and get your kitchen and home space more zen like to release the clutter in your space and your mind and use the time to be creative or spend time with your bubble.

I found a knife holder at the dollar store and various dividers.
See my multiple ice cream scoop collection.  A work in progress.

What is a Foodie?

What do you think of when you hear the term Foodie?  Do you cringe or drool?

I started my Blog in 2011 after my work contract ended and my mother passed away.  I had already had blogs but I was home cooking more so I created a Blog to put my thoughts and photos about food onto a blog for myself and my friends.

In 2011 it wasn't a pretentious lucrative thing as it turned out to be for some people and I didn't do it as a career but as a passion.  I had always loved to cook and to eat out at different kinds of restaurants to try new things that I did not grow up eating.  My next door neighbours were mostly Italian and I loved to see what they were eating at their house and that grew my love of Italian food that continues to this day.  My mom wasn't the best at making Italian food but she did know how to cook other Mediterranean food.  I had a very diverse palette compared to most of my friends because my parents had food influences from Greece, Poland, France, Belgium, Jerusalem and Spanish food too.

I am getting ahead of myself now.  Back to the Foodie thing.  When I started my blog I wanted to call it something like Starving Artist or something cool but when I tried to come up with a name I kept going back to Starving Foodie.  The term Foodie was just starting to be used a lot and since I am not a trained chef and I don't work in the Food Industry and I am not a professional writer but I do know my way around a Kitchen and I do know a lot about different ethnic cuisines and what's happening in the food world.   I learned a lot from influences from friends, travelling, going out to events since I was a kid and growing up watching cooking shows on TV.  While I am not formally trained I have been told many times over the years that I should have a restaurant.  I don't because I know it takes a lot of money and a lot of stamina and I don't have enough of either of those things.

So the reason for this blog post and What is a Foodie?  I started watching a New York based documentary on Amazon Prime and right at the beginning they had people from places like Eater and bloggers, and other food writers answer the question about what is a foodie.   Most of them said things like a self proclaimed food geek, someone who just goes to restaurants and a lot more judgemental comments that kind of put my back up.   I often think I should change my blog to my name because I like to write about restaurants less than other things.  I like to write about events,  because I do have an education and experience in that and I also like to write about food films and also have another blog for that.  But I also like to write about sustainability, farmers, trends, great things and not so great things going on in the food world.  My instagram is more of a lifestyle page because I post lots of not so perfectly curated photos.  I have 2 accounts but I just go back to my main account and I like to post things I see, people I hang out with and places I go and things I eat.

My Instagram is more like a visual diary for myself and my friends to see what I am up to.  They like to see what I am eating because it inspires them and gives them ideas of what they can make because I keep things fairly simple most of the time.

During Covid-19 self isolating I have gone back to the kitchen and almost back to where I started even though I have put my time into Instagram instead of my blog because I am still working from home.

I have done all the Covid food things,  make sourdough Starter,  make Dalgona coffee,  I am still obsessed with that one but gave up on the sourdough because it just takes too much of a time investment.  I baked the banana bread,  I made chocolate chip cookies,  I made gnocchi from scratch and all kinds of doughs.  I am trying to push myself to not eat the same even though the food options are a lot more limited now.  I try and make things I have never made before like Okonomyaki.  Japanese seafood pancake if you don't know.  That turned out great.  It's my creative outlet, it feeds my belly and my soul and my creative photography lover side.

The reason I take un-curated photos on my feed is because I have been taking photos since I was 12 years old.  I just take photos of things I find interesting, beautiful or newsworthy for me.  My blog and social media were created for me so I don't expect to become rich and famous from it.   Some have but that has never been my goal.

These are some of my "foodie" friends while we are on an Asparagus Farm Tour.

I am not that person who is more of an "influencer" that's the term I am not crazy about because to me from what I have seen from some of the popular ones is that it is all about them getting the perfect shot of themselves.  If I take a selfie it's either because I just want to say something, be goofie or show where I am or who I am with or like this photo below it's to show the sign of the Sea-Hi restaurant that was about to close after 50 years in business.

I went to a lavendar farm with a couple of friends and what really turned me off where the people who were obviously Instagram obsessed with doing a photoshoot in the middle of a row of lavendar and they wore pretty dresses and big sun hats and then sprawled in the rows of lavendar even though they were told to be careful of the lavendar because that's how they earn their money.  I wanted to take a photo of the fields and my friends and I celebrating my friends birthdays.

I am getting off track again.  Anyway..  I have been to many events where there are a whole bunch of foodies, Instagrammers, bloggers, influencers, writers, fashionistas or whatever you want to call them.  Sometimes when food is presented some will spend 20 minutes taking photos of it and some will take 20 min taking photos of themselves eating it.   Some will take one photo and then dive in as if they have never eaten a meal before in their life.   I like to try and take a couple of photos to try and get the best light and angle and then get out of the way and wait to eat the food once everyone is done.

It's very competitive although I am not competing because it's not my source of income.  I have a day job that pays my bills now but when I started my job just ended and I just gravitated to food to fill the void.  The first couple of years I spend a lot of time on my blog but lately I have not been keeping up because of Covid,  and the fact that there is less to inspire me to write because I am not out and about like I normally would be.   The judgmental comments in that documentary inspired me to speak about what it's like in Toronto and what it's like for me as a blogger.   I am not an "influencer",  although I do get media passes and do write about events mostly or other things I am invited to,  I do not work for a publication so my opinions are my own.  If I don't like something you will only hear the things I am ok with.  If I don't think things are right I will tell you.  Because it's my voice I can speak what I think uncensored by a brand compensation.

Now back to the food thing.  I have been cooking for over 50 years so I think that has given me somewhat of half decent experience and I get bored eating the same kind of food so I am always looking for inspiration.  Currently now that travel is not an option I was able to watch a series about Thailand and the food there.  It was like getting a travel cooking lesson and I find that very inspiring so when I feel like having Thai food I try and take bits of what I have learned from those types of shows.

I have many friends that are different kinds of bloggers, instagrammers, and food writers, tv personalities and such.  Some specialize in specific cuisine, some only go to restaurants,  one of my friends has dumped her blog but continues to search for the perfect beers an puts that on Instagram.  Some are into health,  some farming,  some travel and some Michelin star restaurants. 

We all have our own individual passion for food which is what has brought us together.  Food is the common denominator in the world.  Right now we can't agree on anything but if you post a Pizza Pull I bet a lot of people will like it.   Food itself isn't political,  there may be religious reasons for eating certain foods but you don't eat because of politics.   When I post anything that has my political opinion I get skewered on social media but right now I am going to post Ice cream for National Ice Cream day and I don't think anyone will post a negative comment.

There is room enough in the world for Foodie, or whatever you want to call people who love food and everything about it and influencers,  food marketers,  brands, food writers, content creators, cookbook authors, food bloggers and dieticians.

Let people do what they do and the world will be a happier place.

Now I am going to go back to that documentary called For the Love of Food.  If you check it out leave me a comment about it.

Sobeys Holiday Blogger Challenge

photo provided by Highroad

I got a very last minute invitation to participate in a Holiday Blogger Challenge at an event hosted by Sobeys.  I already had another event that I was planning on going to but couldn't pass up this invite to join an Ultimate Holiday Blogger challenge with fellow food bloggers and see what Sobeys had in store.

The event was held at the fabulous Cirillo's Academy on Dundas St. West on a snowy night this week.

I was the first guest to arrive, I left early because it was snowing and rush hour and I wanted to make sure I didn't get stuck in traffic.  I would rather have time then be stressed about being late.

I walked in to a beautifully decorated space with festive drinks like a cranberry and rosemary vodka I think.   I tried the pomegranate and mint gin drink and it was really pretty and great.  Really set the mood for the evening.

As other guests and bloggers arrived we were also treated to an amazing spread of cheeses and charcuterie that was explained by their "Cheese Strategist" as he was called.  There was also a "humane meat" expert there to chat with us about the Certified Humane meats that Sobeys carries.

We sipped on delicious drinks and nibbled on yummy bites while getting to know the Sobeys team, I have never met any of them before except for our new Food Revolution Ambassador Monika who wasn't there that night but other Food Rev Team members Carol (@greatmealideas), Mardi (@eatlivewrite) and Christine (@typeAconsult)  were there.   Thanks to Mardi for suggesting that they invite some of the Food Rev Ambassadors.

After we were warmed up we were then assigned the evenings mission of creating a Holiday dish from a "Chopped" style box of items.  No scary items in this box though.  We also had the use of a small pantry of extra Jamie Oliver and Sobeys brand items.

The Box contained the following items:

photo provided by Highroad

Kale,

Certified humane Pork Loin

Cabbage

Pomegranate

Clementine

Cheese

Wild rice

Orange Rosemary glaze

Parsnip

Dijon Mustard

Fennel

I was paired up with Isabelle, a food blogger that I don't think I have met before although I may have seen her at other events possibly.  Mardi and Carol were paired up and Christine was paired up with a blogger from Halifax, and the other 2 bloggers I didn't know were paired up.  Sobeys people chose the match ups.

We had about an hour to make our Holiday Dishes so we got right on it trying to come up with ideas.  I immediately thought of a kale salad since it was fairly simple and would fit with the box of ingredients.

Isabelle thought that we should swap the wild rice for Arborio rice and I like it better so I agreed.  We skipped the cheese altogether.

I made a vinaigrette with the pomegranate juice, clementine juice, mustard and oil and white wine vinegar and we added some shallots.  It turned into a beautiful orange pink color that I dressed the chopped Kale with.

Then I coated the pork loin in mustard and salt and pepper and sliced it into medallions and tried to pan fry it.  I wanted to get a sear but the pan wasn't hot enough.  Before I fried the pork I toasted quinoa, then walnuts and then fresh rosemary in oil.  I took out all 3 things and placed to the side and then added the shallots and then the pork loin.  We added Sriracha to the orange glaze and I added that to the pan after I cooked the pork a bit.

photo provided by Highroad

After madly chopping things Isabelle made the risotto with white wine, and she added some of the walnuts, green onions and some of the kale.  Remember that Risotto takes 20 min of stirring so that took a big chunk of the time.    

We had a food stylist on hand who went around helping everyone with their plating.  We had to make 4 plates for the judges.  Since we had a salad, rice and the glazed pork she suggested we put the salad in a bowl on the plate.  We madly tried to get all the plating done at the last minute.  I wanted to cook the pork as last minute as I could to keep it warm.

We put the kale salad in the bowl and then topped it with the popped quinoa, clementine segments, shaved fennel, the walnuts and the pomegranate seeds.  Thinking about it now I think I would have plated it different to show all the elements better.

I spooned the risotto on the plate in a row and then placed 3 slices of tenderloin to the side of the rice.

We garnished with fresh rosemary and some of the fried rosemary and fresh ground pepper.   It needed more color on the rice and meat so I took some of the clementine slices and dragged it through the glaze sauce and put it on the plate.  It's hard to make it look and taste good with both hot and cold items on the same plate but this is what it looked like when we were done.

me and Isabelle with our finished dish. photo provided by Highroad

The judges really loved Isabelle's risotto but they found the plating not as great, saying they had to spin the plate around to eat it.   We were trying to keep the salad fresh and add height but I am sure there may have been better ways to accomplish it.  It seems like a few of the blogger teams made variations of the same kale salad so they didn't really say anything about the salad other than the fact that the fennel wasn't dressed because we placed it on top of the dressed kale.  We didn't want the dressing to turn it pink but I guess it would have tasted better if we had mixed it in.

Food is very subjecting.  Anyway.. an hour later we were done with the cooking challenge and since the judges ate the food we prepared they had lots of Sobeys food they wanted us to try.

We tried some Maple bacon which was a big hit with all of us.  They made little blt crostini's with it.

We also had little dishes of the 3 different ready to heat side dishes like a Spiced kale and Chick Pea Pilaf, Sweet Leeks and Mushroom Pilaf and Butternut Squash and Quinoa Pilaf.  I liked the Kale and Chickpea one the best, it had Moroccan seasonings.

I forgot to mention that we had some of their Maple Wood Smoked Trout on cucumber slices with cream cheese when we first arrived.  That was from Manitoulin Island  and made from sustainable trout.  It was delicious.

Then the meat guys had us taste some of their Pull-Apart Roast Pork and their Beef Pot Roast with a bit of potato on the side.

They finally rolled out dessert which I loved which was Jamie Oliver's Apple and Blackberry Crisp with Ice Cream on the side.  I love crisps in the winter months.

I have to thank Sobeys for being so generous and hosting a fun hands on event.  They even sent us home with a huge gift bag with some of the Sobeys Sensations products like Chocolate Truffles, Lemoncello Butter Fudge, Belgian Biscuit Collection and Compliments Dark Chocolate covered Marshmallows which I dived into and couldn't stop eating, I polished off that whole box in a couple of days.

You can participate in their Better Food For All Contest to win $1000 in Sobeys groceries by taking a photo of your best Holiday Dish and tagging it #betterfoodforall on Instagram and Twitter.
Follow Sobeys on Twitter here:  @Sobeys