I have a secret to confess: “Left Overs” die a slow, painful death in the McRae family fridge!

Sadly, this has been an area where our family has been lax for quite some time.  It really hit me like a ton of bricks when I was cleaning out the fridge recently.  We waste TOO much food.

This seems quite odd to me considering I grew up in a household where I was reminded that there were starving children in Ethiopia every time I didn’t clean my plate.

As part of our family’s effort to instill fiscal responsibility in our children, we’ve chosen to adopt the “waste not” attitude when it comes to left overs.

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Talk about a mommy moment in the kitchen.

I learned a very important lesson about keeping my spices organized in the spice cabinet.

One morning I decided to make cinnamon toast for breakfast and noticed the cinnamon sugar shaker was empty. I grabbed into the spice cabinet, got the jar, dumped some into the shaker and put a healthy dose of sugar on it, put the lid back on and gave it a good shake till the toast popped up. Ah…. nothing like cinnamon toast with my coffee….

I sat down and took a bite….and realized I didn’t grab cinnamon…. I grabbed the cumin! Cumin sugar toast does not taste good! LOL I had to laugh at myself! It was pretty funny.

This is also a good lesson in “being in the moment” as they say. I had my mind on 100 other things and wasn’t paying attention. I seen the red lid and the C and just grabbed the jar, instead of making sure I had indeed retrieved the cinnamon!

I ate a banana instead!

Now my spices are neatly organized – Lesson Learned!

Update: I had to share with you that I JUST found, and ordered, this spice clip set for my spices! It goes on the cupboard door, or on the side of the cabinet. I found that I have 3 iddy biddy jars of Pumpkin Pie Spice because two were way in the back that I hadn’t seen. I’m sure this spice clip set will help in my ongoing quest for ‘Spice Organization’!

I just don’t want to cook lately! I just want to forget about cooking.

Do you go through this in the spring? For me, it’s usually because I’ve done so much comfort food cooking through the winter that I’m burned out (see photo to the right).

So what’s a mom to do when she’s just sick of cooking, it’s finally nice outside after a long winter, and she can’t stay focused?

First, I open all the windows in my house so I can hear the birds (it still gets nippy inside but I wear my trusty sweatshirt jacket). It gets my energy up so I can start thinking better.

Then I’ll do some or all of the following:

• Brew a cup of chamomile tea, it’s my favorite.
• Ask the family for their input. Write their ideas down and look for new recipes of their old favorites.
• Do a search for Spring recipes and look for something that inspires me.
• Go to the store and see what fruits and vegetables are ‘in season’ and be inspired by those.
• I also ask the kids for help in the kitchen when I just don’t want to cook. They love spending time with mom and we can make a memory out of the whole thing!

Here is a cute recipe for making a vegetable flower that is sure to inspire your creative juices!

Remember, you’re NOT alone when it comes to ‘cooking cabin fever’.

It’s hard not to notice how hard the economy has been hit. I myself, shop more and more frugally as this year unwinds. I’m sure you are looking for frugal yet healthy ways to feed your family. So with that in mind, I’ve found some great blogs that had awesome recipes and tips for us to eat healthfully on a frugal budget!

Nicole Dean who is fast becoming one of my heros as I learn internet blogging from her, submitted 5 ways to eat black beans – a fast frugal recipe she submitted at Little Hands Big Heart.

Dr. Daisy Sutherland, at Dr. Mommy Health Tips , gives us tips to  eat frugally and healthfully too. As I clicked through her site, I was amazed to find that we don’t have to skimp on nutrition as we buy less expensive items in Great brain foods for our children.

Foodie Momma has many fun articles about eating healthfully on a tight budget. But as I read a yummy recipe for Tuna Casserole I couldn’t help but think, Is Tuna the new chicken? It sure is packed with a lot of nutrients that I didn’t know it has.

That’s all for my Link Love this week. Come by again next week to see where the blogosphere has taken me!