From the category archives:

Organization/Productivity

Copywriters’ Kitchen Picks 5 Favorite Food Blogs to Follow

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Where do you turn for menu inspiration? Or a fresh twist on a tired recipe? Or for culinary daydreaming—when you just want to zone out, ogle beautiful food photos and lose yourself in other cooks’ gastronomic narratives?
In addition to cookbooks and Google, I’m lucky to have a great community of Twitter foodie friends.
But if the [...]

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5 Ways Backpack Online Organizer Makes Grocery Shopping Faster and Easier

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I have a love-hate relationship with technology.
I love it when technology lives up to its promise of making life easier, fuller and more meaningful.
But I hate it when it forces me to bend to its inhuman operating systems—eating up my precious time in the process.
(For a meditation on technology’s impact on human cognition and culture, [...]

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10 Good Reasons to Start Cooking from Scratch

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For seasoned home cooks, scratch-cooking comes easy. Having mastered culinary basics long ago, these cooks can mange the most complex recipes—or even cook without a script.

This post isn’t for them.

It’s for you.
Are you a non-cooking foodie?
You love great food. You crave new taste sensations. And you like the idea of home-cooking.
But for one reason or [...]

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Warning! Don’t Try This at Home: When NOT to Scratch Cook

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“Fast frugal scratch cooking” is my credo at Copywriters’ Kitchen. For taste, health and cost-savings, nothing beats delicious home-cooked meals, snacks and baked goods.
Most of the time.
But the truth? There are limits to what you can—and should—cook at home.
If kids and work are part of your daily mix, you’d best “just say no” to perfect [...]

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The Secret to Finding Time for Family Meals

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You have to want it. Bad. In order to make time for regular family meals, you have to make them a priority.

We live in trying times.
You’re busy, worried and preoccupied.
Maybe you’re in such a state of high anxiety—over the economy, your job, your non-existent 401(k)—the last thing you think about is cooking dinner.
You’re juggling kids’ [...]

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10 Earth-Friendly Kitchen Tips For a More Green and Gracious Home

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Of course you want to reduce your family’s impact on the environment—minimize landfill, green house gas, pesticides, dead tree products, etc.
But some green “simple living” tips make life very complicated—“Find a local source for organic hemp” or “stop using toilet paper.” Unless you’re the admirable No Impact Man, will you ever be able to incorporate [...]

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30 Kitchen Tips Make Scratch Cooking Child’s Play, Part 2 of a 2-Part Post

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Yesterday’s post gave you 12 tips to help you plan ahead for meals, ready staples and make the most of key kitchen appliances.
Ready to streamline the actual cooking process? Here are 18 more suggestions.

Join the “Flow Cooking” movement
The more you cook, the more you’ll find yourself creating shortcuts, skipping unnecessary steps and simplifying movement. [...]

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30 Kitchen Tips Make Scratch Cooking Child’s Play, Part 1 of a 2-Part Post

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If you’re new to the kitchen—or struggling to manage the work-family juggle—the idea of cooking from scratch regularly can feel daunting.
Until it becomes routine, meal preparation may seem complex and confusing: Planning. Timing. Locating the right pots, pans and utensils. Not to mention clean up.
Maybe the mere thought of a post-explosion, after-dinner kitchen alone has [...]

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Are You Afraid of Your Plastic Food Containers? Replace Them With Glass.

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On a scale of 1 to 10, fear of plastic food containers is about a 5 for me. It certainly doesn’t induce full-scale panic. But it does add to my aggregated anxiety—along with the economy, cancer and those lines on my neck.
While I can’t do anything about Tim Geithner, cell mutation or middle age, I [...]

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Boy Scouts’ Guide to Scratch Cooking: Be Prepared

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You may like the idea of home-cooked meals—they’re healthier, save money and give you more time with family. But if cooking is burdensome, it’ll remain an idea that never becomes reality.
The best way to ease into regular scratch cooking is to start making it a routine, a habit. Zen Habits’ Leo Babauta suggests you set [...]

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