Packing Haze

Hi! It's Jilly. Right now we are in the midst of packing and getting the truck loaded! I've officially been up for over 24 hours. Maybe I should just get a Dr. Pepper IV goin'. ;)

Part 4 of the Moving Tips series WILL be coming, so don't worry! You didn't miss it!

Wish me luck!!

Moving Tips- Part 3

Hi! It's Jilly. The last couple of weeks I've been sharing Moving Tips with you. I have loved reading all of your comments! It has been so much fun. Much more fun than getting ready to move! ;)

In Part 1 one of the things I talked about was making a list of what you have packed in each box, then last week in Part 2 I mentioned making that list in a word document or e-mail to yourself. Well, this week I was living proof that making a digital copy of your list is important. I lost my notebook and had to start a new list!

Luckily, I found my notebook, but I was not a happy camper about it for a few days! So, I will definitely be making a copy of that puppy!

Now, let's move to the kitchen. Pack up everything in your kitchen except:

• one large & one small pot/saucepan
• one skillet/frypan
• a can opener 
• a 'chef' knife & a paring knife 
• a spatula
•  a mixing bowl
• a mixing spoon
• a cookie sheet
• a vegetable peeter
• tongs (if you grill a lot, which is quick and easy if you're in the midst of moving)
• a cheese grater? 
• anything else your family uses a lot to make the type of foods you eat (I kept out the salad spinner)

You might think you can't live without all the other stuff, but believe me...you can! What do you take to cook with when you go camping? That's all you need. Pack up the rest!

Then, use paper plates & plastic silverware. It saves you time on clean-up after meals.

Speaking of clean-up...when you are getting ready to move, and possibly getting your house ready to rent or sell, be sure to go to bed every night with a shiny sink! 

Amid all the chaos it is nice to have at least one part of your house clean and smiling at you when you wake up in the morning. Plus, it helps you keep the rest of your kitchen a little cleaner, which makes things easier when you are using the sink all day to fill buckets to wash walls or wash out paintbrushes or whatever.

This one I learned from the Fly Lady. Any fellow FLY Babies out there? I don't have all my routines down, but I try and that's what counts, right?!

When labeling your boxes it is a good idea to put a colored dot on all 5 sides on the box. I had a couple people tell me about this one. In the stationary section of the store they sell colored dots like this.

They also have these cool labels that are like post-it notes, except the whole backside is sticky and peels off easily. You could write what's in the box and slap the label on your box.  (Thanks for the tip, Sara!)

But, me and my cheap self decided to go with these dots. They are called Reinforcement Labels. It was only a dollar for the pack and you get 924 of them versus 315 in the other pack for the same price! Sweeet!!

So, designate one color for each room and stick dots on the box in the right color. My sister-in-law said this is really helpful when you are looking for a box for a certain room. You can just train your eye to look for the right colored dot and find the right boxes a lot faster. Clever, eh? 

That does it for tonight. Stay tuned next week for more helpful moving tips! Follow Hi! It's Jilly here on the blog, on Facebook, or on Pinterest so you don't miss anything!

I'm linking to THESE parties. :)

Check out the rest of the series!

  

Blog Swap- Baked Cinnamon Doughnuts with Cinnamon Glaze

Today we welcome Dawn from DJ's Sugar Shack. I love her cute blog, and am excited to try out the recipe she is sharing with us. Let's check it out!

Hello everyone! I'm delighted to be swapping blogs with Jilly today! I would like to thank Julie from White Lights on Wednesday & Carrie from My Favorite Finds for organizing Grow. Swap. Share.



I'm Dawn and normally you can find me sharing my adventures in baking at DJ's Sugar Shack. I started blogging in December to catalog the recipes I'd tried and to spare my friends from my endless ramblings about baking. I love sharing my work with people that are a passionate about food and baking. Being from New Orleans, food has always been a big part of my life, but I didn't really start cooking & baking until I moved to Alaska after college. The first thing I remember baking from scratch was Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake that I found on a Philadelphia Cream Cheese package. It was pretty good but it started me on my mission to bake the perfect cheesecake. Ten years later, I finally got it right! Presentation has been very important to me from the beginning. I like my sweet treats to be just as visually appealing as they are tasty. Now on to the important thing, doughnuts. For my birthday I got a doughnut pan and doughnut cook book. YUM! I was so excited.

I was less excited when I realized that many of the recipes called for ingredients I didn't have on hand. Remember when I said I lived in Alaska? I didn't mention that I live in a small town & we don't have a "full size" grocery. We have a small grocery store and the selection is rather limited. The recipes in my book would have to wait until I after my next trip to Anchorage. But I REALLY wanted to try out my new pan so I turned to Pinterest. That is where I found Diethood's recipe for Baked Cinnamon Doughnuts with Cinnamon Glaze.

  Ingredients: For the Doughnuts

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened

For the Glaze

• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Sprinkles, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients; flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a saucepan combine the milk, white vinegar, vanilla, egg, and butter. Cook over medium-heat, constantly whisking. Once butter has melted; remove from heat.
4. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture & mix until incorporated.
5. Spoon the batter into an ungreased doughnut pan.
6. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Immediately invert the pan onto a cooling rack to release the doughnuts. Let cool while making glaze.

 

 8. In a small saucepan, cook glaze ingredients over medium-heat, whisking constantly until smooth. 9. Place the saucepan over a bowl filled with hot water. 10. Dip doughnuts in a glaze one at a time & place on a rack to dry.

***Helpful hints****

• Avoid a sticky mess by placing wax paper under the rack to catch the glaze that dips from the doughnuts.
• If you choose to decorate with sprinkles, sprinkle each doughnut immediately after dipping in to glaze. Otherwise the sprinkles will not stick to the glaze.

Although Diethood's recipe said it made 12 doughnuts, I only got 8 doughnuts from the recipe. I probably filled my pan more than I should have. If you don't have a doughnut pan; don't walk, run out and get one. These doughnuts were delicious and took 20 minutes to make including bake time. If you ask me there's not much better than a fresh warm doughnut and since they're baked they have to be diet friendly, right???

Thanks again to Jilly for swapping blogs with me today! Be sure to pop on over to DJ's Sugar Shack to see the delicious Apple Blueberry Salad with Sweet Vinaigrette she whipped up!