The Running Man loves the chopped salad.  I love all things Oxo, and since I have everything else, it was a nice excuse to bring something new home.  What is it with the Oxo Engineers that they can make the mundane so exciting??  Works like a dream and now we eat more salads around here.  I’d love to tell you I’ve lost 5 pounds, but that hasn’t happened yet.

You can find it here:
OXO Good Grips Salad Chopper and Bowl

You can see my attempts at pantry organization here; though to call it a pantry is stretch – it’s really just a cupboard.

So feast your eyes on these, seriously delectable pantries for some inspiration…

from Planner Perfect (this post includes some great tips for organizing)

From Blueprint Bliss

This next pantry pulls together every single pantry organization idea I’ve ever heard into one cohesive, gorgeous space.  Prepare thyself!

From Inspiration for Decoration

Can you imagine??  I love the grey wallpaper behind to dress it up.  And all the labeling is divine.  The other thing is that while it looks huge, it’s really just a corner closet, with single-depth shelves.

It’s fabulous how every spec of space was used to its fullest. Definitely do-able!

P.S. All the plastic containers with the flip-up white lids are from IKEA.  I have a few myself and they work really well!

Looks like someone went crazy in the OXO aisle!

The kind people at Better Homes and Gardens have created these free labels for your plastic and glassware.  They make the whole place look so happy.  So head  on over to get started!

What are your pantry ideas?  Is a reorganization project on your list?

The Smart Stick Hand Blender by Cuisinart

She writes: “This is my favorite winter thing ever and one of my essential kitchen items!  It keeps me happy because I make soup all winter long and it’s so, so easy to use and to clean -soup in the winter is my survival food! I have a few favorite recipes for butternut squash soup & cauliflower soup, and it’s all a one pot deal thanks to this little blender.  I just saw one at Costco for around $30 (Heidi here: Amazon’s price is $44; love that Costco!).  It’s great for smoothies in the summer too and I use it in the place of a regular blender all the time.”

And she shared her favorite soup recipe for fall and winter:

Butternut Squash Soup (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

2 TB butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

2 medium potatoes, cubed

1 medium butternut squash- peeled, seeded, and cubed

1 (32 oz) container of chicken (or vegetable) stock

salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, & squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 mins or until all veggies are tender.

2.  Use stick blender (carefully as liquid is hot) and blend until smooth.  (can also transfer to a regular blender)  Season with salt & pepper.

Sounds super yummy!!

Many thanks to Laurie for sharing – do you have any soups for winter that keep you going?

If you have a great idea to share, email heidi@thegoodstuffguide.com!

I’ve been collecting photos of things that just make me happy!

This. Fridge. Rocks.  I think I could even fit everything in there….

Just a little gorgeousness.  Love the way the wall color echoes the beautiful sky color outdoors.

Love this kitchen table extension from the island.  She’s a beaut, Clark!

Don’t think I’d ever get tired of doing dishes in here.  Would miss company gathered around an island in here, but had to show you this one…

Very interesting!

Do you have an unused under-stairs area?

or, my favorite…

I may have to do something like this someday…

And now for some serious fun:

This is a too teeny-tiny photo to fully appreciate this sunken trampoline, but the directions for creating it can be found at little green fingers.

Just one more that makes my knees weak:

Trash AND recycling chutes that go directly to the garage.  Can you stand it???

Now what’s your favorite??

We don’t have leaves this gorgeous in Lawrence, Kansas, yet but we have welcomed with open arms the cooler temperatures 0f the last week.  I love fall and I just can’t help but dive in all at once as soon as the air turns crisp.

First, I pull up James Taylor’s October Road on the iPod:

This is a fantastic album and the perfect fall soundtrack.  If you just want a song or two, check out the title track as well as September Grass.

Next I lightly toast an english muffin, add a little butter when it’s cool and top it with a sweet pumpkin butter spread…mmmmm…

Speaking of pumpkin, a few years ago there was a shortage of Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin and I had to drive to three stores to find some for a pumpkin pie.  Ever since, I add 10-15 cans to my grocery list in September every year to avoid a similar crisis!

I know, I know, 10-15 cans?!  Yes!  Do you know how many batches of Iced Pumpkin Cookies I make?  I’ve made 4 batches so far this month.  (I like to bake and bring, as in over to friend’s houses so I’m not tempted to eat them all myself!)

If you love pumpkin, you’ll love these!

Iced Pumpkin Cookies (from allrecipes.com)

Welcome to Day 1 of the Father’s Day Week of Giveaways – that happy week when we celebrate the daddios in our lives with amazing giveaways one after the other.

And today’s will surely get you revved for the week:

Meet the SodaStream Fizz:

A home fountain soda machine that will rock your world.

*It sure does rock mine!

I’ve had mine SodaStream for about 1.5 years (mine is an older version not nearly as cool as this, but it’s still LOVE!), and since then I haven’t bought a single can or 2-liter of soda.

Look at all these gorgeous colors the Fizz comes in:

I’m an avid Caffiene-free Diet Cola drinker, so every day for 1.5 years I take 90 seconds (I timed it) to make myself a fresh liter to get my fix.

The new Fizz machine has a special gauge that alerts you when your CO2 canister is about to expire:

And you can win all of this…

Your SodaStream Fizz comes with the Fizz machine, 1 carbonating bottle, 1 60L of Co2, and 2 flavors of the your choice.

You’re going to love it!

Oops, I mean the Daddio in your life will love it.  Of course, of course this is all for the Daddios….  Silly me for the slip.

Giveaway

You can win a SodaStream Fizz set just by leaving a comment by Tuesday, June 21st and I’ll choose the winners using Random.org on Wednesday, the 22nd.

Here’s how to gain extra entries (please leave them as separate entries to get counted!):

1. Do you subscribe by email or RSS to The Good Stuff Guide? I love my subscribers, so you get an extra entry. Wahoo!
2. Email 5 of your friends about The Good Stuff Guide and tell them what a rockin’ website this is.  We’d love to have them join us!
3. Tweet about this Father’s Day Week of Giveaways (Just cut and paste): It’s a whole week of Rockin’ #Giveaways for Father’s Day at The Good Stuff Guide @GoodStuffGuide http://su.pr/2TJPO2
4. Share the news of this giveaway on your Facebook status (Just cut and paste): It’s a whole week of Giveaways for Father’s Day @The Good Stuff Guide http://su.pr/2TJPO2
5. “Like” The Good Stuff Guide on Facebook and receive the latest news. (I LIKE you too!)

(Feel free to do them all – that’s a total of 6 entries friends!  Please leave them as separate entries.)

Good luck!

P.S. I’ve thought of a way you can *test* SodaStream before buying the set to make sure you will love it.  Visit any of the following stores that carry SodaStream:

You can purchase 1 Sodamix for $4.99 in your choice of flavors and buy 1 liter of seltzer water at your grocery store.  Follow the directions to mix your soda and give it a try!  1 Sodamix bottle will make the equivalent of 33 cans – so you’ll get more than just the 1 liter to try it.  Let me know what you think!!

Remember to check back every day this week for outstanding giveaways – there’s so much more to come!

This kitchen remodel was designed for a family that was downsizing and moving to a new home so they could live closer to their young grandchildren.

The original kitchen was from the 1970’s. There were two new appliances which were kept:  the drawer style Fischer Paykel dishwasher and the Sub-Zero double door refrigerator. The refrigerator got new door panels to match the new cherry cabinets as part of the remodel.

And *magically* (we didn’t have to endure the weeks of dust), it transforms to this…

The position of the original cook-top was maintained but replaced with a new gas unit and a down-draft venting system.

The most interesting feature of this custom designed kitchen are the two glass counters; the higher one faces the dining area and is perfect for serving guests, the other, lower, swoosh shaped counter is convenient for serving the grandchildren their lunch.

As well, the refrigerator and the new double wall oven were repositioned to make the kitchen function more efficiently.

Additional storage was created by adding cabinet space and access doors under the high glass counter to stash those seldom used but necessary kitchen items.

A wet bar and wine refrigerator were added on the wall opposite the low counter to serve cocktails and other refreshment.

Many thanks to Beryn Hammil of Beryn Hammil Designs for this gorgeous kitchen tour!

What do you think?

Today, 360 Cookware…

Made of the highest quality stainless steel in our own USA (hooray!), this cookware is built to last and comes with a lifetime warranty.

Now this is not your standard cookware.  360 Cookware utilizes their own Vapor Technology – a revolutionary cooking method created by the design and high quality of the metals used. Vapor Technology allows cooks to utilize a low to medium heat because the design and metal are so efficient that food permeates evenly from all sides.  This allows food to cook in its own natural juices without the excess water or grease other skillets and saucepans require.

And did I mention 360 Cookware is made in the USA?

When you hold this saucepan, you can feel the solid, well-made construction.  And the unique technology means less oils and fats for far more healthy yields.

It’s a win – win!

And you can win…

Giveaway

You can win a 1 quart saucepan from 360 Cookware just by leaving a comment by Tuesday, May 3rd and I’ll choose the winner using Random.org on Wednesday, the 4th.

Here’s how to gain extra entries:

1. Do you subscribe by email or RSS to The Good Stuff Guide? I love my subscribers, so you get an extra entry. Wahoo!
2. Email 5 of your friends about The Good Stuff Guide and tell them what a rockin’ website this is.  We’d love to have them join us!
3. Tweet about this Mother’s Day Week of Giveaways (Just cut and paste): It’s a whole week of #Giveaways for Mother’s Day at The Good Stuff Guide @GoodStuffGuide http://su.pr/2TJPO2
4. Share the news of this giveaway on your Facebook status (Just cut and paste): It’s a whole week of Giveaways for Mother’s Day @The Good Stuff Guide http://www.thegoodstuffguide.com/moms-flip-2hr-minohd-giveaway/
5. Become a Facebook fan of The Good Stuff Guide and receive the latest news and your chance at additional giveaways.

(Feel free to do them all – that’s a total of 6 entries friends!  Please leave them as separate entries.)

Good luck!

If you’re just joining us, don’t miss the Flip 2Hr MinoHD Giveaway

or the Teleflora Collection by Faith Hill Bouquet Giveaway

or the $100 Stella & Dot Shopping Spree Giveaway

or the Monogrammed Basket Handbag from Queen Bea Studios

and the $100 Shopping Spree from Christophe Chocolatier

What a week!!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend.

I know there are some delicious, inexpensive cookies available for purchase from fine stores; Eileen’s Colossal Cookies (www.eileenscookies.com)  is one such store in my town and I do love their cookies!

Part of cookie enjoyment for me, however, is cookie making.

I hope that this basic, time-honored ritual between parent and child is more alive than the presence of Nestle dough packages in the refrigerated section of the grocery store indicates.  It is so easy, doesn’t take much time and every batch reinforces that a little work earns you the sweet things in life.

I am a soft cookie girl and my boys lean that way too.  My secret to lightening up the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll-House Morsels bag is to add a quarter cup of vanilla Jello pudding powder to my dry ingredients.  I don’t subtract the amount of flour or anything else.  I just make that little addition and use the Silpat liner in my cookie sheet and the uniformly golden, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cookies that come out of the oven never last long on our counter!   If you do not have one of these cookie sheet liners, get one, they are worth the investment!

Do you still make cookies with your kids?  Any tips or tricks for the rest of us?

Here’s the problem: I see the first couple of cans, then it’s a huge jumbled mess.  Behind that big jar of Jif right there are 4 more because they got caught behind things, and I didn’t know I had them and bought more.

The bottom baking area was also a huge repository hidden away.  When I stock up on extra brown sugar, etc during sales, I couldn’t see them after I stowed them away.

Here’s where you can see how really deep these shelves were, which was great for storage, but not for retrievable storage…

Then ShelfGenie entered my life.

Joe came and talked me through the process, then the installer came to measure my cabinets.  Then all was quiet for about 2 weeks while my custom glide-out shelves were handcrafted.

Then this little miracle occurred….

See those 2 boxes there?  I just couldn’t wait to get everything organized and I took these before I remembered that you’d like to see the shelves without all of our consumables on them.

This is the middle shelf pulled all the way out.  I could sit a 75 pound kid on there just fine.

I wouldn’t do it, but I could.

But if I did, it wouldn’t break.

(And that’s probably the information you’re after.)

And here we are all loaded up: all 4 jars of pasta sauce, 5 bags of flour (!), 3 brown sugars, 5 jars of Jif, and 9 different random boxes of pasta I didn’t know I even had.

Obviously, I’m so much happier to open this now organized pantry.  It’s uber user-friendly.  I also hope it makes me a much wiser shopper.

Here are some other ideas from ShelfGenie:

Words aren’t necessary for this…

These folks may already have been neat.

I store our games, puzzles, etc in a similar hutch and this would be pretty incredible…

Can you imagine the change from the old pantry?  We don’t even need to see the before.

This one was actually the most dramatic change for me.  There’s even an extra empty shelf!!

Do you have glide-out shelves in your kitchen/pantry/laundry/bathroom?  How have they helped you?  If you want them, where would you use them first?