Welcome to LeanneEly.com!

Leanne’s Two Week Kitchen Makeover is complete, but it’s not too late to do yours! Just get your Coupon and get
busy–all you have to do is change up ONE thing in your kitchen using Rubbermaid! Send us one picture of your before, one picture of your after. It’s that simple! When you have your pics, email them to me,

kitchenmakeover@savingdinner.com

Click here to view the blog!

Okay, so it’s a wrap…the Two Week Kitchen Makeover was a rip roaring success and I’ve learned a lot by going through this. I hope you did too!

Here are some comments and questions that came in while I was doing this that I thought I’d share:

Love the refrigerator make-over! Inspiring! But what is in the brown basket? Tomatoes? Please detail! Thanks, Lisa

Hi Lisa,

Those are my tomatoes! I grew them! I’m a full-on farmer girlfriend, LOL! I’ve got a close picture of my lovelies, right here:

Aren’t they gorgeous? I’m so proud and they’re absolutely delicious!

hi leanne,

I’m really enjoying your kitchen makeover. it happens to be that i bought a box of 40 rubbermaid containers right before you started this, and i love putting them to good use. i’m really enjoying following your makeover, however i would find it helpful to get a little more explanation what you did to get from the “before” to the “after”. you show pictures, but you don’t really explain what you did: did you toss half? otherwise, did you just consolidate the same things together? did adding the door organizer in the pantry make all the difference? i’m stumped because i have a really small kitchen, have a hard time keeping it organized. so i’d be happy for some clearer instructions on how you went from “before” to “after”. thanks!
Chana

Chana,

I declutter first of all (and that’s what everyone should do before you begin). What didn’t work and just took up space went in the recycling bin if it was well-worn and the rest I gave away. I kept what worked and that I used. And yes, I did consolidate like with like—that’s what keeps you organized, I believe. The door organizer works great for me because it keeps my beans, nuts and snacks all right where I can see them. Before they were hidden in baskets in my pantry and honestly, I’d forget what was in there so I’d buy more. I found myself overflowing with nuts! Now I know what I have.

When you have a small kitchen, the best thing to do is keep what you have to scale with what you have storage-wise. Otherwise you’ll make yourself crazy trying to stuff too much in too little a space.

Hope that helps!

Hi Leanne,

I’ve been following along with your makeover, and would love to duplicate it, but I’m having a hard time finding some of the products. Is there a way you can post the names of the products, as well as links to where they can be purchased?

Thank you, I love your blog and your Menu-Mailer!!

- Cathie

Hi Cathie,

Glad you enjoyed my blog and that you’re loving the Menu-Mailers, yay!

To answer your questions, one of the best resources is the Rubbermaid’s website so you can see everything they have, www.rubbermaid.com. Retailers all over the USA and Canada carry many of Rubbermaid’s products, but they all vary greatly. My best advice is to try your biggest stores, like Target and Walmart and see what they have. Remember to look all over the store. I found Rubbermaid all over the place; from the organization area where the bins and such are to the kitchen storage area for all the food storage and also my local grocery store carries the Produce Saver. Everything in my blog was labeled as the product itself was labeled.

And remember, the most important part of this makeover is to make it personal—my exact makeover might not be what you need, but now you’re inspired to get your food storage containers out of a cupboard and use a drawer or use bins in your fridge and freezer. Anyway, I hope that helps!

Dear Leanne,

Just curious as to how you’re managing the plastic bags after removing them from the pantry (or the previous location in the pantry):

“Okay so check out the bag holder apparatus—a cloth bag that hangs on the shelf. Ridiculous. Not only that, but it hogs up important real estate in my pantry and gets in the way. Seeing this in living color made me laugh! This has GOT to go! ”

Enjoying the Kitchen Makeover!

Thanks.

Lallie

Hi Lallie,

Glad you’ve enjoyed the Makeover! To answer your question, I tossed them most of them into the recycle bin! I’m done with them. The ones I did keep, I put in my laundry room in the cupboard in another Rubbermaid plastic bin—for when I do need a plastic bag or two. So that I won’t bring anymore home, my new MO is when I go to the grocery store, to place my reuseable bags in the front passenger seat of my car. That way, I’ll see them when I grab my purse to go into the store! For those of you who have children, have a child remind you about the bags. And for those of you who have children who are too young, put a sticky note on the steering wheel! That should get you remembering them! The bottom line for me is I realized I don’t need them.

Here are some random Rubbermaid Makeover pics that didn’t make the blog. Enjoy browsing!

I adore fall. The trees are just beginning to turn here in the Piedmont (that’s fancy jargon for Charlotte, LOL) and the mornings are certainly crisp and cool.

We had a frost the other morning (a little early this year!) and now my summer garden is kaput. I was fortunate enough to get the last of the tomatoes and bell peppers before it bit the dust.

Peppers & Tomatoes

But look at my geraniums and sweet potato vine off the deck. The geraniums managed to hang in there, but the sweet potato vine is history now, boo hoo! I love the light green color those pretty vines make and now they’re all gone. Oh well! Good-bye summer!

Geraniums

Sweet Potato Vines

So as I’m mourning the passing of my garden yesterday, I spied at the grocery store kale plants for $1.50! So I bought one and am planting it where the basil was/is later this week (gotta do some fall clean up first!)

Kale

Life is like that sometimes, too isn’t it? It’s never stays perpetually any season. Life changes just like the seasons. And while you might not get to keep the basil, you can at least have kale. Enjoy your day!

So I’ve decided to blog a little more on a little more semi-regular basis. Can I say “a little more” a little more?

A little more is great though. It describes my breakfast to a T. I wanted ‘a little more’ breakfast than my usual peanut butter waffle. And since today is my off day from showing up (my version of going to the gym; showing up is the hardest part!), I was willing to cook, but needed to keep the calories in mind as I’m trying my hardest to get that last few pounds off once and for all!

165 Calorie Breakfast

Here’s what I had for breakfast:

• The Quick Eggs (exactly like Egg Beaters) only has 30 calories for a 1/4 cup.
• The cheese was leftover from a segment I did with Fox News here in Charlotte. The cubes were actually ideal because the measurement was easy (I used 1/2 the serving size on the package)
• The salsa is amazing and only 5 calories for a tablespoon! Totally sets it off. Got that at Harris Teeter.
• The oat bread is gluten free. An experiment I’m having with myself right now to see if gluten is an issue. Everything I’m reading these days points fingers at gluten being an issue for those with thyroid issues. I’ll let you know how I do. The breads not bad. I toasted it twice to get it nice and crisp. I just can’t eat eggs without toast!

Bread and Butter

Then of course, there’s the whipped butter. I use unsalted whipped butter. It feels decadent but there’s only 50 calories if you’re eating the full tablespoon (which I didn’t).

All of that for 165 calories! Cool, huh?

For years now Leanne has helped “Save Thanksgiving” in homes all over America. This year, be sure and grab a copy of her Free Thanksgiving Menu & Planner to help make your holiday run smoothly.

http://www.leanneely.com/Free_Thanksgiving.pdf

Cheers!

Do you remember that nursery rhyme about uncooperative Mary? It goes like this:

Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row.

I don’t know what a cockle shell is and right now my garden is in dire need of a fall cleanup, but my pantry is really looking spiffy since I did my Kitchen Makeover (you can see it on www.leanneely.com).

But back to Mary. It’s no fun being contrary so if your pantry looks gnarly like my garden, let’s get ‘er done! How’s your pantry looking? Do you have 5 cans of tuna scattered about the cupboard instead of all stacked up together. Can you find cereal boxes here, there and everywhere? How about your staples, like flour, sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, etc.? Are they grouped together into a baking center or do you have to go on a pantry scavenger hunt to find them all?

Let’s do a little pantry perk-up, shall we? Set your timer for 15 minutes and start getting your dry goods in logical order. Like goes with like. You’ll want a shelf for the canned goods (and put the same thing all together, too). A big basket to hold your bags of dried beans, a smaller basket to hold envelopes of spice blends, mixes, etc. (look around the house, I bet you have what you need), and if you haven’t done it already, big containers (I like big glass jars) for your flour, sugars, oatmeal, etc. Putting dried goods like flour etc. into containers will keep the bugs out!

Getting your pantry together will help you get your meal planning in order, too. Get rid of the stuff you don’t use (donate it to a food bank if it’s good, usable food) and watch your pantry take shape. I want to challenge you to make a meal out of something in there this week!

Here’s a wonderful easy dinner recipe (from our low carb Menu-Mailer) to get you in the mood for a good pantry routing:

Chicken Nicoise
Serves 4

1 cup dry white wine, or use low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/3 cup frozen pearl onions (or you can use the same amount of chopped onion)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 small red bell pepper, deribbed, deseeded and sliced into strips
4 each olives, use what you like (I prefer Kalamatas)

Heat 1/4 cup of the wine (or chicken broth) to boiling in a skillet. Cook chicken in wine, turning once, until brown. Remove chicken and keep warm.

Add garlic, onions, olive oil, Italian seasoning, bell peppers, olives and remaining wine (or broth) to skillet and heat till boiling. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Add chicken back to the skillet, reducing heat to medium low. Cook 10 to 15 minutes until chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Per Serving: 330 Calories; 6g Fat; 55g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 137mg Cholesterol; 196mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 7 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat.

LC SERVING SUGGESTION: Serve over cauli-rice alongside sautéed green beans.  (To make cauli-rice trim cauliflower and cut into piece small enough to feed through food processor tube.   Process cauliflower till it is grainy and resembles rice.  Steam ‘rice’ on stove top or cook in microwave.  Microwave on high for about 10-12 minutes in microwave safe bowl. Add 3 tablespoons water and stir every 4 minutes while cooking.)

SERVING SUGGESTION: Add some brown rice.

VEGETARIANS: Skip the chicken and opt for a Boca Chikin patty or another veggie patty. Cooking time will be less.

KOSHER: None needed.