Have Your House Work Around You

Your home can be a sanctuary — it’s just a matter of setting it up for the way you interact with your space. Here are some helpful hints on how to fashion your home for the way you’d like to live:

Save Steps in the Kitchen

You shouldn’t cut corners when it comes to your nutrition. But when it comes to preparing meals, there are tons of shortcuts you can take to save time, and more importantly, your energy. Here are some helpful and healthy mealtime energy savers:

Make large, special meals a family affair. Kids love to mix, mash, and microwave. So do friends and loved ones. Don’t be afraid to put them all to work!
Take a seat before, during, and after you eat. A tall chair or stool with wheels can help you save time and energy while preparing — and cleaning up after meals.
Use foods that require minimal preparation such as pre-cut or frozen vegetables, bagged salads, shredded cheese, sliced olives, and minced garlic.
Prepare double batches. Try to make more than you will eat in one meal and store or freeze the rest for another meal.
Make anything you can the day before, like desserts, soups, and dips

Around the House

Establish a “Home Base” Have one place in your house where you gather and store the day’s information. This will be where you check back to if you lose track of something. If your home base includes a desk, keep it clear of clutter. If it includes a computer, keep files in their appropriate folders.

Rocker Panel Light Switches Replace your standard light switches with rocker panels. These can be turned off easily with an arm, elbow, or palm of the hand. It also makes it easy to flicker the lights to get your kids’ attention.

Note: This website does not have a relationship with or endorse the third parties mentioned in the content.

The Slow Route for Fast, Easy Cooking >

Quick Tips

Daily Lifesavers

Top 5 items to make your time at home easier. Folding Stepladder Go for one that’s light and aluminum (but sturdy) and tall enough for you to hang on to while you’re changing a lightbulb. Keep it somewhere easily accessible. This can be picked up at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or your local hardware store. Husky and Werner make both 4-foot and 6-foot fiberglass models, which can be easily stored in a closet or garage. Electric Jar & Bottle Opener From pill bottles to jars of sauce, it takes the strain out of opening those snug lids. There are a number of models out there, including the Lids Off® Jar Opener by Black & Decker. Rubber Bands The perfect way to make things easier to grip and less likely to slip. Simply wrap a few rubber bands around any handheld device – from a remote control to a frying pan handle. Hands-free Phone Swap out your cell phone with one that features Bluetooth^® technology. You can use a wireless Bluetooth headset with it, instead of having to hold the phone to your ear. This is especially useful for extended calls. You can also pick up a headset for your land line phone. Check your instruction manual and see if this is a built in feature. It should tell you which model of headset you’ll need. Lightweight Dishes Melamine and Corelle dishware are great because they’re lightweight and resilient enough to handle a lot of wear and tear.

Recipes

Fast and Delicious Dishes

You don’t need to spend a lot of time to get a lot of taste. Here are three quick dishes whose ingredients might already be sitting in your refrigerator.

3-Ingredient Goat Cheese Salad

Want to make a light, tasty dinner out of only 3 ingredients? Toss together 6 cups of washed arugula (or whichever leafy greens you like), 1/4 lb of goat cheese and 1/3 cup of dried cranberries. For a smoother texture, add 1 cup of your favorite dressing – or try a mix of wine vinegar and olive oil with a dab of Dijon mustard blended in.

Sweet, Surprising Noodles

For a simple but filling dinner, mix 2 tbsp of peanut butter with 3 tbsp of warm water, 2 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp wine vinegar, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1/4 cayenne pepper, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Boil and drain spaghetti, soba or any long noodles you prefer. Refrigerate noodles for a few minutes. Remove from refrigerator and pour the warm peanut butter sauce over the noodles. Add chopped scallions for more bite.

No-Hassle Banana Nut Cake

In a large bowl, combine 1 box of ordinary white cake mix with 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 1/2 cup milk, 3 eggs, 1 box of ordinary banana-cream pudding mix and 1 cup of chopped pecans – or pistachios or walnuts. Pour into a greased cake pan. Cook at 350°F. 35 minutes later, you’ve got cake.

Share Your Thoughts

Submitted Thoughts

How Have You Equipped Your Castle? Tell us about the ways you’ve made it easier to do stuff around the house.

AuntTaz

Recommend
(6)

I have found ways to adapt some favorite recipies for the microwave. My husband's favorite is my "Mock-French-Onion Soup" which takes all of 10 minutes to prepare. Also I put things into a cold oven (no preheating!) add another 5-10 minutes to the cooking time and ask my husband to take it out.
baltimari

Recommend
(7)

I own two Roombas and keep my carpets and hard floors clean with them when I am unable to use my upright vacuum because of fatique. They are a life saver with a large dog and cat!