These Days

The two of us are like chickens with our heads cut off these days -- make that organic, free range chickens with our heads cut off.   Work has priority around the house lately, and we are both up to our eyeballs with different projects (a very very good thing, but difficult on our schedules nonetheless).

Last week, I was in Southern California for four days.  Jason had spilled a jar of pepper on the floor while I was gone (it was ground pepper - both of our pepper grinders weren't working and in a moment of impulsiveness a few weeks ago I purchased the ground pepper).  First of all, he had done it two days before I got home.  He took the time to sweep it into a "small" pile that was about two feet square.  I don't know if it's weirder that he didn't take the time to get it into the trash can, or that I was home (and cooking!) for a full 24 hours before I noticed that there was pepper in the middle of our kitchen floor.  That is a perfect example of how upside down we are right now.

To that end, I have a couple of organization-type questions to throw out to you all --

1) Do you have a tupperware / food storage system that you are particularly fond of?  I purchased a couple of different things today to try them out, but I am considering ditching my random jars and containers for a more permanent system.  Any suggestions appreciated.

2) Does anyone use a task management software on their Palm that they are partial to?  I know I need something different, but haven't had the time to figure out what's out there and what's good.  If no recommendation, I will probably result to carrying my task management in excel using documents to go (how's that for a specific question for ya?)

Comments

[jeff]

i have recently returned back to the old standby (and very much imnproved) - outlook tasks. there is quite a bit of flexibility there - perhaps even enough for a professional db guru like you :)

it looks like docs to go has a good add on software for this [http://www.dataviz.com/products/beyondcontacts/index.html] but i havent used docs to go.

i unfortunately must rely on being able to access my outlook w a browser or at the office bc the over-the-air sync software for my treo does not deal w outlook tasks

[Fatemeh]

I still love Gladware for short term storage, and even some "long term" storage. Between the assortment of 4 or 5 different sizes (all of which nest, which I love), a roll of "Press N Seal", and 3 different sizes of ziploc freezer bags (sandwich, quart & gallon), I'm set.

As for task management - I tried the Franklin Covey PlanPlus software; while it wasn't right for me, I know a lot of people who swear by it. They do have a free trial download on their site: http://www.franklincovey.com/planplus/outlook/index.html (this one is for use with Outlook - they have another version for use with XP without Outlook).

[Victor]

For hard-sided storage, I went with Ziploc square containers in the 1qt "tall" and 1/2 qt "short" sizes, both of which stack together. I decided a couple of years ago that the important thing was to pick a set of stack-compatible containers and stick with it. The Ziplocs (and the Gladware competition) are cheap enough to buy lots of, durable enough to reuse for a while, and they stack well. I went with Ziploc over Glad because the container format worked better for me - in particular, I could fit exactly 3 tall containers (or about 5 short) stacked together on the shelf in my freezer. Very little wasted volume there, and the freezer holds a huge number of the things. Oh, and the local grocery store carries the things, so it's no big deal to buy more. For stuff that's better bagged, I have a bunch of Ziploc freezer bags and sandwich bags.
Let us know what you decide on, and how it works out.

[McAuliflower]

I really prefer Mason jars instead of contributing to the plastic empire. I feel much better about microwaving them (like I trust Gladware or Ziploc's plastic to not give off plasticizers!). They really don't break (even when slung around in backbacks, and no fiddly lid size issues. Plus, I like seeing what I've got in the fridge. I have a vacuum sealer that also has an attachment to vacuum seal mason jars- which is kind of nifty even if it isn't preservation-grade.

There's something timeless about a fridge or cubboards full of mason jars instead of branded containers.

[rache]

we use the bormilio rocco frigoverre storage. they are glass with plastic lids and can, like the name implies, go from the fridge to the oven to the (heaven forbid!) microwave. williams-sonoma used to carry them, but i found a similar version here just now (i think the only difference is that ours have blue lids):
round storage - http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=187557

square storage - http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=187564

i also like their pitchers for storing soup:
http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=100743