Now that I have entered the world of mobile apps on my Kindle Fire, I am loving it. It is so handy having all of these things right at my fingertips. It has made everything from reading the news to lesson planning easier.
I would say Pepperplate is probably my #2 most useful app (#1 would be gospel library and #3 kid mode). It fills three functions that I needed. I've been wanting to put my recipes in kindle format for a while. I've been trying to get better about planning meals again. It can convert those meal plans into shopping lists.
Ever since getting a kindle last year, I have intended to make a file with all the recipes I use most. It would make them easier to reference, and I could have them on hand while traveling. I still want to do that, but in the meantime, with the help of a sister-in-law, I now have most of my recipes entered on the pepperplate site. You can synch your app to your online account, and it will download all your recipes onto your device (which I'm sure takes up a lot of room, but it's for a good cause). You can also share the recipes via e-mail, twitter or facebook. I anticipate this making it easier whenever someone says, "What was your recipe for...?" I wish there were an easier way to share all the recipes at once, though. For example, if I could just have a link with a list of my recipes to send to the rest of my sisters-in-law, and they could just click a "+" by each one they wanted to add to their accounts. (And they could send me their lists.)
The app and website also have a meal planner that synch together. I used to be really good about planning meals when we lived in Redding, which made both cooking and shopping easier (and we ate better). I have had trouble getting back on that ever since we moved here, but I have really been wanting to. Firebirdluver's new schedule had thrown us so off that I am finding I really need to plan meals, and I need to plan them for two weeks at a time. With Pepperplate, I can add recipes as well as text to the meal plan. Then when it's time to cook, I can just pull up that day's recipes. There's also a timer function, but I haven't used that.
Then you can add either meals from your meal plan or recipes from your recipe list to a shopping list. I am trying that for the first time this week. When I write my own shopping list from a meal plan, I inevitably forget something, so this should be good. The shopping list can easily be edited to delete ingredients you have stocked already or add other things. It even automatically sorts them by type (although not perfect, a handy feature).
What has helped you get more organized lately?
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Why yes, that is me in the NYTimes
Apparently, one good way to get the attention of reporters is to stand in the back of the room with a baby on your back and a toddler running circles around you.
I took the boys to the Mitt Romney rally in Elko last week. While the boys entertained themselves looking at the helicopter in the back of the hanger, I noticed a reporter talking to someone nearby. I overheard a few mentions of, "The Church."
Hmm...
When she finished talking to that man, she approached me.
Uh oh.
"Hi, I'm with the New York Times. We're doing an article about whether Romney's large support base in the Western States has anything to do with the concentration of Mormons out here. Can I ask you a few questions? Are you Mormon?"
Oh boy. It's worse than I thought. (You all know how I feel about media sensationalism.) Well, the only thing to do is take the Gordon B. Hinkley approach: do your best to give thoughtful, honest answers, and let the chips fall where they may.
After I finished talking to her, I was approached by someone from the Elko Daily Free Press. That was slightly less intimidating. I like how his article turned out too. Okay, it reads mostly like he was trying to fit in a quote from everyone he talked to, but what's wrong with that?
I actually didn't expect to be quoted in either article, so I was surprised when I read the Times article. I was also surprised that she mentioned the Harry Reid angle and that so many mentioned him to her.
It is kind of too bad they didn't use my picture. That would have been classic: housewife with more kids than she can handle. I even happened to be wearing a skirt that day. Oh well. Here's the picture Beeper took of me talking to the guy from the Free Press:
Then he took this one:
That was how he kept himself entertained during the rally - going around taking pictures. Here's some more:
The helicopter was the most important thing there, of course:
One advantage to being small is being able to worm yourself close to the stage. (Those of you from Elko: that is Grant Gerber on the end. He said the opening prayer.)
Here's the press box. He took this one "because that guy over there looks like one of your brothers."
He was the most excited, though, to get a picture of himself with one of the policemen outside:
He told me it was taken by "the other policeman." He even asked me, "Would you like to get your picture taken next to a policeman?"
(BTW, I would have liked to take them to other rallies too, but the only other candidate who came this time was Ron Paul, and I didn't find out about his until it was too late to attend.)
I took the boys to the Mitt Romney rally in Elko last week. While the boys entertained themselves looking at the helicopter in the back of the hanger, I noticed a reporter talking to someone nearby. I overheard a few mentions of, "The Church."
Hmm...
When she finished talking to that man, she approached me.
Uh oh.
"Hi, I'm with the New York Times. We're doing an article about whether Romney's large support base in the Western States has anything to do with the concentration of Mormons out here. Can I ask you a few questions? Are you Mormon?"
Oh boy. It's worse than I thought. (You all know how I feel about media sensationalism.) Well, the only thing to do is take the Gordon B. Hinkley approach: do your best to give thoughtful, honest answers, and let the chips fall where they may.
After I finished talking to her, I was approached by someone from the Elko Daily Free Press. That was slightly less intimidating. I like how his article turned out too. Okay, it reads mostly like he was trying to fit in a quote from everyone he talked to, but what's wrong with that?
I actually didn't expect to be quoted in either article, so I was surprised when I read the Times article. I was also surprised that she mentioned the Harry Reid angle and that so many mentioned him to her.
It is kind of too bad they didn't use my picture. That would have been classic: housewife with more kids than she can handle. I even happened to be wearing a skirt that day. Oh well. Here's the picture Beeper took of me talking to the guy from the Free Press:
Then he took this one:
That was how he kept himself entertained during the rally - going around taking pictures. Here's some more:
The helicopter was the most important thing there, of course:
One advantage to being small is being able to worm yourself close to the stage. (Those of you from Elko: that is Grant Gerber on the end. He said the opening prayer.)
Here's the press box. He took this one "because that guy over there looks like one of your brothers."
He was the most excited, though, to get a picture of himself with one of the policemen outside:
He told me it was taken by "the other policeman." He even asked me, "Would you like to get your picture taken next to a policeman?"
(BTW, I would have liked to take them to other rallies too, but the only other candidate who came this time was Ron Paul, and I didn't find out about his until it was too late to attend.)
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