Thinking about simplicity in 2011

Well, 2011 is here. Several years ago I realized I had a sometimes over the edge attachment to things. I started trying to simplify. In the midst, We added another child and now there will be another soon. I have that nesting thing going on. I am craving a big move. I love moving. My third child asked me this week what my favorite things were. I told him moving. He laughed because he thought I meant the ability to move. I mean moving to a new home. I love throwing out and donating as we pack. I love getting there and not opening boxes till we need them. I love putting the glasses away in new clean shelves. I love the smell of fresh paint (even the low voc stuff has a smell).

Here are some Other bloggers to help you get started:
SimpleMom has a list of questions if you are feeling thoughtful.

Raising Olives encourages you to read your Bible.

Enjoy and celebrate the seasons.

And, two of my favorite boards are holding the 2011 in 2011 decluttering challenge. Here and Here.


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Kitchen Organization

I have a good size kitchen with a slightly strange layout.  I haven't figured out how to use it yet.  And, this is the second time I have lived in this house.  You would think I would have it down.  But, you must remember with me.  Back then I was newly married and a new mom.  I had only a husband and little baby to feed.  Seriously, I didn't need any room.  My cupboards were barren because well....I didn't need pots and pans and piles of dishes.  It took us forever to fill up the dishwasher.

Now I have four.  I am tired.  I am homeschooling.  We come and go.  Everyone is always hungry.

A real live action break

Enters oldest son....why is there nothing to eat...I hate curry....I am complaining because complaining is fun.

So, I am looking for some inspiration.
Down to Earth talks about her pantry here.

So, I made a menu.  Which I plan to repeat to boredom every week.  I need to put something on auto-pilot. I, also, created a shopping list for said menu.  So, I can just check off what we need/want and not spend forever shopping and guessing and wishing and wondering.  Cooking is no fun right now.  I will let you know when it is.  Right now, I don't want to think about it.  I don't want to hear how there is nothing to eat.

Breakfast 

M-Pancakes

T-Cream of Wheat

W-Eggs

T-Oatmeal

F-Muffins or Granola Bars

S-Waffles or French Toast

S-Cold cereal or leftovers

Lunch

M-Chickpea or tuna salad sandwiches/melts

T-Grilled Cheese & baked beans or soup

W-Peanut Butter and Jelly on bread/tortillas

T-Mac and Cheese & frozen veg

F-Fruit, Crackers, Cheese, deviled Eggs

S-Quesidillas or leftovers

S-Leftovers/Fend for yourself OR English Muffin Pizza & Salad

Dinner

M-Bean Burritos

T-Chicken, tofu, coleslaw, cornbread, rice

W-Church, leftovers or spaghetti

T-Chili and baked potatoes

F-Pizza

S-Curry Beef in crockpot, tofu, rice, frozen veg

S-Leftovers/Fend for yourself or Fried Rice

A link to the actual Shopping List

What is important. What is doable.

I am reading the above book. I will try to keep track of some notes here. There is this quote from page 18, "What seems the most important is usually not; what is most doable is the place to begin. If. you do enough that is doable, you will get to the important, and your motivation will be fueled byyour success."

I think I try to tell this to my children, but I definitely don't do it for myself. I make countless schedules and routines. Yet, I have yet to work on the things that keep our routines from working. I think it would be better if I worked on improving mealtime and bedtimes. Bedtimes used to include candles and lots of books. Now they are usually TV with Dad at a horribly late time while Mom passes out in the bedroom. Dad misses this time, but no one is doing anything about it.

July Covets

I've been limiting my online time.  I make little notes on post-its and I tag the computer with them.  When I can't take it anymore, I turn on the computer (for years I've just left it on) and play for awhile.  Usually it's during a nap.  And, I try to make sure I'm caught up on laundry and the kitchen is clean.

So, here is what I'm coveting this week.

Things I would make if only I were crafty....

....A mug cozy.
......A pile of rainbow washcloths.

If I had a bunch of extra money and was wondering what I could possible spend it on...

...........little underwear for the waldorf doll.


Next time we are at the beach we are going to make little gardens and find some rocks for painting.

Eating in June

This month I decided to start freezing foods.  I really wanted to do it before our last baby was born.  But, I never got down and did it.  I wish I had.  

This month my plan is to at least double all our meals.  I made up a plan and I'm trying to add to my grocery list as I go along.  I'm hoping I might at some point get enough energy to do it all at once.  But, don't hold your breath.  But, maybe one of my readers will get all excited and give it a go.  I have been getting really frustrated at the end of the night.  I do not like having a dirty kitchen.  We just all get tired and no one wants to clean up.  It feels good to have a clean kitchen in the morning.  There are other dinner snafus that are driving us crazy.  So, I took all of it into account.  I realized I need to be able to throw something in the oven or have things my husband can heat up when he is hungry.  

We are not casserole eaters.  We hardly ever have meat and some of us are vegetarians.  I never wanted to do this because I hate using plastic.  But, my husband will spend 25 bucks at Papa Murphy's and get a cheese loaded, greasy pizza covered in plastic wrap.  I can make a whole lot of cheese light and cheese less pizza and put them in plastic bags for a lot less.  A good freezer bag can be rewashed and reused.  I'm not planning on doing any meaty items. 

So far I made frozen pizzas and a batch of white chili.  It wasn't any harder than making my usual dinner or pizza or chili.  Next time I'll just have to heat those up when we need them. 

I figure on days I'm busy I'll have frozen food.  On the days when I feel like baking or cooking I can stock the freezer with foods or baked goods.  I asked my husband what he thought.  He said he didn't care what it tasted like. He just wanted food he could cook.  My husband was a baker in a rustic bakery.  He used to cook when we were first married.  But, somewhere along the line he got tired.  I started to teach myself how to bake and cook.  But, somewhere along the line I got burnt out on being an excellent cook.  I hope the things I make don't taste too bad.  I figure they will taste better than mac and cheese.  

Meal Planning in 2010

Monday-Soup and Sandwiches 

Tuesday-Burritos or Mexican Food 

Wednesday-Leftovers or Church Meal 

Thursday-Tofu/Chicken, rice, frozen veg or salad 

Friday-Pizza 

Saturday-Finger Foods and leftovers 

Sunday-Crockpot or Breakfast

Along with some changes in our budget, I am making a plan for meals. I don't want to have to be a slave to it. But, I've found it helps to make outlines for myself. I'm going to keep myself out of stores. I've already set us up for our first Terra Organics order. I'm working on finding a local drop point for Azure Standard. Then I can shop at Costco once a month and Trader Joes every other month. That should keep our budget low while still building up a stockpile. I don't want to go through another hard time without a pantry. That was really hard this last time. I can go without a lot of things. But, not being able to feed my family well is so difficult.

We sign tomorrow

We got a great 3 bedroom 1 bath in a sweet neighborhood.

Today we rented a 10 X 10 storage space and you know what we are not going to fill it up. Public Storage says that is 100 sq ft and it should be enough for a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment.

Yeah!!!

I can't believe how much we parted with. I feel so richly blessed to start again fresh in a new city.

Sidewalks
dogs
kids
schools
playgrounds
libraries
zoos
bungalows
coffee shops

I've missed you big city.

Plastic shampoo

I really have been looking more at the plastic we use.

Shampoo does come in plastic bottles. It's just one of those things you know.

I guess you could buy a big bulk container of shampoo. I have to use more expensive shampoos because my scalp (heck all of my skin) is really sensitive. I'm on vacation and the store here has big plastic containers of shampoo and you just pump what you want into a small reuseable bottle. But, I bet your local store or a salon store could get you those large bottles. The fill your own is cool though isn't it?

I know I use way less shampoo and NO conditioner since I cut all my hair off, but I realize a lot of women are not comfortable with that.

I did buy applesauce in a glass container instead of plastic this week. I would say it's probably more enviromentally friendly to just buy the apples. Speaking of which I hate those dumb little stickers they put on the apples, but I'm not so sure I like the tattoothing they are coming up with now.

Inspections and Plastic Popcorn

Well, our house has been inspected and now we are haggling.
It's strange to haggle in this day and age of America buy what you can for the best price.

It's hard to not be offended by their opinions.
...to be embarassed by the stuff we never got to work on.
We had so many plans for this little house
and now we let them go.

Plasticseems so easy to run away from.
I've been pretty good about using my fabric bags.
But, still today I read that article and they poked at the microwave popcorn.
I didn't have a microwave for years,
but I bought my husband one for his birthday when we moved here.
After a while the popcorn seeped in.

Could microwave popcorn really be evil?

My sister and her husband bought a huge TV to play their video games on and watch horror flicks.
They got a free popcorn maker as part of the deal.
A REAL popcorn maker on wheels that you can roll around and charge money for.

We did Jiffy Pop for a snack today.
My kids have never seen Jiffy Pop.

I'm having a hard time finding a non-plastic option for popcorn.
I've read you can microwave popcorn in a brown paper lunch bag.

I'm thinking one of those hang cranked contraptions might work.

Really I think we should eliminate the kitchen and just eat fruits and veggies. My husband won't go for it though.

She is coming tonight

The realtor is coming with papers to sign.
Last night my dh started to grieve.

The loss of his own personal
garage
hot tub
yard.

But, then he started to talk to the boys.

We have things we need to give up.
But, in exchange we gain opportunities
that far outweigh the life we have here.

We aren't happy here at all.
We have been trying to fix it.

All those fixes have failed and they are eating away
at our foundations.

So, tonight we move on. We start this journey.
We will sell our home.
We will sell our couches,
the kitchen table,
the big roll top desk,
the beds,
the bookshelves,
the pantry storage...

The computer drains me of time

I tend to leave it on all the time and the excuse is because when I get a moment
I work on homework.

Well the 14th is my last day of school.
It is, also, the last day I leave my computer on all day.

I'm forcing myself to get up earlier in the morning.
If I want computer time I will do it then.

I have relationships to build.
Children to raise.
Food to make.
Walks to take.

I love research.
This computer sucks me in.
I don't need to know everything.

How to buy Green Groceries, Improve your shopping trip, and get a smaller, trimmer you....

So, I cannot promise you will loose weight.

A discussion prompted some thinking about how and why we shop. Here are a few suggestions I came up with. Do you have any suggestions for making a "green" grocery trip.

These are the tips that have allowed me to do the things like buy more organic or a new cloth bag. I have revamped my relationship with food and my shopping cart.

Give yourself a wholesome and good connection to your food so you can make good choices when you eat and shop.

1. Actually eating what we make. If I make soup then we eat it all. Sometimes I even freeze a portion or two before I serve it. I like mason jars for that.

2. Have a leftover day to do the above. Do this the day before you plan to shop if you shop once a week. Clean out the whole fridge, too. Take everything out and scrub it up a bit. Reshelf all your goodies. Freeze anything you don't think you will eat. Chop up that half of onion in the bottom bin and freeze it. You will feel better about what you have and you might get inspired, so you don't get wasteful at the store.

3. If you can buy from bulk bins than only buy what you need. If you need 1 cup of flour or only one meals worth of falafel than buy just that.

4. Make a menu or a list of meals and snacks family members want this week. If I'm craving something I will often stick it on the grocery list. If I want homemade pizza I'll put it on the list. When I get ready to go to the store I can just write down the ingredients we need.

We turned down the heat

I turned off the radiant heater.
I turned down the thermostat 8-10 degrees.
I put an extra blanket on our bed.
We all put on more clothing.
Yesterday I wore yoga pants under my jeans and I was so comfortable.
I even wore them to my ceramics class and I wasn't cold.

I'm always cold.
I totally forgot how I always wore long johns when I was younger. I guess I must have grown out of them when I first got pregnant and got rid of them.

Next year everyone is getting 2 pairs of long johns, maybe 3, and some kind of warm slippers for house wear.

It's really not so bad. I'm so embarrassed how much our gas bill has been. What a waste?

The simple list

We (as in husband and I) talked some more today.
We talked about energy assistance and food stamps.
We talked about getting off of food stamps.
We got enough money to pay all our bills and catch up.

My husband has decided to not focus on making money, but focus on his tithe instead.
I've never thought about it like that...boy he is creative.

So, I scrounged up a little notebook from around the house and started a simplifying list.

On that list is to get off of foodstamps.
1. To accomplish that I'm going to keep better track of the prices I spend.
I want to see if I can save any money buying in bulk from Azure Standard.
I know it would help us because we wouldn't be in the grocery store as much.
2. My dh plans to put up the greenhouse this spring, so we can try and start a salsa house. We eat a lot of salsa and if we could grow all the stuff year round we could probably save a bundle, plus it would be tasty. Not sure how well that would work in Washington though.
3. My dh wants chickens for eggs since my mom is not getting more after this last bunch passes away since she is planning to sell her house. Well, their house =)
4. I would like to come up with some outlines of meals we eat each month and a shopping list. Maybe then I would see what we would benefit from buying in bulk first. I can go to Costco with my mom, too. So, that helps because they have more and more good stuff there that I can eat.

This is just part of our loose plan. It's amazing really. My husband and I are growing so close. It brings tears to my eyes to see it all working.