Short on time? Energy? Hands? Me too.
Child #3 is a delight and just starting to smile regularly. I love it. But I am short on sleep and hands right now. Usually I like to purge stuff in January and find some new ways to save money and time. That won’t be happening this year.
Instead I’m setting a goal of 20 minutes of decluttering or simplifying five days a week this month. If I get more done, hurrah!, but I’m setting the bar very low. I’ll be writing quick updates here on the blog and including links to some more in-depth decluttering challenges.
Most of the time I like to kick-off a home purge with my wardrobe but I’m in that dreaded post-partum clothes shifting stage so I’ll be leaving it until the end of this challenge. Instead I’m going to start in my kitchen.
Micro-Decluttering Challenge: The Kitchen
Task #1: throw out any expired pantry and refrigeration items. Make a list of in-date items to use up.
My grocery tactic is to keep a pretty lean pantry and have my fridge close to empty before I buy groceries. It’s put me in an easy spot for this challenge. A few jars and eight small freezer meals to use up.
I’m stumped on how to use the jalapenos. The kids won’t eat them and I’m, sadly, not eating dairy right now. No dairy burritos? Chicken Tortilla soup? Will there be repercussions from eating a jar of pickled jalapenos over a week?
Capsule Kitchen
This is my kind of challenge. Courtney Carver of Project 333 Wardrobe fame is running a Capsule Kitchen challenge. Three months with 33 items to create meals from. Oils, vinegars and seasonings are excluded from the list. What a fantastic way to simplify.
I would bet it’s also a stepping stone to better nutrition. Not a chance you’re going to put Doritos on your list if you can only eat 33 things.
Anyone signed up for a big challenge for 2015? I’m in a Diet Bet with some friends for some post-partum weight loss motivation. There’s money on the line but the bigger motivator is having a group to be accountable to. Other than that I haven’t made too many goals for the year as we’re still adjusting to being a family of five.
Save the jalepenos until summer. Pour peppers around hostas and deer will leave the plants alone
This has nothing to with this post in particular, i just wanted to let you know your Blog has been so important & Inspiring to me. Thank you for your effort & Hard work.
About seven years ago I radically overhauled my diet for health reasons, before I was interested in minimalism. When I learned that red potatoes were healthiest of all varieties, I no longer bought other kinds. Same with red onions. Spinach replaced different types of lettuce and so on. Without intending to, I reduced my cooking ingredients to probably not more than forty to fifty. It meant I had to learn to adjust recipes to accommodate the power foods I was committed to eating. And because my body is so happy on these foods, I never miss things like celery and zucchini that I simply stopped buying. In fact, I crave my capsule foods if I don’t eat them daily, as they show up in nearly every meal I make. The change made life a lot easier–it takes only seconds to look though the fridge or pantry and see what I need, I can grocery shop super fast, and meal planning is a snap, because I can make a dozen different dishes using the same dozen ingredients. And I know that taking grabbing whatever is on hand and making a meal in fifteen minutes doesn’t compromise my health–in fact it improves it! Oh, and I really like only having a few spices on my rack that I always use up before they lose their zingy freshness!
20 Minutes sounds SO much more manageable. It makes de-cluttering or simplifying a lot less overwhelming!
I was recently laid off, and so my challenge is to reduce my overall budget. Right now, though, I’m especially taking aim at my grocery bills. Step one is to go through my fridge, freezer and pantry, so this is excellent inspiration. Thanks for sharing how you’re doing it!
Also, happy family of five. 🙂
My husband thinks sliced pickled jalapenos are tasty on salads. I like the suggestion to perform micro-decluttering tasks. I do them already, but need to incorporate them more often into my daily routine.
Jalapenos are great mixed in with hashbrowns in the morning!
Just signed up for Capsule Kitchen! 🙂
As well as reducing the amount of ‘just in case’ foods we have in the kitchen, I am also decluttering my cookbooks and recipes. I am compiling a new recipe book (for home use only) which will only contain the dishes/cakes we like and which I actually make.
Happy New Year! I hope you had a lovely Christmas.
I posted today about ‘Getting started’. Basically something is better than nothing. Sometimes we feel we need to do everything full steam ahead and perfect, when really 20 minutes is all we need. In fact just 10 minutes a day can be beneficial to getting things done.
I regularly play ‘Declutter 20 things in 20 minutes’ at home – I do have a link to a post I wrote about it but won’t drop it here 😉
I’m decluttering like a demon. Many reasons why – but whatever the reason I’m going with it. This is the year I really get to grips with any potential clutter.
I did this the other day! The fridge is lovely and clean, but there are a ridiculous number of bottles and jars which need using. My meal plans for the next month or so will find ways of using them up.
It’ll be nice to follow along with your challenges! Postpartum wardrobes are tough. In the first few months everything is getting spit on and stretched for nursing. Some of my favorite shirts were just not nursing-friendly. It took me over a year with baby #2 to get to a good place with my wardrobe. I just retired my nursing tanks two weeks ago, although she’s not quite fully weaned.
This meal is amazing, inexpensive, uses about 3 jalenpenos and delicious:
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/04/shakshuka/
you can always freeze them…
thanks for the great idea of freezer/pantry clean out!
We eat pickles with meat in my country
I was thinking of making a tapas platter with them for quick lunches. Meat, pickles, sliced veggies, maybe some hummus.
i have a great roasted veggie recipe of potatoes, beets and jalapenos. Or, add them to a veggie soup or chili!
Maybe you have a friend that could use those jalapenos? I don’t know if you’re nursing but if I were, I wouldn’t take that task on. Good luck. Happy “family of 5”. We are too.
Yes, I’m nursing and this baby is very sensitive to what I eat (have just given up dairy and so far raw onions are a big no). So I think I’ll hand them over to the food bank.