Minimalist Wardrobe

Now, this sh*ts hilarious. No, really... there is something severely awry when I feel entitled to blog about ANYTHING to do with style, fashion, or clothing. Yet, I feel like I do have something to share. While I don't claim to dress well, I think I can make the claim that I somehow now dress better after having carefully stripped my wardrobe down to the bare essentials.

Clothing was one of the first things to go in Oregon. I had way too many items that I didn't wear and wasn't willing to haul around anymore. Even worse, nothing went together anymore. It seems since I cut off my magical dreadlocks I've been floundering for a sense of personal style that is both professional, flexible, and expresses who I am.  To add to the mess, I never really have liked shopping, so what I did have was usually bought in an after-work hustle to find something... anything... fast. For example, if my black work pants ripped and needed to be replaced, that meant I would have to come home with the best pair I found that day regardless of how they fit, what they cost... and, sadly, if I even liked them.

A great deal of assistance was provided by reading Miss Minimalist by _____ . The things that rang truest to me were as fallows:

• It is not everyone's calling in life to be a fashion model. It is just fine to dress nicely, even if you never turn heads with your "style."
• Don't buy fantasy clothing. Are you a 1960's androgynous mod rocker? No? Maybe you don't need the striped pants and skinny tie then. 
• It's not actually doing you any good to have it if you don't wear it.

I combined this with advice from one of  Tim Gun's books (give me a break, I was desperate... and I kinda love Tim Gun) and decided to focus on what works for me: a simple monochromatic wardrobe of basics that I can accessorize for different occasions. I took to polyvore and came up with this for inspiration:

Basic wardrobe by kristin-muzzy featuring long pants

Of course, I couldn't just run out and make it happen right away, but over the last year I've slowly been building towards it. Here is what my actually closet includes:

Pants:

1 kahkis (needs replacing)
1 pair of jeans
1 pair grey wool pants
1 pair black wool pants (needs replacing)
1 pair grey "scrubs" pants

Shirts:

Black Tanktop
V neck white Tshirt
V neck grey Tshirt (needs replacing)
V neck black Tshirt
Crewneck grey, sparkly Tshirt
"nice" crewneck white T shirt
"nice" crewneck black Tshirt
3/4 sleeve white Vneck
3/4 sleeve black Vneck

Sweaters/outer shirts:

Wool Vneck black sweater (light weight)
Teal/Blue wool cardigan (Hand knit- not going anywhere!)
Ferari red zip-up (Handy for hiking, but does not fit with anything else, will replace eventually)
Single button 3/4 sleeve "tux-style" coat, black
Button down over-shirt/coat, black

Shoes:

Red Troentorp clogs (casual)
Black leather Doc Marten Maryjanes (for work)
Black gladiator sandles
Hiking boots

*also some other items for sleeping, working out, and camping not included above

I learned I could live without several things. For one, I only have on pair of jeans. On weekdays, I change out of my work cloths and into athletic capris, so I really only wear jeans on the weekend. On top of this, one pair was always the favorite, so I never really wore more than one pair at a time anyway. When it really mattered, I always went for the favorite pair. The other pair only got worn once the favorites wore out... So why have them at all? That leaves three pairs of pants for work, meaning I have to re-wear or wash 2 pairs during the week, which is fine by me. I'm currently looking to replace the khakis with another pair that A) fit, and B) can work as my other casual pair of pants. Someday I will give up my last pair of scrubs... but for now they stay. I also learned to live without stylish or embellished shirts. I never did like prints, or ruffles, or pleats. I go for clean and monochromatic. If a style does come into season that I like, it's easier (and cheaper) to accessorize for the trend than to try work it into my actual clothing. Consider the following:

Black tee three ways by kristin-muzzy featuring slim fit jeans

Basic items can go from girly, to rocker, to business with ease. Not that I am after all of these looks, but it demonstrates the point of flexibility I'm trying to cultivate.  Truthfully, I don't have the variety of accessories to do different "looks," but I'm getting there. I haven't much more than a set of silver jewelry, a set of gold, and some random, favorite pieces I've collected through the years. I do, however, have a pretty good mix  of scarves to play with. I have been delaying buying accessories until I have a basis wardrobe first. Now that that is in place, I have started on the jewelry and accessories.

I'll probably never attain anything like the second photo, but looking at the first one, that seems doable. It's a method of dressing well that makes me feel competent and comfortable. You really can't mess it up... everything matches everything. That's what I need... a foolhardy set of clothing I don't have to think about and that meet my daily needs. Still, this can be adapted. Pick a few basic colors instead of black, white, and grey. Maybe you have a bohemian element to your pieces. This is just what seems to be working for me at this point in my life.... and it all fits in one rubber made ;).

No Knead Bread

OK, so I really have been bad about blogging. Which stinks because now I'm almost done with my 3 months in central Illinois... and I really have no excuse. At the end of the day, it's me who loses, because I love the life I'm leading and want to have a record of it.

So this one is about homemade, fantastical, wonderful bread. Uber cheap, uber easy... and NO kneading. Unfortunately, I cannot provide a recipe for this one. I have neither tweaked it enough to call my own, nor is it common enough to consider it general knowledge for the sharing. This will come more as a book recommendation.

Since I travel and try to keep possessions to a minimum, a bread machine is absolutely out of the question. I have tried kneading bread before with bad results. While I could develop this skill, and I may try to do just that int he future, I didn't really see the point since I had heard about "No Knead Bread." I tried several variations found online, but eventually bought the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. 

The jist of it is:

1. Mix up a batch ahead and let it rise on its own
2. refrigerate until you need it, using time to replace kneading
3. Cut off a piece
4. let it rise for a bit
5. bake it

So basically, you have to stir stuff together. Then, when you want bread, you tear off a piece, let it sit on the counter, then throw it in the oven. Its a miracle.

I currently make mostly white bread, whole wheat bread can be a bit trickier. I have made one whole wheat loaf before and it turned out a bit dense, but the taste was good and I will try again. My other little hint is to let the dough age a bit in the fridge, it gives a much better "sourdough" taste.

Pros: Excellent, crusty homemade bread that is easy to learn with little technique involved. Cheap and healthy with better results than store bread. Also, It's a great entry into bread baking that is pretty "no fail" and gives you the confidence to try other techniques as well.

The downfalls: They don't give measurements in weights, and I find measuring by weight is both easier and more accurate. Also, I am interested in sourdough starters and I'm not sure how I would use one with this. Equipment is minimal, they recommend a baking stone and a pan of water for steam, but I just use my dutch oven with the lid on for part of the baking time. This is how I learned to bake no-knead bread before buying the book; I ended up combining the methods. 

So look forward to more bread-related posts! Also, I encourage you to look up methods and recipes online or buy the book for a more thorough explanation of one method.

Oh, and the jam is the picture is a strawberry-blackberry Chia seed jam.... Epic fail folks. If anyone has a good chia seed jam they like, I'd love for you to share it. This one was not good.

Adventures in Minimalism.

Once upon a time, in a land now far away, I decided to become a traveler.  Over one exhausting month, I boxed up everything I owned, hauled it out onto the lawn, and pleaded with strangers to take it away. Anything left either had to fit into my car to come with me, or it had to be important enough to box and store... knowing I would not be using or seeing it for three to six months at a time. As I sat on one of the two small couches for sale, I got really frustrated. All that money spent on things that never turned out to be as handy, necessary, or important as I thought they would be... and I realized most of it was really, truly, just junk. I felt foolish and wasteful.

While I was in Oregon, I had the chance to try on new hats; to see what I really wanted in life. For two months I lived in a hotel room without a kitchen and only a very small mini fridge. Most meals were cold (sandwiches) or cooked on my little Trangia alcohol stove. I had a toaster oven, but never really used it. Although I only came with what would fit in my car, even that proved too burdensome to move every three months.

Thus the inspiration for the name change in my blog. A few of us travelers were chatting, discussing, strategizing the career path we've chosen. I noted that I was paring down my possessions and ultimately looking for the perfect "system" to travel with- simple, light, functional. Margaret replied to this with her master plan... three rubber maid bins: one for the bedroom and clothing, one for the kitchen, and one for the bathroom. While my possessions do not literally fit into three bins, I did indeed adapt this system. Coming from Oregon to Illinois, these three bins were sorted accordingly and fit perfectly into the back seat of my car. Other miscellaneous items were packed into the trunk.

Also while in Oregon, I started to find seven items per week to get rid of. This was a simple way to start questioning if I really, truly needed the things I had. As I simplified my belongings, I also simplified my life. I shopped and cooked simple meals one time a week. I opened mail and paid bills once every Monday morning. I gave up the gym and started walking and doing yoga at home. I rarely had to clean anymore- there simply was nothing to pick up. I got rid of cloths that I didn't wear or didn't look good. I found an insanely simple way to alway have fresh bread ready to bake.

It isn't about deprivation, Zen, or 100 items. It's about making deliberate choices to only have items that work for me, and choosing not to work for my items. It also is about stopping the ongoing onslaught of items shifting in and out of my home and my life. How many things have I bought in my life whose lifespan was a year or less? Even when moving back from Oregon I left items I bought while I was there, so I still fall victim to the same impulses, but they are losing their power the more I grow.  Now when I buy something, I try to ask myself if I can imagine it surviving and being useful ten years from now. If not, why? Sure, some things wear out... clothing, shoes... but why have I gone through at least three sets of pots and pans since high school? How many water bottles have I bought in my lifetime? And where did they go anyway? When is the last time I used an entire tube of lip stick, or a pen ran out of ink, before I lost it?

It's not that any of the above are major atrocities, but applied to every situation in life, I've been nickel and and dime-ing myself for years. So I've been trying to go a different way. Some of it is necessary for my lifestyle, some of it allows me to feel more in control and secure, and some of it is just rewarding and fun.

SO... Here are the "seven items" for this week. Obviously I found more this week, but as time goes by it should get harder to find things...

From Left to right are: Sell, Give Away, and Trash. The first is a sleeping bag that I started car camping with, but is WAY to heavy for hiking and has since been replaced. I'll give it two weeks to sell on craigslist before offering it up on Freecylce. The next pile I will bring to a local thrift shop. Other options include the free section on craigslist or Freecycle. The last, sadly, is my first air  bed. I tried to repair it, but it is dead, dead, dead. I will offer it as scrap on Freecycle for a week, then I will toss it.

It's as simple as that. If you have a lot of clutter, you may find you want to start with a closet, a drawer, etc, just to get a head start. Still, tossing one item a day will help anyone decrease unsightly clutter.

I'll try and keep updating on this in my blog. I'd also like to include posts of where I have (or have not) de-cluttered my life.

On the Road Again...

So this is just a quick one, an attempt to get back at blogging. I finished my 6 months in Oregon and returned "home" for a brief visit and then it was on to my new location in central Illinois. It felt strange to leave Oregon; I had made a life and home there. Still, part of my new life necessitates the need to turn and walk away, and just appreciate the time you had.

I've been trying to have a healthier and more frugal life all around, as well as cut down how much plastic I have been using. I have to admit, while not as bad as going to Oregon, I found I had to leave/throw many things... plastics included... when I moved due to space considerations in my car. I will have to figure that one out. My ultimate goal would to be have one permanent "system" of items that all fit into my car and can travel with me, reducing the need to throw away and get new each time.

I did have one new challenge while on the road: produce less waste and spend less money. I'm terrible when I'm in my car- I live on soda, fast food, snacks... anything to make the miles go by easily. Not only is this terrible for my health, it increases my fatigue on the road and costs a TON of money. I set a goal to try and only eat 1 meal a day take out and to make this a salad. I packed all my snacks, breakfast, lunch, containers with me. It looked a lot like this...

The above items include:

• Vacuum seal thermos: These are awesome. Mine will keep coffee piping hot for 12 hours. I usually just filled this once a day at the hotel, but of course gas stations and coffee shops will fill them as well. Plastic waste: 0
• Life factory glass bottles: one of my favorite things. I have three and used them all. I kept them in a cooler with ice and refilled as needed at gas stations and hotels. I always offered to pay at gas stations, but they usually told me I didn't have to pay. Plastic waste: 0
• Celery and carrot sticks: for times I was just "munchy" but didn't want extra calories. Plastic: got one more use out of the containers, but yes these were disposed of in the end.
• Bread: I'm gonna miss Dave's bread in Illinois. (However, I can make my own now... more on that later.) This was used to make PB sandwiches. Plastic: the bread bag.
• Snacks: GORP/trail mix, wasabi peas, grapes. Plastic: I re-wash my plastic bags now and try use them sparingly.
• PB and J: for sandwiches. Plastic: 0
• Cheese: for a snack with the grape. Plastic: the wrappers and bag.
• MIO water enhancer: To wean myself from soda pop... and yes, I am able to resist soda with this. However, optimally, I want to switch to plain or lemon water, because MIO definately fits into the "NOT FOOD" category I want to get rid of. Plastic: the MIO bottle when I'm done, but an improvement over bottled pop/juice.

Other Items used not shown above:

• Cooler: Plastic, but I'm determined to keep track of it and get good use out of it. I got the old-fashioned, hard, durable red and white kind.
• Utensils: I just brought some from home in a cloth bag and washed them as needed at the hotel.
• Ice: Free from the hotels.
• Lindt dark Chocolate bars: In case I got a sweet tooth. I find Dark chocolates nip a sweet tooth in the butt, but they are a food I don't go crazy over. Plus the high-cocoa dark chocolates have some health benefits. Funny though, I only ate a bit of one bar... the trail mix kept me from reaching for sweets.

For my evening meal I got salads from McDonalds. I thought that I would go crazy if I didn't get one "real meal," but honestly I should have just packed that, too. They aren't very healthy, they're expensive, and they're wasteful. Also, after drive 12 hours a day... pretty much anything tastes good and you would rather get to the hotel sooner than waste time getting food. For some reason, cold food tastes good on the road. I think a cold pasta salad would pack great and would be just fine for the evenings. The ice in the cooler stayed all day and night (changed twice daily), so I have no concerns about it not staying cool. Plus most of my hotels had mini fridges. It was definately a success, and I would say I now prefer to travel like this. I felt better hydrated, more alert, and saved a ton of cash.

Other road successes:

• Pod casts
• Books on tape
• The Stooges.... the whole trip was pretty much an Iggy Pop love fest. One of the audiobooks was even on Iggy. I finally bought Metallic KO on the second day to "refresh" my music list.

So, that pretty much covers the road trip from Oregon to Illinois. I've been in Illinois a little less than a week, so I'm still just adjusting. More updates on my new place later!

Ramblin' On...

1,900 miles from Minnesota to Oregon. Part 1.

...And it looked a lot like this. I took a lot of photos on the road, but they really aren't worth posting. You would only wonder why I posted so many photos of the same stretch of road. This was not an interesting drive, at all. It took me three days to complete, and really, I would not do it in any less as a solo driver. I got up early each morning and averaged about 12 hours a day. I took plenty of breaks to avoid too much fatigue on the road.

This sign should be updated to "No sign of intelligent life next 81 miles." And at that 81st mile there was only a diner/gas station combo and one very unfortunate hobo.

These I just found fun to collect...

Beware of Bull

Beware of Pronghorn

Beware of goat (or donkey?)

Beware of Horse

Beware of Ram

Beware of Moo-Cow

Beware of Elk

Banjo was a model citizen the whole trip. He just snoozed the days away and thankfully would still sleep most of the night. I can't imagine doing the trip without him. My best friend through it all.

I lived for 2 months in a tiny Motel room. Nothing fancy inside and kinda trashy outside, but it worked. I had a TINY fridge (smaller than most mini fridges) and no kitchen, but I made it work.

I learned to cook a LOT of things on my camping Trangia stove. No fire alarms were ever set off (most likely due to dead batteries.) I am now a gourmet camp chef.

A Change of Heart... and Place.

Greetings from.... OREGON!

I'm sorry it has been so long. I never forgot about my blog, but it had to go on the back burner because of the long hours I was logging at my last job. I then changed jobs... because of the long hours I was logging at my last job. I just couldn't make it work there anymore, I won't blame the job or myself... we will just say that something was not working, and we will leave it at that. 

In an exciting turn of events, I took a travel job last October, with my first placement being in Oregon. When I came out here, I had no internet or functioning computer to blog with. Just last week I received my long awaited new computer, and I am hoping to resurrect Good Gestalt. I am so sad that I wasn't able to blog through this huge transition in my life... so you may see a series of posts about my travels and transition, because I want to record them for myself as well as share them with friends who read this blog.

So far I am loving my new life. It was a little scary packing up my car, dog, and driving 1,900 miles across country alone to a place I'd never been, but there was something deeply rewarding about it. I surprised myself. Sometimes I am still in awe that I had the guts to do it.

It also changed my perspective on what I want in life to a staggering degree. Before moving I was living in a house (rented) with my girlfriend. We painted, decorated, and quickly filled up the space with furniture, crafts, patio furniture, a grill. All of that went lock stock and barrel out of my life when I moved. My girlfriend moved to a smaller apartment, and I could only take what would fit in my car. All of my other possessions were given away or hauled out onto the lawn in one hug garage sale. 

It was strange. All these things that had soaked up my personal spending money now looked like a heap of cheap junk sitting in the yard. I then realized that all things lose there value in time and will someday be discarded. I took what at the time seemed wanted or necessary, but even that seemed to be weighing me down. Since then I've been trying to scrape down to a system of essentials that are needed, used, and cherished. I suspect this will be a subject of future postings. Minimalism apparently is a trend on the internet, so I used some of what I read for inspiration, but I don't really want to adopt a label or set of rules. I just have realized that I have been brash and reckless in acquiring things that I end up not using and just throwing away. With fewer things, life seems lighter, freer, and cleaning is much easier. Plus, there is that whole "gotta fit into my car when I leave," thing. When you move every three months, anything that is not used frequently quickly quires resentment.

So I pardon me a bit as I catch the blog up. As I've said before, the blog is always going to be a personal blog, so I do want to record some things that have passed, but you are all invited along for the ride. And the ride just got a bit more exciting....

How to Peel Garlic

This is a short post, but a good one. How do you peel garlic? Many people don't... they buy it pre-peeled because they don't want to waste their time on it. A few know to put a broad knife over a clove, give it a slight smack to loosen the paper-like wrapping, and then peel. In fact, that's how I did it for years. Then I learn this neat-o method.

Step 1. Break apart cloves in a head of garlic and put them in a bowl.



Step 2. Cover the bowl and shake the daylights out of it.



Step 3. Open the bowl to reveal all your garlic cloves have been peeled! Put the peeled cloves in the fridge to store.


I know... right?!?! Why is this not common knowledge?

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Location:5th St NE,Rochester,United States

Spinning Wheel Bliss

Rebel, rebel, represent... yeh, I got a spinning wheel. I couldn't help myself, I've been obsessing ever since I took spinning classes at Beelighted in Zumbrota, MN. It took a while to afford one. Despite dreams of a forlorn wheel someone would sell of cheap, there is really no such thing. Spinning wheels, even old ones, start at about $300.

The wheel I got (picture above) is a cheaper model by Kromski called the Prelude. It is a single drive wheel with Scotch tension. It comes with 2 extra spindles and a version of a built in Lazy Kate to ply yarns from. The wheel above is unfinished; if you follow the link to the Prelude site above, you will see it stained dark. Eventually I would like to do the same; the wheel looks fabulous dark.

Spinning isn't automatic or easy. At first it's a bit like rubbing you belly while you pat your head... there is a lot going on and hard to keep track of it all. I think I do well for a novice spinner, but I have a lot to learn still. Below is 2 ounces of 2-ply yarn that is Aran weight and made from wool roving. To make yarn, first you spin the yarn (clockwise) into a long, thin, "single ply" strand. Then, if you like, you take the two ends of the strand and spin ("ply" ...used as a verb here) them together (going counterclockwise). The end product is a 2 ply strand that is more like yarn you see in the store and generally more uniform than single ply yarn.

Hand spun yarn is more uniform and truer to weight the more experienced the spinner is, but it all has it nuances. Most knitters love the slight variations in hand spun yarn, many pay a premium for it. Spinning won't make you tons of money though, roving itself is costly and with labor on top of that. Most "expensive" hand spun yarns are modestly priced for the materials and the process. Those that do make money are usually starting with fiber produced on their own farms. But if you make it for yourself, chances are you really are doing it because you like spinning as much as knitting, and in the end you will save a little bit of money on the final yarns. (without counting the labor of spinning, fiber IS cheaper than yarn.) I do have visions of getting and Angora rabbit sometime in the future, though. Angoras have long fur that is a good fiber to spin and I have a background in raising and caring for rabbits. I definitely need to find a cute project for the yarn below... ideas welcome!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:5th St NE,Rochester,United States

And Spring gave Summer a miss...

So winter never really came and all of a sudden it seems we are in the middle of June here in Minnesota... very odd in deed. Usually sometime in March we get a "warm spell" of 30-40 degrees or so, just enough to give you hope. Then we are hit with more snow until late April.

But this year the snow never really came and, well, I was counting on a snowy March to finalize my garden plans. No such luck, so I find myself scrambling. We may get a frost yet... but it certainly won't be in May. So I finally find myself "behind" in starting plants that needed starting (tomatoes). Over the weekend I drafted up the page you see above for my square foot garden. It will have a trellis on one side for climbing plants. The idea behind square foot gardening is to plant very compactly, eliminating rows used in traditional gardens.  I ordered the seeds today...




...The order above is from seed saver's exchange in Iowa. There was also $6.00 shipping... so almost 30 bucks. Like most things, the garden is going to be the most costly this year (the first) because materials (and seeds) can hopefully be used next year.

My plan for the bed is to cut two 2"X12"x8' in half, giving a 4x4 bed. Each square you see above is 1 foot x 1 foot. I think plywood will work for the bottom, with some drainage holes. I am going to try raise it off the ground with cement blocks. Then comes the dirt, which I am not excited to see the price for... I expect that to be costly. Now I am not the most mechanical, but I am going to make it myself, or die trying ;).

So I started racking my brain with how much of everything to get, but I ended up deciding that I just wanted to take this as a learning experience, choose a few things I like, and go through the process this year. I can worry about what I want more of next year.

So the varieties I chose are as follows:

Carrots, St Valery See them here
Cucumber, Bushy OG http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=111(OG)
Pepper, Habenero Mustard (for Equah, will be in a separate pot) http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1306
Swiss Chard, 5 color silverbeet http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=46(OG)
Bean, Black Valentine http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=201
Turnip, Purple Top White http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=201
Bell Pepper, King of the North http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1343
Tomato, Cherry Roma http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=974
Tomato, Hillbilly Tomato Leaf http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=979

Really, these are chosen by nothing more than the online descriptions and whatever looked like fun to grow. I figured I could wrack my brain and spend hours studying something I knew nothing about, or I could give it a shot and learn as I go. I chose the latter. It's my first vegetable garden and I just want to have fun with it and get my hands dirty. I chose heirlooms, because I'm particularly attached to them. When given the chance I went for striking varieties that would be inspiring to grow. I will likely have stumbles along the way, but hopefully it will be somewhat successful. I also will have some potted herbs and hot peppers (I didn't want to try reaching over these to tend other plants). The seeds are ordered, and hopefully this weekend I will start some indoors and get the bed built. We will see, weekends get busy fast around here.

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Music on Monday: Trampled by Turtles

You would think I'd have been a long time fan... by all reasonable standards I should have been. I was living in Duluth around the time they first started getting noticed, and while living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, I repeatedly read about them in City Pages and saw their disks at Cheapo in the Local section.

...But the fact is that Trampled by Turtles... well, it just screams crappy punk rock band. I'm sorry, the name is a bit clever, but I couldn't get over that I thought I knew what they were about... and I'm not really a punk rocker. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of punk rock... but I really just can't be bothered to scrape through the local "scene" because, frankly, some punk rocker types bother me. Some are sweet as pie, and some make you feel like you're just got a snooty cheerleader as your lab partner.

And so I passed them by. BAD choice. They are an extremely excellent... bluegrass... band. Or folk, or whatever label you prefer. They are the type of band that could have gotten away with crappy song writing;  their instrumentation skill is enough to draw a crowd. The cherry on top is that they are indeed strong songwriters. And, oh boy, you must hear that fiddle player.

I missed my opportunity to see them in February, they were sold out by the time I got around to looking up tickets. But they hail from Duluth, as good Minnesota music should, and I'm sure I will find an excuse to visit them and take in the North Shore. I suggest you do the same.

Official website: http://trampledbyturtles.com/

You tube:
 Wait So Long
Victory
Where Is my Mind? (Pixies Cover)

Recipe: Root Veggie Soup

Wow, this is a really filling and comforting soup. I got it off a package of root vegetables (contents shown above), but I adapted it slightly to my liking. The original recipe didn't have much in the way for seasonings and the end product was meant to be blended to a puree. From past experience, I have not like these types of pureed soups, so I skipped that part and just added some thickener.

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
1 tsp olive oil
8 garlic cloves, minced
3 lbs root vegetables (carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabaga, celeric, sunchokes)
* Potato (I did not use, but will try next time)
6 cups vegetable stock
3/4 cup cream
2 tsp corn starch mixed with some cold water
salt and pepper to taste

I will add here that maybe you want to add a potato as well. I think the flavor would certainly be great and it may bulk up the broth enough to omit the corn starch later. If you do use too much carrot, parsnip, or turnip the soup can bit sweet for my taste. The potato may help to counter that sweetness.




Prep all of you veggies-  scrape, clean, and cut.

Heat the olive oil- make sure to use under Medium heat so you don't scorch it. Yes, I did this, while talking to my sister on the phone. If you do scorch the oil (it will start smoking heavily and smell awful) get it off the burner and out of the house! Smoked oil is a carcinogen, you should not breath it in. But don't worry, if this happens, you will KNOW not to breath it by it's putrid stench.

OK, add the onions and cook until soft.




Now add your vegetables and cook for 10 minutes. They will not be thoroughly cooked. I also added my salt and pepper at this point, maybe a teaspoon or so of each. You can experiment with other seasonings, the recipe called for none at all, a bit odd. Generally speaking, a little seasoning goes a long way. You could try some thyme or rosemary as well.




Add stock and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes per the directions. Mine took longer. Take off the heat and allow to cool for a bit. Stir in the cream.

Now heat on the stove again and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Allow to simmer until nice and thick. Adjust seasonings as needed.




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Random Musing and Updates

So because I haven't written in so long, I feel there is so much catching up to do. I've been busy at work, that is true. But I also have been up to a lot of crafting and around the home projects. These generally give me a break and save my sanity when things are so hectic.



My uncle has this poster he made that still hangs in my childhood home "Everything I needed to know, I learned on the farm." Some day I will copy it here verbatim, but one thing that comes to mind during busy times like this is one part that says "there is only so much work that can be done in a day, then it's time to drive pickups." It makes me smile, because it is so true. No matter how many things you put on the To Do list for the day, it seems mentally, physically, and emotionally, we can only take some much. Then, all of a sudden, out of the blue, the new top priority becomes that you just MUST go to town for parts, you really OUGHT to drive to the ridge to see the fields. It's human nature telling you "I'm done for the day; I need a break, I need something else."

And so I attacked the cupboard you see above. I am so busy at work, I've been on my computer every moment of my spare time it seems. I was in a documenting marathon when I went up to get a drink, and there it was... the messy cupboard that suddenly seemed to be priority #1. I tore everything out of it, got out my mason jars and some labels, and soon I had this...




All of the jars have labels of the contents on the lids, and for items I got in the bulk section at the co-op I included the bulk section number of that item. The nice thing about mason jars is that they come in a sectioned box that is useful for carrying several jars at once. I kept this so that when the jars are empty, I can just toss them in the box and bring everything together to the bulk section to refill. Since they have labels on top, I will know what to refill them with without having to make a list.




I tried to make bread, and failed :). But I had fun!




I tried my hand at spinning...




And succeeded! Above is a 1 oz skein of 2-ply wool yarn I made. Interested in learning to spin? Let me know, I am planning on going back to Serendipity in Zumbrota MN for more free spinning classes! I am begging Equah for a wheel!




I have been making MANY MANY pysanky, or Ukrainian Easter Eggs. I just left 5 at Serendipity to try to sell.




Speaking of which, a little egg comparison when I was blowing out the eggs before dying them. This isn't the best photo, but it contains 1 farm egg and 1grocery egg. Can you guess which is which? Of course! The farm egg has a healthy yellow-orange yolk and the grocery egg is pale and watery. Plus the farm egg was much smaller and had a much larger yolk.




I have a new favorite bottle. On the right is my new Life Factory bottle that I'm loving so much. On the left is my stainless steel bottle, but I can always seem to taste the metal when I drink from it. The Life Factory bottle is glass with a silicone sleeve to protect it. The sleeve also protects your hands from hot beverages. I am definitely ordering more of these. They have larger bottles that come with flip tops as well.

Other things that have struck my fancy lately include a maple-syruping course that will be held at a local state park, sooo want to go to that. Noodler refillable pens... still want one. Cloth napkins... why not? And a never-ending quest for a better lunch box- preferably one that will hold hot meals.

So here to more blogging in the future! Wish me luck.

Recipe: Cold Press Coffee

This is my new love: homemade frappuccino with cold press coffee.  It's really easy to make and saves both money and calories. I love hot coffee as much as the next person, but sometimes I just need something different. My coffee kept getting bitter when I tried to make it hot (suggestions anyone?), so I finally took the leap and tried this. And guess what? It's super easy and almost no-fail. In fact, there isn't much of a recipe for this at all.

1. Find a container for your coffee. You can use the pot you have, buy a french press, or do like I did and save a milk bottle. The glass milk bottle worked great, cost very little (only the $1.50 I would have gotten back on the bottle deposit), and holds 1/2 gallon. I avoided plastic because it tends to make drinks taste bad and well, it now appears it isn't very good for us. I try to avoid it for storing foods.

2. Grind you coffee of choice. Pour this into the container. Sorry I don't have more exact measurements, but I would say I used about 1 cup for 1/2 gallon container. Really, this isn't an exact science. Since the end product is diluted with water before you drink it, add less if it turns a bit weak, or more if it turns out very strong. Really, don't stress yourself over these things.

3. Cover with filtered water and let sit for 24 hours at room temperature.

4. Strain and return to container. I just used coffee filters, but next time I would do the first pass through a wire sieve and then again through the coffee filters. Using the filters alone worked fine, but it just took a REALLY long time. Rinse the remaining grounds from the bottle before returning the finished coffee there. I ended up with no grounds in mine.

So the great thing is that per my own experience, this keeps a good long time in the fridge. It can be heated if you like coffee hot (even MORE convenient than instant coffee!).

For basic coffee:

- Dilute 1 part cold press concentrate with 1 part filtered water. Adjust this ratio to your preference.
- Heat if desired, or combine over a glass of ice for chilled coffee

Salted Coffee:

- 1 part cold press concentrate
- 1 part water
- 1 pinch salt
- Glass of ice

- Pour coffee and water over ice, add salt and stir. No kidding! What a great way to enjoy coffee without added sugar or artificial sugar!

Frappuccino:
- 1 part coffee
- 1 part milk
- 5 drops Stevia

- Combine over ice if desired, I just mix mine right in my to-go Life Factory bottle.

Remember to store cold press coffee in your fridge  :)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Recipe: Cold Pressed Coffee

Dollars and Sense

Psychologists have this term... Cognitive Dissonance. It describes the experience of stress and discomfort when our actions depart from our values. We generally will try and change our actions, or at least justify our current ones, to rid ourselves of this feeling, or suffer under its consequences. I bring this up, because I, along with a growing number of people, experience this in one form or another whenever I am faced with simple, every day decisions. Especially shopping. The topic is big enough that I felt it would be good to address.

I generally try to focus my purchases in the following order:
1. Local and organic
2. local
3. organic
4. other

I should go into further details on why I value these things, but that may be left for another post. Still, whatever you values may be, if they deviate from products produced from large-production, centralized operations, you will generally find the goods you value, cost much, much more than the standard fare. It is easy to find podcasts and blogs telling you just why value extends beyond a price tag, but it's hard to extend that to actually coughing up 1, 2, 3 times the amount of money for a similar product. This can get even more complicated when your finances are shared with another person (e.g. my partner). I can't say what anyone else can or should do, that's far too judgmental in my eyes. Instead, I'm hoping to do this, and some following posts, about the struggles I face, the decisions I've made- good and bad- and what I'm doing to live by my values and stay sane.

So, lets not talk in general terms, lets talk about me in specific. I want to support local, decentralized processes. I generally try to by organic, because if nothing else, organic products SHOULD at least be non-GMO. I am actually not as convince about some of their other "virtues," except that maybe their productions methods are a bit more in balance with nature. I try to buy local, even before organic. My partner, on the other hand, has absolutely no interest in anything outside of saving money and buying a lot of stuff for a good price. This is not to blame her for everything, I find it very difficult to resist a $4 whole chicken at Hy-Vee, even thought the $12 local bird is tastier, less fatty, and generally meatier. I am not perfect, and in fact the driving force behind this post is that I have slipped in recent months and I, personally, need to unpack and re-evaluate these things. If I ever get to blogging consistently again, I think I will include this as a weekly topic. Here is what I have so far...

Ways to shop by my values:

1. Think of Continuous Quality Improvement, not perfection. Sometimes extremes are fun, they shake us out of our comfort zone, they challenge us, and they make us feeling like THIS week is oh-so-different from the last. On the other hand, they are unforgiving and sometimes unattainable. OK, so the nerd in me had to frame this in CQI terms, but it isn't a bad concept, and if applied to life it can be a joyous, motivating, yet forgiving nudge in a better direction. Think about improving a bit at a time, month by month, or even year by year.

2. Budget. Equah and I have a wonderful budgeting system. We are the gold standard for a couple working together on money matters and I'm very proud of us for it. It uncovered a lot of previously unseen money, and seemed to give us "more" money for everything. I will try include a separate post on how we budgeted and went on a cash diet. I know it doesn't directly relate to most of the blog's content, but I think we have a system worth sharing and it does impact how I am able to do some of these things, so I feel it would help the blog be more holistic.

3. Cut back in other areas. I overspend in some areas that truly affect my finances. I am wayyyyy too prone to buy items for work or splurge on impulse buys when there are things I want more.

4. The three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, when applied holistically, will work in favor of saving money, not spending it. Reduction of energy usage, purchasing used clothing, recycling items for new uses vs. purchasing more commodities, these are all ways I try save money.

5. Reduce eating out or eliminate all together. This, THIS, above all else, is what takes up stupid amounts of my money. Not only are dining out option not healthy- even low calorie items are usually devoid of nutrition- they are so expensive. Yet every morning I seem to convince myself I am in such rush that I am justified to just pick up breakfast AND lunch on the road. (I work out of my car).

6. Add extra income. I am working toward selling some art, crafts, and homespun items to produce a personal income in addition to my current job. My hope is to use it to contribute to our grocery budget and "make up the difference" for shopping local or at the co-op. Equah is not opposed to anything but the prices there, so I think she would be open to spending more money if the additional cost came out of my personal moneys and not the household budget.

7. Shop in bulk. The bulk section at the co-op is much cheaper that all the other sections. In addition, shopping in bulk reduces waste and garbage.

The post is getting long, but I feel this will be a topic for continued discussion. Writing this post has reminded my of how fun and beneficial blogging is for me. It really helps me to better weight options and analyze things that I don't necessarily get the chance to do on a day to day basis. I've been overworked and overstressed lately, and like most healthy, positive things in my life, the blog was an easy thing to nix from my routine. I can't make too many promises, but I think it would be worth my effort to pick up the slack a bit and write more often. It keeps me focused on the positive things in life... and there is no price tag too big for that.

Fiber CSA

So i'm taking a quick mental break from documenting... yes, I'm pretty busy this time of year... and I discovered something I just had to write a new blog post about.

Half of the time I blog as a way to store information for myself. I use my blog for recipes, links, and as a general reminder about things I've read or heard about. This is one of those posts, but hopefully it will be of interest to others as well.

I was reading a magazine and it had an article about starting your own fiber CSA. For those who don't know, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Most of the time, you purchase a share in a CSA in return for a monthly box of seasonal produce. CSAs have expanded to include meat, cheese, dairy, flowers, herbs, fruits, honey... But a fiber share? What a dream for any knitter! Now of course I am not literally interested on purchasing a herd of sheep and starting one myself, but it did inspire me to google "Minnesota fiber share"... and I found one here on localharvest.org. I gave the contact person a call. They are a small operation but are expanding. She refered me to their website kindredspiritfarm.com and said I should also send her an email and she will let me know when she has updated prices and availablility for new members. There is also a general local harvest page for the farm Here.

Over the phone she gave me some estimates. They offer two basic types of shares, one for completed yarn and the other for raw or washed fibers and roving (for spinners). She stated that a 1/2 share of yarm would be about 6 oz of yarn every other month and that a spinning/fiber share would be about 1 lbs of fiber every other month.

So I'm very excited about this, especially since I tentatively have been OKed to purchase a spinning wheel by Equah if I can find one that is economical (under 200 bucks, these things aren't cheap!). I will have to compare prices as it is much easier to find local roving than local yarn. Also, these have rabit, goat, and sheep fibers so it would be a good way to learn to spin different fibers.

Here's to new adventures.

General Update

So you may have noticed a dire lack of new posts here. Things have been very hectic, though I've been doing some interesting projects as well. Right now I'm swamped with work and documents, so for the near future I'm taking a hiatus from blogging. Don't let that fool you into thinking I'm not busy, though! My newest adventure is that I took a spinning class and made my first yarn, pretty neat! But I will have to wait and put a full post on that in the future. I'm been doing a lot of cooking and have been dying Pysanki, "Ukrainian Easter Eggs" to sell (hopefully). Let me get through this rough patch and then I plan to tell you more about my recent cooking, crafting, and learning adventures.

It is odd, me being so busy, because lately I've been crafting a LOT more. Knitting a pair of socks is one of my recent projects that has been helping keep me sane, centered, and focused. I haven't made soap lately, mainly because I really don't need any... I'm pretty much stocked up for the year. I'm toying around with the idea of trying to sell some products at the Farmers Market this summer, but haven't looked too seriously into that yet. We will see. So until I get a bit more time to devote to my blog, I'll just say "see ya later" for right now :).

Cheese making: Mozzarella

So this was my first attempt at making cheese, it was really easy and turned out successfully. To make mozzarella you need milk, citric acid, and renet (I used a vegetable renet so that vegetarian friends might one day enjoy my creations.) Begin by heating 1 gallon of milk on the stove, I used whole.


Add 1 tsp citric acid to 1/4 cup of water.


Add renet to another 1/4 cup of water. I just followed the directions for the renet I had to determine the amount. The recipe I was following recommended 1 crushed tablet of regular renet.


Make sure the milk is at least 50 degrees before pouring the water and citric acid mixture in. Stir for 1 minute. The added an additional tsp of citric acid, stir another minute.


Slowly heat on low to 80-90.


I have no idea what I'm doing here...


Add the renet.


Cover and let sit undesturbed for 15/30 minutes.


When it is ready You will get a "clean break." Poke a finger in and make a line. In a few seconds the sides will separate.


Slice the curds in squares. You won't see much at first, but leave them to sit a bit and they will separate.


Apply low heat until it reaches 108 degrees. Let it sit off the heat for another 20 minutes, stir occasionally. The curds will continue to shrink.


Spoon curds into a colander lined with cheese cloth.


Let whey separate from curds.


Microwave for 30-45 seconds, then gently separate whey using your hands or slotted spoon. Microwave another 15 seconds and repeat. Microwave 20 seconds, then salt the cheese (who knew it was so sweet at first?) and knead like it were bread.


When it turns shiny, you are done kneading. Now cut it in half. You can eat it immediately or throw it in the fridge. Eat is soon though, because it will go bad in couple weeks. The cheese you see below made it onto a yummy homemade pizza and was perfectly gooey and delicious.


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