JUST SIMPLICITY

Photo by Cat Sidh.

The hardest part of my day is waking up in the morning. Mostly I find myself thinking about all the things I have to get done during the day, and this makes me want to roll over and go back to sleep. I need some guidelines to my day. I need something to keep me organized, but I’ve found that those pocket organizers you can buy at any office store just don’t quite do the trick.

A home management notebook, however, is something that you put together yourself to keep track of all the things that you specifically need throughout the day. A home management notebook is a place for to-do lists, scheduling events, keeping track of phone numbers or recipes or your meal plan for the week. And whatever else you need to keep track of.

This week, here at Just Simplicity, I am devoting my free time to getting my home management notebook organized, so I want to share the process with you.

It’s not too difficult to put together a home management notebook, but it does take a lot of forethought. Every home management notebook is different because each of us has different things we need to keep track of. First of all, ask yourself:

What kinds of information do you need to keep track of each week? Some ideas…

• A to-do list for the day
• A monthly or year-long calendar
• Your meal plan
• Important phone numbers
• A master project list
• A cleaning plan (where you have cleaned so far this week and what else needs to get done)

In what ways do I waste time every week looking for information? Some ideas…

• Recipes that you use often
• A printed map of your neighborhood marked with your favorite destinations
• A list of family and friends’ birthdays/anniversaries

What kinds of information are you always wishing you had on hand quickly?

• A list of books you want to read
• A list of ‘favorites’ for each of your immediate family members (now, what is the hubby’s favorite kind of coffee?)
• A list of movies you want to see

Today, take some time to list out the information you would like to keep in your home management notebook. Just make a list and then treat yourself to a nice cup of tea. The goal of creating such a book is not to give you more work but to provide some order to your life. Hopefully this would free up the time you would have spent searching for things so you can:

• Spend more time with family.
• Give yourself some restful free time.
• Spend time doing something good for someone else.
• Put your worries and to-do lists aside and simply enjoy a good chat with a friend.

Any other advice, friends? What do you have or would like to have in a home management notebook?

Since moving to a big city just a month ago, I have been having somewhat of an inner debate about how and when to give money to those in need. Almost every time I drive to a highway exit or get off the train I am confronted with folks asking for money. In fact, I have been noticing some regulars in my own neighborhood. I’m sure you’ve dealt with these same questions before:

Should I give money to someone who might use it unwisely?

Am I just giving because I feel guilty?

Do I see this person as nothing more than a nuisance?

Is this dollar I’m giving really going to make a difference?

Photo by mailliw.

I definitely don’t have all the answers, but through my personal experiences I have seen that there is a difference between charity and compassion. Charity is not necessarily a bad things but it takes a more pragmatic approach to giving money. When you offer charity to a person in need:

• You are primarily offering money as a solution to their problems.
• There is little need for a personal connection to the person.
• Charity is quick and generally doesn’t require wrestling with the issues of poverty.
• You are making a financial sacrifice.
• Charity acknowledges the problems and needs of the person.

Photo by EyeTunes.

Compassion takes a slightly different perspective:

• You are primarily offering your concern and care to the person.
• The most important aspect of compassion is the personal connection.
• Compassion requires more of your time and energy.
• You are making a financial, emotional, mental, and/or physical sacrifice.
• Compassion acknowledges that the person is a fellow human being who deserves dignity.

As I said before, there is a time and a place for charity, but as we strive to live just and simple lives, it is important to work towards building compassion in our lives. Don’t expect to snap your fingers and become an automatically more compassionate person. I certainly don’t have all the answers and I don’t think anyone does. Poverty is an unnerving and difficult struggle to confront because it involves our fellow human beings. However, here’s a few ideas:

• Talk to someone who asks you for money. Even just saying “hi” and asking “how are you?” is a start. Many people begging don’t have anyone look them in the eye all day long.
• If you are a person of faith, say a prayer for people in need that you pass on the street.
• Offer a granola bar or to buy the person a cup of coffee.
• Learn about the issues of poverty. It’s easy to say that the poor should simply get a job, but poverty can be much more complex. Some great books on the issue are The Working Poor: Invisible in America, Nickel and Dimed, Amazing Grace.
• Take some time to decide when and how to give money. If you feel like your money would be best used by a local homeless shelter, give generously. If you want to give money to people you meet on the street, keep a few extra dollar bills in your wallet.
• Give sacrificially of your time. Find a way to volunteer an hour or so a week to help people in need. This could mean folding sheets in a homeless shelter, mentoring a child from a poor family, or preparing a meal for a neighbor who is struggling financially.
• Involve your children in serving others. They can set aside a dollar from their allowance each week to give to those in need. Talk to them about what it means to be poor.

In what other ways have you tried to become a more compassionate person? Have you noticed other changes in your life as you have tried to serve those in need?

Photo by marinegirl.

Here’s a quick tip for you this week: make your own all-purpose cleaner. Not only is it safer for your home and family, but you will also be keeping harsh chemicals out of the waterways. Did I mention that it’s also super cheap and easy?

Plan A

Add 1 tsp. liquid soap (such as dish soap) into 1 qt warm water. Adding a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar will help to cut the grease. Keep your cleaner in a spray bottle to be ready for clean up.

Plan B

Another option is to keep a spray bottle of 50% vinegar and 50% water. When you need to clean, sprinkle on some baking soda and then spray with your cleaner. This solution is great for cleaning grout or tougher stains. The spray alone is also great for cleaning mirrors and windows.

There are lots of recipes out there for other diy cleaning supplies. What do you use to clean your home?

I’ll go right ahead and admit it: sometimes I crave that bad-for-you, greasy, fast food so much that I give in and buy myself some chicken nuggets and fries. Sometimes I just want to not think about dinner and buy something quick, cheap, and satisfying.

Photo by newyork808.

And if that’s the case for you this week, can I recommend Chipotle? Chipotle - who isn’t sponsoring this post in any way - is on a mission to produce “food with integrity.”

They describe it this way on their website:

Food With Integrity means working back along the food chain. It means going beyond distributors to discover how the vegetables are grown, how the pigs, cows and chickens are raised, where the best spices come from. We learn how these factors affect the flavor of the finished product. And what we can do to improve it.

Pork…the other way to make healthy, tasty burritos

The first step in Chipotle’s F.W.I (Food with Integrity) program was pork. Chipotle rejected pork raised in Concentrated Animal Feed Operations (CAFOs). Why?

• Animals raised in CAFOs live in high stress conditions.
• They are more likely to receive numerous antibiotics to combat the illnesses common in CAFOs.
• The Environmental Protection Agency reports that CAFOs produce hundreds of millions of tons of manure every year.
• The CDC reports that waste from CAFOs pollute soil and water, causing adverse affects to people living near CAFOs.
• CAFOs compete heavily with family farms.

Currently, all pigs used for pork at Chipotle are raised via natural animal husbandry. Pigs are “not given antibiotics, and their feed does not contain animal by-products. They are free to roam the pasture, to root in deeply bedded barns, and to socialize with other pigs.”

Photo by sgs_1019.

100% of Chipotle’s chicken and at least 50% of its beef is also raised naturally. In addition, Chipotle uses only rBGH-free sour cream and 30% of its beans are grown organically. They are making real strides to increase these numbers to use only natural and organically produced foods.

So, who’s in the mood for a burrito?

Knowing where your food comes from can be an important step in making sure that the people who made your food were treated fairly and with dignity. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy cooking from scratch. Now, I know that “cooking from scratch” can sound time-consuming and overwhelming but it really doesn’t have to be.

You know those bags of frozen french fries they sell at Wal-Mart? Well, add two steps to the beginning of making those french fries and you’ve got homemade french fries straight from the potato.

Get yourself some potatoes. The best place to find them is at the farmer’s market where you can talk to the farmer who grew them.

Slice up those potatoes lengthwise.

Then cut each slice into 1/4-inch wide strips.

Spray some cooking spray on a baking sheet and spread out your fries one layer deep. Lightly spray the fries with your cooking spray and add some seasoning: salt, pepper, parsley, basil, chili powder, whatever you like!

Bake your french fries at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve up with some bbq!

Simple, right? What’s your favorite thing to make from scratch?

Looking for some more great posts around the web? Here are some from from my reader this week.

40 Positive Effects of a TV Free Week - Mark and Angel Hack Life

Killer Canning, or How to Choose Safe Canning Recipes and Avoid Poisoning Anyone - Eat.Drink.Better.

White Peach Sangria - Recipe Girl

Eat Healthy, Locally Grown, Whole Foods and on a Budget - Compassionate Cooks

Resisting the Desire to Acquire - Small Notebook

How To: Make Your Stainless Steel Sink Shine - Apartment Therapy Chicago

10 least expensive to own vehicles - not one is hybrid - Gather Little by Little

How To: Keep Unwashed Clothes Fresher - Apartment Therapy Chicago

Find Clarity in One Day - Think Simple Now

New Crayons from Old One - Daily Danny

How to Make Natural Cleaners Work Better - Small Notebook

Photo by stuart updegrave.

Let’s start with the good stuff. There are lots of appealing parts of living simply:

• Spending more time with family.
• Less stress.
• Less stuff to deal with.
• More time to enjoy life.

However, to create that extra time and get rid of stress and stuff, we have to actually do some of the more difficult things. One of the things that I get tripped up in is simply buying stuff, stuff I think I need when I’m standing in line at the checkout counter or when I pass the $1 section at Target. So I want to share with you a few ways that curb my need to add more stuff to my shopping bag.

1. Make a list. Always. Always. Always. Take a list to the store. Whether you’re going out to get groceries or buying a new bedspread. Write it down on an old receipt, on the back of your hand, or in your phone. And follow your list.

2. Keep a budget. Set up a system (more on this later) so that you can have a specific amount that you can spend at the store. Don’t spend more than that amount, and if you spend less - I know all the shopaholics out there - don’t see it as permission to spend a bit more at the next store. Instead see it as a small victory. Brag about your savings!

3. Have a little talk with yourself. Do your really need this item? Why do you think you need it? What would happen if you didn’t buy it?

4. Imagine the item in your house. Do you have a specific place to put it or is it going to sit on the dining table for weeks waiting for a home? Imagine having to spend the time cleaning or repairing this item.

5. Judge the quality of the item. Even if it is just a dollar, will this item last? Usually it’s better to spend a little more money on the things you really need, so that you can make sure they won’t break right away. Do you really need more broken stuff filling up your junk drawer? Say no to that $1 item and set your dollar aside so you can buy a higher quality item that you really need.

6. Resist the bargain. This where things get sketchy for me. I love finding inexpensive but great things at garage sales and thrift stores. Even the clearance rack can get me. At that point it’s time to start asking myself questions again. How will this item improve my life? Will I use it one month from now?

7. If you forgot to add something to your list and you really need it, buy it. Don’t drive yourself insane. Give yourself a little grace and don’t feel guilty about purchasing things you actually need. These should probably just be the necessities like food or toilet paper.

8. Reward yourself. If you’ve been doing a great job at cutting back on your stuff, go ahead and splurge! But splurge wisely. Buy some music on iTunes (no CDs to deal with) or a latte. Go to the library and check out some books and then create some time for yourself so you can relax with a good drink, nice music, and a good book.

This is Mariam Djire from Mali. She started a fabric-dying business to provide the needs for her family, which includes seven children.

This is Sedika Ikanović from Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has a large garden and would like to buy more land to grow fruits and vegetables in order to support her family. Her husband was recently injured and cannot work.

This is Mamadou Wele from Senegal. He has been carving wood sculptures and selling them to tourists for fifteen years.

Mariam, Sedika, and Mamadou are all entrepreneurs listed on Kiva. Kiva “lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world - empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.” The process is simple, really. Kiva lists numerous hard-working people around the world who are looking for small loans (usually $500-1000) to start or improve a business. You can select any person and loan any amount of money to him or her. Once the entire requested loan has been received through various lenders, Kiva keeps track of the entrepreneur’s progress. He or she is also required to repay the loan in a set amount of time (usually about a year). Once the loan is repaid, you receive your money back and can choose to keep it or pass it along to another entrepreneur.

Microloans, such as the ones Kiva gives out, are a fantastic use of money because loans are constantly being returned and passed on to others in need. Kiva provides a way to connect to other people across the globe and make a huge difference in their lives, allowing them the dignity of providing for themselves and their families.

Ways to support entrepreneurs at Kiva:

• Visit kiva.org and read about these entrepreneurs. I guarantee that their stories and hard work will inspire you.
• Set aside $10-15 from each paycheck. Put a little money aside and after a few weeks you will have at least $25 to make a loan. Remember, you can eventually get that money back. Just consider it as safe, worthy storage for a time. (My guess, though, is that after your first experience on Kiva, you will probably want to simply pass the money on to the next person.)
• Give sacrificially. Sometimes it takes a deep plunge into your wallet to remind yourself that money isn’t everything.
• Give Kiva gift certificates. We gave $25 gift certificates to family members for Christmas. This way we could tell them about Kiva and they could log on and select their own person to give to. There is a strong connection knowing that you can see a face and relate to that person. Store managers can make loans to entrepreneurs starting their own small stores.

All photos from Kiva.

Here’s a quick little way to use hard, leftover bread. Break off pieces of bread into a food processor or blender. If your bread is a rock like mine was, you may have to saw on it with a bread knife.

Then let the blades do all the work until your leftover bread looks like so:

Another way to accumulate bread for bread crumbs is to store leftover bread in a bag in the freezer. If your kids won’t eat the bread ends or crust, this is a great way to cut down on waste. Bread crumbs will last for at least a month, and here are some fabulous ways to use up those bread crumbs:

Crunch up that fish! Baked Dijon Salmon

Make some meatballs! Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

Entice the little ones to eat their veggies! Breaded Brussels Sprouts

Make some Shake & Bake on the cheap (recipes from Roxanne’s Kitchen)

Original: Add 1 T. dry basil and 1 t. salt to 1 cup of bread crumbs.

Basil & Garlic: Add 1 T. dry basil, 1 t. garlic powder, and 1 t. salt to 1 cup of bread crumbs.

Italian: Add 2 T. parsley flakes, 1 T. dry basil, 2 t. dry rosemary, 1 t. sage, 1 t. thyme, and 1 t. salt to 1 cup of bread crumbs.

Photo by ParaScubaSailor.

If any two food items could embody the American diet, perhaps they would be beer and cheese (and probably beef would be in there too). Beer comes in all flavors and styles, and though I don’t drink beer, my husband is somewhat of a connoisseur. He recently introduced me to Chimay beers, and though I would never drink it myself, I find that the Chimay beers are widely praised:

“All the Chimay beers are wonderous beyond words. It’s almost certainly well within the top 1% of all beers I’ve ever sampled.” - epinions reviewer

“Nearly flawless, if I had this around to drink all the time I’d feel very spoiled. Every year is great though cellaring them for a year or more drives different dry complexities out of each vintage.” - beeradvocate reviewer

“This is my favorite beer, well worth the money. I think what makes Chimay Blue worth it is the different flavors with each passing sip. I have never tasted this where I didn’t taste something different each time.” - beerpal reviewer

Beer with a Soul?

What intrigues me about Chimay beers and cheeses is that they are produced by trappist monks at the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont in Belgium.

The Chimay website states:

“Since the monks carry out their work with the same concern for perfection that they strive for in their life of prayer and study, brewing has become a true art over the course of time in the abbeys.”

Most of the profit from Chimay products goes directly to support the monastery and provide aid for the poor around the world through various charities. Now that is a cause I think I could drink to!

Photo by podchef.

Chimay produces three different types of beer and five different types of cheese.