living with intention.

I am going to start treating this blog the way it should be: as a true testament to my ever-increasing simple life. The best and most inspiring blogs I've read have all made excellent use of pictures. I want to do the same and bring more "traffic" to my site. So ... stay tuned. I do believe that a weekly pictures post will be in order!

here's what I'm making this weekend: (from scratch)

frozen end-of-summer vegetable soup (in batches to be had throughout the winter): contains cannelini beans, low-sodium "no chicken" broth, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, onion, corn. all but the corn and beans and broth are local. when you reheat you're supposed to throw dill in there. on the stove, of course.

also i'll make ...

tomato sauce -- fresh tomatoes, paste, onion, garlic, fresh organic basil
hummus -- chickpeas, tahini, garlic, juice from lemons, olive oil. was dying to put horseradish in it but can't find it anywhere!
potato salad -- red potatoes, onion, green pepper, vegenaise, dijon mustard. maybe hard boiled egg, just a little. i try to use as little dairy and eggs as possible.
barley and bean salad -- the barley is already cooked, i'll probably add black beans and improvise the rest.

next week ... a recipe with eggplant and cheese tortellini from the pages of Real Simple magazine.


i don't know how i'm going to eat all of it ... but it will get eaten, by golly. it's wonderful to make it all ahead and not have to worry about lunches and dinners every day of the week. eating the same recipe several days, or even nearly two weeks, in a row gets a little boring when you live by yourself, but i'm trying .... really trying to not go out to eat. i haven't actually sat down in a restaurant by myself since i just got back from st. louis a month ago and had sushi. now if i could just cut out the morning bagels when i'm in a rush (i've taken to helping myself to school snack cause there's always extra, and carrying a nutritious bar with me to school) .... i can do it, i can!! and i am very proud of the stockpile i've been amassing. again, pictures and a better, more well-tended blog to come ...

may i say, already i love ...

... having learned how to knit and working on my first project, a scarf!
... living by myself with: no microwave, no television, no roommate.
... having quit my second job, which gives me time to do tons of community activities, most of which are free. tonight i saw flamenco dancing! and i'm going to start doing work with TWO community farms/gardens....
...clothing swaps
...cooking up recipes from scratch every week
...being a vegetarian, which i'll have done two years this december. incredible! is it still weird to think the smell of meat cooking is wonderful, though? i have no desire to eat it ... it just smells amazing to me.
... having no Internet bill (i steal signals and use a nearby cafe)
...taking several mile walks each day, most of them through Frederick Law Olmsted parks (look him up, he was fabulous)
... dumping just about every bottle of shampoo, soap, etc. containing parabens and sodium lauryl sulflate/cocodfdfdsafdaf's. I felt pretty guilty about "wasting all that money," but i feel much healthier. now i'm down to homemade bar soaps i pick up at local health food stores and farmer's markets and fairs, vegan shampoo and conditioner, and apple cider vinegar to dilute with water for a great rinse that makes hair very unfrizzy. next goal: buy sage oil to add to shampoo to darken hair naturally. i use tea tree oil diluted as an antiseptic. I'm also going to start trying to add essential oil drops to my laundry detergent (i'd love to make my own detergent, but haven't gotten there yet)
...cleaning EVERYTHING with a vinegar/water mixture
...limiting paper towel use to cat messes, and using cloths for the rest



of course, i have very far to go, but my dreams of gardening and having a large spare room that i can set up to make my own clothing will be possible once i spend a couple more years here in my tiny apartment, living as simply as i can and squirreling away the funds for my own home and acreage. hooray!