What I couldn't live without

And I'm not talking about stuff like my family, my friends, my beliefs, and all that.  Maybe I'll have a post like that on another day, but not today.  Today is about STUFF. 

I like to consider myself a minimalist.  I've recently discovered, however, that I wasn't quite as much of a minimalist as I thought I was.  I went through some old boxes and folders and bookcases and I gave away/sold/recycled/threw away 12! bags of stuff.  And there is still quite a bit here, but I am getting closer to what I feel is really the stuff that we need/use/like, etc.

And speaking of living without stuff, I had an experience with that when my husband and I were fairly newly married. 

We had been married for 8 months and we were living in a two bedroom apartment here in Normal, and I got a job offer in Chicago.  We knew that I had to take it because a) it was in my field; I had been working as a receptionist since we got married.  Not that there is anything wrong with that profession, but I had a bachelors in technical writing, and had recently finished a year in a masters degree program in English, but couldn't find a job in training in Normal (a somewhat common theme over the years - In the 16 years since this time, I have been able to work as a trainer here in Normal for 4.5 years of it.) b) I was working as a receptionist (yea, I know I said that) and Mr. Simple had an graduate school assistantship and that was it for our income.  Can you say "living on love?" So we decided that we needed to be bringing in more income and we could do that if I took a job in Chicago and Mr. Simple found one in Chicago c) Mr. Simple's mom lived in Chicago and we could stay there until the lease was up on our apartment in Normal so we didn't have to pay double-rent for 4 months.

So we moved in to his mom's place, but she ALSO just lived in a two-bedroom apartment.  We still had to pay rent on our other place for four more months.  So we decided to just leave everything back at our old apartment besides the clothes that we needed, and that was about it. We would come down about once a month to our old apartment and stay for the weekend, etc.  Whenever we came into our old apartment, it amazed me that I had a whole apartment full of stuff and there wasn't one thing that I recalled missing while I was living in Chicago.

(Oh, and in case you are wondering about that timeline, we lived in Normal from 1995-1996, Chicago from 1996-1998, Springfield and then Decatur from 1998 - 1999 and then we've been back in Normal again since 1999.)

Anyway - -

Here are the things that I would have a hard time living without now.  Things I use everyday.  Most multiple times a day.

1 - Cast iron combo cooker.  I use this most days at least once, and sometimes twice a day for cooking.  And I'm turning into quite a foodie lately, and I really like to cook, and I recently bought some new cookware, bakeware, and utensils, and cookbooks and I love it all.  But if I could only have one thing from the kitchen, I'd take that.  Although I do like my new chef knife an awful lot.

2 - My smartphone.  I know.  Two years ago, I just had a "regular" cell phone.  I rarely texted. I never checked my e-mail from my phone.  But as I increased my freelancing, and after I moved the the preschool from the family room downstairs (which is also where the desktop computer is) up to the living room, I had no way to check my e-mail during the day, and my smartphone let me doing that.  I found it so much easier to text the daycare parents than calling them to just ask them a quick, simple question. And although the photo quality leaves a lot to be desired, there have been times when I had my phone with me and I didn't have my camera, and I was able to get a shot that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to get. I also use it as my alarm clock.  And as a timer at swim meets.  And to entertain Super sometimes.  :) I really wish the screen was a little bigger though.  And that iPads were less expensive.  :)

3 - Laptop.  Mr. Simple and I bought a laptop a few months ago.  We use it for our businesses (Mr. Simple, after years of working in media relations and public safety, now owns his own business and does interior house painting. I do freelance technical writing & training and I do Simply Living In The City.)  It has been really helpful to have something so portable, especially since we are both using it, and especially during my transition from daycare provider/freelancer/owner of SLITC to "just" freelancer/owner of SLITC because it enables me to use a computer.  I can take it to meetings if I need to and I can use it during my SLITC classes if I need to.  Oh, and we gave the desktop computer to the kids, and the laptop has fingerprint scanning to log on, and only Mr. Simple and I have fingerprints that are registered, so I don't have to share the computer with my kids. Ever.  Priceless, I tell you. :)

4 - Lined Crocs.  I know.  Not what you expecting. Mr. Simple bought me these at the beginning of winter and I thought I wouldn't use them.  I wear them almost every day.  They are like being able to wear slippers, but more like a shoe.  I'm not embarrassed (although maybe I should be :) ) to wear them in public, but I would be if I was wearing slippers.  And they keep my toes warm when I wear them, which for me, is like foot nirvana.  I've had "regular" crocs before too that I wear in the summer, and although I like them, I really love these for fall/winter. Of course, the fact that we have practically NO snow here this winter probably makes me love them more than if we had had 12 feet of snow this year. 

5 -  Local cream and milk.  I love, love, love being able to make my own butter and my own ice cream and my own yogurt.  It is so easy and it is so fresh.  And we can add whatever we want.  It is so cool.  I make butter in this food processor, yogurt in a yogurt maker like this one, and I make ice cream in this ice cream maker. 

6.  My water bath canner.  I used that thing All.The.Time in the fall.  I like my pressure canner too, and I like freezing things and I like drying things and I like vacuum packaging things.  But if I could only have one thing for preserving the harvest, I'd definitely take that canner.

MY list of kitchen essentials . . . .

You are welcome to disagree, but here is my list of kitchen essentials (cookware, bakeware, appliances, gadgets, etc.) This list includes what you would need to do basic cooking and baking.  It does not include specialty items needed for making your own dairy, or preserving your own food, etc.

NOTE: I do not currently own all of these items in my own kitchen.  But I'd like to! :)

Next post: Essential Kitchen Staples (flours, sweeteners, oils, etc.)


Cookware
OK, there are 4 pots and pans that I would consider a "must have":

- 8 qt. stainless steel stockpot
- 10 inch stainless steel skillet (or cast iron)
- 3 qt. stainless steel saucepan
- some sort of cast iron dutch oven

You could cook most things if you had those three items.  But there are a longer list of what I consider "very nice to have":

- 8 inch stainless steel skillet
- 12 inch stainless steel skillet
- 1.5 qt. stainless steel saucepan
- 2 qt. stainless steel saucepan
- 6 qt. stainless steel stockpot
- 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet

Bakeware
I'd say minimum is a 9 x 13 baking dish, a cookie sheet, a pie plate, and either a round cake pan or a square baking pan. But here are the "nice to have":

- 10 x 14 inch glass or stone baking dish
- 9 x 13 inch glass or stone baking dish
- 8 inch x 8 inch glass or stone baking dish
- 9 inch glass or stone pie plate
- 10 inch glass or stone pie plate
- Two stone or stainless steel cookie sheets
- stone or stainless steel muffin tin
- stone or stainless jelly roll pan
- stone or stainless steel pizza pan
- 9 inch stainless steel round cake pan

Electric appliances
I guess I'd consider most of these "nice to have" instead of "must have", but pretty high on the "nice to have."

- Immersion blender
- Blender
- Food Processor
- Hand mixer or Stand mixer

Preparation/Gadgets
Hard for me to pick my "must have" on this list.  I'd really consider almost all of them a "must have."

- Paring knife
- Serrated knife
- Chef knife
- Kitchen shears
- Meat mallet
- Mandoline
- Grater
- Microplane
- Fine mesh strainer (both small and large)
- Colander
- Can opener
- Cork screw
- Bottle opener
- Garlic press
- Rolling pin
- Meat thermometer
- Candy thermometer
- Oven thermometer
- Freezer thermometer
- Stainless steel long handled spoon
- Stainless steel long handled fork
- Stainless steel slotted spoon
- Stainless steel pancake turner
- Stainless steel spatula
- Stainless steel whisk
- Stainless steel ladle
- Stainless steel tongs
- Stainless steel measuring cups
- Stainless steel measuring spoons
- 4 cup, 2 cup, and 1 cup glass measuring cups
- Silicone spatula
- Wooden spoons
- 1 large wooden cutting board for fruit and vegetable
- 1 large plastic cutting board for meat
- 1 medium plastic cutting board for dairy
- Glass mixing bowl set
- Metal mixing bowl set

Well, a more everyday post to start out 2012

I feel like I should do a top ten list of things that happened in 2011.  Or 2011 photo review.  And I'll do that.  Just not tonight.

And don't worry, this isn't some "heavy" post either.  

Well, I guess it could be, depending on how you look at it. :) I'm thinking about cookware lately. And kitchen utensils. I know, really exciting.  But that's the type of stuff that thrills me lately.  :)

I have been weeding out my aluminum and Teflon pots and pans this year (I even said good-bye to my aluminum dutch oven this year!) and getting rid of plastic and silicone utensils.  I had already eliminated almost all my plastic containers - I use glass jars for almost everything now. 

With my cookware, I have had a cast iron 3 qt. dutch oven/10 inch skillet combo for a few years now, but I wanted to add more pots and pans to my kitchen, either with cast iron or stainless steel.  So this year, I've added a 14 inch stainless steel skillet, a stainless steel double boiler, a cast iron 12 inch skillet, a 12 inch stainless steel skillet, a 12 qt. stainless steel stockpot, and a1 .7 qt. cast iron/enamel saucepan as well as a stoneware deep dish baker, a large stone round stone, and a cast iron/enamel dutch oven .  Almost all were thrifted/garage sale or bought on clearance/sale too.  I'd love to pick up a couple more stainless steel saucepans, another smaller stainless steel stockpot, and some stoneware bread pans and, as well as a cast iron griddle/grill.  But overall, I'm pretty pleased with what I've acquired so far.  I could really use a pot rack now.  Especially in my tiny kitchen with its very limited storage space.  

With utensils, I've picked up a stainless steel ladle, a stainless steel spoon with long handle, and a stainless steel turner.  Oh and stainless steel measuring cups and measuring spoons.  I'd love to pick up a stainless steel slotted spoon and stainless steel tongs. [ETA: I bought a stainless steel slotted spoon and tongs today!]

Oh, and I'd LOVE to get a good cutlery set.  We have an inexpensive set, and now that I'm cooking and preparing MUCH more food from scratch, I have found that I really could use at least a few good quality knives.  

But some days, I just stand in my kitchen and smile.  I have managed to pick up lots of good cookware this year. I've managed to eliminate lots of extra packaging.  I've moved to almost exclusively glass for storage.  I cook from scratch almost always.  I even make lots of my own dairy now! We use stoneware for our plates, glass for our drinking glasses, and stainless steel for our utensils.  We are almost entirely non-disposable (no paper plates, cups, napkins, etc.) It is a tiny kitchen, but I am making the best of the space, I think.  

Next post will be a top ten list, OK? Or 2011 photos in review.  Or maybe I'll talk about yarn.  'Cause this is my blog and that's how I roll.  :)