Well, if money grew on trees

Well, I'd do a lot of things, but if there was even a little extra money, I'd re-do my whole kitchen this spring.

But since, alas, there are no money trees, and I doubt that there will be unexpected money arriving from anywhere else, we will just have to deal with what we have budgeted for this year. 

You may have noticed me complain a couple (hundred) times about my tiny kitchen. And hopefully by next year, we will be able to knock down the wall between the kitchen and dining room, and at least open it up a little bit. And maybe make it look something like this:

But knocking down the wall, and getting new cabinets and countertop will have to wait, at least for now. Hopefully, by next year. (Can I just say that I LOVE the blue paint? Oh, and the light fixtures.  And the white cabinets. )

However, we do need to replace most/all of our appliances this year. When we moved in, there was a range, an over the range microwave, and a dishwasher that came standard with the home.  Standard, in this case meant very, very bottom of the line.  We probably should have upgraded to begin with, but we had other things that were more important to us for upgrading/adding, like wood flooring in the dining room, and sod and fencing in the backyard.  We had also recently bought a "new to us" vehicle, and had recently had Jelly Bean.  So we went with the "standard" appliances.  We did, however, purchase a refrigerator, and while we didn't get the top of the line, it wasn't bottom of the line either.

Fast forward 10 years. Now, to be fair, we also didn't plan on living here for 10 years.  5 years.  Max.  But then I lost my job. The housing market tanked. We were concentrating on getting out of debt.  So if we had known we would have been here this long, at the very least, we would have replaced the appliances before we sold our house.  Which we thought was going to be 5 years ago.  But anyway, here we are, 10 years later.  Our dishwasher hardly runs and has several pieces that have broken off and that makes it very difficult to slide the racks in and out.  There are only two burners that work on the range.  The seal on the oven door came off. The touchpad on the microwave stopped working about 6 months ago and so we can't use it, even though it would run if the touchpad wasn't broken.  The fridge is actually fine.

So we are looking to buy new appliances, and because we can't make the kitchen any bigger (even if we do make it more open) and so we have decided to go with new, stainless steel appliances so that when/if we do sell, at least we can list in the description that we have "newer stainless steel appliances." LOL Which is the one reason that we are thinking of also replacing the refrigerator because our current fridge is white, and we can get a a package deal discount on all four appliances. 

I have been, of course, researching like crazy for months on what to get.  We still can't afford the top of the line, and in our house/subdivision/tiny kitchen, it doesn't make sense to get top of the line anyway.  Our kitchen will also only accommodate a traditional freezer over fridge combination, so that will make the refrigerator less expensive but it does also limit our options because not everyone makes that type of fridge in stainless steel.  On the other hand, I am leaning on keeping the fridge because it does work well and I don't like to replace just to replace.

We are hoping to buy them in March or early April.  I will take a picture of them when they arrive!

It is Valentine's Day and nothing says Valentine's Day like

LOVE!

I'm all about lists lately, so I'm making a list of things that I love. 

1 - well, of course, my family.  Mr. Simple, Flower, Jelly Bean, Super.  What would I do without all of you? And of course, little Christopher too.  We love and miss you! And my mom and dad, my sister and two brothers.  And my in-laws and other extended family.  Big Hugs!

2 - My friends.  Too many to list here.  But so many of you have helped me in so many ways.  And if you think you've never helped me, trust me, you have. If nothing else, you've helped put a smile on my face, and trust me, some days, that is HUGE.

3 - I'm loving my new kitchen stuff! I've got quality knives for the first time in my adult life.  I always thought that spending money on knives was silly.  And a waste.  I plan on having these knives for the rest of my life and I'm glad that I finally invested in something.  And the stainless steel pots and stoneware.  I've used that stuff daily since I got it.  How did I live without it??

4 - I love Netflix.  I know. It sounds funny.  But I love that I can watch old TV shows, some of which I never watched the first time around, and all without commercials.  And my kids love Netflix too.  And all for less than $10 a month.  Love it!

5 - I love wool.  It helps make winter bearable.  Well, almost.  But it certainly helps.

6 - I love to run.  I'm saying this here to remind myself.  I haven't run in way too long.  Running has helped me so many times.  It has made made me strong. It has given me somewhere safe to go when I had nowhere else but to that place I go when I run.  It has helped me see so many beautiful things in the outdoors. 

7 - I love to cook.  I didn't used to.  In fact, I used to dislike it.  Quite a bit.  But now, I get a big kick out of taking ingredients and putting it together and making something yummy.  I also love that you can make something at home that tastes way better than something that you buy at the store.

8 - I love Swiss Miss hot chocolate.  Sorry, it had to be said.  And York Peppermint patties.  And Diet Pepsi.  I'm all about whole, natural foods, but I love these things in all their processed glory too. :)

9 - I love writing. I love training.  Funny how you love something more when you have been away from it for a long time and all of a sudden, it is back in your life.  But I'm also loving learning how to combine in it my life today.  And that includes working around my family.  And combining with Simply Living In The City.

10 - I love my life.  Today anyway.  LOL.  No, really.  There have been tons of times when I didn't.  Lots of days when I felt like things were unfair for me. And they were. I've had my share (and sometimes more) of bad things happen.  And things are far from perfect too.  Our money situation isn't perfect.  My kids aren't perfect. I'm not perfect. But I'm at a place where I'm happy and grateful and looking towards the future.

So this weekend

Whitney Houston died.  She was only 48.  I listened to her music, often, when I was so very young, but not.  (I was just starting college.)  I'm not going to discuss anything about the circumstances of her death though, and I am wish her family comfort and strength during their time of loss.

However, her death has brought up something that has been something that I've been dealing with for years. 

Maybe it is because my first funeral was for a little girl who was 8, just like me at the time. Maybe it is because my dad had a very major heart attack when he was 38 and I was just 11.  (He is still alive though.  Amazing, really.) Maybe it is because the Boy died when I was 18.  Maybe it is because I went to a dear friend's daughter's funeral when I was still in my early 20s.  His daughter was just a year old and died of SIDS. 

I don't know.  But I've been thinking about death, specifically my death, for a long time. 

Like in an obsessive sort of way.  Like when I get in the car, I wonder if this is going to be the time that I don't come back home.  Like when I write things on a piece of paper, I wonder if I should throw it away so that nobody sees it after I'm dead.  Or if I should clean my house that morning because if I don't, maybe I'll die and the EMTs and all my friends and relatives would come over and see what a slob I was.

I must say, The Boy did both help and hurt this kind of thinking.  I think, honestly, it was mostly the beginning of it.  The little 8 year old girl.  It was sad, and awful, but she had been sick for awhile with cancer and so there seemed to be a reason.  The Boy - it was just being at the wrong place at the wrong time.  I'm sure that there were things that he had regrets about, but he also had to know that he had done much to help so many other people.  He had almost an annoying habit of wanting to help everybody.  He always wanted to make others feel good about themselves (well, except for the time that he broke up with me.  For a year.  I guess he got over it then.  LOL) He was also so funny.  He could make me laugh, even when I didn't want to.  And most importantly, he could make me see that there was more to life than the little tiny detail that I was stressing about that really wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things.  He taught me that true friendship was more important than most things.  He taught me a lot.  And then he died. He was almost 20.  Much too young to die.

And so it began, probably, way back then.  At first, I was just thinking about death in terms of "I just want to die so I can be with him." or "I better be perfect so that I can be with him." or "I just want to die because I am so tired of being without him." or I just want to die because I'm so tired of hurting."

I didn't die that first year afterwards though.  The 2nd year afterwards, I tried.  Not in that way, but I lived a pretty self-destructive life that next year.  I'm still amazed that I survived. 

And then there were "the lost years" as I call them.  I am in contact with ONE, yes, ONE person who I knew over the next 5 years.  (Well, that doesn't include my family.  Who thankfully put up with me.)  I was sad and lost and destructive and lonely. For 5 years.  I remember thinking back then that I couldn't believe that this is what life was like.  It seemed like living like this for another 50 -60 years would be nothing short of torture.  But I didn't die then either.

And I then I moved.  And I met people. And I did things. And I was happier.  But I still thought about Death.  More than the usual person, probably.  I told a friend around this time "I think I'll probably die before I'm 34."  I hoped that I would at least find someone else to love before I died.

And at 28, I did find someone.  And we got married.  And 4 months into our marriage, I almost died.

Mr. Simple was driving and I was talking to him.  There was a stoplight coming up, and it was yellow already, so he slowed down and was coming to a stop and then all of a sudden, I noticed we were spinning.  And then there was glass everywhere.  And I couldn't really move.  We had been hit from behind when we were almost stopped by a semi-truck that was going 65 miles (which was at least 20 miles more than the speed limit) hour.  He tried to go around, and ended up smashing into my side of the car and the seats fell back on the crumpled part of the car, and I came down, on my neck on the headrest of the car, which was now bent at a 90 degree angle.  They thought I'd broke my neck.  But I didn't.  I just stretched all the muscles in my upper back and neck area so much that I needed physical therapy for a year.  But I didn't die then.

But my thinking got worse for a few years after that.  I kept thinking that I would die - falling off the train platform in Chicago, or in a plane crash.  Or something way more random like a bucket falling off the window washer's platform from 40 feet up and landing on my head.  I know, it is funny.  Sort of.

And then I become a mother.  And even funny ways of dying don't seem that funny.  No mother wants to miss seeing her children's lives.  No mother wants to leave her children, especially when they are young. And I've known women, women who got cancer and died. Or women who were in car accidents.  And so when I think of dying, it is almost painful now.  Now I don't want to die.  Ever.

I know, after all these years of thinking that I will die young, then I'll end up dying at 90.  And I know, that at 45, I'm not as young as I used to, although still young enough.  And maybe, I should spend more time thinking about the good things that I've learned from all those I know (and even don't know) that die young.

1 - Try.  You may be able to reach goals that are higher than you can imagine.
2 - Always tell people that you love them. 
3 - Forgive. 
4 - Laugh often. 
5 - Don't take the small things too seriously. 
6 - Don't put things off. 
7 - Be honest.
8 - Help others. 
9 - Smile and say Thank You.  Often.
10 - Have Fun, Do Good.

All good things come to an end . . .

No, I'm not stopping blogging here. 

I'm closing Montgomery Academy. 

This is a big deal.  I started Montgomery Academy way, way back in January of 2003.  I started it because I didn't have enough money to send Flower (3 at the time) to preschool and I decided to teach her at home, but I was afraid if it was just here that I wouldn't do it.  Or at least not consistently.  So I begged asked a couple of my friends to send their 3 year olds over and I would teach them for 2.5 hours on Tuesday and Thursdays.  I had decided to use the Montessori Method and from the time I started, I fell in love with the method.

And the first year was great.  I figured out so much about how to be a preschool teacher, what seemed to work, what didn't, what I needed to buy, what I didn't, etc.  And during that first year, word spread like wildfire. 

By the time we opened in the fall of 2003, I had to offer two sessions, a MWF session and a Tues/Thursday session.  And so that the kids could get real practice with their practical life skills, I started offering lunch too.  I had 11 kids that I was teaching that year, including Flower.  We had so much fun that year. We had the "Jelly Bean" schedule that year too where the moms would rotate who got to watch Jelly Bean (she was almost 2 by this point) during preschool time so that I would be able to devote my attention to the preschool kids.  And Jelly Bean has always been, uh, a little busy, so it worked out well to have her have her own thing and for me to be able to concentrate on teaching. We had our first set of siblings this year (a pair of sisters that were 18 months apart, but one year apart in school - they were also our next door neighbors, so this was extra fun!) I also started offering Summer "camps" that year where we would spend a week talking about a certain topic.

The third year (fall of 2004) I took off during the fall because Super had just been born.  We spent the fall just hanging out with just the 3 of us - Flower was newly 5 (but missed the school deadline), Jelly Bean was almost 3, and Super was of course, newborn.  But we started up again in the January of 2005.  Jelly Bean was joining us by this time too.

Fall of 2005, Flower was off to Kindergarten at public school, and Jelly Bean was at Montgomery Academy in earnest.  That year was a little smaller, and I just offered a MWF class. But it was a fun class, and we had a sibling that year of one of the original group. 

Oh, just as an aside, in the history of Montgomery Academy, we have had a very small percentage of boys.  I don't know if there were just less boys in my circle of friends and to those that I was referred to, but out of the 50 plus children that I taught over the years, less than 10 were boys.  And often times, there would be just one boy a year. 

Anyway, we were up to Fall of 2006 by now.  Super was a little less busy than Jelly Bean and I was getting better at managing a toddler with preschoolers, so he usually hung out with us too. I was starting to feel like I really knew what I was doing now. We also had another set of (girl!) siblings this year.  We were back to a MWF and a Tues/Thurs group. 

Fall of 2007, Jelly Bean joined Flower at public school (Flower was now in 2nd grade and Jelly Bean started kindergarten)  This was a great year.  Most of the kids in this class knew each other from church and other contacts and it was a really close group.  And I'm a sucker for preschoolers singing anyway, but oh my goodness, this group was especially cute.  And then, this year, I added daycare.  At first it was just one 3 year old student.  But it was the beginninng of a transition for Montgomery Academy.

In July 2008, I had someone else ask me about daycare - this time for a newborn.  And another person ask about their 3 year old.  And I said yes.  So by Fall of 2008, I had 3 full-time daycare children along with one of the girl siblings (her sister went to Kindergarten) that stayed sometimes in the afternoon too. The newborn usually slept during preschool time and otherwise just hung out with us, so it wasn't as hard.  Plus I'd often had a newborn of my own that I was managing while doing Montgomery Academy, so it wasn't that hard.  But now I was working really full time.  I had 3, sometimes 4 children (in addition to Super) that I was watching in the afternoons, plus preschool only children in the morning, some MWF and some Tues/Thursday.  If it sounds confusing, it was! Oh, I also started homeschooling Flower that year!

Then Fall of 2009 brought the most change of all.  We started homeschooling - in a serious way.  We had Montgomery Academy Elementary - for Flower (who was in 4th grade) and Jelly Bean (in 2nd) as well as my sister's children (in 5th and 3rd).  Thankfully, my sister also came over LOL and she would teach the homeschoolers in the morning and entertained the toddlers (the now 1 year old full time daycare child plus she had a one year old herself) while I taught the preschool age kids.  Then the toddlers/preschool kids would nap in the afternoon while I taught the homeschoolers in the afternoon.  I started watching another sibling! - this time the sibling of the original daycare child and it was another newborn. It was a crazy busy year, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  It was really wonderful to have the opportunity to teach both preschool and elementary and I got to know my sister and her children even better.

Fall of 2010 was another big year of change - but in an opposite direction.  Flower went back to public school for 5th grade and Super went to Kindergarten.  I also still had the original newborn, but he was now a big 2 year old! I had two 2 year olds start that year too - both full time.  I was homeschooling just Jelly Bean that year.  And I had the newborn too, although she was now 1.  And I had no preschool only children that year.  In the spring,  I had another set of (girl! 3 and 1 years old) siblings start. I was, after all these years, still using the Montessori method, but we really started using the Waldorf method much more this year too.  And after blogging regularly at the Montgomery Academy blog for a couple years, I basically stopped blogging over there.  I had our routines and things that we did almost every day/every month and it just wasn't that interesting anymore to blog when so little changed.

And now Fall of 2011.  Just a few months ago.  All of my children went to public school.  It was the first since I'd had children (and stopped working outside the home) that I hadn't had at least one child at home.  I started to think about Montgomery Academy. A lot. I had started it, really, to enable me to be with my children. And now, all my children were in public school.  I had one preschool only child again,, The girl siblings (now 4 and 2) were full-time, but just on MWF.  And the original newborn that was 3, and the second newborn who was 2.  But Mr. Simple had lost his job in June.  I decided to keep Montgomery Academy going, at least for one more year.

And then Mr. Simple started his own business.  And then I started Simply Living In The City. And then my friend asked me to do some freelance training. And then someone else asked me to do some freelance writing.  And then I started to plan to do even more with Simply Living In The City.  All the while, I was still trying to do Montgomery Academy.  Oh yea, and be a mother to my children.  And I was failing pretty bad at that one.  I was so busy with Montgomery Academy or with my businesses that I couldn't volunteer at their schools, I often couldn't take them to their activities, heck, I often wasn't getting dinner on the table. 

It was a mess.  So I decided to take a week off at the end of January and do a lot of thinking/meditating/praying, etc. But I already knew the answer.  It was time to close Montgomery Academy.

So Friday March 2nd will be my last day as a teacher/daycare provider at Montgomery Academy.  It is with a lot of sadness, but quite a bit of excitement as I start on this new path. 

Thank you to all those who entrusted your children in my care over the years - either as a teacher or daycare provider or both.  I have truly loved the experience and loved being with your children.  I wish you and your families nothing but the best in the future. 

And who knows, maybe you'll be able to say "You know that famous author/presenter/teacher who does Simply Living In The City? My child went to her house and did preschool!" Just kidding.

Mostly. :)

Simply Living and Simply Talking?

I was reading this blog lately and I was reading the post about how she doesn't really like to talk that much. 

And it made me think about myself.

I've always loved to write.  And when I was a kid, I strongly preferred writing to talking.  Well, let me clarify that.  I didn't mind talking to grown-ups.  Or people who were older than I was.  But people in my class? No. I didn't love to talk to kids my own age.

Not that I thought that I was better than them.  I just couldn't think of anything to say to them.  And so often, kids were already talking to each other and I didn't want to have to interrupt, especially if I couldn't think of anything to say in the first place.  But I never had the problem with people older than me.  I could always think of something to say to them.  And they (probably) humored me and talked to me and I loved that.  People from my grade school/junior high/high school probably would describe me as nice, but quiet.  (Or weird and quiet.  I'm not sure.)

College and early adulthood was hard for me.  Now, I was around my peers a lot.  And I also had the pressure of wanting to meet someone to go out with/to marry/to have babies with, which was more situations where you know, you had to talk to someone.  I retreated to my studies or my work and would sometimes go days without having a social conversation.

Things got a little better as I muddled through my mid-twenties.  And then, at 28, I met Mr. Simple.  And you are thinking "Oh, and he is really gregarious, etc. and brought you out of your shell." Nope.  He knows LOTS of people and so he is forever running into people he knows, and so he is a friendly person, but in most ways, he is just like me.  He isn't the person who starts a conversation in a group.  He doesn't have long phone conversations. 

But I liked talking to him :) And we fell in love and got married.  But I still wasn't a big talker.  Certainly not in groups.  Certainly not in front of people I didn't know.  Certainly not in groups of people my age.

And then I had kids.  And you are thinking "Oh, and that is when things changed."

And you would be right. 

Somehow, once I became a mom, I talked to other moms.  About all kinds of stuff. Stuff I never imagined that I would talk about with other people.  And that was a great first step.  I finally was talking to my "peers."

And I'd go places and I felt like I fit in more because I had something in common with most people in the room.  I had a child.  (But trust me, I'm not one of those people who would talk ONLY about my kid at say, a Christmas business party or whatever.) But something about becoming a mom just made me more comfortable about being around other people. 

Also, at the same time I had my first child, I become a computer software trainer.  And almost every day for 4 years, I was up in front of people talking.  And I was the expert! I was the person that had answers to their questions (well, I didn't always have the answers, but most of the time I did!) After 4.5 years of that, I had lost any hesitation about talking in front of a group.

So now, 12 years after I had my first child?

Well, my kids, for sure, think I'm a talker.  In fact, they talk about how embarrassing it is that I carry on a 3-4 minute conversation with the clerk at Target or how I'll sit and chat with someone that I just met at Farmers Market. 

And I'd have to say I'm a talker too.  I love, of course, talking to people who live a similar lifestyle to mine, but I love talking to people who don't too.  I just love to hear how people approach life.  How they think. How they get through the day.

Of course, I love to write too.  I've written here for a few years.  I've written in journals off and on over the years.  I've written stories and I've written poems. 

But I think at this point, if I had to choose between writing and talking, I'd choose talking.

How I have changed since I started writing on this blog . . .

I have a friend who was recently celebrating her 43rd birthday (youngster LOL.  I'm 45!) and she was complaining about how she had noticed that she needed to use reading glasses sometimes.  And we were laughing and saying how she needed a chain so she could wear them around her neck, like my piano teacher always did. 

I was thinking that I wasn't 40 when I started this blog, but you know what? I was! I was actually just turned 42! I started this blog way back in August of 2008.  Sometimes, that sounds like a lifetime ago, and sometime it sounds like it was just a few months ago.

So how have I changed in the past few years?

- Well, workwise, things have only recently changed, and not completely.  Back in 2008, I had recently started having full-time daycare students instead of just teaching preschool out of my home.  I'm still doing daycare/preschool now, but I've been doing some freelance training and I'm working to so that Simply Living In The City will be its own business (classes, online store and book!)

- Speaking of Simply Living In The City, I think I knew that I wanted to do something like that way back in 2008, but didn't really understand how to make it a reality.  Plus, I was relatively new to the "simple living" scene myself.  I was still trying to find my way and discover how to make the simple life work for our family.

- Mr. Simple's work has changed over the years.  In 2008, he was in his 8th year of working as a fire inspector/public safety officer for our city's fire department.  In 2010, he took another job working as a manager of media relations for a large company (no, not THAT large company in my city), and then he became unemployed in June of 2011.  But he has since started his own business, and is doing quite well! In 2008, he was also broadcasting for the local arena football team, and he continues to do that as well as starting as the broadcaster for the basketball team too.

- My kids (sniff!) have grown up a lot since August 2008.  Super was 3, almost 4 when I started and Jelly Bean was 6, and Flower was 8, almost 9.  Now they are 7, newly 10, and 12! I don't have "little" kids anymore. They are still mostly "simple" kids though.  Flower has an iPod Touch (that she bought herself) and we were gifted a Kinect by a generous family member in December, but my kids still LOVE to play outside, still LOVE to read, still LOVE to make gifts and still LOVE to spend hours drawing (especially Jelly Bean.)  But lest you think that they are "simply perfect", they also appear to LOVE to annoy each other too. :)

- When I started blogging, I was starting out my first year of homeschooling and it was just Flower.  The next year, it was Jelly Bean and Flower.  Last school year, it was just Jelly Bean. And this school year? Everyone is in public school.  I miss homeschooling.  I still, every once in awhile, wonder if we made the right decision.

- I have really made great strides in living a simple life that fits OUR life.  Which for us, means thrifting for clothes and housewares.  Buying less.  And when we do, it is a NEED.  And it is something that fits our lifestyle, so it probably means that it is quality.  And natural materials.  But bought as frugally as possible.  Eating whole foods.  Using our cars less and walking and biking more.  Learning how to make things.  Like dairy products.  Soap.  Dishcloths. Mustard. Tomato sauce :)  Learning to make the best use of our space inside and outside of our home.  Coming to peace with living in THIS home and in THIS city. 

- When I started this blog, we had just started digging out of the financial hole we were in.  Being mostly debt-free still seemed impossible.  And we only had one car back then (and it was not paid for either.) Now we have two cars (both paid for), and no debt besides our mortgage.  We pay cash for everything.  We save up if we don't have all the money.  Or we decide we don't need it.
- I have had bumps in my relationships in the past few years.  But I'm pleased to say that I haven't lost a relationship with anyone. (At least I don't think so!) Some have faded a little, and some I'm still trying to figure things out, some are new, and some are stronger than ever.

- I've had some loss over the years.  I lost our son to stillbirth, actually a few months before I started this blog.  I'm not as sad as I was in those early days of his loss, but I still think of him every day.  And I still wish that he had lived.  I lost my grandmother in September 2009.

- I have had some health problems over the years.  I had a heart scare in early 2010 and then I lost a bunch of weight in 2010 and 2011.  Also in 2010 and early 2011, I was dealing with terrible allergies & sinus infections.  And I was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2010 and had it removed in early 2011.  And I was diagnosed with Meniere's in Fall of 2010.  And 2011 was the year that I got tendinitis.  And burned 25% of my body.  Here is to hoping to a healthier 2012!

- There have been other changes, in particular one that took place in 2011, but I'm not ready to share about EVERYTHING yet.  Baby steps.  I didn't used to share anything personal here, and so I've made changes with sharing things more here too, I guess.

But I am happier.  Happier than I was in 2008.  And we are better off financially than we were in 2008.  And we are simpler too.  Oh, and older too. But I still don't need reading glasses. :)

MY list of Kitchen Staples

These are items that I like to have in my kitchen.  I don't always have ALL of them. Also, I didn't include staples like fruit, vegetables, meat, etc.  I'll put that on another list soon.  I'd like to say that I can find them all easily at one store.  Not the case in my city.  Well, that might not even be true.  There is a upscale grocery store that I have been in exactly once.  You might be able to find every thing there.  But I go to a couple of grocery store, health food store and a couple ethnic stores to get everything that I want.

Oils
- Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Organic Palm Shortening
- Organic Almond Oil
- Organic Flax Seed Oil
- Organic Hemp Seed Oil
- Organic Walnut oil

Vinegars
- Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
- Organic Red Wine Vinegar
- Organic White Wine Vinegar
- Organic Balsamic Vinegar

Salts/Seasonings
- Unrefined Sea Salt
- Wheat-free Tamari
- Miso
- Shoyu

Condiments (I make most/all of my own)
- Organic Ketchup
- Organic Banana Pepper Mustard
- Organic Barbecue Sauce
- Organic Veggie Relish

Sweeteners
- Agave Nectar
- Blackstrap Molasses
- Honey
- Maple Syrup
- Whole Cane Syrup
- Date Sugar
- Stevia

Basic Herbs
- Parsley
- Sage
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Cayenne Pepper
- Curry
- Turmeric
- Ground Cumin

Nuts/Seeds (I keep these stored in the fridge)
- Cashews
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Pine Nuts
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Sunflower Seeds

Nut/Seed Butters
- Organic Peanut Butter
- Organic Almond Butter
- Organic Sesame Tahini

Whole Grains (all gluten free/mostly gluten free)
- Short Grain Brown Rice
- Millet
- Quinoa
- Amaranth
- Buckwheat
- Teff
- Rolled Oats

- Popcorn

Flours (I keep these stored in the fridge or freezer)
- Whole Wheat Flour
- Amaranth Flour
- Teff Flour
- Buckwheat Flour
- Tapioca Flour

Dried Beans
- Black Beans
- Chick Peas
- Kidney Beans
- White Beans
- Pinto Beans
- Lentils
- Split Peas

Other
- Organic Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
- Lemon Flavoring
- Organic Chocolate Chips
- Organic Cocoa Powder
- Agar Flakes
- Arrowroot Powder
- Tapioca Pearls
- Xantham Gum