Minimalist Gardening book by Minimalist Martha

You're probably wondering where I wandered off to. I wrote a book! My garden has done so well that I wrote down how I did it into a quick, short, sweet little book that you can buy on Amazon and read on your computer, phone or kindle. Sweet deal, right?

I'm very excited about it! I hope you're as excited as I am. I have a whole line up of short but sweet books on implementing minimalism to all areas of your life. I'll be sure to update you as soon as I finish each book. If ever I'm not posting - I'm just working on the next book!

I hope you've had a fantastic weekend and going into this new week be sure to lose a bit of stress by losing a bit of clutter!

Cooking - Batch or Cooking Marathons?

After this past week I can say I have officially tried cooking both ways.

1. Batch Cooking - you make multiple batches and freeze or otherwise store the extras to eat at a later time. Like leftovers but a whole meal or more.
2. Cooking Marathons - You make a menu, have a list, do a big grocery run, do a lot of cooking, and make all your meals in one or two days.

And after walking away from BOTH of these methods a little less than impressed I'm going to tell you what I think and my solution. Maybe it will work for you, maybe it wont. We'll see.

The Deal with the Batch Cooking - 

I like batch cooking. The premise being that you are spending the time you would normally spend in the kitchen preparing your meal but just make a double or even a quadruple batch. (Enough for 2 or even 4 more whole meals). THAT is way more efficient than making one dinner - which you were going to do anyway!

If you don't want to plan much, if you don't like a strategy or you don't mind cooking  - this is a great way to have emergency meals prepared in the event that things don't go according to plan. They are also great as last minute additions for parties, holidays, luncheons, dinner guest additions, etc. You name it, an extra meal on hand that just needs to be popped in the oven or microwave is a sure crowd pleaser.
Pros:
NO additional planning
NO additional time spent in the kitchen than you already invest
You already love what you're eating or you wouldn't be making it to begin with
You use recipes you already know and love
Cons:
* Very little variety (You'll end up with 6 of the same types of dinners in the freezer - it gets old)
* If you didn't don't regularly plan dinners, you may not want to make a quadruple batch of 'last minute' dinners that you put together because you have no idea what to make
* Your current recipes may or may not freeze and reheat well - you'll want to see if your recipe can!

The Deal with Cooking Marathons -

Can I just say that after the first day, I couldn't walk. The fiance had to rub my feet for thirty minutes just to get the pain to stop. That is how long we spent in the kitchen. I remember looking into his loving eyes and gritting my teeth with affection saying 'We are never doing this again' and he nodded along with me. What's more? He participated for two days (the weekend) and I was still chugging along a third day!

Pros:
You get all your cooking done up front. The rest of the week or more is a breeze!
(Looking a little light up here!)

Cons:
You'll end up forgetting a lot of things you need - we did this on three recipes and they didn't turn out great.
You will have to prep and cook and freeze EVERYTHING almost as soon as you get it to make this work - say goodbye to your time off. You'll be in that kitchen - so get in there!
If you don't plan your dinners out on a weekly or monthly basis - you won't survive this. You won't.

What is My Solution?

Sometimes how you react to a terrible solution can be insightful into what your solution could or should be. 
What did I do when I was running my cooking marathon?
1. Wishing my recipes required less prep-cooking
2. Wishing I had weeded out all the recipes that required a LOT of precooking
3. Wishing I had quadrupled instead of doubled the recipes that required a LOT of cooking.
4. Wishing I had a lot of recipes that required less than 20 minutes of cooking at all.
5. Quit before everything was done and put the rest of it off until the next two days
6. Finally decided NOT to finish the Cooking Marathon at ALL and just revert to Batch cooking for the rest of the week. That is - I waited until the day a recipe was needed and doubled the batch, freezing half for next week.

What is my Final Verdict?

1. I had too many complex recipes. Complex and long prep/cooking hours may taste good but it's not a requirement!

2. I don't want to spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen cooking ANYTHING.

3. I needed to cut down my list of elaborate recipes that I never use.

4. Have healthy meals that I won't feel guilty about giving to my family because I want to skimp on kitchen time.

The Final Solution:

I'm making a cook book. 

It's only logical...

I threw out all my old recipes and started from scratch. I started with what I had been marathon cooking this past weekend. And I got rid of every recipe that was a pain to cook. That doesn't mean toss them forever - but for daily cooking, it's time to get real.

Real food - I needed recipes that I could make from scratch in a short amount of time. But still taste GOOD! Best way - copycat recipes. Make a list or print out a menu of your favorite restaurants. Find the copycat recipes and see which ones are actually pretty easy to make.

Freeze it, jar it, can it, store it - I needed recipes that I could make in large batches and were easy to pop in the freezer. Anything that goes into a slow cooker is great but I don't want to limit myself. I wanted to add appetizers, breads and sides to my list. Because nothing says "Thank goodness" like taking out a bag for each part of dinner, throwing it on a baking sheet and turning on the oven. Dinner. Is. Done.

What does this cookbook mean for you?

Well, for one - I'm going to be testing this first hand. It's "My" cookbook in the way that I'm adding recipes as I prove them for my family in my kitchen.

When I have determined that something takes LESS THAN 15 minutes to throw together then I will add it. If it is too much hassle - I'm a minimalist, I'm going to throw it out.  There are hundreds of thousands of ways to make different foods- there has to be a couple hundred ways to make healthy dinners in less than 15 minutes! Right?!

Not your basic "open the can and throw it on top of the chicken" but real ingredients, real food, and being able to recognize everything that goes in the pan, pot or dish as a real food.

And I'm trying to go inexpensive - not cheap quality, inexpensive - there is a difference.

The Recipes...

Want a good one? Here is my go-to when it comes to dinner that is healthy and takes roughly 15 minutes hands on and no supervision.

You'll recognize this bad boy from olive garden...

That's a page right from my new cookbook (logo added) - I'll post a new recipe once a week!

Feel free to share it, print it, pin it or eat it!

I don't have plans to print this lovely book but I do plan to make it available in digital format.

Stay tuned and don't forget - I warned you about those darn Cooking Marathons!

Until the easy cookbook is finished - just double up your favorite dinners to make your next couple of weeks a breeze.

Gardening - Seed Organization

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best solutions.

I have a lot of seeds. There are only a few things I 'hoard' - digital books and seeds!

Because knowledge and the ability to grow your own food are pretty darn important.

Storage of my digital book collection is a snap - obviously.

Storage of a seed collection can get a little more complicated... use what you have on hand unless something else better comes along.

Normally I store my seed collection like this...

In a box, thrown in, inside of packets - some open, some sealed, some knocking around in the bottom to create a 'surprise mix' for next spring. I also print out my own seed packets off of the computer to customize with our family name and so I can keep the seeds I save from our own garden and maximize our garden year after year.

But the disorganization...it can become really concerning.
And I kind of like the idea of having my seeds organized by WHEN I'm supposed to plant them! I can't help it if I'm a bit OCD and like to organize with 'tiers' in most cases. I don't just want my seeds organized, I want them organized by expiration date, alphabetically and chronologically by when they should be planted. That should be easy enough, right?

Eight months into my seed collecting - because I hit the bargain sales at the end of the last season - and Im still a mess! Until...today. Today I was picking up clutter I've left around the house - 5 minute or less guarantee- and I had a stack of empty and unused baseball card organizers (for folders).

Why? Coupons of course - I'll save that post for another day.

While I don't *Love* having to fold the seed packets I currently have, I am able to print out my own seed packets and keep them small - so that they fit a baseball card slot. This is perfect! (I'm so OCD I might repackage the seeds I have just so they fit).

Here is a great example - I'll post a photo of mine after I'm done today adding my own collection to my binder.

And that's what I'm sharing with you today. Cost? Very low - I spent no more than $2 on a binder just like the above, and about $10 last year on the baseball card holders. (I bet you could find them cheaper! I didn't shop around!)

I'll continue to refine and update you about my storage ideas - like this one.
Remember - improvise, think outside the box, and work smarter instead of harder if the situation presents itself.

Need some Baseball Card sized mini Seed packets? Print them! These are the ones that are my favorite, scaled down to fit baseball card inserts (A bit prettier than the yellow mini-envelope and perfect for saving your own seeds!)

Declutter - Dual Purpose Silicone Ice Trays

I greatly dislike ice trays. They are a pain to refill, they pop out really funny, the trays take up too much space in my freezer, the shapes are boring, and you have to use half a tray for one cup of something cold.

I love cute things. That doesn't need much explanation.

I saw this video with Martha Stewart (my favorite Felon!) while trying to find a solution for our ice cube issues and I have to say that it was pretty darn awesome!

However, I love minimalism and by default - I love things that have more than one use. I also prefer silicone ice trays because they don't crack, they are easy to clean, and they feel cool. While I love Martha and all this Ice Sphere awesomeness, I don't like One-Use-Items or "dodaddy" as she calls it. (I have a tip to add on to her 'balloon' meat hook idea - read tips below!)

So I still wanted silicone - not One-Ice-Cube solutions stacked up in our freezer. Now - have you ever tried to get ice cub trays that are silicone at the store? Ours doesn't carry them. We've checked. However, I find a ton of silicone muffin/cupcake molds that are adorable but I always tell myself "These are one time use! How can I justify this?! I need 40 of these!" and of course they get tossed into my 'organization' system in the basement when not in use so that they don't clutter my kitchen (into an organizational tub for the holiday).

But if I can use it for TWO things...well then, that sort of changes things...

I have to thank my Mother for this because she sends me things against my will all the time. And my Mom really knows stuff so she she sent me this valentines day mold...I had to rethink because I just thought it was so cute...and then it just sort of clicked because we were looking for a better way to do ice.

If you're like my family, you are okay with USING the ice cubes but filling up the ice...is no fun. Often, we had no ice. Instead, when we needed ice we were filling the ice tray up and commenting on how much we disliked the ice tray.

What did I do? I took the heart mold you see above, I placed it in a baking pan(to give it support - these things are wobbly without any support!) like this (see photo below)

And then I filled the mold, not the baking pan, with water and popped it in the freezer. Check it after an hour (or forget it - no harm) and pop them into your ice bin (we have a bin that we put made ice into) or dont, just pop them out of the silicone thing as you need them. I like to make a bunch back to back sometimes just so I can get the baking pan out of my freezer, but it's up to you.

Have you seen any cute holiday molds lately? Any ideas of how cute they would look in a drink?

Hands down, every guest we've had has commented on the ice cubes and has loved them. It's the little touches that make you look awesome and it's the secret you hold that it was easy that makes your smile just a little bit bigger!


Also - according to Sur la Table - "Clever [Tovolo] ice mold combines art and science to make a creative, ultra slow-melting ice ball". Hmmm something to think about. Plus that looks pretty cool!

  

Just a Few General Tips:

• You can use most muffin tins but metal tins can sometimes be harder to work with though more stable in the freezer. Ice stuck? No pounding! Just set the bottom (only!) of your muffin tin in some warm water for a few seconds. They should loosen right up!
• Can't decide what molds are best? Just go by your season! Muffin/cupcake silicone trays go on sale offseason and can be picked up for a inexpensive penny or two. And you only need one or two as each ice cub is big enough for one drink! One tray means 6+ drinks instead of 1 or 2 drinks.
• Always look for food grade silicone and be sure to rinse between uses!

Want to Dress up your Ice "CUBES" even more? Here are a few videos that add a flair of fancy without much extra work!

Tip: How to make those Spheres without "Meat Hooks" as Martha Stewart References

Tip: Adding stuff INTO your Ice Cubs! Add mint leaves, berries, or fruits in the ice molds for a sophisticated touch! (Just be sure to warn guests so they don't choke if they don't notice your fancy touch!)

Tip: Making Ice Cubs out of Juice and not just Water!

Tip: Take different juices (the photo has kool aid ice cubes!) as above and add the cubes to Sprite!

Tip: How to Make Crystal Clear Ice Cubes

Hosting a Party with a bowl of Punch? Take this idea to the extreme! Silicone molds for cakes are very common and very cute! Get a large enough (not bigger than your punch bowl or so big that no one can get punch!) cake mold that can sit right in your punch bowl! It will take longer to melt and will look AWESOME! (The whole video below is a recap of much of what I've already talked about but if you watch the whole thing- this guy knows his ice!)

I like a bit more flair than the traditional so if we're being completely honest - I would go with the FUN cake molds (not a bunt pan) and look at stuff like this:


And if you have a significant other that really loves sports - you can make sports night a real treat! Get a punch bowl or whatever beverage the party calls for then make a giant football ice cube!





I hope this has sparked some ideas. Ice doesn't have to be boring and you don't have to get something JUST for ice cubes! We got rid of our trays and we use our heart mold for our ice 'cubes' regularly because they are just that cute.

Thanks for Reading! I hope it adds to your holidays and daily beverage delight. And next time you find those holiday silicone molds on sale - give them another look! Nothing screams 'Summer!' like giant frozen roses with mint leaves and berries in them!

Minimalist Gardening - Self Watering Containers

I am a minimalist and I like things to be as efficient as possible. Many times, I refer to this as my 'lazy' streak. One of my lazy streaks was onset by my love of gardening but my dislike for maintaining the garden. Enter - the Minimalist Martha Mentality - where I try to outsmart gardening.

How do you outsmart Gardening?
First, I think of every way I kill my plants. Overwatering and underwatering. That about does it. And perhaps not adding plant food but in general plants don't really *need* extra food as long as the soil is okay.

Now I know what KILLS my garden. How do I get around it? I find some self-watering methods. I've looked at them all. Self-watering containers (fairly small or large and expensive), drip systems, timer systems, gravity fed rainwater systems, you name it and I looked it up.

What must I overcome?

• We rent
• We don't have a backyard - we have a balcony with no soil (obviously)
• The light in the house is not good enough to grow indoors
• I have to go through the master bedroom to get to the balcony which means when fiance is sleeping I might wake him if I have to water
• We don't want to choose between vacation and our garden crop

I kept circling back around to the self watering containers. But they are a bit expensive. And they don't look that big. And they need to be refilled frequently which means asking a neighbor to refill them every few days if we go on vacation. So this was the best option but not the best option. 

What did I end up doing? A revised version of this video:

I plan to create a tutorial on my version the next time I make a self watering container. My version is significantly easier (in my opinion). But I don't want to get into it too much. I have purple self watering container 'tubs'. I have a lot of them and I'm still learning.

The best thing about the tubs is that the covers act like mini greenhouses and you can plant right into the tubs and the seedlings are protected from animals, birds, squirrels, etc. (I've found evidence of squirrels and birds trying to get at them unsuccessfully). 

Why I love this version 

• I water once a month. That's it. And then I'm pretty bored honestly. 
• After they are set up, you don't have to set them up again - even for the next spring...you just plant right in them. Pretty awesome!
• I can add liquid fertilizer right to the water supply and don't have to worry about burning the roots because it holds so much water and dilutes perfectly
• I don't have to worry about when it rains because there are overflow holes that means the rain fills up the tubs and then the excess simply flows out. When it rains, my containers get filled up and it means just that much longer before I have to fill them up again!
• Being inside the tubs prevents the seedlings from getting blown over in storms and I can put the lids on for added protection if I want.
• While they can be a pain to move when they are full of soil, plants and water, they can still be moved and I like that - portable is awesome.
• When our apartment complex decides to spray the grass outside, I can put the lids on our plants and don't have to worry about pesticides or whatever green paint they are putting on the grass blowing onto our garden. Just one less thing to worry about.

What have I got planted? A lot. Let me list it for you:

• Gem Corn (It was crazy popular on pinterest and had to get some!)
• beans (to climb up the corn)
• lettuce (it really thrives as a ground cover in the tubs)
• Radishes (also a good ground cover in the tubs)
• Cucumbers (they are going to climb my balcony railing and look gorgeous I hope)
• Cherry Tomatoes (they will also climb my balcony railing from the OTHER end and look gorgeous I hope)
• Bell Peppers (they are not doing fantastic but I think it was my seed saving methods)
• Green onions (these are easy peasy to grow!)
• Strawberries (these have done the best out of everything! I plan to plant three more tubs of these next year!)

9 Strawberry plants just planted

Same 9 Strawberry plants - 2 months later and one watering

The gem corn and beans and lettuce have done very well

I also have a special project which will get a post all of its own - the Kitchen Scrap Garden. It is ONE tub planted with only scraps from the kitchen. So far I have planted the following:

• White Onion bottoms (have done very well)
• celery (the sun killed it I think)
• Bok Choy (the sun also killed it)
• Romaine Lettuce (the sun killed it really efficiently)
• Nappa Cabbage (It has been doing well but floundering recently)
• Leeks (these have been doing well also and are part of the onion family)

(Photo above was before the celery, bok choy and lettuce died)

So as you can see, the kitchen scrap garden is floundering a bit. But I'm still trying! I'll be posting updates (hopefully video) in the future. 

So far I really love my self-watering garden. It is very easy to take care of. After I set up the tubs I just check the water levels. The strawberries went an entire month without watering and have really flourished. 

I had radishes and lettuce planted in the front of our little apartment and right off the back and two weeks in a row the landscaping guys have taken a weedwacker to our little pieces of salad patch. This past week was especially frustrating as I asked the man that was trimming the front to please leave my lettuce and radishes alone and he apologized and immediately went to our backyard area and weedwacked the entire lettuce/radish area back there that was clearly marked off and covered with landscaping cloth.

So...I'm okay with the landscaping people being jerks. Because they can't get to my tub garden and that makes me very happy.

The hardest part about this tub garden is really not being needed. I sort of wander around the balcony a few moments and look to be needed and come back inside disappointed that I'm not but still happy the garden is thriving without me. 

I have found the cucumbers, corn, strawberries, green onions (they do well anywhere), beans, lettuce and tomatoes have really done well in self watering containers so far. I really plan on three more containers of strawberries next year. I did try spinach but it was just too warm I think. I'll try again in the fall. I haven't tried carrots yet but I plan to in the next couple of weeks. I have some extra soil and need to just put together a couple of 5 gallon self-watering buckets for the carrots so they have something deep to grow in.

Well that's all for the self-watering container garden for now! I highly recommend this if you would rather spend your summer doing fun stuff and avoid watering daily and pulling weeds (I found three weeds in two months). 

I hope this has given you an idea and sparked an adventure.

Comments or questions please post below!

Thanks for reading!

A Declutter Plan: Addressing Your Frustrations by Room

Not just any plan, we're talking about a piece of paper that you take into each room and ask yourself

"What makes me really upset or frustrated about this room?" 

Need an example? When I walk into the living room the piles of stuff on the end tables frustrate me. The piles and piles of toys frustrated me. The lack of decor/color frustrated me. The large window that we couldn't open because the neighbors could see in frustrated me.

Solution? 

I reduced everything on the end table (very nondescript I know, sorry). The piles and piles of toys (it was enough to fill the spare bedroom) was reduced to one laundry hamper for each girl. The rest was donated (Two truck loads to children just before Christmas) and toys are kept in the girls' bedroom closets now. If it doesn't fit in their hamper they have to donate toys. That's the new rule.

Anything left out in the living room (toys) goes into the Uh-Oh box and that means doing a chore to get it back (we don't have any toys on the floor anymore. We fixed the lack of color in the living room with two vases of beautiful flowers that doubled as our girl' chore charts which they love. And that large window that we could never open because of neighbors? I spent a day created a stained-glass-look out of parchment cooking paper and now our windows are open every day so we can get that much needed natural light in without the nosy neighbors.

These solutions started with a list of what frustrated me. Once I recognized what frustrated me, and I looked at it all in smaller pieces, I was able to tackle it. I didn't tackle it all at once. It took me three weeks to tackle my whole apartment, but I did it piece by piece. And I'm still not done! (thank goodness - still stuff to post!).

What you need to do step by step:

Step One: 
Get something to write on (paper) and with (pen or pencil) and go to the room that is the WORST in your house. The room that takes you the longest to clean, has the most clutter, is just your nightmare.

Step Two:

Write what frustrates you about the room. 

1. Where is the clutter really piling up? 
2. What is the bulk of that clutter? 
3. Where is that clutter mostly coming from? 
4. Can you live without it?
5. Does it have more than one purpose or use?
6. Do you want to keep it? 
7. Can you throw it away or donate it or give it away? 

That is the starting point. Have questions? Post them below! I'll tweak this plan to help with additional questions or concerns. This is what works for me - I ask these questions constantly.

What Room are you Trying your Best to Declutter?

We can try a room by room declutter plan! Follow along! (In progress please be patient)

• Living room
• Bathroom
• Kitchen
• Dining room
• Entryway
• Closet
• Bedroom
• Craft room
• Office
• Kids' Rooms
• Kids' Bathrooms
• Garden