Minimalism - February - Sugar in our Food

Minimalism is tough in February here in New England.  Areas where I wish to work on - like the garage - has been tough with the number of cold days below 5° and that's not the temperature with the wind blowing - burrrrrrrrr.

So I keep looking for places to complete or expand on.  I've completed more of the Day 21 - related to the kitchen - I've expanded it to include the pantry and the area of garage that I am storing items. I have found that doing a little at a time, i.e. clearing out the non-essential, and working with it for a little time is the best method for me.

About mid-month, I was able to clean out the fridge - not just for cleaning but to organize what I keep in it.  I've been reading up and watching some documentaries on the US food industry.  If you haven't seen the documentary -- "Fed Up" get it, watch it at least twice and then go to the grocery store and watch the labels!

What is going on is very, very sad and in my opinion, the American people are unaware of how the food industry is operating.  I could go on and on about these issues about our food.  Right now ---  eat only on the perimeter of the store.  Re-read those labels for "sugar".   Sugar - other than what is naturally contained in food - there is so much sugar in food today.   Any of the following are sugars - XyLitol, Tagatose, Sucralose(yellow packet), Sorbitol, Saccharin (pink packet), Polydextrose, Neotame, Mannitol, Maltitol, Isomalt, Hydrogenated Starch Dydroysate, Glycyrrhizin, Gylcerol, Erythritol, Cyclamate (non US), Aspartame-Acesufame Salt (Europe only), Aspartame(blue packet), and Acesulfame Potassium  just to name a few.  The new one on the market  Stevia in a green packet.

Of course, sugar it is stated in grams ---  4 grams of sugar is equal to 1 teaspoon of sugar!  Here's a blog article that seems to balance what we need to be paying attention to.

February was good for cleaning up more of the kitchen cabinets.  Each time another one is done.... yep life is so much better.  Wasn't ready to do the pantry closet until I found mouse poop!  He's a healthy mouse this time and was chomping away on my bag of flax seed and drinking apple juice from a juice box.  The cat... found the mouse and was carrying it around.  Her new best friend.  Well she was distracted and I haven't been able to find the critter yet!

So the pantry is cleaned out, and that is great right now.  Note to self ---- store only items in glass containers!

Thanks for reading along.     See below......  that's what is left in the kitchen!



Day 21 - kitchen cabinets - only the necessities  - Take one cabinet/drawer a day
0.  Cabinet to the right of microwave -----  December
1.  cabinet left of microwave
2.  drawer below #1 January
3.  Drawer below #2 January
4.  Drawer below #3 January
5.  drawer to right of stove January
6. cabinet below #5
7.  drawer on left side of island  February
8.  cabinet below #7 February
9.  drawer on right side of island
10.  cabinet below #9 February
11.  cabinet above to the left of sink
12.  cabinet above sink
13.  cabinet above to right of sink
14.  Pantry closet /February

15.  storage in garage.
16.  storage cube in dining room
17.  Cabinet in dinning room January

Minimalism - January

This past November and December I did a Minimalism Challenge.  It was a thirty day challenge to look around your home and at yourself of how you lived.  Remove, re-organize, recycle and re-purpose the items in many of the places in which we live.  Now it is time to get out the list, and setup what to accomplish during the balance of the winter months.

Most of us know that we could live without lots of the "wants" in our life.  I was amazed to complete the challenge and found that I needed to complete more of the days challenges.  As I went along, I made up a list of items that I needed to revisit and get them done!

In January I held a big dinner party in my home.  So it was logical to go back to Day21 - Only the necessities in the Kitchen. I completed one cabinet for the challenge - that was a pretty big effort on my part.  It's been over a month, and I'm finding that the cabinet works so much better.  If one could say the cabinet is a  joy - then it is a joy!

In preparation of the dinner party - I found that "I forgot" I had certain items around and/or I couldn't find others.  Borrowing items was better than owning those items you need infrequently.  I came across an article on 8 Things You DON'T Need in Your Kitchen .  How about those small appliances, the extra dishes, and items stored on the top of the counter?  Great article and more food for thought.

I put the Day 21's List on my Monthly challenge.  It has 15 areas of the kitchen and related areas.   What I found important in cleaning out an area is to keep it simple, break it down and then live with it for awhile to insure that the "new" is overall better for daily life.

So here's the January accomplishments for Day 21's list.  I was able to put items in the Donate Box - yes it is in it's established place. I can see what's in the drawers and cabinets so far - it is very good.  I found silverware that need to be reorganized, the office drawer with those misc items in it, and two drawers one with some linens, and the other with leftover containers.  It's pretty good so far - no struggling with where items are, and each of them are looking about the same.

Onward to February!!!


Day 21 - kitchen cabinets - only the necessities  - Take one cabinet/drawer a day
0.  Cabinet to the right of microwave -----  December
1.  cabinet left of microwave
2.  drawer below #1 January
3.  Drawer below #2 January
4.  Drawer below #3 January
5.  drawer to right of stove January
6. cabinet below #5
7.  drawer on left side of island
8.  cabinet below #7 February
9.  drawer on right side of island
10.  cabinet below #9
11.  cabinet to left of sink
12.  cabinet above sink
13.  cabinet to right of sink
14.  Pantry closet

15.  storage in garage.
16.  storage cube in dining room
17.  Cabinet in dinning room January

Day 21 - Keep only the necessities in the Kitchen

Yes - no clutter in the kitchen.  Stuff not being used needs to go away.  This is a picture of the kitchen.  It's a small space in compared to the galley kitchen I had at my last place.

So last night I was going through a cabinet to find something - geez.  It's time to go through each one, again!

I was speaking with the girlfriend today about her party this Friday - need to know if there is kitchen privileges.  We got on discussing my "dedication" to sticking with the Challenge.   It's really not difficult.  I believe that most items are not difficult when you make up your mind to take care of matters.

During the breaks of piecing together video, music and pictures, I worked on a cabinet I started from last night.  It is now wonderful - items labeled so I can find them.  Containers not being used are now in the donate box.  In the same breath, some of the kitchen stuff is in the garage, and will a bit of rearrangement, I have more space there and the crock pot has now re-found it's home there!

Successful Day for one kitchen cabinet.  I'll set the balance of the cabinets for the next go-around.  Items for the donate box - extra containers I don't need.


Today's Challenge - Day 22  -  Clear Your Floors - and - find one item to put in the donate box.