Eat/Use it Up

Inspired by Elizabeth over at Adventures in Life, Love and Librarianship's quest to Eat All the Food!

I am embarking on a similar quest.  Before I moved into my apartment, back in June, I managed to do a pretty good job eating up as much of the food I already had before moving.  Sure, I wound up with some weird meals and ate English muffins every day for about two weeks, but I also had to move a lot less stuff.

Trouble is, I still have a lot of food and I've been doing pretty well with eating it up, but I could be doing better.  Since I get paid monthly at my new job, I still haven't gotten a full paycheck, and somehow I've managed to spend a lot on groceries this month.

Added to the fact that I have a lot of food hordes is the fact that I have a lot of stuff hordes.  I still just have a lot of items stockpiled from way back when--mostly bathroom stuff. I realized the other day that I have about six hotel soaps, four bottles of lotion and more stuff under the sink than I think I can deal with right now.  I made a trip to Target the other day with the intention of buying body wash, but then realized that I could actually just use up that damn hotel soap instead.  Yes, I realize soap is soap, but I always think of bar soap just for hands--no longer!

Presently, in my kitchen, I have a bunch of snacks in my snack drawer that I like, but don't love.  I brought them to work instead.  Since I sometimes get snacky midday, I'm much more inclined to reach for something I've already paid for rather than going to the cafe down the hall.  So I now have a stash of Bevita Breakfast Biscuits (I bought them with a coupon, and they're good, but I just never want to eat them); 100 calorie packs of microwave popcorn (I always burn them in my microwave at home, or want more popcorn than that); and Larabars (again, totally tasty, but more of an on-the-go snack than a couch snack).  I also have a bunch of split peas and various grains and soup mixes that are perfect for this time of year.  I have a glut of frozen vegetables, and a pile of veggie burgers.  Honestly, I have enough food and variety of food that not only will I be healthy, but I shouldn't get bored.

The plan is to eat up what I already have, and only go to the grocery store for fresh veg.  This should save me some cash, and clean out my cupboard.

In the bathroom, I plan to use up all the hotel soaps before going back to body wash; go through my bags of stuff and see what's actually in there (I keep small items in cosmetics bags and have a tendency to lose things at the bottom), use up all the shampoo and conditioner I have before buying more (I don't really like the stuff I currently have, but it still works fine); and use up all of my travel size items.  I have refillable bottles for body wash, shampoo and conditioner, I don't know why I hang onto all these travel size samples I've acquired.

Last night's dinner was most of a log of polenta (I'll use up the rest tonight) with oven roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella plus a side salad.

Tonight, finish off the polenta with some kind of frozen vegetable and eat up the butternut squash bisque I bought a while back that's getting close to expired.

I can do this!!

Creeping Lifestyle Inflation

I'm settling into my new job and starting to figure out what the hell I actually do in my day-to-day, but I am starting to notice a bit of the old lifestyle inflation creeping in and I need to nip it in the bud!  So far, I'm doing ok with recognizing it, but there are also some circumstances beyond my control that I hadn't considered. I did get a pay raise with this new job, but I am by no means a fancy person now!  I still have student loan debt, after all.

Circumstance One: In which I taste a bit of my own medicine
I have always bee a pack-your-lunch-for-work type of gal.  I like to eat pretty much the same thing every day, I don't like to waste time while I'm on break finding food and I like knowing what's waiting for me (and controlling the calories in it).  I've always brought soup or sandwich and holed up in the break room for my lunch while reading a book.  It's never been a problem--until now.

Previously, while working at the public library, I always had something to read.  Here, at my new academic library, there is no leisure reading, and I kept forgetting to bring a book!  That's not a huge problem, just a minor annoyance.  The bigger problem is that the staff room is just awful.  It's tiny and shared by a ton of people.  There is nowhere to hide, no way to relax, and you're basically tripping over all the other people in there.  So I've started taking my lunch on the balcony of the building next door.  I have no idea what I'm going to do when it gets cold out, but I shouldn't have to worry about that for a little while. So far, at the new job though, I've bought lunch more times than I care to admit, but today, I have my trusty sandwich and yogurt along with my Nook.

So I've always been like "why doesn't EVERYONE just bring their lunch to work!?!  I don't get it!"  Now, I get it.

Circumstance Two: In which starting a new job is stressful/ exhausting
I've been drinking a lot of coffee lately.  Usually I drink a large cup of coffee at home, and then just have tea for the rest of the day.  These days, I'm a bit sleepy and have been availing myself of the on-campus Dunkin Donuts and the new Starbucks (which is so close to my office it's dangerous).  I know that a few extra dollars a week isn't a huge deal, but we all know that that adds up!  Sometimes though, it's just good to have an excuse to go for a walk.  I brought my tea into work and bought an electric teakettle for the staff room (can't believe we didn't have one), so I'm all set.

Circumstance Three: In which I now have an office and never need to move around
I didn't realize how much hopping I did at the public library until I started working here and realized that the most moving around I do is walking to the bathroom.  So I bought a membership to the college gym.  It sucks that I have to pay for it, but it's still about half what the YMCA (the next cheapest option) is, and since I'm here already, I will make myself use it (especially in the winter).  I also may buy an under-desk pedal machine, but I really don't know if it would be worth it.  Any one have one to recommend to me?

I also am going to upgrade my home wi-fi, and go shopping for more business casual clothes--the dress code here is slightly dressier than my last job.  Other than that, I'm keeping it in check!  I made a larger than usual payment on my student loans, and I plan to get back on track with putting money in savings and max out my Roth IRA contributions for the year.  I also almost bought a smart phone, but then stopped myself at the last minute.  Good job, self, now you can have another coffee for being so strong!

Reducing Food Waste: One Thing at a Time

One of the biggest challenges with reducing food waste is to find a way to not waste things you want to have around, but don't use that much.  In my case, I have been having a hell of a time with milk.

I'm not a milk drinker--I never sit down and have a glass, but I do need to have it around in small amounts for tea, some recipes, etc.  Unfortunately, by the time I realize that I need my milk, it is often decidedly stinky.  I throw it out, buy more, use a tiny bit, and then the rest goes bad.

When BF and I lived together, we could usually make it through a carton without throwing it away, though there were plenty of mornings when I needed it for whatever reason and had to trot down to the corner store in wrinkled clothes with bedhead.  Now that we're in separate places, we're both struggling with this.

I started buying smaller and smaller containers, but since those containers are plastic, I felt bad, and the smaller options are more expensive ounce per ounce.  So I came up with a better solution--freezing it.

I bought a case of small mason jars:

And now when I buy milk, I fill up the jars and freeze all but one.  You obviously need to leave a bit of room for the milk to expand as it freezes, but this way, I always have milk on hand, and I don't throw nearly as much away.  I can also buy a larger size container and reduce the amount of packaging I consume while saving money by buying the largest size.

The biggest enemy in terms of milk spoilage is air.  You'll notice that if a jug has been opened, but only a little taken out, the milk stays good for a much longer time.  Pour out half the milk, and the rest goes bad much faster.  That's why this system works to reduce spoliage in two ways.  I freeze what I'm not using and effectively stop the clock on it going bad, and I reduce the amount of air in the milk that's thawed and ready to use.  Plus those blue mason jars are so cute!

Another tip for keeping milk fresher longer is to store it in the back of the fridge so the temperature doesn't fluctuate as much.  We used to have a fridge that was wearing out and had cold spots and warm spots instead of even temperature throughout.  We noticed when we stored the milk in the back in a cold spot, it lasted much longer.  Now I store my milk in the back of the fridge near my Britta cooler so that it doesn't get hit with hot air when I open the door.  It really does make a difference.

Have you ever tried this?  Any other tips for reducing food waste?

Five Good Things

I'm on vacation right now, but my brother wasn't able to take much time off work, so my vacation is consisting of lounging around his apartment and catching up on True Blood and other cable shows and going running.  It's pretty sweet.  So let's take a look at some stuff that's really working for me right now.

--Pizza
Pizza is the most perfect food there is, and when my brother and I get together, we basically eat pizza every day.  Last time I was here, I ate pizza every single day for at least one meal, and I regret nothing!  So far, we've only been to Pizza Luce, but we've got lots of time.

--Treadmills
It is 101 degrees outside today.  My brother lives near a collection of small running/biking trails in the woods, so it's a little cooler to go running there, but in 101 degree heat, I'm not going outside unless I absolutely have to.  I opted for the treadmill in his apartment complex's fitness center, and it was absolutely perfect.  I knocked out five miles while watching The Price is Right, and since I was the only person there, I angled both fans toward me.

--Cable and Giant TVs
When I'm on vacation, I get to do whatever I want without guilt.  That includes really enjoying my brother's ridiculously large tv + cable.

Seriously, what is up with guys and giant tvs?

Giant tvs and cable are not something I need in my regular life since I usually only watch tv a few times a week, but on vacation, it's a nice luxury.  Plus, binge watching tv for a week gets me all caught up for the rest of the year!

--Fair Food
It is time for The Great Minnesota Get-Together aka The Minnesota State Fair. Despite the fact that this is the 2nd largest state fair in the US, and I grew up in Minnesota, I have never been before.  We went out there briefly on Saturday, and I was completely overwhelmed but still managed to eat part of a corn dog, cheese curds, a giant pickle, lefse and a veggie taco (I am vegetarian, but I usually eat 2-4 hotdogs per year, I only break my vegetarianism for offal).  Up next on the agenda, I need to try some Poutine, maybe some deep fried bread pudding and more cheese curds.  It's a shame that the heat kind of kills my appetite, but I will persevere!

--Kittehs!
I miss my Watson, but I left him in good hands, so he'll be well taken care of.  I've been spending my week with my bro's cat: The Great Catsby.

 

Catsby is a little strange looking these days.  His fur was getting matted, so a couple days ago he got a "Lion cut." Normally he's got thick black fur, but right now, he's mostly bald.  He's still cute though!  It's fun to spend time with other cats.

New Job, New Budget

Doesn't it feel like I start a new job every year?  Man, I'm getting tired of that, but I promise you (barring something catastrophic) I'm staying put now!    One thing that is definitely going to take some getting used to at the new job is the fact that I only get paid once a month.  I did some looking at the calendar, and I won't get my first full paycheck until October 31.  I'll get a small check at the end of September, but I won't actually know my full take-home pay for another two months. 

Argh.

Also, for some reason, I have become obsessed with the idea of finally getting a smart phone.  I can't be spending money I haven't earned yet, and I really need to avoid lifestyle inflation!  Got to keep my head straight.

One thing that should make it a little easier to not go crazy with the spending is the fact that I now work in an academic library.  That means that from the time classes start September 2 through about the end of October, work is going to be insane.  Couple that with the fact that I have been trying my hardest to cram so much info into my brain every day that I've just been going home exhausted and I just want to get away from the computer.  I've been watching a lot of Top Model these days--it soothes me.

Keep on Smizing!

So, even though the paycheck situation is a bit fraught, I have savings and my emergency fund to keep me fed and housed, plus I got all my vacation paid out from my last job, so I have a tidy nest egg to sustain me.

My plan is to just not overspend and be a sensible as I can be.  I don't have any big things I need, and if I do decide to treat myself to a smart phone for my birthday, I can still wait until I know exactly what my take-home pay is going to be.  I did get a significant pay bump with this new job, but I'm also having more taken out for retirement (10%), taxes will be higher, etc and I'm joining the campus gym (which I have to pay for--booo).  I honestly do not know what to expect, but it's still very exciting.

I'm looking forward to getting my saving back on track because I have been a serious slacker girl in that department.  I'm also looking forward (take this with a grain of salt) to making some significant progress with my higher interest student loans.  I just want to get them to the place when they aren't accruing so much, and then I can dial back on how much I'm sending in each month.  I know it's a bit silly, but having that situation where I went back into forebearance and then just lost all the progress I made really, really pissed me off.

Wish me luck!

You Can Freeze Hummus, And Other Things I Have Learned

Once upon a time, I was in Boston for Boston Book Festival and I saw a truck with the Sabra logo on it:

When you see this truck, it means free food.  

In the past, I had gotten small samples of hummus and pita chips, but on this particular day, I got much more than that.  For some reason, this truck was handing out buckets (literally) of hummus and salsa.  By the time I got there, they were out of salsa, but I got a bucket of hummus, and a nice young man kept loading bags of pita chips into my carrier bag (another good reason to always keep a collapsible bag in your purse) until I finally said STOP!

A bucket of hummus, cat included for perspective

So, what does one do with that much hummus?  I gave a bunch to a friend, and then elected to freeze a small sample to see if it would work.

It totally did, and since that time, I have set out to find other foodstuffs to stock up on and freeze.  Here's a short list:

1. Hummus.  Trader Joes is a bit of a hike from my house, so I only go there every six weeks or so.  I stock up on their humus because it's significantly cheaper, and then just chuck most of it in the freezer.
2. Pizza dough and sauce.  Ditto for the pizza dough and sauce from Trader Joes, but you could also do this with homemade dough.  It takes a while to thaw, but if I pull a dough out of the freezer before going to work, it's ready to go when I get home.  The sauce is acidic enough that it's fine to sit out at room temperature for a few hours.
3. Cheese.  Cheese goes on sale pretty infrequently at my grocery store, so when it does, I stock up.  I usually buy about ten bricks and just have one in the fridge while the rest wait in the freezer to be needed.  You can freeze brick cheese and shredded cheese and it doesn't change the texture at all--at least for cheap cheese.  This probably doesn't work as well for soft cheese like Brie, but I've also never tried.  Anyone know?
4. Mashed Potatoes.  Mashed Potatoes are one of my favorite foods, but they're kind of a pain to make.  Usually I get a ten pound bag, make a ton of them and then freeze half (yes, I can eat five pounds of mashed potatoes before they go bad).  When you thaw they back out, they get kind of weird and watery, but once microwaved, they're back to their fluffy, delightful texture.  Man, I love mashed potatoes.
5. Soup.  In the winter, I make a batch of soup in the crock pot at least every other week.  I have no problem eating the same thing every day, so that becomes my lunch for the week.  Even though I have a smallish crock pot, I often wind up with more soup than I can eat in a week, so I just always freeze half.  That way, it's handier than crock-potting a new batch.
6. Basil.  Even though I don't have a garden, I still frequently wind up with a TON of basil in the summer.  Everyone i know wants to give me some, and that is totally fine because it freezes just fine. The only strange thing about freezing basil is that yo have to chop it up and add some olive oil, but that's it!  Here's how to do it: http://frugalliving.about.com/od/freezingfoods/qt/How-To-Freeze-Basil.htm

What have you discovered that you can freeze and buy/make in bulk?

2013: The Worst Year Ever

Do you ever have one of those years where it seems like everything just falls apart?  Like even to the point where things you didn't think could fall apart just all of a sudden did.  This year has been rough, and while I'm sensible enough to know that my year is in no way harder than a lot of people's regular lives are, it has still taken a hell of a toll.  I've been sitting, waiting to write this blog entry for about six weeks now, but I'm glad I held off.  If I had written this last month, it would have just been a list of things that have been shitty over the course of the year--and no one wants to read that.  Now, things are looking up and I caught sight of that elusive little friend--perspective.

So instead of 'woe is me'ing all over, I'm going to examine what I've learned so far in 2013:  The Worst Year Ever.

1. Bad things happen to good people
At the end of February, my boss at my job was fired.  We knew that he and the top brass had been clashing for a while, but usually in libraryland (for better of for worse), it's really hard to get rid of people.  I showed up for work one Friday, and an hour later our stunned children's librarian told me that he had been called in and dismissed for 'insubordination.'  Not only was this emotionally devastating as I considered him a mentor and friend, but he was also beloved by the community because he's a really good guy.  People organized protests outside the library, signed petitions and I felt pulled between my convictions that what was done to him was unfair and my need to lay low and appease the people who sign my paycheck.

2. You can plan and plan and plan all you want, but life throws you curveballs
My mother is a banker and has always been frugal and absentemious.  She saves and she exercises and she eats right.  She is the very definition of sensible.  She doesn't drink or smoke and my most frequent criticism of her is that she needs to just lighten up every now and them.  So I was obviously shocked when I got a phone call from her this past April to tell me that she had had a seizure, which let to an MRI, which revealed a malignant golf ball sized tumor on the front of her brain.  Doctors told her that it could have been there for easily ten years, but since she showed no symptoms until the seizure, no one could ever have suspected.

She was admitted to the Mayo Clinic where they performed surgery to remove 98% of the tumor.  After that, she did pill chemotherapy and radiation, which just finished.  Last time I spoke to her on the phone, she told me that she was doing great. "I'm lifting weights and going for walks.  This is the first time in my life where my only job is to take care of myself."

3. You never know what work experiences will come in handy in the future.
For five years, while I was in college, grad school and just out of grad school prepping for... more grad school, I worked in local news production.  Initially, I got the job because I needed a night job to faster pay off my credit card debt.  The lousy pay was only exceeded by the lousy hours, but the high stress environment was also an incredible rush and I worked with some seriously awesome people over the years.  Though I liked that job, I never intended to make it my career, and when I was offered a promotion, I elected to go to grad school for Library Science instead.

After my boss was fired, I became responsible for everything he had been doing in addition to what I had already been doing, which was my job and half of another person's.  It was officially too much work for one person, and I started to unravel--big time.  A friend told me about an opening at her library, and sent me the job description, which was incredibly intimidating.  After re-reading it a few more times, I figured I might as well apply.  I was pretty miserable at work, my friend was on the hiring committee, I just might have a shot.

Even though my friend went into early labor and wasn't actually there for the interview-- I got the job.  A big part of the job is creating video content for the library's website, which means  I spent a chunk of my day today learning Final Cut Pro, which is pretty similar to the non-linear video editing software we used at the tv station.  The old adrenaline rush is coming back a little.

4. You're stronger than you think and you can't predict the future
I went into libraries with the goal of working in an academic library balancing teaching, outreach and hopefully finding a way to be creative--that is exactly what my new job is.  Not only that, but it's a brand new position that is more or less a choose your own adventure.  So even though this was my 'plan' there is no way I could have ever predicted that meeting one person in library school; landing one job working horrible hours that gave me library instruction experience; one grad assistantship in distance learning and five years in local news would all congeal to make me qualified for my dream job.

If my previous job hadn't gone to hell, I probably never would have applied for this new one--I needed the push.  Even though my former boss is still looking for work, he's collecting unemployment, and last time I saw him, he seemed much lighter in spirit--I know he'll land on his feet.  My mom is doing well and is incredibly lucky to have access to the best medical care in the world.  She's a little skinnier and a little balder, but I'm going to give her a kick ass scarf when I see her for her birthday in two weeks.

A Review--Smarterbucks

I heard about a website called Smarterbucks a while back, and was immediately curious about it.  It works similar to Ebates, which means that when you shop online at certain retailers, you first log into their site (Ebates or Smarterbucks) and they track your purchases giving you back a percentage of what you spent.  Ebates gives you back cash, but Smarterbucks makes a payment on your student loans.

I was intrigued.  After all, if I'm going to be spending money at certain retailers anyway, it's always nice to get some back, even if it is a mere 2%.  So I signed up, and played around with it for a while.

The Good:

• I think this is a good system, and it's nice to get something back in exchange for letting your purchases be tracked.
• It's really nice to have small payments made to your student loans that you don't even have to think about.
• Something for nothing! Who doesn't want that!?
• They also have the new option of taking online surveys to earn cash toward your loans.
• They have a debit card option that nets you more cash back since you get cash back for everything you purchase and aren't limited to their pool of online retailers.

The Bad:

• Unlike Ebates, which posts your cash back within 24 hours, Smarterbucks takes FOREVER.  It takes literally a month before anything posts to your account.
• They are very aggressive about getting you to sign up for their debit card, which I don't want to do though that seems like the best way to get more free money paid to your loans.  Has anyone done this?  Care to comment?
• Ebates tells you when your next payment is coming, and I couldn't find that info on the Smarterbucks site at all, so I guess it will just be a surprise.
• I didn't find a lot of retailers I wanted to buy from, so I just placed a few test orders with Old Navy, which was only 2% cash back.
• Naturally, getting cash back for spending might make you buy more, so it's a bit of a Catch-22, but when you're spending money you would have anyway, I see no harm in it.
• I tried to take about 20 of their surveys to earn extra cash, but I got kicked out of each one for not meeting the criteria and earned nothing.

Overall, there's no reason why I would discontinue doing this, since it really only works in my benefit.  I'm never going to buy enough stuff that it will have a significant impact on my total student loan debt, but every little bit helps.  It's not a perfect system, but it is new, and they seem to be improving it pretty quickly.

Anyone else have any experience with Smarterbucks?

*This is not a paid post and Smarterbucks has no clue who I am, I just wanted to let people know it exists.

Food Waste Friday: The Trifecta

I am sad to report that this was not a super successful food waste Friday for me, but an example of the times when you just can't help but waste food (unfortunately).

That's 1/2 a tub of cottage cheese, a jar of hot fudge sauce and a small amount of broccoli slaw that turned strangely pink (but still tasted ok).

In the case of the cottage cheese, buying it was a bit of an experiment.  I love cottage cheese, but I'm super picky about it.  To date, the only brands I like are Cass Clay (available only in the midwest), and the Stop and Shop brand.  I can tolerate the Friendship brand, but it's way overpriced.  The one pictured above is Target's store brand, and it just didn't do it for me.  I gamely ate half of it, and meant to choke the other half down, but it was starting to go off and therefore goes into the trash.

The broccoli slaw was good, but I just didn't get around to eating it.

The hot fudge was the most disgusting thing I've consumed in years.  I had borrowed a yonana from a friend, and wanted to make hot fudge sundaes.  I got a really good hot fudge recipe from my mother, but the day I set out to buy the ingredients, I was all overwhelmed and could not bear the thought of searching the whole store to find sweet and condensed milk.  So, I bought Mrs. Richardson's hot fudge, and I'm here to tell you: DO NOT DO WHAT I  DID.  It tastes like brown plastic, and it settled into my stomach like a brick.  You microwave it, and then it immediately solidifies into a hard lump of awful.  I kept it around for a few weeks thinking that maybe I would want to eat it again, but I just don't.

How did you do this week?

Minimalist Inventory--Kitchen

This is not my kitchen, but it's similar

In my increasing push to be more minimalist, I've purged a lot of items from my home, or just not acquired them.  I love the test of ingenuity that comes from not having something, but then finding a way to work around it.  My rule, for the most part, is that I only want to have things in my house that I actually use.  That said, there are allowances to be made for things that don't serve a real purpose but have sentimental value.  Probably the easiest way to do this is to break it down room-by-room.  We'll start with the kitchen, since that's a room people like to buy a  lot of gadgets and just stuff for.

Dishes:  As I've mentioned before, I only have four dinner plates.  This means that if all four are dirty, I have to wash one, but it honestly hasn't been an issue at all.  I have six salad plates that get more use, seven bowls (I'm more than certain I will break one in the coming year, I break a bowl at least every nine months).  I have too many glasses and mugs right now, but I'm deciding which ones to get rid of.  Ultimately, I'd like to have about four mugs--one for coffee, one that's a good size for tea, and two backups for when other people come over and want a hot beverage.  I also have various food storage containers, of course.

Pots and Pans: I have one medium sized sauce pan, one bigger pot that I make mashed potatoes in, and one large frying pan.  The bigger pot gets used the least, but I do like having it around.
In the move, BF took both of the cookie sheets we have (one was good, the other was pretty gross), and I took the pizza pan.  At first I was really worried I'd have to buy a cookie sheet, but I just use the pizza pan for everything.  I don't do much baking, and you can roast vegetables on a pizza pan just as easily as a cookie sheet.  I also have a glass baking dish and a round pie dish that I use for quiche (note to self: make some quiche).

Appliances:  I have a coffee maker, microwave, electric tea kettle, coffee grinder, toaster oven, foreman grill, stick blender, food procesor and crockpot.  With the exception of the crockpot, stick blender and food processor, I use all of those nearly every day, and I got rid of my regular toaster when I realized that I didn't have the counter space for it.  The toaster oven does the same thing.  I don't really use the food processor, so I may get rid of it.  I bought it because I (for some reason) had a giftcard to Sears and had no idea what to buy there, and to make hummus.  Turns out, I have never made a batch of hummus I've actually enjoyed, and I hate cleaning the thing when I'm done with it.  We shall see.

Two other things that I don't use much, but that I haven't gotten rid of yet are my stovetop espresso maker and my French press.

This is because once upon a time, I broke the carafe for my coffee maker and had to rely heavily on the French press.  For some reason, instead of having a backup coffee carafe, I have a backup French press even though I don't really like French press coffee.  I may have also kept it because I kept thinking there would be a time when we didn't have power, but I would need to have coffee.  Now that I've ditched the stovetop kettle for an electric one (faster and more energy efficient), I can't really live that survivalist dream anyway.  Also, I buy my coffee whole bean and wouldn't be able to grind it without electricity--man, I just didn't think that through at all!
 I kept the stove top espresso maker because BF would use it occasionally, but I think it might just be time to say goodbye to that.

Cutlery:  I have about six each of knives, forks and spoons; a pizza cutter, can opener, bottle opener, large and small paring knife and a steak knife that I bought at a rummage sale in 1996.  Yes, there was one time someone brought a pineapple to a potluck I was hosting and we had a hell of a time figuring out what to cut it with, but other than that, I have pretty much exactly what I need.  I initially wanted to get a better knife for cutting vegetables, but the large paring knife works just fine.

One thing that I have in the kitchen that is utterly ridiculous is a pizza dough docker:

It's the very definition of a uni-tasker, but I made pizza professionally for five years, and grew super attached to this little gadget.  Plus, I use it just enough that it proves its worth.

Obviously, your minimalist kitchen will look different depending on how you use it, but this is really working for me.  The dishes can't pile up because there aren't that many, and I don't have a bunch of stuff stored away collecting dust.  I've never read a recipe or had a notion of something I wanted to eat and been unable to prepare it, so I'm doing pretty well, though when I look at this list, it does still seem like a lot of stuff.  Probably a true minimalist would say this is not a minimalist kitchen, but I'm operating on the principle that I use everything I have and that justifies keeping it.