Stretching the Pantry

      We are in the midst of a very slow move. This means we are essentially living in two homes at once, and both with only half our stuff.

      So enough background. The fun result of this is that I have been able to be more adventurous with my dinner choices, including two new sauces that I love that are so cheap to make. These make about enough for two adults, a four year old, and an one year old.


Recipe 1:
  1 can of sardines, drained and boned
  4 garlic cloves, chopped
  Olive oil
  Parmesan cheese (about 1/8 of a cup, but really flexible)
  1/2 pound of pasta cooked(I used penne.)

Just sauté up everything except the cheese until the garlic is golden brown, then toss with cheese and pasta.

My husband does not like canned fish, but he loved this dish.


Recipe 2:
  1 can of crab, drained (I got mine from Trader Joes)
  3/4 cup heavy cream
  5 teaspoons chopped basil (I used the frozen cubes from TJs, love 'em!)
  1/2 lb pasta cooked(I used whole wheat orzo)

Just sauté it all up together for a few minutes on medium low heat and toss with prepared pasta.


Very cheap and my kids and hubby gobbled it all up.

Kittens in a Plastic Bag

I went out of my house a few days ago and found 4 kittens that had been dumped in our front yard. I don't even live in the country! Three looked like they just learned to walk, and the last was pretty bad off, couldn't stand. Luckily I have found homes for these as soon as they are weaned and more independent. I think whoever does this kind of thing (leaving kittens) shows a serious lack of maturity and is weak.

Good Cheap Recipes

I have been trying to cook more at home, and my daughter packs breakfast for school. So I have been revisiting some of my cookbooks. I have re-fallen in love with a book my husband gave my when we were first married. You can't beat old cookbooks when it comes to versatility and creative use of common ingredients.

Surprise Jon!

    Well I surprised Jon with the first weekend without the kids in almost 11 months. It was a blast (okay I cried when I dropped the kids off). It was so worth it though! Yeah for good friends!

Well the "Less" part is going to happen

Well, good news, kinda.

I wanted to do less, and consume less, and now I get to. I just got news that the job I had lined up for this summer got cut. This would account for about 10% of our yearly income.

One change we might have to make is to grow more of our food. Right now we are part of a local organic produce co-op, and we love it, but it is about $13 a week. I'll have to take a look at the budget for the year, and see where else can take cuts.

My DH

I just showed my husband my blog without telling him what it was. He recognized the pictures, he knows it is a blog, but he still doesn't know it is mine. Is this normal?

In the beginnings...

I am at the beginning of a practical journey towards less. My problem is that I enjoy so much!

For instance, I want to do less, but I also like to:
read,
knit,
cook from scratch,
take classes,
teach classes,
volunteer,
garden,
travel,
visit,
host,
raise chickens,
and so on and so on.

I am sure there is a lot of people out there living the dream (whatever that looks like) who are in shock over the direction I am heading or that I haven't got there yet. This space isn't for me to tell others how to get somewhere, but it is the way I am going, in the traditions of blog/diaries that came before me.