Blog writing has gone by the wayside recently with summer travel and visitors, house showings, and my new-found love of making all things yummy… from scratch. Yogurt-making is going well and I can’t see much of a difference in my electricity bill by using the stovetop for keeping the yogurt-in-process between 90 and 120 degrees.

So, on to my next project…

It’s been fun to try some other recipes from scratch, like this hummus from Food in Jars. I used dried garbanzo beans (about 2.5 cups) instead and only one lemon juiced and made about 16.5 ounces of hummus. This lasted us a good couple of weeks, making for a healthy snack whenever a hunger pang struck (often for me as a nursing mama).

The cost to me for 16.5 ounces was about $3 compared to about $6 at Costco for Garlic Hummus. A 50% savings from food-processing a bunch of ingredients is not too shabby. Again, because this is something we eat alot of, so it’s worth it to me to make this from scratch.

Stay tuned for more of my kitchen adventures, my newest way to Simply Live.

Have some leftover envelopes from your child’s recent birthday party invites? Or some those Christmas cards you never got around to filling out?

Make some cute little gift bags from envelopes using this idea from How About Orange.

Love this video at DesignSponge on creating sunprints. The perfect activity for a beautiful day when you’re looking for something creative to do outdoors - by yourself or with the kids!

Pretty huh?

We went to our first farmer’s market of the season this weekend and picked up our monthly meat share recently. Now one of our favorite ways to spend a Saturday, we look forward to what is growing NOW in the area and coming up with healthy meals.

The more I read and learn about our food economy, the more I want to support these local farmers who are working so incredibly hard to grow and raise such delicious food because they are passionate about it - not because they are making the big bucks.

Wanted to share this post I came across on Simple Bites, another new favorite read. Good food for thought on food sustainability. Another push for us to consider whether we’re willing to take the plunge and buy all (or most) of our food locally, and freeze/can enough to get us through the winter months.

For a year we have gotten all of our meat from a local farm. We have only needed to buy fish (when we can’t get the local seafood at our town’s farmer’s market) and additional meat for large gatherings (like hamburgers and hot dogs for a BBQ). The meat is delicious and I know the farmer that raises the meat on a first name basis.

During the summer months we try to buy as much of our produce from the farmer’s market as possible and have had a garden in our own backyard the past two summers. One of our challenges is making the time to learn new recipes using the produce available to us. What does one do with 10 zucchinis?

I’m working on a plan to incorporate more local food, and on a limited budget. Would love to know what you think about local food.

Are you part of a CSA?

Do you grow your own veggies?

Do you have your milk delivered from a local farm?

Plan ahead and find a farm near you and what’s in season when!

You won’t regret a fun family outing (or some quiet solo time outdoors), the satisfaction of eating fruit fresh off the vine, and you can even make the goods last by picking enough to freeze or make into jams.

Over a year ago I began using more vinegar in everyday cleaning at home. From the coffeemaker to the dishwasher, kitchen floor and countertops, I’ve been slowly incorporating using vinegar where I’ve used chemically-based products in the past.

That’s why I was very excited to come across…

1001 ways to use vinegar!!

I’m excited to try out some new uses, particularly in the laundry and gardening departments. Yes, I know it’s slightly odd to get excited about such things, but on my quest to simplify, weeding out unnecessary toxic products is at the top of my list.

Have any of you been using vinegar more regularly? Any uses not working the way you’d expected? Would love to hear your thoughts and tips!

I recently put together a little care package for my sister, who just moved out of state. It was fun to put together and an easy way to say “I’m proud of you” and “happy new home”. From ingredients in our pantry and a few empty jars, sis and her roomies have some goodies to have fun with.

Included in the package was:

• Brownies
• Chocolate Bar
• Homemade taco mix
• Pancake mix
• Homemade granola
• Homemade strawberry jam
• Handmade bottle cap refrigerator magnets

I just added tags made from old cards with instructions to the jars. Send in the mail with lots of padding and well wishes.

As spring is about to…well…spring, I’m reflecting on how my life has changed in recent months. Just over six weeks ago (!) I gave birth to our son, Eliott, and these have been some of my most beautiful, and simple days. Stopping everything to focus on this once in a lifetime gift - our first child…becoming parents…not sleeping very much - gives us a whole new perspective on life, marriage, relationships, priorities, time. I’m excited to get back to the blog and share some of the things that I’m learning as a new parent regarding simplifying each day, caring for the environment, and living creatively. Of course, not every post will be baby-related, but there may be more of that as it applies to my own life. I was recently reading this post on Simple Mom and definitely related to the task-oriented personality type (no surprise there). As a new mom I’m focusing more on being people-oriented, namely my family. And I’m loving it.

The first date night with hubby post-baby. Date nights are important...even with baby in the picture!

Thanks for reading over this last year. I look forward to sharing more and hearing your thoughts.

Courtney

Just a quick hello to announce the birth of our son, Eliott, born January 27 and weighing a whopping 9 lbs, 7 oz. While hubby and I get to know our sweet little guy, I’ll be taking a short blogging break.

Stay tuned for more ideas to simplify your life, add more eco-friendly habits to your days, and how to make handmade projects galore. Consider this blogging break one way to simplify. When your life changes, slow down and cut some things out to adjust and enjoy. You won’t regret it.

So many of us make resolutions this time of year regarding healthy eating. We have found meal planning to be the best and only way to stay on track, even when we have lapses from time to time.

Organizing Your Way’s 31 Days of Organizing for a Better 2010 offers several versions of weekly menu plans. Try them out, incorporating your grocery list around your plans for the week and think about not only dinner-time, but also your other meals and snacks for the day.

And a tip in the grocery store: Focus on the perimeter of the store and avoid the aisles as much as possible, where all of the “bad” stuff sits. Limit yourself to one meal per week from these aisles.