+ A lot of what I do at home and for work is about contracting/simplifying/letting go. One of the reasons I do this is to create room for expansion/potential/inspiration. Here are some of the things that have inspired me, or at least made me smile, this month:

1. A California Road Trip Packing List from JCrew. That beautiful image is of BIg Sur which I think is on my birthday getaway list for August!

2. I think Bobbi Brown is great and I used to buy only her cosmetics. We even had the same boss for a little while when I worked at Estée Lauder! Check out this article from the New York TImes on how she spends her Sundays. I appreciate the intentionality of her routine. It reminds me a little of our Sabbath which I must discuss! (Update: discussed here!) She preps veggies for the week (Post-Market Prep!) and enjoys her “one tequila on the rocks, with fresh lime”. ;)

3. I love exploring the world of food especially at the classes at The Cheese School of San Francisco. It was special to learn a lot (and teach a little) at their Honey & Cheese course.

4. Remodelista on storage in a small kitchen! See #4: “Cull your culinary gear”. We can talk about the Essential Kitchen in a bit.

5. A minimalist sleeping trailer for those California road trips? Yes, please… especially if it looks like this.

6. Out of all my blog posts, the one that sparks the most discussion is My Morning Routine. Asian Efficiency’s The 7 Rituals of Highly Successful People recommends waking early, a morning routine, meditation… all the greats! Let’s talk evening routines soon!

7. From SF Girl by Bay: a (somewhat) simplified Victorian to inspire our simplified Edwardian.

8. If you like reading about simplifying, you’ll appreciate Joshua Becker’s 9 New Simple Living Blogs I Highly Recommend. Maybe I’ll make it one year! ;)

9. Garance on her issues packing for travel: “I’m the girl who arrives at her destination with a suitcase so full she can barely get it to roll, and who needs to find the nearest pharmacy immediately upon arriving because she forgot her toothpaste.” She’s working on it and now uses a checklist and starts packing the day before… Lean Packing!

10. Another month, another Spotify playlist!! Lots of lady singers this month! Let me know if you have any favorite songs from the month to add. (And last month's is here.) <3

Mine has been a calm, experimental, warm July. Yours?

I'm sure we all have friends who don’t ever cook or eat at home. It just isn’t important to them and hasn’t been necessary. We also have friends who cook at home almost every night. They have pantries full of ingredients and fridges full of leftovers and condiments.

I’m kind of somewhere in the middle. I love to eat out and explore the innovative San Francisco restaurant scene. But having a little fresh food at home and being able to cook a nourishing meal for my tiny family has become essential to me!

Recognizing your values is a really important part of Essentialism and when it comes to meal planning and prepping, it pays to know why you do it and what your goals are. Are you interested in saving time, saving money, eating healthier, learning how to cook, or learning how to enjoy cooking? Your approach to meal planning and/or prepping might shift over time and it might be different from mine.

In fact, my values now are different from mine a couple of years ago. At first, my goal was about learning how to cook, follow recipes and run the economy of a home. Then, as I was battling financial constraints, it was about economy and less waste. Now... it’s kind of a hybrid with an emphasis on saving time and building community. I still prefer home cooking most of the time and hate wasting scraps and leftovers. There is a joy in nourishing your own body or that of loved ones. What an honor. Whatever the reasons you want to cook with more planning or preparation, these last few weeks we've discussed a number of ways to set yourself up for success:

If you're interested in saving money, consider Meal Planning and Eating Seasonally, The Essentials of Meal Planning, I <3 Progressive Cooking, The Essentials of a Fridge Sort, Zero Waste Shopping, and Bulk Shopping vs. Bulk Shopping.

If you're interested in saving time, consider The Essentials of Meal Planning, I <3 Progressive Cooking, Post-Market Prep, and Overnight Prep.

If you're interested in eating healthier, consider Meal Planning and Eating Seasonally, The Essentials of Meal Planning, Post-Market Prep, and My Lean Pantry.

If you're interested in less waste, consider The Essentials of a Fridge Sort, Freezer Essentials, Lean Pantry: An Introduction, My Lean Pantry, Zero Waste Shopping, and Bulk Shopping vs. Bulk Shopping.

Happy cooking and let me know if you have any other questions about Meal Planning or the Lean Pantry! xo

++ A few relevant links:
+ John Oliver did a great segment on Food Waste! He discusses some of the statistics I mentioned in Zero Waste Shopping.
+ Since I'm pretty organized and rather frugal, I sometimes get asked about couponing. I don't. The Simple Dollar does a nice job explaining why!
+ Remodelista featured Silo, a cool zero waste restaurant in Brighton. “Their waste-avoiding initiatives are exhaustive and startling. They cultivate their own mushrooms in discarded coffee grounds. If you want a receipt, it's emailed.” Woot, paperless receipts!

July Inspiration

Meal Planning and the Lean Pantry: A Recap