Learning things from minimalism

Disclamier: I don't profess myself to be a minimalist in anyway

 

I think it is so awesome we can share things so quick via internet, radio, TV, and ect.

A trend right now is minimalism. But really is it a trend?

I wouldn't call those who migrated over to America long, long ago hoarders.

They traveled with just a carry on bag long before we ever did!

We are designed to live on less.

It seems like my generation and the generation before mine just got spoiled by lazyiness.

Why make something when you can just buy it?

And if you can just buy it, why not have 10?!?!?!

 

That seems to be what started the problem.

Now we have a recession (mini great depression?)

People are learning that living with less is not only ok but it feels great.

Bringing us back to our senses.

 

Any true minimalist that came to my basement apartment would probably freak.

"Look at all those jackets! I could fit everything I own into that coat closet!"

Might be something they would say.

Something I've realized for minimalism (I'm talking about extreme)

is that it isn't "kid" friendly.

Teeny Tiny Cars that fit 1 person. 

Houses that are 1sqmeter

Those wont fit a family.

 

Back to our long, long ago ancestors...

Have you ever been inside a replica of a log cabin that was used when people came out west?

Tiny!!! I think my living room and kitchen have twice as much sqft.
Not only that but then the tour guide said, "this house was probably for a family of ten"

Where the heck did they sleep?

Super simple times total family minimalists.

I'm not saying I want to live like that but I think its important to remember what matter most to them.

They were outside probably 90% of the time.

Worked together, Ate together, played together, and slept all in the same room!

And they were happy.

 

I give props to these ancestors I consider true minimalists.

What I take from them is the less the merrier as far as things.

They cooked awesome meals without 5x as much stuff we have.

You can be happy without a bunch of technology and all the latest stuff.

Simplicity is great.

 

Here are a few things I have learned from minimalism:

Minimalist don't get attached to things.

Stuff is just stuff. It seems like they let go of items easier.

I love this idea i don't want to be someone who holds on to something just to hold on to it.

That doesn't mean that I don't have sentimental things I just have less and ones that

mean more. Like I don't have my favorite sea world shirt from when I was a kid.

But I do have pictures of me having fun wearing it.

 

Something else I have been thinking about is my favorite cartoons as a kid.

One thing every cartoon show had in common is that each character wore the SAME outfit every time that character was on.

And it never bothered me. It was part of the characters trademark.

I definitely could not wear the same thing everyday but I do think we have our favorites and we could wear

that at least one a week maybe if our closet is big once every 2 weeks.

What if we could have less shoes?

Maybe less jackets (I am working on it!)

 

Another minimalist idea I want to adapt is IN N' OUT's menu

Its our favorite! Why?

There are like 3 choices.

Hardly any thinking, good quality, and good price!

That is something I think we all could implement more of.

What if my menu was like that?

It would make my life a lot easier!

We didn't narrow it down to 3 things but we did find out our favorites and usually once a week I try a new recipe (just to

spice it up a bit)

And sometimes the new recipe becomes a favorite and replaces something similar.

I have started a "pinterest" cookbook at home where I print out our favorite online recipes. why even buy a

cookbook anymore?

 

 

 

 

This is a room upstairs in my parents domain.

I love it because the decorations are simple yet impactful because there is less.

There is color but not too much. Comfy couches that invite but aren't overbearing.

Everything flows for whatever reason when I think of my minimalism I think of this room.

 

 

Have you adapted any minimalist ideas into your life?

 



How to make your kitchen stuff apartment friendly

I have a small kitchen and a small budget.

But every time we move it feels like I could fill a whole room full of kitchen labeled boxes.

But every move I feel like I get rid of a ton of stuff!

I used to complain about my small kitchen (especially when dining space is small)

but now I'm not only learning to cope, I'm learning to love my small kitchens. 

This is our kitchen we have right now... Super open and at first glance seems pretty spacious. 

Which really it is for a second kitchen in a house. 

How we made it work. Right by the stove was the microwave.

Now we have the kitchen aid. It added a lot more counter space.

Now microwave is right by the table. It uses up counter space that was hard to use anyway.

Now there are a lot of cabinets in this kitchen but only 4 drawers. Compared to our last place that felt like it was all drawers.

Now that you see the space this is what I have and don't have to help make it work.

I bought this restaurant style shelving unit to help with even more storage. 

Its right next to the fridge.

I realize that not every space can fit something like this but get creative. On the top I have gifting stuff. The next one down games, extra heavy food, 72 hours worth of water, more kitchen stuff, camping, ect.  

Storing/cooking/freezing food. These glass snap wares do it all. 

Very multifunctional, very good looking. I can use them for serving

as well and store sauces in the small bowls. 

What I don't have: tupperware, plastic containers. 

They always melt in the microwave and get nasty. 

Pyrex mixing/measuring bowl 

I love this for so many reasons. Its pourable, It has a lid for storing. What isn't there to like?

What I don't have: seperate serving bowls (note this isn't the only mixing bowl I have)

I used to have some very nice big fancy bowls for serving food. If I mixed in them the bowl would 

damage. So I quickly got rid of those and now stick to mixing/serving bowls. 

Dish ware for year round. 

In this picture I'm trying to show you a chip in these dishes. When they chip its really not that bad. 

Which was actually why I bought them. The dishes I had before when they chipped it was so obvious.

These ones almost seem like chips are ok.

They work all year around and are nice enough for everyday and special occasions.

Cute storage.

I love these containers and at $1.00 a piece I couldn't pass it up. These act as decoration and store my sugar.

Also important is this little nook. I use it to store dry beans, pasta, brown and white rice. And Fruit!

Also important to apartment kitchens is child safety. I like these clamps because you don't instal anything and can move around with us.

This is the pantry. You can have a ton of food and live in an apartment. You just need less kitchen tools.

More of a list of dos and don'ts

Do have: cast iron pan

Don't have: Tons of cheap pans 

Do have: A blender

Don't have: bullet, and all those other things they say you need to chop and grind

Do have: enough mugs for a week (I like my hot chocolate)

Don't have: A mug for every plate I own (yuck)

Do have: manual can opener

Don't have: electric (just takes up space and constantly breaks)

Do have: Crock Pot, Rice Cooker

Don't have: unnecessary appliances (think about what you cook the most)

I hope this is helpful. I feel like you get a lot of kitchen stuff when you go to college and get married. 

If you are thinking about downsizing its great. Much easier to find things 

and keep track of everything. More important though is multifunctional. 

Small spaces need multifunctional.

The Oregon Trail Part 1: Brock and Emily get married!

I love Oregon

I couldn't ever live there (something about the sun shining just makes me happy!)

It was so nice to visit though!

Here is Thayne right before we left on his new toy.

We decided to leave on this Oregon Trail adventure because well

Adam and Brock go way back... I mean way back. Pretty sure they have

been friends since they were 3.

This was our first road trip together as a fam! Along the way we found this...

A dinosaur! Thayne just couldn't help but want to touch it and poke its eyes.

Yes, this was actually at a gas station.

First night of the Oregon trail we thought to save money so we decided to camp. Which was super nice.

Thayne had to explore he loved everything about camping.

The most important things I'd like to mention about camping with a baby are

1. BUG SPRAY! (thanks Mom!) Bugs want to eat your baby up as much as you do.

2. Be careful with fire. We could not get him away from it and had to put him in the tent

3. Huge tent=able to take playpen, playpen=safe spot for baby and good nights sleep for them

it was so nice to be able to have the playpen while camping he is such a wiggle worm I couldn't imagine having him sleep in our bed.

Oregon Trail day 2:

After camping we had to travel another 6 hours to make it to the family dinner which was totally fabulous

and made it worth the drive just right there. Unfortunately Thayne was pretty crazy and it was hard to take any pictures.

P.S. I didn't take any cloth diapers for this trip I really did think about it then I thought we are going to be in so many different places and be so busy I better not. BUT I did make some food and took plenty for the days we were there and we only went out to eat once just because we wanted too. That right there saved a ton of money.

I took some pasta salad that I found from Road Trip Recipes 

Everyone loved it and didn't mind eating it for 3 days straight.

I also took a loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly

Another must was bumblebees tuna salad with crackers (super easy for on the go!)

and my favorite lots of pudding!

Oregon Trail Day 3: The wedding

Emily and Brock! They are geuninely in love and we couldn't be any happier for them. So glad they found each other

Congrats you two!



Adam and I...

The Hassell Fam!

It was a beautiful day for a wedding in Oregon! I'm so glad we made it!

It was super busy the whole time but we didn't mind. Brock and Emily Nelson were sealed for time and all eternity

in the Portland, Oregon LDS Temple. There is nothing like being able to be with your family together forever.

Be sure to check out Oregon Trail Part 2:Thayne's Birthday!

My life right now...

I really want to finish my blogging about ebay buying/selling but these boxes say it all.

Moving has taken over. this is our spare room... not so spare any more.

Meanwhile I am trying to not let the chaos take over my life and enjoy the little things like...

Thayne can creep

I finally realized my little man of nine months is a picky eater

This morning I figured out his favorite foods

Sweet Potatoes, Malt-o-meal, and applesauce

thats all he wants oh and he likes yogurt.

My serving of malt-o-meal...

or so I thought Thayne ate half of it!



The town had an Easter egg hunt but turns out it was a
candy hunt. Thayne picked up two candies

and he wouldn't even look at me.

Packing is going really good. We might be able to leave a day earlier than we thought.

I'm really tired of feeling like we are camping in our own home.

Don't worry as soon as everything settles I'll do all the ebay stuff.

I'm pretty excited to brag about it.

Chicken Pot Pie!!!

My first chicken pot pie!!!

It turned out pretty good. It was a little runnier than I wanted but I just looked at the recipe again and figured out why... I didn't put the flour in!

Here is the recipe:

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 3/4 cup of chicken broth

2/3 cup of milk

2 cups cooked chicken (chopped into 1 inch pieces)

10 oz. package of frozen mixed veggies

1/2 tsp. of salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp celery seed (optional)

Pie crust

Blend together butter and flour over low heat until smooth and bubbly.

Remove from heat

Stir in chicken broth and milk or cream

heat to boiling

boil and stir one minute

Stir in the rest of the ingredients (besides the pie crust of course)

Place everything into the pie crust (which is in a pie pan I used 2 8" pie pans because thats what I had)

Bake at 350 for about 50 min. Put foil over top so it doesn't overbrown about the last 20 min.

Thank you Michelle for the recipe!

I did a homemade crust and it was amazing!!! Hope you enjoy!

Just another day at the Castle of Hassell

Just Another Day at the Castle of Hassell!!

Yes I actually came up with my own recipe...

"Go-go moms smoothie"

Doesn't everything here look so good???

So I made this up yesterday and it was so good I thought I'd better share it

What you need:

Blender

Quick oats (1/3 cup)

Frozen blueberries (2 hand fulls)

(or some other kind of frozen fruit)

Peanut butter (2 TBS)

(could easily do just one I just love peanut butter)

Applesauce (1 quick pour around 1/4-1/3 cup)

(I used homemade sugar free)

Banana (just 1 medium)

2% Milk (1 cup)

(could easily use soy milk)

Put them all in the blender and there you go! So yummy. And notice how no sugar was added? Didn't need it. All the fruit made up for it. Try it out and leave me a comment if you tried it.

Yum! Made enough for just me

P.S. this cup was filled I had to drink a ton then I thought I better take a picture.

Reusable Bags

I would do a tutorial on this but... there are a million out there. Just google or look it up on pinterest.

Just make sure you DON'T use PUL

I used 100% peva (bought the cheapest shower curtain you could find)

It turned out really good!

Onto us...

Thayne is 7 1/2 months and is as cute as ever

He can say, "hi" (first word)

and "ya"

he wont say them on demand but he will randomly say them its so cute.

He can roll too easy and eat Cheerios he is growing like no other as you can see in the

next picture...

we love him so much!!!

Proud parents! I told Adam I needed a new profile pic and...

Should I dye my hair blonde? I'm really thinking hard about it

I saw Rihanna's hair and really liked it.

Adam-still working away.

He treated me to the best weekend ever we got to dress up and go dancing and skiing/snowboarding.

Me-oh you know everything about me! Just living the dream!