I live by my to-do lists. I am even one of those people that if I don't happen to have it on my to-do list but it is something I have completed I jot it down on the list and then cross it off! I know, you can call me crazy!
Since starting our whole food & natural living journey several years ago my lists have become longer and much more time consuming. Sometimes this leaves me exhausted and wondering why I try do everything I do. I often times dream of what it would be like not to have a 40+hour/week job and all that I could accomplish. Even though I work in a home office, I still do not get much done outside of my office during work hours. I may start a load of laundry at lunch, but it is usually still sitting in the washer when I finish up work that evening!
Several weeks ago I talked about my real food journey. If you haven't already read the post I encourage you to check it out. Along side my journey of changing our eating habits to more whole foods we have also become more "natural" or "green" in the other areas of our life--hygiene, laundry, cleaning, and the list goes on!
Just like the real food journey we have taken baby steps in our natural living. These two areas basically go hand in hand--if you are doing one you are probably focusing and working on the other. Even with the baby steps in this journey it can become overwhelming, especially with my personality! Once I have an idea in my mind I am annoyed with it until it is complete. This can be exhausting and annoying.
Since I only have a few hours in the evening and my weekends, I usually have a jammed packed to-do list. The items include both house keeping tasks (laundry and clean toilets) and the baby steps I want to work on for natural living . Many of the baby steps take planning and preparation, so they usually are on my list for several weeks and possibly months! There is always so much I want to do, just not enough time to get it done.
You may be wondering what kinds of things keep me up at night and what wish I had more time to do......here are a few things I have on my master "to do" list. This is the list of my thoughts and ideas of things I would someday like to get complete:
Start Composting
This is a great thing to have with a garden. This is going to take lots of research because I do not know much about the art of composting. If any of you compost or have any recommendations please share!
Have a "real" garden next year
This year I only planted tomatoes and peppers since I was packing and moving during the time I should have had plants already growing. I have them planted in pots since we are living on post and they would not mow if I put a garden in the back yard! Growing them in pots work great, but I would love to have a section of land to actually plant other things like beets, potatoes, onions, lettuce, cucumbers, pumpkins, and the list goes on! I am so excited for next year because there is a community garden on post which I plan to use. I need to start the planning process of what I will grow and how to grow them. Again, if you have any gardening tips or suggestions please share.
Perfect my bathroom and kitchen scrubber recipe
I am not 100% satisfied with it and would like it to have a little more scrubbing power!
Get my home business up and running
I have always had the "entrepreneurial mindset" and dreamed of owning my own business. I discussed some of that here, check it out if you are interested. Since we can not dump money into an actual storefront I am pursuing my dreams of owning a business by opening an Etsy store. I am in the research & testing phase but hope to have it rolled out in time for Christmas shopping!
Read my big stack of books
I always have a big stack of books in the living room that I want to read. Unfortunately, I always put off reading to work on other things. I am trying to read a little ever evening which is helping get my stack of books smaller. The books in my stack right now include What to Eat by Marion Nestle, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, Vegetables in Pots by Deborah Schneebell-Morrell, Your Farm in the City by Lisa Taylor, and Friendship for Grownups by Lisa Whelchel. What books are you reading right now?
Find a local source for milk, meat, and eggs
This one is at the top of my list right now. I had no idea how lucky I was in Salina to have a wonderful food co-op that focused on food that was local, chemical & hormone free, and grass/pasture fed animals. I'm struggling finding local farmers or a food co-op to purchase food. Any Alabama people have good connections to local farmers or food co-ops?
Canning Tomatoes
I canned tomatoes while I was home a couple weekends ago. Now that I know what I am doing I plan to start canning as soon as I start getting red tomatoes on my plants!
Find and make a recipe for dish washing soap.
This is about the only cleaning type product I still buy that is commercially made. If you have a good dish washing soap recipe I would love to have it!
I have actually been working on this post for a few days and yesterday I came across a post at Simple Organic discussing this topic! This post has some great tips on what to avoid so you do not become overwhelmed while trying to live naturally.
Til' Next Time,
HI Andrea, Boy you have a long to-do list just like we do! I'm glad that I'm not the only one!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting about roasting peppers. First of all, I don't put them in the oil in the zip-lock bags . . . just for when they are in the frig for up to one week (they never last in there a week anyway). I freeze them 'as is' (there's a photo for this). Just discard your oil that you used.
For using: dice them up to put into pasta sauces, to layer in sandwiches, to incorporate into dips, to serve 'as is' on an Italian appetizer platter. Just google "roasted red peppers recipe" and tons of ideas will come up. I also go to Food Network where the chefs use them quite a lot in their recipes.
I hope that helps answers your questions. Let me know how it goes!!!!
Keep up the great blog too! PS: I don't know where you live, but you mentioned that you are starting up an Etsy business. If you log on to 91.5 Chicago Public radio, I am being interviewed about successful marketing strategies on the web for hand-made products . . . . tomorrow morning, the 29th. It will also be on their internet web-site if you're not in Chicago-land (I'm not either!).
Roz