I wish I could say this idea was my own, but it’s shamelessly ripped off. 
James “Dr. Momentum” Burke came up with this notion. Get a clear glass cutting board (which is a good kind of board to use anyway, especially if you’re cutting poultry or other foods that tend to spread food-borne illnesses, because it’s not porous), and use it to keep your cookbook a) open, and 2) clean. They’re not great for your knives, but for hot things, prep space, or when you’re using your cruddy knives, this is a pretty good idea.
Even if you’re not using a cookbook, but instead a printed-out recipe, you’ll save scads of counter space by sliding the recipe beneath the cutting board.
I’m going to replace my bleachable solid-surface cutting board with a tempered glass one this weekend, just so I can do this!
You may have seen or heard of this no-knead bread from Sullivan Street Bakery in New York. “The Minimalist” — Mark Bittman — has mixed and changed it up, but the original recipe still seems to work the best for me.
The toughest part of this recipe is finding space in the fridge for the container of dough. I’m not kidding. Water, flour, salt, and yeast. That’s all. Mix it up, cover it, and leave it for at least 12 hours (or a couple of days).
The loaf of bread it makes is chewy and glutenous, which is my favorite kind of bread. (My husband prefers an airier bread, so I’ll still make some bread the conventional way, too…but I love this stuff.)
Dutch ovens can be a bit spendy, if you go for the high-brow Le Creuset line. However, any conventional cast-iron lidded pot will work just fine, and you can get one at Target for $20. Check out the video for step-by-step instructions, and let me know how it comes out!
It’s New Year’s Eve. Planning on starting your diet tomorrow? Doesn’t everyone go on some kind of diet January 1?
If you are, think twice about buying Slim Fast. Why? Well, all the prepared stuff has Splenda in it, and the canned powder stuff has aspartame in it. Blech.
How about making your own SkinnyCheapFast? Make yourself a couple of Carnation Instant Breakfasts, just add water. Want the extra boost of fiber? Add a serving or two of Benefiber powder. It winds up being cheaper than Slim Fast, only a few more calories, and all things being equal, it’s more nutritious, without Splenda or NutraSweet. And it tastes better.
SF CIB x2 w/ water Benefiber
Calories: 220 260 20
Fat: 3g 2g
Fiber: 5g 2g 3g
Protein: 10g 10g
Sugar: 34g 40g
Vitamin A: 3% 70%
Vitamin C: 100% 90%
Calcium: 40% 50%
Iron: 15% 50%
Sodium: 220mg 160mg
Cost: $1.25 84¢ 16¢
Carnation Instant Breakfast Rich Milk Chocolate
Slim Fast Creamy Milk chocolate
Prices today from Amazon.com.
The Slim Fast costs about 25% more than the Carnation Instant Breakfast (after you add in the cost of the Benefiber), and has less iron, calcium, and vitamin A, and more fat and sodium. The Instant Breakfast does have 18% more sugar, but it has no artificial sweetener, which on balance is a win. Slim Fast has a slight win in vitamin C, and a big lead in fiber, but adding a bit of Benefiber evens that right out.
So, do what you will this New Year, and make the best of it. Eat plenty of vegetables, get lots of exercise, and if you are going to use diet shakes, I hope you feel better informed!
Now, yes, there is a small problem with this comparison — I’m comparing a powder to a liquid. But with the Carnation Instant Breakfast, you just add water, because there’s already non-fat milk powder in it. With the Slim Fast powder, you have to add milk, and that throws off the cost and the nutrition content. To some people, this is comparing apples and oranges. To me, well, I would either get Slim Fast in a can, or get CIB in powder (just add water). I don’t always have milk handy, especially at work, so that’s the reality of the comparison. I wanted to compare a complete meal replacement to a complete meal replacement.
Just a quickie here — if you knit or crochet or do anything else with yarn, you may want to see this homegrown yarn ball winder. All you need is a stand mixer and a toilet paper roll. PERFECT.
Tags: simplify, time saver
Just as there are cat people and dog people, there are shower people and bath people. I’m in the second of each of those pairs. I don’t currently have a dog, but I do have a bathtub. And I loves me some bath bombs. 
You can get these at places such as Lush for about a bazillion dollars. They’re huge, and most of them smell like flowers. I want bath bombs that smell like buttered popcorn, or chocolate mint, or freshly cut grass, not just flowers. I want glitter in ALL my bath bombs. Also, did I mention they’re expensive?
For about $10 in supplies, you can make a year’s worth of bath bombs for yourself, or to give away as gifts. YES YOU CAN. You need a bowl, a couple of kinds of easy-to-find powders (baking soda and sour salt — AKA citric acid powder), and some water. That’s all! You can add color with store-bought McCormick’s food coloring, and you can add essential oils or perfume or glitter or whatever you want. But you can do it!
Excellent Living Guide has some of the best instructions around. Get your materials, use a shot glass to pack and shape your bombs, set aside two hours this weekend, and make ‘em!
Have you ever looked at something beautiful, functional, or otherwise wonderful and said, “Oh, I could never create/do that.”
Of course you can.
I learned the basics of sewing when I was a child, at my grandmother’s knee. But I never really took up sewing. I always marveled at the things other people could do, but no, I couldn’t do that. One day, decades later, I decided, you know what? I bet I can sew. I bought myself an $89 sewing machine, and motivated myself with the realization that if twelve-year-old children in China could do this, you know, I probably could too. I don’t have to be perfect, especially not right off the bat, but I have to try. 
In the years that have followed, I’ve tried everything I can get my hands on. I bake bread, I crochet, I cook venison that I watched come out of the deer. I solder, program computers, and bind books. One day, I’m even going to try to make pencils.
Why? Because I can. Because life is short, and there’s so much joy in proving that, well, yes you can. Or, as my husband says, when the apocalypse comes, I’ll be in very high demand. Every few days, I’ll jot down something that’s simple enough for you to take on yourself. “Simple” in that it really only takes deciding to do it.
So come on. Start doing stuff you’d never imagine yourself doing. Not every day, not all the time. But regularly, and confidently. What’s the worst that can happen?