Indecision is not my usual mode. I (usually) know what I like + I (usually) trust my instincts. This year, however, I've noticed that indecision has become a sort of recurring theme. I can't decide which trainers or bed frame or job or city to commit to...these don't fit quite right, I don't like the legs on that one, I don't know if we can afford it. As I put off decision after decision...they pile up + it all starts to feel overwhelming. So I'm starting with a plan to decrease my decision making when it comes to meal planning.  :)

As usual, I don't know if my personal thoughts will be helpful to anyone else, but...here are a few of my recent thoughts on forming (or reforming) a system for meal planning:

• Up until now, my system has looked pretty much like this. 
• I'd been wanting to update this system in order to establish a little more structure + make it a little easier + quicker to plan our meals + grocery lists. Even with my system, I am often just a little too stumped when it comes time to make my list. I feel guilty about repeating meals too often, but then end up doing it anyway.
• I watched a video by Minimal Mom the other day + it just felt good to hear that Dawn makes a lot of the same meals over + over. She said that our moms used to do that + didn't apologize for it before recipe blogs + food shows, etc. Sometimes it's just nice to know that other people are doing something. (I don't really know why.)  :)
• When I sat down to work on my system, my mind was still resisting making it more specific. I realize that I often balk at creating a system, because I'm not sure I want to fully commit to it. I think I'll probably fail anyway...or that I'll want more variety...or that I just won't like it. Well, I just had to tell my brain that I want to try this + I can make changes anytime I want to. (duh.)

So...I decided to keep the plan I've been using...but to give myself two actual meal choices in each supper category...for each season. Right now the categories I'm using include:

• pizza
• rice
• soup/salad
• pasta
• root vegetable
• fish
• for 3 (one less for dinner)

Other categories I have used or considered include breakfast for dinner, frittata/pizza, grain bowl + sandwich/burger/taco. I've also considered using origin flavor categories like Mexican, Greek, Italian, Japanese + Indian.

Right now, we eat mostly vegetarian + gluten-free + considering some other food sensitivities, so coming up with meals can feel like a long checklist of can-we/can-we-not. I decided that two meals in each category would allow for many weekly combinations. I also left a few options in the meals. For example, one of our favorite meals lately is lemon rice. The base of it is jasmine rice, a little butter, lemon, parmesan cheese + scallions (because they are in season now!) + salt + pepper flakes. We would all enjoy eating it just like this, but adding peas, asparagus, broccoli +/or radishes along with some protein offers an opportunity for both variety + for using fresh spring produce.

Making seasonal iterations of this plan will offer even more chance for variety + for using the season's offerings. For spring, I chose lemon rice + broccoli/cashew rice as our rice meals. In the summer, I may choose a deconstructed sushi bowl + rice with peanut sauce as our rice meal choices. I've put some suggestions on the other season's lists, but I'll leave those decisions for those seasons.

This process reminded me of what Courtney Carver is doing with her 333 wardrobe challenge. The three month blocks in 333 have always seemed a little arbitrary for me weather-wise, but I recognize that it's more about dealing with the system (+ the vast majority of the decision making) all at once + then living + resting within its boundaries for the following three months.

I hope it's obvious that we can eat whatever we want to...whenever. This system is not meant to be restrictive in any way. It just exists as a helper for coming up with meals week after week.

A few questions I asked myself along the way:

• What would I like to eat every day? What feels nourishing + delicious + healthy? 
• What do my people like to eat?

Answering these two questions released me from feeling like I would not be offering meals that I am supposed to offer. I know this sounds ridiculous...but I had to process that. If I am offering the nourishing things they most like to eat = great! When I think about what I would most like to eat, the answer is short...not varied + long. (A grain bowl.) Great...sweet release.

• Are we getting enough protein?

This allowed me to look at my plan + to see the holes in that one area. I decided to address this by looking at the whole week in order to add a few things to incorporate throughout the week.

I have to say that I feel pretty good about crossing this task off my list. My list looks nourishing + delicious + budget-possible. I don't have to make my shopping list until Friday + it's only Wednesday. I feel like I've done my future self a favor. 

Love,
Jane

No Nasties = fair-trade certified + 100% organic cotton
Carbon neutral product + packaging.
Apparently it can be that simple.

All lovely photos via No Nasties.

Lovely images via Elizabeth Suzann.

Love,
Jane

I am invested in illustrating the possible.
~Theaster Gates

The Simple Folk makes GOTS certified, organic cotton clothing for babies, children + adults. Their pieces are made in Peru. GOTS certification comes with regular residue testing + on-site auditing/inspections throughout the supply chain, certifying not only that the cotton is organic + free from toxins, but also that working conditions include:

• ​no forced labor or child labor
• ​freedom to organize & bargain collectively
• ​safe, clean working environment
• ​living wages
• ​time off + no excessive hours
• ​​no discrimination

All lovely images via The Simple Folk.

A great way to avoid food (+ money) waste is to make the produce we bring home last longer. It doesn't take long for carrots to look like this, though a flabby carrot is still edible...to a point. When I take a little time to prepare my produce for storage after my weekly shop, I can be sure it will last the week. Meal prep goes faster too.

A few ways to make produce last longer:

• broccoli :: wash, cut + put into a jar without letting it dry off first, refrigerate
• carrots :: wash, cut into the shapes you'd like to use + cover with water, refrigerate
• scallions :: wash, cut them up + refrigerate, shake every day

• bananas :: brown bananas can go straight into the freezer with their peels on to be used for banana bread or smoothies, but I find it easiest to peel them when they have spots, break them into a few pieces, put them into a jar + freeze :: when I want to use them it is easy enough to break out as many as I'd like
• apples, lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit :: we keep in them in the fridge (apples separated from other produce, because they accelerate ripening...which can be used to advantage when desired)
• mangos :: I put them in the fridge until the night before I want to use them, when I put them on the counter
• berries + other fruit :: wash + freeze to use in smoothies, muffins or pancakes

My goal is to eat fruit fresh, but I'd rather freeze it than let it go bad.

Love,
Jane

An email from Patagonia got the ball rolling. Patagonia said that they would take back used Patagonia clothing in exchange for store credit. My partner has a few things that he hasn't been wearing much because they are too big...but that are hard to let go. This, however, seemed like a deal worth taking.

Once the pieces were gathered, he looked for further instructions + found that the original call for used stuff had been modified. A couple of emails later, it was confirmed that none of his items would be eligible. (I still thought it was worth mentioning here, because it will work for some.)

​The work of gathering + detaching had been done, so I hoped that a trade of some sort could still go forward. Three long-sleeved tees (couldn't find that last one when I went to take the photo) + two pairs of shorts...for a "new" one of each? Fingers crossed we don't have to let that forward momentum go to waste.  ;)

I thought maybe I could gather some options to sweeten the deal...starting with the long-sleeved tee. On further investigation, I found that Patagonia is now making all of their long-sleeved tees with polyester. Bravo on the fair-trade certified sewing. Bravo on the 50% recycled cotton. But the 50% postconsumer recycled polyester + all the plastic microfibers it will shed with each wear + wash get a "no". 

I was able to find two secondhand, long-sleeved, Patagonia tees in his size on eBay. I also used this ethical tee post to gather these options:

• ​Everybody World :: 100% recycled cotton, made in USA
• Mollusk :: USA grown cotton, made in USA
• Jungmaven :: hemp/organic cotton, made in USA
• Outerknown :: organic cotton, made in Los Angeles

Now the choice is his.  :)

Photos with links via those links. Top photo, mine.

Love,
Jane

P.S. I wrote this post before I had the chance to have a conversation with my partner. He looked at all of the options + we talked about which ones were most ethical. There wasn't much enthusiasm happening, so I asked if he really wanted a long-sleeved t-shirt. He considered when he would wear it. These shirts were only getting worn to mow the lawn + he knew which other layer he'd wear on the few days a long-sleeved t-shirt would be preferable. So in the end...the conclusion was that no replacement is needed (or wanted). And that is the most ethical tee...the one we didn't buy.  :)

Either we all live in a decent world
or nobody does.
~George Orwell

I mostly stick with my homemade lip balm, but when I am (was) out + about I don't (didn't) like using my finger to apply it. Before the pandemic, I bought a locally naturally-dyed, secondhand top (that's a great mouthful) at a local shop + noticed Poppy & Pout sitting near the register. The lovely woman ringing me up pointed out her favorite + I bought it.

The balm smells lovely (even for this increasingly fragrance-sensitive person). It moisturizes well + stayed solid throughout the summer. Poppy & Pout's lip balm is made from beeswax + sunflower oil sourced in the USA, organic coconut oil from the Philippines, essential or natural flavor oils + a drop of vitamin E. It is made in the USA + packaged in a paper tube.

Now it's almost gone + this is the moment I'm most happy that it comes in that paper tube. I'll rip it up a little + add it to our compost bin. (yay!)

Next up...MeowMeowTweet (because that's what I came across next). And also, it is made in New York from almost all certified organic + fair-trade ingredients. Cost-wise, these lip balms are a bit more pricey than some drug store brands. The paper tube, natural ingredients + traceable production are all good reasons for this, but they also contain a lot more product.

Compare:
Regular lip balm :: 0.15 oz
Poppy & Pout :: 0.3 oz
MeowMeowTweet :: 1 oz

That means that I'd need to buy seven tubes of regular lip balm to equal the amount of balm in a single tube of the MeowMeowTweet balm. I'd have seven plastic tubes to discard too. Just a little perspective.  :)

Love,
Jane

Often our sustainable shifts come from intentional work, but we may also have some natural tendencies that we can leverage in the direction of sustainability. Our challenge may be to recognize these tendencies as actual superpowers + to guard them from being unintentionally lost.

Julia is a natural minimalist when it comes to clothing. She just prefers less. Periodically, I bump up against the realization that the abundance + choice I offer as kindness could have the unintended consequence of clouding out (or even training away) her feelings of "enough". It's a sort of comical realization when I spend so much of my own time striving toward this feeling myself.  

I find it encouraging to hear other's perspectives on their wardrobes. Julia's perspective on her wardrobe is pretty simple + I love knowing that it can actually be that simple. Julia + I had a little conversation about some of this + she agreed to let me share it here.  :)  
  
Jane :: How do you feel about clothes? Do you have opinions about what you like to wear + what you don't like to wear? 

Julia :: I like comfy clothes that I can move in + that feel like "me".


Jane :: Can too much clothing start to feel overwhelming?

Julia :: Yes! I only want what I need, and I only need a few things.


Jane :: How do you feel about the fact that your job involves wearing a uniform?

Julia :: I don't really like the uniform, but it's not the worst. I don't have to worry about what to wear, because it's already there.


Jane :: What do you like most about one-piece dressing...like jumpsuits + dresses?

Julia :: It's just all there, and I don't even have to choose anything else.


Jane :: Do you like just having one pair of trainers, one pair of boots, one pair of sandals? 

Julia :: Yeah. I like having just what I need. I don't really want six pairs of shoes. And since it's quarantine, I don't really go anywhere anyway...so I guess there's that too.  :)


​These are a few of the things I see as Julia's ethical/minimal wardrobe superpowers:

• truly wanting to dress with less
• not depending on clothing for identity
• finding contentment in formulas that work 
• recognizing "enough" + not feeling the need to deviate

Thank you, my sweet girl, for sharing your thoughts with me + for letting me share them here! It's super inspiring for me to observe what comes naturally to you. I'll keep trying to do my part to preserve + honor your instinctive knowledge of "enough".

Dear reader, I imagine you + your people have some natural or hard-earned superpowers of your own. Take notice + celebrate + maximize their effects!  :)

Love,
Jane