Help Me Decide What to Keep or Not Keep

[harmoni247]

Originally Posted by badmisterkitty I'm working in my kitchen right now.....part of me wants to go NUTS and minimize beyond my wildest dreams, but part of me is trying to stay practical and maybe wants to keep more than we need. First up - the hand mixer. I have a Kitchenaid mixer, so is this a pointless tool now? I haven't used it since I got the kitchenaid. Ditch it, you don't need more than one mixer. Secondly, the waffle makers. I have 2 - one makes 4 square waffles at a time, the other makes one large round one. Thesquare one is really old. The round one is a newer cuisinart. I love them both. How often do you use them? If you only use them a couple of times per year, it may be easier to just buy frozen, or give yourself a treat at a restaurant instead. If you use it often, minimize to one. Kellogg's cereal bowls - we've acquired a large collection of plastic Kellogg's cereal bowls. DH likes them and occassionally uses them for the kids. They are fun and colorful, too. If I got rid of them, we have other bowls, but i'm really undecided on cuteness alone. Ditch them. You already have bowls. I powerbake sometimes, so I have multiple spatulas and whisks, etc. I'm debating cutting back to 1 whisk and 4 spatulas. Does that seem reasonable? I love to bake, but I have the bare minimum I need. I have one whisk and one spatula. If I don't use multiple things at the same time, I can rinse. In other words, I have to have more than one spoon, because I'm not going to rinse in between serving each dinner dish, that's tacky. But a whisk is pretty easy to rinse before the next item and I don't have to leave the dinner table or anything like that. I cut back to 6 mixing bowls. Thinking of cutting back to the Kitchenaid mixer bowl, pampered chef glass bowl and 2 pyrex. we have 6 mixing bowls as well, but ours serve multiple functions. I have 2 large, 2 medium, and 2 small. They are clear glass Pyrex bowls, and so one of the large ones can be flipped upside down to go on top of my glass platter to make a cake platter/dome {I store bread and all baked goods on our counter this way, but can easily pull it off if I need an extra mixing bowl, wash it when I'm done and pop it back on.} Our small ones also serve as our dishes. Me and DH each get one of those bowls to eat out of for soup, etc. I use all of them for baking since they're Pyrex; I use them instead of Tupperware if we are only keeping it in the fridge. {Our stockpot lid fits on the large bowls and our saucepan lid fits on the medium. If we take food anywhere, we re-purpose our mason jars.} Can you combine tasks like that? We make kuchen twice a year. I have 2 pie plates that I contribute to this process, but I don't make pie. What else can I make in a pie plate to justify keeping these? No quiesche. Do you need both, or can you do one batch at a time? Is it for a holiday meal? Could you go early to your mom/MIL {or whoever you visit} and socialize while making your kuchen over there with their pie plates? Can you make it in round cake pans instead? I find those to be more multifunctional. {In fact, on the very rare occasion I make pie, I use a cake pan.} 4 cup measuring cup....? I would count this as a mixing bowl. Stove top popcorn making pan. Somewhat of a family heirloom. I alternate between using this and microwaving kernels in a paper sack.....would I be happy if I just microwaved popcorn? maybe pass on to my sister until she gets tired of it? I use a regular pot. I say pass it on to a non minimalist family member. Canning stuff - if I have a stick blender, do I need a sieve? I have 2 pressure canners and like both of them. One went on the fritz last year, so it was great to have a 2nd until the replacement part arrived. I also have 2 water bath canners that I use almost never because I like the pressure canner better. will I regret getting rid of the water bath canners? Maybe keep both pressure canners and get rid of both water bath canners? I have an extra-large steamer pot. used once and I think I have other items in my arsenal that can replace this. I would keep one pressure canner, and that's it. You don't use the water canners, and if you decided later to water bath can, you can use a pot, right? I don't keep 2 of anything just because one might break. Keep the best one and in the off chance it breaks, borrow someone else's or just wait for the new one. Sorry this is so long, but I just need some guidance and confidence to let some of this stuff go. Thanks for staying with me this far!!

Take this with a grain of salt. I can be ruthless in kitchen minimalism. I refuse to buy and store brown sugar when I already have sugar and molasses for other purposes. I just mix it when I need it. Oddly enough, its only in the kitchen. Crafts are a whole different story.... I still keep blue, yellow AND green paint. I should probably get rid of my secondary colors.

[pgkcb13]

Originally Posted by badmisterkitty Kuchen as I know it is a sweet yeast dough baked with a custard on top. Usually fruit in the custard, like peaches, strawberries, rhubarb or blueberries.

This is basically the same for us. I know Kuchen just means cake, but for some reason this custard-y thing is what people here seem to know as kuchen, lol.

Originally Posted by Serenajean1 What do you mean with kuchen. That's the general word for all cakes in German so I am wondering what you guys mean

Every time I see you post I feel a little envy of you living in germany. I have strong german roots and spent a little bit of time there in the military. It felt like home from day 1, and I still miss it! Some day I'll get back there (DH and I have this crazy dream to drag all the kids over for like a month, hehe)

[badmisterkitty]

Thank you, too, Harmoni! I am trying to be ruthless, too! While also making sure I'm not creating a lot of extra work for myself. If that makes sense.

I had not considered getting rid of both waffle makers and just buying frozen. I do love a good Eggo and they are affordable at Costco or Sam's. I haven't actually MADE waffles in quite awhile because I haven't had time since baby #3 came along. It's something to consider, though. I think a day will come when I do have time again, in which case, keeping the older one that makes more waffles at one time makes a lot more sense.

[harmoni247]

Originally Posted by badmisterkitty Thank you, too, Harmoni! I am trying to be ruthless, too! While also making sure I'm not creating a lot of extra work for myself. If that makes sense. I had not considered getting rid of both waffle makers and just buying frozen. I do love a good Eggo and they are affordable at Costco or Sam's. I haven't actually MADE waffles in quite awhile because I haven't had time since baby #3 came along. It's something to consider, though. I think a day will come when I do have time again, in which case, keeping the older one that makes more waffles at one time makes a lot more sense.

In this case, if its really just a passing phase until you'll use it regularly again, I would give yourself a time limit. Get rid of the round one now, and then resolve to begin using the other one by summertime, or maybe by the end of the year. If you still aren't using it regularly by then, commit to passing it on. I have to give myself deadlines, and even then it can be so hard to get rid of it, but when I actually follow through, I don't regret it.

[SarasynFox]

Okay, I was thinking about this based on what I've done with pretty much everything in my house. I put it away for one month. That's one month no matter how much I need it (because if I really needed it on a regular basis, it wouldn't have been put away in the first place). The idea is hopefully to find a way to work around not having it there. If I can find a way to live without it, I get rid of it. That's how I found out I can live with three mixing bowls (though we've gone up to a set of six with a couple of spice bowls, but they nest so well they're not taking up any additional space.

I've pretty much been doing this with everything, including the kids toys. My daughter has gotten the bug and has decided to give up all of her toys with the exception of two dolls and a few stuffed animals away. Some of her stuff has gone to join the sets of similar toys that her brothers have, but most of it is going to her cousin. She's put it away since before Christmas and has decided after living without it, she hasn't even wanted to play with any of it. It's been a great way for me to eliminate a lot of my excess and now I'm setting a positive example for the kids. They're not afraid of giving up something they're going to miss later because they get to test it out first.