Out With the Old, In With...the Old

Right around the time I started my Whole 30 I did something major...I got rid of my toaster! Okay, that may not seem major, but I had been thinking about doing it for a long time, but couldn't pull the trigger. Even though it's not technically paleo, I do occasionally like to eat a piece of toasted rice bread with butter and sugar-free jam, especially if my stomach is upset, but I don't think it was just that. I think there was some sort of emotional attachment involved, as if the toaster were symbolic of an irreversible change. When I stopped to actually think about it, I recognized that it's just a freaking toaster! Worst case, I could always buy a new one, but of course so far I haven't missed it at all.

With it went my old 12-cup coffeemaker since I always make my coffee in the Aeropress these days (thanks to Freecycle both went to a good home, along with my old crock pot as well) and ever since I have been hoping to do some major kitchen reorganization. What started as taking out the trash quickly turned into that (don't ask, I have no idea how) and soon the space where the toaster and coffeemaker had been held my new crockpot and my food processor:

I cannot tell you how many times I have muttered strings of expletives as I wrangled the food processor in or out of its spot in my cabinet to the point that I opt for not using it if possible so I am really excited that it now sits on my counter!

I also pulled all of the flour type products out of my cabinet and put them in a bin that went into the closet on my deck for storage:

That created a lot of room in my very limited cabinet space so I could clear clutter from my counters, which left moving my cooking oils (canola, grapeseed, etc. have been replaced with healthier nut oils, coconut oil, and ghee) to a more accessible (and cooler) place:

I also freed up some room for my meat grinder and my finishing salts!

And since I was on a roll, I even hung the magnetic board and dry-erase calendar that I ordered back in September!

The magnetic board will be used for dog training stuff to keep me motivated. I just need to order the custom magnets I want so I expect that will be done in another 6 months or so.

This kept me from accomplishing many of the more boring cleaning tasks that were on my to do list, and I didn't get any cooking done either, but I am SO happy to have some room to work in my kitchen again. Loving to cook - and having to do a lot of it to stick to a paleo diet - in a tiny galley kitchen really stinks so every little thing helps.

Today won't be a total cooking lost though. I defrosted 5 lbs of Polyface pork fat and scored a 5 lb bag of pork bones and some trotters from Ferguson Family Farm* that I picked up at a drop-off today. The former will be going in the crockpot overnight to be turned into lard and the latter will be going in the oven overnight to make stock. Both are going to be used tomorrow to make that pork bucco I mentioned with the shank I also picked up today. It's a porky kind of weekend!

*Incidentally, Ferguson Family Farm is the farm that I recruited to vend at my local farmers market since the previous vendor seemed to have some questionable practices. She follows Polyface's models for raising chickens, beef, and heritage breed pork and her meat is delicious and in most cases, reasonably priced. I'm lucky to have regular access to her product, even in the winter!