One of my favorite rooms in the house, no kidding, is the kitchen. I love to cook. Grocery shopping is my favorite errand. Since The Simple Year project started, I’ve been streamlining our overstuffed kitchen, as evidenced by a bunch of previous posts. There’s always this running commentary going on in the back of my mind whenever I’m in the kitchen. Do we use this regularly? Is this utensil/serving piece/gadget really necessary? Can something else serve its purpose?

Over spring break we headed to Costco to use the rebate from our Costco related American Express credit card. I’d heard through a friend on Facebook that they had the Vitamix for sale. I’ve been wanting one of those bad boys for years. And when I say years, I mean, like YEAAAAAAAARS. But I could never justify the price tag. The price on the Vitamix last week was the lowest I’d ever seen. So we pounced.

It’s so pretty. And works great. And I’m loving it.

And having the Vitamix means we don’t also need an ice cream maker, food processor or Ninja blender. So I’m in the process of selling those. I’ve unloaded the ice cream maker and the food processor and have two interested buyers for the Ninja. If that one comes through (I’m crossing my fingers!), the money from the sales added with the Costco rebate will cover the cost of the Vitamix.

And within one week, my kitchen has two fewer gadgets. Zero to complain about there. I’m having lots of fun trying different recipes for the Vitamix and my eating has gotten a lot cleaner since. I’m pretty much focusing my diet (meaning way of eating, not a temporary way of eating while you lose weight) on plant-based foods which makes meal prep a lot easier. And, score, so far I’ve lost 7 pounds without ever being hungry.

I’m still providing meat and dairy to Stephen and the kids, but I’ll be honest, the kids aren’t enormous meat eaters even when it’s provided. Stephen is eating less for whatever reason, but he still does eat some. We’ve been watching a lot of documentaries on plant based diets, which is having an impact on both of us.

I can’t complain about the increase in kitchen space, although to be honest, it’s not like we don’t have plenty of it. But I replaced three gadgets with one, which makes me happy.

Do any of you have a Vitamix? If so, please let me know if you have a favorite resource for recipes! Happy Wednesday everyone.