Bean Salad with Lemon Dressing


This past week seemed unusually whirwindish.  It might have been because I decided to put in a new shelf in the laundry room, rip the entire contents of our office closet out and back in, going through the kitchen cupboards and weeding out the unwanted, reorganizing my cookbooks, and putting in a new microwave.

The garage is a disaster.  I kinda use it as a dumping grounds when I'm in house organizing mode.  I'll know I'm done with organizing for a while once I clean the garage.  For some people, that's left to the men, not around here.  Sure, Tyler will help out, but I think I use the garage more than he does (minus the pull up bar).

So I think it's safe to say I'm feeling spring cleaning, only about a month early.  Really though, I just want to minimize.




Right now I'm cooking my first batch of beans (on the stove attempting to boil as I type).  I need to step away from the cans.  I think they will be great to have on hand for last-minute stuff and food storage, but I would love to make this my new habit.

Not only will this be cheaper on our weekly budget, but food storage is so easy to think about when you know what to do with the food.  Beans store a long time, so I can see this being a good thing to add to our list.  Also, cooked beans can be frozen and used later = cook a big pot, stick some in the fridge to use soon, and some in the freezer to use later.  Win win.



I found an awesome new blog to follow, A Tasty Love Story.  Josephine is a student in Denmark and cooks using whole, organic, and seasonal foods.  This is a recipe from her blog and I definitely recommend checking out some of her recipes. 

Bean Salad
From A Tasty Love Story

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1.5 cups cooked edamame beans
1 big or 2 small avocados, diced
1 red onion, finely chopped (I used green onions)

Dressing

3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme (I didn't have this, but it still tasted great)
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Go to her blog to get the instructions.

*Add only half the dressing first and then add more as you want.
**Adding diced green peppers and celery would give this a great crunch, too!



And coming up on the organization list this week:

1. Kids artwork (from said office closet) - I'm taking pictures of it all, uploading to shutterfly, and printing books from the different years.  I want to incorporate in pictures from that year too.  Then carefully selecting a couple things to save and recycling the rest.

2. Decor - I have way too many frames that aren't being used.  And that goes for other decor stuff as well.  I need to really decide what makes the cut and share the goods if they don't.

3. Redecorate my living room shelves - I need to come up with another good display.  I'm excited when someday we can have all 4 shelves hold things rather than just the top 2.  Thank you toddler in the house!  :)

4. Organize loft closet.

Embrace that organizing is a constant.  It will feel too daunting to think about how many more times you'll have to do it, until you give in that it's just part of your life.  Kinda like the fact that kids just don't sleep - there will always be someone hungry, having a bad dream, wet the bed, fall out of bed, etc.  Give in and enjoy it!

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