Surprise Brownies

I have a scarf and a headband to share soon, but first let me tell you how you can simultaneously bake delicious brownies (from mix) while finishing off that can of black beans in the pantry!

You puree the can of  beans, then mix them into your brownie mix and bake. See? It's so easy.

These brownies have more of a cakey consistency (and I prefer mine to be fudgy-thick) but they taste the same as normal brownies do. I mixed in some chocolate chips and added some sprinkles on top for fun, but otherwise just followed the recipe I linked above.

Nathan probably only put up with such "healthy" shenanigans because we were out of oil anyway and couldn't follow the box directions, but even he agrees they're tasty. :)

Rebirth

Spring is upon us, and in the spirit of the renewal of nature around me, I feel a desire to attempt to work on this blog again. Similar to last time, I'm about to move (in exactly one month from today, eek!) and I'm eager to get my household simplified before we leave. The ideas behind this blog keep coming back to taunt me ("Oh, this would be SUCH a great post idea!!") so I'm giving in, with the hope that posting regularly here will motivate me and keep me on track.

Restarting this effort two years after initiating it, however, requires some restructuring of my purpose:

I hope to document how I reduce, reuse, or re-purpose things as we prepare to move, and before we move, how I make the most of the things we already have.

After our impending move, I will see how much I can do to establish a home without buying new from stores, "eliminating" unnecessary waste by using old things. Along with this, I plan to continue to use up my trunk full of art supplies, working through them to satisfy my creative urges and to rediscover my artistic abilities.

I have several re-purposed clothing projects coming up, as well as an art project I'm teaching the 5th/6th grade class at a local school, so check back in soon!