We all have our guilty pleasures. Despite being a practictioner of plant-based nutritarianism and an armchair detective of nutrigenomics, it'd be terribly insincere of me to deny how much I really enjoy the addicting taste of certain processed junk foods, pop tarts being among my favorites since my college days. Although I strive to methodically apply the science of holistic eating to my family's meal plans on a daily basis, I have my shortcomings. I'm not a perfect mother nor do I pretend to be, which is why I have a basket in our pantry specifically designated for grab-n-go, pre-packaged, extra processed convenience foods. Ideally, this junky basket wouldn't exist if it weren't for the fact that having young kids means our hectic mornings start extra early and are often rushed, and despite our best efforts, we still end up finishing breakfast in the car, arriving at our destination just in the knick of time if not a few minutes later. I'm not proud of it but, as a mom, those little toaster pastries are a breakfast saver! Thankfully, with a little meal-prep playtime and lots of planning, satisfying alternatives to the proverbial breakfast pastry can be realized.

For the pastry dough:
2 cups of oats
1/3 cup of solid coconut oil (stick in the fridge for a few minutes if your oil has liquified; it must be solid for the pastry dough)
1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup of golden milled flaxseed meal
2-4 tablespoons of ice water

Filling:
Natural fruit preserves of your choice. I used strawberry.

Icing:
Confectioner's sugar OR a scoop of vanilla protein powder of your choice blended with 2-4 packets of stevia (to taste) in the food processor
fruit preserves
Milk of choice (I used organic vanilla soy)
​
1. Make the Pastry Dough
Run the 2 cups of oats through a blender or food processor until it becomes a fine powder (oat flour). Add the solid coconut oil, applesauce, and flaxseed to the blender and process until it begins to take the form of a crumbly pastry dough. Remove from the blender/processor and place in a mixing bowl. Add 2-4 tablespoons of ice-cold water and knead the dough with your hands until it all comes together. Divide it in two and wrap each ball of dough in plastic wrap. Stick them in the fridge for 20 minutes or in the freezer for 10 if you're short on time. You'll want to set a timer because if it sits in the cold too long it will harden and become difficult to work with in the next step.

2. Roll the Dough
After the dough as been chilled remove it from the fridge or freezer and place it between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper to make the rolling process easier and mess-free. Use a rolling pin to smooth it out to about an 1/8 of an inch thickness.

3. Carve out the Tart Bottoms
Carve out as many pieces as you can before balling the dough back up and re-rolling it. You can use a rectangular cookie cutter for that commercial pop tart appeal, but I didn't have one so I used a cute heart-shaped cutter instead. Place the cut-out pastry shapes on a nonstick cookie sheet sprayed with Pam or coconut oil; these will be your pop tart bottoms.

4. Apply the Filling
Spoon about a teaspoon or two of fruit preserves onto each tart bottom and spread it out leaving a little border for the seal. Don't overfill or they may explode when the fruit filling reaches boiling point in the oven.

5. Top the Tarts and Seal
Continue carving out tarts until no dough remains. Place a carved pastry tart over each pop tart bottom. Press the edges down with your fingers and then press them down again with a fork for that pretty pastry aesthetic. Use that same fork to poke several sets of ventilation holes on the top of the tart lest you want to spend your evening cleaning berry guts and burnt pastry out of your oven.

6. Chill and Bake
Spray the tarts with some cooking spray (I used coconut spray) to encourage browning in the oven and return the tray of tarts to the fridge for about 25-30 minutes before baking; you really want to ensure that the coconut oil in the dough doesn't melt. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chilled tarts at 350 for 25 minutes and allow to cool before applying the icing.

For the icing: take a cup of confectioner's sugar, a teaspoon or two of fruit preserves and a few teaspoons of milk. Mix until you get your desired consistency. I recognize that confectioner's sugar is a worrisome ingredient and not one you'd want to incorporate often, especially if you plan to make these in bulk batches and freeze them as a part of your family's meal plan, so as an alternative you can sub out the powdered sugar for vanilla protein powder (whey or plant based such as rice protein) processed with a few packets of stevia or monkfruit for that powdery confectioner consistency.

Decorate:
You could top these with sprinkles for a truer reinterpretation of the original but unfortunately I didn't have time to go out and buy sprinkles made of naturally derived food color. I find, however, that the berry fibers in the fruit preserve do a good enough job at giving this recipe the festive look of sprinkles and a healthy dose of color.

Verdict:
Having tried these myself, I must submit that they do not taste 100% true to original, as the creamy coconut and nuttiness of the oats give it a slightly different flavor-- a robust, complex, and satiating flavor that tells of its whole foods, domestic origins. However, I actually prefer the richness and complexity of the homemade version to the original. Even my husband and two-year-old can vouch for that as they have become disinterested in the store bought variety, craving instead the homemade ones. The fact that my two-year-old ate three right off the bat and wanted to trade her cookies and cream Pop Tart this morning for the one mommy made says a lot, especially when you consider that us millennial mommas prepare tons of inspired, healthful, pinterest-worthy meals only to have our toddlers stubbornly reject them on a regular basis (or maybe that's just my kid and me... please tell me it's not just me!).

Alternatives:
If being plant-based isn't a priority for you or your family, you could probably sub out the coconut oil for cold butter or ghee and achieve a closer match taste-wise. You could also make this completely fat free by replacing the coconut oil with another portion of applesauce.

Lactogenic properties:
As a nice little bonus, these homemade tarts are lactation boosters made primarily of two potent galactagogues: oats and flaxseed. If you are a fellow breastfeeding mother, this may be a nice change of pace from overnight oats and lactation cookies.

I do hope you'll give these a try. Let me know how it turns out for you and what modifications you make to suit your nutritional needs. If you're a fellow pop tart fan (I'm assuming you are if you're reading this post and you've read this far), what's your favorite pop tart flavor? If you couldn't guess from this post, nothing tops strawberry in my book.

​I look forward to sharing more fun recipes soon.

Much love and good eats always,
Ali

I mentioned in my last post that one of my personal development goals for 2017 is to become more creative and resourceful in order to run our household at maximum efficiency. As a nursing/pumping and full-time working mother on a minimalist mission, I've come to value pragmatics and efficiency very highly.  One of the biggest changes that I've implemented in order to work towards this goal of maximum efficiency has been the transition from a traditional bucket and stick mop to a steam mop, a game-changer that not only frees up the limited space in my cleaning cupboard but also produces the most immaculate, hygienic floors I've ever had in comparatively less time and with little strain on the lower back and knees (pregnant gals, you feel me?). (For a more in depth look at my weekly cleaning routine, check out this post.)

​Steam mops utilize less water than traditional mopping methods (about 16 ounces of water covers our 700 square ft tiled floors) as they convert water into hot steam that loosens dirt, allowing the microfiber mop head to remove it with one pass. In addition, steam mops disinfect with high heat eliminating the need to use of harsh chemicals that are neither good for our lungs nor the environment. All this aside, if there's one thing I missed about traditional mopping, it was the clean scent of citrus and lavender that would fill the house as I mopped. Nothing screams freshly mopped floors like the powerful smell of "Mistolín" and "Fabuloso." Am I right, my fellow Latinas? Granted, the lemony lavender scent in most common floor cleaners comes from cheap artificial fragrances that expose us to an unfortunate multitude of respiratory irritants and neurotoxins. But, gosh, did that scent ever reassure me that the house was getting cleaner by the minute! Steam mops are a different creature altogether. Because steam mops clean with steam alone, and their water reservoirs should never be filled with anything but distilled water, meaning no vinegar or cleaning solutions, there are few options for achieving fragranced floors.

As it happens, the steam mop that I purchased, the Bissell 1940 Powerfresh, came with samples of a product Bissell makes for enhancing the steam mop experience, a fragrance disc that diffuses a floral lavender scent throughout the house while the steam mop is engaged. The coordinating microfiber removable mop head even has a tiny mesh pocket on the inside to accommodate this fragrance enhancer should you choose to use one. Given the rave reviews and popularity of these scented discs, it would appear that I wasn't the only member of the steam mopper population who missed that "clean smell" upon making the transition; there is a definite demand for this sort of product.

​I'm not one to turn down a free trial so I gave the fragrance discs a shot. I found that they worked well enough at producing a lingering floral scent. Unfortunately, since switching from plugins and scented candles to essential oils and natural soy/beeswax candles, any artificial fragrance, no matter how pleasant the initial whiff, nauseates me after a period of prolonged exposure. By the time I was done steam mopping with the fragrance disc at work (about 15-20 minutes later) I needed a glass of water and a long rest on the sofa. Even if the scent hadn't been so grating on my olfactory system, I just can't justify spending almost a dollar per unit on a one-time use disposable product, especially when you consider that I mop our floors on a weekly basis. Not only is it wasteful but it isn't cost-effective. And so, although I loved the concept, I would not repurchase the product. However, I would take the concept and rework it using resources I already had on hand. 

Essential oils are one of the most versatile long-term investments in homemaking efficiency that one can make. Quality oils from reputable distilleries are a minimalist luxury worth every penny; I, personally, purchase my oils (the ones pictured in this post) from Florihana, a top-notch French distillery that produces oils of the highest quality I've ever experienced at a remarkably reasonable price point thanks to the appropriately placed emphases on transparency and eco-conscious cultivation methods instead of pushy, scripted MLM campaigns, but I digress... Essential oils have a long shelf life of several years if stored properly and kept in cool dark environments and a few drops go a very long way because of how highly concentrated these plant extracts are. Initially, I was drawn to essential oils as a natural alternative to popular domestic amenities such as wall-plugins and scented laundry beads, but the benefits of essential oils reach well beyond simply smelling nice. Many of them have therapeutic, medicinal properties. A few of the more common and relatively inexpensive oils have antimicrobial properties which are fantastic within the context of chemical-free household cleaning. Lavender, lemon, and tea tree oil in particular come to mind when exploring ways to disinfect the home environment while making it smell fresh and inviting. And so, with this knowledge in mind, I decided I would incorporate my favorite antimicrobial essential oils into my steam mopping routine. 

For this hack, I applied a few drops of lemon and lavender oils to a cotton round. 3 to 4 drops of each oil is enough to get a very full-bodied fragrance going. I sometimes incorporate peppermint, as it a known insect repellent; as a South Floridian, I am always looking for ways to keep ants and critters out of the house during rainy seasons and rather than pay top dollar for a fumigator to bring destructive toxins into my home. And of course, it helps that I truly enjoy the sweet scent of peppermint. A word of caution to breastfeeding mothers and mothers of young children: peppermint may reduce milk-supply if a lactating mother over-consumes it or is overexposed to it via diffusion. Likewise, it is not rated as a "kid-safe" oil as it may irritate a child's respiratory system. Thankfully, the few times that I've diffused it both my children and my milk supply were unaffected. 

I used disposable cotton rounds that I had in my bathroom cabinet but ideally this hack can be made waste-free by making your own reusable cotton rounds. It's as simple as cutting up old t-shirts and worn textiles or repurposing old absorbent nursing pads from your last breastfeeding journey. If your steam mop doesn't come with a pocket for a diy fragrance disc, you can either sew your own into the inside of mop head or simply stick the fragrance disc inside the microfiber mop head freely.

I hope these tips are useful for you, whether you are looking to minimize your homemaking routine or not. If you try out this hack, please let me know in the comments below. What's your favorite oil to diffuse while cleaning?

Until next time,
​Ali

Hello, friends and family! If you follow me on social media (Instagram & Facebook) you may have noticed that I gave myself a two week hiatus from technology as a minimalist birthday gift to myself. Withdrawing from daily social media interactions is good for re-calibrating the mind and eliminating the invisible mental static that builds up over time due to prolonged periods of cyberspace overload. It just so happens that at some point in my rejuvenating birthday break, my old faithful Lansinoh pumping bra, having worked overtime for my children through two breastfeeding journeys, decided it would retire to the lonely, dank world of "Bra-zkaban." It leaves behind an irreparably broken zipper and Oxi-resistant milk stains-- the proud marks of a dedicated lactation garment. However, in its untimely departure, it also takes with it the understated luxury of hands-free pumping. Having spent more than I'd like to admit on yummy birthday food and new nursing tanks (it took me two breastfeeding journeys to realize just how worthwhile and liberating nursing tanks are!), the prospect of purchasing another $50+ pumping bra was upsetting to me. And so I did what any "pinteresting" minimalist momma does best: DIY. 

Admittedly, I've never been much of a DIY'er. In the past, I've been able to come up with great ideas but my clumsy, artless hands are just not crafty enough to realize my vision to perfection, leaving me with no choice but to abandon my craft in utter frustration and disappointment. I recognize that over-idealism and perfectionism are more of a hinderance than a motivator when it comes to actually completing DIY projects so this is an aspect of my personality that I'm working on. One of my personal development goals this year is to be more resourceful and patient when creating my own solutions to daily hurdles such as hands-free pumping. Thankfully, designing a DIY pumping bra is so simple that even an inexperienced DIY'er like me can do it.

This project only takes five minutes and has saved me a nice chunk of change. What I like best is that it has given purpose to a forgotten cotton night-nursing bra that was taking up space at the bottom of my lingerie drawer. I never liked this bra much for night nursing or exercise but it's nice to see that not every purchase that hasn't met my expectations needs to end up in a donation bin or on an Ebay listing. There's a great sense of accomplishment when implementing thrifty modifications to bring new useful life and practical value to something that didn't spark joy or serve a purpose before.

If you are in need of a hands-free solution to pumping (what multi-tasking momma isn't?), I do hope you'll give this bra hack a try. 

Put on the bra of your choice and adjust your breasts accordingly for a natural fit. Using a marker, mark the location of each nipple.

Place the stem of your flange on the mark you made in Step 1. Trace around the flange with a marker to outline the area of fabric that will be removed in order to create the slits that will accommodate your flanges during pump sessions.

Using a pair of very sharp scissors (such as the kind that seamstresses use), cut over the circle that you traced in Step 2. I personally find it easier to carefully fold the fabric circle drawn onto each "breast cup" in half and cut along the lines as if it were a semi-circle. Whatever your approach, when finished, you should have two circular slits in each "cup" of the bra. 

"Look, ma! No hands!"

Put on your re-imagined lactation bra, insert your flanges, and pump away as you enjoy a matcha latte and avocado toast, page through a good book, watch Youtube videos, or write for your blog. Lord, my "millenial" is starting to show... 

I'll be posting another quick, easy five-minute DIY (DIY Under Five) in the coming days so come back and visit soon!

Saludos!
Ali

A rainy first week of June in Miami inspired me to write up an article on the Danish concept of "hygge," terribly appropriate given the gloomy, unkind weather conditions. (If you're not sure what I'm talking about or haven't read the first two-part of my Hygge series click here.)  Although here in Florida we don't get much in terms of winter, we do get plenty of rain in the summer, enough rain, in fact, to justify canceling beach plans and staying home if we can help it. But thankfully, the home front is where hygge thrives.
 
In this series, I'm exploring the concept of hygge and how to create it through the senses, since hygge is as much as sensory experience as it is a social one. Last week, I discussed ways to create visual and auditory hygge. This week, we're diving into olfactory, gustatory and tactile hygge, in other words, lovely smells, comforting foods, and soft textures. You'll find that although I've broken these suggestions down by sensory type, many of these come together beautifully to transform ordinary points in our day into memorable warm moments of contentment.

One of the first things I did when I started my minimalist journey was trade in our wallflower plugins for essential oils. Not only are essential oils a healthier alternative to scented plugins but they are much more potent than artificial fragrances and less likely to induce olfactory fatigue (when your nose becomes immune to a certain smell due to overexposure). This is largely due to the fact that you can diffuse different oils at different times of day, keeping your sense of smell engaged and your sense of olfactory hygge satisfied all day long. There are many essential oils that work remarkably well for calming the nervous system through aromatherapy, thereby reducing anxiety and increasing your level of contentment. For the purposes of creating hygge, whenever I want our home to smell inviting and homely, I tend to gravitate towards warm choices like cinnamon and coffee as well as happy citruses like tangerine. Other fantastic choices include: vanilla (pairs well with cinnamon, coffee and certain citruses), peppermint, and lavender. I find that it makes my day all the more cheerful if I diffuse different lovely scents throughout the day. 

Preparing a home-cooked meal together as family or with friends, might be the most hyggelig thing on this list. Cooking with your favorite people makes mealtime all the more intimate. Instead of going out to dinner with your loved ones, invite them over to create a delicious stew, roast some colorful vegetables, and bake a no-knead loaf of bread (the kind that won't stress you out or leave a floury mess on the countertops). This isn't the time to learn to boil lobster together or pop champagne bottles. This is a time to make simple meals that are hearty and comforting: soul food.

If your pantry isn't properly stocked, you can ask each of your hyggelig friends to bring an ingredient or two. If cooking together with culinarily-challenged friends sounds like a recipe for burnt pans and takeout, remove the source of the stress, by having a potluck so that everyone can bring something scrumptious that is already made. It is best to keep the number of invites low so that your kitchen doesn't become overcrowded and, more importantly, so that the intimate atmosphere is sustained. Too many people over the house will put you in the pressured position of "host" and you won't be able to relax the way you would with a few of your closest pals.

Although a beautifully set table adorned with candles and fresh flowers can establish a wonderful setting for hygge, the family room floor provides an even more intimate one for leaving all the dining hall formalities behind. Back when my husband and I were carefree, honeymooning newlyweds, Sunday night was our favorite time for hygge (although the term wouldn't be familiar to us until the Oxford shortlist of words for 2016 was published). We'd throw down a few throw pillows (is that why the call them "throw?"), lay out a soft comforter, and serve dinner on the storage ottoman we use as a coffee table (yup, the same one from my toy clutter post). At the time we owned an antique Tiffany lamp that we'd turn on for instant visual hygge.  I fondly remember the subdued kaleidoscopic backdrop the stained glass provided while we chatted away over a fresh-baked za'atar maneesh and a bowl of labneh (our favorite Lebanese dishes) about how we were going to solve all of the world's problems... or simply take it over. Those were probably my favorite date nights of all time.

Indoor picnics are no doubt a great opportunity to get to know each other, or better yet, to rediscover each other while relishing the earthly pleasure that is good food. So the next time you have your favorite hyggelig friends over for a meal or want to turn a rainy date-night with your significant other into an unforgettably cozy experience, skip the dining room, slip into your favorite stretchy pajama pants, put on some fuzzy socks, and grab the softest comforters and pillows you can find. Take the time to appreciate the soft textures hugging your skin as you explore the minds of those you love through deep, evocative "table talk" about anything and everything. And don't even think about turning this into a "Netflix and Chill" kind of night. The point of this exclusive picnic is to be present, that is, having lovely, meaningful conversation, developing a deeper appreciation for your closest friendships, and savoring every bite of the food you enjoy together.

Whoever said that we needed to follow social mealtime conventions? Hygge deliberately defies all the formal constraints imposed upon us in our daily lives for the sake of personal comfort. If we can serve a meal on the plush, pillowy floor of an indoor picnic setting, then we can certainly have hotcakes and hash for supper. I'm ending this list with what is, quite frankly, my favorite suggestion for the most memorable gustatory experience: breakfast for dinner. Whether you crave variety and spontaneity in your home-life or you're a simple breakfast-lover like me, having breakfast for dinner one night a week is sure to break the dull monotony of a typical meal-planning regimen, especially for venturesome foodie families that enjoy heterogeneity in their menus. Breakfast foods, particularly the American variety, are naturally comforting as they are meant to gently ease your transition from sleepy to wakeful, from bed to the table and out the door. The inherently comforting nature of breakfast foods makes them a perfect, albeit pleasantly unusual, dinner option for a night dedicated to hygge.
​

So there you have it! Four more ways to create hygge moments via the senses. Although I've sorted hygge by the senses through which it can be experienced, it is also important to consider that hygge is as much a philosophy as it is a sensory and emotional experience. It is a way of life that advocates indulging without excesses and luxuriating in the present moment. It is a quiet, unpretentious luxury that anyone can create for themselves, whether they adhere to minimalism, maximalism or fall somewhere in between. It is my hope that this series inspires you take time to generate more hygge in your home-life Thank you for your readership.. 
​
Beijinhos,
Ali

This past weekend saw the close of my latest interior design project: our office play nook. I never saw myself as the type of mom to give my kids a playroom, especially not in our modestly sized home. The advent of the whole playroom thing is a maximalist American trend that milks the excess of space in oversized suburban homes for what it's worth; playrooms aren't the norm in most other countries. Admittedly, most suburban homes in the U.S. are blessed with more square footage than an average sized family knows what to do with, hence, all the non-essential luxury spaces like: walk-in closets, guest rooms, offices, man caves, and, you guessed it, playrooms. Granted, I'm sure that there are plenty of smaller scale American homes that can afford to sacrifice certain spaces for the nonessential purposes of childhood recreation. Ours is an example of the latter, a home that covers our family's needs beyond measure without being incongruously huge; we are a family of four after all, and our open-concept 1400 square foot townhome is comfortable enough to grant us the luxury of personal space while keeping us close together all the same. We don't need more than that and could honestly live with less.

Our home is a standard 3 bed/2.5 bath, and because our children are still quite young, they will be room-sharing until their personal needs for privacy increase, freeing up one room in the house which, up until recently, was used exclusively as an office/workspace. Now, if you read my kid clutter post, you know that one of my secrets to controlling kid clutter is by creating play nooks throughout the more frequently inhabited areas of the home, play nooks that are easy to tidy and aesthetically harmonious with the home's design. In our case, the two areas in which we spend most of our day are the living room (downstairs) and the office (upstairs).

That said, we didn't have such a play corner upstairs which often led to file boxes being opened, office supplies being displaced, and electronics being mishandled at the curious hands of our two year old. My husband and I spend a fair amount of time in our office space. For him it's a place to pore over legal documents, communicate with clients, and advance his secondary career as a writer. For me, it's where I grade papers, plan lessons, write blog posts, and pump (usually while doing all of the above). We never leave our children downstairs without supervision (or anywhere for that matter), so we take them with us to the office when we need to work. Given the time that we spend up there, it's important that we share this space peacefully with our children.

The play corner strategy has proven to be an effective one for adulting in harmony with toddling toddlers; the play table in our living room keeps our two year old from exploring our very interesting kitchen cabinets and scaling our oh-so-climbable bookcases. Very rarely do I find myself redirecting in this area of our home so in order to achieve this same effect in the office, we'd need to create a play nook there too. I decided that the play nook would need to be entertaining enough to keep her from venturing into our workspace. It would also need to be gender neutral for baby brother to grow into, take up relatively little real-estate in the way of square footage, and run on lots of imagination fuel, maximizing the pretend-play possibilities well beyond their toddler years. And, because I'm a self-proclaimed design snob, it would have to look whimsical enough for children without being too cringy for adults.

After much brainstorming, pinning, visualizing and ultimately putting it all together, here are the results...

Throughout most of my home I've stayed within a muted color palette of soft grays, whites, and varying shades of taupe with selective pops of divergent color. However, I decided that for the sake of making this play nook the happiest little place in the house, I myself would play outside of the comfort zone of my usual color choices. I'm quite satisfied with the synergy of the colors and patterns that I chose. I love the interaction between the cool, soothing mint and warm, cheery coral; these soft pastels add color without being loud and overstimulating. The pattern play between the tribal print on the teepee and the rugby stripes on the area rug keeps things visually interesting without getting too busy. The result is that perfectly balanced sweet spot between playtime and downtime.

I chose as the centerpiece of the play nook, a trendy mint teepee with a subtle southwestern pattern. The selection of a teepee over another play table or a mini playhouse was intentional. The teepee, much like the play table downstairs, is a natural gathering point, which means most of the active play time and toy clutter will gravitate towards the teepee and not all over the office floor. In addition, it has that "grow with me" quality that I look for in larger ticket children's items; I can see the teepee evolving with my children as they go from playing "house," to having sleepovers, to using it as a cozy reading/study nook. Heck! Even I love hanging out in this teepee and I'm well into my twenties.

I dressed up the teepee with a few throw pillows, one on each side to hold open the flaps of the entryway. These pillows make the teepee an even cozier place to snuggle up with a good book or have an afternoon tea party with a few stuffed animal friends. I particularly love the way the messages on these pillows align so perfectly with the notion of exploration and happiness through imagination. Within the teepee, I've placed a "hot air balloon"canvas bin that holds their "upstairs toys" and a couple of cuddly blankets. When not in use, the toy bin is tucked away discretely in the corner of the teepee. ​

On the main wall we hung 18 inch white wooden letters that spell out the very function of the nook, defining the space and setting it apart from the office function of the room. They were a pain to hang, as the holes on the backs of the letters were poorly planned but my tenacious and clever husband overcame the impractical design. And I'm glad he did, as I really like the way that the letters add dimension to the wall without outshining the pieces in the forefront.

I added a sense a whimsy to my children's personalized reading chairs by accenting them with these fun cloud and sun pillows. The chairs are the regular-sized Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chairs, which I happened to catch on sale. I wouldn't recommend purchasing without a generous coupon, as they are overpriced. These chairs come in three different sizes. I chose to go with the medium size because the smallest looked like it wouldn't last past the toddler years and the largest was not significantly larger than the regular chair. I've personally sat in my kids' Anywhere Chairs and I find them to be supportive enough for my adult height and weight, comfy even, so I expect that these will be  "grow with me" type items that can be used for years to come.

At the far left corner of the nook, I've styled the narrow vertical wall space with a playful unicorn head, a vibrant "Happy Place" sign, and a whimsical cloud-shaped bookshelf. The shelf is quite stable but I wouldn't load it up with much more than a small selection of books as it isn't designed to hold a lot of weight. I rotate the books from the nursery library weekly so that the selection on the cloud shelf is always fresh for teepee time.

By far, my favorite design choice for styling the teepee has got to be these LED fairy string lights. They were fairly inexpensive and do not need to be plugged into any outlets. I simply wrapped them around the poles and let them hang down the sides of the teepee fabric. My daughter loves turning them on at night before bed; it makes story time so much more magical and "hyggelig." 

Perhaps having a play nook like ours does not align with minimalism in the strictest sense but it does align with a few of the principles of domestic minimalism: the intentionality of surrounding yourself only with things that bring you joy and setting strict limits on clutter. We've been mindful to avoid filling this space with an excess of toys by limiting toy storage to one modest toy bin (if the toys don't fit, it's time to declutter). Unlike most playrooms, the idea behind our nook is not to house an abundance of toys; toys are not the main attraction.  It's the teepee and reading chairs that are the true stars of the play nook, acting as the launch pad for the most minimalist plaything children have: imagination. 

I hope this tour of our play nook has inspired you to take on some new creative design projects in your home, for yourself or for your children. Thank you as always for your readership.

Até já,
Ali

Lately, there's been a word trending on social media that has caught my attention as a language teacher and has captured my heart as a minimalist. It is neither English, Spanish, nor Portuguese (the languages in which I am proficient) and doesn't seem to have an equivalent term in any of these languages. You may have noticed the #hygge hashtag popping up on Instagram. "Hygge," pronounced "hoo-guh," is a Danish word that encapsulates a feeling of contentment and well-being that is homely and charming yet luxurious in a uniquely understated way. The danes are some of the happiest people in the world, despite their long, dark winters, and many attribute their satisfaction in life to making a little time for "hygge." 

Hygee is low-key luxury. It is not loud or proud. It isn't about treating oneself to retail therapy when stressed or taking expensive get-away vacations when tired. It's about creating a warm and inviting atmosphere at home, alone or with friends, an atmosphere that feeds one's passion for the here, the now, and the everyday. It is about being present, acknowledging the little things and emphasizing them with rituals that make them all the more delightful. Rushing through your first break of the day while chugging down insipid powdered coffee in a styrofoam cup that's been reheated for the third time this morning (any fellow teachers out there feelin' me?) is clearly not hygge. Making time on a quiet evening to sip your favorite hot beverage in a pretty vintage tea cup while wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket and engulfed by the plush cushions of a large chaise as you admire the orange sunset outside a nearby  window... now that is hygge. 

You may think that your life is too noisy and fast-paced for such quiet, slow pleasures, but truthfully, hygge is the best medicine for an overtired person who is half-heartedly shuffling through the motions. Hygge can be made to fit into anyone's routine no matter what their work schedule or personal life is like. It's all about identifying opportunities to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

So now that you know what hygge is, let's talk about some ways to bring it into your home. Today I'll be discussing 4 ways you can achieve a "hyggelig" atmosphere through vision and sound, visual hygge and auditory hygge respectively. (Be sure to look out for Part 2 of my Two-Part series on hygge where I'll be discussing the social, gustatory, tactile, and olfactory dimensions of hygge and sharing 4 ways to create them at home.)

Minimalist blogger, Jenny Mustard, said it best when she stated in her hygge themed video, "Overhead ceiling light is where hygge goes to die." There is nothing more harsh and unforgiving than overhead ceiling light. It does nothing to flatter our features and nothing to enhance our mood. If you want your space to feel inviting and intimate, especially in the evenings, when there is little natural light pouring into your home, strategically placed table lamps and floor lamps are the way to go.

Back when I was a student attending university and living in the dorms, I inherited a vintage emerald green floor lamp from my roommate, a gift that I couldn't have appreciated more  given the cold cell-like nature of most dorm rooms; if standard household ceiling light is where hygge goes to be killed then overhead dormitory light is where hygge goes to be massacred. The happy light the vintage lamp cast on our bland, sad walls transformed our dorm from a prison cell to a charming studio apartment. It truly was the perfect complement to our quiet evenings in, when we would engage in all sorts of philosophical discussions, trying to sort out all the mysteries of the universe over a pot of rosemary tea. We never dared touch the light switches. That kind of lighting was far too severe and "un-hygge" for our cozy evening tea. 

Although table lamps and floor lamps are very effective ways to warm up a living space, they are not the only pathways to creating visual hygge through accent lighting. String lights, fairy lights, and lanterns are also enchanting ways to bring a tender glow to your home. Feel free to hang a few lanterns and dress the headboard of your bed with string lights or, better still, drape them over the frame of your favorite window. If you're looking for something even more atmospheric than what incandescent accent lighting can provide, keep reading. The most fool-proof source of visual hygge  is next. 

There are many ways to incorporate the comforting warmth of candlelight into everyday activities. You can bathe by candlelight in the evenings, make a lit candle the centerpiece of your dining table at mealtimes, or light a candle on your nightstand while you lose yourself in a chapter of your favorite book before bed. Perhaps a realistic flameless candle is the way to go if you fear that your rambunctious toddler will knock your lit candle right off the table, an unfortunate event that, apart from being hazardous to your family, is hazardous to your hygge: instant hygge killer. Whatever you decide, just be sure to keep your home environment free of neurotoxins by choosing naturally scented soy candles or purifying beeswax candles over the mainstream artificial kind which are some of the biggest players in the problem of domestic air pollution. 

No one appreciates the value of silence as much as a teacher. As a teacher myself, some of the most revitalizing moments in my day are those short breaks where my students are out for specials and the classroom, a place constantly booming with the sounds of book bags rolling in and the echoing thunder of students' voices as they collaborate on learning tasks, is overcome by an unusual silence. After a storm of active learning, surging with the brilliant and satisfying sparks of "ah-ha!" moments,  comes a much needed calm. 

Our lives are filled with so much noise, whether we are teachers, students, office workers, or stay-at-home parents. Whatever it is that we do for work, whatever our livelihood, noise is bound to infiltrate our work space and living space. Sometimes it's a jarring physical noise, like the honking sound of car horns at a traffic halt as you make your commute. Sometimes it's the mental static that keeps you up at night, robbing you of sleep as you yourself ponder how you are going to rob Peter to pay Paul. Sometimes these noises are wonderful, such as the sound of students engaged in learning. Sometimes it's an intellectual wave of thoughts and ideas that inspire us to take on new creative projects. Whatever the source, it is important to make time for silence in our space.

​Turn off the television, power off the phone and all other electronics, turn down the lights, and just be still and "enjoy the silence" (yes, like the Depeche Mode song). You can take this time to meditate for mental clarity or perhaps start on that book you've been meaning to read for a while. If you are a Christian like me, this is an opportune moment to put yourself in the Lord's presence, as it is often in the sanctity of silence that we can hear Him answering our prayers, those same prayers our hearts whisper throughout our noisy days. 

Although there's a certain sacred quality to silence that makes it a special way to bring auditory hygge into our lives, there is also a soul-kindling quality to playing soothing, mood-setting music that is just as transformative. I have fond memories as a child of my mother preparing dinner with the lights turned down and Dulce Pontes's "Lagrimas" album playing in the background. The delicious smells filling the kitchen and mingling with the ethereal yet rustic sound of Pontes' rendition of "Povo que lavas no rio" is a nostalgic memory that has been forever imprinted on my heart. Whenever I need to break the monotony of daily tasks, such as setting the table and prepping dinner, I load up my favorite "fado" on Pandora and let myself become inspired. 

If you don't know what "fado" is, it is another one of those words that has no true translation in English; perhaps the closest translation would be "fate" given it's similar linguistic layout. The Portuguese word "fado" refers to a genre of music that is unique to the Portuguese culture. Although much of fado is typically mournful and expresses "saudade" or longing, many fados are songs about everyday life in the rural countryside and by the sea that are contemplative but not necessarily tragic. It's this "rustic" quality that makes fado such a hyggelig experience for me, personally. Your choice of background music doesn't have to be fado but if you want to be swept away by the hauntingly beautiful sounds and voices of the mountainous Portuguese countryside, dotted with a charming array of fish markets, cow pastures, and ancient Roman abbeys, all from the comfort of your own home, I recommend running a Pandora search for Dulce Pontes, Amalia Rodrigues, or Maritza.  

Ultimately, whatever your choice of soul-soothing music, whether Chopin, Barry White, or Fado itself, let it put the magic back into your cozy evening and transform an ordinary evening at home into a stirring, rustic experience. So pick your favorite sentimental track. And, to be clear, by sentimental I don't mean sad or angry, just something charming that makes you feel warm inside and makes your hairs stand on end because of it's overwhelming loveliness ("algo que te eriza la piel," as we say in Spanish). This is not the time to listen to break-up tracks nor is it the time to rock out to "melt your face metal," as my husband would say. So save that Slayer album for another time.

There you have it: 4 ways to make your home look and sound warmer, cozier, and hyggelig. 
Stay tuned next week for Hygge Part 2: 4 More Ways to Have a Hyggelig Home, where I will be discussing ways to enhance the social, gustatory, tactile and olfactory dimensions of this wonderful philosophy.

Until next time, stay cozy, friends!

Beijinhos,
​Ali

 Ever since becoming a mother of two under two, I find I have less time to cook than ever before. My diet has taken a big hit as a result, as I've been relying on takeout and delivery more than I'd care to admit. As someone who loves cooking, eating clean, and also wants to run a more minimal household, this upsets me. Ideally, we should be meal planning and cooking/eating every meal at home but this is a skill I'm still developing as I juggle my duties as a mother, which include (but are not limited to) frequently nursing my son and pumping for my toddler, and my duties as homemaker, keeping our home tidy, clean, and orderly. Come August, when my maternity leave is up, returning to my full-time teaching position will be added to that list.

Thankfully, my interest in Korean cooking led me to discover how quick, simple, and satisfying many Korean dishes are. What I love about many of these recipes is how they emphasize a variety of vegetables and whole grains over animal products. Although many recipes, including the one I will be sharing with you today, traditionally include some meat and eggs, it's very easy to convert these recipes into plant-dense vegan meals due to the heavier emphasis Eastern cuisine places on plant foods. Unlike a lot of Western cuisine, the meats in many of these dishes act as flavor agents but do not comprise of the substance of the meal. The fact that such recipes lend themselves to easy personalization means you can tailor them to your family's specific tastes by changing measurements or swapping out one ingredient for another. It's almost impossible to "mess up" one of these meals so you don't have to worry about winding up with something completely inedible for dinner if you don't have the same exact vegetables on hand or use precisely the same  measurements. 

"Bibim guksu" was the first Korean meal I learned to prepare. It is a simple dish of noodles and spicy red pepper sauce. Although it is usually served with thin wheat noodles called "somyeon," I've prepared this with whatever noodles we have on hand, from spaghetti to ramen, so if you don't have thin wheat noodles just use what you have in your pantry. There are a few ingredients on the list that you will need to secure beforehand in order to achieve the vinegary, salty-sweet spiciness that makes the flavor of bibim guksu so distinct: gochugaru, which is a spicy red pepper powder (not the same as American red pepper flakes!), and gochujang, a spicy red pepper paste. Without these ingredients, you won't be able to make the sauce. These are the only two ingredients you will not be able to swap out because there are no comparable alternatives that I know of in Western markets. You may, however, be able to find these two items at your local oriental market. If you don't have access to an oriental market, follow the links in the recipe for information on where you can buy these. 

For the sauce:
1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper powder)
3 tbsp sugar of your choice (I prefer brown rice syrup but you could easily sub in table sugar, honey or maple syrup; use whatever sweetener you have on hand)
8 tbsp of vinegar of your choice (I use apple cider vinegar)
4 tbsp of sesame seeds
1-2 tbsp of soy sauce (low sodium is best)
1-2 tbsp of sesame oil 
2-3 tsp of chopped fresh garlic
6 tbsp of gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)

Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a tupperware container or lidded bowl, chances are you won't be using all of the sauce in one sitting since it is VERY spicy and a little bit goes a very long way in flavoring your noodles. I like to keep it on hand for adding to other dishes, such as bibimbap, a similar Korean dish that uses rice instead of noodles and includes a colorful array of carefully arranged vegetation. 

For the noodles:
1 pack/box of noodles of your choice

Boil the noodles of your choice according to the package instructions. Traditionally, this dish is served at room temperature or cold. If following a traditional format, you may want to let them cool in the fridge or rinse your noodles until they are cool. If you prefer your noodles warm, skip the rinse.  I've had them both ways and can't say I prefer one over the other. They are delicious either way.

For the garnish:
2-4 cucumbers, chopped into matchsticks
4-6 hard-boiled eggs
Kimchi to taste

Chop up 2-4 cucumbers into little matchsticks as best as you can and set it aside for the garnish. If you eat eggs, you can also slice a hard-boiled egg to put on top along with the cucumber garnish. If you don't eggs, like us, keep reading for some excellent vegan alternatives below in my modifications section. Add  kimchi to each serving, to taste.

La Maestra's modifications:
1 large bunch of alfalfa sprouts
4-6 generous handfuls of spinach
1 block of extra firm tofu, cubed
2 hass avocados, sliced (about 1/2 an avocado per serving)

I personally like to serve my noodles on a bed of fresh spinach and add in some avocado slices, cubed firm tofu, and alfalfa sprouts on top to make it even more nutrient-dense. These additions are not traditional, but as I stated earlier, this is a dish that you can easily modify to make it your own. Since we don't buy or consume eggs at our house, I find that avocado and tofu are wonderful vegan substitutes for the hard-boiled egg in this recipe; the creaminess of the avocado and the neutral, palate-cleansing flavor of the tofu steady the growing intensity of the red pepper spice as you partake of your meal, much like the egg would in a more traditional context.  The sprouts provide a nice nuttiness that plays well with the creamy avocado and the addition of spinach is a veggie boosting tactic that I like to employ in all of my family's grain-based dishes.

Bibim guksu is usually served cold, as I mentioned above,  but I personally love to eat it warm in the winters and cool in the summers. In the winter months, there's nothing like setting a batch of warm noodles on a bed of fresh spinach; I love the way the spinach wilts under the heat of the noodles just enough to take off the raw edge without losing its rich, leafy texture. In the summers, the cold noodles coupled with the sweet, vinegary, spicy sauce topped with freshly chopped cucumbers is refreshing and uplifting. 

This dish takes me about 10-15 minutes to make and it is simple enough that I don't have to dirty more than one pot to make it. Minimal effort with maximum flavor and who doesn't love that?

If you aren't afraid to experiment and spice things up in the kitchen, I do hope you give this dish a try.

Até já,
Ali

Clutter-free and toddlers don't usually come together in the same sentence, much less in the same room. But it doesn't have to be this way. Whenever family or friends come to visit I often hear them say, "Do your kids have toys?" and "Do kids even live here?". The answer to these is: yes and yes. Yes, my kids have plenty of toys. And, yes, they live here. But the fact that we have small children doesn't have to be self-evident in every space of our home. Here are my tips for keeping "kid clutter" under control.

1. Keep Toys Hidden in Plain Sight
I'm going to start with the cleverest clutter-busting tip on this list, the one that has saved our home from looking like one giant play zoo: invest in furniture that serves a dual purpose, its hidden function being storage. All of our "toy boxes" have both an adult function and a child function. For instance, we don't own a coffee table in our home. Instead, we use a large faux leather storage ottoman as our "coffee table." It also doubles as a foot rest or extra seating when we have lots of guests over. But perhaps the best kept secret is that our ottoman is home to my toddler's larger ticket toys like her dollhouse, cars, trucks (yes, girls can play with trucks!) and a number of stuffed animals. And since it's made of a wipeable faux leather material, it also functions as our downstairs diaper changing station. Three functions in one. 

Within the bench, I've sorted out my kids' smaller toys by type and placed them in clear plastic bins that are easy to grab and put back. As a rule of thumb, I don't let my daughter play with with more than two boxes at the same time. She would have to put everything back in the boxes and deposit them back into the "toy chest" before grabbing a new box. These bins have been a major play time game-changer. Before we got them, picking out all these Peppa Pig figurines and Fisher Price Little People from the bottom of the bench was a dreadful undertaking! She'd literally have to empty the whole bench just to find the "Happy Birthday" Peppa or "Skye" from Paw Patrol. The bins have seen to that. All that's left to do is label them.

If you don't have storage furniture you can always find creative uses for furniture that you already own. The lower drawers in your TV cabinet or a beautiful basket at the bottom of your end table can serve as good places to store toys away.

​Aside from toys, another source of "kid clutter" that I like to keep out of sight when not in use is the diaper caddy. Containing diapers, burp cloths, toiletries and clothes in one place such as a caddy or basket is a good idea but an even better idea is to keep it somewhere accessible when needed but hidden in plain sight when not in use. 

I like to "hide" our diaper caddy on the bottom shelf of an end table in our living room, where I spend most of the day with my kids. The end table is also very close to the storage ottoman that I love to use as a makeshift changing station.

2. Invest in Quality Play Furniture
I know it may be tempting for a frugal minimalist to want to purchase a budget-friendly plastic play table in loud colors that may or may not have popular preschool characters on it. And a more extreme minimalist mother may forgo the play table altogether and that's cool. If you're either of these types of mommas, do you, girl! You know your family's needs best. As for for me, I find that I'm somewhere in between. I want my kids to have a play station where I can "contain the chaos" and keep the clutter off of the floor. But I also want it to be aesthetically pleasing because, quite frankly, I'm a home decor brat. I'm the reason companies like Pottery Barn Kids and The Land of Nod exist! I'm selfish, like pretty things, and can't bear to let Disney and Sesame Street furnish my home. 

The play table I chose to give my daughter for Christmas is the Pottery Barn Kids Carolina Grow With You Activity Table. Yes, a pricey choice, I know. But I was very intentional about this purchase. I wanted to invest in a table that is not only beautiful, blending seamlessly enough with our home that we wouldn't need to hide it or "tolerate" it, but also one that would grow with our children. The Carolina table has been a wonderful choice because of its height and upgradable features. The height of the table and chairs is comfortable enough for my daughter and I to play for hours. The wood is definitely sturdy enough to support an adult. I can attest to this as my daughter enthusiastically seats every grandparent, aunt, and uncle that visits at her table. Perhaps the best part is that when my kids outgrow the pretend play phase, we have the option to evolve it into a homework/study station.

You certainly don't have to go the pricey Pottery Barn route. Companies like Target, Ikea, and Melissa & Doug offer beautiful, high quality play tables at much lower price points. But if you do decide to go through Pottery Barn Kids, make sure you wait for a 20-25% coupon with free shipping to get the most bang for your buck. It certainly reduced the price of our table significantly!

The take-home message of this tip is to look around for play furniture that doesn't make you cringe, that fits into your space without creating visual clutter (like a brightly colored character themed table might), and blends seamlessly with your decor. We chose to go with a white table because our home has a lot of white accents. But if your home is furnished with natural wood-grain textures, an unpainted wood table might be a better option for you. Find what makes you happy so that you don't feel like you need to wince every time you look at it, especially when you're trying to soak in you home's ambiance. Your kids honestly won't care what it looks like so long as they have a little place in your family room to claim as their own.

3. Create Simple and Elegant Play Nooks throughout your Home
Once you've invested in some quality play furniture and identified hidden storage solutions around your home, it's time to create play nooks in the main areas of your home. Simplicity is key here because in order to keep clutter under control, the play nook needs to be sensibly styled so that it is easy to tidy. We live in a bilevel home and spend most of our day in the family room so logically, this is the best location for our downstairs play nook. The play table currently sits by a corner window of the family room, a short distance from the storage ottoman and the tufted bench (from Tip #1) so all my daughter has to do is walk over to either of these, choose the toys she wants to play with, and take them to her table. Here she plays with her dollhouse, has tea parties, reads books, and colors. The possibilities are endless! However, the playtime chaos is confined, for the most part, to this corner of the family room, which makes tidying up at the end of the day fast and easy. 

Upstairs, I'm currently creating another play nook in the office, where my husband or I spend a good portion of our evenings, writing, working, grading papers, lesson planning, etc. In our current home, a modest 3 bed/2 bath, we don't have a spare room to designate as the "playroom" nor do we want one because it is a better use of space to combine the play space with the office so that the kids are under constant supervision while we work. Since this particular play nook is completely separate from the more formal areas of the home, such as the family room and dining room, I've chosen to go with more color here while still keeping it simple, elegant and minimal. In the current image, the play nook is still missing a few finishing touches. There will be a future post on how the office play nook turns out so stay tuned!

4. Donate and Declutter Regularly
Finally, it's always a good idea to regularly assess what we've accumulated, what gets used regularly and what has fallen out of use, that way, we don't have to worry about clutter overcoming our carefully planned storage systems and play nooks. I often hear parents complain about how the toys are always out in the open because there simply isn't enough room in the toy box or playroom anymore. If this is happening to you and the kid clutter is robbing you of your inner domestic peace, it's time to assess how many toys there are in total, which ones get played with and which ones are played out. 

My children are two and under so I am presently in direct control of which toys we keep and which ones we donate. Regular decluttering prevents the quantity of toys from building up. As a rule of thumb, any occasion in which toys are received, such as Christmas and birthdays, are used as opportunities to declutter. Whenever our children receive a gift, we go through the toys they already own and see what can be donated to make room for this new toy. Kids grow so fast at this stage that there's always at least one toy they've outgrown. Same goes for clothing but wardrobe management is a topic for another day. 

 If your children are old enough to make responsible decisions about their belongings, get them involved in the process of going through each toy or game, deciding how often each one gets played with and determining if it holds any sentimental value. Some things may not be played with often but may trigger a strong emotional response, such as a fond memory of the person that gave it to them. It's important to be able to distinguish between honoring the sentimental value of a certain toy and justifying the hoarding of toys that no longer "spark joy," as organization guru, Marie Kondo, would say. The decluttering process is a lesson in mindfulness. It's a lesson in gratitude, in acknowledging the good fortune of simply having objects that bring us joy. It's also a lesson in giving up some of what you have for the happiness of others and not holding onto more than what you need to be happy. It's a lesson I wish I'd had more hands-on opportunities to learn as a child but that I hope to share with my own children when they are old enough to understand.

It is my sincere hope that even one of these tips has been helpful to anyone struggling with reclaiming their inner domestic peace amid the wonderful chaos that is "kid clutter." Thanks for your readership. 

Gratefully yours,
​Ali

Before I got married, had children, and bought a house, I was not a particularly tidy person and didn't have cleaning habits under my belt. On the contrary, I was something of a hoarder. The walk-in closet of my apartment was embarrassingly full to the brim with clothes and shamefully lined to the top with shoes. My kitchen cabinets were also quite an anomaly, bursting with china and niche cooking gadgets I would never ever use. It's a wonder they even stayed shut. To make matters worse I hated cleaning and avoided doing so at all costs... that is, until the house was unbearably filthy, at which point, what would have been a 1 hour job became a weekend-long project. But shortly after we moved into our very own home, the clutter bug in me moved out.

The South Florida housing market was and still is hotter than the innermost circles of hell, so as you can imagine, it was an uphill battle all the way up until closing day to purchase our humble fixer-upper townhome, a tattered foreclosure that hadn't been occupied since 2008 and that happened to be situated in a quiet, well-manicured community. It wasn't turn-key by any means. It was missing some appliances. Some of its door knobs were rusted over and the kitchen cabinet knobs were missing altogether. The bathrooms hadn't been cleaned since the original owners moved out and all the closet doors were either broken or falling off the hinges. The house was in desperate need of TLC. It had been through a lot. But then again, so had we. 

Given the herculean challenges that we had to overcome in order to become homeowners, I silently vowed upon signing that contract that I would channel all of my gratitude to the heavens and all of my homeowner's pride into bringing this home to the most beautiful and pristine condition it has ever been in and keeping it there. This house WILL sparkle, damn it! My cleaning routine is, therefore, a very personal ritual. As I clean each area of my home, I reflect on how fortunate I am to have a beautiful home to clean and how keeping it this way brings my family and me so much joy. I want my husband and children to come home every day and feel that love in every tidy corner of our home, no, our sanctuary.

That said, I'm not a slave to our house by any means. What I do, I do out of love and gratitude, but it helps to keep my homemaking habits sustainably simple and effective, in other words, minimalist. So without further ado here is my weekly task list: 

1. Clean all Surfaces and Decor
I kickstart my task list by dusting and wiping down all the countertops, appliances, bookshelves, decorative pieces, lamps, mirrors, and furniture in our home. It may seem like a lot of work to start but it this step is what keeps me in tune with how much we've accumulated. Of course, this task is much easier to do when surfaces are almost bare, which is a great reason to keep clutter at a minimum. As a domestic minimalist with a love for interior design, I'm not the type that can go without any decor at all so most of my surfaces have at least one item on them that brings me joy. As a rule of thumb, I limit myself to a maximum of three decorative items per surface, usually fewer. 

I use a microfiber cloth and a tried and true multi-purpose cleaning spray, such as the Method French Lavender Multi-Surface spray (which is kinder to wood pieces than vinegar but just as kind to the environment), on all furniture and surfaces to disinfect the areas. I also try not to neglect light switches, door knobs, and cabinet knobs during this phase.

It is important to take this time to reflect on how the items and furniture surrounding me make me feel. If I find that I no longer enjoy cleaning a particular piece or that looking at it no longer brings me a happy, cozy feeling no matter how I style it or where I place it, I know it is time to set it in the donation bin where it may someday reach a family that'll love having it in their own home.

2. Vacuum
The dust that was removed from surfaces and decor during the dusting and wipe down phase will have now settled onto the floor and is ready to be removed permanently with a vacuum. I prefer the vacuuming method for this step but if you don't own a vacuum cleaner (you should!), you could sweep or use a dry mop, such as a Swiffer, with a microfiber cloth attached to the mophead. My Bissell vacuum has settings for different types of flooring, which works brilliantly in our home since our first floor is tiled and our second floor is carpeted. We also have a 7 x 10 medium-pile area rug in our family room that needs regular vacuuming. I use the "bare floors" setting for my tiled areas, the "heavy carpet" setting for the upstairs, and the "medium carpet" setting for the area rug.

3. Steam Mop
Once the floors are free of dust, crumbs, hair and all other lovelies the vacuum obliterates from our home, I go in with my steam mop. You could mop the old-fashioned way, like I used to for years, but I've found it extremely liberating to get rid of my wooden stick mop, bucket, old shammies, and jugs of harsh floor cleaner (looking at you Fabuloso and Mistolín!), all of which cluttered up the cleaning closet more than it should. It was also an extremely ineffective method of cleaning, as the water and shammies needed to be changed often and the floors took forever to dry between the 2-3 rinses required for a "decent" clean.

A steam mop really simplifies the art of mopping. Not only is it effortlessly quicker and easier on your back, but it is also much more hygienic. It bears mentioning that steam cleaning is ultimately better for the environment, requiring much less water and minimizing household use of harsh chemical cleaners which are some of the biggest culprits of domestic pollution.  Fortunately, you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on a decent steam mop. I got my Bissell steam mop from Macy's for under $90 and tacked on a 25% off coupon to bring it down even more. Money well-spent. 

Although the steam alone does a fantastic job, for bonus points, I like to squirt a little bit of vinegar or eco-friendly floor cleaner on each area and then go over it with the steam mop. The heat of the mop really works the cleaning agent into the floors without leaving a film. It also makes it easier to wash the mop pad later. My current favorite store-bought cleaner for this "bonus step" is the Method Lemon Ginger Squirt + Mop.

Perhaps the most rewarding part of steam mopping is that glorious moment when you remove the microfiber pad only to reveal that your "passably clean" floors were in fact covered with a layer of gray filth indiscernible to the naked eye. 

4. Laundry
By laundry, I am not referring to washing my family's clothes and linens. With two under two, I'm doing laundry every other day and would never ever dream of saving it all for cleaning day, especially considering that everyone's wardrobe has been purged to the point where we can't wait until we are down to our last outfit. Laundry on this list refers to cleaning all of the soiled steam mop pads and microfiber cloths. I like toss all these items into the washer along with kitchen textiles and bath mats. I then proceed to run a hot, heavy cycle with detergent, vinegar and several drops of antimicrobial tea tree oil, which is the key to keeping the washing machine from smelling unpleasant or developing mildew over time.

5. Bathrooms: As far as bathrooms go, my husband usually takes care of that for me. It's probably because I've been pregnant/nursing for nearly two years consecutively. However recently I've gotten back into doing it myself. I like to use a homemade solution of baking soda, dish soap and essential oils like lemon, grapefruit and tea tree and work it into the tub and tile with a dense sponge. Then I give it a good rinse and dry it down with some clean towels. I also use a solution of baking soda, vinegar and disinfecting essential oils to scrub our toilet bowls clean. (Tea tree oil works especially well in the toilet bowl!) Our cabinet surfaces and sinks are maintained daily since I usually wipe them down before bed every night with multi-purpose cleaner and a microfiber cloth.

And that's all there is to it. The whole routine takes me about 1-2 hours to complete in my 1400 square foot home. The key to getting it done so quickly is sticking to a daily tidying routine that maintains the house in good order between deeper cleanings. It would take a lot longer to complete these chores if the house weren't already picked up and tidy to begin with. (I'll have a separate post going up about establishing a daily tidying routine very soon.)

I used to set a weekly "cleaning day" for myself but because of the mentally and physically draining nature of teaching coupled with the unpredictable nature of toddlers, I find I need to be more flexible about this. One week it may get done on a Monday, another week it may be a Wednesday thing, and some weeks the tasks get broken up across several days. What matters is that it gets done.

Contain and Entertain: How to Clean with Toddlers
So how does one carve out weekly opportunities to clean with two young, dependent children? I like to follow the foolproof principles of "Contain and Entertain" or "Zone Denial" as my husband calls it. (Personally, I like my terminology better, as it's a little more benevolent).

My son is still quite young so it's a hearty nursing session and off to the Rock 'n Play with him.  My daughter, on the hand, is two and a half so the principles of "Contain and Entertain" currently apply best to her, especially that "Entertain" bit. When she was younger, I "contained" her in a Pack 'n Play and "entertained" her with some toys that only came out while I cleaned. Now that she's older, I sit her in the high chair with some paper and Color Wonder markers or I give her a tablet and load her favorite nursery rhyme app. The point is to contain her in a safe place where I can keep her away from the cleaning products and outlets I need to access temporarily.

In addition to keeping her busy with special activities, I also like to talk to her while I'm getting the house clean. I describe in simple, direct language what it is that I'm doing and why it's important. I find that as she gets older and observes my habits, she wants to help out more. On more than one occasion I've caught her grabbing kitchen towels to wipe down her own messes whenever her sippy cup leaks. She's even offered to help me dust and wipe down her play table. The "maestra" in me loves that I get to use my cleaning routine as a teaching moment. I want my kids to grow up knowing the value of taking good care of their belongings and living spaces, as these are all blessings that don't always come easy (Lord knows it wasn't easy for us!) and for some, unfortunately, may never come at all.

What is your cleaning routine like? How do you make it simple and sustainable?

Thanks for sticking with me until the end of this post. Until next time, ciao!

Beijinhos xoxo, 
Ali