Mini State of Mind – LivingMini®

My stove broke. I know this because the oven buzzer wouldn’t turn off for almost 5 hours. Just at the point of serious insanity, my landlords came home and unplugged the thing in 2 seconds flat.

Boy, do I feel stupid. You mean the stove has an electric plug? I never knew.

Stove Top Substitutes

So, the stove was MIA, for like 8 days, while a new one was ordered and installed. At first I was, like, Nooooooo —  I can’t live without a stove! But then, I figured out all the other appliances that I had that could serve as a substitute.

For instance, when I needed hot water, I heated the water by running it through the coffee pot. And when I needed to sauté a few veggies, I whipped out my electric frying pan (reminiscent of the kind ours moms had in the 70s).  And the crock pot and outside BBQ were always options.

So what I thought might be a major inconvenience, turned out to be no big deal.

Unnecessary Appliances

This got me thinking of “appliances we could do without.” When I moved to the mini house, I lost 2 modern conveniences I loved: the dishwasher and a bath tub.

I still yearn for bubble baths, but the dishwasher — eh, who cares? A pair of rubber gloves and a fresh scrubby do just fine.  Unnecessary Appliance #1: Dishwasher.

I also lost the “above the range” microwave from my last apartment and elected not to replace it. This turned out to be one of my best decisions ever.

Sure, I lost a little convenience (no more Trader Joe’s burritos for lunch), but now everything I cook is fresh, not frozen. And because I need to use a pan to heat up leftovers, I might as well make a fresh meal every time.

Seriously, my nutrition has improved, as has my patience (since I need to think about dinner well in advance). Unnecessary Appliance #2: Microwave.

The next appliance, albeit a small one, that is about to get the axe: the hairdryer. Again, all you need is a little forethought (since you can’t go to meeting with wet hair) and a heart-to-heart convo with your hairdresser.

What we save here is time. Do I really need to spend 10-15 minutes every other day getting my hair stuck in that round brush just so I can have the ends curl under? No! Let those “beachy” waves begin!  Unnecessary Appliance #3: Hairdryer.

Note: I haven’t given up my hairdryer yet – but the end of the year isn’t looking good for the little hair-eating beast.

So while I’m not advocating that we give up our stoves. I am thinking that we can downsize our appliances (like the cute miniature stove pictured here in my friend Brig’s Brooklyn apartment). Or even get rid of a few, and push several to do double-duty.

Next on the chopping block: the mandolin and the food processor. Pretty sure that’s what knives are for. Besides, they’re hard to clean without a dishwasher anyway.

Tags: Mini State of Mind, small stoves, Unnecessary Appliances

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 and is filed under Essence of LivingMini®.