Health Promoting Holiday Gift Ideas + Minimalism

I watched a Documentary on Minimalism yesterday that my TV chose for me. Sometimes those AI algorithms are right about topics that interest me… and sometimes I actually buy things from those darned FB ads! Not super minimalist of me, but hang with me here. I have been a bit of a minimalist most of my life and Simon & I are going to be MUCH more minimalist when we retire and live in an RV for a year or two 

I LOVE to declutter and donate things. I always tell people that on the spectrum from Buddhist monk to hoarder… I fall much, much closer to the monk side of the spectrum. Simon will tease me after a big cleanout of my closet when I am looking for something a week later. He just chuckles and says ‘you probably gave it away’. He loves a good closet cleanout too and does it much more often after living with me for 15+ years.

When we moved from Michigan to Memphis , we intentionally downsized and bought a smaller home to live in a fun, cool neighborhood. Our house in Michigan was quite big with a full basement (which I miss since moving down South where basements are more rare).

Our Memphis house was built in 1910. It had a lot of cool historic features like window transoms, exposed brick, and old oak & pine hardwood floors. It had tiny historic home closets (cedar lined, very cool!) that were so narrow our hangers didn’t even fully fit, they had to hang at a bit of an angle. We shared one tiny closet with a few seasonal things in other rooms.

Our Charlotte home is a new build, but no basement and no easily accessible attic. Just the pull-down Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation ladder, so we don’t store anything up there. Any excess ‘clutter’ has to go on shelves in our garage and we still park 2 cars in there, so no big basement sized storage anywhere.

Hence, my penchant for a good declutter a few times every year. Charities benefit and Simon & I don’t become packrats. This is good for us as we start thinking about a fairly early retirement and RV living or even #vanlife.

We want to go on what we are calling our National Parks Tour. We envision selling most of our belongings, buying a used motor home (slightly used, not Cousin Eddie Christmas Vacation used ), and hitting the road to criss-cross these here United States of America and see a lot more of the natural beauty that abounds in our big country. We may even venture into Canada and Mexico.

SIDE NOTE: we have started watching RV Living videos on YouTube and we are learning about things like the gray tank, the black tank, and a hose some guy referred to as the ‘stinky slinky’. Oh Lord, I hope that’s Simon’s job! We promise to never be like Cousin Eddie using the storm drain.

So, minimalism is a great topic for us at this stage of life. Paring down to what we truly need. Below I share some great Christmas gift ideas for the kitchen . Things that we use almost every day to prepare healthy meals at home. I will still have a lot of those things with us in our van or RV when we are living in a tiny space. That’s how important they are in my kitchen.

A decent kitchen and personal shower & toilet are must-haves on my RV shopping list. We will definitely be cooking a lot on the road. We will have fun exploring great places to eat on the road, but balance it out with plenty of home cooked meals. It’s a few years out, but I am already dreaming of RV living and doing it in a healthy way.

Where are you at on the Minimalism Scale from Buddhist Monk to Hoarder?? No matter where you are at, it can be good at this very cosumer-focused time of year to consider giving gifts of lasting quality items, experiences, charity donations, or just gifts of the heart like a hand written letter, card, phone call, or plans to spend time with those you love. Those are often the most cherished gifts.

This Week’s Shot of MINDSET

The Minimalist mindset is very healing and calming and don’t we need more of that this time of year? It’s all about making time for and focusing on those things we truly value and releasing things that can be distractions or weigh us down physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.”
– Joshua Becker

Minimalism is a WIN-WIN kind of thing and an oxymoron. The more you give up, the more you gain. It usually ends up saving us money , reducing stress, and creating more time in our lives. Time to do things that really light us up and bring true joy vs. moments of fleeting pleasure.

It doesn’t mean you have to go Marie Kondo your entire house. Remember that fad from the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? I did it. Every single thing in the book. And then regretted quite a bit of it later when I wanted a book I loved or didn’t have papers that I really kind of needed. Ooops!

Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. My motto for my own life and all of my work with clients making progress with mindset, life goals, or health is PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION.

This article gives a lot of great information on the Minimalist Mindset, benefits of shifting a bit from consumerism to minimalism and ways to get started if you are intrigued. Something to consider as we head into a fresh new year soon. Is 2025 your year to pare down and simplify? I know it will be for us as we edge toward that National Parks Tour.

This Week’s Shot of HEALTH

As promised, here are my Must Have Kitchen Items that will be used over and over again. Especially if you or someone you love are considering cooking more healthy, whole foods meals chock full of fruits & vegetables to slim down or just to feel your best.

An Electric Pressure Cooker. #1 for a reason. My plant based cooking mentor Julie calls this her Life Changer! You can make big batches of healthy meals, program a time delay to have it ready when you get home, have leftovers for lunches or freeze meals for when you need them. We have a big 8 Quart Instant Pot and I LOVE IT! We will make room in the tiniest van or RV to have one of these no matter what. Maybe a smaller one, but it will make the cut of must-have RV kitchen appliances.
A Good Quality High Speed Blender. Makes plant based sauces and dressings so creamy and delicious. Spendy, but oh so worth it. We have a Vitamix and it has lasted for 12+ years and is still going strong. If you are considering investing or giving a very generous Christmas gift, this type of blender will last for decades. The Blendtec FourSide is the top recommendation from my healthy plant based friend and mentor Julie. Vitamix and Blendtec both offer refurbished blenders for lower prices, so dig around for the best pricing. The NutriBullet is a smaller capacity, but a great little blender setup for a much lower price point. I gifted this to my Mom and use it for sauces, dressings, and smoothies when I visit my parents. They love me cooking up healthy plant based creations when I am there.
Honorable Mention goes to the toaster oven/air fryer appliance we have. It takes up a lot of room (not so minimalist) but is the best air fryer for crispy potato wedges, tofu, beans, mushrooms, whatever. And we reheat lunches in it, make garlic toast, thaw things I forgot to get out of the freezer, etc. It can do almost anything. I often use it to bake things when I don’t want to turn on the oven in summertime or because I can fit what I want to bake in it and not heat up the whole big oven.
Smaller Gift Ideas : These measuring spoons are narrow and fit inside spice jars (Simon’s Mum loved them for that reason), good spatulas to get every last bit of your creation out of the blender or dish, garlic press, lemon juicer, avocado masher which I use for bananas, sweet potato, and all sorts of mashing. Finally a good knife set and knife sharpener make a world of difference in the kitchen.

I could go on and on about kitchen gadgets, but this list covers a lot of the most useful tools for making healthy home cooked meals. I have tried to focus on good quality things that will last a long time and be used regularly. I hope you find some inspiration for your own kitchen or for those you love to cook healthy meals at home more often in 2025.

If you are interested in using the power of the mind to uplevel your life, I share mindset expertise every week, along with fun & insightful stories from my own life path from 80s hair band superfan to chemical engineer to health & mindset coach (what a journey!).

You will also see plenty of health promoting tips and recipes because I am blown away by the power of intermittent fasting + a healthy diet to prevent & reverse just about any health concern Mindset plays a big part in health and healing too, the power of the Mind Body connection is pretty mind blowing.