Have you ever heard a news story or seen a product advertised and think, “I might be different than everyone else.” First of all I didn’t see a product advertised, a hear it on the radio. I dont watch TV so that might be the first clue that I am different. The product I heard about was a smart toilet and other smart bathroom fixtures that link to your cell phone. I am so dumbfounded that I cant even wrap my brain around it.

Where we live, we loose power more than we would like. We have a well, so water becomes a problem sometimes when we dont have power. We have learned to adjust. We have drinking and cooking water always on hand and we keep flushing water available for when we need to flush to toilet. Now, add the complexity of a smart toilet. I would have to have power, water and my cell phone to flush the toilet? Really? How is this easier? I think I just might be different.

We are having our kitchen stove converted to propane. One, because of the power problem and two I like cooking with gas better. While everything is getting hooked up and inspected we do not have a kitchen stove. Our solution:

We are heating water for coffee and cooking eggs on the wood stove. No power and no kitchen stove needed. However, there are electric kitchen gadgets that would make this easier. A coffee maker for example. I prefer the french press. I’m high maintenance and different.

There is also something called an breakfast maker. It will cook the eggs, toppings and toast for a breakfast sandwich. Again, sounds cool for two seconds, till I dont have power or I have to try and clean this gadget. A cast iron skillet and make a breakfast sandwich too, all in one pan. I am different.

Now dont get me wrong, there are some electric gadgets that I love and really save me time and sanity. I love my instapot. However, I do own a stove top pressure cooker for when we dont have power. Being gluten free, we also use a rice cooker, a lot. But, I can use my pan. These things are great in the summer when we dont want to heat up the house. Or it I want to set it up and forget about it on a busy day. I also use these devices when we travel and have to cook gluten free meals in the hotel. We even have an electric ice cream maker. When you make everything from scratch you need some help sometimes. That was a gift after spending several summers with a really big left arm from cranking the ice cream churn. We do still use the churn for large batches. However, we do not have a cake pop maker, a tortilla heater, a hot dog warmer, George Forman grill, electric bread maker, espresso machine, panini maker, etc. The list goes on and on.

Part of simplifying our house was eliminating a lot of our one use items. Especially in the kitchen. If a skillet can do the job just as well, I dont need something I have to plug in. We are simplifying and unplugging. Again, I think I am different!