coffee or tea...

So, you'd think the simple thing to do is to replace the coffee once you've run out of it. It seems only logical. Except for the fact that it runs out before you've had your first cup of the day. You are not thinking clearly. You are only thinking of how good that first sip of coffee is going to taste.

I ran out of coffee yesterday morning and so I am drinking tea this morning instead. After I poured the last of the coffee into the filter and peeled off the label from the coffee can, I thought, "Yes! Now I have a new water container for my paintbrushes!" I completely forgot that a trip to the store should have been on my priority list. That actually may explain a little bit about my lack of success so far in life.

What's sort of funny is that it is my favorite tea that I'm drinking. Right. Poor me. I have to drink my favorite tea. I mean I really do love tea. But, tea is more of an afternoon or evening treat, for me. It doesn't have quite the same *POW* that coffee has for the mornings. Fellow coffee enthusiasts will agree. So, as I was frantically trying to decide how to get coffee into my system this morning: walk to Mill City or the Matchbox (both short term solutions) or Sentyrz (more of a long term solution) I realized I should just buck up and use what I have, which is actually one of the points of this post.

For many reasons and some extremely necessary, I have really been trying to do that with many of my meals lately, use what I have first before going to buy anything else. This is something that is also very logical and true to my roots, but not easy and not always accomplished. Sometimes that means using very few fresh ingredients, which is not bad in the dead of winter, but specifically in the end of summer/beginning of autumn is just not as cool. I would also say that less than half of the ingredients are local, which is also not something that I'm proud of, but it is probably my true food ratio right now in life. And bottom line is that I'm greatful that I have food to cook with.

I do have grains, honey and things for baking left in the cupboard and eggs and butter in the fridge, but that's about it. I will be using some of those with the fresh produce that I will retrieve on a trek to the farmer's market this morning. So, this post really wasn't all about coffee and tea, but you get the point. Use what you have first, even if it isn't your first choice. Chances are that you have to somewhat like what you already have if you bought it in the first place. One of my friends father's like to say, "You can have anything you want, just not everything you want." It's a great philosophy that I've been trying to heed since I heard it. Don't limit your options, just try to choose them wisely.