Archive for April, 2005

April 22nd, 2005 - Tofu

I made our first tofu meal last night! Woohoo! Part of our attempt at eating more healthily, Eric offered to try it if I cooked it. I found an enchilada recipe. And, unlike many other dishes I’ve attempted, Eric ate it! There were two problems however: We do not like the seasoning mix I used (need to get individual ones!) and I did not like the crip onions and peppers; I’d saute them first next time. We’re going to try a tofu lasagna next (need to find a recipe first).

Posted in Food | 1 Comment »

April 21st, 2005 - Growing red worms

I’m very interested in growing my own red worms. I don’t think that’s the right language, but it works for me! I don’t intend to start until at least next fall, but I was thinking about it so did a websearch. Found D&D Worm Ranch in Iowa which sells a kit for $98. (With a name like that, I had to check them out!) Okay, what I want to do is vermicompost. The kit comes with a nice kitchen bucket–I could get rid of the small ice cream bucket we currently use for the outdoor compost area.

That’s my one concern–will I have enough to continue the outdoor compost heap? I want to–we’re building a a new, bigger one this spring! Maybe I’ll do worms in the winter and compost in the summer. (Putting scraps outdoors in winter doesn’t do much–they just freeze.) But then the worms would die in the summer…I wonder how much they need to survive?

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April 21st, 2005 - Cleaner cleaning

A few months ago (6 maybe?), I started using vinegar and water for washing windows and mirrors. This is a weekly chore around here–most people probably rarely do it, but we have 2 dogs! They make quite a mess on the TV and the French doors. So every single week (most of the time), I wash the bathroom mirrors, the TV and computer screens, and the French doors. Now that it’s Spring, I’ll probably do windows more often as well. (They get even messier…I just don’t see it much in winter as I’m not home much during daylight hours.)

I used to use purchase window cleaners. I always had to keep the pets away when doing it, for I’m sure the chemicals aren’t good for them. At least one cat would always try to sniff the container, and at least one dog would nose up to whatever I’d just cleaned. I had to be careful about spraying to make sure they weren’t in the line of fire. I really didn’t like it. (Nor did I personally like the smells of these chemicals.) Vinegar and water to the rescue! I no longer worry about the pets getting in the way. And they seem to stay away anyway. (The dogs get vinegar on their food, so I’m surprised Emma hasn’t tried to lick the French doors just after I clean them. ::shrug:: I don’t have to worry! Except that I’d have to clean it again!)

It’s also a lot cheaper than the chemicals. A gallon of vinegar costs about $1.29. And I use less than 1/8th cup to make 1.5-2 cups of cleaner. It certainly works just as good as the chemicals did!

I’m looking forward to incorporating more natural cleaners and other products. I’ve twice ILLed Better Basics for the Home. The first time was just before Maggie came home; the second was just the other week. I’ve now purchased it. It contains hundreds of recipes for everything from hand lotion to wood cleaner to weed killer to play-dough made from natural ingredients. Many of them call for things I’ve never purchased (essential oils and such), but I’m willing to give them a shot! Can’t wait to make the play-dough and paints for Maggie. I know many of these recipes can be found online, but I like having a book to refer to. It will make it easier to actually make the products if I can tote around the book. And see it around the house to remind me to get going on them! (The wood cleaner I’ve been meaning to make for the last month. And the piece of paper with the recipe is around here somewhere….)

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April 20th, 2005 - more on buying locally

I haven’t written in a few days for a couple reasons. One is that I was wearing a wrist brace and typing 1.5-handed just isn’t very fun. (I can type one-handed, too, but that’s even more difficult!) so I was avoiding unnecessary typing. I also had this feeling that I need to write a “perfect” response to Roger…but I finally convinced myself that wasn’t necessary. I’ve really appreciated your comments, Roger, as they’ve made me think a LOT about why I think buying locally is important. I don’t think I can really articulate some of it…part of it is just a feeling that local is better. so, as I think of them or Roger suggests something I disagree with, I’ll write more reasons why this is right for me.

Cheapest isn’t the main thing for me. I believe that cheap can lead to problems in other areas. For example, cheap beef = worse slaughterhouses. Cheap clothes = sweatshops with child workers. Cheap = environmentally unsound. And so on. Not true in all cases, but cutting back costs means prices have to go down somewhere. That somewhere is either in the product itself (lower quality goods going into it, unripe fruit being sprayed to ripen later), and/or the labor force (lower qualified workers willing to work for lower wages, overworking personnel, cutting benefits) and/or factories (more pollution, fewer safety precautions). I don’t like the drawbacks of these situations.

I also don’t like our dependence on fossil fuels. Every mile farther away from me something comes, the greater my dependence on fuel to get it to me.

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April 14th, 2005 - hi Roger!

By the way, Hi Roger! Delighted to have an old friend show up. What’s happening in your life and how did you find my brother and me?

Posted in General | 2 Comments »

April 14th, 2005 - more on buying locally

Roger commented I have found that there are just as many mom&pop stores that have terrible policies and couldn’t care less about their workers. Wal-Mart is just a big powerful one.

It’s not just their policies that concern me (although that’s certainly part of it, particularly with Wal*Mart). It’s also where their money is spent. For example, the Red Radish is owned by two women who live in Neenah (or it’s vicinity). They probably spend their income in Neenah and the area, just like me. They bought an existing building, but if they hadn’t, they surely would have hired a local company to build it.

WM, on the other hand, is owned by people who don’t live anywhere near here. The owners’ incomes are not spent in Oshkosh at all. They bring in their own contractors and builders, using no local persons to construct their mega-buildings. (And I saw that with a plural intentionally–they are on their second building in Oshkosh. The first is sitting there empty.)

With a bank–local money can be used to lend more money to locals. Without deposits, there’s no money to lend to my friends and neighbors. There’s also less money available for interest, which is why my interest rate is so low (it’s only .75% I noticed, while my ING is now 3%.)

Local business people are more likely to support local events and activities (attending the school play, athletics, or the performer at the opera house; giving money to Girl Scouts, school fund raisers, small charities), and to donate money to major city projects (the owner of Miles Kimball helped build the library–I don’t think WalMart would ever contribute to that!).

It’s the local stores downtown and the Red Radish food store that carry local products–artists, farmers, etc. None of that is found at Target and little at the chain grocery store (even the local chains).

One problem with local companies (at least the grocery stores) is they appear to require the wearing of Packers jerseys on game days. Drives us nuts. Wonder what happens if someone hates the PAckers and refuses to wear one. (Admittedly, very few such people live ’round here but I suspect we have 3 in our house. Well, I’m indifferent, but I wouldn’t wear the jersey anyway. Let’s just say our green CR-V has EAGL FAN as the license plate…)

Posted in Money | 1 Comment »

April 8th, 2005 - Buy locally–how locally?

I’ve always preferred to buy locally, although I didn’t always do so. I’m thinking a lot more about it lately. But I’m conflicted on its importance versus maximizing my money. For example…

Bank: I use a local credit union, but also have an ING account. ING has a higher interest rate (now at 3%) which is very nice. But they are far from local–I think they are European (German?)! They don’t employ a sole in my area as it’s an internet-only bank. Not even a bank, really, it’s just a savings account. (They also have our mortgage, by the way. And can’t take the payments out of my ING account!) My credit union employs only people in the local area, and I am friendly with many of the employees. It’s the sort of place where I don’t have to verify my identity because they all know who I am. But the interest rate is barely over 1%. So…do I support my local credit union or have more money? [At the moment, the balances aren’t all that high, so we aren’t talking about all that much money. However, we had quite a bit in there over the last few years and received a few hundred dollars in interest. The difference was significant at that point.)

Groceries: We shop at two grocery stores. Both are chains, but both are local. One might have 6 stores–very local! The other one has 20 or more, but is primarily found in NE WI. As I move into buying more organic products, I’m becoming familiar with the natural food stores in the area. So far, this is The Red Radish. It’s a small store owned by two local women. I’m sure the prices in the organic food sections of Festival and Pick ‘n’ Save will cost less (they are also 8-10 miles closer to home). But I also like the completely locally owned store option. Which do I use? This one is complicated by the fact that we’ve rarely been able to stick to the frugal grocery budget we’ve set. Buying organic is going to cost more period (some say it’s less, but nothing I’ve looked at is cheaper!). Every little bit less something costs could help. But I won’t be supporting local families that way.

Money isn’t the only thing that matters to me, but it is certainly a major factor in my choice to live simply. Does it cost less? is the question most often asked when decision-making. Other factors, however, are also considered–will the more expensive option last longer? Is it more environmentally friendly? Do I like the company more? (I chose my Saturn for the company as much as for the car.)

Oh! I just thought of one area where I’ve chosen local over cost: books. I research books on Amazaon, then buy them at my local LP Books store. It always costs more–especially if they are available used at Amazon–but I want a bookstore to remain in Oshkosh! [We actually have two; the other is The Paper Tiger. It focuses more on mags and papers, but the last time I went in it seemed to have more books.] Hmmm..exept for the book I’ve most recently been thinking about. Now I’m starting to get conflicted again–I think used is better than new. But we don’t have any used bookstores in town for my to haunt which sends me back to Amazon. ::sigh::

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April 8th, 2005 - Do I shop at responsible companies?

Check out Responsible Shopper to see if you shop at responsible companies. Target, my favorite department store, didn’t rate wonderfully, but it is better than Walmart (as I knew–I refuse to shop there).

Posted in General | 1 Comment »

April 8th, 2005 - Fox Valley Winter Farmers Market

Just learned about the Fox Valley Winter Farmer’s Market, which has but one more date. Putting the info in here so I can find it next year! And unfortunately, I can’t go on the 16. Oh well. Rick said they have a lot of local farm meats and eggs (that are only $1/dozen!).

Times: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Market open on selected Saturdays: Nov. 6 & 20; Dec. 4 & 18; Jan. 15 & 29; Feb. 5 & 19; Mar. 5 & 19; April 9 & 16; For information about the special events at each farmers’ market, visit the Special Events section of the Thompson Center web site.

The Thompson Community Center 820 W. College Ave. Appleton On the north side of College between Badger St. and Richmond St.

Primary Phone: 920-733-2860
Alternate Phone: 715-823-3431
vbffarm@frontiernet.net

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April 8th, 2005 - Junk Food Snacks challenge

Today’s the first of 21 days with no junk food snacks! Going well so far…but I haven’t needed any snacks yet. Almost had some this morning–I forgot to finish off my Peeps yesterday so considered doing so this morning and not officially starting till after that. However, you get 3 opportunities to have junk food, so I decided I’d eat them this weekend (before they are rock hard) and use up one of my chances.

I gave away the remaining Hershey mini eggs, the 2 peanut butter wafer bars, and the 1 oatmeal creme pie. ::sniff sniff:: I shall miss them. Instead, I’ll eat my apple, soy nuts, and cheddar sesame sticks (the latter two from The Red Radish–I adore the sesame sticks!).

Eric hasn’t decided whether he’s joining me or not.

I was supposed to get daily emails about the challenge, but nothing’s shown up yet. :( I was hoping for some over the last week as well with some ideas for snacks. Luckily, I’m not usually a junk food person, so this won’t be too difficult. But I was looking forward to some new ideas. I pretty much each apples and bananas day after day. I want to try some recipes–granola bars perhaps or who knows what else?

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April 1st, 2005 - What’s green in my life?

Cheryl asks this question and here’s my answer–part of it at least!

Participate in city recycling–paper (including junk mail, office, catalogs, newspaper, cardboard, paperboard), plastics (#1, #2, narrow neck only), glass, metal
Pick up free woodchips from city
Three houseplants (would have more, but my husband doesn’t really like them and our pets love them so we can only have small, out of the way ones. There’s one room that would be perfect to use–it’s the guest room so Eric’s rarely in there and the pets are allowed…except it’s on the north side of the house so it’s the worst place for plants)
Have a vegetable garden, flowers, bushes around the yard (unfortunately, just one tree and no good spot for others)
I walk or bike to work 99% of the time
I use cloth bags when shopping, but rarely. I could do a whole lot better here
We wash all clothes in cold water, except the diapers we use to clean the dogs (good chance of poop on them so like to get them as clean as possible).
We don’t use fabric softener and only use bleach on the dog diapers.
I rarely buy books, preferring to use the library.
We keep the heat turned down at night, and under 69 during the day. The opposite with AC.
We open the windows when possible for cooling during the spring/summer/fall.
We have cellular shades on every window; we keep them up during the winter days and close them as soon as dusk hits. In the summer, we close them as the sun hits them and open them up again in the evening (or just enough for windows to open for the breeze).
We buy truly premium dog and cat food (Canidae/Felidae) so that our pets stay healthy (no fillers, additives, etc.). They eat better than we do! And none has been sick since the cats got over their shelter illnesses.
I compost food scaps, even during winter.
We have a front loading washing machine.
We have a dishwasher. Because of the way Eric did the dishes, this reduced our water bill.
I rarely take hot showers.
I don’t leave water running.
I defrost food in the fridge.
I use a minimal number of cleaning products, prefering water, vinegar, baking soda.
I drive at or under the speed limit.
I bake my own breakfast food (most of the time) as well as bread for my lunch.

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April 1st, 2005 - No Junk Food Challenge

I just signed up for the 21 Day No Junk Food Challenge. I really need this. I’m sick of the junk food I’ve been eating lately. For example, I had an oatmeal creme pie and 5 Herhey’s mini chocolate eggs for dessert. I had a donut for my morning snack. And I told myself that if I had my apple before dessert (just in case I wasn’t hungry afterwards) I could have a peanut butter waffer cookie pair for my afternoon snack. I sometimes have a quick snack when I get home (less often now since I go on baby duty right away). And I’ve been eating ice cream or cookies for dinner dessert every night.

Usually, I’m lucky to have one dessert or junky snack in a day.

I have 7 days until I start. Have to eat or get rid of what’s here before next Friday….

Posted in Food | 1 Comment »

April 1st, 2005 - TiVO

I’ve often heard that TiVO is the death of the commercial–to the delight of viewers and the disappointment of advertisers.

I don’t believe it. I watch MORE commercials with TiVO than I do with live tv. Why? Becuase while watching live tv, I turn away during most commercial breaks. I pick up a magazine or talk to my husband or go to the bathroom. But when I watch recorded shows, I fast-forward through commercials. The only way to know my show is about to start again is to watch the commercials. They may go by faster, but I’m seeing them all. I hate it (especially ones for gory tv shows and movies that I really dislike seeing).

It’s the one thing I hate about TiVO. My parents had a VCR that had a 30-second skip button. That’s what I want TiVO to have. At least for 30 seconds at a time I could ignore the commercial. And, typically, most breaks were at least 3 minutes long so you hit the skip button as soon as you heard sound again and didn’t look up for at least 2 minutes.

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April 1st, 2005 - Grass-fed beef

Karen commented that when her family tried grass-fed beef they didn’t like the taste compared to grain-fed beef. I don’t know what my husband will think, but I bet I’ll like it! I didn’t realize this until after we decided to try Cattleana Ranch, but I grew up on organic beef (or nearly so). My parents bought most if not all of our meat from their farming friends. We’d get a 1/4 or 1/2 a beef, 1/2 a hog, and a lamb almost every year. The Wolfs had the hogs, maybe also the lambs. The Langes had the beef. I’m pretty sure I saw the cows myself (not to pick out–just when we visited them) going out to pasture. And I remember hearing about the dead calf he found in the pasture. So I know they had grass at least when it wasn’t winter. I think I recall my Dad going out to pick out his hog once, too.

We’d pick up the processed meat at the local butchers and just get the cut we wanted out of the freezer every morning.

Just like with veggies, I had a hard time figuring out how to buy meat when I became an adult! Eric and I have talked about getting a 1/4 side of beef like we used to, but the cost always seemed prohibitive. Now I don’t care as much. We did, after all, buy a chest freezer just for this sort of thing. Let’s fill it up with good food!

We were only able to get hamburger at the Red Radish, unfortunately. And, to our discomfort, we’re using it in Hamburger Helper! aaack! We completely recognize the irony here. But we had the Helper already, and we need some quick to fix meals these days. We’re both pretty tired by dinner time. And, oh, was it nice to have Eric ask me if he should pour off the grease like I’d asked him to, look in the pan, and see NOTHING but meat. That was cool; I hate fat/grease in my meat.

Posted in Food | 1 Comment »

My Adventures in Simple Living

Archive for April, 2005

April 22nd, 2005 - Tofu

April 21st, 2005 - Growing red worms

April 21st, 2005 - Cleaner cleaning

April 20th, 2005 - more on buying locally

April 14th, 2005 - hi Roger!

April 14th, 2005 - more on buying locally

April 8th, 2005 - Buy locally–how locally?

April 8th, 2005 - Do I shop at responsible companies?

April 8th, 2005 - Fox Valley Winter Farmers Market

April 8th, 2005 - Junk Food Snacks challenge

April 1st, 2005 - What’s green in my life?

April 1st, 2005 - No Junk Food Challenge

April 1st, 2005 - TiVO

April 1st, 2005 - Grass-fed beef

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