Garden Planning - Step 1 - Knowing What You Eat

I've mentioned before that I bought a neat-o perpetual garden planner download from Northwest Edible Life, and have all intentions of using it this year, but our printer pooped out last week.  Until I can find a replacement printer for cheap or find time to take the file to be printed out at a printer-outer shop, I'm stuck with old-school pencil and paper.

I had to do a little research to remember, but I've determined that this will be our fifth season in the garden.  In the past, we've grown a little of this, a little of that, and whatever sounded interesting.  It's a fun way to garden, and a great way to learn what you like, don't like, can grow well, or can't grow at all.

This year, though, we're approaching gardening a little differently.  There will still be plenty of variety and a bit of novelty, but we're really going to focus on growing what we eat most.

With that in mind, the first step in this year's plan was to write down everything I could think of that we eat that is plant-based.  From tomatoes to dry beans to rice to tea to pineapple.  I used a seed catalog or two to help me remember everything and I wrote down things I know we can't grow simply because they might jog my memory about things we can grow here.

Then I went through and crossed off anything that we can't grow in our area (things like citrus, tropicals, coffee) and anything we don't have room to grow (grains, mostly) and things I'm just not ready to try yet (grapes, mushrooms).

Once that was done, I considered our family demand.  How often do we eat these foods?

There are several vegetables, fruits, and berries that we eat often and grow well for us.  Because these are on our menu several times a week all year round, these will be the biggest money-savers and nutrition-givers.  They will stay on the list.  Frequently-used herbs also stay at the top of the list.  For some reason I'm not very successfully at growing herbs, but if I can get successful, then cha-ching!  Big savings!

Several crops will grow well for us, but we don't eat them as often.  They'll be planted if we can work them in, or dropped without regret if we can't. 

Some foods are better for us to purchase, either because we don't eat that much of them, we have tried growing them before with little or no luck, we know they won't grow here at all (coconuts, anyone?), or we don't have room to grow them even though they will grow here (wheat is good example).  Unless we just want to try a couple of these crops for the fun of it, they won't make the cut.

The end result should be a fairly accurate list (below) of what we'll be planting this year.  Your list will vary depending on your appetite, gardening zone, skill level and space limitations.


Already-Established Perennials:
Asparagus
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Blackberries
Elderberries
Raspberries
Sunchokes

Definitely Will Plant:
Green beans
Lettuce, variety
Onions, bulbing
Garlic
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Dry beans
Carrots
Beets
Zucchini or other summer squashes
Onions, green (scallions)
Spinach
Swiss chard
Bell peppers
Cucumbers
Radishes
Cilantro
Parsley
Basil
Thyme
Oregano
Cumin

Will Plant If It Works Out:
Sweet Corn
Peas (shell-out and snow varieties)
Kohlrabi
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Celery
Eggplant
Cabbage
Napa cabbage
Collard greens
Jalapeno peppers
Winter squash (butternut, acorn)
Ground cherries
Watermelon
Okra
Sunflowers
Ginger
Summer savory
Sesame (for seeds)
Gooseberry bush(es)
Peach tree(s)

Be prepared.  Next week, we start talking numbers.

Spring Cleaning

The blog has been heavy on recipes lately.  That's because, when I'm busy, they seem to be the easiest things for me to post.

And busy I've been!  I've been spring cleaning.  I started in right after Christmas, tackling one room at a time, beginning with the living room as we were taking the tree down and putting away decorations.

From there I moved to the master bedroom, then to Kat's room, the bathroom and hallway, the kitchen (two full days on that one), and finally the computer/craft room.  Yep, it's a small house, but we have LOTS of stuff.  Things were cleaned and then organized, or sorted to be donated or sold in a garage sale we plan to have in a couple of months.  Walls were wiped down, ceiling fans were washed or dusted, windows and blinds were cleaned, and floors were scrubbed.  It wasn't a non-stop cleaning marathon, though.  Some rooms only took a few hours, but they were spread out over a week.

My really clean kitchen, for the five whole minutes it stayed that way.

Shane helped a lot with the living room and our bedroom, and he spot cleaned the carpeting.  Kat helped me with her own room, but the rest of the house was up to me.  That was my choice, though, so I'm not complaining.

There is still a lot to do around here (garage, basement, shed all come to mind), but it's so nice to have the main living areas really clean.  It's almost like a fresh start, which is just what spring cleaning is meant to be, I think.

And with cleaning out of the of the way, full-blown garden planning is on!  I hope to have more to say about that the next time I come up for air.

Bye-Bye Cable

The cable guy (neither Larry nor Jim Carrey) is supposed to disconnect our cable service today, leaving us with just Internet service, which will cut our bill from $103 a month down to $40. 

We're getting rid of cable primarily because we don't spend enough time watching television to justify the expense.  Kat watches an hour or so a day of cable cartoons or shows such as How It's Made or Mythbusters;  Shane and I don't even bother to turn the TV on most nights. 

Case in point:  I saw a banner hanging up in town recently, congratulating a local man on his success in a show called X Factor.  I had to do a Google search to find out what X Factor is, and find out why our town is fussing over a man named Tate Stevens.  Apparently, this alumnus of our local high school and employee on our city's road crew is doing quite well on X Factor.  But I was surprised to learn it was a talent show.  I thought it was about eating bugs or sleeping in scorpion infested coffins or something like that.  Oh, that's Fear Factor?  Fear Factor...X Factor...what's the difference?  It's all the same to me.

That's just one show.  I've never watched an episode of American Idol or Desperate Housewives.  I know those aren't new shows, but I can't even tell you what the new shows are called.  Anything we do know about and want to watch, we can find either online or via Netflix.

See what I mean?  It just isn't worth $63 a month we've been paying to NOT watch TV.  Seriously, we should've ditched it months or years ago, but of course, we were under contract until this week.

What about you?  Do you have an expense for a service you really don't need anymore?  It could be anything, not just cable.  Maybe it's something small, like a subscription to a magazine you don't read, or something bigger, like a gym membership you never use.  Could you cancel it to save some money each month?  Or redirect the money toward something you need or would enjoy more?  It's might be worth your while to consider it.

Stop The Madness!

It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world out there in the land of nutrition and healthy eating.  Sometimes we just need a little perspective.

Another great post by Erica of Northwest Edible Life.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Fried Pizza. Oh Yes, I Did.

Lest you think I'm only into healthy, cultured food around here, allow me to present this:

Serve with a nice veggie salad to assuage some of the guilt.

There might be a law against it, taking a perfectly good homemade calzone and dunking it in boiling oil.  Oh well, I've always been a bender of rules and a questioner of authority.  Besides, something this yummy is a guaranteed "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

This ain't your ordinary pizza roll.

These are not complicated, but they are time consuming and oh, so worth it.  Use any of your favorite pizza toppings. The one in the picture is filled with shredded mozzarella, sauteed mushrooms, and chunks of smoked sausage, with just enough homemade pizza sauce to hold it all together.  I also made some without the mushrooms, and some that were just cheese and sauce.  Everybody walked away happy -- and full.


Deep Fried Pizza (Fried Calzones)

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 ounces diced mushrooms (your favorite), sauteed in a little butter
8 ounces smoked sausage, diced
12 or 16 ounce jar pizza sauce (or make this one from my old blog.) Use the leftovers for a dipping sauce.
1 recipe No-Rise Pizza Crust  (see recipe below)
Oil for deep frying (I prefer peanut oil)

Combine cheese, mushrooms and smoked sausage in a medium bowl.  Add just enough pizza sauce to moisten ingredients so they will hold together.  Set aside.

Mix up one recipe of No-Rise Pizza Crust (recipe below).  You will be working with this dough long enough that it WILL rise, but that's what you want to happen.

If using an electric deep fryer, begin heating oil now.  Heat to 375°F.  If using a Dutch oven on the stove, wait until after calzones are filled to beginning heating oil.

Divide dough into 16 equal portions.  Keep pieces of dough covered with a damp cloth or paper towel until ready to use.

Roll each piece into a circle about 6 inches in diameter, or into an oval or rectangle about 4 inches wide and 8 inches long.  Making different shapes can help you distinguish one type of filling from another.

Spoon abought 1/4 cup filling onto dough.  Moisten edges of dough with water, fold crust over, then pinch together to seal.  Do NOT cut any vents in calzones.

When oil has reached 375°F, carefully fry the calzones in oil, one or two at a time, until calzone floats and turns deep golden brown.  Drain on absorbent paper or cloth.  Repeat until all calzones have been fried.

Makes approximately 8 servings of 2 calzones each.


No-Rise Pizza Crust

3 cups flour (I used a 50/50 mix of white and whole wheat)
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup warm water

Combine flour, sugar, yeast and salt in large mixing bowl.  Add oil and water.  Mix, using  wooden spoon or your hand, until a stiff dough forms.  Add additional water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, if needed to get dough to form a ball.  Let sit 5 minutes.  Shape into one deep dish pizza crust or 2 thin pizza crusts in a pan or on a pizza stone.  Perforate crust(s) several times with a fork.  Pre-bake at 400°F for about 5 minutes or until dough just barely begins to form a crust.  Remove from oven and top with your favorite pizza toppings.  Return to oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until cheese has melted and browned and crust is golden on bottom.

Eating and Drinking at Camp

By now you know I like to cook and that I try to steer my family and myself away from a lot of junk foods and pre-packaged convenience foods.  But camping is supposed to be a mini-vacation, so when we camp, we loosen up on a lot of the "rules" we follow at home by buying, eating and using a lot of things we don't normal buy, eat or use at home.

I don't want to spend my entire trip cooking and washing dishes, so we allow for a few conveniences.  We use paper napkins and paper plates.  Not styrofoam, but actual biodegradable paper.  We eat hot dogs and marshmallows, and drink soda and bottled water.  We've been known to use canned soups and boxed mac-n-cheese when we camp.  These aren't the same standards I try to keep to at home.  Whatever.

This past weekend was no exception, although I would like to point out a few things that I found interesting. 

• Everything we ate, we ate at camp, meaning we didn't eat any meals out.  We usually eat at least one meal out when we camp, so I consider this a small victory.
• When we left home, in addition to beer and water, we had three 2-liter bottles of soda and a gallon of homemade iced tea.  By the time we got home, the tea was nearly gone, and we had consumed less than a bottle of the soda.  Our water was about 3/4 gone, and we didn't have any beer left.
• The homemade cookies I made didn't get touched at all until we got home|
• In the s'mores department, we still had graham crackers, marshmallows AND chocolate left over.
• On the other hand, there was only half of one of the three bags of chips left, and the french onion dip was completely gone by the end of the second day. 
• True confession time:  I just don't like s'mores.  Every camping season I try one, take a bite or two, then pass it on to Kat or Shane.  This year I tried one with dark chocolate, thinking maybe it wouldn't be so sweet.  Nope.  Still couldn't do it. 
• Thus, I've decided that my ideal s'more would be savory.  The graham crackers would be replaced with saltines, the chocolate replaced with cheese, and the marshmallow replaced with ham.  If that happened, the s'more would be my BFF.

Anyway...we did a little cooking and a lot of eating at camp.  Here are a few pics, and I'll try to post a couple of recipes to follow them up tomorrow or Thursday.

Homemade sugar cookie bars.

Friday night's supper of burgers and dogs.

Oh yes it was!

Sausage rolls for breakfast, but they tasted more like an hors d'oeuvre.

Sauteed zucchini, onion and red pepper to go with....

chunks of pork loin simmered in a slow cooker...

thickened with gravy mix...

and served over whole wheat pasta.  We ate every last bit of it.

These were good.

A breakfast casserole (thanks A.Marie), and pre-made hash brown patties.

Our friend John calls these cowboy potatoes.  Potatoes, Vidalia onions, season salt and butter...

wrapped in foil...

and grilled until tender.  Yum!

Not Always Scratchy

I love to make things from scratch whenever I can.  I like knowing what is in the foods or products I make and usually have a good time making taco seasoning mix, Ranch salad dressing, soap, window cleaner or whatever it is I'm making on a given day.  The extra effort is usually worth it to me in superior quality and/or peace of mind.

On the other hand, there are some things I just don't bother with.  Here is a short list of things I don't (or seldom) make from scratch along with my reason(s) why.  Remember, your mileage may vary.

1) Jams and Jellies - The reason why I don't make wholesome jams and jellies from our homegrown berries or local fruit is because....we don't eat them.  Between the three of us, we go through one or maybe two small jars of jam or jelly in a year.  It's just not our thing. Many people give jams as gifts, but for a number of reasons, that doesn't work for us, either.  So, instead of making jams and jellies, I just buy them homemade from someone at the farmers' market or spend a little extra and buy a quality brand of fruit spread from the store.

2) Yogurt - It's not that I don't ever make homemade yogurt, I just don't do it often.  The reason, again, is because we don't eat a lot of it.  To be more accurate, our yogurt eating is sporadic.  Kat and I go through phases where we eat it almost daily, then drop it like a hot potato for months.  So, I make it sometimes, when we're in a yogurt-eating phase.  When I start making a lot of yogurt cheese because I know we aren't going to eat it as plain yogurt, I know it's time to stop making it for a while.  We recently discovered dairy kefir, which is a yogurt-like probiotic drink.  I find it easier and quicker to make than yogurt, so sometimes make it instead.  Also, I have no problem buying the occasional tub of quality yogurt from the store.

3) Homemade Dishwasher Detergent - We make our own bath soap and laundry powder, so you'd think I'd be all over this idea. I've tried and tried to find a homemade dishwasher formula that I'm happy with, but I haven't found it yet.  Until I do (if ever), I buy commercial detergent and cut it with some baking soda and borax (ingredients in most homemade dishwasher detergents) to make it go farther.

4) Mayonnaise - I think knowing how to make homemade mayo is a good skill to have in a pinch, but for the cost of farm eggs and good oil (for me, that means not canola, soybean or corn oil), there is no savings to be had by making our own.  My family and I also find the homemade stuff a little too eggy for our tastes.  Since the oil is the only ingredient in commercial mayonnaise that I have a big problem with, we'll either just cut back on how much we use, or fork out the extra for mayonnaise made with better oils, like olive oil. 

5) Flour Tortillas - As with the yogurt, it's not that I won't make them, but I won't make them often.  We have some Hispanic markets in our town and I can usually find locally-made tortillas that are made with manteca (lard) instead of hydrogenated shortening.  When I'm busy (when am I not?), I'd prefer to buy good tortillas rather than roll out my own.

6) Hand Sanitizer and/or Disinfectant Wipes - I don't buy these products and don't see the need to make them, either.

7) Granola.  I've made homemade granola and it's great tasting stuff -- much tastier and healthier than boxed cereal.  But...you guessed it...we just don't eat it.  None of us really likes cold cereal; I found a box of cereal in the pantry last week that had a 2010 expiry date on it.  I don't eat it at all, and the other two lose interest after a bowl or two.   The same goes for granola, so after making two batches, I called it quits. 

Can you add to this list?  What do you NOT make from scratch that other DIY and homesteader-type folks seem to be making all the time?  Why?

Time For A Garden Update

Good morning and I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day yesterday.  We had planned to go the the Kansas City Zoo, but Shane woke up not feeling well.  He went back to bed twice during the day -- unheard of for him -- so I knew he was really feeling yucky.  He's better now, though.  I ended up spending the day reorganizing my kitchen cabinets and going through my recipe files at a leisurely pace.  Not at all what I had planned for the day, but it was a nice day all the same.

I haven't done a garden update for a while, so I think that's what I'll offer you this morning.

My throwback flower child.

We've been getting a cup or two of strawberries every couple of days.

Pyramid of lettuces, beets, carrots, etc., is looking a little wild. 
We already cleared out all the radishes.

Radishes in another bed.  Overcrowded, but, oh well...

Ground cherries.  Not sure what to expect with these.

Kat's cabbage from school is growing very well.

Kat's "Moon and Stars" watermelon, also growing well.

Spinach not doing well this year.  I think it'll get cleared out to make way for
peppers or cucumbers. (This spot is sunny after mid-morning.)

Peas took their sweet time, but are finally growing.

Turnip beauty.

Swiss chard is ready!

We thought our kohlrabi and other brassicas were goners,
but they have finally shown signs of growth.

We still have tomatoes in the freezer from last summer. 
This year we are growing only eight tomato plants.

Blackberries starting to get some color.

We won't get more than a few raspberries,
but the plants are healthy and growing.

This bed needs work.  Onions near the fence, garlic toward the yard.
Fourth year blueberries in the middle haven't produced yet;
they will be replaced with more blackberries, we think.

Taters.

Jerusalem artichokes...

will eventually tower over this fence and block us from the view of
ever-barking dogs at the house behind us.

The last of the irises.

Wild columbine.

A week or so ago, I was ready to say screw the garden.  I was in a funk, Shane was working overtime and/or out of town for a while, plants were growing slowly, yet there was still so much to be done out there.  But things finally broke loose -- the weather, the overtime, the mood I was in -- and now we are feeling encouraged again.

And just when I think we're done planting, we're not!  We put green beans and sweet corn in late last week.  When the corn is a few inches tall, we'll plant pinto beans, some zucchini and some butternut squash in with it to follow a Three Sisters planting.  Also, we still have to plant bell peppers and cucumbers.

Stick around and see what happens.

Now, Who Didn't See This Coming?

I need a blog break.  I promise it will be short, as I have plenty to say when I come back.  I just have some pressing things to take care of here at home.  Everybody and everything around here thinks they need to be fed, cleaned, clothed, petted or otherwise cared for.  Unreasonable, if you ask me.

BRB.
I promise.

Quick Mid-Week Update

The call came around 8:00 last night for Shane to go back to work starting today.  I don't know how many of the jobs they've been waiting for have actually started up, but I do know how his boss operates.  He wouldn't have called Shane back to work for just a day or two.  So, we're going to assume for now that everything's back to normal, barring a day here and there that will be missed because of spring rains.

So, Shane's little vacation's over.  Who am I going to get to do all the heavy lifting around here now? 

Seriously, a month is long time to be together every day when you aren't used to it.  Oh, we got along fine, but  I never felt up to speed with my housekeeping while he was here.  I think we did more talking than working.  That's a good thing, I know, but I think we appreciate each other more when we have a few hours apart each day.  Oh well, I guess it's all good practice for our retirement years.

I was hoping I could settle back into my quiet, solitary routines right away, but that won't happen this week.  Today I have errands to run, and very possibly, tomorrow, too.  Friday my daughter will be here all day to have another sewing lesson that I don't feel qualified to teach.  Maybe next week will be when I can finally find my new, old normal.

Self-Control and the Struggle to Stay Productive

What's your Internet Achilles' heal?  For some it's Pinterest.  For others, it's on-line games.  For someone else, it might be eBay.

I don't have a problem clicking away from any of those, but I can't seem to stay away from Facebook.  It can suck the hours right out of my day.  I don't know why I have such a weakness for it.  While I do "get something out of it", especially on my Haphazard Homestead page, I don't think what I get out of it is commensurate with the time I can find myself putting into it.

Worse is that I can't seem to leave it alone on my own.  I'm not normally one who has trouble exercising willpower, but staying away from Facebook is harder for me than cutting back on sugar was last month, or giving up cigarettes cold turkey was ten years ago.  I did give FB up cold turkey a couple of years ago (really, that long ago?) and did fine, but I don't want to give it up entirely now; I think it's a usefully tool for bloggers.

What I have found that works for me is LeechBlock.  LeechBlock is a free Mozilla Add-On for those who use the Firefox browser.  I can choose what sites to block and either block them entirely, for specified periods of time each day, or specified amounts of time within a time period (for example, I can block a site for 45 minutes out of each hour), or I can set up one-time blocking as needed.  There are also tracking tools to show you what sites you spend the most time viewing and other nifty tools.

I've tried a few different scenarios.  Blocking Facebook from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. was a little too stringent, but allowing myself 10 minutes each of those hours was still too lax.  I'm currently allowing myself a half-hour in the early morning, an hour at lunchtime and a half-hour in the afternoon, plus unlimited time in the late evening and on weekends.  That gives me several large blocks of time during the day to get other things done without the Facebook distraction.

I'm sure there are other similar tools on-line for folks who don't use Firefox.  I did a very quick search of "website blocker" and came up with a few.  LeechBlock is free, and others may be as well, but I have seen some that charge a fee for the service.

I think these tools work psychologically as much as they do practically.  In addition to my laptop, we have two other computers in the house that are not blocked.  I could easily hop onto one of them to see FB while mine blocks it, but I don't.   I could also get on Internet Explorer and access it that way, but I won't do that, either.  I guess I just need a small reminder to turn away and stay on-task with other things.

I don't block any other sites at this time, but if one becomes a time-suck for me, I will add it to my list.

What about you?  Do you have a lack of will-power when it comes to certain websites, or the internet in general?  What tools do you use to make your day more productive?


Disclaimer:  I was not compensated in any way for this post.  This is simply a tool that works for me and I thought I'd share it with my readers.

Weekly Anti-Inflammatory Check-In

As many of you know, I've been following along with Erica at NW Edible Life as she takes on a month of anti-inflammatory dieting.  I've been participating to a small extent.  I know this kind of post isn't for everyone, but I think there is only one or two more update after this, so I hope you'll please bear with me.  Here's my recap for the week. 

I had some setbacks:

• I made lunch for my grown daughter, who follows a vegan diet.  I made whole wheat pasta with cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, oven-dried potatoes and garbanzo beans.  We each added various oils and seasonings, and  I opted for vegetarian rather than vegan by adding three kinds of cheese to mine.  It was really tasty, so I ate the leftovers for supper that night and again for lunch the next day.  All that carby, veggie goodness made it hard for me to stay awake by Saturday afternoon.
• On Sunday, we visited my dad and he served us mostly junk.  Now, of course I had the choice to not eat, and I did avoid some of it, but I would never intentionally hurt the feelings of a host (especially family) who sets out food with love.  So I did the best I could.
• I do, however, claim full responsibility for the second soda I had on the way home from my dad's. 
• I ate a school lunch on Valentine's Day.  You can read about it in my post from Wednesday.
• I don't think I did a single thing toward getting extra exercise this week.

I made some gains as well:

• I reduced the sugar in our big batches of iced tea even more than last week.  We were using 3/4 cup in a gallon of tea, and now we are down to 1/2 cup.  
• I am still using honey, cane juice crystals, molasses, etc. in baking, although I didn't do as much baking this past week. 
• I have rediscovered the wonders of coconut oil.  I knew about the health benefits that come from eating it, but I had never really put coconut oil into heavy rotation in my kitchen.  It is now!  
• Coconut oil is making it's way into our bathroom, too, as a moisturizer, toothpaste, hair conditioner and so on.
• I've been trying to add more veggies to our evening meals.  For supper, we usually have meat, a starch and two veggies (or maybe just one veggie occasionally).  I'm trying to add a third vegetable, or sometimes a piece of fruit, to most of our dinners.
• I'm doing great at eating breakfast.  I don't think I missed a day all week.  I've had either oatmeal, oat bran or an avocado for most of my morning meals, and when it was oats, I stirred in a spoonful of coconut oil.
• We're still drinking kombucha daily, and in fact, I set up a continuous brewing system yesterday.
• We did not go candy crazy on Valentine's Day.  I bought Kat two small candy items and rounded out her gift with a craft kit.  Something to do, rather than something to eat.  :)  I made a batch of just five cupcakes from my Small Batch Baking book, but I used whole wheat flour, coconut oil and cane juice crystals in the cake and real butter in the frosting instead of ingredients that were listed.  BTW, one of those cupcakes still sits in the fridge uneaten.
• We ate salmon twice during the week.  Living in the Midwest, the choices are frozen or canned.  If it is "fresh" (as in, not frozen) in the seafood case, it was probably still frozen during transit.  We ate previously frozen fillets one night and quinoa-salmon patties from canned salmon another.  In both cases, I made sure they were wild, not farmed.  We all like fish, so these dishes were a hit.
• I'm still sticking to my 11:00 p.m. to 6 a.m. sleep schedule.   I find it really makes a positive difference when I stay on a schedule.

As for how I feel, the most noticeable change is that I feel like I have more energy during the day, and that I might be sleeping better at night.  When I didn't eat meat for several meals in a row, I felt a lot more sluggish, then better when I finally did eat some animal protein.

I feel like my skin is clearer and brighter. 

I had a migraine headache, but it was both milder and shorter in duration than most.  While I'd love to attribute that to something dietary, this will have to happen consistently before I chalk it up to anything other than some good luck.

One other thing I've noticed is that I've been comfortably warm.  I have hypothyroidism and I often feel uncomfortably cool.  That condition seem to have improved very recently.

It's just past mid-month.  Plenty of time to do better in the next couple of weeks...I hope.

Something To Think About

Last week I wrote about following along with Erica at NW Edibles as she does a month of anti-inflammatory dieting.   I mentioned then that I was participating "casually", since I don't have a defined goal in mind.  I'm not concerned about losing weight and I don't have many issues with pain (other than migraines and a mild, but frequent shoulder ache).  Mostly, I think, I am following along to learn something new.

Since last week, I have:

• Done a little bit of reading about the Primal Blueprint diet.  Even if I don't agree with 100% of Mark Sisson's guidelines, I'm intrigued. Actually, I agree with most of what he says, and I love the way he presents his thoughts.  First he tells you what he thinks and why, then he opens up his blog posts and forums to readers to discuss and debate.  He also makes clear his idea that the plan is adaptable to each person's needs and pace.  In my brief reading, nothing is set in stone.  I find that refreshing.  (I apologize for not having links.  I am unable to get to those pages right now...will add them later when I'm able.)
  
  
• Been eating a good deal of good meat, both venison Shane hunted last fall and quality pork that we bought directly from the farmer last August.
  
  
• Reduced our consumption of granulated white sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.  I've been using cane juice crystals in our drinks, and have reduced the amount of sweetener I've been using in hot tea by half and in iced tea by a third.  I've used honey in baked goods.  I bought ketchup that's free of HFCS and we've had no soda at all in the past week.
  
  
• Consumed probiotics in the form of kombucha every day this week.
  
  
• Used coconut oil almost exclusively in cooking and baking.  I have also used a little bit of butter and a little bit of peanut oil.
  
  
• Reduced the amount of grains we consumed, but have not eliminated them (and currently have no plans to).
  
  
• Tried to be more active.  Nothing formal, but I've managed to do more walking this week and made sure to take the stairs when I went to my 4th Floor doctor appointment on Wednesday.
  
  
• Attempted to eat breakfast more often.  I'm not a breakfast fan, and I don't like traditional breakfast foods in the morning (but love them later in the day).  I've been trying to eat at least a an orange or an avocado within in the first couple hours of my day.
  
  
• Managed to stay on a regular sleep schedule of roughly 11:00 p.m. to 6 a.m., even on the weekend.

As you can see, I'm not being very strict about this.  I'm just learning and trying a few things out.  Do I notice anything different yet?  No, not really, but it's only been a week.  If anything at all, I've not had the "afternoon slump" that I sometimes get around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon. That's a good thing.

I also think there's a certain amount of well-being that comes simply from paying attention to my body and what I'm putting into it. 

Stay tuned for another update next Friday.

Exhausting Weekend, But In A Good Way

Thanks to rain on Friday, Shane had another three-day weekend.  He spent part of his day off in the doctor's office, though, getting meds for a sinus infection he'd been fighting all week. 

He was already feeling a lot better by Saturday morning, so out we went.  First to drop Kat at her mom's for the weekend, then to Lowe's to pick up a special dryer vent, to a thrift store to drop off a mountain of donations that were in the back of the van, and to the credit union to make a payment on our camper in person because they forgot to include a February ticket in our payment book. 

That was followed by an hour-long drive to pick up an almost new tiller from someone who'd listed it on craigslist (the same new one at Lowe's was more than twice as expensive!), followed by a stop to see Shane's dad and step-mom, install the dryer vent we'd bought earlier, and to have lunch with them.

After leaving the in-laws' house, we went to a health food store for some soap making oils, went to a freight salvage store just for fun, stopped at Sam's Club to get a few things I'd missed last time I was there, and we finally ended our day by going to a Chinese-and-sushi buffet before heading home.

We were out for 12 hours straight, and I barely stayed awake until 10:00.

On Sunday, I put in my monthly volunteer hours at the recycling bins.  Our city is getting 24/7 recycling bins soon, instead of the one-weekend-a-month bins we have now.  That means recycling will be easier for everyone here and no one will have to monitor bins anymore.

It was too muddy for Shane to work outside, so we worked together nearly all day making two small batches of bath soap bars, one batch of shampoo bars, and a batch of solid lotion bars.  No pics of any of it yet, but I'll probably take some as the goodies come out of the molds.

We rebottled three batches of kombucha, some with fun flavor combinations, and we got two new batches started.  We also used our juicer to make some orange and pineapple juices. 

When Kat came home around 5:30 , we made some roast beef wraps with lots of veggies (sub-shop style) and watched a couple of kids' shows on TV with her.  By the time she went to bed we were wiped out!  We were in bed with our books by 9:00 and were asleep before 10:00.

That's two good weekends in a row for us.  We got a lot accomplished and had some fun doing it.

How was your weekend?

February Follow-Along

For February, I'll be following along with Erica at Northwest Edible Life as she tries an anti-inflammatory diet.

I've never followed any kind of diet in my life.  At best, I've made a few changes along the way based on things I've read and agreed with.  So, this isn't usually my kind of thing, but when I saw on Erica's blog the details of Mark Sisson’s Primal Meat and Fat diet, I realized I was already eating many of the foods on the plan.  I decided to hop on board for the fun it.  Just call me a very informal (haphazard?) participant.

You don't have to follow along if you don't want to, but I hope you'll follow the link and at least see what's going on. 

There's a book giveaway, too, but you'll need to participate and you'll need to hurry.  The first progress report is due today! 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

First the bad.  Kat has been under the weather since she woke Saturday morning.  She had headache, tummy ache and fever Saturday, then headache without fever yesterday, and tummy ache without fever today.  I think it might be a mild flu bug.  A different school district in the city closed down today because of flu, so I guess it's going around.
 

**********

Now the good.  Even with a sick kiddo, we managed to have a pretty nice weekend.  We got a lot done around here, but still had time to relax with some movies, a jigsaw puzzle and some reading.

Shane had an unexpected three-day weekend.  His job site was shut down on Friday because they were waiting on materials. He took advantage of the day off by working outside all day.  He tilled the soil in the raised beds and broke ground for some new beds for this year.  He tilled in some horse manure into all of those areas and also added some wood chips to some of the beds to keep the soil loose.

He disassembled part of Kat's play fort, with her permission since she has never really played on it much, and will use the parts to make who knows what.  Right now, a couple of pieces are positioned to make an a-frame lattice, but I don't know if they'll stay that way.

He spent more time outside on Saturday and Sunday, burning yard debris in the chiminea and re-working some of the ornamental beds in the front and on the sides of our house.  Nothing was planted yet, but a lot of areas were readied for both edibles and ornamentals.

As for me, over the weekend I tackled that basket of filing, did my grocery shopping, did my weekly household accounting, and I tried my hand at making 30-minute mozzarella cheese using this recipe.  That was a lot of fun.  I thought it wasn't going to work out, then all of a sudden the texture of the curds changed and there was the mozzarella.  I did learn that it's next to impossible to take photos while making cheese, but here is one of the finished product.

Homemade mozzarella.

I made a couple of very homemade pizzas for supper.   I made scratch crusts, sauce from last year's garden tomatoes, pepperoni I made from some of the venison in our freezer and topped it all with the homemade mozzarella.  I had read a couple of times that the cheese wouldn't melt right, and I can confirm that now.  It really doesn't melt at all, it just gets soft.  But oh well, it tasted good, and that's what really matters. 

**********

And finally, the ugly.  Here are pictures of our back yard right now.  This time of year, it's ugly, ugly, ugly, and that the weather was gloomy when I took these didn't help.  By June, though, it will be quite pretty.  Our back deck is especially ugly right now.  The rails came off when we thought we'd put a sun room there, and the plastic resin lattice we had as skirting wouldn't hold paint and kept blowing down, so we took it off. 

The plan is to put a new back door in our house (it's waiting in our garage) and then to eventually remove the deck and build a new one.  The door will go in as soon as weather and time allow, but we have no idea when the deck project will happen.  At the very least, we'll put some basic railings back on for safety's sake.

Eager to start planting.  Can hardly wait to get the camper out, too.

Wood chips and manure to be tilled in.

Tilling the raised beds.

Back yard in winter.  Anyone want to buy our old pop-up?

Junk-covered patio, wood pile, clothesline.

Our big, fat, ugly deck must go.  Rain catchment tanks off to the right of it.

So that was my weekend.  I actually enjoyed it this time. We struck a nice balance; I hope we can do that more often in the future.

What did you do this weekend?

To Chicken, Or Not To Chicken

Somehow I've got it in my head that we won't really be homesteading, urban or otherwise, until we get some laying hens.  Silly, I know...vegans "do" homesteading without chickens.  Still, it's just a notion of mine.

Looks like this year won't be the year we become "official" homesteaders.  We've talked it over and the time just isn't right for us to take on chickens.  Remember, it's our year to finish projects...not take on new ones. 

Maybe next year will be the year we get our hens.  Until then, I have an "egg lady" that can buy farm-fresh, free-range eggs (and honey) from.

So we won't be chickening this year.  But with luck, we'll be greenhousing, and irrigation-systeming, and maybe even solar-paneling.  Maybe we'll be homesteading after all.

Thoughts on Second-Hand Stuff

Last week I wrote about our decision to NOT replace a part on our kitchen stove.  In the comments the conversation turned to repairing instead of replacing, replacing with second-hand parts, and hanging on to what you already own.  That's where I want to pick up the conversation again today.

In the last two weeks, a couple of second-hand items have come into our home.  One was by design and the other was by chance.

After seeing our friends' Jack LaLanne Power Juicer like the one above over the holidays, learning how well it worked and how easy it was to clean, we decided we wanted one of our own.  Shortly after, Aldi stores had a similar Crofton juicer on sale for $35 plus tax -- much cheaper than a brand new LaLanne juicer.  As far as I could tell, it worked the same way.  I've bought the Crofton brand before and have always had good luck with it, so I went ahead and picked up one of the two juicers left in our local store.

But on the way home, I wasn't completely happy about my purchase.  I decided I'd look on craigslist for a used Jack LaLanne juicer.  I found several listed and three within my price range.  It took all day, but one of the people I contacted finally responded and we worked out a time for me to see the juicer the next day.  I ended up buying it for $40.

Now why would I pay more for a used item than a new one?  First of all, after sales tax, the new one was about $38, so I only spent a couple dollars more for the used one.  Second, I already knew how the used juicer worked and I knew I would like it.  Third, by buying the pre-owned juicer, I didn't create an artificial demand for more juicers to be produced.  Fourth, I may have kept it out of the landfill; if the previous owner didn't sell it, he might have just thrown it away.  And fifth, it came with no packaging for me to have to recycle or throw away.

I was much more comfortable with this purchase and took the brand new juicer back to Aldi the next time I went there for groceries.

The second item we got used was a 42" flat screen TV.  Shane's boss' neighbor was going to throw it away and asked said boss if he'd take it and put it in a job site dumpster (not sure of the ethics of that, but that's for a different post).  Boss called Shane and told him it was available, that it supposedly worked but had some color problems, and asked if we wanted it.  Shane told him sure, we'd take it.

As it turned out, it did work, but it had some screen issues.  It wouldn't work on wide-screen view, but worked ok on full-screen view.  It didn't seem to have any color issues, but it didn't have as good a picture as our current TV.  We ended up listing it on craiglist as a free item, explained it's problem, and had lots of calls from people wanting to give it a new home.  The first person who called us decided to take it.  Everybody involved was happy and the television never saw the inside of a dumpster.  At least not on our watch.

By the way, our current TV was also given to us by Shane's boss.  The boss said the color was dull and upgraded to a flat-screen a few years ago.  We were happy to get it because our old TV was really too small for our living room. The one he gave us is a rear-projection big screen model and all Shane had to do was open the cabinet and dust off the projection bulbs.  That made a big improvement, but after fiddling with the freebie flat screen last week, Shane decided it was time to clean the projection bulbs in our TV again.  Only this time, he also cleaned the mirror that reflects the projection bulbs.

The picture is unbelievable now.  I suppose it doesn't take much to impress us, but we all three sat for the longest time and marveled at the difference a good cleaning made.  I expect this TV will have to flat-out quit working before we consider replacing it.  Unless, of course, the boss decides to upgrade and give us his "old" one again. ;)

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that not all used acquisitions, whether purchases or freebies, are going to work out.  On the other hand, there are lots of reasons that justify giving a new home to second-hand stuff.

What kind of used items have you adopted lately?

Not Much To Show For It

Shane and I did a lot of work this weekend, but you can't tell by looking around the house.  Most of our work was on paper.

On Saturday, while I balanced our checkbook, paid bills, cleaned out my "bill box", cleaned out my catch basket of odds and ends (like billfold, keys, sunglasses, small notebooks, etc.), Shane spend his time poring over seed catalogs and making garden plans.  We stopped for lunch and supper, then watched a movie with Kat and then our day was over.

Yesterday, I read the Sunday paper, sorted through some recipe clippings, cleaned a kitchen drawer or two and started pulling together the documents I'll need to file our tax returns.

While I did that, Shane did more seed searching, this time online.  He spent most of the day at it, getting up a few times to stretch and take care of some laundry.

So, our work this weekend doesn't really show.  There is cat hair on the carpet, the dishes are piled on the countertop and the house is generally a cluttered mess.  I'll admit it...this bothers me.  The clutter is a nagging distraction to me.  But sometimes I just have to let it all go and dig into the paperwork, the sorting, and the other "administrative" chores that running a home requires.

The dishes and cat hair will still be there when I'm ready for it.  Of this I have no doubt.

**********

On a totally different note...

Some people do end up with something to show for their efforts.  In yesterday's Kansas City Star, there was a feature article in the Star Magazine section about Harry S. Truman and his financial struggles, both before and after his presidency. 

You won't see it in the online version, but in the print version of the story, the sub-headline reads:

"Mr. 'The Buck Stops Here' was known for his frugality, but he died a wealthy man.  Surprised?"

Well, I am surprised; surprised at how many people equate frugality with poverty.  One source defines frugality as "prudence in saving; the lack of wastefulness".  To me, those are more closely associated to wealth poverty.

Anyway, if you have the time and interest, read the article.  It's an interesting article, and it's fun to compare expenses and wages from the early 1950s to those of today.

Things I Want To Accomplish This Year

Oh, I know we're already a few days into the new year, but it's not too late for me to set a couple of goals for 2012. 

These aren't resolutions, per say.  They are just a couple of mini goals I've set for myself.

The first is a reading goal.  Last year, I set a goal to read 52 book, or one a week.  I reached my goal, and in fact, I read 55 books, but it was tough.  I lost a lot of ground during gardening season and had to really push at the end of the year to meet the goal.

I love reading, but this year, I'm scaling back to a much more reasonable 26 books, or one every two weeks. I fully expect I'll read more than that, but I don't want to feel like I HAVE TO.  If you are interested, you can follow my progress by watching the Goodreads widget in my sidebar.  If you click in, you should be able to see the titles of the books I've read.

My other goal is that I will do more crafting in 2012.  I enjoy crocheting, knitting, cross-stitch and sewing (among other crafts), but I have a hang-up.  If I have chores left to be done, I won't allow myself to sit down and craft.  That's all going to change this year.  I plan to finish some projects I've already started and also start (and finish) some new projects, to the tune of at least a project a month. I'm going to make sure I have some fun craft time this year, whether I like it or not!

This is where that accountability comes in.  The first projects I plan to finish are:

1) Cut and hem 4 pair of light- and draft-blocking drapes.  The drapes are long enough that they cover our furnace registers if I don't pull them back.  Pulling them back defeats their draft blocking properties.  This is NOT what I consider a fun craft project but it needs to be done.

2) This multi-colored crocheted afghan I began for my daughter and son-in-law more than two years ago.  Crocheting is usually fun for me, but all the color changes in this project have got me down.  It's time to be done with this one.

3) Cut out and sew some skirts and pants for Kat.  I bought the patterns and fabric a couple of months ago, so I need to get going on these.

I've also decided that if I simply can't or won't finish something, well, I'm going to get rid of it one way or another.  Who needs the guilt of an unfinished project hanging over their head?  I don't.

Anyone else want to join me in wrapping things up this year?