I wish

I almost wish we didn't have the cooking network and DIY and all of those channels (not that I watch them). But it seems to me that we are raising everything to high art. How many people watch a cooking show and think 'well, I could never do that'. Quite a few I imagine. I guess my point is that we should try things. Just like art and music and singing shouldn't only be in the realm of professionals. So shouldn't cooking and exercising and things like that. Anyone can do it and anyone should. Take back your life and realize how many things you can do.

Finally

I finally found one of the environmental clips that MTV used to run back in 1989. Believe it or not, this is one of the things that originally inspired me to be environmentally conscious and set me on the path of the lifestyle I want to have. Let me know if you find more of these. I thought they were really good.

The Book

I finished the Barbara Kingsolver book and it was excellent. Of course now I have all these ideas swirling around in my head of things to do.
Remember I was saving jars to can with? Well, I wasn't making much progress but I started cleaning out the shed on my property and the previous owner had the same idea. So I have a bunch of jars, all shapes and sizes. Some of the odd sizes I won't try to can with but I'm wanting to store things and save seed from my hopefully heirloom french breakfast radishes (fingers crossed) so they will come in handy. I love having jars full of good things to eat, canned goods, beans and rice.
Also, I'm going to look into a cowshare agreement so I can get fresh milk as I want to try making my own butter and yogurt and such.
Must be lunchtime, I'm hungry talking about food.

Books

I am a total bibliophile. I read books like they are going out of style. Perhaps they are. Anyway, I just started reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and already I love it. It talks about how disconnected we are from our food supply. Not knowing how it grows or where it came from or how much energy it takes to get it to our plate. It also looks like it's going to talk about how we as a nation have forgotten how to do things. Most people don't even know how to grow things, produce things, without it being shipped prepacked to us. That in particular is one of the things I'm concerned with. I may write an essay on this topic soon in the future but it really concerns me that people have relegated good cooking, or preserving food, or growing your own food to "experts". You don't have to be an "expert" gardener to grow some of your own food just like you don't have to be a chef to cook good food to eat. We need to take back some of our skills from the so called "experts".

Less Stress

There has been a big change in my life in the last 6 months which has equaled less stress for me. Unfortunately, I eat more when I'm relaxed. I've gained a lot of weight and now my summer clothes don't fit. But instead of embarking on some expensive diet plan or rigorous exercise schedule, in accordance with the Buddhism I'm reading about, I'm just going to try and be mindful of what I choose to eat. Instead of grabbing whatever is closest, I will think more about each thing I choose and try and remember to decide for better things. My garden is close to producing lettuce and radishes and spinach so I will try and eat more of these things. I will do more walking but I'm not expecting instant results. If I can slow down, I think I will see gradual results.
Wish me luck!

Recipe

Here's the best recipe I've found so far for instant oatmeal. If I'm going to eat oatmeal plain I eat thicker rolled oats. But sometimes I get instant oatmeal if that's all there is. This recipe is also great for kids to make with just a little help with the oven. You can make it the night before for breakfast the next day. I usually have most of the ingredients on hand and it's tasty and comforting.

Baked Oatmeal
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup milk

Beat together all ingredients with mixing spoon; pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Serve with milk.

Crafting Cheaply

If you knit or crochet or spin or weave or do anything with fiber or yarn, you know how expensive it can be. Fancier wool or yarn is more and more expensive. In my opinion it's worth it, but sometimes I just want some yarn to try out something and don't want to feel bad if I mess it up. Enter thrift store sweaters! I've gotten 2 or 3 sweaters for a dollar. I just make sure it is 100% wool (or cotton or whatever I feel like knitting with) and feels good to me. I generally don't get acrylic sweaters (well, once I got one part acrylic because I want to make socks with it) and look at the seams. This tutorial is very good and make sure you read it all before you go out and buy. Just to give you an idea, I unraveled one man's sweater and I've made 3 pairs of socks from it so far. At least one more pair is in it, perhaps two. It's fun and I enjoy it and makes me feel yarn rich.