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.

Earth day

Earth day is tomorrow so go out and do something for the environment.

Earth Day Network

Future planning

Planning ahead is a great thing for saving money. And it doesn't always take a lot of time. Before you think you have to sit down and plan your life for the next 10 years, do some planning like I do. I'm going to grow a garden this year and I know I'll want to preserve some of it by canning. (dilled green beans anyone?) But I don't have a lot of jars. 2, to be exact. Since I'm planning ahead though, this is what I'll do. Rather than going out to buy a bunch of canning jars, I'll do this. I go to the store and think, 'I'll make spaghetti tonight'. Rather than purchasing the cheapest decent sauce in a can, I peruse the ones in glass jars. (I could be making my own sauce, which I've done, but I'm lazy today) Hmmm, Classico and a few other brands come in nice glass jars that are made for canning. So, I pick the one that is on sale that week and viola! I have spaghetti sauce for dinner AND a nice glass jar to clean out and use to can. Two birds with one stone! And it took hardly any planning on my part. My only advice is to buy the ones with jars that look like canning jars. The other ones may be harder to find lids for.

Food ideas

I'm always looking for new, good, inexpensive food ideas. I found this today at Spunky Eclectic and it looks like it fits the bill. You could make it as fancy or plain as you wanted. Good for you, good for the environment and good for your pocketbook. If I have time, I'll try it this weekend and let you know.