Oh, the Joys of Vinegar

Well, that might be a bit of a stretch but if I've often said if I could have it piped into my house, I would.

For a couple of years now, I've cleaned the whole house with nothing but baking soda and vinegar. The truest test of its cleaning power came last weekend, though, as C and I were working in the yard.

Klean Kanteen

In celebration of Earth Day, Klean Kanteen is offering a 25% discount on brushed stainless, non-insulated bottles. We love ours! Use discount code KKEARTH at checkout.

My Plastic-Free Kitchen

For quite some time, I have wanted to eliminate our use of plastic for food storage. I'm a cook-from-scratch girl all the way, so a simple four-piece set won't even begin to cut it. Maybe seven sets but I don't even want to know how much that would set me back. 

So, while I very much appreciate the aesthetic appeal of the many matchy-matchy, drool-worthy options stores like Crate & Barrel offer, I'm just too cheap to invest in a bunch of new glass canisters. Thus, I turned my attentions to my overflowing reuse/recycling bins in the basement. There I found my solution – the scads of canning jars from our CSA veggies that I had been returning to the farm in hopes that they would be reused this summer. 

I brought them back up, washed them and started transferring my dry goods to them. If I were purchasing new canisters, I'd definitely buy something bigger than quart jars but doubling-up is working for now. I'll keep an eye out for some half-gallon ones at thrift stores. They'll find their way to me someday...

Another concern I had was our use of plastic sandwich/storage bags, especially the Ziploc ones which use so much more plastic...once. Using small glass containers for my husband is easy but the kids' schools don't allow glass. For their lunches, I wrap washed fruit, muffins, etc. in cloth napkins and use wax sandwich bags for the rest. They don't stay closed as nicely but it's not like I'm putting Jello in them and I feel a bit better about them as a single-use product.

Finding this solution has been satisfying. I would have had a plastic-free kitchen sooner if I'd shelled out a couple hundred dollars for new stuff a few months ago but my wallet and the earth are better off because I didn't. 

Eat From The Pantry Week

Lots of beautiful snow and a house on the cold side of the hill has rendered me home-bound for the past four days. Not a bad thing, mind you, but the more days the kids are out of school this week, the fewer I have to do my normal tasks.

Today, I decided to mark the grocery off my to-do list by declaring it Eat-From-The-Pantry Week. Thanks to the home-canned veggies and frozen meats from the CSA and dry goods from the bulk bins at our natural grocery, there's plenty of food around here. Besides, creative cooking is so much fun!

Tonight, we had what my husband calls 'Mulligan stew'. I tossed some veggies leftover from last night's dinner, ground beef, a few handfuls of pasta and a quart of stewed tomatoes into a big pot. During my trusty choose-spices-based-on-my-mood routine, I learned that it is indeed possible to use too much oregano. Not to worry, a little onion brought things back into balance and the simmering smells began bringing the kids to the kitchen asking, 'Oooh, what are we having?' 

A few hot, buttered whole grain muffins later, everyone was happy and sated. The kids jumped at the offer to watch Antiques Roadshow and we declared the day a success. 

But I'm still hoping we can get the car out tomorrow...

D-I-Y Laundry Detergent

I've been making my own laundry soap for about six months now. I will never go back to the commercial stuff.

I like that the products I have to buy come in cardboard or paper rather than plastic. The detergent I make from these items lasts me far longer than commercial detergent of equal weight, thus my quest for clean clothes requires the burning of fewer fossil fuels in transport.

There are many recipes out there. I chose a powdered one and doubled it so I don't need to make it as often. Powder is quicker and less messy to make. However, if liquid is your thing, making that just requires an extra step or two.

Here's what I do:
Finely grate three bars of Fels-Naptha soap into a plastic tub. Add six cups of borax and six cups of washing soda (not baking soda.) Mix well. This definitely takes less time than it does to stand at Target and figure out which size bottle is the lowest cost-per-load.

Most recipes recommend using one tablespoon per load. I have found that 2-3 works best for us. At that rate, the above recipe will wash about 95 loads of laundry. I pay $8.10 for the ingredients which works out to less than 9¢ per load.

How does it work? GREAT!
   Our laundry (and basement) smell wonderful.
   Pretreating stains is largely a thing of the past.
   It's perfect for sensitive skin.
   Be forewarned -- this does not produce suds. We think bubbles equal clean but they don't.
   I don't have an HE machine but have read many comments that this is suitable for them.

If you're not already making your own detergent, give it a shot. Let me know how it works for you!

The Frugal Chicken

For as long as I can remember, the decision to eat meat or not has been a conflicted one for me. My mom, the daughter of a banker/cattle farmer, is a vegetarian. She never forced us to follow suit and prepared meat dishes for us growing up. In my 20s, I was a vegetarian for a while but, honestly, it was only because I felt I should be.

At this point, I have a much greater knowledge about what it means to consume animal products from a variety of standpoints, be they environmental, nutritional or karmic. I think about it every time I eat/cook meat, eggs or dairy. While I could fairly effortlessly adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, my family isn't quite there, especially the boys. We strike an easy balance, though, since I don't get complaints when meat isn't on the menu.

So, this leads me to investing considerable energy in finding sources for truly healthful meat. The criteria we judge our purchases by are:

     How was the animal raised?

     Was it fed a diet which God intended it to eat?

     Was it injected with hormones or antibiotics?

     Was it slaughtered humanely? (the ultimate oxymoron, to be sure...)

     Is it local?

For us, the CSA satisfies those questions.

I anticipated (and welcomed) the fact that our shares would push me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen. My mom taught me many wonderful things but I did not grow up seeing her do traditional Southern things like frying chicken or throwing ham hocks into every pot of beans. Gravy? Just the thought of it turns my stomach!

I definitely have a lot to learn...

So when our first delivery included two spring (whole) chickens, I was a little apprehensive. I just wasn't sure about having to take meat off the bone myself. As it turns out, I wish all of our chicken came this way. Preparing them is super easy and the waste is minimal which to me is showing respect to a creature which gave its life for the sake of my dinner. (Mom, I know -- letting it die of old-age would be more respectful.)

Yesterday, I roasted two 3-4 lb. chickens. Here's what I did and what it yielded...

     1. Oven-roasted with onions, pepper and a bit of olive oil.

     2. Pulled the meat off.

     3. Threw everything but the meat into a large pot with carrots, celery and whatever spices I was in the mood for. Thyme, basil, pepper, marjoram and parsley, I think. Poured in enough water to cover and simmered for an hour or so.

     4. Made gravy (for the first time ever.) It's thick and yummy-looking but one taste was enough for me. :)

This work yielded eight cups of meat, four cups of super-yummy stock and two cups of gravy. Considering our portion sizes, the meat is enough for two main dishes and a big bowl of chicken salad and the stock will be used for a third (otherwise meatless) main dish.

Ready, Set...Stop. Okay, Go!

As previously stated here, one of my goals for the year is to learn how to sew. I have many memories of my mom and grandmother sewing things for us kids. Now that my daughters are showing an interest, it's the perfect time to get over my perfectionistic tendencies and give it a shot.

I bought fabric last week and washed and cut it. However, when I sat down to sew, the machine wasn't working properly. It's a hand-me-down from my mom but she had it serviced right before she brought it to me so I knew it was not in disrepair. I fiddled around with it a bit but found myself frustrated. I don't even know how to sew but now I have to figure out how the machine works? ugh. That's something I need to be in the right mood for...

Fast forward to today. I'm ready. Armed with the perfect genetic storm of my dad's resourcefulness and my mom's stubbornness, I grabbed a screwdriver, some WD-40 and started taking the thing apart. My dad's motto has always been, 'If I can take it apart, I can put it back together.' And, you know what? It's worked for him. Seriously, he can fix anything except an automatic transmission (and maybe he can even do that now.)

Three phone calls and several descriptions involving such technical terms as 'thingy' and 'dodad' later, I was up and running. As I suspected, a well-placed squirt of WD-40 was all that was needed. Uncharacteristically, I refrained from just hosing the whole down with it and patiently worked by process of elimination.

So, finally, I completed my first project -- laundry bags for my husband to use at the gym. We're working to reduce our purchase of plastics and eliminate the use of disposable plastics, so small trash bags as laundry bags are definitely out. Here's how the first turned out.

And, yes, if it falls apart in the wash, I will dutifully update you, dear reader...