food

  • family,  food,  Food Stamps,  frugal,  My World and Welcome to It,  tea

    Notes from the Poor House

    Well, it’s a tough scene, but this is the scoop. Mr Husband is out of work on disability while we wait for back surgery, and a layoff shimmers on the horizon after that. We’re moving very quickly to a smaller, cheaper house (apartment, really) and have been packing, sorting and donating carloads of stuff. Cash flow sucks. I’m both trying to earn more as a freelancer while trying to move us single-handedly. So it looks like all that fun stuff on the June Food Stamp Challenge of a year and a half ago will come in handy…Just thinking about some of the techniques (if they can be termed as such)…

  • Challenge Update,  food,  My World and Welcome to It,  plastic

    deep thoughts

    So this is it — 30 days without plastic. What’s the conclusion? I conclude that it is extremely difficult to live without plastic in today’s consumer world. I conclude that avoiding plastic takes wits — paying attention — and the wisdom to know the difference between Good (usable, reusable and recyclable) and Bad (one-use Saran-wrap or Baggies, plastic film wrap for “hygiene,” or personal use items like tampons or plastic bottles for water, etc). Good and Bad plastic are always present; it’s how you choose. I conclude that when I opened my eyes to items I use every day that are made from plastic, it wasn’t all that tough to find a…

  • Challenge Update,  family,  food,  green,  plastic,  sustainable living

    boxes, bells and whistles

    Every day is a challenge when you’re trying to avoid plastic. Every. Single. Day. Plastic is so ubiquitous in our lives that it’s hard to really see it all — it attaches itself to products like static cling, and is almost as hard to get rid of. At the beginning of the month I took everything plastic-bag-like back to the grocery store bin for recycling (these are bins near the front door of most grocery stores, where you can recycle your plastic grocery bags). I put other plastic bags in with the grocery bags — from other stores, plus other types of plastic wrap, baggies, etc. I figure I can…

  • family,  food,  frugal,  green,  plastic

    what’s good enough for me —

    —isn’t always good enough for others. I think. I kind of failed as far as plastic and procuring food for The Boy’s 7th grade picnic tomorrow (the last day of school, at last!). They were desperate for anything for the kids, and there was low parent participation over this event — the only thing they had was tomatoes. There’s something like 150 7th graders. I looked at the food list and volunteered to take brownies, some beverages, hot dogs and buns, and potato salad. I had some potatoes, and figured I’d just grab a package of hot dogs. It’s $1 for eight, right? Heh heh. Sure, for the plastic-wrapped hot dogs,…

  • Challenge Update,  food,  green,  My World and Welcome to It,  plastic,  random,  rants,  sustainable living

    just one word

    Sorry I missed yesterday — family comes before work (otherwise, what’s the point of work?) Friday I spent most of my day at home, working on various projects, and did not come across much plastic just drifting across my path. I was sewing, and reached for a new spool of thread. That’s when I saw that it was sheathed in plastic, I guess to keep it clean or from unspooling. Funny, the more expensive brands of thread don’t use plastic; just the cheap thread, those that I grabbed 5 for $1. And guess what? Made in China. I don’t know this for a fact, but I’m guessing that it’s difficult or impossible…