What on Earth......

As many of you know we recently celebrated Earth Day.  I have no idea why this special day always sneaks up on me but it does.  What's so strange about it is that it's one of my favorite days and yet I would be hard pressed to tell you it is in April.


My mind wants to blend it with Arbor Day but these two days are actually separate.  Arbor Day, as you may recall is all about planting.  In grade school we always received a tree to plant.  Earth Day, however, encompasses so much more.


The greatest thing about Earth Day is it brings out the best in people.  It's a day to recognize how each human being has an imprint and a huge impact on the Earth. (positive or negative)  My city hosted the most comprehensive recycling program and festival for Earth Day that I have ever seen.  In a matter of 24 hours I was able to fill up our car with an amazing amount of recyclables.  In one respect, I was amazed that I could come up with a car load in such a small amount of time.  Our family already recycles weekly on trash pickup days.


The vendors at this event were so much more encompassing than the weekly recycling bin will allow.  I managed to part with all of the following at one location:

How I move food out of my Freezer with Ease

Recently, I ran into a neighbor who mentioned he must have thrown out $100 worth of meat away that was tucked into his freezer.  Believe it or not, some of it was from 2009!  I’m certain there is a large part of the population that can relate to losing items in the depths of their freezer never to be seen again. 

When we have the storage, it is a natural human tendency to fill it up.  We chase after bargains, stock our freezer for a rainy day and continue this cycle over and over.  Life gets busy and we become out of touch with what we have while we continue chasing the current bargains of the day.  I have found three ways of preventing this from happening.

1.  I inventory my freezers about four times a year.  Yes, I have two of them, although, both are very small.  I make a list of items on hand and menu plan.  I also know what meats I need to refrain from buying unless they are giving it away. 

2.  Most importantly, when I buy meat in bulk, I always put it in the freezer with a purpose.  I cut meat prior to freezing it for stir fry, shish ka bobs, soup or whatever and I label it.  I put together meat loafs and label ground beef for hamburgers, tacos or chili.  It seems daunting at first but it really helps me cycle the food out of the depths of the freezer and onto our table.  I find that I have less of a block of “what to make” when packages are labeled with ideas in mind.  This is especially helpful if I have spotted a new recipe that looks great but I don’t have time to make it.  I keep the recipe in a binder to be made at the appropriate time.  I do have a few packages of meat unlabeled other than the contents and weight.  I also pack various sizes of meat to accommodate when we are cooking for a smaller bunch.  

3.  About twice a year, I move meat out of the freezer by taking a day and smoking the meat on hand.  Long ago, a good friend gifted me with a meat smoker.  I am able to smoke 20 – 40 pounds of meat in a day. It makes a great gift, freezes well and is always a favorite meal.  Smoked meat at home is out of the ordinary for most.  We always feel like we are fine dining when we pull out a smoked chicken to eat a few months after we prepared it. 

The key to having a freezer and filling it is to have a plan.  Hopefully this will inspire you to never experience the unpleasant discovery of “freezer burn” and trashing once valuable meat gone bad.

It's All How You Look at It

When I started weaning myself away from convenience foods, I spent a whole lot of time cooking and planning meals.  It seemed that I never had exactly the right ingredients for a dish.  Last minute grocery store trips were quite common.  In my quest to eat fresh, I was actually paralyzing myself. 

Cooking is an art.  People who don’t cook a lot will tell you a recipe is critical when preparing anything.  Following it religiously is the key to a successful dish.  After searching the web for recipes it dawned on me that I was making cooking much harder and time consuming than it really is.  Thanks to the comment section of the various recipes on line, I learned how others thought outside the box and created success after success preparing new dishes. 

Myth #1 – Everything needs to be fresh.

Mythbuster – minced garlic in a jar.  I couldn’t live without it.  It saves me oodles of time, tastes great and encourages me to cook more often.  Sure I use fresh garlic sometimes but the jar allows me to throw things together quickly.

Myth #2 – I’m out of an ingredient.  I need to run to the store.

Mythbuster –Out of Cajun spice.  Google it.  You probably have all the spices to make it.  Out of dry mustard.  Google the substitute.  Recipe calls for cans of northern beans?  Substitute any can of white beans or used dried beans in its place.

Myth #3 – My recipe won’t turn out if I don’t follow it exactly as written.

Mythbuster – Be open to making it without an ingredient and see what happens.  You may not even notice!

Myth #4 – My recipe requires heavy cream to be successful.

Mythbuster – I make plenty of soups and dishes without heavy cream. Try a dairy creamer substitute or half in half.  Experiment with other choices than heavy cream.   Fewer calories, less costly and super yummy.  It may not fit the bill 100% of the time but do try substituting this ingredient on many recipes and I’ll bet you’ll be surprised. 

Lessons learned:

•  It’s ok to substitute canned tomatoes for fresh and visa versa in many recipes.  

• Don’t get hung up on labels.  True there is a difference between potatoes if you are a purest but if not, feel free to substitute.  In general, a potato is a potato and the flavor will be there.  If you want to learn about the differences and which variety is best in certain situations, check this book out from your library.  The Great Potato Cookbook: 250 sensational recipes for the worlds favorite vegetable. 

• It’s possible to use ½ egg if you need to when cutting down recipes.  Beat up one and use half! 

Once I learned to be creative when cooking, it was much easier to deal with cooking fresh.  I have become a lot more adventurous when throwing my meals together and have evolved into a family that eats so much better with a lot less worry about the end result.  Please feel free to share any of your previous myths and mythbusters with me.  I’m all ears. 

The Challenge is On!

The topic of weeding out and getting rid of clutter has come up quite often since the year began.  In a conversation with a sibling yesterday, Peter Walsh was mentioned.  Peter Walsh writes books to address mental clutter, physical clutter and the psychology behind it.  The comment was that this kind of clutter could probably be applied to food as well. 

As you may have imagined, I went to the internet to look up Peter Walsh and watched a few videos.  In one, he addresses clutter you hold onto because you might need it one day.  He calls this kind of clutter, things you hold onto for your imagined future.  If you saw my kitchen cabinets, my freezer and my basement stash, you could probably put me in this category.  I am always scouring through cookbooks and looking for new and interesting recipes to try, I buy in bulk and I buy ahead but somehow I am always grocery shopping.

Later on that night, I caught myself thinking about going to the store to buy chard for a recipe I had my eye on earlier in the week.  I thought for another moment and then waltzed over to my fridge where our weekly menu is hanging.  Sausage Lentil Stew is the new creation preplanned and posted.  I found the recipe and quickly realized that this was not the one needing chard but I had indeed bought escarole for this recipe which is sitting in my refrigerator just waiting to be used.  The shopping trip was nixed and I found myself being very satisfied that I didn’t waste time shopping for something that I really didn’t have time for or need and would probably go bad before I actually found that recipe again.

The Enlightenment of a Simple Life

There's nothing like a vacation to help slow down life and do some soul searching.  We regularly take vacations and stay in condos at our destination.  This is one area we splurge on.  Pack a few books, spices, clothes and a journal and I'm set.

It's amazing how comforting an empty condo can be.  The kitchen drawers and cabinets are sparse but for the most part, I have everything I need.  The wall units, dresser drawers and closets are empty except for a few things we brought.  No overflowing cabinets with food, dishes, pans, utensils or medicine cabinets cluttered with who knows what.  In spite of this all, I find peace with just being there.  The condo allows us to live the simple life.  There is no time or room to accumulate a lot of "stuff".  Clutter is picked up quickly and never seems to pile up. 

I return home and see stacks everywhere.  Paper, laundry and the various items I have accumulated over the years sitting in or on desks, dressers, shelves, and closets, not to mention the basement.  In reality, many of these items are long forgotten.  I realize after spending a week on vacation, that although I am not a hoarder, I do have an excess.  It's nice but the truth is, it doesn't add extra joy to my life.

How did this happen?  I do box up items for charity on a regular basis.  The answer is a little bit at a time.  It's time to rethink what I want and what I need.  Vacations are wonderful.  Thanks to our wonderful getaway accommodations, I am enlightened to the possibilities of living a simpler life going forward.