I guess I'm a bit strange. I have a whole foods, plant based diet. I only rarely eat out. I don't eat meat, or dairy. I cook. I clean, and yes, I do laundry, but I don't like to. Anyway, I am one of those males in America that doesn't show up on the media radar, because I like to do so much stuff that would traditionally be called "women's work". I know, housekeeping and cooking and such really is everyone's work, but I didn't make this up, I only know that I have been labeled "Martha Stewart" and my own wife said I would make a good Mormon wife to someone. But I'm not Mormon... but I digress. You get the idea. I like to do things that are commonly thought of as "keeping house." And one of those things is making muffins and cookies.
Last night we had some guests over and I honored them with my Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Pecan Muffins. These are made with no added oil, and only as much fat as the chocolate chunks and the pecans have. And they are so good, everyone is always surprised to hear that they are vegan.
Anyway, since I made the muffins last night, and they were devoured for desserts and snacks and even breakfast this morning, I decided to make Apple Spice with pecan muffins for dessert tonight. And now the whole house smells like cinnamon and apples.
Oh, and did I mention that I ground the flour for the muffins too?
Sometimes eating good food is a BIG part of that simple life that I'm creating for myself and my family. I think we live a slower paced life than the "rat race" that so many of my coworkers aspire to.
Basic Muffin recipe:
4 cups whole wheat flour (any kind works, I grind mine into pastry-four fineness.)
1 cup rolled oats (quick cook or long cook, doesn't matter)
1/2 to 1 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you like your muffins
2 Table spoons baking powder
5 Table spoons ground flax seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup natural apple sauce (can be home made if you want)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
And to make Chocolate Chocolate Chunk:
Add to basic Muffin recipe above:
5 Table spoons cocoa
1 cup chocolate chunks
1 cup pecans (halves, pieces or ground fine. Optional) You can use any nut you like if you don't have pecans. This is a very forgiving recipe.
Heat oven to 400F.
I use silicone non-stick muffin pans, but if you use metal ones, you will need to grease them somehow. I'll leave that to you.
Combine the dry basic muffin ingredients in the mixer bowl, mix all dry ingredients so they are well mixed. Add wet ingredients, then add enough water just so the batter is wet through, and still thick, but not so thick as bread dough would be. The consistency needs to be loose enough to spoon easily into those muffin pans.
Spoon into muffin pans (this makes 24 muffins!)
Bake the muffins for about 30 minutes, then test to see if it is done with a wooden toothpick.
If you want Apple Cinnamon muffins,
add to the basic muffin recipe
1 chopped apple finely chopped
1 cup pecans (halves, pieces or ground fine. Optional) You can use any nut you like if you don't have pecans. This is a very forgiving recipe.
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Prepare as above muffins
You can try other kinds of fruits - Banana and Nut is good
Pumpkin and spice
And blueberry.
Add or remove spices as you want, until it sounds like it would be good for you.
Good luck.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
APLS Carnival
Sustainable Living in my life takes on several forms. I've been on this path for many years now, and each time I get on my bike, turn on a light that has a CFL bulb, eat home grown vegetables or water my plants with water I've harvested from the roof, or flush the toilet with saved shower water, I'm putting into practice my version of sustainable living.
Is it enough? Probably not. Can I do more? Yes. Do I need to do more.... maybe. Will I do more? Eventually.
I wrote up and published a list of "small steps" in my church's newsletter a couple of years ago. It came to 23 different habits or behaviors that could be done to reduce use of resources.
I came to many of those small steps in my pursuit of frugality. Each step seemed to lead to a fork in the road. Taking the path of frugality lead me toward other more sustatinable steps, and so on.
My giving up red meat lead to eventually giving up meat all together. Which lead to eliminating dairy and eggs from my diet. Results - Savings at the grocery store, and less weight on James. Also lower cholesterol, less sinus problems, and reduced seasonal allergies. Also saving the world from having to raise the meat that I would have eaten. Again, each step along the way was small, but had BIG affects on me.
My choosing to build rain barrels wasn't frugal, since it cost money, but turned out saving my family huge amounts of money on water bills during my state's drought last year. Being able to water the vegetables with saved rain water greatly reduced our need for tap water. Same with saving our shower water to flush the toilets. It is a small thing, but adds up to large savings. Imagine if everyone used the water in their house twice before running it down the toilet. How much would that save? Boggles the mind how a small step like that can make such a difference when magnified by thousands, millions, even billions.
Gardening. Ok, so I like to grow things. Handed down from my grandmother honestly. Green thumb and all. Sure it is work, but the rewards are many. I get to be outside. I eat fresh food, sometimes right off the plant! I don't have to mow grass endlessly every week, wasting fuel and breathing fumes, and get to use my labor to take care of things that are beautiful and can be sustain my family too.
The small steps lead me to getting rid of all of the grass in my 1/4 acre lot, and building new top soil where before was depleted clay. I forgot to mention the mental rest and relaxation I get from walking around my garden, and enjoying the naturalness of it? That is my quiet contemplation/meditation right there.
Taking a frugal approach to laundry encouraged me to get a clothesline, and a couple of portable indoor racks to dry clothes on rainy days. Saved bunches of money on drying things, our clothes last longer, and it doesn't take much time at all. Added benefit is that solar clothes drying is carbon negative!
Many of these small steps lead to other things. Some I can't do at the house I'm in, because it would be too expensive to put in a brand new gray water system to water trees. But we are planning on "greening" our next house extensively.
I quit watching TV. Ok, so I watch Le Tour de France and other bike races during the year, but I watch very little TV. I find that I can still live my life without the "boob tube" parading endless consumables to entice me into buying things that I don't really need. I enjoy how much better my life seems, now that I don't care what people are trying to sell me, nor do I care what is "trendy" what the best new gadget is, and what the flavor of the day is at the burger joint down the street. Heck, I don't even know what movies are going to play next week anymore. I get that kind of information from friends and family, who always make sure that I see the movies that are good, and skip the rest. And you know what, I haven't felt like I've missed anything either.
Sustainable living also means making choices about our level of living. How much is enough? What makes you happy? I don't mean the temporary thrill you might get from making a purchase, or that feeling you get from externals. I'm talking about inside. What makes you really happy? I'm sure it isn't driving a big gas guzzling car that will take 5 years to pay off, or living in a house that you can't afford to buy in 30 years. Or watching an entire season of some TV series. But I have found that hosting guests at the house, having a community around me, and also enjoying the people and relationships that are important to me bring me much more happiness than any material goods could ever do. And as a fellow blogger from Australia mentions, taking pride in the small tasks that need to get done gives a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. Even if I'm the only one who recognizes that the job was done.
Sustainability can be done. It is easiest done in small changes, working toward a goal. When shopping for a new appliance, get the one that is the best on energy use, and that you can afford. When buying new clothing, get what you need, not what loads up your closet. So what if you only have 5 days worth of clothes to wear, and people notice that you wear clothes until they, OH HORROR, wear out! Just smile and tell them that it doesn't make sense to throw out perfectly good clothing. Heck, I have some pairs of jeans that have made it into my "gardening and berry picking only" stack. They have too many stains to wear out in public, but work fine as "chore clothes."
Small steps. Small changes, lead to huge differences over time. But you won't see any differences if you close your eyes and wish to make it happen. It takes making a decision to be less of an impact than you were before. Today. Worry about tomorrow then.
Is it enough? Probably not. Can I do more? Yes. Do I need to do more.... maybe. Will I do more? Eventually.
I wrote up and published a list of "small steps" in my church's newsletter a couple of years ago. It came to 23 different habits or behaviors that could be done to reduce use of resources.
I came to many of those small steps in my pursuit of frugality. Each step seemed to lead to a fork in the road. Taking the path of frugality lead me toward other more sustatinable steps, and so on.
My giving up red meat lead to eventually giving up meat all together. Which lead to eliminating dairy and eggs from my diet. Results - Savings at the grocery store, and less weight on James. Also lower cholesterol, less sinus problems, and reduced seasonal allergies. Also saving the world from having to raise the meat that I would have eaten. Again, each step along the way was small, but had BIG affects on me.
My choosing to build rain barrels wasn't frugal, since it cost money, but turned out saving my family huge amounts of money on water bills during my state's drought last year. Being able to water the vegetables with saved rain water greatly reduced our need for tap water. Same with saving our shower water to flush the toilets. It is a small thing, but adds up to large savings. Imagine if everyone used the water in their house twice before running it down the toilet. How much would that save? Boggles the mind how a small step like that can make such a difference when magnified by thousands, millions, even billions.
Gardening. Ok, so I like to grow things. Handed down from my grandmother honestly. Green thumb and all. Sure it is work, but the rewards are many. I get to be outside. I eat fresh food, sometimes right off the plant! I don't have to mow grass endlessly every week, wasting fuel and breathing fumes, and get to use my labor to take care of things that are beautiful and can be sustain my family too.
The small steps lead me to getting rid of all of the grass in my 1/4 acre lot, and building new top soil where before was depleted clay. I forgot to mention the mental rest and relaxation I get from walking around my garden, and enjoying the naturalness of it? That is my quiet contemplation/meditation right there.
Taking a frugal approach to laundry encouraged me to get a clothesline, and a couple of portable indoor racks to dry clothes on rainy days. Saved bunches of money on drying things, our clothes last longer, and it doesn't take much time at all. Added benefit is that solar clothes drying is carbon negative!
Many of these small steps lead to other things. Some I can't do at the house I'm in, because it would be too expensive to put in a brand new gray water system to water trees. But we are planning on "greening" our next house extensively.
I quit watching TV. Ok, so I watch Le Tour de France and other bike races during the year, but I watch very little TV. I find that I can still live my life without the "boob tube" parading endless consumables to entice me into buying things that I don't really need. I enjoy how much better my life seems, now that I don't care what people are trying to sell me, nor do I care what is "trendy" what the best new gadget is, and what the flavor of the day is at the burger joint down the street. Heck, I don't even know what movies are going to play next week anymore. I get that kind of information from friends and family, who always make sure that I see the movies that are good, and skip the rest. And you know what, I haven't felt like I've missed anything either.
Sustainable living also means making choices about our level of living. How much is enough? What makes you happy? I don't mean the temporary thrill you might get from making a purchase, or that feeling you get from externals. I'm talking about inside. What makes you really happy? I'm sure it isn't driving a big gas guzzling car that will take 5 years to pay off, or living in a house that you can't afford to buy in 30 years. Or watching an entire season of some TV series. But I have found that hosting guests at the house, having a community around me, and also enjoying the people and relationships that are important to me bring me much more happiness than any material goods could ever do. And as a fellow blogger from Australia mentions, taking pride in the small tasks that need to get done gives a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. Even if I'm the only one who recognizes that the job was done.
Sustainability can be done. It is easiest done in small changes, working toward a goal. When shopping for a new appliance, get the one that is the best on energy use, and that you can afford. When buying new clothing, get what you need, not what loads up your closet. So what if you only have 5 days worth of clothes to wear, and people notice that you wear clothes until they, OH HORROR, wear out! Just smile and tell them that it doesn't make sense to throw out perfectly good clothing. Heck, I have some pairs of jeans that have made it into my "gardening and berry picking only" stack. They have too many stains to wear out in public, but work fine as "chore clothes."
Small steps. Small changes, lead to huge differences over time. But you won't see any differences if you close your eyes and wish to make it happen. It takes making a decision to be less of an impact than you were before. Today. Worry about tomorrow then.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Canning - First try!
So I got a canner. Mary had long ago acquired many canning jars that have been resting comfortably in the crawlspace under the house. But now that the garden is in, and the Farmer's Markets are full of beautiful produce, it is time to start preserving some of this local bounty.
So I got a canner. And I had to learn how to use it. I figured it couldn't be all that difficult, just takes some time, right? Right. Lots of time. But I think, like most things, when I get the hang of it, it will take less and less effort to make things happen.
Here is a picture of what I was doing today. (Click on the picture for a larger image)
The first 3 jars are green and wax beans from my garden, picked just before they were canned. The next five jars are corn, then there are 10 jars of blackberry jam, and 7 quart jars of dill pickles. Not bad for the first day's canning. It wasn't too difficult, and I made several trips to the internet to look up recipes and procedures. Here is my favorite canning/preserving website.
Thank you Mary for helping to pick the wild blackberries to go into the jam!
And how does doing my own canning lead to a simple life? It might not, if it isn't something you are passionate about doing. But for me, sustaining my family with healthful, local food is important. And choosing to do things that might at first be a bit more challenging, but less so as you get into the groove actually does make my life much more simple.
So I got a canner. And I had to learn how to use it. I figured it couldn't be all that difficult, just takes some time, right? Right. Lots of time. But I think, like most things, when I get the hang of it, it will take less and less effort to make things happen.
Here is a picture of what I was doing today. (Click on the picture for a larger image)
The first 3 jars are green and wax beans from my garden, picked just before they were canned. The next five jars are corn, then there are 10 jars of blackberry jam, and 7 quart jars of dill pickles. Not bad for the first day's canning. It wasn't too difficult, and I made several trips to the internet to look up recipes and procedures. Here is my favorite canning/preserving website.
Thank you Mary for helping to pick the wild blackberries to go into the jam!
And how does doing my own canning lead to a simple life? It might not, if it isn't something you are passionate about doing. But for me, sustaining my family with healthful, local food is important. And choosing to do things that might at first be a bit more challenging, but less so as you get into the groove actually does make my life much more simple.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Berry Pickin'
While Mary and I were eating dinner, she asked if I would go for a walk with her after. She went on to say that we could go to the berry patch and pick some during our walk. I love her so much! We garbed ourselves in long pants and long sleeve shirts and big hats and went out a-pickin'! All told we hauled in about 96 ounces of berries in a little over an hour.
We have several spots where we pick berries, and we just about cleaned out the place we went this evening. At least until the new ones ripen up.
We came home and added them to our freezer stash.
We went to our local grocery store, and bought pectin so that we can make up some blackberry jam. Since you can easily make jam from frozen berries, this won't be a problem.
Oh, and my pressure canner arrived today! Combined with Mary's large stash of mason jars stored up under the house, we are just about set to preserve lots of food for the winter time!
And the Farmer's Market is tomorrow morning. And Sunday afternoon, if we want to drive all the way over to the mall.
We have several spots where we pick berries, and we just about cleaned out the place we went this evening. At least until the new ones ripen up.
We came home and added them to our freezer stash.
We went to our local grocery store, and bought pectin so that we can make up some blackberry jam. Since you can easily make jam from frozen berries, this won't be a problem.
Oh, and my pressure canner arrived today! Combined with Mary's large stash of mason jars stored up under the house, we are just about set to preserve lots of food for the winter time!
And the Farmer's Market is tomorrow morning. And Sunday afternoon, if we want to drive all the way over to the mall.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Garden Plenty
I work full time. That is 40 hours per week. 8 hours per day. And I still find time to garden.
I came home from work today, and checked my front yard squash plants. I got 7 good sized summer squashes. (I missed one of the yellow squashes and it grew to about 18 inches long, and 6 inches around. It was too tough to eat, but the worms will like it!)
I went around to the side yard, and harvested a half-basket of beans. Then thought that some steamed Swiss Chard would be good with dinner too, so picked several leaves of it.
I came in the house and cleaned the food, prepared it and had it ready for when my dear Mary got home from visiting a friend. She brought 2 loaves of bread home with her, and we had that with the rest of the veggies.
Oh, and I had chilled beets from the farmer's market as well as sliced cucumbers in vinegar with home grown shallots.
Life is grand when you can eat what you grow yourself.
My garden doesn't provide enough to feed us all year long, but it surely provides lots to eat, and inexpensively also.
My garden is such, that once it gets going, there is very little need for hard work. In fact the hardest thing I did today was pull a few little clumps of crab-grass from a path. It is easier to pull after it gets big enough to notice. :)
Where do I find the time? Well, I don't watch TV much at all, and really enjoy the whole frugal, sustainable thing. It is easy to do, if you only take small steps toward your goal.
I came home from work today, and checked my front yard squash plants. I got 7 good sized summer squashes. (I missed one of the yellow squashes and it grew to about 18 inches long, and 6 inches around. It was too tough to eat, but the worms will like it!)
I went around to the side yard, and harvested a half-basket of beans. Then thought that some steamed Swiss Chard would be good with dinner too, so picked several leaves of it.
I came in the house and cleaned the food, prepared it and had it ready for when my dear Mary got home from visiting a friend. She brought 2 loaves of bread home with her, and we had that with the rest of the veggies.
Oh, and I had chilled beets from the farmer's market as well as sliced cucumbers in vinegar with home grown shallots.
Life is grand when you can eat what you grow yourself.
My garden doesn't provide enough to feed us all year long, but it surely provides lots to eat, and inexpensively also.
My garden is such, that once it gets going, there is very little need for hard work. In fact the hardest thing I did today was pull a few little clumps of crab-grass from a path. It is easier to pull after it gets big enough to notice. :)
Where do I find the time? Well, I don't watch TV much at all, and really enjoy the whole frugal, sustainable thing. It is easy to do, if you only take small steps toward your goal.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Berry Picking
I spent about 2 hours this evening picking berries. Blackberries.
Now let me paint the picture for you. I'm home alone, since Mary is visiting her sister. I have nothing to keep me inside. I dress in long pants and long sleeve shirt, preparing for the thorns and possible poison ivy to come.
The temperature outside was about 97 this evening. I drank lots of water, and put on my cowboy hat to keep the ticks off my head.
I slowly walked about a mile away from the house, over to the grounds of the college where the berry patches are. I enjoyed the silence. But reflecting on it, it wasn't silence. It was a flurry of sounds. Birds, insects, breeze rustling leaves. Frogs in the distance. A car going down the highway. An aircraft on final approach to BWI. All of this I took in, as my attention was drawn to those little and big wild blackberries. What a relaxing way to spend a couple of hours. Oh, and I must have eaten about 2 cups of the berries right off the brambles.
By the way, you have to focus on the berries, as well as keep the very prickery brambles from tearing into your skin as you pluck that juicy berry. My index finger and thumb are still purple from the juices of the over ripe berries. Those are the ones I ate, because they wouldn't have traveled well anyway.
I finished picking the ones I could get to and returned home to the garden. I harvested a zucchini from the plant in the front yard down near the road, and then walked around the house. I nibbled a couple of ripe blueberries from the bushes, and noticed that there are some strawberries ready too. I'll get them tomorrow. I continued to walk around, just enjoying what I see. Tomatoes that are coming on, Swiss chard ready to pick. Salad greens for lots of salad.
What's this? A few beans peaking out from under their leaves. So I went inside and got a basket to catch the few beans. I went around behind the trellis and my jaw dropped at the sight! There were bunches and bunches of beans back there. I could have sworn they weren't there yesterday! Anyway, I set about picking beans, and by the time I was done, there was a whole basket full. I brought it inside to the kitchen, washed, snapped, blanched and froze about a gallon of beans. I kept some aside for tomorrow evenings celebratory meal. Mary returns!
What I notice about this simple life that I've chosen, is that I have time to notice things. I have time to be with people I love. I have time to be with myself, without feeling rushed, or harried or stressed-out. This simple life isn't for everyone, but for me it works extremely well.
Now let me paint the picture for you. I'm home alone, since Mary is visiting her sister. I have nothing to keep me inside. I dress in long pants and long sleeve shirt, preparing for the thorns and possible poison ivy to come.
The temperature outside was about 97 this evening. I drank lots of water, and put on my cowboy hat to keep the ticks off my head.
I slowly walked about a mile away from the house, over to the grounds of the college where the berry patches are. I enjoyed the silence. But reflecting on it, it wasn't silence. It was a flurry of sounds. Birds, insects, breeze rustling leaves. Frogs in the distance. A car going down the highway. An aircraft on final approach to BWI. All of this I took in, as my attention was drawn to those little and big wild blackberries. What a relaxing way to spend a couple of hours. Oh, and I must have eaten about 2 cups of the berries right off the brambles.
By the way, you have to focus on the berries, as well as keep the very prickery brambles from tearing into your skin as you pluck that juicy berry. My index finger and thumb are still purple from the juices of the over ripe berries. Those are the ones I ate, because they wouldn't have traveled well anyway.
I finished picking the ones I could get to and returned home to the garden. I harvested a zucchini from the plant in the front yard down near the road, and then walked around the house. I nibbled a couple of ripe blueberries from the bushes, and noticed that there are some strawberries ready too. I'll get them tomorrow. I continued to walk around, just enjoying what I see. Tomatoes that are coming on, Swiss chard ready to pick. Salad greens for lots of salad.
What's this? A few beans peaking out from under their leaves. So I went inside and got a basket to catch the few beans. I went around behind the trellis and my jaw dropped at the sight! There were bunches and bunches of beans back there. I could have sworn they weren't there yesterday! Anyway, I set about picking beans, and by the time I was done, there was a whole basket full. I brought it inside to the kitchen, washed, snapped, blanched and froze about a gallon of beans. I kept some aside for tomorrow evenings celebratory meal. Mary returns!
What I notice about this simple life that I've chosen, is that I have time to notice things. I have time to be with people I love. I have time to be with myself, without feeling rushed, or harried or stressed-out. This simple life isn't for everyone, but for me it works extremely well.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Gardens and Ticks
Yes, that's right. Ticks. I guess I had a DEER TICK sometime last week, because when Mary was giving me my haircut, she found a bulls eye rash on my scalp. I went to the Med folks and they gave me a 14 day course of antibiotics to hopefully kill off any Lyme bugs that are trying to take over my systems.
But other than that the garden is doing fantastically well. I have all the salad greens I could want. Fresh strawberries, green beans and swiss chard coming in. The blueberries are coming, but not too many this year. Hopefully more next year. I've planted kale again, so when the fall comes, we'll have greens then too.
I've been to the farmer's market and bought beets, watermelons, other melons and sweet corn. Lots of sweet corn. I froze 10 20 oz tubbies, then transferred the frozen corn to large zip bags. That is easier to store, and I get my tubbies back too.
The freezer is getting full, so... Mary and I are going to be "putting up" more food for the winter, and toward that goal, I've purchased a pressure cooker, and a pressure canner. I'll get the canning process down, and keep things going in small batches, as the farmers and I have produce to spare.
This weekend, I've been eating corn on the cob, fresh steamed beets, and okra and tomatoes. Wow. The food tastes so fresh and good. And is so filling.
But other than that the garden is doing fantastically well. I have all the salad greens I could want. Fresh strawberries, green beans and swiss chard coming in. The blueberries are coming, but not too many this year. Hopefully more next year. I've planted kale again, so when the fall comes, we'll have greens then too.
I've been to the farmer's market and bought beets, watermelons, other melons and sweet corn. Lots of sweet corn. I froze 10 20 oz tubbies, then transferred the frozen corn to large zip bags. That is easier to store, and I get my tubbies back too.
The freezer is getting full, so... Mary and I are going to be "putting up" more food for the winter, and toward that goal, I've purchased a pressure cooker, and a pressure canner. I'll get the canning process down, and keep things going in small batches, as the farmers and I have produce to spare.
This weekend, I've been eating corn on the cob, fresh steamed beets, and okra and tomatoes. Wow. The food tastes so fresh and good. And is so filling.
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