All These Dates!

I have a confession to make, I replaced ALL of the sugar in the chocolate chip cookie recipe with pureed dates. I didn't mean to I was mindlessly going along when I realized I'd done it. The good news was, it really didn't change the taste at all. I thought the texture was a bit bready but no one else seemed to notice.

Ultimately, I think that using half sugar and half date puree would have solved this problem, minor though it may be. When you cream together margarine and sugar you really begin to set the tone for the texture of your final product. Sugar and margarine work together to create these little air pockets that make your product tender rather than bready. Using some sugar would help maintain this tenderness.

I think its probably more important to go this route with comfort foods, like chocolate chip cookies that you're serving for a crowd. I think if you're making chocolate chip cookies for yourself to enjoy and you want a healthier, less guilt inducing option, using all date puree would be fine.

BTW, I've been using organic date pieces in oat flour, the cheapest form of dates I can find, for my date puree experiments. I've been just barely covering the dates with boiling water, covering them and letting them sit a while. Then I puree them and measure out an amount of dates equal to the amount of sugar in the recipe.

I've also measured out the amount of unsoaked dates equal to the amount of sugar in the recipe, covered that with boiling water and pureed just this amount. The dates make such a nasty mess in my Vitamix that I prefer to do a larger quantity at a time and store it in the fridge for a few days.

How About Another Date?

Last night I grated all the zucchini that accumulated in the last week. It was an amazing amount. I froze most of it (in preportioned containers for easy use later) the rest I made into zucchini bread. I still had some pureed dates, so I decided to use them in place of the sugar in the zucchini bread. Its spooky but true, they worked wonderfully! Again I did decrease the amount of liquid in the recipe and I added some flaxseed meal to absorb excess moisture.

When you consider the nutrion information for dates compared to white sugar you begin to see the logic of my little experiments.

Tonights the real test. I'm making a giant chocolate chip cookie for my daughter's birthday and I'm going to substitute dates for 1/2 of the sugar. Its just family but I'm betting no one will be able to tell.

How About a Date?

We've begun the third week of school and still we haven't completely adjusted to things. I'm wondering if things will ever run smoothly again? (I have this constant sensation that I'm being shot from a cannon.) I'm so glad that I decreased my time and responsibility at work. I can't imagine how we made it through last year with me working 30 or more hours a week. At least this week marks the end of the majority of "meet the teacher" and "parent orientation" type activities which always happen at inconvenient times in the evening.

I did wind up pureeing the dates for my second batch of Banana Oatmeal Cookies and now they win a gold star. Everyone loves them. Speaking of pureed dates, I substituted them for all of the sugar in the Banana Bread recipe from Compassionate Cook by PETA. First I soaked the dates in boiling water until they softened, then I pureed them. I did decrease the liquid in the recipe slightly to account for the extra moisture the date puree provided. The results were very good, so good in fact that no one noticed I didn't use sugar.

Date puree seems to lack the strong taste that blackstrap molasses has when used as a sugar substitute.

The Healthy Cookie Quest

Ruthie & Allisone shared their favorite healthy cookie recipes with me. I really appreciated this since I still haven't peeked in a cookbook on my own yet. (There's actually a really good reason for this. When I attempted to put my cookbooks back in the cabinet that I keep them in, I discovered the cabinet seemed to be pulling out of the wall from their weight. Well...I do have a lot of cookbooks:) Now the cookbooks are in two enormous piles waiting for me to clear out a bookshelf to put them in - Jim is fixing the cabinet tonight but has requested I keep my five tons of cookbooks in an alternate location. They are not convenient to peruse at this time!)

Yesterday, for an after school snack, I whipped up the Banana Oatmeal Cookies that Ruthie suggested. These were easy and tasty, although my sons dislike date chunks no matter how small they are. I might try pureeing the dates next time or using raisins. Jim, the girls and I loved these and couldn't believe they had no added sugar.

The kids are off today so I'll be trying the other two suggested recipes with them, as well as continuing the organization extravaganza. (The boys' room is next on my hit list.) Also in the kitchen, there will be some preserving going on today to clear out the fridge for Saturday's CSA pickup. There are zucchinis to shred and freeze, tomatoes to turn into sauce, and greens to wilt and freeze.

I've really wanted to make seitan the last few days but haven't had the time. Last night I made Isa's seitan recipe, although I prefer the texture of Lachesis' Seitan O'Greatness. The problem was, I didn't have the time to dedicate to cooking the seitan, mixing up a batch takes no time at all. What's a girl to do?? This girl tried cooking it in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes on high. It actually turned out pretty good. I cubed it and served it with greens, red peppers, carrots and the marinade from the Jerk Seitan recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance as a sauce. (If I didn't have time to cook it, you know I definitely didn't have time to marinade it!) There were no leftovers so it must have been good.

I still stand by original assertion that my favorite seitan is baked seitan but in a pinch this worked out very well.

Clean Up, Clean Up

The frantic pace of the first few days of school seems to be settling down a bit. I'm getting used to being back home and back at work too. I'm working a whopping 6 hours a week now and all of it is teaching classes (ie. exercise is built in to my job again!). I've been so busy the last few days I can't imagine how I fit in working all those hours last year. Everyone is happier with this arrangement, even the my teenage daughters. Wo'd have thought it?

Despite my new found time, my house still looks like 5 people just moved in. I guess we did and boy does it show. I made a start over the weekend by actively ecycling things we no longer need that have been taking up space but there's still more to do.

My only goals outside of the house today are to get dog and guinea pig food, our CSA pickup and go to my son's meet the teacher night. These can all be done in the evening and that leaves me the rest of the day to get organized. The piles are daunting but with some good music blasting (I'm opting for Steely Dan, I'll go through the entire catalog if necessary!) I should be able to get through.


For dinner tonight, I'll be clearing out the fridge of as many veggies as I can. I'm leaning toward Jerk Seitan with a variety of cooked greens and carrots.

I'm also on a quest for a healthy cookie for my sons' lunchbox. The quest only began this morning and I haven't so much as cracked a cookbook open but I welcome any suggestions you may have.

My Favorite Crepe Recipe

My all time favorite crepe recipe comes from The Power of Your Plate by Dr. Neal D. Barnard. The recipe is actually called Eggless Omelets, although I find it more satisfying as a crepe.

Combine in a blender:
2 cups flour (I use whole wheat pastry)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes (although I use powder and it works fine)
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 cups water
1 Tbs oil (I use olive oil)

Blend until smooth. The recipe says it can rest for up to 30 minutes or even overnight but I always use it right away and it works fine. Pour 1/4 cup onto a nonstick griddle (I use cast iron) over medium high heat (I cook it closer to medium but that may be a quirk of my stove).

Either tip the pan to spread out thinly or use the back of a spoon. Let cook until the edges begin to curl up. Flip and cook on the other side. Serve stuffed with whatever you like.

I made them this weekend and stuffed them with Chickpeas and Greens and Cajun Black Eyed Peas. Delicious!

I'm busy digging out from under the remains of a wonderful summer. I'll be back posting next week. Chile, I promise to post the crepe recipe first thing!

There's No Room for Leftovers This Week!

Here's what happens when you don't feel like winding up with a lot of leftovers.

Half of the lima beans that I put in the slow cooker Sunday night became the Beans & Pasta recipe from Good Recipes for Hard Times, a very non-veg but nifty cookbook. I didn't have the celery called for in the recipe so I tossed in some bok choy instead. I also used scallions in place of the onions in the recipe. The final insult to the original recipe writer was, I omitted the pasta. I have plenty of pasta but I wanted to try making polenta and serving it with this recipe instead.

The end result was a tasty soup, the pasta would have made it less soupy. As for the polenta, if I hadn't added an extra 1/4 cup of water to it, it would have been great. Instead it was just ok. I knew I shouldn't add the extra water but I just couldn't stop myself! It was super simple to make. I will definitely try this again.

The remaining limas got mashed into a bean salad which we had on bread for lunch. I just used a bit of nayonaisse, garlic powder, onion powder, relish and a squirt of mustard to season the beans. Everyone seems to like this.

Now what to do with the leftovers of these two meals???

For dinner tonight, I cooked some barley in the leftover bean soup and I made whole wheat crepes. I served the leftover soup, now not water at all thanks to the barley,inside of the crepes. That's an awful description but it tasted really good.

For dessert, I put a tiny bit of water into a the practically empty jelly that was in the fridge. I took the remaining crepes, sprinkled a bit of powdered sugar on them, rolled them up and drizzled the jelly over them. These were good but there was an ongoing debate about whether cinnamon sugar would have been better than powdered sugar. Personally, I lean toward cinnamon sugar.

As for the leftover bean salad, it will be demolished by lunchtime tomorrow.

Ground Control to Major Tom

The countdown to the end of our summer vacation has officially begun. One week from tomorrow we will load the cars and drive away, turning our backs on another summer. I wonder if the kids understand all that goes into making this happen.

I've been sending things back home with Jim the last two weeks to lessen the load for the final trip home. Even though we can walk to the little mom & pop grocery in less than 10 minutes, I'm avoiding little trips to pick up this or that. If we don't have the ingredients, we either won't make it or we'll substitute something else.

I'm hoping to kick as many of the condiments as possible. Half empty containers of ketchup, mustard, relish and nayonaisse take up so much space in a cooler. I'm also working on using as many of the half full containers of grains, beans and flours that I can because these too will take up precious space on the ride home.

The ride home is much different than the ride up . On the ride up everyone is giddy with anticipation and the jam packed car just lends to the happy hysteria. On the way home, everyone is a bit bummed out and being crowded in just makes everyone cranky. I'm the crankiest of them all.

This morning brought cooler weather and with it I decided to do a little baking. I tried the Oatmeal Coconut Cereal recipe from The More With Less Cookbook. Initially I was dissapointed , it looked like a crumbly mess, but everyone raved about the taste. Its nice to have another cereal recipe in my repertiore.

I discovered some frozen currants in the freezer and used the 8 Minute Awesome Strawberry Jam recipe to make currant jam. I then used the currant jam in the Raspberry Fig Bar recipe from The Garden of Vegan.

I wanted to make some kind of wrap tonight so, in the interest of using up a bit more flour, I made Navajo Fry Bread. It is one of the quickest and easiest bread recipes that I can think of. We stuffed these with a mashed bean salad, using some of the aforementioned condiments. I think cooking like this is so empowering. At the very least, it should stave off Alzheimer's for a while.

I'm putting some beans in the slow cooker tonight so I can start the whole process over again tomorrow.

Doing the Can-Can

We ate leftovers last night so there are no new lentil recipes today. Our CSA pickup has been bountiful the last two weeks. I really love this time of year for that reason. In an effort to eat more locally and to support small farms, once school starts, our CSA shares increase from 2 to 5. I really want to avoid having to buy veggies over the winter. Let the canning begin!

I canned my first batch of tomato sauce last week. I'll get my second batch going later today. It was so exciting to return to canning after having so little time and energy to do it last year.

Our local thrift store puts canning jars in the "free" area. You won't hear any complaints from me! In the last two weeks, I've picked up almost 4 dozen pint jars that are in beautiful shape.

The task of preserving foods to get us through the winter requires me to look at every CSA pickup very carefully. What is most perishable? Lettuces, tender greens, cucumbers, and melons are eaten first because they just don't have the holding power.

What holds well in the fridge? Beets, collards, kale can sit happily in the fridge for quite a while. Tomatoes are easy to can but we love to eat them, so we eat some and can some.

What freezes well? An overabundance of zucchini or summer squash can be shredded and frozen to use in quick breads or pancakes. (Freeze these in the amounts that you would use in recipes to make things easier.)

Mother Earth News had a great article on winter vegetable storage in the last issue. I'm planning to try more low energy storage options this winter.

Speaking of getting through the winter locally, several local farms in our area have begun to participate in Winter Sun Farms. Winter Sun Farms operates much like a CSA with monthly pickups between December and March. They piloted this program last winter with one pickup and the response was encouraging enough to expand to four pickups. We've signed on for 2 shares. This will be a nice supplement to the preserving that I do.

Loving All the Lentils

Since we have a plethora of red lentils in the cupboard, our dinner the last two nights has included them. I've used the lentil recipes in The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery for inspiration. These recipes really call for brown lentils but I'm finding the red ones work pretty well too.

First, I tried her Honey Baked Lentil recipe substituting maple syrup for the honey. The recipes combines ginger, dry mustard, chopped onion and soy sauce with the lentils. It is topped with the maple syrup before baking. Despite my initial skepticism, this was quite a hit.

Next, inspired by Carla's Sloppy Lentil recipe, I sauteed several carrots and two cloves of garlic and then placed them in the slow cooker. Then I added dried red lentils, chopped green onion, 2 bay leaves, tomato puree and boiling water to just cover the whole mixture. I cooked this on high for 5 hours and before serving added a bit of tamari, basil and oregano. I served this over bulgur and it too was quite good.

The results have been so positive, I'm tempted to keep going. The Lentil Walnut & Rice Loaf and Ruth's Lentil Burgers are next up. I'm enjoying the adventure of living out of the pantry!

I did get a chance to try the Bean Hash recipe that I mentioned last week. I wound up using lima beans that I discovered in the back of the cabinet rather than the butter beans and black beans that the original recipe called for. This was simply because I didn't have any butter beans or black beans.

I thought the hash needed a bit more spice but overall everyone liked it. The texture of the Bean Hash was really good. Sometimes I think getting the texture right is the greatest challenge of vegan cooking. I'm anxious to try more of the recipes from The Bean Gourmet Presents the Greatest Little Bean Cookbook by Tom Chasuk. His pizza recipe sounds very intriguing.

Speaking of Beans

I just found a cookbook called The Bean Gourmet Presents the Greatest Little Bean Cookbook by Tom Chasuk. This is one quirky little cookbook. He uses beans in everything from breakfasts to beverages.

I used his quesadilla recipe as the inspiration for the quesadillas I made tonight. I used his combination of spices and cooking technique. I used vegan cheese and I added chopped tomatoes because I like them and so do my kids. It really was delcious.

I'm anxious to try his Bean Hash recipe since corned beef hash was a favorite of Jim's way back when. From what I've read so far, the ingredients are common and there is minimal prep and cooking in all of his recipes. This might be a good one to take out of the library for any bean newbies out there.

But What Will the Garden Gnomes Use to Dry Themselves??

The dish cloth situation in our house is dreadful. Despite the three knitted ones I recently added to the collection, we are still perpetually running out of dish cloths. Perhaps if people hung them over the faucet to dry rather than leaving them balled up in a dirty, stinky mess in the bottom of the sink this wouldn't be a problem...but that's another story.

I have several towels that are about the right size to dry a garden gnome. They are also low quality enough that you would be embarassed to hand them to a garden gnome despite the fact that he or she was not in fact alive and therefore unable to notice the aforementioned low quality. Today I finally found a use for these towels that, despite their apparent uselessness, I couldn't bear to part with (you all know the drill...but what if I need a garden gnome sized towel???)

I cut the towel into 8 dish cloth sized sections and then I used my sewing machine to zig zag stitch the edges to prevent fraying. I trimmed the edges and now I have plenty of dish cloths. I don't know what impressed me more, finding a use for the towels or figuring out how to use the zig zag stitch on my sewing machine!

This Vacuum Really Sucks

Actually, the vacuum really didn't suck at all. It was just too clogged to do much of anything.

We bought it at a tag sale this weekend for $5.00 mainly because Jim was tired of shlepping my Oreck (which I love) back and forth with him every weekend. I thought we could get by this way but it seems that Biscuit's hair makes once a week vacuuming impossible. Despite the hardwood floors, the broom is just no match for the hair of a yellow lab mix.

I discovered the clog while taking the hose off to vacuum the edges of the room. The pile of sand that fell out of it was the first clue anything was amiss. We upended the vacuum and a ton more sand and lint fell out. I wish things came out of the hose that easily but that task took the better part of an hour using a broom handle and a wire snake to clear things out. We opted to do the job outside to keep the indoor mess to a minimum.

It turned out that the entire length of hose was clogged, as was pretty much any other cavity that could be. We took every part we could off and just kept cleaning until we could find nothing else to clean. Then we cautiously plugged it in and hoped for the best. It actually worked really well. Despite our sweeping earlier in the day, we were still able to fill up the dust cup with Biscuit hair. We emptied it immediately to avoid the same problem twice.

In the end, the vacuum really did suck, but in a good way. The moral of the story is, when buying a used vacuum, check for clogs first.

I'm Having a Ball

Actually, I'm rolling lots of yard sale yarn into balls. Since I took that knitting class I've had my eye out for yarn every time I go to a thrift store or yard sale. I must confess, I'm not worried about dye lots so the missing labels cause me no stress.

As a result, I've got quite a supply but it was badly organized. (In truth, it wasn't organized at all. It was all thrown into a closet under the staircase.) I'm about half way through the job. Maybe I'm goofy but I think there's something aesthetically pleasing about a basket of yarn balls. Once the weather cools down I'll be ready to go into a knitting frenzy.

There's an odd feeling to this part of the summer. I hate to admit it but the cool mountain nights remind me that September is not too far off. The time has come to start using up the staples in the cupboards to get things down to winter food storage levels. (Up until this point in the summer if I run low on something that I have a stash of at home, Jim brings it up to me.)

So far we've run out of chickpeas, black eyed peas and white beans but we've still got plenty of limas, red lentils and kidney beans. The whole wheat pastry flour is getting low but I have quite a bit of barley and wheat berries, both of which can be ground into flour. My raisin stash is getting a little low so we're going to rely more heavily on dates and figs for these last few weeks. The goal is to use enough to have room for people in the car on the ride home.

Its really a frugal mind set that works well even if you don't have a summer place. Think about how much lower your grocery bill could be if you depleted your pantry a bit. I don't mean leaving it bare, I just mean exploring it a bit more thoroughly before deciding you have to go out for dinner supplies.

We're Having Scallions for Dinner?

Wednesday is our CSA pickup, so Tuesday's dinner revolves around using up the leftovers of last week's CSA pickup. Today I was presented with a unique situation. There was nothing left in the fridge but four huge bunches of scallions and a watermelon. The watermelon was self explanatory but the scallions had me stumped. What could I possibly make for dinner using scallions as the vegetable???
The answer was either going to involve brilliance or idiocy.

I wound up making French Onion Soup using the scallions in place of the onions and it was delicious. I was shocked at how well it went over. I served it with toasted uncheese sandwiches. Of course I could have run out to the store to get a vegetable but part of being truly frugal is getting creative with what you've got. Besides I view it as a challenge.

Speaking of odd concoctions, for dessert I took leftover Mexican Rice Pudding from VwaV and mixed in a cup of flour, 1/2 cup oatmeal and 2 Tbs oil. I formed these into balls and cooked them in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes. The result was a tasty little cookie.

Shopping for the Basics

We made a run into town today for soymilk (Silk $2.79, generic $2.49), whole wheat bread ($1.69) and bananas (3 pounds for $1.00). They must think we're nutty whent hey see our cart filled with 17 loaves of bread, 18 1/2 gallons of soymilk and 22 pounds of bananas. By shopping this way, we've been able to keep our trips to the store down to once every 2 weeks. The only other foray we make in the car is to our weekly CSA pickup. This pleases everyone since none of my kids like grocery shopping anyhow.

Jim discovered an unexpected use for the cotton dishcloths that I just finished knitting yesterday. It turns out they make great washcloths too. I have to agree with him. They have a great texture, good for scrubbing off the sweat and grime of the day but not too abrasive. I think my next knitting project will be the granny squares. It seems to hot to think about knitting a whole blanket. Doing it one square at a time sounds more manageable.

Rob's got his own little project going on right now. He's in the process of making a new rack for the pool table. (I'm talking about the triangular thing you rack the balls in.) Biscuit chewed the one that came with the table and we're all tired of doing it with our hands. There's nothing quite as deliberate looking as an eight year old with a miter box.

I Need What??

I'd like to start today by dispelling a high cost myth perpetuated by the office supply industry. When I bought my paper shredder a few months back, they tried to sell me lubricating sheets to keep it running smoothly. I'm suspicious of any add-on items that are offered at the cash register, so I said no.

Lubricating sheets cost about $9.98 for a 12 pack. They are meant to be used every 4-6 weeks. That is going to add up over time. Why couldn't I just use the same can of WD-40 that I've been using for years but never seems to run out? The answer is, I can, I did and it worked beautifully. The moral of the story is: Say no to pushy selling practices and allow yourself time to figure out if its something that you really need!

In other news, I've begun knitting some cotton dishcloths again. I should have three by the time I run out of cotton yarn. This is a good thing because all of the dishcloths around here are from the early days of my marriage and they are either holey, see through or a little of both.

I ran around the lake without stopping today and followed it up with about 45 minutes of yoga. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes yesterday. I'm off to make some raspberry fig bars and do some puzzles with the boys.

What Do You Do With the Doggy Poo?

I finally jogged around the lake without stopping today! Its about three miles and I did it in 40 minutes. I know this is a pathetic time overall, my daughters can do it in about 29 minutes, but its my personal best. I'm also extra excited because I haven't jogged at all since 7/13 due to the yoga training I was attending. I did bike around the lake several times during the week. Ultimately however, I was able to maintain and actually improve my performance with a week of daily yoga. Its just one more reason to love yoga.

The summer is going well. We're keeping our spending and overall product consumption very low. I'm really trying to think about every purchase and every discard we make. For purchases I ask myself:
Do we need it? If we do need it, is it durable enough to last? Is there a better choice that might cost more but would work better in the long run? How much waste results from this purchase? Is there a non-electric option that would work as well?
For discards:
Is this still useable? Do I know anyone who can use this? Can I do anything with this before I throw it out? Is there a way to avoid having this garbage again?

Our little upstate town has forced us to re-evaluate our doggie poo disposal habits. We've always picked it up in old grocery bags and tossed it into the garbage can. I've always figured, I don't want anyone elses dog poo on my property so I'm not going to leave it on anyone elses. Here's the conundrum, our town doesn't accept animal waste in regular garbage pickup. As a result, my dogs now do their doody in the same wooded area that everyone elses dog does. But what to do when your dog does it somewhere else? Jim came up with a very simple solution, dig a hole and bury it. There are doggy septic tanks for anyone who's interested.

I never gave the plastic bags and doody a thought. Although, since I've been using cloth grocery bags, I don't have nearly as many plastic bags as I once did. Its so important to think things through, even when its something you've been doing for years.

My Training is Complete!

The last week has just flown by. For seven days everything I did centered around my Yoga for the Special Child training. The class ran from 9:00 to 5:00 every day. That meant I was up and out of the house by 8:30 at the latest and home just in time to make a quick dinner. Jim really picked up the slack for me with the kids which made the whole experience possible.

The training itself was amazing. Sonia Sumar is just an inspiration to me. Her training was a unique blend of lecture, practice and observation. Of all the trainings I have been to in my life, this was the first one that got me so excited. It wasn't just the subject, it was the people that I met while I was there. All of them had such a commitment to helping children and they were so down to earth about all the hard work they were doing.

We were able to observe Sonia working with several children but the highlight for me was when Sonia worked with Kyle on Wednesday. I feel so much more qualified to help him realize his potential using yoga now that I saw Sonia working with him.

When I began the training I was thinking only in terms of working with Kyle but now I'm leaning towards working with other children with disabilities. Its funny the paths you suddenly find yourself on.

Yoga For the Special Child Training Begins

I start my Yoga for the Special Child training session tomorrow. I'm so excited. Its one thing to read a book but its another to have someone to guide you through the poses.

Kyle will be attending on Wednesday afternoon. I still can't believe Sonia Sumar will be working with him. This is such an amazing opportunity for us. Jim will be bringing Kyle so we'll have two sets of eyes to pay special attention to what she does with him.

My posts will be very sporadic next week since the trainings run 9-5 for the next seven days.

Power Failure

As Chile suggested, I tried soaking my steel cut oats over night. It really did cut the cooking time down and there was no difference in the taste. I'll definitely be using that trick again.

The boys have really enjoyed the first few days of camp. I've enjoyed the way it tires them out. It really helped yesterday evening when we lost power due to a very strong and destructive thunderstorm at about 7:30pm. They were tired and ready for bed with no argument. Poor Biscuit, he is really terrified of thunderstorms. He spent the evening hiding in his crate.

The girls and I spent the evening sitting around a table with a bunch of candles talking and listening to music. I tried to cross-stitch but I almost went cross-eyed
from the dim light. We also had two of the shake type rechargeable flashlights. These were very handy, although one stopped working for no apparent reason. We cant' seem to get it recharged or maybe the bulb blew out. I'm not really sure. I'll ask my technical advisor when he heads back up Friday evening.

Today was so hot and humid that I walked around the lack rather than jogging. The air was just too thick. Of course there was another reason for walking. When the power came back on at about 4:00am the radio in the ktichen came back on, LOUD! I jumped out of bed to turn it off and promptly fell onto the floor when my foot caught on the blanket. At least it doesn't hurt.

It looks like we really didn't lose anything in the fridge except a half empty container of soymilk, although I'm a little leery about the Vegenaise. I'm just grateful when have power back and no trees hit our house.

What Do You Mean Free?

Sometimes I feel like a spy. No, I'm not peeking in my neighbor's windows at night! Instead, I get a peek into how two very different communities offer services to their residents.

I live part of the year in a very bustling, bedroom community. It's filled with people who moved there because of the excellent school district and the services the community has to offer. (You can ask anyone, no one is shy about telling you this.)

However, for two months out of the year, I live in a sleepy Adirondack town. My kids' high school has more students in it than this town has year round residents.

As you might assume, my school and property taxes are significantly lower in the Adirondacks. I always assumed that the services offered here would be significantly less than the ones offered at home, but I was wrong.

In the Adirondacks, my garbage pick up is included in my town taxes. The day camp at the local school is free to year round residents and seasonal residents. (This was the revelation that prompted today's title. Its what I said last year when I found out about this program.) My boy's actually attended their first day of camp today and they had a blast. There are free swimming lessons for year round and seasonal residents. We have a town dump that is open year round and accepts things like used motor oil to recycle. We have a voluntary lake association that oversees the quality of the lake water and dues are only $25 per year to join this very worthwhile organization. The town's three beaches are free and open to residents and visitors alike.

In the Hudson Valley, we our garbage pickup is not included in our taxes. We have to pay a seperate company for this service. Day camp is definitely not free. There used to be free swimming lessons offered at the local gym but this program was discontinued. You have to pay to go to the local pool, there is no beach. The town dump is open two times per month April thru October although sometimes they skip months. They also do not accept things like waste oil.

Both communities offer free concerts during the summer months.

I have one burning question to ask. Why is it that an upper middle class Hudson Valley community offers so few services when the taxes collected are at least three times the amount taken in the Adirondacks? Services offered for tax dollars paid is definitely somthing to check out before choosing a community to live in.

The Odd Simplicity of Summer Eating

This morning my son asked me if I would make his favorite breakfast. Would you believe its steel cut oats with a handful of currants sprinkled in? If I put the steel cut oats and water into a covered pot on medium heat they are done by the time I get out of the shower. Rob sprinkles in the currants and tops with soymilk before eating. Simple and delicious.

I've spent a fair amount of the last few days gardening. I transplanted some Jerusalem artichokes yesterday after debating for several days where the best spot to plant them was. My herb patch is doing well and so are my tomatoes and purslane.

The tomato plants are a bit small but very hardy. I think I put them in the ground too late this year but time will tell. The blueberries are all growing nicely. They aren't as lush as I'd hoped but it is only their second year in the ground. I'm spoiled by the currants at home. Those plants took such abuse with the transplanting but they are flourishing.

We had our CSA pickup today. I really like our new CSA but I miss the familiarity of our old one. I also wish it was close enough to bike or walk to (its a half hour drive away.)

Pick a Project

I don't have a particular craft project going right now. Instead, I've been doing a bit of mending and altering. Things like tightening straps on a bathing suit, adding elastic into the waist of my son's bathing suit and cutting an old pair of capris to make a plastic bag holder. Along the way I also did a very necessary fix that saves me quite a bit of cash, tightening the band on my bras.

Ladies, I can't be the only one who has this problem and heaven knows its not because I buy cheap bras. After just a month or two that bra that fit so well starts riding up your back. It makes me nuts. To extend the life of your undergarments try this nifty little trick. Right behind the fabric where the hooks sit, just fold a bit of fabric under and stitch. Do the same thing on the side with the eye portion of the hook & eye. Voila, your band is tighter and your assets are held firmly in place!

Did You Ever Just Want to Screen?

The Casita screen room that we inherited last year was not the utopia we thought it might be. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that many of the support poles were broken. It wasn't too much of a bummer since my in-laws rescued a screen house that their neighbor no longer wanted and gave it to us.

Before bringing the Casita screen room to the dump, Jim harvested all the screens because they were in beautiful condition. He used some of this screening to replace a broken screen in the girls' bedroom window and the screen in the screen door.

The girls' window was easy, Jim was even able to reuse the spline. The screen door was a bit of a challenge since the screen portion is not a standard one that used spline. Jim had to buy some thin molding to create a frame to hold the new screen to the wood frame. It came out great, even the 45 degree angled corners thanks to a hand me down miter box and saw. Both screens look great and we've got plenty of screening left over for the next time a child or dog wrecks a screen!

Jim tackled another project that thrilled us all after the 92 degree heat and humidity that we experienced earlier this week. He installed a practically new hand me down air conditioner that my brother and his family no longer needed. My complaint with window air conditioners has always been that they force you to use them by not allowing you to open the window they are installed in on days when you could get by without the ac. Jim came up with the perfect solution.

He installed the ac into a window that didn't open. That might sound odd but anyone familiar with houses that were once summer camps know that nothing is that odd after a while. To minimize loss of light, Jim used plexiglass to cover the space over the ac rather than closing in the space with wood. The only money spent on this project was a mounting bracket to support the ac (we had the plexiglass) and I think that is money well spent. The unit is powerful enough to cool the whole house. We only needed to use it one night but boy did it make a huge difference in the quality of our sleep. Thanks Lou and Melissa!

We're Here!

Yesterday was just as chaotic as I suspected it would be. We had the car packed and ready to go by 10:00am but it was really packed. Every time Biscuit moved he stuck his behind in a flowerpot full of Jerusalem Artichokes that I was bringing to plant upstate. Frank, the guinea pig, spent the ride nibbling on the leaves of the same bunch of Jersualem artichokes after the dog's behind shifted part of the plant through the bars of his cage. The parakeet spent most of the ride on his swing rocking like a madman and squawking along with songs much to all the kids delight. There was not a square inch of space left unfilled in the car.

We unpacked with lightening speed and were on the beach by 2:30. Its so wonderful to be back for the summer.

The garage fridge is loaded with enough soymilk and bread (I'm not baking my own for the summer, it just makes things too hot) to ensure that I won't need to head to the grocery store for at least two weeks. I don't know who's happier about this, me or the kids.

The girls have been allocated their very own snack shelf where they can put all the stuff they've bought themselves. They're teenagers, they want to snack when friends come over and as long as I don't have to pay for it or eat it I guess I'm okay with it. Actually, I'm not okay with it at all but part of being a good parent is letting them make their own choices sometimes and that includes food. They did tell me proudly that they read all the labels of what they bought and only one thing had hydrogentated oil. At least they knew to read the labels.

I'm off to make a quick no cook dinner because its just too hot to turn on the stove. We'll be having tofu salad sandwiches with green salad and some homemade ice cream for dessert.

Its Almost Time to Hit the Road

For the moment, it's really quiet at my house. Rob's awake but everyone else is still snoozing. We headed back to the Hudson Valley late Sunday and spent Monday getting the last of our commitments out of the way, namely a trip to the dentist for all four kids and the car inspected. As a bonus, we also got to see my niece, nephew and sister-in-law one more time. It's so cute to see the boys getting put into line by a 2 1/2 yr old.

In about 15 minutes I'll be waking the rest of the house up and things will kick into high gear. I've found that a list is an absolute necessity for us to get anything accomplished and to make sure very little is forgotten. I use an old notebook because the bigger the list, the less likely I am to lose track of it. We keep the notebook on the counter with a pen stuck into the page we're using. Anyone can add to the list and this time the boys got into the act.

They discovered that they had forgotten their scooters, jump ropes and yoga mats among other things. Whenever they thought of something they had missed, they wrote it in the book. This was especially useful for my youngest who needs to practice his penmanship but hates doing it. He had no complaints about sounding out and writing down the things he was missing. I think we've found a great learning opportunity for him.

In other news, I just finished up the bib for Jim's coworker. Here's the cross stitch pattern that I used. I'll try to take a picture of it but the digital camera got dropped and it doesn't seem to focus anymore.

I've decided to take the two baskets of craft "stuff" (yarn, fabric and heaven knows what else) up with me. I find the various crafting projects very relaxing and since I'm not certain what my next project will be, I want to have lots of options.

Its time to get the party started. Rob's gone down to wake up his sisters and Kyle's begun to stir. Oatmeal all around, load everything from the list into the car and away we go. By popular demand, we're going with an 80's music theme for the ride up.

Packing & Cleaning

Its a flurry of packing and cleaning around here. The kids last day of school was yesterday. They brought home tons of paper for me to wade through. Today was largely spent visiting and entertaining as we wrap up our Hudson Valley commitments. Tomorrow will pass in a whirlwind of painting and packing that will crescendo into a very crowded car ride up to the Adirondacks sometime in the late evening. Its hard to believe summer is finally here!!

My list of stuff to bring is almost as long as Santa's. Even so, I'm sure to forget a few things. Poor Jim gets stuck bringing up a little bit more stuff each week when he comes up.

I got the thumbs up on the teacher presents I made from my sister-in-law who's an elementary school teacher. That really made me feel good.

I've much to do! I don't anticipate posting again until Monday or Tuesday

New Handles for my Sewing Scissors

We've begun week two of Jim's night shifts. We're all delerious. House painting continues but its a slow go. At least the priming is all done. Since the primer is tinted the same as the house paint, the house doesn't look so horrid from the street anymore.

I had a minor personal triumph Friday when I was able to reconstruct the handle of my sewing scissors with duct tape. Biscuit used them as a chew toy leaving most of the plastic handle missing.

I started by figuring out how long of a piece I needed and rolling the duct tape into a thin strip. Then I taped the thin strip to the existing handle and just kept winding the duct tape around until I had made it the proper width. The result is amazingly functional. I was really shocked that it worked so well.

The CSA Begins and Edible Lanscape Updates

I experienced my first Adirondack CSA pickup yesterday. It was such a pleasure! Pickup for this CSA is at the Saratoga Farmer's Market. I love the energy of a farmer's market. There's something special about being surrounded by people with similar ideals (ie. fresh and local food is good).

With the help of my sister, Dot, I got the refrigerator out of the minivan and into the garage upstate. I can check that off my to do list now!

In upstate gardening news, the mint I planted last year did reappear but the basil did not. The strawberry plants have flowers. This past weekend I planted some tomato plants, basil, parsley. I used the newspaper mulch trick and look forward to no more weeds in these areas.

The lingonberries that we planted were doing well but I think its time to spring for another soaker hose. (I already have one running along the blueberry bushes and the results are wonderful.) The lingonberries are planted on an incline that is almost impossible to water any other way. Currently I'm using the bottom half of a gallon jug with hole punched in the bottom to irrigate these. Its tedious and time consuming.

In Hudson Valley gardening news, the Jerusalem Artichokes are back with a vengeance! I'm really thrilled, especially since I thought they were dead. I'm eventually planning on dividing some of these and planting them upstate. I'm still trying to figure out the best spot to put them since they can be a little on the invasive side. Its so exciting to watch my edible landscape grow.

Kyle was able to pick some red currants today and we enjoyed them after dinner. I love that he enjoys working in the garden. Rob does too but they both enjoy picking more than planting. I imagine its because its more tangible.

Leen used some of the purslane (yes its technically a weed) that I had growing in pots in a pesto recipe recently. I had heard about doing this but it was our first attempt. The results were excellent. This is another plant that I'd like to give a permanent spot upstate to. As with the Jerusalem Artichokes I need to choose wisely though because it can be a little too prolific.

Night Shifts Make me Nuts

Day two of Jim's night shift and already I'm all out of whack and exhausted. That didn't take very long. As promised, Jim spent the morning power washing the house to get the chipped paint and dirt off. It seems you have to make a house look truly hideous before you can make it look nice again.

We've made some great strides in our larger (read "more expensive")home repair projects in the last two weeks. The new roof is done and, after a minor additional fix, its leak free. I swear, I was starting to think our leaky chimney was cursed. Speaking of leaky chimneys, the chimney repair at the cabin was completed today. After years of trying to resolve these two problems, its been a pleasure to see them finally done.

I've begun to pin together the potholders. It's actually a fairly easy task once you get a little momentum behind you. I really love seeing projects begin to take shape. I can't wait for school to let out. I think I'm more anxious than the kids!

Tomorrow, Leen's doing the cooking. My sister from Arizona arrives tonight and is coming over for dinner tomorrow. Since I'm heading upstate to drop off a fridge and get our CSA pickup, Leen's the kitchen magician. I'm glad to see she's finally getting a little creative in the kitchen. Up until very recently she was very much against learning to cook new things.

I went through last night and labeled all of my older posts that talk about our CSA experiences, including ones on how to store and use what you've picked up. You'll find these all under the CSA label.

A Potholder Production

Jim's working nights so I'll be posting late in the evening this week and next. Our project a night has become a project per morning. Jim spent this morning taking down shutters and clearing things away from the sides of the house. Tomorrow he'll be power washing the house (and the deck too) in preparation for painting it later in the week.

I just started work on the potholders for the boy's teachers. Each one has a handprint on one side with my son's name. The back of the potholder says, "Thanks for giving me a hand!" It is beyond funny to hear a 6 & 8 year old walk around saying to anyone who would listen, "we're giving them a hand because they gave us a hand all year, get it?"

The only flaw with the potholder idea is the number of potholders I need to make. Rob has a teacher and three helpers that he needs to give something to. Kyle on the other hand has a teacher, three helpers, a reading teacher, an occupational therapist and a physical therapist who all deserve to be acknowledged. That's a total of 11 teachers! I usually hand sew my potholders but these babies are getting churned out on the sewing machine as soon as the fabric paint dries.

What's Your Job?

Now that I'm around the house more, I've begun to more clearly define the kids roles and responsibilities. I know this would have been helpful when I was working more. It might have even made it possible for me to keep my job but its awfully hard to enforce things when you aren't around. I found it usually results in a last minute, quickie attempt as your car is pulling down the driveway.

The girls already know what they need to do. When dealing with them, its more about spot checking. Teenagers are slackers by nature and their definition of clean and put away is very different from the rest of the worlds. Jim's a fan of making the kids clean their rooms before they can sit down for dinner. This is especially useful with the girls who tend to spread their belongings out upon entering a room. When they say, "my room is clean" we have to actually run down the stairs to make sure our definitions match. However, since both of my daughters do their own laundry, the consequences of it not keeping up with it are built in. I never have to nag about laundry and they can change their outfits 250 times a day if they like.

The boys have always had to clean their room and make their beds but this week I've attached allowance to the process. I'm trying not using it as an incentive. Instead, I'm trying to use it as a natural consequence, ie. this is your job and if you do a good job you will be paid for it. I don't want it to turn into a question of "how much will I be paid" every time they are asked to do something. Yesterday was iffy but today they are doing a pretty good job. I think they were wondering if I was serious.

The PTA at my sons' school is doing a book swap program over the summer to encourage reading. I think its a great idea even though my sons won't be able to use it. Its provided us with a great excuse to go through the kids' book shelves since the PTA needs donations to get the program started. That will be today's afterschool project.

Yesterday's evening project was putting clean laundry away. Somehow it doesn't seem as noteworthy as repairing the towel bar in the bathroom or weeding but it still needed to be done. The boys laundry gets put into a basket for each of them and they are responsible for putting it away the next day. If time permits, I have them take clothes off the line with me and immediately put their clothes away. It becomes a silly game. They try to run and put things away before I have time to take more things off the line for them.

Beware the Retail Store

Sometimes you can't find what you're looking for at the thrift store. Some things you need to buy from a traditional store. In our house socks, undies, bras, bathing suits and Jim's jeans (in all my years of thrift store shopping I have seen only one pair of Jim's size.) Yesterday, after much dawdling, I went to the store with my daughters to get all of those things.

Bathing suit shopping with two teenage daughters is a nightmarish undertaking. Its not for the faint hearted. There is much bartering and negotiation. It's exhausting process. However, my time waiting for the them to find and try on suits allowed me to make a few observations.

First of all, it was a Tuesday evening and the store was busy. Surely after a day at work, people had something better to do than shop. I seemed to be the only one who was dragged kicking and screaming by her daughters. Most of the women my age seemed to be enjoying the shopping process.

Secondly, the store was open until 10pm (remember its a Tuesday). Who needs to shop for clothes or housewares that late?

Thirdly, the people who shopped in this particular store were slobs. The bathing suit section was strewn with suits. They were on the racks, under the racks, on the floor and laying across the racks. I pity the staff person who has to clean that mess up.

Fourthly, every store has its own credit card now and they offer them to you like after dinner mints at the diner. Am I the only one who understands that the extra 15% off today and the future special offers are all designed to make you want to purchase more not to save you money?

We stuck to our list, didn't apply for the credit card and made it out of the store with our sanity and budget intact. I'm glad that it will probably be another year before I have to set foot in the store again.

A Project a Night

Today's the day, raise a glass with me. The summer manager is back on the schedule as of today! Today our hours will overlap and beginning tomorrow, I'm barely on the schedule. Meanwhile, my to do list at home is growing by the minute but I'm really excited that I'll have the opportunity to attack it.

Jim and I have both begun doing a project a night to make sure the things that need to be done before I leave for the summer actually get done. Jim's focusing on home repairs, like fixing a sagging towel bar and trimming the trees that were growing into my clothesline. I've been focusing on going through cabinets & closets (keep, donate or chuck is the game I've been playing) as well as sneaking in a bit of bulk cooking here to make the summer go smoother.

I envy Jim since his projects tend to be more clearly defined and therefore its easier to see his progress. My progress is measured in more subtle ways like a drawer or closet closing more easily or dinner being on the table at 6:00 instead of 7:30.

Rotate

We got together yesterday with my parents and most of my siblings. Sometimes its hard to tell if its a family visit or a swap meet. My brother is looking for some exercise equipment that I have lying around, my sister is taking a different piece of fitness equipment that my mother no longer wants, my daughters are taking some of my youngest sisters clothing cast offs, my niece is getting a toddler basketball hoop that my sons have outgrown, my aunts gave me some extra tomato plants, my brother is giving us an a/c for the cabin and on and on it goes.

I like the comfortable way things have evolved. We've reached the point where no one is offended if you ask or offer something. Its undertstood that if you take something, you have the right to dispose of it at a later date as you see fit. This prevents crap piling up in your basement because you feel someone might get angry if you get rid of it.

Another plus is by mentioning things we are activley looking for, we extend our search area. My sibs and I all work and live in different areas and you'd be amazed what we can come up with as a result. I'm currently on a quest for a twin jogging stroller for my brother and sister-in-law.

A Few Updates

I'm still adjusting to the decrease in work hours and the decreased pay that goes with it. Next week, I'll have even more time away from the gym. After mulling things over for a week and a half I still have no regrets. It feels like I'm being paroled. Things about the job that would have stressed me out, like our cash register getting stolen on Monday and the fact that our a/c is on the fritz, amuse me.

It feels good to be more hands on with the kids, especially with my son who's going through some pretty serious issues right now. Even though he's having more trouble, I feel better able to handle it. Besides, as bad as the behaviors are, they're pretty normal adoption related adjustment/self esteem issues. If we deal with them now, we'll laugh about them when he's older. (The thing about being an adoptive parent is, you get really calm about dealing with somewhat extreme behaviors. All kids test you but kids from fost/adopt situations have the ability to test you a little differently. After a while, nothing fazes you. You're going to have to do a lot more than bedwetting, hoarding, lying and stealing to freak me out.)

I'm delighted to report that our CSA pickups begin on Wednesday! This means no more weekly trips to the natural food store. Let the money saving begin. This is our first year with a new CSA in the Adirondacks. I'm so curious/excited to see how this CSA compares with our Hudson Valley CSA, which we will return to in the fall. Since 3 pickups fall in the weeks beforeI actually reside up there, I'm using the trips to take supplies up to the cabin. This Wednesday the fridge will go up with me. I hope my sister feels like taking a ride so I have someone to help me get it out of the minivan!

The fall will be a busy time for us because we'll have 2 shares from the Adirondack CSA that continue through the end of October, plus 3 shares from our Hudson Valley CSA which begins in Sept and ends in early November. I'm committed to canning this year. Its one of the frugal things that I lacked the time and energy to do this past fall. I really want to get through most of the winter with food that I've preserved myself.

This is a great time of year to hit the thrift stores. It seems everyone is cleaning out their houses and there are great finds to be found. Yesterday, I found a barely used Magefesa Super Rapid 2 Pressure Cooker for $4!! This was a great find considering I've still been using my pressure cooker with the cracked handle despite the obvious dangers. This time I really am tossing the one with the cracked handle. Today I'm off to the bakery outlet to load up on some bread for the summer. I'm hoping to have a freezer stash for times when its too hot to bake my own.

Taking a Little Break

I've been quiet the last few days as I ponder the beginning of this new chapter in my life. I'm relishing the taste of freedom I'm feeling as pressures and responsibilities that have been heavy weights on my shoulders gradually lighten. It feels great! I'll be posting more regularly by the end of the week. For now I'm focusing on tying up some loose ends and enjoying my sister's company (she's visiting from California).

On the frugal front, I've begun working on the cross stitch bib for Jim's pregnant coworker and I think I've come up with a frugal yet useful end of year gift for my sons' teachers. I'm leaning toward making them pot holders, using fabric scraps of course. I'm thinking of having the boys put their handprint into the center of each potholder with fabric paint.

Time Won't Let Me

AS many of you figured out, it came down to time. Working every day left me with very little time. The time I had left had to be divided up into time for kids and family, time for frugal living activities and time for chores like laundry.

The worst part was the unexpected time commitment that my job entailed. If an instructor couldn't cover a class, I got a call (and often had to cover a class). If desk staff had a question, I got a call. If my boss needed the latest membership numbers and I happened to have that day off, I got a call. I almost had to cancel our trip to Ithaca because of one of these last minute calls. If the ceiling started leaking, I got a call. You get the idea.

As you might imagine, when I'm spread that thin I don't really exceed or succeed in any of the areas mentioned. Projects that I love, like knitting my nephew's blanket barely got done. My house was a perpetual mess (although it may still be a perpetual mess, I'm a messy packrat at heart. At least it will be a clean mess.) Most importantly, I didn't have the time or energy to adequately deal with the daily challenges of raising four kids.

On the positive side, we were able to pay off my car loan and eliminate all of our credit card debt thanks to the extra income. Interestingly enough, without those bills hanging over us, it makes it even easier to walk away from the job. I can go back to practicing active frugality with no excuses.

The event that crystalized the importance of me taking this step is unimportant, mainly because it is different for everyone. The important thing is, I recognized it was time for a change. The woman I job share with returns 6/5 (she's the summer manager, I was the rest of the year manager). Once she gets here my hours will drop down to morning only for a total of about 8 - 10 hours a week and gradually decreasing, until I leave on 6/20.

I'm glad I took the position but I have no regrets leaving it.

I Quit

Today I made the hardest decision that I've had to make in a very long time. I gave my notice at the gym. I will continue as manager until 6/20 but when summer is over I will go back to being just a fitness instructor. The needs of my family have to come first. I'll share more about my decision tomorrow.

Friday Freebies - Cross Stitch Patterns

I spent much of Thurdsay organizing my fabric stash. I've begun cutting squares for my denim quilt. The cut fabric takes up so much less space than the full pair of jeans. I also came across some bibs that are meant to be cross stitched. Jim was looking for a little something to give a pregnant coworker and the bibs fit the bill perfectly. It also is the reason for my quest for free cross stitch patterns which is the focus of this Friday Freebies.

Jenny's Free Cross Stitch Pattern Links

About.com's Cross-Stitch - links to many free cross stitch resources

Cyberstitchers.com - This is my favorite site of them all so far. Click on free patterns for a plethora of patterns.

Lingonberries

This past weekend we planted the lingonberries that I ordered earlier in the year. Its part of the edible landscape that we are setting up at our summer getaway.

We've planted the lingonberries just above our rock wall with the blueberry bushes in a row about 4 feet behind them. We're hoping that they will help with erosion as well as provide fruit. The highly acidic soil of the pine forest often leaves us with bare dirt because grass just can't grow in such acidic conditions. On the other hand the blueberries and lingonberries are thrilled with a mulch of pine needles.

I checked on my strawberry patch and it was doing very well also. My chives were returning too. There are currently no signs of life from my basil and mint but I didn't move the mulch around to see what was going on underneath. Perhaps by next weekend I'll see some activity.

At home, the Jerusalem artichokes haven't made a showing yet. I'm wondering if they survived the winter.

Wants, Needs, Haves

This is the time of year when you finally take the heavy quilts off the beds and put a lighter bedspread on. The boys have the denim quilts that I made for them. Jim and I put on a thin bedspread that was given to us by a friend around 1994. Its just enough for those cool spring nights. Its also a bit tattered and smaller than our bed (its a full size, the bed is a queen.)

Enter yesterday's sale fliers where summer weight quilts and shams are on sale in a myriad of stores for $19.99 all sizes! I want it. Its already made. There's no work involved in it for me. Let's stop on the way to work today and get one before all the pretty queen size ones sell out.

After thinking about it for a few moments, I still wanted it but I knew I didn't need it. The set up we have right now is functional.

This got my wheels turning as I wondered what did I already have that I could use to make my own summer weight quilt? The answer is I have lots of denim squares, taking up lots of space. If I use what I have then I will not have spent a penny, I'll be cutting down on the overall cost of the quilt (I'm thinking environmental cost here ie trucking and possibly crummy labor conditions/wages for workers as well.)

Finally, I enjoy creating things which makes tackling some of these projects much easier.

Friday Freebies & the Promised Menu

As promised here's the menu for last night's early Mother's Day dinner. We had:

Whole wheat pasta with Garlic and Basil Tomato Sauce
Bakes Seitan in Tomato Sauce (think Italian sausage)
Tosses salad with homemade Catalina French Dressing
Homemade Breadsticks
Pineapple Walnut Bread
Watermelon
Tortilla Chips & Pretzels

I was able to get a ton of laundry done and all of it hung on the line to dry. I filled another bag of outgrown clothes to bring to my friend and another two to go to the donation bins. I even cleared out a drawer to store my fabric scraps in, although I never actually put the fabric scraps into it but later today I will!

Here's a link to Nutrition, on the Cheap which was part of this weeks Meatless Monday. I like the spirit of the post although last time I checked being your own butcher and eating fish and poultry weren't vegetarian.

Another interesting article is Eat To Live: Junk Food Linked to Cancer. Both studies in this article aren't conclusive but making positive dietary changes couldn't hurt.

Vacation All I Ever Wanted, Vacation Had to Get Away

That GoGo's song is just banging around in my head. I am so ready for life to simplify and summer to begin. Unfortunately, before summer can come, I've got a ton to get done around here. My preparation this year has been a series of false starts complicated by the responisbilities of daily life and my job. Thankfully my summer manager returns June 5th which will cut my hours and responsibilities way down until I actually hit the road three weeks later.

But right now I've got to get it in gear. I've been vigilant about setting aside meals for Jim for his summer bachelor meals. So far he's got ten dinners and twenty pumpkin muffins. I'm really pleased with this. Other things are not going so smoothly.

I am perpetually behind on laundry and my bedroom has become the dumping ground of all the "homeless" items in our house. (Where does the vacuum cleaner and carpet steamer belong??) I'm also way behind in my outdoor flower bed gardening. I've got to get them weeded really soon.

Jim's got a big list of things he wants to get done as well. There's stuff to be brought to the Adirondacks taking up space in the garage. The list goes on and on.

Today, I'm off but we've invited my mother over for an early Mother's Day dinner and I've got to go see Rob in his school play at 10. I'm hoping to make a big dent but I'm trying to remind myself that little steps make a big impact. For example, I made a big run to the clothing donation bins on my way home from work the other day, which helped, but its looking like I'll need to do another very soon. I packed two big bags of outgrown boys clothes to my coworker who's son is a few years younger than Kyle.

Cooking today will have to be long on stove time short on prep time. I'll share my menu tomorrow.

Gardening, Guinea Pig Greens & Grooming

I'm always looking for a simpler way to garden, especially when it comes to weeding. Check out this online article from Mother Earth News about using newspapers as mulch. It sounds like a great idea.

We had chili with cornbread last night. The chili was made in the slow cooker and was ready to eat when my very long day was over. I put the cornbread in the oven and then went for a walk with the boys, Jim and the dogs. When we got home, the cornbread was done. I love it when things work out the way I've planned.

The boys have gotten in the habit of picking bunches of dandelions to give to our guinea pigs. They seem to love them. Here's a little tip for other people with guinea pigs. Don't feed them cabbage leaves. We learned just yesterday that guinea pigs get gas too! Honestly, the room just stank after they ate the cabbage leaves. On that same subject, don't let your dogs eat broccoli.

Despite our spending freeze some money had to be allocated so Mel, our bichon, could get a haircut. Usually we do it ourselves with a flowbee but this time he was so matted that we weren't getting anywhere with it. I had to break down and take him to a groomer. The plan is to give him a trim every other week with the flowbee so we never get to this point again.

Navajo Fry Bread

The other night I made an interesting concoction. First, I made the Red Lentil Spread. I had planned to have sandwiches for dinner Thursday night but I wanted a "fun" bread to make them with. Naturally my inspiration for "fun" bread didn't occur until a half hour before dinner, which severly limited my options.

I perused the More With Less Cookbook and decided to try Navajo Fry Bread. This simple quick bread uses only flour (I used whole wheat flour bread flour), salt, baking powder, water and soy milk. You're supposed to divide the dough into balls, flatten it and fry it in several inches of hot oil. I cooked it on my cast iron griddle with just a light coating of oil and it came out great. The bread had the consistency of the bread they use in gyros. It was a really nice treat.

We topped the bread with the Red Lentil Spread, the leftover sprouts, shredded carrots and some home made Catalina French dressing. It was a big hit.

I put together an oatmeal pie crust but instead of baking it, I just browned in a cast iron frying pan. I topped this with apple butter that I heated up in the microwave. It made a delicious dessert.

A Peek at my Projects

Here's pictures of my two recently completed projects. First a picture fo the hooded blanket that I knitted for my nephew.




Here's a picture of the plastic bag holder and the two pot holders that I made for my sister's birthday. I made these out of an old pair of jeans. My daughters especially loved that I incorporated the pockets into the pot holders.



Now I'm working on a doll size version of the hooded baby blanket for my niece.

Friday Freebies

Thanks to the Ideal Bite tips that I get daily, I've just discovered Earth 911. Its a great site with lots of information on how and where to recycle all sorts of household items. The timing was perfect since Jim just started changing his own oil this past weekend and we were wondering where to take the used oil. You juts pop in your zip code and local resources come up.

I just saw a mention of the South West Trading Company in the newspaper this past weekend. In addition to traditional wool, they make their yarns our of soy, bamboo and milk. I'm so intrigued by the soy and bamboo yarn. They also have free patterns on their site which include the first sock pattern I've ever seen that doesn't require double pointed needles. Maybe I will be able to make socks someday!

Speaking of knitting, I FINISHED THE HOODED BABY BLANKET FOR MY NEPHEW!!!!! I'll post pictures of it soon.

Pantry Overload with an Update

So far the spending freeze has been a ho-hum affair. One thing I've discovered along the way is that I have a ton of non perishable food in the house, probably too much. A side benefit of our decreased spending is that we will wade through some of this excess and reclaim some storage space.

There are certain staples that we just go through by the truckload, mainly whole wheat bread flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and oatmeal. These turn up so frequently in our cooking that I need to stock up on at least every other month if not sooner. Most other dry goods I don't need to buy more than once every 6 months or so (bear in mind I buy these in 25 or 50 pound bags.) You would think after buying in bulk for so long I would have this down to a science but its still just a work in progress.

We are running low on veggies and soymilk, as I suspected we would. I'm going to head outside and pick some dandelion greens before Jim mows the lawn. It always freaks the kids out when they discover that I've harvested our own dandelion greens yet they don't blink when we bring them home from the CSA. Ultimately, as long as I do it before any school children arrive home they're fine with it.

I used some of the sprouts yesterday. I'm not sure if its my imagination but I swear they were crunchier than the sprouts from our winter sprouting. The reamining ready sprouts will be used in sandwiched tonight. I defrosted what I thought was apple butter but it turned out to be broth from seitan (remember back in the old days when we boiled seitan???) I'll be using it to make Red Lentil Spread. I did eventually find the apple butter and I'll use that in a dessert, although I'm not sure what. I think I'll peruse the Use It All: The Leftovers Cookbook for ideas.

In gardening news, our currant bushes have sprung to life over the last few days. They look like they'll be very productive this year. I'm really pleased, epsecially considering the traumatic uprooting they endured this time last year. I'm anxious to see how the blueberries are doing.

UPDATE:
I've just stumbled upon the socially acceptable way to gather dabdelion greens without having your teenagers moan and groan about all the ways you are ruining their lives. All you need to do is send out one of their younger siblings to gather them for the "guinea pigs"! Of course you have to actually give some to the guinea pigs and this excuse won't work as well unless you have guinea pigs.

The Unmotivated Cook

I've noticed that after a weekend of intense cooking, I sometimes have trouble getting in the mood to cook dinner for a few nights after. I think its because I get caught up in projects that I didn't have time for while the massive cooking was going on. It also is linked to days where I don't get home until after 3pm and I have to immediately get involved in homework help.

I've always felt that if its 5pm and you've just begun to think about making dinner, you're in big trouble. Yet I've found myself in this position the last two nights. I've rebounded from it but it hasn't been easy. Today I'm taking no chances. I'm putting some red lentil soup into the slow cooker before I leave for work. I find if I have part of the meal cooked its easier for me to get motivated and fill in the blanks when I get home.

Last night I combined Sunday nights leftover split pea soup with Monday nights leftover pasta with sauce and the tomato juice leftover from Friday. I threw in a teaspoon of celery seed and wound up with a very delicious soup to go along with the veggie burgers that I made last night. Always test your combinations before dumping things together. I put a little bit of everything I'm considering combining on one spoon so I can taste and see if the flavors blend, or don't blend.

I used the veggie burger recipe from VwaV as a springboard. (I know I've said it before but this is an awesome recipe!) I had neither the time nor the ingredients to follow the recipe to the letter so instead I measured out the water, olive oil, tamari, mustard, spices (substituting garlic powder for the garlic and onion powder for the onion), and subbed ketchup for tomato paste. I whisked this together, added in the dried tvp and a few tablespoons of flaxseed meal. I microwaved it for 2 minutes, to get the tvp rehydrated. I used an ice cream scoop to shape these into equal sized balls which I pressed into burgers on a hot cast iron griddle.

I'm thinking about premixing the dry ingedients of these burgers together to decrease my kitchen time during the summer, or any other hectic time. My fear is that all the spices would wind up in the bottom of the container and you'd get some bland burgers and some overpowering burgers. Perhaps I'll do them in single batch containers.

Frugal Living Updates

I kicked off our spending freeze by making a few batches of granola, several loaves of Barbara's Whole Wheat bread, and several loaves of Cornell Bread. The Cornell Bread makes a great quick grab breakfast. To veganize the recipe in the link, make the following changes:

use 1 tbs flaxseed meal for the egg
use blackstrap molasses instead of honey
use extra soy flour or Better than Milk in place of powdered milk

I also began to peruse Use It All: The Leftovers Cookbook which I found in a thrift store on our trip to Ithaca. This cookbook is arranged by main ingredient. Its not a veg cookbook but so far the recipes seem to lend themselves to veganizing. I made Pineapple Pecan Loaf but substituted walnuts for the pecans since I didn't have pecans in the house. I chose this recipe because of the plethora of pineapple juice I had in the freezer.

I also made a few batches of the pumpkin muffin recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and Baked Seitan .

We tried the baked seitan in Isa's Jerk Seitan recipe from VwaV. It was amazing. I also served it with a container of Tofurky gravy that had been hidden at the bottom of our freezer. This was equally delicious.

I'm sure one or two of you are scratching your heads trying to figure out if I've gone carb crazy with all the breads and muffins. Actually, I'm just getting our staples in place. All the extras have been tucked into the freezer for future use. Jim's stash of summer bachelor meals is growing nicely.

The sprouts are nearing completion. They sprout more rapidly in the warmer weather which is a nice bonus.

I'm relieved to report that the check engine light was an emissions problem not a transmission one. The repair bill came to $400. I'm grateful, I thought it was going to be much worse. Of course it doesn't change all the other expenses we have so the spending freeze continues!

I'm wrapping up two projects I've been working on. The baby blanket is almost done. I just need to make the hood portion. I'm finishing up my sister's birthday present, a creative endevour involving an unwanted pair of jeans, as well. I'll post pictures of these as I complete them.

No Tomato Paste, No Problem!

I was making tomato sauce last night when I discovered I had no tomato paste. Aside from being tired and unwilling to run out to the store, I had no desire to spend money on tomato paste. It didn't fit in with my living mainly out of the cupboard plan. At the same time, my family gets grumbly with watery tomato sauce.

Here's my simple solution. I took a can of diced tomatoes and gave them a whirl in my Vita-Mix. Then I poured them through a fine mesh strainer. The end result was tomato paste and tomato juice. I used the tomato paste in the sauce and the tomato juice is in the fridge waiting to be used in another recipe.

We Interrupt Today's Friday Freebies to Bring You This...

Have you ever noticed that expenses come in bundles? Spring brings with it a myriad of fix it projects for homeowners. We are certainly no exception and with two houses, sometimes this can be a bit overwhelming. We've got a masonry chimney that needs repointing and relining to the tune of $1600, a house that needs to be repainted, a deck that needs some boards replaced, a roof that needs replacing and just yesterday the check engine light in my car came on. Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

On the positive side, our CSA pickups begin the first week in June. Since these were paid for months ago it will feel like we are suddenly getting free veggies and this will take a big chunk out of our food budget. On the other hand, June is still 5 weeks away. What do you do in the interim?

Fortunately, we've recently had a few expenses eliminated, namely my car payment, and others decreased, mainly our auto insurance. These will help but we need to tighten our belts a little bit more to get these things done in a timely fashion. My posts for the next few weeks will be focusing on living with almost zero spending.

The first thing I'm doing is beginning to sprout daily. By starting a new container or three every day, there will be a constant supply of sprouts. This should help bring down our food budget. I also recently encountered an incredible sale on organic diced tomatoes, which I stocked up on. This will help too.

After much discussion, we've decided what we will do and what we will be hiring people to do. In our opinion, roofs and chimneys are work for best left to professionals. We'll be handling the deck and house painting ourselves. Right now I'm grateful that our house is just a "small" straight ranch. It makes for easier painting and less expensive roofing.

We've opted to paint the house the same color so we can avoid the strife of colors bleeding through. We have friends who painted a very dark colored house white. It became such a chore as they put on coat after coat of paint trying to get the house bright white.

AS for the check engine light on my car, I'll find out Tuesday. The last two times my check engine light came on, the car needed a new transmission. American Honda was kind enough to replace it no charge both times since its a known problem with all their 1999 Odysseys. I even got a call last time from a representative from American Honda telling me to call her if it happens again, alluding to the the fact that they would pay for it a third time. The silly car only has 125,000 miles on it and its a Honda for heavens sake. Our dinky little Saturn had 232,491 miles on it when we sold it and it still had the original clutch. I'm not impressed by my Honda ownership experience at all.

Frugal Cooking on the Road with No Pots!

Did you ever get so excited about a trip that the logical part of your brain shuts off causing you forget very basic things? This past weekend I remembered to pack bowls and spoons for the oatmeal I brought but I never thought about bringing a larger microwavable container to heat something for the whole family. I had also intended to call the motel to see if they had pots and pans in the room but forgot.

Flash forward to Saturday night when we opted to eat in our motel room to save some money and because we were all worn out from the excitement of the day. There was no way the boys were going to be able to behave in a restaurant. We stopped by Greenstar Coop and I picked up the makings of a quick dinner that could be cooked one dish at a time in the microwave.

3 containers of diced tomatoes
3 bags of frozen broccoli
3 cans of garbanzo beans
3 packages of precooked, preseasoned Spanish style rice (which I would never buy under normal circumstances because its too pricey.)

I divided each package in half and created a delicious layered meal. The bottom layer was the rice mix, then garbanzos, the broccoli and I topped it with the diced tomatoes. Two and a half minutes in the microwave for each plate and dinner was served. It must have been an active day because Rob, my seven year old, demolished his food. Silly me, I had assumed it would be too much for the boys and that there would be left overs.

Sunday morning we had breakfast in as well. The motel had a continental breakfast so while I made oatmeal with sunflower seeds and currants or bananas in the microwave, the kids and Jim picked up free orange juice, coffee and bagels. The money we saved eating these two meals in caused me to feel no guilt when we bought our lunch for the ride home.

We opted for pizzeria pizza made with soy cheese from Pizza Aroma on the corner of Green and Cayuga Streets. I don't know if words can adequately express the sheer joy of being reunited with the pizzeria experience. The hot boxes opening and releasing the aromatic steam that has built of inside. The combined textures of the sauce, the cornmeal on the back of the crust and soy cheese itself almost put us into sensory overload. Since we had a four hour ride back, we got our pizza to go and ate it in the car. This was probably a good choice since the joyful noises we were all making may have been inappropriate in a restaurant setting, even one as casual as a neighborhood pizzeria.

It was a great trip!

Enjoying Ithaca

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Ithaca this weekend. It was more of a vegetarian journey rather than a frugal one, although it certainly did have frugal undertones. We left Friday after work and school. Since it was about a four hour drive, we opted to eat dinner on the road. I made wraps with Tofurky, soy cheddar, lettuce and avacado. We also had pickles and store brand frosted mini wheat type cereal for dessert. I wouldn't eat it as a cereal but it makes a great snack. All the sugar is right on the surface where you can taste it and there's a huge amount of fiber too.

Our motel was less than stellar but totally adequate considering how little time we spent there. The staff was very friendly, I just wish they had been a little cleaner. Our room did have a fridge, microwave and range which provided us with lots of options. Knowing that Jim is a big time snack before bed kind of guy, I brought a mix of oatmeal and sunflower seeds for just this purpose. I also brought plain and vanilla Silk, dried currants and bananas.

By the time we got to the motel, we were all exhausted but it took the boys a long time to settle down. That didn't stop us from being out the door bright and early Saturday morning. We were on a mission to experience a vegan restaurant breakfast. I must confess, despite the alluring menu, I approached the ABC Cafe with a fair amount of skepticism. Sure it was a vegetarian restaurant and it had vegan options but was I going to be the one over 24 in the place? Would my kids be the only kids in the place?

All my angst was unfounded, breakfast at the ABC Cafe was one of the most amazing culinary experiences this vegan has had in a long time. The prices were reasonable as well, although it never seems reasonable when you're paying for 6. The patrons were people of all ages and this time it was the waitress who spilled four glasses of water on the table, not my kids for a change!

Afterwards, we headed down to The Commons where they were having a Rock the Arts festival. We enjoyed some jazz, some vocals and some theater all free and outside in the beautiful weather.

More on our Ithaca trip tomorrow.

Friday Freebies

With Earth Day just around the corner, I thought I'd share a site that take eco-friendly living to the next level.

Swap-o-Rama

Baked Seitan, Can It Be??***UPDATE***

I read about this on Vivacious Vegan's blog, I've seen it on the PPK Forum and I've read it on Get Sconed. I have to try this recipe! I'm so intrigued by the possibilities.

I'm trying to put together Jim's bachelor dinners for the summer for nights when he's home alone. I did not do a good job on this last year. In fact, I did a terrible job on it. This year I'm off to a much better start. I've got an inventory sheet taped inside one of my kitchen cabinets and every time I add something to the freezer for him, I wrote it on the list. To make his world easier, he's not the world's most accomplished cook, I put what it is and prep instructions right on the container (ie black beans with barley and veggies, just heat and serve). I haven't calculated how many I need yet but I know I'm no where near having enough.

Now I'm off to try that seitan.

UPDATE
"Tofurkey!" my 6 yr old son shouted after taking a bite of my first attempt at baked seitan.

Jim said, "If I didn't see you cut it, I'd swear it was those veggie slices we sometimes buy."

The girls and my 7 yr old son couldn't really comment, their mouths were too full. Everyone took it for lunch today and there isn't a crumb left. Fortunately, this is a super simple recipe that takes very little time to put together. And yes, I did wash the aluminum foil that I cooked it in so I can use it again next time!

Spring Cleaning the Paper Mountains & Other Resistant Messes

I've been bitten by the spring cleaning bug. I can no longer sit and relax surrounded by the piles of stuff that accumulate everyday when the kids come home.
What is all that stuff? My sons come home with reams of paper everyday. Some are worksheets, some are notices, but most are useless. At least now I feel like they have some purpose since I can shred them and use them in the guinea pigs cage.

I spent a good portion of yesterday evening in front of the paper shredder while the boys ran around the house bringing me piles of paper to go through. The boys thought it was a game and really loved running through the house, dropping papers off with me and then running to put books on bookshelves. Jim was certainly shocked by the progress when he got home. In truth, I was too. Its amazing what a difference I can make when I get moving. The trick now is to keep the momentum going. Everytime the kids come home, or the mail gets brought in there's another opportunity for a pile to be created.

Of course the piles of my projects are still a big problem that I haven't begun to conquer yet. I think I've come up with some empty drawer space to help with this problem compliments of my daughters and their recent room reorganization efforts. I just have to make sure the girls don't need it anymore.

Jim's working late all this week and I'm hoping to suprise him with the lack of project piles tonight. Here's my plan of action. Once dinners in the oven, I'll make some coffee , put on some Steely Dan, tell the boys its a game (the girls are too old to fall for that trick) and hope for the best.

Katie's Oriental Cilantro Slaw Recipe

Well we've made it through the big Nor'easter with nary a scratch, although there was a mysterious small leak from the central air vent in my bedroom that Jim needs to investigate. When you consider that just down the road people had to be evacuated from their homes, I'm thinking my small leak doesn't even count. We are fortunate that our house is set up on a hill and in no danger of flooding from the creek behind us. The waters did rise high enough to completely cover our swing set though. They've begun to recede but its still an awesome sight.

I got a request for the Oriental Cilantro Slaw recipe that I mentioned last week. This is my version of the recipe Lorna Sass has in The Complete Vegetarian Kitchen. The changes I've made take into account the ingredients that I commonly have on hand. As a rule, I also tend to increase the amount of veggies in any given recipe. You might want to keep that in mind if you like a saucier product.

Katie's Oriental Cilantro Slaw
Whisk together the following ingredients in a large mising bowl:
2-3 Tbs natural peanut butter, preferably chunky style, although smooth will work
4 Tbs apple cider vinegar
3 Tbs tamari
1 Tbs water
1 cup minced fresh cilantro or 3-4 Tbs dried cilantro. You may want to use more if you're a cilantro junkie like me.

Set this mixture aside and shred the following:
1 head of cabbage
4-6 carrots, depending on their size and your tastes
You could also add any other shredded vegetables that you like.

Add the shredded vegetables to the sauce mixture and toss to coat. I like to let this sit in the fridge a while to let the cabbage wilt a bit and the tastes to blend.

Friday Freebies

You had to know it was only a matter of time before I started wondering about composting the guinea pigs bedding. Today's Friday Freebie focuses on just that. It turns out that its ok to do since they are herbivores. Here are some links that discuss it.

BBC Radio 4 Factsheet

Green Steps at Ebinport Elementary School - check out what they're recycling.

Mid Beds District Council Composting - check out what is listed as ok to compost.

The Baby Blanket - In the Words of Billy Blanks, Double Time Go!

If you've ever popped a Tae Bo workout into your vcr or dvd player you'll get the reference. I got the call early this morning, my nephew has arrived. I've got to get busy! I'll be bringing my knitting to the CSE meeting that I have later today. I always wind up waiting forever for these meetings, so it will be a good opportunity to make some progress.

I've been perusing the More With Less cookbook and I'm leaning toward making some of the master mixes in it. The idea behind a master mix is you only need to add minimal ingredients to make a variety of foods. We seem to constantly be running out of muffins and quick breads for breakfast so a master mix might help. I'm going to give it a try and see if it really is a time saver.

If I really like the results, I might try putting a master mix, as well as, some meals together for my brother and sister-in-law. With an active 2 yr old and a new baby, their time is even less available than my own. Actually, I've always thought that making several meals and bringing them to the new parents is a wonderful gift idea. Although they aren't vegetarian, my brother and his wife are pretty open and generally enjoy our cooking.

I've got so much to do!!