Odds & Ends

I just finished knitting two more pairs of mittens from scraps. They're currently in the washing machine felting away as I try to get caught up on laundry. There's never a shortage of laundry to be done around here even though the girls do their own.

I feel like I've accomplished very little today aside from laundry, finishing the mittens and spending almost two hours sorting out a problem with my antivirus software. Maybe that's enough for one day though. Sometimes we all need a break, especially after the circus that was our weekend.

Jim and I spent Saturday closing the cabin down for the winter. Since it was our first time, we knew it would take a bit longer than future attempts but we were totally unprepared for the eons each small task took to complete. Of course it didn't help that there was a huge amount of general cleaning to be done. You can't leave a crumb anywhere or mice move in. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. The moral of the story is, make sure you really leave plenty of time for trying new tasks and it helps to have really flexible babysitters. (Thanks mom & dad!)

Sunday was spent in a frenzy of outdoor activity with the whole family pitching in. Weed pulling, trim painting and lawn mowing (done by Rob with a manual mower) all got done.

There's been a lot of talk about depression era and war era cookbooks on several lists I belong to as people look to trim their food costs. Here's one that is free to download. It's called Foods That Will Win the War. Although I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, I like this one because it's free and it goes into details about the time. I really love culinary history.

Before I print out a copy, I intend to delete the recipes I will never use to save some paper (there goes the entire meat section!) I also intend to change the margins for the same reason.

Your Dishwater is My Broth!

Maybe I've finally gone round the bend but yesterday it occured to me, as I finished the leftover Thai Noodles that Leenie had made, that all that leftover peanut sauce stuck to the side of the bowl was going to go to waste. Granted the waste would be pretty minimal, but still it was waste. (Leftover leftovers?)

As I pondered the best way to rescue this residue, while at the same time questioning my own sanity, I put up a kettle for tea. When the kettle boiled, I decided to pour some into the bowl (it was metal) and whisk it around to get the residue. The result was about a quart of really tasty broth which I used in last night's lima bean stew. I was so inpsired, I even tossed the rest of the cheeze sauce from the weekend into the stew, rinsed the bowl and threw that "broth" in as well.

Thinking back, it seems so logical. I always put a bit of water in the jelly jars and give a shake to get the last bit of sweetness. I usually toss it into pancakes or something similar. I do the same with ketchup, tomato sauce, salsa...come to think of it, I do it with just about every container. Why hadn't I thought of it with serving bowls before?

Well now I did and we're both smarter because of it! I guess it just takes plunging financial markets to get my thinking cap on correctly. One warning, your significant other may not be as inspired by your brilliant use of leftover leftovers, no matter how tasty the end product is. I knew my kids would be grossed out by my tale but I was unprepared for the grimace Jim made as he pleaded with me to say no more. Geez, I even waited until bedtime before I tried to share. It's okay, you can tell me about it. I'll still think you're brilliant. It will be our little secret!

Happy Weekend to All!

Vegan Macaroons are Marvelous!

Courtney asked if the macaroon recipe I mentioned in my last post was really vegan. I swear on a stack of PETA leaflets, it was. Actually, I've only made vegan macaroons. I'm not even sure what the non vegan part would be. (I'm guessing eggs but I don't care enough to do a google search or open a traditional cookbook.) I'll share the two macaroon recipes that I've used.

The first one comes from No Cholesterol Passover Recipes:
Festive Macaroons I
Makes about 20
2 cups shredded coconut
4 ripe mashed bananas
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients together and form pyramids on cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. These are the ones I tinkered with this weekend.

The second recipe is my personal favorite. It comes from Simple Treats by Ellen Abraham. If you're looking to impress, this is the one to use.
Coconut Macaroons
Makes about 18
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs barley flour (I use whole wheat pastry)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups shredded toasted coconut (toast raw shredded coconut in 300 degree oven for 10 minutes on ungeased cookie sheet)
8 pitted dates (I've also used 8 Tbs raisins or chopped dates with good results)
1/2 cup Sucanat or other vegan sugar
5 Tbs water

The short version of the cooking instructions are this. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put all dry ingredients into food processor. Give a whirl. Add coconut, dates and sugar. Whirl until the dates are all chopped and the mixture starts to come together. Add in water through top while running just until a ball forms. Drop spoonfuls and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 16-18 minutes.

If you increase the sugar to 1 cup and add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder she calls these Coconut Chocolate Chews. They are just sinful!

What Can You Make With THAT??

We spent this weekend relaxing in the Adirondacks after picking up our CSA share Saturday morning. Aside from slowing down and taking some time to enjoy the beauty of the fall weather and each other's company, the challenge of the weekend was how to make yummy meals out of the very limited food staples left in the cabin.

I did make a run to the grocery store for salsa, tortilla chips and salad dressing (I know, I'm ashamed to admit the salad dressing but supplies really were that low!) I only had chickpeas and red lentils so most meals revolved around them. In addition to the bounty of the CSA share, I had oatmeal, flour, sugar, maple syrup, cheap pancake syrup (I didn't buy it but I couldn't bear to throw it out), shredded coconut (doesn't that sound exotic compared to everything else?), bulgur, homemade cheeze sauce mix, a little chickpea miso and a very small amount of quinoa. What could this become?

Saturday evening dinner: An oniony chickpea stew
Going by memory, which is often dangerous but necessary when you've left your cookbooks at home and have no internet access, I chopped up several leeks and began to make onion soup. To this I added, chick peas, green beans, red peppers and that tiny bit of quinoa. It was not long after that I discovered my lack of tamari. I used miso instead and it worked out nicely.

I attempted to make biscuits to go along with this, also from memory, and this did not turn out well at all. I used too much baking soda (I had no baking powder on hand) and they were salty. YUCK!!

I roasted corn to go along with it, which was lovely. Finally, I made the cheese sauce in case anyone wanted it on their biscuits or if they wanted a dollop in their soup. I was pretty sure there was a slight after taste to this recipe so I sauteed some red peppers first and then poured in the cheeze sauce mix and water. It worked very well.

Dessert seemed important, especially since I discovered my daughters' friend was going to join us. I did have a cookbook in the house that had a simple macaroon recipe. I didn't have the cocoa powder it called for but I did have some homemade cappuchino mix that the girls had forgotten about. I gave it a try and the results were very good.

Sunday morning breakfast: Apple pancakes, home fries and baked chickpea scramble
Everything in pretty self explanatory in this meal except the baked chickpea scramble. It amounted to some chickpeas, a tablespoon of maple syrup, a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and a sprinkle of salt baked along with the home fries.

Lunch was of the mundane pbj variety if eaten at all. We had all slept late and breakfast had been eaten at about 11:00am.

Sunday evening dinner: An oniony chickpea stew redux!
I didn't want to have to tote leftovers home so to this end I chopped some kale and placed it in the bottom of a greased baking pan. I topped this with the leftover chickpea stew. The I cut the leftover corn off the cob and added that as well. Next, I gave Jim a choice, Sesame Ginger salad dressing or cheese sauce on top. He chose the salad dressing. A smaller batch of chickpeas was mixed with the last tiny bit of salsa and baked as well.

Toasted bread with cheeze sauce and a green salad rounded out the meal. Jim made the right choice because the dressing made the leftovers delicious.

In that one cookbook there was also a pudding recipe. It called for 3 Tbs of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of maple syrup, which I actually had, but it also called for cocoa powder. Did I dare try the cappuchino mix again? I figured I didn't have much to lose so I did. The leftover macaroons had gotten soggy so I broke them up into crumbs and tossed them into the oven to crisp up. The pudding thickened beautifully, which is always a challenge when using soymilk. I served it with the macaroon crumbs on top. This was a stunning success.

Monday Morning Breakfast: Apple pancakes, home fries and little breakfast burgers
Again the only real explanation required comes with the breakfast burgers. It's just all of the leftover chickpea dishes mashed together with oatmeal thrown in to bind it all together. I formed them into little burgers and baked them.

Not to sound redundant but...Lunch was of the mundane pbj variety if eaten at all. We had all slept late and breakfast had been eaten at about 11:00am.

Monday Evening Dinner: Turkish Red Lentil Stew and bulgur
Once again I worked largely from memory. I used the last of the ketchup in place of the tomato paste the recipe calls for. I also used the last of the red peppers.

The pudding had been such a big hit and there was just enough vanilla soymilk left, so I made vanilla pudding. By this time I had run out of maple syrup and pancake syrup went in its place. I also toasted the remaining cup or so of shredded coconut. When the pudding was done I added the coconut. Jim, who is a huge coconut custard pie fan, was in coconut heaven.

By the time we left, the chickpeas, maple syrup, shredded coconut, quinoa, cheeze sauce mix, salsa, tortilla chips, and homemade cappuchino mix were gone. And so ended our frugal food weekend at the cabin. What creative cooking is going on in your kitchen?

Where Do You Fit in the Frugal Universe?

As more people have begun to look for ways to save money, I've been pondering the many faces of frugality. I've even heard someone besides myself tell their kids, "no, we can't afford that." Some use coupons, some bargain hunt, and some just quietly cut down on the nonessentials. A few I've encountered are just ignoring everything and spending just like always.

Then there are those who go for pure function in their frugality. You wear what's warm regardless of how it looks, you find new uses for what you have (asthetics be damned), you eat what you grow, you get really creative with pantry staples and if you don't have it and can't afford it you do without.

I was trying to figure out where I personally fit in these categories, that exist only in my head I should mention! It seems we're closest to the pure function folk. After all, I spent a part of yesterday cutting out boxer short pattern pieces from my husband's old shirts. But then again, I'm not a fan of going out of the house looking like I'm wearing scraps from the rag bin. If that sounds as ineloquent to you as it does to me, I apologize.

Perhaps what I'm trying to express is, in addition to being vegan and frugal, I'm just a regular suburban mom and wife. I slide between both communities, because let's face it, they don't always comingle, even in a college town like the one I live in. I think I do a pretty good job blending in either community and I think, for me, that's the best way to spread the frugal veggie word, as it were.

People see me as that slightly odd, eclectic mom. You know, the one who knits and sews at swim meets and practices. I'm that one who's always making something. I'm also that one who always packs a cooler full of vegetarian food for swim meets because we don't eat hotdogs. (People are always shocked that we don't eat hotdogs. They are the armpit of meats in my opinion.) Believe me, I don't fall below the radar at all, but then again, I look very average.
No one is going to pick me out in a crowd as someone who shops in a thrift store or makes/remodels some of her own clothes.

I think that's the crux of what I'm trying to say. Too many people I meet think that being frugal and reusing everything available to you means you're going to be wearing something that looks like the scarf in this link. I guess my goal in life is to show people that's one option but it's not much harder to blend if that's your personal preference. I enjoy the challenge of making things look like their store-bought counterparts or better.

What about those times when my project is a bust? I try to look at early attempts at a particular project like the first pancakes off a griddle. They might look ugly, but they still taste good and you won't be hungry after you eat them. My first attempts at dishcloths were ghastly, but they still cleaned dishes and later dishcloths were much better. My first hats were a little too big, but they still kept my sons' heads warm. My first boxers had one panel of fabric cut out backwards but it didn't stop Kyle from wearing them proudly (he even asked me to bring them to the hospital when he was allowed to wear his own clothes.) Ask yourself honestly, are the flaws that you see in your own projects even visible to others?

I think the fear of trying something new can be debilitating. This is where the support of our internet community is such a benefit. I know if I can do this stuff, you can too. Why not share some of your goals or pictures of some of your finished projects? What are you doing or planning to do to be more frugal this winter? Do you have a great link to share? Come on and share, you might be somebody elses next great resource.

And before you leave, go visit Ruthie's blog and check out the great article she posted. Now I'm off to cut more boxers...

Falling Into the Rhythm of Fall

Today the kids are off and we've embarked on a general cleaning and food preservation spree. There are a ton of apples cooking down on the stove. The rest are in the food dehydrator. Cuban black beans simmering in the slow cooker. Tomatillo salsa is simmering away awaiting the addition of cilantro. Some of this salsa will be used with the Cuban black beans for dinner tonight while the rest will go into the freezer for a special wintertime treat. Later on I will tackle the many beets that have begun to accumulate in my refrigerator.

The swirling smells of apples and salsa are a fine complement to the whirring of the vacuum as we try to keep the dog hair at bay. Throw in a little music and we're making some good progress and having a pretty good time.

This is the time of year to sip your coffee and get yourself organized for the winter. My goal is to make most of the things that we'll need for winter. I'm already on my third pair of scrap yarn mittens. What are you doing to get ready for winter?

Watch This

This is my sad little watch band. The little loops that hold the band in place fell off months ago. It didn't stop me from wearing it but I suppose it's not a very elegant look. Then, to my horror, it started falling off because of the lack of loop support. What could I do??

I kept waiting to stumble upon a watchband at a thrift store but it was not to be. Yesterday inspiration struck compliments of Threadbangers Blog. If you scroll down on the right side they have a list of "learn how to make..." I clicked on macrame bracelet or necklace. Suddenly I knew I could solve my watch band dilemma using what I already had on hand (a wise idea considering the economic turbulence going on).

I dug into my sewing box and came up with black and white elastic cording. I wanted something I could take off when I showered so elastic seemed like the best choice. I began following the instructions when I discovered the band was too thin. Another go round through the sewing box revealed a thicker elastic. I opted to use this in the center and the thinner ones on the sides. The center one essentially just acts as an achor for the other two to wrap around.


Once it was as long as I wanted, I attached the face of the watch by threading the thicker elastic around the pins that held the original watch band in. After knotting everything behind the face of the watch, I sewed the thicker elastic in place and used it as a case to hold in the smaller elastic ends. Here's the result.




Now I don't pretend that this is a tutorial. If what I'm suggesting doesn't make sense go to the original Threadbangers tutorial, it's very clear.

What other creative frugal ways have you solved problems like this one?

Thank You Peter Brady?

Isa's post yesterday immediately called to mind my childhood as she remembered Peter Brady saying, “Pork chops and appleshauche, porkchops and appleshauche…” However when I was done reminiscing, and it did take a while, I remembered that the combination of pork chops and applesauce was quite good. Could it be that seitan really would work as well? Isa seemed to think so.

First let me say, Isa's recipe is probably seven billion times better than what I did but in spite of this, I was pretty pleased with the results. Also, I would never have come up with this in a thousand years if she hadn't written that post. So go over there and try hers, I'll join you when all my kids move out.

I was intrigued by her mention of using chickpea flour in place of nutritional yeast. I never thought of them as substitutes for each other. I figured what the heck and gave it a try. I used the very much simplified seitan recipe from Veganomicon as my base recipe. Holy cow, that is the simplest seitan recipe I've ever seen and it tastes great. Jim liked it much better than any of the other versions I make. I confess, I did bake my seitan for 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees in a covered pan. I just like the texture so much better using this method.

Once my seitan was cooking, and warming up my once chilly kitchen, I pondered my next move. I had plenty of apples but with kids I walk a fine line. Did I dare include ginger? In the end, I opted to just chop 6 appples and simmer then down into applesauce. I added nothing to them because they are some of the tastiest Cortland apples I've ever encountered. BTW, I always leave the skins on the apples.

For a side dish, I chopped some onions, and carrots and sauteed them in olive oil before adding some bulgur. I served this along with a mixed green salad, probably one of the last of the year, compliments of our CSA.

Serving is important around here since the need to segregate food on the dinner plate is still a priority to some of my kids. I opted to put the applesauce next to the seitan rather than on top but I urged everyone to combine with reckless abandon.

The reaction was mixed as everyone came to the table, although I saw a gleam of recognition in Jim's eye (perhaps he too was channeling Peter Brady.) Once everyone got over their initial suspicion, the meal was a big hit. I'm definitely filing that one away for future use.

Scrambling For an Answer?

Breakfasts on the weekend are a bit of a celebration around our house. Jim and I like nothing better than to sit down to a leisurely hot breakfast complete with pancakes, scramble, smoothie and coffee. If you're wondering what a vegan scramble might be, ponder no more. I'm here to solve the mystery.

A scramble might be very reminiscent of the scrambled eggs you remember from your childhood. If that's what you're looking for, try the Scrambled Eggless Eggs recipe from How It All Vegan. This recipe uses medium tofu and will satisfy your scrambled egg craving.

What if you're not fooled by close fascimiles of non-veg favorites? Then try something totally different to round out your big breakfast. Chickpea scramble is one of our favorites.

What if you've got some leftover beans and some leftover veggies that you want to use up? Toss them into a hot frying pan and cook them until crispy. Add some seasonings (a tablespoon of maple syrup, a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and a tablespoon of tamari go a long way towards making any scramble breakfasty) and you're good to go.

Just yesterday I combined leftover greens with sweet and sour sauce and leftoverFennel Bulb Navy Bean Soup, added the maple syrup combination mentioned above and cooked until crispy. It made a yummy addition to our apple pancakes and apple straawberry banana smoothie.

In short a scramble can be anything you want it to be. What's your favorite?

Soup's On!

Check out my new friend. The boys watched him for hours the other day. They even got to see him pounce on and then leisurely eat a giant fly.

The temperature started to drop yesterday and the wind picked up a bit. It's really starting to feel like fall. I celebrated this by making split pea soup last night. Although split pea soup is one of those simple recipes that is always a hit around our house, I'm always looking to get it closer to my pre-veg version. You know, the one with the ham in it.

I know liquid smoke is supposed to do the trick but I've never bought the stuff. I've tried adding bits of seitan with pretty good results. (I find baked seitan works best.) Last night I didn't have any leftover seitan so I decided to try a little tvp.

While my cast iron frying pan was heating up, I tossed in:
3 cups dry tvp
3 cups of water
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
about a tablespoon of tamari
several squirts of ketchup

I stirred this together and let it cook until it was dry and a bit crispy. You'll notice that the inspiration for this is once again drawn from Russell's Sausage recipe (which I'd link to but I can't find. Ruthie where is it???)

I served it sprinkled on top of the split pea soup, although a few food purists in the house demanded that I serve it on the side. (I can't stand the "I don't like my foods touching" phase of childhood.) Everyone liked the way it came out. I've got to store that one away for future reference.

The CSA pickup last week had mixed greens in it. The flavors were too strong for salad and initially I was at a loss. I think making greens palatable is such a challenge sometimes. Oddly enough, I don't include kale, collard and swiss chard in this. My family is already very willing to accept them. Perhaps in time, the mixed greens will join that list but in the interim, I still had a problem.

I opted to make sweet and sour sauce. I use the one in The Compassionate Cook for inspiration. I mixed it in the bottom of large Pyrex bowl and then put the chopped greens on top. I covered the bowl with a plate and microwaved it long enough to wilt the greens. Next, I tossed the wilted greens to distribute the sauce on the bottom. The result was some very palatable steamed greens. BTW, I didn't use any thickener (ie. cornstarch, arrowroot or flour). I didn't think it would work out well the way I was using the sauce.

Happy almost weekend to everyone!

Useless Bits Turn Fabulous with Felting

This is part of the pile of yarn pieces that I mentioned a while back. On the left side there are two balls of what looks like multicolored yarn. Actually, I've been knotting the small pieces together making two nearly identical yarn balls.

I gave this mitten pattern a try because it looked simple, had no gauge and I already had the double pointed needles needed to do it. I was really skeptical. There were knots everywhere and I couldn't imagine that felting was going to help much. Plus the mittens looked huge, even though I knew they would shrink significantly.


To actually felt them, I just threw them in with the 3 laundries that I did one day. That seemed to work out well because they shrunk down enough to fit my hand. I spent some time trimming the loose ends but here's the finished product.


I'm pleased with the way they came out. They are definitely thick, warm and a great use of little yarn pieces. The pattern on them is a result of the way I tied the yarn pieces together. The knitting pattern was definitely an easy one to follow. Best of all, the knots are barely noticeable in the finished product, although, I plan to pull all the knots through to the inside of the mitten on the next pair I make.

So now I'm putting together the remaining yarn bits for the next pair.

It's All Leenie's Fault...

She's been pestering me to read Twilight for a long time. I finally gave in and started it Thursday evening. Next thing I knew I was a Twilight junkie. I had to know what happened. I had to read more. By Monday night I had read all four books in the series and those books aren't short. Thankfully, I'm a fast reader.

So I confess, I haven't been blogging because every spare minute of my time has been filled with the saga of Bella and Edward. Now that they have their happy ending, I can return to my productive life.

Just for the record, since my daughter tells me these things are important among Twilight fans, I hate Jacob and Edward should have bit Bella and turned her into a vampire three books earlier.




images added by eileeeen :] !
i<3edwardcullen

Since You Can't Play Outside in the Rain...

It's a rainy day in the Hudson Valley and it looks like its leading into a rainy weekend. Since there's no hope of doing outdoor things, it looks like we can focus on indoor projects, which range from putting laundry away and taking winter clothes out of the attic to bigger things like finishing that bathroom project we never got around to completing and ripping the nasty carpet out of our bedroom.

Jim & I like to put it all on paper so we can track our progess. It also helps us plan what to do when. Over the years we've found we generally work best together and with music in the background. We get silly but we get stuff done. I suppose that's pretty abnormal after 18 years of marriage but then again, we never claimed to be normal.

It would be hard to have both of us working in the tiny bathroom that is still a work in progress. However, if Jim works on the bathroom which is in our bedroom, I could be working on laundry or even possibly ripping up that smelly old carpet in our bedroom. (I'm partial to destruction. I love being the removal person. There is something so therapeutic about the process.)

Similarly, if I'm canning apples, Jim can be helping with the apple prep or doing one of the other zillion tasks in the kitchen living room area. It works for us. Other people I know prefer to work in solitude and that's fine too.

So if we plan to spend the weekend accomplishing things, I need to get the weekends menu organized now. This will prevent me from accidentally getting so involved in accomplishing things that I make it to 6:00pm Saturday without giving an ounce of thought to dinner. (I see you all shaking your heads in agreement. We've all been there.) Slow cooker meals sound like the way to go. Here's a link to more slow cooker recipes on VegWeb

Tonight is pizza night. My challenge is to get it on the table by 5:00pm so we're not late for swim team. Sounds easy enough until you factor in taking the girls to work at 3:00pm for a staff meeting, the school conference at 3:15 and picking the girls up from the staff meeting. I'd better get started now. Thankfully the dough was already made and is just defrosting/rising.

There's No Substitute For These Substitutes

Longtime readers know, I make substitutions in my recipes with alarming regularity. I thought I'd share some of my common ones to help you on your frugal way. I don't claim to have invented all of these ideas, these are just ones I use all the time.

a chopped onion - 1 tsp onion powder or several chopped scallions or leeks
a clove of garlic - 1/2 tsp garlic powder or garlic scapes
celery - 1 tsp celery seed or celeriac or stems from kale & collards or chopped swiss chard
brown rice syrup - an equal amount of maple syrup
rice vinegar - apple cider vinegar, although its too harsh in salad dressing recipes
pumpkin puree - any winter squash or even sweet potato in a pinch
dried cranberries - dried currants, they're cheaper and unsweetened
honey - an equal amount of molasses
egg - 1 tbs ground flaxseed meal plus 2 tbs water This works in baked goods only! Don't try to scramble it.
shortening - use slightly less canola oil, i.e. if the recipe calls for 1/2 cup shortening use 1/3 cup canola oil
tomato paste - ketchup can work in a pinch if its good quality ketchup although I don't think I'd try it in pasta dishes.
worcesteshire sauce - an equal amount of Bragg's Liquid Aminos

What are your favorite substitutions?

Coconut Yogurt Pancakes??

It seems I condemned the coconut yogurt experiment to failure prematurely. It turns out it actually did make yogurt. I discovered this when I was trying to figure out what to do with the coconut milk. I'm not saying that coconut yogurt is the tastiest thing in the world but, thanks to Annmarie's comment about coconut milk being good in pancakes, I discovered coconut yogurt makes really good pancakes...if you like coconut.

I substituted the coconut yogurt for both the liquid and the oil in my usual pancake recipe. The result was a delightfully fluffy, coconutty pancake.

I tried a second batch adding nutmeg as the recipe for Coconut Pancakes in Vegan with a Vengeance suggested and I wasn't crazy about the results. I thought it tasted odd but the other coconut lovers didn't seem to mind.

If you're in the habit of making pancakes on the weekend, make a double batch next time and use the extra for weekday breakfasts. We just pop them in the toaster oven for a quick breakfast on the go, which is the only breakfast we know of on weekdays.

Let the Sorting Begin!

Remember a few days back my daughter's cleaned out their closets? I've just discovered that I need to help the boys do the same. I didn't realize we had a problem until the boys informed me that everything on the bottom shelf was shorts, not a mix of shorts and pants!

Finding Ways of Finishing Foods Before They Go Funky Can Be Fun!

As we wind down this road of using what's already in the pantry, I feel compelled to confess that I just bought 25 pounds of spelt berries and 25 pounds of mung beans from our food cooperative. Put your eyebrows back down, I'll explain these somewhat unusual purchases.

I'll start with the spelt berries, they'll be used to make spelt flour, which I've been using more of lately. I read a great article about why it is more sustainable than wheat but now that I've gotten around to blogging on it, I can't find the article. Grrrrr! Anyway, it's cheaper to buy the berries than the ground flour. Plus it's slower to go rancid in berry form. I've used spelt in pancakes, muffins and quick breads with good results so far.

As for the mung beans, the nights are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. The end of the outdoor growing season in the northeast is in sight. That means it's time to start thinking about the indoor growing season, sprout season. Mung beans are definitely our favorite probably because they are so substantial in size compared to other sprouts. If you're curious about sprouting, click here to see how my efforts have gone.

I concocted a pretty good dinner the other night in an effort to use up the last of the barbeque sauce. Did you ever notice that after a certain point things like barbeque sauce and mustard just sit in the fridge and mock you whenever you open the door to fit something else in? It must be an end of season thing. Anyway, on to the recipe, if you can call this loosely thrown together list of ingredients a recipe.

I sauteed two chopped onions in a little olive oil. Once they were browned, I poured a little water in the pan to deglaze it. Next I added some cooked chickpeas, about the equivalent of two cans, give or take. I topped this with the leftover barbeque sauce. Then I filled the barbeque sauce bottle half way with water, shook the daylights out of it and poured this over the chickpeas. No sauce was going to waste in my house!

To my horror, there wasn't really enough sauce to cover the chickpeas adequately. Plus barbeque sauce sometimes has such a strong vinegar taste it makes me gag. Fortunately, a bottle of ketchup came to the rescue. A few squirts later, there was enough sauce and the sweetness of the ketchup took the edge off the barbeque sauce.

I served this over whole wheat couscous, which I've decided I hate. No good reason why, I just hate it. Oddly enough, everyone in the house hates it too. We all used to like it, I can't figure what happened. In any event, we've all agreed to finish what we already have on hand, which is thankfully not very much. As for the chickpea concoction, everyone really liked it.

We've been experimenting with cookie recipes too. I still say the easiest way to make a so so meal yummy is to follow it up with a good dessert. To that end we've made our favorite molasses cookies, Coconut Chocolate Chews from Simple Treats (although we actually used carob) and Fudgy Cocoa Mint cookies from Cooking with PETA. I've been tucking a few into lunch boxes as well but I'm still no Jennifer McCann.

The Fudgy Cocoa Mint cookies uses 2 1/2 cups of finely grated zucchini. How great is that? Of course I didn't have mint extract and my mint plant is upstate so I used the almond extract that I've had forever. They came out very moist and delicious. No hint of zucchini in the final product.

Finally, a yogurt experiment update. My first try of coconut milk yogurt, using the coconut milk recipe from How It All Vegan, got thicker but not nearly thick enough. I'll try one more time before calling it a bust. In the interim, I must find a recipe that uses coconut milk. Any suggestions?

One last thought, what does a highly fashionable teen do with a pair of much loved sweats that are now too short? If you're Leenie, you cut them a little longer than capri length (look at her left leg), slit the side up to capri length and tie the ends together (look at her right leg). Instant high fashion. BTW, do teenagers use the word capris anymore or are they called something else...

What's Old Is New

My summer of productivity was obviously interrupted by my son's illness so I've got some unfinished business to attend to, namely getting back to those boxers.

Here's a peek at the one and only pair that got made this summer. This fabric began it's life as a really loud Hawaiian shirt.


Right now I'm cooking some applesauce to can. So while I wait for the apples to cook down, I'm going to try to cut out a few boxer pattern pieces. It seems like the right thing to do, especially in light of the financial turmoil going on.

About That Faux Pot Roast Recipe...

I think I finally came up with a seitan in the crock pot winner yesterday. To accomplish this, I took the best parts of both recipes, came up with a meal that was ready at 5:00pm and my family demolished it. Here's a peek at my technique.

First, I greased the crock pot because nothing chafes me more than trying to peel my food off the sides of a ceramic bowl. I turned the crock pot on high while I did my prep work. Yes, there's prep work, somehow it seems to be vegan and frugal there must be prep work. (Get over it and move on, I'm trying to.)

Robin Robertson's recipe calls for browning vegetables in olive oil before putting them in the slow cooker. I did this begrudgingly but it does make it all taste better in the end. As usual, I subbed the veggies I had for the veggies the recipe called for. It was mostly little substitutions like quartered potatoes for new potatoes.

I put the veggies in the bottom of the slow cooker and went about making the seitan. I initially planned to use Isa's recipe but at the last minute switched and used the Seitan O Greatness recipe. Since I'm always feeding a crowd, I doubled the seitan recipe.

I placed the uncooked seitan on top of the veggies and went about adding some liquid. I whisked together a cup of water, 3 tablespoons of tamari, some thyme and onion powder. I poured this over the top of the gluten, said what passes for a cook's prayer in my house (God I hope this doesn't taste like s--t), put the lid on and switched the slow cooker to low heat.

8 hours later...

I whisked 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into 1/4 cup of water and set it aside. I removed the seitan from the cooker and sliced it to serve. The seitan will have chunks of potato stuck in the bottom so I flip it over to slice it more easily. I poured the liquid from the slow cooker into a small pot, whisked in the cornstarch mixture and cooked it over medium low heat until it thickened. This creates a gravy to serve over your meal.

The texture was much better than any slow cooker seitan I've ever made. I served this with tomato salad and polenta fries which everyone really enjoyed. Personally, I think they taste even better after they've cooled off. Of course I didn't have polenta or grits so I ground up some organic popcorn into cornmeal (thank you Chile for giving me the courage!) and it worked beautifully.

Fashion, Felting & Food

I don't know how it happened, but my two teenage daughters actually decided to go through their closets this weekend. Sure Eileen talked about it before, but talk and action are very different creatures. The end result of this endevor are two very uncluttered looking closets and the back of my station wagon filled, and I do mean all the way to the top, with clothes to be donated. I'm dropping it all off today before they can change their minds.

The girls did compile a "mom might like" pile from which I gleaned 3 practically new sweaters and two pairs of pants. (The rest were mostly hideous, shapeless sweatshirts. Am I that unfashionable? Should I be offended?) The pants I'm actually going to cut into strips to add to my rag ball collection. What's this, saving stuff after declaring a war on crap? Hey, I know those rag balls are just a rag rug in waiting so they are ok to save in my book.

Speaking of rag rugs and other rescue projects (ie. projects that used rescued materials), I have found myself in possession of 3 bags of 2 1/2 foot pieces of yarn that I just discovered were wool. At first I was just irritated, what good are little snips of yarn that masqueraded as hanks of yarn? Then a calm took over, perhaps I could use them to make some felted mittens?

I've had so-so luck felting in the past, but I think this is worth a try. It certainly seems like a better idea than throwing all these aggravating little pieces out. So, to that end, I've begun knotting the pieces together into actual balls of yarn while watching movies with my husband.

A google search revealed a plethora of free felted mitten projects but I like this one because it uses a size of double pointed needles that I already have. It also has no gauge which really appeals to me as well.

Since I'll be busy all day today, I'm making the Not Your Mama's Pot Roast recipe from Fresh From the Vegan Slow Cooker. It's been almost two years since I made seitan in the slow cooker but now that I'm trying it again, I'm going to use Isa's seitan recipe in Robin's recipe to see if we can get that texture problem straightened out.

Now I must go; food prep, laundry and a shower await me!

Oh Applesauce Mary!

It's madness around here. I'm spending my days weeding, mulching, staining and cleaning. All right, not every minute of every day but I did spread some wood chips out as darkness was rapidly enveloping my yard a while ago. This time of year there is so much to get done that you have to steal moments to do it.

I'm glad Crunchy Chicken posted her apple tips a few days back because it seems the apple tree that we leased is ready to bear fruit. Looks like we'll be heading to the orchard this weekend. There's something reassuring about knowing all those apples are heading our way, especially with the price of everything creeping up.

If I can mentally wander off for a brief mommy moment I'd like to share some good news. Kyle started swim team yesterday. It was his first time in the water since his surgery. I clued in the coach but I was almost afraid to watch since he wasn't that strong of a swimmer prior to surgery. He jumped right in and swam 25 yards, from one end of the pool to the other, without stopping!! I almost cried. It's official, he's fine and I have 4 more gray hairs (my oldest who's studying cosmetology keeps track, she finds it amusing.)

With swim team gearing up, its time for me to pick a new knitting project. I have to do something while keeping those bleachers warm. I'm just completing a pair of socks from Easy Knitted Socks.

Tightwaddery vs Simple Living

Ruthie summed this battle up best as she vented in the comments of my last post. To quote her:
Side one: the tightwad who stores things for later use, keeps all receipts, uses recycled materials for crafts, buys used goods and stocks up on things that are a good value

VERSUS

Side two: the simple-living, clutter-hating, purist who wants to live in a cleaner, emptier space with less junk and more things that mean something to me, even if they cost more.

Does that sound like any of you because it sure sounds like me. So what's the solution? I'm not sure there is an absolute solution. I think the key is to come to some kind of a compromise. For me that means only saving things that I can readily identify a purpose for and storing them in a way that makes them accessible but not underfoot.

To that end I've reorganized my yarn stash, and what a stash it is. I've stowed the whole bounty in a trunk that doubles as a coffee table. Within this trunk I've divided the yarn into four categories: cotton, acrylic, novelty and wool.

I know, how can a vegan have wool in her yarn stash? Actually the bigger question might be how can I have acrylic yarn in my stash, after all, its a petroleum product. Right now, the answer to both questions is because they were bought from a thrift store. However, if I ever run out of yarn, and it may take a few years cause I've got a mighty big stash, I lean towards buying recycled yarns from local sources or just doing the recycling myself.

BTW, any of your yarn mysteries can be solved with a match. If you light acrylic yarn with a match, blow it out and rub it between your fingers you'll be left with a hard black ball. If you light wool blow it out and rub it between your fingers you'll be left with ash. It's a super easy way to sort out your thrift store or yard sale stash.

My jean stash has been cut apart into useable fabric only. The ripped and unuseable portions have been discarded. I did cut out the seams and roll them into balls. I've got this notion that I'd like to try knitting them into a rug but for now they are neatly occupying a small basket. This fabric awaits the start of the next denim quilt. The intended recipients are my daughters this time.

Of course no discussion of tightwaddery or simple living would be complete without mentioning how food fits into the picture. We've kept up with our plan to live largely out of the pantry. Our weekly CSA pickup dictates much of the meal plan. With the abundance of tomatoes we've enjoyed red lentils with chopped tomatoes, black beans with tomatillo and tomato salsa, a mix of chickpeas, tomato and red pepper served over couscous, baked gluten sandwiches with sliced tomato and of course some lovely salads.

To keep things from getting boring, I try to rotate the protein source of each meal. Let's be honest no one wants the same beans at every meal. Tonight is chuck all the leftovers into a pot and hope for the best night. Damp rainy nights like the one we're having are perfect for this. Tomorrow will be a clean slate foodwise.

In the interest of maintaining variety, I revisiting my yogurt making trials. I discovered that the reason the almond yogurt wouldn't set is due to the process of aeseptic packaging. I'm planning to try small batches of rice milk yogurt and oat milk yogurt using homemade rice milk and oat milk.

One final note, if you cut the homemade baked seitan into thin strips, brown them on one side, flip them and pour a small amount of maple syrup over them while you brown the other side, the result is a veggie bacon that non-vegan teenagers enjoy as well.

Who's Crap Is This Anyway?

We're back at home. The many maladies of late summer are beginning to recede. Kyle got a clean bill of health from the surgeon on Tuesday and Jim is finally on the mend. My nerves are a little shot but each day is a little better. I am amazed by people who live with loved ones with chronic illnesses.

Looking forward I can't see too well because my view is blocked by piles of stuff. My house is in utter disarray. As I sort and store, I keep asking who's crap this is but the reality is, it's all ours. We have space, so we fill it up with stuff and we have too much stuff!

It was Eileen who commented on the ride home that she was going to go through her closet and get rid of most of what was in there. She went on to say that since she hadn't used it all summer, she obviously wouldn't miss it if it were gone. Wise words from a kid who just turned 16 two days ago.

So as I try to calm my nerves and get back to normal, my first task will be to go through the house room by room, yet again. I want to sort the useful from the frivolous, the time saving from the space wasting, the energy sucking from the energy saving.

I also have vowed to let my pantry dwindle down a bit in an effort to save some money (come on, I can't be the only one who's oil bill almost tripled from last year) and clear some space. Look for some creative menu ideas as this process progresses. I'll still have a pantry stash but I no longer want it to spread into rooms other than the kitchen.

Getting Back to Normal

Life was just about back to normal today but then Leen jumped over the hammock to make her brother, Kyle, laugh. She caught her foot and came crashing down on her face. She bruised her face, cut her nose and walked around with an icepack on her face for a while but she seems to be ok. This of course happened while Jim was at the ER getting the blood poisoning he developed, complements of a cat scratch, taken care of. I'm not kidding, even I'm not capable of making this stuff up. Oh well, at least Kyle didn't split his stitches laughing at his sister.

The events of the last few hours aside, things are getting back to normal although I really feel out of sorts. Kyle spent 9 days in the hospital and for the most part so did Jim and I. When he went in, there was plenty of summer left. When he came out there was only a week and a half of summer left. I'm trying to get back in the swing of things knowing I'll be changing gears in a few days.

Mostly I'm spending my time being amazed at my son's recovery and examining his poop as instructed by the surgeon so I can report back at his follow up visit next week. Kyle thinks this is great fun. (Imagine telling an 8 year old boy that to get out of the hospital he has to fart, poop and eat. Does life get any better? My son didn't think so.)

In frugal food news, we're trying to use up what we have on hand so I don't have to take it home. On the bean front, we're down to kidney beans, chickpeas and a few lonely green split peas. Tonight I made chili with homemade tomatillo salsa (I had to do something with those tomatillos from the CSA!) I thought it was too watery so I tossed some bulgur in rather than serving it on the side. It was simple and delicious. We've also become huge fans of the sourdough pancake recipe from The Vegan Family Cookbook. Cooking just feels so normal after all that time in the hospital.

Thanks to everyone for their kind words and thoughts. Honestly, the thing that got us through this experience was the kindness of the people around us. In the hospital, we encountered so many parents of sick children, nurses, doctors, volunteers and other hospital staff. All of them were so kind to us. You can't imagine the relief of being shown to a room in the hospital to sleep in while your son spends his first night in the intensive care unit just down the hall, or the gratitude felt toward a father who saw us looking bewildered as we tried to get into the intensive care unit and showed us how to work the phone so we could be let in, or the relief in knowing that the Ronald Mcdonald room(yes, it hurts me to say this but I am forever indebted to the Ronald McDonald House Charities) was on the floor staffed by volunteers and stocked with food and coffee for the families of the kids on the pediatric unit. So be kind to someone, it really can make a difference!

We Interrupt This Life to Cope With a Seriously Sick Child

I've been away but it's been no vacation. Kyle had emergency surgery last Thursday and we've spent the last 8 days either in the hospital or working out plans to keep life going for our other kids so we could get back to the hospital and relieve other parent.

Our family and friends have been a huge help. Thankfully, Kyle's on the mend and will be home soon (hopefully tomorrow). Hopefully, my posting will become more regular shortly.

I Hereby Declare Today Boxer Day!

I can't believe it but I finished my first pair of boxers late last night. They looked like boxers. They even looked to be about Kyle's size, which was good since they were made from the pattern that used his measurements but would they actually fit??

This morning we had no time for trying on boxers before we raced out the door to an early appointment to get the car inspected. When we got home, Kyle went into his room and tried on the boxers. He came out with a big smile on his face and a simple question, "Can I put my underwear in the hamper and wear these instead?"

Can you all see me doing my happy dance? He's worn them all day and the only change he's requested is perhaps a snap on the fly. Actually, that request came from his sister after he ripped off his shorts to show her his new boxers and accidentally gave her an eyeful. It's not a bad thought though.

I used the boxer pattern from Threadbangers. The only change I made was decreasing the length of the fly from 9 inches to 7 inches because these were for a child. This seemed to work out very well in the final product. Along the way I also discovered I could get an entire pair of boxers out of one of Jim's old shirts for Kyle. Rob may need a larger piece of fabric so I'm thinking of using the shirt fabric for a fancier front and the cotton sheet for a plainer back. We'll see. For now, I think I'll cut out the fabric for the rest of Kyle's boxers since I know the pattern is a winner. Cutting the fabric takes most of the time, the sewing goes very quickly once you understand how the pattern goes together.

I can't tell you how exciting it is to successfully make a pattern (with the help of a great tutorial from Threadbangers) and then sew an actual piece of wearable clothing. I feel so empowered, like this is one more thing I don't need to go to the store for. Can making my own underwear be far behind? (Hey Chile, did you try that pattern yet?) Imagine if I actually master sock making?? Socks from recycled sweaters could be next, my mind is reeling at the possibilities.

Actually my sock is coming along nicely. I finally figured out the whole heel turning business but it took me forever. Now if I can do this you can too, so what are you going to create? Come on, you can do it too!

Here's What's Going On

I guess I was busier without the girls here, because it never even occured to me to go near the computer this past week. I've been coming to terms with having just three weeks left of summer vacation. This morning was spent identifying things that no longer needed to be here. These items were packed into Jim's car and sent home with him.

What kind of stuff needs to go home? Mainly food that I know we're never going to get to in the next three weeks. In the past, I've left a food stash up here since we visit through the winter. All that is changing with the high price of oil. This year we're closing the house down for the winter. I'm bummed but I know its the right thing to do.

Speaking of the high price of oil, I'd like to introduce everyone to our new addition.

After months of trolling craigslist and ebay, we are the proud owners of a 3 cylinder, 5 speed, 1999 Chevy Metro. This baby gets about 50mpg and, even with the work it needed, came with a price tag of under $2500. It was a steal!! It's funny how your perspective changes as you mature. In the early years of our marriage we had one of these and we couldn't wait to upgrade. Fifteen years later we were kicking ourselves in the pants for selling it and yearning to buy another. BTW, if you're wondering why we didn't just buy a hybrid, this gets higher mileage with a much lower price tag.

If kicking ourselves in the pants got you thinking, "what about those boxers you keep talking about making?" fear not. I have an update to share. First let me say, I'm a moron for not realizing that, although I need two of each pattern piece, they need to be mirror images of each other. For the feeble minded, and I include myself in this category, this means either fold your fabric right side together and cut both pieces at the same time or remember to flip your pattern before cutting. I did not do this on the first pair and as a result, one piece will be right side in when I sew them together. I'm calling it a fashion statement but I'm fooling no one. Both boys recognized my mistake immediately. Kyle told me it was ok, which was good since the first pair was his.

I discovered that elastic is cheaper by almost half if bought off the roll rather than in little packages. Elastic ($.89/yard for 3/4 inch non rolling) and a king size cotton sheet (I believe it was $1.50 at the thrift store)are the only purchases I needed to make for the boxer short project. The sheet is to augment the collection of shirts that I'm using for fabric.

In terms of actual progress, I have both patterns made and pieces cut out for the first pair, although it isn't pinned yet because I got distracted with the bobby sock pattern from Easy Knitted Socks. I can't help it, knitting is an addiction! Here's the thing though, with the boxers I can see how the pattern will become the final product, not so with the socks. I can't figure how this heel turning business leads me to a finished sock. That's part of the addiction. I want to see how it turns out and I want to see it NOW!!!

Finally, in the interest of increasing the longevity of things we already have rather than buying new stuff, let me share the story of Jim's hat. It's just a baseball cap that says Lake George on it but it fits him the way he wants it to and the brim is bent just right...you know how it is. A while back he went to put it on and the buckle that you slide the piece through to make the hat tighter, fell off in his hand. There was no way to reattach the buckle since the center piece had broken off. I tried sizing the hat to Jim's head and sewing it permanently but the result was a hat that was too loose. It's hard to pin something tightly while its on the head of someone you love without stabbing them in the brain.

Jim was ready to chuck the hat but I begged for one more crack at it. He's a good sport but he had nofaith in my ability to fix this problem. Frankly, neither did I but pride and cheapness is a tough combination to reel in without exhausting every possibility first. I came up with the idea to slit the strap (using my favorite sewing tool, the seam ripper) that I'd sewn in place and insert a pieced of elastic to hopefully tighten the hat back up. Imagine my shock when it actually worked exactly as I'd planned! The hat is officially back in business.

I really love the feeling that comes with creating and repairing things. It seems everything I make or repair gives me the desire to make or repair something else.

Now I'm off to put on an Isaac Hayes record.

Making a Plan

After a whirlwind weekend of entertaining guests, I'm sitting in my newly quiet house, soaking up the silence and making plans for the upcoming week. It was great to have visitors (first Jim's family, then mine with only a few hours in between) but the pace of life ramps up so much higher when guests are here. It seems I've grown used to a very slow crawl.

So what are my plans for the week? Actually, I'm not quite certain. On Tuesday, the girls are leaving via Amtrak to meet up with my brother's family and head to an out of state wedding. For a whole week I'll only have two kids in the house. It's been a long time since I only had two kids in the house. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm trying to figure out if I'll have more or less time as a result. I mean the girls do the dishes and walk the dogs. Then again, the girls also create a lot of dishes and normally I have to take time out from my day to drive them to and from work. I think I'm going to come out ahead in this so...

My goal is to at least have the patterns made for the boys' boxers and at least one pair cut out and pinned by the end of the week. Measuring and cutting that first pair should be the time consuming, scary part of this project.

I've Seen the Light While Knitting Dishcloths, Making Pesto & Pondering Little Boys' Boxers

James requested pictures of the lamps I rewired so here they are. BTW, it's mighty hard to take a picture of a lit lamp with just a cell phone camera.




No lamp picture here, instead you're seeing the three dishcloths I knitted up for my mom's birthday. I had to take a break from weaving those loose ends in on the log cabin blanket. I was going cross-eyed. The one with the L on it was an experiment that turned into a nightmare. I hate the way it came out, especially the back.

For something different, I used a strand of beige cotton that's usually used for making lace along with the green cotton yarn (recycled from a thrift store sweater) on the last dish cloth. This is great stuff for knotting quilts as well and it always seems to turn up in thrift stores. As I was knitting this cloth, I came to the conclusion that I am a color and texture junkie when I knit. I love to combine yarns to make funky, chunky, colorful things. I'm a chronic color combiner!

I haven't mentioned a lot of food lately but it's been very simple and seasonal. Last night I made a simple pesto substituting parsley for the spinach that the recipe called for. Why? Well, I had a lot of parsley and I'd already used the spinach for salad the day before. No garlic or scapes in this weeks CSA share so garlic powder was used instead. I served it with roasted eggplant. I left the skins on per Isa's instructions in Veganomicon. It was very nice addition to the pesto. We served this with veggie burgers made out of a leftover baked bean dish. Dinner was ready in a jiffy and the fridge is now emptied of leftovers.

For anyone who's keeping track of things I've planned to do, you may have noticed there's been no mention of the boxers I planned to make for the boys. I haven't forgotten. I've just been a little apprehensive about getting started. It's almost August so I guess I'll have to dive in soon. Good thing I got those lamps done, one of them sits on my sewing table so I can see what I'm sewing.

The Summer of Completion Continues...Here's the Finished Log Cabin Blanket

Just a few hours ago I put the final stitches on this blanket. Now all that remains is weaving in the joins on the back. In just a day or two I'll be able to move on to my next project, a curtain to cover the closet in my sons' room.

Why a curtain you ask? The door that had been there was an ancient accordian type. It never opened up enough to give the boys access to the closet. Instead, it created a safe haven for junk to hide. A regular door is out of the question because of space limitations. A curtain seems to be the best choice.

The bar and hardware to hold this curtain will be taken out of another closet where it had been a lower bar for the previous owners little girl. The curtain itself will be made out of either the leftover bedsheet that I used for quilt edging or another fabric from my stash.

So what projects have you started to finish?

I See the Light!

I've begun to think of this summer as the Summer of Completion. This is the summer where I finish so many tasks that I've started with good intentions over the years but never got back to because life sometimes gets in the way.

My project du jour for Monday and Tuesday was to rewire two lamps that had been sitting in the garage for several years. One lamp had a crack in the part the bulb screws into. It had a nasty habit of shocking whomever turned it on or off. The second had that mysterious condition known simply as "it used to work but now it doesn't".

Before getting into the how of rewiring a lamp let me explain the why. Why would you bother rewiring a lamp when you could run down to Target and buy a new one. First of all, both of these lamps are very rustic and fit in well with my Adirondack style decor. Second, replacing them would cost significantly more than rewiring them. Third, I can't get behind the mindset of the disposable society we belong to. If it can be fixed, we should always choose fixing as our first solution. Sermon over, now for the how.

My first task was to take the socket off and see if the cord was the problem. I cut the cord at the base of the socket in the hopes of being able to reuse it if it was intact. I pulled the cords completely out of the lamps to do this. One of the lamp cords had a spot where the insulation was worn away near where the socket had been. Cutting this part away I was still left with plenty of cord.

I headed to the hardware store to get a new socket. I only bought one figuring if I could fix one, I'd walk down and get the parts for the other the next day. The replacement socket came with instructions for changing it printed right on it. My only complaint is they were in microscopic print. I followed them and when I plugged in the lamp it actually worked!

The second lamp wasn't near as cooperative. The socket was plastic and glued in place. Everytime I tried to remove it another piece broke off and stabbed into my hand. A few shots with a hammer got rid of the remains of the socket and a lot of my aggression as well. Once the socket was removed I was left with a threaded but odd sized opening. The replacement socket wasn't going to fit on this. This lamp also had a plug in the bottom that held the cord in place and didn't allow me to remove it until I pulled it out with a pair of pliers.

I headed back to my local hardware store, explained my problem and handed over my lamp as proof. The great thing about a little, local store like this one is the guy took his time and helped me find exactly what I needed, a hollow threaded bolt and a hollow wide to small nut (both of which I'm sure have fancy names that I don't know).

More confident in my skills the second time, I rewired this lamp in a jiffy.

Ok girls, lean in close, this is where I make a confession. I was pretty confident about doing the lamps until it came time to actually start the first one. Then I stalled, called my husband, perused a home repair manual and stalled a little more. Then, as is often my habit, I got pissed off.

Why couldn't I just try this? What was the worst that could happen? The worst I could come up with was getting a shock or blowing a breaker and neither one seemed like such a big deal. The first one took me at least an hour and a phone call to my husband. The second one about 10 minutes solo. If I can do it, you can too!

Here are some links to get you started on your rewiring project. If anyone has a favorite link, let me know and I'll post it here as well.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-do-home-electrical-repairs5.htm

http://nymag.com/guides/everything/16078/

http://www.ehow.com/how_117605_fix-lamp.html
http://www.hammerzone.com/

Presenting the Finished Queen Size Denim Quilt

I'm really pleased with the way it came out.

Just For the Record, I Didn't Puke in the Garden!

Did you ever have a good idea just go wrong or at least wrong enough to be noticed by others? I have an old blender that I was getting ready to take down to our local thrift store when I was struck with an idea. My worm bins are pretty full and I had read that another way to deal with vegetable peelings was to liquify them and pour them over your garden in the same way you would with worm tea.

I had a really big pile of turnip skins to deal with, so I thought what the heck. I popped them into the blender, filled it with water and gave it a whirl. Without really thinking about the possible consequences, I walked outside and poured this over my kale, chard and tomato plants. Now there's a white residue and it looks like I puked on my plants.

Oh well, at least the plants don't seem to mind. In fact, I swear they look a little perkier. However, I think I'll go back to my original plan and donate the old blender. The worms are much less unsightly.

Simple Pleasures

I'm just enjoying simple pleasures lately. That even includes simple cooking. I haven't been very elaborate in my meals but I've been very good at rolling the leftovers into the next meal. Here's an example, Sunday I made Cajun Black Eyed Peas with quinoa and turnip greens. Yesterday, I took the leftovers added in more turnip greens (a lot more turnip greens actually), increased the seasonings and used it as a side dish alongside veggie hot dogs. Leftovers got used up and I didn't have to think too much about what to cook.

Here's another simple frugal trick which I must have mentioned before but just in case I didn't, here it is again. I chop cucumbers from our CSA and put them into the pickle juice that's leftover when you finish a jar of pickles. After a day or two in the fridge they are very good. This is especially useful since we really like pickles on our hummus sandwiches.

I'm still working on the quilt and blanket although both are nearing the end. The edges are all done on the quilt. I'm dealing with all the hanging threads that machine sewing leaves behind. I should be starting to knot the quilt tonight or tomorrow. The log cabin blanket is a mere 2 1/2 sides from being done. I know, you want pictures. I still don't have my camera cord but I'll try using my cell phone to take them later.

Now I'm going to partake in another simple pleasure, reading. I'm on a Barbara Kingsolver kick. I just blew through and really enjoyed Prodigal Summer. Now I'm starting The Poisonwood Bible.

Do You Dig Dirt?

I've been playing in the dirt a lot in the last 10 days. In keeping with the tradition of the former owner of our house, I planted impatiens on the corner of the property. These are pretty but useless. Marigolds, on the other hand, deter all manner of munching bugs, especially Japanese beetles. I planted several of these in pots so I could move them around the yard when a particular plant is under attack.

Last week, during an attack of guilt over my lack of edible garden, I hastily prepared a bed and planted 2 year old kale and swiss chard seeds. I figured I'd wait a few days and see if anything came up. Today, there are quite a few seedlings emerging, more in the spot where I accidently upended the envelope of seeds. My little patio is surrounded by edible landscape! (Herb garden on one side, kale/chard on another, strawberries on another and Jerusalem artichoke/tomato on the last.) It's not Path to Freedom but it's a start...and I want to do more!! Just today I snipped some fresh dill and chives to add to the biscuits I was making. It was really thrilling.

My soil ammendment of choice is worm castings from my worm bins. I've got three going right now. One is strictly guinea pig cage leftovers which include uneaten greens, newspaper and guinea pig poop and pee. It's the wierdest thing in the world to open up the lid of the garbage can that serves as this worm bin and just be greated with an earthy, dirt smell rather than an ammonia, wow my eyes are burning, smell. BTW, the bottom of this garbage can is riddles with cracks to allow excess moisture to run out.

Another is an old cooler, this is the one that the worms like the best. They multiply like mad in there. I suspect it has to do with the consistently higher moisture content but I'm not sure. I toss in whatever yard scraps, veggie scraps and coffee grinds.

The third is the box Jim built from scrap wood. This is the one that the worms seem to like the least (sorry Jim!) although they do a fine job in there. It just takes a little longer, I suspect because things dry out quicker which seems to keep the worm population lower. This one gets the same diet as the old cooler.

Are you thinking that three worm bins are excessive? Not for us, we keep them filled consistently.

I forgot my camera cord so until Jim brings it to me there will be no pictures. Now I'm off to work on the quilt edges and later while watching a movie with the girls, I'll work on the log cabin blanket - just three and a half more sections to go!

Potato Dough Makes the World a Brighter Place

I’ve been really pleased with the way my summer cooking has been going. My biggest coup by far has been my mastering of the making and use of potato refrigerator dough. This versatile foodstuff is just the best. I’ve used it to make burger buns, hot dog buns and dinner rolls. I even drizzled leftover dinner rolls with margarine and cinnamon sugar to make a yummy addition to a birthday breakfast.

My recipe is basically this one with the changes Ruthie mentioned plus one change of my own, I used all whole wheat bread flour. That's the key for me. Store bought whole wheat buns are so expensive. That may be the best reason of all to give this recipe a try. It's so easy to shape a few buns when the dough is already mixed and waiting.

As Ruthie mentioned, I didn’t need to punch it down daily. I also found it needed a longer rising time than the original recipe called for. I feel such shame confessing this but I used mahed potato flakes. There, I said it. Stone me if you must. I’m a huge fan of everything from scratch but baking potatoes in the absence of a microwave in the summer is not my idea of a good time. Plus they carry the mashed potato flakes at the local discount grocery store.

The meals themselves have largely been the ones from the meal plan I put together a few months back. I still can’t believe how much time and mental energy having a meal plan saves. I like the way a meal plan gives me ideas but invites variation. For example, I made baked seitan but instead of making jerk seitan with it, I made BBQ seitan. Simple? Yes, but very effective and tasty too. Now go, look in your fridge, cabinet or garden and make a substitution. Start small, substitute some collards for spinach (in cooked recipes only or you'll be sorry. It's a memorable mistake that you'd only make once!)

I’ve been very adept at combining several days of leftover bean dishes and making veggie burgers. The leftovers have included Cajun black eyed peas, Cuban Black Beans, Brilliant Baked Beans (From How It All Vegan) and BBQ Chickpeas. My only mistake in combing them was pureeing them too much and making the texture a little too gooey. A potato masher would have done a better job. (Is it odd that a potato masher should come up right after I confess to not using one a mere paragraph ago?)

I’ve discovered a real PMS snack pleaser, try combining dried unsweetened cherries with dark chocolate chips. No cooking, just toss them together in a bowl. You can try conning yourself into thinking it’s healthy just because you’re eating fruit. Then again, if you’re PMSing, you probably don’t give a hoot if it’s healthy.

In the fruit and veggie department, the CSA and farmers market have been our primary source. I just discovered a woman in walking distance who has a farm stand set up in her front yard. I'm planning to head her way toward the end of the week when my fridge begins to look empty in anticipation of the next pickup.

Summertime!

It's summertime and the posting is a little more sporadic, or maybe a lot more sporadic. I'm aiming for two or three posts per week. BTW, I'm blogging on a dial up connection so I make no promises of photos for the next few weeks. Here's what's new.

The patchwork portion of the denim quilt is finished! I just pieced together the last two sections this morning during a rainstorm. God, what a pain it is to sew huge pieces together.

Now it's time to work on the backing. I unwittingly set myself up for a challenge when I bought a fitted sheet to use for the backing. I may be doing a little piecing on the backing as well. I'll know better when I finish removing the elastic. A seam ripper is the best tool ever!!

I'm still four sections away from completing my log cabin blanket. Once we start watching movies again (Jim's been working nights the last few weeks) the log cabin blanket should finish up very quickly. This has been a very rewarding project. It's also generated a lot of interest wherever I've gone with it. Perhaps I've inspired a few people to knit frugally along the way...

Speaking of inspiring knitting, my daughters have once again picked up their knittng needles and are knitting during movies too. I won't let on how tickled I am. You know how teenagers are, they might stop if they knew it made me happy.

In food, I'm loving the weekly CSA pickups. Our meals are revolving around what's in our weekly share.

We Interrupt This Quilt to Bring You a Cookie Emergency!

If you've been hanging around these parts any length of time, you'll know that my favorite cookie recipe is the Molasses Cookie one inspired by the Kick Ass Molasses Cookies recipe on Vegweb.

Today, while attempting to whip up this easy culinary delight I discovered I was out of molasses!! Holy "I'm up against a deadline" Batman! I had waited until the last minute and I needed these cookies to be done and cool enough to pack away in 30 minutes. I thought I was screwed but then I had an idea. What if I used maple syrup instead? Would it work?

With fingers crossed, I decreased the sugar to 3/4 cup since maple syrup is more overtly sweet than molasses. I poured a 1/4 cup of maple syrup and got down to mixing. I told no one of my evil deed. Instead, I shoved cookies in the faces of all my children and my hubby. No one gagged. I took this as a positive sign.

Thirty minutes later, I was driving, cookies in tow, to return a container, now filled with the Maple Cookies, to a friend. The verdict was in my favor when my friend and her coworkers all asked me to email them the recipe.

Whew!!

The moral of the story? If you know your ingredients, you are the master of your substitutions...hopefully!

A Quilting Picturebook

I'm sure I break just about every rule of quilting since I'm largely self taught but read on anyway.


You need a plan to get started! Here's my first plan which doesn't use half squares and my second which does. Do these in pencil to prevent insanity!


Here's my stash of precut denim for the quilt.


Sew your quilt together two pieces at a time. I measure down 1/2 inch and draw a line in red. I attempt to straight stitch on this line but often miss as you can see. I do this twice and them zig zag stitch the seam once to prevent fraying.


Here's what the two sewn together squares look like from the right side of the project.


Here I've pinned on another two sewn together squares.


When I do the second straight stitch, I just flip the project around. To keep things from getting too bunchy I roll the fabric up like this.


Here's what things look like as the roll of fabric gets larger.


And here's the fabric turned around for the second straight stitch seam.


Finally, here's a peek at the progress.