So Happy It's Friday!

It's also a very happy day because when I opened my blog this morning, I had a NINTH follower!! Wow! For me, that's a lot! Nine is my favorite number, not to mention I'm amazed so many people read what I write. I guess the number's higher when you add the people who asked me to subscribe them, but 9 is an exciting milestone for me. It's a perfect little 3x3 square on the side of my blog. I'm a big fan of threes (part of why my favorite number is 3x3 - it's just a perfect number!).
I've been reading this week about the fastest and easiest way to recycle stuff - it doesn't involve sorting, or a recycling bin, or dragging anything to the curb. It's as simple and basic as just reusing whatever it is. I have numerous salsa, tomato sauce, and peanut butter containers washed and stashed with my dwindling supply of plastic containers, to be used for leftovers, chopped ingredients for future meals, small pieces of things, whatever. I've noticed that jar lids come in mainly in two or three standard sizes, which makes mixing and matching easier than you'd think. Husband, long-suffering as he is, has taken his lunch to work in a washed, de-labeled mayo jar on a couple occasions, because that was the container for which I could find a lid. Plastic lids also can be switched around, as small mayo lids and some others seem about the size of peanut butter lids.
It makes sense, when you think of the fact that part of the price you pay for the item goes to the packaging. I always thought of it as paying for the food, and then hey, if you can use the container, free container! But that's backwards. From a business standpoint, you're paying the cost of the food - the shipping - the marketing - bunch of other stuff - AND the packaging. You paid for that jar, as well as what's in it - why get rid of the jar afterwards, and THEN go shopping for food containers? With that in mind, I'm starting to look at the worth of the packaging when I shop, particularly if I'm choosing between items that are otherwise equal - but one's sold in a can (only reusable as a pencil container) and one's sold in a jar (which could then hold the leftovers of the meal).
I'm not cheap. I'm frugal. :)

Bitter, Bitter Cold

Times like this, I am sooo jealous of our friend Carey's wood-burning stove. And we don't even have (today at least) the sub-zero temps they have north of us. It's above zero, barely, now.
Until lately, I nodded and smiled when people said, "Keep warm!" because, well, isn't that a DUH? We have a house, four walls and a roof, and a functional heating system. So by keeping warm, you basically mean stay inside, right?
Turns out you have no idea how many drafts your house has until the breeze coming through them is sub-zero. My toes, frost-nipped in junior high, have been hurting for two or three days straight. That's INSIDE in socks and shoes. I have blocked a drafty window in the family room with a rolled-up garbage bag along the sill. Husband has taped a garbage bag over the kitchen window through which there REALLY WAS a breeze. This morning we shut a blanket in the doorway of the laundry room, which is uninsulated and unheated (yes, I've been tossing a coat on to do laundry) and it seems the doorway from it into the living room does not shut entirely. Funny the things you notice when it's exactly 2 degrees outside. Husband and I are now sleeping in the family room, where the heaters work the best of all. And we have a FROZEN PIPE. The hot water pipe (of all pipes, that one) in the kitchen is frozen solid. Husband is hoping to put heating tape around all pipes to which he can find access when he gets home from work tonight, which will be after 8 p.m. because of church tonight. Vespers for St. Anthony's Day tomorrow. I really wonder who will show, honestly. WE'LL be there, because we live ten minutes away and we're just crazy like that. And the verse doesn't say, "Where everyone who SHOULD be there are gathered in My Name", it says "Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt.18:20) and Father plus us equals four. So there. We're going to the dance tomorrow night, too.
So for now, being the only "sink" of any size with hot water, the bathtub is considered the biggest sink in the house. Laundry is actually being done in bulk at a laundromat, in draft-free warmth, albeit at higher expense, until it gets above freezing again, just because it's not going to get done otherwise. I need to at least put down some carpet scraps on the concrete floor, because the little rag-rug from Walmart doesn't cut it, that floor is COOOOLD. And the two warmest spots in the house are right in front of our greenhouse of a front window in the living room, and sitting here at the computer right in front of the heater here.
In other news... my tomato plants, in the front window that is so wonderfully warm, HAVE BUDS. They have buds. I have until they flower to figure out how to pollinate them without so much as a cooperative housefly. I need to take a picture of how it looks, these thriving tomato plants with tiny little buds now, against the backdrop of the snowy and bitterly cold outdoors.

Cleaning house

I'm trying, TRYING, to go through Kittyboy's toys and post what he really doesn't play with on Freecycle. I've done this a few times, once when we realized that he just wasn't a stuffed animal person and we gave away most of those, and another time when I was just fed up with the amount of toys we had. We gave him a teddy bear for Christmas (it was wearing a sweater, I couldn't resist) and a book for his birthday, chipped in with the great-grands on a bunch of plastic farm animals, and that was it - then the extended families' gifts came out. He has probably twice the amount of toys he had before, not that any one person gave him a WHOLE bunch (though several are big), but more that everyone altogether just gave him soooo much. Naturally, I'm anxious to clean out from what he got last year. But what has to go? The little blue teddy bear some friends gave us while I was in the hospital with him, that's special because of the time and because I know they didn't have money at the time whatsoever. He doesn't play with it, but it's still special. The wooden blocks he doesn't play with, I know he'll play with one day, and future children will play with them. He's got a whole big box of them, you don't give away basics like that. We've already passed off stuff he didn't play with often to other houses where he spends time - my parents, Husband's parents, an uncle's - and found out that the in-laws take it personally if anything they gave him comes back, regardless of whether it was given for an occasion or just something they saw and picked up because he "might like it". And then there are the vintage Fisher Price toys out in the garage - they aren't in the best of shape, but they're things Husband and I remember playing with when we were little. We can't get rid of THOSE.
He has the pint-size ATV, an un-motorized ride-on toy, one of those big red and yellow Fisher Price cars (he can't figure out how it works, but the in-laws would be insulted if we offered to bring it back to their house for him to play with when he visits there - and IT'S HUGE, so if they visit and it's not here, they'll notice), and two big Radio Flyer wagons. One is in pretty good shape and is from, again, the in-laws, and one needs some fixing up but I looooove it because it's a bit of an antique and well worth fixing up. He has a rocking horse, and a rocking caterpillar. Caterpillars, my gosh, he's got a three-foot and a SIX-foot one the trucking uncle picked up at a truck stop somewhere - couldn't decide which Kittyboy would like, so he got both.
Then there's also the fact that we will at some point have more children!
So... any suggestions? Here's what I've come up with thus far:
1. Take inventory of toys at Other Houses - get rid of anything I don't remember, or which has lost sentimental value in the months that we didn't miss it.
2. Anything easily and cheaply replaced at a dollar store or Walmart. If the replacement value is under $5 (maybe $10), it's not worth the "cost" of storage.
3. Take things that aren't often played with to the Other Houses to replace those which were gotten rid of (see #1).
4. Inventory the vintage Fisher Price, and find out if anyone on Freecycle collects such things - if we really, really want the little plastic record player, we can buy one off of Ebay sometime that actually works well.
5. YOUR SUGGESTION HERE.

Seriously, input would be great.

Roast Brussels Sprouts

I'm copying this from nytimes.com, because being from February of LAST year, every time I try to "share" the page, it says it can't be found. Sounds REALLY good to me! I hope to grow a Brussels sprout plant indoors this summer, or maybe two if I try this recipe and it's as good as it sounds. From what I read, they're VERY finiky plants - too hot outside, the flavor is strong and unpleasant. Not enough water, same problem. Hmmm... sounds like an indoor plant to me. I thought for the longest time that sprouts were supposed to be horrible, but had honestly never eaten them. So one day (as an independent adult) I bought some and steamed them with basil and such, and they were good. Just like little cabbages. And the plants are FUNKY looking - a single stalk with little sprouts growing off of it, like a bat with baseballs stuck all over it. That alone makes me want to grow it - this recipe, though, is doubly tempting.

February 21, 2008, 11:11 am

Recipe of the Day: Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Garlic By Mark Bittman

Ingredients

• 1 pint brussels sprouts (about a pound)
• 4 to 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to coat bottom of pan
• 5 cloves garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Method

• 1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Trim bottom of brussels sprouts, and slice each in half top to bottom. Heat oil in cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers; put sprouts cut side down in one layer in pan. Put in garlic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• 2. Cook, undisturbed, until sprouts begin to brown on bottom, and transfer to oven. Cook, shaking pan occasionally, until sprouts are quite brown and tender, about 1/2 hour.
• 3. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in balsamic vinegar, and serve hot or warm.

Source: The New York Times

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Washing Hair Without Shampoo!!

I read about this online, tried it, and now have a lot of shampoo to get rid of!!! It's, like, the one thing that's gone right this week.
You remember those papermache volcanos everyone makes in gradeschool, with the baking soda and vinegar? I bet you didn't know you were concocting a solution with which to wash hair.
The recipe, roughly, is about a tablespoon each of soda and vinegar, let the bubbles die down, add a cup of really warm water from your shower, and pour it on your head, treating it like shampoo. Obviously, you use more than a tablespoon if you have hair like mine. Rinse it out, then pour vinegar over your hair, down to the ends. That's the conditioner.
The idea is that the baking soda/vinegar mixture lifts off dirt, without messing with your scalp's natural oil. The acidity in the vinegar conditioner then seals the hair, helping to fight split ends.
My hair is both my vanity and my enemy. I only wash it once a week, because it takes half a week for it to not be a gigantic mess. About the time it looks and feels like hair, it's time to wash again. Doesn't matter what shampoo I use, anytime I'm getting ready for a special event or something where I want my hair to look NICE, I plan on washing it about three days beforehand. I joked quite regularly about shaving it - one day, the ONLY reason I didn't is that when I had chicken pox, my mom warned me repeatedly that if I scratched, I would have pock marks, so I restricted my scratching to my scalp, because my hair is more than thick enough that no one will ever see. I can only imagine the moonscape that would be uncovered if I shaved it off. I love having my hair long, I love braiding it and stuff, but out of braids it's a mess. Ordinarily, it's either really dry, or heavy and oily. Either way, it's not good. And I have had dandruff since hitting puberty - not the little flakes that fall out, the big thick flaking discs that cling in the hair and won't move.
So last Saturday, I took the soda-vinegar plunge. Risky, I know, because Sunday morning I have to beat it into submission for church. To my astonishment, Sunday morning my hair was... hair. It was brushable, it laid down nicely, I spent the whole day just running my fingers through it, flipping it around, having the time of my life with the fact that this thick, matted mane was behaving. I have had "good hair days" since!!! No more shampoo for me!!! I don't even have the dandruff I used to, I brushed out a bunch of the tiny little flakes Sunday afternoon and now have nothing. Apparently the presence of ANY flakes means that for my scalp, I need to have more vinegar than soda in the mixture, because everyone's pH is different and if the mix is too alkaline, you can have flakes - but if it's just the tiny stuff I can brush out the next day, that's pretty much NOTHING considering what I've put up with for so many years now.
I am SOOOO loving my hair now! EVERYONE should try this, seriously. Do it!!

Line-drying clothes - in winter!

Did you know that hanging on a clothesline removes that mildewy smell of laundry forgotten in the washer for a day or so? It does!

What just came off the line was my third load of the day. My clothesline was my Mother's Day gift this year. I'd been begging and begging for one, and it made my summer.

I was reading today online that it's not unheard of for neighborhood associations to ban clotheslines. Not restrict them to backyards, just ban them outright. (My uncle in Colorado had to sign a covenant promising to water his yard - Colorado is MOSTLY DESERT. So - yeah. And I'm sure that those running his neighborhood association are newly perplexed, every year, when they encounter mandated water rationing and fireworks on the 4th of July are forbidden. "What? Again this year? Gee, there was enough water for my Bermuda this spring, I can't imagine what's wrong with the water supply NOW...")

Anyhow, a woman commenting on the blog said that when she was growing up, the dryer only ran when it was below freezing. If there was a sun and it was 33 degrees, they hung their laundry. And it kinda makes sense when you consider that dryness in the air is a problem in winter - if the air is dry, the clothes will also dry faster. Just ask anyone who's hung out laundry with 70% humidity - doesn't matter how bright the sun is, drying will take forever. So it stands to reason that although you might only hang a load a day in winter (shorter daylight hours, sunlight less direct), it would still work. I think I'll try it!

A "Peach" of a meal

Pork Steaks with White Peach Chutney

1/2-3/4 cup medium salsa

1/2 cup white peach jam

1/2-3/4 cup canned white peaches and juice

couple slices of onion, diced

one Anaheim pepper, diced

Cook and stir until blended, pour over two pork steaks in a skillet, cook on medium until pork is done. Serve with white peach slices.

I made this for dinner tonight, with white peaches and jam I'd put up myself. HEAVENLY.

Some REAL money-saving tips...

I am a sucker for "how to live cheaper" articles, and Yahoo Finance has many. I've read them all. They don't apply.

We don't have a cable bill to cut. We don't drink Starbucks. We don't go out to movies. We don't eat out but once in a great while. When we want pizza, I get a three-dollar frozen one. So tips such as "A sack lunch at work can save you $35 a week!" ARE USELESS, as are "Brewing your own coffee rather than stopping at Starbucks" and "Renting movies instead of going to the theater".

So here is how WE live cheaper.

Honestly, it starts with Angelfoodministries.com. There's not an application or income level requirement, it's not food stamps (but you can use food stamps to buy it!), it's just very cheap food, great if you don't qualify for food stamps but are tired of beans and pasta. It's almost a month's worth of groceries in one shot. I budget about $50 a month for the regular package and one special, and plan the rest of the month around what's in the freezer and pantry. There's frozen meat, frozen vegetables, some canned stuff, a quart of shelf-stable milk, a dozen eggs, it's a variety of things, all of which keep in the pantry or freezer. The rest of the month, I go to my freezer and pantry first, to see what one or two ingredients I need for a complete dish, and then buy just that.

Shop N Save, or at least the one near us, has a clearance basket up at the front of the store. Whatever is in it that's useful, I buy, whether or NOT I have a use for it right then. Cans with torn labels, boxes that got dented or cut while unloading, bags that sprang a leak. Then later when I'm low on ideas, I have things in the pantry I wouldn't normally buy, but which might prove inspiring.

Getting really, really serious about sales and coupons helps too.

When it comes to cooking, a white sauce made of margarine, flour, and powdered milk stretches a can of cream soup to feed a family (if you have some miscellaneous vegetable or something to add). If you just make a sauce and dump in whatever canned vegetables are in the pantry, presto, dinner's done. It costs pennies, but tastes good, and doesn't FEEL like a cheap meal.

Recycling and composting as much as possible have kept us to one can of trash a week (our hauler charges by the can). This is EVEN WITH a baby still not out of diapers, and we do use disposables (I'm nowhere near organized enough to do cloth just yet).

If you're diligent and have a green thumb, garden - if you start your plants from seeds, your initial investment is almost nil.

Having one car can make schedules inconvenient if the husband needs it for work but I have somewhere I want to go during the day. But, we've found that having a bus pass and walking has cut our gas cost in half. You'd also be surprised how many errands can be put off until the husband's next day off, or at least until he returns from work, when the alternative is an hour round-trip on the bus. And shopping at somewhere like Walmart or the other big stores where things are theoretically cheaper only saves you money if you don't have to drive there. Walking is free!

I'll post more as things come to mind!