Let it dry and scrape it off with a used-up gift-card. Simple! Much simpler than I feared.
Habitation
Trader Joe’s Thai Yellow Curry Sauce review
Executive Summary: This is a C+ sauce. If you don't have time to make your own, this is better than no curry sauce at all. The flavor is not fabulous, probably because it's made with a lot of the wrong ingredients. My 14-year-old asked me to buy this sauce as a quick meal option, now that … Continue reading Trader Joe’s Thai Yellow Curry Sauce review
Top 18 Articles of 2018
Like last year, this was a year in which The Earthling's Handbook drew more readers to the articles that have been here a long time (and therefore have been linked to more often, on other sites as well as in my own articles) than to new articles. The list of overall most-popular articles is so … Continue reading Top 18 Articles of 2018
Magic Breakfast Burrito + 70 Things to Cook in Cast Iron
We've had two cast iron skillets in our home for years, and we use at least one of them almost every day. This year, we inherited three more! That's what inspired me to collect a whole bunch of recipes for foods that cook well in cast iron. My friend Alison Frane (of Chickicheesinara Sauce fame) offered … Continue reading Magic Breakfast Burrito + 70 Things to Cook in Cast Iron
Veggie Inundation Just Before Vacation? How to Cope.
I've explained how to use a box full of seasonal produce in a week when you're cooking at home. But what if you've received your CSA farm share, or a bountiful harvest from your garden, the night before you're going to leave on a week's vacation? What can you do with all those fresh vegetables?! … Continue reading Veggie Inundation Just Before Vacation? How to Cope.
Go Green in 2018: Can You Afford to Buy Greener Products?
Twenty years ago, I saw a catalog filled with practical household products that were better for the environment than the stuff we'd been using: laundry and dish and cleaning products made from plants and natural minerals, paper products made from recycled paper, tampons and cloth towels made from organic cotton. I was excited! But I'd … Continue reading Go Green in 2018: Can You Afford to Buy Greener Products?
Things Not To Do: Television Recycling Edition
Old televisions and old computer monitors are things we've all had to deal with recently, as we Earthlings make the transition from cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays to high-tech flat screens. By local standards, my family was very late to replace our television, but I bet that some parts of the world still have a lot … Continue reading Things Not To Do: Television Recycling Edition
How to Build a Gym in Your Hallway
This article by Daniel gives more detail about one of the space-saving ideas listed in Becca's article at Kitchen Stewardship: I’ve enjoyed rock climbing since I was pretty young, but these days I don’t actually get out to climb on rocks very often. I do tend to climb on stuff at the playground when I take … Continue reading How to Build a Gym in Your Hallway
Would decluttering save you from buying a new appliance?
Life here on Earth presents an astonishing array of abundance. There's so much stuff that we can gather to fulfill not only our basic needs but also our more frivolous desires and, perhaps, our need to feel prepared for meeting future needs. Many years during Lent, I've given up some category of material things in … Continue reading Would decluttering save you from buying a new appliance?
What You Need to Know About So-Called “Green Mattresses”
This is a guest post by Rick Blanchard, an expert on sleep product materials and manufacturing for BestMattressReviews.com. His research covers the entire life cycle of mattresses and bedding, including production, wear over time, and disposal. Rick lives in Tarrytown, New York. We welcomed this article because we will soon need to shop for a … Continue reading What You Need to Know About So-Called “Green Mattresses”
Go Green in 2018: Try Something New!
Happy new year! This is a great time to start a new habit to make a little less garbage, use a little less energy, or otherwise reduce your environmental impact. I made my new year's resolution on a sudden whim when I was in the supermarket on December 30, stocking up on fresh produce after … Continue reading Go Green in 2018: Try Something New!
Hand Soap of the Zygons [method ocean plastic soap review]
Earthlings have been discarding too much plastic too irresponsibly for the past five decades, and a lot of it has ended up in our oceans. Plastic never goes away. It just swirls around, breaking into smaller pieces, harming marine animals. method, a company making cleaners that are safer for the Earth and human health, teamed … Continue reading Hand Soap of the Zygons [method ocean plastic soap review]
Autumn Leaves: FREE Mulch to Nourish Your Garden
Improve soil quality and prevent erosion without spending a cent! Just take a few minutes to collect this free resource from your neighborhood.
Can you eat carrots that look like THIS?!
In our 17 summers of buying a share in a community-sponsored agriculture farm, we've developed a 5-step plan for making good use of our weekly veggie crate--but our long-range planning still isn't perfect. When I put "carrots" on the shopping list in late summer, Daniel bought the 5-pound bag because it was the best value … Continue reading Can you eat carrots that look like THIS?!
Gardening is Good for You! {infographic}
It's been a tough year for our garden. I'm going to write more about it someday, but at the moment we're busy digging, planting, laying a new stone path, building a new raised bed, and visualizing a beautiful garden next year! Meanwhile, here is an infographic to motivate us by pointing out the physical and emotional … Continue reading Gardening is Good for You! {infographic}
Eco-Friendly Kitchen Renovations
We Earthlings are planning to renovate and slightly expand our small, shabby, 1950s kitchen, so I'm very interested in this guest post by Sofia Lockett, a freelance writer based in Auckland, who is passionate about travel, technology and innovation. Sofia has written for New Zealand businesses such as seacontainers.co.nz. Kitchens are the heart of the … Continue reading Eco-Friendly Kitchen Renovations
I let my vegetarian kid cook a steak.
We’ve raised our kids to be mostly vegetarian. We have fish once every week or two, but we never cook any other meat at home. We sometimes eat meat in restaurants or in other people’s homes. So it’s really more accurate to say we eat a low-meat diet than to say we’re vegetarian. It’s more … Continue reading I let my vegetarian kid cook a steak.
What I Really Learned in College
A few years ago, some people from Alumni Relations invited me out to lunch so they could ask for my perspective (about 20 years after graduation) on what my Carnegie Mellon education has meant to me. I was flattered, and it was such an interesting question to consider that I've thought about it many times … Continue reading What I Really Learned in College
How to Reduce Your Home’s Carbon Footprint
This is a guest post by Justin Havre, a Calgary native and owner of Justin Havre & Associates. A home's carbon footprint is its impact on the environment, measured in the amount of carbon dioxide released in the process of operating that home. Excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere traps heat, accelerating the process of global climate … Continue reading How to Reduce Your Home’s Carbon Footprint
Recycling Coffee Bags with TerraCycle
We save money on fair-trade organic coffee by buying five-pound bags. Larger bags also mean less garbage per pound of coffee, but those metallized plastic bags are still an environmental problem: Most recycling programs won’t take them, and they're not biodegradable. For several years, I collected coffee bags—our own and those discarded by friends, co-workers, my … Continue reading Recycling Coffee Bags with TerraCycle
The Earthling's Handbook 