Earth Day is coming up in less than a month! What will be your Earth Day resolution? One easy thing to do is to switch to a more earth-friendly version of something you use regularly--like toilet paper. There are many brands of toilet paper on the market now that are made from post-consumer recycled paper … Continue reading Save Money on Earth-Friendly Products!
Habitation
A Day as Mama and Data Manager
Welcome to the March 2015 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Day in the Life This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have given us a special glimpse into their everyday. *** There are three main things I do … Continue reading A Day as Mama and Data Manager
Two Affordable GMO-Free Cereals
I don't trust genetically modified food to be safe for our health or environment. About five years ago, I realized that several of our favorite breakfast cereals contained corn, and I'd been reading that most corn grown in the United States that isn't organically grown is now GMO. We gave up buying those cereals routinely...but … Continue reading Two Affordable GMO-Free Cereals
Things Not to Do: Ingredient Chopping Edition
Don't give up on using the kitchen tool that is really appropriate for the job because the baby is sleeping in the dining room. Don't make the series of mistakes that made our dinner an hour late!
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (winter, with a baby)
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That’s what we do when we’re at home and most of the time when we eat in other places. Our 8-month-old daughter, Lydia, is abstaining from cow's milk until after her first birthday, because I have some family history of dairy allergies that may have … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (winter, with a baby)
The 4-Day Laundry Plan (How to use cloth diapers and have a job without losing your mind)
Welcome to the January 2015 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Household Chores This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories, tips, and tricks on tackling household chores. Please read to the end to find a list … Continue reading The 4-Day Laundry Plan (How to use cloth diapers and have a job without losing your mind)
Our Green Christmas Tree (now with photos!)
Back in 2007, I wrote about the little tree Daniel and I, with the help of former housemate Bill, made for our first Christmas together, back in 1996. Made mostly of repurposed materials, this is a great alternative to cutting down a real tree or using a factory-made artificial tree. It's still going strong! I'm finally … Continue reading Our Green Christmas Tree (now with photos!)
Easy Dental Health Tip for New Moms
When you're taking care of a little baby, it can be hard to get around to doing basic things like brushing your teeth--you seem to always have your hands full, and then when you finally get a moment, you forget or you're too tired! One thing I have learned is that I am more likely to do something if I can reach it quickly when I get a moment to set down the baby. It feels like a big deal to go do something several rooms away or on another floor of the house. Keeping supplies near me makes me more likely to use them.
Why I’m Sleeping in the Dining Room
Welcome to the September 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Home Tour This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have opened up their doors and given us a photo-rich glimpse into how they arrange their living spaces. *** … Continue reading Why I’m Sleeping in the Dining Room
5 Tips for Green Lunch Packing
It's back-to-school season! If your child brings a lunch to school, now is the time to think about how to pack that lunch. If you bring your lunch to work, this is a great time of year to rethink what you're packing, too. Choosing the right lunch-packing habits can make a big difference in how … Continue reading 5 Tips for Green Lunch Packing
Centerpiece
Our nine-year-old Nicholas has been interested in home decorating since he was about four years old. I often get frustrated with his desire to set up things that are merely decorative, have no useful purpose, and just get in my way! I am even more irritated when he wants to buy things just for decorating. … Continue reading Centerpiece
The Best Alarm Clock-Radio to Buy Used
...is a Sony Dream Machine with EZ Alarm, made around 1988. You do not want a recent Dream Machine as it is a completely different product. This is an excellent clock: My dad gave it to me for Christmas when I was 15. Its radio reception was far superior to my previous clock-radio; no more … Continue reading The Best Alarm Clock-Radio to Buy Used
Fishgiving: A Feast from the Freezer!
Last weekend, my family enjoyed a spontaneous and somewhat silly holiday feast. A few days earlier, we had finally gotten around to baking an acorn squash and two butternut squashes we'd received in our CSA farm share back in November. Each of the three of us ate a big chunk of squash as a side … Continue reading Fishgiving: A Feast from the Freezer!
How to use long-frozen cookie dough
When my parents visited us the Christmas before last, my mother made her grandmother's traditional animal cookies: a buttery dough that you roll out and cut with cookie cutters (they don't have to be animal shapes, of course) and bake and frost. The recipe makes a huge batch, so she divided it and froze two … Continue reading How to use long-frozen cookie dough
Four Weeks of Mostly Meatless Dinners (February)
I'm not using the term "pesco-vegetarian" in the title like I have for many of my other multi-week meal plans because I think "meatless" is the more common word people are searching for in Lent. My family eats no meat at home except occasional fish--which does not count as "meat" in many fasting plans, for … Continue reading Four Weeks of Mostly Meatless Dinners (February)
Humidify Your Home the Cheap and Easy Way!
Our house has forced-air heat: The furnace blows warm air through the ducts and out through vents in most of the rooms. Our vents are in the baseboards, so they push out the air horizontally at floor level. This tip also would work with a wall vent that is just above a shelf or table, … Continue reading Humidify Your Home the Cheap and Easy Way!
My Top 3 Kitchen Time-Saving Tips
Katie at Kitchen Stewardship is asking everyone to share our top 3 kitchen time-savers this week! I work full-time outside the home, and although my partner Daniel has been doing more than half the cooking in the past few years, I do most of the planning, shopping, and preliminary preparations. He works from home and … Continue reading My Top 3 Kitchen Time-Saving Tips
Use those last drops of cooking oil!
One of the annoying things about recycling food containers is that you're supposed to get them relatively clean and rinsed-out before you put them in the recycling bin. This is particularly difficult with cooking oil because it clings to the inside of the bottle, and it doesn't mix with water to rinse out, and if … Continue reading Use those last drops of cooking oil!
A Laundry Line-Drying System that Will Work for YOU!
Have you been wishing you could save money, conserve resources, and make your clothes last longer by line-drying your laundry instead of machine-drying it--but you just can't figure out how to fit a clothesline into your home configuration and weekly routine? I am here to help! My new guest post at Live Renewed gives you … Continue reading A Laundry Line-Drying System that Will Work for YOU!
An Abundance of Apples
Here's what we did when we saw a bunch of ripe apples dropping into a neglected parking lot near our home.
The Earthling's Handbook 