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. Here’s what we ate for dinner for four weeks in July and August. Normally I plan our menu up to a week in advance and do … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (summer)
Habitation
Can you scramble frozen eggs?
Apparently, yeah, if you let the eggs thaw a little, you can make totally normal scrambled eggs out of them. At least, I did. I guess I'd better clarify that I'm talking about chicken eggs. In our scary high-tech world, "frozen eggs" often means human egg cells that have been frozen for later attempts at … Continue reading Can you scramble frozen eggs?
Buying Bulk Food in Reused Containers
Many of the foods my family eats most are purchased from the bulk section of the East End Food Co-op, our local health-food supermarket in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You do not have to buy a membership to shop at this co-op, but members get a discount in exchange for a one-time payment, which is a pretty … Continue reading Buying Bulk Food in Reused Containers
How to Wash Your Hair with Vinegar
I wrote a guest post for The Greenbacks Gal on the natural, money-saving method of washing my hair that I have been using for the past nine years! This is an updated version of my vinegar hairwashing article from a few years ago, with some new tips...and a photo of me. I decided it makes … Continue reading How to Wash Your Hair with Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar as Facial Toner
You may have heard the old saying, "You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." I know I've heard it, and many clever variations on it, many times since I started using both honey and vinegar in my beauty routines! First I started washing my hair with white vinegar, then I started washing my … Continue reading Apple Cider Vinegar as Facial Toner
Cloth Wipes for Bedroom, Bathroom, and More!
I am excited to be a contributing writer in the Green in 365 series at Live Renewed! Check out my article on how to use cloth wipes instead of paper tissues to save trees, reduce pollution, save money, and just have a better experience in so many ways. I mean, look, aren't they pretty? I've … Continue reading Cloth Wipes for Bedroom, Bathroom, and More!
Freezing Cheese
We love cheese! However, with only three of us in the family, a block of cheese in the refrigerator can get moldy before we finish eating it. We came up with a cheese storage method that reduces the risk of mold, but it wasn't good enough for those times when we have either a large … Continue reading Freezing Cheese
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (early spring)
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. Here's what we ate for dinner (plus weekend lunches) for four weeks in March and April, including Easter, trying to make the most of seasonal produce … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (early spring)
Cute and Thrifty Kitchen Scouring Powder
My dishwashing method gets most food to wipe right off the dishes, but some things still need to be scrubbed--tea and coffee stains in mugs, blueberry-juice stains in bowls, and bits of pasta that stuck to the pot, for example. I also like to scrub the cutting board really thoroughly after chopping onions. Baking soda … Continue reading Cute and Thrifty Kitchen Scouring Powder
My Coupon Organizer
This is a project similar to our recipe binder, using reused materials to make something that does not look perfectly polished but is cheerful and works well for our household's specific needs. One difference is that this project started with a purchase of something specifically for the project: I bought this nylon thingy (specifically marketed … Continue reading My Coupon Organizer
Could you feed your family on a food-stamp budget?
In her Ash Wednesday sermon, my pastor mentioned someone's suggestion to fast for Lent by eating only what you can purchase with the amount of money allocated by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ("food stamps") to needy families--approximately $4 per person per day. The suggestion had been to do this for just one week, not … Continue reading Could you feed your family on a food-stamp budget?
Shovel snow with a broom!
This is a simple tip that I can see is familiar to a lot of the natives here in Pittsburgh, but it took me many years to catch on. I grew up in Oklahoma, where winter precipitation tends to involve freezing rain, so a lot of what you have to clear from your sidewalk is … Continue reading Shovel snow with a broom!
Four Weeks of Mostly Vegetarian Dinners (winter)
I've posted several accounts of our family meals that are all-vegetarian or include a little fish. That's the way we eat normally, and it's the way we ate during most of this four-week period, but this was one of the rare times when we purchased some chicken to eat at home and ordered some in … Continue reading Four Weeks of Mostly Vegetarian Dinners (winter)
10 Lessons Learned from Rewiring an Old House
This is a guest post by Ben Stallings, my brother, who is a permaculture gardener, home energy efficiency auditor, and owner of a curbside recycling business in Kansas. I spent most of my spare time in 2011 rewiring our 1920 house, replacing the old knob & tube wiring with modern nonmetallic cable that meets code. … Continue reading 10 Lessons Learned from Rewiring an Old House
Multiple Shopping Lists: Key to Grocery-Shopping Sanity!
My grocery-shopping strategy attempts to maximize the quality of food we get for our money, and one key tactic is shopping at multiple stores. Since I have limited time and don't like to waste gasoline, I want to make sure that in each shopping trip I get all the things we need that are best-priced … Continue reading Multiple Shopping Lists: Key to Grocery-Shopping Sanity!
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (late autumn)
Here is what we made for dinner (and a few lunches) the past four weeks, using many vegetables and mushrooms from our community-supported agriculture share in a farm here in Pennsylvania. I hope it gives you some new ideas for meals based around the local foods of the season! I plan our menu a few … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (late autumn)
Milk: What kind we buy, and why
I love saving money, yet I routinely buy half-gallon cartons of milk that cost twice as much as the cheapest milk in the supermarket! Furthermore, two half-gallon paper cartons cost more than one gallon plastic jug, for the same amount of milk! What am I thinking?! Several years ago, Daniel and I decided that milk … Continue reading Milk: What kind we buy, and why
Three Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners for Early Autumn
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. Here is what we made for dinner (and a few lunches) the past three weeks, using many vegetables and mushrooms from our community-supported agriculture share in … Continue reading Three Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners for Early Autumn
Clothesline Hangers for Basement or Porch
In my article on line-drying laundry, I verbally described these handy clothesline hangers that can be made out of scrap lumber and installed in any place that has exposed rafters/joists in the ceiling. I finally decided to share some photos of them, since this is the kind of thing that really is easier to understand … Continue reading Clothesline Hangers for Basement or Porch
The Toilet Seat Position Problem, Solved!
It's an age-old battle of the sexes (well, at least as old as toilets with hinged seats): When a male has raised the toilet seat, should he then lower it, showing courtesy to females sharing the bathroom? or should the female take responsibility for checking the position of the seat before she uses it, showing … Continue reading The Toilet Seat Position Problem, Solved!
The Earthling's Handbook 