More than a year ago, I advised my readers never to start a To Be Filed pile, explaining my seven years of guilty woe over not getting around to sorting and putting away those papers. Soon after, I reported making some progress on the pile using the power of Lent, but I admitted that I … Continue reading Things Not To Do: Home Organizing Edition UPDATE!
Habitation
Three Weeks of Vegetarian Dinners for Late Spring
I've previously posted four September/October weeks and four January/February weeks of my family's pesco-vegetarian menu, including a few seafood meals among the vegetarian ones. In these three weeks in May and June, we did not include any seafood in the meals we made at home, so this meal plan is vegetarian. However, we ate in … Continue reading Three Weeks of Vegetarian Dinners for Late Spring
How We Survive Without Air Conditioning
Today's Works-for-Me Wednesday lead article is about staying cool in the summertime. The author lives in Texas, where it is a lot hotter right now than it is here in Pennsylvania--but we do get hot weather here, we've had several 90-degree days already this year, and we know a lot of people here who think … Continue reading How We Survive Without Air Conditioning
How our thrifty, green lifestyle makes it easier to cut ourselves some slack
Longtime readers may have noticed that I haven't written much lately and didn't write an article about what I learned during Lent like I have most years. Well, that's because this year, I was pregnant for Lent. No, of course that wasn't the Lenten discipline I planned! It was a surprise (not a mistake--we all … Continue reading How our thrifty, green lifestyle makes it easier to cut ourselves some slack
Don’t Save Room for Dessert!
One habit I am very grateful my parents taught me is this: When you finish your dinner, stop eating. If you get hungry again before bedtime, you may have dessert. In my childhood home, "dessert" was often canned fruit in syrup, homemade yogurt with jam, tapioca pudding, fruit crisp, a bagel, or something else that … Continue reading Don’t Save Room for Dessert!
How the Dishwasher Changed Our Lives
A little over a year ago, we got a new dishwasher and became (for the first time in my life) a household that uses a dishwasher routinely. Read my previous article for lots of information on how dishwashers actually use less water and energy than washing dishes by hand, and read the comments for important … Continue reading How the Dishwasher Changed Our Lives
Four MORE Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (winter)
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That's my family's policy when we're at home. Four weeks of our dinner menus made a popular post, so I'm posting another four weeks. I hope these are helpful to other people who want to eat less meat but aren't sure what to eat instead! … Continue reading Four MORE Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (winter)
Our Recipe Binder
I have seen online many beautiful recipe binders created by full-time homemakers who have master's degrees in scrapbooking or just great skill in making things look perfect. Daniel and I are part-time haphazard homemakers, both of whom like to cook, so we have had to come up with a method of recipe storage that works … Continue reading Our Recipe Binder
Staying On the Ball at Work
This is an historic moment for The Earthling's Handbook. Almost 15 years after we started this Website, almost 5 years after we set up blog software so that I could write articles on my lunch break and post them easily, we have never posted any photographs. I've explained my reservations about photos but also said … Continue reading Staying On the Ball at Work
Scrap Paper Saves Money and the Environment
More than 20 years ago, inspired by Earth Day 1990 and by one of my high school teachers handing out a huge amount of paper printed only on one side that was useless after a single day's activity, I designated a bin on my desk for scrap paper: full sheets of paper with one blank … Continue reading Scrap Paper Saves Money and the Environment
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (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. Last week I explained my family's approach to menu planning, which is that I write the menu and do the weekend cooking, while Daniel cooks weeknight … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (early autumn)
Meal Planning When I’m Not the Cook
For a few years now, I've been seeing lots of blog posts about the advantages of meal planning, i.e. figuring out what you are going to eat days or weeks in advance so you can make optimal use of your groceries and get meals on the table on time. Fine, sounds good, but everyone writing … Continue reading Meal Planning When I’m Not the Cook
My grandmother got a few things done.
My paternal grandmother would be 100 years old today, if she were still alive. She died in July 1991, when I was 18. Her name was Janette, so we grandchildren called her Janmother. Janmother was an outstanding high school student but never went to college. She married just after turning 20, and at times she … Continue reading My grandmother got a few things done.
7 More Product Recommendations
Here are the previous 7. These are things I really like. I am not affiliated with any of the companies, and I was not asked to write these reviews or compensated in any way. 1. Pentel Clic Eraser. This handy desk accessory, which I use every day both at home and at work, solves the … Continue reading 7 More Product Recommendations
The Magic Bullet does NOT work for me!
That's strange; I thought Works-for-Me Wednesday this week was supposed to be a "What's not working for you?" edition, but the hostess has explained how to make a burlap wreath that apparently works for her, and now that I think about it, last week she explained why online calendars don't work for her. I must … Continue reading The Magic Bullet does NOT work for me!
How a kid can cook burgers indoors on a hot day
Last month, my brother commented on my article about the Grildebeest that a George Foreman grill is a handy way to cook things with minimal supervision and better energy efficiency than a stove. I hadn't considered buying one of those grills before. (We have a small kitchen, so we try to avoid owning a lot … Continue reading How a kid can cook burgers indoors on a hot day
Homemade Frozen Shredded Vegetables
Like reusing glass jars, this is an idea I've mentioned before that has increased its importance in my day-to-day life to the point that it deserves its own article! When you have more of a vegetable than you can eat before it goes bad, clean and shred the extra all at once, put measured portions … Continue reading Homemade Frozen Shredded Vegetables
Glass Jars Galore!
Glass jars are much better for food storage than plastic containers! We save the jars from peanut butter, salsa, spaghetti sauce, etc., and use them over and over again.
Fruit Labels, Jar Labels, Six-Packs, Environment, and Health
You know those annoying little stickers that are on most fruits you can buy individually in supermarkets? The ones that are so thin and so well-glued that they're often impossible to remove without gouging a hole in your fruit? Yeah, I always knew they were evil. In addition to being annoying on edible-skinned fruits, if … Continue reading Fruit Labels, Jar Labels, Six-Packs, Environment, and Health
FREE Earth-friendly Snack Plates!
Simply wash and reuse those plastic trays from frozen meals. If you are so environmentally aware and/or thrifty that you never buy frozen meals, I bet you know somebody who does and could ask that person to save some of the plates for you. Personally, although I try to plan home-cooked meals that we can … Continue reading FREE Earth-friendly Snack Plates!
The Earthling's Handbook 