UPDATE: Just before the beginning of Lent 2020, I'm linking up to Meatless Monday--because these are great meals for Mondays as well as Fridays or any other day! I've added some links to more recent articles. It's the third week of Lent, and if you observe the custom of fasting from land-animal meat on Fridays … Continue reading 5 Fish-Free Family-Friendly Meals for Lent
thriftiness
Get FREE Breadcrumbs for All Your Recipe Needs!
Did you make a new year's resolution to waste less food, to do more cooking from scratch, or to buy less over-packaged food? If you did, or if you have ever bought a canister of ready-to-use breadcrumbs, this article is for YOU! And if you don't fit into any of those categories, but you do … Continue reading Get FREE Breadcrumbs for All Your Recipe Needs!
Coffee Hour at Midnight (how to host on short notice)
I've written before about hosting church coffee hour. The people in my church are willing to eat packaged coffee-cakes and things of that ilk, but most of them prefer healthier snacks, and so do I--our coffee hour begins just before noon, so my stomach is ready for lunch, not just simple carbs! I try hard … Continue reading Coffee Hour at Midnight (how to host on short notice)
24 Ways to Use Thanksgiving Leftovers–Not Just Turkey!
My partner Daniel's cousin Mike has just concluded a 25-year tradition of inviting all the extended family to Thanksgiving dinner at his home in upstate New York. We're planning to get together next November, too, but it'll have to be somewhere else because Mike is selling his house and moving to Florida. As one of … Continue reading 24 Ways to Use Thanksgiving Leftovers–Not Just Turkey!
Delicious Roasted Broccoli Leaves
The past few years have taught us what Earthlings really want to know, and we are pleased to be spreading the word that cauliflower leaves are edible! In that spirit, we'd like to tell you that broccoli leaves are edible, too, and explain a slightly easier method of preparation. Our local organic CSA farm has … Continue reading Delicious Roasted Broccoli Leaves
Sckoon Menstrual Cup and Cloth Pad Review
WARNING: People who are offended by graphic discussion of menstruation should go read something else. I first tried a reusable menstrual cup in 1997 and reusable cloth menstrual pads in 2001. Over the years, I've tried a number of different brands, and I've written about why these alternatives are better than disposable pads and tampons … Continue reading Sckoon Menstrual Cup and Cloth Pad Review
Cutting Food Waste at Home and Worldwide (70+ recipes and tips!)
This is a guest post by Maria Ramos. Maria is a freelance writer currently living in Chicago. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a minor in Communication. She blogs about environmentally friendly tips, technological advancements, and healthy active lifestyles. (The recipe section of this … Continue reading Cutting Food Waste at Home and Worldwide (70+ recipes and tips!)
3 Ways to Save on Fair-Trade Coffee
Daniel and I both drink coffee, at least 3 cups a day each. That adds up! We support human rights and environmental stewardship by buying only fair-trade*, organic coffee for our home. My church also buys fair-trade, organic coffee. This coffee is more expensive than the big mainstream brands. How can we get the most … Continue reading 3 Ways to Save on Fair-Trade Coffee
Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap!
This tip is a real winner: You can make your own foaming soap in about one minute by mixing just two ingredients. Foaming soap will save you a lot of money because you'll need less soap to get clean. Refilling your foamer will save even more money and reduce the packaging you discard. You can … Continue reading Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap!
Top 3 Veggie Burger Recipes
Daniel and I have tried dozens of varieties of veggie burgers in the past 15 years or so, since they started appearing in stores and restaurants. We gave up meat for Lent in 2002, and since then we've never gone back to eating as much meat as we used to eat. In particular, we really … Continue reading Top 3 Veggie Burger Recipes
Technology to Help You Be Energy Efficient and Environmentally Friendly This Summer
This is a guest post by Maria Ramos, who offered to share her research on these new technologies with my readers. I'm not a smartphone user myself and don't carry any other high-tech device routinely, which is one way to conserve energy...but if you're already carrying a device or you're considering getting one for other … Continue reading Technology to Help You Be Energy Efficient and Environmentally Friendly This Summer
Grildebeen Burgers (homemade veggie burgers)
Most supermarkets these days sell convenient frozen veggie burgers. We've eaten a lot of these, and most of them are quite tasty and nutritious. But they tend to cost around a dollar per patty, and they're packed in plastic, and they've been shipped across the continent in a freezer truck, and many of them feature … Continue reading Grildebeen Burgers (homemade veggie burgers)
DIY Deodorant: Pros and Cons
Last September, I reblogged The Zero-Waste Chef's post about how to make your own deodorant and hoped that having it on my own site would motivate me to try this handy do-it-yourself option. I actually did get around to it within a few weeks...creating deodorant that then became unusable for me for months. It wasn't … Continue reading DIY Deodorant: Pros and Cons
ePantry and Earth-friendly Cleaning Product Reviews
UPDATE: If you decide to join ePantry, click here to save $10 on your first order and get a free soy candle! This is an affiliate link that will give me a discount, too--at no cost to you. As noted below, this was NOT a sponsored post; ePantry encouraged me to sign up as an … Continue reading ePantry and Earth-friendly Cleaning Product Reviews
Will a household products subscription help YOU save the earth?
A household products subscription is an arrangement by which a company mails you certain items--like soap, toilet paper, and laundry detergent--on a regular basis. A number of companies have started offering this service recently. Some of them only sell environmentally preferable products like plant-based detergents and recycled paper. Others offer these items among a wide … Continue reading Will a household products subscription help YOU save the earth?
Save Money on Earth-Friendly Products!
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!
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
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)
Flexican Cornbread Pizza
This recipe has a history. It started with my mom's trusty recipe for Mexican Pizza. Then came my serendipitous discoveries that (a) it can be adapted to a non-Mexican-flavored version, which my family loves just as much as the Mexican version, and (b) it can be baked in a toaster-oven. More than a year ago, … Continue reading Flexican Cornbread Pizza
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!)
The Earthling's Handbook 