We've always been a "shoes off at the door" household. Not tracking outdoor dirt into our home reduces our exposure to germs, allergens, and environmental toxins--and it saves time on sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming! The downside is that standing for long periods on bare feet or sock feet can cause aching in the feet, legs, … Continue reading Kitchen Shoes: Stay on Your Feet While Cutting Down Dirt!
time-savers
Simply Balanced curry sauce review (2 flavors)
One of my most popular articles in 2019 was a review of a curry simmer sauce in a bottle--and that sauce was not very good, so we wanted to try some other convenient, ready-to-use curry sauces in search of a better one. We've found two that are quite tasty, and they're not an obscure brand … Continue reading Simply Balanced curry sauce review (2 flavors)
Garam Masala Baked Lentils
Garam masala is an Indian spice blend available in bulk at the food co-op. We've often boiled green lentils with garam masala in a pot on the stove, as a high-protein main dish to go with whatever Indian vegetable dish we were making. Sometimes that's been kind of annoying, though, as the cooking time is … Continue reading Garam Masala Baked Lentils
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
Easy Costume for Dr. Seuss Day
It's Dr. Seuss's birthday! This is the day to enjoy reading a Dr. Seuss book, no matter how old you are. Stop by your local library and look for one you haven't read before! That's how we found Scrambled Eggs Super! (reviewed here). If you've never read I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew … Continue reading Easy Costume for Dr. Seuss Day
6 Ways to Unclog a Toilet without a Plunger or a Plumber [Infographic]
It happens to us all at some point: When we least expect it, our normally reliable toilet lets us down. A few flushes and a poke with the toilet brush often will be enough to get things moving again, but when that isn’t enough, here are some great suggestions to tackle the problem easily with … Continue reading 6 Ways to Unclog a Toilet without a Plunger or a Plumber [Infographic]
Turnips Armored in Self-Defense
For my latest article at Kitchen Stewardship, Kitchen Shortcuts for Busy Times, I needed photographs of at least one of the shortcuts, and the one I chose was cooking rice at the beginning of the week to use in three different meals. Naturally, I found myself doing this at a busy time...which got busier...so that … Continue reading Turnips Armored in Self-Defense
4 Easy Homemade Sauces for Instinctive Cooking
Are you good at following recipes but wish you had the knack for just throwing together a meal from ingredients you happen to have? The way I got started on developing that knack was to learn to make a basic sauce from scratch. Over at Kitchen Stewardship, I explain how to learn 4 sauces and … Continue reading 4 Easy Homemade Sauces for Instinctive Cooking
Make a Soap Saver: neat, clean bar soap with no waste!
Use every bit of soap with no gooey mess in the soap dish! Easy to make at a cost of $1 or less! Use up all those little soaps from hotels, and repurpose your old scrubby-puff, too!
How to Clean a Blackened Baking Pan
Autumn is here! Time for some nice baked squash! Unfortunately, this tasty side dish can really mess up your baking pan. Here's how my nice Corningware pan looked after my most recent batch of butternut squash. For some reason, this particular squash had an unusually large amount of sugary juice that oozed out the sides … Continue reading How to Clean a Blackened Baking Pan
A Really Real-Life Meal Plan
When life gets hectic, it's tempting to quit spending time on food preparation and just live on junk from the convenience store. The trouble with that approach is that it deprives your body of nutrients and gives it extra fat and salt to process, at just the time when you most need your body to … Continue reading A Really Real-Life Meal Plan
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)
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
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?
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 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
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)
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
Pocket: A Handy Tool for Web Browsing
This is a guest post by Ben Stallings (brother of ‘Becca) , who is a permaculture gardener, home energy efficiency auditor, and owner of a curbside recycling business in Kansas. I got an email a few days ago informing me that I'm in the top 5% of users of a service called Pocket -- I've used … Continue reading Pocket: A Handy Tool for Web Browsing
Mammograms and Monthly Cycles: A Public Service Announcement
If you are a 40-year-old woman who has never had any symptoms of breast cancer, your doctor or your health insurance company probably will nudge you to get a "baseline mammogram" or "screening mammogram" done. This could detect any tumor that might be lurking, but most likely you won't have a tumor and this procedure … Continue reading Mammograms and Monthly Cycles: A Public Service Announcement
The Earthling's Handbook 