What Not to Eat

I have felt uneasy about lawn services for a long time. We cut back on ours, but Chuck wasn’t quite ready to give it up altogether. A post from the Smart Ingredients Blog arrived in my inbox, and it made a lot of sense. I really don’t want those pesticides seeping into the soil near my garden, no matter how seldom.

In the post called Intentional Eating, the blogger discussed ingredients that are harmful and hidden in processed foods. Here’s a sampler.

  • MSG – Can causes weight gain, brain damage, depression, headaches. Found in seasonings, broths and packaged foods.
  • Aspartame – A carcinogen. Found in diet foods and gum.
  • High-fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Can cause weight gain, tissue damage, diabetes. Found in sweets, breads, salad dressings, condiments and more.
  • Food dyes – Can cause hyperactivity. Found in many items, the not-so obvious ones include kids’ medicines, vitamins, pickles, muffins, salmon.

Her list was longer, but you get the idea. The solution? We’re doing a lot of it already, but I know my family could get better. Suggestions start with:

  • Change something. Small steps lead to better lifetime habits.
  • Make your own. Get in your kitchen and start making cleaner foods for your family.
  • Read labels. You may be surprised – even shocked! – at what’s in commonly purchased foods.

To read the entire post about Intentional Eating, go to the Organizing Dinner Blog.

This is not a sponsored post. It just reinforced what I’d been thinking and gave some specific examples. Readers, what else do you do to cut out the chemicals in your family’s foods?

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Ready for Storms – or whatever

I was thinking as we watched The Weather Channel last week. Amigo and I were following the big tornadoes in Kansas and Oklahoma. I was wowed by the video of funnel clouds forming, and he was fascinated by the commentary. I kept hoping the camera I watched was on its tripod and working automatically – I wanted to know that the photographer had taken shelter! The close captioning messed up once and called the tornado a torpedo. Not so far off, as damage reports go. One is a natural disaster, while the other is…never mind.

We’ve had a long stretch of luck weatherwise, relatively speaking. Knock on wood (firewood, perhaps), we haven’t had a power outage in a long time. But if (when?) we do, we’re ready.

firewood, if we need a little heat

firewood, if we need a little heat

Then there’s mealtime. If the power is out, the microwave won’t work. The gas stove needs its electric ignitors, a.k.a. pilot lights. We could make peanut butter and homemade jelly sandwiches, or I could, maybe, cook over the fire. Somewhere in the basement we have a long fork for that purpose, and I have a few cast iron pans, too. Here’s the dutch oven —

iron dutch oven

 

I have two smaller cast iron pans, too. One I bought for myself, and the other ( the mini) was a gift.

Medium and small pans

Medium and small pans

If I’m forced to get creative by a lengthy storm or other disaster, we can still eat reasonably well. There’s also the charcoal grill, if outside cooking is an option.

So, readers, chime in. Do you have an emergency power outage plan? Kit? Provisions? Tornado season is upon us in some regions and will be upon us Northerners soon.

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Seedlings

They’re here! The seeds are coming up. They’re kind of spindly, though, and they’re stretching their little necks – er, stems – toward the wee bit of sunshine that comes through the windows.

Okay, everybody, lean!

Okay, everybody, lean!

I set them outside a few days ago when the temperatures got near 60. Then I brought them inside to soak in the heat of the grow lights. If I can do that a few more times, it’ll help the spindly stems strengthen. Say that ten times fast, if you can.

I have herbs that wintered indoors, tomatoes, peppers, and — radishes.

Radishes in coffee cans - Chuck's suggestion.

Radishes in coffee cans – Chuck’s suggestion.

We’ll see how they all grow. Most years, I put the pedal to the metal, er, the seedlings in the soil at the end of May. These little tiny starters should be ready by them.

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Doomsday? Not so fast.

I blog about life, my life, and that includes a lot of gardening, canning, and otherwise preserving summer’s fresh bounty for the long winter months. Every now and then, I get comments or emails from so-called Doomsday Prepper groups. These are people who share my fascination with self-sufficiency, but for different reasons. Many Prepper groups expect the world as we know it to end soon and without warning. Their fears range from the massive changes due to global warming to a complete collapse of our government.

I’m not a doomsday type of person, but I do like to stock up when the veggies are fresh and I have time to can. This stock-up process gives us good quality jams and pickles and more goodies in the pantry and locally grown vegetables in the freezer. We don’t do it to prepare for some mythical End of the World, but it does ease our winter grocery budget and bring a taste of summer to the table when there is snow on the ground.

So when I started reading Michael Perry’s book Coop, I could identify with his statement in the Prologue.

Whether through prescience or too much nervous reading, we have developed a low-key doomsday mindset regarding the imminent future, and believe the time has come to store up some potatoes and teach the young’uns how to forage.

He hit it right on the head. Maybe I should stop reading so much dystopian fiction. Or maybe I should just water the seedlings, spread the compost, and always remember to vote.

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Bunnies! Spring decor

I’m not a designer or a decorator. I’m content if the Christmas decoration are put away by the time the snow melts. So putting away the snowmen and snowflakes during Spring Break was a reasonable goal.

The next set of decorations featured – do you want to guess? Oh, I gave it away already. Bunnies. Spring means rabbits.

La Petite's collection

La Petite’s collection

This set of (mostly) bunnies was in La Petite’s old room. In the process of turning that into an office-slash-guest room, I’m taking down some of the decorations. These will do a little time in the den, and then I’ll pack them up with bubble wrap and bring them to the bunny whisperer herself, La Petite.  Here, take a closer look.

Kids with bunnies

Kids with bunnies

Oops - This one doesn't belong.

Oops – This one doesn’t belong.

Okay, readers, it’s time to share. What are the signs of spring in your humble homes?

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Celery?

My wonderful sister-in-law has started getting organic produce delivered to her home regularly. She now has a dilemma: what to do with all the celery. Since she didn’t take my suggestion and get a pet rabbit, I’ve decided to come up with a list. Friends, family, and Internet acquaintances, please chime in.

  • Ants on a log: celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins
  • Variation on ants on a log: celery sticks with Nutella
  • Add diced celery to: casseroles, soups, salads, baked beans,
  • Use it as a garnish – to almost anything, not just Bloody Mary or V8.

I ran a search for “recipes with celery” and found lots of suggestions.

  • Apple-celery salad, anyone?
  • Almond baked celery
  • Sweet and sour celery
  • Celery and rice
  • Stuffed celery
  • Celery sauce…the list is endless. And don’t for get celery root! That’s an entirely different flavor.

Then there are the other uses. Slice a long, leafy stalk halfway up – lengthwise (does that make sense? I really need a visual.) It’ll have two “legs” that come together at the top. Set each end in a separate glass of water. Add red food coloring to one glass and blue to the other, and let my darling young niece learn about capillary action.

Does that help, SIL? Readers, give her a hand. What else can you do with celery?

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Bean Soup – times ten

My sister-in-law gifted me a few delicious bean mixes from the Women’s Bean Project.

Bean soup cover

I did it my way, of course, and didn’t follow the directions exactly. I made it in the crock pot instead. It was delicious. The soup tastes good and does good, too.

Bean soup back

Of course, me being me and liking to cook from scratch, I tried to find out what the spices were. I can replicate the beans, but the herbs and spices were perfect. Can I deconstruct this mix and recreate it?

Bean soup ingredients

 

Maybe not. It just says “spices” plus paprika and turmeric. Readers, what do you recommend? Rosemary? Thyme? Sage?

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Tools – Some Things Stay the Same

This encore post covers what I’m doing now. The only change is this: we emptied the garage completely because the garage is going down and getting replaced soon. All of my tools, old and new, are in the basement for now. The rest? Everything old is new again.

Tools! I’ve been pulling my gardening supplies and tools out of the garage more and more often. Let’s see: a trowel or two, several pairs of gloves (each fits a particular task – all are dirt covered), blue basket of seeds, tongue depressors —

Tongue depressors?

Teachers use tongue depressors in all sorts of ways. This box came from a retired teacher’s garage sale and served my fourth graders for four years. When I left my classroom behind for a cubicle, I brought the remaining sticks home. They’re biodegradable, easy to use, and a perfect size on which to write. Good thing I had a lot left – look at these tomato seedlings!
 

And if you had any doubt about the effectiveness of my little wooden supplies, take a closer look.

They’ll go into the garden soil near each plant so I know what’s there until the plant grows up and shows its true colors, er, fruits.

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Krumpet and Biscuit

La Petite sent me a text message with a photo of a cute little lion head bunny that wasn’t her little lionhead bunny. The series of texts went something like this.

LP: It’s a male bunny up for adoption at a small animal sanctuary someone I know runs. And part of me wants it to be Krumpet’s husband.

Me:  Cute. Possibilities.

Me (a few seconds later): Oh, dear. Did I really say that?

LP: Well, Krumpet has seemed lonely and a bit mischievous lately.

LP: She’s great and clingy when I get home, but when I’m gone she gets into things.

Me: When we got Sadie, Peanut gnawed a lot less. He just needed company.

LP: I’d have to meet the little guy, probably even schedule a greeting with Krumpet.

Me: Sounds promising.

LP: They just called. He’s still available.

Me: Is he fixed?

LP: Neutered and litter trained.

Me: Do it!

She did it. She introduced her own little bunny to the potential “mate” on Saturday morning.

bunnies bonding

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Serious Depressive Episode

“Co-pilot concealed mental illness.”

“Co-pilot suffered a ‘serious depressive episode.'”

When will the stigma end?

When will people suffering from depression feel they can seek treatment without secrecy?

When will treatment for mental illness become as readily available as treatment for physical illness?

That’s all for now, but this bothers me. It bothers me on so many levels. Readers, expect to hear more.

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