Earth Day in Grandin Village!

Yesterday was the annual Earth Day Celebration in Grandin Village, so of course, I went. I had agreed to assist in a yoga demo, and of course, the Farmer's Market opened yesterday, too!

They always have tons of informational booths (lots on the Greenways, various community organizations, some on religious communities, as well as peace groups, environmental groups and such, so there's so much to check out and lots for kids to do, too!). And there are crafters, too, where I did a bit of shopping, hoping to continue to support local businesses, especially craft businesses. But the first spot to hit was the Farmers Market where I picked up two bunches of Swiss Chard:

I brought it right home, and made it up, because there's nothing better than fresh chard

I chopped the rainbow stems up fine and added in three cloves of garlic to some olive oil:

And after they'd cooked a bit, I finally put the torn leaves of chard in on top and let it steam for a bit...and then sauteed it.

With a bit of fresh cracked pepper and a touch of salt along with red wine vinegar, it was just melt-in-your-mouth wonderful. And since I used only 2 tsps of olive oil? It was only 2 Weight Watchers Points Plus!! YUM...and the season's just started! Whoohoo!

This Sounds Delish!

Kale Apple Curry is going on the menu at my house, and it's not waiting till Meatless Monday, either!
*wink*

Another Meatless Monday!

I can't claim credit for this one, it's Dad's Greek Salad Recipe which I discovered on Pinterest.

I didn't use as much olive oil, added in chopped parsley. But it's meatless, even if not vegan. Along with the salad I'm having a Black Bean, Corn, & Brown Rice concoction which is made with a can of each veggie, a can of diced tomatoes, 1 cup of uncooked brown rice (cook it obviously) and then I added in smoked paprika, cumin (a couple of teaspoons at least), and cayenne. I also chopped up a hot pepper from my freezer bag of peppers from the CSA share 2 years ago! They are still just fine.

Don't Forget to Turn Off Your Lights!

It's Earth Hour tonight at 8:30pm - that's less than an hour from now!!

Meatless Monday! First One This Year!

And this one is vegan! I found a recipe for Carribean Red Beans and Rice that sounded a lot like my favorite restaurant's (Wildflour). It wasn't, but it was still very good. I'm not quite sure what it is that goes in their recipe that is so wonderful, but I'll keep on trying...
That's soy cheese on top. I altered the recipe just a bit, but using dried beans soaked overnight, a can of Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes, about 1/2 a can of water, and cooking everything in the slow cooker. I ended up finishing the beans off on top of the stove, because the water was just enough to make it soupy, and I didn't want that. I also cooked the rice separately.

I started the meal with a spinach and mandarin orange salad with walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette. Normally I toss in Feta and the fake bacon bits, but I decided I was good with this as was, because I was having the Red Beans & Rice.

What are YOU doing to reduce the amount of animal products in your diet? You did hear that eating too much red meat brings on all the rotten stuff: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure? The evidence is mounting.

And it saves money, too! With gas prices going up and up, we can all do more of that.

Project 333

Yes, I'm still around! And I've decided I'm going to do this Project 333 beginning April 1 (No, not April Fool's Day - the first day of April!)

I think the hardest part for me will be deciding what I want to bring with me on this journey. I'm making two decisions right off:

1. My Handknits & my daughter's handcrafted jewelry are exempt.
2. My shoes are exempt: I have problem feet, so the fact that I have many shoes in two brands that I can wear year-round (including sandals and boots) is non-negotiable. The day might come that I ditch a few, but I'm not holding my breath. They're expensive shoes, because they are my "medicine" of sorts.

That said, I hope to spend a little bit of time here this coming weekend to work thru the closet in advance of April 1. I love the explanation here about How to Make Space.

And I'm not aiming for an unpleasant experience. When I lost the ton of weight I was carrying around (2 years ago), I decided the closet would be kept in a minimal way, that I wouldn't load it down with too much stuff, and I'd only buy what I loved.

Well...you can imagine how that turned out, can't you? Not so much. I know I bought things that were, well, convenient. And since I tend to be a uniform dresser, when I found something that worked, I bought every color.

So I hope this will help me return to my original intention about clothing. We'll see!

If Each One Changes One...

What an amazing world we'd live in, don't you think? Go visit Courtney and see if her suggestions resonate with you? The did with me...

and Happy Valentines' Day.

Ahimsa

I promised to share this when I received it. It's quickly become the one piece of jewelry I wear, and, true to it's intended purpose, it reminds me regularly that I'm trying extra hard to be enveloped with kindness, towards others, and especially towards myself.

I've a bad habit of negative thinking towards myself, not just the bad behaviors of saying "yes" too often, both in piling on commitments and in opening the purse to pay for something more..anything more, but the verbage that runs in my head that chastises me for failing perfection. I even caught myself saying "You idiot!" and meaning myself. Interesting how often that apparently has happened in my life, and even more fascinating that I'm only *just* picking up on that! (There's a part of me that says, "Isn't it about time you figured this out?" and the answer I'm trying to give when that particular tape runs is "It's okay, you're figuring it out now and will move forward without it.")

Then in the actions that are detrimental section? If I'm stressed or bored? It's always been okay to just use a bit of retail therapy. Well, I've been more aware and instead have surfed on over to Ravelry, searching for free knitting patterns, then diving into stash to figure out what I have that will work to make this new lovely (whatever I've found).

I'm trying to get myself to the point of saying, okay, with this reduction in spending there will be an increase in saving, but frankly? I'm trying to pay down some older debt, and while I do want to start saving, with rates what they are, I think I'm probably better off paying the debt off first.

So methinks that this lovely little charms necklace is helping, just in the few days I've had it! YAY!

And yes, it's not lost on me, that by purchasing this, I spent money. However, I did support a craftsperson I care about. This isn't about denying myself, it's about being intentional and thinking before I do something. Making sure I'm being thoughtful and aware in everything I do and think. While I know it sounds as if it's an entirely "me-focus," I believe I've already seen a difference in the way in which I relate to others, because with ahimsa, it's non-harming, honoring, caring for everything and everyone. I think my mindset has taken a kinder path recently and for that, yay! Gaining patience, thinking before saying things to ensure that what I say won't hurt the feelings of someone else is very other-focused.

And obviously, I not perfect. I am watching the one step forward, two back trend to this, but I think the forward steps will become more numerous and the backward ones, fewer and farther between.

And that's what it's all about!

When I Grow Up I Want To Be Maia!

My friend Maia from julia warr on Vimeo.

This is what I'm setting as my life goal. Practicing Ahimsa will help me get there.

One Word 2012: Ahimsa

Lately, I've been thinking that the word I should choose was "hermit." As that's what I wish I could do nowadays. But no, not really the sort of thing that's really appropriate for this "resolution" that's NOT.

So I've gone round and round, and finally decided that enough of the words I was looking at fit under the heading of one of the yamas of yoga: Ahimsa. Ultimately, it means non-harming, and while obviously I'm not a person who would intentionally harm anyone, I'm going to have to look at this from the standpoint of not harming myself.

I am one of those people who have a difficult time saying "no." Who loads on more and more, and rests less and less. Who can't easily chomp down on the purse strings long enough to do the right thing by myself.

My charms have been ordered, and I'll share a photo when the necklace arrives. And the plan is to revisit this often during the year. I hope I'll learn a lot.

So...what's YOUR word?

Just One Word and Then Some...

One Little Word.

I'm enthralled with this idea, and especially Rainy's post. In her shop she's offering charms to help keep the focus in the right place. Rainy is amazingly in tune with my thinking so often, it's almost scary, but I am totally enamored of the idea of One Word. I'm in the process of thinking through what my word will be and am about there. I'll share when I've placed my order with Rainy (which will then make it official!).

Then in my surfing along through my Google Reader, I discovered this fascinating article from Marc & Angel to start doing for oneself. Great piece, so full of helpful, thought provoking things to do...

And of course, all of this is because resolutions don't usually work. I've long been one to make "plans." And try to follow through with them. But you know what? That's not a lot more successful than making resolutions is for me...still I really do like this discussion of "resolutions" that might work:
Just two little things. I can handle these.

One more terrific thing I found and plan to use:
2012 Declutter Calendar from My Simple Life. This really IS a smart calendar, as it gives you one thing to do each day to make your life less messy and overwhelming. Love the idea, and hope I can stick to it, but you know what? Any day I accomplish something will be one day better than I managed last year!
*wink*

Okay. One word (which will encompass many things, I can share that much), a De-cluttering Calendar that will have me accomplishing one thing per day towards making my life simpler, neater, more minimal, and 30 things to start doing for me, along with two (fairly fail safe) old fashioned resolutions! Wow...I'm tired already.

Happy New Year! I somehow like 2012 better than 2011...easier to say, let's hope it's better in many many ways!

Making Changes a Baby Step at a Time: Or Use What You Have

I just discovered a new blog that's helping me do exactly that: Make Do. Okay that's not the name of the blog, it's called Frugally Sustainable, but the thrust of the article linked up above is all about that Yankee practice my Mom's generation was raised with...That "Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without."

I'm really hopeful that in 2012 I can begin to chronicle some of the things I'm planning to do, but the very first thing is to accept that I'm not in the perfect spot to live a sustainable lifestyle (specifically, I can't grow my own food which makes me incredibly sad) but there are small things each one of us can do...

Until things change so we can be even more sustainable.

A Mix of Things...

Did you shop on Black Friday? Not me.

Did you shop on Small Business Saturday? I did (oh wow, did I...12 hours out of the house, and I was wrecked when it was over)

Are you eating meatless today? (being Meatless Monday?) I almost am...but being a touch under the weather, that old standby chicken noodle soup slipped in there without my think ing that it was Meatless Monday. I think I'll have to do two meatless days next week to compensate (or perhaps during this week, too?).

I saw this article on finishing the leftovers via FB and decided to share it here. Who knew that tossing leftovers could waste so much? But it simply makes sense, if you're trying to watch your pennies, and do things more holistically, to cook from scratch and then eat it all (or freeze it) before it goes into the garbage...

My next plan is to carefully decide what to shop for and what to make, and try to use up my stash as carefully as I use up the food I buy and cook...

This Week in Consumerism...

This is perhaps the most conflicted week in American capitalism...Everyone knows and is preparing for, Black Friday - the day when retail is finally placed "in the black" for their sales revenue (at least that's what they hope!) and shoppers, reinforced by the previous day's glutonny, enter the marketplace to shop till they drop in a mad frenzy of trying to get the best deals for their holiday gift-buying orgy.

Perhaps you've noticed in years past, that I, an admitted retailer, have firmly supported "Buy Nothing Day" begun by Adbusters in the late 1990s to encourage people to pay attention to their behaviors surrounding consumption. Its adherants do not buy a thing for a single 24 hour period. And hopefully, after that day, they think a bit before separating themselves from their cash...

Then a couple of years ago, American Express began what I hope will become every bit as strong a tradition as Black Friday sales. The Saturday after Thanksgiving is Small Business Saturday. Since small businesses are also typically local businesses, I'm all for everyone shopping small and shopping local, and then, critically - SHOP Handmade, Handcrafted items.

I can't say it much better than this blogger I came across over the weekend: the Thoughful Consumer. And I love the chalkboard admonition in the photo on that link!

Shop local, buy from your neighbors, if you can use public transportation to get there, do that. Keep the economy in your community growing in the right direction.

And let the big boxes watch from the sidelines (I wish!)

Bank Transfer Day

Will you be participating? Changing out your big bank for a locally owned credit union? One that invests in the community you live in? Bringing your money local?

Bank Transfer Day is Nov. 5 and it might be a bit of short notice to try to do that on Saturday, but lots of credit unions are open then. Here are a couple of things to remember:
1. Your direct deposit of your paycheck needs to be transferred, so get proper documentation of your new account to your payroll department as quickly as you can so they can verify and be ready to deposit your next check.
2. If you have ANY direct deposits or deductions, it takes time to switch them. Don't close your old account right away.
3. Make sure everything you've charged at your old bank has cleared before you close that account.
4. But make sure you close the old account once everything has been transfered and cleared, because they often will charge you a monthly fee, not to mention fees for balance minimums not being met!

Credit Unions are terrific places to put your funds and support your local community. I made the switch several years ago. Then recently I started moving funds into accounts with a regional bank (one that's not "big" and has never received bailout funds, as well as being very conservative with their reserves levels).

The "Buy Local" movement makes just as much sense in the banking industry as it does for your other consumer habits.

Another Meatless Monday!

For Meatless Mondays I made a recipe I've been drooling over ever since I saw it on the Fat Free Vegan's Blog. It's called Eat The Rainbow Black Bean Soup. There are tons of veggies in it: red cabbage, mushrooms, black beans, canned diced tomatoes, and you chop up a full onion, dice carrots, and red or yellow peppers chopped and then saute them all like this:

That's it. That's the only photo I can show you.

The very last thing you do with this wonderful soup (which I made in my slow cooker) is to add in spinach (she says lettuce is okay, too, but I just can't see it).

And every drop of this soup got put up for lunches and dinners and stored (except for the soup I had today, and it's gone).

Photos? Nope. Sorry. Look at her blog - her photos are prettier anyway!
*wink*

Back to Meatless Mondays

After a ton of reading about the intermingled serious issues facing the world today - such basic issues! - I'm recommitting to Meatless Mondays (and Meatless, Most Days - heheh) and so here is a sample menu I've enjoyed:

Roasted Winter Squash: cut smallish squash in half, scoop out seeds and pulp, spray a glass casserole with olive oil spray and place face down, then fill with 1 inch or so of water, cover and bake at 400 for about 45-60 minutes (this is be dependent on how small your oven is, I used the 60 minutes without checking and my small toaster oven gets HOT, so I think I could have gone with less time, but it was delightful anyway and just peeled away from the skin easily)

Mustard greens with olive oil and red wine vinegar. I bought fresh, but will use frozen during the winter.

The last two items are from a couple of local spots: I went out to Jameson's Orchards (which is a lovely farm not far from me) and picked up a couple of rice mixes they had prepared. The Brown Rice and Lentil mix is shown above. It makes six 3/4 cup servings for a very Weight Watcher's friendly 4 Points Plus, and is just wonderful! Then I wanted a corn muffin but wasn't in the mood to make my own, so when I shopped for my mustard greens, I picked up a couple of these. A tad pricey, but just simply wonderful. I love my Fresh Market grocery. I also picked up 4 MacIntosh apples that I think might not be local, but if they're Vermont Macs? So much the better for my tastes!

Today is MM's Food Day which focuses on healthy, affordable, sustainable food choices so I'll be participating today and all year with the Meatless Mondays project (at least that's the intention...hopefully I can get posts up each week in time...)

With concerns about the use of water in agriculture, and diminishing farmland and grazing land (see below and the link to the Institute for the Environment in the sidebar), the less meat I can eat, the better.

I should make that, "the less meat WE can eat, the better!

This Is Where My Head Is These Days...

That video shows a highly complex issue in an extraordinarily succinct manner.

Food production. Water preservation. Population explosion. Environmental degradation.

Can we all (and I do mean ALL) get along long enough to solve this issue? When I look at the US political divide, I can't help but be pretty pessimistic about it.

And it's never been more important that we get along.

Local Fibershed...

I'm here, I'm reading a lot, when I can, and this popped up on my radar just in the past day or two. I couldn't help but bring it to your attention as well...
Fibershed: Grown & Sewn Close to Home.

She has a blog and a video, too. You can check them both out here.

I've decided that, while I can't grow most of my stuff (either to eat or to dye with, or even to bring from one season to another to shear for the fiber), I can strive more and more to use fibers made locally.

The first step is to source the fabric and the fiber. It might be easier than I think (or not)...

More Interesting Reading...

I've been busy as a bee working on stock for my two upcoming events in September and as a result am quite behind the times in getting back to you, but I did want to share a couple of things of interest:

These are the result of my Farmers' Market excursions (to two different markets!) on the weekend, and I'm enjoying those gourmet cherry tomatoes, especially!.

But I also found a couple of spot of good reading and wanted to share them. I've "liked" the New Dream folks over on Facebook, and the other day discovered an interesting piece about becoming Financially Independent using Vicki Robins and Joe Dominguez' plan found in YMOYL. I'm going to try to keep up with her posts on the New Dream blog, as I think they'll be interesting. Here's the first installment.

Then the same subject showed up over on Be More With Less but she had a different perspective so I thought I'd include this post.

Part of where I hope to go with this blog is toward a sensible reassignment of my own finances, alone with doing more with less (and getting rid of a LOT of the MORE in the process!).

I did manage to divest myself of a large garbage bag of too big clothing and a spare cat carrier (to a friend with a new kitten)...but I'll have to replace the carrier with a rolling hardshell case if I can find one, so maybe that doesn't count?

Either that, or they're gonna have to go on diets. I suspect they'll toss me out of the house first.
;)