she's got a ticket to ride

among my goals in june is to ride this beauty to work every day.
even better? since this photo its been tricked out with fenders and collapsible baskets, allowing me to afford for all possible situations. groceries, change of clothes and most importantly—lunch.

so two questions!

1. what are some good lunch ideas for commuters?
   i.e. nothing that ends up soggy, nothing that needs a lot of pre-ingestion attention and super tasty.
2. any experiences with bento boxes or similar situations?
   i've come across them and so far have found ones that are: not microwavable, not a tight seal or not practical. would love to find something cute and functional, but i can live with Tupperware too.

would love some input!

farmer's market: week four

we're on week four of my weekly market ventures and i thought i'd start posting about my weekly purchases.

at the end of last season i decided to strive to spend $20 each week at the market on the bulk of my groceries. i thought it would keep me eating fresh, local and seasonal—and help keep my grocery budget down. it was an idea that i followed through with moderate vigor. what i found was that you can buy a lot for $20 a week at the market, most weekends i made off with a bevy of veggies, flowers and a treat such as hummus, fresh bread or goat cheese.

i enjoyed it so much that this year i've decided that i want to make it a weekly endeavor.

this week i picked up:

• spinach ($3)
• asparagus ($2)
• hummus ($5)
• spring onions ($2)
• broccoli raab ($2)
• rhubarb ($2.25)
• 1/2 french press coffee downtown: ($3.50)

total: $19.75—!

it doesn't take much to create a well-rounded pantry of fresh vegetables.

this form of grocery shopping has helped me focus on what i have at home, what i need to use up and how quickly i go through each item (for instance, i can snack on hummus for as long as three weeks but i love the green onions in everything, so they've been a weekly purchase.) with my own salad greens and radishes coming into their own, i decided to put that money towards other items this week.

The Etiquette of Canning Jars via Food in Jars

an excellent post at Food in Jars about canning. i heartily subscribe to the first rule—i have heard you should never loan anything unless you'd be okay never seeing it again.

and the second one, right oh!
i know there are people out there who aren't using my Christmas treats (achem, my mother). so read up and shape up!

grow baby grow!

its nice to come home from a weekend away and find that everything has grown at least an inch.

i have recognizable arugula, spinach and heads of loose leaf lettuce now, the chamomile is about to bloom (tea!) the beets, carrots and parsnips have a decided presence. the tomatoes are perkier—green zebra and cherokee purple are already putting out flowers which is encouraging. tonight i plant peppers and eggplants and tomatillos.

portland was sunny and full of fun. the farmer's market was still void of fava beans so i'll have to hold out hope for our market here. sounds like the intensely frigid december did them no great benefit. but i did score some early season cucumbers, new potatoes and red cipollini onions—all of which i already have designs on.

glad for the break, glad to be home. what else can i say.
the next few weeks are going to be good ones.

its easy to get overwhelmed

today i read this at Sustainable Eats.

i was completely taken by surprise as this is a woman who i have been constantly amazed by what she can and has done. but the surprise only lasted a moment because who can really be surprised that someone might become worn out when making everything from scratch—not to mention fighting an uphill battle to do it.

i am fighting really no battles to do what i want and am only doing a fraction of what she has undertaken and frankly, i am overwhelmed all the time.

its never good to hear that someone is in a rough spot but it is comforting to know that even the ones that Do It All get tired. i am constantly wondering how people do it all and how i can't.

turns out its just a matter of perspective and persistence. maybe i should push myself a little more, i think i'd find out that i can be a little more successful and a little more happy.

for now i will take a short vacation to portland and leave my house and garden responsibilities behind me, so that i can rally and wreak havoc on my projects next week.

some excellent home and garden reads for today

while i wait for a spare moment to sit down at home and import some more adorable photos, i will sit at my desk job and intermittently check the new york times. today in a matter of clicks i stumbled upon some interesting reads that i thought i would share today.

behold my bounty:

• Too-Busy Bees
• Container Gardens Get Spring Started Indoors
• A Strange Brew May Be a Good Thing

along the theme of these articles i have to say that i am continually looking for a way to bring gardening indoors but am constant failure at it. my houseplants typically look wan at best, snacked on at worst.

the same failure of attention spelled doom for my last kombucha project as well, although it is something i would like to get started with again.

so often i wish to be building patterns in my life that make the homemade tasks part of the daily grind and i've never found it easy. its hard to feel that you are embracing a way of life when it doesn't come easy. i'm not sure what the solution is.

Remedy Quarterly

on a whim i decided to support the upstart magazine Remedy Quarterly.
i love it and i highly recommend that you check it out.

christmas presents (in jars—!)

rosemary salt

nutmeg syrup, chili oil and lavender sugar

nutmeg syrup and applesauce

the spread

christmas gifts: night one

last weekend i had it all laid out: a flurry of activity resulting in all of my christmas presents done in one fail swoop.

friday night was the first night of my adventure. as the evening progressed, i decided to stick to the items that would be simple to set up. i began first with the rosemary salt. i had seen several recipes, initially interested after it was mentioned on Food in Jars, but in the end i decided to go with this recipe on about.com.

it is as simple as it sounds and smells twice as wonderful.

once it was laid out to dry i began the nutmeg infused simple syrup. also simple, also amazing (there is a theme tonight). i had originally intended to make lavender simple syrup but in looking at my list i found the people i would be gifting were more likely to prefer nutmeg. so i'll play to the crowd.

and by then, it was time to relax and snuggle into something warm. there is something so satisfying about a warm steamy kitchen that smells like goodness on a chilly winter night.

the one fail swoop thing didn't pan out, i woke up on saturday to a town blanketed in snow and threw all my plans out the window. instead, christmas trees were hunted, cocktails were had, candy was made and my youth was enjoyed

now i am staring down the upcoming weekend and i know i have to get the hard stuff done: strawberry jam, applesauce and red wine onion jam. there is something to be said against putting all the hard stuff off for last.

#4 Skipped.

last week i missed Dark Days Challenge #4.
i had the inkling it would happen but thought something may inspire me. nothing did.

i am finding that living in a small town is a drawback when one is looking for local produce in december. so i will need to double, triple, quadruple my efforts to locate some local produce that isn't already residing in my fridge. specifically i am interested in items such as broccoli, kale, spinach. still seasonal, so its not like i am asking for a local banana—these items should be able to be located, somehow.

sadly our farmer's market closes in october and our co-op is too small to carry produce very effectively. so i will have to become more creative...i'll let you know how that goes.

homemade christmas season

each year i contemplate homemade christmas gifts.
three years ago i vowed to have canned jams for everyone. two years ago...same vow. wait—okay, i contemplate canning for christmas gifts, and have since i started canning about three years ago.

each time, the christmas season comes around and i (sorry to say) become intimidated by the thought that people will not love and cherish and coo and smile over my simple homemade gifts. and then i run off and participate in america's favorite past-time, shopping.

this year the contemplation started as early as this summer, and here we are on december 3rd, no jam gifts to show for it...yet.

yes. this is the year i follow through.
initially i thought i would move away from the jams that always vexed me, and was considering textile gifts—canvas bags and simple cotton napkins to be exact. sadly, i found textiles more overwhelming, bringing more and more questions to light: what would i stamp on them? does everyone use cloth napkins? does everyone use canvas bags? how many napkins are an appropriate gift? what materials do i need? will they be expensive?

so i returned to culinary treats and made up a list that sounded manageable.
while i cannot promise any sort of theme, perhaps as i continue creating, one will emerge.

so far i have set my sights on: strawberry jam, applesauce, rosemary salt.
additional items may include: candied citrus peel, flavored syrup, pear butter, onion marmalade.

oo, and paperwhites may be thrown in for good measure.

the weekend of the 11th will be my big christmas project weekend, so i will report back then. even just typing this list out now gives me ideas of more items and appropriate themes, so perhaps things will change.

i have to say, this year i am really excited about this and am not feeling any of the insecurity i had previously. perhaps because this year this sounds like the most excellent gift i can think of?

the new eating local: my house

i am challenging myself to limit my grocery purchases to twice a month.
the rules might change, but i think it is a good way to go.

for one—i have a great store of food squirreled away. this year i have more than i have ever had before—beets, potatoes, carrots, apples, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, zucchini, strawberries, peaches, pears, peppers...that is just the fresh stuff and that's not all of it.

the fact is, i'm somewhat of a food hoarder. i like the idea of having jars with rice and beans and lentils and noodles lining my cupboards. i like having a fridge filled with my garden and a freezer brimming with more.

so i don't really need groceries most of the time.

naturally i am not going to let myself skip out and eat out all the time.
i think we'll put a two time cap on that as well—two is a good number.

there is just no reason. and i should revamp my spending levels on all levels.
it will be good for me.

how would a dog eat corn in the wild?

today i realized that the cat food i've been buying (loyally for years now) has corn gluten, a frustrating realization given that i had been buying it specifically under the impression that it did not contain corn.

don't know if they changed their formula or if i overlooked something.

i try my best to avoid foods with unnecessary corn products (though the fact that my comfort foods are all overly processed poses a continual problem) and the truth is that cats and dogs especially do not need corn in their diet. here is a tiny bit of information regarding it, but you can find a wealth of additional information too—and not just from kooks.

its a line that few people draw, but its one that i have.
i try to find animal food that has primary ingredients that do not include corn or animal by-products. the truth is that its really hard and the truth is that i'll splurge once in awhile on cheap food as a 'treat' just like i do for myself.

so it was particularly disappointing to suddenly realize that the NutroMax that i have been buying for the cats, and intended to buy for the dog, had corn! right there, in as the second ingredient!

and just like that, i switched. to Taste of the Wild.
and guess what? its available at the feed store and its cheaper. local feed stores are awesome resources for pet, hardware and garden supplies—and it supports local business! with the pooch now i am finding that the feed store can beat every price from leashes to kennels and now food. good, quality, holistic food.

now i can buy all my animal feed from one place, which is nice. and i can avoid petco—which i loved when i didn't know any better. and better yet is that the animals are getting food that is even better than what they were getting, which makes me happy for them.

i encourage anyone to look into their pet's diet. and don't assume that getting your pet on a good diet means cooking for them every day (that is something i have a hard time bringing myself to do, however lots of people do it very successfully.)

freezing eggplant

my past weekend was a mess of debauchery and youth.

driving out to dayton in the late evening is a beautiful experience, especially during harvest. the striped hills are like enormous polo shirts heaped across the landscape. as the sun goes down, the light makes everything look like a pastel painted jane austen background.

it was a lot of fun, but tiring, and i was glad when sunday rolled around.
my project for sunday night: blanching and freezing eggplant.

i followed these directions but after the experience i believe these may be better.
looking at the state of the eggplant after steaming them, i think 4 minutes was a little long and that the 2 minutes listed on about.com is a better choice. similarly, the second set of directions explains to put the lemon juice in the cold water bath, which also makes more sense to me.

still, they turned out all right. they will be useable and that is what counts.

and there will be plenty more chances. last night i processed six bride eggplant, one thai green eggplant and one large white patty pan squash. outside i have at least four sizeable globe eggplants that will need to be used, but i am thinking eggplant parmesan for those.

look at those beautiful babies growing

tonights project is multi-fold: freeze green beans, freeze squash, plant for fall.

small scale sustainable

today my yogurt and kombucha cultures came.

so did my seaweed-french clay face mask.

i'm taking it as a sign that i should detox.

so i now have some fil mjolk yogurt setting on my counter. i'm excited because its yogurt culture that sets at room temperature. can be used as buttermilk and also turned into a soft spread. hm.

i think my next goal will be a sourdough starter.

sustainable. that's the ticket.

i (heart) the earth

today is earth day!
in the spirit of things i rode my bicycle to work and put my name in to
volunteer at the Daily Market Cooperative. volunteer coordinator at that!

and i'm contemplating a couple weeks of vegetarian dining.
and locavore. but that will involve research.

other things that are on my list (once i have scrilla):

retractable clothesline for the backyard.

water timer, so i can water in the mornings like a good girl

and this beautiful low flow shower head

sadly, i do not think i will be able to afford them all this next paycheck.
however, goals may help keep my spending in check and these will save me money to boot. i just need to keep to my mantra, slowly but surely.

looking for a fresh start

new year. new look. new energy.

what can i say? the temperature is up, the snow has dissipated, the holidays are over. with both the weather and obligations out of my way, its time for me cut the bullshit, to clean, sort, tend and generally revitalize my own momentum.

plan no. one: eat from home. eat what i have.
plan no. two: spend no more than $30/week.

oh my. who would think that would be so difficult? for me it might be.

also, i have an indelible desire to clean out and rearrange all of my kitchen cabinets . i think this article kicked off that idea.

spending a quiet evening home sounds right up my alley.

food plan

for a lot of reasons, i've decided that...

i should not be buying groceries.
i think the groceries i've decided i'm allowed buy include milk and maybe cheese. and less often, wine. i might throw garlic, greens and a smattering of other fruits/veggies—but primarily i think i should be eating off the things i have stored up.

which include, among other things, boxes of frozen tomatoes, peppers, zuchini, angel food cake, cookie dough, soup, stock, bacon, broccoli, asparagus, tomato sauce, chicken, sausage, applesauce, dried peppers and tomatoes, winter squash, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, gravy, barley, jam, pasta, granola, tortillas, rice, and plenty of supplies to make bread. not to mention, my continuous supply of free eggs. phew!

because i have a ridiculous amount of food stored up in my house and should cease my laziness and cook for myself more. not only would it be cheaper but it would be healthier for me as well...

of course...first i am going to make thanksgiving dinner.

farmsteading

while in portland i bought a book about cheese.
now i'm all jazzed up about making my own yogurt and cheese.

of course, it requires the purchase of some supplies, as always. it also makes me want to have a cow and a constant source of milk, as always.

i used to think a gallon a day would be insane, but if you could be making could be using that to make batches of yogurt, butter and cheese then it really wouldn't be that bad. for one, butter can freeze.

this weekend i also picked up my grandparent's bread machine. again, more jazzing. and more requisite supplies—namely yeast, because oddly enough i already have bread flour.

my goal for december is to buy as little food as possible.
shouldn't be too difficult. for one, i am a known hoarder of food. i already have a basement full of fall veggies and a freezer full of spring and summer ones. plus, i can try my hand at making my own bread and butter.

should be an interesting experiment.

it's easy being green