500 Things Challenge

TreeHugginMama over at Frugal Is Green, A Journey has started a semi-challenge.

Basically, get 500 items out of your life by the end of the year. CL it, garage sale it, donate it, trash it. But get rid of it!

As Mister and I will be moving in together in the foreseeable future, we will not need a) duplicates. 10 to 1 his stuff is nicer. b) my crap. There is a lot of it.

I'll add a little list to the sidebar to keep track of what I'm getting rid of. Here's to success!

Recipes

Some delicious looking things that have been tabbed for weeks now.

Nutella Caramel Hazelnut Brownies
Pulled Pork Pockets
Masala Strawberry Jam

Soooooooooo hungry now... :-P

Hot

It is very ... WARM out here. I have been wearing shorts and tank tops, regardless of my shaving schedule. I have to say this weather is doing great things for my fear of non-conformity. :-P

Work is being a pain. I have a girl who is literally unreliable. She contacted me this morning at 9 am to tell me that no one got back to her to work her evening shift. I calmly told her that the day person was working a double and went back to bed. So at the advice of an older manager, I'm hiring another person. Because I need reliable people -- period. But, I've wanted to hire this girl, and am happy that I'm able to.

I bought 4 little seedlings. Broccoli, cabbage, basil and scallions. Mister and I had gone a week before buying these and looked at a bunch and I was like "let's buy now!" He was like 'well, it seems like a rushed decision' and we didn't buy any. When we went back, all of the vine plants (melons, cukes, zucchini, pumpkins), the beets, and many things were missing (a.k.a. sold). I was not particularly happy. :-\

But I still haven't planted these little seedlings -- I don't know where to! I've been at Mister's house almost everyday (which is where the 6-packs are located), and don't want to plant them at my house if they're to be neglected, and need pots to replant them here. Gah.

Making brekkie now -- Eggs in a basket and bacon. I love eggs and bacon. It really carries me through the day.

Making it up...

So, I had had some bean juice in the fridge (leftover water from cooking beans) and had been intending on making bean soup.

Put beans on the stove to cook (didn't presoak 'cause I'm an idiot), and let them burn.

Composted fail-beans, and started over.

I had some odds and ends that I wanted to use up, and frankly, although it's edible, I'm waiting for Mister's verdict on whether or not it'll be tasty.

What I did:

Cooked beans. Added to water: one cube of veg. bouillon, and spices (I used salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, chili and coriander... I think).

Chop half an onion, and rub it with salt and turmeric. Fry in a little oil. Put aside, and fry a little ham. Put aside.

Chop up 2 hardboiled eggs (without yolks -- put aside).

Add to beans some leftover rice, the yolks of the eggs (smoosh along sides to thicken soup), and grated cheddar cheese.

Throw onion in soup.

Will serve with egg and ham on top, side of toast.

Delicious? We will find out.

Indian Food

So my friend R came over (yesterday?) and we cooked cheap-ass Indian food. Yum!

What we made was kinda a curried egg dish over rice. Here's how it was made:

Hardboil eggs.

Peel eggs, and slice into egg white at least 3-4 times with a sharp knife.

Preheat wok, and fry hardboiled eggs with a little bit of oil. After they're nice and crispy brown, put them aside.

Slice potatoes, onion and mince ginger. Rub potatoes and onion in a smidge of turmeric and salt.

Fry sliced potatoes. As potatoes get close to done, throw in onion, and ginger.

Add spices (we used paprika, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper). Add a bit of liquid to make a sauce. Throw in some chopped tomatoes and the hardboiled/fried eggs.

Let cook down a bit (until it makes a proper sauce), and serve over rice.

Delicious!

EDIT: It was the eggs and the potatoes, not the potatoes and the onions that got turmeric and salt treatment.

Am I Too Weird Now?

At my new apartment, I had left a pile of compost materials in a plastic dish on the counter.

One roommate complains about the garbage everywhere, and the other says that she threw it out "for me".

What if I just wanted my compost?

How do I go about trying to keep plastic to a minimum, recycling to a maximum, and eco-friendly cleaners?

They buy veggie burgers and "Women's Protein Powder". ... what? Since when do women have different protein needs than men? Last I checked, protein was protein to a human body. Egads.

I am feeling very very leery about the house meeting we're having on Sunday. I have the feeling that I'm in a very small minority here.

Reading these posts every day, my last household, my mother's attitude, and my forgiving fiance have allowed me the luxury of feeling like this was NORMAL. I forgot that we were more "revolutionaries". :-P

Kathy Harrison over at the Just In Case Book Blog had a post recently (although I can't find it) about how she's so glad that she has the internet community to make up for the lack of one in real life. I was like "oh so true" but it clearly hadn't been up until now.

Note to self: tone down doom light for easily spooked roommates.


EDIT: I guess it was over at Retro Housewife Goes Green and not the Just In Case Book Blog.

Tea Party

So the tea party will actually be happening this Saturday. Yay!

What I will actually wind up making:
-- quiche (spinach, bacon and onion?)
-- hard boiled eggs
-- chai toast
-- fried perogies

Shopping List:
-- cheese
-- spinach
-- bread
-- potatoes
-- butter
-- bacon?

Seeds...? Pt. 2

So they are not in my friend's car. I have yet to search bigger boxes, but I've left both a VM and an email with my former housemate.

SEEDS COME HOME TO ME! I WANT TO PLANT YOU!

Food-ness

So I made an interesting dish last night based upon Indian and Mexican styles of beans and rice. (When I mentioned this to my housemate, she went, 'well, they both have lots of beans and rice!')

Beans and Rice a la 6/5/10

Soak black eyed peas overnight.

Put black eyed peas (plus more water) on the stove to boil.

Also, put rice on the stove to cook.*

In a wide and deep frying pan, heat some oil (I used olive). In a water glass, mix spices with a bit of water (I used garam masala, paprika, cinnamon, and adobo). The water is to have the spices not burn. Add the spice/water paste to the hot oil and mix.

Chop half an onion and add it to the spiced oil. Cook onions until soft, then add some diced ham. After heating ham for a minute or so, add diced tomatoes (I used half of a 28 oz can). Let this stew for a bit.

When tomatoes have stewed to your preference, add beans (strain water beforehand). Serve over rice.

* How I make rice: 2 parts water to 1 part rice. I put it in a saucepan with a tightfitting lid. Bring water to a boil, then immediately drop heat to minimum. Your rice should develop little dimples on the surface, and you'll be able to see when the water is cooked out.


Verdict: it was delicious and fairly cheap. A touch too spicy for me, but I'm a wuss. Yay for beans and rice!

Missing Seeds...

So I have yet to find where my seeds ended up after moving... I'm hoping that they're in a friends car and NOT in my old house b/c my ex-roommate stole them or something (there was contention, mysteriously...).

Blargle.

Stuff to Save

Posts on Composting:

How and Why I Got Started With Organic on the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op
Compost: Good For Us and the Planet on the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op
Composting on the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op

Vermont Castings stove

Oatmeal Fudge Bars that Mister wants me to make

Posts Relating to Foraging:

Some foraging stuff from PeakSurvival's blog
Processing Acorns from Prodigal Gardens
Seasonal findings from Prodigal Gardens
Pictures of plants
Handmaiden's Kitchen

Chickens 101

Ginger Soda from The Just In Case Book Blog