I saw a post recently at Keeper of the Home about the benefits of eating down the pantry every so often, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me. I have a LOT of stuff in the pantry, and it's time for some of it to get eaten up, especially since I found so many duplicates during the move.
Since graduation last May, most of my college stuff had been in storage, including lots of dry goods and non-perishables, waiting patiently for me to get my life out of limbo. When I was renting a room in someone's house from November through mid-February, I couldn't move my stuff out of storage, and I really felt the loss in the kitchen. The place I was staying had a very nice kitchen, but it was clearly not mine--I didn't really feel comfortable taking over the kitchen to do more than a quick stir-fry, quesadilla, or pasta dish. I still needed some staples for that kind of basic cooking, though, so I ended up with some rice, pasta, lentils, and the like. Before leaving Massachusetts, I had done a lot of canning, and managed to bring about half of that bounty with me (half was about 10 half-pint jars, 40 pints, and 6 quarts full of assorted home-canned food from the garden and the farm). There was no chance of that fitting in my pantry space at the rental (one crisper drawer and one shelf on a narrow pull-out pantry) , so I kept the jars in cardboard boxes in the back of my truck and ended up mostly forgetting about them. I also brought with me a large crate of winter storage squash, a small box of sweet potatoes, and a fair number of assorted onions, the farm's parting gift to end-of-season help.
Suffice to say that when I moved into my own place in February, I discovered that I had quite a forgotten bounty of pantry items: several unopened or barely touched bags of rice, black beans, cranberry beans, lentils, and steel cut oats; all of my dried herbs and spices (oh, how I'd missed you!); honeys, vinegars, oils, jams and jellies, and a few random canned goods (sweet potato puree, for example). After I was moved in, I'd also begun stocking the freezer whenever I saw freezable goods on sale (like organic spinach at the dollar store!), and in just one month, had amassed enough to almost fill my half of the freezer. Time to make some room, which is where the pantry challenge comes in.
I am doing a pantry challenge this April 1) to save on my food budget, 2) to actually USE the food I put by, since that's what it's for, and 3) to free up jars and space for more preserving this spring and summer, when food is plentiful and cheap. I would love to be in a financial position to donate all the money I save to an anti-hunger organization, but that's not in the cards for me right now. Hopefully next time though! The rules I came up with for myself are these:
1) During this challenge, when I cook at home I will eat exclusively from the pantry and freezer, with the exception of a small amount of fresh produce and fresh dairy.
2) I will limit the spending on the fresh produce and dairy combined to $15 or less per week (Tricky when trying to keep these categories organic much as possible).
3) I will not buy any dry goods, convenience foods, packaged foods, or anything that is not included in the produce and dairy category. No meat or fish, besides what I have saved up, and no wine! Luckily, I have a bit of a wine reserve to work off as well...
4) I will not eat out to escape cooking at home using what I have on hand, but may still choose to go out infrequently as a treat if it stays within my entertainment budget.
5) Each meal will center around something in the pantry or freezer, rather than just peripherally involving those items--no cop-outs. I'm looking at you, pasta with all my produce and dairy for the week.
6) Foraging for wild edible plants is allowed, if it is done legally and safely.
7) Eating fresh produce I grow at home is also allowed (right now all I have growing is herbs though).
I did a few trial days, starting on Friday the 28th, and my last trip out was this morning for the one thing I really needed before starting this challenge: coffee. Everyone has their vices, and I am one cranky, miserable hippie if I don't get my cuppa joe in the morning. I also considered springing for a whole chicken while I was out, but felt like that was not really in the spirit of this challenge, so this month will also be largely meatless.
So far I've made beet gratin with my canned beets and bread from the freezer on Friday, recipe adapted from this one, B and I did butternut squash and chickpea curry on Saturday (we used coconut oil in place of canola and dry garbanzos instead of canned), and an ad hoc crockpot version of Red and Honey's amazing maple baked beans on Sunday--great for after a long afternoon hike!
I'm looking forward to really digging in to my pantry and my creativity in the next month, and seeing what happens! I'll be using the hashtag #pantrychallenge2014 on Instagram and Facebook to keep track of the process. Happy April!
Monday, March 31, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Three months 'poo free!
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| Baking soda can and diluted ACV rinse |
I'd been thinking for a while before that about ditching my Head & Shoulders--between the cocktail of yucky chemicals (sodium lauryl sulfate [SLS], sodium laureth sulfate [SLES], fragrance, blue 1, and red 33 to name a few) and not wanting to support P&G, it seemed like a good, principled stand to take. But I was pretty nervous about what might happen to my hair without my trusty blue shampoo.
I don't know about anyone else, but as someone with seriously oily hair, I really needed to wash my hair at least every other day, if not every single day. When I shampooed daily, my hair looked nice, wasn't too oily, and tangles were kept to a manageable minimum. (I didn't realize this was part of the vicious cycle of shampoo use, but more on that later.) I didn't want to look like an oil slick had taken up residence in my hair--this was in the thick of the job hunt, and in my experience, cavewoman hair doesn't tend to impress potential employers.
What finally convinced me was running out of shampoo. If I had to go out anyway, I reasoned, now was as good a time as any to switch. At Target, I found my old shampoo for $6.99, and left with a half gallon of apple cider vinegar ($3.27 with my 5% Cartwheel discount) and a pound of baking soda ($0.59 with that 5% off) for the princely sum of $3.86.
At home, I hopped in the shower, ready to give it a go. I plopped about a tablespoon of baking soda into my hand, mixed it with enough water to make a paste, and rubbed that on my head. It felt kind of grainy and weird, but I went with it. The baking soda paste also doesn't spread very well, especially when you're used to commercial shampoo with lathering agents. I left the baking soda to sit for a minute while I washed my body (yay goat's milk and oatmeal soap from the farmers' market!), then rinsed my hair thoroughly. I'd mixed up a diluted ACV rinse (somewhere between 2:1 and 4:1 seemed to be the consensus among no 'pooers, I think I used 3:1), and poured a couple tablespoons of that over my hair. The shower smelled like a salsa factory for a minute, but the rinse really did its job detangling and smoothing. When I rinsed the ACV out, there was no lingering vinegar smell, just clean hair.
I've made a few tweaks since that first wash. Initially, my hair was a little sticky once it dried, so I used a little less ACV rinse and started applying the rinse only to the "ponytail" section of my hair--not on the scalp. My hair is as close to tangle-free as I've ever had (fine hair + lots of hair + split ends from harsh commercial shampoos and no $$ for haircuts = rat's nest). It's much softer now than it used to be, and it looks blonder than it used to, I think because there's less gunk hanging out in there.
I also like knowing that this is another small way I'm minimizing my exposure to nasty chemicals. While I am not a doctor or any kind of health expert, I did some research, and what I found from a variety of sources worried me. SLS and SLES are used as foaming agents in shampoo, but they're also known skin and eye irritants--not ideal for a shampoo that is applied to the skin and often gets in one's eyes. SLS is also used rectally in enemas, and is approved as a pesticide for fleas and ticks by the USDA. While there is no clear link in the current medical literature between SLES itself and cancer, SLES is often contaminated during production by 1,4 dioxane and ethylene oxide. The EPA classifies 1,4 dioxane as a probable human carcinogen and a known irritant, and under Proposition 65, it is classified as a substance known to the state of California to cause cancer and other reproductive harm. Ethylene oxide is associated with problems with brain and nerve function, increased risk of miscarriages, and many types of cancers.
I've made a few tweaks since that first wash. Initially, my hair was a little sticky once it dried, so I used a little less ACV rinse and started applying the rinse only to the "ponytail" section of my hair--not on the scalp. My hair is as close to tangle-free as I've ever had (fine hair + lots of hair + split ends from harsh commercial shampoos and no $$ for haircuts = rat's nest). It's much softer now than it used to be, and it looks blonder than it used to, I think because there's less gunk hanging out in there.
I also like knowing that this is another small way I'm minimizing my exposure to nasty chemicals. While I am not a doctor or any kind of health expert, I did some research, and what I found from a variety of sources worried me. SLS and SLES are used as foaming agents in shampoo, but they're also known skin and eye irritants--not ideal for a shampoo that is applied to the skin and often gets in one's eyes. SLS is also used rectally in enemas, and is approved as a pesticide for fleas and ticks by the USDA. While there is no clear link in the current medical literature between SLES itself and cancer, SLES is often contaminated during production by 1,4 dioxane and ethylene oxide. The EPA classifies 1,4 dioxane as a probable human carcinogen and a known irritant, and under Proposition 65, it is classified as a substance known to the state of California to cause cancer and other reproductive harm. Ethylene oxide is associated with problems with brain and nerve function, increased risk of miscarriages, and many types of cancers.
The term "fragrance" is an industry catch-all any combination of some 3,000 chemicals with smelly properties. This is worrying because most of those chemicals have not been tested for toxicity, either alone or in combination, and can produce allergic reactions or worse. Diethyl phthalate is also lumped in under fragrance or parfum, not because it produces a scent of its own, but it gives other scents their staying power. The CDC says phthalates have "affected the reproductive systems of laboratory animals" but the human health effects are "unknown." However, they also say "measurable levels of many phthalate metabolites [have been found] in the general population," indicating that exposure is widespread. The Australian National and Industrial Chemicals Notification Assessment Scheme (what a mouthful!) says,"While human studies are limited, the adverse effects on fertility parameters and development are considered relevant to humans." Nasty stuff.
I hear many people say that it's not worth it to "live in fear" of this sort of stuff. I agree that living in fear is untenable, but I don't see this sort of digging as feeding fear, personally. I see it as getting informed and then taking concrete steps to avoid things my research or personal experience has suggested is unhealthy or not right for me. So for me (and only me! No claims about anyone else!), since it was relatively easy and very cheap, it made sense to avoid this sort of stuff where I could. Beauty products were an easy place to start in my own life.
Avoiding industrial chemicals in my hair products: check. Cheaper hair care: check. Hair looks good: check. I think it's super cool how those things often go together in natural living--healthy, safe, cost-effective, and functional don't have to be enemies. Pretty rad.
Sources:
CDC phthalate fact sheet: http://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/phthalates_factsheet.html
List of chemicals to avoid in personal care products: http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/04/10/you-have-the-right-to-know-17-chemicals-to-avoid-in-cosmetic-and-personal-care-products/
NICNAS diethyl phthalate fact sheet: http://www.nicnas.gov.au/communications/publications/information-sheets/existing-chemical-info-sheets/diethyl-phthalate-dep
International chemical safety card for 1,4 dioxane: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ipcsneng/neng0041.html
EPA 1,4 dioxane fact sheet: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/dioxane.html
Wikipedia on SLES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_laureth_sulfate
David Suzuki Foundation on SLES: http://davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/chemicals-in-your-cosmetics---sodium-laureth-sulfate/
Ethylene oxide toxicology profile with Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp137.pdf
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
This is about urban homesteading now--and here's why
Until now, this was a basically-defunct blog about growing vegetables in a community garden while I was at college. It served as a garden log for me and my plot, and if a few people felt like reading it that was okay too. Since my last post here in November 2012, a lot has changed. I gave my senior voice recital, performed with a choir at Carnegie Hall, and graduated college. I handed the garden over to a friend. I transitioned from studying music to a farming career when I took an organic farm job near my hometown in Massachusetts, and then another. I worked harder than I ever have and learned so much at those two farms. The only big thing that hadn't changed since 2012 was my desire to come back to California. My boyfriend, B, and I had decided that since he had a firm job offer in Long Beach at the end of his summer internship, I would move to California--there are lots of farm jobs in SoCal, and since my work is seasonal, I could just move out at the end of the farming season was over in Massachusetts.
At the time of the move, job prospects looked bright--I was in the midst of a fairly in-depth interview process for a job as an agricultural technician (field crew for a lab studying agricultural issues, basically), web searches turned up organic farms aplenty, and a few different farm coworkers told me to be on the lookout for pruning gigs, as those are often available in California from November to February. Since I wasn't moving in with B and didn't want to sign a lease sight unseen, I found a room for rent by the week in someone's house--a place to stay for a week or two while I found a job and an apartment. I had saved a lot by living at home over the summer while I was working, so I wasn't worried about getting by for a while on savings. Everything that would fit went in the back of my truck, and my mom and I set off on our cross-country road trip. One week and 3,350 miles later, we were in Orange County.
At the time of the move, job prospects looked bright--I was in the midst of a fairly in-depth interview process for a job as an agricultural technician (field crew for a lab studying agricultural issues, basically), web searches turned up organic farms aplenty, and a few different farm coworkers told me to be on the lookout for pruning gigs, as those are often available in California from November to February. Since I wasn't moving in with B and didn't want to sign a lease sight unseen, I found a room for rent by the week in someone's house--a place to stay for a week or two while I found a job and an apartment. I had saved a lot by living at home over the summer while I was working, so I wasn't worried about getting by for a while on savings. Everything that would fit went in the back of my truck, and my mom and I set off on our cross-country road trip. One week and 3,350 miles later, we were in Orange County.
Once I was here, though, a lot of the promise dried up. The interview and waiting process for that job dragged on for seven long weeks, before ultimately hearing that I was their second choice candidate and their first choice had accepted. I sent resumes to several local organic farms, and in almost every case got very positive responses to my qualifications and experience followed by, "We're not hiring right now because November is the start of our slow season." A week or two of treading water looking for an apartment turned into a month or two, living in someone else's house and paying for everything out of savings. B had introduced me to a friend of his who was looking for a roommate, and Roomie and I started looking for an apartment together, but with me still jobless it was hard to find someplace willing to take a risk on us. I realized I could probably get a non-farming job, but I wasn't willing to give up on my dream, and it looked like I could probably make it until April on what I had left in savings if I was careful. Then, in December B left his job, for which he had originally come to Orange County (he ended up not taking the Long Beach job, opting for this job in his desired field instead). Both partners unemployed does not a happy couple make, and December was a tough month, individually and collectively. Instead of just me, now we were both looking for work, stressing about money, feeling guilty about any time we spent doing anything besides looking for work, and snapping at each other more than we would've liked. It was my first Christmas away from my family, and that week was sort of a somber end to 2013.
The first week of January, I sent out a few resumes to a few more farms, and one owner called me back not two hours later. I hung up the phone with him having agreed to a Saturday farm stand gig with the possibility to do some actual farming if it worked out. He offered me a farming job that first Saturday, and I was ecstatic. Over the next few weeks, I started a massive spring cleanup on the two-acre farm, took over the day-to-day farm duties at that site, and began drawing up a crop and rotation plan. The owner still oversaw things very loosely on that property, but was more actively involved with some new acreage in Temecula and the crew there. I was basically left to my own devices, using my judgment to decide what needed doing and then do it--fine by me! 2014 was shaping up to be a pretty solid year so far. Four weeks after I started, following a meeting with his business partners, the owner let me know I was being laid off due to budgetary constraints, effective immediately. Last in, first out, wouldn't you know.
My first thought was, "Seriously?!?!" It felt like just when I'd caught a big break, that dried up, too. I don't need to be rich, I just want to work, I thought. (Side note: that's 100% true. I've never been more bored in my LIFE than that unemployed period in November and December. No way did I want to go back to that.) And now it looked like back to the drawing board.
My first thought was, "Seriously?!?!" It felt like just when I'd caught a big break, that dried up, too. I don't need to be rich, I just want to work, I thought. (Side note: that's 100% true. I've never been more bored in my LIFE than that unemployed period in November and December. No way did I want to go back to that.) And now it looked like back to the drawing board.
Going back to the job search felt like an enormous failure. I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I took a while to wallow before actually kicking the job search back into high gear. B had a big break, and started a new job in his field at the beginning of February. Roomie and I finally found an apartment we loved in our price range, but still no farm job in sight for me. I decided to diversify, and branch out from farming into other things I cared about--bookstores, health food stores, various music jobs, even some restaurants since I have experience there. I did a bunch of applying and looking, and after almost 2 months of unemployment... drum roll please...today I got a job offer! It's with a company whose values and product I really support, and I've heard from employees that it's a great place to work. However, it's not full-time, though I'm told there is potential to increase your hours over time. It'll still take some careful budgeting and balancing to make the math work--but at least I can make it work if I put in that effort.
I drew up a long list the day of that interview of ways to save money, looking at my looming financial crunch if nothing happened on the job front. (Normal way to deal with nerves before an interview, right?) Many of those ideas were based in homesteading techniques and practices: buying food in season when it's cheap and preserving it to eat when it's not cheap, repurposing things rather than throwing them away and buying new, making do with what I have, growing some of my own food--for me that means pots on the balcony, but it's something.
Homesteading is not just nostalgic, it's practical. And no matter where you are, whatever resources you have, you can probably apply a few tools from the homesteading toolbox in your life.
This is about urban homesteading now, not just because it's something that I think is fun, which it definitely is, but also because it's part of how I make ends meet. So it's for people like me. But the great thing about it is how widely applicable this homesteading thing is this: it's also for people who are NOT like me. This is for the country mice in the city, and also for city mice who might want to become country mice. This is for the unemployed, the underemployed, the overworked and underpaid, the underworked and overpaid, the stay-at-homes, the work-at-homes, and the homemakers. For the real food, organic food, local food, GMO-free, gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free partisans. For people who want to live more frugally or more simply. For people who like the DIY mentality. For people trying to strrrrrrrreeeeeetttttttch a dollar. For people trying to get rid of industrial chemicals in their food, homes, and lives. For people just looking to try something new. The only thing you need to add a little homesteading into your life is the desire for change from the way things are, and a little bit of know-how (it was a lot less than I thought!). And that's what I'm here to talk about.
I drew up a long list the day of that interview of ways to save money, looking at my looming financial crunch if nothing happened on the job front. (Normal way to deal with nerves before an interview, right?) Many of those ideas were based in homesteading techniques and practices: buying food in season when it's cheap and preserving it to eat when it's not cheap, repurposing things rather than throwing them away and buying new, making do with what I have, growing some of my own food--for me that means pots on the balcony, but it's something.
Homesteading is not just nostalgic, it's practical. And no matter where you are, whatever resources you have, you can probably apply a few tools from the homesteading toolbox in your life.
This is about urban homesteading now, not just because it's something that I think is fun, which it definitely is, but also because it's part of how I make ends meet. So it's for people like me. But the great thing about it is how widely applicable this homesteading thing is this: it's also for people who are NOT like me. This is for the country mice in the city, and also for city mice who might want to become country mice. This is for the unemployed, the underemployed, the overworked and underpaid, the underworked and overpaid, the stay-at-homes, the work-at-homes, and the homemakers. For the real food, organic food, local food, GMO-free, gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free partisans. For people who want to live more frugally or more simply. For people who like the DIY mentality. For people trying to strrrrrrrreeeeeetttttttch a dollar. For people trying to get rid of industrial chemicals in their food, homes, and lives. For people just looking to try something new. The only thing you need to add a little homesteading into your life is the desire for change from the way things are, and a little bit of know-how (it was a lot less than I thought!). And that's what I'm here to talk about.
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