We took a seriously long hike (well for a toddler) this morning. Saw a bald eagle. Took family pictures. Ate tomato soup for lunch. J took a nice long nap after carrying a pocket full of rocks the whole journey and D and I had some time to actually talk.
Main point of conversation was probably one that is carried out in various forms and ways around the world. "How do we make our weekends fun, memorable and not just errand running, chore doing, sports watching (this is actually me not D), 'where did the weekend go?". Now I don't have any illusions about being able to make every weekend something wonderful, but if we try for something fun every other Sunday say, shouldn't we achieve it most of the time? I'm willing to take the steps to make it happen.
First is making sure all errands are done during the week so that there isn't any last minute running around that ends up taking at least half the day. Second is to make sure all household chores (cleaning, laundry) is done during the week. Mondays have been my housekeeping days but I'm finding that by Friday the house is all crazy again. I'm thinking of switching to Friday so we start the weekend with a nice clean house. Easier to leave to go do something if I'm not leaving a mess behind....Third is to start teaching J to clean up after himself. He's going to have to do it when he goes to school so better to start training him now. Fourth is to come up with some ideas. Luckily we live in an area that is so chock full of fun, free (or inexpensive) things to do that we could easily go 52 weeks and not repeat anything exactly. D has a brain brimming with ideas and he's always finding new ones so we're lucky in that respect. Fifth, and this is the big one, I have to say "yes" instead of finding a reason not to go. It's my "yes" experiment. There are many adventures both small and large out there, I just have to leave the house to find them.
Showing posts with label housekeeping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label housekeeping. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Saturday, December 22, 2012
I usually use the sponges from Trader Joes and a Dobie pad for cleaning dishes. They've been working great but the Dobie pads obviously aren't compostable (I think the Trader Joe sponges are - we just started trying to compost them). I really don't like throwing out the sponges every week but never felt comfortable with putting them in the dishwasher to clean since I worried about them breaking down and releasing toxins.
I ordered and just received the 3M Scotch-Bright Greener Clean Sponges and Scour Pad. The sponge states that it's compostable and the scour pad made from fibers of the agave plant and I assume it's compostable as well. Interested to try them. I hope I like them because that's one less thing heading towards a landfill if I do!
Scotch-Brite Greener Clean Absorbent Sponges
Scotch-Brite-Greener-Non-Scratch-Sponges
I ordered and just received the 3M Scotch-Bright Greener Clean Sponges and Scour Pad. The sponge states that it's compostable and the scour pad made from fibers of the agave plant and I assume it's compostable as well. Interested to try them. I hope I like them because that's one less thing heading towards a landfill if I do!
Scotch-Brite Greener Clean Absorbent Sponges
Scotch-Brite-Greener-Non-Scratch-Sponges
Friday, December 21, 2012
I want to create a healthy home environment for my family.
This entailed some rather large physical changes in our home but especially the kitchen. I started doing some online research and reading and realized that I had taken quite a bit for granted. I had no idea just how much in our pantry, freezer and refrigerator were GMO, fake, additives, fillers and things I can't pronounce. I had taken it for granted that food from Trader Joes was healthy. I never thought about dyes and colorings and I never thought about putting acidic things into plastic. And I hadn't been reading labels beyond the calories and sugar content.
Within the past couple of weeks I have:
1) Gotten rid of almost all our non-stick cookware (the last piece is my large slow cooker that I love, I'm having a hard time letting go of that and making all sorts of rationalizations about keeping it). I replaced the non-stick with cast iron and stainless steel.
2) Gotten rid of all my anodized aluminum cookware (this is a gut feeling for me, I don't want to cook in aluminum, especially acidic things like tomato sauce).
3) Given away the pork sausages and bacon from Trader Joes - they won't say where their meat is from or if it's confined pork or full of hormones and antibiotics - I'm not going to just assume that it's ok for us to eat.
4) Restocked our freezer with local grass-fed beef and local pastured pork. I did research into the pork available at Whole Foods and feel comfortable with the pork they offer at their butcher counter for when I can't get down to Pescadero for the other.
5) Switched my laying hens to organic feed - if we're going to eat organic, so are my hens since we eat the eggs.
6) Resolved to buy only organic produce. I know there's the 'Dirty Dozen' and that's a great place to start but I don't trust pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers on anything. I'd rather pay more, eat organic and have some kind of faith that we're not ingesting poisons.
7) Bought glass jars and containers for storing my pantry items and repurposed canning jars. No more plastic for us.
8) Replaced our plastic water bottles and sippy cups with glass ones. This was a big leap of faith for me in hoping my kiddo wouldn't break the glass but he's been fantastic with everything.
9) Replaced plastic wrap with beeswax canvas. It's reusable and has been great so far for covering bread rising bowls.
10) Replaced old plastic rubbermaid containers with glass storage containers.
11) Removed almost everything in the pantry that was GMO or had words I couldn't pronounce and replaced with organic, non-GMO versions.
12) Replaced non-organic staples with organic versions (pastas, rolled oats, steel cut oats, wheat germ, polenta, semolina, corn meal, flours).
13) Started doing research into the oils we use for cooking and have switched to coconut oil, ghee, olive (for some things), butter and I'm going to try macadamia nut oil for frying. There's always beef tallow too but...that's a work in progress.
14) Removed all ziploc bags from the kitchen drawers (I kept them for emergencies), started using waxed paper and parchment paper. I also bought freezer Reditainers for freezing leftovers and stocks, they're plastic but better than ziploc.
15) Swapped out my plastic oxo measuring cups for glass Pyrex ones.
16) Bought maple sugar to use instead of regular sugar in recipes.
17) Replaced my son's art supplies with eco-friendly versions. This took some looking and shopping and figuring out to accomplish but I'm pleased with the results and what I found.
18) Replaced our household cleaners with eco-friendly versions.
19) Replaced our soy-based candles with beeswax candles - oh how sweet our home smells now!
20) Resolved to not bring any new plastic items into the house, this includes toys for my son.
It's been a very busy couple of weeks and I look at that list and I feel pretty good and accomplished. I was happy to rehome all of these items and very happy that I could buy the new foods and goods. I am, rather obviously, not someone who does things gradually. When my mind is made up, I like to just do something. This isn't all I have resolved to do with regards to food and eating, but those will be another blog post I think. There are trains to be played with and a fire to be enjoyed. :)
This entailed some rather large physical changes in our home but especially the kitchen. I started doing some online research and reading and realized that I had taken quite a bit for granted. I had no idea just how much in our pantry, freezer and refrigerator were GMO, fake, additives, fillers and things I can't pronounce. I had taken it for granted that food from Trader Joes was healthy. I never thought about dyes and colorings and I never thought about putting acidic things into plastic. And I hadn't been reading labels beyond the calories and sugar content.
Within the past couple of weeks I have:
1) Gotten rid of almost all our non-stick cookware (the last piece is my large slow cooker that I love, I'm having a hard time letting go of that and making all sorts of rationalizations about keeping it). I replaced the non-stick with cast iron and stainless steel.
2) Gotten rid of all my anodized aluminum cookware (this is a gut feeling for me, I don't want to cook in aluminum, especially acidic things like tomato sauce).
3) Given away the pork sausages and bacon from Trader Joes - they won't say where their meat is from or if it's confined pork or full of hormones and antibiotics - I'm not going to just assume that it's ok for us to eat.
4) Restocked our freezer with local grass-fed beef and local pastured pork. I did research into the pork available at Whole Foods and feel comfortable with the pork they offer at their butcher counter for when I can't get down to Pescadero for the other.
5) Switched my laying hens to organic feed - if we're going to eat organic, so are my hens since we eat the eggs.
6) Resolved to buy only organic produce. I know there's the 'Dirty Dozen' and that's a great place to start but I don't trust pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers on anything. I'd rather pay more, eat organic and have some kind of faith that we're not ingesting poisons.
7) Bought glass jars and containers for storing my pantry items and repurposed canning jars. No more plastic for us.
8) Replaced our plastic water bottles and sippy cups with glass ones. This was a big leap of faith for me in hoping my kiddo wouldn't break the glass but he's been fantastic with everything.
9) Replaced plastic wrap with beeswax canvas. It's reusable and has been great so far for covering bread rising bowls.
10) Replaced old plastic rubbermaid containers with glass storage containers.
11) Removed almost everything in the pantry that was GMO or had words I couldn't pronounce and replaced with organic, non-GMO versions.
12) Replaced non-organic staples with organic versions (pastas, rolled oats, steel cut oats, wheat germ, polenta, semolina, corn meal, flours).
13) Started doing research into the oils we use for cooking and have switched to coconut oil, ghee, olive (for some things), butter and I'm going to try macadamia nut oil for frying. There's always beef tallow too but...that's a work in progress.
14) Removed all ziploc bags from the kitchen drawers (I kept them for emergencies), started using waxed paper and parchment paper. I also bought freezer Reditainers for freezing leftovers and stocks, they're plastic but better than ziploc.
15) Swapped out my plastic oxo measuring cups for glass Pyrex ones.
16) Bought maple sugar to use instead of regular sugar in recipes.
17) Replaced my son's art supplies with eco-friendly versions. This took some looking and shopping and figuring out to accomplish but I'm pleased with the results and what I found.
18) Replaced our household cleaners with eco-friendly versions.
19) Replaced our soy-based candles with beeswax candles - oh how sweet our home smells now!
20) Resolved to not bring any new plastic items into the house, this includes toys for my son.
It's been a very busy couple of weeks and I look at that list and I feel pretty good and accomplished. I was happy to rehome all of these items and very happy that I could buy the new foods and goods. I am, rather obviously, not someone who does things gradually. When my mind is made up, I like to just do something. This isn't all I have resolved to do with regards to food and eating, but those will be another blog post I think. There are trains to be played with and a fire to be enjoyed. :)
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