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A very dear friend...a coffeaholic...once told me that caffeine is the drug of choice for Christians. I think she is correct...that and potlucks.
I am not a COFFEE drinker ("coffee" being said with a deep manly gruff tone). But my husband is. I am a froo froo la la coffee drinker. I like milk, flavor with just a bit of coffee added.
I like my coffee cool enough to drink. I really prefer it cold. Enter THE ICED LATTE.
I truly think in my own warped sense of reality that THE ICED LATTE is the perfect drink.
Think about it:
caffeine depletes the body of calcium..
milk builds calcium
sugar depletes the boy of water
ice rehydrates
See? It all balances out?
Top Five Best ICED Lattes I've ever had:
Number 1 The ones Miles makes at church
Number 2 The ones the kid at the library makes (as he describes it: its coffe without any coffee flavor
Number 3 My oldest daughter's concoctions she makes for me a few times a week. She has really tried to perfect it.
Number 4 The Perfect Cup a cutsie coffee shop with a drive through and great breakfast burritos near my house.
Number 5 Lot's of Bucks..er Starbucks
In reality the ones my daughter makes are the best because they are FREE....or close to free but not the $4 jobbies I can buy. I cab get a gallon of gas for that price!!!
The worst Iced Latte I've ever had was the one my daughter made when she didn't mix up the flavors at the bottom and I took a big swig.
But the really worst was McDonald's...
I guess it was the worst because it actually you know.......
tasted like coffee.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
It's Not Easy Being Green Part 2
Ok, so I told that story to tell you this story:
My conscience getting the better of me and not wanting so much trash going and just sitting in the dump, we have begun in earnest to keep recyclable materials.
SO....our store room holds our recycling. The kids and I saved boxes and labeled them with the items we wanted to store. We put an old tall laundry hamper near the door so whenever we have something to recycle we simply put it in the hamper. When the hamper gets full we distribute it among the boxes. When the boxes get full, it's time to head to the recycling bins.
Our store room was pretty full one lovely summer day, so my oldest daughter and I loaded up the back of the van and headed to the recycle center.
Our first stop was to the Middle School where we recycled the newspapers in a large trash bin. My daughter saw that another bin was for cardboard so we deposited the cardboard there.
Meanwhile, a lady is dumpster diving at the same bin.
We go to the recycle bins near the library and the same lady follows us. She drove by and stopped but did not get out. My daughter and I thought it creepy, but ignored it.
At the library (our last stop) we see the same lady. She smiles at me and I smile back.
On the way home we call Dad to check in and he says he has been talking to the Sherrif's department and that they are looking for ME!
It seems the lady who followed us reported us for illegal dumping.
WHAT?!?!
Here I am doing my duty, helping the environment and I get accused of illegal dumping? I did nothing wrong! The injustice!
It seems the lady who was illegally dumpster diving followed us to get our license plate number. Her smile was more of a smirk.
My husband thought it rather funny. He told the deputy that I was recycling and thought that there had just been some mistake. The deputy (bless his lil ole heart) agreed. He went to the middle school and confirmed that yes, in fact there was a recycle bin there.
AH...justification!
But.....in reality we really DID illegally dump. Though we didn't know it. There WAS a recycle bin for newspapers, but the one for cardboard was not for public use. How were we to know? And actually it was dd#1 who did the illegal act.
And here we thought we were doing the right thing.
So as a result, we no longer save cardboard unless we are reusing it. There is no place in town to recycle carboard.
And now! Our recycle bins out here in PW no longer take metal cans. So the only things we can recycle are aluminum, glass and newspapers.
Like I said, it's not easy being green.
My conscience getting the better of me and not wanting so much trash going and just sitting in the dump, we have begun in earnest to keep recyclable materials.
SO....our store room holds our recycling. The kids and I saved boxes and labeled them with the items we wanted to store. We put an old tall laundry hamper near the door so whenever we have something to recycle we simply put it in the hamper. When the hamper gets full we distribute it among the boxes. When the boxes get full, it's time to head to the recycling bins.
Our store room was pretty full one lovely summer day, so my oldest daughter and I loaded up the back of the van and headed to the recycle center.
Our first stop was to the Middle School where we recycled the newspapers in a large trash bin. My daughter saw that another bin was for cardboard so we deposited the cardboard there.
Meanwhile, a lady is dumpster diving at the same bin.
We go to the recycle bins near the library and the same lady follows us. She drove by and stopped but did not get out. My daughter and I thought it creepy, but ignored it.
At the library (our last stop) we see the same lady. She smiles at me and I smile back.
On the way home we call Dad to check in and he says he has been talking to the Sherrif's department and that they are looking for ME!
It seems the lady who followed us reported us for illegal dumping.
WHAT?!?!
Here I am doing my duty, helping the environment and I get accused of illegal dumping? I did nothing wrong! The injustice!
It seems the lady who was illegally dumpster diving followed us to get our license plate number. Her smile was more of a smirk.
My husband thought it rather funny. He told the deputy that I was recycling and thought that there had just been some mistake. The deputy (bless his lil ole heart) agreed. He went to the middle school and confirmed that yes, in fact there was a recycle bin there.
AH...justification!
But.....in reality we really DID illegally dump. Though we didn't know it. There WAS a recycle bin for newspapers, but the one for cardboard was not for public use. How were we to know? And actually it was dd#1 who did the illegal act.
And here we thought we were doing the right thing.
So as a result, we no longer save cardboard unless we are reusing it. There is no place in town to recycle carboard.
And now! Our recycle bins out here in PW no longer take metal cans. So the only things we can recycle are aluminum, glass and newspapers.
Like I said, it's not easy being green.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
It's Not Easy Being Green Part 1
Our family has a tendency of being ahead of our time.
Example: The Wiggles. Before anyone knew who they were, we were fans.
Example: Hannah Montana. I spent a good nine hours watching a HM marathon while at the hosp w/ one of the children.
Example: Being "Green".
We have always done things that are considered Earth Friendly.
Diapers: We have used cloth diapers since our oldest was a baby. It just saved money. It still does. These days everyone uses cloth (that is everyone in my cyber circle...I can think of only one real person who uses them). It's economical in that you spend a wad of money up front and that's it until their potty trained. And, AND if you take care of them well you can use them for other children. Though we didn't.
But imagine the money it saves! If you bought one or two pkgs of regular plain ole diapers, pins and plastic pants you would be out about 50 or 60 $. Now the high end diapers cost anywhere from 15 to 20 $ for a bag of 30. Surely chidlren are changed more than once a day so these bags would last only two weeks or less. That's about 40 to 50 $ a month. Times that by two years at least and it's a lot of money!
Using cloth isn't so hard. It isn't even too smelly if you take care of them right.
Conserving electricity and water. Ok, ok....don't look at our current bills. It's been a dry summer. BUT....we try to save as much as we can by not using the cooler, not using the stove top. Keeping freezers and fredge full to maximize efficiency, using "gray" water in the garden.
We buy used clothes and furniture. ok,ok...so people GIVE us this stuff mostly and we humbly and gladly accept God's loving provision.
We have sometimes taken our aluminum cans to the recycle center, but that it.
We always reused our grocery sacks. The make perfect trash can liners and hold a great many piles of fabric and toys.
Recently, however, we have stepped up our recycling efforts. As a family of ten we make a lot of trash. Since moving and using a new trash service, we are limited to one container of trash. To put more cans out would be more charges. So to "conserve" money we have been trying to throw away less:
1. We try to reuse as much as we can. Cardboard, newspapers, metal cans, glass jars.
2. We have been buying products that are in recyclable containers. If we cannot recycle the container and can find the same item for the same price in a container that is recyclable then we buy it. I also quit drinking bottled water. I love, love, love Disani and would buy it by the case. But I realized that by throwing them away, they were just sitting there....forever. So I quit buying them. Now I have 1 bottle that I refill from the fridge.
3. We broke down and bought the Wal-Mart bags. They sure hold a lot!!! I take them wherever I go to hold all sorts of things. I had hoped to make some from sturdy fabric that had been given to me, but I never got around to it :).
4. We try to save items to take to our local recycle center.
This is where it's not easy to be "green"! There is a center out here in PW that has a row of containers that take recyclable materials. At first they had the usual: aluminum. glass, brown glass, newspapers and metal. But then they cut down and no longer take metal.
We use two cans of vegetables at each dinner. That's a lot of cans. We have reused as much as we can reuse. That's a lot to throw away!
Cardboard. There is no place in PW to recycle cardboard. There used to be a few places in town but they are no longer there. The only place is to take them to the dump? Hmm.
Newspapers glossies. No place likes to take them. So just throw them away? I don't know.
But the real kicker is plastic. Some stores allow you to recycle your plastic bags but that's it. There was ONE DAY that a store in town allowed you to bring #1 plastics during a short few hours, but that was it.
I called my local recycle hotline and asked why there wasn't a place to recycle plastic and they said it's all about money. It costs money to take them to the local center in another town. No one wants to foot the bill so no recycle.
Recently we were in Salida, CO a little town nestled between two mountain ranges. Their park's parking lot had several big cages full of plastics. Surely they haul this stuff to another town. How can they afford such a thing, but our larger town cannot? The gal on the hotline said to talk to my city council person. In this case I would speak to "THE BOARD". I haven't yet but I plan on it.
Recycling is really effortless. We put boxes in our store room for each item. When we use something to be recycled, we rinse it and put it in a big tall laundry hamper. When it gets full we distribute it among the boxes. When they get full we load them up and take them on the way to the library.
Does it feel good to recycle? I guess so. It feels good to not make so much trash. It feels good to empty my store room when it gets cluttered.
I sure miss the Disani, though....stay tuned for part 2.
Example: The Wiggles. Before anyone knew who they were, we were fans.
Example: Hannah Montana. I spent a good nine hours watching a HM marathon while at the hosp w/ one of the children.
Example: Being "Green".
We have always done things that are considered Earth Friendly.
Diapers: We have used cloth diapers since our oldest was a baby. It just saved money. It still does. These days everyone uses cloth (that is everyone in my cyber circle...I can think of only one real person who uses them). It's economical in that you spend a wad of money up front and that's it until their potty trained. And, AND if you take care of them well you can use them for other children. Though we didn't.
But imagine the money it saves! If you bought one or two pkgs of regular plain ole diapers, pins and plastic pants you would be out about 50 or 60 $. Now the high end diapers cost anywhere from 15 to 20 $ for a bag of 30. Surely chidlren are changed more than once a day so these bags would last only two weeks or less. That's about 40 to 50 $ a month. Times that by two years at least and it's a lot of money!
Using cloth isn't so hard. It isn't even too smelly if you take care of them right.
Conserving electricity and water. Ok, ok....don't look at our current bills. It's been a dry summer. BUT....we try to save as much as we can by not using the cooler, not using the stove top. Keeping freezers and fredge full to maximize efficiency, using "gray" water in the garden.
We buy used clothes and furniture. ok,ok...so people GIVE us this stuff mostly and we humbly and gladly accept God's loving provision.
We have sometimes taken our aluminum cans to the recycle center, but that it.
We always reused our grocery sacks. The make perfect trash can liners and hold a great many piles of fabric and toys.
Recently, however, we have stepped up our recycling efforts. As a family of ten we make a lot of trash. Since moving and using a new trash service, we are limited to one container of trash. To put more cans out would be more charges. So to "conserve" money we have been trying to throw away less:
1. We try to reuse as much as we can. Cardboard, newspapers, metal cans, glass jars.
2. We have been buying products that are in recyclable containers. If we cannot recycle the container and can find the same item for the same price in a container that is recyclable then we buy it. I also quit drinking bottled water. I love, love, love Disani and would buy it by the case. But I realized that by throwing them away, they were just sitting there....forever. So I quit buying them. Now I have 1 bottle that I refill from the fridge.
3. We broke down and bought the Wal-Mart bags. They sure hold a lot!!! I take them wherever I go to hold all sorts of things. I had hoped to make some from sturdy fabric that had been given to me, but I never got around to it :).
4. We try to save items to take to our local recycle center.
This is where it's not easy to be "green"! There is a center out here in PW that has a row of containers that take recyclable materials. At first they had the usual: aluminum. glass, brown glass, newspapers and metal. But then they cut down and no longer take metal.
We use two cans of vegetables at each dinner. That's a lot of cans. We have reused as much as we can reuse. That's a lot to throw away!
Cardboard. There is no place in PW to recycle cardboard. There used to be a few places in town but they are no longer there. The only place is to take them to the dump? Hmm.
Newspapers glossies. No place likes to take them. So just throw them away? I don't know.
But the real kicker is plastic. Some stores allow you to recycle your plastic bags but that's it. There was ONE DAY that a store in town allowed you to bring #1 plastics during a short few hours, but that was it.
I called my local recycle hotline and asked why there wasn't a place to recycle plastic and they said it's all about money. It costs money to take them to the local center in another town. No one wants to foot the bill so no recycle.
Recently we were in Salida, CO a little town nestled between two mountain ranges. Their park's parking lot had several big cages full of plastics. Surely they haul this stuff to another town. How can they afford such a thing, but our larger town cannot? The gal on the hotline said to talk to my city council person. In this case I would speak to "THE BOARD". I haven't yet but I plan on it.
Recycling is really effortless. We put boxes in our store room for each item. When we use something to be recycled, we rinse it and put it in a big tall laundry hamper. When it gets full we distribute it among the boxes. When they get full we load them up and take them on the way to the library.
Does it feel good to recycle? I guess so. It feels good to not make so much trash. It feels good to empty my store room when it gets cluttered.
I sure miss the Disani, though....stay tuned for part 2.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Pizza Dough
This recipe is from The Tightwad Gazette I. We use this for our Ham Loaf and variations thereof.
Pizza Dough
1/2 to 3/4 C Warm water
1T dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
Combine 1/4 water with the yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Mix flour, oil and salt (we add spices: garlic pwd, onion pwd, oragano, basil etc)
Add yeast mixture
Drizzle in the remaining water
Knead 25 times.
Let stand 10 minues.
Spread w/ pizza fixins.
Cook 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
We use our jellyroll pans for pizza. It seems to make things stretch more.
We usually make four pizzas. Two for dinner and two for lunch on Sunday.
One jar of sauce will make three pizzas this way.
Pizza Dough
1/2 to 3/4 C Warm water
1T dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
Combine 1/4 water with the yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Mix flour, oil and salt (we add spices: garlic pwd, onion pwd, oragano, basil etc)
Add yeast mixture
Drizzle in the remaining water
Knead 25 times.
Let stand 10 minues.
Spread w/ pizza fixins.
Cook 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
We use our jellyroll pans for pizza. It seems to make things stretch more.
We usually make four pizzas. Two for dinner and two for lunch on Sunday.
To make four pizzas we triple this recipe.
One jar of sauce will make three pizzas this way.
Ham Loaf
It's been a LONG time since I promised a few friends to put up some recipes. My apologies. I get...you know....busy. So here they are. Enjoy!
Confession: I don't actually cook, I bake. My husband does dinner, my daughter does lunch and I do breakfast. I DO know how to cook and do so on occasion. But I don't make this as often as my husband does, so I have to ask about how to make this!
Ham Loaf
Pizza Dough (w/o spices)
1/4 of a boneless ham cut into slices or chunks
cheese (cheddar, jack, swiss...its up to you)
That's it.
Make the dough and roll out onto a greased jellyroll pan.
Lay the ham down the center longways.
Lay the cheese on top of that.
Fold one side slightly past the center.
Fold the other side over the whole thing.
Tuck under and Viola! Ham Loaf
Cook as long as you would cook the pizza dough (425 degrees 15 to 20 min).
The ham we buy is already cooked, so basically you are cooking the bread.
Serve with horseradish sauce. Mmmm. We usually make two and do not have leftovers.
VARIATION:
Pizza loaf: put 1/4 a jar of pizza sauce down then cheese, pepperoni, whatever.
Taco loaf: Cook up some hamburger with cumin, salt, onion and lay on dough. Cover with taco cheese and taco sauce.
I guess you can make it into one big cabbage roll.....but I don't know how to make those.
These loaves are great to make ahead of time and freeze uncooked. We make four at a time and freeze two for another meal.
Confession: I don't actually cook, I bake. My husband does dinner, my daughter does lunch and I do breakfast. I DO know how to cook and do so on occasion. But I don't make this as often as my husband does, so I have to ask about how to make this!
Ham Loaf
Pizza Dough (w/o spices)
1/4 of a boneless ham cut into slices or chunks
cheese (cheddar, jack, swiss...its up to you)
That's it.
Make the dough and roll out onto a greased jellyroll pan.
Lay the ham down the center longways.
Lay the cheese on top of that.
Fold one side slightly past the center.
Fold the other side over the whole thing.
Tuck under and Viola! Ham Loaf
Cook as long as you would cook the pizza dough (425 degrees 15 to 20 min).
The ham we buy is already cooked, so basically you are cooking the bread.
Serve with horseradish sauce. Mmmm. We usually make two and do not have leftovers.
VARIATION:
Pizza loaf: put 1/4 a jar of pizza sauce down then cheese, pepperoni, whatever.
Taco loaf: Cook up some hamburger with cumin, salt, onion and lay on dough. Cover with taco cheese and taco sauce.
I guess you can make it into one big cabbage roll.....but I don't know how to make those.
These loaves are great to make ahead of time and freeze uncooked. We make four at a time and freeze two for another meal.
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