New Facebook Page.

I wanted to invite you-all to a Facebook Page I have created.  Stop over to Healthy Table were we are talking about eating, cooking, obtaining, growing healthy food.  Just like the page and join the discussion. 

Today I have posted a discussion on Kale.

 

I will still be posting any worthy thrifty and green ideas I have (and that I have time to post), but I'm also very interested in having a discussion across the country about healthier foods.  Come and join those of us who are like minded.  Ask a question, post a recipe, chime in with a response.  We would love to have you all.  

Check Out the Fabric Garage Sale!

Use the Link above for pictures.

All profit I make from this sale goes to help fund my daughters  trip to Glorieta New Mexico where she will participate in MFUGE.  MFUGE is a Christian church camp that is both ministry and social experience oriented.  Kids work with community organizations helping persons in need by day and worship and socialize by night.

Here is a peak:

I have:
Pink and Blue Flowered Fleece 34" x 63"
Navy Blue flannel 82" x 90"
Halloween Vest Panel by Leslie Beck uncut, instructions included.
Daisy Kingdom Heavan and Nature Toddler (2T) Jumper Panel 90% cut out, instructions included.
Bear Bib set.  Cut out and ready for you to finish for your little one.  4 bibs ready to sew.
Simplicity Pattern 5271.  Family Pajamas, dog bed and cap.  Uncut.  Size A XS-L/XS-XL. 
Pink Flannel with hearts.  46" X 79".  Cute!
Olive Flannel 47" X 64"
Blue and White Checked Flannel 2 1/2 yards
(2) School Days Apron Panel.  Uncut.  "A teacher is a special friend whoes love and kindness never ends" on the bib. 
Flag Print 21 1/2" x 70 1/2".  Odd I know.  Once used for window swag/valance.  No casing for a rod they were drapped as swags.  Could be used for any number of things. 

Prices, Shipping and Payment.  CHEYENNE RESIDENTS.  Indicate in your e-mail your address and we can make arrangements for delivery or pick up at a reduced price.  All prices INCLUDE SHIPPING.  At This time I can only take checks or well hidden cash.  When you order I will prep your order for shipping.  As soon as I receive your payment it will be mailed out.
EMAIL:  bluemountainroad@yahoo.com  Please place the item discription in the subject line. 

SOMETHING TO CHEER ABOUT

What this recycling video made in Canada.  Simple acts make big diffrences.

For more group action that can make a diffrence in your thinking try Earth Hour this Saturday March 26th.  At 8:30 pm where ever you are switch out the lights for one hour.  You can do quite a bit in the dark.  My family will probaby be watching NCAA basketball in the dark.  It's not my favorite way to watch TV but it reminds me every year that there are many many ways I can trim my use of electricity.  Check out the Earth Hour video and website below.

Read more about Earth Hour at www.earthhour.org

The Desier For Clean Food-Whole Wheat Muffins

I haven't had many leftovers in the house recently so my work lunches have been difficult to pack.  When I pack my work lunch I really like simple home cooked unprocessed foods.  Unprocessed foods just taste better and are healthier for you.  The other day I lacked for a lunch from home and stopped the grocery store.  I am increasingly becoming discouraged with grocery store food.  Even the prepared salads look as if they have been highly processed and traveled long distances.  Yuck!  I want simple fresh, clean food with out processing and modification.  Apparently Mark Bittman author of Food Matters is feeling the same way.  Read his most recent Food Manifesto for the Future at the NYTimes webpage.

In the search for better food my husband recently started baking whole wheat Muffins from a mix we have had in the house for ever.  Yummy, but high processed with lots of refined sugar.  This morning I went in search of a simple whole wheat muffin mix sweetened with honey.  SCORE!  Below is a very simple recipe that I can see using and modifying.  I just finished one while beginning the blog entry. 

So here is a yummy clean recipe for whole wheat muffins.  You could add raisins, cranberries or nuts to fancy it up.  The Applesauce could be replaced with bananas, cooked sweet potato or perhaps even pumpkin.  I added almonds today because I had nothing else in the house.  I am very please with the results, but don't have a camera in the house right now and I'll probably eat them before the my husband and daughter return with the two cameras we have.  So trust me and try cooking up some of your own simple, clean, healthy, non processed or modified whole wheat muffins.

Whole Wheat Honey Muffins from www.mommysideabook.com.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (my father-in-law's wife canned up some this year)
1/2 cup honey (I use local honey)
1 cup water (I added a little more)

Directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl.
2.  Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl and then mix well with dry ingredients.
3.  Pour into prepared muffin pan
4.  Bake at 375 for 20 to 24 minutes.

Yields 12 muffins, but we use jumbo muffin tin and jumbo paper cups so we get 4.

Thanks for reading and please send me any thrifty, green, clean recipes you have!

Christine

My 2010 Experience with Thrifty Gift Giving

This year my husband and I made a promise to each other not to buy anything new for each other.  Our Christmas gifts for one another must be used items still in good condition.  They need to be acquired from Ebay, a thrift store, Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org/) or some other system of commerce that provides access to goods that need a second life.  Today I'm off to Goodwill and the thrift stores to purchase 13 books.  This year my husband is getting a gift to the "Book of the Month Club" administered by me.  He will get one book Christmas Day to announce the gift and then on the 1st of the month I will place new reading material on his night stand.  I know my husband will really enjoy this and I'm going to have a blast this morning looking for books. 

I recently gave a gift to our pastor that I picked up on Freecycle.  My pastor is a great thank you writer.  She sends thank yous for all kinds of things.  So I had determined I was going to get her some thank you notes when two sets of thank you notes were offered on Freecycle.  The notes had been opened and a single card was gone from each set, but I took them all out, found a beautiful ribbon to bind them all up and gave them to her on Sunday.  I know they were appreciated.  Thank you notes are expensive.  And I got such pleasure out of giving them. 

Our family also made a commitment not to purchase any wrapping paper, bows or boxes this year.  This was pretty easy because we recycle all kinds of boxes, bags and other things that would make good gift giving all year.  I however, ran into two problems!  First, I had chosen a name of a child in the community to provide some gifts for via a program at church.  The gifts had to be returned to church in one bag.   I couldn't find anything big enough!  So I thought, what fabric did I have that I could make a quick bag from?!  Well the child I had chosen was a 5 year old boy and as soon as I thought of fabric I had I knew what I was going to do.  I made a train bag for a friends boys many years ago and still had some fabric.  That fabric was just waiting on this little 5 year old who's family had to request church help.  So I spent a Sunday afternoon making the bag below.  It wasn't easy, and it wasn't perfect, but I was able to keep my commitment to no purchase of Christmas wrapping and I think some little guy will enjoy his train bag. 

Later, I was putting a gift in a small gift bag and found out I had no tissue paper!  Another wrapping dilemma.  The cool thing about tissue paper is that it is light weight and fluffy and can do all kinds of things for your gift.  I couldn't think of a substitute until I was going through my box of fabric and old clothes.  I found an old dance custom that had a red silk skirt with a red tool over the skirt.  The tool had small silver sparkles on it.  I cut a square piece of tool and used that.  It looked perfect in the gift bag.  I stuck the dance outfit in my gift materials bag and I don't think I'll need tissue paper for a long time.  There is another similar white dance outfit in my daughters dress up bag (she's 13).  I think I can talk her out of it when the red one is all used up, which might be quite some time.  Those skirts are big! 

I have saved fabric and old clothes for years.  It is a habit I picked up from my mother.  My mother has a philosophy of  "The woman with the most fabric at the end of her life wins."  I had never really used a lot of my fabric until recently, but now I'm finding out who much the woman with the most fabric wins.  Thanks mom!

Thanks for reading.  Have a Happy Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

PS Obit Gum Packs make great gift card holders!

Thrifty Make Your Own Gift Ideas

Happy Thanksgiving.  We have had 40+ mph winds in Wyoming with temperatures around zero.  My daughter and I are headed to the craft store Friday to get some supplies for thrifty gifts.  I was browsing for ideas today and found this great set of links.  I'm usually not a fan of About.com but I found a huge list of ideas here:  GIFT IDEAS. 

The other shopping destination my family has this weekend are the thrift stores.  We have committed ourselves to a buy nothing new Christmas.  You can buy some nice used and gently used stuff if you know your thrift stores, use Craigs list and Freecycle. 

I checked my greens seedlings in our unheated greenhouse this morning.  Ahhhh they looked like Popsicles!  The cabbage however looked good.  I've got to find a better way to protect them.  Toni up in Powell, Wyoming seams to have mastered a hoop house with some lights and insulation.  I need to take a cue from her.  Visit Tonie at My Square Foot Garden

Thanks for stopping by. 
Enjoy your family and friends!
Christine

My Zero Waste day on America Recycles Day

Finally, before all the Thanksgiving rush begins I have a moment to record my Zero Waste adventure.  In general zero waste was pretty easy around the home.  Everything consumed that day was completely used up, recycled or composted.  Planning a meal that was waste less was pretty easy.  I remained hyper alert to what I was using all day and weather or not I would have to throw it away if I used it. 

My work place was another matter.  I have recently taken my own silverware, plate and napkin to work as to avoid the plastics and papers in our lunch room.  However, as I was finishing my lunch (of left overs and some fruit) I realized that I had nowhere to compost my apple core, so I put it back in my lunch and brought it home (sometimes the neighbors horse gets them, sometimes they are composted). That was easy enough.   My big problem was how do I wash my dishes up without creating waste?!  I realized I  had been using the paper towels at work to wash things up.  I am a teaching assistant at an elementary and our lunch room is shared by about 30 individuals and no one has ever brought in towels or dish rags.  I may have to make this my mission, however if I do 30 people will use them and I get the feeling no one would volunteer to help wash them. 

The school I work at is wonderful about recycling paper, plastic and metals from the classrooms (the students take care of it every Friday), but our lunch room is NOT green at all.  This is where differing personalities come in.  I have to work with these folks and have received a very definite message that the idea of recycling is just a waste of time.  The city just got recycling bins for individual homes and you should have heard the grousing!

So whereas creating zero waste for myself in my home and even for my family members just really takes thought and preparation, creating zero waste at my work place can be a little tougher.  I may just begin by adding a dish towel and dish cloth to my own personal clean up kit in the lunch room (I will be a grump and not share).  As I lead by example, maybe someone will say "Hey why don't we all use towels and dish clothes".  I would love to put bins in the lunch room for cardboard and plastics so the students could collect those on Friday too. 

As a result of my zero waste day I have an action plan for making our staff lunch room at work a little greener:  1) bring my own towel and dish rag (I have no idea how I will handle the use of these, but I'll give it a go) and 2) I'm going to see if our social committee will buy recycle bins and approach our student recycling committee to handle the collection.  Some more baby steps toward a greener life and maybe changing some attitudes a long the way.

Thanks for reading!

Up next:  How my greens in my unheated greenhouse are doing in 0 degree weather in Wyoming!