Worry, worry, worry!

I heard from my Daughter Jude over the weekend and she was telling me that the microscopic fibers from our synthetic clothing are collecting in the ocean water.  They're not biodegradable like cotton, wool and silk, etc.  So I looked it up and sure enough it's true, and the place they're testing the water is around Australia, where you would think there would be fewer washing machines than maybe here in the USA?  They don't know what the consequences will be but not good, it seems.  For a couple of days I went around looking at labels.  I had the idea that most of what I owned would turn out to be natural fibers, and hence ok.  The new (second-hand) sheets were indeed linen with cotton embroidery thread and crochet thread.  My nifty knit nighty was all cotton.  Ditto the towels in the bathroom.  But then I began to find other things.  Almost all my underwear was synthetic.  Bill's favorite shirt was acrylic though we both imagined it was wool.  Interestingly, it was made in Australia!  My favorite sweater, pink, with my initial in tiny pink studs, was also acrylic as well as nylon and spandex.  I wore it anyway today.  The sin is in washing it, after all.  I will have some time to think about it because the washing machine died over the weekend anyway.  Sigh, another man-made thing to worry about.  However, I have just achieved some favorable results from my experiments with beeswax cloth.  I read about it on-line and made up a beeswax and mineral oil mixture and dipped squares of cotton (thankfully) in and pulled them out in great sodden lumps to cool and solidify.  Not hopeful looking.  But then I had the idea to iron them with pairs of undipped squares sandwiched between.  Bingo, flexible but water resistant and nearly airtight wraps.  I made some big enough to wrap a sandwich in and some smaller to lay over bowls and secure with rubber bands.  If I get some food on them, they wipe clean with a damp cloth.  I like them very much.  They store flat in the drawer.  A way to reduce the use of plastic wrap and aluminum foil.  
And ultimately biodegradable.

Another item we acquired in order to be more green and clean was a carpet sweeper.  I have for some time deplored our vacuum cleaner because it sprays dust into the air.  Bill found me an old (1986) but new in the box product called the Hokey from Hukaba, made in Japan.  It has a sturdy metal handle and natural bristle brushes.  It cost about $25.  I was very surprised that it picked up far more small dust and fibers than the vacuum seems to.  No bags but you do have to brush out the cup with a paint brush because of static electricity, but that's not hard.  So far I am very pleased with this too.

 
It's been nearly three weeks since we went to the grocery and the cooking is picking up.  I cooked some stew beef in the small crockpot to make Strogonoff.  And a whole bag of pinto beans in the large crockpot.  That made 8 pints of chili beans.  I had used the last bag in the freezer to make Fajitas on Saturday.  That is one of our favorite meals.  Chunks of chicken and onion and green pepper are sauteed in a hot skillet, sprinkled with a little Pico de Gallo and served with rice and chili beans with shredded cheddar cheese and salsa and sour cream as condiments.  We dispensed with tortilla wrappers.  We had canned mandarin oranges for dessert.  On Sunday we had the Strogonoff with left-over rice steamed with some water and butter.  As a side, I sauteed tiny frozen baby green beans in butter and garlic in an iron skillet.  I let some just blacken.  They were delicious.
Today I made chili with the newly cooked chili beans and we had it two-way, with pasta and shredded cheddar cheese, and with it we had toasted tortillas with salsa and sour cream.  These are just cut in wedges and baked in a 425degree oven for about ten minutes. (but watch them like a hawk)  Just a little coarse salt sprinkled over and these are low fat and low sodium chips for about $.50 for the two of us.  For dessert we had some of those delicious Margaret Holms O'sage Peaches.  Tomorrow we'll have leftover scolloped ham and potatoes with cheese on top and some salad and some bread and butter.  More peaches wait in a glass jar in the fridge.  On Wednesday we'll have soup made from the leftover Strogonoff and sandwiches made on rye buns with sliced chicken on a mixture of cream cheese and finely minced onion, garlic and green pepper (not very much green pepper) and seasoned with sea salt and maybe some dill.  This is a delicious sandwich!  For dessert we'll eat the last of the peaches.  On Thursday we'll have the chili again, with the chips, et cetera only with dark chocolate for dessert.  And on Friday we'll have chicken stir fry with cabbage and carrots and broccoli, soy sauce and over rice.  And chocolate for dessert.  These are all well-loved meals.  I am already getting the long grocery list ready.  The budget is $226 but I already spent some for $1 a pound chicken.  We have 24 chicken breasts in the freezer now.
I want to buy some salmon steaks as we are tired of canned salmon.  I hear the price of beef is skyrocketing so maybe some pork chops would be better.  We'll see . . . .
Happy menus to you!

Flowering

I got a lovely Christmas gift from my brother.  A set of verses written for me and about me.  Furthermore, I see he has really been listening to me.  Nothing affirms us like being listened to.  Here it is:



                                          My sister
First of all, I respect your empathy and compassion for 
                                            others, 
Not just for me but for your family, your husband, your
                                                                        friends.
You are the patient Robin with the ever present worm for 
                                           the nest,.

Though you long to be the Jay screeching vociferously at the

                                               cat.

I envy your incisive honesty that you fear too persistent foe

                                               some.

Your joie d' vivri causes a smile from me and my desire for

                                           emulation.

Seeing the Past as past, you enjoy life here in your nick of 

                                               time.

Always dream for tomorrow with your wisdom, courage and                                                 Hope.  

                                                                                                                             Your Brother, Ernie  


This seems like a good place to put the flowering of my Amaryllis:

One flower. . .

Two flowers . . .

Four flowers . . .  Wow!
This has really been a pleasure to watch.  Thanks John and Jenny




The vegetable beef soup was a resounding success, though I cannot say the same for the home-made clam chowder!

A Christmas Present

I told you that there was a present I have become deeply involved with.  It is a children's book, "Miss Hickory".  You know I collect nut-head dolls.  So far I have never made any though.  That is about to change.

Here is the book.

Here is Miss Hickory in her little corncob house, with her own little stove and bed and tea kettle.  I am smitten!

Here is a little handmade stove Bill found at the Seventh Street Mall.  The miniature bucket and basket came from the Miniatures shop in Nashville which is now gone.  The hickory nut is one I selected from a bunch Eliyah and I picked up on the road.  The little broom I made myself.  I am searching the yard for suitable twigs for Miss Hickory's arms and legs.  I can hardly wait!


Another present is a biography about Tasha Tudor.  I am confused about her.  She seemed implacable with her family but I so admire her dedication to doing exactly what she wanted.  No matter the consequences.  She wanted to live in 1830.  So she did.  She lived without plumbing, central heating, shopping malls, even the telephone, at least for a while.  She raised the food they ate, made fabric and clothing, cared for animals and children under these circumstances and illustrated and even wrote numerous books while doing so.  
I too was fascinated by a time period, and by Pioneers.  When I was 4 or 5, my Mother remarried and we moved to rural south-central Kentucky.  They bought 8 acres of land.  The neighbors came and put up a log cabin for us.  I remember the day very well.  It was a nifty cabin. I helped to chink the logs with cement.  Then Lloyd Floyd came and put in a brick fireplace  sidewise in the middle of the single room.  Near the back.  Now the room was divided into two.  On the back of the chimney was a hole in which the stove pipe from the cooking stove was inserted.  A rough counter made of 2x4s at the front window on the left was for washing dishes on.  A table attached to the wall under the right window.  There were three chairs and an Army cot.  My bed was a pallet in the loft.  Eventually we got an icebox and the iceman came twice a week.  Though I have lived in expensive houses and cheap ones, in big cities and small towns and in the country, no place has matched the perfection I found in that small cabin when I was a child!

Beee-utiful soup

One day last week I watched Dr. Oz.  He had 28 recommendations, one for every day in February, I guess, and one of them was "No canned soup"!  I kept thinking about that.  Why ever not?  Too much salt?  Well, there are reduced salt versions.  I looked on the back of a can in my own pantry.  Hmmmm, not too many vitamins.  I thought about soup.  My Mother-in-law, Mary William (her father had hoped for a boy)  also known as Dot because when she was born, prematurely, she fit into a cigar box,  always said that beef vegetable soup was not so much flavored by the beef, but by the variety of vegetables put in, and she recommended at least 10.  I see clearly that the canned soup doesn't have such a lot of vegetables.  In fact, when we ate it that night for supper, it seemed to consist mostly of flavored slightly thickened water.  Not offensive,  but I remember Mary Bill's soup  . . .but of course we can do that again!

Here is what I put in:
1 pound of stew beef, cut small
1/2 onion, minced
1 or 2 stalks celery, leafy tops included, minced
1 or 2 carrots, minced
1 medium potato, minced
1/4 small head of cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 cup frozen or leftover peas
1/2 cup frozen or leftover corn
!/2 cup frozen or leftover lima beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup barley
6 cups, about, water or beef broth
6 teaspoons beef boullion if you used water
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 or 2 shakes of Worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon parsley
I started this soup in my crockpot at 11 am, to be eaten at 7 pm.  I'll be posting here at noon so you'll have to read my next post to find out how it tastes but I'm pretty confident it'll beat the canned soup all hollow.  I've left some room to add water if it's too salty, at 5 o'clock and I'll taste for seasonings.  I've made about a gallon so it will serve for 4 meals, at least.  I'll freeze it in canning jars with only the rings screwed on with a piece of waxed paper or plastic bread wrapper under them.  Otherwise the glass will break.
As to the expense, I don't think it is appreciably cheaper than canned soup on sale is, but that's not the point here, quality is.


On New Years' Day I made the house and kitchen tidy, filled all the salt containers and watered and arranged the plants.  My Son and Daughter-in-law had given me an Amaryllis to force so I got that out.  One should always have something to look forward to in the winter.  I was surprised to find the bulb already sprouting.

I made a mess soaking the peat and getting it in the pot and planting the bulb.  "Put it in a warm place" it said so I put it on a stool near the stove.  Here it is 24 hours later!

Look how it has stood up and is leaning towards the heat.  Today it is noticeably greener and taller.  Amazing!


I've been thinking too, about Resolutions.  Not necessarily New Years' because you can make them any time.  But my Buying diet has only just gotten started.  I took a year to really get used to it.  I have learned a lot more strategies for not spending money unnecessarily this year.  So I have decided to renew my resolution for another year.  I will be dieting foodwise as well, in earnest now because I am being treated for Diabetes.  No more room for cheating now.  Not if I want a long life.  It is very motivating.