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!