Eating From the Pantry: Meal Plan for the Upcoming Weeks

At my last grocery shopping trip, we split our time between the Asian market downtown and the Smith's, which is swiftly becoming my go-to standard grocery store.  I like the rewards card (which you can apply coupons to), and I especially enjoy the manager's specials, which allow you to get great prices on meat that's approaching its expiration date, has a little freezer burn or is otherwise not-quite-perfect.

Anyway, we spent $56 at Smith's on things like produce (celery, carrots, bell peppers, a large bag of "normandy blend" veggies, watermelon, potatoes), meat (an 8-pack of pork chops, a pack of chicken tenderloin, kielbasa) and a few packaged things like bread, cereal, milk, cheese and bullion cubes.

We spent $63 at the Asian market buying specialty items like stir-fry noodles, rice noodles, several large packages of pot stickers, organic soy sauce, mirin, a 3-pack of organic tofu, a jar of tikka masala sauce, a large bag of bulk cumin, fish sauce, sesame oil, and a few of David's favorite Japanese sodas.

When we buy noodles, we don't mess around. 

I had a few things in the pantry already, including flour, sugar, cornmeal and a few canned items like tuna, beans and tomato sauce.  I also have herbs from my garden -- mint, basil and rosemary -- and a ton of apples from my parents' tree. My mom gave me some hot dogs and chili the last time I was at her house, since she was sick of eating leftovers. 

So with that in mind, I set about making my meal plan for the next two weeks.

What Are We Eating? 

Breakfasts:
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Waffles with whipped butter, cinnamon and sugar
Pancakes with apple compote
Apple muffins
Breakfast burritos (egg/cheese/potato/bacon)
Eggs, bacon and toast
Toast with butter and apple butter
Cornmeal porridge

Lunches:
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Simplified hot & sour soup (egg, tofu, broth)
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Welsh rarebit
Vegetable stuffed baked potatoes
Pot stickers
Barbecue tofu sandwich
Teriyaki tofu sandwich
Tuna burgers/patties
Tuna salad with apples and cheese


Dinners:
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Porkchops with apples & steamed veggies
Pho with thinly sliced pork
Sopas with garlic & cheese
Singapore noodles
Stir-fried veggies
Chicken tikka masala

Chili cheese dogs
Sausage and bell pepper with noodles
Kielbasa with potatoes, cheese and broccoli
Kidney bean curry with rice
Ramen with poached egg

You'll notice that I don't have a full set of 14 of anything.  That's because I will repeat several of these meals, or do a slightly different version of them multiple times.  As you can probably guess from looking at our grocery list and meal plan, we tend to eat a lot of Asian-inspired cuisine in our house.

I'm also working on preserving the apples, which I'll be posting about in greater detail soon.  Plans include apple pie filling, applesauce, apple butter, apple chips, frozen apples, apple jelly, and quite possibly some apple cider (maybe even hard apple cider, since I got an amazingly complete home-brew kit from my brother as a wedding gift!)  I will definitely be keeping you up-to-date on all of our apple-preserving adventures.

If you want to keep up with our day-to-day activities, see pictures of what we're eating or just check in, be sure to like us on Facebook. 

A Simple Tomato Tart to Use My Garden "Bounty"

Gardening is hard, okay?  

I mean, okay.  I'm not saying it's rocket science or anything.  People have been growing their own food for centuries, and mother nature does a good chunk of the hard work for you.  But it's still a learned skill, and it takes practice to get it right. 

So let's just say, I'm grateful that I'm not forced to feed myself purely from my garden right now, because I would probably starve.  But I am grateful for the opportunity to have a garden and to learn skills that may someday feed my family. 

Anyway.  Why am I waxing philosophical about gardening right now?

Because I successfully nurtured a tomato plant that yielded...wait for it....three tomatoes.  One of which was eaten by an extremely large caterpillar before I could use it. 

So here I was, intrepid young blogger, hungry and staring down a largely empty kitchen.  What in the world can I make with two tomatoes that will feed a pair of hungry people tonight? 

As it turns out, I could make an egg-and-tomato pie

It's been a while, and I wasn't paying attention to ingredients so much as dumping things in from the fridge that needed to be used.  But I do recall it using six eggs, two slices of bread (toasted, and crumbled into breadcrumbs), my two brave tomatoes, and half of an onion.  I laid down the bread crumbs and layered up the tomatoes and the onions, then went diving into my refrigerator looking for help.  As luck would have it, I had some sun-dried tomatoes lingering in the back of the shelf that I hadn't gotten around to using, so I plopped those in too.  I also had a little bit of feta cheese that I added in. 

I beat my eggs, poured them over the top, liberally seasoned with salt, pepper and fresh basil from my garden, baked it until it was firm, and bam -- eggy, tomatoey goodness. 

Half the key to eating on a budget is learning to put together meals from what you have on hand. 

So how about you guys -- any fun culinary adventures you've had lately that showcase your ingenuity?  I want to hear about it!

So Where the Hell Have I Been?

Things have been pretty quiet since the wedding, blog-wise.  I'd like to say that's because I've been honeymooning in some exotic location, but actually, I've just been busy with work.  The summer slump finally gave way and now I'm quite busy trying to catch up on all my owed work. 

I've also been busy writing something special for you, Lean Times readers: 

What it says on the tin: This is a book that will walk you through the process of establishing a freelance writing career with zero experience and no contacts.  It gives practical, actionable tips for starting out as an internet content writer, then how to branch out into professional copywriting or writing for magazines.  It also touches on the business aspects of the job, from time management skills to managing taxes and how to get insurance. 

Part of my mission at Lean Times is to give people the skills they need to live comfortably at the income level they choose.  In my case, I've chosen a simple lifestyle so that I can afford to work a job I love.  Because I do something I'm so passionate about, a lot of people have contacted me asking for help and direction on how to get started. 

This guide is by no means exhaustive, but I do believe that anyone who reads it should be able to put those tips to work immediately.  If you put in the work, I absolutely believe that you will be able to quit your day job and pursue writing full-time after reading this book -- as long as you couple the tips inside with the lifestyle changes I try to advocate here. 

Quit Your Day Job is currently undergoing its final round of editorial changes.  I'll let you know when it's ready for pre-orders.  Due to the cost of production (and my desire to keep costs low for my frugal readers) this book will only be available in ebook format -- but I'll try to get it up in as many different formats as possible, including a .pdf that you can print at home. 

I'm really excited about this, and I hope you all get some value out of it, too!

Our Frugal Non-Consumer Wedding

So, I got married recently!

I'm still reeling with the joy and excitement of the event.  I'm probably a little biased, but I think it was probably the most fun wedding I've ever been to (and I have attended quite a few).  It helps that David and I have been together for a very long time, and we know each other's families quite well, and most of the guests also knew each other very well -- so it absolutely had the atmosphere of a huge party.

I could talk on and on about how awesome everything was, but I wanted to take a couple minutes to share some of the non-consumer touches.  Part of what made the day so special for me was just how very "us" it was, and that includes the way it conformed to our values as a couple.  Hopefully any other soon-to-be brides and grooms out there can get some inspiration from our experiences!

Our Vision

So going into this thing, we laid out a few ground rules.  We wanted to keep it affordable, we wanted to prioritize food and fun to make sure everybody had a great time, and we wanted to be sure that everything reflected us as a couple -- both our passions and our values.  I'm an atheist and he comes from a devout religious background, so we blended that with a secular ceremony and a prayer from his father and a reading from my mom that would honor my family's ethnic heritage (Irish, French, Cherokee). Because I'm a writer, it was important to me that I write my own vows, and David stepped up to write his as well although he was very nervous about it. 

It was also super important to me that, as much as possible, we kept things organic, local, fair-trade, etc. without breaking our budget.  So with that in mind...

The Venue

David and I are foodies, and food was our #1 priority.  So with that in mine, we chose to get married at a restaurant that offered a full-service wedding package.  This simplified the planning a lot because the wedding and reception were all in one place, with one set of vendors to work with.  It also made budgeting easier: They charged a flat fee per guest, so managing the guest list automatically kept the price in check.

The specific restaurant we chose won out for two reasons: the food was delicious, and the place was gorgeous.  Choosing a beautiful venue saved us a lot of time, effort and money on decorations.  We just had to put up a few center pieces and decorating was done.  If you're in the planning stages, I seriously recommend that you put some thought into choosing a place that's meaningful and beautiful all on its own.  Everything else will fall into place easily from there.

The Rings

I made it clear early in our relationship that I was not a fan of diamonds.  Aside from the ethical concerns, I just don't like the look of them and I can't see the point in paying a huge sum of money for a piece of jewelry.  We both wanted something unique and beautiful without the cost.

We shopped together on Etsy and found a handcrafted copper and peridot engagement ring, as well as a pair of matching copper wedding bands.  They're totally "us" and very unique and comfortable.  Altogether, the three rings cost us around $150 (including the cost of resizing his band, which turned out to be a little small when it arrived).

The Attire

 Since we were getting married outside in August heat in New Mexico, we wanted clothes that would be comfortable and not too formal.  We opted to put the groomsmen in just shirtsleeves and suspenders, a look I've always thought was timeless and adorable.  The groom wore a shirt and vest, no jacket.  We actually found a great vest in a thrift store for $12 but it was too small and we weren't able to get alterations done in time.  We opted instead to just rent one for $60.

For the girls, I asked all of my bridesmaids what dresses they already owned and put together a mix-and-match ensemble based on that.  I figured it would be criminal to force any of my fellow strapped-for-cash ladies into buying a dress they'd only wear once, and we were such a diverse group of body types that no single style would have suited us all anyway.  It worked out perfectly that we had black, blue and purple -- it created a sort of ombre effect and really allowed everyone to show of their strengths.

My dress took a bit of searching.  I briefly considered doing the "say yes to the dress" experience and trying on a bunch of dresses at a bridal shop, but I realized that actually seemed super stressful.  As a "plus-size" bride, I had very little interest in trying on a bunch of things that might not look good on me and feeling that my body was being critiqued.  I also didn't like the price tag attached to designer dresses or the sweat shop labor behind the more affordable ones.

So I set out to find an affordable, ethical alternative.  After searching in vain for a used dress I liked (difficult in my size), I was recommended a website called HolyClothing.  It's a family-owned business set up in India but with ethical working conditions and extremely reasonable prices.  Their style is very Bohemian, which totally fits my aesthetic, and they carry sizes all the way up to 4X.

I absolutely loved my dress.  It was comfortable, easy to wear, figure-flattering and just 100% "me."  I got lots of compliments on it and felt totally awesome all night.  Best of all?  It cost me $50, a HUGE savings over a more traditional dress.  If you're shopping for a wedding dress, seriously do not be afraid to look outside of traditional venues and choose something that isn't a "wedding" dress! 

I opted out of wearing a veil and instead made a floral crown with silk flowers purchased at Michael's.  I had enough flowers for me and my flower girl as well as boutonnieres for all of the boys.  Altogether I think my supplies ran me around $30 and I still have leftovers if I'm feeling crafty in the future.

The Decor

Like I said earlier, I kept things simple by choosing a venue that was naturally stunning.  The restaurant had an outdoor arbor under trees, so there was lots of lush greenery and flowers growing everywhere.  Inside was also pretty lush, with a waterfall and tons of plants.  Since everything was already so festive, we opted just to do some simple centerpieces and bouquets.

We did all of our flowers ourselves.  I went to Trader Joe's and picked up several bunches of flowers.  All of them were certified by the Rainforest Alliance, which was very important to me, and they were very affordable -- all told, it came out to about $70 for all of the centerpieces and bouquets.  For the centerpieces, I found some great mismatched long-stem vases at Goodwill for 99 cents each.  I added some aquarium rocks to that and paid about $20 for all of those accessories.  My maid of honor did most of the arranging; I picked out blooms I thought looked nice together, and she made it look gorgeous.

The leftover flowers were used to decorate the cake, which also turned out beautiful.  We just left all of our scraps out for the cake lady, who put this together in a few minutes and pretty effortlessly made it look like we'd planned it that way all along.

Other Touches

• We did our own music with an iPod and the venue's PA system.  I put together a playlist that was meaningful to us (in our case, theme songs from every anime we've watched together as a couple) and it required minimal tinkering to keep things going smoothly.  
• I skipped the wedding favors and nobody seemed to notice or care.  Lots of people brought home flowers at the end of the night, which made me happy since they got some extra use.  
• I bought all of the invitations through VistaPrint, spending about $70 for 100 invitations.  They turned out great and were much less work than the home-printed route I had originally planned.  
• I wrote and designed the wedding program myself, printing it and our guest tree at FedEx for about $80.  We got the tree mounted so it could be hung up.  I will say that the finished product certainly didn't look like the ones on Pinterest, but it has a lot of personality :) 

Anyway, that's a glance at how we did things.  I hope this gave you a bit of inspiration.  If you have any experiences you'd like to share, please feel free to drop them in the comments! 

Guest Post: Tips for Dealing With the World Post-Climate Change

I'm a member of the excellent Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group, and one member shared a very thought-provoking post today. I asked if I could share it here because this  information is so important. So...Take it away, Theresa Smith!

So, the other day, I went looking to see what I could do, just me, myself, and I, and a not too amazing budget, to help slow down the effects of the climate change disasters so many of us are already seeing evidence of. I found the usual stuff, switch to CFL or LED bulbs, drive less, eat local, don’t water your lawn, etc. That’s all well and good, BUT um what next? Part of the issue is that many of us, far more than you’d think, have already done most of that stuff. Yay US!

That’s great, but it does nothing to help ME or my household deal with higher summer temperatures, intermittent flooding, power outages, water shortages, colder winter temps or wild wind storms. Just so we’re clear I’m not talking about the ever famous apocalypse scenario. I’m talking about 2 inches of rain in one day in July which just happened a week ago where I live! I’m also not talking about brownish lawns; my lawn gets a tan every year. I’m talking about a town in Texas where the local park’s kid’s toys MELTED in the heat, and it didn’t rain for 9 months. I’m talking about the kind of “something I should do” because scientists think that the Colorado River’s aquifers may just be giant dry voids at this point, and it would take about four decades for them to refill, even with no one using any of the water.

So, whether you think the weird weather is human related, not human related, or because cows are farting too much, is really pretty immaterial when it comes to practical actions that we as individuals, families, and maybe even communities can take to mitigate the problems the freaky weather is causing. And apparently there is not a lot of material written about this, anywhere.. So here goes! I’m going to put out this article with a few practical, some tested and some not tested ideas that don’t cost an arm and a leg, can be accomplished fairly easily, and will make an appreciable difference in how the freaky weather is affecting you, your family, and your house.

Paint your roof white, especially the south face of it. Sea ice reflects light into space. Sea ice is melting and there is less of it now, so less heat is reflected back into space and more of it stays here. And it gets hotter. The hotter it gets the more ice will melt and the cycle continues. BTW the extra heat in places where it’s not usually that hot is one of the things pushing the odd weather patterns. Also, we all know that wearing a black shirt is hotter than wearing a white shirt in direct sunlight. Your roof gets a lot of direct sunlight. Paint it white and it will absorb less of that heat and reflect more of it back out of your house. In an awesome ideal world, we could paint most of the roofs white and replace the sea ice etc. I did this, and it lowers the summer temp in my house by about 5 degrees, easy. I don’t live in a particularly hot place so this should work even better for people in places like Arizona, Mississippi, and Florida where it’s really hot. I live in the northern hemisphere so if you live in the southern hemisphere prioritize the North face of your roof rather than the south etc. Ok, here’s how. Buy good quality white exterior grade, acrylic paint and then thin it down by ½ with water making it really liquid. It adheres to the textured roof tiles better, and dries faster when it’s thinned down, and it also covers nearly twice as much area for the same expenditure. Did I mention that my budget is a bit, um..limited? Use a paint sprayer and just spray it on your regular roof tiles on a hot windless day. The windless part matters if there’s another house close to you. Don’t EVEN park the car near the house or hang your laundry that day. The thin paint adheres well to the roof tiles, dries nearly instantly on a hot day, and lasts for years. Needless to say, if you’re re-roofing anyway, just get the lightest possible tiles (they come in arctic white).

Create a “water garden” in the portion of your lawn that gets the most water and has the worst drainage. Information on how to plant a water garden is available on the internet and your county extension or gardening organization should also be able to help. I’m not going to go into too many specifics since plants and annual rainfall, and city ordinances vary so much from area to area. The purpose of a water garden is to catch excessive runoff from major storms and filter it slowly through plants that need the water rather than having it flow into a storm drain. This helps reduce street pollution in runoff, and helps prevent urban flooding from sudden drenching storms. It also filter more water into your lawn without you paying for the water. These can be sited either where a local street or sidewalk dumps water into your lawn, or near buildings whose roofs catch and drain vast amounts of water during a storm.

Get a water barrel, or make one for yourself. They have some very pretty ones for sale on the internet and probably at your local garden outlet or farm store, but they are so easy to make that I can’t see why. Silicone epoxy and the appropriate hole saw bit are the secret to making them quickly and easily. It does generally take either two people or some way to steady the barrel. Again, free water.

Plant a tree! Shade that hot side of your house with a deciduous tree. In the summer when the sun is hot the leaves keep the sun off the house, and in the winter the leaves fall off and allow the lower angled winter sun to warm the walls of your dwelling. It’s the best of both worlds. Not to mention that trees generally clean a ton of dirt and pollution from the air and produce oxygen, this is always good. Alternately, and I’ve seen this work pretty well, put up trellis on posts and grow a climbing vine (honeysuckle is wonderful) about 4 feet away from the wall you’d like to shade. It looks pretty, smells great, and shades the house in summer while breaking the worst of the wind in winter.
Get really good window coverings. A thick insulated pair of curtains will do almost as much for your heating and cooling bills as new windows (which I also recommend) will.

Keep the shades or curtains drawn on the east side of your house until noon, and then switch and close the ones on the west side in the afternoon. Keeping all that heat from getting into your house in the first place is one of the best ways to ensure it stays temperate without the AC running nonstop, and closing those heavy curtains at night in the winter will really make a difference in how cold it gets overnight. You can make insulated curtains yourself from any heavy curtain fabric backed by cheap flannel sheets that have been washed and dried on hot. Or if your inner seamstress is anything like mine, you can also buy curtains with excellent insulating materials already included.

Get a water filtration system. I’m not talking about one of those super spendy in ground systems, although those are certainly nice! I mean something as simple as a large fridge water pitcher with the filter. Now keep it filled up every day. I have a 3 gallon standalone system I was given as a gift, and it’s come in handy more than once if a city main breaks and there is a boil order for the water due to possible contamination. Also house plants love the filtered water. It makes much better tea and coffee too.

Get heavy area rugs. They are easier to keep clean than wall to wall carpet and are much less expensive to replace if something does happen to them. They can be rolled up and put away in the summer so you can enjoy the nice cool floors, and put down as extra insulation and comfy warmth in the winter. Incidentally, this creates one less season of vacuuming!

Keep chanting, “Heat the person, not the room!” Invest in a gorgeous heavy weight sweater or polar fleece to wear in the winter, and suddenly keeping the heat a bit lower doesn’t suck so much. But sometimes even with the heat blasting in our houses it seems hard to get warm. Smartwool socks and heavy sweaters will make for a happier winter. Buy winter shoes ½ size bigger to accommodate heavy boot socks, you’ll be glad you did. This is the time to bake and make soup, it’ll help warm the house and keep you warmed up inside too.

In the summer afternoons, if you can, spray water, not a lot but some, on the roof of your house. Evaporative cooling will help cool the house down a bit, but will especially keep it from “heat gain” in the evening. And yes, you’re using water, but it need not be drinkable, and it does actually evaporate and get returned directly to the earth’s hydro-cycle so it’s not really “wasted” anyway. Use the same theory to help yourself stay cool too by placing a shallow pan of cool water in front of fans in the summer, or even just wetting your hair, or shirt, or placing your feet in cool water. “Cool the person, not the house!” makes just as much sense. Also eat cold foods like salad, and jello, or ice cream, or iced tea etc. rather than cooking dinner and eating hot food.

This is a little more expensive, or crafty depending on your skill set, but it makes such a huge difference that I’m going to include it anyway. Put awnings over your windows. It saves the window frames from water damage and storm damage from things flying in the wind. An awning shades the windows from the higher angle summer sun but allows the lower angled winter sun to come in which is perfect. Also, it generally ups the value or at least the “curb appeal” of your home. Plus it makes it really easy to decorate for various holidays!

Again, this is a “buy it” solution, but I have found it to be of practical value. Buy a few solar charged LED lights. Not the “stick in your lawn” kind, but ones that are meant for indoor use. They just sit in a window sill until a power outage, or backyard party requires their presence.

These are a few of the practical DIY ideas I’ve come up with. I hope you’ll share those you can think of too! I just try to put the emphasis on DIY, not too expensive, low tech or no tech, set it and forget it type of things which address a specific problem and do no harm anyway even if it doesn’t work as well as hoped for.

These are great!  Do you have anything to add? Share in the comments! 

Film Review: A Place at the Table

This is an affiliate link

A Place at the Table, Participant Media, 2012

From the makers of Food, Inc., this is a documentary with similar themes but a different angle.   A Place at the Table tackles the issue of hunger in America, weaving together the personal stories of people suffering from food insecurity with facts, interviews with experts, and various proposed solutions to the problem.

 First, it starts by explaining what food insecurity is, and introducing you to some real people having problems finding enough to eat.  Then it systematically goes through some of the proposed solutions, before ultimately coming to the realization that no single solution can do much until sweeping cultural changes are made -- that our hunger problem is an issue of poverty and politics, not food. 

Overall I really enjoyed this.  It hit on a lot of important points, like the way that processed food is creating a nation of kids who are overweight and under-nourished.  It also made a point of explaining why this is a problem not just for the individuals suffering from hunger but for our society at large, which is something I think a lot of people need to listen to.  This isn't just "their" problem -- it's a problem for all of us, and that was definitely a recurring theme in this documentary. 

Overall, I definitely would recommend this.  From a film standpoint, I don't think it was as good as Food Inc -- it lacked some of the polish and it was a little slow to get started -- but information-wise, it's quite good.  You can buy the DVD by clicking the pic above, or you can try to catch it on Amazon Instant Video or Netflix. 

Coca Cola's New Marketing Campaign: Coke is the Secret to Happiness?

So, if you haven't seen it already, Coca Cola has unleashed a new, incredibly clever marketing ploy.  Now all the individual Coke bottles come with names on them.  This "Share a Coke" campaign urges you to reach out to a friend or loved one with a really meaningful gift -- a Coke!  Naturally!

This is some brilliant marketing on their part.  They keep their iconic red-and-white logo, but replace "Coca Cola" with a name.  All told, there are 250 different names that you might be able to find at the store.  Not just that, Coca Cola specifically chose names that were popular among teenagers and millennials -- those of us who are in the most likely position to reach for a Coke.

(I will note that there are no Coke bottles with my name on them. You can check to see if yours is here)

And to accompany this clever branding strategy, Coke's got a whole slew of marketing support -- from the ability to share a "virtual" bottle through its website, to a Twitter hashtag to solicit some social media interaction, to a series of commercials, like this gem:

Now, that's a sweet commercial, right?  doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?  Damn, Coca Cola's marketing team knows what it's doing.

Here's the deal.  The entire brand of Coca Cola is centered on the idea that Coke brings people together.  It will mend your relationships.  It will help you meet new people.  It will usher in a new era of world peace!  Coke is happiness!  Coke is America!  Coke is freedom and sunshine and puppies!

Except, of course, that it's not

Coke is diabetes!  Coke is child obesity! Coke is a dumping ground for the excess GMO corn that our tax dollars are subsidizing! Coke -- and every other soda -- is just empty calories bundled with bone-stripping acid and fake flavors.  It has zero redeeming qualities.

And yet....and yet.

I've ranted about this in the past.  I ranted about this when Coca Cola released its Superbowl commercial.  And I ranted about at length here, where I try to come up with some alternatives to drinking soda.  And the next time Coke comes up with another clever marketing strategy, I'll probably rant about it some more.

Why bother?

I care about this shit because marketing is insidious.  If you don't stop to examine it, to really think critically about it, the message will crawl up inside of you and make a home under your skin.  It will inform your decisions in the future, even when you're not thinking about it -- especially when you're not thinking about it.

Stopping to examine an advertisement, to see what their hidden message is really about, helps to break the spell.  It helps you confront your beliefs and decide whether they're really indicative of how you actually feel.

If you consider the issue critically and you keep drinking Coke, fine.  That's your prerogative.  But go in informed, not with preconceived notions carefully created by a massive marketing company and planted in your head.  Knowledge is power.  Critical thinking can break this spell.