Eco-geeks on a Budget

It should be obvious by now that Mike and I are nouveau hippies.  Yep, we’re tree huggers.  Blame it on being raised in the 90s when the “save the polar bear” campaigns made their way into our schools, the influence of Al Gore and the EPA, or recycling programs cropping up in small towns.

My emphasis on green is also a major component of my job.  Most of my articles cover sustainability – composting, light pollution, synthetic grass, net-zero energy buildings, solar power, greenwashing, green pest control, vegetated walls, and biomimicry.

At home, it’s another story.  Keeping sustainability at the core of your actions is tricky when money is limited.  You all know that anything with words like organic, all natural, or biodegradable equals an automatic markup. 

To be green without overextending our budget, we constantly have to make decisions that reconcile our need to be good to the earth versus what we can actually afford.  Comparison shopping is key, but you also have to decide what your green priorities should be.  What are sustainable items that are non-negotiable in your book?  How much would you pay for a green product?  Are there ways you can be eco-friendly without spending money?

Case in point: I recently tried a conditioner called Organix.  Really had no complaints except that it was $6 for about 10oz.  Last night I found a product by Suave that has some natural ingredients.  While not 100% natural or organic, I got 15oz for $1.28.  As much as I would love to not dump chemicals down the drain to wash my hair, I also can’t justify spending $6 at the moment on a beauty product. 

It all comes down to choices.

Here’s how we live sustainably on our limited income:

·       We have one car and will be getting bikes.  This wasn’t by choice, but turned into an amazing opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint.  Admittedly, our one vehicle is a truck (1998), but we don’t have a second car.  Nor will we be getting one anytime soon, so it balances out.  Once we purchase bikes, I will be biking to work every day.  Good for my health, the planet, and our pocketbook.

·       We recycle like crazy.  We have two 3-drawer bins stacked on top of each other for recyclables.  If my lunch includes a plastic container or a can, it’s washed at work and brought home.  At work, we only have a one-sided printer.  I save all of my scratch paper and bring it home for our printer.

·       We use biodegradable trash bags.  It took a while to find them, but they are available in the HyVee health market.  They cost the same as a regular box of plastic bags and are biodegradable and recyclable.  Score.

·       We strive to buy natural foods.  If I wouldn’t add <insert unpronounceable ingredient here> to the pan as I was cooking at home, it shouldn’t be in my food in the first place.  This is actually pretty easy for anything boxed, frozen, or canned.

·       We use CFLs.  But I seriously can’t wait until LEDs are mass available on the residential market. 

·       On trips, we bring a water cooler.  At least the majority of the time.  This helps us avoid unnecessary gas station buys and plastic bottles.

·       We use candles at bedtime.  We often chat or give massages right before bed.  Light two candles and there’s no need to have a lamp on.  Pretty and energy efficient.

·       We have a low-flow shower head.  Works just fine and will last forever.

·       We use cloth shopping bags.  So much stronger than flimsy plastic.  We have about 8; half have been free from my tradeshows J

·       We mostly use all-natural cleaners, particularly for laundry and dishes.  We use brands such a Green Works, Palmolive, Purex, and 7^th Generation, which are only a matter of cents higher than conventional cleaners.

·       We live in a 900-sqf condo.  Think about it, the less space you have, the less energy you spend heating/cooling it.  Also, the less junk you accumulate (in theory).  Part of living sustainably is living with just what you need.  We only need a place this size, though an extra closet wouldn’t be turned down.

Right now, I feel like we’ve grabbed all of the low-hanging fruit and need to step up our game.  Organic fruits and meats, which I firmly avow will be part of our diet in the future, are simply too expensive right now.  We’re not in a position to replace the truck with something more fuel-efficient.  Composting, while not impossible, is difficult in a condo setting.

My April goal is to reduce products that come in plastic containers.  While plastic is recyclable, it does not purify in the process.  This downcycling also produces more waste than glass or metal recycling.

The first step was to examine food purchases.  Groceries for the first half of the month didn’t yield many opportunities.  I don’t feel like figuring out how to make yogurt or cottage cheese at home, but at least we buy those in bulk.  Applesauce was the only area for improvement.  Instead of getting the 6 pack of little containers, I opted for the large glass jar.

Cleaners were definitely a better opportunity. While I like Green Works and 7^th Generation, they still come in plastic containers.  If they could only make those biodegradable, which is totally possible with corn. 

Anyways, you can make your own natural cleaners with common ingredients like vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda.  Simply repurpose some of your plastic spray bottles and dilute accordingly.  I will detail our efforts in a later post.

Being green isn’t just about reducing and recycling.  You have to see everything as a resource. 

Question of the Day: How are you green at home?  Have you ever used all-natural cleaners and how’d they work?

The Frittata Queen

As of late, I've been experimenting with egg recipes.  Eggs are the pen-ultimate poor person's food (and I say that lovingly) but can be kicked up a notch to satisfy any foodie. Eggs are cheap, nutritious, adaptable and easy to make into vegetarian or meat dishes.  You can put all fresh items in them or pull together leftover dabbles to suit your tastes.

This month I have tried 3 variations of frittata and quiche, both new dishes to me cooking-wise.  The difference between the two is that frittata has no milk, is initially cooked on the stove top, and then finished off in the oven.  Quiche has milk and is baked in a pie crust.  Either is filled with your favorites.

First up: Vegetable Frittata ala Food Network (recipe here)

The ingredients looked promising.  I had mostly everything on hand, swapping frozen mixed vegetables for frozen peppers/onions and using regular cheddar in place of expensive Gouda.  Cooking was easy and the dish came out very pretty.

Taste and consistency-wise, this feel flat.  The frozen veggies sweated off too much liquid (if you do this recipe, drain it).  They were also bitter, which I blame on being frozen.  The cottage cheese was creamy but overall bland.  I also wasn't thrilled about using 3 whole eggs + 3 whites.  I know this saves on calories and cholesterol, but I don't know what to do with the leftover yolks so it feel wasteful. 

The second attempt was Slow Cooker Tomato and Basil Frittata.  Courtesy of a fellow blogger, I was excited to try the flavor combination and cooking method.  Check out her recipe and blog at Living In Iowa.

So I modified the recipe by cutting it in half, omitting the onions, using dried basil, roma tomatoes instead of grape, and grated parmesan instead of shredded.

Ours took 1.5 hours to bake, which was odd because the recipe was halved, but it might be because of different crock pots.  Ours has the coils around the outside, others have them only on the bottom, the latter I imagine being more efficient with eggs. 

This was totally delish!  Just a little crush on the outside, the tomatoes and feta formed a layer at the top, and the basil was the perfect herb to complement it all.  Only disappointment was that our 1 cup of diced romas was not nearly enough.  But that's a good thing :)  It also reheated well for breakfast the following day.

My 3rd and best attempt was the same recipe modified into quiche from Better Homes and Garden (recipe here).  I used everything in the recipe but the onions and swapped the cheese / veggie ratio: 3/4 c feta cheese and 1 1/2 cup romas.

I proudly made my first pie crust (also BHG with bacon fat in place of butter, which was awesome but perhaps not quite right for this quiche).  I'm definitely not good at pinching the edges, but I'm not submitting this for a blue ribbon or anything.

Tell me that isn't a tasty looking piece of pie

This was by far the most successful.  Bursting with tomato, you get that saltiness from the feta, and held together with a flaky crust.  Only complaint was from Mike, who didn't think it was cooked enough in the middle.  Duly noted.

Question of the Day: What's your favorite way to have eggs?

Quiet Weekends R Us

When it comes to the art of quiet weekends, Mike and I are masters.  Weekends used to be the time for traveling, trying out new restaurants, and shopping.  Now they represent a lull from my job, trying out new recipes, and cleaning.

Our top weekend activities:

• Attempt a new vegetarian recipe
• Catch a matinee
• Deep clean
• Watching Netflix
• Power napping
• Baths/hot showers
• Exercising
• Perfecting Sunday brunch

I'm becoming quite a fan of these weekends.  They're relaxed and easy going, typically without any schedules (which I truly relish).

This weekend was probably our "busiest" in a while as I did some shopping with a friend yesterday afternoon and today we're going to go see "Unknown," that Liam Neeson/January Jones movie.  We had plans to go hiking, but alas, it's raining and the ground is completely soggy.

Last weekend we hit up the Cedar Valley Trail.

The trail goes right behind our condo complex.  We only had to drive 2 miles to pick up the path along the river.  It was still a little cold and everything was an ugly shade of brown, but at least the sun was shining.

 

 

 

Look, we're outside and it's February!

I also started sifting through my new favorite magazine: Food Network.

I got this off the stand for $3.99.  It's a completely steal -- there are over 70 recipes!  Plus the articles are fantastic, the instructions are easy to follow, and it's a great layout.  A subscription for the whole year costs just $15, but I'm content to buy it for stand prices.  Gotta support my fellow magazine peeps!

I was excited to try a new snack recipe.  I love nuts: spiced, sugared, roasted, smoked, crunchy, with fruit, whatever.  They're a little on the expensive side upfront, but per serving, they're a much better deal than buying processed snack bars.  Plus they're healthy (in moderation) and I like the natural feel of them.

Doing your own nut mix is far cheaper than anything at the store.  You'll notice any mix with added spices or fruit always has a premium price on them.  For example, Plantars has these awesome chili-lime-sea salt almonds, but it's $3.49 for 6 oz of them :(

Do-it-yourself mixes will typically cost you the price of nuts and pennies in spices.  If you've never done your own nuts before, I highly recommend this recipe for Spiced Mixed Nuts. Check out the instructions here

Sorry it's blurry ...

For the nuts, 4 cups equals two of the 9oz containers.  Depending on the kind you like, this could run you anywhere from 2-5 bux.  The recipe calls for mixed nuts, but I opted for cashews, peanuts, and almonds so we only had nuts we like and because I already had some on hand.

You have 3 basic components: the nuts, the sugar + spices, and your whisked and frothy egg.

These babies cook for 45 minutes, don't need any stirring, and come out perfect looking!

This bowl disappeared shortly after the photo was taken

They have the most pleasant flavor -- a wintery, Christmas, sitting by the fireside, going on a sleigh ride, ringing in the New Year taste.  We opted for the original recipe and the heat from the cayenne is more of a warmth at the back.  The rest of the spices meld together well yet still have an individual presence.  Next time I definitely want to add the chipotle powder!

Had a saved peanut container on hand and packaged the leftovers up.  A week later, they tasted no different.  The nuts have been a great breakfast and snack and good for before/after a workout too.

The weekend is the perfect time to try out new recipes for us.  You don't feel rushed, you haven't just worked for 8+ hours, and if it goes wrong, then you still have time to make something else.

Question of the Day: How do you like to spend your weekends?

Movies on a Budget

Hi kids!

For my latest post, check it out on a fellow blogger's site!  It's all about getting in your movies habit without busting your wallet.

http://www.livinginiowa.net/2011/01/99-guest-post-movies-on-budget-by.html