What a Cutie-pie

Barred Rock chick, 1 week old.

Simple, Quick, Real-Food, Light Meals and Snacks

As I've mentioned before, we make nearly everything from scratch. I'm not going to lie... cooking from scratch takes more time and makes a bigger mess (often) than heating up a frozen dinner or compiling a casserole by emptying a can of condensed soup, some instant rice, and pre-measured spices into a dish.

It seems that time is the number one reason people eat processed foods. Much of the conversation around the lunch table at work was a discussion which frozen dinner or "short cut" packaged foods was the least disgusting. Not which they liked best, but which they hated least. Obviously, the choice of convenience food over slow food and whole food is not made based on taste. (Whether or not people actually "don't have time" to cook good food is a discussion for another time.)

Whether you're someone who feels short on time or someone who takes the long slow route to food, we can all use some simple and fast real food dishes.

For those times when you're too hungry to wait on a slow simmering stew but want something more than a handful of nuts or some crackers here are some suggestions.

Henlets

The baby chickens at 1 week old:

Baby chickens at 7 weeks old:

A List of Methods for a Non-disposable, Low Waste Life. Part 1: The Kitchen

So, sometimes when I'm reading other people's blogs, I come across a sustainable or environmental choice they've made that has a significant impact on consumption but which I've never thought of. This is how I felt when I came across cloth menstrual pads. I was like "That is brilliant!"... and so obvious when you think about it. It had just never occurred to me that I could replace disposable plastic pads with cloth.

beans we make from scratch, buy in bulk, and store in glass

Now that we've made so many changes to our life it seems like we have run out of all the easy and big impact stuff we can do. We're down to the things that, if we did them, only make a tiny difference (making our own tortilla chips) or the things that make a big difference but are not financially possible (geothermal priming for heating and cooling), or infrastructural things that don't exist in our area (there is no public transportation at all that goes between here and my husband's place of employment). So I'm always on the look our for that next big obvious thing that I just missed. In that vein I thought it might be useful for me to publish a list of the (sometimes radical) environmental actions we take in case there's something here you've never thought of but which might make a large difference in your life. 

I've broken the list into separate posts. Part one is the kitchen, followed by the bathroom, the bedroom, and then a list of miscellanea. In each post I'll include the entire list in simple form, for reference, but go into more detail below.

Very Simple Assertively Dilly Tomato Dill Soup

(I posted this recipe on The Nourishing Gourmet's Pennywise Platter Thursdays. There you'll find a collection of frugal and nourishing recipes.)




This is a super simple soup but we love it and eat it all the time. Amounts are approximate. Use what you have in the sizes you have.

1 quart canned diced or chopped tomatoes

1 to 2 quarts homemade chicken or beef bone broth

1 to 2 quarts water

1 large bunch of fresh dill, chopped

at least a half head of garlic, minced

1 onion, minced

butter and olive oil for sauteing

Add butter and/or olive oil to your soup pot. Saute garlic and onion until fragrant and golden. Add in tomatoes, broth, water and half the dill. Simmer. When you're ready to consume, add the other half of the dill. Blend for a smooth soup or leave it alone for chunky. Freezes well.

Sometimes we blend it and drink it as a broth. Other times I leave it chunky. Often we "cracker bed" (crumble crackers in the bottom of the bowl, add shredded shard cheddar on top, pour on soup). Often we add yogurt to the bowl for some tang. It's very versatile. I recommend homemade whole grain crackers. And of course it's excellent with a grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread.

Green, Sustainable, Crunchy and other descriptions for a save-the-earth lifestyle

(I'm working on some posts about the environmental impact and nutritional qualities of grass fed meat, dairy, and eggs that are very research intensive, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some other types of posts. Even these take a long time to produce! I've gained tremendous respect for all those bloggers I read who have coherent, detailed, and well researched posts.)

I've been thinking about the words and phrases we use to describe a "green" lifestyle. In addition to green we've got sustainable, crunchy, organic, beyond organic, granola, eco, eco-friendly, low impact, no impact, intentional, locavore, and others I've come across and forgotten. 

Each has a slightly different connotation. For example "green" is pretty general and now that companies are "green washing" (usurping the term to market products that are not, in fact, green) I think it's not very useful anymore. Similarly "organic" has lost much of its value. Unlike green it has a specific legal meaning. Most people imbue it with either more or less meaning than it actually has, but for me, organic does not go nearly far enough to describe how I live my life, raise my chickens, or grow my vegetables. 

"Sustainable" is my favorite. I think it's the most useful because it is not a metaphor (green is, after all, a color) and it's specific (sustainable adj \sə-ˈstā-nə-bəl\ - capable of being kept up or prolonged). Its specific definition makes particular sense when we use it to describe systems. Thus something might be environmentally sustainable or economically sustainable. 

So "sustainable" works but it only describes the outcome not the process. It doesn't give any clues as to what specific choices and lifestyles end up being sustainable. I've been thinking about other words we can use to describe the process of living a sustainable life. The words I would use to describe my life and the values that inform our choices are:

"Sustainable Baby Steps" Giveaway on The Organic Sister

The Organic Sister has a huge giveaway going on for all kinds of fun and crunchy stuff to promote her new project "Sustainable Baby Steps". I'm hoping to win the Eco Lunchbag Kit... it is super cute.

One of the items you can win is a starter kit from Glad Rags. These rock. I can't believe I ever used plastic pads, especially during the summer. Cloth is much much more comfortable. Check them out.