Two posts in three days? I know. If I don't stop the insanity the world may well stop turning, and that would be a terrible thing indeed. Don't worry. I'm almost positive there won't be another this weekend, as it looks to be a busy one!
I thought I would sit down and share very frankly with you all about what our budget looks like. Specifically our grocery budget. I know this is a tough and stressful subject for many of you out there. I know that personally I often come home from trips to the grocery store feeling defeated. We have so many options but what do we choose, and how can we possibly manage to feed our families healthily while maintaining a budget that doesn't break the bank? The good news is that you can do it. I cannot promise you that it will be easy. That you won't occasionally leave the store with a mostly empty cart. But it can be done if you're willing to make some sacrifices!
Before I get into how we manage to eat healthily on a small budget, keep in mind a few points and make adjustments for your household accordingly:
1. We have no children yet. So when I say we spent "X dollars" one week, or a certain item lasts "so" long, remember that I am talking about feeding two average height, trim, but mostly inactive (I know, tsk, tsk!) adults.
2. We live in an area of the country where food prices are low, compared to areas like the east and west coasts. Of course, average income is also higher in those areas, but you get my point! Take this into consideration and adjust accordingly.
3. We usually eat a relatively low-carbohydrate diet, which due to it's higher protein, higher fat composition improves satiety and somewhat reduces food cravings. For this reason and others, we rarely snack during the day, but may occasionally grab a couple slices of home-dehydrated banana, or a few nuts to "hold us" if we do get hungry between meals.
So now that we've gotten that out of the way I'm going to tell you right now, when I say we eat on a tight budget, I mean tight. I've found that in the past when I tried Googling tips on grocery shopping on a small budget, most of the blog posts, message boards, and other websites I find which claim to be all about eating well on a small budget felt like a joke to me. Their idea of a "tight" budget is usually $100 a week or more. Let me tell you right now, if I had $100 a week we would be dining like kings every night! We do our best to spend just over $100 per month on our groceries (my ideal maximum weekly amount is $30 but I try very hard to come in under that). It varies a little from week to week and some weeks it is impossible to stay under $30. So what do we eat then, on such a tight budget? The answer is really too varied to type out! Here is a list of tips I've found to be indispensable in my effort to spend less while still eating well.
1. Buy sales. Don't go to the grocery store with a pre-written list of all your "must haves" (aside from true essentials, such as toilet paper -- though I would protest that even toilet paper doesn't have to be an essential), or with a "We'll see what sounds good" attitude. Go with a completely open mind and buy the meats, veggies, and fruits that are on the best sale that week. In recent history American's have had it so easy that it has become natural for us to go to the grocery store thinking, "What am I in the mood for?" instead of, "What can I afford for my health and pocketbook?" In order to keep your budget where you want it, you must break this habit and learn to enjoy whatever that weeks shopping trip brings. We've been surprised to discover some really delicious "new" vegetables this way!
2. Make the most of what you have. Most of us buy a whole chicken, bake it in the oven, eat the breast, thighs, legs, and wings (and maybe those tender little "oysters" on the back), and dump the rest into the garbage. What a waste! Instead we should be consuming the majority of the meat and then making bone broths with what remains. You'll be pleasantly surprised to find several more days worth of delicious meals in a chicken carcass! Whenever possible, buy whole poultry with giblets. The most nutrient dense meats are organ means -- use this to your advantage! If you can't stomach the thought of biting into a chicken liver try grinding it raw with a good blender and adding a small amount to ground beef dishes, soups, and stews. Back to the bone broths, you should always save any meat bones you have (in the freezer until you have enough to make broth with) to make bone broths. Whether you use the broth for soups, to cook a little rice in, or just as a filling, nutrient dense hot beverage between meals, take advantage of this powerhouse food for your health! It's free medicine!
3. Don't be afraid to buy frozen. I've noticed that a lot of people seem to have some (and sometimes great!) disdain for frozen vegetables. Why is this? Frozen vegetables are not only almost always cheaper than fresh produce, but because they're frozen right after picking, they're actually picked ripe, unlike a lot of fresh produce that is picked before it is ripe in expectation of long transit times to various destinations across the country. Frozen veggies also won't rot when you forget about them for two weeks, so there's never any waste, and most vegetables need to be at least lightly cooked for the nutrients in them to become most readily available for your bodies use, anyway, so you're not losing anything by having to cook your frozen veggies a little. Much of the same applies to frozen meats. You can't accidentally push it to the back of the fridge and forget about it until it is hairy -- the worst that can happen to frozen foods is that they toughen up a little, or if poorly packaged get a little freezer burn. A little freezer burn doesn't usually affect the flavor of food too much (though a lot can be very unappetizing), either. Additionally, freezing can kill certain bacteria, making frozen meats and vegetables somewhat safer to consume than non-frozen meats and vegetables.
4. Buy local. It is true that you have to be careful when buying local. It is not always cheaper (a "local" produce stand we stopped at recently was downright exorbitant!), but careful research should help you to find some less expensive seasonal sources. A friend of mine gets eggs from a local small farm for $1.00 per dozen! So local can be better. But another problem is that not only do a lot of roadside produce stands try to deceive us into thinking their produce is locally grown when it isn't, but the truth is often times local organically grown produce is just puny. We visited our local farmer's market back in May and while I know that was early in the season, the produce was far less than impressive. The point? Buying local can be healthy and budget friendly, but shop wisely.
5. Barter! If you are blessed like we are to live in or near a farming community (and I realize not everyone is), consider bartering for fresh food. Not only can you feel more confident about the quality of food you're getting from a friend whose home, barn, and yard you probably spend time in, but you get the added benefit of blessing your friends in the process of personally benefiting. It's a win-win situation! Have chickens, but no time or desire for a garden? Consider trading your pastured eggs for organic, vine-ripened tomatoes during the summer months. Have property where men in your community could hunt for deer or foul? Find something you want from them and offer the exchange!
6. Grow something. Even if you have a small yard, or no yard at all, pretty much all of us have the space for at least one potted plant on a front porch or back patio! Planting and tending just one small tomato plant during the summer can be rewarding and help -- at least a little -- with your budget (store bought tomatoes are expensive). After you try a tomato or two, consider expanding if you have the space! It is inexpressibly satisfying to sit down and eat a salad you grew yourself, or to make a pot of tomato basil soup with only your homegrown produce. Even the stresses of trying to deal with pests, lack of rain, and other garden problems is far outweighed by the joy of harvesting a dozen gorgeous tomatoes, zucchini, or leeks (especially if you garden organically and know that your food is 100% natural and free of all pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides!). If you're a big potato fan, for example, but have limited space consider building a simple potato tower. We've started our first, hoping for a fall harvest, though we started about a month late, so we'll see what happens! But once people become familiar with the best potatoes to grow in their area, etc., many people claim to harvest around 100 lbs of potatoes from one of these small boxes!
Whether you can put all of these ideas into use, or only one of them, I'm sure you'll find that if you pay attention you'll see that your grocery bills will drop! How much depends on what you're already doing, and your determination to stick with whatever you decide to try. I hope this proves helpful to some of you. As always, I love discussion, so if you have any tips or tricks of your own, feel free to share them!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Persistence Pays Off
How long has it been since I posted here? No, don't answer that. I know it has been far too long.
So what has been so consuming of my time that I have neglected you all for several months? Life. But more specifically, travel, work, and gardening have probably been what's kept me most occupied.
Work picked up a lot in June and we saw quite a few clients. This was a great blessing! Then the 1st of July David and I made the 11 hour drive down to Texas to visit my family for two weeks. This was my parents graduation gift to my husband. It was a great gift, a great visit and as always, coming back to Missouri was bittersweet. Coming home, work really dropped off due (I think) to people being busy with their own summer travel and getting ready for school again. I can't help but wonder, too, if our two weeks away played some role in the slow-down.
While we were away our garden took off -- my mother-in-law did a great job of keeping everything alive and watered during those two weeks which also happened to be the start of a considerable heat wave and drought. Not good for the garden, but her persistent watering allowed the garden to thrive in spite of the heat and lack of rain. I was really excited to come home to ripe tomatoes and flowering squash and cucumber plants! Since then things have kept on in spite of the continued lack of rain, and we have harvested dozens of tomatoes, our first summer squash (I was late planting the squash, zucchini, and cucumber!), and should soon be enjoying our first cucumbers and zucchini, of which there are many! Bugs have been a serious problem though. Two or three days before we got home my mother-in-law emailed me to tell me that "something" was eating the tomato plants. My guess was tomato horn worms from her description. We came home and it definitely looked like horn worm damage, though I couldn't find a single horn worm on any of the plants. I sprinkled the plants with diatomaceous earth and hoped that would be the end of our problems. But it seemed that with each passing day the plants were getting more and more damaged, though I still couldn't find any worms! After about a week though, I began to find these tiny worms that I didn't recognize (which eventually I discovered to be army worms). Could they really be causing this much damage, in spite of their size? But over the course of the next few days I noticed that these worms grew. And grew. And what was initially less than a quarter of an inch long began to grow until some of them reached around 2 inches. I tried more DE. I tried making up concoctions of tobacco/cayenne/soap water to spray on them. I suspect my tobacco water may have been too weak, but nothing seemed to be killing these worms. Finally I resolved that if I wanted my plants to survive, I was going to have to do something awful: hand-pick! Yes, that's right. Hand-picking worms off of my tomato plants. This may sound like no big deal to well seasoned gardeners, but for someone who hasn't done any gardening to speak of since childhood, when mommy and daddy took care of the pests, it was a big deal. And it took a lot of mustered up courage to finally start doing it. I considered wearing gloves but it is impossible almost to pick worms with gloves on without squishing them, and eventually the worm juice soaks through the gloves which is... not so nice. So I took to bare-handed picking with a pitcher of soapy water to plop them into. For a while it seemed that I would never beat them. I would spend an hour picking worms in the morning, only to go back out in the evening to find many more worms. Well-intentioned gardener friends suggested that I might have to give in and do the "unthinkable" and use a commercial pesticide if I didn't want to lose my entire tomato patch. I almost gave in one Sunday afternoon when I was feeling especially defeated. It did seem wiser to use a tiny bit of pesticide once than to lose the entire garden to a stupid worm! But I simply couldn't stand the thought of spraying my plants down with dangerous chemicals after so much work to avoid it, so I persisted with hand-picking. I kept picking every morning and some each evening. Sometimes I'd even go out in the middle of the day for a bit and these worms were still there! Extreme heat (over 100 degrees) didn't seem to bother them in the least. I eventually found a few horn worms, which I still refuse to pick bare-handed, so I bring a glove with me now in case I find one of those wretched worms. But the gratifying part? The good end to this story? I'm getting the bugs under control! Each time I go out now there are fewer and fewer. I am delighted that all the hard work is paying off, and now my only real concern in the garden is the weather that's causing my tomatoes to split! Okay, that and the squash bugs that have recently discovered my squash plants. But I've read that DE works on them as well, so I sprinkled my squash a few days ago and hopefully that will be that!
And now I will leave you with a few photos from our garden since this spring:
So what has been so consuming of my time that I have neglected you all for several months? Life. But more specifically, travel, work, and gardening have probably been what's kept me most occupied.
Work picked up a lot in June and we saw quite a few clients. This was a great blessing! Then the 1st of July David and I made the 11 hour drive down to Texas to visit my family for two weeks. This was my parents graduation gift to my husband. It was a great gift, a great visit and as always, coming back to Missouri was bittersweet. Coming home, work really dropped off due (I think) to people being busy with their own summer travel and getting ready for school again. I can't help but wonder, too, if our two weeks away played some role in the slow-down.
While we were away our garden took off -- my mother-in-law did a great job of keeping everything alive and watered during those two weeks which also happened to be the start of a considerable heat wave and drought. Not good for the garden, but her persistent watering allowed the garden to thrive in spite of the heat and lack of rain. I was really excited to come home to ripe tomatoes and flowering squash and cucumber plants! Since then things have kept on in spite of the continued lack of rain, and we have harvested dozens of tomatoes, our first summer squash (I was late planting the squash, zucchini, and cucumber!), and should soon be enjoying our first cucumbers and zucchini, of which there are many! Bugs have been a serious problem though. Two or three days before we got home my mother-in-law emailed me to tell me that "something" was eating the tomato plants. My guess was tomato horn worms from her description. We came home and it definitely looked like horn worm damage, though I couldn't find a single horn worm on any of the plants. I sprinkled the plants with diatomaceous earth and hoped that would be the end of our problems. But it seemed that with each passing day the plants were getting more and more damaged, though I still couldn't find any worms! After about a week though, I began to find these tiny worms that I didn't recognize (which eventually I discovered to be army worms). Could they really be causing this much damage, in spite of their size? But over the course of the next few days I noticed that these worms grew. And grew. And what was initially less than a quarter of an inch long began to grow until some of them reached around 2 inches. I tried more DE. I tried making up concoctions of tobacco/cayenne/soap water to spray on them. I suspect my tobacco water may have been too weak, but nothing seemed to be killing these worms. Finally I resolved that if I wanted my plants to survive, I was going to have to do something awful: hand-pick! Yes, that's right. Hand-picking worms off of my tomato plants. This may sound like no big deal to well seasoned gardeners, but for someone who hasn't done any gardening to speak of since childhood, when mommy and daddy took care of the pests, it was a big deal. And it took a lot of mustered up courage to finally start doing it. I considered wearing gloves but it is impossible almost to pick worms with gloves on without squishing them, and eventually the worm juice soaks through the gloves which is... not so nice. So I took to bare-handed picking with a pitcher of soapy water to plop them into. For a while it seemed that I would never beat them. I would spend an hour picking worms in the morning, only to go back out in the evening to find many more worms. Well-intentioned gardener friends suggested that I might have to give in and do the "unthinkable" and use a commercial pesticide if I didn't want to lose my entire tomato patch. I almost gave in one Sunday afternoon when I was feeling especially defeated. It did seem wiser to use a tiny bit of pesticide once than to lose the entire garden to a stupid worm! But I simply couldn't stand the thought of spraying my plants down with dangerous chemicals after so much work to avoid it, so I persisted with hand-picking. I kept picking every morning and some each evening. Sometimes I'd even go out in the middle of the day for a bit and these worms were still there! Extreme heat (over 100 degrees) didn't seem to bother them in the least. I eventually found a few horn worms, which I still refuse to pick bare-handed, so I bring a glove with me now in case I find one of those wretched worms. But the gratifying part? The good end to this story? I'm getting the bugs under control! Each time I go out now there are fewer and fewer. I am delighted that all the hard work is paying off, and now my only real concern in the garden is the weather that's causing my tomatoes to split! Okay, that and the squash bugs that have recently discovered my squash plants. But I've read that DE works on them as well, so I sprinkled my squash a few days ago and hopefully that will be that!
And now I will leave you with a few photos from our garden since this spring:
These are some of our radishes that were HUGE. And yummy. I wish I had known then what I know now though, and that is that sauteed radishes are FANTASTIC. Slice the radishes thin, add a little butter or coconut oil to a pan, radishes, salt, and pepper, sauteed until the slices become slightly transparent and pink. I wish I had a constant supply of radishes now. And I'm pretty sure that most radish haters would find themselves loving the veggie!
Leaf lettuce. We actually harvested quite a lot of it, considering the difficult spring we had (very wet and cloudy). Next spring (and this fall!) we will plant even more. There is nothing like a fresh, home-grown salad!
Tomatoes. You can see that some of them have split, but they're still very tasty! This was what I harvested last Friday I think.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
VitaCost.com Deal
Hey all!
Just wanted to let you know about this great deal from VitaCost.com, where you can spend $10 to get $20 worth of supplements, home, or personal care products, groceries, etc! Just use my link and I might get mine for free -- then pass it on and get YOURS for free, too!
Just wanted to let you know about this great deal from VitaCost.com, where you can spend $10 to get $20 worth of supplements, home, or personal care products, groceries, etc! Just use my link and I might get mine for free -- then pass it on and get YOURS for free, too!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Danger from every cide
Today's post is going to be on an issue very near and dear to me. It's something I've been concerned with for years -- long before I was the "health freak" I am today, living on a strict diet, using all natural/organic personal care products, making my own mascara, and giving up toilet paper.
There are so many sources of toxins in the average American's life today. Did you know that scientists have measured the amount of lead in our bones today and compared it with our recent ancestors 100 years ago and discovered that we're about 650 times more toxic with lead than they were? And back then people were exposed to it in all kinds of ways we're not anymore (think paint, piping, etc). We're assaulted from every side with one danger or another. Our plastic storage containers contain chemicals that are making our baby boys turn into girls, our laundry detergent might cause cancer, our shampoo can make us infertile, and the food can be downright scary.
You get the point. With all the advances we've made over the years, there are still all kinds of dangers to avoid in modern life (even if we're no longer running from wild animals). I don't think we should live in fear of these things, but simply do our utmost to avoid known danger, with the knowledge and ability that God gives us. For example, I'm fully convinced that plastic is dangerous but I've yet to be able to afford to make the switch 100% in my kitchen. I still use some plastic storage containers for leftovers because I haven't been able to afford to buy all glass. Yet. But I am making progress. I am trying.
My topic today is the use of pesticides and herbicides. I am going to be focusing on herbicides as I've been spending much of my personal time lately studying the topic of the dreaded weed. I've loved the great outdoors for as long as I can remember. I love everything about it. I love plants, I love open spaces and sunshine, I love dirt, and I love how intricately all of those things work together to create life, through God's amazing designs. A friend of mine took me on a "weed walk" recently in her yard and around the neighborhood (just across the street from me and in my neighborhood!) to show me some of the local wild edibles since I'm still only vaguely familiar with most of Missouri plant life. What she showed me was absolutely incredible and exciting! There are people all across the country feeling distressed about the rising costs of food and all the while they are spraying their yards with dangerous herbicides to kill what we call "weeds" and never bother to learn anything about, when many of these so-called weeds are actually edible and would make a good, albeit small, contribution to the family dining table. It is unfortunate that we have lost so much knowledge about wild edibles. Your backyard full of "nasty" invasive weeds, may in fact be God's free gift of a vegetable garden to you! But whether you want to eat your weeds or not, herbicides are dangerous both to human and animal life due to runoff and even walking and playing in yards sprayed with herbicides (did you know it is common household use that makes up the majority of herbicide use in this country? We're so concerned with the appearance of our lawns that we spray more poison on our lawns than farmers do their crops!). Around 1,500 herbicide mixtures sold in the US contain 2,4-D, which is a proven endocrine disruptor. Its use has been linked to immune system damage, birth defects, and reproductive damage. Other herbicides like glyphosate (an ingredient in the most popular herbicide in the US - RoundUp) are linked to kidney problems, infertility, birth defects and more. Not the kind of substance I want my children, grandchildren, or neighbors kids playing in!
"But I'm only using a little!" People argue. "I'm not using enough for it to be a problem." But you're not alone on the planet, in the US, or in your neighborhood. Your little bit, combined with your neighbor's little bit, and his neighbor's little bit makes up a lot and is being proven more and more to kill wildlife and damage human life. This thing that by itself may have in fact been insignificant runoff is now suddenly significant and combined with other chemicals and health problems is preventing your best friend, your cousin, or your own child from having children of their own.
Studies have even shown that the use of RoundUp doesn't just kill the weeds, it actually damages the quality of the soil it is sprayed on. Glyphosate binds up nutrients necessary for the plant to survive; this is how it kills it. Does this sound like something we want to spray all over our yards?
A few more common herbicide ingredients and their side-effects include:
CHEMICAL: SIDE-EFFECT:
Alachlor Eye, liver, kidney, spleen problems, anemia, risk of cancer
Atrazine Cardiovascular and reproductive problems
Dinoseb Reproductive difficulties
Endothall Stomach & intestinal problems
Picloram Liver problems
Simazine Blood problems
2,4,5-TP Liver problems
The last chemical, also called Silvex has been banned since 1985, but is still sometimes detected in water supplies today. So much for minimal effect....
There are so many sources of toxins in the average American's life today. Did you know that scientists have measured the amount of lead in our bones today and compared it with our recent ancestors 100 years ago and discovered that we're about 650 times more toxic with lead than they were? And back then people were exposed to it in all kinds of ways we're not anymore (think paint, piping, etc). We're assaulted from every side with one danger or another. Our plastic storage containers contain chemicals that are making our baby boys turn into girls, our laundry detergent might cause cancer, our shampoo can make us infertile, and the food can be downright scary.
You get the point. With all the advances we've made over the years, there are still all kinds of dangers to avoid in modern life (even if we're no longer running from wild animals). I don't think we should live in fear of these things, but simply do our utmost to avoid known danger, with the knowledge and ability that God gives us. For example, I'm fully convinced that plastic is dangerous but I've yet to be able to afford to make the switch 100% in my kitchen. I still use some plastic storage containers for leftovers because I haven't been able to afford to buy all glass. Yet. But I am making progress. I am trying.
My topic today is the use of pesticides and herbicides. I am going to be focusing on herbicides as I've been spending much of my personal time lately studying the topic of the dreaded weed. I've loved the great outdoors for as long as I can remember. I love everything about it. I love plants, I love open spaces and sunshine, I love dirt, and I love how intricately all of those things work together to create life, through God's amazing designs. A friend of mine took me on a "weed walk" recently in her yard and around the neighborhood (just across the street from me and in my neighborhood!) to show me some of the local wild edibles since I'm still only vaguely familiar with most of Missouri plant life. What she showed me was absolutely incredible and exciting! There are people all across the country feeling distressed about the rising costs of food and all the while they are spraying their yards with dangerous herbicides to kill what we call "weeds" and never bother to learn anything about, when many of these so-called weeds are actually edible and would make a good, albeit small, contribution to the family dining table. It is unfortunate that we have lost so much knowledge about wild edibles. Your backyard full of "nasty" invasive weeds, may in fact be God's free gift of a vegetable garden to you! But whether you want to eat your weeds or not, herbicides are dangerous both to human and animal life due to runoff and even walking and playing in yards sprayed with herbicides (did you know it is common household use that makes up the majority of herbicide use in this country? We're so concerned with the appearance of our lawns that we spray more poison on our lawns than farmers do their crops!). Around 1,500 herbicide mixtures sold in the US contain 2,4-D, which is a proven endocrine disruptor. Its use has been linked to immune system damage, birth defects, and reproductive damage. Other herbicides like glyphosate (an ingredient in the most popular herbicide in the US - RoundUp) are linked to kidney problems, infertility, birth defects and more. Not the kind of substance I want my children, grandchildren, or neighbors kids playing in!
"But I'm only using a little!" People argue. "I'm not using enough for it to be a problem." But you're not alone on the planet, in the US, or in your neighborhood. Your little bit, combined with your neighbor's little bit, and his neighbor's little bit makes up a lot and is being proven more and more to kill wildlife and damage human life. This thing that by itself may have in fact been insignificant runoff is now suddenly significant and combined with other chemicals and health problems is preventing your best friend, your cousin, or your own child from having children of their own.
Studies have even shown that the use of RoundUp doesn't just kill the weeds, it actually damages the quality of the soil it is sprayed on. Glyphosate binds up nutrients necessary for the plant to survive; this is how it kills it. Does this sound like something we want to spray all over our yards?
A few more common herbicide ingredients and their side-effects include:
CHEMICAL: SIDE-EFFECT:
Alachlor Eye, liver, kidney, spleen problems, anemia, risk of cancer
Atrazine Cardiovascular and reproductive problems
Dinoseb Reproductive difficulties
Endothall Stomach & intestinal problems
Picloram Liver problems
Simazine Blood problems
2,4,5-TP Liver problems
The last chemical, also called Silvex has been banned since 1985, but is still sometimes detected in water supplies today. So much for minimal effect....
Monday, April 18, 2011
Bid-what?
This post is going to be on a topic that will make some people squirm. Others of you may decide not to read it altogether. Why? Because we're going to talk about our toilets, or more specifically, the typical American hygiene habits associated with what one does on a good old American toilet.
There's really nothing about the American's use of toilets that is right. We sit, ever so "properly" and politely while the majority of the world (approximately 2/3rds) squats to do their business. This sitting vs. squatting can contribute to a host of complaints such as constipation and hemorrhoids. Sitting to evacuate has also been determined in studies to increase pelvic floor prolapse, inflammatory bowel disease, hernia, and more. This is because in the sitting position the anal canal becomes pinched and it is then necessary to exert pressure to evacuate the bowels. This can also desensitize nerves, increasing uterine, bladder, and prostate problems.
Historically, humans have always used the squatting position, rather than sitting. Have you ever noticed how most babies instinctively squat to eliminate, until we train them out of it? There are also hygiene problems with the way we do our business. If only we could find another way to deal with this problem, think of all the time, trouble, and lives that could be saved by avoiding e. coli breakouts in restaurants and food packaging facilities when employees go to the bathroom, wipe themselves "clean" and don't thoroughly wash their hands!
I don't know about you, but with the continually rising costs of groceries my mind is constantly on budget-related issues and how we can cut costs further without decreasing our nutrient intake. Food and personal care products are some of the most important purchases we make, after all, and making the right decisions in those areas is often the difference between simply surviving and living vibrantly.
Toilet paper has always been something I bought with great loathing. As I'd pick out another new package, trying so hard to find the best deals, I always saw in my minds eye dollar bills getting flushed down the toilet with each purchase. You're literally flushing your purchase down the toilet! How horrid. Not only do you spend a lot of money over your lifetime on something you flush away, but as far as the environment is concerned, imagine all the trees that have to be cut down each year to supply America with toilet paper. 15 million annually. That's 41 thousand trees daily. In an increasingly toxic world, can we really afford to unthinkingly do away with so many natural air purifiers?
So what if there was something you could do to affect positive change in the bathroom? I'm not about to suggest one of those toilet platforms so you can squat (but if you want to you'll be better off than the rest of us, even if you do look like a total weirdo to all of your house guests!), but what if there was an easy, inexpensive way to reduce your toilet paper use, as well as make positive hygienic change? Well I'm glad to be able to tell you that there is! It's called a bidet and most of you are probably only vaguely (if at all) familiar with them unless you've traveled outside of the US. They're used extensively in foreign countries but are still quite rare here in the States. Used to be if you wanted to use a bidet you had to have a separate unit installed (traditional European style bidets are not made to handle solid waste so you have to use a regular toilet and then get up and move to the bidet to clean yourself -- extremely impractical!), which costs hundreds of dollars. In the long run you'd still save money, but who really wants to spend $300+ on such a thing? And that's not including the cost of having a bidet installed (which would have to be done by a professional plumber since you can't just switch out a regular toilet for a bidet; you'd have to have both) Well now you can get a small attachment for your preexisting toilet which does the same thing! It cleans you using gently pressurized water, nearly eliminating toilet paper usage (some people still prefer to dry themselves with a little toilet paper afterwards). Bidets reduce toilet paper usage by 75% on average. Can you imagine spending 75% less on toilet paper annually? Can you imagine all the trees that would be saved if we all reduced our toilet paper usage by 75%? That would be less than 4 million trees cut down and pulped for toilet paper annually. And of course that says nothing of all the electricity it takes to turn 15 million trees into toilet paper annually!
I recently purchased a bidet attachment to try it out for myself. My husband installed it yesterday in spite of a killer sinus infection he's fighting and we are both pleased with the purchase and would recommend it to others.
There's really nothing about the American's use of toilets that is right. We sit, ever so "properly" and politely while the majority of the world (approximately 2/3rds) squats to do their business. This sitting vs. squatting can contribute to a host of complaints such as constipation and hemorrhoids. Sitting to evacuate has also been determined in studies to increase pelvic floor prolapse, inflammatory bowel disease, hernia, and more. This is because in the sitting position the anal canal becomes pinched and it is then necessary to exert pressure to evacuate the bowels. This can also desensitize nerves, increasing uterine, bladder, and prostate problems.
Historically, humans have always used the squatting position, rather than sitting. Have you ever noticed how most babies instinctively squat to eliminate, until we train them out of it? There are also hygiene problems with the way we do our business. If only we could find another way to deal with this problem, think of all the time, trouble, and lives that could be saved by avoiding e. coli breakouts in restaurants and food packaging facilities when employees go to the bathroom, wipe themselves "clean" and don't thoroughly wash their hands!
I don't know about you, but with the continually rising costs of groceries my mind is constantly on budget-related issues and how we can cut costs further without decreasing our nutrient intake. Food and personal care products are some of the most important purchases we make, after all, and making the right decisions in those areas is often the difference between simply surviving and living vibrantly.
Toilet paper has always been something I bought with great loathing. As I'd pick out another new package, trying so hard to find the best deals, I always saw in my minds eye dollar bills getting flushed down the toilet with each purchase. You're literally flushing your purchase down the toilet! How horrid. Not only do you spend a lot of money over your lifetime on something you flush away, but as far as the environment is concerned, imagine all the trees that have to be cut down each year to supply America with toilet paper. 15 million annually. That's 41 thousand trees daily. In an increasingly toxic world, can we really afford to unthinkingly do away with so many natural air purifiers?
So what if there was something you could do to affect positive change in the bathroom? I'm not about to suggest one of those toilet platforms so you can squat (but if you want to you'll be better off than the rest of us, even if you do look like a total weirdo to all of your house guests!), but what if there was an easy, inexpensive way to reduce your toilet paper use, as well as make positive hygienic change? Well I'm glad to be able to tell you that there is! It's called a bidet and most of you are probably only vaguely (if at all) familiar with them unless you've traveled outside of the US. They're used extensively in foreign countries but are still quite rare here in the States. Used to be if you wanted to use a bidet you had to have a separate unit installed (traditional European style bidets are not made to handle solid waste so you have to use a regular toilet and then get up and move to the bidet to clean yourself -- extremely impractical!), which costs hundreds of dollars. In the long run you'd still save money, but who really wants to spend $300+ on such a thing? And that's not including the cost of having a bidet installed (which would have to be done by a professional plumber since you can't just switch out a regular toilet for a bidet; you'd have to have both) Well now you can get a small attachment for your preexisting toilet which does the same thing! It cleans you using gently pressurized water, nearly eliminating toilet paper usage (some people still prefer to dry themselves with a little toilet paper afterwards). Bidets reduce toilet paper usage by 75% on average. Can you imagine spending 75% less on toilet paper annually? Can you imagine all the trees that would be saved if we all reduced our toilet paper usage by 75%? That would be less than 4 million trees cut down and pulped for toilet paper annually. And of course that says nothing of all the electricity it takes to turn 15 million trees into toilet paper annually!
I recently purchased a bidet attachment to try it out for myself. My husband installed it yesterday in spite of a killer sinus infection he's fighting and we are both pleased with the purchase and would recommend it to others.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Plastic & BPA
If you've been reading my blog for very long, you are probably aware that I don't like plastic. I think it's dangerous for our health, and bad for the environment (and just plain ugly, to boot!). One of my goals towards more natural living is to eventually live mostly plastic free -- I've recently been doing some research on how to deal with garbage without those nifty can liners, one of the few places I've yet to give up the plastic. I think next time I run out of them, I won't be buying any more. I can wash my kitchen receptacle a couple times a week, right? Sure. We only empty the can about once a week anyhow, since we don't produce much trash. And since I am now putting all of my leftover produce bits and pieces into my garden, there will be very little "messy" garbage in the bin anyhow. So there's that. We'll never be completely plastic free though, since there are certain food items I have no intention of giving up, but that can only be purchased in plastic containers. But still. We can all reduce our output, even if we're not willing to live quite like Bea (though she is constantly offering great ideas for reducing your waste output; be sure to check out her blog!). Now onto the subject of this post!
BPA is a term most of us are very familiar with now days. We know it's bad and that we don't want it in our bodies. But what is it, what does it do to us, how can we prevent ourselves and our loved ones from exposure to it, and is BPA-free plastic really safe?
To answer the first question in brief terms, BPA (or Bisphenol-A) is a chemical used to harden plastic (think water bottles, baby bottles, food storage containers). It is also used in epoxy resins, which are used to coat the inside of tin cans, baby formula containers, and water bottle tops. The problem with BPA (or at least the one we're most aware of) is that it acts in our bodies like estrogen, which can result in serious hormonal imbalances and reproductive problems.
The FDA, however, refuses to classify BPA as a toxin and stated in 2010 that "Studies employing standardized toxicity tests have thus far supported the safety of current low levels of human exposure to BPA." but then went on to say that they do have "concerns" about its subtle toxic effect on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.
I think that only time will tell us just how dangerous BPA really is, but I think it is clear that there is some level of danger posed by regular exposure to it. Plastics are believed by many to be at least partially responsible for things like girls hitting puberty at an average age of 9 years old (and as much as 10% of 7 year old girls are beginning to develop breasts). The fact of the matter is, there is a lot we still don't know about plastics and how dangerous they are for us, but when you consider how new they are in the history of the world and how prevalent fertility problems (among other things) are becoming, for example, you can't help but wonder how much chemicals from plastics are contributing to that problem (I think there are a whole host of contributing factors and that yes, plastic is absolutely one of them!). And it's not just a problem for young girls. Older females, and males of all ages are being adversely affected by these estrogen-like chemicals. The infertility rate in women aged 20-24 has tripled in this country since 1965. Male infertility is at an all-time high in industrialized countries. A whopping 30-40% of males are estimated to have fertility problems today, and are responsible for around half of the instances of infertility (1/3 exclusive to the male, 1/3 to the female, and 1/3 to a combination of partners). In British couples seeking help from ART (assisted reproductive technology), the majority of cases are due to problems with the male's fertility.
So now you are aware of some of the dangers of BPA and other chemicals found in plastics. Here are some easy steps you can take to avoid exposure to BPAs for yourself and your family:
BPA is a term most of us are very familiar with now days. We know it's bad and that we don't want it in our bodies. But what is it, what does it do to us, how can we prevent ourselves and our loved ones from exposure to it, and is BPA-free plastic really safe?
To answer the first question in brief terms, BPA (or Bisphenol-A) is a chemical used to harden plastic (think water bottles, baby bottles, food storage containers). It is also used in epoxy resins, which are used to coat the inside of tin cans, baby formula containers, and water bottle tops. The problem with BPA (or at least the one we're most aware of) is that it acts in our bodies like estrogen, which can result in serious hormonal imbalances and reproductive problems.
The FDA, however, refuses to classify BPA as a toxin and stated in 2010 that "Studies employing standardized toxicity tests have thus far supported the safety of current low levels of human exposure to BPA." but then went on to say that they do have "concerns" about its subtle toxic effect on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.
I think that only time will tell us just how dangerous BPA really is, but I think it is clear that there is some level of danger posed by regular exposure to it. Plastics are believed by many to be at least partially responsible for things like girls hitting puberty at an average age of 9 years old (and as much as 10% of 7 year old girls are beginning to develop breasts). The fact of the matter is, there is a lot we still don't know about plastics and how dangerous they are for us, but when you consider how new they are in the history of the world and how prevalent fertility problems (among other things) are becoming, for example, you can't help but wonder how much chemicals from plastics are contributing to that problem (I think there are a whole host of contributing factors and that yes, plastic is absolutely one of them!). And it's not just a problem for young girls. Older females, and males of all ages are being adversely affected by these estrogen-like chemicals. The infertility rate in women aged 20-24 has tripled in this country since 1965. Male infertility is at an all-time high in industrialized countries. A whopping 30-40% of males are estimated to have fertility problems today, and are responsible for around half of the instances of infertility (1/3 exclusive to the male, 1/3 to the female, and 1/3 to a combination of partners). In British couples seeking help from ART (assisted reproductive technology), the majority of cases are due to problems with the male's fertility.
So now you are aware of some of the dangers of BPA and other chemicals found in plastics. Here are some easy steps you can take to avoid exposure to BPAs for yourself and your family:
- Throw out your plastic food storage containers and switch to glass, especially for leftovers that are placed into storage containers hot, which can increase the leaching of BPA into foods.
- Breastfeed your babies. Unless you have a medical condition that prevents it breastfeeding is almost always possible, with the right coaching and persistence. This saves you money and your baby exposure to BPAs at a young age when they are most susceptible to damage. If breastfeeding is truly impossible for you, purchase glass bottles
instead of plastic, and look for a friend willing to donate breastmilk for your baby, or contact a milk bank for help.
- Avoid canned foods, since many liners contain BPA. Foods of pH 5 leach more BPA than those that are more acid or alkaline, according to a study on BPA (though it is my understanding that most fruits and vegetables are more acid or alkaline than a pH 5).
- If you do use plastic food storage containers, never put them in the microwave! This can increase the levels of BPA leaching into your foods. Also, avoid washing them with harsh detergents which can also increase leaching.
- Buy glass or ceramic bottles for your water. Many of them come with silicone sleeves for protection so you don't have to worry quite so much about easy breakage. The market for these has exploded since I first started looking into buying some and there are a host of options available now.
- Stop drinking soda (the aluminum cans are lined with plastic and sodas have a pH 5, making them one of the worst offenders for leaching chemicals into your beverage).
So now, is BPA-free plastic safe? In a word, no. But it is a slight improvement over plastics with BPA. The problem in general with plastic (as far as your physical wellbeing is concerned) is that there are far more chemicals in it than just BPA, and many of them have the very same effect on your health as BPA (some of the effects of these chemicals were discussed above).
Also, don't forget to consider the environment. Plastic grocery bags, as an example, were first introduced in 1977 to replace the good old bio-degradable paper sacks. By the 80's and 90's they were becoming more popular than the paper sacks. Imagine this for a moment. This means that for the past 34 years we've all been lugging home our purchases in these plastic bags and then sending them off to landfills. The very first plastic shopping bag to make it to the landfill is still there. Some say that plastic bags take 100 years to degrade. Others say 500 years. Some even 1000. The fact is the bags have only been around for about 50 years, so we don't know from real world experience. Scientists have tried to figure it out, but even using a method called respirometry (which tells us banana peels degrade in days and newspapers a few months), nothing happens to the plastic bag. So whether it takes 100 years or 1000, the point is simply that it takes a very long time.
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Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Good Nosh II
So my Etsy.com shop, Good Nosh has a few new items up, and now also provides nutrition facts that are important to low-carbers -- namely carb count, fat, calories, and protein per serving!
I made my first sale yesterday, and am crossing my fingers for a second today. A potential customer wanted to know the carb count on my peanut butter cookies (which I couldn't make without a good quality, sugar-free, hydrogenated oil-free peanut butter, like O Organics!). I am really excited! I am also planning on trying out some new recipes over the next couple days, but am having a hard time wanting to divide my attention between baking, and spending time out in the garden, as our weather is supposed to be quite nice the rest of this week (sunny and in the 60s!). Ah, decisions, decisions!
Tonight I may attend a business meeting for our local Farmer's Market. David and I have been discussing getting involved somehow (though the actual how/what is yet to be pinned down) and thought it would be a good idea to see what it's all about. We've even discussed creating a small church co-op so some of the other ladies could sell some of their things there (produce, baked & canned goods, crafts, and live plants are all allowed I think), without having to commit to being there every single week, which I think might be difficult for most of us! I am excited about the possibility, though I honestly don't know what will come of it, since we stay pretty busy as it is.
So there is my very short update. I need to write a "real" post soon. I've just been quite occupied with other things lately.
I made my first sale yesterday, and am crossing my fingers for a second today. A potential customer wanted to know the carb count on my peanut butter cookies (which I couldn't make without a good quality, sugar-free, hydrogenated oil-free peanut butter, like O Organics!). I am really excited! I am also planning on trying out some new recipes over the next couple days, but am having a hard time wanting to divide my attention between baking, and spending time out in the garden, as our weather is supposed to be quite nice the rest of this week (sunny and in the 60s!). Ah, decisions, decisions!
Tonight I may attend a business meeting for our local Farmer's Market. David and I have been discussing getting involved somehow (though the actual how/what is yet to be pinned down) and thought it would be a good idea to see what it's all about. We've even discussed creating a small church co-op so some of the other ladies could sell some of their things there (produce, baked & canned goods, crafts, and live plants are all allowed I think), without having to commit to being there every single week, which I think might be difficult for most of us! I am excited about the possibility, though I honestly don't know what will come of it, since we stay pretty busy as it is.
So there is my very short update. I need to write a "real" post soon. I've just been quite occupied with other things lately.
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