Merry Christmas everybody.

Well I hope that everyone had a very merry christmas, We did.

We spent Christmas eve visiting family(By we I'm talking about my sister and I)

As for Christmas we just sat at home in our apartment(And by our, I mean Rene and I, Alian was here too)

I made Christmas dinner:

Turkey, mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach.

Then we all said merry Christmas and basically went to bed.



For boxing day, Rene and I went to west Edmonton mall and watched Sherlock Holmes. It was wonderful!


So happy new year to everyone!

What I've learned from nutrition class..

I'm not sure if I've imparted this knowledge, but as a part of my school, I've been taking a nutrition class since September. I finished it near the beginning of December. I must say I've learned so so much from this class. Here is the summary of what I've learned:

-We need to start eating organ meats, especially liver. So many good things in it.
-We also need to eat more leafy greens(Cooked ones though)
-I've learned lots of information about the different vitamins, and mineral.
-I've learned why the vitamins were named like they were(I know why they didn't use the whole alphabet now!)


One big thing I've learned, is that the Canadian Food guide is not right. They change their standards almost yearly, something changes almost every year. So I no longer feel bad that I don't trust them.

I've decided that one the whole world adopts ONE food guide, that is when I will trust it. But I believe this will never happen. I truly think that every person should have their own food guide. Everyone is different. Everyone should eat different!

Cough. Wheeze.

So I finally bought a thing of cod liver oil. I went to the store and asked the person working their opinion, which I lucked out and got to talk to the specialist. This chick gave me like a 10 minute run down on the stuff.

So she finally left it at, this one is probably this best for your, most bang for your buck with what they had there "Plus it's got great flavors". I can deal with flavors I thought, and got the peach one. Because I like peach flavored things okay?

Let me just say. I ate a wonderful dinner of home style noodles and cheese, which included 1/3 smoked gouda, and a little bit of parmesan for good measure. Which was totally delicious! With a big glass of milk, and I read the bottle while I was eating, It says right on the bottle to eat it with food, so I figured why not just have some now?

OH MY GOD! Why did no one warn me even though it's flavored it tastes like crap!!!! Let alone the fact that I didn't even think about it being an oil and STICKING TO MY THROAT ON THE WAY DOWN!!!

Eugh! I chugged the rest of my milk and stared at the bottle with hate for a few minutes, but I'm over it now.

So. Anyone who's thinking about taking cod liver oil read this!!! It's great for you, tons of benefits. But remember, even though it's flavored, you are most likely not going to enjoy it, or even like it a little bit.


Other than that. I had an okay day today.

How was your day?

What I've been working on...

So. A while ago I was fired as I said in here.

I also said that I wanted to sell some things.

That list includes!

Hammocks(For just lounging, and for camping)
And reusable produce bags


I always see tons of colorful, fun, easy to carry totes, and other grocery shopping bags, but product and bulk bags always seem to be that ugly plastic. And the only reusable ones I can find are this ugly green mesh. So my mum and I came up with the idea of these bags:




What do you think?

Today...

Is my birthday! It's been the best one so far.

Rene made me a card, and it made me so happy I cried, then I got hugs from everyone at school, and one girl even got me a balloon.

It's been Amazing!

Thanks to everyone who made it what it was.

Golly my life is getting away without me.

I've been busy.

A busy little bee.

Rene got a job at save-on in the bakery(Yay!) But I just got fired from my job the night before last(Boo!)(My boss phoned me around 7 at night and said "I hired my friend who speaks vietnamese so you don't have to come to work anymore" So I hung up on him.)

Anyways.

I'm going to be trying to sell some things on-line. I will be giving you a sneak preview.


But I have totally lost my train of though and will continue this post tomorrow.

Good evening everyone.

I am a SLACKER

and I love it...

So... a brief update on moi:

I have been eating terribly, on weekends I eat totally from work, and I make enough so I can bring it home for Rene too.

School has taken over my life and I love it.

After my washing mishap at the beginning of the month(I'll tell you about this one in a minute) a bunch of the people in my class have offered to clean my uniform for me, Kendra has been doing it for me since. I am so thankful for it. Plus one of the other girls in my class got me an iron from the thrift store.(My class loves me)

Work is absolutely ridiculous. My boss opened the "Second side" of the restaurant, we now have the same amount of cooks, who still don't speak english, cooking for 2 restaurant. And all but 3 of the wait staff is new and don't know how to do their job, so I'm trying to run 2 restaurants by myself of the weekends while my boss naps all day, my stress levels are through the roof of weekends.

I've been getting to school at 6 am and studying in the mornings, which is glorious. It's probably one of my favorite part of the day. I sit there and enjoy my breakfast and re-write my notes and relax. It's great.

Rene might have a job, in the bakery at save-on ironically, they told him at the interview that he just had to pass the criminal record check. I really really hope that he gets that job. If he does we won't be living "Tip-out to tip-out"(I'd kill for pay-check to pay-check.

Did I mention that I love school?

Plus halloween is a few days!!!!!!!! Best time of the year ever! I LOVE DRESS UP!

Who doesn't eat a sugar free breakfast??

I know I do.

So I'll share it with you, just in case you are participating in Kimi's Sugar Free Challenge over at The Nourishing Gourmet.

What you need:
1/2 to 1 cup of Quinoa(I use more when I know I won't be eating lunch till later)
2 Eggs
About 3 tbs of grated cheese(Your choice)(Personally I like swiss or cheddar)
Enough butter to fry your eggs in(or the oil of your choice)
Salt and pepper if you want it(I don't even use it)

Break your eggs into a bowl and mix them up, then add the cheese in, Scramble in a frying pan that has been heated to about medium. And just before the eggs are done, add the quinoa to the pan and stir it all around.

Done.

It's that easy. I make a bunch of quinoa at the beginning on the week and just use it throughout the week because we all know I love quinoa.

To make this Super sugar free, use an aged cheese that no longer has lactose in it.

If you want you could add vegetables to this to beef it up, but I like things plain in the morning, plus it's just easier to not chop vegetables(I get up at 4:30 am so I don't really feel like going crazy some mornings)

Let me know if you find a way to make it better, because better is just better!

Enjoy!

Quinoa Salad(My way)

When I used to work up at the heli-skiing lodge, the pastry chef would make an amazing rice salad almost every thursday for "T-goodie"(Tea time, same idea) and I LOVED IT. I would eat the left overs for lunch and snacks and any time that I could get away with it really. It was wonderful.

So when I was at home, I needed to fill my thursday gap. I needed my own salad, and I was(Still am really) on a big quinoa kick so I decided to make something similar, but with my favorite new grain!

So here it is Quinoa Salad, the way I like it:

What you will need:

1 small red pepper
1 small cucumber(Or a quarter of a full long english cucumber)
1 quarter of a small red onion
3/4 cup of crumbled Feta Cheese
2 tbs olive oil
4 or 5 cups of cooked and cooled quinoa(I'll let you know how I cook it in a moment)
salt and pepper


So, I cook quinoa at a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water, and just cook it up the same as I do rice. For extra "More better" quinoa, use stock instead of water, more nourishing and more flavor!

Next dice up your peppers, quarter your cucumber and then slice it thinly(but not paper thin) then slice your quarter of an onion REALLY thin. Toss all of this in a bowl with the feta cheese, on top of the quinoa, dump your olive oil on that and toss it around, then salt and pepper to taste.

It tastes best when you can leave it in the fridge for an hour or 2 after, but eat it right away if you want.

AND, if you are participating in Kimi's No sugar challenge next week, you can just omit the peppers(If I'm wrong about the cucumbers let me know), and you have your breakfast lunch and dinner for the next week... Or you could eat something else once and a while, but it's great for lunch and an one plate dinner.

Enjoy!

Shared at:

Pennywise Platter Thursday(Oct 1) @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Food Roots(Oct 1) @ Nourishing Days
Fight Back Fridays(Oct 2) @ Food Renegade
Real Food Wednesday(Sept 30)

In order to further elaborate...

To elaborate on my last post.

I'm going to be parking my car tonight at my aunts farm outside of Edmonton, and un-insuring it.

The idea started the other night when I was talking to my mum about how it's a little bit of a waste right now, I'm paying $120 a month to keep in insured, and the last time I used it in the past 2 months was to drive my sister to the fricken bus station, and the bus didn't even come. So to be honest, the $240 I spent in those past 2 months was definitely not worth all of the trouble.(Although I did use my car yesterday to take 3 boxes of stuff to the salvation army, because I know my car is leaving me soon, otherwise... it would have sat there for another few months because I am that lazy)

So even though, for every possible angle I look at it, it's positive(Minus the fact that I can just pick up and drive to kimberley if I want to(I don't have the money for that ANYWAYS)) I'm still apprehensive about it. This will be the first time, since I've been old enough to drive, that I haven't had a car.

You may ask why I just don't sell it. Simply I'm not ready for it yet. I do worry that something will happen and I will need to get home on short notice, and in that case I can always get someone to drop me off at my car, and get a temp insurance. I doubt that will be the case. But I probably will end up selling the car. Eventually. I just need to covet it a little bit longer I think.

Big changes.

Big for me at least.

Something big is on the way

I'm parking my car and un-insuring this weekend.


We made the decision within an half an hour last night.

An easy change for the sake of the environment...

Buy a nice fountain pen.

That's it.

Well and an ink converter to go with it.

Here's why.


If you buy a good fountain pen, it will be the last pen you will ever need to buy.(With care and cleaning) Also if you buy a converter to go with it, you will be able to refill the ink anytime that you need some.

Rene and I were talking about this yesterday(mostly because I bough a new fountain pen yesterday, I'll explain why in a minute) and we figured most people go though a pack of 10 ballpoint pens in a matter of months, because of how cheap and disposable they are. "Forgot your pen today? Here you can borrow mine" and then later they usually end up keeping or or you give it to them. Cause why not? They're cheap right? They are also easy to misplace because they are so unimportant. I've seen people use up more than 10 ballpoint pens in less than a month. Honestly that is a lot of plastic. It's kinda stupid.

Therefore... 1 fountain pen that you like and are willing to take care of, with a converter can last you a looooong time. the only thing you will need to buy is a bottle of ink, and depending on how much you write, could last you... like forever... But seriously, most bottles of ink are sold in 50 ml bottles. I have 5ml cartridges right now(They were a gift given to me 5 or so years ago I'm still going through them) I figure that a 50 ml bottles would last me 25 days of writing 7 or 8 FULL pages of notes. So really about 200 full pages of writing. Big pages. That's a lot of writing. The ink writes smoother, and it smudges less(If you let it dry that is)(Ball point pens are still "tacky" for quite a while after use. Also, you are going to go out of your way to NOT loose or lend out this pen without getting it back, since you payed so much money for it.

And it automatically makes your writing look nicer. Once your pen get's used to your writing(That's what my friend who I got my last pen from told me)

Anyway, the story behind my pen.

It was a gift from a friend. When I lived in Japan half way through my school year a guy from France, Pierre, came to our school. He always used to write with fountain pens. I was SO intrigued. It was SO cool. I'd never really written with a fountain pen before(Except in heritage towns around my hometown, and then it was just a few scribbles anyways). So he let me write with it one time. I was beside myself. The pen just flowed so smoothly, my writing was a little bit wonky, but that happens when you write with a VERY different pen.

Pierre though it was funny that I was so intrigued by his pen, so when it was time for me to go home, he gave me his pen that he used for blue(He had one for every color) and all of his blue ink cartridges and told me to take good care of "him" I've written with that pen every chance I get since I got it. But to be honest. I haven't really written a whole lot not being in school or having a job where I need to write stuff. So when I started school last week, I was excited to be using my pen on a daily basis again(I really do love that pen). But being that it was an old pen, and Pierre was a pen chewer(EW) that pen has really seen better days. It leaks ink at the tip sometimes(Not on my writing, just onto my fingers) the end is missing, and the lid was cracked and missing a small piece. Then last week. I made the mistake of leaving my pen in a very precocious spot in the bakery and of course it fell on the floor, and, another piece of the lid broke off. So now the tip dries out and I have to shake the pen LOTS to get it to work.

But as luck would have it, when Rene and I were downtown so I could get a few of the kitchen supplies I needed for school, we walked past a pen shop advertising that they sold fountain pens on their sandwich board. I didn't even have to ask Rene he went and opened the door for me. They had fountain pens ranging $25 to $500. I found a beautiful red pelikan fountain pen. I used it all day at school today, and to rewrite a bunch of my notes tonight, ALSO to write a letter to a friend last night.

Wonderful.

Oh and for those of you who are worried about not being able to erase: there is a solution for that.

Fountain pens... are just... the bomb

Get one. It's worth it.

Thus far...

First I ignore my blog for a week then I go on a mad posting spree!

So I just feel like giving an update on my OUR green/healthy lifestyle choices.


We Do:

~Recycle(Again... everyone is doing this, and if they aren't... what is wrong with you?)
~Eat locally with the exception of spices and a some grains(Even our milk abides by the 100 mile diet rules now)
~Eat as nourishing a possible without torturing ourselves.
~Never turn on the lights(We have bees wax candles)
~Use the Diva Cup(Rene doesn't do this... I think)
~Get rid of things we don't use anymore to clear up clutter
~Not use shampoo
~Not use tooth-products(Thought I was gonna say paste didn't you?) with SLS or Flouride. Rene isn't ready for the soap jump. His choice.
~Not use "one time use" paper products(With the exception of toilet paper for numero dos)
~Rarely use the car(the only time we use it really is to go to my uncles house, but we haven't been there in over a month... I'm a terrible niece)
~Clean our laundry by hand
~No chemicals in our apartment(Vinegar and baking soda clean our house(With the occasional shot of hydrogen peroxide)
~Keep all electronics unplugged



We are Trying:

~To buy all of our food at the farmers market(Damn milk is messing this whole thing up)
~To only spend money on things that we NEED(In other words... food)
~To use the "Drip water" from our tub for our laundry and watering the plants(if they would just fix it we would have to worry about this at all)


We Want to:

~Compost(we really want a worm compost)
~I know there are other things we want to do but I can't think of them


My brain isn't really working right anymore so I'm going to stop this list right here.

Hopefully it inspires someone to try something new.

Make your own: Basil

I haven't posted at all this week because I started school!!!!!

Yay me. It's fun. I'll talk about it later.



I have a confession to make... I've been ashamed of it for a long time.

I used to be in the plant club in school

I used to get ridiculed about it all the time when I was in middle school. But it be honest, to was the slackest club there was and I got full "Club points" for the year so I got a special award at the end of the year.

All we did was take care of all the plants in the school(one teacher one other girl and myself), which meant watering them all 2 times a week, trimming, repotting, splitting, splicing, and all that jazz.

In other words... I know some stuff about plants.

That said!

Last time I bought basil I thought to myself. WHAT ON EARTH AM I DOING!???? I SHOULD HAVE A BASIL PLANT ALREADY! Then I remembered that I've looked for one a few times at the farmers market. But to no avail. I'm not much for blue basil and that's all they really had.

So I decided to make my own plant.(I'd just like to say that this is the great thing about "REAL" food. You can make you own perpetuating source from a lot of it. Yogurt, Keifer, kombucha, plants. Patterns are fun)

I've successfully started an adorable little basil plant. He's growing strong. We can't use his leaves yet, but we love him all the same.(Rene is french, so everything we talk about is a he or a she(He was raised English, it's just a thing he got from his mum))

What you will need to start your own basil(or any other herb really) is one of those packs of basil you buy from the store(or the farmers market, or from a friend) All you need is one good healthy stalk of the plant. Then you are going to chop the plant off at one of the "Off shoots" so that it looks kinda like this:



Yes I know this is parsley not basil

then you plunk it in a cup of water in front of a window for a while. It will start to grow little "Nubs", at the point where the stems come together, after a few days. Wait till those nubs have grow into at least 1 inch long roots, you can wait longer, but I'm impatient.

Then you plant your new little baby in some soil and give it some water. Herbs like to dry out a little bit in between watering so it's okay not to water it every day.



As you can see I'm trying this with parsley(Because damn it sally I'm sick of spending 2 dollars on it when I want chicken stock!), it doesn't seem to be working. But it still might. If it hasn't sprouted roots after 2 weeks, it's probably not going to.

One caution try not to let the leaves rest in the water, they will get water logged and fall off then your poor plant won't be able to feed itself!


If you have any troubles with this, drop a comment, I'd be glad to help.

PLANTS FOR ALL!

An update:

Parsley does not work. I didn't think it would when I started. I think the plant is just too... "water based"(I'm not sure how to explain it) Kind of like how celery is just green solid water. But it will work with just about any other herb. If someone tries rosemary let me know what happens. I'm curious if it will work(I'll probably just end up trying it myself in a few days)


Shared at:

Pennywise platter @ Nourishing Gourmet

Food Roots @ Nourishing days

Fight Back Fridays @ Food Renegade

The joys of toothsoap

My sister was here last week visiting, it was really good to have her here, but at the same time it's nice to have the apartment, and time, back.

I've been using soap for brushing my teeth for about a month now. And right off the bat I'm going to tell you that I love it!

I will admit, I was a little bit skeptical about it at first, I mean, I remember when kids were threatened to have "Their mouths washed out with soap" in the movies. It seemed like unusually cruel punishment. AND JUST PLAIN WRONG!

So you'll understand how scared I was the first time I got "Ye olde toothbrushe" wet and rubbed it on a fresh bar of "Olive oil" soap from the organic store. I mean come-on, this stuff is meant for washing my butt, not my teeth. In all honesty though... I wasn't really that bad. It did taste a little bit soapy, but over all... there was really no taste at all... So it passed the first test. I didn't want to gag after using it. And it did pass the second test as well. My teeth felt delightfully glossy after the brush down. Next I just had to see if it would pass the final test. Would my teeth rot out of my head after a month or so?

I'm happy to say I no longer need to brush ever again because I no longer have teeth

Just kidding. Actually I think my teeth are in better shape now than when I started. I had a few "Light" spots on some of my teeth(Like 2 of them) which are going away.

So a few weeks ago(after a week of already using soap) I found this shop on etsy which is run by a wonderful gal who will answer ANY of the questions you have about her products. She's great. Who just so happens to be selling toothsoap. IN A CONVENIENT 4 PACK NO LESS! Which means 4 different flavors. Perfect. I just got mine last week. I'm using the "Original" flavor first. It's not quite what I imagined it would taste like. But I'm getting used to it.

And all the negative things I've read about toothpaste and all the crap that's in it has only made this all the more easier.

Fluoride

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

And just the fact that something I'm sticking in my mouth says "DO NOT SWALLOW" "SUPERVISE YOUR CHILDRENS AROUND THIS!"

Just seems wrong.

So.

I love toothsoap!

And if you are even the tiniest bit interested in using it but don't want to totally commit, go buy a fresh bar of soap with ingredients you can read all the names of, and give it a try. If you don't like it, use the new soap in the shower. No harm no foul right?

All you do is get your tooth brush wet, bush the bristles across the soap a few times and then brush like you normally do.


On a side note:
Some sites suggest using something to "Buff" the yellow out of your teeth once and a while. I've been brushing with baking soda on Monday mornings after I do my normal brush. It's working so far.

Farmers Shepherds Pie!

I love LOVE love Shepherds pie. It's great. Mostly because I love mashed potatoes. I would live on mashed potatoes alone if I could. But since that's not possible I eat things with mashed potatoes to seem normal to everyone else in society(I jest).

Since Rene and I have been trying to only buy our food(except for dairy) at the farmers market(They just don't have any dairy there) This shepherds pie was a little bit improvised... but it was still delicious.


Farmers Market Shepherds Pie:

4 Small carrots(Not those huge ones you get from the supermarket)
4 or 5 Small parsnips(Same for the parsnips as the carrots)
1/2 an onion
5 or 6 potatoes(You could use less, but like I said... mashed potatoes rock my world)
1 small packet of lamb(I forgot to look at how much was in it)
3 tbs cream cheese
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce(The only not nourishing thing in here, I can't help it I love it)
A splash of milk
Butter for frying(Olive oil works good too)
Salt and pepper for taste.

Tools:

1 pot with a lid to fit all your potatoes in with some head space for boiling
1 frying pan
1 square Pyrex glass dish or something to it's equivalent
1 spatula(Just something to move around your cooking vegetables)
1 fork



You can peel your vegetables if you want. I don't. Now dice then all into small small cubes except the potatoes, dice your potatoes into approx 2 cm cubes(Smaller if you want them to cook faster) put in a pot and cover with water, set to boil.

In a frying pan set at medium to medium low, fry up your onions in the butter until they are translucent, then add in your carrots and parsnips fry them for a little it(I only fried mine very briefly, we like ours still crunchy when we eat them) then add in your lamb and fry it up till it's cooked then add in your worcestershire sauce and enough salt and pepper so that you are happy. Then dump in into your Pyrex dish.

While this is happening watch your potatoes, once they start to boil, turn the heat down to medium high and offset(I'll take a picture of this later) the lid so that the steam can still get out. Let it simmer like this for 20 minutes or so, then check your potatoes with a fork to see if they are done, they should be soft and slide right off the fork after you've stabbed them.

Once they are done drain your potatoes and mash the crap out of 'em. Add a little bit of milk so that your potatoes are smooth(that is the KEY to the best mashed potatoes ever) then add in your cream cheese and salt and pepper to taste. You can always add more cream cheese if you want. I tend to add quite a bit some people don't really like it all that much.

Now spread your potatoes on top of your meat.

All you have to do now is bake that puppy(Not your puppy, the pie silly) in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350.

Oh wait, then you dig in a enjoy!


Hope you liked it.




This recipe was shared at:

Food Roots
Penny Wise Platter @ Nourishing Gourmet

Look what I bought: I LOVE the farmers market!

It is in fact. The best thing ever. You get fresh food. You get to be outside while you are buying your food. ALSO at the farmers market we go to, there are people playing music all the time. What more could you ask for?(Other than growing your own food I mean)

This week we bought!

A flat cabbage(We're gonna make some more of the cabbage soup! We both loved it!)
Blueberries(We want more ice cream)
Nectarines
Ranier Cherries
Cucmbers(I want to make Sweet pickles)
Potatoes
And!

Eggs

I think that's all we got this week

We still have a few things from last weeks farmers market. Like dragons tongue beans, one lonely pepper(I have plans for it), some carrots and parsnips that are going with the lamb into a shepherds pie!

Ohh all this lovely food! I'm so excited!

The ice cream turned out!

It's really really really good.

So I have been lacking in the whole nourishing thing the past few days.


We had pizza from pizza hut the other night. What a terrible idea to be honest. We both waited until it was way too late and we were both way too hungry.

I was full too quickly and I was hungry again way too quickly.

I was looking for a snack 2 hours later. That's not right at all. When I eat properly. So lesson learned right? So to fix this I've got a yummy smelling pot of potato leek soup on the stove, and I'm going to try to get a lamb shepherds pie started for sunday(I think Rene and I are going to be working opposite shifts at work on sunday, so we are going to have to eat at work. Ugh. Unless I can pack something easy for us before.... like the end of tonight... probably not.(but that's not sayin' I won't try)

We've managed to buckle our drying rack... Which sucks, because now one side doesn't support anything except socks... and I dunno if I have that many socks. But we are making it work. I've been trying to do my laundry every few days to make sure there is less stuff to stack on that thing. Rene is a just a lazy boy(Which I don't blame him for) so he lets his stuff pile up.

I've started writing letters again, I know it's not really very good for the environment, but it's very good for my heart. I love writing letters, and now that Feline(a very very very good friend of mine) is in japan, I'll defiantly be writing her more often, for the support. It's a hard place to be a foreigner.

I'm starting to get very excited to go to school again. And my sister is coming up here to visit next week so things are on the up and up.

Now if Rene can just get hired somewhere, life will be grand!

I'm trying to make some ice cream...

Except my ice Cream maker sucks... so I've resorted to leaving in in the freezer and running it in there for 10 minute spurts... I'm hoping it's going to work. I'll update on this later.

I emptied the fridge for breakfast this morning. We just had a big old hodge-podge of stuff fried up. I liked it. It was basically fried veggies with mushroom cream sauce on it.... Mmmmmm. Delicious.


So I found out why my pickles are hollow. There are 2 causes for this. Improper salt to water ratio and leaving the cucumbers too long in between harvesting and pickling are to blame for this. I found this answer in a book I bought yesterday. It's called the forgotten arts yesterdays skills adapted to today's materials It's a little 3 pack of books; "Jellies, Jams, Preserves, Conserves, Marmalades, Butters, Honeys and Leathers" and "Pickles, Relishes, Chutneys, Sauces and Catsups, Mincemeats, Beverages and Syrups" And Finally "The forgotten Arts. Growing, Gardening and Cooking with Herbs"

They are all really interesting. Lots of very good ideas.

(I just checked on the Ice Cream, it seems to be working)

Where does the time go?

I could swear I just posted last night! I apologize...(to all those people who don't actually read this, so I'm actually apologizing to myself haha)

I made sour pickles A la Nourished Kitchen

Very easy recipe. Ours have just come to fruition today... Well to be honest I didn't actually look at them till today.

Here's some pretty pictures of them.









Okay so... I'd like to point out that in the first picture the pickles actually look like they are trying to jet-pack(It's a verb now) out of the jar... In the second picture it looks like the juiciest pickle on the planet... Then... we look at exhibit C and notice my pickle is hollow...

I have no idea why this has happened... I though it was kinda weird when I tried to snap my pickle in half and it sounded like a car tire slowly deflating.. Not to say it has altered the flavor at all. It's just really weird. I'm going to try to figure out how and why this happened.

In other news.

I made this GREAT cabbage soup

I kinda followed this recipe. I think I used more milk and cream. But either way. It was great AND it lasted us all week eating for lunch and dinner, and neither of us got sick of it. I suggest it for everyone.

We've done the majority of our shopping at the farmers market the last 2 weeks. Which has turned out great. Food is just so much better when it's local. I'm sure there isn't a soul who would disagree.

I quit my job at safeway. The manager actually told me to quit. Then when I did the actual quitting, he told me I was making the biggest mistake of my life... right.

Rene and I are starting to realize the things that we need to have a smooth running house. a few of those things are a toilet brush, a vacuum(we are borrowing my uncles right now) and we've both mentioned wanted a blender(or something similar) in the past week. So I guess we start saving.

I've been brushing my teeth with soap for about 2 weeks now.(we're running low on toothpaste and to be honest. I don't really like the flavors we have... I don't really like the taste of any toothpaste....) I like it, my teeth feel cleaner after I'm done brushing. And... I dunno. My mouth isn't all minty and gross for HOURS(which is when you end up having orange juice for some reason right after and it's all.... you know the flavor). And I do really like the "olive oil" bar soap that I've been using, BUT I found these on Etsy. The seller is great and answered any questions that I had, and it sounds like they might taste a little bit better than what I am currently using. I'm really excited for it to come.


I think that is all that is new here. I really do have to try to update more often. I think the problem is that I've been trying to not turn my computer on some days so that I can encourage Rene not to(He's simply addicted to screens) so we do things like play cards instead. Then I get tired early.

Well. Hopefully I'll post again tomorrow or soon at least.

Have a good one!

Allright! Here's the score!

I started to write out a big post... then I clicked a link on a different page, and it opened in the window I was using to write. It's late now so I will be writing it out again tomorrow instead of now.
















:3 I'm making pickles tomorrow... I'm excited.

Rainy day :)

I love rainy days, it's the perfect excuse to snuggle up in a blanket with a nice hot tea and read a good book or watch a movie or just talk to someone. So I'm kinda happy that my day off is on a rainy day.

I'm going to go to the library, return my old books and get some new ones. Should be a good day!


One green thing I have already done today, is I deleted a BUNCH of emails I wasn't using. Like 3000 or so. All from .... Facebook. Horrible I know I know! I hate myself a little bit for it too don't worry! Most of the other emails I have are from my Dad, he likes to send all the corny forward emails. Some of them really make me laugh. It's a little pick me up some days.


Alright before I go I have some cute little comics from Sinfest(Don't read into the name too much):


Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Enjoy!

Hong Kong Phoey

My little Vietnamese boss LOVES ME and so does his wife.

Working for them is pretty damned cool the only thing I don't like is that their restaurant is DISGUSTING. And when I say Disgusting I mean it. I can handle some pretty dirty stuff. Any holy lots of waste. It kills me.

Either way. He's told me that if I ever have trouble with bills to tell him and he will help me, which is so sweet. He's a good guy.

He was also telling me about when he left Vietnam, he was on a boat for 7 days and all they had for food and drink was a tablespoon of water at night and in the morning. Jeeze!


ON to Other news!


I made pitas the other day.



I LOVE making these, you pop em in the hot oven and watch them for like 2 minutes and they get all puffy. Sometimes they look like they are going to explode like in the cartoons when characters are blowing bubble gum and it ends up all over the place.

Yeah. Pitas are the best.

We made pizzas with them after



Very yummy.

OH! And I finally managed to make a "dispenser" for my butt wipes (:P)



I've tired to make a smaller one for my nose wipes, but I didn't put a bottom on it so it just doesn't work. But I found a good way to cut out the box so next time I have some cardboard for recycling, I can make a good one for the nose wipes.

Right now we just pull them from the pile, but because they are flannel they really stick to each other. It frustrates me to no end when all I want it one and I get a string of 98 of the little suckers!


Has anyone heard of Retire your ride?

It seems like a cool idea. I would like to retire my ride, but I still need my beauty of a neon, plus I think the insurance company might be peeved since they just paid for like 9000 bucks worth of repairs in the past year.(Neither time was my fault. I wasn't even in the car for the one time)

ANYWAYS I'm rambling.

I'm going to bed.

I found the post!

That originally hooked me onto Nourishing Traditions!


Over and Nourishing Days

You should go read it if you have the chance.


And my new job is alright, the only thing is that it`s a little bit sketchy, because, from what I understand, they like to fire girls without any reason.

They just fired one guy today because he sang an "F sharp" in the kitchen.

Neat.

I have a mouth like a trucker.


I'll be fired tomorrow probably.(I'm working in the kitchen tomorrow, and I'm prone to cussing when I burn myself.

Should be fun

I've got another job

And I start in a few hours.

I will post after I get home.

The photos from yesterday

Here's my Vinegar and the Kombucha mother I'm trying to grow.



This is the loaf of bread that I made(It's almost gone :()





And finally this is the soup!

Changes and updates

I changed the name of my blog.... :3

I like this one a little bit more.(It's just Qute-er is all)


An update on our no spending and all that jazz.


We've spent no money yet(Wow, made it a whole 3 days) We have bought groceries though. I think this no spend thing is going to be really good for us because... well to be honest... We have no money. I'm only working part time, and Rene still hasn't had any luck with a job. It's pretty sad, but even if I didn't spend a dollar this next month, I'd still have to borrow money from my mother... Whom I love very very much and think is the best...

So. Not spending can only help.


In the kitchen.

I made the best loaf of sourdough today(well I baked it today) It's not SUPER dense like all my other loafs have turned out... I used a lot less flour than was called for, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it... Whatever it was, it worked!

So I had poached eggs and bread(I didn't want to toast it, it was so fresh and delicious) for breakfast, and just a bowl of yogurt for lunch, dinner was fresh, cabbage and pork soup.(I'm going to put some pictures up tomorrow. It's dark right now and I'm tire) It was delicious! I actually want some more soup right now. :P I'll have a banana instead.


I'm going to make some more pita bread tomorrow, so that We can have pita bread pizzas later in the week when the soup runs out. I'm excited to make them again.


In terms of laundry things are going good. There are only 2 very very small hiccups in the plan. 1 is that we can't squeeze all the juice out of out clothes so they are wet for a LOOOOOOONG time(It doesn't help that it's so darned cold not smoking hot out everyday now. I can't come up with something that we already have that we can use. If we had a real mop bucket that would work, and I can't really come up with a way of making one with what we have... Something will come up... It's just not coming right at this moment. The other thing is: everything feels kinda stiff, I think this is partially because of all the water that is in the clothes when they go out to dry. I can fix it a little bit by smashing my clothes around a bit when I take them off the line. They just aren't all fluffy like when you dry them in the dryer, Or even when they get washed in the washer... I'm going to figure this one out. It's not that I care THAT much about it, It's just so much of a challenge now. I want to figure it out. Any ideas?

Buy nothing Day 1

So yesterday was the fist day of the buy nothing challenge.

I'm proud to say that I didn't buy anything(Except groceries)

I'm in the middle of stomping my laundry and trying to make break at the moment though so I should get off the silly computer.

Just thought I'd drop by

I haven't been posting lately because I finally have a job. I'm a cashier at Safeway. I haven't actually started real work yet. I'm just training.

Anyways.

I've been eating mostly nourishing food. Right now we are very very very strapped for money, so we are just making sure to eat fresh food, not necessarily organic. Rene actually enjoys the bread that I make, so he's been eating that too. And we found some wonderful cheese from the organic store just down the street. It's very close to the flavor of Oka, so I love it.

I was catching up on my reading and I saw that Rachel at simple notebook wrote up a post on making Kombucha It's a very informative post! I'm really excited about it because she explains how she grew her own SCOBY. I'm going to be sure to try this as soon as I can get my hands on.... everything you need to make it. We don't have sugar in our house, nor do we have black tea, and I need more money to make it okay to buy these, BUT! It will happen and I will drink Kombucha fresh from my fridge!

I made sourdough pita breads last night. :)

I really really love that I have sourdough, because (1) it's better for you than using bakers yeast is and (2) I don't have to buy bakers yeast because I have sourdough, which means I get to keep the whole 3.50 I would have been spending on yeast.

I just had the last pita with tzatziki for breakfast. Yummy.

For anyone who is interested, here's where I got the recipe. It's a great site.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

One last though...

Yesterday We were walking around Southgate Mall looking for jobs.(Not much luck their, got a lot of dirty looks, I think it's because I look like I'm 15 or so...)

Anyways, I've been reading No Impact Man every chance I can get lately and one of his big things is that the government wants you to spend your money just to throw most of that stuff out and get new stuff. This "cycle" is very well illustrated here as well. I LOVE that video.

So back to my story, we were walking around the mall looking for those wonderful 2 little words "Help wanted" and I was just reading every sign that was up, just in case you know. One sign actually said "The more time and money you spend with us, the more points you get for the rewards you want" I saw a few other signs that had the same gist to them, but this one was so blatant. It should have just said "Hi, we are selling happiness. Come spend lots of money to get some."

Just something I noticed and wanted to share.

My(mostly) nourishing dinner(and lunch)!

Mmmm Rene and I enjoyed a(mostly) nourishing dinner of homemade pizza the other day!

The dough was homemade sourdough, the basil was organic, the tomatoes weren't exactly organic.. nor was the cheese made with raw milk(Hence the mostly nourishing part) but I made the pizza sauce!

It's really easy!

Pizza Sauce:

1 Medium onion coarsely chopped
4 Tomatoes coarsely chopped
2 Bay leaves
Fresh Oregano
Fresh Basil
Agave Syrup(Might not need it)
Dash of Olive oil
Small amount of water(Or chicken stock)

Put the onion and a little bit of oil in a sauce pan and gently fry until very soft and fragrant. Then add your tomatoes, oregano(Just the leaves, no stems, and add as much as you want, I used about a generous table spoon) Basil(Same thing as the oregano) and your 2 bay leaves. Also add about a shot glass full of water or chicken stock to this. Turn the heat down enough that you don't have to worry about the sugar in the tomatoes burning to the bottom of the pot, but hot enough to still cook your sauce(This was a lower medium high on my stove). Stir it every once and while, but for the most part you can just let it do it's thing. Once the tomatoes have dissolved for the most part, you need to make this sauce consistent, I have a flotte lotte that I use for this but you can use a stick blender, or whatever you have(Make sure you take the bay leaves out first). Then return it(and the bay leaves) to the heat and season it to your tastes, you can add pepper and salt if you like, or agave syrup if it's not sweet enough(Mine was fine without) you could also add garlic at the beginning when you add the tomatoes if you like. Let it simmer till it's a nice thick consistency, then use it. Simple.


The crust was just sourdough starter with some flour till it was a consistency I though was nice... and I let it rise for probably 5 hours. Not very precise.. and it ended up being almost too crunchy, we enjoyed it, but it wasn't how I wanted it to turn out. I'll use a recipe next time.

Then I assembled the pizzas and baked them :)




We liked it.


So an update on the laundry situation. I've been getting up, finding the laundry I want to wash, throwing it in the tub with some cold water and some soap. Then I let it sit for... like an hour or so. Then I stomp it and shake it till I figure it's washed, drain the tub, add some fresh water, repeat. Then it's a matter of wringing it out and hanging it.

Yesterday I had another brain wave though. Why can't the "rinse cycle" occur while I'm showering? I shower every morning anyways. There isn't anything in my shower routine that would mess up my clothes, or make them not clean. I tried it yesterday, it was perfect. Once I figured my clothes were good I just hung them up on the handy towel rack that someone installed in our tub(Kinda weird..) and finished up. Less time and water used.

I'm also going to start saving some of my shower water for rinsing my feet off during the day. It's super hot here in our lovely south facing apartment that doesn't have curtains, and my only salvation is dipping my feet in some water once and a while. But I feel bad using water just for that so if it was water that I used once already I wouldn't feel nearly as bad!

Perfect!

Isn't it?

P.S. I still don't have a job. I'm thinking about starting to sell some stuff...

We're gonna make it?

... I think I have a job...

Safeway called me back about my resume, I didn't get a chance to answer it when he called, Rene and I were having an argument, it over now though.

So I have to call Mr Robyn at Safeway back this morning to see just what he wanted to talk to me about my application. Hopefully he'll say "Hey, so... wanna start work in about 20 minutes? And of course I will say. "Why yes, thank you sir for this wonderful opportunity." And all will be well.


I made sourdough bread yesterday, It was really really good. It's the first time It's actually turned out for me. I don't know if I can convey just how excited I was that it did. It was basically the best day ever.

Things are looking up.

Picklezzzz

My pickles turned out great. I've been resisting eating them all right now. My only beef is that I used salt that is not refined at all, and there seem to be little chunks of dirt in my food as a result. Whatever, I can totally get around that. They are super yummy!

My Sourdough is also looking healthy now. Which is a big relief to me, it was looking kinda bleak for a while. But I've been feeding in 3 times a day for the past week(wasteful I know, but I'm determined to keep it alive) and it's been growing to at least double it's size in between it's meals. I think I will start some sour dough tonight before I go to bed! :3 And I will give a loaf to my uncle as thanks again for helping us move.

The house is still a mess.

I still don't have a job(I've been applying at new places every day.. what is going on here)

And I haven't tried any laundry yet. We'll see how that goes when I get to it. Anyways I'm trying to make hash browns now. Off to do that.

Just wanted everyone to know I love pickles!

What a smartie pants!

I had a total revelation this morning. And it's ALL thanks to no impact man! I was looking at his recent posts and one of them is about the documentary movie of his that is coming out soon(Which I'm super excited about) and while I was watching the preview it shows a quick clip of his whole family stomping around in the tub, and it looked like they were cleaning clothes, which gave me a revelation, WE COULD DO THAT! You see in our wonderful new living arrangement, you have to pay 2 freaken dollars to wash your clothes and I'm not okay with that, that is a lot of money man. I've been looking at the costs of getting a portable washing machine, but the cheapest one I saw so far is 200-ish dollars, but that's in american... and I frankly don't have that kinda money, so I'd like to introduce you to my new washing machine:

She's a bute. :3 Best part... NO electricity. Just the water I need to wash and rinse the clothes.

I'll update you all how this experiment goes...

... I still don't have a job...



My pickles are... coming along... I'm assuming... It is very hard having to wait to eat them. I really really want to try them. I'm just hoping the little system I have going here isn't going to kill us... I know it's open, but there aren't any bugs in out apartment. So it should be alright. Right?

I've got 2 days of nourishing eating under my belt. My tummy feels great. My broth turned out great. I've discovered a great new snack, A cup of broth with salt and pepper and a small handful of green onions. Yummy. It was really nice. Rene even liked it.

We are going to be participating in the buy nothing challenge:



This should be interesting for Rene and I, but I think it will be a good thing for us. Teach us not to buy stuff so impulsively and whatnot. And we will eat out, Plus if we don't find jobs.... we are gonna have to play "Buy nothing for the rest of our lives challenge cause we are living on the street now challenge."

...

I'm a positive person I swear....

Hello world...

went out and applied for jobs today. Sent out 4 whole resumes into the world. Everyone can cross their fingers for me. I need a bloody job.

All the jobs I applied for were at clothing stores... This is a new job for me. I've done tons of customer service jobs before, but never a clothing shop.

Anyways.

I've started so lacto-fermenting. We are going to have radishes in a few days. I'm drooling just thinking about it. MmmmMm. I've also started putting some life back into my sourdough starters. AND I'm making broth. All this in the last few hours to be honest.

I'm excited to start eating some good food again. I'm tired and irritable right now and I don't like it at all. I know part of it is because I'm not sleeping right(there is no existing schedule anymore)but part of it is because we have been eating out and when we eat at home it's not great food. Oh just thinking about all the good food I will be eating soon makes me tummy happy with me.


In other news, Rene is going to try washing his hair with baking soda and vinegar. He's hoping it will help with is dandruff I don't see why it wouldn't. It's SO much cheaper than shampoo too. We bought a box of baking soda for less than a dollar.(Mind you it's not the aluminum free kind, we tried but it was like 10 dollars for about half a cup of it.... not really plausible for us.) So anyways I'm very excited that he's on the bandwagon with me. He kinda started today. Since he's got really short hair. I doubt he's going to have to much trouble with the whole thing.(Lucky guy)

Alright. That's all I got for now.

I'm kinda alive...

I'm freshly moved, sick and jobless.

I will post some new stuff in a day or so, right now I'm feeling the no job crunch!

Ohhhhhhh my tummy

I am currently on vacation with my family in Hawaii(I know I know, I don't wanna hear about it) and I AM DYING! We have been eating out a lot and cooking here, the only thing is. It's not any of the "Nourishing" foods my tummy is used to. So I am not feeling the greatest to tell the truth. It's impressive how quickly you get used to good food when it's around, and how spoiled you are for the crappy food there is around you when you don't have the choice.

On the plus side, the local grocery store sells a lot of organic foods so I've been buying some of that for myself and eating it when no one is looking(My family thinks I'm a freak now since I don't wash my hair or eat sugar(Which has completely gone out the window lately)) and I have found kombucha and will be making it once I get home, moved and settled. It's great, I did't think that I would be a fan of it when I heard about how it can have a sour taste to it, but I was wrong, and me oh my is it ever refreshing when it's hot out. MMmMMmMM.

Anyways, apparently I'm sitting in the wrong seat as my sister keeps walking past me and sighing as loudly as she can, so I'm going go get ready to go home!(as much as I love vacations, I love being home and I am missing Rene so very much!)

Moving...

Apologies on the lack of posting, life has been absolutely crazy lately, we are moving.

Which for us, is involving a lot of headaches. BUT! Fear not, we have a place to live lined up, all of our belongings are being moved up to Edmonton tomorrow.(They will be living at my uncles house for a little bit while we wait to get up there. Plus It's all going in one big trailer) Now we just have to survive with a suitcase of stuff each until we get our butts up there. The crappy thing is we have to go to Edmonton this weekend so that we can sign the lease, or we can't have the place, but ya know, what ya gonna do about it(I know driving is terrible, but once I've moved I promise I'll try my hardest not to.)


Anyways, on to whats new.

There are virtually no paper products in our house! We use napkins for dinner, and have cloths for cleaning. I've also made up a box of "reuse-able tissues" and butt wipes(I only use them for #1 and Rene doesn't use them at all to be honest) When I was making the tissue ones(we don't mix the two) Rene actually asked me if we could still please buy toilet paper for him. But he's totally okay with the nose wipes. We have almost ZERO chemicals in the house. The only thing we have really is Rene's Shampoo and body soap that he got for his birthday last year. He's going to keep using shampoo and if he wants to I'm not going to fight him. We are trying really hard not to use plastic bags and the only time one comes home is either if we are in town and shopping and we don't notice that we've picked up what we bought in a plastic bag till we are out of the store(It's happened when we are talking about something) Or when Rene has to go grocery shopping without me(I keep my bags in my car, I need to get him a set of them to have(And we need to get him a backpack but that's another story. We've been trying to follow our new neighbors around and turn off all the lights after them and whatnot, but it's easier said than done(They leave the door to the house wide open some nights for peat sake!) It's hard to survive without lights on here since it's our only source of light being in the dank cold windowless basement, but that will change soon enough!


I got the books that I ordered the yesterday. The list includes:

The Urban Homestead
Nourishing Traditions
Wild Fermentation

The Urban Homestead I've only read maybe the first 100 pages, but it is PACKED with great info! I will most certainly be implementing many things from this book when we move. I really really really would like to grow our own lettuce for salads, I always find when I buy a head of lettuce it always winds up in the very back of the fridge going bad, then I find it and get angry that I didn't use it. I think growing my own would solve that very well, because who doesn't love to eat food fresh?

I had to order Nourishing Traditions again, I lent the other copy I had out to a friend, and had actually planned on giving a copy to her, but she's had the original copy for over 2 months now so I figured it was time to cut my losses and get a new one for me. I'm so happy it's back. I have stock bubbling on my stove right now(I'll freeze it to move it with us.) I really really reallllllly want to try making kvass, I have no idea why but it sounds absolutely DELICIOUS!(I'll probably hate it when I make it.

And finally Wild Fermentation, It looks good so far, the book has a small bit on making your own cheese, so I'm pretty much sold on it. It has alot of similar ideas to the nourishing traditions, but seems to expand upon it more, there is a Big section on wines and vinegar which is cool to me, I could end up making my own vinegar for washing my hair! That's kinda exciting to me. That would be ecologically sounds AND be far better for me than plain ol white vinegar.


Speaking of hair I'm still shampoo free(2 month and counting), I only use handmade soap that I know what's in it, I moisturize with coconut oil(LOVE IT!) and I also use coconut oil for just about everything!

We've been trying to eat healthy here, it's hard, the food at work is terrible and I don't have the time or patience to deal with cooking. I basically feel sick all the time, I've ruined myself on normal food and I'm okay with that to be honest. I'm hoping We can grow enough food on our new balcony to cut our grocery costs abit(alot) when we move...


Anyways this is really long, and I'm worn out from moving stuff and being a big stressball!

Peace out boys and girls. We will talk to you all later.

Oh golly jeeze.

Wow, so, last week the upstairs of the house we are living in became, habited(I'm not sure if that is a word, I'm just trying to say some peopole moved in upstairs), They've taken over the whole house, It's just plain stupid.

They moved all of our furniture we had on the deck, they've FILLED the laundry room with their own clothes(and it's PACKED in) They constantly have water on, they ALWAYS HAVE EVERYLIGHT IN THE HOUSE ON, they stomp around all the time, they've helped themselves to my parking spot and they are just plain rude.

They are so messy, and inconsiderate it's killing Rene and I. Now I'm not complaining I'm just stating.

The nice thing is that I'm acutally housesitting for some people right now so I don't have to be home all that often. Plus we are moving in like 2 weeks.


BUT I'm out of time becuase I have to go with Alian to violin in an hour and I haven't done anything of the sort of getting ready since I got up.

Hello out there.

How are things in the rest of the world? Here where I am, it's freezing cold! The weather was making a turn for the better, then it got all rainy and gross out today. Oh well. It's foretasted to get nice on Wednesday again, but then it's saying it's going to snow again! We live so high up on the mountains that it will probably rain at our house(Just when all the snow finished melting from the last snow. Needless to say I'm ready for the hot weather to set in.

I finally finished messing around with the layout of the blog. Not that anyone actually reads this, but it still makes me feel better.

I read Green Chic. A book I picked up on my recent trip to Edmonton to look for apartments. I really liked it, not only does it give a lot of tips for being good to the earth, it gives you TONS of tips about being good to you and what to look for when you are buying things, and the WHY. Things are put into prospective. I'd recommend it for anyone who is at all interested in conservation or their own personal health.

Anyways. I'm out of time as I need to be getting back to my house.

Hey, how are things?

Things are good. Rene and I are getting along fantastically(for the most part). My hair looks good, especially after I got it cut a few days ago. I've managed to keep myself from wasting too much(I wish I could say the same for Rene, but his friend is here from out of town and his friend is terrible and doesn't respect anything that I'm doing(including recycling and locking the door when he leaves)). I'm happy. Things a good.

There is one thing that isn't good.

I should be working.

I'm not.

I'm supposed to "start" working tomorrow, and I will be, but I haven't told my boss that I am looking for another job as well. I won't lie, I feel terrible about it, but what can you do really. I'm hoping I get this other job I applied for, it's closer to home so I could walk, and it's working at a pub, so I know my hours will closely match Renes' which will help lots.

So I'm headed into town tomorrow(Job permitting) to go to the fabric store for some fabrics. I want to make my own "Meat bags" You know the little plastic bag that they insist on wrapping your freshly bought chicken, beef and pork in at the store so that it doesn't contaminate your other food. I'm hoping to find something to make my own out of. And I have to finish making a bunch of produce bags for my mum who bought tons of fabric for it last year and I'm a lazy sac and have just let it all sit there for the past 12 months or so.

Anyways I feel like my time on the internet is up for now. I have to go home.

A little update

I'm currently moving into with my boyfriend, things are going okay, we are about ready to kill each other on some matters, but we get over it pretty quickly, and we are both pretty forgiving of each other(He is extremely forgiving to me and I love him for it)

The thing that is kinda lame about our situation, is that I'm moving into his place, because his roommate has left the city, but he left so suddenly that he hadn't even packed up his stuff, so Rene and I have been doing that, and let me tell you, this is not one roommate I could have ever even hoped to have lived with, the whole place was disgusting, Rene and I hadn't really noticed before because we spent most of our time at my parents house(Yeah I know, I still lived with my family, I'm lame, I know I know) We've been cleaning for a week and I still haven't even gotten anywhere near cleaning the bathroom. Ugh.

What has been really nice is that Rene lets me be as earth friendly as I want, meaning during this whole cleaning attack, we haven't used a single chemical, and we have recycled just about everything. I just have to find a way to get the clog out of the bathroom sink, I'm going to try the baking soda and vinegar treatment, if that doesn't work.... I dunno what I'm gonna do yet.

Anyways, so about me and myself, I haven't shampooed my hair for, 9 days now. and I personally thing my hair is looking good, the only thing is, my hair is very prone to getting knotted up, especially when it's this long(Shoulder length, I like my locks short) So I do fight it a little bit in the shower, but that's fine, I can live with that. I've only been using baking soda every second day, and have been using vinegar everyday, seems to be working out, I'm happy so far, the best part is no one has said anything like "Man, you look like you need a shower." so I know I can't look too bad.

My adventure with the Diva cup went a lot better than some of the horror stories I read.

I've donated tons of stuff to the local hospital axillary thrift store, since I'm moving out and all(again) I'm getting rid of as much of my clutter as I possibly can. I think I'm doing a good job, I know I'm saving alot of stuff I really could do without, but....... sometimes I just like to hold onto memories.


Anyways I have to pack up a few more things so i can go back to my house(I still haven't moved my internet up to Rene's place... I'm so lazy)

My efforts in greening myself, and making myself healthier

For the past few months I have been reading LOTS of peoples efforts at being greener, healthier, and more frugal. I like to think I'm a pretty open person, I am up for the trying anything once, so all of the blogs and just plain LISTS of things people can and have done to better themselves and their surroundings I've become inspired to change myself and my surroundings. So I'm making a list of things I Do, Am trying and want to try.

I DO:

Recycle(Doesn't everyone and their dog do that now though?)
Try to buy locally or organically
Eating more "nourishing foods"

I AM TRYING:

The Diva Cup(And so far I love it... lots, it's never ever been this effortless and there is no waste)
To get rid of things I don't need to use
To not use shampoo

I WANT TO:

Stop using unneeded paper products(Paper towel, and maybe even *gasps* toilet paper(If I can man up enough))
Start making alot of my own stuff(Foods, soaps, whatever I can really)


I guess that's it for now since I acutally started writing this post a few days ago and I just kinda want to get it out there.

I will be a blogger

I have in fact officially decided that I am going to start blogging.

What will I be blogging about? Mostly my efforts in becoming more frugal, healthy, and a bit of an environment junkie.

Yay.