8.31.2007

Let's talk about food

It's Friday again so I am throwing out another green living tip.

This week: Buy Locally

Our food choices have more effect on this planet than anything else we do so by supporting small sustainable farmers and buying food that doesn't travel thousands of miles to your plate you are greatly reducing your ecological footprint. There are two really simple ways to do this which won't cost you a fortune. First, check out your local farmer's market. The produce is ofter cheaper than the grocery store and definately fresher, plus you can talk to the people who grow your food. The farmers at the market know first hand how the food was grown and can give you tips and tricks for preparing it. Another great way to support your local farmers is to find a farm you like and buy a CSA share. CSA stands for community supported agriculture and essentially you are buying a share of a farm for a year which supports the farmers. You will get a weekly or bi-weekly box of produce throughout the summer and into the fall. If the farm does well, you will receive plentiful boxes of produce, but if they do poorly you will get smaller, less diverse baskets. No matter what, you make your community stronger by supporting a struggling small farmer.

Great resources:
100 mile diet- Great site about Eating locally
Local Harvest- Directory of CSA's throughout the country

8.29.2007

Cool treats for hot dogs

We live in the south so we have hot and humid summers which aren't great for doggies with lots of fur like Astrid. Even when she is shaved her coat is too heavy for her to play outside for long periods during the hottest months. One of the treats that we really like to get her are the Frosty Paws that they sell at the grocery store. If you haven't seen these, they are little tubs of doggie ice cream. A few years ago I decided to make my own doggie ice cream instead of paying $4 for a four pack and a ton of packaging. I freeze them in ramekins, but you can use an ice cube tray or a wide mouth plastic container like margarine or cream cheese comes in. I like reusable containers because they make this a waste-free treat for Fido.

Doggie freezer treats
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
3 cups water
2 very ripe bananas
In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the peanut butter and the water until you can no longer see the water. Mash the bananas into the peanut butter mixture and blend until smooth. Divide the mixture among six ramekins (or containers of your choice) and freeze until solid.

Makes 6 ramekin servings.
Another treat that Astrid loves is frozen peas. We buy them in the reclosable bags so we can grab just what we need. We discovered this when making a curry one night, I tried to open the bag of frozen peas and it exploded all over the floor. Astrid rushed at the peas and ate as many as she could get to before us. After that, every time she saw the bag of peas she would stand on her hind legs and beg for them so they became a treat. What weird things do your dogs love?

8.24.2007

Cotton addiction and my SP

Hi, my name is Robyn and I am addicted to kitchen cotton. It started as a quiet hobby, I would buy kitchen cotton and crochet it into a hat or tam which I would then immediately sell. There was no stashing in those days; the cotton came in and the cotton went out. Then, I started knitting and the kitchen cottons weren't doing it for me. I started moving into more exotic fibers and my kitchen cottons started to form a little pile at the bottom of my stash.

Then, in the spring of 2006 I bought a copy of Mason Dixon Knitting which revived my love for kitchen cottons. I started using the cottons in my stash to knit dishcloths and baby kimonos. Suddenly, people started giving me balls of kitchen cotton to add to my stash which was growing faster than I could knit it. Today I have about eight pounds of kitchen cotton and of that I bought about 8oz. My problem is that I can't stop accepting the balls of cotton yarn, I always think to myself "I can use that to make something useful" and I just can't turn them down. I also can't seem to purge them from my stash so the only way to get rid of them is to knit them into something useful. I started knitting ball band dishcloths last week and now I have 10 complete and plan on doing another 10 in the next week. Some of these will be given as gifts and some will move into my kitchen towel drawer to be used for general kitchen stuff (wiping counters, potholders, napkins, etc.) A few of the uglier ones might go under the bathroom sink for cleaning in there since I am trying to phase out disposable sponges.

I also received my first Secret Pal package which has to be some sort of record. The box was stuffed with pink tissue paper and the whole package seemed to have a pink and tiki theme. My pal sent a tiki pitcher, plate and coaster set, some tropical napkins and butterfly stirrers for the bar, two yards of super cute pink fabric, some beaded trims, and a stained glass window hanging. She also included a postcard from Boston which I can only assume is a clue. This was truly a great package, thank you secret pal!!

Earthday Fridays

In an attempt to blog more, I am designating every Friday as Earthday at Sweet Little Domestic Life. Every Friday I am going focus on a green product or activity that will make the world a cleaner place.

This week: Greening my Mail

I was cleaning my house the other day which involves making piles of papers to shred and papers to recycle. Over 90% of these papers were bills, bank statements or junk mail. I pay many of my bills online or by phone, but on most of my accounts I never bothered to set up online bill pay. The problem is that every company handles their bill paying differently and so set-up can be a bit of a pain. There are centralized billing systems like My Check Free, but they don't do billing from every company. You can also pay bills online through your bank, but you will still get the physical bills in the mail which means just as much waste. It took me about an hour to set-up an online account with all of my companies and to cancel my physical billing statements. I also set up an online account with my bank and canceled the statements that come to my house which, considering my latest encounter with bank fraud, is something that I should have done a long time ago. Now the only bill that will come to my house is the water bill (because the water company has no option for paperless billing, yet.)

After stopping all of the bill mail I felt really liberated so I decided to move on to the junk mail. It ends up that stopping the bills is much easier than stopping the junk. The average American receives almost 600 pieces of junk mail every year; can you imagine what that looks like in a landfill? There are about a million types of junk mail and each has to be controlled in a different way. Since I don't want to devote all of my free time to stopping the junk I just took a few basic steps which should stop the majority of my unwanted mail. First, I removed my name from the DMA and Direct Mail lists. Then, since most of my unwanted mail is credit card offers, I called the opt out number (800-567-8688) which is used by the three major credit bureaus. All of these services remove your name for five years so it is definately worth the few minutes it takes to do it. Alternately, if you are lazy and have money to burn, you can pay $41 to have these people remove you from dozens of lists (and 1/3 of the fee goes to non-profits so they aren't totally evil capitalists.)

8.19.2007

Amalfi Ristorante

When Philip and I lived in Norfolk, our favorite restaurant was an Italian place up the street from our apartment called Amalfi Ristorante Italiano. Almalfi's isn't like your typical Italian restaurant that only offers pasta with a marinara sauce for the vegans, they have a vegan menu including spaghetti with meatballs, vegan calamari, soy cheese pizza, vegan chicken dishes, and vegan cheesecakes.

The first time we went to Almalfi's, I ordered the Rigatoni alla Battista, a rigatoni pasta with an incredibly creamy tomato sauce, and it is still my favorite dish they serve. I have tried to make a similar sauce, but I could never seem to emulate the creaminess of the dish at home, until now. Last week a vegan tomato cream sauce recipe was posted on the Vegan Yum Yum blog and I found the ingredient that I had been missing, tofutti cream cheese. Of course, thick and creamy, the toffuti was exactly what my sauce was missing.

With the recipe in hand, a few pounds of organic tomatoes from my dad's garden, and some fresh basil I was ready to try again.


I changed the Vegan Yum Yum recipe a bit by adding more tomatoes and I blended them a little less to create a chunkier sauce. I also added fresh basil and cracked pepper. Next time we make the sauce we are going to cook the tomatoes into a tomato sauce before adding the Tofutti; I think this will make the sauce creamier.

8.16.2007

More SP questions

The latest round of Secret Pal has begun. I recieved my match the other day and I must admit that I am very excited about my new partner and I can't wait to start spoiling her. I posted my SP questions and answers a couple of weeks ago and put the link in my sidebar, but Shelby also challenged us to post a few more questions and answers for a chance to win some handpainted sock yarn so how could I refuse?

Here are the questions:

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?
Other than the obvious needles and yarn, I would have to go with my ball winder and swift. I hate balling yarn and without these I would be limited to knitting yarns that are preballed. I love several other accessories including my stitch markers, my needle gauge, and katcha counter, but I could definately live without them.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If
so, how much and what type of project?
I always take knitting with me. I generally take about four times as much knitting as I can complete in my time away. I like to have a variety so I usually have a sock, a project that requires little thinking like a scarf or a stockinette sweater and a project that requires a lot of thought like lace. On my last trip I took a lace scarf, a crocheted frog, and Sheldon the turtle from knitty.

3. Where have you traveled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?
I have been to every state east of the Mississippi and a few places out west. To date, our trip to Oregon was my favorite because were completely secluded in the mountains with no phone or internet which forced me to relax.

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?
I own and love EZ's Knitting Without Tears, she was such a smart woman.

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
I just started listening to podcasts again and right now my favorite is Stash and Burn. I also really like the Craft Magazine Pattern Podcast although you don't listen to it.

8.08.2007

Vegan Chili Dogs

A few weeks ago I was wandering through the grocery store and I noticed a can of Skyline chili sauce. For those of you not in the Midwest, Skyline is one of the more dominate brands of Cincinnati-style chili. When I was a kid I remember my dad taking us to Skyline and Gold Star for chili dogs and suddenly I had the urge to create a vegan version of one of my childhood favorites. This recipe is still a work in progress, but it comes out so delicious I don't mind posting it before I master it.

Vegan Cincinnati-style Chili
1 package boca or morning star crumbles
1 Tbsp Earth Balance
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 packet chili seasoning mix
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp grated dark chocolate
Cayenne pepper to taste
In a skillet, grill the crumbles until they are thawed and hot. Add the earth balance to the crumbles and mix until it is completlely melted. Next, add the chili seasoning, tomato sauce, and water. Stir everything together and reduce the heat to medium-low. Now add the cinnamon and chocolate. Continue cooking on medium-low heat until chili is desired thickness (thicker for hot dogs, thinner for pasta.) Taste the chili and add cayenne pepper if you like it spicier. Serve over boiled smart dogs and cover with cheddar Follow your Heart cheese. Makes 8 servings.

8.06.2007

Crochet patterns

If all crochet patterns were written like this I would definately crochet more. Why must we complicate things when this is all you need?

8.01.2007

Vegan Pal 2

Vegan Pal 2 is underway and this one is a magic yarn ball swap! The sign-ups are over at Swapbot and all of the information can be found on the Vegan Pal 2 blog. The first round was a blast and the second round is going to be bigger and better so go sign up.

Here's my Vegan Pal 2 Questionaire

1. What is/are your craft(s), & how long have you been doing it/them?

Technically, I have been knitting and crocheting for 10 years, but until a few years ago I primarily crocheted, now I primarily knit. I have been spinning for about 8 months and I am very much a novice, but hopefully after the workshop next month I will be rockin'. Other than that I like to sew, embroider, and reconstruct stuff.

2. Are you a vegan, vegetarian, veg-curious, veg-friendly or other?

I consider myself all of the above.

3. What is/are your favorite color(s)? Do you particularly dislike any color(s)?

I really like warm colors like reds and oranges, but I also love fall colors like rich browns. I hate salmons, peaches and any other pink with yellow in it.

4. Do you have any allergies (such as pets, foods, fibers or cigarette smoke)?

I am very allergic to cat dander. :(


5. Do you have any companion animals? If so, name(s) and type(s)?*

I have a bichon-westie mutt dog named Astrid. She is the queen of our house and our universe.

6. Do you collect anything?

What don't I collect? I collect Catholic paraphernalia, especially thing relating to Mary, pin-ups, tiki stuff, mini plastic snow globes from airports, and now spoons from around the world (I found a collection at a yard sale so I consider myself a collector.)

7. Do you have a favorite vegan food, snack or dish? If no fav that's vegan (for those who aren't vegan), what's your favorite food? (Hopefully your pal can find a vegan version!)

I love the Alternative Baking Company's coconut macaroons and yesterday I had a piece of Thia peanut seitan jerky from primal strips and it was incredable. I don't really eat a lot of snacks, but I am always up for trying something new. As far as regular food goes, there are to many to name- Thai and Indian are my favorites.

8. What are some of your favorite/least favorite tastes/flavors? (e.g. sweet, salty, chocolate, crunchy, smooth, tart, sour, spicy, thai, whatever - Help your pal get a feel for what kind of recipes you might like and/or never ever make.)

I like sweet, a little salty, smooth, tart, sour, rich, creamy, cilantro and basil are big herbs in my kitchen.

9. What tools/supplies/accessories for your craft(s) are you wishing you had but don't? Also, what do you have TOO many of? (basically a wish and anti-wish list)

Wish- I am crocheting more these days and I am really getting into making little amigurumi creatures so I would love small crochet hooks (F or smaller), yarn for amigurumi, or amigurumi patterns (I love these, these, these, and these.) I also love crafty zines so send me something I can't get at the store.

Anti-wish- I don't want any magazine subscriptions or aluminum, plastic or bamboo knitting needles.

10. What type of handmade item would tickle your fancy? What don't you like? (Keep in mind this swap is open to all types of crafters.)

I would love a sewn bag with lots of inner compartments that will magically organize my life. I love handmade drop spindles and handmade stitch markers. I don't like anything country, if you can find it at a Cracker Barrel it doesn't belong in my life. I like things that look handmade, a little rough around the edges (for you Cracker Barrel types that does not mean you can throw some straw into the mix.)

11. Is there anything else you would like your pal to know about you?

No matter what I will love the ball you put together.

12. What scents do you like/dislike?

I love the smell of Nag Champa, sandlewood, and citrus. I hate the smell of lavendar, chocolate, and most fruity scents.

13. Do you prefer fall or Halloween or some other Autumn theme?

I love Halloween, but I really don't want a package full of cheap plastic spiders and other things that I will just throw away so unless you have alternate plans go with the Fall theme. I don't mean for this answer to sound rude, I am just trying to reduce the waste in my life.

14. Just for fun - tell your favorite Halloween or Autumn related memory.

When I was in college I used to go out to this orchard with a pumpkin patch almost every weekend in the fall. The leaves were falling and the air was crisp and filled with the smell of fresh baked apple pie and apple cider. It was everything that fall should be.