Save Some Green by Saving Your Greens

Dear Sisters,

I realize that I may be a little late catching this wave, but I'm glad I finally caught it nonetheless. We try to drink green smoothies with every meal. Because, seriously, YUM. And because in my opinion, there is no better way to get so much nutrition so easily.

My only complaint about making green smoothies is the cost. When available, I try to buy local at the farmer's market or use from our own garden, but there is a large part of the year here in Wisconsin when that is not possible. (Maybe I should look into winter greenhouse gardening...hmmm...) In an effort to cut down on the cost (especially the cost of greens), I try to buy most of our ingredients at a big warehouse store. I can buy organic in large quantities for much less than at the grocery store around the corner. Yes, yes, I know...buy local, support your neighborhood grocery store, yadda yadda yadda. I know. And I try to do just that. However, there are times when the item or items I am purchasing are so much cheaper that it justifies the long drive to the warehouse store. The downside to buying at such a locale is the sheer bulk of the purchase. We are only a family of four, two of which are quite small in stature. How do I keep the greens from going bad before I get a chance to use them?


Say hello to one of my favorite kitchen appliances: The FoodSaver. I'm so in love with this thing that it has a permanent home on the counter top in my butler's pantry. I can think of at least a million reasons why every home should have a FoodSaver (especially at the low price at which one can now purchase it), but the latest reason I love it is the Wide-Mouth Jar Sealer. Yep, for a little over eight bucks, you too can own this beautiful  little accessory.


All of those wide-mouth canning jars we all have piled up in our basement can now be put to good use besides canning. The jar sealer goes over the top of the sealing lid on the jar and sucks the air out while sealing the lid. I then use a screw on ring, even though it isn't necessary. It can't be used for canning, but it can be used to keep things fresh. I use it for nuts, specialty flours, raisins, bulk spices...the possibilities are endless.

But my new favorite use is for preserving greens.

I pre-wash my greens and pack them in jars, seal and refrigerate. Each day, we use one or two jars of greens. You would be amazed how much longer they stay fresh. I also use this method to prepare salads for Rit's lunches. She just grabs a jar and goes. It cuts down on waste from plastic bags and better preserves the food. The jars and the sealer lids can be washed and reused.
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Now run out and buy one! You won't regret it.

Love, Kate

It’s Worth the Wait

Dear Amy,

“For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice.” 

John Burroughs

I truly believe that anything worth having is worth waiting for and working toward. Remember that saying we had on the kitchen tile growing up? “What we achieve too easily, we esteem too lightly.” So true. And so apparent in my life. I have found that I do appreciate more things I wait for, save for, work toward. They hold greater weight.

R and I have long wanted to move. We live in an absolutely adorable house full of charm and unique attributes. With all of the landings and stairways in this house, there are 11 different levels! However, having been built in the early 1930s, our house is small and chopped up into tiny rooms. They are fabulous rooms, mind you, but small rooms. It’s not a lot of square footage we seek, but a more spacious house—larger rooms, etc. Our house is technically considered a story and a half, which means that the entire second story floor has slanted ceilings that follow the roofline.

It was inconvenient, but very doable for two people. Then the boys came. Now we feel packed into this tiny house with it’s tiny spaces. Since the boys arrived so suddenly, we really didn’t have time to think through where to put their rooms, where to fit their cribs and toys and clothes and assorted sundries.

So, we placed their bedroom in the most convenient room, the room that was the most easily replaced—the guest room. As we soon discovered, the new kids’ room was found lacking. For starters, it was directly inside the front door…NOISY. Second, it shared a wall with the kitchen…NOISY. Third, it was on the ground floor…COLD. Fourth, it’s 9’ x 11’…TOO SMALL for two cribs, a rocking chair and a dresser. Last but not least, the boys should not share a room at this point. They keep each other awake.

So, we put our house up for sale. I suffered through months of last-minute showings and interrupted naps, scrabbling to clean for the curious non-buyer. In the meantime, we could not find a house we wanted to buy. We were not falling in love with any standing structure within our town or the surrounding area. Huh.

So, we took our house back off the market. And we began working toward our goal…to build our dream house. We have made the decision to make this tiny house with no storage to speak of work for us for the next year and a half. With our low mortgage and new goal of living on half of R’s salary, we are saving toward our goal. We have always wanted a barn house….the kind of house that grows from within the structure of an old, salvaged barn that has been deconstructed, refurbished and reconstructed. I can’t wait! A green house built to our specifications…small, but spacious, with a place for everything.

Hence, my lack of posts recently. In an effort to make this house work for us for the next year and a half, we are moving all of the rooms around. The boys have moved upstairs. D is now in our old room (and has moved up to a toddler bed!), while Eric’s crib is in the small bedroom upstairs. We have moved downstairs to the 9’x11’ bedroom. It’s so small. With our queen bed, we scarcely have room to walk around. We have an attached bathroom that is the size of an extremely small closet. I’m still trying to sort through things and find a place for everything. For now, we are surrounded by piles and half-furnished rooms.

It’s been a hard adjustment, but I welcome the challenge of coming up with some creative storage solutions without adding to our “stuff.”

Before and after pictures to follow.

Wish me luck!

Love,

Kate

Hopes For The New Year

Dear Katie,

It's a beautiful day here in the West. The air is cold, but dirty. I just heard that we have the worst air quality in the nation; I guess that happens when you live between mountains. Hopefully that will improve!

This year I am excited to start some fun projects. I really hope I can get on top of scrap booking and doing a history for my children. I wish that some of our ancestors would have provided that for us. I wonder how they lived, how they felt when life didn't go as they had hoped. I also wish I knew how they parented, being the mother of six, I always like to hear other mothers' experiences. We know the basics about them, but that's about it. I want my kids, grand-kids, etc. to know how life was and to have great memories recorded that they can remember. DH mentioned last night that it is so nice to see old photos and realize that we really HAVE done FUN things with the kids.

I am also hoping to become more self-reliant. This will include the hoop house we are hoping to build in the garden. I'll send you photos of the progress. It should be an interesting experience! This should help us expand our gardening experience into more seasons and hopefully be able to use fresh veggies from our garden into the winter months.

I've also started sprouting seeds (alfalfa, clover etc.) and hope to learn more about that as well as soap making and making cheese. The cheese making will only happen if our goats kid this year. I would also like to learn more about green living. I'm not sure what that will entail at this point. It will be so fun to keep in touch with you this way and to share challenges and triumphs throughout this next year.

I hope it's a good day!
Amy