Well, if you have read any of my blog, you will know that I am a big local, organic food person. I already eat way less meat than I used to and I am working on finding local, humanely farmed meat for my heavy meat eaters. We eat only sustainable seafood even when we are at a restaurant. Chapter 6 did not really have anything new to me. I did like the "organic purchase priorities" on page 168. I use my own cloth bags for shopping (all shopping) and I even have mesh produce bags for those strange occasional when I purchase produce at a grocery store. If I forget my cloth bags, I just carry whatever I bought (I usually have Son and Daughter with me - that makes 6 armloads!).
Chapter 7 is about cleaning stuff. I adore the book Clean and Green by Annie Bond. I refer to it regularly when we have something out of the ordinary to clean up. I keep the following cleansers in the house: vinegar, baking soda, borax, washing soda, lavender essential oil, and tea tree essential oil. I do use some commercial cleansers too. The company Ecover provides my concentrated laundry liquid, detergent for the automatic dishwasher, dishwashing soap, toilet bowl cleaner, and a soft scrub cleanser. I have a carpet cleaner, but use it pretty much all the time with plain warm water. Occasionally we have cat urine to clean up and I do use an enzyme to deal with that.
What about cleaning tools? We have a squeegee for cleaning mirrors, windows, and the shower walls. We have a large array of cloths for cleaning including those designated for greasy or otherwise dirty jobs. We have a dust mop for the wood and cork floors which has a removable and washable head. Our string mop head can be thrown in the washing machine as well.
We have a sepetic system and don't put anything down the toilet but the usual and small amounts of TP (recycled of course - Seventh Generation). When it needs help though, we have an array of plungers, plumbers snakes, and baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water to help keep it clean.
The only thing I can think of do to improve my green cleaning is to get a smaller house (more on that later)!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Big Green Purse - Chapter 5
Chapter 5 of the Big Green Purse is all about coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate. I did not find much I could improve on here. We don't drink coffee, but I already purchase fair trade, shade grown, organic coffee (Cafe Altura) to offer guests. When we make coffee, we use unbleached coffee filters with our little 4 cup coffee pot and have a large french press pot. All our tea is currently from Celestial Seasonings. I purchase fair trade hot cocoa mix from Equal Exchange. As for chocolate, we love Endangered Species bars (ethically traded, shade grown, and sometimes organic) and the organic Earth Balls put out by Sunspire.
So what can I do better?
I use a fair amount of green decaf tea to make kombucha and herbal teas. I can make sure to purchase fair trade tea as loose tea leaves. Also, on Page 138, the author mentions that you easily decaffeinate your own loose tea leaves - so I will try that (pour boiling water over loose leaves, let steep for 30 sec, pour water off, pour more boiling water on leaves and brew). I think that I will also experiment more with growing herbs that can be made into tea (like peppermint).
Today I got a container of Dagoba cocoa to try (fair trade, shade grown, organic). I'd love to have more local stores which sell fair trade, shade grown, organic chocolate yummies for the kids to enjoy. Which companies should I start writing to... :)
So what can I do better?
I use a fair amount of green decaf tea to make kombucha and herbal teas. I can make sure to purchase fair trade tea as loose tea leaves. Also, on Page 138, the author mentions that you easily decaffeinate your own loose tea leaves - so I will try that (pour boiling water over loose leaves, let steep for 30 sec, pour water off, pour more boiling water on leaves and brew). I think that I will also experiment more with growing herbs that can be made into tea (like peppermint).
Today I got a container of Dagoba cocoa to try (fair trade, shade grown, organic). I'd love to have more local stores which sell fair trade, shade grown, organic chocolate yummies for the kids to enjoy. Which companies should I start writing to... :)
The Universe Has Provided
Anne over at Shine With Unschooling always talks about how everything is As It Should Be and how the Universe Provides for us all. I often wonder what takes the darned Universe so long sometimes. But this week, All Is Well. Our biggest issue by far is friends. We are a smidge more liberal and free with our thoughts and kids than many other homeschoolers who are geographically close to us. Ok, more than a smidge. Maybe a Grand Canyon separates us sometimes. So this causes problems making and keeping friends. I can go online and have many of my needs met. My couple of In Real Life friends are so busy and sometimes I can't just wait for them to have time for me. But Son - wow now that is another story completely. He craves social company. He needs it. And right now, he really wants similar age guys to hang with. He is 10. Its only going to become a more important issue is what I figure. And very soon it will involve the opposite sex as well.
How did the Universe provide, you ask? We have known this one family since Son was 1.5 years old. There is a same age boy as Son, a fabulous Friend Mom and interesting Dad, a fun daughter who passes down many clothes to my Daughter, and a younger person as well. Friend Mom and I have maintained our friendship through the Pink Shirt incident (teasing about boys wearing pink), kids avoiding each other, disinterest, and many years. Friend Mom came over to our house monday to hang out with Son and Daughter while I went on a date with my husband. First one without kids since we had kids! Wouldn't you know it but Friend Mom's son (M) and daughter (A) came with her to play. All kids and adults had a fabulous time that night. M asked when he could come back. Tuesday of course! M came over yesterday for about 3.5 hrs and again Son and M had a great time. Today Son gets to see his cool friend C which is super cool because we had to go more than a week without seeing C and his family due to illness.
Happy Thanksgiving! We have a lot to be Thankful for!
How did the Universe provide, you ask? We have known this one family since Son was 1.5 years old. There is a same age boy as Son, a fabulous Friend Mom and interesting Dad, a fun daughter who passes down many clothes to my Daughter, and a younger person as well. Friend Mom and I have maintained our friendship through the Pink Shirt incident (teasing about boys wearing pink), kids avoiding each other, disinterest, and many years. Friend Mom came over to our house monday to hang out with Son and Daughter while I went on a date with my husband. First one without kids since we had kids! Wouldn't you know it but Friend Mom's son (M) and daughter (A) came with her to play. All kids and adults had a fabulous time that night. M asked when he could come back. Tuesday of course! M came over yesterday for about 3.5 hrs and again Son and M had a great time. Today Son gets to see his cool friend C which is super cool because we had to go more than a week without seeing C and his family due to illness.
Happy Thanksgiving! We have a lot to be Thankful for!
Dark Days Challenge Meal #2
I was going to blog about our sunday meal as my 90% local meal but then I realized it was not very different from last week's meal. How yummy but boring! So instead, two days ago we had a simple chicken salad, homemade pita bread, and a salad. The chicken salad contained: leftover roasted chicken (5 miles), apples (about 8 miles, lacinato kale (15 miles), carrots (8 miles), and raisins (California) with a dressing of mayo (Hain brand but from far away) and mustard (Annie's brand but from far away). The homemade pita bread used wheat from Pittsburgh that I ground myself, salt, honey (25 miles), yeast (in a jar but from where?). If I had made this with the whey leftover from cheesemaking, it would have been even yummier! The salad had a mesclun mix base (15 miles), homemade mozzarella cheese (using 25 mile milk), oil and ume plum vinegar dressing, and more of those far away raisins. Sorry no picture today!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Evolution of Today's Learning
Daughter asked to learn about China today. We got out a book about China and started reading. It is one of those that goes through the alphabet and talks about something related to China for every letter. Page one of the book took us to the globe to see China's location. Talk changed to Daughter saying " It must be summer in China because it is winter here". To the globe we go with a laser pointer. She sees the different spot sizes depending on where the laser pointer shines - northern hemisphere, equatorial region, or southern hemisphere. She decides that winter in Maryland happens at the same time as summer in Chile, but China has the same season as we do.
But what about Antarctica? Ever since Live Earth, we have had a fascination with Antarctica (did you see the super cool video of the band playing on the 7th continent - the research scientists that were wintering over made really cool music for Live Earth!). So what is winter like in Antarctica? And how do you get there? Luckily I know folks that have done the many leg trip to Antarctica so I can share that info! We talk about most folks going during the summer and how unique it is to winter over at the research stations there. Daughter says "What do you mean you can't leave during the winter?" Oh, well there was the Dr who needed her chemotherapy medicine air dropped to her so she could treat herself. Unfortunately the movie Ice Storm is not available at our library. And just last year there was someone who had to be flown out during winter because of a broken jaw (from a Christmas brawl?!). Wow, that medical evacuation cost over $200,000 Australian dollars!
Then we researched the airplane that did the evacuation using an ice strip - an Air Force C-130 Hercules. Tomorrow we are supposed to build a LEGO helicopter and see if we can get it into the playmobil cargo plane's aft hatch -- just like a C-130.
We went back to the China book and read A through M without stopping and then took a break to make a stir fry for dinner. In a wok not walk. She thought it was hilarious that those two words sounded the same and yet looked so different.
Pretty cool learning for a five year old on a saturday , eh?
But what about Antarctica? Ever since Live Earth, we have had a fascination with Antarctica (did you see the super cool video of the band playing on the 7th continent - the research scientists that were wintering over made really cool music for Live Earth!). So what is winter like in Antarctica? And how do you get there? Luckily I know folks that have done the many leg trip to Antarctica so I can share that info! We talk about most folks going during the summer and how unique it is to winter over at the research stations there. Daughter says "What do you mean you can't leave during the winter?" Oh, well there was the Dr who needed her chemotherapy medicine air dropped to her so she could treat herself. Unfortunately the movie Ice Storm is not available at our library. And just last year there was someone who had to be flown out during winter because of a broken jaw (from a Christmas brawl?!). Wow, that medical evacuation cost over $200,000 Australian dollars!
Then we researched the airplane that did the evacuation using an ice strip - an Air Force C-130 Hercules. Tomorrow we are supposed to build a LEGO helicopter and see if we can get it into the playmobil cargo plane's aft hatch -- just like a C-130.
We went back to the China book and read A through M without stopping and then took a break to make a stir fry for dinner. In a wok not walk. She thought it was hilarious that those two words sounded the same and yet looked so different.
Pretty cool learning for a five year old on a saturday , eh?
Who am I? A Mazda RX-8
My friend Ren is a Chevy. She took the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz. I was curious, so I did it too.
I'm a Mazda RX-8!
You're sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you're willing to do your part.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Big Green Purse - Chapter 4 (Cars)
Chapter 4 of Big Green Purse is about vehicles. Cars more specifically since we live in the US. So in April we bought a Toyota Prius. We replaced a 1995 Nissan Maxima which we purchased used from friends when we returned to the DC area in 1999. We also have our 2002 Volkswagon Jetta wagon. We would actually like to have 1.5 cars but there is no Zipcar service here in Southern Maryland. Whoever is expecting to drive farther on a given day takes the Prius. Usually I drive the Jetta which works out because the mess kids make is less of a worry and the Jetta is a manual transmission. I enjoy driving my stick shift cars. The Prius makes me feel like I am ll.iving my principles but it's automatic transmission makes it less fun for me to drive. We have these cars but choose to drive them as little as possible. There are lots of reasons why, but I'd rather describe how.
During late spring, summer, and early fall, we spend a lot of time riding our bikes places. We live about 5 miles from town with services. For us, that means post office, library, thrift store, park, bakery, and occasional forays to Target and Safeway (for bananas and avocados). We have a trailer bike so our 5 year old can pedal and be attached to an adult's bike for safety. Our 10 year old has been riding (guided) on the road on his own bike for 2 years. We started out slow and easy with sunday morning road rides with long time cyclist Dad and worked up to daytime ride with less experienced Mom.
Right now, we are pretty dependent on our car to get us places because of the cold weather. We are just not equipped to bundle everyone up for a bike ride in 30 degree F weather.
In every season, we combine errands so that we really don't go out for less than 2 things in a given direction. We go to Waldorf once a week and LaPlata several times. When it stays light out late enough, we can ride to & from scout meetings even! We make lists so we don't forget something that can not wait another week if we forget about it. We determine a path for the errands to minimize backtracking and total driving distance. We are very conscious to minimize our car use.
We also have car-free days every week. These lovely days have no big interruptions so we can in principle get things done that require more time. The day just flows along without external pressure. I like them. Those are my baking days usually. I can bake bread, cookies, soups, and other yummies because I have more time at home.
I picked up a cute little book at the DC Green Festival entitled Cutting Your Car Use. I am searching for ways to do just that. We have already done so much that we are down to carpooling for hubby (he's been trying to arrange that) and moving. Both are appealing right now, but I don't have much control over either option. I am still working on the whole less car driving thing. Maybe I'll have inspiration in my dreams tonight. Good night!
During late spring, summer, and early fall, we spend a lot of time riding our bikes places. We live about 5 miles from town with services. For us, that means post office, library, thrift store, park, bakery, and occasional forays to Target and Safeway (for bananas and avocados). We have a trailer bike so our 5 year old can pedal and be attached to an adult's bike for safety. Our 10 year old has been riding (guided) on the road on his own bike for 2 years. We started out slow and easy with sunday morning road rides with long time cyclist Dad and worked up to daytime ride with less experienced Mom.
Right now, we are pretty dependent on our car to get us places because of the cold weather. We are just not equipped to bundle everyone up for a bike ride in 30 degree F weather.
In every season, we combine errands so that we really don't go out for less than 2 things in a given direction. We go to Waldorf once a week and LaPlata several times. When it stays light out late enough, we can ride to & from scout meetings even! We make lists so we don't forget something that can not wait another week if we forget about it. We determine a path for the errands to minimize backtracking and total driving distance. We are very conscious to minimize our car use.
We also have car-free days every week. These lovely days have no big interruptions so we can in principle get things done that require more time. The day just flows along without external pressure. I like them. Those are my baking days usually. I can bake bread, cookies, soups, and other yummies because I have more time at home.
I picked up a cute little book at the DC Green Festival entitled Cutting Your Car Use. I am searching for ways to do just that. We have already done so much that we are down to carpooling for hubby (he's been trying to arrange that) and moving. Both are appealing right now, but I don't have much control over either option. I am still working on the whole less car driving thing. Maybe I'll have inspiration in my dreams tonight. Good night!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Personal Care Products
So I am reading The Big Green Purse by Diane MacEachern and decided to blog about each chapter and share my local, good to the earth resources with you. Chapter 3 is about beauty and personal care products. So what do I use you ask? Here's my list:
hair -- I mostly wash with water and occasional baking soda (instead of shampoo) and organic apple cider vinegar (as scalp conditioner).
face -- I mostly wash with water, weekly gently scrub with my bath scrubbie, daily use of moisturizer. Currently my moisturizer is Avalon Organics Vitamin C Oil-free Moisturizer. When I run out, I will be replacing with a facial moisturizer from Terressentials - a great little local company located in Frederick, MD.
lips -- I apply Burt's Bees lip balm several times a day. I have a Terressentials lip balm to try when I run out so I can support a local small business while caring for my dry winter lips.
hands -- At the DC Green Festival I bought the Terressentials fragrance free moisturizer cream for daily use after dish washing. It is yummy. Our bathrooms and kitchen are stocked with Dr. Bronner's liquid soap.
body -- Over the last year, I stopped using soap or other harsh chemicals on my skin and it is much healthier than it was during the rest of my years. I exfoliate with my bath scrubbie and that is all. The human body naturally cleans itself. Of course, dirt and other things that did not start on my skin are washed off with Dr. Bronner's liquid soap.
feet -- My feet get really dry. Son and Daughter tell me to take better care of them. I am now reminded to encourage the dry skin off using a foot care emery board and to moisturize after showers with Burt's Bees coconut foot cream.
makeup -- I don't use much. I have some Burt's Bees tinted beeswax lip balm that I use as lipstick maybe once or twice a month. I use Ecco Bella's mascara (I wear contacts) every day basically. That's it. Beauty is on the inside and in the eye of the beholder. My dear Son tells me every day that I am beautiful while he hugs me. What more could I need?
nail polish -- Occasionally, I just want to be more colorful. My nails get a dash of color (peel off or water-based polish) from Honeybee Gardens in the fantastic color of Shiny Penny. Oh, and it is a Pennsylvania company so it is pretty local too. I should try their mascara next time too.
teeth - I normally go with Preserve toothbrushes because they are made from recycled Stonyfield Farm yogurt containers and the toothbrushes are fully recyclable as well. Toothpaste I use a Tom's of Maine variety but am trying other brands as well when I have access to purchase them.
sunscreen -- We use our roof as sunscreen during the hours of strongest sun (i.e. we stay indoors). During morning and later afternoon/evening hours we go without sunscreen typically because we are busy making vitamin D with the sun on our skin. When we cannot avoid the strong sun or will be out for an extended time period, we have a supply of Nature's Gate sunscreen. Maybe by next summer, I will have come up with even better, local options for this too. Got an idea? Tell me!
menstrual products -- I almost forgot this one! I use The Keeper. I create no trash which is a good thing. At the end of my cycle, I sometimes use a panty liner made by Natracare.
Ok, that is it. If I didn't list it - I don't use it. What do you use?
hair -- I mostly wash with water and occasional baking soda (instead of shampoo) and organic apple cider vinegar (as scalp conditioner).
face -- I mostly wash with water, weekly gently scrub with my bath scrubbie, daily use of moisturizer. Currently my moisturizer is Avalon Organics Vitamin C Oil-free Moisturizer. When I run out, I will be replacing with a facial moisturizer from Terressentials - a great little local company located in Frederick, MD.
lips -- I apply Burt's Bees lip balm several times a day. I have a Terressentials lip balm to try when I run out so I can support a local small business while caring for my dry winter lips.
hands -- At the DC Green Festival I bought the Terressentials fragrance free moisturizer cream for daily use after dish washing. It is yummy. Our bathrooms and kitchen are stocked with Dr. Bronner's liquid soap.
body -- Over the last year, I stopped using soap or other harsh chemicals on my skin and it is much healthier than it was during the rest of my years. I exfoliate with my bath scrubbie and that is all. The human body naturally cleans itself. Of course, dirt and other things that did not start on my skin are washed off with Dr. Bronner's liquid soap.
feet -- My feet get really dry. Son and Daughter tell me to take better care of them. I am now reminded to encourage the dry skin off using a foot care emery board and to moisturize after showers with Burt's Bees coconut foot cream.
makeup -- I don't use much. I have some Burt's Bees tinted beeswax lip balm that I use as lipstick maybe once or twice a month. I use Ecco Bella's mascara (I wear contacts) every day basically. That's it. Beauty is on the inside and in the eye of the beholder. My dear Son tells me every day that I am beautiful while he hugs me. What more could I need?
nail polish -- Occasionally, I just want to be more colorful. My nails get a dash of color (peel off or water-based polish) from Honeybee Gardens in the fantastic color of Shiny Penny. Oh, and it is a Pennsylvania company so it is pretty local too. I should try their mascara next time too.
teeth - I normally go with Preserve toothbrushes because they are made from recycled Stonyfield Farm yogurt containers and the toothbrushes are fully recyclable as well. Toothpaste I use a Tom's of Maine variety but am trying other brands as well when I have access to purchase them.
sunscreen -- We use our roof as sunscreen during the hours of strongest sun (i.e. we stay indoors). During morning and later afternoon/evening hours we go without sunscreen typically because we are busy making vitamin D with the sun on our skin. When we cannot avoid the strong sun or will be out for an extended time period, we have a supply of Nature's Gate sunscreen. Maybe by next summer, I will have come up with even better, local options for this too. Got an idea? Tell me!
menstrual products -- I almost forgot this one! I use The Keeper. I create no trash which is a good thing. At the end of my cycle, I sometimes use a panty liner made by Natracare.
Ok, that is it. If I didn't list it - I don't use it. What do you use?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Public Libraries and Childrens' Books about Gay Families
Ok, so my local homeschool yahoo group supplied me with food for thought today. Someone posted about a meeting at the public library one county over. The topic was a childrens' picture book about a gay family (And Tango Makes Three) which was shelved in the children's section. Apparently, some citizens wanted the book moved to where children could not happen across it on their own and inadvertently be exposed to pro-homosexual content. The library Director decided to keep the book where it was. The decision was appealed and the Board of Trustees stood firm that the book was properly cataloged as a children's book and would not move it to the adult section. The citizens were now petitioning the County Commissioners to have the book moved to - get this - an "alternative family" or "non-traditional family" section of the library. Wow. What the hell?
Ok, so I posted this reply which I thought was pretty sweet:
Thank you so much for sharing this opportunity to encourage others to open their minds and accept people for who they are. The world will be a much better place when people focus on enjoying each other's differences and similarities than on getting people to change who they are. Unfortunately, I don't live in Calvert County and can't make the drive today. Hope you all go and speak your open minds to support the Library Director.
Wow, the letters that came after that were amazing to me. Talking about how they did not want to teach this kind of alternative lifestyle (being homosexual) to their children. Talking about how the content of the public library should reflect the community's opinion as to the proper shelving of a book. And then the one discussing how it is the parent's who get to make the choice about what the child is exposed to.
Ok, so will you all just watch this video please? Right now! (Ren - thanks for sharing this on your blog!)
Ok, so I posted this reply which I thought was pretty sweet:
Thank you so much for sharing this opportunity to encourage others to open their minds and accept people for who they are. The world will be a much better place when people focus on enjoying each other's differences and similarities than on getting people to change who they are. Unfortunately, I don't live in Calvert County and can't make the drive today. Hope you all go and speak your open minds to support the Library Director.
Wow, the letters that came after that were amazing to me. Talking about how they did not want to teach this kind of alternative lifestyle (being homosexual) to their children. Talking about how the content of the public library should reflect the community's opinion as to the proper shelving of a book. And then the one discussing how it is the parent's who get to make the choice about what the child is exposed to.
Ok, so will you all just watch this video please? Right now! (Ren - thanks for sharing this on your blog!)
Monday, November 17, 2008
Meat and Politics
Over the weekend, Son and I watched Fast Food Nation. I have already read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Today, I read this article. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif about fast food joint burgers and chicken being primarily made of corn (from a chemical analysis). It is all scary and are the exact reasons that I don't choose to eat at fast food places or eat meat from the grocery store. My dilemma is that Husband, Son, and sometimes Daughter like to eat meat. So what to do? Buy local, pastured meat from farmers that I know and trust.
Are you wondering why we watched Fast Food Nation to begin with? Son went into the library to get some movies for the predicted rainy cold days we had a few days ago. He came out with Fahrenheit 9/11, Fast Food Nation, and the Hoax. He is 10 and curious about all sorts of things. So we watched all the movies. Watching Fahrenheit 9/11 a week after Obama was just elected was a bit strange. He just kept asking "did that really happen?" and "why?".
He is obviously still processing both movies. Occasional questions come up. It will be interesting to watch how and if he changes after seeing these movies. If you haven't watched them yet - go ahead and do that on the next rainy cold day at your house :-)
Are you wondering why we watched Fast Food Nation to begin with? Son went into the library to get some movies for the predicted rainy cold days we had a few days ago. He came out with Fahrenheit 9/11, Fast Food Nation, and the Hoax. He is 10 and curious about all sorts of things. So we watched all the movies. Watching Fahrenheit 9/11 a week after Obama was just elected was a bit strange. He just kept asking "did that really happen?" and "why?".
He is obviously still processing both movies. Occasional questions come up. It will be interesting to watch how and if he changes after seeing these movies. If you haven't watched them yet - go ahead and do that on the next rainy cold day at your house :-)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Dark Days Eat Local Challenge
This year I am participating in the Dark Days Eat Local Challenge put on by (not so) Urban Hennery. I really enjoyed reading about everyone's food last year and wanted to play this year. Plus I get a lot more of my food locally now, so this should be doable for me. It runs from Nov 15 through March 15 and I am to blog every week, so there will be lots of food related posts coming up.
The Dark Days Challenge is to create, eat, and blog about one meal a week which is made from 90% local ingredients. What is local? We define it for ourselves. My local food is grown within 25 miles of my house.
Today's meal(s) looks like this...
Lunch is butternut and leek soup, homemade mozzarella cheese, mesclun mix salad,
apple (10 miles), and roasted potatoes (15 miles). The soup is made with homemade chicken broth (chicken came from 5 miles away) and local butter (25 miles) along with leeks and butternut squash (15 miles). I made the mozzarella using milk from about 25 miles away. The salad greens (15 miles) and apple (10 miles) What was not local? I used salt, cumin, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, a bit of olive oil for the potatoes, and salad dressing that were not local. There is a piece of homemade bread on my plate described in the dinner picture, but I didn't actually eat it at lunchtime.
Dinner is roasted chicken (5 miles), baked sweet potato (15 miles) with local butter (25 miles), swiss chard (15 miles), persimmon (15 miles), and homemade honey (25 miles) bread with local butter (25 miles). The wheat for the bread was grown in Pittsburgh, so that was not local and neither was the yeast :-) The chard had our magic sauce which is not local (ume plum vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar, and soy sauce).
Ok, so I am learning and will be using even less non-local ingredients in my next Dark Days Challenge Meal.
The Dark Days Challenge is to create, eat, and blog about one meal a week which is made from 90% local ingredients. What is local? We define it for ourselves. My local food is grown within 25 miles of my house.
Today's meal(s) looks like this...
Lunch is butternut and leek soup, homemade mozzarella cheese, mesclun mix salad,
apple (10 miles), and roasted potatoes (15 miles). The soup is made with homemade chicken broth (chicken came from 5 miles away) and local butter (25 miles) along with leeks and butternut squash (15 miles). I made the mozzarella using milk from about 25 miles away. The salad greens (15 miles) and apple (10 miles) What was not local? I used salt, cumin, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, a bit of olive oil for the potatoes, and salad dressing that were not local. There is a piece of homemade bread on my plate described in the dinner picture, but I didn't actually eat it at lunchtime.
Dinner is roasted chicken (5 miles), baked sweet potato (15 miles) with local butter (25 miles), swiss chard (15 miles), persimmon (15 miles), and homemade honey (25 miles) bread with local butter (25 miles). The wheat for the bread was grown in Pittsburgh, so that was not local and neither was the yeast :-) The chard had our magic sauce which is not local (ume plum vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar, and soy sauce).
Ok, so I am learning and will be using even less non-local ingredients in my next Dark Days Challenge Meal.
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