It is a veritable Snot Factory here in the Postma household. Both Sebastian and I have colds, and somebody keeps wiping his nose on Mama’s shirt. So, in keeping with the theme of “Things That Are Green” (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew – sorry!), I’ll tell you about the latest chapter in the never-ending saga of my dietary life.
During The Great Nutritional Makeover of 2011, one of my goals is to eat as close to the earth as possible. Wait – that conjured up a disturbing image of me grazing like a cow in a pasture; let me rephrase. One of my goals is to cut out the cans, jars, packets, zip bags, cartons, containers, and general hoopla (read: waste) surrounding my food, thus saving me money and being Virtuously Environmental. What really tipped the scales was when a) our grocery store upped the price of canned black beans (beans, people) to $1.69 and b) I found out that said can likely contained BPA (hormone disruptor) that, with my luck, will have me growing testicles in another three years. No thank you on so many levels. It occurred to me at that moment that beans don’t actually grow in cans (I’m not that stupid, I just hadn’t really pondered beans before), and that I could choose to cook my own. This of course led to a flurry of well-what-else-can-I-make-on-my-own, which led me to all these things:
- Beans – nuke ‘em in the microwave or stew them in the crockpot. Change the water twice so people will still want to be your friend after you’ve eaten the “musical fruit”. One $.79 bag of beans makes about 4 cans worth, so there’s enough left for the premium ice cream.
- BBQ sauce
- Oatmeal – those delicious little packets? More sugar & salt than oatmeal. Go for the good (and thrifty!) stuff! If your children rebel, serve them Brussels sprouts with tomato aspic the next morning, then see how oatmeal looks the day after. Tough love, bring it.
- Tomato sauce (why did nobody tell me how EASY this was?!)
- Salad dressing – it’s criminal what they charge for some oil, vinegar, and spices pre-mixed, and almost all of the popular brands have a healthy dose of high-fructose corn syrup and preservatives that totally negate the Righteous Nature of your salad. If you’re going to eat vegetables, I think you should come out ahead.
- Bread – we’ve discussed
- Taco seasoning
- Granola/granola bars
This is what I’m working with so far – what do you make at home? Now, one place I am NOT going is the dehydrating route. I am not morally against it or anything (haven’t joined People for the Ethical Treatment of Apricots), but raisins - even the organic kind - are way cheaper than grapes, etc. Time to find someone (me) a tissue. Next, I’m going to confront my makeup addiction. This could get ugly.
I've become addicted in the last few years to making stuff myself... bread, butter, ice cream, granola, rice milk, salad dressings... I keep adding to the list and I'm lucky I have a hungry husband willing to give it all a try :-)
ReplyDeleteI do my dry beans in a pressure cooker. There's no soaking, no forgetting to soak, and beans are cooked in half an hour.
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