Sweet Southern Belle

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

I’ve done pretty well with recycling for a while now. I keep several bins outside my kitchen door for easy access. Even though my city only has curb-side pick up for paper I collect glass, albumin, tin, plastic and cardboard to take downtown to the recycling center any time I’m heading that way. I check out the numbers on the bottom of anything plastic and I try to only buy products that have a 1 or 2 since that’s what I can recycle. I also buy as many products as I can that are made from recycled material. Our market exists on a supply and demand basis so if we demand recycled materials more companies will use them.

However, not until pretty recently was I conscious about reducing or reusing. Reusing is even more important than recycling since it takes a great deal of energy to recycle. Before I throw anything in the trash or recycling bin I try to think of another use.  Here are a few of the things I’ve been doing lately to reduce and reuse.

1. I take notice of the packaging that anything I buy comes in and if I have several choices I try to purchase the product with less packaging.
2. I buy products in the largest possible container. I buy the largest containers I can find of products I use a lot of such as vinegar, olive oil, castile soap and honey.
3. I’m trying to reduce the amount I buy of anything and everything. The truth is I buy buy buy way too much and I need to slow down and think about the necessity of purchases.
4. I am saving all my glass jars for leftover containers (thanks to Amanda for the great idea). I have slowly been trying to weed out the use of plastic containers so saving glass jars helps me have something to put my food in.
5. I reuse glass bottles to put salad dressing or body oil in both of which I make at home and would have to purchase something to put them in otherwise.
6. I’m using both sides of paper when printing and writing.
7. I wash out plastic zip lock bags ( see above pic…not great decor but oh well)  and reuse them for as long as they hold up (usually 3-5 uses) I would like to eventually stop using them but I’m not there yet.
8. I use reusable cloth shopping bags 95 % of the time. That would be 100% if I could remember to take them out of my car ever time I get out!
9. We use wash clothes and cloth napkins instead of paper ones and I’m trying VERY hard to weed out my use of paper towel (the ones I do buy though are made of 100% recycled paper). I keep them in a high cabinet so I have to climb to get them out which makes me really think about the need. Otherwise we use rags that can be washed and re-used!

What do you do to reuse? Any new ideas?

This is my new favorite salad dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

1 pinch salt

1 pinch ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. I just dumped them in my bottle and shook it until it look like dressing!

I like to have a quick breakfast option sometimes and these bars are a great choice. This recipe is my favorite and the bars make a great snack/desert option too. I make these almost every week as they have a “shelf life” of about 7 days.

Play Group Bars

2 cups of rolled oats

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup of flour (your choice….I’ve used all purpose, unbleached bread and whole wheat)

¾ cup of dried fruit or chocolate chips

¾ teaspoon salt

½ cup honey

1 egg, beaten

½ cup oil (I used grapeseed or almond)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large bowl mix all ingredients together until it is a sticky constancy. Then pat into a greased 9 x 12 inch pan. Bake on 350 for 25 minutes. Cut into bars or squares while hot. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Thursday night was pizza night at our house. This was my first attempt at pizza dough and homemade sauce. The pizza turned out great and was super yummy! I did however try to trick my dear husband with veggie pepperoni instead of the horrible real stuff. He was not tricked at all….when asked what he thought about the pepperoni he said they tasted like vegetables but added that they didn’t taste bad! He’s really being a great about all the food changes we are making!

I made the sauce early in the day so the spices had time to flavor the sauce. This made enough for two pizzas so I put the leftover portion in the freezer for the next time we make pizza.

1 (4 oz) can of tomato paste (I used organic)

1 ½ cups water

1/3 cup of olive oil

2 gloves or garlic, minced

Salt and Pepper

½ tablespoon of chopped oregano

½ tablespoon of chopped basil

½ tablespoon chopped rosemary 

(I used fresh spices)

Mix together tomato paste, water, and olive oil. Add garlic and all other spices. Mix well and let sit for 3 + hours for flavor.

Pizza Crust

3 cups of all-purpose flour (I used unbleached bread flour because that’s what I had on hand)

1 (.25 ounce) of dry active yeast

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 cup warm water (100 degrees)

1 package of Italian seasoning (optional)

Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. Spread out on a large pizza pan or stone. Top as desired.

Oh how I love fresh homemade bread and oh how I love a bread machine that does most of the work for me! Homemade bread is a 100 times better for you than store bought, 100 times better tasting and much cheaper too! I don’t buy bread at the store at all now. I bake a loaf or two each week for my family. This is my favorite wheat recipe from the Amish Mennonite cookbook (with a few changes). It’s got a great taste and is good for slicing for sandwiches.

Whole Wheat Bread

½ cup lukewarm water            ¼ cup oil

½ teaspoon sugar                    1/8 cup of honey

1 tablespoon yeast                   1 cup hot water

½ tablespoon salt                    1 cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup sugar                             1 ½ cups of unbleached bread flour

Bread Machine

Put all liquid ingredients (water, oil and honey) in first, and then add flours, sugar, and salt. Add yeast last. Be careful that yeast does not touch liquid. Set on whole wheat setting, 1 pound loaf.

By hand

Mix 1/2 cup lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon sugar, and yeast; set aside. Beat together salt, ¼ cup of sugar, oil and honey, and 1 cups hot water, then add whole wheat flour. Now mix the two mixtures together. Mix well. Then add bread four and mix by hand until it won’t stick to the bowl much anymore. Let the dough sit to rise until double in size and put in pans. Let dough rise in pans until about ½ inch higher than the pan. Bake in 2 greased bread pans at 300 for 30-35 minutes. Brush with butter when baked.

There is much debate in the world of nutrition as to the definition of healthy food. Some believe a low-fat diet is best, some believe a low-carb diet is best, some believe a meat-free diet is best and so on and on it goes. I have tried all of the diets at different points in my life and certainly pass no judgment on what others choose as “healthy” for themselves but my family has been recently making changes towards what we believe is healthy eating. It’s not low-fat, low-carb or meat-free it’s simply “whole” foods. We are trying to cut out as much processed foods as possible. I buy mostly organic food but when I indulge with something processed organic is a must for us. As a part of this we are eating a lot less meat, partly to help even out the cost difference between organic and conventional food costs. There are other reasons we are cutting back on our meat consumption but I’ll save those for another post on another day.

I’m certainly no expert on whole foods or cooking from scratch. I’m learning as I go so I thought as a way to keep myself accountable I’ll try to blog as often as I can with menus, pictures and recipes of what we are eating. Some days I may choose to blog about what I made for breakfast while others it may be lunch or dinner.

Tonight’s dinner was Black Bean Burgers on Whole Wheat buns with homemade French fries. This was an incredibly delicious and filling meal. Even my dear husband who looked at me strangely when I told him we were having veggie burgers instead of the venison burgers he was hoping for enjoyed the meal a great deal. My dinner preparation started in the morning when I made the yummy whole wheat buns for the night’s meal. I got the recipe off of another blog. This was a very easy recipe and the buns tasted 100 times better than store bought buns.

A little closer to dinner I made up the black bean burgers and cut up the fries. All three recipes were a first for me. The black bean burger recipe was one I pieced together after reading several veggie burger recipes and not finding exactly what I was looking for. Here’s a picture of the finished product.

The fries were organic Idaho potatoes cut up with salt, pepper and garlic. I baked them on 450 for 30 mins.

Black Bean Burgers

16 ounces of cooked ( and cooled) black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup mushrooms

½ onion

3 gloves of garlic

1 egg

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon of hot sauce

1 cup of bread crumbs ( I used the homemade wheat loaf I had on hand)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly oil a cookie sheet.
2. In a bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop mushrooms, garlic and onion. Then stir into black beans
4. In another bowl stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and hot sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed bean mixture. Then stir in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together.
6. Divide into 5 patties
7. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 10 mins on each side

I could go into a big explanation for my blogging absence but I won’t bore you! I could also make promises about how often I will blog but I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog! You will get to read about all of the random thoughts in my mind that I have no where else to process. J

Over the past few years I have struggled with loving the “skin” I am in. My body doesn’t look like it did when I was 18 or 21 and somehow that makes me feel inadequate. It is however my personal belief that my body is both a gift from God and his temple, therefore it is my responsibility to take care of it to the best of my ability.  I really struggle with the fine line between sheer vanity and self care. I try to take care of my body with regular exercise and conscious eating without being extreme. I think most extreme measures are bad and most things are ok in moderation. I also try to limit the number of sugary snacks I consume in a day (this one is really hard for me).

My two newest improvements are whole foods and natural personal care products. I have been making efforts to buy whole and/or organic foods when possible and I’ve tried to cut out a large amount of processed foods. We eat lots of fresh vegetables, whole grains and lean meat. I still splurge on special outings or parties but I try to make our day to day eating better. Eating healthy is a little more expensive but worth the cost. I try to watch sells and use coupons when possible but when it comes down to cost or health I choose health.

Most recently I’ve been researching the chemicals that are put in lots of personal care products such as make-up, shampoo, deodorant and even toothpaste. I’ve gradually been trying to replace my chemically laced products with natural products. This is a great web-site for reviews on products, http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/.

I have been pleasantly surprised with many of the natural products. They work just as well as or better than the chemical ones. I have also been surprised to find many of these products at Target, Wal-Mart and Kroger. Most stores have a natural products section which I never knew before. Below is a list of a few of my new favorites.

All Natural Face  make-up http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6292094

Burt’s Bee’s orange face wash

Yes to Carrots night- time face cream

Some days I get overwhelmed but I try to remember that the most I can do in any given day is to be the best me I can be by trying to make choices that honor my body.

Lizzie Sue is growing so fast! Here are pictures from our trip to the Atlanta Zoo last May and from this week. It’s amazing to me how much older she looks this year than last.

Yesterday marked the seventh year since I was married to my husband. There are many things I could say about the past seven years however, I’m not very poetic so I think I’ll not try. My thoughts on marriage are summed up into a phrase a friend recently said.

“Marriage is hard work but anything worth having is”

A good marriage does not just happen. It takes effort on the part of both people to make time for one another, compromise on issues, and to apologize when you are wrong.

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day with my family! I am so grateful for my grandmothers, mother, and my sweet child. Here is a fun link to determine what your monetary value as a mother should be. It allows you to add the money you make in a paying job as well. After entering my “real pay” I should be making over 200,000 per year for my services. If only………..

Being a mama is the hardest job I’ve ever had but it’s the best!