Meatless Thursdays

A week or so ago I read about Meatless Mondays (the link’s up over in the Bookmarks as well under The Kitchen Table) on another website. My first thought was, “What a great idea!” Most people have no idea what a proper portion of meat is and, as a result, eat too much. Back in April I started working on getting in shape and losing weight and I learned how much meat you should have in a serving and in a day. It amazed me at how little meat is in a serving, which is two to three ounces. Some people get their total amount in just one meal! While the majority of us are omnivores, we eat a disproportionate amount of meat.
My next thought was “I can’t do this.” It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just not feasible for me. My fiancé would never go for a meatless meal except for cheese pizza, and even then he might complain. Then I remembered, Thursday nights are mine! On Thursdays FH goes out with some friends from work (Thursday Night Movie Group) and I either have practice at church for Mass on Sunday or I just do my own thing. Even if TNMG and practice don’t happen, we both usually agree to do whatever we want that night. As much as we love each other, an evening apart once a week is good.
Thus, I will be starting Meatless Thursdays tomorrow. It’s the same thing as the Monday people, just on Thursdays. I really don’t want to make up a separate meal for myself and for FH. Tonight after work I’m stopping at Whole Foods to pick up feta cheese (forgot it on Monday when we were grocery shopping), tofu, and flax seeds for tomorrow. I’m hoping to make something good for lunch and have fun with dinner but still get enough protein and fiber in for the day. I’ll be sure to post the results.
If you like the idea of Meatless Monday but it’s not a good day for you, pick a different day and go for it! Let’s help ourselves and help the environment by eating just a little less meat.

Goodwill is awesome!!

Today I finally was able to go clothes shopping! As planned, I went up to the Goodwill that is near campus since I went after Mass. It was great! For $30 I bought 4 pair of pants, a jacket, and 4 tops. Where else can you get that much for that little? This is going to let me not only have more versatility in my wardrobe, but I can start getting rid of donating the pants that are too big on me now. I’ve got a couple of pairs of pants that try to escape me while I’m at work. The next step is to replace the jeans that like to try and escape me when I have my cellphone and keys on me.

First, I had to figure out what to wear for my excursion. I’m slowly working on re-figuring out my style. I had a completely different outfit planned for today. But when I put it all on, it didn’t work at all. Click on any of the pics for a larger view! So I came up with this:

I took the men’s dress shirt I still have from freshman year of college (needed it for marching band) and gathered it back behind me with a hairtie which showed off my wonderful curves. I threw on my green tank and my short shorts. Then I finished it off with a scarf a friend made for me. It’s so nice to be comfortable with your body and no longer want to hide it under baggy clothes!

Anyway. I got there and started through the sweaters and shirts. Then I remembered, I need pants! So after finally figuring out how they organize things and what they consider to be Extra Large (size 14 is extra large?) I found a ton of pants. I must have had like 10 pairs of pants and 3 tops when I went into the dressing room. Out of that, the four pants and only one top made it. I had thoroughly scoured their pants selection, so there was no point in looking again. It doesn’t help that I’m 5’10” with a high waist (aka long legs). Most of those pants that didn’t make it only made it to my ankles. So I went and looked through the tops again, which is when I found the other 3. Then I remembered I wanted to look for a jacket or two, and I found it. It’s going to be such a versatile piece of my wardrobe. I can dress it up or down as I’ll need and it’ll look great. Pieces like that are important in any wardrobe.

So I checked out with my finds and spent less than I thought I would, which made me even happier. Here’s what I got:

I took one of my many reusable bags with me and everything just fit in! I picked this bag up at the Dollar Tree and it’s great since it doesn’t have any store on it. I feel sorta wierd taking a bag from one store (say Wal-Mart) into another (like Whole Foods). This bag has saved me a couple of times when I forgot to put my bags back in the car.

Here’s my haul!

Hanging down are the pants which were $3.49 each. From left to right: black pants (Chaps), olive khakis (Khakis International Design), wide pinstripe (Merona), and narrow pink pinstripe (Fashion Bug).
On the second row are (from left to right): the jacket (Aesthetic), brown sweater vest (Van Cort), yellow tank top (SO…GSJC), brown tank with lace edging (Aeropostale), and black top with white collar and cuffs (Chaps).

Who says you have to buy things new to get designer labels? 😀

Projects, projects, projects! And books!!

Last night I was sitting writing about my day and how I’m looking forward to this weekend because I’m finally going to be able to put in my order at ReusableBags for the produce bags and my lunchbag, and to get my Klean Kanteens from Amazon. That made me think about a few things. First it brought to mind the LunchSkins I want to eventually get. Which made me think of the Wrap-N-Mat which gave me an idea. Why not just make my own?! That way I don’t have to wait until I can afford the LunchSkins when I can use fabric I already have to take care of my food. So now I just need to figure out what to use. I’ve got plenty of fabric at home left over from costumes and crafts. I could probably line them with some simple cotton fabric and have great looking food containers!
I’ll update with pictures when I get it all figured out.

While thinking about that it reminded me of the other projects I keep meaning to get done. There are two that are related and I’ve already started on. I’ve had a stack of t-shirts I have been saving to make into a t-shirt quilt (here’s one site and here’s a how-to site). I’ve already gone through and cut the fronts off the shirts leaving plenty of space to make the squares as big as necessary. This leaves me with a pile of t-shirt fronts waiting to be quilted and a pile of backs and sleves waiting to be made into rags, the other project. The rags won’t take long to make, but I need to have time to sit down and do it. I can’t do it this weekend because we’ll be at the Renaissance Festival on Saturday. And Sunday I’m going shopping at Goodwill after Mass. Next weekend we’re going up to his parents for the weekend. So maybe by the beginning of October I’ll at least have a pile of rags.
Again, pics will be posted when I get it done!

After my shower I decided to sit down with one of the books I got from the library, Fresh from the Farmer’s Market. It goes through the seasons and talks about what foods you would find at the market at that time, how to pick the best, and how to store it. She also has recipies on how to prepare the produce. I’m only halfway through Spring and I love it. I am so buying a copy when I can afford it. And it’s making me want to go to the Farmer’s Market this weekend, but we can’t afford to go even if we weren’t going to the festival. Also we need to work on switching over to buying produce on an almost daily basis before going to the farmer’s markets around here. The three that are close to me are both almost done for the year. But over the fall and winter we can work on eating seasonally and buy fresher foods when we need them at Whole Foods or other places like local food stands and co-ops that I’d like to find. It just sounds better eating fruits and veggies that just got picked that day or the day before instead of who knows how many weeks ago.

So those are a few of the projects I’ve got in mind to start working on. Each one will get it’s own post with plenty of pictures to go with it.

Inspirational Blogger strikes again!

Today I was sitting at work after getting all the work done, and felt like checking to see what Bonzai Aphrodite had up recently. It resulted in a few things. What can I say, she’s inspiring!
Her recent post went into further detail about hair dye and what is in the one she uses. That led me to Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews. It gives you details and ratings of almost anything that you use on your body. I went through and looked at what I used to use, what I’m currently using, and what I want to start using. It’s made me reconsider buying a few products. Ideally, everything would have a rating of 0 or 1. Right now what I’m currently using is in the 5 and 6 range. The highest is 10, which you really don’t want to be using. It goes into detail about the chemicals used in the product. Possibly more detail than the label goes into, depending on the product. Burt’s Bees is what I was looking at using to replace a lot of things, but a lot of their products are in the 5 to 6 range. Now I’m going to see what Whole Foods has in the 0 to 1 range that I can afford.

Then I started looking at older posts, mainly her posts about groceries. Her posts about bulk food were making me want to order from ReusableBags.com even more. I am so looking forward to getting my produce bags. I’ve been setting the bags from the grocery store aside to recycle and there are a lot. And it’s only been a few weeks. So I’m going to start taking Green Bags with me to the store so we’re not using new ones every time and then adding the cloth bags once I get them. The next time I go to Whole Foods I’m going to see about using my own containers to get bulk foods in. I’m hoping to start buying in bulk as much as possible. It’ll be a lot easier when we have our own place though. Right now we don’t have a lot of space to be keeping a bunch of dry goods. But that will come in time. For now I’ll just do what I can, which is better than doing nothing!

Big step along the natural path!

This week marks a big leap in my journey. Monday I ran out of my old facial scrub and got to replace it with the Burt’s Bees Peach and Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub. My face feels so much better afterwards! It does almost feel oily, but it’s simply the natural moisturizers and my own skin being balanced. I simply scrub it in, rinse it off, and use my toner as usual. My skin feels better. It doesn’t feel a little dry or tight afterwards like it used to, and still does a bit on the days I use my face wash. But it’s a step. The face wash’ll be replaced soon because it’s almost out as well.
Thursday I noticed that my hair gets a bit frizzy up near my part after I use the shampoo but not when it’s a night off. So, after consulting with the wonderful members of No ‘Poo community at LiveJournal, I have relegated the a little less than half full bottle of shampoo to the cleaning supplies for washing my boar’s hair brush.
Today was my first day of using the baking soda wash with the apple cider vinegar rinse (BS/ACV). When I was mixing up the BS and water, I wasn’t sure if there was enough. I thought it was sorta watery. Then I started pouring it on my head and working it in to my scalp. It was working! It started mixing with my natural oils and became slippery like soap, which is what’s supposed to happen. When I was rinsing it out, it felt so clean! Then I did the same with the ACV rinse. My hair doesn’t smell like vinegar. It’s wonderfully clean, wasn’t tangled, and looks a bit better than it would after shampooing. I figure since I’ve been only shampooing three times a week, my scalp’s already adjusting. Hopefully there won’t be too long of a detox period and/or it won’t be too bad. I am so sticking with it. Definately look to see more about it.
So I thought I would post a few pics to go with this. Every natural evolution post will have some to show the changes. Click on it for the full size. Here goes!

Here’s what my shower supplies have been for a long time. Shampoo, body scrub, face scrub, and face wash. The compartment on the left holds my main bodywash.

Now…

the shampoo is gone and the scrub’s been replaced! Yay!

Shampoo’s been replaced with these!

That’s my little tub for mixing everything in. I’m reusing food containers for things other than food to keep the food okay. They’re really useful.

I did another green thing today. I got a library card. You might be wondering why I say that’s green. I can check out tons of books, movies, and music without buying them in case I don’t want them. I love to read. This is going to be wonderful. It’s been years since I’ve had one and I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I went today. Among other things, I picked up a couple of books to help me out. One’s Living in the Raw Gourmet by Rose Lee Calabro and the other is Fresh From the Farmer’s Market by Janet Fletcher. I’ll put up my thoughts after I’ve read them, but they look really interesting. I’ve got a couple of books on reserve that will probably get mentioned here as well.

Well, off to start on those books!

Inspiration from a fellow blogger

I was over on Bonzai Aphrodite looking around at older posts, mainly her fashion posts. She has inspired me and given me a new way of thinking about my wardrobe. Since as soon as I can afford it, I need to go clothes shopping. Losing 15 lbs has an affect on your clothes. Amusingly the three pair of pants that I bought soon after getting this job all need to be replaced. One pair has needed to go since the beginning because I realized after I took all the tags off and threw them and the reciept out that I had bought average instead of tall. So they have never fit right. But the other two are too big now.
I’ve been realizing that my wardrobe needs more diversity in it. And now, between Bonzai Aphrodite and What Not to Wear I think I’m going to be able to do it. Bonzai has some great tips, not too dissimilar from What Not to Wear. I think it’s easier for me to process since she talks about buying secondhand versus being in NYC with $5000.
I’ve got a couple of things in my wardrobe now that aren’t getting as much use as they can be. I’ve got a great jacket that works well for work and fun. I just don’t wear it all that often. Now that it’s getting colder out, I’ll be able to use it more. I just need more to wear under it. I have a black and a white sleeveless top that I wear a lot under shirts that work under the jacket. I’m actually wearing the white one right now under a white shirt (I know, it looks sooo boring). I’ve also got a couple of other shirts/tanks that work under shirts, I just use them so often that half the time they’re in the laundry when I want to wear it.
So, thanks to Bonzai Aphrodite I’m going to check out Goodwill and possibly a few thrift stores before going to Wal-Mart. Pants are at the top of my list. Even some of my jeans are trying to flee from me when I wear them (too big). Work pants are at the top followed by a few jeans. I’d love to find some skinny jeans. I have great legs, so I’ve been told by many, and want to show them off. Also you can’t tuck most jeans into boots without them looking strange. So skinny jeans would be wonderful. I’d really like to be able to find a couple of dress shirts for work. I’ve got some that need tailoring because while they fit me across the chest, they’re a tent everywhere else. And the next size down wasn’t an option because the button or two in that area would pull. A few other basics (a nice, versatile dress; maybe some light knits; a skirt or two if they work) would be great as long as I can afford them. I may even look at shoes. I’ve been living in my sandals all summer and I really need some that are just for work, and they could use either a nicer pair to give them a break or a replacement.
Now all I need is the money. Which in theory will be coming soon. So hopefully I’ll be updating about my wonderfully sucessful shopping trip!

Hiiro-chan

I read over on Bonzai Aphrodite the other day that she was given the chance to review the Ford Escape Hybrid. I think she gave a very good review of the SUV. After reading it I got to thinking about my car.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have a red 2008 Honda Fit base model. I call her Hiiro-chan, Japanese for “Little Scarlet” (I apologize if this is wrong, we looked it up online). It’s known as the Jazz in countries other than North America, South America, Japan, and China. I call her Hiiro-chan not just because she’s small and red, but she was completely manufactured in Japan. So I thought she should have a Japanese name. I’d never named anything like this before, but after driving my fiancé’s car, Desdemona or Dez for short, for so long and referring to her by name, I found myself needing a name for my car.
Anyway. I love my car to pieces. I’m probably going to be like my dad and own her until she falls apart. My dad has a Honda Civic hatchback that he has been driving for over twenty years now. This is part of why I went with a Honda. He couldn’t have traded it in with the “Cash for Clunkers” deal because it still gets great gas mileage.
Hiiro-chan is still running strong. I bought her brand new in March of 2008. Until then, I didn’t own a car. I would either use my mom’s car or my fiancé’s car. When we moved to Columbus in the fall of 2007, our schedules worked out so he could drop me off at work and one of the friends we live with would pick me up. Eventually she went back to school and wouldn’t be able to drop me off anymore. So I finally had to get a car. I started out looking at used cars at CarMax. I was trying to find something in my price range that had less than 60,000 miles on it and was either a wagon or hatchback. I grew up with the Civic and station wagons. I didn’t want a sedan. Let me tell you, there wasn’t much. So I finally, just out of curiosity, looked at the Fit’s page. I was floored that I could get a brand new car for the same price at the used ones I was seeing. So after much paperwork and signing my life away, I was the proud owner of a manual Honda Fit base model.
Yes. My car is not an automatic. Again, my dad’s Civic is a manual as well. I had to learn to drive it to get to a retreat one time and it proved to be very useful, as I later worked at the same place as he did and needed to drive the car sometimes. So many people think it’s harder to drive a manual than an automatic. Yes, it’s more involved driving it and there’s more to learn on how to drive it. But driving it becomes automatic! But that’s not why I picked it. There are two reasons: 1) it is more fuel efficient and 2) it is cheaper. And it’s not just cheaper to buy, it is cheaper to maintain. Manual transmissions have fewer parts and are easier to work with.
Officially she gets 28 mpg city and 34 mpg highway for an average of 31 mpg. I tend to get around 36 mpg average. If I’ve got long car trips involved (both our parents live 2 hours away) that gets bumped up to 40 mpg. And she doesn’t have cruise control.
The other thing that sold her to me was the room. They’re not kidding when they talk about how roomy this car is. I’ve got friends who call it a clown car, a toy car, and even my fiancé calls her fugly (at which point he gets smacked). But, being 5’10”, she fits me perfectly. I’ve yet to drive a car so well proportioned to my height. There’s more than enough leg room. Four adults can comfortably fit in her. We’ve even squeezed in a car seat, but it wasn’t that bad. And the wonderful back seat. Unlike most cars, these seats can not only fold forward, but they can fold up. That not only gives you much more options for space and where to put large items, it gives you more storage when the seats are being used. You can simply store your ice scraper and brush and whatever else is on the back seat of your car under the seats. It’s great!

I guess what I’m trying to say here, aside from my ramblings on about my wonderful car, is that Bonzai Aphrodite is right, you don’t need an SUV. So many people don’t buy a car based on what they need. They base it off of what they can afford and what they want. I needed a car that was low on miles, affordable, and could fit myself and three friends comfortably (which she does really well). The next time you need a car that’s new to you, think about what you need. Not just what you want.

Whinging 1

There are times I really need to just vent. I’ll name them Whinging # to save you grief.

My fiance is really going to be annoying about this. I’m trying to go green, live a more nautral lifestyle and reduce my carbon footprint. All he can do is complain. The only reason we recycle is that I take the recyclables down to the dumpster for recycling. Only things that have a recycling symbol on them get recycled, even though I’m the one who hauls it around! I bought Seventh Generation toilet paper and it’s not soft enough. Heaven forbid we wipe our butts with recycled, non-bleached toilet paper! I can’t turn off all the lights before leaving without hearing about it. It’s not like I’m turning the lights off on him. But if no one’s using the light, why have it on? I’m so glad I have no interest in unplugging or turning off the power strip for the TV and VCR and DVD player and PS2. Not that we use the PS2 or VCR much or they’re programmed for anything. I probably should unplug them too. He likes to mutter about how I’m going to drive him crazy with “this”. I’m sorry if I want to lead a better lifestyle for myself. I’m not going to make him use organic and natural personal hygine products. But I would like to make as much of my life as green and natural as possible. I think he’d notice the difference more if he was the one paying the bills instead of our friends.

The First Entry

I didn’t want to come up with some title for this that I’d end up changing three times before I’m done writing this.
I thought I’d start off with a little general information about myself. It has not quite been a month since I’ve started down this natural path. I’ve always tried to be green by being as gas efficient as possible, recycling, and buying organic when I can afford it. About that time I started going to my local Whole Foods once a week. We have not started shopping there regularly for two reasons: 1) we are not sure how much we can afford to replace by getting at Whole Foods and 2) the nearest Whole Foods is 5.6 miles away, much farther than Wal-Mart and Giant Eagle. I’m hoping we’ll be changing that soon.
I am using natural cleaners in the bathroom. We live with friends in their finished basement so there’s no kitchen to worry about. My cleaning list consists of baking soda, vinegar, borax, water, and Dr. Bonner’s Castile soap. So far it’s been totally successful. My plan is to replace the laundry detergent, dryer sheets, and bleaches as they run out. It saves money, which we don’t have much of, and uses up what we’ve got.
Which leads me to the third step I’ve taken. I am working towards going no-poo. No-poo is a shampoo free lifestyle. No-poo doesn’t mean not washing your hair. It simply is a different way of cleaning one’s hair. Dermatologists even say that we should only wash our hair three times a week at the most. No-poo uses baking soda instead of shampoo and an acidic rinse. This is better for your scalp. I’ll go into detail in a later post.

I am hoping to do more in the future. One thing is to start buying more sustainable and reusable products. I have a long list of things I want to buy from ReusableBags.com including produce bags to replace all those flimsy plastic bags they provide at the grocery store. They are recycleable, but there are so many times that they’re in no shape for recycling by the time I’m done with them. Buying more organic and natural products, mainly from Whole Foods, including personal care items.