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It's Time

So, I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be to make the jump over to Word Press.  I'm hoping to have the switch done over the weekend and have my first post up on Word Press on Monday! 

Just to give you a little more incentive to stick with me as I change over, I have 2 great giveaways for widely popular e-books coming up the last week of July and the first week of August.  You definitely don't want to miss out on those!  So check back to www.liverenewed.com and you should see my new blog, and if you have any trouble viewing it please let me know so that I can fix the problems as soon as I can.  Thanks again for joining me on this journey!

Garden Update #3

We got back late Tuesday night after a great trip to visit great friends in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  It was so fun and relaxing to spend some time away from home, but I was worried that my garden would be suffering when I got back, since it had been neglected for almost a week - and a hot week, with little rain!

Well, imagine my surprise when I went out to water yesterday morning and found this:

A good sized zucchini!  I was so excited! I think my neighbor was laughing at me because of how much I was exclaiming over this one zucchini!

The zucchini plants have completely taken over my garden boxes in the back.  I had no idea that the plants would get as big as they are.  The are pretty much shading out the other plants in the box - the peas, carrots and peppers, which makes me sad.  But, if I can get some great zucchinis off of my two plants than it will be worth it and I have learned my lesson for next year to give the zucchini LOTS of room!

Also, I have some beautiful tomatoes and cherry tomatoes growing in my front garden.  Just waiting for them to ripen up! But my pepper plants don't seem to be doing so well.  They are still really small and no signs of any peppers yet.  We'll just have to wait and see what happens with them. 

I am learning so much in this first year of gardening.  I really need to write it all down so I can make sure I remember it all for next year.  So, please humor me - I'm going to take a moment to write all of things that I have learned and want to do differently next year.  Maybe you'll learn something from it too, maybe not. :)

What I've Learned in My First Year of Gardening

-My side garden bed next to my deck is not doing very well.  I don't think it gets nearly enough sun.  Either I won't plant there, or I'll try something else next year.  Maybe my zucchini plants would do well over there by themselves?  They would have more than enough space!

-I need to make sure to put a good fence around my lettuce and spinach plants next year so they don't get eaten by critters.  It's so sad to go out to check the garden and see that someone (really, something) other than your family has been enjoying your garden bounty.

-Don't over plant my garden boxes - and I need MUCH bigger boxes!  I just way over planted my garden box in the back, I was trying to get as much out of it as I could, but I didn't realize how much everything would grow and take over and shade out the other plants.  I need to pay better attention to the amount of room that the seed packets say that the plants need!

-I would like to greatly increase the amount of plants that I grow.  The most sugar snap peas that I ever harvested at once was 9, and usually it was more like 4 or 5.  While the peas were yummy to eat plain straight off the vine, I would love to have enough to actually use for a meal.  I didn't want to plant too many this year, but now I realize that I didn't plant nearly enough.

-Also, I want to greatly increase the overall size of my garden next year.  While this year has been great for a manageable amount of gardening, it really is not producing the amount of food that I would realistically need to feed my family and have leftovers for preserving.  I would love to double the size of my garden next year.  This will probably come in the form of many more garden boxes in the front of our house.  Hopefully hubs will be okay with a large front yard garden!

I think that's all for now.  I'm sure I'll think of more and continue to learn more as the gardening season goes on, and I'll be sure to share with you as I do.  I know, you can't wait!

Now, what should I do with that lovely zucchini?  Muffins?  Cookies? Or just sauteed in butter for dinner?  Yum!

The Value of Making Small Changes

Photo by Arkansas ShutterBug

Today I'm over at Keeper of the Home sharing about the value of taking baby steps, making small changes that add up to big overall change in your life.  Please stop by and check it out! 

Here's a little excerpt from the post:

If there's anything you should know about me, it's that I'm all about taking baby steps.  Most of the changes that we have made in our lives and around our home, have been made by making small changes that add up to much bigger overall change in our lives.

Sometimes I wish I was one of those people that dove head first into something and went all out, changing everything seemingly overnight, but that's just not really practical or possible for me and my family in this season of life.  I’m thinking that’s probably true for many of you too.

What holds us back from making really big, quick changes?

Head on over to Keeper of the Home to read the rest!

And we're leaving tomorrow morning to spend an extended weekend with some great friends we haven't seen in a while.  We're super excited to get away, have a little family vacation, and have a good time with great friends.  Not so excited about the 6+ hour road trip with two little ones, but it's all good! So, I'll be back next week as we get ready for the big move! Hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July!

A Quick Note

You may have noticed that it's been a little quiet around here the past week or so.  One reason is that I have just been incredibly busy - lots of good stuff has been happening, like my son turning one last weekend, and my sister getting married this past weekend, and getting ready to go visit some great friends we haven't seen in a while this coming weekend.  It's all kept me pretty busy. 

But, besides business in my life, I've also been busy working on an upcoming change for this blog.  Sometime mid-July (I don't have an exact date nailed down yet), I'm going to be switching my blog over to Word Press.  This is going to allow me to expand and grow my blog, and I'm excited to see what the coming months will bring.

I will still have the same URL - www.liverenewed.com, and if you are a subscriber, and everything goes according to plan, you shouldn't have to do anything at all, you should continue to get my feeds as usual.  If you are a Blogger Follower, then I would really encourage you to subscribe because I don't think Word Press supports followers the way that Blogger does. 

So, it will probably continue to be a little quiet around here for the next few weeks.  I will still try to post once or twice a week, and I'll definitely let you know when the big move is going to take place.  I hope that you all will stick with me, I love that I have "gotten to know" some of you as readers, and I have great plans and great posts (at least I think so) planned for once the move is complete. 

I just wanted to say "Thanks!" to all of you who read Live Renewed.  It is such an awesome blessing to have such great readers, you are the reason that I sit down and write and work at this every day. I'm really looking forward to what this next season of blogging will bring!

A Letter for My Dad

In honor of Father's Day yesterday, I wrote a letter to my dad thanking him for the way that he shaped the woman that I am today.  This is really personal and important to me, but I wanted to share it on my blog because I think that it is that important.

I haven't written about it before, because it's obviously pretty hard for me to talk about, but my dad has stage 4 (terminal) prostate cancer.  He is doing pretty well right now, and although it's not imminent, we live with the reality that this disease will take him from this life here on earth to be with our Heavenly Father sooner than we would have expected.

Fathers are obviously hugely important in the lives of their children.  I believe that a Father's love and care cannot be replaced by anything else in this world. As I have reflected on the influence that my own father has had on my life, I am always drawn back to these seven simple, yet complex, sayings.  When I close my eyes, I can see and hear my dad saying these to me over and over during my growing up years.

So, I wanted to share those things, and tell my dad how important they were to me, and how much they, and he, mean to me, now that I am grown and have a family of my own. 

This is the letter I wrote for my dad:

My Dad is one of those people that has lots of sayings that he is known for, at least within our family. There were lots of saying and phrases that he would repeat to us over and over when we were growing up. He would even make up acronyms for things that were a little too long to say on their own. Sometimes I didn’t even really understand what he meant, and definitely didn’t usually get the meaning behind the words, but now that I am older, those sayings are coming back to me and I understand the wisdom and life lessons that my father was trying to teach us and instill in us from a young age. And I am so grateful and thankful that I have a father that was wise enough and patient enough to keep at us about these things, even when it seemed like we just didn’t get it, because he knew how important they were. I get it now, Dad, about time right? Thank you!

Important Life Lessons I Learned from my Dad:

1. CMGMGC – Catching My Girls Making Good Choices.
My dad would say this to us when he saw us making a positive choice in life. He was trying to teach us that we all have choices that we make every single day and we can either make positive choices that are good for ourselves and others, or we can make negative choices that hurt ourselves and others. He wanted to reward and support the positive choices that we made independently, to help to teach us about making good choices. There is so much value in understanding that we have a say, that we can make choices, in life. Choices about how we act and react, choices about how we choose to live our lives. We are not just bystanders on this road of life, we are active participants and we need to learn to choose wisely. Thanks for teaching me the power and importance of choice, Dad!

2. Garbage in, Garbage Out
I would always roll my eyes at this one, especially during my teenage years. Dad would say that what we watched and listened to and even read, were putting messages into our minds and hearts about life. And if those messages were garbage – inappropriate movies or shows on TV, music that had underlying messages of sex and promiscuity, materialism and power, and books or stories of good and evil where we were rooting for the evil over the good, that those things would be what we reaped in our lives. I really did not agree with him for a long time. I thought that I was strong enough to stand against the messages that media was sending. Now that I have my own children, I think I’m finally beginning to understand what he meant. I want to shelter them from the life-stealing messages that our culture promotes. I want them to seek truth and beauty, love and grace, peace and justice – and those things don’t come naturally to our lives unless we are actively seeking them in our lives. This leads to the next one too…

3. There is truly nothing more important in our lives than our relationship with Jesus.
This one was not so much a saying, but the way that my dad lived, and still lives, his life. He modeled this for us through his actions, and you know the saying – actions speak louder than words, right? I remember going to Cedar Point on a youth group trip and my dad was a chaperone. He brought his Bible along to read while we waited in line for the roller coasters. I was mortified. But now I understand that to him, there was nothing more important than spending time in the Word of God and he was going to take every opportunity, every free minute to do what was most important to him. And so, this one is like the opposite of garbage in, garbage out – if something is truly important to you, it needs to be reflected in how you actually live your life. It’s not enough to say that you follow God, that you love Jesus, you need to act like it, and it needs to be reflected in the things you say, and do, and watch, and listen to, and read, day in and day out.

4. You have to mean not to.
This one I never understood when I was growing up. It just didn’t make any sense to me. He would say this when we did something that was probably an accident, but maybe also could have been prevented – we would say, “I didn’t mean to.” And he would reply, “You have to mean not to.” Ugh – it was always so frustrating to me – What? What does that mean? Now I realize that he was trying to teach us about being intentional, about thinking ahead about not being impulsive. Sometimes things happen in life that we don’t have control over, but other times things happen and we say, “Oh, I didn’t really mean for, or want that, to happen.” But then we are not taking responsibility for our lives and our choices. If you want to avoid something in life that you have control over – you have to mean not to. You have to purpose and be intentional about avoiding it, and not just sit back and be the victim of your circumstances. We all have the ability to be proactive – now I get it, finally!

5. You’re my favorite (insert age) year old in the whole world.
My dad would say this, actually he still says it, to each of my sisters, and of course, we were different ages, so that was his way of telling us how important we were to him, how much he loved us, without singling out one of as a “favorite” or making us feel like he loves one of us more than the others. As a girl, it’s important to know that you are special and loved, especially by your father. I hope that I am able to let my kids know and feel how special and loved they are. Really, it’s so important to let all the important people in your life know how much they mean to you.

6. Find something that you love to do, and do it with all your mind, heart and strength.
Again, not something that he said, but something that he modeled through his life. If anyone has met my dad, they know he is a little crazy. Crazy about speed skating, crazy about recumbent bikes. He LOVES skating and riding his bike. And when he realized how much he loved those things, he poured his life into them. He learned, and researched, and practiced, and practiced some more, and keeps doing the things he loves. He taught me to how good it is to find pleasure in something that you love and to put everything you can into it (without going overboard, or crazy, of course.) ☺

7. The most important things in life aren’t things at all. 
When I was much younger, I had a little bit of a hard time understanding this one, but now it is the most important one to me. It took me a little while to really learn and understand it, but now it is as obvious and plain as day to me. The most important things in life are not things, but people. And I want to live my life in a way that reflects that this is true for me. People and relationship come before stuff, before any other things, always. Besides bikes and skates (see above), this is the way that my dad lives his life. Okay, just kidding about the bikes and skates. But really, those who know my dad, know how important people are to him. And he makes it a point to live like that, and I hope that I can follow in his footsteps that way.

All of these things my dad taught and instilled in me and my sister’s when we were growing up. We didn’t realize it at the time, but he was shaping the kind of women, the kind of people, that we would become. I really don’t know who I would be today if my dad had not begun teaching me these important life lessons at such a young age. And even though I would, often, roll my eyes at him, I now see how the things that he taught us, through sayings and acronyms and the way he lived his life, were so much more powerful and lasting than lecturing or yelling, or a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of teaching. And for that, I am, and will forever be, grateful. Thank you, Dad, for being my favorite Dad in the whole wide world. I LYMTSLI! ☺

Homemade Frozen Fruit "Ice Cream"!

It's getting hot out! Where I live in Indiana, we have been in the upper 80's and low 90's this week, so I know that means that other areas of the country are even hotter! I came across this idea, or "recipe" on Eat From Your Pantry, and thought that it sounded too good to be true - using frozen fruit to make ice cream.  How great is that?  And such a delicious and healthy treat for these hot summer afternoons!

The basic idea is to take a frozen banana and puree it in your food processor until it becomes creamy, kind of like ice cream.  I wasn't really sure it would work, but the first time I tried it, low and behold, I had a smooth, creamy, ice cream like treat that my kids couldn't get enough of.  And the only ingredient - One frozen banana!

I decided to branch out a bit, I tried adding some mixed frozen fruit, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, with the banana.  The result was not quite as creamy, more sorbet-like, but still really, really good.  I served it to my family when they were in town visiting and everyone couldn't believe that all it had in it was frozen fruit!

So, last week, I decided to try it the way Anjanette from Eat From Your Pantry did, with bananas and strawberries. It was so great I think it's going to be my main way of making this awesome summertime treat from now on.

Homemade Strawberry Banana Ice Cream in the food processor

The ingredients:
1-2 Frozen Bananas (cut into chunks)
Handful of frozen strawberries (cut into smaller chunks if they are whole)
splash of whole milk
(Obviously use more or less depending on how many people you are trying to serve - this was a great amount for me and my two small kids.)

 Cut your strawberries into small chunks, they didn't process so well like this!

Put banana(s) and strawberries in your food processor and blend together.  You have to let it process for a while.  It will seem at first like it's not going to get creamy, but when you get to that point, add a splash of milk, and keep going. 

W

When it looks like this, keep going! 

This is the end result that you are looking for, nice and creamy, just like ice cream! But without any added sweetener!

This stuff is seriously so good, you will want to make it every single day.  And you will feel great feeding it to your kids because only you know that it's made with just whole fruit, and is so good for them! It's a great way to use frozen bananas - put your bananas into the freezer whole, when they are a little on the over-ripe side, they are great to use in banana bread, smoothies, or like this!

Also, check out this post and some of the comments, there are tons more ideas for how to make "ice cream" this way.  I may have to try some of the other combinations soon, like peanut butter, chocolate and banana - Yum! 

Okay, my kids are waking up from their naps and now I really want to make this for them!

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If this is your first time here and you'd like to learn more about me and what Live Renewed is about, click here. If you like what you've read, and would like to read more, you can subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

Are you new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

Meal Plan Monday

Wow, are we keeping busy already this summer! Besides my attempt at freezing and preserving 3 flats of strawberries last week (note to self: in the future, one flat of strawberries at a time, please!), my hubby has been hard at work on a swing set for our kids.  My dad came to visit for a few days last week to help him build, and it looks great, but still needed swings, a slide, some more wood for the sides and the ladder, and sand for the sandbox. Then, we were blessed this weekend with a slide and a ton of wood from a friend's neighbor who had taken down their swing set.  Now, that is frugally green! Free lumber and a slide, and not needing to use new lumber and cut down trees to finish building our swing set! So great! 

 Hubs and dad hard at work!

So, I made the bread pudding tonight and it was really pretty good.  To me it's kind of like a baked french toast dish, but I like baked french toast, so it's all good!  Also, I finally made the homemade crackers.  They are really good, but it does take a little bit to figure out how to know if they are done cooking or not.  One of my batches is definitely on the darker and crispier side, but still yummy!

Here's this week's menu:

Meatless Monday - Black Bean Burgers (new recipe, excited to try these!) and fried potatoes

Tuesday - dinner with our small group - Hummus with veggies for dipping

Wednesday - Easy Skillet Chili Mac, salad and corn (another new recipe)

Thursday - Quiche and fruit salad
Homemade crust

Friday - Homemade Pizza
Homemade crust and sauce


Saturday - Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

Sunday - Brenden's First Birthday!! (And Father's Day, that's important too!) - dinner/birthday party at my in-laws house. 

Cooking From Scratch:
After spending so much time in the kitchen with the strawberries last week, I'm not feeling very inspired to cook much extra, besides dinner, this week.  


I'm cooking 2 batches of dried beans today to use in both the black bean burgers and the hummus and then I'll freeze the extras in can-sized portions. It's so great to have cooked beans on hand to use in recipes that call for a can of beans.   


I am planning to brew some cold coffee and tea this week in the fridge following these directions from Simple Bites.  Doesn't that look so refreshing?  I'm hoping to be able to figure out how to make a homemade frappuccino with this. It would be so amazing to make a frappuccino type drink at home instead of shelling out $$$ for one at Starbucks!



I am planning to make Brenden's birthday cake on Sunday as well as some cupcakes to take to church that morning.  It's kind of funny, but for my daughter's first birthday I was really picky about the cake that we made for her.  It was sugar free, and had applesauce in it.  She liked it, but it really wasn't the best cake for the rest of us to eat.  This time, for B's birthday, I think I'm going to make this awesome chocolate cake.  Yes, not the best thing for him to have (I'm sure he'll love it though!), but everyone else will enjoy eating it too! 

What are you making from scratch at your house this week? 

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If this is your first time here and you'd like to learn more about me and what Live Renewed is about, click here. If you like what you've read, and would like to read more, you can subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

June's Change Challenge is Frugally Green Baby Care. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

Check out more great meal plans at Organizing Junkie!

Strawberries!

I just wanted to pop in and say, "Hi!" And let you know that I'm still around, but have been super busy the last 2 days.  My hubby got a great deal on 30+ lbs of strawberries, 24 quarts, so I have hand my hands full (of strawberries) trying to clean and prepare and freeze them before they go bad.  And trying to do that with two kiddos that are not cooperating with their naps or nighttime sleep has been extra fun!  

So far I have 4 gallon size bags of whole strawberries, a double batch of freezer jam, 2 batches of strawberry coulis (sauce), and several containers of sliced strawberries with sugar, in my freezer. Of course we're eating them by the handful and over strawberry shortcake as well!  And I still have 6 more quarts to go through. I have been using information from this great post at Simple Bites to help me with knowing how to freeze the berries.  We're actually hoping to go strawberry picking this weekend too and get a few more to make another batch or two of jam, and have a few more bags of whole frozen strawberries.

It such a great feeling to know that we supported a local farmer, got high quality berries (they were not sprayed with any pesticides, strawberries are on the Dirty Dozen list), and are putting away yummy food that we will be able to enjoy throughout the year. All while saving money because these berries were much cheaper than buying the frozen variety at the grocery store! I'm already looking forward to having strawberry shortcake in the middle of winter! It will be so refreshing to have a little taste of summer when it's cold and snowy out! (Okay, I don't really want to think about that anymore, I am loving summer right now!)
 
Alright, the strawberries are calling me - whew, who knew this would be so much work?  But it is so worth it!

Are you preserving strawberries this year?  What is your favorite way to freeze or preserve them? 

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If this is your first time here and you'd like to learn more about me and what Live Renewed is about, click here. If you like what you've read, and would like to read more, you can subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

June's Change Challenge is Frugally Green Baby Care. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

Visit Finer Things Fridays at The Finer Things in Life

Meal Plan Monday

Happy Monday! Sorry this post is late - Blogger was having some issues last night and today, but hopefully they got it all straightened out!

How was your weekend?  We had lots of fun around here.  On Saturday, my hubs and I ran a 5K through downtown South Bend, that ended in Notre Dame stadium.  It's pretty cool to run into the stadium and finish on the field, and we ran well, better than we expected!

Then, while I was scoring some great deals on clothes for my kids at garage sales, my wonderful hubby made me another square foot garden bed.  I was having trouble with my tomato plants and some of my pepper plants, so he made me the bed so I could transplant them.  Hopefully they'll survive the transplant and thrive in their new box with organic garden soil and compost.  I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Also, this past week I cleaned out my pantry and freezer to go along with Keeper of the Home's Cook More Real Food event.  It feels so great to have an organized pantry and freezer and to actually know what is in there.  I used the great printable lists from Organized Home to write everything down.  So, now that I know what I have, I'm going to try to incorporate some of the stuff into my meal plans over the next few weeks. 

Okay, onto this week's menu:

Meatless Monday - made Spaghetti and Cheese from More with Less cookbook, Jer was gone for dinner. 

Tuesday - dinner with our small group - making Cream Cheese Chicken with egg noodles

Wednesday - Hamburgers on the grill, Strawberry Shortcake for dessert!

Thursday - Baked Oatmeal (recipe from a friend that I am making for the first time) and scrambled eggs

Friday - Fish Tacos - (new recipe, but just grilling the tilapia to use in tacos)
Homemade Tortillas

Saturday - going to a World Cup Party!

Sunday - Chicken Pesto Sandwiches
Homemade French Bread (I hope it works - I've not had the best luck with bread baking recently)
Homemade Pesto

Cooking From Scratch:
Also, I want to get back in the habit of including the recipes for other things I'm making from scratch during the week.  I've been a little lax about keeping up in the kitchen, having snacks and other things on hand.  I'm planning to try making these wheat thin style crackers this week. 

I also have some leftover buns in my cupboard, so in an attempt to use up my leftovers, I'm going to try to make bread pudding for the first time.  I'm not sure I've ever had bread pudding, and I'm not sure I even like it, but I figure I might as well try to make it and see if I like it or not.  It seems like a great way to use up leftover bread.

Also, making a batch of granola tonight.  Nothing beats homemade yogurt topped with homemade granola and fruit for breakfast!

What are you making from scratch at your house this week? 

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If this is your first time here and you'd like to learn more about me and what Live Renewed is about, click here. If you like what you've read, and would like to read more, you can subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

June's Change Challenge is Frugally Green Baby Care. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

Check out more great meal plans at Organizing Junkie!

Crockpot Southwestern Beans

Finally! Here is the recipe that I was telling you about for Southwestern Beans in the crock pot.  I love using the crock pot in the summer! Usually you think of crock pots for winter meals like soups and stews, and while it's probably true that most crock pot meals are a little on the heavier side, I love that I don't have to turn on my oven; that I can throw everything in in the morning and then spend the time before dinner outside, instead of in a hot kitchen; and that I can even plug in the crock pot outside to cook so it doesn't heat up the house at all! 

This recipe came from my wonderful sister, (who's getting married later this month, I might add!) and we both had our own ways of adapting it to fit our tastes - or really we didn't follow the directions of the recipe and it still turned out good! :)

This is a great meatless meal, good flavor and still really filling, and especially if you used dried beans, it is so super frugal.  This will probably become a regular for our Meatless Mondays.  

Southwestern Bean Medley in the Crock Pot

14 ounces vegetable broth - (I used homemade chicken stock)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained) - (I used the equivalent of cooked dried beans)
1 can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1 can white kidney beans (cannellini) - (I used the equivalent of uncooked, dried Great Northern Beans, because white kidney beans are a little bit more expensive.)
1/2 C dried lentils
1 C diced tomatoes with green chilies
Copped fresh cilantro leaves

Mix all ingredients except tomatoes and cilantro in 3 1/2 quart slow cooker (or whatever size you happen to have). Cover and cook on low 6 to 7 hours.  Add tomatoes.  Cover and cook for 1 hour.  Sprinkle with cilantro.

Now for my my sister and I's personal notes:
She put the tomatoes in at the beginning and they were fine.  I didn't put the tomatoes in at the beginning, and then forgot to put them in at all! Still tasted fine, but we think it would have been even better with the tomatoes.  Next time I'll just put them in at the beginning, just so I don't forget.

The recipe suggests serving over rice, which we both did, and really enjoyed it that way.  My sister told me that it turned out more soupy than she expected, so the last hour or so, she left the lid vented to cook off some of the liquid.  I lifted the lid for maybe the last 30 minutes, and we didn't think it was too soupy, but I did use some dried beans that weren't cooked yet, so that might have soaked up some of the liquid.

If you are going to use uncooked dried beans for this recipe, you need to make sure that you soak them ahead of time.  I just soaked mine overnight and then put them in the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients the next morning.  I also added some extra chicken broth to make sure the beans were cooked through.

My sister and I both added extra seasoning toward the end of the cooking time to increase the flavor - you could add salt, pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper and/or cumin to suit your tastes.  My sister also added some chopped jalapenos, and though my hubby would have loved them, I'm not a jalapeno person, so that didn't happen at our house.  So, just taste it as your nearing the end of the cooking time and add spices accordingly.

Sorry I don't have any good pictures to go along with this post - this is why I am *not* a food blogger! :) 

Enjoy!

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If this is your first time here and you'd like to learn more about me and what Live Renewed is about, click here. If you like what you've read, and would like to read more, you can subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

This month's Change Challenge is - Frugally Green Baby Care. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

This post is linked to:
Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom
Recipe Swap at Grocery Cart Challenge
Food on Fridays at Anne Kroeker

June's Change Challenge - Frugally Green Baby Care

Wow, I cannot believe it is June already! My sweet baby boy turns one this month! This year has gone by so fast, but what a blessing it has been to get to know this sweet, funny, lovable little guy.  How can you resist that smile!

In honor of Brenden's first year of life, I wanted to cover frugally green baby care as this month's change challenge.  Whether you have 10 kiddos, or you are just thinking of starting a family, or having a family is not even on your radar right now, it always important to remember that babies and children are some of our most vulnerable, and most affected by toxins in their environment.  Let's work to make changes to make our world a safer place for our kids to live!

If you've read my story, you know that I started being concerned about going green around the time that my daughter was born.  It's amazing how having a little life entrusted to you can change your perspective.  It began with non-toxic cleaning and cloth diapering, and just continued to snowball from there.  While sometimes it can be overwhelming to think of all of the things that our kids are being exposed to and how it may be affecting them, I know that ultimately God is control and that He has called me to this journey, and that I need to be balanced in my approach.

I don't do this right or perfectly all the time, or, more accurately, ever.  I know there are others that do a much better job of limiting their kids exposure to toxic chemicals.  And yes, I do worry about the "what-abouts", as only a mother can. What about the lotion that we slathered on my daughter for the first year (or more) of her life?  What about some of the foods that she's eaten?  What if there's lead, or mold or worse, in the air in this older house that we live in?  What about the coffee I drink on almost a daily basis while nursing my son? Or what about the disposable (gasp!) diapers that my kiddos wear? But, I have learned that dwelling on those questions will not ultimately help anything.  Taking small steps, and making small changes as I am able, can and will make a big difference in the lives of my kids.  

So, let's focus on the positive changes that we can make in our environment at home, and in the environment as a whole, that will lead to fewer chemicals and less toxins in the lives of our little ones.  

If you're just beginning your frugally green journey - here's a look back at some of the past change challenges and posts I've written that would be a good place to start.

Homemade and Green Cleaning
Buying Pre-Owned 
Change Your Mind About Antibacterial Products

How do you limit the exposure to chemicals and toxins for the kids in your life?  Is this an area that you need to improve in? 

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If this is your first time here and you'd like to learn more about me and what Live Renewed is about, click here. If you like what you've read, and would like to read more, you can subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

This is the first post for June's Change Challenge - Frugally Green Baby Care. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

Meal Plan Monday

I hope everyone had a great long weekend! We had some great family time, got some work done on some projects, got to hang out with some great friends that we don't see often, and overall had a really busy and fun weekend. 

I spent about an hour today blanching and freezing 10 lbs of asparagus from the farmer's market. My friend Jenica has a good post about how to do it, if you are interested.  I just blanched mine in boiling water in a large stock pot. This is the first time that I have blanched and frozen veggies and I'm excited to begin preserving some of the summer's bounty. Preserving fruits and vegetables is such a great way to support local farmer's, buy in season, and save money all while being able to eat variety throughout the year.   I am hoping to have a very full freezer by the end of the summer!

Last week I made salmon patties for the first time.  They were pretty good.  I think I liked them more than Jer, but he said it would be okay if I made them again.  We are trying to include more fish in our diets, and this is a good way eat wild caught salmon.  The only problem I had is that I didn't realize that the salmon in the can has bones and skin in it and it was pretty tedious, and time consuming, trying to dig through and get all of that out.  I'm sure I didn't get all the bones out though and we couldn't tell at all, so I think next time I won't worry so much about the bones and just make sure to get the skin out. 

Also I just had to mention that we made these cinnamon rolls this morning and they are so amazingly good.  We always make a whole batch and cook half and freeze half for later (after rolling and cutting, but not cooked) and they taste just as good coming out of the freezer.  So even though the rolls are kind of a lot of work, you get 2 sets of cinnamon rolls out of it, and they are so good that it is worth it! 

Okay, here's this week's menu:

Monday -Had Steak with homemade marinade (so good!), mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, and grilled asparagus

Tuesday - dinner with our small group

Wednesday - Baked French Toast, fruit salad 

Thursday - Steak Stir-Fry with rice

Friday - Spaghetti and meatballs, salad
Homemade Ranch Dressing (I didn't get to make this last week, hopefully this week!)

Saturday - Pizza
Homemade sauce, homemade crust 

Sunday - Pulled Pork BBQ sandwiches
Homemade BBQ sauce

Check out more great meal plans at Organizing Junkie!

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If this is your first time here and you'd like to learn more about me and what Live Renewed is about, click here. If you like what you've read, and would like to read more, you can subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

May's Change Challenge is Decreasing Your Household Waste. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

How to Make Homemade Yogurt

Photo by hollygon21

My kids and I eat homemade yogurt on almost a daily basis, and I am still here to tell you about it!
Homemade yogurt might seem overwhelming, or a little scary - you are culturing bacteria after all, but it really couldn't be easier.  Plus it's good for your wallet, it will definitely save you money, especially over buying the individual fruit flavored cups, and good for the earth because it saves on the processing and packaging of conventional yogurt.

I made my first batch of homemade yogurt just about a year ago, and I think I can count on one hand the number of times that I have bought yogurt since then.  Over the past year of making yogurt, I have come up with a few tips and tricks that help me to make the the best yogurt (in my humble opinion).

I'm sorry that I don't have any of my own pictures.  I don't usually think about taking pictures when I'm making, or eating for that matter, my homemade yogurt.

Easy Homemade Yogurt in the Crockpot

*Plug in a crockpot and turn on low.  It's very important to do this first so you don't forget, and so the crockpot is the right temperature when you're ready to pour the milk in - can you tell I know this from experience?  

*Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it reaches 190 degrees. (I use a candy thermometer I got at Meijer for $10). You can use whatever amount of milk you want - I usually do either 4 cups or 8 cups. You want to be careful not to let the milk burn on the bottom of the pan, and make sure it doesn't boil over - so stir often and keep an eye on it.

Also, I have stopped checking the temperature during this step.  It's just one less thing to have to do.  When the milk starts getting bubbly and frothy (or it boils over onto your stovetop) you know it's done.

*Once milk reaches 190 (bubbling) remove from burner and run a sink half full of cold water.  Cover the pan and place into water in sink.  (This is kind of obvious, but make sure the water doesn't go over the top of the pan, just part way up the sides.) You can add ice to the water as well, but I've found that it doesn't really cool the milk down any faster, and that's again one less thing to do.  Can you tell I'm all about simplifying steps here?!

*Let milk cool down, stirring occasionally.  Once milk has reached between 90 and 110 degrees (I've read different temps here, I usually do about 100 degrees), remove pan from water. 

*Put yogurt starter into a bowl (I use glass) and pour about a cup of the warm milk over it and stir together. Use 2 Tbsp of yogurt starter per 4 cups of milk. Meanwhile pour remaining milk into heated crockpot.  Pour milk and yogurt from bowl into the crockpot and stir it all together. 

*Put the lid on, turn off and unplug the crockpot and wrap a heavy towel around it.  Let sit for 6-10 hours. (I usually do around 8 hours).

*Place crockpot bowl in fridge to cool yogurt - this step is really important because it helps the yogurt to set better.  Since I started doing this my yogurt has been nice and thick and creamy.  If you don't have room for your crockpot in your fridge, you can carefully ladle yogurt into containers and cool in the fridge.  Don't stir too much, it needs to be disrupted as little as possible in order to set well. 

*Set aside about a 1/2 cup of yogurt to be used as yogurt starter for your next batch. 

A few more tips:
Your yogurt starter should be plain yogurt that specifically says "Live and Active Cultures" on the package.  I use Dannon, and have had success with both the regular (full fat) yogurt and the fat-free plain yogurt (that is all they sell in the small cups at my grocery store).

I use whole milk to make yogurt because we have switched to using all full fat dairy products.  But, I know that my sister uses 2% milk with good results, although she says it's not as thick as when you use whole milk.

If you are having trouble with your milk burning on the bottom of the pan, turn your heat down.  It might take longer for the milk to heat up, but you should have less trouble with it burning.

It definitely depends on the price of your milk, but last year, I figured out that it cost me $1 to make 64 oz (8 cups) of yogurt, more than a $3 savings off Dannon plain yogurt on sale, and even greater savings compared to buying the individual fruit cups.

Our favorite ways to eat homemade yogurt are with a little raw honey and frozen fruit, usually blueberries, or topped with homemade granola.  Here is a great way to make your own fruit yogurt to-go cups, instead of buying the individual ones: just mix the frozen fruit and honey into the yogurt in a container with a lid, and the fruit will help to keep it cold but will have thawed out by the time you are ready to eat it.  Yum!

Have you considered making your own yogurt at home?  Do you have any questions about it?  


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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If this is your first time here and you'd like to learn more about me and what Live Renewed is about, click here. If you like what you've read, and would like to read more, you can subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

May's Change Challenge is Decreasing Your Household Waste. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.


This post is linked to:
Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom
Recipe Swap at Grocery Cart Challenge
Food on Fridays at Ann Kroeker

Garden Update #2

Wow! My garden is growing beautifully! It really is so amazing to me.  I was pretty sure I didn't have much of a green thumb.  I have been known to kill potted pants, as well as flowers in my flower beds in the past.  But, the great thing is that garden plants grow without a ton of work on my part.  Granted, I don't have a very big garden, but so far, it has not at all been overwhelming to me.

I try to get out and water if it's been a day or two without rain or if it's been really hot. Luckily we've had a LOT of rain the last few weeks, but now it's hot, so I have to make sure I stay on top of it.  Kaelyn loves to fill up her watering can and help me water the plants though, so it's nice to bring the kids out with me and be able to do it together.

Weeding hasn't been a big issue either.  I try to week a little bit here and there as I see things coming up.  There's one area that I'm avoiding weeding right now because I planted a few zucchini plants, and I'm not sure if they have come up yet or not, and I don't want to weed out my plants! :)

I've also been able to harvest some lettuce, spinach and cilantro, Yum!  It's so fun to go out and grab a bunch of greens and come in and make a salad.  Or use fresh cilantro in recipes for a little extra zip  It makes me excited for the yummy veggies that are still to come.

Since my first garden post, I planted my square foot garden, that my wonderful hubby made for me, with two rows of sugar snap peas, two rows of carrots, two chocolate (brown) pepper plants, and two zucchini seeds.  In my side garden I planted a basil plant, and three zucchini seeds, as well as some marigold seeds and some onions to hopefully help keep the critters away.

I haven't had any more trouble with anything eating my lettuce, except it looks like I have some little bugs eating holes in both the lettuce and spinach.  Any suggestions for how to get rid of bugs?  I'm trying to keep my garden organic, so if you have natural pest remedies please share!  I also planted another tomato plant, four cherry tomato plants, a red peper plant and two more chocolate pepper plants in my front yard garden area.

I'm a little concerned about the front yard garden with my tomatoes and peppers.  They don't seem to be growing very well.  I realized that I just planted them right in the soil that was there, not adding any compost or garden top soil like we did in the back yard gardens.  Also, there is a big ground cover type weed in our front garden bed that keeps showing up and multiplying even thought I keep pulling it and trying to dig it out.  I'm hoping that the weed isn't somehow choking out the garden plants.  I am considering trying to transplant my tomatoes and peppers into either some large containers, or getting my hubby to make me a raised bed for the front that I can plant them it.  I'm a little nervous that I might kill them in the process, but I'm also nervous that they might not do as well as I hoped. Also, Is there such a thing as too much sun for garden veggies?  Our front yard gets full sun all day long, 8 or 9+ hours of direct sunlight.  Is maybe that too much?  I'd love any suggestions that you seasoned gardeners out there might have for me!

And on a completely unrelated side note, my sister told me that she was having trouble leaving a comment, she tried four different times and it never showed up.  Has anyone else had this problem?  I want to make sure that my comments are working correctly - I love hearing from my readers! So, if you're trying to leave a comment and it's not working for you, please e-mail me and let me know - emilymcclements(at)yahoo(dot)com.  Thanks!

Alright, I'm off to go tend to my garden, I've got some watering and weeding to do!

How is your garden growing?  Have you been able to harvest anything yet?

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If you’d like to read more about my journey to becoming Frugally Green, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

May's Change Challenge is Decreasing Your Household Waste. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

Meal Plan um... Tuesday!

After such a great weekend, I'm a little behind on the meal plan this week.  But, I still wanted to post it for my own sake and for any of you out there that like to see how I try to make most of my meals from scratch.  Are any of you out there?  Sometimes I wonder if you guys like to see my meal plan each week, or if it's something that you just skip or skim over?  I post my meal plan because it keeps me accountable and on track, and because I pull up my meal plan post on my Google Reader and click on my recipe each day when I'm getting ready to make dinner. :) That's why I had such a hard time when I didn't have internet for 2 weeks! But, if no one is really reading it or would miss it if I stopped posting it, then I might start posting something different on Mondays - what do you think?

Last week my new recipes went well.  I especially liked the Crockpot Southwestern Beans recipe that my sister gave me, so I'll have to post that recipe soon.  It is a great meal for Meatless Mondays, and Jer even approved, which is pretty rare for recipes with lots of beans and no meat!

Here's this week's menu:

Meatless Monday - had leftover Southwestern Beans - Jer had a meeting

Tuesday - dinner with our small group - making Breakfast Bake with sausage (not using homemade crescent rolls, shhh! But I read the ingredients and they have hydrogenated oils - trans fat! Ahhh! So from now on I will be making them from scratch!)

Wednesday - Carnitas - meat in freezer from the last time we had them
Homemade Tortillas
Homemade Refried Beans

Thursday - Crockpot Chicken Parmesan and salad - hopefully from our garden!
Homemade Ranch Dressing (trying this for the first time!)

Friday - Salmon Patties, rice and veggies (New recipe, I'm trying to include fish in our menu every other week)

Saturday - Hamburgers on the grill
Homemade Buns

Sunday - Grilled Cheese and Homemade Chicken and Noodles from freezer


Check out more great meal plans at Organizing Junkie!

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If you’d like to read more about my journey to becoming Frugally Green, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

This month's Change Challenge is Decreasing Household Waste! You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here. 

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

Change Challege - Decreasing Household Waste

Photo by Loving Earth

So, did you get the chance to do a garbage inventory?  If so, I hope that you learned a little bit more about the type of garbage your family is creating, and maybe you're ready to make some changes in the amount of waste you are throwing away.  (If not, I still highly encourage you to try it - it really is eye opening!)

Through my garbage inventory, I learned that we didn't have a lot of paper waste, which I think is a really good thing.  But, I know that paper waste is a problem for some people and it's hard to know what to do about it, where to start and what the best alternatives are.  Here are a few links to posts I've written about how we have eliminated paper waste around our home.  

Eliminating Paper Waste
Going Paper Towel-less
Wrapping Gifts 

One area that I want to improve in our household is the amount of junk mail we receive.  I always recycle it, but if I could stop it from being sent in the first place, that would be even better.  Less paper waste I am creating and less paper in general that I have to deal with on a day to day basis - it's a double bonus!

One thing that I'm going to try to do is to keep any junk mail that we do receive and see if I can figure out how to get our names off their mailing list.  A phone number, or hopefully website or e-mail address, I can contact and ask them to stop sending me junk.  This will definitely take a little extra time and effort on my part, but I think in the long run of having less mail and paper to deal with, it will be worth it.

Another option would be to opt out of having direct mail sent to you.  There is a website where you can contact the major credit bureaus and opt out of having credit offers sent to you.  I don't know anything about this site and how it actually works though, so I think I'm going to stick with directly contact companies that we receive junk mail from. 
Update 5/26: I tried calling the number (888-567-8688) on the bottom of a direct mail credit card offer I received and it was the number for Opt Out Prescreen - the website I mentioned above.  You can either give your information over the phone or fill out the form online and opt out of direct mail offers for 5 years, or permanently. 

Cutting back on paper waste is a great first step to take toward decreasing your total household waste!

How have you eliminated paper waste around your home?  Any type of paper that you struggle with giving up, or finding an alternative for? 

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If you’d like to read more about my journey to becoming Frugally Green, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

This is a post for May's Change Challenge - Decrease Your Household Waste. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesdays at We are That Family 

P.S.

How could I forget this?!?  I have to mention that Jodi from jodimichelle and Stacey from Stacey says... did an absolutely fabulous job of planning and putting on Gleek Retreat!  Everyone there could not stop saying how amazing the location was, how helpful the sessions were, and how much fun they were having.  Even the food was amazing.  Thank you ladies, it really was wonderful!

If you are a blogger and live in the Midwest (or even if you don't) you should plan to attend Gleek Retreat '11.  Planning is already in the works and it is sure to be an amazing weekend once again! Follow Gleek Retreat on Twitter for updates and announcements. 

What A Great Weekend!

I am just sitting down after a great weekend visiting my family and attending Gleek Retreat '10.  First of all I wanted to say thank you to my amazing family for watching my kids all weekend!  It was so nice to have a little break from parenting, to be able to eat meals and have adult conversations without being interrupted or having to jump up every 10 seconds to get something for someone, and to be able to learn so much about this crazy world of blogging.  

Brenden with Papa

My head is spinning from all of the information and great conversations that I had at the retreat.  It was so great to meet other women who do something similar to what I do, and to learn from them and share ideas with them.  I have a lot to process over the next days and weeks, but here are a few highlights from the weekend.

New Friends
I met so many great, amazing people this weekend.  First of all, you all know how much I love Katie from Kitchen Stewardship (you did know that, right?)! Well, I got to meet her at the retreat! And she is as nice and funny and personable as she comes across on her blog.  I had a really great time with her and Donielle from Naturally Knocked Up.

Also, Julie from Dutch Being Me and I sat at a table together for the sessions, and I now have a new friend and someone that can help me navigate the murky waters of Twitter. 

And I met so many other amazing women, too many to really mention, who answered my questions, asked me about my blog and what I write about and why, and gave me great advice.  I wish I could write something about everyone one of them, but I don't think that's really practical, so here's a list of all the other wonderful attendees that I had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with over the weekend.

Free Stuff
Who doesn't love free stuff! We received amazing swag bags for attending the retreat and I wanted to take a second to mention my favorites.  One of the things that I really appreciated about the swag was that a lot of it was from eco-friendly companies.  We received awesome stainless steel water bottles from EcoUsable,  granola from Good Life Granola, a gift certificate to Piggy Paint - non-toxic nail polish, and much more and it all came in these awesome baskets from Home & Company.  The basket will be perfect for my trips to the Farmer's Market!

Also we had my sister's bachlorette party on Saturday night.  It was a great time to hang out, laugh, and celebrate that my sister is getting married in a little over a month! Crazy!

And last but certainly not least - my amazing hubby spent the weekend working on painting our house!  He worked really hard all weekend scraping, fixing, caulking, priming and painting, and our house is now a nice greenish-grey color now, instead of yellow.  It will definitely take a little getting used to, but it looks really nice and he did a great job painting.  I'll post pictures once it's all finished - hopefully by next weekend!

It was a definitely a full and fun weekend!  And oops, how could I forget this - P.S.

Questions to Ask at the Farmer's Market

 

Photo by shaggyshoo

Today I'm at Keeper of the Home talking about what kinds of questions to ask the farmers and vendors at your local farmer's market.

Here's an excerpt from the post:

I was a little overwhelmed the first time that I walked through. Which vendors are the best to buy from?  Why is there a booth with cheap sunglasses at the farmer’s market? Why does that produce stand have bananas? How do I know where and how these tomatoes, or corn, or apples, are grown?  And then my mom came to visit one weekend and I took her to the market with me and watched and listened and learned, all over again.

 So head on over to Keeper of the Home today and read my tips and ideas for getting the most out of the offerings at your local farmer's market.

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If you’d like to read more about my journey to becoming Frugally Green, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

This month's Change Challenge is Decreasing Household Waste! You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here. 

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

Menu Plan Monday

I hope everyone had a great weekend! My hubby surprised me with a date night on Saturday and it was so nice to get out and have dinner and be able to spend time together and talk without being interrupted by the kiddos - and thanks to my in-laws for watching them! 

Last week I made Homemade Alfredo Sauce with pasta, chicken and broccoli, and it was sooooo, so good! And fairly easy too.  Jer isn't a huge alfredo fan and he even really liked it and said I could add it to our regular rotation.  One piece of advice though, I followed one of the reviews that said they only used 7 Tbsp of butter instead of the whole stick, because that is what I had available, the sauce turned out great, nice and thick.  My younger sister made the sauce the same night and said that she had trouble getting the sauce to thicken and that it was too runny.  So, if you try it, cut a Tbsp of butter off the stick before you melt it in the pan.  I have two new recipes this week that I am excited to try, the one for Crockpot Southwestern Beans is from my middle sister, so I'll post the recipe later if it's a keeper.  Also, my younger sister, Laura, is coming to visit for a few days this week.  We are so excited to see her, the kids always have so much fun with her!

Here's this week's menu:

Meatless Monday - Baked Potatoes with broccoli and cheese, salad

Tuesday - dinner with our small group - making Bread in the bread machine

Wednesday - Chicken and Biscuits (New - scroll down for the recipe)
Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup from last week
Homemade Biscuits

Thursday - Crockpot Southwestern Beans over rice (New recipes from my sister)

Friday - Homemade Pizza
Homemade Crust
Homemade Sauce

Saturday - Out of town for Gleek Retreat!  And My sister's bachlorette party!

Sunday - Leftovers or Grilled Cheese and Homemade Chicken and Noodles from the freezer


Check out more great meal plans at Organizing Junkie!

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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If you’d like to read more about my journey to becoming Frugally Green, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

This month's Change Challenge is Decreasing Household Waste! You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here. 

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

May's Change Challenge - Decreasing Household Waste

 Photo by engnr_chik

I have one more post to finish up April's Change Challenge to Read the Ingredients, but I'm not quite finished with it yet, so it will have to wait 'til next week.  But, I wanted to go ahead and introduce May's Change Challenge since we're already half way through the month.  I wanted this month's challenge to be pretty simple and straightforward, as well as something that I have written about before, and because I just went to a composting workshop earlier this week, May's challenge is to decrease your household waste. 

The composting workshop I went to was interesting for a few reasons.  Obviously it was interesting to learn about composting, and now I feel like - I can do that! So, look for some posts in the future about how we set up and began our compost pile.  (Exciting, I know!)

It was also interesting because the presenter (from the St. Joseph Co. Soil and Water Conservation Dist.) talked a little about landfills and waste and what happens to our waste when it goes to the landfill.  Basically, he described landfills as giant Tupperware Bowls were garbage just sits, without actually rotting or decaying.  He said that there were scientists that did studies of landfills and found newpapers that were 30 years old and still legible, and carrots that were still edible! I wasn't quite sure if I believed him, so I did a little digging myself, and found The Garbage Project which is based at the University of Arizona and studies people's garbage and excavates landfills.  According to this article, what he told us at the workshop is true, and one thing he said has stuck with me, "When things go into a landfill, they don't go away!"  That really changes my view of the waste that we as a family create and throw away - it doesn't actually go away, it just moves from my house to a place where it will sit unchanged for hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years. 

Almost a year ago I did a Garbage Inventory by keeping track of the waste that created in one day.  It was interesting (and kind of gross) to see the garbage that we threw away on a typical day. It was also really helpful to know what kind of garbage we were throwing away so we could find areas that we could improve in. 

So, I want to encourage you, over the weekend or sometime next week to do a garbage inventory at your house too! Just collect everything that you throw away in one central bag.  I also wrote things down as I threw them away because I really didn't want to go digging back through the garbage bag just to see what was in there. You can weigh it and look over your list at the end of the day to see how much and what type of garbage you created.  It really doesn't take that much extra time, and it is a great first step to identify areas you can make changes to decrease your waste!

Did you realize that trash in landfills doesn't really go away?  Have you ever done a garbage inventory?  Do you know how much and what kinds of waste your family creates on a day-to-day basis?  
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Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If you’d like to read more about my journey to becoming Frugally Green, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.

This is the first post in May's Change Challenge - Decrease Your Household Waste.  Last month's Change Challenge was Read the Ingredients! You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.