The Truth in a Trash Bag

OK, I confess: we make a lot of garbage at our house. I decided to take a look at why our garbage can always seems to be full before the truck comes, and what the heck is in there. So here is my true confession about the contents of one kitchen-sized trash bag:

Non-recyclable plastic cheese container (oops, bought the wrong brand)
5 bottle caps, non recyclable
2 frozen juice containers (in here because I was too lazy to take them apart and separate the recyclable metal tops from the compostable cardboard sides)
1 half-gallon foil-lined box that contained red pepper/tomato bisque used to make soup
1 hot-food box from Whole Foods that had contained meat with sauce - Can't put meat in compost bin, right?
1 hot-food box from Whole Foods that had contained a tofu dish with sauce - Hey. What is this doing in here?
1 small plastic spice container, empty - Doesn't seem to fall into recyclable plastic category
Another non-recyclable plastic cheese container
The plastic bag from inside a cereal box (the box was recycled)
Strip torn off plastic shredded-cheese bag
Plastic bag that had contained the above pre-shredded cheese
Plastic bag that once contained sausage
Many, many, many paper towels. Many.

OK, so. This was a very light trash week. We frequently have many more containers, because we break down mid-week and buy food that's already been cooked and packaged by someone at some grocery store. But when it comes down to it, the bulk of this trash bag's contents was the collection of paper towels. Some wet, some more or less dry, some smelling of furniture polish... Why do we use these?

We have gone back and forth about using dish towels vs. using paper towels. We have quite a collection of dish towels, which become unsanitary (and smelly) really fast. We've tried color-coding the ones used ONLY for dishes vs. the ones used for hands, counter-wiping, etc. Somebody always gets in a hurry and wipes their hands on the towel that's supposed to be reserved for dishes. And what about the water used to wash the towels? Hot water, at that. Is it better for the earth to run an extra load of laundry? And can we put used paper towels in the compost? We used to, when we lived in the burbs and had a different garbage-compost-recycle company, but now I'm not sure.

I want to make less trash. What do you guys do?

If I Could See Me Now

I'm posting over here today. Stop on by if you'd like to receive the update on my cooking adventures!

Help catch a biodiesel thief!

We get our biodiesel at Dr. Dan's Fuelwerks in Ballard. They have a great system: we prepay, and they give us a key to the pump. We pump, keep track in their logbook and ours, and when we get low on our prepaid gallons, we pre-pay some more. It's a good, user friendly system, and obviously depends a lot on trust.

Today we got an e-mail from Dr. Dan, which I'm reproducing here in its entirety:

Last night someone stole over $1,000 worth of biodiesel by taking advantage of the prepay honor system at Dr. Dan’s. We need your help identifying the vehicle that was seen leaving the scene.

Someone was seen quickly leaving the station on 9th and 50th between 8:00-8:20 PM on Sunday night (10/21/07) in a very well maintained Ford F250 flatbed truck. The truck is two-tone blue/white and has a red 300 gallon oval fuel tank mounted behind the cab. The vehicle did not have plates, and was spilling fuel at it fled because the driver did not put the gas cap on in their haste.

If you have seen this vehicle or have any information regarding this incident, please contact us immediately.

Thank you for your help!

Dr. Dan's Biodiesel
912 NW 50th St
Seattle, WA 98107
206-783-5728
www.drdansbiodiesel.com

So if you have seen this biodiesel stealing fiend, please let Dr. Dan know.

Sorting the Garbage

Recent visits from various out of town family members have made me aware of how much time we Seattleites spend thinking about and handling our garbage. Or at least, what other people perceive as garbage.

Meal prep one night during my brother and sister-in-law's visit resulted in the following:

two cardboard boxes that had contained puff pastry sheets
paper that had separated puff pastry sheets
shrinkwrap from block of gruyere cheese
shrinkwrap from block of parmesan chese
a pile of carrot peelings
a pile of red potato peelings
the ends we'd snipped off 1/2 lb of green beans
stem ends of several tomatoes
two egg shells
paper from a stick of butter
two empty beer bottles
empty diet coke cans
empty milk carton
foil bag that had contained coffee

After dinner, my sis-in-law beat me into the kitchen and began doing the clean-up. Our conversation consisted mostly of me saying, "Oh! That's not garbage. It's recycle." and "Oh! That's not garbage, it's compostable." When all was said and done, most of the items from our list had gone into the counter-top compost container, or a paper bag for recyclables, and another paper bag for things like the puff pastry boxes. Various people were assigned to carry the paper bags out to the appropriate bins. (I'm never sure what to do with those foil-lined coffee bags from the Very Large Coffee Roasting, Co.)

The compost container, not being full, stayed on the kitchen counter. Keeping "garbage" in the house was, shall we say, unusual to my guests, but has become the norm for me. (Next thing you know, I'll put a worm bin in the kitchen and use it as a bench or something!)

Recycling. It's obsessive. It's compulsive. It's what we do here in Seattle. And I'm a little proud of it.

Seedless in Seattle

Today we harvested the bounty of the land.

Our very own watermelon.

A treasure, to be sure.

"It's not quite ripe. It's not quite sweet. It's not bad," Tobin said cheerily, as he gobbled up our harvest.

The Truth in a Backpack & Tote: A trip to the Farmer's Market

Today Eleanor & I went to the University District Farmer's Market. Here's what I came home with:

In my backpack:

1/2 gallon raw, grass-fed Grade A Milk
1/2 gallon All-Purpose Meat Broth
1 whole stewing hen (headless)

In my tote:

1 parsnip

4 carrots

1 bunch cilantro

1 large bunch kale

2 Walla Walla sweet onions

16 oz. Dark Wildflower Honey

5 peaches

2 pints strawberries

1 pear

32 oz. Dry Roasted Hazelnuts

6 oz. Orange Honey Hazelnuts

1 lb. fresh Tagliolini spinach pasta

1 lb. fresh cheddar cheese

4 honey sticks

Cost: $94.

It seems like a lot for such a short list, but keep in mind that I bought several high-ticket items ($10 stewing hen, $7 half-gallon of milk, $18 for a giant bag of Hazelnuts).

Food miles:

I didn't write down the locations of all of the farms. But I trust the promise of the Farmer's Market that only Washington Farmers are allowed to participate. I noted that most items are from western Washington. So I'm figuring most items were within 100 miles.

"Big deal," you say, "can you actually turn that stuff into food that you and your family will eat?"

Well, I'm glad you asked. Cuz I know that's what I've often thought to myself as I see people toting heavy-laden bags of veg.

Thanks to a good recommendation from Heather & Martin, I am now the proud owner of "Laurel's Kitchen,' and "More-with-Less (MWL)," two great cookbooks. While I was searching for the cookbooks on-line, I also stumbled acrsoss "Simply in Season (SIS)." The latter two were commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee "to promote the understanding of how the food choices we make affect our lives and the lives of those who produce the food" (SIS), and "in response to world food needs." These books exude a yeasty kind of warmth, and beckon the reader to think beyond feeding the body to the nurishing of the soul.

Last night, I made Kale Potato Soup (SIS, p. 182) but I didn't have any kale. Even without that key ingredient, the result was delicious.

Today I sat down and made a menu for this week, all from recipes found in SIS:

Greens in Peanut Sauce over Polenta

Gingery Squash Soup with Cranberry Nut Loaf

Kale Potato Soup (this time with kale I bought today at the market)

Chicken Vegetable Soup (using the stewing hen, carrots, onion, parsnip, and more kale from the market)

Green Salad with Autumn Fruit

I think this is a good start. I have the plan in place (menu for the week), the ingredients (most are organic and locally grown, from the market), and a schedule for when it will be most convenient for me to prepare and cook the foods.

I am excited to have the missing link in my possession: cookbooks that tell me what to eat in what season, and have good recipes to turn the produce into something delicious.

Cookie Recipes

I like cookies.

I developed this recipe over the years. It is the perfect marriage of chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies. Recently I've been experimenting with changing the recipe depending on what's in my cupboard, and the result has been fantastic. Given the rarity of delicious culinary creations in my house, I thought it worthy of a post to share the recipe with you.

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In one bowl, combine the following:

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup applesauce (or any sauce-- plum sauce is yummy, too)

2 eggs

1 Tb vanilla extract

Beat together with beaters for about 1 minute

In a separate bowl, combine the following:

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups flour (whole wheat pastry flour)

1 package instant vanilla pudding mix

1 1/2 cups oatmeal

Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ones.

Add chocolate chips (to taste)

Bake 9 minutes.

__________VARIATIONS________________

JAMAICAN DIRT COOKIES

substitute chocolate pudding mix

add 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

HEART HEALTHY COOKIES

Note: these are not low-fat cookies. They contain almond meal (just ground almonds) and oat bran, which have been shown to decrease heart disease. Tobin recently found out that his "good cholesterol" number is low, and the doctor advised that he increase his nut and oat intake (as well as fish oil). I ran out of oatmeal this weekend but had oat bran on hand, so I made cookies with the following ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup plum sauce

2 eggs

1 Tb vanilla

(beat with beaters)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup almond meal

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 package instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cups oat bran

1/4 cup wheat germ

chocolate chips

Bake 9 minutes.

ENJOY!

100 Miles? Hardly! The Truth in 4 Bags of Groceries

1. Trader Joe's (TJ's) Spiced Tortilla Chips (Distributed by Trader Joe's, Monrovia, CA) (don't know where they are made)
2. TJ's Blueberry Muesli (Distributed by TJ's, Neeham, MA)
3. TJ's Papadums Indian Style Snack (Distributed by TJ's, Neeham, MA)
4. Yves Meatless Ground (Mnfct. for Dist. by Hain Celestial of Melville, NY, but says "Product of Canada" in small print)
5. Trader Giotto's Marsala Sauce (Distributed by TJ's, Neeham, MA)
6. TJ's Masala Simmer Sauce (Distributed by TJ's, Monrovia, CA)
7. Trader Giotto's Bruschetta (Needham, MA, "Product of Canada")
8. TJ's Organic String Cheese (Monrovia, CA)
9. TJ's Artisan Breads Par Baked Baguette (Monrovia, CA)
10. 4 organic Gala apples bearing a sticker stating "Product of USA"
11. 4 organic Valencia oranges, bearing a sticker stating "Product of USA, Eco-Farms"
12. 2 boxes of TJ's cereal (Dist. by TJ's, Monrovia, CA)
13. TJ's Organic Pasta, Imported from Italy (Dist. in Monrovia, CA)
14. TJ's Organic Butter (Monrovia, CA)
15. Trader Joe San Organic Tofu (Monrovia, CA)
16. TJ's Organic Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers (Needham, MA)
17. TJ's Natural Toasted Oat Bran (Dist. by TJ's, Pasadena, CA)
18. 2 pints TJ's Vanilla Organic Lowfat Yogurt (Monrovia, CA)
19. TJ's Organic Peeled Carrots (Monrovia, CA)
20. TJ's Artichoke Jalepeno Dip (Monrovia, CA)
21. TJ's Organic Creamy Peanut Butter (Needham, MA)
22. TJ's Organic Unweetened Apple Sauce (Monrovia, CA)
23. TJ's Flour Tortillas (Monrovia, CA) (touting 3% organic ingredients)
24. Bisous de Provence Lemon Verbena Soap (Made in France, Imported by Ton Savon, Inc., Manhattan Beach, CA)
25. Bisous de Provence Lavender Soap (Made in France, Imported by Ton Savon, Inc., Manhattan Beach, CA)

Total money spent: $87.27
Total miles travelled: *11,828

(*Calculated as if each item from each destination travelled here on the same plane. E.g., Seattle to Monrovia is 957 miles, counted only once, Seattle to France is 5010 miles, etc).

(*Also, I realize this doesn't account for all of the miles, because it only counts miles from the distributor. I have no way of knowing from whence the ingredients for these items came; the packaging is silent on this matter).

Help! I need a grocery intervention! Where do you shop for your weekly staples? And what do you buy? How many miles are in your grocery bags?

ErrandPool

First came the carpool, born of shared necessity. Neighbors, acquaintances, or perfect strangers whose kids are on the same T-ball team realize that they are either going to spend the rest of their natural born days in the car, or learn to co-operate with each other.

"You drive Monday and Tuesday, I'll drive Wednesday and Thursday, and we'll alternate Fridays." This model is used by people with Palm Pilots, Day-Timers, and many surplus brain cells. The more casual (and easier to remember) variant is: "I'll take 'em and you pick 'em up."

There's also the haphazard variation, which occurs when we realize that no matter how hard we try, we simply cannot clone ourselves. It goes something like this: "Um. Hi! I'm sorry to bother you, but I just realized I have a big conflict with T-ball scheduling. Can you guys give John and Jennifer rides this week? I'll happily give Susie and Sammy rides next week."

No matter how we set it up, a carpool divides the labor, cuts down on fuel usage (and gray hair), gives the kids someone to talk to, and helps us be good role models about sharing.

So if we're so good at carpooling, why do we still run errands alone and just for ourselves?

Ally commented to the last post, "I have been thinking about an idea-- creating a neighborhood list-serve (we have one already via yahoo groups) and emailing folks when I'm driving to the store (and asking them to do the same) and asking if they need anything. There's no reason we can't make this shopping thing more efficient by working with our neighbors."

I like this idea a lot. Now, some of us might be shy about setting up a list-serve, or don't want the whole cyber-universe to know when we might be running out for toilet paper or garbanzo beans. If so, we might make a plan with two or three trusted friends and pool our errands once or twice a week. I'd be happy to pick up your dry cleaning, for instance, when I pick up my husband's shirts. Or I could take a whole pile of your library books back when I go to return mine. (Library books is easy, because in Seattle you can turn them in at ANY branch, and the Library is happy.) How about returning each other's videos? Or, if you knew that Monday is always my Big Grocery Day, feel free to call me Sunday night and ask if I'd pick up some Milk and Eggs for you. I'd do it, in a heart beat.

It's mostly a question of organization, but it also has to do with being willing to admit we have needs. (This would be the spiritual-growth part, coming up here...)

We seem to find it hard to say, "I am really dog-paddling through my life and could sure use a hand." Instead, we buy the new revised How the Happy Skinny Housewife Gets Organized, Clears the Clutter and Raises Children who Eat their Peas While Picking up Their Socks in hopes that this particular edition will teach us, at last, how to pack 36 hours of life into a 24-hour day. And while we're waiting for clutter-enlightenment, we still have to pick up the prescriptions at the pharmacy before it closes at six, but darn it! we're all the way downtown with Billy Bob and his tutor.

Oddly, I find that most people are much more apt to say "I'll help!" than we are to say, "I need help." Yet, sharing the load could be a two-way ticket out of Self-Sufficiency-Ville into the land of Neighborly Cooperation. Here in Seattle, home of the preschool co-op, the babysitting co-op, and the book group, it's time for the next step: the ErrandPool.