Well, I had completely intended on making a go of this sewing blog when life took a hard right turn. Months later, the dust has settled. My little family is starting to find a new rhythm. My relationship with God is strong and growing. There is an amazing man making me realize that my full life was still a little incomplete. (It's true. I love him.) I'm very close to starting an exciting new career. Now I'm finding that there is a network of people living precisely the way I've been striving to for many years. I thought they only existed deep in the woods, on the tops of high mountains, and way back in the swamps. I thought I would have to fight my way up in the rat race in order to (God willing, and economy withstanding) possibly retire to this kind of lifestyle in my early fifties. Little did I know, a homesteading and simplified living movement had been sweeping the nation. Along with it comes an increased knowledge base for nourishing living, as well as eliminating toxins from the home (something I started back in 2007 when my then newborn son started having health issues), and becoming more self-reliant and less dependent on outside sources for food and energy. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for all of that automated and convenient stuff. I just think that as a society we have become, well, lazy and a bit naive about our consumerism. Did you know that the United States represents less than 5% of the world's population, but contributes 25% of the annual waste production? In fractions that is - 1/20 : 1/4. (http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/23/waste-worlds-worst-cx_rm_0524waste.html) Yuck. We are disgusting. Each of us makes as much waste as 5 average people in the rest of the entire world.
On the other end of the spectrum, my boyfriend teases my about my obsessive saving of "even two tablespoons of mustard. It's like 3 cents worth!" Hey man, when you've been hungry enough to eat leftovers of food that made you sick to your stomach, you save stuff like that. It's perfectly good food! Why dump it? I will even eat other peoples' leftovers. I know it's weird. Growing up, my dad and I were both the "you gonna eat that?" kids. We both ended up being taller than our siblings. In fact, at 5'10" I'm the tallest woman in my family, on both sides! As far as I know, he is the tallest man in his family. It worked out for us! I digress. I don't like to waste food. This morning, I used fruit pulp, strained off from the liquid I used to make lacto-fermented soda, in my pancakes. In case you're wondering, they were chocolate pancakes and the pulp was from berries. I topped them with homemade cream cheese (which I made by straining the whey off of homemade yogurt I made so as not to waste some sour milk. I know. I'm out of control. Oh, and they whey went into the soda. See what I did there?) and strawberry syrup made with whole berries (that were about to go bad and on clearance - winning!), honey and lemon juice. They tasted like the BEST chocolate donut you've ever dreamed of. Not joking. I saved some for Aaron (boyfriend) to try, just to confirm. He's still in Montana, so I'll give you the verdict in my next post.
To sum up, I'm going to share with you my experiences, tips and recipes from this new endeavor to live a little under the radar, slightly off the grid, and maybe a few degrees off center. Maybe next time I make my chocolate pancakes I'll pay attention to how much stuff I put in so you can make them, too! Wander aimfully, my friends.
On the other end of the spectrum, my boyfriend teases my about my obsessive saving of "even two tablespoons of mustard. It's like 3 cents worth!" Hey man, when you've been hungry enough to eat leftovers of food that made you sick to your stomach, you save stuff like that. It's perfectly good food! Why dump it? I will even eat other peoples' leftovers. I know it's weird. Growing up, my dad and I were both the "you gonna eat that?" kids. We both ended up being taller than our siblings. In fact, at 5'10" I'm the tallest woman in my family, on both sides! As far as I know, he is the tallest man in his family. It worked out for us! I digress. I don't like to waste food. This morning, I used fruit pulp, strained off from the liquid I used to make lacto-fermented soda, in my pancakes. In case you're wondering, they were chocolate pancakes and the pulp was from berries. I topped them with homemade cream cheese (which I made by straining the whey off of homemade yogurt I made so as not to waste some sour milk. I know. I'm out of control. Oh, and they whey went into the soda. See what I did there?) and strawberry syrup made with whole berries (that were about to go bad and on clearance - winning!), honey and lemon juice. They tasted like the BEST chocolate donut you've ever dreamed of. Not joking. I saved some for Aaron (boyfriend) to try, just to confirm. He's still in Montana, so I'll give you the verdict in my next post.
To sum up, I'm going to share with you my experiences, tips and recipes from this new endeavor to live a little under the radar, slightly off the grid, and maybe a few degrees off center. Maybe next time I make my chocolate pancakes I'll pay attention to how much stuff I put in so you can make them, too! Wander aimfully, my friends.
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