1. maryjanesfarm.org This is a wonderful site that I found after discovering the magazine Mary Jane's Farm back in October. This could keep me occupied for hours and I've only had a chance to mine a little of the information.
2. I can live w/o paper towels (although I'm not sure all of my family member can). I tried not using paper towel and found it really wasn't very difficult to make the switch to using more cloth kitchen towels. I tried to figure out how much money I could save and in this family of six and buying in bulk, I figure I was still spending over 150.00 - just on paper towels. I also was not recycling them so they were just going to the landfill. I have not totally changed out the paper towel habit. We still have them, but I personally have cut way back and we will be easing into an almost paper towel free life soon.
3. Shepherds Pie. Somehow I missed the whole shepherds pie debate of the last few years (whether it's authentic shepherds pie if you use cheese). My daughter Kristin introduced us to the dish last winter. I actually made it tonight. It's got to be close to the top on the comfort foods list. You can find all kinds of recipes for it. I've opted for a low fat ground beef version made with only beef, onion, celery, carrots, stock, potato starch to thicken and then mashed potatoes. I did make my daughter Alyssa (who's a vegetarian) a broccoli, cauliflower, carrot version w/ cheese on the mashed potato topping. Here are several recipes http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,shepherds_pie,FF.html
4.You can plant a garden in a bag of dirt. In looking through gardening information I ran across a plan to lay a bag of soil on the ground, slit the top in a cross pattern and plant seedings or seed right there w/o the work of digging up anything. My daughter Rebekah and I opted for a slightly different version of this at her house when we built 2 wooden frames 4 feet by 8 feet w/ 2 x6's, laid 5 layers of newspapers in the bottom and filled them with a mix of compost and topsoil. We planted all kinds of things and then mulched heavily for an almost instant garden.
5. Alyssa is not only a vegetarian but also has both corn and wheat allergies that were discovered last spring after repeated trips to the Dr. for rib pain. I've been discovering how to bake and cook w/o these two ingredients that are in almost everything. It's caused me to think about food in different ways. I've been experimenting with baking and also w/ using grains and vegetables. It's been a challenge and I'll share some of the recipes I've found or have converted this year.
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