1. Half a container of almond milk. I'm not very good at using this up before it goes bad. I opened it for a smoothie, went out of town for a week, and then forgot about it. I need to either tell my husband to use it on his cereal, or have a smoothie for breakfast even if I'm more in the mood for yogurt and homemade granola, my current favorite.
2. About half a head of kale. I LOVE kale, and was so disappointed to see that I hadn't adequately sealed the plastic bag when I put this away so some of the leaves had turned yellow. I did manage to save enough for one of my favorite light dinners: warm kale salad.
- Saute torn leaves in olive oil with two cloves of minced or pressed garlic until soft. Top with salt, balsamic vinegar, toasted pine nuts, and goat cheese.
3. A bit of greek salad. This was a takeout item I had enjoyed for lunch and taken the remainder home for my husband. He enjoyed it for dinner and still had some left over. He forgot to eat it the next day and the following day it was soggy. In my opinion, this says more about huge restaurant portions than our ability to avoid wasting food.
I'm determined to do better next week. I didn't buy many groceries this week and I have a new policy of only buying one "treat" or pre-packaged item per week. When we have those easy options, we often waste more. I'm also doing an informal "eat from the pantry" month to use up some staples that have been around for awhile.
If you're new here and wondering what all the fuss is about, check out Wasted Food to learn more about how food in a landfill pollutes the earth. And go to The Frugal Girl for the roundup of bloggers who are determined to limit their waste, one blogger at a time.
Favorite blog post of the week: I love this guest post by Naomi Seldin of Simpler Living about how to get rid of a particular kind of clutter - the sentimental kind. There are a lot of valuable lessons in this thoughtful piece. Although around our house, I can't imagine ever referring to a bottle of wine as "clutter." Naomi's blog is packed with tips and useful information for dealing with all kinds of other clutter as well.
5 comments:
If you're mainly using almond milk in smoothies, why not freeze it in an ice cube tray? I haven't actually frozen almond milk, but the worst I expect would happen is that it could separate, but if you're using the cubes still-frozen it won't matter.
Thanks so much for the kind words, Angela! I'm honored that you liked my post enough to highlight it on your blog.
I don't tend to think of wine as clutter, either. In this case, I was keeping it because I figured I'd save it for a special occasion -- getting a Ph.D., a huge promotion at work, engagement, etc. And I just kept waiting for a speical enough occasion instead of opening it. I'm never waiting that long again to crack a bottle open.
One of the great things about being a simpler-living kind of person, too, is that people stop getting you stuff as gifts and give you a bottle of wine instead. I'll drink to that!
I love your secondhand style posts, by the way. (I'm a lifelong thrift- and consignment-store shopper.)
Have a great weekend,
Naomi
That is a thoughtful post! It was great she could repurpose the funeral dress as a pillow.
That said, I hope no one hesitates donating an item because they think it has "bad mojo." Your memories aren't going to be attached to what you donate. My boyfriend and I have come across so many items in or by the dumpster that people just wanted to get rid of in a hurry. We can never know why people took that route instead of donating them.
As for the almond milk, have you tried it with granola and fruit? I have that for breakfast often, as well as soy yogurt with granola/fruit. It's a nice alternative, and typically less expensive than yogurt (unless you make your own).
Agreed about restaurant portions!
Kaylen- I love that idea! I have been told before to freeze the soy milk, and I did it once, but then I had to remember to bring it back out and thaw it, etc. This way they'll always be ready for smoothies with no pressure. Thanks!
Naomi- I have been reading and enjoying your blog for awhile now and just haven't gotten to putting it on my blog list- it's on one of my endless to-do lists, no doubt. It's true about the wine- sometimes you just have to enjoy it NOW, because the super-special occasion may never come, or when it does the wine has gone bad. And yes, wine is one of my favorite gifts to receive and more people are clueing in to the fact! I'm glad you like the Thrifty Threads posts, they have turned out to be one of my favorite to write, they are always so inspiring. Thanks again for your blog and that great post. Very helpful for me, as I tend to save quite a bit of sentimental items and don't want to become a hoarder!
Catherine- It's true that other people won't know the "mojo" of the item- and that's always the case with the house or apartment you live in, unless you buy brand new, which will never happen with us. I'll try the almond milk with cereal, my husband likes it that way but I don't like soy milk or rice milk, so I was skeptical. I am a yogurt hound. I almost never go a day without it. Crazy I guess.
Thanks, Angela! That's really nice to hear. I'm still working on dealing with sentimental clutter, but I think it also helps to recognize that it's OK to keep things, too. I've just edited down how much of what I've kept. I don't have my dad's old sweat shirt anymore, but I have other things he gave me. And those things are even more meaningful to me now because I recognized how much I valued them.
Catherine, you make a good point about donating, and I doubt most people would decide not to donate something for that reason. No one else would know where the dress came from. I think I kept it more because it was a really pretty dress, and part of me really thought I might wear it again. But I'm glad with the way it turned out in the end.
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