Happy New Year! A new year really is a great time to make plans for a new life. Whether you routinely make resolutions every January 1 or you swore them off years ago as impossible, I hope you'll at least "hear me out" and read the rest of this post. It is a well-accepted fact that the majority of our health problems today are diet related -- heart disease, cancer, diabetes, … [Read more...]
Should you give up coffee or tea?
Image courtesy of markuso FreeDigitalPhotos.net With January just a few days away, some people are probably starting to think about resolutions for the new year. I write about food quite a bit, but what you drink can be equally important. If you've been thinking about reducing or eliminating your coffee or tea drinking, you might find today's post … [Read more...]
How the worst chicken ever became the best chicken ever
by Todd Allen Our dominant hen went broody this spring and we obtained fertile eggs for her to hatch. One of those eggs became Pat. We attempted feather sexing and it was completely ambiguous so he got an androgynous name. One of our more accurate divinations as we now have a lovely pullet named Boris and gave away her sibling a cockerel named Natasha. Of our male … [Read more...]
Do you need mouthwash?
The short answer is no. But what about all those ads that say mouthwash is awesome and does awesome things for your teeth and gums? Well, they're ads. They're trying to sell mouthwash. Unfortunately, mouthwash is worse than simply useless. It can actually be harmful. One study found that people who use mouthwashes with a high amount of alcohol in them are at an increased … [Read more...]
Egg nog cake
It can be so tempting this time of year to pick up a cake at the grocery store or a bakery. If you catch yourself staring at something like that for more than a couple seconds, imagine my youngest daughter in her mid-teens saying, "Mom, we could make that at home from scratch." It's been a few years, but I don't think I'll ever stop hearing her voice when I catch myself looking … [Read more...]
$70 saved is $70 earned
One of my pet peeves is, "You have to consider the value of your time when you make something yourself." I'm sure that idea was originally pushed by some marketing executive who wanted to sell something. The simple fact is that unless someone would be paying you right this minute to do something, your time is worth exactly $0. Your time is NOT worth a penny more than what … [Read more...]
The miracles of baking soda
In EcoThrifty, baking soda is mentioned in several chapters as an inexpensive substitute for many commercial products. Here is a sample -- Facial scrub -- Put a little baking soda in your wet hand, rub your palms together and then gently apply the baking soda paste to your face. Rinse off and pat skin dry. It's a great exfoliator, and your skin will feel so soft! Scouring … [Read more...]
How I learned to live without a car
by Margaret Boehle I never imagined myself living in a big city like Chicago. I grew up in suburbs until I was 14, when my parents moved to the country. From that point it was impossible to imagine not having a car to get around, since our closest town of note was 12 miles away. When I was 20 I purchased a car, and three years later it was paid off. Accepting a job in … [Read more...]
Ecothrifty cookware
You can even cooks eggs without sticking in cast iron! It didn’t take me a terribly long time to decide that there were problems with inexpensive non-stick cookware. The non-stick surface wears off within a few years, and you are left with pots and pans to which food will stick. I was left wondering where those tiny bits of non-stick surface went. My favorite cookware is … [Read more...]
Mother Earth News Fair:
Natural Home Dairy presentation
Last weekend I was in Pennsylvania at the third Mother Earth News Fair to be held at Seven Springs. On Sunday morning, when temperatures were in the 40s, a brave group of souls came out to listen to my talk on the Natural Home Dairy. This is the PowerPoint that accompanied that talk, and it includes a recipe for queso blanco cheese and milk soap. … [Read more...]