Find the Lead
The Chicago Tribune conducted some lead testing in toys. I’m not sure how these things sneak into the country, obviously the testing agency are idiots or maybe someone isn’t telling the truth when reporting the lead contained in each toy.
If you are really concerned, Consumer Reports has a list of some home lead-testing kits that you can purchase and how well they work.
Also, the DailyGreen has a list of 250 lead-free toys. I can’t believe you actually need a list!
Thinking you should ban Made in China toys from your house? Well, Palm Bay, Florida is trying to ban all made in china products from the entire town. I doubt it will succeed but it will be interesting to see how far this goes.
Garden Ideas, Part 2
Another summer garden crop that we have had much success with is tomatoes. I usually spend all spring thinking about fresh tomatoes. And I usually end up planting too many tomato plants. (We also get fresh tomatoes all summer from our local CSA farm.) We get the tomato seedlings free at the local university open house in the spring, so we don’t even pay for the seeds/seedlings! And I forget, every year, just how big the vines can get! They usually end up overshadowing whatever I have planted close to them.
Cherry tomatoes are a huge hit with The Boy. I will often find him out in the garden, eating juicy, red cherry tomatoes right off the vine. Of course, by the end of the summer, I am giving away bags of them to everyone in the neighborhood.
The regular tomatoes, though, I am a little more frugal with. What we don’t eat fresh (on pizza, sandwiches and just plain!), I like to freeze. I freeze tomatoes whole, without cooking them. I don’t know if this is the ‘right’ way to do it, but it works for me. I cut off the tops, put several in a freezer ziploc bag and ‘suck’ as much air out as I can before sealing it. I label the bag and pop it in the freezer. Freezer tomatoes are great to use in sauces and such later on. Take a bag out of the freezer and allow it to thaw a bit in the refrigerator. Empty the tomatoes into a microwave-safe bowl and finish thawing. The skins slip off quite easily and the tomatoes can go right into the pot or the pan.
Another way to save your excess tomatoes is to make spaghetti sauce and freeze that. If you live in an area that will support the growth of tomatoes all summer, try growing some yourself and save some $$ on fresh tomatoes all summer and sauces throughout the winter!
Garden Ideas, Part 1
We are lucky enough to live in a very moderate climate and can have a garden growing all year round. Here are some of our success stories. They might be crops for you to try if you too live in a moderate climate. I have found the internet to be the best resource for figuring out what to plant and when.
We have a variety of herbs growing, especially during the summer months. Parsley, chives, rosemary, thyme, and basil are wonderful to have on hand and fresh. I hate to buy an entire bunch of fresh herbs at the store when a recipe only calls for one teaspoon or some very small amount. This feels very wasteful to me and I haven’t had success with freezing or drying the leftovers yet. I love to just grab my scissors and step outside to clip what I need right off the plant! Herbs can easily be grown in pots and planters too, if space or temperature is an issue for you.
We have had huge success with basil and rosemary especially. The Man has to hack back the rosemary every fall and we still get a huge bush by the next summer. Basil thrives in our region during the summer months. We love to use it fresh in salads, on pizzas and in sandwiches. But my favorite thing about basil is pesto. Pesto is so easy to make and freezes really well. Throw some fresh basil in a food processor with some olive oil, pine nuts and garlic. Process until smooth. Use it fresh with pasta or in eggs or as a sandwich spread. Or freeze it to use throughout the winter months. I freeze it in ice cube trays, then pop it out and store it in a freezer ziploc bag. At the end of the basil growing season, I make a huge batch and freeze it to use throughout the cooler months.
Storing Leftovers
My compost pile loves our veggie and fruit scraps, but I hate to throw away food that we should have eaten. Honestly, it feels like I’m just throwing money right into the garbage bin. Gomestic has some good tips on how to properly store food so that it lasts longer.
I’ll admit that I have a hard time eating leftovers for days. I often freeze a portion of our meals so that I can bring it out a week or two later and it seems like new. I label almost everything that goes into the freezer so that I can use things in a timely fashion. I also rotate leftovers in the fridge so that the first thing in there works out to be the first thing used up.
Easy to Make Energy Bar – Logan Bread
My dad loved the outdoors and we always took at least one backpacking trip and many camping trips during the summer. He was a teacher, so we had all summer long to go on family trips. One of our favorite backpacking foods was Logan Bread (named for Mt. Logan in the Yukon). This dense, delicious bread that we ate for breakfast kept us full all morning, even while hiking!
Recently, The Man asked for some sort of snack to take to work that would be similar to a protein bar and I decided to resurrect the Logan Bread of my youth. Sadly, dad no longer has the recipe, but I managed to find a good one at Allrecipes.com.
You can substitute different types of dried fruit for the raisins and I generally use chopped walnuts instead of sunflower seeds. You can also substitute 1/2 to 1 cup of soy flour for some of the whole wheat and white flour to add protein. The Boy loves this bread, as do The Man and I. I bake it once every two weeks or so, cut it into bars and keep them in the fridge or freezer.
This has been a yummy, inexpensive substitute for protein bars for The Man and a tasty way to start the day for all of us!
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