I have had New York City on the brain! It started with my trip last month and continued after hurricane Sandy. I have been thinking how much fun it would be to travel to New York City during the holiday season. Can you image the hustle and bustle! Renee Leone‘s inspiring geographic watercolor paintings remind me of stained glass windows. Printed on FSC-certified mat board, these painting just make me smile.
Americans waste $165 billion in food each year – which means that about 40% of all food in the United States goes uneaten. The National Resources Defense Council found that the average family of four wastes $2,275 annually – or 650 pounds of food! What a waste! Not only because of the huge impact on the environment, but the fact that one in five Americans struggle to put food on the table everyday.
Is your family part of this problem? Do you find that you throw a lot of food away each month? Are you looking for ways to save money? If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on to learn the 5 simple ways that my family reduces our food waste and get started in your own home.
#1: Do Not Over Buy Just because avocados are on sale, doesn’t mean that you have to buy a cart full. This goes for food items that you aren’t going to eat by the expiration date. It doesn’t make sense to buy a lot of food, even if it is on sale, if you aren’t going to eat before it goes to waste! If you only utilize this one tip, your family will never throw food away and you will save a lot of money on your monthly grocery bill!
#2: Get Organized The key is making sure that the food in your refrigerator, freezer and pantry isn’t going to waste is to keep everything organized. Keep all of the fruits, vegetables, dairy, beverages, condiments, homemade prepared foods, etc; together. Designate a special section of your refrigerator (up front and center) that houses all of the items that are getting close to expiration – that way when you reach for a snack or lunch, you know that those items need to be eaten first! Also, remember to keep your freezer organized so you don’t lose foods to freezer burn.
#3: Make a Meal Plan and Stick to It A meal plan is essential if you are going to use all of the perishable foods in your kitchen in time. My husband is continuously aware of the food items that we currently have in our kitchen and what items needs to be used first. He will plan our weekly menu around these items and when he does go marketing, he only buys the foods that we will be consuming that week. Since we joined a CSA, he has been planning all of our meals around the contents of that box. Last week, we received Seminole pumpkins, tons of mixed greens, and a variety of vegetables – our meal plan for that week included; Seminole pumpkin raviolis, vegetable soup and a mixed green vegetable salad with every dinner. #4: You Have to Cook Number 3 and 4 go hand in hand – in order to make a meal plan and most importantly stick with it, you have to cook! Even though our lives are busier than ever, now it is even more important to cook at home with your family. With the rising rates of obesity, childhood diabetes and other food-related health problems, cooking whole foods at home with your family is imperative. If you literally do not have time during the week to prepare a home cooked meal – get up early on the weekend and make the week’s meals for your family ahead of time.
#5: Get Creative At the end of week, my husband will look through our refrigerator, freezer and pantry and use whatever items are on their way out. For example; last week, he found a bunch of celery and carrots that were going limp – instead of tossing them out, he made homemade organic chicken noodle soup. Also, we had a bowl full of avocados that a friend had given us that were going mushy, we cut those up, placed them in an airtight container in the freezer. Now, I have yummy avocado for my morning smoothies. The idea is, just because those strawberries are turning mushy or that celery is limp, if you react quickly you can either use them immediately or freeze them to use in another meal later on.
What ways is your family utilizing to reduce the amount of food that is wasted in your home? I would love to hear your tips!
With the holiday season right around the corner, you may have already started to plan your travel arrangements. And while traveling with children is always fun – it can be challenging if your child becomes bored and restless, especially when it comes to long car trips or flights. As a parent you are fully aware that being prepared for that ever dreaded question “Are we there yet?” is essential, regardless of the age of your children.
I have found that with my own middle schooler Eben, the biggest challenge is finding a way to entertain him that doesn’t include him getting sucked into an iPod, portable DVD player or handheld video game. By doing a little homework ahead of time, I can almost always ensure that getting to our travel destination is one of his favorite parts. I have learned over time that by turning our travel time into part of the vacation experience, he not only doesn’t complain, but he learns something new (I do too!) and he is kept entertained the entire trip. Plus, as an added bonus, these simple tips always double as great bonding activities! Jump over to Inhabitots to learn my tried and true 6 simple, eco-friendly ways to travel with a middle schooler and find that getting there is part of the fun.
Last night, I went to bed worrying about the impact that Hurricane Sandy would have on the eastern seaboard. I have been through several category 2 and 3 hurricanes, so I know first-hand how scary they can be. However, the extreme 13-foot storm surge that New York City and the surrounding areas experienced and the flooding and damage is horrifying. I jumped on Twitter, Flickr and Instagram this morning and here are some of the pictures that I found.
The mister and I went for simple Day of the DeadHalloween Costumes this year. We used items that we already had and added a few details that we picked up from our local thrift store. Also, my good friend, Rebecca dressed up as a butterfly using items she already had in her home – doesn’t she look fantastic?
How to get the look:
Day of the Dead | Female Recycled Costume:
I used a dress that I picked up at goodwill last year for an 80’s party. I added a few flowers that we found at our local thrift store to the top and waist of the dress as well as to a ponytail holder using safety pins. I paired the dress with a pair of black tights and shoes – then dressed up the costume using white eye shadow, black eyeliner and red lip liner that was already in my cosmetics bag!
Day of the Dead | Male Recycled Costume:
The mister wore a pair of black pants and a stripey shirt from his closet. He added a little fun makeup by using white eye shadow and black and blue eye liner from my cosmetic bag!
Both of these costumes only took a few minutes to throw together – however, they were a huge hit at our Halloween party! The best part – I can take the flowers off of the dress and use it again in the future for another fun costume!
P.S. Eben’s Finn (from Adventure Time) costume turned out fantastic! We repurposed an old white tee shirt by sewing it into Finn’s headpiece. Then, we paired it with a turquoise tee shirt, blue shorts, white rolled socks, and black shoes! I even made a green backpack from fleece scraps found in my craft closet. Super-duper cute! However, he asked me not to share photos of it on Sweet Greens – and of course, his feelings always come first, thank you for understanding!
