Food Waste Friday and Consumer Debt Free Today!

Every/Sometimes on Friday we are going to join the “Food Waste Friday” Blogger’s and post what food is inedible.  I feel frustrated when food goes bad.  We work really hard to pay for food; we have a combustion engine transportation system that gets it to our stores, and wonderful grocers who work hard on supplying the food.  It takes a lot of energy to get food from the ground to our plates, and it bothers me that at the last link on the chain of command that I have failed to get it to our family.  

The Frugal Girl invites us to share our food waste, so we will be motivated not to waste it.  Please share your gripes, so that you will be motivated to eat those leftovers, cook appropriate sized meals, and not let those veggies get ignored in the bottom drawer.

This past week our compost bin has only had 2 tomatoes and a pumpkin from last Halloween piled in it other than the standard peelings and dinner plate left overs.  We have been really careful not to let anything go to to waste and I have been really choosy about the vegetables and fruit we do bring into the house.  I wish I could say that I am always challenging my family to try new menu items and food, but I find that more goes to waste if I do.  

We were able to finally use the juicer we received off Freecycle this past week to make apple juice and a fruit punch using all the frozen fruit in the freezer and Jillian's half eaten apples that I have been piling up in the fridge.  It tasted so good, but it did require a lot of fruit to make a small batch.  

Second part of this post is not regarding garbage, waste or tangible consumption; rather I am excited to point out for the first time in a long time we are consumer debt free today!  It is such a liberating feeling to know that on our next payday no money will be heading to a credit card or line of credit.  

I read an article last week that demonstrated that the average Canadian has $26,000 of debt.  That would mean that our family unit would have $52,000 apart from our mortgage.  I have to admit that at one time we were close to $35,000 including a car loan, and 2 consolidation loans (that I had consolidated credit cards and a small bit of student debt on).  It was a scary time in my life, and we have worked very hard to diligently pay it off and purchase our items either with cash or the ability to pay off (such as our minivan) in 4 months or less.  It has taken over 4 years to really get the hang out of living within our means, saving for the future, having an emergency fund and learning to save for the planned purchases/bills that come at specific times of the month or year.  Learning to budget and being content with what we can afford is still sometimes a struggle.  

This project has really given us the opportunity to take a hard look on what is our wants vs our needs.  Paying more for a quality meat, beverage, dairy product, grain product to reduce packaging or purchase local is a choice we are making but we still need to stay within a budget to keep us from going in the red again.  Becoming conscience of my plastic wrapping waste that is not recyclable is going to stay with me past this year long experiment.  

I have also realized that a need of mine is to have my husband encourage me to get out of the house and confront my anxieties head on.  I never used to have social anxieties until I fell into a severe depression and am still battling this issue on a day to day basis.  So we have made room in our budget for a sitter to come bi-weekly for the evening.  Whether we go for a walk, swim, downtown, visit friends, or head out for a sit down dinner...I need to get out more and get back to "being the old Erin".  For those that have read Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project, life is about figuring out what makes you happy and following your passions within your regular life is key. I have also read Eat Pray Love hoping that it would help me get on the right track, but it made me feel worse in the area of contentment.  So I am going to follow Gretchen's mantra of "Being Gretchen", but I need to work hard at getting back to being the old me, minus the plastic packaging! 

Food Waste and Our obsession With Reading

Every/Sometimes on Friday we are going to join the “Food Waste Friday” Blogger’s and post what food is inedible.  I feel frustrated when food goes bad.  We work really hard to pay for food; we have a combustion engine transportation system that gets it to our stores, and wonderful grocers who work hard on supplying the food.  It takes a lot of energy to get food from the ground to our plates, and it bothers me that at the last link on the chain of command that I have failed to get it to our family.  

The Frugal Girl at www.thefrugalgirl.com invites us to share our waste, so we will be motivated not to waste it.  Please share your gripes, so that you will be motivated to eat those leftovers, cook appropriate sized meals, and not let those veggies get ignored in the bottom drawer.

This morning I got up early with Adam and decided that if I didn't throw all the vegetables into the vegetable broth I made this week, we were going to have a bunch of wasted food by Sunday.  There was half an onion and a bunch of asparagus that didn't quite make it. It is attributed to the fact that the maple syrup leaked into the drawer and now they are both quite saturated.  Right now the kitchen smells awesome with a mishmash vegetable, beef, noodle, rice soup on the stove.  Many are leftovers thrown into the pot.

We have not been doing well in regards to both food waste and food packaging the past month.  I have seen our kitchen garbage double and recycling triple in amounts.  I had a set back in dealing with depression and anxiety and thankful Adam and my mother helped by purchasing some premade meals.  

I have just finished a few books that drive home the message of less consumption in the past month that I would like to share in the coming weeks.  I admit that I needed to change one aspect of the non new purchasing.  It is in regards to books.  I love reading so much.  I love owning books that I need to return to time and time again for quotations, statistics, and information.  I don't like taking notes unless there is going to be a test, but I do like to mark up my books, bunny ear the pages, and don't mind breaking the spine.  So in the end, I purchased Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff, and did not mind when Hannah wanted to spend ALL, yes ALL of her birthday money on Rainbow Magic Fairy Books to complete her set.   I did not waiver in purchasing anything new in any other department...but I can't say the same for Adam...psst: I caught him splurging on a couple little trinkets for geocaching and power cords for our cell phones!

Note: after finding the link for her fairy books I realized that they just came out with a new series called the Night Fairy's...oh man... she already has the Weather, Sports, Music, Ocean, Jewel, Fun Day, Party, Pet, Petal, and the original Rainbow Magic Series.  Each series has 7 books plus she has all the special editions(~10)!  Thank goodness we have two girls and Hannah reads them over and over!  Perhaps a future post will be on collections, clutter and hoarding!

Food Waste Friday

Every Friday we are going to join the “Food Waste Friday” Blogger’s and post what food is inedible.  I feel frustrated when food goes bad.  We work really hard to pay for food; we have a combustion engine transportation system that gets it to our stores, and wonderful grocers who work hard on supplying the food.  It takes a lot of energy to get food from the ground to our plates, and it bothers me that at the last link on the chain of command that I have failed to get it to our family.  

The Frugal Girl at www.thefrugalgirl.com invites us to share our waste, so we will be motivated not to waste it.  Please share your gripes, so that you will be motivated to eat those leftovers, cook appropriate sized meals, and not let those veggies get ignored in the bottom drawer.

A forgotten Timmy's donut :(

I chalk this up to having kids!  How many of us forget the toast
in the toaster oven and keep having to reheat it till it's hard as a rock!

There were also 2 individual containers of humus purchased back in September that we found fallen behind the vegetable crisper.  After 7 months they still smelled fine which is kind of scary.  There must be so many preservatives in it!  Needless to say, we composted the humus and the containers were at least recyclable.

Earth Hour

Power's out!  Use Candles!

Earth hour is tonight.  We are going to play Beacon’s Wanted.  It is like hide’n go seek in the dark.  The seeker has to yell out “Beacon’s wanted!” and then listen for animal sounds that the hiders are making to find them.  Before Earth Hour I am going to do my homework before it gets dark, and do a loop craft while we have sunlight coming through our windows.  My mom and I went around the house to unplug everything that have lights that stay on when they are plugged in like: the microwave, the coffee maker, the alarm clocks, the portable heater in Jill’s room and the computer speakers.  There are lots of electronics plugged into power bars.  A teacher at my old school said that power bars slit up the electricity so that one thing does not get all of the electricity.  We turned off the power bars so everything turns off at the same time including the power bar light.  We took out the battery charger that was finished charging the batteries out of the outlet.  The bread maker was already unplugged and the fish tank still doesn’t have a heater yet or fish.  I remembered to turn off the propane heater because it takes electricity to blow the warm air out. During earth hour we won’t use warm water because it takes electricity to warm the water up.  We couldn’t unplug the refrigerator, the oven, washing machine, the deep freezer and thermostats.  Our house uses electricity not gas to heat it, so we are going to turn down the thermostats for that hour.  We are going to eat dinner before earth hour so we won’t starve and we are going to use candles and make a campfire to warm up our toes.

By Hannah

Food Waste Friday and Loot Bags arg!

Every Friday we are going to join the “Food Waste Friday” Blogger’s and post what food is inedible.  I feel frustrated when food goes bad.  We work really hard to pay for food; we have a combustion engine transportation system that gets it to our stores, and wonderful grocers who work hard on supplying the food.  It takes a lot of energy to get food from the ground to our plates, and it bothers me that at the last link on the chain of command that I have failed to get it to our family.  

The Frugal Girl  invites us to share our waste, so we will be motivated not to waste it.  Please share your gripes, so that you will be motivated to eat those leftovers, cook appropriate sized meals, and not let those veggies get ignored in the bottom drawer.

This weeks food waste consisted of some cookies that I over baked.  I tend to do this with sugar cookies...they never seem quite done and then when they cool they are burnt.  I do it every other time! The popcorn was overcooked and we ate what we could but didn't want to break a tooth:) That green slop was another soup catastrophe, red lentil soup that the vegetable broth had gone bad and I poured it in only to realize after.  Perhaps not rushing should be my new mantra in the kitchen?

The second part of this post is about loot bags from birthday parties...I didn't get it as a child and I really don't get it now.  I don't think any parent enjoys all the little trinkets all over their home, the extra unnecessary candy, the little plastic bags etc.  I am guilty as charged as well.  The only difference is that I send all of the junk back lately.  Last year when we were preparing for a move I collected all the trinkets from every room and threw them in a homemade pinata.  I purchased a couple bags of pokemon cards at the thrift store for the boys...so the whole thing cost $4.   We have always used brown or white paper bags for the kids to decorate as one of their crafts as well.  It never fails that one child at the end comes up to say they can't leave until they get their loot bag....so I point to the bag in their hand, grin and let them know that that's it.  This year we have collected enough of those little plastic bags to hand out and get them out of the house.

I have challenged Hannah and Adam to plan her Birthday Party this year on a $0 budget using ingredients to make treats and cake, regular homemade pizza dinner, a sleepover, perhaps geocaching again or some kind of outdoor running game like kick the can and board game tournament before bed.  We originally said only a couple friends, but now that she is at a new school and has been invited to many it's hard to not reciprocate. I hope the parent's at this school will be as welcoming as the last when we requested previously loved toys, games or something that they made.  It was awesome.  There was a lot more thought put into the gifts with scrapbooks, containers of homemade cookies, recycled box robots, gift cards to go to the movies or certificates for playdates and sleepovers.  It was so nice and I think the parent's appreciated it too.

Wandering

Another horse that Hannah found for Jill
she plays for hours with these 3

I have always boasted about not liking to go shopping.  I think the main problem with shopping is that I have no self control.  I got into a lot of trouble when I worked for a major department store during high school and university.  They put the attendance swipe machine in the women’s department, so that most of the employees had to walk through all the clothing to get to their departments.  I worked in the linen and bathroom section and it took me a long time to stop obsessing over how towels get folded in our linen closet here at home.  I can’t shake the perfectly made bed issue but I am working on it!

I never thought I would ever buy a stuffed animal for my children but here it is Abby Caddaby who I thought Jill loved after seeing Seasame Street Live..she chucked Abby out of her bed to play with cat!
Picked up awesome MEC waterproof mitts for next year at $3
piece and tupperware for our never ending battle of keeping up the dishes.

Two very different  inspiring ladies

The store I worked at was also located in a mall.. doom do doom doom… chaching!  For that very reason I never got a credit card then, besides the one for my store (bad,bad idea too).  I swear every payday I took at least the minimum amount and gave it right back to them.  Most months I owed more than I made.

A little out of date but still sends
the right message! Save, save, save!

Since then I have wised up and don’t spend more money than I make…but here’s the problem now.  I don’t make any money…so don’t spend any more than Adam makes I guess?

I had a discussion with Adam last week.  Even though I constantly come home with little things that we will need in the future I am saving money (for the most part) by getting things before we need it.  Take Hannah’s soccer cleats, I found a pair at Boomerang Kids last week for $6, if I left it up to Adam he would be rushing to the nearest Sports Store 10 minutes before her first game and buy whatever fits.  I guess this is not such a great example though, because she wasn’t with me and I bought a size too big…now I am on the hunt for a size 1 not 2.  They will be ready for next year, so she better want to play again J  Another, issue is that Adam notices what books I bring home for the kids… and sometimes we already have them.  My problem is that I find a wonderful, well written, award winning children’s book I have to snatch it up for one of my friends from my BA program.  Seriously they are all pregnant right now, popping them out every 3 months or so.  Who calls dibs on Blueberries for Sal, Good Night Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Guess How Much I Love You this week?

Back to shopping, now that I have two children, shopping gets split into two categories:

1-with kids, max 15 minutes, and a verbal warning about whining

2-no kids, min 15 minutes just to relax and wander around aimlessly

  

Hannah is modeling her favorites from a bag of second hand clothing she received from

a friend in our old neighbourhood. We don't do well in changing rooms so trying stuff on at home and passing on the one's that are not her style is my style.  It was St. Patrick's Day so she danced to Lord of the Dance 

for hours in the top right outfit.  Thanks Tina!

I really don’t like this no buying new when I have the kids in tow.  It frustrates me that what I am looking for nobody is finished with it yet and has donated it the day before I came out to get it!  I guess it doesn’t work that way, so now I tend to make Adam stop when we are out together as a family so I can run into the store with out the girls.

I never thought to check if the pump works..no wonder
someone donated it :( Plus the French bread tray was in the bag when
we picked up the banana tree.

Now we have two bathrooms to
clean our teeth, yeah for more sinks
to wipe out!

This was in a Martha Stuart magazine that I had
ripped out years ago...cheers to the mom
that made it for her girl! (not me)

Our neighbour passed on some board books,
destroyer Jillian still gets to read these in bed and
is cautioned when using the paperbacks..she rips
books if no one is looking!

Banana Tree

More Fairy Books for Hannah

Curbside Find:  I had been looking for one
for awhile...now Adam has to figure out
how to get my machine inside
(those curtains are still waiting to be made,
3 months and counting)

My friend Jo found this at Sally Ann's for me. It
matches the set of wall sconces I already have from
Partylite. Candles have been my go to relaxer the past
few years, sometimes you just need to focus your thoughts
on nothing!

So if you are going to go out and shop for your family's needs, leave the kids at home and browse around the consignment shops, Sally Ann's, Value Village etc.  There are no annoying executives making the staff tend to your every need and pressure you to buy. Relax and wander for awhile!

Erin

Food Waste Friday

Every Friday we are going to join the “Food Waste Friday” Blogger’s and post what food is inedible.  I feel frustrated when food goes bad.  We work really hard to pay for food; we have a combustion engine transportation system that gets it to our stores, and wonderful grocers who work hard on supplying the food.  It takes a lot of energy to get food from the ground to our plates, and it bothers me that at the last link on the chain of command that I have failed to get it to our family. 

The Frugal Girl invites us to share our waste, so we will be motivated not to waste it.  Please share your gripes, so that you will be motivated to eat those leftovers, cook appropriate sized meals, and not let those veggies get ignored in the bottom drawer.

Another bad food waste week in this home.  I want to say that I don't know why we have so much food waste, but I do.  I keep purchasing vegetables that I wish my family liked and would eat.  Adam and Hannah are not big root vegetable eaters nor do they like zucchini.  Since there is no packaging on these foods I buy them hoping I will follow through with a special recipe.  I had purchased the eggplant again to make ratatouille which I love.  I had first had it homemade from a business called Supperworks a few years ago.  It is a business where they do all the prep work for homemade meals and you assemble them.  For a nominal fee you can even have them assemble them for you.  I love all aspects of their business except for all the plastic ziploc bags in the process.  I am sure that you are allowed to bring your own containers if you prepare the food yourself.


There is a new book that I would like to find used or at the library by Jonathan Bloom titled American Wasteland. I think it will give us the extra kick to plan more effective meals and less ignorant of this issue.