I guess I run now

Sane, because I don’t own a farm & because my life is crazy enough as it is!

Please post your ideas for EASY, yet rewarding, sustainable living in comments (recipes, ideas, small changes, etc) or post a link to a recipe or idea on your own blog & I’ll link to it here. I’m looking for ways to preserve local produce all winter long, support local farms/dairies/orchards/bakers/vineyars/etc, cut down on food packaging, and do my part to cut down on the gas/emissions it takes to get food to my table.

My maternal grandmother raised 8 healthy children almost on her own during the depression & my paternal grandmother raised her family on a dairy/vegetable farm during the same time. I feel like they must’ve known more than I do about how to feed their families & how to live well. This page is intended, I hope, to help me preserve and learn some of the lost art of cooking/living that they knew/practiced like second nature.

Maybe a better title for this page is “Grandmother Knowledge,” a place to honor the ways these women nourished us.

Things I’ve done with some success:

1. Saving local blueberries all winter long. Pick & wash blueberries, dry them in a single layer on sheet pans, toss into freezer bags, flatten the bags out in the freezer, eat & enjoy all winter long! You’ll want to freeze more than you think you need…trust me!

2. Saving basil. I grow more than we could ever eat in a single summer & harvest/freeze the lovely leaves throughout the summer. It’s simple. Cut the leaves off the stems & toss them into a blender or food processor with enough olive oil to cover. Blend until the leaves & oil form a paste. Put the paste into ice cube trays, freeze, and remove the cubes of basil after a few days. Store the cubes in freezer bags & use as needed all winter long.

3. Saving rosemary. This one is really simple. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stems & put in a freezer bag. Freeze & use as needed. Works for oregano too, but you should dry the oregano leaves first by hanging them upside down for a week or more first.

4. I make my own beer using recipe kits I buy online or at the local brewers supply store & equipment that you only have to purchase once. You can re-use the bottles too.

5. Or I buy growlers from the local brew pub. Most brew pubs (depending on the laws in your state) will sell you a 1/2 gallon of fresh beer in a re-usable bottle/growler. You pay a one-time fee for the bottle, but you can then wash the growler out & bring it back to the brew pub for cheap re-fills. Our brew pub offers a discount on growler re-fills one day a week, so for around $7, you can get 1/2 gallon of fresh beer & you don’t have to worry about bottle returns. This is a nice option for parties. Rather than bring a six-pack of beer that has traveled thousands of miles to get to your door (and check out your state’s craft beer producers!), you get a growler of fresh beer (and the brew pub will probably let you sample it before you buy and/or make recommendations for different styles to try with whatever’s being served at the party). Plus, no one has to bother with bottle returns the next day!

6. I wish my adoption of this environmentally-friendly idea was entirely the result of my own environmentally-conscious desires, but frankly, I was just looking for a way to reduce the number of stupid plastic bags that would come tumbling out on top of me every time I opened the pantry door. Now I carry about 4 canvas bags in my car at all times, so I’m ready to shop whenever. Each canvas bag carries as much as 3-4 plastic bags, I usually get some kind of discount at the grocery store for bringing my own bags (5% off my bill at one grocery store), they don’t break, they’re easier to carry, and I don’t have the plastic bags hanging around my house as a constant reminder of my incredible personal contribution to the local landfill.