miscellany

I guess I have ADD today. I couldn't decide on one single topic to write about so there are several.

1.) Use It or Lose It.
I hate wasting things. It makes me feel guilty. Even though I live fairly frugal, there are so many people out there that have to live on less than me and when I have to toss food that I've neglected in the fridge, I feel like not only am I dishonoring those people, but that I am dishonoring our earth as well. Think of all the resources it took to get that item into your home; time, soil, labor, fuel, etc. So when I can find some good use for anything that otherwise would end up in the trash or compost, I am a happy girl.

The Lemon.

I found this guy at the very back of the veggie bin. It had shrunk to about half its original size, it had been in there so long. I can't compost citrus in my worm bin. They don't like the acid. The juice wasn't quite at its prime anymore so no lemonade.  I thought about zesting it and saving the peel for recipes but the skin was so dried out that it was almost impossible to do.  I cut the lemon in half to see what it looked like on the inside. It was a little discolored but otherwise okay. Then it hit me. I've used bottled lemon juice to clean my stove top before and was really surprised how well it worked. So I just used the lemon half as I would a scrubber and voila! Clean stove top.

let the juice hang out on there for a few minutes when you have stubborn spots.

The Parmesan Rind.
Saw this on a cooking show. Instead of throwing away the hard rind of Parmesan cheese, freeze it and throw it in when you're making soup. Mine went into a pot of vegetable soup and it was delicious. It adds a salty, cheesy flavor, just as you'd expect. Just don't plan on eating it. It tastes like a wet rubberband after its cooked. Trust me on this. Take it out before you serve.

If anyone has other ideas on this topic. please share!

2.) Mushroom Madness II
Monday evening I came home to find our mushroom patch finally sprouting. Here it is 6 days later. I am hoping for a bumper crop so I can dehydrate some like I talked about in a previous post.

some of them are a little deformed. oh well, a mushroom is a mushroom.



3.) Vanilla Extract.

Its not quite ready yet. Not strong enough. Ordered more beans from MRH and will toss in a couple more, wait a few more weeks and see how it goes.  I thought I 'd have to get my vanilla from the grocery store and pay a fortune after a order mix up and an "issue" with their customer service but they ended up shipping my entire order to me for free so all is right with the world.  I would have been devistated if I had to stop ordering from them since they have the best stuff. The day that package comes will be like Christmas day.

day one of vanilla extract

several weeks in

Even though the vanilla extract is not as strong as I'd like yet (still smells more like alcohol than vanilla) you can see its come a long way since the first day. I have some pretty little recycled glass bottles to put it in when its finished.

4.) Got my heirloom organic seeds. Very happy.

5.) And in case you were wondering how my weightwachers diet was going for me....

Have a great weekend!