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Thrifted mugs turned pin cushions!

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Hey just as an reminder to all my fellow poor folk out there, shopgoodwill.com is a thing. If you don't live near a goodwill/second hand store or are just looking for used electronics that you can't find in store (phones, computers, tablets, headphones, game systems, kitchen appliances, etc), use the app or website. You have to pay for shipping so watch out for that, but they have a lot a lot of stuff. It's similar to ebay auctions but usually cheaper and also goes to goodwill stores that help other poor people.

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The thing about "well veganism is bad because what about X group" is that somehow nobody making those complaints cares to find a fix. And tbh I see it in other stuff too, but especially environmental and vegan stuff.

Like does anyone else remember "zero waste is classist"? Sure there were some issues in the community, but nobody cared to be like "hey not everyone can use zero waste shops...so here's an alternative!"

I think a lot of people are more interested in shutting down topics they find uncomfortable than finding solutions. And in veganism that often presents like "ok well what about people in rural areas who can only live off chicken eggs?? NOT EVEN RASPBERRIES??" And then when you go "well nobody NEEDS to eat raspberries and I'm sure we can find a way for them to not need eggs" everyone flips, because they don't want solutions, they just want you to shut up.

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been feeling extra merry this year so here's some cards I made :p Hope u all find nice treats in ur stockings or dumpsters or wherever u go 4 treats idk

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Okay here's my take on this -

Sponge: When it falls apart. You can get it weight and throw it in a microwave for 30 seconds this should kill the bacteria. If it still smells soak in baking soda and water, clean dishes the next day and repeat in the microwave.

Shower Curtain: When it falls apart. You can make a scrub with 2 tbsps dish washing liquid, a half a cup of baking soda and a quarter cup of hydrogen peroxide. Mix it together and scrub the curtain down while you're in the shower (works well on tiles too).

Microwave charcoal filter: When the microwave stops working if you have one.

Toilet brush: When it falls apart. When you're done using it. Leave it sandwiched between the rim of the toilet and the toilet seat to dry. The container you put it in won't have that gross toilet water smell the whole container lasts a bit longer.

Bath mat: When it falls apart clean it every few months or so and either let it air dry or dry on a low heat setting. Sometimes the rubberized grippy backing breaks apart under high heat.

Bed Pillows: When they get super flat and gross. I don't buy feather pillows and it's probably the one item on this list I throw out every 2 years or so because they can get gross from all the sweat.

Sheets: When they fall apart. Take care to read the washing instructions and buy 100% cotton with high thread counts or linen when you can. It lasts longer and feels better with every washing.

Bath towels: When they fall apart.

Non stick cookware: just don't buy it.

Smoke detectors: every ten years or so, but do me a favor and once a year push the little button to make sure it still works. Be annoyed for a minute or so, so that when it counts everyone makes it out.

Mattress: When it Falls apart. Vacuum it every few months and flip it around to prevent dents from your body laying in a specific position.

Couch: When it falls apart. Vacuum it every few months. If you have a leather couch condition it every other montage to extend the life.

Duvets & Curtains: When they fall apart. Take care to read the washing instructions and buy 100% cotton with high thread counts or linen when you can. It lasts longer and feels better with every washing.

Kitchen appliances: When they fall apart. Keep them clean and every few months do a deep clean on them.

Doormats: When they fall apart. Rotate them on a regular basis and vacuum them when you remember.

Who the hell can afford to replace these things that often? Being able to buy my FIRST couch is like a daydream I come back to?! (I don't want a used bedbugs one) Also what the fuck do you MEAN microwaves have removable filters somewhere

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Student debt is a construct. We can end the construct.

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Trying to explain to the Child that the farm we visited is not "mean" because they raise their chickens for both eggs and meat. And talking about giving livestock good lives being better than factory farming practices. And if Child would rather we be vegetarian, we can try that but they will need to find some non-meat sources of protein.

Lots of big conversations about where our food comes from and the responsibility that puts on us. I don't really know how to have these conversations sometimes, and that's hard.

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Infinite garlic Naan hack

It feels like cheating to order in half the meal but it was so worth it. The naans were easyish and cheap, but curry takes forever and high skill to pull off.

I added my herb garden spring harvest:

Next time I host a crowd, I might serve infinite garlic Naan + rice. Use the expense to order a variety of curries. It would be quite luxurious.

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cooking baking

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PurplePalozza. This morning on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago.

Click on photo

📸 by @barrybutler9

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To a Lazy Sunday

When I was single saying I had a lazy Sunday earned more wry looks and judgmental smirks of "shouldn't you be..." (add at church, gardening, seeing "friends", doing something to the end of that sentence. It always made me feel slightly guilty that I took small pleasure in coffee, the New York Times, sleeping late and reading until the sun went down. I tried to not let it bother me, but I've always taken things people have said to heart and those little looks they stay with you longer than the people's faces who animate those ocular judgements.

It gets worse when you have children, because just by dent of their unending ball of energy do they get you up at 5 am. There is no sleeping in only waffle making, coffee brewing early mornings when they're not quite so loud as to make you wince when a favorite show comes on the telly. When you do get yourself time to sleep in, buy a coffee and read until just after the sun is fully risen and daresay tell people about it will those sly looks become incredulous stares. The weight of other's expectations on you to be completely at one with your child's needs and be serving them a fully formed breakfast that you made from scratch with two different fruit juices and hand milled flour for their pancakes is absolutely bonkers.

Read that again.. fucking bonkers. Any parent that works and values being more than a sum of their child's world understands that having a peaceful hour or two for yourself refills you. So he watches an hour or two of ducktails while munching on a Eggo waffle, that's not going to stop him from studying when he's older or getting into a good school. What it will stop, is me feeling like garbage from not getting enough sleep, it will stop me from being short with him as he stumbles and stretches to communicate with me in his limited 3 year old vocabulary. Having a read of the paper and a cup of coffee for an hour or two should while your kid is blissfully being a little kid with weekend telly only makes you a better parent. It gives you a small sense of still in a whirlwind of needs , wants and judgements. As a face almost 40 this year I realize that other's expectation and judgements stop me from taking a bit of time for myself that makes me a better version of myself.

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“Public libraries are such important, lovely places!” Yes but do you GO there. Do you STUDY there. Do you meet friends and get coffee there. Do you borrow the FREE, ZERO SUBSCRIPTION, ZERO TRACKING books, audiobooks, ebooks, and films. Have you checked out their events and schemes. Do you sign up for the low cost courses in ASL or knitting or programming or writing your CV that they probably run. Do you know they probably have myriad of schemes to help low income families. Do you hire their low cost rooms if you need them. Have you joined their social groups. Do you use the FREE COMPUTERS. Do you even know what your library is trying to offer you. Listen, the library shouldn’t just exist for you as a nice idea. That’s why more libraries shut every year

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How I Get the Most Out of Meat When Cooking

As someone who 1.) was 100% vegetarian for ethical/religious reasons until very recently, and 2.) recently had to reintroduce meat for vitamin deficiency reasons, limiting waste as much as possible when I cook with meat is really important to me. For one thing, I feel like I owe it to the animal that died to get as much use as possible out of its body as a way of honoring its death. For another, meat is expensive (ethically raised meat even more so) and I want to get my money's worth.

I recently bought a bunch of lamb for my family's holiday dinner, so I wanted to share my attempt to practice the Honorable Harvest in my meat consumption. This is new to me, but I wanted to document the attempt because it's been a fun learning process for me! If you want to actually learn about honorable consumption I encourage you to read the works of Robin Wall Kimmerer and other indigenous ecologists, since the Honorable Harvest is based on indigenous North American practices. (Though there are other cultural practices all over the world.)

Step One: Sourcing the Meat

I am very fortunate to have enough disposable income to buy ethically raised meat, which tends to be more expensive. This is a privilege. Other people are not able to spend this extra money on their meat, and that doesn't make me better than them. Feeding yourself is morally neutral, and a tight budget is not a moral failing. Most meat alternative products (Beyond Beef, Impossible, etc.) are also pretty expensive. If the factory-farmed meat at the supermarket is the only thing in your budget, use that.

If you DO have some extra funds, local farms are a great place to source meat. The reason we had lamb for the holidays is because a local farm recently culled their herd and had lamb on sale. In the past we've gotten beef from a relative who raises cattle. I encourage you to learn about farms in your area and what they have to offer. CSAs and farmers' markets are great places to start. You can also ask around at local restaurants about where they source their ingredients.

When I say "ethically raised meat," what I'm really talking about is pasture-raised animals. Cage-free animals may not live in cages, but they can still be kept in cramped, dirty, inhumane conditions and be sold as "cage free." Pasture-raised animals are able to graze and forage and generally wander around within a paddock. For some animals like chickens you can also look for "free range," which means the animals are unfenced and are able to wander freely. Since I don't cook meat often, I try to get free range or pasture-raised meat when I do buy it.

In some areas, you may also be able to find certified ethically slaughtered meat, which means the slaughtering process has been designed to cause as little suffering to the animal as possible. That kind of certification isn't really available where I live, but it might be for you!

And of course, hunting or fishing yourself is also an option. If you kill the animal yourself, you know exactly how it died and can take steps to limit suffering as much as possible. Hunting isn't a skillset I have, but if you do more power to you!

Step Two: Cooking the Meat

This is the easy part. Depending on the cut of meat you got and the dish you are cooking, you may need to remove bones or trim fat, but aside from that it's just following a recipe.

For our holiday lamb stew, I used this recipe. I have Celiac disease, so I subbed gluten-free flour and replaced the beer with red wine. I also added rosemary and garlic for a more Mediterranean flavor to compliment the wine.

Step Three: Organs and Bones

This is where the breakdown is for a lot of Americans. We don't cook with bones or organs very often, and we tend to throw away whatever parts of the animal we don't want. That is not honorable consumption. Part of the Honorable Harvest is using every part of the being that died to feed you.

Most organs make great stew meat. My favorite Nicaraguan beef stew is made with tongue, and my indigenous Hawaiian relatives make stew with pig feet. And while I don't like them, lots of my Southern family members love chitlins (pickled pig intestines). Lots of cultures eat organs, and you'll find plenty of delicious recipes if you look!

Bones are typically used to make stock, which can be used as a base for future soups and stews. There are lots of recipes for DIY stocks and broths, but I usually fry some onions and/or garlic, deglaze with wine, and then add the meat/bones and the water, plus salt, pepper, and herbs for flavor. Most animal bones can produce two batches of stock before they lose flavor. (For really flavorful stock, leave some meat on the bones.)

Once the stock is done, you'll still have bones to deal with. Contrary to popular belief, cooked bones are not safe for dogs to chew on. (But raw bones usually are!) Instead, I strip any remaining meat and gristle from the stock bones, give those scraps to my pups as a treat, and then use the stripped bones for something else. With a little extra processing, the bones can be used as a fertilizer in a garden, a calcium supplement for chickens, or a safe treat for dogs and/or cats.

This was my first time processing bones, but after boiling them for, like, 12 hours in water with salt and vinegar, they were soft enough to break apart with my hands. I'm going to grind them to make bone meal.

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be busy. busy not checking messages. busy reading those books you never started or finished. busy having a good night of sleep. busy taking care of yourself and your skin. busy moving your body. busy helping your community. busy reflecting on your life and what you can improve. busy doing things aside from the capitalistic viewpoint of “productivity.” busy slowing down.