The joy of Christmas is too often accompanied by over-consumption of presents and plastics. Neither is good for the soul. Over the years I’ve written a number of blogs on simplifying Christmas. Click here to review some of them. This year I offer you Joshua Becker’s list of How to Restore Gift Giving Sanity. BUT, […]
Living Lightly
Susan Vogt on living more simply but abundantlyBrowsing Posts tagged Food
Kindness can mean many things – giving people stuff, helping folks, saying kind words, not saying or thinking mean things about people, protecting the environment, and praying for people. On that last one – praying – I haven’t written much because it seemed like a throw away phrase. Something you say when someone dies and […]
Last week my husband mentioned to me that if the Church really wanted people to do something sacrificial during Lent, she might propose that we eat a vegan diet on Fridays or all of Lent. After all, fasting from meat still allows fish – even lobster – which is hardly a sacrifice. As I thought […]
This is Day 10 of trying to spend no money and prune my file cabinet drawers (I decided to do both.) It’s been an unusual stretch of time because I’ve been out of town for 6 of the days and had company for 3 other days. Jim and I spent several hundred dollars on a […]
NOTE: This week’s blog is longer than usual. Skip to the end, LESSONS LEARNED, if you just want the bottom line – though this means you may miss my humor too. 🙂 Lent is a penitential season so I have a confession to make. I haven’t been cleaning out A-Drawer-A-Day. In the interest of saving […]
Perhaps it is wishful thinking but I do believe that we created less waste this second week of Lent than we did the first week. This may be due to us learning more about what we can recycle, the fact that Jim was away for 3 days, or maybe we’re just wasting less. My photo […]
Although Jim usually does the grocery shopping we both went this time to make joint decisions and so I could take some photos. 10 NEW THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT PACKAGING & GROCERIES Girl Scout Cookies: Upon entering the store we were met by several Girl Scout cookie sellers. The packaging around the cookies couldn’t be […]
Sometimes the best part of giving something away is finding the right person to give it to. My husband and I have been hosting two Korean teenage girls for the summer. They are delightful, polite, and always helpful. They arrived shortly after my watch broke. Wait, there’s a connection. I assumed that my watch simply […]
Now that Lent is over and we’ve experimented with different ways of doing the Food Stamp Challenge, here are some things I learned: It’s possible to eat nutritiously enough on $4.50/day. It’s not easy, but it is possible. It’s no fun – unless you consider constant calculations, boring food, and self-denial fun. Yes, it was […]
Just as money doesn’t grow on trees, so also food does not spontaneously generate. It has to come from something – a seed, an animal… Here at the Marianist Novitiate in Ranchi, India, they feed 16 people plus guests on about $2 per person per day. Everyone looks well fed. How? Do It Yourself – […]
It’s Holy Thursday, the time Christians remember the Last Supper. Jim and I are in India now, visiting the Marianist Family of sisters, brothers, priests, and lay people. The welcome at the airport by our Marianist brothers and sisters was extraordinary. It was like Jesus washing the feet of the apostles and more. Representatives from […]
A first impression that I have of Afghanistan is that it is very tan – meaning that the landscape is a dusty brown. Granted our daughter said that soon some green will appear as the trees start to bud out. We took a hike in a mountainous region yesterday – that is to say anywhere […]
Travel is always a thought provoking experience. As I write this at 4:30am Afghan time, I hear the Muslim pre-dawn call to prayer outside. It makes me think about various world religions. My thoughts also turn to food since eating in a foreign country can be both delightful and disconcerting as I try unfamiliar foods. […]
Today Jim and I leave for Afghanistan. (And you thought we were crazy to undertake a simple and safe Food Stamp Challenge!) We will be visiting our daughter who is a foreign correspondent for the AP in Kabul. She assures us that we will not be in any danger – and this from a young […]
As you know, I’ve been feeling a little guilty about not buying organic, cage free eggs during this Food Stamp Challenge since they cost more. Sometimes things work out in uncanny ways though. It just happened that one of our guests this weekend brought two dozen organic, cage free, local eggs as a hostess gift. […]
We went to the parish fish fry last night (paid for out of my winnings from the raffle I won at the last fish fry). It was also our “date night.” Since our dates usually include wine, or some other spirited drink, we knew this would break our Food Stamp budget. We know that one […]
I “toughed it out” at the last St. Francis DeSales fish fry by purchasing only the cheapest meal for $2. My son, who teaches at the school, gave me a hard time since it’s a fundraiser for the school. He said I could have made a bigger donation even if I didn’t eat more. He’s […]
Following are some food trifles and questions that trying to eat on $4.50/day have raised in my mind: Apples: Jim had been gone for a few days and I had carefully rationed out the apples left for the week. The day he returned I went to the refrigerator to eat the last apple. It was […]
Week #3 Grocery Shopping: Depending on how you figure it, this week we came in either $4.06 under budget or $5.06 over budget. We’re under budget if I figure just this week. We’re still a little over budget if I factor in the $9.22 we overspent last week. Bottom line? It’s getting quite complicated to […]
Normally I wouldn’t give the following things a second thought, but since I’m watching my food pennies and trying to be true to only spending $4.50/day I’ve started to stumble over trivial issues. For example: Being a good guest: Our faith community always has snacks after our meeting. Should I take a snack? (I decided […]
