Fast, Cheap, and Good: Sustainability, One Choice at a Time

Butternut Squash Bread

2012-02-09T11:35:00.000-05:00

I love zucchini bread. I consider it a very sustainable product, because it uses a very cheap-to-grow vegetable to stretch your more expensive baking ingredients. Squash is a natural that way. It has a body to it that allows you to put it in breads and breadlike products (like pizza crust), and it seems to really extend the amount of finished product you wind up with. Adding squash also adds a bit of extra nutrition and lightness to something that might otherwise be a little heavy and fattening.

Since I love zucchini bread so much, I decided to try making it with butternut squash, and I'm glad I did! The finished product has a very slight pumpkin flavor to it, and it tastes like a very mild coffee cake. It is also very prepping-friendly, in keeping with our February theme.

Unlike zucchini, butternut squash can simply be cellared in a cool spot to keep throughout the winter, so the only ingredients in this recipe that are not shelf stable are the eggs, and even they would keep for a decent amount of time in a cool enough spot. (And powdered eggs would do in a pinch; the richness of the squash should help compensate texture-wise.) Therefore, this would be one of the recipes that would still work even if you were off the power grid for a long time. I can just imagine baking a loaf of this in a woodstove or outdoor bread oven in a cast iron dutch oven; I may have to try that the next time I fire one or the other up!

Squash Bread
3 eggs (free-range and farm fresh, if you can)
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 t. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1 t. salt.
1 medium butternut squash (or 2 medium zucchini in summer)

Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Bake the butternut squash in a shallow pan filled with water on 350 until the squash is soft, about 30 minutes. Remove the flesh from the skins and mash. (In summer, grate zucchini until you have up to 2 cups of shredded squash -- this recipe is very forgiving about the amount of squash you have.)

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar, oil, and vanilla and mix. Add dry ingredients and squash and blend well.

Pour into two greased loaf pans, one bundt pan, or one large lasagna pan (9x13). Bake at 350 for one hour. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and remove.

The Analysis
Fast: Lots of baking time here, but not a lot of prep. If you are making this in winter, allow a little extra time to bake the butternut squash first. I like to do a big batch of squash and make this at the same time I'm doing butternut squash spaetzle.

Cheap: Using squash as an extender makes this more pocket-friendly than a traditional sweet bread. Spend your extra on farm-fresh eggs.

Good: This is quite a treat at any time, and it is comforting to know at least one recipe would be able to make it through a grid-outage and subsequent food storage problem relatively intact.

Prepping 101: What is Prepping?

2012-02-06T15:19:00.000-05:00

One of my 2012 goals is to write a series on prepping. So, with colder weather impeding my gardening efforts, February seems to be just the time to think about all things preparedness. To that end, I will be writing one post a week during this month on prepping.

The proper place to start, I think, is to define "prepping" for the FC&G audience. Many of my readers already have their own definition. If you have found my blog through The Survival Mom Blog Ring or other prepping-related sites, you undoubtedly know what prepping is and have a start on your own preps. If you are new, you will need a definition.

Prepping is, essentially, preparing for situations that might take you temporarily or permanently out of contact with the resources that typically support your lifestyle, such as grocery stores, gas stations, cell service, heating oil, or the electrical/power grid. If you spend an afternoon searching for web sites dedicated to prepping, you will discover that people prep for all sorts of potential emergencies, including but not limited to:

Weather-related disasters, like blizzards, hurricanes, and floods
Economic concerns, ranging from personal job-loss to full-scale global economic collapse
Political disasters, ranging from localized protests to governmental breakdown
Energy-related disasters, which can be as "minor" as a local power outage or as major as grid collapse from an electromagnetic pulse
Any change in resource availability that might require you to be more self-sufficient than usual

Now, with all due respect to my prepping colleagues online, I must warn you that if you do decide to spend the afternoon hunting for prepping web sites online, it will probably scare the snot out of you at first. Some of the best-prepared among us seem to have every contingency covered: They own rural property in an undisclosed location on which they have a few acres for garden and livestock, a water filtration system, back up generators and communications equipment, and their choice of ways to defend it all. Truly, these folks are all set with the prepper basics of "beans, bullets, and Band-aids."

On the other hand, most of the rest of us are guilty of lapses in judgement that could be very harmful in the wrong situation. I know that I have occasionally ventured out in the winter wearing peep-toe heels and with a quarter-tank of gas in the car. What if a snow storm hit and I got caught in a snow drift? What if I had to transport a family member or colleague with a medical emergency?

For the remainder of the month, these posts will focus on getting us all to be a little more prepared for emergencies, which is truly the cousin of living sustainably. Being able to be independent in a tough situation is part of the reason we all want to live more sustainably. And sometimes, buying a few extra Band-aids is a good first step.

What are you doing to prep?

Related posts:

On Being Prepared

On Being Prepared, Pt. II

What Do the New USDA Plant Hardiness Zones Mean?

2012-02-03T10:10:00.001-05:00

My newest article on Be Green Info, "What Do the New USDA Growing Zones Mean?" is up! Please take a look at:

Be Green Info

How Much Does a Garden Grow: January

2012-01-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to "How Much Does a Garden Grow!" This month, we begin looking at the garden from a business perspective.

Expenditures:
1/23 Burpee seed order $54.35
1/23 Seeds of Change order $24.49
Total Expenditures: $78.84

As expected, the year starts off with expenditures in the form of seed orders. I'm not quite done, either. I want to make an order from Seed Savers Exchange, and I will no doubt buy some plants and onion starts later in the year. I also need to buy some seed starting medium. All of that will count as expenditure. (Note: I am only tallying expenditures that get "used up." Capital improvements, like new fencing or tools, will count as household improvements and not be in our accounting.)

This year, I have been able to get many more heirlooms than ever before. As always, there are some seeds that I want that are hybrids, and I don't have a problem with that as long as they aren't GMOs. But I am trying to get as many open pollenated heirlooms as possible, both to preserve historic varieties and to allow me to save my own seed.

Harvest/Income
1 oz. lettuce: approx. value $0.50
Total Income: $0.50

Also as anticipated, there are very few harvests in January. I was able to get a decent lettuce harvest one night, but everything is pretty much dormant in the cold weather and short days. We are mostly working on our canned and frozen supplies at this point, although we are now buying potatoes and onions.

2012 Tally to Date
0.0625 lbs. harvested
-$78.34 loss to date

The Organic Anti-Martha Fesses Up

2012-01-27T11:28:00.000-05:00

I like to think of myself as the Organic Anti-Martha. (Kinda has a ring to it, no?) Perhaps I'm being unfair to the venerable Ms. Stewart. After all, her media empire is a touch larger than mine, so she's definitely doing something right. However, every time I pick up one of her magazines, generally on my airport-induced magazine binge that starts every vacation, I am struck by the message that anything worth doing is worth doing absolutely perfectly. This message activates my OCD a little too much, and efforts to be perfect usually end with me in a weeping heap.

So, to be sure that my dear readers are not under the impression that I expect perfection either from them or from myself, I wanted to revisit a few of my favorite sustainability projects and fess up to how often I do them/use them/attempt them.

I make my own make-up remover wipes (ersatz cotton balls): I use these 100% of the time that I need a cotton ball at home, with the exception of working with ultra-staining things like nail polish/remover or sterilizing things, including new earrings or cuts and scrapes. I use disposable cotton balls on vacation.

I use homemade hankies: I use these about 80% of the time at home, with the exception of really bad colds of the sort that almost require you to sit with a box of tissues on your lap and then take bags of germ-laden tissues out to the garbage twice a day. Mr. FC&G uses hankies (although we buy his) almost 100% of the time.

I make my own laundry soap: I use this on all but the black load each week; that load gets special dark fabric detergent. So, all but one of the 5-7 loads each week get the homemade stuff. Additionally, Mr. FC&G will use store-bought detergent or individual use samples that I've tucked into his luggage when he is on a business trip and needs to do laundry. This is largely a function of the fact that his need to do laundry while away often comes as a surprise when the trip is extended from one week to two with very little notice.

I make my own bread: I make about 1/4 of all of our bread. Mr. FC&G regularly buys hamburger and hot dog buns, which I haven't gotten around to making, and we are in the habit of buying our rye bread, even though I know perfectly well how to make it. We almost never buy white bread or multi-grain/specialty bread.

I make my own sour cream: I make sour cream about 3/4 of the time that we need it. Usually, I will make it in bulk for a while when we are on a kick for chicken paprikash and homemade dumplings. However, occasionally Mr. FC&G will want to cook a Mexican dinner or will want some for dipping chips, and he doesn't hesitate to pick it up if there is no homemade.

I make my own blankets and quilts: I am happy to say I have not purchased a blanket for our bed or for the couches, etc., since we've been married. I've made them all. I continually have a fleece quilt I am piecing, and I crocheted the last mid-weight blanket we needed for our king size bed.

So there you have it. I'm not perfect. I try to do as much as I can for us, and I try to make the most sustainable decisions possible, but sometimes I fall back on options that aren't quite as good. I figure it is better to do something half or even a quarter of the time than to not do it at all. I don't know if Martha would agree, but then again she has a staff to help her out while she decorates her chicken coops with rafia bows.

Homemade "Pop-Tarts"

2012-01-25T09:35:00.000-05:00

So, I just discovered Pinterest. I realize I am probably the last person on Earth to have figured out this social pin board site, and like everyone else, I love it. There are tons of great decorating, recipe, and design ideas on there, and I can waste a good amount of time browsing them. (You know -- the free time I have when I have finished reading everyone's Facebook updates.)

Anyway, one of the ideas that I came across was "homemade Pop-Tarts." This amuses me to no end. Now, I consider Pop-Tarts to be one of the major food groups (along with macaroni and cheese, Oreos, and Pepsi), but I know perfectly well that a Pop-Tart is just a pre-fab substitute for an actual breakfast pastry. However, we are so conditioned (even those of us who have had to mostly swear off Pop-Tarts in our effort to avoid HFCS) by marketing that we barely take notice of "homemade breakfast pastry." "Homemade Pop-Tart," on the other hand, gets our attention.

I looked at a few recipes online, and the commonality was the use of pie crust to wrap a filling of choice, usually jam. I tried to make brown sugar cinnamon flavor. Mine did not turn out picture-perfect, as you can see, which caused me some pause about whether I wanted to share these on the blog. However, they were seriously yummy, and you can decide for yourself whether your result needs to be photogenic before attempting the project.

Homemade Breakfast Pastries
1 Pie Crust
1 stick organic butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Roll out your pie crust (Mr. FC&G made one of his sweetened versions for this) and cut into long rectangles. Place these on a cookie sheet.

Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and spices, and place about a tablespoon of the mixture on the dough rectangle about a third of the way from an end and spread, leaving about two-thirds of the length without filling. Fold the rectangle over and crimp the edges. (This is where mine failed, so I got a fair amount of seepage.) You can substitute homemade fruit jam in this step if you want fruit flavor. I imagine you could also use fresh fruit cut into small pieces or fruit you froze over the summer and thawed for this project.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until pie crust is baked. You can dress them with a simple drizzle icing, but the brown sugar cinnamon version really didn't need it.

The Analysis

Fast: Certainly not faster than opening a cardboard box, which is really part of the reason that Pop-Tarts have crept into our lives. This is a good weekend project.

Cheap: Pop-Tarts are pretty cheap, so I don't know if these come in less expensive. But they certainly aren't expensive overall to make.

Good: Here's the benefit! These are flaky and buttery and really good either warm from the oven or cold from the countertop (if you manage to have leftovers to store). More important, you control the ingredients, so you won't be adding HFCS, and you can use organic butter and other natural ingredients.

Use it Up, Wear it Out: The Lunchbox Edition

2012-01-20T09:52:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers on the planet is Katy over at The NonConsumer Advocate. Katy is an expert at avoiding the purchase of anything new while leaving no stone unturned in her search for additional income. (After all, if you turn over a stone, you might find some loose change!) If you haven't started reading her blog regularly, you will want to do so for some great ideas on saving money and spending only on what matters.

Katy has launched the "Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without" Challenge, in which she urges readers to get their last bit of value out of every purchase before looking for a replacement. So, in honor of Katy (and her use of my favorite WWII homefront slogan), I present the saga of our lunch box.

Meet our old insulated lunch box. Mr. FC&G informs me that he got this as a free door prize sometime before we were married, so it is at least 11 years old. We have used it and abused it, as you can see. It is ripped and torn beyond repair, and recently it tore so much that it became difficult to put in an ice pack or a relatively heavy glass container of leftovers. It was time to let it go.

(Did we use it up enough, Katy?)

So, meet the new lunch box. While Katy would have found a brand new one at Goodwill for $1.99 through judicious shopping (she would have been keeping an eye out from the time of the first tear, I think!), I went ahead and ordered one from L.L.Bean. The lunch box was $29.95, but they were having a 15% off sale, plus I had $20 in coupon dollars from my L.L.Bean credit card, and I received free shipping. Total cost to me: $5.46

I expect this thing to wear like iron, or at least to wear as well as the old freebie did. If we get another 10 years of use out of the new one, it will cost us less than 55 cents per year to tote our glass food containers, our cloth napkins, and our stainless steel water bottles around. I should be able to recoup that cost by simply keeping my eyes to the ground looking for lost coins, just as Katy does.

Thanks for being an inspiration, Katy! Readers, what have you used up, worn out, made do, or done without?

Butternut Squash Spaetzle

2012-01-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

As you might remember, Mr. FC&G recently made our own link sausage. With a long, chilly weekend on our hands, it seemed a good time to cook up a few links and enjoy them for dinner. I had planned to make gnocchi with butternut squash based on this recipe, but the sight of the sausage inspired me to embrace a more German influence and make spaetzle.

Spaetzle is just a small dumpling pasta. To make the characteristic shape, take a fairly loose pasta dough and press it through a wide-hole cheese grater or colander (note: the mesh or fine shred kinds will not work). Voila: spaetzle to make any German grandma proud!

Butternut Squash Spaetzle
2 medium butternut squash
3 cups white flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 t. salt
3 free-range eggs
1 cup water (or more as needed, but the squash will add liquid)

Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Bake butternut squash halves cut side down in a pan of water until the flesh is soft. Scoop out flesh.

Add flours, eggs, salt, and water, and mix until you have a batter-like consisetncy. Drop into a large pan of boiling, salted water by pressing batter through a wide-hole cheese grater or colander with the back of a spoon. You should be getting small droplets of batter going into the water. Cook until the spaetzle floats, then remove to a dish with a generous hunk of butter while you cook the rest of the spaetzle.

Serve with your favorite sauce and a side of sausage.

The Analysis

Fast: Pressing the batter through the grater takes some time, so this is a Sunday meal, not a week night one. However, it does make enough leftovers to keep you going for a couple of days.

Cheap: Squash from the garden stretches the already-inexpensive flour.

Good: This is another way to add some vegetables to your diet in the middle of winter. It is also a far superior spaetzle than the dried stuff you can buy in the store.

Fleece Curtain Panels

2012-01-13T10:02:00.000-05:00

Cold weather is here for sure; it was 14 degrees last night with gusting winds. We are grateful for heat that works and for a fireplace that supplements. However, we still have a few windows that are original to the house, and they are not the most energy-efficient features any more. Replacing them will be difficult because of the unique frame sizes and hardware that are really great architectural aspects of the house, so until we can get someone to replace the panes only, we have to deal with a little heat loss.

I actually forgot about this quick, easy project until we got our last gas bill, and the total was higher than the same period last year in spite of generally warmer temperatures. The annoying thing about energy bills is that it is impossible to compare one year to another; even with temperature data, there is always something that makes each year unique. However, when I saw a usage spike, I went looking for the answer.

As it turns out, I had forgotten to put my fleece panels up at the back windows. These panels snuggle close to the lower side window in the back "picture" window, protecting the room a bit from cold air that escapes and falls to the floor. I had noticed a bit of a chill to the room, but I forgot about my project. I leave the panels out in the summer and pull the main curtains all the way back to be able to see the garden from all angles, but in the winter, I pull the curtains closer and install the panels. I guess this year I wanted a garden view a bit longer and didn't properly do my winterizing.

If you have a window that needs a curtain panel, these are super-easy. I cut a fleece remnant to size and sewed one end only to make a rod pocket. There is no need to hem all the way around, because fleece doesn't fray, but you could line them in white if your window faces the street or the neighbor. Mr. FC&G cut dowels to size and sanded the ends smooth, then we lay the rod with the curtain panel across two cup hooks. If you put the cup hooks in "upside down" so that the rod rests in the back curve rather than the cup itself, the panel will stay closer to the window. Bingo, curtain panels without having to buy tension rods or specialty curtains!

My room is warmer once again. Yeah!

The Analysis

Fast: We made these panels in less than an hour counting the oh-so-complex cup hook installation.

Cheap: Fleece remnants + dowels + cup hooks = a set of curtain panels for around $5.

Good: With rising heat prices, I would bet we save more than the $5 investment every cold month we use these. And they bring some needed color into a gray winter world.

What I Learned Making Sausage

2012-01-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

I have been making my own sausage for a while now, and I am really pleased with the result. However, making bulk sausage is one thing, and making link sausage is another.

Last year for Christmas (that's 2010!), I received a meat grinder and sausage stuffer which sat on my kitchen counter, mocking me, until I geared up to stuff some sausage. Being something of an academic, this means I had to do research aplenty before I would get started. However, I'm pleased with our first attempt, seen above, and I learned some lessons along the way.

1. Ask questions! A friend from high school recommended a place to get natural hog casings (more about that in a minute), and the day I was making sausage, a friend from the dance studio was happy to recommend ways to handle the casings and to process the meat. I have not yet followed all the suggestions, but now I know what I want to try next!

2. Get natural casings from the U.S. Natural casings are an animal product and are edible; they are responsible for that "snap" that you feel and hear when you eat some hot dogs and brats. Because of the threat of mad cow disease, I was advised to get domestic casings. It sounds like good advice, even though the overall threat is low.

3. Make a big batch, even your first time. I am accustomed to whipping up a pound of breakfast sausage at a time, but a pound of ground meat barely fills four links with some leftovers in the barrel of the grinder. Then, you have all that clean up to do for a meal's worth of sausage, not to mention the hassle of re-salting and storing the casing you didn't use. Next time, I will be doing at least ten pounds of sausage at a time.

Overall, however, I'm pleased with our sausage. I made a beef sausage of grass-fed beef with coriander and black pepper, and it was very tasty. We are hoping to expand into grinding our own meat for the sausage since we can control what we put in, then. I am pleased with the quality of the grass-fed ground beef we used this time, but it would be even cheaper to complete the grinding step at home. Plus, I can follow a suggestion to cut the meat rather than grind for a different texture.

The Analysis

Fast: Stuffing sausage is kind of like canning. You are putting in greater effort and time for greater control over ingredients and price. Make a big batch to make your time worthwhile.

Cheap: I would say I got about a pound of sausage links (grass fed beef, natural casings) for less than $6 total. The price of the beef alone was $5 per pound, so I'm really just rounding up for the casings and the pepper; the coriander was home-grown. This is competitive with sausage links that we buy in organic food stores.

Good: This was so yummy; I can't wait to do it again. And, when it gets warmer, we will probably try constructing and using a smoker. I'll keep you posted.

Gypsies in the Palace, Redux

2012-01-06T11:33:00.000-05:00

With the cold weather shutting down many of the "Occupy X" protest sites, it seems the national conversation over how we feel about the 1% is dying down a bit. I'll admit that I am glad, because I think the news coverage on both sides of the issue oversimplifies. On the one hand, becoming fabulously wealthy by working your tail off is part of the American dream and should be honored. On the other hand, becoming fabulously wealthy by behaving in ways that crush the future potential of others is not part of that dream.

But this is not a political column, because I have news for you: If you are reading this blog, you are probably part of the 1%.

According to this study reported on CNN.com, it takes only $34,000 (USD) after taxes for an individual to be among the wealthiest 1% of the world's population. Half of these folks live in the U.S. To put this in perspective, the median global income -- statistically, the global "middle class" -- is $1,225 a year. If you are reading this blog from your own internet connection in a house or apartment on which you can pay the bills, you are almost certainly among the top 5% of the world's population. Feeling rich yet?

This is not to discount the reality of poverty, even in a country like the U.S. or other first world nations. And yes, there are many among us who have lost jobs, lost homes, and are wondering how they will make ends meet right now. I cannot diminish that suffering.

But the statistical analysis reported in the CNN story has some bearing on how we view our sustainable living behavior. I refer back to a short piece I wrote on this blog in 2010 called "Gypsies in the Palace." I think the point is relevant here as we consider our use of economic as well as environmental resources.

I tend to think of responsible stewardship of resources -- money, food, fuel, time -- in terms of the Jimmy Buffett song "Gypsies in the Palace." In it, Buffett tells the story of going off on tour, leaving his house in the care of two men (one of whom is named "Snake"). The housesitters waste no time shooting the lock off his liquor cabinet and throwing a clothing-optional party for the neighborhood, especially the attractive women from the nearby condos. When they get a call that Buffett is returning home early, they waste no time shutting down their party and faking a bunch of wholesome industry, including mowing and raking the lawn.

In my original piece, I contend that how we use resources can be likened to housesitting for God. Yes, the homeowner wants you to make yourself comfortable, but throwing a kegger and trashing the house is out of the question.

The same is true as we look at our responsibility as part of the global 1% (or 5% or 10%, or wherever you fall -- statistically, you are probably still pretty lucky). Yes, we should use the resources we need to live our best possible life. And yes, sometimes that means that we will achieve in ways that others cannot, either through hard work or luck of birth or some combination of factors. That's OK.

But the idea behind sustainability is living in a way that is sustainable -- that is, using resources in a way that they will last until they can be replenished. So ask yourself, this new year, if you are being truly responsible with the resources you have been given, or if you need to cut back a bit here or there so that resources of all types are available for you and others to thrive in the long term. For all of us who count ourselves fortunate, there is surely a place that we could behave more conservatively.

It is all a matter of perspective whether we believe we are fortunate or deprived. That's why I chose the photo above. If you thought that was for a charity food line, perhaps from the Depression, think again. I took that photo in a large bakery in San Francisco. It literally is the sign for the line to buy sourdough baguettes, which we ate in the company of throngs of statistically very wealthy people, especially when viewed from a global perspective. How you see things depends a great deal on context.

So, metaphorically speaking, I think we global housesitters should feel free to enjoy the property that we're watching. We just might not want to take our behavioral cues from friends named Snake.

On Doing Nothing

2012-01-03T09:09:00.000-05:00

I'm not very good at just "doing nothing," especially when it comes to a project like living sustainably. Boy, that sounds like a lifestyle to me! I want to do something! I am never so happy as when I am hanging out the laundry or canning veggies or weeding the garden. It just feels so good to be working toward a goal.

What I need to work on is my contentment with doing nothing, which is also a part of sustainable living. Proper use of resources (time and money included) often means not using the resource when you don't need to. Therefore, the best course in some cases is doing nothing.

January and February are the prime months for this. They are typically two of my highest earning months, and, of course, they are pretty light on gardening and other truly fun stuff. However, this often means refraining from doing things more than it does taking action. For example, this week so far:

I refrained from doing a load of laundry just because I wanted one item in that load clean. I will wait until the load is full.
I refrained from ordering a really cute dress on an after Christmas sale. No guarantees that I will never order it, but I find that if I delay ordering things by a week or two, I often lose the urge to have them. Those that I really want I enjoy even more because of anticipation.
At the same time, I refrained from buying new books (a weakness -- yes, I know about libraries) until the ones on my night table are finished.
Although it did take a phone call (an action!), I confirmed that our Blockbuster unlimited rental pass had been cancelled since our local store was closing. We will do nothing for a while, then decide if we want a mail order service.
I thought about picking up dinner for myself when Mr. FC&G was out of town yesterday, since I hate to cook for one. But I came home and ate the leftovers.

All of these things feel like inaction to me. But what they really add up to is a savings of time and of resources. We will want the money saved for later. And the time is better spent earning, because it is true that one should "make hay while the sun shines." I'll want to have my time free this summer to hang my laundry and weed my garden and (God willing) can my tomatoes in pretty jars. To do that, I need to hunker down now, do my paying work, save my money, and just concentrate on doing "nothing."

Sustainable Living Goals for 2012

2011-12-30T12:08:00.000-05:00

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. They tend to be very general and very predictable. Let's just stipulate that, in any given year, I'd like to lose weight, stop some bad habit or other, and generally be a better person by the end of the year. Let us also stipulate that I have a kitchen full of Christmas cookies that will delay the first resolution, and that the other two will fall prey to perfectionism or seasonal affective disorder by February 1.

On the other hand, I love setting goals! Goals are tangible, specific, measurable, and allow you to make progress even if you don't totally meet them. So, in that spirit, let me present my sustainable living goals for 2012:

To Be More Frugal/Sustainable:

I want to bake more bread. I had a craving recently for store-bought refrigerator-section rolls, so that has been the bread of choice around here for a while. But now it is back to the whole-wheat, flax-enriched, cheapie homemade stuff that tastes better anyway.
I want to get more deliberate about weeding my book collection and selling unwanted volumes to the local used book store. I need the space and always want the money.
I am in the process of cleaning out my craft stash, which is giving me the supplies for a number of projects including a couple of quilts I am piecing. These will either be gifts or for our use, but they will be much cheaper if I use what is on hand.
I intend to do a better job stocking up on sugar and flour, including exploring frugal ways of grinding my own grain. Right now, I tend to stock up during seasonal sales, which means that if a weather or similar emergency came around, I may or may not have enough flour and sugar on hand to support continued baking and food preservation until normalcy was restored.
We plan to expand the garden by a few feet to better take advantage of the sunniest spot in our back yard while reducing an awkward place to mow.

To Improve My Skills:

I need to fix whatever is wrong with my mozzarella cheese technique and then start making our mozzarella more regularly. I'm signed up for a class in February and hope that helps. Until now, I thought it was the milk I was using, but I'm starting to think it is bad technique.
I want to learn more about foraging for edible greens and the like. I did pretty well last year, but I would like to continue this year.
I want to explore more ways to extend the gardening season. I am particularly interested in finding some cold-tolerant, shade-tolerant plants that will not just survive on 6 hours of winter sun in the sunroom but actually thrive.
I plan to grow eggplants for the first time this year.
To continue my exploration of medicinal herbs, I need to learn more about strengths, applications, and delivery methods. This might mean sorting out once and for all the difference among an infusion, a decoction, and a tincture. It also means figuring out which herbs you dry, which you stick in a bottle of vodka, and which you make into a tea.
I plan to finally learn how to make sausage in natural casings. If I get ambitious, I might explore smoking (sausages, that is).
I plan to make more of my own clothes to improve my sewing skills. I have wanted to be a better seamstress for a while, and now is the time to learn.

For This Blog:

I want to write a series on prepping. As you may have noticed, this blog is part of the Survival Mom Blog ring; if you follow the ring, you will learn a lot about prepping for emergencies and societal shifts large and small. However, I would like to explore how this fits with suburban sustainability and hopefully give you some ideas for how to start prepping in your own life.
I plan to pursue turning Fast, Cheap, and Good into a book-length project! (I have some ideas, but editors, call me! :-) )

To Improve My Life:

This might be my only true "resolution," so I'll share it with you to hold myself accountable: Ration the social media usage! I think Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and the like are all wonderful. But they can be an enormous time-sink, and worse than that, the constant barrage of everyone reporting on everything about their lives sometimes overwhelms me. I want this information, but I need to control how often I consume it so that I can live my life and still enjoy hearing about others' lives.

What sustainable living goals are you setting for 2012?

How Much Does a Garden Grow: December

2011-12-28T15:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the last installation of "How Much Does a Garden Grow" for 2011. The important message here is I'M STILL GARDENING IN DECEMBER! This is not an accomplishment I've ever achieved before, so even though the monthly harvest was small, I am proud.

First, the experimental tomato plant, which I dragged container-and-all into the sunroom in October, finally gave up due to aphids and cold weather and old age. I know I have aphids in my garden; they are never a problem, because they seem to be regulated by whatever their natural predator is. That predator wasn't in the sunroom. Yet, the plant seemed relatively unbothered until a few days ago when the temps in the room dropped to around 50, and the plant gave up.

I got 5 oz. of green tomatoes off that plant before I left it to take to compost, which is 93 cents worth retail (as best as I can tell). It is also a tremendous victory, because who else in Ohio is picking tomatoes two days after Christmas?

Additionally, I picked a couple of ounces of leeks, which are still doing well, and a couple of ounces of chard and lettuce. Let's call that $3 worth of produce.

So, my estimate for the month was half a pound of produce for a retail value of $3.93.

Otherwise, we are getting by just fine on canned and frozen produce. We've eaten all of the dried tomatoes and nearly all of the potatoes and onions, so we may have to start supplementing from the store soon. But, as you might remember, January starts our tally afresh, like any good business. The seed catalogs started arriving this week, so now my 2012 challenge is to keep my gardening business more solvent than most countries' governments. Wait, I need a harder goal than that.....

2011 Tally to Date: 127.19 lbs of crops; $253.29 saved

Have a Merry Sustainable Christmas

2011-12-23T10:32:00.001-05:00

Every year since I was a child, I have picked a favorite ornament on the tree, an ornament that I would hang in a prominent place and look at several times over the season. Often, it was a simple blue glass bulb of the kind that was sold for a dozen at 69 cents when my parents were first married and decorating their first tree; I would hang it on the bottom branch of the tree and lie under it, looking up at my reflection framed by all the Christmassy wonder.

Sometimes, it was an ornament that I felt reflected the true meaning of the season. I have a particularly lovely acrylic ornament portraying a manger scene that was given to me by one of my aunts when I was a child, and it was often this almost-overly-sweet portrayal of the first Christmas that drew pride of place.

Other years, favorites reflected interest and whimsy. I sometimes pick an ornament from the series issued by my alma mater, choosing a sparkly brass portrayal of a favorite dorm or academic building, touching the memories of my years at Miami University every time I spin the ornament in the lights. Or, I love to look at the series of ballroom dance ornaments that my parents are giving Mr. FC&G and I, thinking about how our dancing is such a tremendous metaphor for our marriage; a true partnership, where both people have important jobs to do, neither tries to take the role of the other, and both contribute to making something beautiful.

And, of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without a chuckle at the set of four ornaments from my mother-in-law. These ornaments depict a toy train apparently constructed from wood and "live" farm animals. The look on the cow's face -- clearly, "what the heck just happened here?" -- makes me laugh every time.

This year, though, I keep going back to the ornament above. My Grandma Rosemary, my father's mother, gave me this ornament celebrating the 1976 Bicentennial in 1975, when all of the items commemorating the country's 200th birthday started becoming available. She passed away in 1976, so this is really the last meaningful gift I remember her giving me. It captures such a specific moment in time -- the nearly-unbearable excitement of Christmas and a Bicentennial (whatever that was) all rolled into one package of childish glee, the wonder of having an ornament meant just for me, the nooks and contours of the house that Rosemary and her father, my great-grandfather Pop, used to live in. The poignancy of a moment before I knew that there was such as thing as losing a loved one.

All of these wonderful memories, like small truffles constructed not of sugar but of emotion, are available to me every time I look at my tree. In many ways, this is to me the most sustainable practice of all. Instead of insisting on an all-new display with shiny ornaments that perfectly match the decor, I have little time capsules of all the best moments of my life, available for my enjoyment. I wouldn't trade this for all the newness and trendiness in the world.

Wishing you and yours a holiday season filled with memories, the most renewable resource of all.

Jennifer and Mr. FC&G

Do What You Would Anyway: Secrets of a VPT Job

2011-12-19T09:34:00.000-05:00

It is the holiday season, which means that the sustainability and frugality blogosphere is full of discussions of whether to tighten our belts or find ways to earn more money for gift-giving. This is, of course, an individual choice. And while I'm never going to tell you to live outside your means, there are times (holidays and vacations come to mind) when we all would like to extend our means just a little bit.

That means more money.

Here at FC&G, we spend most of our time trying to live within the resources that we have. Often that is money, but it is often also resources like food or energy or time. But we also talk about extending those resources, such as when we grow more veggies in a small space. And I want to talk today about my theory on earning more money the FC&G way.

As you all know, Mr. FC&G and I run Carrot Creations, our shop dedicated to providing sustainable living gear that we hand-make. As you also know, I have a full-time job with Hilltop Communications and the second-shift job at the college. Mr. FC&G is similarly over-extended. About the last thing we need is another job, but I love Carrot Creations.

Last week, the store made its 52nd sale for the year (not all of them appear on the Etsy tally, if you are checking up on me, because we sell face-to-face too), which averages one sale a week. Although many people sell much more, I am very happy with this, and here are some of my keys to success of a very-part-time (VPT) money making endeavor:

Make it something you would do anyway: I love to crochet, knit, and sew fleece. I would do it regardless of whether it would sell. I have made many dozen pairs of fleece socks for myself, Mr.. FC&G, and family. Having a way to sell these items gives me an excuse to make them without feeling guilty that I'm just buying lots of fleece and yarn to make items we don't really need. The work doesn't feel like a job, someone else gets cozy feet and lower heating bills, and I make a couple of bucks. It feels like a win-win.

Make it scalable: Your VPT money maker can't hold you down, or it destroys your quality of life. If I have a lull in either my writing work or the second shift, I can make socks and cowls to my heart's content and have them ready for future sales. If I am swamped, I can ignore the production side and just ship orders. If I'm on vacation, I can close the store. Carrot Creations doesn't hamper our lifestyle.

If making hand-made items isn't your thing, remember that there are a number of scalable and temporary part-time jobs out there. More than once, I have had part-time jobs that involved subbing for regular staff, so the organization would call me when needed and I could say yes or no to the shift according to my own schedule. I have also long intended to one year try a seasonal job, like a Christmas retail job or an Easter ham store job. Some people regularly work the polls on election day and otherwise take one-day jobs. If you look, these little jobs are out there.

Make it part of your dream: Yes, many of us occasionally hit a point at which all income, even little extras, needs to be earmarked for living expenses. But if yours doesn't, don't be afraid to tie your efforts with your VPT job to a dream. Put the profits in a vacation fund, a home-improvement fund, or even your garden seed fund. It is so much fun to get to buy one of these treats without dipping into your regular income, and it makes it that much more enjoyable to work your VPT job.

What do you do for a little extra income?

Butternut Squash = Ricotta

2011-12-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

As you know, this was my first year for butternut squash, and I had a great harvest. Now, with more than a dozen of the little beauties safely cellared downstairs, it is time to start eating the bounty.

The problem is, neither Mr. FC&G nor I come from a food culture that typically uses squash. Squash did not appear regularly on either of our tables growing up, so we don't have the intrinsic understanding how the vegetable is used. This is in contrast to things like tomatoes, where we know exactly how they taste raw and cooked and have lots of ideas about the ways they can be used. But butternut squash is kind of a mystery, beyond whipped squash, which we have tried (and found yummy) and soup, which we have not.

Enter lasagna! The thought occurred to me that squash is relatively bland, kind of soft when cooked, and takes on the flavor of what you put into it. Therefore, in my mind, it is ricotta cheese!

To add a little of this very-nutritious veggie to my meal, I took my standard lasagna recipe, which has a layer that is made of ricotta, egg, some spices, and some Parmesan cheese. I replaced this with:

3 small squash, halved and baked in a shallow pan of water until the flesh is soft
2 cloves garlic, chopped
fresh ground black pepper
a small handful Swiss chard, chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan

Seed your squash, bake it, and remove the flesh. Mash it up until it is a soft texture, then add the remaining ingredients. Use this as the ricotta layer in your favorite recipe, and proceed as usual.

I really found the results very tasty, and I know I got some extra veggies in my diet and some expenses out of my budget.

The Analysis

Fast: Baking the squash is an extra step that takes some time, so this is a good weekend recipe. Then again, baking the squash takes no more time than making fresh ricotta, so it is a wash in that respect.

Cheap: Obviously, cellared squash with homegrown garlic and chard is way cheaper than buying ricotta and eggs. Fewer calories, too.

Good: The squash really took on the flavors of the garlic and pepper without tasting vegetable-y at all. I think this one is a winner.

Thai Basil Salmon and Swiss Chard

2011-12-08T09:57:00.000-05:00

I'm not really a huge fan of Asian-inspired flavors in my cooking, preferring instead to use Mediterranean and Cuban influences. However, I am a big fan of Thai basil, and I grew a beautiful huge plant in the herb garden in 2010, enough for fresh Thai basil all summer as well as a stock of dried and frozen. The last of the frozen basil in oil was in the freezer, so it was time to experiment with a way of using it.

This recipe takes inspiration from my mojito salmon. As you can see, prices of wild-caught Alaskan salmon have really gone up; I think this package came in around $8 for two pieces. I still think it is a worthwhile centerpiece to the meal, especially since everything else came from the spice cabinet or the garden.

Thai Basil Salmon and Swiss Chard
1 package wild-caught Alaskan Salmon (2 fillets)
1/2 pint Thai basil chopped and frozen in oil (or a comparable amount of fresh, plus some olive oil for the pan)
curry powder
smoked sea salt
baby Swiss chard (from the sunroom)

Place the salmon fillets in a pan and sprinkle with curry powder and smoked sea salt. Plop the frozen Thai basil in. If you are using fresh basil, you will want to put a dollop of oil in the pan and then place the chopped basil on top of the seasoned fish.

Bake at 350 until done, about 30 minutes for the fillets I used. Reach in the oven once in a while and stir the Thai basil around and make sure it is coated with oil and sitting nicely on top of the fish. This keeps the basil hydrated and makes it wilt rather than dry out and get crispy and burnt. When done, place each fillet on top of chopped baby Swiss chard, being sure to dress both fish and chard with the now-baked Thai basil, and serve.

The Analysis

Fast: I love baked fish dishes because you just season the fish and stick it in the oven. Fish goes so well over greens that we often omit the starch for these meals.

Cheap: Fish prices are on the rise, but I basically got one large serving and a couple of small ones out of this package of salmon, which was around $8.

Good: To me, this was just the right hint of curry and Thai basil to suggest Asian flavors but not overwhelm. If you love the Asian flavor profiles, you can go all-out with more curry and some roasted chiles.

Should You Go Vegetarian to Save Money?

2011-12-05T09:26:00.000-05:00

I recently came across this article on the online edition of Good, a highly entertaining and thought-provoking publication. In it, the author looks at a comparison by LearnVest of four different diets: meat-eating, pescetarian, vegetarian, and vegan. The idea is to find out if one diet is appreciably cheaper than another.

On the face of it, there is a marked difference. Meat-eating comes in at $14.65 per day, while veganism comes in at $11.15, a difference of $3.50 per day. If you are not new to frugality (and you probably aren't if you've been reading this blog for a while), you can see that this seems an obvious latte-sized change in your diet that could save $105 a month.

But wait. Let's look at the diets a little closer. One fault of the actually-pretty-helpful chart is that it assumes that an individual will eat according to their philosophy at every meal. That is, the meat eater wants an egg and three strips of bacon at breakfast, while the vegan is having oatmeal and blueberries. That alone accounts for $0.95 difference between the meal plans, and it points out the value of making your decisions meal by meal.

Let's take me as an example. Philosophically, I'm a meat eater. I don't have a moral problem with eating meat, particularly if I know that the animal was treated as well as possible during its life (which means allowing cows to eat grass and chickens to eat bugs, but that is another blog post). (If you have a philosophical issue with eating animals, then I respect that, and clearly this is not the meal-planning category for you.)

However, if I am philosophically a meat-eater, I certainly am not one in practice. Although I will eat any cured, spiced meat from any culture, the opportunity doesn't really arise that much. The last time I had three strips of bacon for breakfast was in July, when we were on vacation and planning to walk all day and negate the calories. In reality, my eating practice is much more vegetarian, with some days of pescetarian behavior.

On the other end of the spectrum, I find many things attractive about veganism, but I just like cheese too much. Sorry, that's shallow, but that's reality. Cheese, honey, and chicken stock are all important parts of my diet, and I can't give them up. (Full disclosure: for health and philosophical reasons, I buy hormone-free cheeses and raw honey, and I make my own chicken stock.)

So where does that put me, if I am a diet-budget guinea pig? Well, our chart would indicate that I'm hovering somewhere in the $12.50 per day range most of the time, balanced out with some days of meat eating and some days of accidental veganism.

But let me tell you this: If I spend $12.50 a day on my own, individual meals other than on vacation, I would be horrified. I've been tracking the expenditures here on the microfarm, and Mr. FC&G and I regularly spend between $11 and $14 (conveniently, the approximate boundaries of this study) per day on groceries for the two of us, and that counts paper products and health/beauty supplies. Mr. FC&G is a regular meat-eater, too, and we generally buy grass-fed beef, pastured chicken, and free-range, organic eggs.

To me, that indicates a big take-away from this study that is not obvious on first blush. First, yes, you can positively impact your budget by staying away from the high-dollar proteins, which are generally meats. Heck, if you are a meat-eater who has to have animal protein at every meal, you can just omit the bacon at breakfast five days out of seven and save $32 a month. Use that savings to lay in some grass-fed ground beef at $5 per pound (the price around here), and you will have six pounds of much healthier meat to put on your table.

More important, however, is the role that gardening and bulk purchasing plays in the diet. Even with a pretty pathetic garden harvest this year, we have been able to eat many of our meals with the addition of garden produce that is worth, on a retail basis, much more than the inputs it took to grow it. Add to that the economy of making larger batches of anything you cook (I'll bet I can make a fajita of any kind for less than the $5.80 they budget for the tofu version), and you have some real grocery savings.

So should you go vegetarian to save money? Maybe. Maybe you should have one day a week that is vegetarian; that's what the Meatless Monday movement is all about. Maybe it should be one meal a day; no one needs that much bacon! But whatever your philosophy, it appears that the best way to save money is to cook at home (and from scratch as much as possible), buy responsibly-produced products in bulk (whatever that means for your family), and grow what you can. From a financial standpoint, these are the real money-savers. Whether you want lox on your bagel then becomes a matter of taste and philosophy.

How Much Does a Garden Grow: November

2011-11-30T09:24:00.000-05:00

In keeping with our new business-style accounting model for the garden, it is time to look at how much my microfarm garden grew in November:

What a difference a season makes! Instead of bringing in veggies by the basket-full (no matter how pathetic this growing year was), I am now bringing them in in sprinkles. My harvest for the month:

4 oz of medium leeks: $0.50 per ounce, total $2.00
1/2 jar of dried thyme: $1.65 equivalent
about a salad-worth of lettuce: $1.00

Total: $4.65

Actually, I am rather proud of this. The funny-looking cold frame that Mr. FC&G built is doing a bang-up job of protecting the leeks (and probably scaring the neighbors); I saw the other day that I actually have new, thin little leeks coming up. The leeks that I pull have definitely grown.

Also, a rather warm snap in November let the thyme plant keep putting out new growth, so I harvested a bunch and dried it, which I typically don't do in the winter. But this was clearly new growth, so I didn't feel like I was taking much away from the plant.

Finally, keeping lettuce in the sunroom means that we can have an occasional fresh salad or bed for our fish. That is nice.

And just because we haven't harvested a lot doesn't mean we are neglecting our veggies. We have shifted to eating our canned and frozen veggies this month, with the end result that we really haven't purchased any fruit or vegetables in November. I'll take it.

2011 Tally to Date: 126.69 lbs of crops; $249.36 saved

Roasted Blue Potato Salad

2011-11-28T09:18:00.000-05:00

I'm not usually a fan of potato salad, but I have recently developed a recipe I really like, based on tips from several recipes I consulted. This is a great way to show off those garden potatoes you have down cellar, and the best thing is that it can be served hot, room temp, or cold, which makes it a great recipe for taking to those get-togethers where you aren't sure if you will have oven access when you get there. (Note: The dressing does contain mayo, so I'm not telling you to leave this sitting out all day. Decide if you will be able to heat the potatoes and dress it onsite, or if you will be taking a chilled dish, and plan accordingly.)

Roasted Blue Potato Salad

8-12 blue potatoes (you can sub in some Yukon Golds or another "normal" color if you like), diced
2 medium leeks, diced
1 sprig rosemary, chopped
1 pat pasture butter

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients and bake until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, mix the dressing:
1/2 cup organic mayo
1/2 cup lime juice
1 T mustard -- dijon or plain

When potatoes are ready, dress with the dressing. Serve.

The Analysis

Fast: This recipe takes about 45 minutes, most of which is baking time.

Cheap: I depend on cellared potatoes, still-growing leeks, and rosemary from the front window to make it practically free.

Good: It reheats well and is great for a hot lunch for me and a cold snack for Mr. FC&G. Yum!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T08:39:00.000-05:00

I would like to wish all the readers of Fast, Cheap, and Good a Happy Thanksgiving! I am truly thankful for your participation in our journey this year and hope you will be with us in the months and years to come.

To celebrate the season, I would like to offer my readers a discount at our Etsy store, Carrot Creations. Just use the code BLACKFRIDAY2011 at checkout to receive 10% off your order, good through Monday, November 28.

Cheers!

Mr. FC&G's Hot Toddies

2011-11-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

Well, it was inevitable. I caught Mr. FC&G's cold. It makes sense; we share everything, and that includes the germs.

Luckily, Mr. FC&G was on the mend by the time I caught it, and he was ready with warm knee thingies in the bed and multiple birthday cakes, since I got sick on my birthday and consequently couldn't eat my cake as fast as he could "help" me. (Gotta love a man that keeps making cake to be sure that you are satisfied!) And, best of all, he made hot toddies.

I don't know what it was about this simple recipe, but every time he made me a toddy, I felt better and better. I think we have decided to keep making and drinking toddies all winter, just to be sure we stay in tip-top health.

Mr. FC&G's Hot Toddy
1 mug herbal tea (I like chai tea for this)
raw honey to taste
scant 1/2 shot whiskey

Mix all ingredients in a mug and drink while hot. Repeat as needed.

The Analysis

Fast: This takes no longer to make than a mug of tea, so pretty speedy.

Cheap: Frankly, I have no idea if this is cheaper than Nyquil or a similar over the counter medicine. I do know that it worked better for me than do most of those cold meds.

Good: I felt so much better after each of these toddies, all warm and pretty energetic. They certainly have gotten me through the worst of a cold, and that counts for a lot.

5 Tips for Capturing a Little Extra Heat

2011-11-17T09:45:00.000-05:00

Are you still freezing yer buns? We really have not yet begun to freeze around here, but those of us who are keeping the house heat set on "low" know that it helps to capture every spare degree of heat. Here are five ways to make your house toastier without spending any extra money:

1. Reset your ceiling fans. This was once a matter of great debate between my father and I, so let me say for the record that your fan should be set with the downward edge of the blade going forward, which is usually clockwise. Many fans will settle the debate for you by putting "winter" and "summer" on the switch. This pushes the warm air at the ceiling downward, which keeps the living area of the room warmer. We don't have ceiling fans at Casa FC&G other than in the sunroom, but they do make a difference.

2. Stop the dishwasher mid-dry-cycle: This is one of my favorite tips. I set the dishwasher to do a dry cycle as part of the normal wash, then stop it midway through and open the dishwasher door. The dishes are already dry and as sterilized as they are going to get, and all that lovely steam and heat comes out and fills the kitchen.

3. Leave the clothes dryer open a minute or two: If you like to fold your clothes in the laundry room, leave the dryer door open while you do it. The heat inside the dryer drum will come out into the room. Be careful, because depending on how well your dryer is vented to the outside and how secure the baffles are, you can quickly get outside cold air. But that initial burst of warmth is wonderful.

4. Leave the pot on the stove: If you boil pasta or potatoes, lift the food out with a strainer or slotted spoon and leave the boiling pot on the stove (with the burner off) while you eat. The heat will escape into the room. This is also a great excuse for making stock during the winter.

5. Open the oven door: My all-time favorite. When you do you regularly-scheduled baking, open the oven door when you are done to get a burst of 350 degree air coming into your kitchen.

The Analysis

Fast: None of these ideas should take more than a few seconds to implement. Would I steer you into a long, drawn-out project?

Cheap: You probably won't notice a huge difference in your heat bills, but every degree counts in the winter.

Good: Keeping warm while saving money is what we are all about!

Shop Locally, Shop Sustainably

2011-11-15T09:19:00.000-05:00

(OK, so the photo has nothing to do with the topic today, except to say that this was my first log cabin pot holder, and I still think it is pretty.)

So, we're getting into the holiday season, and it is almost impossible to avoid weighing in on how to handle it: use your frugal savings to shop a lot; cut back and shop a little; don't shop at all. Whatever your perspective, there's probably a good strategy out there in the blogosphere.

However, I'm going to suggest that the FC&G way to handle holiday shopping is to shop locally as much as you can. Here are my thoughts:

1. Shopping local is sustainable: Much of this blog focuses on things you can do to be self-sufficient, but no person is an island. We cannot live entirely alone; human beings live in communities. I suggest you use your money to support your neighbors' work, in the process keeping the money in your local community. Eventually, it will come back to you. That is a sustainable system.

Gift idea: Rather than ordering gift baskets of food from large distribution organizations or those mall kiosks, go to the winter farmers' market and buy local jams, preserves, sausages, and cheese, and put those all in a pretty container. Even if you are carrying the goodies a long way to Grandma's house, the purchases will support your community, and you are sure to have a one-of-a-kind gift.

2. Shopping local is economically viable: One way to support your community is to exchange your skill for someone else's. Yes, that sometimes means barter, but primarily, we use money as an intermediary in the process. So, you trade your skill as a computer programmer or a welder or a teacher for money, and then you can trade that for someone else's product. I suggest you keep that money and that effort in your own community by buying as much as possible from local providers. If you are in an area such as mine, which is still feeling the impact of the recession, those dollars kept at home will do far more good than they would if they took an expensive trip to a corporate HQ.

Gift idea: Rather than buying a mass-produced item, consider supporting an artisan who is now making a living off of his or her skill. A local woodworker, for example, could potentially create anything from a set of coasters to a fabulous Adirondack chair, and you are sure that you are spending your money with someone in your community while you give an interesting gift.

3. Shopping local is political: This is not a political blog; I don't care if my readers vote or think the way I do. However, I do hope my readers are voting with their dollars (or yen or euros) by supporting businesses that behave the way they believe is responsible. Have you ever tried to trace the supply chain for a product from a large conglomerate? Physical supplies come from all over the globe, as do administrative supports and marketing. With your local businesses, your artisan is often the same one standing behind the counter, and that person can tell you in detail where the supplies came from and how the product was made. If you agree that the person behaved responsibly and ethically, then your money is a vote to support continuation of that behavior.

Gift idea: There are fewer worries about poor workplace conditions or questionable executive behavior when you buy local. Quiz your local merchant about the supply and production chain when purchasing. Try to find local substitutes for things you might otherwise buy from a faceless conglomerate, like knitwear from a local knitter who uses natural fiber yarns.

4. Shopping local is environmental: OK, not always. But if you want raw honey or a product made without latex or a gift that uses as many upcycled items as possible, your best bet is the local provider. If the large conglomerates have economies of scale on their side, then the small local provider has the advantage of overseeing the process in minute detail. This means you can use your purchase to support a business that protects the environment in a way that you believe is effective.

Gift idea: Think about bypassing the cookie-cutter gifts in favor of unique items that fit your sustainable beliefs. There are many artisans in your community that work with upcycled items and create beautiful jewelry and household decorations that involve very little new raw material.

What are your ideas for sustainable holiday gifts? Will you be shopping local this year?