Monday, May 17, 2010

It's easy being green

I've slowly been trying to green our lifestyle and especially our food. This year we joined a CSA. Our basket this week included many fresh strawberries (yay!), some broccoli and scallions (good staples) and kale. We never had kale before and it was a little daunting to find a way to use it. We have been getting more food than we need and are sharing it with others. But we couldn't give away all of our kale. So yesterday I attempted a kale soup. It was a big success! I admit it wasn't my favorite soup ever, but it was quite good and packed with nutrients. Here is the recipe. The CSA food is organic and local, so good for us and the environment.

Making kale soup also helped with my new year's resolution. Remember that? My goal was to wean us off of canned soup and the BPA that comes with it. So far I've been pretty successful. We don't buy canned soup, although a few times I had to add chicken broth to my soup that comes in packaging that is likely lined with BPA. So it is one step at a time. I have not ventured into canning yet. I put the soup into ziploc bags and freeze them.

Another eco-friendly change we are making is installing a dual flush toilet handle. We just bought it today and I haven't attempted this yet, but I think it is pretty easy. Basically you replace the flapper with a new one. The dual flush works by having two buttons on the toilet handle. You press one button for a light flush and both buttons when something stronger is needed. I've been wanting this ever since I heard about it. Now that our toilet is leaking from the tank to the bowl, it is time to give it a try!

8 comments:

  1. Go you! Love the changes you are making. Homemade soup is definitely the way to go. I love putting pesto in mine - gives it an extra kick!

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  2. Great job, Missy! Have you guys gotten into composting yet? I love it, I love that I have less trash, that the trash doesn't smell, that I am putting nutrients back into my yard instead of into a landfill, everything! And it's pretty easy. ;-)

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  3. Wow - I hadn't thought of the problem with cans before. Thanks for educating me. Very impressed with the kale soup! That kale is so good for you! Keep it up! I'm getting inspired:)

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  4. Thank you for the comment on my blog! It's nice to feel not so alone.

    I'm also a homemade soup maker, and try to make things as natural as possible when I can. You mentioned adding chicken broth to your soups...have you tried making your own chicken stock? I make my own and it's leaps and bounds better than storebought. (although I haven't read enough of your blog to know if you're vegetarian or not, so making your own stock might not be your cup of tea!) I also use ziplocs and freeze my soup. Works great because I can freeze a big bag or individual servings for convenience. I planted my first vegetable garden this year (ok, well only some tomato plants, a couple green pepper plants and a few herbs! LOL) and am looking forward to making completely homemade spaghetti sauce and salsa. Can't wait!
    I'll be following your journey and wish you well!

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  5. Oooh! I didn't know you could buy a dual flush handle. Thanks for the tip and we are going to look for one right away. Our current one probably uses 50 gals per use! Happy flushing!

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  6. Wow - what a great move! I need to look into joining a CSA myself, I've heard such great things about it!

    ICLW #106

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  7. I really need to find a local CSA to join. The kale soup sounds delish.

    ~ICLW#25

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  8. Hooray for going GREEN!

    ICLW #96

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