Mindful Chickens 9/15/2017 | Mary Beth Danielson Writes

Mindful Chickens?

We try to be frugal in order to afford our life and attain our goals. At the same time we try to consume responsibly so that our choices have the least negative impact on our fellow humans and on our earth and its creatures.

Mindful Chickens! Cheep, Cheap!

This was a heckuva week. Trying to get this website ready-to-publish at the same time as Len’s contract job as well as living our regular life.

These are some of this week’s Mindful Chickens:

1. At 5:00 one night we remembered we had to leave the house in 40 minutes to walk to a meeting. Instead of driving and buying fast-food along the way, sups was pasta, shredded cheese, microwaved peas, and some of the pesto Len made two weeks ago. This took less than 25 minutes from starting to finish and cost 20 minutes and a dollar.

2. Made a quadruple bath of laundry detergent. Took 15 minutes (including clean up), cost less than $5, will last 4-6 months, and is not toxic to anyone or anything. I use this “recipe” from The Prudent Homemaker. http://theprudenthomemaker.com/make/laundry-soap I use Fels Naptha soap which is good for removing oil, butter, dirt, and sweat - substances Len and I are talented at getting on our jeans and t-shirts. I cut the bar of soup into small pieces and then pulverize in our 37-year old Cuisinart. And then wash the Cuisinart pieces in the dishwasher.

3. We went to two evening things this week. Walked to both of them.

4. The only surprise trip out in the truck was this morning when Len got a flat on his bike and I drove out to get him. See above. A guy on a bike is seldom too far away.

5. I walked around a corner at the grocery store into a huge display of magnificent orchids. Didn’t buy any. Did take pix and then text to a friend who I knew was working hard right then, just to bother her. Sharing flowers….

What did you do lately to be respectful to too-easily-exploited workers, to preserve the environment, to be mindful of animals – and yet to not break your bank?

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Franc's half-minute of Fame - And do you recycle?

Remember when I said to watch Franc on TV? Contributing Editor (and BFF) Franc Garcia was interviewed for 15 minutes - but all they used in the CBS58 video was less than a minute. Here is where to find it!

While we are talking about reusing and recycling, here are two interesting videos.

Click here: What happens to recycling?

Mindful Chickens - “Are We Lit Yet?”

Other people call them “frugal things I did lately”. I call them Mindful Chickens because they are about:

1. Being Cheap (cheap, cheep).

2. Being thoughtful about how choices affect our community and our earth.

3. Paying attention to the constant tumble of dollars and choices.

…

Mindful Chickens – The “It’s been a while...” edition 1/18/2019

Other people call them “frugal things I did lately”.

I call them Mindful Chickens because they are about:

1. Being Cheap (cheap, cheep).

2. Being thoughtful about how choices affect our community and our earth.

3. Paying attention to the constant tumble of dollars and choices.

…

The Choosing Season

“Decision fatigue helps explain why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their new car. No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-...)

The Arrows of Yore

I have a weird dark closet in the back of my soul. In it are critical things people have said to me in my life. I rarely consciously think about those old cuts and criticisms, but they are tucked in back there and sometimes I remember them uneasily.

Here are some of my particular arrows of yore:

“Can’t you do anything with her hair, Dorothy?” Dorothy was my mom. My dad liked his daughters’ hair to be curly and orderly, mine was straight and flyaway. I think I was in my 40’s before I realized OMG I do not have “problem hair”… whatever the hell that is.

Make Persimmon Cookies; Don’t make a Persimmon Life.

We are new subscribers to “Imperfect Produce” which is a service that delivers imperfect (duh) but safe and flavorful veggies and fruit to your house. This helps to keep “imperfect” produce from being wasted. (https://www.imperfectproduce.com/ I don’t get kickbacks from them.)

We are open-minded about trying new things to eat so when they included a pomegranate – cool. I enjoyed pomegranate, raisin, and walnut oatmeal I invented for myself.

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