Since I've been blogging, I've been checking out the HouseHolding-type blogs on the Internet. I'm puzzled by the large number of blogs by Christian Homemakers. Their blogs are flashy, professional and monetized*. Check out this blog http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/ which is pretty emblematic of the New Age Christian Homemaker. These bloggers are exclusively women--apparently Christian men do something else, I don't know what because I can't find their blogs. So I have to wonder: Is it strictly a Christian thing? Seems to be, a quick Google search fails to turn up comparable numbers of Jewish, Islamic or Buddhist Homemaker blogs.
So now I find my self in a vaguely uncomfortable position, a kind of guilt by association. I agree with much of what the Christian Homemakers say. Good, healthy food; responsible stewardship of our planet, the importance of family; living simply, etc. Y'all can believe in whatever god(s) you want. But what makes me alarmed is the connection to the fear-based (Conservative? Fundamentalist?) Christian population. Blogs about how Satanic influences are TAKING OVER THE NATION RIGHT UNDER OUR VERY NOSES! And, it's your Christian duty to separate your children from the Godless element in public schools! There is only one path to be on: our path. Or else!
Do the warm and fuzzy Christian bloggers really believe that God is punishing us for Bill Clinton? Or do they separate themselves from the hardliners? What about the dogmatic Liberal HouseHolders? Don't they fall victim to the same isolationism? Can I join in the benefits of HouseHolding, even if I'm not a member of your tribe? Hmm. . .time to post a comment.
So now, in addition to all my other tasks in this life, it appears I have to shoulder another mantle: So here I am, the first avowed Secular Humanist Homemaker on the Web!
*You can get paid for blogging by posting ads on your blog. I wonder if there are categories of blog advertising, i.e. sports-related, family-friendly, etc. That way your Chastity Blog doesn't get "Hot Russian Women Want to Meet You" pop-ups.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Recipe: Sausage Patties
I saw 8oz packs of frozen sausage on sale for $3.99. This is a lot cheaper.
Uses: Reheat for a quick breakfast.
Tip: Make a lot, and freeze them up.
3 pounds ground meat (turkey, pork, chicken)
2 Tab. maple sugar
1 1/2 tsp dry sage
1/2 tsp dry thyme
4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 hot sauce (optional)
add other spices you like!
Mix in a large bowl. Let it sit covered in the fridge overnight to blend the flavors. Make into serving sized patties and crowd them on a broiler pan. They will shrink up a lot while cooking. Bake in batches in 375 oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool, bag and freeze.
I made this one up, myself!
Uses: Reheat for a quick breakfast.
Tip: Make a lot, and freeze them up.
3 pounds ground meat (turkey, pork, chicken)
2 Tab. maple sugar
1 1/2 tsp dry sage
1/2 tsp dry thyme
4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 hot sauce (optional)
add other spices you like!
Mix in a large bowl. Let it sit covered in the fridge overnight to blend the flavors. Make into serving sized patties and crowd them on a broiler pan. They will shrink up a lot while cooking. Bake in batches in 375 oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool, bag and freeze.
I made this one up, myself!
Death by Oatmeal
I fail to see how oatmeal has gained such popularity as a breakfast food. If I eat oatmeal for breakfast, by 10:30 I am experiencing a blood sugar crash comparable to the Hindenburg. It sets my whole day off on the wrong foot. In fact, I'd rather skip breakfast than eat a bowl of oatmeal, if that's the only option. I tried a recipe from "Nourishing Traditions" that uses a "soaked" oatmeal, supposedly making it easier to digest with better nutrient absorption. Maybe that's my problem, low nutrient absorption. Or maybe not. Again by 10:30, "oh the humanity" I was eating a pulled pork sandwich in an effort to mainline some fat and protein and stop the shaking hands.
So I've started making sausage patties and freezing them for quick breakfast. Then when I start to feel hungry again around 10:00 a.m., I have another snack of protein plus complex carbohydrate, like bread and peanut butter or crackers and cheese. I'm finding that any carbohydrate for breakfast makes me feel sluggish and sleepy. I've got the kids going on this too, although it seems to be more of an issue for my eldest boy than the youngest. The little guy could eat cotton candy for breakfast and be none the worse for wear!
So I've started making sausage patties and freezing them for quick breakfast. Then when I start to feel hungry again around 10:00 a.m., I have another snack of protein plus complex carbohydrate, like bread and peanut butter or crackers and cheese. I'm finding that any carbohydrate for breakfast makes me feel sluggish and sleepy. I've got the kids going on this too, although it seems to be more of an issue for my eldest boy than the youngest. The little guy could eat cotton candy for breakfast and be none the worse for wear!
Recipe: Zucchini Bread from Frozen Veggie Mix
Using the veggie mix makes a less gummy, more flavorful bread.
Uses: Throw in 1/2 cup chocolate chips for a dessert cake. Or, use 1/2 the sugar amount and have a savory cake to serve with cheese.
Tips: You can have Zucchini bread year-round.
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (maple)
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole grain flour
1 cup thawed veggie mix
Mix in order given to a muffin consistency. Add a little milk if necessary to thin it. Pour into muffin tin or greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for approx. 12 minutes for muffins, or 30 minutes for loaf pan.
adapted from unknown recipes
Uses: Throw in 1/2 cup chocolate chips for a dessert cake. Or, use 1/2 the sugar amount and have a savory cake to serve with cheese.
Tips: You can have Zucchini bread year-round.
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (maple)
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole grain flour
1 cup thawed veggie mix
Mix in order given to a muffin consistency. Add a little milk if necessary to thin it. Pour into muffin tin or greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for approx. 12 minutes for muffins, or 30 minutes for loaf pan.
adapted from unknown recipes
Recipe: Frozen Zucchini Mixes
What do you do with those giant zucchini? Put one in the fridge, then slip it into the foot of your partner's bed. . .well, here's a better use. But maybe not as fun.
Uses: In snack breads, soup, spaghetti sauce, lasagne or casserole, anywhere that would benefit from an extra veggie.
Tip: Other veggies can be good candidates, carrots or other roots just microwave for a minute or so until steamy, no salt necessary.
8 cups shredded Zucchini, skins on.
1 tsp salt
Mix and let stand in a bowl for 1 hour. Then lay out on a dish towel, wrap up and wring out over the sink. Put a piece of parchment on a large tray. Take the compacted Zucchini and portion out into 1 cup servings. Freeze, then put into freezer bags. When using in a recipe, cut the salt added in half.
Adapted from a technique in Cook's Illustrated Magazine.
Uses: In snack breads, soup, spaghetti sauce, lasagne or casserole, anywhere that would benefit from an extra veggie.
Tip: Other veggies can be good candidates, carrots or other roots just microwave for a minute or so until steamy, no salt necessary.
8 cups shredded Zucchini, skins on.
1 tsp salt
Mix and let stand in a bowl for 1 hour. Then lay out on a dish towel, wrap up and wring out over the sink. Put a piece of parchment on a large tray. Take the compacted Zucchini and portion out into 1 cup servings. Freeze, then put into freezer bags. When using in a recipe, cut the salt added in half.
Adapted from a technique in Cook's Illustrated Magazine.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Gettin' Back to Nature
Yesterday, as I picked up my bulk food order, the woman there handed me a little flyer entitled:
My next thought was "my ancestors spend their lives trying better the lives of their children and get the hell off the farm. Why would I want to go back?"
My mother's father made the move in the 1920s, heading west off the family farm in South Dakota. He opened a drycleaning business, and I believe the rest of his 13 siblings later sold the farm to agribusiness. My father's father worked in the woods before buying an apple orchard in the mid-1930s, then opened a store in Eugene, Oregon moving off the farm and into the city before World War II started. My father's stories of living on the farm contained the words like; "no electricity, in heat, no running water, spraying arsenic on apples, mom was the doctor, no one to play with, walking to the outhouse after dark."
After years of careful observation, I believe that humans are genetically engineered to be lazy, and that this is the driving force behind our advanced civilizations. While other species may also be genetically lazy, see: housecats, they haven't yet put their laziness to work. Think of all the labor saving devices humans have created. Agriculture, tools, slavery, wagons, electricity, all the things that free up our time to do the free-time fun stuff. Because we don't have to spend all day finding food we can do art, make war, have non-reproductive sex, eat leftover pizza and blog.
And lest you think that current day humans are some sort of special exception, let me take you back 2000 years to the time of the Ancient Romans. Everyday Romans lived a life supported by the work of others, largely slaves. Romans lived a urban-based life very similar to our own, with large urban centers supplied by organized farms and international traders. Housing in Ancient Rome did not have kitchens. You bought your food from the shops and snack bars that existed on every corner. Slaves did your childcare/housework/hard labor. The local laundry did your washing. You could get your water at the neighborhood fountain, or the "water deliveryman" could deliver it to your door, the water deliveryman holding a place in Roman child-paternity jokes very similar to the modern day milkman. Goods were available from all corners of the known world. But once the consumption gene in humans gets activated, its hard to moderate. It's estimated that Ancient Romans were responsible for the extinction 3 types of North African tigers that they imported for arena games. A plant called laserpitium which was so valuable that it was harvested to extinction. The quest for more slaves took Roman Armies to the limits of their known world, while slaves in Rome were believed to outnumber citizens. Even while the Roman culture grew and expanded, there was much lamenting the passing of "the old days, when everything was much better." Cato was famous for this, but it was popular to mouth the sentiment, even while you lounged in your gilded litter, carried aloft by a matched set of Nubian slaves. "Let's get back to the Citizen-farmer, when women spent their day at the loom instead decorating themselves and reclining at banquets!"
So what happened to the Romans? I subscribe to the theory that around 500 BCE, Krakatoa volcano blew up, triggering global climate change. With this planet-wide disruption came the Fall, the barbarian invasion ("hey, Alaric, check out these women!") and the dissolution of the Roman Society. Roman society devolved into small, walled feudal towns, the forerunner of the "gated community". It was easily another 1000 years before humans were able to re-institute a cooperative society for the production of free-time. So here we are again! Huge dependent consumer society, conservative backlash, climate change in the offing. But we don't have to follow the same road as Ancient Rome. There is a middle path. Let me quote from another wise sage of our culture, my Mother-in-law: "You want to have a happy medium!"
Next time: Having Your Log Cabin and Your Bon-Bons, Too!
"Log Cabin Workshop, assemble an authentic log cabin with on-site, sustainably-harvested wood. Build a log cabin - learn to be self-sufficient."
My next thought was "my ancestors spend their lives trying better the lives of their children and get the hell off the farm. Why would I want to go back?"
My mother's father made the move in the 1920s, heading west off the family farm in South Dakota. He opened a drycleaning business, and I believe the rest of his 13 siblings later sold the farm to agribusiness. My father's father worked in the woods before buying an apple orchard in the mid-1930s, then opened a store in Eugene, Oregon moving off the farm and into the city before World War II started. My father's stories of living on the farm contained the words like; "no electricity, in heat, no running water, spraying arsenic on apples, mom was the doctor, no one to play with, walking to the outhouse after dark."
After years of careful observation, I believe that humans are genetically engineered to be lazy, and that this is the driving force behind our advanced civilizations. While other species may also be genetically lazy, see: housecats, they haven't yet put their laziness to work. Think of all the labor saving devices humans have created. Agriculture, tools, slavery, wagons, electricity, all the things that free up our time to do the free-time fun stuff. Because we don't have to spend all day finding food we can do art, make war, have non-reproductive sex, eat leftover pizza and blog.
And lest you think that current day humans are some sort of special exception, let me take you back 2000 years to the time of the Ancient Romans. Everyday Romans lived a life supported by the work of others, largely slaves. Romans lived a urban-based life very similar to our own, with large urban centers supplied by organized farms and international traders. Housing in Ancient Rome did not have kitchens. You bought your food from the shops and snack bars that existed on every corner. Slaves did your childcare/housework/hard labor. The local laundry did your washing. You could get your water at the neighborhood fountain, or the "water deliveryman" could deliver it to your door, the water deliveryman holding a place in Roman child-paternity jokes very similar to the modern day milkman. Goods were available from all corners of the known world. But once the consumption gene in humans gets activated, its hard to moderate. It's estimated that Ancient Romans were responsible for the extinction 3 types of North African tigers that they imported for arena games. A plant called laserpitium which was so valuable that it was harvested to extinction. The quest for more slaves took Roman Armies to the limits of their known world, while slaves in Rome were believed to outnumber citizens. Even while the Roman culture grew and expanded, there was much lamenting the passing of "the old days, when everything was much better." Cato was famous for this, but it was popular to mouth the sentiment, even while you lounged in your gilded litter, carried aloft by a matched set of Nubian slaves. "Let's get back to the Citizen-farmer, when women spent their day at the loom instead decorating themselves and reclining at banquets!"
So what happened to the Romans? I subscribe to the theory that around 500 BCE, Krakatoa volcano blew up, triggering global climate change. With this planet-wide disruption came the Fall, the barbarian invasion ("hey, Alaric, check out these women!") and the dissolution of the Roman Society. Roman society devolved into small, walled feudal towns, the forerunner of the "gated community". It was easily another 1000 years before humans were able to re-institute a cooperative society for the production of free-time. So here we are again! Huge dependent consumer society, conservative backlash, climate change in the offing. But we don't have to follow the same road as Ancient Rome. There is a middle path. Let me quote from another wise sage of our culture, my Mother-in-law: "You want to have a happy medium!"
Next time: Having Your Log Cabin and Your Bon-Bons, Too!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Householders with Dirty Faces
I've been starting up this householding gig because I thought I was pretty good at what I do. I enjoy sharing and teaching and talking householding. So I said to my husband, "I'm going to start a blog, and I'd like to teach classes." He agreed that was a good idea, and said, "where are you going to teach them?" "Why, here, at the house," I replied. Then he said, "well, don't you think you ought to do them in a classroom or something? I mean, the yard looks a bit unkempt. . ." and he went off to work.
Later in the day it hit me. HE THINKS THE HOUSE IS A MESS! So I texted him on the phone: "What you said this morning just sunk in". He called me back and said, no, he didn't mean it that way, he thinks I'm doing a great job, but really if someone is going to take a class, what would they think of a householder with grotty floors or who has a box of frosted shredded wheat on the shelf. I'm paraphrasing here--he's a PR specialist, so it sounded a lot more soothing. But that made me think about what constitutes real-life householding. This is a full-steam ahead working household. It isn't perfect, it's evolving. It isn't static, it's ever changing. I don't know-it-all, I'm learning, too. I thought it would be best to have a class in a house that says, "hey, this is the real world! That stuff on the TV? Those glossy photos? That's the product of a staff of stylists." Life changes so fast, how can we best utilize what we have for the best life experience possible? And, more importantly, how will our children learn and benefit? What can we do to make it better for ourselves, our families, our communities, our world?
Later in the day it hit me. HE THINKS THE HOUSE IS A MESS! So I texted him on the phone: "What you said this morning just sunk in". He called me back and said, no, he didn't mean it that way, he thinks I'm doing a great job, but really if someone is going to take a class, what would they think of a householder with grotty floors or who has a box of frosted shredded wheat on the shelf. I'm paraphrasing here--he's a PR specialist, so it sounded a lot more soothing. But that made me think about what constitutes real-life householding. This is a full-steam ahead working household. It isn't perfect, it's evolving. It isn't static, it's ever changing. I don't know-it-all, I'm learning, too. I thought it would be best to have a class in a house that says, "hey, this is the real world! That stuff on the TV? Those glossy photos? That's the product of a staff of stylists." Life changes so fast, how can we best utilize what we have for the best life experience possible? And, more importantly, how will our children learn and benefit? What can we do to make it better for ourselves, our families, our communities, our world?
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