Low and Local

Well...eating low on the food chain has been a less than motivating call to action for the boys. Here is what I have learned....I'm better off not to fight resistance. What can I do to make our efforts...fun, easy, popular?

So here is what we are trying..rather that just sticking to eat low..we have added local. This would include meat and cheese ( important and motivational to the boys)

The good news...talking about including more beans and grains did lead us into the discussion of whoever cooks has more control over what we eat. This led to Nate emailing my Mom for the slumgullion recipe ( a stew he loves..which includes meat)

Luckily my Mom is very responsive...he got the recipe, wrote down the ingredients, made the stew, it was delicious...he was proud of himself and ready to try that sequence again ( something I want to support)

So, if out of this effort, the boys step up and starting cooking a meal or two a week. I will claim success!!

Photo:flickr:spudvalley

Volunteer of the Month

I know I tell others "You should be willing to be interviewed, photographed, videoed. You shouldn't be shy...celebrate your successes..and share them."

It is way easier to say that to others..than do it myself.

I was hesitant to be interviewed as WI League of Conservation Voters Volunteer of the Month. I haven't been active as a volunteer lately. But in the spirit of celebrating what I have done...instead of focusing on what I haven't...here is my interview..

WLCV Member of the Month

photo: flickr silusgrok

Low on the Food Chain

We were hoping we could find one goal for the year....we all liked that "Buy Nothing new" was a year long doable challenge. So far we haven't found one that our whole family can agree to. So just to keep things going...for January we are increasing the number of times we eat lower on the food chain.

Our goal is to eat beans and grains...or total veggie meals at least twice a week. This means no meat or dairy. I have to say this isn't exactly a popular challenge for the whole family. Nate and Ben have some serious concerns..they love meat and cheese. So we'll see how this goes.

So far, I made a big pot of black beans and we had bean and corn soup and a layered tortilla Cassandre ( like Mexican lasagna..though this did have cheese in it.) Mark made dal for tonight ( Indian lential stew)

For each dish we are rating it as a family...and they we will write in the cookbook if we would make it again. No four star meals...yet!


Photo Source: Daniel Gies

The End of the 2011 Challenge

We are officially done with our "Year of Buying Nothing New"
So how'd we do..........

1. It wasn't as hard as we thought.
We found out that most of the things we wanted we could find used. We were worried about Christmas...but Mark asked the boys to make their lists early ( in September) and he enjoyed the challenge of finding books and even video games used ( the big score was Skyrum for Ben)

2. We messed up a couple of times..but not as many times as we thought we would.

-At the beginning of the year, we got carried away and bought Ian's T-shirts.
-I bought some flowers for the garden( the boys felt that qualified as new)
-Mark bought a little rug to go by the cat's litter box ( he couldn't stand the mess)
-Mark bought Nate 3 soccer jerseys that were overstock from last year ( so not really used) Other than that we can't think of any big mistakes.

We did buy the boys shoes and underwear ( so we did make use of the exceptions)

3. Did we save time/money?
In general yes to both. We saved time because there was no point in even going into most stores...which is the same reason we saved money.

However..when we did need to purchase something it took longer...either because we had to research to see if we could find it used...or we had to stop in at a resale shop a couple of times to see if we could find what we wanted.

What did we learn-
-It is easier to buy used than we thought. Even new books and video games ( of concern to the boys) become available very quickly.
- If you let people know you need something..they go out of their way to help. People have things laying around their house that they don't need (that's how I got a new used iron)
-There were multiple times we thought we needed something...and we got over it. Time passed and realized we were doing fine with out it.

So what's next...we are struggling with what our goal(s) should be for 2012...let us know if you have an idea!

What to give?

After reading "Half the Sky"...a book that shares the stories of women around the world what are marginalized because their lives are not valued but also shares stories of hope...what can happen when we invest in women.

I wanted to do something to help...since this is the season of giving, I have made a loan in our family's' honor.

How I chose-
-a woman
-a country I know ( Guatemala)
-a group...the woman is part of a lending group that will support her
-she has children that she wants to send to school

Our loan was $475 which we gave in honor of my mother and stepfather, my sister and her brother and their families, my aunt and uncle and Nate's godmother and her husband.

Here is a link to the description on Kiva

Duo Carisma Group

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Blessings and Peace

Julie, Mark, Nate and Ben

Imgaine this....

it is the day of the Election Cycle.....

it is raining...grey...cold...windy

the family that is supposed to ride with you calls because (as the mom explains) she is meeting with "severe resistance".

They decide not to ride. You wish you could join them in that decision..but you are team captain ( even if there are only two families on the team)

you have to imagine all of this because...although you bring a camera with you...you can't get it to work..even after you buy new batteries..nate says there is rust inside the camera ( I have no idea why)

Imagine..that your kids are willing to ride even after they find out the other family won't be there...and your husband ...injured from a bike accident is determined to ride. and when you show up to sign in...a neighbor family shows up unexpectedly to ride with you...as part of the team.

Now imagine ..you are riding on the bike trail..the rain has stopped but you are riding in a head wind...and your youngest son says "Can we please go home"( he as very polite) And when you say..."Let's finish what we've started" You all do!

Although we "downgraded" to the 10 mile ride.. we all made it!!

We showed up because: Ginny and Greg, Connie and Bill, Jean and Mike, Carol, Janet, Pamela, Beth, Jack, Abby and Maddy, Dave, Alan, Kyle, Joan,Claire, Marjorie, Lisa and Matt, Mary, Micah and Austin...16 sponsors for a total of $610 ( above our total for last year)

Ben's teacher Alan said "All you have do to is ask" and that was true. Thank you all...for supporting us and for supporting conservation in Wisconsin!

WOW!

I am feeling more than a little humble tonight. On Monday we were at $65....but I sent out a few emails and posted to Facebook...and we are up to $395. We have awesome friends and family...thank you all so much for your support.

If you have donated or just just want to check our our page...check us out at The Them