A Gift Guide with Heart.

The holidays are rapidly approaching (hurrah!) and I put together a few ideas for those who haven’t finished their gift shopping. This time of year can be a lot of fun, but can get out of hand when we think about how much stuff is consumed. From the gifts no one really needs to the insane amount of wrapping and cards to the numerous big family dinners, there is a mass consumption of stuff.

I think a bit of indulgence is allowed, and I certainly don’t want to be Scrooge. But instead of feeling like we need to get bigger and better presents to express our love, we can still buy gifts, but ones that are more thoughtful and in line with our values. Sprinkle this season with a few gifts and lots of family time.

And copious amounts of hot chocolate and cookies, of course.

Fair Trade

Last year, along with making most of my presents, I got lots of Fair Trade goodies to give to my family – chocolates, teas, and coffees. It was my little way of supporting Fair Trade with my money and introducing family members to Fair Trade goodies. If you’ve been trying to convince your dad for-ev-er to drink Fair Trade coffee, this might be your chance to introduce him to it! Equal Exchange has put together some baskets – some fabulous, last minute deals! (Although, they expire TOMORROW, December 15th, so you’d better order fast!)

Eco-Friendly

Think reusable. Reusable shopping bags, reusable water bottles, reusable travel coffee mugs (or, if they shun drinking from reusable coffee mugs, get them one of these), and reusable towels (boo to paper towels!). Break your brother's disposable habit by filling a (reusable!) bag with lots of these goodies.

Local

Got a friend who's addicted to big box stores, chain restaurants, and corporate coffee shops? Introduce her to what your town or city has to offer with some gift cards to a local business or two. Soon she’ll see how much more fun shopping local can be!

Healthy

Maybe your mom keeps talking about going on some crazy fad diet (as she does every year) – encourage her to eat healthy (and eat, period! Crazy diets…bleh) by purchasing a share of a CSA. Depending on the CSA, she’ll get some form of delicious, local fruits and vegetables every week or month. Check out Local Harvest for more information or to find a CSA near you.

Clean & Green

Is your sister a tad OCD? As in, you’d rather eat off her bathroom floor than your kitchen table? If she’s using lots of bleach and other nasty chemicals, help her break the habit and keep a healthier home by giving her a basket full of fabulous cleaning supplies without all the nasties. Some of my favorite are this, this, this, and this. She will appreciate it, I promise.

Et Cetera

A few more ideas that may be a bit more sustainable than the average gift :

• A donation to charity
• Soy candles
• An experience – a concert, dinner at a nice restaurant, or a play.
• A microloan on Kiva.org.
  
• Essential oils
• An iTunes gift card – digital music is less waste than a hard copy.
• Shop around on Etsy and support handmade!
• Paraben-free make up or nail polish without formaldehyde (um, ew)
• Anything from Heifer International.
  
• Homemade anything – from food to pampering kits.
• Wood toys are much better than plastic ones for the kiddos in your life – they last longer and are more durable. (Bonus points if it’s sustainably forested!)

A note on waste

During the weeks from Thanksgiving to New Years, about 1 million additional tons of garbage to our landfills each week in the US. EACH week. As in, in ADDITION to the waste we already create. That is just crazy ridiculous. To help reduce this waste, give your gifts in reusable gift sacks or wrap your gifts in newspaper or other reused material. I promise, with a little creativity, they will look even nicer than those glossy wrapping papers!

From Scratch. Hardcore.

I never do things the easy way.

My senior year of college, I made a pledge to stop buying bread. I thought, Why buy when you can make it? Plus, I have a bread maker! Homemade bread is so delicious.

I ended up just never eating bread. (Due to a combination of aversion to lugging huge machines and pure, unadulterated laziness and naps. Lots and lots of naps.)

My little "pledge" didn't stop there- I can count the number of times during our marriage Mike and I have bought bread from the grocery store on one hand.

I confess - I'm, uh, sort of addicted to making things from scratch.

I've made everything from scratch - from ketchup to crackers to hummus.

It started out as avoiding excess packaging and convenience food preservatives. Buying blocks of cheese instead of shredded cheese, avoiding plastic tubs of butter and getting olive oil instead, or never, ever buying brownie mixes.

Then, it became an addiction. I couldn't get enough of it - I wanted to see how much I could make from scratch. I made tons of homemade spaghetti sauce and raspberry jelly last year and froze jars in our freezer. I started buying dried beans instead of canned beans. We ran out of ketchup one day, so I made some. Yep - you can make ketchup (and it's sans high fructose corn syrup. Score!)

I never keep breadcrumbs, eggs, or those frozen veggie bags on hand - I make them all from scratch.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because I feel the need to justify the 25 pounds of apples currently sitting on my counter.

I'm making applesauce. Jars and jars of applesauce tonight.

I've gotten a lot of questions from people about how affordable it is or isn't to buy local, organic, fair trade, and so on.

The thing is, I've come to realize, is that most people buy frozen dinners, canned beans, canned frosting, canned soup, bagged salad mix, pre-made, pre-mixed, pre-done-for-you convenience food.

And that, my friends, is what racks up the grocery bill.

You might say, "But, Ashleeeey, I have no timmeee! Can't I just buy my Healthy Choice chicken dinner and some Hamburger Helper?"

Sure! But, also - you could save some money and be a little healthier. :) Try cooking in huge batches on the weekend and store the leftovers for later in the week. (For lots of wonderful cooking ideas, check out Eileen. My real-life wonderful friend and also a chef extraordinaire!)

Maybe you're thinking, "Ugh! I'm awful at cooking. And this doesn't seem very 'simple,' Ashley!"

(Apparently, I think you guys are really whiny.)

(No, actually, I'm really whiny and I'm channeling myself here.)

Anyway, man up, Non-cooker! Just follow the recipe. Then, experiment with new recipes and flavors. Give it a shot. You cannot go wrong with allrecipes.com - you simply cannot. They have reviews and you can search by ingredients in your pantry.

Maybe it's not so "simple" to cook more. But for me? It's a hobby. It's relaxing and it makes me feel productive. Chopping vegetables, baking bread, and doing it all myself is surprisingly empowered. And utterly enjoyable.

Give it a try. And check out this awesome article on whether it's cheaper to buy sustainably or conventionally.

[My locally-grown apples, by the way? Cost 90 cents a pound. And it was a fun date with my husband, to boot!]

It's True, I'm A Veggie Goddess.

After spending the morning leaving thoughtful, lengthy, serious comments on a few blogs, I realized I'm worn out and exhausted from all this analyzing, discussing, and being so darn excited and passionate.

It's tiring, challenging, and disheartening to talk to people who have come to different conclusions than you, no? It's much easier to think, "I'm right, they're wrong. Closing my ears to any other opinion. Lalalalalah, I can't hear you!"

The humility of dialogue brings much more moderation and sustainability than merely surrounding ourselves with people, newspapers, magazines, and blogs that think like we do.

That being said, I think it's time I tackle another serious topic: CSAs.

Some of you might be thinking: What the heck is a CSA?

Say is with me now: Community supported agriculture is the best thing ever. Ever ever ever.

Here's basically how it works - you pay a farmer a lump sum at the beginning of the season, in the spring. Ours was $290. Then for several months - ours is 16 weeks - you get a heap of fresh, locally grown, healthy vegetables every week. We're about 11 weeks into it, and it's seriously the best decision we made this summer.

Here's my top Six Awesome Things About CSAs

1. VARIETY! I get to try veggies I wouldn't normally buy. Like beets. When would I ever buy beets? Never. But now I know if you roast them in the oven with potatoes and green beans, they are slightly sweet and completely delicious!

2. Deliciousness: Fresh, just-picked watermelon is one of the most delicious tastes ever. When the food doesn't have to travel as far, it's much more fresh when we, the consumers, get it! (Bonus! That means it takes longer for it to spoil. Truly wonderful for a procrastinating cook like myself.)

3. Support Local Business: When you buy food from the grocery store, the farmer takes a pay cut. When you buy directly - you save and the farmer gets more! Plus, supporting your local economy instead of a generic agribusiness keeps money in your area. Win-win. Except for the Big Guy. Sorry, Big Guy.

4. Meet Your Farmer: Many people don't think about where their food comes from, especially children. Ask a child where strawberries come from, and they often say "the grocery store!" What a wonderful experience, then, to understand the story of your food. Local food is a handshake deal in a community gathering place. - Barbara Kingsolver

5. Forces Me to be Healthy: Let's face it, once I have a fridge full of already-paid-for fresh veggies in my fridge, I'm motivated to cook dinner with those instead of ordering pizza. My grocery bill is surprisingly low, because I don't buy much else besides cereal, soy milk, and cheese!

6. Slash Your Food Miles: The average piece of food travels 1,500 miles to get to your plate (source). Our veggies are grown 50 miles away. That saves a TON of gas transporting our veggies.

Sound good? Then check out Local Harvest for a list of CSAs near you. This season is wrapping up, but try to get signed up for next year! It's a great value, healthy, delicious, and better for the environment.

Holiday Weekends and Stimulus Checks

This long holiday weekend, we had planned on going to Mike's twin niece and nephew's first birthday party and to my sister's college graduation party. With gas at four dollars a gallon, we opted out of driving over 500 miles round trip and stayed here instead. Good for gas, good for the environment, and good for us supporting local businesses!

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Yellow Springs - the most fantastic place I've been in Ohio. It's slightly okay, really, "hippie" - with TONS of local stores and restaurants. It's a small little town, home of the recently closed Antioch College and Dave Chapelle. But it's tons of fun and full of energy.

We blew through some of our stimulus check at the local shops in town (what we didn't, we made up for later in the day at Gabriel Brothers, Target, Delia's, and Sephora...we I splurged, okay?).

It was so much fun. SO much. I really needed a perfect day like yesterday.

On the road - I like the passenger's side.

The sign to the Asian Goods Market -- I love it, but am curious why it's "Welcome IN"?

We're here!


Like my new earrings? Product of the fair trade store. Sweeet.

All of their street sign posts are covered with knit cozies. The telephone poles even had knit peace signs on them.


Michael.


This made me laugh. Dirty Pop now considered...rap!?


Tiniest chocolate bar EVER. (Dark chocolate, too!)


Greatest pizza known to humankind. For real.


A store devoted to green living. Great stuff here - I got my godson an environmentally-harvested wood toy for his birthday, my kids at work organic, fruit-sweetened, chemical free lollipops, and some great buttons! It a great, new store.

There are more pictures on my Flickr page.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm

Yesterday as we were wheeling our bikes out of the grocery store parking lot, Mike said:

At first, I saw a Prius, and I was like, "Yeah Prius! Woohoo!" then I was like, "You know what's better than a freaking Prius?!? Riding your effing bike to the store!"

He then proceed to analyze how Americans just love to purchase stuff. ANY stuff, especially if that stuff is supposed to be good for us. We can be "green" and still be hardcore consumers! Have our cake and eat it, too! All is good in the world!

That mentality is obviously wrong in so many ways, but it's not surprising - billions of dollars get pumped into the marketing and advertising industry in this country. People are paid to make us think we need more stuff. Lots of stuff. And we do like to shop - it's practically our national pastime.

Let's think about exercise for a minute, shall we? Our grandparents didn't have to exercise - they had chores and walked or biked places. They got fresh air because computers, video games, and TVs didn't keep them inside all day. They didn't have to carve out special time for exercise, they just stayed in shape doing everyday activities.

Today? We have machines and tools to make our lives easier -- from our power vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers to the car-centric suburbs...As a result, we have to do less physical work. Which I'm sure many people would praise. But then, since we sit at a desk and/or in a car most of the day, we either get fat or have to haul ourselves to the gym and jump on another machine to get into shape.

I'm totally a product of this culture - on my college campus, everyone was constantly either on their cellphones or listening to their ipod. But I wonder if it sort of ruins our sense of community when everyone is always by themselves - in their car alone, or on a treadmill with their earbuds stuck in their ears, or chatting on their cellphone as they walk their dog around the block. A professor in college mentioned one day that if we run or walk outside while listening to music, we miss so much. We miss the chance to clear our minds and be connected with what is around us.

At first, I balked. I ran to be in shape, my ipod made it more bearable. But then I tried it - running at night with no music, just the street in front me. I became addicted. (Check out this ode to running on my old blog.)

Now, I'm glad we live somewhere we can walk across the street for some coffee or ride our bikes to the market. I like to be outside and interact with people! And get exercise while doing something else, instead of forcing myself to because I'm "supposed to" and because "it's healthy." (Bonus: If you bike or walk places, you are likely supporting local businesses. Unless you happen to live really close to a suburban-sprawl-chain-store-strip-mall area.)

I guess what I'm really wondering is: Why can't we just simplify instead of making everything so complicated??

When I lived in Hawaii, this was my only mode of transportation.

What was Hawaii like, you ask?

Well, that was my school.

And that was my chubby self after working at Cold Stone :)

Yep, I liked it there.

Asparagus in January

As I mentioned, I've recently read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

Now, this might sound dramatic:

It pretty much changed my way of thinking about food and farmers.

I've lived in a lot of places. The capitals of Thailand, Malaysia, and Hawaii, to be specific. (As well as smaller cities in Ohio. Can't forget those!) I've visited more than a dozen other countries. I love cities. LOVE. Love the thriving masses of people in the streets. Love how you can get a chocolate sundae at 2 in the morning. (Or, in the case of my prom night, get greasy pad thai at 2 in the morning.) Love how there's always cultural activities, progressive people, and unique, funky stores.

I love cities. To the point where I'm a bit of a snob, actually. Country bumpkins and rural farmers, psh. "How cute!" I cried when my friends in the Hawaii exchange program told me they had never ridden a bus (or any public transportation) and didn't know what to do. Secretly, I was thinking Oh man! Are you serious? So glad I'm a city girl!

When we honeymooned in Vermont on a few farms, I noticed a difference in their rural folks. They were progressive, well-spoken, and there was no back-country drawl. How interesting! But I went on my merry little way, with a slight sense of condescension for those country kids back in the Midwest.

Now, Barbara Kingsolver has called me out. She challenged my attitude and pointed out how most of the media and culture is like me and favors the densely packed cities, while disdaining the country folk. Those "country bumpkins" are the ones who feed us ALL. How dare I look down on them, where would I be without them? For shame, Ashley!

That really strikes me. Those farmers, the ones who I feel sorry for because they're "so much more sheltered" than I? They're the ones who are working their butts off so we all can EAT. And the Lord KNOWS I love to eat. :) So I'm changing my ways!

Sometimes it's all to easy to forget where our food comes from. We just expect there to be fresh produce in the grocery store. Year round.

I've decided (again, Barbara coerced me into it!) to try and make a modest effort to pay attention to what I eat. No more out of the country produce. No raspberries in February or kiwi, probably EVER. In fact, we're going to even make an effort to eat as locally grown as possible. I mentioned in November that every Saturday morning we head to the farmer's market. This time of year, we can still get some things from the farmer's market - Amish cheese and butter (heaven. fatty heaven, but HEAVEN), some potatoes, onions, garlic, maple syrup, and citrus fruits (not local, but comes from Florida, not TOO far away).

It's been completely crazy to realize that everything has a season. I was so unconnected with my food that I had no idea what was harvested when. Except, of course, that pumpkins and apples are in the fall! Here's to country lovin'...

only love, mr. farmer!!


**********

PS: We passed the 1,000 visitors mark! Yippee!!

I <3 Huckabee

Uh. Not really.

So much going on over here! Just a quick note, I'll catch up some more later - because I am currently reading several books that I can't wait to discuss - but with all of this Elections Bowl 08 hullabaloo (fun word. heh.) going on, I want to get a little something off my chest.

I can never read just one book.

To be honest, I’ve never followed politics as well as I should have. Two years ago, I went on a trip to work with immigrants to help them study for their citizenship test. I suddenly began to pay attention to the bills that were up for legislation, to realize the ability we have to talk to elected officials (or, okay, sign an electronic petition that gets sent to my email...). I am far from legislatively-inclined, but when I realize that a simple action can make a difference, I'm sure as hell gonna do it!

I've voted twice in the past 4 years - once for president and once for governor, etc. We can get into all sorts of debates about how much our vote actually counts, whether letting uninformed voters virtually choose our leader is the best form of governing, blah blah blah. It can get a little depressing, to be frank. I'm just enthralled by learning about our political processes and candidates and primaries. It's a sport, and these are the playoffs, baby! Last presidential election season, I had NOT A CLUE when primaries were in Ohio. It wasn't even a blip on my radar. Now - March 4th is the day Ohio gets to vote! (After Super Tuesday, so we'll see how much of a difference we make...)

I'm starting to realize that my values are really being reflected in the way that I think and vote. Just the other day, I was watching the Republican debate and Mike Huckabee (can we just talk for a second about how Chuck freakin' Norris is endorsing him!? haha. and how he plays guitar at his rallies. it's hilarious. my new reality tv!) said something about how we need to find alternative fuels to use to ship our food from around the country and around the world. Yeah, yeah - so they're all talking about that.

Then it hit me - why don't we talk about eating food that comes from around us? Then we wouldn't have to fret over the oil monopolies or pollution or local economy. Finding alternative fuels seems like a super hero for the environment kind of thing to do, but what about thinking local. Fix the disease, don't just put a bandage on it.

One Saturday Morning

Since getting married, Mike and I have made a trip nearly every Saturday morning to our wonderful farmer's market. We fell in love with the sense of community, actually meeting the people growing our food (and getting to know them - I have secret crush on the Amish farmer grandpa who we get our eggs from), and just getting to make a normal shopping trip an experience (when you're broke, young newlyweds, you have to think of creative ways to have fun!). Not to mention - the whole locally-grown, organic benefit. The average food travels 2,000 miles before it gets to your table -- when we buy from our farmer's market, it comes from within a 100 or so miles, saving tons of carbon dioxide from the air. Plus, it's fresher!

I'd rather buy from the 2nd Street Market than a huge corporate grocery chain. I know my money isn't going to some distant CEO and executives. For us, it makes more sense and makes us feel good about our food choices to buy from the market. Find your closest market here.

There are also always local handicrafts and restaurant booths set up at our farmer's market. Just another way to try and support local business. My personal favorite is Caffeine - the all fair-trade, organic, and shade grown coffee shop. Plus, they give you 10% off for bringing your own coffee mug! And they're WAY more affordable than Starbucks. *sigh* Is it Saturday yet?

PS: Mike and I just got back from babysitting 15 (FIFTEEN!) kids. Don't we deserve an award?! :)