Saturday, July 31, 2010

Coffee Lids and Carrot Tops

DAY 124

Last day of "No Plastic" Month aka "Reduced Plastic Use" Month)...It was so much harder than I thought it would be! My last effort today was to reuse my Starbuck's cup and lid from yesterday - which I did until the paper cup was saturated and leaking...

I definitely got some lasting lessons and habits from this month...

  • Bringing own my water bottle, "To-Go Ware" and coffee mug
  • Continuing to reuse all my Ziploc bags multiple times
  • Will purchase more permanent containers to reduce use of zippies
  • Not taking plastic bags for produce at Wegman's - don't need 'em
  • Using reusable grocery bags at other stores - wish I'd thought of that earlier! Small duh on that one...so obvious now!
  • Working harder to find products with less plastic packaging
  • Finding re-use for the plastic containers I do buy for lack of choice
  • Need to use more paper bags for trash (most of my wet food garbage goes out to the compost bin so should be OK)

Glad to be moving on to "Local Food Month"! I have been practicing and I think I will be able to do it...Went to the Rochester Public Market for the first time since I've lived here - check it out and be sure to check out all your local farm markets!

http://www.cityofrochester.gov/publicmarket/

It was excellent! I found everything I need to start my month of eating local NY foods - almost overwhelming to see herbs, beets, onions, carrots, rhubarb, pears, corn, zucchini, cherries, beans, honey, homemade granola and.....it went on and on...oh and handmade soap! Not an NY food but prep for my September Motivation Month of "Natural Cleaning Products"...get excited about that!

Back to food...brought everything home and realized (even said out loud to myself) that all the good food in my frig does not leave room for any junk - Imagine that! Froze half the blueberries and all the tart cherries (will need to make jelly out of that - too tart for me on their own). I was told that the beet greens are edible and found some recipes so I will be trying that tomorrow along with making some other snacks and dishes to take with me on my driving trip next week.

Attempted to make tea with the carrot tops based on someone's entry on a food website...safe to eat apparently but do NOT try this at home! Unless you like nasty brown-green dirt water. I will not judge. Interesting website for you Carrot Fans -I had some free time today :)

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/

For real - I learned a lot from the Cornell Cooperative Extension...

http://cce.cornell.edu/Ag/Pages/LocalFoods.aspx

And see this one for a Cooperative Extension near you for mad amounts of info on food, nutrition, agriculture...fascinating :)

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/

More tomorrow - remember FOOD COMES FROM FARMS (not the grocery store!)

Have a Nothing New Day! Kristin

3 comments:

  1. Perhaps you should have washed the carrot tops first and do you mean the tops of the carrots or the green, leafy stuff you use to pull carrots out of the ground?

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  2. Yes- maybe that would have helped...and yes - the green tops that are more like a handle for the carrots vs edible food...now I know!

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  3. Great recipe for carrot greens, beet greens, and any other greens you want (kale, collard greens, mixed field greens, etc): saute minced garlic in olive oil. add chopped greens, and a splash each of soy sauce and cider vinegar (both to taste). Saute until greens are wilted and enjoy! :)

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