less (food) waste

We are not always aware of the abundance we live in, and grateful and thankful for it. As a result we create a lot of waste, personally and as a culture. This is the first of several blog posts on becoming more aware of the abundance that surrounds us and at the same time reducing waste in different area of our lives. Why waste reduction? When we respect something, when we are truly appreciative of it, then we handle it with a certain reverence and wouldn't carelessly throw it away. That goes for food as it does for other things in life. Sometimes one of my kids will come home and put their school sandwich back in the fridge. Now what? I have repackaged them the next day but often end up eating them myself so they don't go to waste. When my son was much much younger he threw out a perfectly good (wrapped) sandwich he did not care for. I was so incensed that I made him take it out and eat it - he still talks about it.

With a bit more reverence for all the food we have (just today it struck me at the supermarket how much food we have access to so easily, what abundance!) let's try to reduce food waste, the first of the wastes I will be addressing. One rule is to be a good leftover processor - eat them, freeze them, or cook them up with something new, but don't let them go bad. I save leftover bread pieces in the freezer until I have enough to make a sweet or savory breakfast strata. My mom makes a "tapas" meal every so often with all the little frozen leftover dishes. If you do buy produce in bulk, like I do, process those vegetables you can't eat right away by blanching and freezing them as meal building blocks for later use, or cooking them up in a soup or stew to be frozen. If food does go bad in your fridge reduce how much you buy or space your supermarket trips further apart. And how about going through your fridge once a week and either making a meal from all the leftovers right then or freezing what you can't use immediately?

We have so much, let's be grateful for it.

making magic

DSC01193Here a thought that was inspired - yet again - from my beautiful yoga teacher who always has so many words of wisdom. She was referring to Corinthian 4:18: "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." She suggested keeping in mind during this Christmas season that it is the unseen, the invisible that makes magic. What is in our hearts makes magic, the love we share is magic, the time we spend with friends and family is magic, the sparkles in the children's eyes when they open their presents is magic, the joy of being part of a greater whole is magic, our family traditions and rituals during this time are magic, our ethnic connections and family ties make magic, the thought behind a truly thoughtful present makes magic, neighborly appreciation makes magic, kindness and compassion make magic............…..

May you experience lots of magic and may you make lots of magic during this holiday season.

 

more compassion, less hubris

Compassionate communication is about respecting the other person, trying to understand her feelings and motives, and responding with consideration and empathy.

This past week, as SONY's dilemma about the movie The Interview was unfolding I noticed some comments on social media that struck me as particularly one sided. I read things like "the US never backs down" and "if we give in we are compromising our freedom of speech."

There is a fine line between exercising freedom of speech and hurting or disrespecting others. Freedom of speech does not mean brash disregard or lack of respect for someone who thinks differently. After all, how would you feel if someone said to your face "that is some ugly outfit you're wearing?" Would you really think "she is entitled to voice her opinion, I am totally ok with hearing that?" No, you would find it offensive if someone spoke to you like that, and you would probably say so.

Just saying….                                        ...please also revisit an earlier post on compassionate communication.

slow that train down

DSC01171I used to rush around quite a bit during the pre-Christmas season, trying to accomplish my regular work work load and then fit all the other things in between, before and after - and ended up breathless and with misgivings and guilt about the lack of Christmas spirit - and Christmas cookies. This Christmas season is different. As a matter-of-fact, I put my whole book writing project on hold until after the holidays because - where am I rushing to anyhow?   As Lewis Carroll's Alice said somewhere "the hurrier I go, the behinder I get." I love that quote. When my mind isn't into something and I'd rather do something else, or feel guilty about not doing what I really want to be doing, then I am not doing any one of them justice.

So yesterday I stopped my work work earlier than usual and decided to bake Christmas cookies with my daughter - one of my favorite German Christmas cookie recipes: dark chocolate covered hazelnut shortbread or Haselnußgebäck. Sure, I got less work work done (although even that is relative - measured against what?), but I felt more in tune with the true holiday spirit and myself. When I surface skim and rush and get one more thing done I may indeed cross another thing off that never ending to-do list. But that list is truly endless. More will inevitably be added to it tomorrow and the day after. That's the way it goes. So I had to slow that train down to something like "the more leisurely I go, the deeper I live."

And when I do decide to do work work I light a candle and put on some Christmas carols.  DSC01174

giving within your means

When I was (really) little my dad took me to a store just before Christmas and we bought a thimble as a Christmas present from me to my mom. And my mom took me to a store to buy with me a tiny leather coin purse in the shape of a mouse for me to give to my dad for Christmas. It was a lesson on giving within your means that has lasted until today. As a newly married many years later I was quite upset when my husband and I were coerced by his siblings to contribute to a new dishwasher for his mother, which was not within our means at the time and we had to scrape the money together. He comes from a family that believes in the direct relationship between the amount of money spent on a present and how much you love someone. I remember him telling me of selling his skates as a youngster to buy a present for Mother's Day, which still makes me sad.

I believe that it is the thought that counts. We all go through times where we have to watch what we spend. Nevertheless, it feels good to give and we want to express our love and appreciation. As a teenager I always made my own presents, needlework, crocheted items, sewn items. I love receiving homemade food items.   Whether it's a jar of honey from your own hives, homemade bread, sausage, mustard, herb infused oil or vinegar, cookies - I so appreciate such a present. I like crafted items, too - a pillow, napkins, a table runner. When my children were little and went to a small Waldorf kindergarten they made candles with applied wax motifs - beautiful. My 14-year old daughter is learning to sew and has made aprons, pyjama pants, tote bags, and much much more - all terrific low cost gifts with a personal touch. I used to receive coupon booklets from my children, such as for sharpening knives, emptying the dishwasher, or folding the laundry, all tedious jobs to me.  How about coupons for grown-ups for babysitting, cooking a meal, or running errands?

Lastly, the packaging can really make your gift shine and sparkle and makes it special. You can do so much with colorful tissue paper in a few colors, some sparkle, and some pretty fabric ribbon (I stock up whenever it's on sale at a crafts store). I have even wrapped presents in newspaper, which can look really cool, and I always recycle pretty ribbons and gift bags if they are in good condition.

healthy eggs from healthy chickens

DSC01150I go out of my way to buy healthy eggs from healthy chickens from sane farmers, which means I avoid buying eggs, even organic ones, from the supermarket if I can help it at all (organic eggs don't necessarily come from better treated chickens, they only eat a different diet). That has not been so easy lately as chickens naturally reduce their egg production during the cold dark months and our family's need for eggs goes up with all the holiday baking between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Commercial chicken labeling, such as cage free, free range and even pasture raised, is pretty meaningless once you delve deeper (follow the link for more info). These terms mean next to nothing and it's all about laying more and more eggs at the expense of the chickens' health and wellbeing (the horrors the horrors, so sad - follow this link for more info on that).

Pretty much the only way to assure that the chickens whose eggs you eat are tended to respectfully, and that their egg production is not exploitative but cooperative, is to get them locally. We have several farmers in the area who sell eggs, and I also buy them from chicken keeping friends when they have a surplus (but that is not in the winter time). So I know how those chickens live, how they are treated and what they eat.

This past week we were out of eggs and I couldn't get myself to buying them from the supermarket, although that would have been more convenient. Instead, I called the local farmer I usually go to, preordered 4 dozen eggs (they keep), and waited a few days until he had gathered enough, then finally drove to the farm to pick them up (and return the old egg cartons so they can be reused). Sometimes it's a bit of a pain in the neck to live by what you believe in.

less gifts, more love

Our Christmas present list used to be very long and I used to start Christmas shopping around October/November to enjoy December more. That is one solution to the Christmas gift quandary and the December stress spike. "My life is a rat race, haven't even started Christmas shopping. Only have teachers' gifts done. Gotta get going. Feeling pressure!!!!!!" a friend recently posted. All that pressure, all those obligations we feel piled on top of us take away from the sparkly twinkly holiday spirit we all remember from childhood and want back so much.

it's all in the presentation
it's all in the presentation

We have pared our Christmas gift giving down drastically, not because we don't love our family members any less, but because I love myself more, and it makes me less hassled in December. I remember how hard it used to be to find meaningful presents for my father-in-law, or my own grandparents. And even my dad had enough socks and books and sweaters and did not need another scarf for Christmas.

My husband and I have agreed with both our families that we adults don't need more stuff and to limit Christmas gift giving to each other and the closest children in the family. I send flowers to my parents and pictures of the family, but no more presents bought hastily under stress and duress. Time together or a telephone call is more important.

homemade mustard
homemade mustard

An idea I love for simple gifts is homemade foods, cookies, pickles, mustards, jams. If you are someone who makes these throughout the year simply plan ahead, make a little more and put your goodies into pretty jars and containers. All done.

I do as much of the gift shopping for the children as I can locally (love all the little craft stores, their presents are unique, local gift certificates are great, too), and teachers get beautifully tinned cookies or chocolates, which I buy way ahead of time when I am out and about anyhow. Et voilà, very little stress, all done with my Christmas shopping as I write this.  And one last thing - the presentation is at least as important as the present (meaning, you can dress up a humble gift and make it that much more special - more on that in a previous post).