Gas prices, global temperatures, my weight: they’ve all been on the rise. And they’re all interconnected. We could be doing more for ourselves and for the world, and I’m convinced that with a lot of planning and a little discipline it won’t be that hard to improve both—really!
My husband and I have been improving areas of our lives bit by bit over time. We’re cooking at home more than ever before (no more take-out or pizza deliveries night after night), and we both quit smoking last year (yay, us!). We’re also recycling more and more, so much so that we only throw out one small bag of garbage per week. If it can be recycled, it doesn’t go in the trash. We’ve also been trying to save more money (eating at home and quitting smoking has certainly helped with that).
With these small steps, my husband and I are now ready to embark on a more ambitious experiment: to combine all our ambitions for cooking, recycling, saving money, and losing weight/getting in shape into a single, unified theory of home economics and ecology, or Home Ec-O.
The principles of Home Ec-O:
1. Eat better
2. Save money
3. Save the environment
How do we plan to accomplish all of this? Eating in season and in region, buying fewer processed foods with less packaging, and cooking wisely and making the most of our meals.
A major source of inspiration is my mom. She always worked a full-time job and still managed to cook a homemade meal for dinner every night (minus the occasional pizza night). Mom could feed an army at a moment’s notice. Her secret? She prepared a lot of meals on the weekend. I’ve learned to do the same and have discovered that with a little planning, leftovers need not be boring or overly familiar.
Another important resource: The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. It was an eye-opening book and I recommend it unreservedly. I can’t even look at organic food the same way anymore. (If you haven’t read the book yet—and you really must read it—one of the most important things you will learn is this: organic does not necessarily mean sustainable.) It was because of The Omnivore’s Dilemma that I joined my local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which I found at http://www.localharvest.org/. I can’t wait for the first harvest in June!
Our Home Ec-O blog will feature: recipes; nutritional analysis of our recipes (including Points where possible); our shopping costs; cooking tips; gardening tales and hints; product information; books and book reviews; and other resources.
Nourishing ourselves and leading healthful and sustainable lives are some of the most important things we can do for ourselves. Ultimately, with this blog we aim to explore how to best:
Reduce: Our weight and food costs
Reuse: Our meals
Recycle: Everything and anything possible
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