A Vegetarian Recipe for a Rainy Day

I have been a vegetarian for over three years now. I went vegetarian for a few months in college, but then suffered a major setback when I went on a family trip to Italy.  In Sicily, it seems everything is served with anchovies and veal. A couple years later, I toyed with the idea once again. I made the final decision in October of 2007. I remember I was at the Green Festival, and I realized that the food industry had come far enough so as to produce mock meats that satisfy me.  Believe me, my decision was in no way influenced by childish propaganda such as this:
 

I haven’t really looked back since. I was able to find good meat substitutions for most of my dishes. There was one lingering recipe that was missing from my vegetarian Rolodex: chicken noodle soup.

There really isn’t a good commercial vegetarian chicken noodle soup on the market, and I flubbed up many a dinner on trying to come up with a good homemade substitute. However, I was able to crack the code about two months ago. Not only is it vegetarian, it’s vegan! And here it is:

Organic Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
1-2 Tb. olive oil
1 32 oz package of Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth
1 medium organic onion, chopped
3 stalks organic celery, chopped
2 medium-sized organic carrots, chopped
1 package Morningstar Farms Chik’n Strips
1.5 cups pasta (I prefer bowtie pasta)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
salt

Directions:
1) In a large pot, saute onions under medium heat with olive oil until they are translucent, about a few minutes.
2) Add the broth and bring to a gentle boil.
3) Add celery and carrots to the pot and let cook for 5 minutes.
4) Add Chik’n Strips and let cook for 5 more minutes.
5) Add pasta and herbs and cook until pasta is tender.
6) Salt to taste and serve. If thicker broth is desired, add two spoonfuls of Earth Balance before serving.
(Fresh herbs may be substituted for dried at the rate of 1 tsp. dried to 1 Tb. fresh.)

Turning Down (Or Off!) the A/C...

It's summer. Throughout most of the country it's hot and humid. Like an outdoor steam sauna. So why on earth would we consider going without air conditioning?

If you look at the environmental implications, though, air conditioning is difficult to justify - even in warm, humid climates. Stan Cox has a new book out, Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer), which provides statistics on just how much of an energy hog A/C is. More than that, Cox details how it has shaped Western society - and not for the better. Once bustling neighborhoods are now vacant of people in the summertime. We've replaced the sound of children playing with loud hum of the air conditioner.

According to Cox, A/C is responsible for generating more than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. This is equal to the amount of CO2 that would be "produced if every household in the country bought an additional vehicle and drove it an average 7,000 miles a year." And if the cost to the environmental isn't enough, air conditioning accounts for one-fifth of the national energy bill in the United States.

In the work space, we can't always adjust the thermostat, but we all have full control of doing so in our homes. Here are some practical tips from AlterNet on how to keep comfortable indoors without the aid of A/C:

Bring the outdoors in: During the day, direct sunlight is the enemy, so keep the windows shut tight and block the light with blinds and drapes. If your house is oriented along the points of the compass, you can close the eastern windows in the morning and leave the western windows open. Reverse the process in the afternoon. Or just close all windows around noon. But at night, let the outdoors in. Pay attention to the outdoor temperatures and throw open the windows every evening to let the cooler air in. Open the doors to your porch or patio and let your indoor life flow in and out. Spending time on the front porch or patio is a nightly relief and strengthens connections to the neighborhood. A fan should keep you cool, and night sounds can be very relaxing.

Move the air: Your body is constantly producing heat, in amounts comparable to what's put out by a 100- to 300-watt light bulb. In hot or hot/humid weather, your body has a harder time ridding itself of that heat, creating discomfort. Air moving across your body is highly effective in helping you shed heat; indeed, the mass production of electric fans in the early 20th century probably made a bigger difference in people's comfort than did the later introduction of the air-conditioner. Attic or whole-house fans, when turned on in the evening after the outdoor temperature has dropped, replace hot air that has accumulated inside during the day with fresh, cooler air. Keep the air moving at night. If there's no natural breeze and you don't have an attic fan, use box fans to blow air in through a window on one end of your house or apartment and out a window on the other (and take that out-blowing fan seriously; it is equally, if not more, important). Sliding glass doors can provide a wall-sized breeze. Remember that the coolest temperatures occur just before sunrise, so capture as much cool air as you can before the sunlight returns.

Get wet: Use water strategically. Drink plenty of it to stay hydrated. When you shower, turn the temperature way down to cool off your body (and for extra energy savings, consider shutting off your hot water heater; you'll probably still get warm water out of it when you want it). And respect the power of evaporation. Spray yourself with water every now and then, and you will quickly appreciate it. When going to sleep, spray yourself a few times and lie down under a ceiling fan or in front of a box fan, and you might even feel chilly. If it's not feasible to hit the lake or local swimming pool, but water supplies are sufficient, set up the lawn sprinkler. If the vegetable garden is getting dry, set the sprinkler to overshoot the sides of the garden a little and send the kids (or yourself) out to cool off in it. Lying in a few inches of water in the tub can cool your entire body, especially if you splash it on yourself or turn your body in the water. Try plugging the drain during a shower, then lying in the collected water for a few minutes. Then rinse off before getting out of the shower.

Use other appliances strategically: The goal may be to save energy, but don't let it stop you from using other appliances to help you stay cool. You will easily see in your electric bill that turning off the A/C more than compensates for extra use of these other appliances:

Portable and ceiling fans: These are essential.
Portable swamp cooler: Quite effective in dry climates.
Refrigerator: Keep a large supply of water in the fridge. Also keep an eye on any perishable food. In especially hot homes, most breads and fruits will quickly go bad unless refrigerated.
Freezer: Be vigilant about refilling your ice trays. Also, don't be afraid to use the freezer for more creative uses. At some point in the summer, cold foods and beverages won't stay cold for long once you take them out of the fridge, so consider keeping a few cereal bowls or drinking glasses in the freezer. That way, they'll keep your food cold as you enjoy it. And, hey, if you're getting dressed up for any reason, try putting an undershirt or other clothing in the freezer for a few minutes before putting it on. It will keep you cool as you finish dressing and get out the door.

But unplug anything you don't need. Any household device that runs on energy in the form of electricity or gas also releases much of that energy as waste heat. The fewer things you have turned on, the less heat you have to deal with. There's a reason that around the world, kitchens traditionally have been separated from the main house. Cut back on boiling and baking especially. Try grilling outside to keep the kitchen cool. Grill enough food on the weekend to provide several meals, then warm it up in the microwave during the week. Keep any unneeded lights turned off. Energy-efficient light bulbs and refrigerators pump out less heat than conventional ones. If you haven't turned off the water heater, take tepid, not hot, showers, to avoid filling the house with a big load of humidity. And use advanced solar technology -- the clothesline -- to dry the laundry. You'll find clothes drying faster in the warmer temperatures, even if hung indoors. And as a bonus, pets love the drying rack because of its evaporative cooling effect.

Adjust your schedule: Don't plan on spending much time inside your un-air-conditioned home in the afternoons, the hottest part of the day. It will be coolest in early morning and late evening, so plan your home time to take advantage of it. Try to spend your afternoons doing other things: work, running errands or even just being outside in the shade. People in two-story houses can move downstairs in the afternoon when the second floor becomes hot with rising air. And of course, you can migrate from there to the basement if you have one.

Set a concrete, realistic goal: Don't try to give up A/C cold turkey. Work your way up to it with intermediate goals, and stick to them. And once you shut off the A/C, consider ahead of time which conditions, if any, would prompt you to turn it back on -- and for how long. Don't make up excuses to turn the A/C back on, but don't set yourself up for failure by setting overly aggressive goals. For example, in the first summer that you've shut off the A/C, if you have great difficulty sleeping for three consecutive nights, maybe you allow yourself a few hours of A/C usage to help you fall asleep on the third night (or, hopefully, you'll come up with another way to fall asleep before the third night). But decide on exceptions like these ahead of time and you'll be more likely to hold out and meet bigger and bigger goals.

Many thanks to AlterNet and Stan Cox for the advice borrowed for this blog post. For more tips on living without air conditioning, please visit http://www.alternet.org/environment/147495/air-conditioning_is_terrible_for_the_earth_--_here's_how_to_live_without_it/?page=entire.

Feel free to post comments on your own efforts and any challenges faced. We're all in this together! Good luck!

How to Reduce Junk Mail: A Comprehensive Guide

I see it all the time at apartment complexes. A well-meaning individual walks up to his mailbox and unlocks the box. He pulls out a stack of letters, fliers, and advertisements. He sorts through it, taking out only one (maybe two) items of import. The rest is dumped into the trash (or recycle bin, in certain places). This continues for years, decades. Over a lifetime, one individual's passivity can have devastating consequences for the environment.

According to NoJunkMailSigns.com, "In the USA, an estimated 100 million trees a year are cut down to produce paper used for junk mail, and 28 billion gallons of water are used in the process." Not only that, the energy required to produce America's junk mail and then dispose of it is equal to that of 2.8 million cars. And for what? So that you can throw the mailings away without even looking? Even if you recycle the damage has already been done.

Okay, so what can you do about it? Here's my DIY plan for reducing the amount of unwanted unsolicited mailings:

1. If you haven't already, fill out a form to opt-out of pre-approved credit card offers. The website to do so is www.optoutprescreen.com/. I recommend the option where you print the form, sign, and then mail it in, which makes your choice permanent at your mailing address. (The online option is good for 5 years.)

2. Go paperless with your bills. Most all banking can be done online.

3. Add your address to the following websites, if you get mail from them:
http://app.bedbathandbeyond.com/prefs/dmunsub.cfm (Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons)
http://www.traderjoes.com/soapbox.asp (click on "unsubscribe by mail," this is for the Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer)
(If you come across any more, let us know and we will add the link here.)

4. Likely you receive a weekly flyer that uses as much paper as a magazine, with color advertisements for many stores. The recycle bin is always full of them. Look at the label to see who is sending you the flyer. In my case, it was Redplum, by Valassis. If Valassis is mailing yours, visit the website http://www.valassis.com/1024/Contact/MailingListRemoval.aspx. If it's another company, a little internet sleuthing will be required.

5. Register with DMAChoice at www.dmachoice.org/. DMAChoice is a company that operates both way; it allows individuals to remove themselves from catalogs and mailing lists, as it does allow individuals to join such lists. Don't be tempted add a catalog from a favorite store. It's all online, after all. There are three mail categories: catalogs, magazine offers, and other mail offers. Change your status for all three to no mailings. After 90 days of being registered, you can login to DMAChoice and report any company that is still sending you unwanted junk mail.

6. DMAChoice is good for mailings sent in your name, but what about when you're receiving mail for previous residents? This is common if you rent. And what about requests for money donations from organizations that may not work with DMAChoice? Here's what you do:

-Over the course of one month, save every single item of mail that arrives addressed to a previous resident. Save it even if you see "Or To Current Resident" also on the label. Just have a little stack next to your usual mail pile. (Also add mail from smaller organizations you think might not remove you through DMAChoice.)

-After one month, set aside a small chunk of time and call every single organization or company in this pile of mail. Do this during business hours on a weekday, if possible. You can almost always find the company's phone number on the catalog or in the letter. If not, you should be able to find a customer service number online. All you have to do is tell the representative you're receiving mail for a previous resident and it's pretty easy to get off the list. If you can obtain an email address for customer service, that could work too, so you're not spelling out your address every single time. (Especially when you live on a street like Rengstorff.) At the bottom of this post, I have a sample email form you can copy and paste.

-Repeat. Do this once a month for 3-4 months and you will be on your way to a junk mail-free life! You will likely then have to repeat this a couple times a year in case you've been added to another list. You'll also want to be protective when you give you address out and ask if they sell your information to other companies and organizations. You can also give out slight variations of your name (like A. Middle Last, etc.) so you'll know who gave out your info if you get mail with that particular variation.

Be patience with this process. It can sometimes take up take up to 10 weeks before you start seeing the fruits of your labor, because mailings are printed way in advance. But soon enough you'll only be getting love letters and party invitations! What fun!

Some helpful links:
http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/junkmail.htm
tp://www.obviously.com/junkmail/
www.41pounds.org/
www.stopjunkmailkit.com/faq/
(Or Google "stop junk mail" to find many more...)

Sample email:
I'm hoping to reduce the amount of unsolicited mailings I receive and I'd like to unsubscribe from your advertisements.

Please remove this name and address from your list, this is how it appears on the label:
ID1234567890

The Happy Family
or current resident

5555 Happy Lane
Happy Town, US 98765-4321

Thank you for your time.