My Slow Cooker Saved My Life (Figuratively)

So, as you have likely noticed, I have not been posting much. It’s that lazy part. It gets in the way sometimes. This is especially true around dinnertime.

I love food. I enjoy eating. If I don’t do that regularly, I become quite snappy and grumpy. Hangry is real and it is a fire you don’t want to play with. But as a lazy independent adult who can’t afford take out everyday, I have to fight to keep myself eating healthy and not being in a rut.

A versatile base is key to a somewhat varied diet. And in comes the slow cooker. For meat eaters out there, what could sound better than a few pounds of chicken breasts cooking without you having to even be there?! That chicken can turn into chicken tacos, chicken salad, a buffalo chicken dip…you get my drift.

For me, my personal chicken is beans. Don’t try to understand that last sentence, just go with it! Beans, beans, the wonderful legume that offers vegetarians a complete protein when paired with a carb. It is not true that the more you eat, the more you toot. Your body only gets gas as it initially adjusts to all that fiber you are suddenly consuming. But it is so worth it! Eat your first few bean-heavy meals alone while binging on Netflix and after a few days feel free to rejoin society. Or not, I won’t push.

I’m offering up beans as the cheapest, easiest way to make some yummy meals. You can even participate in Meatless Mondays without breaking a sweat. Tacos, salads, dips, burgers – you name it and you can probably make it with beans. Mexican is my go to, so I usually make a pound of black beans and have a base for quesadillas, tacos, burritos, and salads for a week at least!

Buy a pound of any bean you love, and in general you can follow this easy recipe:

Sort your beans, take out any broken beans and any debris like rocks. Toss into your slow cooker any aromatics you’d like. I use one diced onion and 3 bay leaves. Add your pound of beans. Add water until it is 2 inches above the beans. Put on high for 4 hours or low for 7-8 hours. Beans freeze quite well, so if you made too much, portion out a cup apiece into freezer friendly containers and they will last 2 months or so.

 

Some tips: I don’t add salt until the end. If you are cooking kidney beans, boil them for 10 minutes before cooking. This neutralizes a toxin called phytohemagglutinin that can cause some noticeable gut distress. Finally, this won’t work for lentils. They take far, far less time to cook.

The Basics

When is the last time you saw you nose without the aid of a mirror?

Our brains selectively ignore the fact that our nose is in our field of vision. It’s not important, and it would actually be distracting to remember to see it. It would get in the way of paying attention to our environment. We know it’s there and let it slide out of focus.

This is how bad habits stick with us for so long: we stop paying attention to them. They are part of our routines.

We don’t mean to slip into bad habits. It happens when we stop noticing. Bit by bit, our good intentions get pushed aside and the rut of our routine changes track. We just need to remember to be more mindful of ourselves and our actions.

Take a step back and look at your green routine. Assess what you are doing and how you can improve. It’s easy to become lax with the basics, those are the things we don’t dedicate much thinking to. Who thinks about cutting up 6 pack rings anymore?

The first step to a green lifestyle is not buying green, but being green. Here are some easy suggestions to make sure your current life is making your wallet and the world a little bit greener.

• If you aren’t using it, shut it off! TVs, computers, coffee makers, lights, and so much more can be shut off when you aren’t using them.
• Once they are off, unplug them! Phantom power can waste up to 10% of your electricity bill. Take chargers out of the outlet and plug that blender back in only when you need to use it.
• Before you put anything in the garbage, can it go elsewhere? Composting gives back to the earth and you may be able to recycle items like batteries and light bulbs. Do your research and see what your community offers.
• Can that ‘trash’ be repaired? Can it be used for another purpose? Get creative and maybe you won’t have to go out and buy gifts. Pinterest, guys!
• Got a lot of stuff and not sure what to do with it all? Have a garage sale! Get some friends or neighbors involved and enjoy a Saturday outside making money and giving those goods a second life.

Help your wallet by reviewing your electricity uses. Save the earth by reviewing your garbage/recycling/composting routine. Get involved in your community by donating or having a garage sale. Learn a new skill and fix something. None of this has to cost you much and all of it can be fun.

What is your green routine?

 

The First Step Happens Now

I get angry at all the ways I see us destroying the planet. And yet I use A/C like everyone else, order delivery, and live in a standard American house (apartment, whatever).

What can I do?

I love reading about ways to make my life more green. I enjoy Pinterest, LifeHacker, and buying ‘green’ products when I can afford them. More often than not, I know it’s expensive because of marketing. I dream of a tiny house and struggle with rent.

But is that it? Am I really helping?

I’m sure we’ve all had our doubts that we make a difference, especially after we do something we know is hard on the Earth, like enjoy a huge concert, attend a large BBQ cookout, throw a party and fill a garbage can on just one round of clean up. We feel defeated when we get excited about going through our garages and donating stuff, crafting with all the goods lying around. We never get to it, we get overwhelmed instead.

I’ve taken a new approach to being green and I’ve decided documenting my green tricks and the changes I’ve made is the best way to remember them and stay motivated. My approach is perhaps too simple for most, but over time I believe this is the most effective:

Take the smallest possible step. Then celebrate.

That’s what I do. I encourage myself to find new, easy, cheap ways to green up my life. I can’t buy fancy ‘green’ stuff. I can’t blow a paycheck at Whole Foods. I also freely admit I’m pretty darn lazy. I’d love to dedicate my life to the Sierra Club or other similar groups. And I’ll get there. But for now, in between work, sleep, friends, and more work (and now this blog!) I take my whole journey one step at a time.

It’s important to remember that while picking up one piece of litter seems useless and a waste of time, if one million people pick up one piece of litter, we have made a huge difference together. Living a community-minded life is the biggest difference you can make. It may also be the biggest step I can suggest taking. You don’t have to change your life, just change the direction you are going – one step at a time.

I hope to cover the lazy basics: petitions, Facebook likes/shares; as well as some cheap basics: cleaning solutions made with cheap stuff you have in the house already, simple and not cheap tasting meals. My greatest hope is that this inspires change in enough people that together we can start supporting each other as we take bigger and bigger steps.

Join me in making the Earth a better community for us all. Welcome.