Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Clean-Closet Tuesday

Well, Mondays are always hard, no matter if you're gainfully employed or not.  So yesterday, I decided that I would get up at "normal" time (6:30-ish) and actually get something done.  I thought accomplishing a task might make me feel better, and it did - for a while.  My task of choice (insert ominous movie music here)?  The Closet.

The Closet had gradually morphed from an organized safe room to a pit of shoe-lined chaos. It was an embarrassment, not that anyone but me ever looked in it. Here's the Before:


After making coffee and pulling everything out, it looked like a bomb had gone off in Filene's Basement. It was so bad that the cats, who normally like to be in the middle of any unusual activity, gave it a w-i-d-e berth.

After an hour or so of concentrated activity (and unearthing my stripper shoes - from a costume, not actually ever used on stage), this is how I ended up:


Not bad.  I was able to find a few things to donate, which is always good.  I did feel pretty good for getting this done, and the rest of the day I kept going back there and staring at it.  One good task a day....

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I ordered my Bountiful Basket (www.bountifulbaskets.org) for pick up on Saturday. Can't wait to see what's in it!  Another week that I don't have to buy overpriced produce at the ShitMart, and another chance to be creative in the kitchen.  I said that I'd tell you what I did with all the stuff from last week's basket, so here's the run-down:

Somehow, I ended up with five English cucumbers.  Not a problem for me, as I love cukes, but five is a lot by anyone's standards.  The first thing I did with one of them was make quick pickles.  They're not anything, really... EXCEPT YUMMY.  Slice your cukes thinly (I also had beautiful fat radishes in my basket, so I added one of those), mix up some rice vinegar and sweetener of your choice - I used Splenda as I didn't want to waste time heating the vinegar to dissolve sugar - till it's the right balance for you.  Bung it in with the cukes and stir up.  That's it.  If I have a red onion, I'll slice some of that up really thinly and add it, or I'll add julienned carrots, or whatever crunchy veggie I have that I need to use.  It'll keep in the fridge for a while. On day two, I added it to soba noodles and sauteed tofu for lunch.  Gone.


One of the best decisions I've ever made (seem to be few and far between) was to buy a vacuum sealer.  If you're intent on a frugal lifestyle, I can't recommend it enough.  Mine's a Black and Decker, it's a lot less expensive than the FoodSaver and seems to work fine.  However, DO NOT BUY THE CHEAP BAGS.  I can't stress that enough.  Spring for the FoodSaver bags - they're the only ones that work.  I wash and re-use mine, so I save money that way, and I also invested in a jar-sealer (bought online for cheap) which is a lifesaver.   Canning jars are pretty inexpensive and obviously can be re-used indefinitely.  If you're buying produce by the basket, I don't think I could do it without my sealer.  

Here's what I had in my basket, other than the aforementioned cukes and radishes:
Romaine Lettuce • Spinach • Tomatoes • Avocados • Asian Pears • Tangerines • Apples • Bananas • Blackberries • Grapes.

Some of the spinach, grapes, tangerines, apples, Asian pears, cuke, and some denizens of the crisper were immediately dispatched to the juicer. 



The problem with juicing is that you're supposed to drink it immediately before it oxidizes to get the most benefit from it. The other problem with juicing is that it makes a holy mess, so much so that you don't want to do it very often, which is a shame.  Enter the vacuum sealer.  We made two batches, one we immediately installed in our gullets (sooooo good) and one we decanted into mason jars and sealed.  If you take all the air out of it, and bung it in the fridge, it can't oxidize.  Well, too much, anyway.  It'll separate, but just shake it up and you're golden.  You can use it as a base for smoothies, too. 

On to the rest.  The spinach and broccoli was washed, blanched, cooled and frozen, then packed into bags, vacuumed and stored in the freezer.  The romaine was washed, rolled in a tea towel and refrigerated and used the next day for salads. Radishes were washed, topped and tailed and refrigerated in a bag. Blackberries were washed, dried, and vacuumed into mason jars, and put in the fridge.  Grapes?  Washed and used for snacking. Avocados and tomatoes are still ripening.  Apples, bananas and tangerines are awaiting noshing. 

The other thing I got in my basket was five loaves of multigrain bread.  Used one immediately, froze the others until hard and vacuum sealed them, stuck them back in the freezer.  Bread for five weeks, right there.  It's comforting to know I have a freezer full of good, natural, nutritious food for the taking. 

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