Monthly Archives: October 2009

Fall is not only here, but some parts of the country have had their first snow.  Can you believe it?  It feels like just a couple weeks ago that the Eco Women were writing back-to-school posts for this blog and now they’re planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

One of Recycla’s many favorite things about this time of year is eating soups and stews.  To her, there’s nothing more comforting than making a flavorful vegetable soup or a thick, hearty beef stew on a chilly blustery day and having the good smells waft through her house.

When Recycla says soup, you do know she means homemade soup, don’t you?  Recycla does not eat canned soup.  Canned soups do not taste as good as homemade, plus canned soups contain more sodium, more fat, and less flavor than homemade soups do.

You might be thinking to yourself, “But Recycla, I work all day and don’t have time to make soup when I get home.”  On the contrary, soup is NOT time consuming.  If you keep your kitchen stocked with a few basic ingredients, you will always be able to whip up a good soup in less than thirty minutes.

For example, if you have vegetable broth, frozen veggies, some carrots in your fridge, and some potatoes in your pantry, you could have vegetable soup in no time at all.  Add some cheese and crackers and you have a meal that would put a smile on anyone’s face.

In another example, chicken noodle soup also takes almost no time at all.  Recycla simply defrosts chicken broth that she usually has in her freezer and adds cooked chicken, diced carrots, pasta, and various herbs and spices.  The entire meal takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes to prepare, depending on if she has cooked chicken in her freezer or if she needs to cook some first.

Some meals do take longer, such as beef stew, but beef stew is oh so easy:  Brown the stew meat in a dutch oven, then add four cups of beef broth and whatever herbs and spices make your taste buds happy.  Cover and put in an oven set at 325F for a couple or few hours.  Add chopped carrots and whole mushrooms and cook for another hour.  During that last hour, put on a pot of potatoes to boil and, when ready, turn the potatoes into mashed potatoes.  When the stew is ready, serve over a bed of mashed potatoes.  Yum.

Financially speaking, soups are a great way to feed yourself and your family.  Depending on the recipe, a pot of soup should only cost a few dollars to make.  It’s easy to make a large batch and freeze it in smaller containers — easy to defrost when you’re short on time.

Recycla normally doesn’t use recipes when she makes soups.  She just tosses ingredients into her soup pot and then sees what happens.  Luckily, things usually work out well.  If you’re interested in finding soup recipes that are good for you and also taste good, she suggests that you go to Cooking Light magazine’s website and search their soup recipes.

If you want to make your soup completely and totally from scratch, then you could also make your own broth instead of buying it at the store.  This is one of those super easy things that will vastly improve your soups, as well as save you money.  Recycla usually makes her broths while she’s working on other things in the kitchen.

Recycla realizes that making soup is not going to save Planet Earth.  But she does believe that having a stronger, more direct connection with one’s food is important and will ultimately make a difference.  She has written on this blog several times about cutting back on fast food, eating seasonally and locally, and the Slow Food movement and hopes you’ll take a look at those posts to find tips that will work for you.    Recycla also suggests that you read about eating organic and not blowing your budget.

The Eco Women want to know:  What is your favorite kind of soup?

Halloween is one of Captain Compost’s favorite holidays.  She starts thinking about costumes as soon as leaves start changing and that telltale crisp smell of fall is in the air.  CC thinks that Eco~Warriors can be green through the holidays and Halloween is one of the easiest!

Though she would like to be, Captain Compost is not the most creative of moms and has never made her kids’ costumes… though that is a great way for Eco~Warriors to celebrate the day!  How better to celebrate your child’s individuality than by making a unique costume just for him/her?  For those that like the idea of a homemade costume but like CC lack the creative juices to come up with such a thing, Captain Compost recommends Etsy.  A quick search for costumes is sure to give you loads of choices for your little ghoul or goblin!

Captain Compost loves shopping at thrift stores ~ the treasure hunt is almost more fun than the treasures she finds.  This holds true for costumes as well!  Last year, Mr. Compost found a wonderful “nerd” costume and CC dressed as Dr. Feelgood.  All parts of the costume were purchased second hand with the exception of the stethoscope which she found on eBay.  Speaking of eBay, if your local thrift store doesn’t have the options you are looking for, have no fear!  You can find tons of recycled and barely used costumes on eBay!  This year, Captain Compost and her hubby are dressing as Jack Skellington and Sally from “Nightmare Before Christmas.”  The costumes they found on eBay were worn only once or twice and the savings from buying gently used rather than new were fantastic!

For other “green” costume idea, click here , here, here or here!

Happy Halloween, Eco~Warriors!