on starbucks and non eco-friendliness
I woke up this morning at 10, got dressed, and walked to starbucks.  Because of the new frugal mode we're in, I don't like to go there often as it is pricey for a cup of coffee.  The problem with brewing coffee at home is, I like the latte part of my morning ritual.  The nonfat milk makes the coffee tastier, but not $3 tastier.

We bought a coffee bean grinder and I'm going to experiment with making stronger coffee in a french press and adding warm milk to see if that's a good substitute.  Maybe something akin to vietnamese coffee except without the vietnamese filter.  Hubby brought home a vietnamese coffee kit made out of plastic, and I can't get the filter to screw in right, so french press it is for me.

buying stuff to be frugal
I felt guilty on the way home - I got the coffee in paper cups.  Not very eco friendly on top of the not thrifty.  Next Saturday I must remember to pull down our travel mugs.  It's weird but I keep thinking about how sometimes I feel in order to save or be frugal, we need to buy stuff.  Like we could save more eating at home, especially eating roasts at home, but we don't do it because we're both busy working.  But I've convinced myself that if we had a crockpot, I could save money cooking in there because I could just throw things in.  It's weird how consumerism creeps in like that.  On the other hand, I think part of the need to buy the right accouterments is that given Hubby and my lifestyle as students until recently, we haven't accumulated a lot of kitchen implements.  Our kitchen is full of used pots and pans, many of them with the dreaded chipped teflon coating. 

It makes a difference when your cooking if half your pots don't have lids.  A couple of years ago, when moving, we found a gift certificate to Crate and Barrel that had been given to us for our wedding.  We used it to buy a good set of knives, and we found that well made, high quality implements, makes cooking go faster.  When we moved to our new apartment, our kitchen was bigger, and we discovered that buying a smaller microwave (and giving away our large one) meant more space for implements like the Cuisinart, which also makes cooking easier.  Little by little, I have been buying better quality kitchenware.  I also find myself coveting ceramic pots.  So it's a toss-up.

worry and eco-friendliness
I keep reading blogs about people who have worked hard to forgo plastic in their life or who work hard on being more eco friendly, and I try to do my part.  So far, I'm trying to cut down on the heat we use, so right now I'm bundled up in a sweatshirt and sweatpants sitting on the throw we use when it gets colder.  We have managed to only run the heat after 7pm.  Even then, for smaller periods of time.

Of course, now that we're running the heat, I worry about carbon monoxide poisoning, especially since there have been several recent incidents in the bay area.  Next paycheck I will buy a carbon monoxide detector for myself, and for my parents.  My worry impels me to buy stuff, but it's not bad stuff, it's safety stuff, but once more I am caught in the grips of consumerism.

I keep thinking about my worry - I had a panic attack yesterday and I think on days when that happens I am more inclined to worry about stuff later.  Hubby stated that when the news segment about the carbon monoxide poisoning came on he was tempted to turn off the tv because he knew what my reaction would be.  I need to meditate more, I haven't been doing that.

Tags: eco-friendly, frugal, starbucks

The recent economic downturn has me a bit worried. Furthermore, because I will be graduating soon and hubby had a week off, we are trying to save money be eating at home more.

I woke up early this morning and it was the first time I've really had a day where I can sit and do my normal schedule of writing. Last quarter I was always getting up and catching the bus, then running from campus spot to campus spot. This quarter due to the data work I am doing I will be staying at home which means more of a routine. I recognize that working at home is a luxury many people don't have and I'm grateful that I can do this.

I do have to say when working at home I find that I need a pretty routine schedule or I don't get my work done.

This morning I woke up, did the dishes, and then made pumpkin bread. It was the kind of bread mix that comes in a package (just add eggs, water, oil), but I did it all within the first hour of being awake. Having the dishes done seems to make using the kitchen easier, especially when making lunch and dinner.

then I got to have breakfast.

Last quarter I never got to have a routine breakfast because I was always running around in the morning (all of my sections were morning sections so I was up and on the bus early). This morning I got to make myself a bowl of oatmeal and have a tangerine.

I don't eat the instant stuff - it's too bland. rather I throw 1/3 cup of oats, either steel cut or scottish style, 2/3 cup of water, into a bowl with honey, almonds, and some kind of fruit. This morning it was a banana, usually its some of the dried cranberries I keep in the freezer (along with the almond slices). I then nuke it for 3-5 minutes until its done.

My breakfast was pretty substantial - I sliced a whole banana into the oatmeal so my stomach is full.

The tangerines were pretty cheap. I'm used to seeing them cost something like $8 a box at Safeway this time of year. However, there is a cheap Mexican veggie market 7 minute walk away, so I popped over there yesterday (we will be having some zucchini and chayote I bought from there tonight). The tangerines were pretty inexpensive, but unlike the ones in the store they weren't "pretty." The tangerine was just fine taste wise, but the rind was mottled, bumpy, and had discolorations on it.

I've come to the realization that we are so used to seeing perfect fruits and veggies that these perfectly good ones seems suspicious and have to be sold to an "ethnic" population in the U.S. whose immigrant members are more aware that the fruit is perfectly good even if it's not aesthetically perfect. All the fruit and veggies sold at the store are that way - have bumps, discolorations. Also, a good thing about the fruit is that it's ripe. Many a times in a mainstream grocery store I've bought a melon or peach only to take it home and discover that it has to ripen or that it is flavorless and mealy. The fruit in this market is sometimes remaindered, but, because of that, it's ripe. I found, when having a honeydew melon from the store this summer, I had forgotten what truly ripe melon tastes like. Of course, if you buy a ripe melon or piece of fruit, you have to eat it within a week. You can let it sit around in the fridge or it goes bad. That's the trade off.

Tonight I'm going to try to make arroz con pollo. The chicken is defrosting right now.

Tags: cheap fruit markets, food, frugal, life