So, I promised I'd post a recipe for beans. My good friend, Lindsey, posted this on her Facebook page and I tried them. Delicious. Simple. Straight forward. The only thing I did differently was add extra salt and spices. I'm a girl who likes a lot of spice.
We ate the beans and rice covered in a savory chicken/veggie broth with cheese, avocados, and home made picante. It was a perfect mix of fresh and food storage. So delicious and nutritious. And, the whole meal was gluten-free, which is one of my new pursuits.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
I'm Back
So, we went 11 months without a real pay check and here we are. We reached the end of the widow's oil, the grain in our storage did not fail. Now, we're back on the pay roll at a new company, and running our own natural cleaning products business.
While the coffers at the bank are pretty empty, my storage room is relatively full of the stuff we have put away, but don't really eat. Beans, for instance. We have CASES of beans. Red beans, white beans and black beans, mostly. All dried and all mysterious to me. I mean, I know how to use them once they are ready to go, but getting them to an edible state is a true enigma. I have a pressure cooker, but it scares the BeJeeBees out of me because of that insanely rocking pressure deal at the top. Plus, our pressure cooker is industrial size (of course, because we can never do anything small around here) and I'm not sure I want to cook up 20 quarts of beans. Anyway, there are things that I still need to learn about my food storage.
Also, working for a start-up (that's my guy, adventurously jumping into a great NEW company) and running our business, we need to get a lot more out of our fewer grocery store dollars. Now, I would NEVER disrespect all the coupon shopping divas I know by dissing the whole coupon idea. I will say, though, that our family eats a lot of fresh and bulk food that you don't see running through the coupon section of the Sunday paper. The challenge now is to maintain our current level of food snobbery and save money while we're at it. To me, this equates to:
Also next time, a detailed family dialogue on menu making and food snobbery. I'm happy to be back. I'll post in the next little bit about this Fall's challenge.
While the coffers at the bank are pretty empty, my storage room is relatively full of the stuff we have put away, but don't really eat. Beans, for instance. We have CASES of beans. Red beans, white beans and black beans, mostly. All dried and all mysterious to me. I mean, I know how to use them once they are ready to go, but getting them to an edible state is a true enigma. I have a pressure cooker, but it scares the BeJeeBees out of me because of that insanely rocking pressure deal at the top. Plus, our pressure cooker is industrial size (of course, because we can never do anything small around here) and I'm not sure I want to cook up 20 quarts of beans. Anyway, there are things that I still need to learn about my food storage.
Also, working for a start-up (that's my guy, adventurously jumping into a great NEW company) and running our business, we need to get a lot more out of our fewer grocery store dollars. Now, I would NEVER disrespect all the coupon shopping divas I know by dissing the whole coupon idea. I will say, though, that our family eats a lot of fresh and bulk food that you don't see running through the coupon section of the Sunday paper. The challenge now is to maintain our current level of food snobbery and save money while we're at it. To me, this equates to:
- Lot's less processed stuff
- More home made, home grown sauces, pastas, breads, and veggie dishes
- Broadening our pallet preferences
Also next time, a detailed family dialogue on menu making and food snobbery. I'm happy to be back. I'll post in the next little bit about this Fall's challenge.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Apples for Apples Results
So, we had our big event last week and it went okay. It looks like our micro-loan borrower is going to make it through the season successfully and has already paid half of her loan off. We were able to raise funds for 60 meals for the local food bank, along with 50 pounds of apples and hundreds of pounds of food.
Now I'm working on two business plans. One for my husband's venture, and one for mine. There is so much work to be done it is exhausting at times. But, we're learning a lot and looking forward to experiencing success in our endeavors.
Now I'm working on two business plans. One for my husband's venture, and one for mine. There is so much work to be done it is exhausting at times. But, we're learning a lot and looking forward to experiencing success in our endeavors.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Skinny on Microloans
So, I made my first microloan to a local artisan. Her name is Wendy and she makes awesome apples during the holidays. She has a great product, a venue for sales, a great track record of service and demand, customers ready to buy, but she lacked the small amount of capital it took to get her supplies for the season. Her barrier to success this season was as micro amount of money that my business, Simple Ventures Microfunding, provided in the form of a loan.
Here's a video on how this solution works around the world. It is not great quality, but it gives you an idea.
Muhamed Yunus is the original Banker To The Poor and founder of microcredit in Bangladesh. He developed a formula for helping the desperate poor pull themselves from the bitter edge of poverty. This is not indenturing the poor to debt at outrageous interest rates. It is providing a small amount of working capital to allow a micro-entrepreneur the ability to enter the marketplace. Mohamed Yunus and his bank, Grameen, have enjoyed a 98% repayment rate over the last 30 years.
At Simple Ventures we are using a similar formula and plan. Wendy is our first microloan recipient and we are excited for her success in this holiday endeavor.
Here's a video on how this solution works around the world. It is not great quality, but it gives you an idea.
Muhamed Yunus is the original Banker To The Poor and founder of microcredit in Bangladesh. He developed a formula for helping the desperate poor pull themselves from the bitter edge of poverty. This is not indenturing the poor to debt at outrageous interest rates. It is providing a small amount of working capital to allow a micro-entrepreneur the ability to enter the marketplace. Mohamed Yunus and his bank, Grameen, have enjoyed a 98% repayment rate over the last 30 years.
At Simple Ventures we are using a similar formula and plan. Wendy is our first microloan recipient and we are excited for her success in this holiday endeavor.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Transparency
So, here's an update on our Buy Nothing New challenge. We've done remarkably well, but we do have 2 items we need to purchase. First, we are out of lunch bags, again. I did this last year and had the same results. What is it with lunch bags? I think we go through way more than we anticipate. How did we come to this point? I don't understand it.
The second is this. We finished our book (Don reads to kids every night before bed) and we need the next one in the series. These are not life or death needs, but Don and the kids feel that both items fall int the category of "school needs" in our Buy Nothing New Loopholes. Hmm. I am ruled by the masses. Off we go. But - for future books in the series we are reading, I'm going on Amazon today to buy used copies. Lunch bags are kind of hard to come by used.
Anyway, in the spirit of full disclosure, this is my confession of leading a life of self-justification.
The second is this. We finished our book (Don reads to kids every night before bed) and we need the next one in the series. These are not life or death needs, but Don and the kids feel that both items fall int the category of "school needs" in our Buy Nothing New Loopholes. Hmm. I am ruled by the masses. Off we go. But - for future books in the series we are reading, I'm going on Amazon today to buy used copies. Lunch bags are kind of hard to come by used.
Anyway, in the spirit of full disclosure, this is my confession of leading a life of self-justification.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Temptation
So, the shopping habit is hard to break. Now, don't get me wrong. I really hate going to the grocery store, and I also hate running errands, but when you run out of something that seems essential, it is so tempting to make a run "just for this one thing." My problem is that one thing inevitably turns into many, so I worked through my need to go through the store.
Don was the first to discover our deficiency.
"Do you know where there's any more deodorant?"
"Did you look in the basement?" I asked.
"Yep, on the top shelf next to the shampoo and soap and stuff. None there."
"Well, does Bren have any?" Did I really ask him to use our 13 year-old son's stash?
"Uh, he has a microscopic amount, but I think I risk abrasions from the plastic if I use it."
"Maybe we could just use baking soda or something." I suggest with a smirk. He didn't think that was as funny as I did. He decided to take matters into his own hands and decided a run to the drug store was in order.
One thing you need to know is that Don is legally blind. He hasn't driven a car in over five years, and while he can see just fine what he's looking straight at, he has no peripheral vision so the DMV took his licence away. This fact does not deter him. He has to be the most mobile man without a licence I've ever seen. He runs dozens of miles a week and rides his bike as well. So today, when he discovered our lacking essential toiletry item, he hopped on his bike, rode the 7 miles into town, picked up several sticks of under-arm refresher, along with a diet coke (also essential, of course) and then headed for home. This errand took him about an hour and he was happy for the chance to get out and about on his own.
So, there you have it. Our first official cheat. Deodorant. Acquired by a blind man on a bike.
I don't fault him. I mean, he is an athlete after all, and antiperspirant is important when you do a 5k as a warm up for your next day's run. Still, I despaired the purchase. I can't believe that with all the tooth brushes, tooth paste, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, soap and other personal care products we had no deodorant.
What would you have done? I need to find a more viable alternative to baking soda, in case this happens again and Don's not up for a 14 mile bike ride.
Don was the first to discover our deficiency.
"Do you know where there's any more deodorant?"
"Did you look in the basement?" I asked.
"Yep, on the top shelf next to the shampoo and soap and stuff. None there."
"Well, does Bren have any?" Did I really ask him to use our 13 year-old son's stash?
"Uh, he has a microscopic amount, but I think I risk abrasions from the plastic if I use it."
"Maybe we could just use baking soda or something." I suggest with a smirk. He didn't think that was as funny as I did. He decided to take matters into his own hands and decided a run to the drug store was in order.
One thing you need to know is that Don is legally blind. He hasn't driven a car in over five years, and while he can see just fine what he's looking straight at, he has no peripheral vision so the DMV took his licence away. This fact does not deter him. He has to be the most mobile man without a licence I've ever seen. He runs dozens of miles a week and rides his bike as well. So today, when he discovered our lacking essential toiletry item, he hopped on his bike, rode the 7 miles into town, picked up several sticks of under-arm refresher, along with a diet coke (also essential, of course) and then headed for home. This errand took him about an hour and he was happy for the chance to get out and about on his own.
So, there you have it. Our first official cheat. Deodorant. Acquired by a blind man on a bike.
I don't fault him. I mean, he is an athlete after all, and antiperspirant is important when you do a 5k as a warm up for your next day's run. Still, I despaired the purchase. I can't believe that with all the tooth brushes, tooth paste, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, soap and other personal care products we had no deodorant.
What would you have done? I need to find a more viable alternative to baking soda, in case this happens again and Don's not up for a 14 mile bike ride.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
No Day Like Today
Well, I finished my grantsmanship training. It was a fabulous week-long certification course in grant proposal writing and non-profit program development. I learned so many valuable principles and got to work on a team to prepare and submit a grant for review. The program we were proposing is part of an actual working non-profit organization called Chosen Children's Kinship Placement. They work to place children, who have lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS, into foster care with their family members, rather than institutionalize them in orphanages. There is extensive research done on the value of this model over the typical western warehousing model. It's an interesting paradigm because Western countries are generally all about funding orphanages over any other model because of efficiencies of space/personnel. But, in the West we do not put our children in orphanages, we use a foster care/kinship placement model. The hypocrisy is glaring. Anyway, I hope they get their funding. We all worked hard and the hours we spent represent only the tiniest fraction of time the project founder has spent.
Learning the grantsmanship process was both informative and entertaining and I'm glad I went. Still, I am plagued with questions of where to go from here. I have text books that I'm trying to make my way through. I spend an average of an hour per chapter just reading, then there are assignments that will take hours to complete. I have papers to write on top of the regular homework and, in all, I estimate I have a good 360-450 hours of work ahead of me just for my classes. I'm not sure when I'm going to devote any time to my business of saving the world, but for today I did take time to reconnect with my husband while the house was all quiet, and I did read to my children for a little longer than usual.
Learning the grantsmanship process was both informative and entertaining and I'm glad I went. Still, I am plagued with questions of where to go from here. I have text books that I'm trying to make my way through. I spend an average of an hour per chapter just reading, then there are assignments that will take hours to complete. I have papers to write on top of the regular homework and, in all, I estimate I have a good 360-450 hours of work ahead of me just for my classes. I'm not sure when I'm going to devote any time to my business of saving the world, but for today I did take time to reconnect with my husband while the house was all quiet, and I did read to my children for a little longer than usual.
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