Digsby is king of aggregators IMO. I switched from Pidgin to Digsby and never looked back. It handles IM, Emails, and Social Networking sites all from the buddy list very well and presents in a much more appealing way than Pidgin.
I have also reused paper cups. You just wash them out and dry them. They don't break, and if you get the discount for bringing your own cup, they have a crazy-fast payback period.
A paper cup that is washed and reused can last for weeks. Wash it good so it looks clean and you won't gross out the barista.
Oh, and if you have styrofoam cups you can reuse them by melting them in a little gasoline and make an epoxy to repair stuff. I read about an Indian guy who repaired his canoe that way...River Bondo!
(I'm not expecting everyone to melt their styrofoam!! I just thought it was interesting little fact.)
The manufacture of paper uses much more water and energy than washing a cup does.
regarding an earlier post about North Carolina restricting restaurants to using disposable cups: don't confuse a local water scarcity issue with the larger water picture. Again, manufacturing virgin paper cups uses a ton of water and energy at the manufacturing level, much more than the water and energy used to wash an equivalent porcelain cup. What local officials were trying to do was to avoid taxing their local water supplies during the drought. In effect, they were asking restaurants to "spend" or waste extra water at the paper manufacturing plant in order to preserve a smaller amount of municipal water. Which is a reasonable response during a drought. However, it would be a lot more reasonable if people just cut back to one or two toilet flushes a day during the drought. That would solve the "drought" problem fast.
so maybe MSN wasn't the "top" way but it was one of the first... i was debating between MSN, Yahoo! and AIM... MSN won for no particular reason but still... you got my point, right :)
Very much associated to that article is this 1-800-411 SAVE which I just discovered.Its a lot saving really since I can now keep my hard earned money instead of use it to pay for information bill..Imagine getting the information you need in an anstant thru a live and friendly operator.
And you can also try other services that they offer such as movie times and listings, restuarant reservation and even directions..well, there's just this short advertisement that will play before the connection but I dont mind.It's free anyway..KUDOS to the people behind this offer.Hope it'll last forever.
It's income, location, the consistent availability of healthy items, eating habits, and short/long-term conditioning of the mind and body that together have an impact on what we eat, why we eat, and how we eat. I grew up in the ghetto where junk foods or otherwise unhealthy snacks were given to children daily -- with the best of intentions (feed the hungry, calm the anxious child, give energy, etc.). As a young college-educated adult, I became a really bad vegetarian for years and then later slipped into all the wrong habits that were developing when I was a "poor child in the inner city". I now work in corporate America but find I still have to penny-pinch because the price of produce is just way too high. 90% of what is in the average grocery store is junk food and I've failed many times when I had the best of intentions. I'm certain that if the desire for the junk food items hadn't been developed when I was a child, I wouldn't be overweight today. It's a cycle, and despite all of our collective wisdom, history has proven that cycles (food, drugs, cigarettes, interpersonal, etc.) are very hard to break.
I would take the seasoning packet from a bag of ramen and about a tablespoon of peanut butter and add to some freshly cooked (and HOT) spaghetti. So tasty!
This is going to sound insane, but my favorite drunk food was canned green beans. Seriously, all you need is a can opener, and they're ready to eat. I turned my cohorts on to these and they were hooked. Oh, those were the days - years and years ago.
Thanks for the thoughtful post. I disagree that pasta and grains are that new to the human diet. Wheat was first cultivated during the Neolithic period. My personal love of pasta is long-lived, but it was only once I lived in Western China that I realized how many people get their calories from wheat, be it in noodle or bread form.
I totally understand your complaints about the ways in which we current produce beef. I'm assuming you've read The Omnivore's Dilemma, so I won't lecture you about it, but that's partly why I said you don't have to eat meat every day.
I think corn is a much more loaded grain to discuss, but won't go into it in the comments section. I did talk a bit about the dangers of processed foods, and how it applies to modern obesity in the US, here.
How about just not buying stuff! The grocery store is full of food that has no nutrition in it! What a waste of money! You do not NEED sweets and snacks, and the value of your dollar is greatly increased if you buy high nutrition (produce, bulk) rather than processed or packaged. I'm more and more worried about inflation each day, too. I'm retired, and on a fixed income and am pretty freaked out. Aside from this blog, I enjoy: http://blog.investtalk.com
Thanks for an intriguing post. I like your idea of redefining a meal....just because "breakfast foods" are culturally eaten in the morning doesn't mean you can't have them for dinner and it doesn't mean you couldn't have some turkey from last night for breakfast.
I didn't agree with your focus on pasta. Grains were only introduced into our diets over the last 10,000 years with the beginning of organized agriculture. They are a large part of people's diets today because of the huge subsidies governments give to produce grains and soy.
We have turned America into one giant feedlot. Cows used to roam free and eat grass all day. Grass is a natural source of omega 3's. So meat back for our ancestors actually was a source of omega 3's for us. Now what do we feed our cows...grains (and leftover cow). They do this because it fattens up the cows that much quicker to slaughter size and they can get more beef per cow than they would with more sustainable grazing practices.
A large share of our grain production (and subsidies) goes to feeding the cows. I'm not even going to begin on the environmental problems, energy problems, and costs to water supply these practices have attributed to...Regardless, ever since the government has subsidized corn and soy, our obesity rates are skyrocketing as well. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put 2 and 2 together when cow +grain = fat and human + grain = fat. Not to mention no omega 3's, instead the pro-inflammatory omega-6 rich in grains.
Be careful who you listen to when you receive nutritional information, lots of lobbying out there....too bad there isn't a large "beet" lobby for that meal you described, or a large "almond" lobby. Ever wonder why grains were so big on the old food pyramid...remember how red meat and dairy fought with their lobbies to stay on the pyramid at 2-3 servings/day......
Our grocery stores are a joke when it comes to food. Shop around the edges, stay away from the aisles as much as you can. Nothing in a box and minimal packaging.... Use the rule of thumb for labels (if the label list is longer than your thumb can cover you probably shouldn't eat it). (if your food can outlive you, you probably shouldn't eat it). ....I could go on and on
Just be careful... some of my "drunk" foods... made me so sick the next day that I refuse to eat them ever again: peanut butter, rocky road ice cream ... m&m's ... haven't had 'em since my college days. 20+ years. Can't stomach the thought. Literally!
oiye, admitting that is probably a bad thing. especially when it's the second post in a row I've admitted something about alcohol...
Ok, seriously though, the best drunk food I can usually find in my place? Peanut butter, straight out of the jar! Cheap and usually in your kitchen anyways!
...we always went for cheap Tex-Mex...enchiladas, cheesy burritos...something cheap, heavy and filling. I suddenly have a craving for Chuy's. Thanks. ;)
For anyone interested in this topic, a professor friend of mine (an old pro at this, 35 years an alcoholic, sober for quite a few now) wrote a whole book on the subject (in addition to what to watch/read/listen to, etc.) http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-Grapes-Patrick-Meanor/dp/1880977117/ref=sr_1...
I have used it quite a few times, at the very least to distract myself from the stomach pains of the hangover.
When you sign up for a Costco membership, you consent to the search. However, I'm sure you can still say 'no'. It's not enough to make up for the entire miserable experience for me, anyway. Even if I cruise past the receipt people, I've already spent a good hour inside the store, loathing every minute. :)
Hi, Tannaz! Your blog was totally one of my inspirations for this post, actually. I almost mentioned the sage wine, but wasn't sure how much of your work I should be ripping off!
1: this is excellent. i do this 'shopping for produce the day i eat it' thing as much as possible -- otherwise i end up with a fridge full of rotten produce. must admit though -- it does make dinner come a bit later...
2: andrea, you're back writing here? awesome.
3: thanks for the link love.
4: on the wine tip: an idea for making cheap wine very fancy and italian, especially in the summer: buy a bottle of cheap rose, infuse with a few sage leaves for a few hours, chill, serve with a strip of lemon zest in the glass. delicious and lovely and no one will know that the wine cost 3.99.
Just an FYI, you are under no legal obligation (unless it's in your membership card agreement, I don't know if it is) to submit to having someone check your receipt on the way out of costco, walmart, best buy, or any other. It's akin to accusing you of stealing and wastes your time. You do not have submit to search without just cause and they must state what that is. That is the policeman's job after they file a complaint saying you've stolen something.
So, if you don't have the time or the patience, just keep walking. If they balk, say you don't have the time. Of course, they may call the police on you. But they have no right to search or detain you. It's the store's problem if their checkout system is flawed, or they don't have surveillance cameras. I know, in practise it's probably more hassle than it's worth, but it's your right and people need to stick up for it ... otherwise in just a few years we'll be stopped and frisked at every store or street corner.
Finally! An article that reflects the way I shop. I am so glad to know that I am not the only one. And another positive aspect of walking to the slightly more expensive local store--supporting local commerce (my neighbors!).
There's a great site with some good info on vermicomposting, limited space composting-the whole deal. Good for all urban composting: Balcony Compost - check it out
Digsby is king of aggregators IMO. I switched from Pidgin to Digsby and never looked back. It handles IM, Emails, and Social Networking sites all from the buddy list very well and presents in a much more appealing way than Pidgin.
Meebo is what I use when I'm away from my computer and want to get to my Yahoo and AIM instant messaging services.
I have also reused paper cups. You just wash them out and dry them. They don't break, and if you get the discount for bringing your own cup, they have a crazy-fast payback period.
A paper cup that is washed and reused can last for weeks. Wash it good so it looks clean and you won't gross out the barista.
Oh, and if you have styrofoam cups you can reuse them by melting them in a little gasoline and make an epoxy to repair stuff. I read about an Indian guy who repaired his canoe that way...River Bondo!
(I'm not expecting everyone to melt their styrofoam!! I just thought it was interesting little fact.)
Don't smoke while you're doing it though.
The manufacture of paper uses much more water and energy than washing a cup does.
regarding an earlier post about North Carolina restricting restaurants to using disposable cups: don't confuse a local water scarcity issue with the larger water picture. Again, manufacturing virgin paper cups uses a ton of water and energy at the manufacturing level, much more than the water and energy used to wash an equivalent porcelain cup. What local officials were trying to do was to avoid taxing their local water supplies during the drought. In effect, they were asking restaurants to "spend" or waste extra water at the paper manufacturing plant in order to preserve a smaller amount of municipal water. Which is a reasonable response during a drought. However, it would be a lot more reasonable if people just cut back to one or two toilet flushes a day during the drought. That would solve the "drought" problem fast.
so maybe MSN wasn't the "top" way but it was one of the first... i was debating between MSN, Yahoo! and AIM... MSN won for no particular reason but still... you got my point, right :)
Haven't used GAIM... I'll have to check it out.
Very much associated to that article is this 1-800-411 SAVE which I just discovered.Its a lot saving really since I can now keep my hard earned money instead of use it to pay for information bill..Imagine getting the information you need in an anstant thru a live and friendly operator.
And you can also try other services that they offer such as movie times and listings, restuarant reservation and even directions..well, there's just this short advertisement that will play before the connection but I dont mind.It's free anyway..KUDOS to the people behind this offer.Hope it'll last forever.
MSN was the top way to IM? bwahahahaha! I'll give you ICQ, but not MSN.
I use GAIM all the time. I believe it's based on Pidgin.
It's income, location, the consistent availability of healthy items, eating habits, and short/long-term conditioning of the mind and body that together have an impact on what we eat, why we eat, and how we eat. I grew up in the ghetto where junk foods or otherwise unhealthy snacks were given to children daily -- with the best of intentions (feed the hungry, calm the anxious child, give energy, etc.). As a young college-educated adult, I became a really bad vegetarian for years and then later slipped into all the wrong habits that were developing when I was a "poor child in the inner city". I now work in corporate America but find I still have to penny-pinch because the price of produce is just way too high. 90% of what is in the average grocery store is junk food and I've failed many times when I had the best of intentions. I'm certain that if the desire for the junk food items hadn't been developed when I was a child, I wouldn't be overweight today. It's a cycle, and despite all of our collective wisdom, history has proven that cycles (food, drugs, cigarettes, interpersonal, etc.) are very hard to break.
I would take the seasoning packet from a bag of ramen and about a tablespoon of peanut butter and add to some freshly cooked (and HOT) spaghetti. So tasty!
I love Pidgin. Using it right now, as a matter of fact!
This is going to sound insane, but my favorite drunk food was canned green beans. Seriously, all you need is a can opener, and they're ready to eat. I turned my cohorts on to these and they were hooked. Oh, those were the days - years and years ago.
Thanks for the thoughtful post. I disagree that pasta and grains are that new to the human diet. Wheat was first cultivated during the Neolithic period. My personal love of pasta is long-lived, but it was only once I lived in Western China that I realized how many people get their calories from wheat, be it in noodle or bread form.
I totally understand your complaints about the ways in which we current produce beef. I'm assuming you've read The Omnivore's Dilemma, so I won't lecture you about it, but that's partly why I said you don't have to eat meat every day.
I think corn is a much more loaded grain to discuss, but won't go into it in the comments section. I did talk a bit about the dangers of processed foods, and how it applies to modern obesity in the US, here.
And I thought I took my grocery shopping seriously :) These are some great ideas - that's what I love about sharing with Wisebread readers!
How about just not buying stuff! The grocery store is full of food that has no nutrition in it! What a waste of money! You do not NEED sweets and snacks, and the value of your dollar is greatly increased if you buy high nutrition (produce, bulk) rather than processed or packaged. I'm more and more worried about inflation each day, too. I'm retired, and on a fixed income and am pretty freaked out. Aside from this blog, I enjoy: http://blog.investtalk.com
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for an intriguing post. I like your idea of redefining a meal....just because "breakfast foods" are culturally eaten in the morning doesn't mean you can't have them for dinner and it doesn't mean you couldn't have some turkey from last night for breakfast.
I didn't agree with your focus on pasta. Grains were only introduced into our diets over the last 10,000 years with the beginning of organized agriculture. They are a large part of people's diets today because of the huge subsidies governments give to produce grains and soy.
We have turned America into one giant feedlot. Cows used to roam free and eat grass all day. Grass is a natural source of omega 3's. So meat back for our ancestors actually was a source of omega 3's for us. Now what do we feed our cows...grains (and leftover cow). They do this because it fattens up the cows that much quicker to slaughter size and they can get more beef per cow than they would with more sustainable grazing practices.
A large share of our grain production (and subsidies) goes to feeding the cows. I'm not even going to begin on the environmental problems, energy problems, and costs to water supply these practices have attributed to...Regardless, ever since the government has subsidized corn and soy, our obesity rates are skyrocketing as well. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put 2 and 2 together when cow +grain = fat and human + grain = fat. Not to mention no omega 3's, instead the pro-inflammatory omega-6 rich in grains.
Be careful who you listen to when you receive nutritional information, lots of lobbying out there....too bad there isn't a large "beet" lobby for that meal you described, or a large "almond" lobby. Ever wonder why grains were so big on the old food pyramid...remember how red meat and dairy fought with their lobbies to stay on the pyramid at 2-3 servings/day......
Our grocery stores are a joke when it comes to food. Shop around the edges, stay away from the aisles as much as you can. Nothing in a box and minimal packaging.... Use the rule of thumb for labels (if the label list is longer than your thumb can cover you probably shouldn't eat it). (if your food can outlive you, you probably shouldn't eat it). ....I could go on and on
Just be careful... some of my "drunk" foods... made me so sick the next day that I refuse to eat them ever again: peanut butter, rocky road ice cream ... m&m's ... haven't had 'em since my college days. 20+ years. Can't stomach the thought. Literally!
oiye, admitting that is probably a bad thing. especially when it's the second post in a row I've admitted something about alcohol...
Ok, seriously though, the best drunk food I can usually find in my place? Peanut butter, straight out of the jar! Cheap and usually in your kitchen anyways!
...we always went for cheap Tex-Mex...enchiladas, cheesy burritos...something cheap, heavy and filling. I suddenly have a craving for Chuy's. Thanks. ;)
Randy
For anyone interested in this topic, a professor friend of mine (an old pro at this, 35 years an alcoholic, sober for quite a few now) wrote a whole book on the subject (in addition to what to watch/read/listen to, etc.)
http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-Grapes-Patrick-Meanor/dp/1880977117/ref=sr_1...
I have used it quite a few times, at the very least to distract myself from the stomach pains of the hangover.
When you sign up for a Costco membership, you consent to the search. However, I'm sure you can still say 'no'. It's not enough to make up for the entire miserable experience for me, anyway. Even if I cruise past the receipt people, I've already spent a good hour inside the store, loathing every minute. :)
Hi, Tannaz! Your blog was totally one of my inspirations for this post, actually. I almost mentioned the sage wine, but wasn't sure how much of your work I should be ripping off!
1: this is excellent. i do this 'shopping for produce the day i eat it' thing as much as possible -- otherwise i end up with a fridge full of rotten produce. must admit though -- it does make dinner come a bit later...
2: andrea, you're back writing here? awesome.
3: thanks for the link love.
4: on the wine tip: an idea for making cheap wine very fancy and italian, especially in the summer: buy a bottle of cheap rose, infuse with a few sage leaves for a few hours, chill, serve with a strip of lemon zest in the glass. delicious and lovely and no one will know that the wine cost 3.99.
Just an FYI, you are under no legal obligation (unless it's in your membership card agreement, I don't know if it is) to submit to having someone check your receipt on the way out of costco, walmart, best buy, or any other. It's akin to accusing you of stealing and wastes your time. You do not have submit to search without just cause and they must state what that is. That is the policeman's job after they file a complaint saying you've stolen something.
So, if you don't have the time or the patience, just keep walking. If they balk, say you don't have the time. Of course, they may call the police on you. But they have no right to search or detain you. It's the store's problem if their checkout system is flawed, or they don't have surveillance cameras. I know, in practise it's probably more hassle than it's worth, but it's your right and people need to stick up for it ... otherwise in just a few years we'll be stopped and frisked at every store or street corner.
Finally! An article that reflects the way I shop. I am so glad to know that I am not the only one. And another positive aspect of walking to the slightly more expensive local store--supporting local commerce (my neighbors!).
cause of yr creative sammy shpeel and you being from seattle:
this pub n ballard called king's hardware has a burger called "the after school special", it's a burger topped with peanutbutter and bacon.
ive a veggie myself, so ive never tried it, but it sounds good. strange, but good!
I'm so glad this is starting to get popular!
There's a great site with some good info on vermicomposting, limited space composting-the whole deal. Good for all urban composting: Balcony Compost - check it out