Dumpster diving in the recycling bin

I was dropping my newspapers in the recycling bins outside the office the other day when I noticed a thick sheaf of printer paper laying right on top. It had printing on one side, but it was so light you could barely read it. And the pages were still in good shape, not bent or wrinkled or anything, so I figure they will run through our printer without any trouble. If nothing else, I’ll let the kids draw on it. Either way, a find like this is pretty much like discovering a couple of dollar bills in the dumpster, the way we go through paper.

Speaking of Wal-Mart shopping bags ...

I’m generally in favor of pro-environmental causes, but I can’t help being suspicious of all these store campaigns to get you to buy their “green” reusable shopping bags. Yes, reusing shopping bags makes sense, both environmentally and economically. But if I stop acquiring plastic store bags, then I’m going to have to start buying plastic bags to line my wastebaskets with.

Am I being selfish? Sure. But I’m guessing I’m not the only one who reuses shopping bags as trash bags. So my guess is that what actually happens if stores stop providing plastic bags is that they wind up selling more plastic trash bags.

End result: Same number of bags in the landfill. Just a transfer in who pays for them.

What would Red Green do?

Our land line’s been out of commission for more than a week, and it’s become such an afterthought in our lives that it wasn’t until a couple of days ago that I began the process of tracking down the exterior phone jack to see if it’s a phone company problem or an inside wiring issue. I got a dial tone when I plugged the phone in outside (in the middle of a snowstorm), which means we pay for the fix, if we opt to do that. Naturally, this has us drawing up pro/con lists about whether to cut this $30 monthly expense from our lives.

In the meantime, I couldn’t help thinking of how Red Green would solve the problem: He’d run the phone cord through the hole in the window screen and plug it into the exterior phone jack -- no doubt covering it with a Wal-Mart bag or some other attractive material to protect it from the elements.

Speaking of “The Red Green Show,” here’s a web site that celebrates the same kind of hare-brained, duct-tape-oriented fixes:

www.thereifixedit.com.

Another way to use up carrots

Even after assembling my relish tray the other day (see last post), I still had close to a pound of carrots left in the fridge. Ever since Ben got braces, we just don’t go through carrots as much as we used to. (He liked to eat them raw; the rest of us do that only grudgingly). But I still like buying carrots to have on hand for soups. And they’re so cheap (if you peel them yourself)! I’ve had these so long I can’t remember what I paid for them, but since I had two bags they must have been a really great deal.

Still, eventually, after weeks and months and possibly even years, carrots do start to decompose. So in an effort to use up this last bag, I made a carrot pie yesterday.

It wasn’t bad, though I should‘ve pureed the carrots instead of just mashing them like potatoes if I wanted to pull off the pumpkin pie imitation. If I’d served it warm at the table with whipping cream, it might have been more of a hit. Trouble was, it was late coming out of the oven and everybody was exhausted from playing in/and or shoveling the snow, so some people had already gone to bed when it appeared in the kitchen. (Also, everyone saw me cooking up carrots, so I couldn‘t lie about its origins.)

Even so, everyone eventually agreed to try it, and no one was repulsed. I took that as a positive sign, which means I’ll probably try it again -- perhaps this time on an unsuspecting audience.

At any rate, if you want the recipe I used (but failed to follow exactly), you can find it here:

http://www.preparedpantry.com/carrotpie.html

A cheaper (and prettier) relish tray

I threw together a relish plate yesterday to take to my writer’s group and was stunned to get a compliment on it. And from someone who works in a deli, of all people! Interestingly, what she found unusual and attractive -- that I layered the veggies and relishes rather than segregating them -- is what I consider to be the cost-control mechanism. But I can’t take credit for the idea. I got it from my mom, and I KNOW she doesn’t do it to save money. She just thinks it’s prettier. And simpler, because you don’t have to keep restocking the depleted sections of the tray.

Layering doesn’t automatically save you money. The trick is to use an inexpensive veggie for your base layer. Carrots (the kind you peel yourself)are perfect. They‘re cheap to begin with, and I already had some lurking in the crisper. (Like, for weeks. It‘s amazing how long carrots "keep their figure," not to mention their crunch.) For the secondary layers, I used a green pepper (about 70 cents) and grape tomatoes ($2.50 a carton but I only used half the carton.) The accent relishes, arranged sparingly on top, were sweet pickles and black olives. I didn’t have any on hand, but I only used a few of each, so I’ll get a lot more use out of both purchases.

Note: If you plan to use pickles, be sure to drain them first so they don’t drip all over the other veggies!

Fellow frugals lurking among us

Rowan went shopping with a friend and her mom yesterday, and was pleased to discover that instead of going to American Eagle or Aeropostle they went to the Salvation Army and Goodwill. And then followed that up with cute $4 hair cuts at the nearby cosmetology school. All three stops were in or near Quimby Village in Fort Wayne, which, now that I think about it, could almost be considered a thrift mall when you add in the Save-A-Lot and a dollar store. All it needs is for someone to start showing dollar movies in the old theater (currently a church, I think).

The Natural Thrift on vacation

Rather than pay for a bottled water, I walk out to the parking lot at 4 a.m.
to retrieve a bottle of Ice Mountain from a case purchased on sale back home that we inadvertently left in the van. Did I mention it's only 2 degrees outside, and that I am not wearing a coat?

Needless to say, the water inside the bottle is mostly ice. (I make a note of this to the desk clerk, to ward off the possibility that she might try to charge me, in case she suspected I got this bottle from the refreshment stand.)