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Eating Well For Less

anne — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:23:37 +0000

flickr photo by stevendepolo

Are you eating the sames things over and over again? Does a night out on town mean standing in line at McDonalds? You can eat well on a small budget.

Produce

Buy local produce directly from farmers rather than grocery stores. The food will be picked fresh and packed full of vitamins. While it is better to buy organic to avoid harmful pesticides, that may not always be possible due to financial constraints or unavailability. If this is the case, choose foods that contain the least amount of pesticides and avoid the “Dirty Dozen”

Dirty Dozen

These foods contain the most pesticides. Avoid these non-organic foods and lower your pesticide intake by 90%

Apples
Bell peppers
Celery
Cherries
Imported grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Potato
Raspberries
Spinach
Strawberries

Choose These

If you can’t afford to buy all organic, these foods contain the least amount of pesticides

Asparagus Kiwi
Avocado Mango
Banana Onion
Broccoli Papaya
Cauliflower
Kiwi
Mango
Onion
Papaya
Sweet corn
Sweet peas

Home Cooking

Forget about packaged foods and check out these websites for simple, fast, healthy recipes and tips.

Beyond Baked Beans - a website aimed at students that provides simple healthy recipes for first time cooks.

Cheap Healthy Good - for frugal foodies. If you like to experiment with new foods and ethnic flavours, this site is for you!

Just Bento - for lovers of Japanese food and cutely decorated eats.

Cheap Family Meals - a great site for family cooking with plenty of recipes and tips. Casseroles and Crockpots rule!

Recipe 101 - a site dedicated to the idea of taking the same basic ingredients to make 101 unique meals using a “starter recipe”

Cheap Cooking - offers recipes, articles and tips on eating healthy on the cheap. Also has a useful cost per serving calculator to help you figure out which cut of meat is cheaper.

Eating Well has an excellent article linking to over 100 budget-friendly meals that are both fast and affordable. You’ll want to bookmark this one!

WebMD has a useful article on 15 nutritious foods that cost about $2 per serving, complete with nutritional information

Package Your Own Foods

Learn how to make your own preserves. It’s fun, makes great gifts and will save you huge amounts of money during the winter months. Canning and other forms of preservation is not just for jellies. Make your own pesto, pasta sauces, pickles, pie fillings - anything that comes in a can or jar at the supermarket. Bonus - preservative and dye free.

Make your own frozen dinners - Sparkpeople (my favorite diet and exercise site!) gives some great instructions for creating your own frozen dinners - perfect for days when you don’t have time to make a full meal and you want to avoid take out.

No Cans - Have a pet? Make your own pet food, save money, provide greater nutrition and avoid harmful chemicals. Plus, it’s easy!

Dining Out

It’s nice to get out once and a while and enjoy some fine dining but restaurants can get expensive, especially if you want to eat well. Skip the fast food joints and dine in comfort and style by following a few simple rules

Drink Water - Save your money for the food and drink only water. Drinks can add up quickly.

Eat Ethnic - Small ethnic eateries have great food and, often, great prices.

Big Portions - Some restaurants serve enormous portions - far too much for one person to eat. Find a dining partner with similar tastes and share a big meal rather than purchasing two meals that neither of you can finish. We do this often, finding noodle houses and Greek restaurants offer plenty for two (or, sometimes, three!)

Go For Breakfast - I love going out for brunch. Catch the breakfast menu and save on dining out. It’s a great way to start a special day.

Go For Appies - Enjoy an evening out with an appetizer and a pitcher and then head home for dessert.

Go For Dessert - Enjoy dinner at home and then head out for a decadent dessert in a posh environment. You’ll still get that pampered feeling without the expense.

If you’re ordering Chinese takeout, make half, buy half. We like to make our own rice and steamed veggies to go with take out meat dishes. Don’t worry. You’ll still get the fortune cookies (am I the only one who buys Chinese take out for the cookies?)

I don’t bank on…

Buffets - Some people swear by these. If you’re a big eater, buffets can work. If you’re like me, it’s just not worth it. Also buffets tend to encourage overeating and wastefulness.

What are some of your favorite ways to save at the dinner table?

7 DIY Ikea Furniture Mods

anne — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:30:38 +0000

As I’ve stated before, I love Ikea. There are several reasons for this: my admiration for a company that has been considering their environmental impact long before other companies jumped on board (did you know that, as of July 1, Ikea will no longer be offering disposable bags at their stores in Canada? BYOB), their interest in design fused with functionality, and their pricing. It’s unfortunate that their products are not, also, locally made but you can’t have everything.

One thing many people complain about is having to put together the items themselves. I like this part. I enjoy having a hand in what is going into my place and I also love having the opportunity to modify Ikea furniture to match my needs and taste. Mods can be as simple as changing nobs on drawers (I used antique black glass knobs on my white Hemnes dresser) or creating your own slipcovers to complete configuration changes and frankensteining multiple pieces into the furniture of your dreams.

Here are some great mods I found recently. Click on the links for full instructions to each of these projects. Have a mod you’d like to share? Send it in!

via IkeaHacker

a metal shelf and shelf bracket become a coffee table

via IKEAIdeas

Bar made from Expedit shelves

via Instructables

Several Hemma bulbs made into a chandelier

via Better Homes and Gardens

Lack table with mosaic tile top

via MAKE

Inset bowl in butcher block table

via Instructables

Adding a drawer to a Bekvam serving cart

and, last but not least, Inhabitat presents a coffin built from Ikea parts!

coffin made from Ikea parts

Over and Under Storage Ideas

anne — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:07:50 +0000

I’m absolutely loving this idea from the Apartment Therapy site! A full blown DVD library over the bed for the ultimate small living library solution. Bonus, a huge under the bed pullout to house even more of the extensive collection and all thanks to some clever hacking of Ikea’s Lack shelving system.

I’m a book lover and have always wanted a library in my house - a room with wall to wall books sends my heart aflutter. Unfortunately, small spaces get even smaller when they are filled with books. That’s why I love this solution that fits the entire library above a bed nook.

The lighting under the shelves keeps the shelves from becoming oppressive while adding drama to the floating concept.

Not a book or DVD lover? This idea could be used for numerous storage ideas. What about glassed in cases filled with your finest collectibles or art pieces? Or, for the more practical, put away out of season clothing and lines.

I am a huge fan of Ikea’s Lack Series and have used their floating shelves in my own space to create a “built in” hutch above a dresser that I use as a china cabinet/sideboard in my dining area. Lack products are made of recycled wood products, are quite durable and come in a range of colours and configurations. If you have some carpentry skills and tools, try hacking together a “built in” of your own!

A dramatic ceiling display

Are you using some innovative storage solutions in your place? Please share!

DIY Bedroom Storage From Cull Wood

anne — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:48:02 +0000

This DIY project comes from David Gardiner, a reader from Alberta, who uses cull wood from lumber yards to build under the bed storage drawers or entire Captain’s beds. He explains where to find cull wood and the benefits of using it for projects such as this.

I had an idea that has worked very well for my wife and I. We originally put it into action in our last house which was fairly small.

Our bedroom was so small that we were unable to have a dresser without shoving the bed into the corner. In order to fix this situation, I took our old bed frame out of the room and ended up with more storage space than I originally had.

I built a wooden box, the same dimensions as our mattress and about 8 inches high. In the box, I was able to make drawers that pull out beside the bed. It added about 3 inches of height to the bed which was all added usable storage space, and I was able to attach the existing headboard and foot board to the box so that the bed looked virtually the same as it did before this change.

The hinges were not expensive, are available at your local hardware store, and they are able to hold up to 100 pounds without creating much extra resistance to open the drawer. Now, I understand that there was space under the bed before this adaptation, but that space is now much more accessible and useful. I wouldn’t normally put my clothes under the bed because it would not be very convenient (and I might never find a matching pair of socks again). With these drawers, I keep clothing under there and it is as convenient as having a conventional dresser, without the banging of my thigh against the corner in the night.

I found the project took only a few hours to complete, with minimal need for tools, and a reasonably small cost.

Tools

good screwdriver
small drill
small set of drill bits
regular carpenter’s saw
pencil
long ruler or square
hammer

Cull Wood

The wood used was extremely inexpensive since I bought what they call “Cull Wood”. “Cull” is wood with blemishes, slight warps, or just shorter pieces that make them unusable for a major project, but suitable for a smaller project such as these drawers, and ideal for transportation home in a small car. Cull Wood is readily available at buding supply stores such as Home Depot, Rona, or Home Hardware. You simply need to ask to see their cull wood rack or pile. You can go through the pile to pick out the wood that suits your project, and it generally costs a small fraction of the price of the standard wood. Additionally, you are recycling since cull wood is only allowed to sit around the stores for a short time before it is incinerated (so that it doesn’t pile up and take up valuable store space.

I once bought all of one store’s cull wood for $150 over the phone. I expected to get a good sized bundle to rebuild some small steps at my back door, but I ended up with 1.5 tonnes of lumber, of which I still have some today.

This wood is useful for making shelves, shoring up that sagging couch, or making planter boxes that hang off your windows or balcony railings. It doesn’t matter how “ugly” the drawers look on the inside because they are under the bed. You can take as much or as little care in building them as you wish. The only important part, aesthetically speaking, is the visible drawer front which you can purchase a nicer piece of wood or other material to match your room decor.

Full extension drawer slides

As you can see the one I built is smaller than the one that I describe in the article, and it doesn’t completely replace my frame. I just raised the frame on this one by 3 inches. I’ve built others for folks that totally replaced the frame so that the mattress and box spring sat directly on the box, and was the size of the entire bed. Incidentally, this also allowed for 2 drawers side by side on the full box design. My bedside tables did not allow for that so, when building this type of project, all space and fit issues must be considered. I figure it cost me less than $30 CDN to build mine and I have done others that were full box design for less that $40 or $50 CDN.

I understand that I am not the first person to think of this idea, and that they generally call them Captain’s Beds, but this is a way to take what you already have, and turn it into a better use of space. Best of all…I no longer have to vacuum under the bed which, in and of
itself, makes this all worth it.

Happy building!

Great ideas, Dave. Thanks! - Anne

Planting Trees at Jericho Beach Park

anne — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:37:54 +0000

Yesterday, we hopped on the #4 and headed over to Jericho Beach for Evergreen’s record breaking tree planting event. It was a sunny, fun filled day with bigger than expected crowds and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

When we got there, we signed up at the registration desk (after picking up our free travel cups from Starbucks!), took in the small tutorial on the proper way to plant trees, and off we went. Each participant was directed to one of several planting sites. We were sent to Site D, close to the tennis courts and planted a variety of indigenous bushes and small trees according to a planting pattern dictated by some previously laid out flags. It was a good system that made for some speedy planting - too speedy, I overheard one of the volunteers whisper to another. It appeared that the turnout was much greater than expected and they would soon run out of trees to plant. Tools and trees were supplied but the size of the crowd soon made each planting a group affair as shovels and gloves were passed between participants. We planted five trees a piece and then, passing on the coveted shovel we shared between us to another eager group, went off to take in the numerous activities at the venue.

I received a small Indian treat from a pretty hari krishna girl, listened to drummers, signed a petition to ban trophy hunting of bears, learned about the bee condominium next to the duck pond, tromped down muddy forest paths, sat on the rocky beach and generally worked up an appetite.

My daughter digs in to make some seed bombs as instructed by the Lush boy

After a few hours, we decided to head into Kits for a late lunch and a long stroll home. Lush had a sidewalk table out which we stopped at, making seed bombs to be planted (guerilla style) in vacant lots. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for a good location.

We also found a little Mac store selling outdated Macs and their parts which was a huge find for us. A while back, we had found an ibook G4 abandoned in the laundry room of Devlon’s old apartment and have been looking for a power cord for the thing. We picked one up cheap. Stay tuned for further posts about the great ibook hacking adventures that ensued!

To see more pics and hear more about our adventures at the Jericho Beach treeplanting event, check out Devlon’s blog, notreallypeople.com and also see our flickr pages here and here. I also took some video of our treeplanting experience which I will post soon!

Just A Minute, Earth Day

anne — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:09:42 +0000

via Peter Gene on Flickr

Earth Day is on April 22nd and activities are beginning this weekend. Is Earth Day significant or do you see it as a empty stunt devoid of real meaning? I think it can be either, depending on your response. Here’s why.

I’m thinking about these things for two reasons. One reason is that we are trying, in our home, to take more responsibility for our ecological actions and make changes to lower our carbon footprint and live more sustainably. We are far from where we’d like to be and we recognize that.

The other reason is a post I read this morning by Shea Gunther, entitled Earth Day is hard, Earth Minute is easy, a sarcastic jab at the concept of Earth Day.

Admittedly tongue in cheek, Gunther suggests an Earth Minute for those for whom Earth Day is just too much attention to pay to the environment and implies that Earth Day serves no purpose, instead, giving participants a bit of feel good catharsis while doing nothing to change their daily habits which they return to as soon as Earth Day has ended.

Should we, therefore, abandon Earth Day celebrations/events?

The same argument was postulated regarding the recent Earth Hour event in which citizens of the world were asked to turn off all of their electrical gadgets and appliances for one hour. We participated by unplugging everything and by putting an Earth Hour plugin on the site that shut down tinymine for the duration (I’ve often wondered, since, if the plugin worked as I never got to see it in action). Others refused to participate as a political/environmental gesture, calling Earth Hour everything from “feel good” hype to fascism.

It’s bad enough when those opposed to changing the status quo for business reasons challenge attempts to create movements and events in support of environmental change. It pains me to see environmentalists poo poo things like Earth Hour, Earth Day and Buy Nothing Day as ineffective and, therefore, not worthwhile because they don’t initiate immediate, lifelong change in all (or even many) of their participants. Personally, I feel that nonsupport (and even ridicule) from environmentalists do more to prevent the population from making any lasting changes than attacks from corporate interests.

We should be participating in Earth Day events and encouraging our friends, family and neighbours to participate. We should make it fun and informative and provide plenty of exposure for organizations to get their messages out. Will there be those that take advantage of Earth Day to trumpet themselves as “green” for monetary or political gain or to appear hip and relevant while making no true or lasting changes in their consumptive habits? Of course. Will there be some who attend an event and learn something they didn’t know about before that they then take into their personal spheres of influence? Yes. Will there be some for whom an event becomes a turning point that leads them on a journey toward lifestyle change? Yes.

I know because I am one of those people. Earth Hour, in particular, had a profound effect on our house as the experience of sitting together for one hour, by candlelight, encouraged us to talk about ways in which we waste energy and resolve to start making changes. I have always been interested in ecological issues and have participated on and off in a few initiatives but I have been, at times, overwhelmed by the problems facing our world and the guilt of not being able to do everything right. It’s easier to just give up. It’s easier to get cynical, refuse to participate, throw up my hands in despair and say that the little bit I am doing is not enough, will never be enough and, therefore, I will do nothing.

Instead, tomorrow, I’m headed to Jericho Beach to plant some trees with my family. It promises to be a fun day and, hopefully, we’ll learn a few things, connect with others who are working toward solutions and come home invigorated, hopeful and ready to take on new challenges. That’s the idea, anyway, and I think it’s a good one.

415 Square Feet In NYC

anne — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:34:32 +0000

I received a letter yesterday from Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Contestant, Ilene asking me to have a look at her fabulously tiny New York City apartment.

Some things I like about the space is the dedication to a theme, in this case, updated retro ’60’s and uses secondhand furniture to do the job rather than expensive new lookalikes. Also, the chairs are on swivel bases which allow for quick configuration changes depending on immediate needs. The use of vertical space is prevalent throughout and the bedroom is kept simple with a large bed as the centerpiece, flanked by gorgeous pendant lamps.

I did a bit of an email interview with Ilene to find out about her experience with small spaces.

How did you come to be living in your small apartment? Was it for economic reasons? Location?
Well, it is NYC. The apt. originally was a friend’s and so came to me waaaay cheap, that was when there was bathtub in the kitchen and a step-up toilet/watercloset!!

Was it difficult for you to live there when you started or have you always lived in small spaces? if you previously lived in a larger space, could you talk a little about downsizing?

Small apt living teaches one the art of letting go. The most difficult part was having family members die and inheriting their houses full of things. Rotating possessions or giving things to friends helps. There is so much emotionally invested in “stuff” that letting go can be very painful.

If you have any tips on clever storage ideas you’re using in your apartment, my readers would love it!

The best is i designed this very much like a boat. My under desk storage helps tremendously–that’s where suitcases and the like are stored. Also going vertical–everything is built up to the ceiling to take advantage of that. Originally I knocked down walls but found without a wall the space was much smaller. A wall provides scale and reference that oddly enlarges the space.

The furniture looks like it might be secondhand/recycled. Is it?

Bought the chairs from Las Venus downtown and reupholstered, couch bought at vintage shop & had new cushions made
The dresser is a sweet story. Belonged to my great-aunt, but her apartment was emptied out while i was working out of town. Came back and was by my favorite thrift and started talking to the folks there, saying “wow that looks so familiar”, and of course it was all her’s. They let me take it all back!! I just paid for the moving guys!

And did I mention that the TV is on a cantilever bracket so it can be adjusted to any angle, even to watch from bed!!
And as for the desk, it had to be free floating, no legs, because of the storage below so I built it into the window!
Last thing, is the desk chair, because of the window height, is adjustable from normal to counter height.

Take a look at Apartment Therapy and, if you like Ilene’s apartment, please be sure to give a thumbs up! The contest runs until May 4th.

Do you live in a small apartment or house and would like to be interviewed for tinymine? Give me a shout. I’d love to talk about your space!

Inhabitat Contest Winners

anne — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:45:07 +0000

Inhabitat, one of my favorite sites, has announced the winners of it’s Spring Greening Contest - a recycling extravaganza. Contestants were asked to take everyday trash and recycle it into objects of desire and did so, admirably.

Here are the winners.

GRAND PRIZE: Phone Book Coffee Table by Rodrigo Jaroseski

SECOND PLACE: Recycled Plastic Jewelry by Kumvana Gomani

THIRD PLACE: Book Book Shelf by Richard Jennions

EDITOR’S CHOICE: Laptop Packaging Briefcase by Alison Cromie

Read all about the contest at Inhabitat and check out some more cool, recycling projects like the Tupperware Pendant Lights.

I love seeing creativity in action, especially when it involves upcycling and easy to do it yourself ideas. My favorite here is the jewelry, probably because my daughter makes beaded jewelry and I’m excited about making some pop bottle plastic charms for her to use.

Up For The Challenge?

anne — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:10:43 +0000

My 100 Miles. What's yours?

As we continue to debate whether or not to take the 100 Mile Challenge and eat only local food within 100 Miles of our home (downtown Vancouver), I just came upon this site, 100 Mile Diet, that invites everyone to sign up and try it for themselves.

One thing I just learned was that the Okanagan is not within 100 miles of me. This saddens me. I lived in Penticton for two years and know what’s available there. Sigh.

If you want to know what your 100 miles entails, find out on this handy map!

100 Mile Challenge

anne — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:51:26 +0000

None of this organic produce is local

Here at home, we’ve been watching FoodTV’s 100 Mile Challenge with keen interest. The Challenge is to eat only foods grown within 100 miles of where you live…and it’s more difficult than you’d think.

The show is already two episodes along but, if you haven’t been following, you can catch up easily by watching online. I highly recommend it! Not only is the show very entertaining, reality tv style, it is also surprisingly informative no matter where you live and will change your relationship to the food you eat and to the community you live in.

We live in downtown Vancouver and have been investigating what is available within walking distance of our house.

Yesterday, my daughter and I walked down to Granville Island to the Public Market to see what we could find and I was surprised that most of the food there comes from someplace else - often, places on the other side of the globe. The one organic booth there yesterday (there are sometimes more and I’m sure harvest season is the best time to go) sold foods, primarily, from the US and Mexico but also had stuff from the UK, Australia, China, Honduras, and many other locations. I have to say, I was surprised. For some reason, I had it in my head that organic food suppliers dealt with small, local farms. I have been enlightened.

We bought the Russian Blues from Across The Creek Organics

We ended up leaving with a small bag of potatoes from Pemberton and a jar of Hay Meadow Honey from Dog Creek, a place I didn’t know existed until I bought the honey.

Also available in the organic shop, were apples from the Okanagan (there has been much discussion at home as to whether the Okanagan is within 100 miles of our house and whether 100 Miles refers to the distance driven or as the crow flies), some portabello and oyster mushrooms, and some pea shoots.

In the nonorganic booths, I was also able to find tomotoes. There were carrots labeled as local but closer inspection of the bunch ties revealed a California sticker. Much of the produce was not labeled at all or had a Canada sticker on it but no indication as to precise location.

Questions that arose during this little scouting adventure: why isn’t our food labeled with location? why do we sell apple cider from Australia when we grow apples in the Okanagan? Why is food grown locally more expensive than food grown on the other side of the world and flown/shipped here? Where, oh where, are the local foods going?

After coming home, disappointed, I hopped onto twitter and clicked on EdibleVancouver’s link to their website and, through a series of link following, I found Get Local, an organization committed to finding and promoting local food growers and organizations. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! There is an extensive list on the site containing links to producers, distributors and various services to help you eat more locally grown foods. Here’s a sampling:

Shop for Local Food:

Capers Whole Foods Market (Vancouver, West Vancouver)
Choices Markets (Lower Mainland - various locations)
Drive Organics (Vancouver - 1045 Commercial Drive)
East End Food Cooperative (Vancouver - East)
Edible British Columbia (Vancouver - Granville Island)
Fraser Valley Farm Direct Marketing Association (Fraser Valley)
Hopcott Premium Meats (Pitt Meadows)
The Organic Grocer (Surrey)
Planet Organic Market (Port Coquitlam)
spud! (Vancouver - Granville Island)
Stong’s Markets Ltd. (Vancouver - West)
UBC Farm (Vancouver - West)
West Valley Market (Vancouver - Downtown)
Vancouver Farmers Markets (Vancouver - various locations)

All of this information will be keeping us busy while we wait for Episode 3 of 100 Mile (available, online, on Monday April 20th). Hope you watch it so that we can discuss!