Whey Cool

If you are into making your own mozzarella cheese or greek style yogurt, you may already be aquainted with the delicious drink made of whey. It's a shame my family had been missing out on this so long. No, we weren't letting the protein rich liquid go to waste. I would save it for use in bread making, soak dried beans in it before cooking, or acid up the soil around acid loving plants. Even the worm farm and compost bins appreciated a drink when there was more than enough to go around.
Well, it's not likely there will be any leftovers this summer. The whey liquid can be sweetened up with agave nectar or sugar and it tastes just like lemonade! Chilled, over ice it is just devine--and so healthy.



The picture at left shows how much whey liquid is recaptured from a single gallon of milk after making American Mozzarella Cheese using rennet. Nothing wasted! If you are looking for a really easy recipe, check out the Junket website or the rennet tablet packet insert.

Hello Green Sprout

Spring has arrived in Virginia with her traditional showers and plentiful pollen. Thanks to my friend, Katie, I've become aquainted with a great website to help me choose what to plant when. http://www.sproutrobot.com/ lets users register with zip code and email address to get updates on the perfect planting time for veggies. They also have subscriptions available for seeds and instructions based on garden size. Looks like the perfect gift for a young or new gardener.

I'm hooked. Thanks, Katie!

Water, water...but not everywhere

We have been on a quest to reduce our use of water. Well, a better goal would be to reduce our WASTE of water. We have tried all sorts of things so far. We let rainfall top off the swimming pool. We collect rainwater from the roof in barrels to water the plants in the garden. Zoysia grass is in the yard--it doesn't require much water and it only needs to be cut once a month so we also save time and gas.
Tonight, while washing up some utensils, it dawned on me that it would be really easy to capture the wash water and use it to water the potted plants on the front stoop. So, that's what I did. Four gallons later (I know it doesn't seem like much) the flowers and herbs have perked up and I'm feeling just a wee bit better about our efforts. Even if I only do this once a week, we will have saved 208 gallons of water a year. Yep, it makes me feel good.

I'm waiting on the water bill. It should be here any day. We have reverted back to some age old advice to save huge amounts of water. We'll see how the numbers drop and I share our super simple trick to save even more water soon.

The Only Constant is Change

Some changes we choose. Other changes choose us. Still other changes are somewhere in between.
Things are changing again--at the speed of light. So, I'm back for a while, fumbling my way through a maze of fewer resources, more demands, and the desire to wrangle control from my stuff. It's about life. The stuff should support me, not the other way around.
In time, I'm sure I will be compelled to share the whys but for now I'll just share the journey.