Monthly Archives: January 2012

Jan27

From Grist–Use Up, Wear Out, Make Do: Buy Less in 2012

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From Grist–Use Up, Wear Out, Make Do: Buy Less in 2012

I like buying new shoes. And new clothing. And new makeup. And new electronics. And new furniture. Heck, give me a few free hours on a Saturday, and I can go out and buy a whole new me. Every January I find myself especially vulnerable to doing this as I reinvent certain aspects of my life at the start of the year. “New Year, New Me” always seems to mean buying new stuff to go along with my new goals.

So when I saw this on Grist, it was a much-needed reminder that even the meanest, greenest new gadget is not nearly as green as using up the stuff I already have:

Things which you already own have much less of an environmental impact than new things which are made to replace them, even if the new things have a shiny green pedigree. Buying a green replacement for something you already own that you don’t need to replace isn’t green; it’s wasteful.

Giving my life an occasional makeover by buying lots of new things is therefore not in line with my goals of living with a smaller footprint, but I can still have fun creatively reusing what I already own. For example, last weekend I was inspired to reinvent our living room. Rather that buying new furniture and repainting, we rearranged what we had before making any purchases. The space looks completely different, and the costs, both in terms of cash and environmental impact, were limited to a few house plants.

I don’t plan to forsake ever buying anything new (God forbid!), but taking some time to think about whether something I already own will serve my needs is a good habit to develop. And if I do need or want something new, I will still aim to make better decisions, such as looking for something used, especially for things which do not wear out easily, or buying something made with sustainability and/or longevity in mind. My new watch, for example, is only new to me–when my old watch showed signs that it was wearing out and winding down for good, I purchased an heirloom quality watch from the estate (used) case of a trusted jeweler rather than buying a brand new one. In this case I needed a watch, and I met that need with a used piece that is so well made that I can expect it to outlive me.

Now if only someone would start making heirloom quality shoes!

Jan12

Product Review–Omega J8006 Juicer, aka My New Best Friend

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Product Review–Omega J8006 Juicer, aka My New Best Friend

My Omega J8006 with most of the ingredients for my favorite juice.

Back in November at Dr. Furhman’s Weekend Immersion, I picked up an Omega J8006 masticating juicer. I had wanted to take my juicing to the next level, and replacing my old entry-level Juiceman with a more powerful machine was the step I needed to take, though I was afraid that I would be dropping a rather sizable amount of cash on a fancy dust collector if my enthusiasm for juicing waned. So far, it has not, and I owe it in large part to this magnificent machine.

The Omega J8006 doesn’t just make excellent juice. I have also used it to grind flax seeds and coffee (though not together!), make almond butter, and extrude pasta. This multi-tasker has earned a permanent place on my counter, which encourages me to use it almost daily. My favorite juice at the moment is a mixture of kale (5-6 leaves), ginger (a small hunk), cucumber (4-5″ piece of English cucumber), 1 apple, celery (3-4 stalks), carrots (2), and the juice of half a lemon. I credit this juice in combination with topical coconut oil for clearing up my skin.

Like all machines, this one has its good and bad points, so for those of you shopping for a juicer here’s a breakdown of each:

Pros

  • Produces a high volume of juice. Seriously, the ejected pulp is practically dry, so I know I am getting the maximum juice for my produce.
  • Easily cleaned. I keep the machine right next to the sink, which makes it easy to dump the dirty parts in a sink of hot suds at the end of my juicing session. The included brush is the perfect size for ensuring that any little bits of food leftover are removed from the screen. I find cleaning this machine to be much easier than cleaning my old Juiceman.
  • Fairly quite. Since the machine slowly pulverizes the produce, it lacks that horribly loud grinding sound of other types of juicer.
  • Multi-tasks. I love that it makes perfect ground flax-seed in addition to excellent juice.
  • Looks good. Just look at it! Isn’t it a sexy thing?
  • Telling people you have a masticating machine is always good for a few giggles.

Cons

  • Produce must be cut before juicing. There’s no shoving whole apples and carrots into this puppy. To deal with the extra work, I set up a cutting board on the counter right in front of the machine, making the work slightly more streamlined.
  • Making pasta is hard because it sticks together as it extrudes. A friend (Hi Chris!) recently suggested that I set up the juicer over a pot of boiling water to prevent this, but I have yet to try it.
  • Making almonds into butter takes many passes. First you get almond meal. Then you put the almond meal through again and again and again. Eventually it turns into butter, but it takes a while.
  • It can get stuck if overfed, especially with seeds. The machine has a reverse gear to help it get unstuck, and over time I have learned where its tolerances are for various substances, but initially I found it annoying.
  • One last thing–it doesn’t do citrus. I don’t really see this as a “con”,  but if all you want is fresh OJ, the Omega J8006 is not your machine.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is serious about juicing. The Omega J8006 is worth the expense and can make juicing a simple part of your daily routine for a fraction of what it costs to have someone else juice for you.

Jan5

From Disease Proof–Does Going Gluten-Free Equal Fabulously Healthy or Fabulously Foolish?

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From Disease Proof–Does Going Gluten-Free Equal Fabulously Healthy or Fabulously Foolish?

The other day Thing 2 ran up to me in Wegmans and handed me a packaged cookie. “It’s dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free and gluten-free, Mommy!” he beamed. “Can we get some?” It felt like a hockey puck in a plastic sack. “I think this one might be fun-free, Buddy,” I said as I put it back on a shelf filled with other “everything-free” treats.

I have given up a lot in pursuit of good health. Meat went first, more than 15 years ago. More recently I gave up eggs and dairy (and blue cheese, heaven help me) as I transitioned to an almost completely vegan diet (I cheat with marshmallows and the rare egg and dairy when traveling). I drew the line at gluten, however.

I did try. So many health gurus have been spouting off the benefits of gluten free living that I decided to see what it does for me. Perhaps I was one of those unfortunate souls with a hidden gluten sensitivity! Perhaps it would came me to miraculously drop those last 10 pounds!

I found instead that it made me miserable with no benefit to my health. I did not feel better, but I did feel deprived. It’s not that you can’t have wonderful vegan, gluten-free food, but it takes soooooooooooooo much work for so little reward for someone who doesn’t have a gluten allergy.

It would seem that Doctor Furhman agrees that while gluten is a problem for some, avoiding gluten is not worth the effort for most of us:

Does Going Gluten-Free Equal Fabulously Healthy or Fabulously Foolish? : Disease Proof.

So if you’ve been thinking about giving up gluten, there’s two things you should know:

1. It’s going to be really tough. Gluten hides everywhere. It’s not just in bread and cookies, but also in beer, soups, spices mixtures, and even in envelope glue.

2. If you buy gluten free substitutes for traditional wheat products, it won’t help you lose weight. Often the gluten free version has more calories, as the manufacturer ups the fat and sugar to compensate for the tougher texture.

Despite this, I do include some gluten-free items in my pantry, in part because I came to like them, and in part because I have a friend who cannot eat gluten for genuine medical reasons. I love brown rice pasta. I will make “oatmeal” with quinoa instead of oats. My gluten free-chocolate cupcakes are as good as the wheat version.

But my seitan is all gluten, and my pizza crusts are whole wheat. That’s fine for my system, because I am in the 90% that has no problem with gluten.