Soothing Saturdays and Eco-friendly Kitchens

Teacher summer is wonderful. Glorious. I'm already sad that it will end in about 7 weeks. However, it's nice to know that I'll have my equally wonderful Saturdays all year 'round.

Yesterday, Sam and I slept in and then went for a walk. We're lucky enough to have a little apartment amidst some really amazing (and crazy expensive) houses on streets that are overflowing with gigantic oak trees. So I tossed on my Tevas and some work-out clothes, chopped a banana and a peach into some plain yogurt with just a tiny tad bit of honey, and was ready to go. First stop, the lovely community garden that we happened upon a few months ago when we were walking/exploring. We were finally getting around to dropping off the compost that had been collecting for more than two weeks now. (The picture is of the garden in question.) I love living in an urban area- fourth largest city in the country, holla!- and yet being so close to great parks, outdoor activities, surrounded by palm trees and all kinds of plants and foliage, and stumbling upon things like community gardens a few blocks away. After we dropped off the compost, we walked to the museum where Sam used to work to pick up his last paycheck. The museum district in this city is another glorious component of a city that I expected to hate before I moved here. By the time we got back from this 5 or 6 mile walk in the 97 degree weather, I was pleasantly exhausted. The day got better though! After a break, we walked a mile to the Borders to look at books and relax and walked from there to the Houston Pride Parade. I think the point of all this ranting is that I like to walk.

On that note, here's
WHY YOU SHOULD COMPOST:

• If you put all those scraps in the trash, you're filling landfills more than you need to.
• If your trash bag fills up less quickly, you're cutting down on all the fuels used to transport trash to those landfills.
  
• "Organics in landfills break down anaerobically, producing methane gas„a substance 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a contributor to climate change."


• It will keep your kitchen trash from getting gross!


• "About one-third of residential waste is compostable. Costs for waste collection and disposal can be significantly decreased by reducing garbage volume."


• The compost turns into really great soil to be used for gardening. Topsoil is becoming less and less readily available and, in order to grow enough food- especially organic food, you have to have areas with a ton of topsoil to grow in.


• As I was trying to think of more reasons why you should do this, I came across this site that probably explains it better that I am.
  

WHAT SHOULD YOU COMPOST? egg shells, any scraps of fruits, vegetables, grains, tea bags, paper plates and scraps of paper, coffee grinds and filters, peels

In closing, a jumble of thoughts...

• I just finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and loved it! I had started it once before, gotten bored with it, and moved on. This time, I gave it a chance because my friends and I were trying to have a book club. The book club fell through (because we're flaky) but the book was very recommendable.


• Today I tried to make these Easy Morning Glory Muffins. After I put all the dry ingredients in the bowl, I realized that we were out of carrots and apples. Horror! Instead, we had improvised muffins. I used apple sauce instead of vegetable oil. They were edible. If anyone tries following the actual recipe and likes it, let me know.


• I need to get my act together and start applying to grad schools... and figure out what the heck I want from school and/or future jobs.