Making the Most of Summer Strawberries

Nothing says early summer like some ripe juicy strawberries. 

To make the most of your strawberries, first, change the way you are cutting the tops off. If you are still cutting straight across the top, you are losing quite a bit of that juicy goodness. 

Switch to a strawberry huller like this:

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A huller is super easy to use. Simply push the button to expand the claw, insert into the top of the strawberry, release the button to close the claw, and twist to remove the leaves and a small amount of white pulp.

Next, you can use the stems too! The leaves have been studied for nutritional value, and are not only edible by humans, but also contain vitamins, antioxidents, and digestive benefits. 

So how should you use them? 

Blend: use the whole strawberry when you make a smoothie, or incorporate the greens into a pesto.

Infuse: add the tops to simple syrup or vinegar for extra flavor.

Soak: use the fresh tops in infused water, or dried tops as tea.

This 16oz glass of water has 5 strawberry tops, leaving a light refreshing strawberry taste after about 10 minutes.

Cheers to the summer fruit season!

Fallen Trees Get a Second Life

Silocone, metal, wood... most of us have a favorite for cooking utensils. Wooden utensils can make a great addition to your set. They're durable and won't absorb heat like metal. 

They can also be beautiful works of art. A few of my family went to the Vashon farmers market this weekend, and stumbled across this awesome crafter, John Moore of Treen Ware, who turns out beautiful pieces like these turners and spatulas. 

Each piece is engraved with his signature and the type of wood identified. 

He makes spatulas, turners, ladles, spoons, and more. Look at this gorgeous wood pattern.

While wood is a durable, heat-resistant, and renewable material, you still don't need to use virgin lumber for pieces like this. John only uses "second chance" wood, that is, trees that have fallen naturally or need to be removed for other reasons. 

Like what you see? You can find John at the contact info below, or at the Vashon farmer's market. 

You can find similar pieces and other wood-working using fallen trees by searching: "second chance", "reclaimed", or "salvaged" wood.

While these utensils do cost a bit more than at  standard department store, you are also paying for the craftmanship.

You can also look into these businesses as an option to take away fallen trees. Seattlewoodturners.org is an example organization who will take your wood (no cost to you, and a donation receipt!) for use by their members. Compared to landscapers, waste removal, and other services, this can potentially save you hundreds $$$ while providing free raw materials to craftspeople.

Digest: 20 Tips to Stretch Your Food

To say I love food is an understatement. Taste is my favorite of the senses, cooking is a creative outlet for me, and eating a treasured hobby. 

Therefore, my fridge is always full, and there are always leftover meals or ingredients to get creative with. It should come as no surprise that over the years, we've gathered all of the following posts and tips to make the most of your food: 

Use Up Raw Ingredients

Preserve your end-of-season tomatoes by making sauce. 

Clean out your fridge after a holiday feast and make something completely brand new.  

Portion that tomato paste for future recipes.

Produce subscriptions connect you to "ugly" produce at a discount.  

Make your own spice mixes on demand. 

 

Reinvent Cooked Foods

Leftover mashed potatoes turn into a gourmet breakfast. 

Reinvent your Thanksgiving turkey and veggies with this cheesy pot pie.  

Use Scrap Parts

Most vegetable greens can make for a good pesto.

Reuse pickle brine for more pickles!

Don't throw out the oils from your jarred marinated veggies. 

Use whole foods (fennel fronds and lemons with rind!) for a flavor-packed entree.

Who knew bean juice was so versatile? 

Turn cobs and shells into a delicious broth for soups, risottos, and more.

Eggs shells make a good supplement for your plants. 

Keep your marshmallows fresh with a heel of bread.  

 Peel those (broccoli) stems for use in soups, stir fry, and more. 

Gardening

Regrow lettuce from it's core. 

Potatoes and tomatoes are easy to start in a home garden. 

 

Motivation

Get inspired by watching top chefs get creative with scraps.  

 Documentaries can help expand your thinking about other ways to reduce waste or reuse scraps. 

 

 

Second-hand in Salt Lake City

It wouldn't be exploring another town if I didn't check out at least a few thrift, consignment, or antique shops. So when I visited my dear friend, A, in Salt Lake City, I ended up at iconoCLAD. 

iconoCLAD sells both new and used clothing, with the consigned clothing filling over half the shop. I visited their original store at 414 E 200 S, but they now have two locations for your convenience.

iconCLAD has won local awards for being Best Boutique and Best Consignment, and I can see why. They have a fun, splashy festival vibe, and lots of fun pieces at great prices. Like many secondhand stores, they try to keep their stock rotated by offering deep discounts on certain colored labels.

I found this super sweet embroidered dress, tea length, and with sheer sleeves. It fit me perfectly, except for a little snug in the sleeves, so I will post again once I've completed alterations.

Look at that gorgeous detail!

This Lace & Mesh dress has an estimated original retail price $38. Happy enough with the $22 price tag, I was ecstatic to find that it was 75% off, and resulting in me paying only $5.50! Wha??

From there, the happy surprises just kept on coming: 

1. Dress is 75% off. Surprise!
2. You get a sticker with every purchase. Choose from kitten, puppy, or unicorn. Surprise!!
3. You get a discount off your next purchase valued at 10% off your current purchase. $0.55 coupon. Surprise!!!
4. With any purchase, you get to choose something from the free barrel next to the register, presumably items that have timed out from their purchasing window. How great to give them one last chance for a happy home? Surprise!!!!
   

And... this is why they've won awards. Who can help but leave with a smile on their face, after all those bonuses?

Last but not least: shop kitties. Two sweet cats were making this shop their home, napping in the window and under shelves.

So, if you're ever passing by Salt Lake City, make sure to give iconCLAD a visit. The kitties are waiting for you to say hello.

Jump-start your Thoughtful Consumerism this Earth Month!

It's April again, and that means we are almost half-way through Earth Month and Earth Day is just around the corner (observed Saturday, April 21st this year).

If this unusually cold winter and spring have you down, try a new habit to make you feel better and know you're making a positive contribution. Here are just a few ways you can celebrate: 

Check out this Bingo card for 25 easy ways to get involved, whether it's converting to a reusable item, switching your shopping habits, completing a DIY project, or making household improvements, there's an idea for your flavor of sustainability. 

Watch a documentary to get inspired. 

See these 27 tips from 2020's quarantine Earth Day. We gained so many learnings when folks weren't commuting every day, and so many are still applicable 3 years later. 

Conduct a trash audit, so you know your baseline and what to prioritize in this year's new habits.

Let a subscription service like Mighty Fix help you swap one item in your home each month. 

If you need a motivational or accountability buddy, reach on out!

How Do You Stack Up?

Are any of you competitive? I don't typically think I am, but I have to admit that I like receiving my electric bill, which comes along with a statement about where I am relative to the "efficiency zone" and how I compare to homes like mine in my area. It's like an adult version of a "Good job!" sticker on your homework. :)

So I was thrilled to find out today that thredUP has launched a new Fashion Footprint calculator. You can walk though your clothing purchasing habits, such as how often you shop in person or online, how often you make returns, how you dispose of your clothes, and more. And you get a great summary to let you know how you're doing:

In the green? Pat yourself on the back! They also estimate how much your habits cost annually, so you can know just how important your contributions are.

If you would like to be doing better than you are (or just be an over-achiever), they then show the most impactful actions you can take. By far the most valuable thing you can do is source your clothing second-hand - just keep items in circulation longer.

As you go through the survey, they share tips and facts related to each of the questions. And they wrap up with "12 Ways to Transform Your Sustainable Fashion Journey". Perhaps my favorite is to install the Good On You app, a resource for when you purchase new clothing, which scores brands for responsible (good to people, animals, and planet) fashion. This saves you from having to sift through green-washing or deeply research the items you purchase. 

I'm loving this new resource, and the opportunity to compete, even if just with myself.

Frugal Friends

By now you've seen we can be quite successful finding great pieces thrifting, either online or in person. But I haven't shared all my tips yet to coming home with amazing pieces you'll love and at the right price. 

By far, the best tip for in-person shopping is to go with a friend who knows your style. Thrift store racks can be chaos, and it can be easy to miss a gem by moving too fast. You and your shopping buddy can keep an eye out for each other's tastes. My dear friend T knows that I love anything with bold print (especially animals!) and I know that she prefers anything in 100% cotton and handbags that are iridescent. She's been the person to find over half of my in-person purchases.

This week, we went to Capitol Hill Goodwill, and she spotted this patterned sleeveless blouse for me. Is it circles? Is it diamonds? Yes. 

The double layers keep it from being sheer. I will like this sleeveless for warmer days, or layered with a flowy sweater for cooler days.

 

And, of course, the price needs to be right. This Rose + Olive blouse was in excellent condition for $15. It was hard to find an exact "new" price, but similar blouses by the brand on Poshmark have reference prices ranging from $35-50, so I'm pretty pleased.

On the same outing, at Lifelong Thrift, I was super excited to find this adorable little llama planter by Kikkerland.

 

Originally sold for $18, this little guy was priced at $5 and its color tag was on discount, so he came home with me for just $4. He's now with my growing collection of plants and will eventually hold a succulent.

So, if you're having a bit of a dry spell seeking those special finds, gather your treasure hunting buddies and try again!