Reducing Your Kitchen's Footprint

A new year starts with resolutions. Many are going to do their best to reduce their carbon footprint. This could mean adding solar panels to their homes, shorter showers or subbing in public transportation for driving their cars to work. You can make a small difference , just by making your kitchen eco friendly.

First of all think about all the wasted food in your kitchen during the holidays.This happened to me when I discovered a half can of opened peaches covered in mold. I used half the peaches a few weeks ago to test out a peach melba recipe for CHristmas. Yet I didn;t use the rest of the can. The peaches went moldy and I had to throw them out.It was a waste. I  should have bought a smaller amount. or smaller can. I also realized that peach Melba is best made during the peach season which is the summer months. Use only fruit in season. That way you only have to buy one or two pieces if you're experimenting with a recipe.The same is true with veggies. Some veggies can give you a pass. You can easily turn any into part of a salad or full salad as well as part of of an omelet.Use every part of your chicken or turkey. The meat can be turned into sandwiches and hash while the bones can be used for soup.Stale bread can be ground into breadcrumbs. stale Cookies can be ground into crumbs for topping ice cream and parfaits.

What about with cleaning the kitchen? One of the best eco friendly cleaning devices is Casabella Infuse All Purpose cleaner. Target sells all the Infuse cleaners and tools. The mop is the best with a mop pad that can be used over and over again.It just has to be put into the washing machine every so often to clean it. The soap which again is all natural and non toxic is put into a tube in the handle. Then it's just squirt and mop. There are several green dish soaps that work well.One of the most popular is Mrs. Meyers, that's also sold at Target. It comes in nine different scents like Sea Salt Neroli and Lavender Cedar Leaf.What about those tough hard to get rid of grease stains and burnt parts that stick like glue onto pots and pans. Try the age old solution of apple cider and baking soda. It gets rid of any cooking debris and dirt. This combo also makes an excellent oven and range cleaner. Distilled vinegar is also a good cleaner , especially for the fridge and windows. You can also use it for cleaning out the microwave too.

This year resolve to make your kitchen an eco friendly one one. Think about what you're buying and if you;re going to waste it. Clean with all natural products.You'll be shrinking your kitchen and your house's carbon footprint for a greener ,cleaner planet

A Good Catch

July and August are the perfect months for fishing. There's nothing like the fresh catch of the day , steamed or grilled on your barbecue. Fresh seafood is fine however how safe is it? There are still areas in our oceans that can be deemed hazardous thanks to all sorts of nasty stuff. Where can you go for not only the freshest catch of the day but also the most healthiest?

In recent years humanity has been aware of the high levels of toxicity in our waters. There has been a lot of clean up, especially in the Atlantic, still is it enough? Most shore areas experience some kind of run off from the land. This includes chemicals found in commercial fertilizers and various cosmetics and bath products (most notably the parabens which will be banned in the US as of December 2008). This happens mostly when sewerage is channeled in local waters. Always be on the lookout where you fish. Stop fishing if you're off shore and you notice that there are red flags on the nearest beach. This indicates that raw sewerage is in the water and bathing along with fishing is unsafe. Radioactive waste is also dumped into oceans. The waste is transferred to cooling ponds and allowed to sit for a certain length of times , It is then dumped into the nearest sea.

What fish absorb the most pollutants?Let's face facts.Any fish does. It's not a matter of choosing one over the other. Crabs could contain just as many chemicals as sea bass. If you're concerned then cut out fishing all together. Supermarkets will provide you with fish and shellfish that have been raised in all natural or "free range" hatcheries.The quandary is if you like to fish what do you do? Catch and release? My advice is fish in waters you know are "environmentally safe" and try to limit fishing to maybe three times a month during the warmer weather.

Fresh fish is always a good catch. The problem lies not with them but with our waters.Remember to try to find a good catch in relatively clean waters.