Broadleaf Plantain

Now is the time of year when I'm really starting to get into putting food by. I always feel a little more secure knowing that my food stores will see us through the roughest weeks of winter. I don't currently put up enough food to not have to shop for groceries at all, but I try to keep enough on hand to keep grocery bills modest and provide a bit of safety in case of winter weather emergency. Any time I can get free food to put by, I'm thrilled.

Broadleaf plantain  (plantago major) is such a food. It's nutritious, versatile, free and easy to preserve. The seeds are rich in fiber and are a great way to add back some nutrition to white-flour based baked goods. They make a nutritious tea and can be added to a variety of dishes.

It's insanely easy to harvest and preserve. The day before you mow your lawn (so the stalks have plenty of time to mature and you get the largest stalks possible), simply walk around the yard and yank up any large stalks that are mature. What you are looking for is green stalks with the slightest bit of brown on the tips of the seeds. If it's pure green, they aren't fully mature and will be harder to strip. If it's pure brown they are also harder to strip and may be too old. Get at least a huge handful to make it worth the effort. It's best to let them sit for a couple of days on the counter before stripping the seeds. This lets the stalks dry out just a little so they don't break as easily.

I like to watch gardening videos on youtube while stripping them. It's mindless work, and gives me an excuse to sit down and relax with another Wisconsin Vegetable Gardeners video. To harvest, simply grasp the stalk at the top and pull your fingers towards the bottom while holding the stalk over a large bowl or cookie sheet. You'll end up with a small handful of tiny seeds. Some seeds will scatter, so it's best to do this at a table so you can sweep them up. 

After you have them stripped, you can air dry them. I simply put them in a thin layer on a cookie sheet, and throw them in a cabinet for a couple of weeks (or a couple of months by the time I remember). When they are fully dry, put them in an air tight jar. If you want to speed things along, use a dehydrator on a low-medium setting and check after a few hours, or use a low oven. 

To use them, you can either make a tea by pouring a cup of boiling water over a heaping tablespoon of the dry seeds.  This has a grassy flavor, but it is not unpleasant. My favorite way to use them is to add fiber and nutrients to baked goods. I replace up to 1/5 of the flour in a recipe with ground up plantain seeds when making pizza dough, highly flavored muffins, or even pancakes. If using a smaller amount, the taste isn't noticeable, but if you want to use a larger amount, make sure that there are other strong flavors to outweigh it. I've even mixed a small amount into granola.

If you are making tea, you can leave them whole. If you are adding them to baked goods, it's best to grind them up. I usually just pinch a small amount and smash them with my fingers a bit. If you want a more uniform grind or want to grind a large amount at once, use a blender or coffee grinder and then work through a sieve, regrinding the larger pieces as needed. These store really well over the winter. The longest I've kept some in storage was a year and a half, and they weren't rancid at that time, so feel free to put up a lot.

The leaves are also edible, but are best when young and tender. Harvest them while small and use like you would spinach. You could also dehydrate some of the leaves to add to your veggie powder jar. You can also use leaves of any age as a poultice for wounds. Just mash/chew up a leaf or two and place on the wound. Place a bandage or cloth over the area to hold in place. The young, softer green shoots can be steamed or stir-fried.

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Dumpster Diving Surprise

Last night I was digging around in a dumpster looking for some magazines to read. This particular bin is always filled with magazines and newspapers. I always find a few magazines that interest me and will later recycle them. 

This time I found an extra goody: a pair of Dockers pants in excellent condition.

 I looked them over and found no tears, no stains, no ripped hems, no fading and no frayed edges. I checked for the stains that announce bedbugs. They were perfect. I checked the tag. They were my size.

When I got home, I tried them on and they fit perfectly. Yay! I wash clothes immediately upon returning home in hot water to sanitize and get rid of any bugs that may have tagged along.

Even if the pants hadn't fit, they still would have been worth pulling from the dumpster. There is no need to allow good usable material to end up in the landfill.

First since they were in such awesome condition, I could have taken them to a consignment shop to try to make a couple bucks. One of my friends dumpster dives in nicer neighborhoods and sells any clothes or accessories she can't use to a consignment shop.

I could also ask my sisters or a couple friends if they wanted them. One of my sisters is still wearing a great leather jacket I pulled out of a dumpster in Edgewater a few years ago.

There was a thrift store a couple blocks away, and I could have just dropped the pants off. Someone would have loved them and the thrift store would have made a few extra dollars for a good cause.

I also will sometimes take clothes that aren't in pristine condition. There is still the possibility of altering an item (cutting off the bottoms of ragged-bottom jeans to make jean shorts), using the items for chores/painting/gardening or to use for crafting (unraveling a sweater for the yarn or cutting denim quilting squares from old jeans).

Family Gatherings that Save Money

Getting together with friends or family almost always costs quite a lot for a day's entertainment. When I want to spend time with Trucker, my parents and three sisters, if we are going a traditional entertainment route, it is going to cost $100 or more for a single day. We avoid the traditional and found some great alternatives. We have just as much fun, sometimes much more, save money on the costs of entertainment and often find ways to save money as well.

Fishing is a great way to spend the day. It's relaxing and quite pleasurable. A family friend allows us to fish in his two ponds for free. If we are ever unable to fish there, we will buy fishing licenses. They cost around $15 apiece for a year. Spread out over the warm months, it is a very cheap method of entertainment. An added bonus is that we take our meager catch home, where my dad and I clean the fish. We usually only have enough for a fish fry. Perhaps eventually we will bring home enough to freeze some for later.

Mushroom hunting is great exercise and great fun. Several friends throughout the state allow us to wander through their woods searching desperately for morels and puffballs. Sometimes we find none, other times we bring home enough for a few meals  and some extras to dry.

Wild-crafting is a favorite pastime for my sister and I. We go for walks , talking and picking wild berries, acorns, wild onions, chickweed, chicory, red clover blossoms and digging up dandelion roots. Then we'll sit in the kitchen to clean it all up and preserve it, often by drying.

My mother has a few apple trees on her property. During the harvest season, I go over to her house for processing day. My grandparents come over, my sisters stop by after or before work and the seven of us preserve it all. Mum is known for her apple pie, so most of the apples are chopped and frozen in batch-sized portions. Seconds are peeled and chopped for applesauce. The peels and cores are made into cider (see here for instructions on making cider without special equipment). The seven of us can get through more than two wheelbarrows full in a day. We split the cost of cinnamon, sugar and freezer bags and share all of the proceeds.

 Preserving food is a great way to spend time with a couple friends. Split up the costs between everyone for produce, ingredients, equipment and supplies. You can plan to can tomato sauce or jam/jelly. You can chop up vegetable blends to freeze for stir-fries or casseroles. You can dig up dandelions to dry and roast for dandelion "coffee".

Pick-Your-Own-Farms are great fun for an afternoon. Go to a strawberry field or a cherry or apple orchard. Split the cost and the harvest. If you'd like, you can then go home and make jam.

Other ideas are quilting bees, knit-ins, chopping firewood, planting a garden, and cooking dinner together.

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Alternatives to Shopping

Our consumer culture is fixated on going to the mall or shopping online. For those with limited funds or a desire for a less financially precarious life, there are many ways to get things that will enrich your life without spending money or stepping foot in a store.

PaperBackSwap. If you love to read, this really should be your go-to source for reading material. I have hundreds of books that I bought years ago and will never read again. I listed them on the site, and now I'm getting more books to read at no cost (besides shipping my books to other readers). A lot of the books that I've requested were impossible to find at used book stores and expensive on Amazon. Add to this the rich community among swappers and this site has my official recommendation.

Dumpster diving. This isn't for everyone; I know that. For those of you who aren't queasy, jump right in. There are all sorts of goodies waiting for you. Of course, you can't expect to find exactly what you're looking for; you are subject to the whims of those cleaning house. However, sometimes you do find exactly what you're looking for. One night after a concert, Trucker and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood. I decided right then and there to godiving and reached in to a dumpster. I pulled out a lovely, working lamp with lampshade. This was just a few days after I had decided to find another lamp for the living room.  Another time I found a copy of a novel that I had loved as a kid, and enjoyed reading it again.

Library. Get your books, movies and magazines for free instead of paying for them. My public library system is so amazing that I cancelled Netflix and rarely rent movies anymore.

Freecycle. Join your local branch of Freecycle. You can clear out stuff that you no longer want or need and ask for things that you do need. Some of the items I've seen offered are quite generous, such as pianos, bikes and office chairs. Added benefits are the environmental impact of less waste and fewer items being produced and that wonderful community feeling.

Crackle offers a rotation of movies that you can watch for free. You don't have unlimited selection, but I often find something that I'd enjoy watching. I don't have to pay for the DVD, rental fees or the outrageous prices for a movie theater ticket.

Project Gutenberg is a great source of free ebooks either to read on your PC or portable reading device. 38,000 free books in the public domain are waiting for you; you're sure to find something you'll enjoy reading.

Free boxes. Anytime I'm at a coffeehouse or a yard sale and I see a free box, I check it out. I've found good magazines and books, silly little kitchen gadgets and even clothes in my size in these free boxes. Once I found a Marc Jacobs jacket that was my size, in a color that looked great on me. It was missing a button, but I had some buttons at home and easily swapped them out.

Swaps. Have similar friends over for a swap meet. If many of your friends are film buffs, bring DVDs. If they are science fiction readers, bring novels. If you have several friends of roughly the same size, bring clothes to try on and trade; if your friends are all different sizes, swap accessories or jewelry. Make sure you each bring some booze or chocolate to really make it a party.

Why I Stopped Shopping

Years ago, I liked to shop. I would hit the malls or shopping districts a few times a week, always bringing home lots of cool stuff. My tiny studio apartment quickly became overloaded with all of these things that I thought I should own. For me, consumption was about trying to make myself feel better, to get a bit of happiness in a very unhappy life. I was working a job I disliked and I tried to assuage that frustration with clothes, books, movies and trinkets.It didn't work.

I am now an active anti-consumerist. I rarely buy things, and when I do, I consider whether it's needed or even really wanted. This aversion to buying stuff has enriched my life in many ways.

1. I save money. I used to spend a couple hundred dollars a week on things that I didn't use. That's over $10,000 a year. Instead of the money being spent on things that clutter my home, the money goes into savings for goals that really matter to me, like traveling, paying off debt, retirement, and buying a house.

2. My home feels better when it's clean. It's hard to keep a clean house when there's a lot of stuff.

3. I have more time. I am no longer spending time at the stores, so I have time to read, paint, hike, bike or go to concerts.

4. I have the option of working less. People commonly assume that the more you work, the more you can spend, but it's really the reverse. The more you spend, the more you have to work. By reducing my mindless consumption, I can work fewer hours each week and spend more time doing things that bring me pleasure. Alternately, I can work the same number of hours and bank the excess money and retire early.

5. I can spend ethically. I can spend my money at local places and support my community. I can buy organic produce or shop at farmers markets. I also refuse to buy anything from companies that don't live up to my high standards in the areas of environmental responsibility and worker wages/respect.

6. I save money on housing. The more stuff you have, the bigger your house needs to be (and the bigger your house is, the more stuff you'll be tempted to buy). Since I am no longer bringing "stuff" into my house, and am constantly looking for things that I no longer need to keep, I can get away with living in a smaller apartment or house. This saves hundreds of dollars just in rent/mortgage each month, and additionally saves on heating, decorating, property taxes and electricity.

7. I can have better things. Since I'm no longer buying for the sake of buying, I make sure I really want or need something before I buy it. Rather than having a dozen pairs of black dress shoes, I have one pair that fits well, is comfortable and that I get compliments on frequently. Rather than having an entire room filled with my books, many of which I will never read, I have a collection on topics I'm fascinated by and favorite authors. I read or reference all of my books often.

8. I can spend higher quality time with friends. I used to go shopping as my main social outlet. Of course, as soon as we walked in the stores, my friends and I would split into different directions. Now I can enjoy concerts, exercise, crafting and talking with friends.

9. I have more control over myself. Shopping is a lot like chocolate, alcohol or tobacco. It's not necessarily bad, but addiction can take hold and ruin your life. Just watch Hoarders. They feel that they can't stop shopping, even though they feel guilty when their kids can't sleep in their own beds or they can't get to the bathroom because of all the stuff. When I stopped mindlessly shopping, I regained control over myself. I still go to the stores occasionally, but I decide rationally what I need and what doesn't deserve a place in my home. I am in control.

10. I can really be happy. Even good stuff is never enough to fill the aching void. Eventually, I had to stop trying to fix my problems with shopping and figure out how to really be happy. Happiness isn't found at the mall or the mega box store. It's found out here.

Some inspiration and information on anti-consumerism:

George Carlin on "Stuff"

Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping (one of my personal heroes)

http://www.revbilly.com/

















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Homesteader's Hop

Eat for Free!

I'm one of those nut jobs that thinks that profit and food don't mix. Food is a basic human right, and so I don't like that 14.6% of Americans struggle to put food on the table (One in six families in my city lives in food insecurity). Not okay. Then there are those of us who don't struggle to keep just any food on the table, but instead struggle to keep the right kinds on (junk food tends to be cheaper than healthy foods, unless you really know how to shop). Or we have money to eat, but it takes away from our ability to pay for other needs (health insurance, gas for the car, new shoes).

Dandelions are edible from root to flower top.

The fact is that American households spend an average of $6372 on food each year, which is around 13% of their income, and European households spend far more. Cutting the expense by even a modest 10% can help a lot. So I have made a list of ways that you can eat free. Some you may find gross, immoral, too time consuming or weird, but I'm sure you can use at least a couple. Enjoy!

Dandelion roots can be eaten as a
vegetable or roasted for a
coffee-like beverage.

Plantain seeds are great for adding
to baked goods.

Eat wild foods. Wherever you live, there is something edible growing nearby. Mushrooms, berries, nuts, fruit, greens and flowers are all possible. One of my favorite foods is dandelion which is probably growing in your yard; I eat it as a pot herb, a soup, a fritter, a wine, a tea and a coffee substitute. Get a good, local plant guide and make sure that you positively identify anything before eating it.

Eliminate waste. Even though you've paid for it, by rescuing food from the trash, you basically get free food. Americans waste around 14% of the food they buy. Using the numbers from above, that is around $892 a year. Tell me you couldn't use that kind of money. Plan to use leftovers before they go bad: have a buffet night or use for lunches. Take inventory of the refrigerator every other day and plan meals around food that is about to go bad. Don't buy more than you can use.

To cubes of dried bread, add seasoning and just enough
 stock to moisten then bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
 for out f this world stuffing.

Eat your trash. Some parts of foods that are commonly thrown away can be eaten. Save veggie scraps (onion skins, potato and carrot peels, celery leaves, etc) in a container in the freezer until you have a good quantity. Then save the bones and skins from a chicken. Simmer together and strain for some out-of-this-world stock. Radish and beet leaves can be eaten as a cooked vegetable. Potato skins can be made into snacks. Juice apple peels and cores left over from making applesauce. I keep a container in the freezer for bits of foods such as tomatoes, leftover pasta, beans and onions and use to make Trash Chili. Stale bread can be made into any number of foods such as bread pudding, croutons, or breadcrumbs. Roast pumpkin seeds from your jack-o-lantern. Make cake pops out of dry cake.

Combine sales with coupons to get free stuff. With a bit of planning, I frequently get free food from the grocery. For example, I get a $1 coupon (say for pasta), then wait until it goes on a 10 for $10 sale in a couple weeks. When a new product is being rolled out, it is not uncommon to find coupons for a free product.

Look for neglected food in your neighbors yard. If your neighbors have fruit or nut trees in their yard that they obviously don't plan on using (the mulberries are staining the sidewalk) ask if you can harvest it for them. Offer to split it if you want, but often they'll just be glad to get rid of it. Many older homes have fruit trees left over from a more self sufficient time, and their new owners can't be bothered to harvest it all. I get lots of pears, mulberries and apples this way.

Dumpster drive. I know what you're thinking, it does sound gross. Often, however, food in a dumpster is often just as safe as it was in the store. Once food reaches its sell-by date, it's tossed, but it's not as if that date is magic and the food will instantly spoil at midnight. It's probably fine. I only take food that is in sealed containers and non-perishable (whereas others have eaten meat, produce and dairy with no ill effects). I don't take anything that leaks or bulges. Bakeries that bake everything fresh daily have wonderful dumpsters; you can fill the freezer with any excess you find. Obviously, it is a safer bet to dive a store's dumpster than a residential one.

Get online freebies. Many websites have lists of free samples that you can request from manufacturers and stores. My favorite is thunderfap.com. You just enter in your info and in 6-8 weeks, you get a mini-sized product. I've received spices, sauces, cereal, candy and granola bars. A plus is that you also receive coupons.

Ask. If you can't afford a food that you really enjoy (or need), it never hurts to ask. Write a letter to the manufacturer and ask for coupons. They'll often send them to you. As a thank-you, write a glowing letter that they can use on their website. Also, writing letters with questions, compliments or complaints will often net you great coupons.

Accept all freebies. If you are hungry, you should always say yes if offered food. Go to free community meals, such as those at churches or community centers. Sometimes chain cafes offer free coffee and samples. Sample all the goodies at the grocery store on Saturday morning.

Take advantage of work freebies. Some industries as a rule provide more in the line of free food than others (restaurants vs. construction), but it's often possible to find something. If you work in the food industry, you know all the ways to find free food: meal vouchers, discounts, discontinued products, leftovers and mistakes. Definitely make sure that you have your boss's permission first. Don't lose your job over a broken bread stick (it happened to a former coworker of mine). If you work in other industries, you may still find free food in the break room or at company parties or meetings. One of my previous employers would supply all employees with tickets to most local events. I often got tickets for pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinners.

Regrow your trash. A lot of vegetables can be regrown from scraps to get more food just for a bit of water and effort. Green onions in particular are easy to regrow. Just place the white bulb of the green onion in a small glass with water covering the bottom. Place in a sunny windowsill. Change the water every day or so and it will grow new greens. You can also experiment with regrowing romaine lettuce, celery, bulb onions, lemongrass, potatoes, beet greens and bok choi. If you plant a single clove of garlic from the bulb, it will regrow a whole new bulb. (Thanks, ioianthe, for the tip!)

By using some of these tips, you can easily cut your grocery expenditures by 10%. If you really want to, you could even eliminate your grocery bill all together. If you are living with a very low income, don't be too proud to ask for help (government, community or family), especially if your children are hungry. In this civilization, there is no reason for anyone to go hungry.

Lifestyles Beyond Money

The American Dream costs money. You have get married (average wedding cost: $28,000), have a few kids (average cost to raise a child to 18: $222,360), buy a nice house (average sale price in 2010: $272,900), work a full time job (average hours worked a week 35) until you are too old to be useful, when you die alone in a nursing home (average cost per year: $70,008). Yuck.

Fortunately, there are lifestyles beyond the American Dream model. These lifestyles are more suited to your own reality, fantasy or desire. They may require money, or they may not, or they may require less than the average family. You can work as little as you want, or for as little money as you want. You can take seasons off, or work from home. It all comes down to what you want out of your life.

Self Sufficiency. The self sufficient lifestyle is when you produce everything you need, from food to clothing to transportation. You do not need a job to survive. Potentially, your only expense would be property tax. The money needed to pay the taxes can be quite low depending on house and location, and could be paid with interest income, or odd jobs. 


Self Reliance. Short of complete self sufficiency, is a lifestyle of ever increasing self reliance. You produce some of your needs, while still holding some form of job (or while living off other forms of income, such as investment earnings, or retirement payments) to pay for others. Perhaps you could produce all of your energy needs through solar panels, all of your food through gardening. This is easier than complete self sufficiency and very rewarding as you can simply look for ways to eliminate those expenses you despise.

Anti-consumerism/Freeganism. Anti-consumerism entails bucking the current consumer model of constant need. You realize that you don't need stuff and eliminate mindless consumerism from your life. You pay only for needs and instead of shopping, turn to the free pleasures of life: family, friends, community, self enrichment. You capitalize on the wanton waste of our society by diving dumpsters, shopping curbs, or scraping plates.

Frugal Living. Cutting expenses is a tried-and-true method of living on less income. You find ways to save money and reduce expenses. You cut the expenses as far as you can before you start to lose quality of life. For example, if you used to have full cable, frugal living would call for cutting back on the channels, then eliminating cable opting for renting movies, then checking movies out from the library, then throwing away the TV. Other options in frugal living are extreme couponing, thrift shopping, cooking at home, and single car living.

Nomadic living. You eschew the traditions of house and home and find yourself on the road. You may live in your car, or a hotel, or in a park. You can try out new cities and small towns. If you feel happiest when traveling, this lifestyle can be the way to live every day like it's the first day of vacation. You can work odd jobs when you need money or work freelance.


Independently wealthy. This requires money, and a lot of it, but may free you from needing a job. You combine extreme frugality with working many hours at a high paying job. You aim to live on as little money as possible and bank every penny. After a relatively short period of time, your investments will build to a substantial amount. Once the interest you earn is enough to live on, you quit your job. As long as your investments hold out, you'll never have to work again a day in your life. 

Simple Living. Living can be simple. You need air, good food, good water, shelter, personal enrichment and love. Everything else can be done without. You look for ways to simplify every area of your life. You have no clutter and little stress. You set up automatic payments for all bills and avoid unnecessary business. You spend time relaxing or spending time with family. This is a great way to live if you are retired, or have children you want to watch grow up.


There are other niche lifestyles that I will touch on in other posts. You can live car free preferring to transport by foot, bike or public transportation. Environmental responsibility calls for ethical and safe products, and an elimination of waste. You could eliminate all use of plastics, or implement a religious adherence to the three R's. Vegetarianism/Veganism puts your ethics to work while potentially saving you big bucks. Locavores eat only locally produced food and keep all (or at least most) of their money in the community. Self employment gives you control of your earnings, your hours worked and your moral integrity.Volunteer poverty allows you to live in solidarity with those who do not have the opportunities to climb the economic ladder. Holistic living means living outside the 21st century concept of medicine and health, opting instead for herbal remedies, nutrition, exercise and natural products.

You can incorporate bits and pieces of all of these concepts to make your life what you want it to be. I produce some of my own food, and wildcraft for even more. I own a car, but walk or bike as often as I can. I cut expenses in many areas of my life, and dumpster dive often. I eat little meat and hate to shop. What all of this means practically, is that my life is mine. Trucker (my significant other) was able to spend the last two years getting his business off the ground, while I work four days a week in a lower income job that I love. I have time to spend with him, and have all of the things I want, most of which are intangible. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Live happy!