Sunshine Guerrilla: February 2017

Stewardship and Spirituality; New Ideas to Try for Lent

by balfeo - Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Three Ideas for Things to Try this Lent

by balfeo - Monday, February 27, 2017

I love Lent. Ash Wednesday kicks off one of my favorite seasons every year, not only because it leads to a glorious reunion with chocolate weeks later, but because it really offers so much spiritual focus, and it always reminds me that being a Christian is a full time gig, so everything we do has real spiritual effects.

Every year, the Boy and I give up our favorite treats- chocolate for me and fried food for him (sometimes with other things added to the forbidden food list). We also try to increase our discipline in going to church, because it can be easy to slip out of the habit when you are super shy, and talking to strangers early in the morning is part of the deal. It becomes a really wonderful time that we complain about every step of the way.

from Mary Beth Johann's facebook page

Today, a picture floated around on Facebook suggesting that rather than giving something up abstractly, we could all physically give something away every day during Lent. I LOVE THIS IDEA. So genius! This suggests clothing specifically, but it makes another way to self-assess the areas in life where you hold on to things that don't do you any good (kind of like a hoard of chocolate, I carefully store in my belly).

Not only does that cut into the capitalist narratives of ownership that I firmly believe get in the way of our being good Christians, but it also feeds gifting and secondhand economies that help us re-use rather than fill the world with even more stuff. I marvel at these ideas, where generosity towards others and good stewardship collide, and I genuinely feel blessed about the encouragement that this is so often the case. How cool that when we treat each other with kindness, we treat the world God gave us better as well!

So this made me wonder, what other things could we give up for Lent to be better Stewards? These are the best ideas I could think of.

1. Make Gratitude a Part of your Daily Routine- Many of us feel grateful every day, but it can be harder to put that gratitude into words or action. It’s worth it to do so. I actually started this blog many moons ago because I was absolutely miserable at grad school, and I needed a space to be as happy, colloquial, and grateful as I wanted to be. Only good things have come from it, and I am resolving to bring back the three things I am grateful for this Lent. You could write your own three things daily- in a journal, online, heck do it in the comments of this blog and you will basically make my life! You could start the 100 days of happiness challenge, because happiness and gratitude are deeply intertwined emotions. Want to take it to the next level? You could decide one thing you are really grateful for (food, an education, a happy childhood) and look into opportunities to volunteer so you can help someone else have the same thing. Pray about it, and I think a Lenten project where you turn gratitude into action might be amazing.

Why It’s Great for You- Life will easily supply frustration, sadness, and your share of bad days (I mean, for goodness sake, today is all about how we came from ash and will be ash again). You can’t do anything to stop the crappy things from happening, and when they come, you have to deal with them. The best way to maintain balance and joy in our life is to focus on the good things we do have, even in the midst of a bunch of junk. Your life will never be worse for feeling grateful, and resolving to make it a habit only takes those positive emotions and moments to a new level.

Why It’s Great for the Earth- When you love what you already have, you spend less time wishing for things you don’t have. I know it’s a platitude, but sometimes clichés get legs for a reason.

Secondly, to me, a big part of gratitude is taking care of what you have. When we feel like we can just trade what we have in for a new one, we may be less apt to take care of it. I want to show God I am grateful not only by saying thank you, but by treating his creation and his people as precious, worthy of respect and care.

2. Meatless Monday- We started this last year (Meatless Monday and Seafood Sunday to be exact, since we live in Seattle), and I think it’s a fun and relatively simple resolution to take on! Don’t eat meat one day a week during Lent. If you are Catholic, you already do one day- so step it up to two! See, easy!

Why It’s Great for You- First of all, you may have noticed that buying local, ethical, or organic is expensive. TRUTH! We may have had a chicken-buying incident that I thought would be the end of the green-living road for us. It was shocking. One of the best mantras to save when you approach life this way is to think about buying better, but also less. Meatless Monday gives you an opportunity to explore other options for protein (nuts, beans, eggs) that are usually much cheaper! It’s a way to sneakily put some money back into your budget for the other days ( I also recommend recipes that spread your meat portions further, like lasagna or pot pie or soups).

The other bright side is that it is healthier for you! Meat, though it is a great source of protein, is also a big source of cholesterol, fat, and other less savory treats. Many cultures, including ours, also tend to eat it in much larger portions than are healthy or necessary.

Why It’s Great for the Earth: Meats, especially beef, require a ridiculous amount of resources, water, and energy to make. On McDonald's website, they point out that cattle farming accounts for the largest percentage of their energy use. Think about how many McDonald's you see with their lights on in the middle of the night. Not even a dent in comparison. Beef is responsible for a huge amount of CO2 emissions and fossil fuel use. They also are often treated unethically in ways that ended my love for hamburgers long ago. Taking it easier on these meats, even if you aren't willing to give them up, conserves energy and resources for other things!

3. Cut Out Some One Time Use Objects for your Routine- Once you start to look, it’s a bit like a horror movie; plastics are everywhere! This pesky material can be found in every room in our house. Our food comes wrapped in it. Our soap is housed in it. Our stuff is made of it. It is everywhere! It can be recycled, but so much of it isn’t. Cutting all plastic waste from your life is a huge task, but I bet you can cut one. And if you are going to cut one, edit out something that has been nagging you about your own habits. Finally splurge on a reusable water bottle, and kiss those plastic ones good bye. Bring Reusable bags to the grocery store and stop using those one-off plastic bags. Just stop with the horrible children's snack pouches, which are used once and tossed. Are you a coffee drinker? Time to bring your mug with you.

The list here could go on and on, but you know your life. Which plastic do you and your family cling to that you could do without? Pick something you aren't going to use for forty days, and stick to it. If you forget your coffee cup, you don't get coffee. That's 40 coffee cups out of a landfill! Just bring an apple with you, instead of the apple-filled plastic sack you will toss before you know it. Choose one thing, and just try life without it. Just turn down plastic straws- it won't cost you anything!

Why It’s Great for You- It's no secret- plastics are horrible for you. Even BPA-free items have BPS, and that is turning out to be just as bad for your intestines and endocrine system. We keep trying to not notice, because it's just so easy, but it is a huge challenge for your family to work one of these items out and see hwo it goes (surprise! not so bad).

Why It’s Great for the Earth- Have you seen the video with the garbage mountains on the beach? Heard the news that plastic will outnumber fish before we know. This is some truly devastating news, but the good news is we can start turning it around. Let this be a space where we all learn something this year.

Good luck everyone!

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Tortellini Soup for Meatless Monday

by balfeo - Monday, February 27, 2017

It's February, and we are still going strong on our vegetarian eating one day a week! How is everyone else doing? Just remember, even changing one meal a week can have a positive environmental impact! Meat, come at a shockingly high cost for the earth around us. Producing meat products uses so much water, create so much waste (including plastic), and emits a lot of greenhouse gases.

Beef uses 11 times the water and produces 5 times the greenhouse gases of other animal proteins, so if you want the most bang for your environmental buck, that is where to start.

We are still looking for vegetarian recipes to add to our arsenal, so I thought I would share some of our attempts and successes with you. My husband is an awesome cook, so I know we will find some good stuff to share.

The Boy's mom recommended this recipe to him, so we tried it out, and it was really good! Might be perfect if you are trying to do something that is simple and freezes well (The Boy's favorite thing for food).

You can check out the source recipe here.

First, I want to say I got sent to buy the tortellini for this. I found a cool brand- three bridges- but if you only see Butoni, don't buy it. Pretend this post never happened. Butoni is owned by Nestle. Nestle has reached epic levels of nastiness in their search of money. The tortellini soup was good, but not good enough to give money to people who are stealing American water out from under us and trying to take away water as a basic human right.

Other options definitely exist, and honestly it would still be good with regular pasta if you don't have any other options for pre-made raviolis or tortellinis.

I did buy spinach and cheese tortellini, because when you can add some veggies, why not? I also never really get the appeal of "three cheese" things.

Ok, so if you want the recipe, look here. The Boy made a few changes:

Add diced onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. As a spectator, I would guess he used a third of a yellow onion, 5 cloves of garlic, and no idea on the last one.

Add fresh basil and parmesan to the end.

Thoughts afterwards- It was actually better than I was expecting, so what a nice surprise! The Boy was concerned about spice level and whether to add more vinegar, but I actually thought it could have had a little more tomato flavor. Maybe add some fresh tomato in the summer? I also thought a little sweetness might be good, so some carrots might be delicious.

It was also a big hit with our two year old. Anything for noodles!

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Five Favorite Etsy Stores for Grocery Bags

by balfeo - Sunday, February 26, 2017

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Friday Five- No Cable, Naked Grandmas, and Dobby

by balfeo - Friday, February 24, 2017

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The Great Donate 2017- Newborn Goods be Gone!

by balfeo - Thursday, February 23, 2017

This year, I set an ambitious goal for our family- donate or recycle 2,017 items from our home. It sounds crazy, but it isn't as crazy as you think. The average American home has 300,000 objects in it, so giving up 2,017 isn't even 1%. We are taking on this challenge for a number of reasons-

-A cluttered house wastes so much time. I have two small children, and everything in my house needs to be worth the time I am going to spend picking it up off the floor. Less stuff= less to clean= more time to spend actually playing or making or writing this blog.

-Too much stuff keeps us from even knowing what we have. Have you ever bought something at the store only to find you already had it at home? Me too. And that is waste.

- Someone else can use it. We have stuff sitting in wait for us to need it or want it again, but someone else can use that blanket/ coat/ book; now. And if we give it to them, we can do so much good. If they can't afford it, we can help. If they could but get it used instead, we are keeping something out of a landfill. I love that.

- I believe in a re-use culture. Our generation can be the first in quite a while to really appreciate reuse. Part of that is being willing to buy things used. The other part is to keep putting things we aren't using back out for other people to use.

We are moving right along on our goal to give away 2,017 items this year. Our current number is (drumroll, please)...

143!

So, at this rate it may not look like we are going to make it, but we have a huge load of stuff going to Goodwill this week that is going to put a big chunk into our numbers. We still gave away a lot of stuff since we talked last.

Our biggest handoff was baby stuff. My dad and his wife are expecting babies (yes, plural) later this year, so the Baby Bear's clothes and other infant goods are all headed their way. Our plan is to keep 10 or so pieces from every size and hand the rest off. Since he has only gotten one of two things brand new, this means at least 4 baby boys will get use out of this pile of baby clothes.

Call me crazy, but I find that really exciting. First of all, how many kids wear their own nephews' clothes as hand me downs? It basically makes no sense in the best way. But what I am most proud of is that we are cutting down on waste by sharing what we have. These kids will need so much, and just like my boys were blessed with handmedowns as most of their wardrobe, we can help bless these babies with warm clothes and a cleaner world.

The best thing we can all be doing is sharing what we have and getting our own things used, because one time use is a fool's game, and paying more than a dollar or two for baby clothes is a waste of money.

I am maybe the most sentimental person who ever lived, so giving the onesie he wore that one time away actually does make me feel sad. But I also take a lot of pictures, so it isn't like those moments are necessarily missing. I just keep reminding myself that my kids won't care, so keeping every little thing just doesn't make sense.

So, anyway, a whole bunch of clothes, a few binkies, and two Solly wraps (I love them so), and we handed off 60 items. And that is only the stuff our 5 month old is finished using. By the next visit, we will have another 60 items to hand off. By the end of 2017, we could have over a hundred baby things out of the house.

We might have another baby, but years from now, and our stuff could be used so many times before we would get back to it. So glad they can be put to use now!

How is everyone else doing? Getting rid of lots of stuff? My goal is 700 by the end of March, so we are going to step it up soon.