Getting Back to Basics

I’ve been planning to delve into the adventures of the couple who spent a month on a dollar a day diet . From what I’d read in one article, it seemed that they had no idea what they were doing, and the experiment cost them dearly.

So, I just backtracked to the first couple of posts on their blog, and it’s already clear that they know nothing about a balanced diet, and not a whole lot more about cooking to save time. There are little things that don’t make any sense at all in the context of wanting to understand how people survive on very little money. I doubt that many third-worlders would have peanut better around, much less consider it a dessert — five cents for one tablespoon. Or how about twelve cents for a tablespoon of taco sauce? Continue Reading »

I read something recently about the possibility of fruit cellars making a comeback in this new age of frugality. The name is somewhat of a misnomer since fruit cellars were really a place to store just about any kind of food that could be kept edible until the next growing season. The well-stocked fruit cellar had rows of neatly arranged jars showing off not just canned fruit, but vegetables, jams and jellies, and pickles.

There were also bushel baskets and other containers with potatoes, onions, apples, and even cabbages and carrots, if your cellar’s temperature and humidity were suitable for storing them. Harvesting and canning were a large part of the household work, and it didn’t end when everything had been tucked neatly away. Not every apple, carrot or potato was destined to make it through the winter. The frugal housewife went through all the unprocessed fruits and vegetables regularly. First to get used was anything that looked as if it might be starting to go bad. Salvaging the good parts of anything that was starting to rot or shrivel was also part of the work. Continue Reading »

I added a new website to my reading list the other day: Choosing Voluntary Simplicity . It’s not only a fascinating and inspiring site, full of ideas for developing a more frugal lifestyle and making your life less complicated and more enjoyable, it’s also a source for recipes that I’m itching to try, and for triggering ideas about life, the universe, and just about everything.

It answered one question that’s been rolling around in my head for quite a while: whatever happened to the concept of voluntary simplicity? Its principles are alive and well, of course, and becoming ever more healthy and vigorous as the economy sinks into a pool of quicksand. But the term itself disappeared from the media after a brief run that seemed fueled more by hype and bandwagon boosterism than by a deep commitment to our welfare as residents of the earth. Continue Reading »