Canned vs Dried Beans

Back to the original intent of the blog...

I am in love with my pressure cooker for cooking dried beans. I get home from work at 6:30 and can have a side of beans ready to eat by 6:45 or a bean soup or main dish by 7:00 (I don't bother soaking though). I prefer the taste and texture of cooked dried beans, they are less mushy and healthier because I tend to use a lot less salt than canned. It is also MUCH cheaper! A 16 oz bag of black beans costs .99 cents and makes 12 servings vs the same amount for a can of black beans that makes about 3.5 servings. (These are Grocery Store Outlet prices) There is less waste; 3-4 empty cans vs 1 single plastic bag that also makes a handy doggie poop bag. Dried beans also take up less space in my cupboard. And did I mention they taste better?

I haven't been as successful making other things, namely grains that are supposed to be much easier with a pressure cooker but then I haven't tried much. Maybe that can be a March project.

Medical Problem Solved

After having a vertigo attack last Saturday (while driving) I went to see an ENT doc who referred me to an ear specialist who was able to see me yesterday.

It turns out I have Meniere's Disease - an inner ear problem related to my vertigo and sudden hearing loss in my left ear. The disease is incurable, but the symptoms can be treated sometimes. Treatment cannot begin until I return from Egypt, but the ear doctor said I might as well go on my trip and just live with any attacks I have. He will inject antibiotics in the ear when I am tired of the attacks and want to try treatment.

good website is http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/balance/meniere.asp

Ben is already in Egypt and has sent me his cell phone number. He will be our guide in Luxor and has planned some great stuff for us (or just me depending) in Cairo too. I have been packed for a week and thought I might have to cancel at the last minute. I think the stress has probably added to the disease. It is not hereditary - due to some trauma to my ear or a virus.

So, don't expect to hear from me until March 7.

Lead in Toys Imported from China

I don't know how to do the links like Roothy but this was in yesterday's San Jose Mercury News. After you read it look at my comment about it... (sorry I'm making our blog look stupid because I'm internet UNsavvy)

Librarians relieved that most children's books exempted from new lead law
By Suzanne BohanOakland Tribune
Posted: 02/09/2009 06:39:34 PM PST

Libraries are the latest organizations to win relief from a tough new federal law taking effect today that all but bans lead in children's products.
On Friday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission exempted children's books printed after 1985 from the new law's enforcement provisions, which allow fines of as much as $100,000 per violation for selling or distributing products that contain more than 600 parts per million of lead intended for use by children 12 and younger.
"We're jubilant," said Barbara Roberts, president of the California Library Association on Monday. Before the exemption, Roberts said libraries across the nation faced the prospect of closing their children's sections and discarding thousands of books from their collections.
Roberts added that she was bewildered that lawmakers would pass a law with such broad reach "without thinking of the ramifications in the field."
Like many libraries hoping for a last-minute reprieve, the Oakland Public Library monitored the situation without taking action, citing the "enormity of the process," said Diane Satchwell, administrative librarian for policy and strategic planning with the Oakland library.
The new law, called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, heralds the most sweeping change in consumer product safety law in decades. It aims to protect children from lead, which at any level of exposure is deemed a threat to the developing neurological system. The law
also limits the amount of phthalates, a chemical used in plastics, to 0.1 percent in children's products.
But Jennifer Baker, library director with the St. Helena Public Library in Napa Valley, said the law still puts off limits to children rare, older books. She said one library at which she worked kept a collection of Mother Goose books from the early 1900s, while others retain original copies of old classics, like those from the Nancy Drew or Tom Swift series, she said.

The Truth Will Out

I know I've been delivering up a lot of disaster porn lately. I know a lot of it is hard to take; maybe even a little hard to believe. But I've just learned something that explains everything that has happened in our economy over the last few months. Seriously, it is all perfectly clear now.

And the truth is terrifying.

Click at your own risk; not for the squeamish.

Remember TARP I?

When Paulson got on his knees before Nancy Pelosi, to literally beg for her help in getting Congress to pass the bailout? Ever wondered what Paulson and Bernanke told Bush for him to (stupidly) announce on television, "This sucker's going down"? I know I sure have. Well, one of the Congressmen involved in the negotiations finally spilled the beans:

"Over a period of an hour or two, there was a "tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars. ... The Treasury opened its window to help. They pumped a hundred and five billion dollars into the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts, and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn't be further panic and there. And that's what actually happened. If they had not done that their estimation was that by two o'clock that afternoon, five-and-a-half trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed."





"It would have been the end of our political system and our economic systems as we know it."

Well, guess it has to happen sooner or later.

Another Economic Bellwether

During tough times library usage increases and I am really seeing that at my library. We have an intra-county system where you can borrow or place holds on any material and at any library in the county (county library or city owned library) and return it and our central sorting will send it back to the right library. Since my office is up at county central I can see how many bins the sorters have to go through and deliver each day. In the last 6 months the bins have almost doubled. In the morning when I come in I can barely make it to my desk because of all the gray bins and that's with reduced book buying. As far as jobs go, my library position is pretty secure. I may start to see a tougher time getting the money to buy all the outreach give away books and materials than I've gotten used to but at least my paycheck is secure. Worse case scenario is they'd send me to one of the branches (and I am making SURE the branches like me by offering to cover other peoples story times and giving away lots of Saturday's for outreach events).

That said I am still worrying. I am thinking of looking for a second, very part-time job. Just in case.

I'm Here!!!!

I'm kind of chicken to post on my work computer (although I've done it once or twice). One time I did it, and it didn't show up. That was SUPER annoying! I've been working soccer games about 4 times per week. I still have tae kwon do classes to attend and sing in the choir at church (and UMW on the first Wednesday of the month). I don't get online at home much. I'm doing well to keep up with laundry and the dirty dishes. Things will slow down mid-march. A little.

I kept a spending journal last month, but I haven't analyzed it. When I do, I'll post anything I find interesting there. For the first time in my 6 years as a school counselor, my campus celebrated National School Counselor Week. I got a card which people signed and wrote nice things on, and they got me a $25 gift card to JoAnn's. It's so nice to be somewhere I fit in and am appreciated.

Since I can't comment from home, here are all my comments from various posts:

Uncle Sam, another good way to get rid of unwanted pantry items is to donate them to your local food bank. I bought some black beans that were the same brand where someone found a rat's head in a can of their green beans, so I decided I didn't want those beans. I took them to the food bank. The TV said it was a fluke and that brand is OK, but I just couldn't bring myself to open one up.

Momcat, it freaks me out that my cholesterol isn't a whole lot lower than yours (who eats white bread, butter, and cheese). My ratio was a lot better, but my overall is 183 and my HDL is 72. I'd like to know what the other sisters' numbers are like. It will be interesting to see if cutting back on protein will improve my numbers.

Roothy, the dental hygenist I go to says my teeth are in exceptional shape and she credits the Sonic Care for that - so splurge away. You'll save money in the long run by protecting your oral health (since it appears we got crappy cardiovascular genes and will need extra money to keep our arteries clear).

As far as the economy goes, I know my personal retirement accounts have lost money, but I just live on the hope that the stock market has these dips periodically, but that the overall trend has always been up. I should be able to count on my teacher retirement. The other accounts are just extra for me. Worst case - I have to continue to work well into my 60's instead of retiring in my late 50's or early 60's.
(I just had to edit my post because I misspelled school!)

Rebooting the Economy

Found this online, thought it was very funny:

kernel panic detected in worldcrisis.sys

C:>del financial.sys

Can't delete, corrupted file

Please insert *.* cash into system

C:> run TARP_01.exe

Can't reload ponzi_scheme.sys, cash.tmp not found

C:> run TARP_02.exe

Can't reload ponzi_scheme.sys, cash.tmp not found

C:> restore economy.sys

fatal error- File is corrupted or missing

C:> reformat /S

Can't reformat obsolete system... Please upgrade to economy 2.0

Salmonella Poisonings

I was just reading about the peanut butter plant in Virginia. Reports are coming out from past inspections and ex-employees that the plant was known for being filthy. I'm expecting that we may also eventually hear about some kind of pay-off from the family owned company to the inspectors or some other egregious misdoings. In China they sentenced 2 or 3 dairy company executives to death for the 3 deaths in China from melamine added to artificially increase the protein of baby formula. So far 8 people have died from the peanut butter/salmonella in the US. Do you suppose any of the owners of this peanut plant are going to do so much as community service for this?

Lab Report

I want to brag about my lab report re cholesterol.

12/5/07 Overall 223 HDL 56 LDL 143

1/20/09 Overall 218, still high BUT HDL 71 and LDL 118 and the ratio is 3.1

It is either exercise or Niacin, the only changes since the first results.

I am eating yogurt daily to cleanse my intestines of bacteria so I won't get sick on my trip. I read about this in a Consumers Report health newsletter.

January Savings

I deposited a little over $2,000 than I spent in January. This was definately helped by the fact that there were 3 pay periods in January but I also paid the big X-Mas bill this month too. Next month should give me a truer picture of what I can really save following my "buy nothing new and only if you really need it year".

I still have a ways to go on emptying everything in my pantry and fridge but I can now see the back of the top shelf of my freezer. I vow to continue my quest to "eat from the pantry" one more month with the single addition of soy milk & vegetables.

I did not go to the Y at all in January so according to my rules I am supposed to drop it. I am going to give myself one more week on that one and if I don't go it's history. I am also going to drop Netflix. I keep the same 3 DVDs for over a month. That's another one where I really like the company so I want to support them but they will just have to do without my $26 bucks a month.

Costco Coupons!

Does anyone else look forward to getting her Costco coupons in the mail, wanting to sing like the town waiting for the Wells Fargo Wagon in the Music Man?



I wait and wait and wait to refill staples, because I just know that the coupons are going to come and I'll regret it if I buy now. I really hit the goldmine with today's batch: toothbrushes, cat litter, cetaphil cleanser, jet dry, V-8, new pillows for my guest room. I'm bummed, though, that a couple of months ago I broke down and bought a bunch of stuff for which I now have useless coupons: ziplocs, tooth floss, and worst of all, contact lenses ($20 off, dammit!)

What do you hold off buying until a coupon comes along, if anything?

So, what's the difference between a recession and a depression?

It's like the government wants to deny how bad things are, so they just call it a 'recession'. And it took them forever to officially acknowledge it was even a recession.

I have never seen generalized pessimism like this ever before, even after the dot-com bust.

I was reading in the paper about how economists are decrying the fact that people are saving more now than they were before (over 2%, when it was less than 1% about a year ago.) That means we aren't spending, so the economy is not recovering. It's as if the economists hope that we can somehow resurrect the 'old economy' by doing the same old things and everything will come up roses.

Blogs like this, discussing how to live as cheaply as possible, will be considered un-patriotic and banned.

I guess that will take care of the 'dead blog' argument.

Blog

I am proclaiming this blog legally dead. Time of death = last post by someone other than me, well over a week ago.

I'll start posting again if you guys do. Otherwise, I guess we had a pretty good run of about a month. Longer than most blogs last, anyway.