The Almost-Amish Housewife Talks Trash

Rose off the front deck of the bunkhouse at the Western Edge

Pretty much my adult life has been a journey toward becoming this Renaissance woman who does all sorts of old-fashioned housewife-y stuff but with some assistance from modern technology....  even as I type these words, I get the strange sensation that Freud wanna-bees are stroking their chins and cuing up their tape recorders to document my case.  No matter.... Cowboy has already teased me about this...to my face....but I remain steadfast .....





And so, without further adieu, begins......DUN DUN DUNNNNN.....story of my transformation into the

 Almost-Amish Housewife 

(cue the heralding trumpets)

Where did it start?  Where does a thing like this ever start? 

Ok. It all started with the trash can on the back porch…a big, unsightly, blue plastic trash can – so big that the only size trash bags to fit it were the lawn and leaf bags.  When filled to capacity with our trash and garbage, that trash can was too heavy for me to lift and carry out to the dumpster in our barn lot.  I could fill that thing up twice a week!  To say that our family of five could generate some trash is a huge understatement!   

So anyway... It was one day while dragging the cumbersome tonnage of trash through the yard (easier to drag through grass than across driveway stones) that I heard my inner-voice ask,

“Holy fright!!  How in the world can 5 people make so much trash?!!” 

(I may not have heard "holy fright"--I may have made that part up).

Sure, I could recycle….but that would mean that I would still be buying stuff whose containers would have to be removed from my home.   I had to do something about how much I threw away.  So I made plan:  NOTE TO SELF:  HAVE LESS TO THROW AWAY!!

  

 But how?

I took a look at what was in the trash – milk jugs, cereal boxes, metal cans, glass jars, plastic containers, garbage, miscellaneous other trash – what to eliminate?  Start with cereal boxes.

What happened?!!!!  When did cereal become a staple at my house?  Why so many boxes?  Easy.  The answer:  cereal is a way-too-easy solution to breakfast.  Reality check time --> We took the kids out to breakfast from time to time.  Guess what!  Every.single.restaurant had cereal on its menu….did the kids EVER order cereal?  No {don’t be ridiculous}.   So why was I spending our $$ on cereal?

Good question.  

I decided to conduct an experiment:  I would make breakfast – at home, in my kitchen – more often.  More work on my part?  Yup.  Once I had a plan in place, I found ways to make the mornings easier:  prepare some quick mixes ahead of time or make all or part of the meal the night before.  I took baby steps.  I replaced cereal 3 - 4 times a week with homemade (from scratch) breakfasts. 

 My family’s favorites:  pancakes, waffles, bacon & eggs, breakfast biscuit sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, homemade doughnuts & muffins, hot cereals like oatmeal, grits and cream of wheat.

   Suddenly, the cereal wasn’t quite so popular….hmmmmm…..interesting……

At the conclusion of the experiment I looked like the most awesome mom ever, had more space in my cabinets, and threw away less trash….and before I knew it, I was transforming into

 the 

Almost-Amish Housewife!

What did I tackle next?  Glass jars!  Stay tuned.

Dawn's light over the hayfield at the Western Edge

Want some recipes or ideas?  Message me!  I'll share our favorites!