Hi friends. What was supposed to be a brief pause, turned into a longer hiatus. While Hannah and I are strong believers in this cause, daily life got in the way. But we're back. I missed this site, its purpose and inspiring others to help the environment. Please also note the new address - GreenLifeNH.org. (We may have lost our original website address along the way. Anyone have $11,000 to spare?)
Though my work life has changed a bit (I'm now a full-time elementary school teacher), my daily habits have stayed the same. I still wear a lot of used clothes, compost and eschew paper towels at home. Hannah is busy planning her spring garden and raising some baby chicks. She also helped me with a small project a few weeks back. If you follow us on Instagram, you already know that my family has lived for over 4 years without an oven. It broke during the pandemic, and the brand no longer makes the replacement part. Talk about planned obsolescence. So we've gotten by with our stove and large toaster oven. (Yes, we eventually plan to buy a new oven.) We also had some cast iron pans that needed some re-oiling but no oven in which to do it. So I brought my pans over to Hannah and we seasoned them in her oven while our kids played. (1 hour at 500 degrees.)
Here's a secret about me - for a long time, I couldn't break-up with my nonstick pans. They are so easy to use and clean. I loved them. However they kept scratching, and I kept throwing them away and buying new ones. Not only was I creating unnecessary trash, but the pans are terrible for your health. After my last one, I decided that "enough was enough" and I was going to try my hand at traditional methods - stainless steel and now my cast iron. It's been about three months and I haven't looked back. The trick? Make sure the pan is well-oiled. Yes, I use cooking spray sometimes, but I still feel like it's an improvement. If food sticks to the pan, fill it with water and boil on the stove. Most of the residue should lift. One last tip - don't make the same mistake I made. Skip the soap on the cast iron. Some hot water and scraping should suffice.
Now that we're back, I'd love to hear from you. What would you like to read about? Need some advice? Encouragement? I'll say what I always say - start small. Lots of little steps eventually amount to big ones.