It’s been a lovely break. I almost didn’t miss the ol’ computer after a five-day offline break for the Christmas holidays. We had a wonderful, relaxing, in-your-jammies-until-noon time with my husband’s family and are now trying to find places for all the new toys so we can (ahem) walk through our house without tripping. Literally.

As much as I have a green consciousness and know how to reduce, reuse and recycle, the reality sometimes is more like this:

And the in-laws kind of have a consume, buy more, and wrap every gift individually mentality:

The red presents are all for Leah, just from the grandparents. For real.

You do what you can. Every year I beg them to let me take bags of recycling home, so at least there’s that!

Don’t forget these awesome 5 Ways to Reuse Christmas Cards for the stack you hate to toss out…our Christmas card was this postcard, which can grace refrigerators until next year:

Green Goals and Resources

If you’re thinking New Year’s resolutions (I’m too scatter-brained to pick anything right now; talk to me for Lent!), Emily from Live Renewed has a fabulous comprehensive "Green Goal Setting" article over at Green…Your Way this week. She offers resources for:

• Decreasing Disposables
• Natural Homemade Household Cleaners
• Personal Care Products

Click HERE to read the article.

Sourdough Pie Crust Video Included in Membership for Just a Few Days!

If you’ve wondered if pie crust must be a compromise food, Wardeh Harmon fed her family pie for a week just to perfect her whole wheat sourdough pie crust recipe. It’s the December thank you video for the GNOWFGLINS eCourse with the level 2 membership, only available for a few more days!

You will still be able to purchase the video for $10 after that, but it’s such a good deal with all-access membership that if you want it, go now! Starting in January, they’re launching a cultured dairy and cheesemaking course that’s sure to be a winner.

I’m sharing a video of my tried-and-true no dishes, no hassle yogurt making method, and my kids are the stars of one of the thank you videos for January or February demonstrating our Farmer’s Cheese/science experiment. My 5-year-old’s narration is worth level 2 membership, believe me!   You get access to the original Fundamentals 14-week course, all 24 weeks of the sourdough course, plus new material every week as the dairy course unfurls.

Have a lovely New Year’s celebration, and don’t worry…I didn’t forget about the homemade deodorant update, it just got pushed aside for a time like so many other things around here (see comment above about not being able to walk through house…). It’s coming!

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If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.  If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.

Disclosure: I work with GNOWFGLINS eCourses and earn teacher stipends as well as affiliate commissions when my readers take the course. But believe me, I wouldn’t do either if this wasn’t a quality product worth your time and bucks! See my full disclosure statement here.