rachelmstone's blog

I've just purchased my DS's first set of cloth diapers. Cloth has seemed so much better to me for a long time, but, when Aidan was first born, he was so high-maintenance that it was all I could do simply to keep decent meals on the table and the house from getting in a real state. Adding 4,000 lbs. of extra wash per week seemed too much. Also, I had been told that cloth diapers might be worse for the environment because of all the energy and water they use--that's not true, is it? How could it be? --read more

Every Thursday, we share a meal with a teenager in town who lives on ramen and Sprite. He thinks cottage cheese is "disgusting," so I made him this cheesecake to show him that eating healthy is not so bad. He loved it! I hope you will, too. --read more

I live in one of the largest counties (geographically) in California that also happens to be one of the smallest--if not THE smallest--population-wise. I think there's about 14,000 people in the county. Most of the county is wilderness, and hardly any of it is flat--mountains take up most of the space. The population sign at the edge of my town reads 200, but it's more like 50 in the wintertime. The next town, which happens to be the largest in the county, is 45 minutes away, down an incredibly winding road. Its population is a whopping 3,500. There's exactly one store in my town--it's the all-purpose gas station, grocery, gift shop, propane place, etc., so most of us must do our shopping either at the town 45 minutes away, but usually big shopping trips are done at the town that's one and a half hours away. There aren't any cell phone towers, and hence, no cell phones.--read more

I cannot say enough good things about the Mennonite Central Committee's World Community Cookbooks--More-With-Less, Extending the Table, and Simply in Season. I grew up on recipes from More-With-Less, and, when I married, received my own copy from my mother.--read more