A Week in the Sustainable Life

Sometimes, I get to the end of the week and realize that I haven't done a lot of new projects to share with you.  Rather, I've repeated a lot of old projects, and they've gotten me through a busy time.

Spring and fall are most like this.  The garden is either not yet producing or just finishing up, so there's little to talk about there, and crochet/knit/sewing season is not really upon us.  This week, things were really busy around here work-wise, and that meant some repeats of old sustainability projects to keep things on track:

• We are enjoying the very last salads from the garden, as you can see at the right.  The lettuce is producing like crazy, but the tomatoes are finished except for the box of breakers I harvested this week.  They will ripen, but they will really best work in sauces, not in salads.
• I'm continuing on with my Tunisian crochet.  In spite of what I said earlier in the week, the ragged left edge bothered me, so I tore out some of my piece and crocheted it back.  Now, I need to go back to that excellent tutorial and learn to bind off.
• Carrot Creations, my Very Part-Time Job, is going great guns.  I love that I know whenever a chilly spell settles over the country, because my yoga socks start selling more rapidly.  Most of my crocheting time is spent on that, which gives me something to do while Mr. FC&G and I get caught up on Downton Abbey.
• I quit the second shift job, which means I'm officially down to a full-time job and Carrot Creations.  This means less excuse to bike to work, but it also means less time in the car once the weather gets nasty.  Sorry, but I'm a fair-weather bike commuter; I don't bike when it is raining, snowing. or below 60 degrees.  
• Mr. FC&G has been crazy-busy, so he has appreciated having a supply of homemade frappuccinos in the fridge as his caffeinated drink.
• However, I must admit that I'm personally having trouble with the season switch.  My business has been going great guns, which, as Mr. FC&G notes, is a "high quality problem," but it takes away from the time to really cook well.  I need to think of some good meals to make that don't rely so heavily on lots of prep time or goods from the garden.  Last week, I bought a $17 grass-fed chuck roast at the farmer's market, which is expensive, but it will certainly feed Mr. FC&G for several days and throw off a nice bone for stock, too.  I plan to make it on a day I have a few hours to put it in the oven with potatoes and onions and enjoy the stove heat as well as the smell.
• Finally, it is not quite time to Freeze Yer Buns, but we have had the AC off the majority of the time for the past month, and the heat will not be turned on until we can't stand it.  We're having a mild fall, which I hope continues.  And, one of the best things about quitting the second shift job is that I will be home all day (in my home office), which means I can babysit a fire in the cookstove to heat the house.  I just never feel comfortable starting one and then leaving for the afternoon, so now I can use that as our primary source of heat on chilly-but-not-cold days.

So what are you doing this fall?  And what should I make for dinner that doesn't depend on tomatoes and cucumbers?  Weigh in below!