No More Plastic Bags

Blue Avocado Produce Bag

Looking for a stocking stuffer for just about anyone? Reusable produce bags to the rescue! It always bothered me that trips to the produce stands always meant getting a plastic bag here and there. Sure, I have numerous grocery bags that I use to tote everything home, and things like clementines and onions can be bought sans bag, but what about the bulk arugula (for this fantastic green smoothie) or the Brussels sprouts?

Although I did a fair job bringing old plastic bags with me to the store to reuse and some bags got second life as a vessel for dog poop, my pile of spent plastic bags kept growing. Since this has been a change I've been meaning to make for some time, I finally stopped making excuses and bought a set of 8 reusable produce bags. Although I wanted to buy cotton bags, I thought it may be annoying for the cashiers to have to open up and peer into each and every bag, so I ended up with sheer nylon bags. True, they are another form of plastic, but hopefully I can keep using these for a long time.

TazzyTotes bag

My main concern about the reusable bags was weight. Would using them make me pay more for produce? To figure this out, I weighted my bags. The large TazzyTotes are 3/8 oz, the Blue Avocado are 5/8 oz, and plastic bags from Monterey Market are 1/4 oz. So, yes, they do weigh a little more. The Blue Avocado bags come in a set of 2, and the bag not pictured has a pouch sewn into it for easy storage - that bag is obviously way heavier than the others. My strategy is to put things that you buy per item, like mangoes and avocados, into the Blue Avocado bags and the other things into the TazzyTotes. I plan on buying another set of TazzyTotes (3 large bags and 1 small bag sells for $6.99) so I don't run out of bags. The Blue Avocado bags were $8.99 at Star Market.

If you buy a lot of bulk items, the TazzyTotes come with a plastic tab and a dry erase pen you can use to write down the bin numbers. Pretty neat! If I knew how to sew, or if the boy had more time to do my bidding, I'd make a set. But, I've been saying I'll make some for over a year, so clearly that was not going to happen anytime soon. I'd rather be knitting or crocheting! If you know of any reusable produce bags made in the Bay Area or even the USA, let me know! Both of the bags I talked about were manufactured in China, and I would have loved to buy locally.

Notice anything odd about the lemongrass? The ends are all torn up. After trying to catch the bugs doing it, I gave up and chalked it up to bad karma. However, a few nights ago, the boy said, "Mingus really loves that lemongrass!" and my head snapped up. "What did you say?" I asked. "Mingus really loves that lemongrass! He takes a nip at it almost every time we walk by that pot." Mystery solved. Mingus was the bug I couldn't catch in the act. What a weird dog. And what a weird boy for thinking it is fine for a dog to eat my lemongrass.

At least Mingus isn't eating my garlic shoots. These garlic shoots have the promise of being Korean extra spicy garlic that is perfect for kimchi. Ugh, this also reminds me that the seed potatoes I bought at the same time are still sitting on my counter. I don't know where I have space to plant them!

And another odd thing is this mask. Why are there feathers in its mouth? The boy swears that the cat toy just landed there during an especially vigorous round of "catch the fake bird" with Greaseball. I don't believe him, but in the meantime, we both think it's a dandy place to rest the cat toy when it's not in use.

Last weekend was beer bottling day. I watched my friend and the boy rack seven bottles of beer. It's an interesting process, although the boy is still complaining that it's a lot of work for just 7 large bottles of beer. He's already talking about his next 5-gallon batch, which would require two new stockpots and a whole lot of space that we just don't have. I think the 1-gallon batch is perfect, especially at this stage where he's learning the rhythm, but I think the compromise is that we'll borrow equipment from friends who have long ago abandoned beer making yet still have all the equipment in their basements if he really wants to make a huge batch. I may even help this time. I hesitated to help during this first round because he's a little anxious in the kitchen, and sometimes that anxiety manifests into petty arguments about the who left a dirty pair of socks under the coffee table that the dogs later ripped up and other stupid things. However, if he's working with a friend in the kitchen, he plays all nicey-nice. (Yup, I've learned a few tricks to keep the peace after 15 years of togetherness.) In two weeks, we should have glorious chestnut brown ale!

Pigs and Chickens

I found these fabulous, folding shopping bags at my favorite Target alternative, Ichiban Kan. My friend, (Jen who remains blogless), showed me her fabu bags, and I just had to get some for myself. The problem was that by the time I made it to Ichiban Kan, only one boring floral print was left. So, I stalked the store every week, sometimes even twice a week, until the bags were back. Last week, I hit the motherlode and I bought 9 bags. For $2 each, they are a steal! And the best part is that they fold up into nothing and I can fit them into my purse. My boring floral bag has been so handy!

My favorite prints, by far, are the ones featuring Mr. Pig and his sidekick, Ms. Chicken. Or is it Ms. Chicken and her sidekick Mr. Pig? Regardless, the idea of barnyard animals baking and serving tea makes me very, very happy.


I brought a friend new to the Japanese dollar store scene with me and she also bought a ton of bags. She says that the French on these bags is kind of funky, but I wouldn't expect anything less. My favorite project bag, also from this place, has an awesome poem on it that reads, "Lunch time will make everyone happy." Indeed, lunch time does make everyone happy!

Because I am a knitter, I could not pass up the sheep bag. Sorry, folks, I took the last one! It was the display, but I lurved it and had to have it.

I'm finally getting around to photographing some of my finished objects from the Christmas knitting frenzy of 2008. This is a hat I made for the boy, a bigger version of a hat I made for Baby RoRo.


The boy, however unlike a baby, has lots of feedback on this hat. He has been begging for a grown up version of the Aviator Hat since last May because he wanted it to fit underneath his snowboarding helmet. Well, it turns out that his snowboarding helmet fits too snugly to accomodate anything other than his giant nugget, so he mostly wears this hat out and about and underneath his bicycling helmet. His complaint, however, is that he does not like the flaps flopping around when he is off of his bike. The traditional solution to this, a long cord at the end of each flap, was deemed "dumb looking." At this point, though, my job was done. I know that the customer is always right, but this customer can sew, so I told him he can attach some buttons to the earflaps and sew a couple of buttonholes into the top of his hat. So, if he does the modifications and likes it, perhaps we'll write a joint pattern.

Mingus has decided that, despite the weather, he's all done with his winter coat. I have been gathering large amounts of fur from this dog on a daily basis. I thought that these pictures made Mingus look like he's floating on a cloud. Except, as you can see, he's actually lying on the floor.


He likes to lay in his fur after I brush it off. I always let him have this moment of silence before I toss it in the dumpster. I used to spin the stuff, but I have a huge fiber stash that needs to be spun up first. In the spirit of recycling, I also tossed a bunch of fur in out backyard since someone told me that birds like to use it for nesting material. Well, his fur just stayed out there in the backyard, and then it rained, so I ended up having to pick up soggy fur. I guess our local birds do not want their nests to smell like dog, especially wet dog.