You don’t have to be an extremist to be environmentally friendly. There are a bunch of little changes you can make in your life that will not only help you to be kind to this planet, but these things will also save you money in the end.

Saving money is good; it’s really good. In fact, if you help save the planet enough, you can destroy your body with all of the alcohol you’ll be able to suddenly afford.

• UTILIZE CAR POOLS. Why drive separately? Work out car pooling whenever you can. Gas is way too expensive these days not to.

• CLOTHING/HOME GOOD EXCHANGE PARTIES. Get your girls together and swap the clothes and other things you no longer use.

• DON’T BE AFRAID OF TAP WATER. Even though bottle water is sooo cool, your tap water might not be bad for you — contrary to popular beliefs. If you start drinking your tap water, you’ll save money and reduce your plastic waste.

• HANG DRY YOUR CLOTHING. Sure, it’s sort of a pain in the ass, but you can save all of those dryer quarters for something else. Like arcades. Which are awesome. Read More »

I love animals. I always have. I had dogs, rabbits, birds, and fish growing up. Never for one moment have I ever thought that animals aren’t ‘alive’. Never for one moment have I thought that they can’t feel. And I still eat meat.

I have absolutely nothing against vegetarians. Many of my friends are vegetarians and, in fact, I was a vegetarian myself for a couple of years in high school. However, I H-A-T-E being talked down to by the occasional vegetarian/vegan who comes my way and feels it’s his or her duty to “inform” me of anything related to the subject matter. I hate it almost as much as I hate religious people who feel the need to damn me to Hell via conversation. I almost hate it as much as the smell of burnt hair. I hate it almost as much as I hate Daisy from Rock of Love 2.

Why all of the hate?

Because it’s not anyone’s place to tell me what to eat. Read More »

I think I did a dance around the kitchen when I finally figured out how to replicate this Chinese dish so that it actually tasted authentic. SCORE! It’s a tad on the salty and oily side, but it’s sooooo good.

Ingredients for two portions: 1 tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil, about ¼ lb ground beef or ground pork, dried chili pepper flakes to taste (or red chili paste), 1 tablespoon of black bean garlic sauce, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, one fresh package of extra-firm tofu, a little bit of broccoli (optional), and 4-5 green onions (scallions).

In a medium-sized pan, heat the oil and cook the ground meat over low-medium heat. Mix it with the chili pepper flakes or paste, the black bean garlic sauce, and the soy sauce. Read More »

I love pasta, but it’s often not healthy. That’s really a shame, because it tastes so good. This recipe, though, has both health and taste value. It’s very like a Pasta Bolognese recipe, but doesn’t use fresh herbs (unless you have them on hand, of course—then feel free to throw them right in). Instead, it uses all fresh vegetables. Yum, yum, and more yum.

Here’s what you need: enough dry pasta (of any kind) for two people, about a tablespoon of olive oil, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 2 garlic cloves, half an onion, about ¼ or 1/3 lb. ground beef or ground turkey, about 1/3 cup milk, 2-3 plum tomatoes, ½ teaspoon dry oregano, ½ teaspoon dry basil, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and a couple tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese (optional). Read More »