I really procrastinate when it comes to major household projects. I try to extract as much useful life out of things that I can. But eventually the looks, safety, condition, or performance of things finally require replacing. After being in our 32 year-old home for 13 years, it was time to replace the old metal framed windows. We now have two windows where the seal broke causing condensation, two others that won't open due to the frames shifting, discolored and chipped frames from decades of sun exposure and hail damage, and really poor heating/cooling efficiencies.  I didn't do the most in-depth shopping but picked up learnings about materials and features through engaging in the process of having different companies and reps come out to provide quotes. I'm also no window expert and won't go into technical mumbo-jumbo in this post, but wanted to share a few things I learned in case they help others going through the same process. Here is a summary of my findings: Frame

I was really excited by the prospect of a proper folding phone like the Pixel Fold. The front screen was the right dimensions to make it usable and convenient for everyday use. But then the foldout screen turned the phone into a tablet sized entertainment and multi-tasking powerhouse. I've always had desires to reduce the number of devices and thought that this phone might be able to take the place of a tablet or even laptop which would offset the $1800 price tag.  I decided to go to each carrier and figure out who was offering the best deal. Ironically, Verizon who I have been with forever had the worst deal. They would only give me the $70 trade-in value for my 3.5 year old Samsung Note 10. T-Mobile offered an $800 upgrade promotion but the winner was AT&T who offered $1,000 which made the new phone somewhat affordable. Plus I had family already on a family plan with AT&T so it was easy for me to join and continue to save under a family plan setup. The store didn't ha

I had been frustrated with my existing old school Honeywell thermostat. In Denver during the spring and fall seasons, you get caught between needing to cool your house during the day but heat it up at night. And I needed to manually switch my thermostat between AC and furnace which was quite annoying.  I've been aware of smart thermostats like Google Nest and Ecobee. They are so modern looking and come with wireless connectivity and apps to control the settings. But before choosing one, I decided to see if my utility provider, Xcel in my case, had any rebates or programs. Turns out, they've partnered with a few smart thermostat makers to offer upfront rebates plus ongoing annual rebates to customers who enroll in an Xcel program that allows them to setback the thermostat during peak demand periods. I chose the Ecobee3 Smart Lite on Amazon for $149.  It was the best rated thermostat at the lowest price that I could find that was also part of Xcel's program. Xcel is then giv

I have been experimenting with garden beds and crop rotations for several years now. I find that having good planning and organization allows me to perfect how much food I can grow. I took a nod from the Bible of all places and decided to create seven beds with six planted in any given year and one resting for the year to recover. I also created a little jingle to help me remember the groups of plants and the rotation I like to use. It goes "Grains, Greens, Beans, Cucs, Roots, Fruits, Rest" . I'll go into more detail on each of these groups below. It is critical to rotate what gets planted in each bed each year. If you plant the same thing two years back-to-back, your plants will be more susceptible to pests and disease. It is also good to rotate from a heavy feeder to a light feeder to allow for some recovery until the rest year.  Here are my latest notes on each bed. What I do is rotate one bed forward each year so bed 1 gets planted in bed 2 the second year and bed 3 t

I love curry powder as a flavoring. There are so many ways to make plain ingredients taste amazing by adding some curry powder. Sweet potato is one of those ingredients. By making it into a soup, it creates a deliciously warm, comforting, and simple weeknight dinner. Enjoy as an appetizer or side dish or add the soup on top of Power Rice or serve with Fried Tofu , toasted pumpkin seeds, or Baked Crispy Chickpeas to bulk up the soup as a complete meal. Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion (6-8 oz) diced 4 cloves garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder 3 cups liquid (canned coconut milk or water or combo of each) 1 large sweet potato (1 lb) cubed or combo sweet potato and carrot 2 tsp curry powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar or honey (optional) 1/4 tsp black or cayenne pepper depending on spice level (or omit) 1/2 tsp thyme (optional) Directions In a medium sized soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions. Sweat for 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic or garlic powde

If you couldn't tell by previous blog posts, I love my beans. They are so affordable, nutritious, and delicious. I've experimented with different ways to cook beans including a pressure cooker, but nothing beats low and slow. They come out more tender yet more in tact. The pressure cooker seems to blow out the skins and create uneven texture whereas low and slow allows the beans to cook evenly.  My other secret is to add salt upfront while also adding baking soda to the water. The salty water allows the beans to absorb that flavor yet it can make them tougher. That's where the baking soda comes in. Somehow it tenderizes the beans and provides a softer texture. I forget where I learned that trick but it is now a go-to cooking method for me.  Below is a simple recipe to cook black beans, pinto beans, or any other similar dried beans. The 6 cups of water measurement assumes your pot is covered while cooking, trapping most of the steam. If you cook them uncovered or your lid do

Chickpeas are a powerhouse food with their plant-based fiber and protein content. They are also incredibly versatile. They can be eaten cold on salad, warm in a soup or sauce, mushed into a hummus, ground into falafel, or powdered into a flour for bread or pasta. But one of my favorite ways to enjoy them is actually baked. It transforms the texture into a crunchy, healthy snack. I learned of this recipe from the Love and Lemons blog who has one of the top rated recipes for crispy roasted chickpeas. Below is my foundational recipe for simple sea salt baked crispy chickpeas. However, feel free to add any of your favorite spice combinations to enhance the flavor profile even more. Ingredients 1 can drained chickpeas or 1.5 cups cooked 2 tsp olive oil or cooking oil 1/4 tsp salt or up to 1/2 tsp if the chickpeas are unsalted Directions Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drain the chickpeas and spread on a paper towel or kitchen towel. Roll and pat them to dry them off. Wet chickpeas to start wi

Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein is a fascinating book about how humans started out in an abundant gift-based connected economy, but then money was introduced which turned our society completely 180 into a scarce greed-based separate economy. Some of the ideas and principles introduced definitely made me rethink things I have been brought up to believe as truth and fact in my higher educational studies in economics and finance. Much of it aligns with the DontNeedMuchMoney themes of treating time as the most sacred resource and the true essence of freedom which is spending time how one wishes. However, what is novel and worth consideration is an issue with my thinking that gaining freedom of time is through saving, investing, and residual income. Eisenstein argues that this is just exacerbating the issues that prevent others in society from gaining the same freedom of time. They in effect becomes slaves to the resource holders, which would include the savers and investors.  This b

I am a big fan of urban planning and how the design and use of spaces either contributes to or hinders a healthy lifestyle including the development of real community. One of the leading authorities in urban planning is the world-renowned architecture and design firm, Gensler. They offer a periodic newsletter where they share insights into their latest research and design trends. And one of the recent articles was on the idea of an Urban Block Club Model . Following the COVID-19 pandemic, it is becoming clear that downtowns and central business districts will need repurposing. Office occupancy does not look like it is returning. People who don't have to will no longer do a long commute Monday-Friday to work 9-5 and then commute home. But that's not to say downtown is dead. It just needs to be reimagined into dynamic, multi-use areas where there is attraction into the evenings and weekends. Gensler feels that stakeholders should think about different uses for working, living, pl

There are a few dishes where it is worth breaking my mostly vegan diet and a great queso is one of them. I'll certainly pay for it the next morning in terms of inflammation and phlegm so I now limit my intake, but I still can't resist a bite or two when its around. Here's my favorite go-to recipe with inspiration from Eating on a Dime . My version is a little lighter on the dairy by adding chicken stock and vegetable oil instead of milk and butter. The flour addition helps everything bind together better. Ingredients  2 tbsp butter or vegetable oil (or 1 tbsp of each) 1 tbsp flour 1/4 cup diced onion (or 1/2 tsp onion powder) 1 minced garlic clove (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder) 1/4 tsp cumin 1/4 cup chicken stock (more if a thinner consistency is desired) 8 oz white American cheese (6 slices on 3 thickness at the deli counter) 1/4 cup diced green chilies or fresh jalapeno salt if needed Directions Heat the oil in a pan and cook the onion if using fresh until soft and translucen

It can be overwhelming to think about how to change our global way of living to reduce carbon emissions enough to combat global warming. It's hard to fathom that individual choices and habits will make a difference and it is too "convenient" to just wait for solutions and change to come rather than be the solution and source of change. And even if you are motivated to change, it's difficult to know where to start and which solutions will have the most impact. There is an organization called Project Drawdown which has done the work to evaluate over 90 solutions and rank them according to their impact. This is found in their Table of Solutions . The solutions can be sorted between Scenario 1 which is roughly in line with 2˚C temperature rise by 2100 (1,051 gigaton CO2 reduction) and Scenario 2 is roughly in-line with 1.5˚C temperature rise at century’s end (1,637 gigaton CO2 reduction) . Here is a table of the Top 10 solutions based on Scenario 2. There are some incredi

I wrote to my Senators and Representative about the risks the Fed is seeding with increasing interest rates so quickly as they have. I sent this on Wednesday morning, March 8, 2023 after Jerome's Powell's first day of testimony to Congress. Ironically, Silicon Valley Bank failed two days later on Friday exemplifying the risks that these interest rate risks are causing. Hi Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper - I've lived in Colorado for 13 years now and I work in the hotel investment space. It's a fascinating one because it ties together commercial real estate, job creation, construction/capital investment, and an economic and sales tax engine in the way of travel spending. What inspired me to write to you is because of the current interest rate environment induced by the Federal Reserve. I understand the need to stomp out excessive inflation. However, there are signs the Fed has already gone too far and is on the verge of breaking something in the economy. Housing is perha