Everything Matters

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964; White Brillo Box, 1964; Mott’s Apple Juice Box, 1964; Heinz Tomato Ketchup Box, 1964; Del Monte Peach Halves Box, 1964; Campbell’s Tomato Juice Box, 1964; Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Box, 1964.

Plywood boxes, painted and silk-screened with consumer product logos.

(via Walker Art Center)

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to say there’s been a breakthrough in the kitchen of Chez Molly: The spinach smoothie recipe has been tweaked to perfection (for now). (Taken with Instagram at Houston, TX)

Green smoothie

1/4 c cold water 
1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
3 heaping tablespoons plain, low-fat Greek yogurt 
1 heaping tablespoon smooth, natural peanut butter
4 slices banana, frozen (approximately 2” in length)
3 or more cups spinach leaves, loosely packed (approximately 4 cups of the fresh “baby spinach” work well) 

Blend (in a food processor or blender) and enjoy. 

Optional, before blending: Add everything but the spinach to a food processor bowl or blender, then place in the freezer for several minutes (until ice forms on the top of the liquid) while you cut off the spinach stems. Makes a thicker smoothie.

Servings: 1, approximately 12 oz., depending on spinach volume

Nutritional info, estimated: 210 calories; 9.5g fat; 17g carbs; 5.5g dietary fiber; 6g sugar; 13g protein. [Please correct me if these figures seem off. Note: Figures will vary, depending on banana size and peanut butter and yogurt used.]

More creative new uses for old books:

Make table runners from the pages of unwanted books, e.g., books damaged beyond repair.

(via BHG)

unconsumption:

utnereader:

Phone booths re-purposed as micro-libraries in New York City. (via Designboom)

I love urban interventions, especially when books are involved. (Check out this newspaper stand converted into a community lending library, if you haven’t already seen it.)

Anyway, this NYC phone-booth-turned-book-swap is a great addition to the group of repurposed phone booths featured previously on Unconsumption (here), which includes other micro-libraries in various cities.

Are there other repurposed phone booths that we — your friendly Unconsumption hosts — haven’t yet come across? 

Over the past year, I’ve found Pinterest to be quite useful for two primary reasons:

1. Discovery of recipes (see my “food finds” Pinterest board here).
2. Discovery of items made from repurposed materials (see my “creative reuse — Unconsumption ideas” Pinterest board here). For several months, my personal Pinterest activity pretty much centered on finding examples of repurposing to share on the Unconsumption Tumblr. (As many of you know, Unconsumption is an inspiring, mindful consumer behavior-oriented project with which I’m involved). Later, in April, after continuing to come across so many reuse-related finds on Pinterest, I launched a separate Pinterest page for Unconsumption (to which I pin many more interesting pins than those I share on my personal Pinterest page!). Needless to say, Pinterest is a great vehicle for expanding the Unconsumption brand. I mean, look at the volume of items — pinned by other Pinterest users — from the Unconsumption blog! 

Anyway, it’s thanks to Melody Kramer’s food-focused Pinterest board that I discovered, this morning, the recipe for this incredibly tasty, highly aromatic turmeric chicken dish, and made it tonight for dinner.

I followed Beth’s (of the Budget Bytes blog) recipe, except I used only half a can of coconut milk; used ground red pepper instead of crushed (which I didn’t have); and I didn’t make rice; I simply ate the chicken in the sauce. (A note about the “no rice” thing: I’m trying to reduce my consumption of grains, including rice; see Wheat Belly blog and William Davis’s book by the same name.)

If you love Indian food, and easy-to-make, one-dish cooking, I highly, highly recommend you make this dish. 

For the recipe, which includes onion, ginger, garlic, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper, a bay leaf, chicken, and cans of diced tomatoes and coconut milk (cilantro optional), see Budget Bytes.

For variety, I think you could add cauliflower, red bell pepper, chick peas, and/or cashew or almond pieces to the dish. And vegetarians could leave out the chicken altogether.

What else could be added? Probably many other things I haven’t thought of!

If you make a turmeric dish, let me know what you put in it. 

unconsumption:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY — TO US!

Earlier this week (on January 16, to be precise) this Tumblr marked its third anniversary. Pretty exciting in and of itself, but super-exciting because things have picked up so sharply around here of late, particularly in the past year or so.

Three years ago we were a small band of volunteers sharing links that promoted mindful consumer behavior and creative reuse. Actually we’re still a (slightly different) small band of volunteers doing the same thing. BUT, we’ve also introduced our reuse/remix-friendly logo by Clifton Burt, we’ve launched our ongoing Uncollection project, we’re in the news, and we’re adding, conservatively, a thousand followers a month.

That’s thanks mostly to YOU, the Unconsumption reader! So THANKS again for the likes, the reblogs, the tips, the encouragement. Makes us think perhaps we’re onto something here…

And of course Unconsumption isn’t just a Tumblr thing anymore. Find us on Facebook, on Twitter, on Pinterest, even on Instagram (where we’re @unconsumption). Oh, and of course the blog also has an RSS feed you can subscribe to here.

So thanks again to all, and let’s keep in touch, eh?

wnycradiolab:

kateoplis:

Palazzo Toschi Mosca inner court (via Yewknee)

Is that a fire hose? If so, good thinking.

Beautiful, isn’t it? (The wall of books, I mean. Not the fire hose.) File under: bookshelf of the week.