Category Archives: Uncategorized

Living, Uncategorized

Peace Has To Be Here Somewhere

forgive quote

It’s Monday (Tax Day) as I write this, and despite the enormous check that I just sent off to the state of Idaho this morning it’s been a pretty good day. Got plenty of sleep, ate a good breakfast, my son and I got adjusted by the chiropractor, went to yoga with a good friend, nap time went off without a hitch, everything going along swimmingly.

I came to my computer ready to finally work on a post that I’ve been ruminating about and putting off for awhile. Armed with a double caffeinated cappuccino I flipped open my laptop and took a quick peek at Facebook before getting into my post. That one last bit of procrastination revealed that at the finish line of today’s Boston Marathon there were 2 bombs that went off and many people have been injured. Well, #$%^!!!!

***It’s now a few hours since I started this post and rather than post the rant that I initially came up with I decided that John Lennon says it a whole lot better.***

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

~John Lennon – Imagine

 

This post featured on: Party Wave Wednesday

Uncategorized

Link Love

link loveHow To Eat

Deviled, chopped in salads, sprinkled with salt…hardboiled eggs are delicious. But do you ever peel them and lose half the whites in the process? Here’s how to peel your eggs.

I’m grain free right now, but not forever. And my husband eat grains regularly. Sometimes it’s healthy to eat grains.

DIY

On my counter is a fancy bamboo compost collecting bin. You can also get them in assorted shapes, sizes and colors. Or, you can just make one yourself for a whole lot less.

Learning to cook real food takes a whole lotta time, don’t I know it?! Here are some tips that will help make it all a little bit easier to eat well AND spend time doing what you love.

Porter looked into our compost bin, saw straw and asked where the chickens were. We then went to the garden store where they had chicken coops for sale. Porter proclaimed that he wanted to live with chickens in the coop. Luke, this is why we should keep chickens!

Know Your Ingredients

Get this, your store bought apples are ONE YEAR OLD!

Onions! Love ’em all, but is there one that’s best for you?

Ever wonder if Kashi cereal is really as good for you as an egg?

Be Well

When you SHOULDN’T work out.

Swimming was my year round sport of choice through high school, but I hated racing and competitions. The best coach I ever had constantly had to remind me that the only person I’m racing against is myself and my own times. It was, of course, great advice for life too.

Thoughts on vegetarianism, meditation, pain vs pleasure and the omnivore’s dilemma (not the book either).

Because It Feels Good

Bert and Ernie – stone cold gangstas.

My sister in law is galavanting through South East Asia, as I type this. This isn’t a post by her, but it still gets me a little closer to the adventures she’s having.

 

 

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Words For Friends

clouds

 

For the sake of artistry, please imagine that you’re reading this on paper.

If you are a poet,
you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating
in this sheet of paper.
Without a cloud there will be no rain;
without rain the trees cannot grow;
and without trees, we cannot make paper.
So the cloud is in here.
Paper and cloud are so close…
the tree needs sunshine to be a tree.
If we look into this sheet of paper more deeply,
we can see the sunshine in it.
And if you look more deeply…
you see not only the cloud
and the sunshine in it,
but that everything is here;
the wheat that became the bread
for the logger to eat,
the logger’s father –
everything is in this sheet of paper.

~Thich Nhat Hanh The Heart Of Understanding

This post featured on Party Wave Wednesday, Tasty Traditions, Thank Your Body Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Small Footprint Friday

gardening, Living, Uncategorized

Green Your Square Foot Garden

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green your garden

“Soil is different than dirt.”

~my dad: micologist, Master Gardener educator, landscape architect and man with the biggest green thumb I know

Square Foot Gardening (SFG) Is Kinda Genius

Mix equal parts compost, vermiculite and peat moss, place it in your 6″ deep raised bed and BOOM! – instant garden. I’ve been doing it for a few years now and am slowly but surely getting better and better yields on my crops. My friend’s Square Foot Garden is off the hook.

There’s Only One Problem

– peat moss is no bueno for use in horticulture, for a few good reasons:

  1. Like rain forests, peat bogs are ancient ecosystems. Unlike rain forests, they can’t be replicated or replaced once destroyed. It has taken thousands of years for these bogs to become what they are today.
  2. The mining of peat bogs negatively impacts water systems for the environment and the people living near them. Last I checked, clean and abundant water is something that should be preserved not squandered.
  3. Peat bogs hold and store carbon dioxide indefinitely. Breaking down of peat bogs releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere, greatly contributing to global warming. Which we (you, me and all the scientists) can all agree is actually happening.
  4. Peat bogs are entire ecosystems unto themselves, containing specific flora and fauna that can only be found there. The breakdown of an ecosystem also means the breakdown of the flora and fauna.
  5. Despite it’s popularity for use in gardening, there are actually better soil amendments than peat. (sources 1, 2, 3, 4)

Alternative For Your Square Foot Garden

Since the Square Foot Gardening formula calls for a specific amount of peat moss, the alternative that I found that most easily replicates the use and measurements is coir (pronounced koi-er), or the husks of coconut. Not only does this use a product that was once considered the waste of coconut harvesting, it does a great job of holding moisture, which is what peat is used for in Square Foot Gardening.

When you use coir, it comes compressed in a very tight block. VERY TIGHT. If you only want to use a section of it, you’ll have to saw (that’s right SAW) off the sections you want to use or save for later.

The directions say to let it soak in water for 5-10 minutes. This is clearly a joke by the folks who labeled the package, because I’ve never had it soak and be ready for use in less than 45 minutes of soaking and labor.

I haven’t had the patience to try, but you may want to let it soak for a few hours before using it. Maybe that will take out some of the scraping, pounding and jabbing that will ensue. Truthfully, it’s not as bad as I make it sound. No harder than turning soil to garden in.

The Most Important Thing When Using Coir

Make sure it’s entirely broken down into a dirt like substance. Don’t let any chunks of dried husk remain. I was too impatient my first year of doing this, 3 years ago, and I’m still finding chunks of coir in my bed. It does your garden and plants no good if it’s not entirely broken down. On that note, don’t be afraid to get dirty. Get in there with your hands arms and toss it up. If you garden, then I suspect you don’t take issue with getting dirty. Am I right?

The Process

The Setup
The Setup
In a wheelbarrow add your coir and copious amounts of water. You'll eventually add more.
In a wheelbarrow add your coir and copious amounts of water. You’ll eventually add more.
Sitting for 5-10 minutes. HAHAHA!
Sitting for 5-10 minutes. HAHAHA!
After soaking, scraping, jabbing, more water and tossing you'll have this.
After soaking, scraping, jabbing, more water and tossing you’ll have this.
Like fine soil.
Like fine soil.
On the tarp combine the coir, compost and vermiculite.
On the tarp combine the coir, compost and vermiculite.
To mix: fold the tarp, thereby combining the soil.
To mix: fold the tarp, thereby combining the soil.
After each turn, open the tarp and pull in a different direction. Repeat 15-20 times. In the process you'll find small clumps of soil, break them apart by hand and continue.
After each turn, open the tarp and pull in a different direction. Repeat 15-20 times. In the process you’ll find small clumps of soil, break them apart by hand and continue.
You should have a well mixed soil.
You should have a well mixed soil.
Drag the tarp next to your planter bed and amend the existing soil.
Drag the tarp next to your planter bed and amend the existing soil.
Plant!
Plant!
Enlist any help you can get. Keep in mind, my helper is 2, which meant that the hard parts were done by me alone. I'll still share the bounty though.
Enlist any help you can get. Keep in mind, my helper is 2, which meant that the hard parts were done by me alone. I’ll still share the bounty though.

This post featured on Party Wave Wednesday, Tasty Traditions, Thank Your Body Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Small Footprint Friday, Fat Tuesday, Scratch Cookin Tuesday, Sunday School, Thank Goodness It’s Monday

Living, Uncategorized, Weigh In Wednesday

Weigh In Wednesday #15

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weigh in wednesdayI’m within 5 pounds of my first goal!! Pre-baby weight. It was so nice to step on the scale and see a 3 in the ten’s place. There’s a little elementary math for you.  Two months ago my goal was to keep my weight fluctuations within the 250’s and that seemed like it would never happen. Progress feels nice.

This week I also identified two reasons that will keep me from losing weight. They are:

  1. Copious amounts of macadamia nuts
  2. Chocolate almond butter (it’s better than frosting)

In moderation these are both healthy treats, but when eaten with reckless abandon, well you know.

Something I’ve also been trying, which started as a way of getting Porter to eat the food served at meal time, was the elimination of snacking. Don’t judge me, he still eats regularly, but now he (usually) eats at mealtime instead of grazing on snack foods all day long. The schedule looks like this: breakfast, lunch, PM snack, dinner. So far the results have been great and I spend less time in the kitchen preparing healthy snacks all day long. This also means that I snack less too, which feels good. I’m forced to find other things to do with all that spare time I’ve got these days (NOT!)

 

22 pounds feels a lot different than it looks.

weight loss 1 weight loss 2

 

#15 4/10/13 Last Week This Week Difference Overall Loss
Weight (lbs) 240 239 1 22 lbs
Left Leg (in) 31 30.5 -0.5 -2
Hip (in) 50.5 50.5 0 -3.5
Waist (in) 42 42 0 -9
Chest (in) 44.5 44 -0.5 -3.5
Left Arm (in) 15.5 15.5 0 -1.5
Neck (in) 15 15 0 -1
Total inches Lost -20.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uncategorized

Real Food Strawberry Treats

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strawberry treatsSpring is in the air and that means it’s strawberry season! There are so many uses for strawberries, but this time of year why not use as many whole fresh strawberries as possible?

This is an old family recipe. Ok, so there’s only 3 ingredients and no cooking involved so maybe it’s not a recipe. It is old though. I learned it from my mom, who in turn learned it from her mother. I find these are great in a group, allowing everyone to dip their own.

It originally used brown sugar, but having real foodified just about everything in my pantry I really like using coconut sugar. Bonus, it tastes a lot like brown sugar already. Any granulated sweetener would work.

Make sure you use organic strawberries. These sweet gems are always near the top of the Dirty Dozen list, being high in pesticides. Their flesh allows chemicals to soak right into the heart of the berry, meaning it can’t be washed off. Organic berries also taste like they’re supposed to, sweet.

Ingredients

Whole organic strawberries
Organic sour cream
Organic coconut sugar

Make It

Strawberry –> dip in sour cream –> dip in sugar –> devour!

It seems like this process would leave bits of sour cream in the sugar, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue here.

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This recipe featured on: Party Wave Wednesday, Thank Your Body Thursday, Tasty Traditions, Small Footprint Friday, Fight Back Friday, Real Food Wednesday, Family Table Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Sunday School, Thank Goodness It’s Monday

 

Living, Parenting, Uncategorized

Confessions Of A Green Mama

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confessions of green mama

Last night I was on the phone with one of my oldest and dearest friends. We were talking about being moms, having kids and all the crazy cool things that go down in our days. It came up that her husband (who is nice enough to follow this blog) wondered how it is that I managed to spend time with my son, cook all our food, work, be a wife, keep our home, garden and do all the other things that go into being an involved green mama.

As a blogger, I share a lot of information about myself and my family with you. Really, that’s most of how I know what I know…experience. I also shared with you in my About Me section, if there is something I’m working on or want to change about myself, I’m the first to share that. This is evident in my New Year’s Resolution to shed 100 pounds.

My conversation last night, however, made me realize that for all the sharing I do it’s really easy to come off as near perfect in my execution of being a green mama. Let me assure you, I am nowhere near as green as I wish I were or as I think some other bloggers appear to be.

Let me share with you some of the trials, errors and little secrets that I experience and am still working on. I’m not sharing these with you to make myself feel better (because I don’t really feel that guilty) but to assure you that we’re all in this together, warts and all!

I Confess

I’m all for composting, an advocate even. In my post about worm composting I was very excited to share my worm bin with you. Sadly, about a month ago I overfed my red wigglers. The temperature in my bin shot to 110*. That’s no bueno. I tried to reverse the heat wave, but there was no saving them. My worms died and that made me really sad. I had to explain to my son what happened and am starting over. PS- If your worm bin gets too hot, don’t try to reverse it, just take out the hot compost and save the worms.

We drive 2 cars. Even though we only use about a tank a month, one of them is an SUV.

Plane travel is the worst offender when it comes to green house emmissions. We fly (as a family of 3) round trip to somewhere 4-6 times a year.

In a perfect world we would eat only locally and seasonally. I don’t like squash that much and bananas are too good for us to give up (sorry Luke).

There is a clothes line in my backyard, but more often than not I choose to machine dry my clothes.

The house we live in is old and has drafty windows and poor insulation. There’s a gap in my front door, but I haven’t done anything about it all winter. Energy savings fail.

This is a big one: I have a house cleaner come and clean my whole house every other week. I LOVE her, and I’m never going back. It has taken a weight off my shoulders, it makes me happy, and I feel healthier knowing my house is clean.

If the dishwasher doesn’t get emptied first thing in the morning (this happens <50% of the time) there are piles of dishes, pots and pans on my counter and in my sink at the end of the day. Thanks to my husband for cleaning them and not sighing too heavily when he walks into the kitchen every night.

Folding laundry is the bain of my existence. I often leave it in a pile and wait for my house cleaner to fold it. For which she volunteered by the way.

Addiction in two words: Amazon Prime.

Even though I was gang busters to use cloth diapers, I was so seriously overwhelmed by motherhood that we use disposable.

Sauerkraut (and all it’s fermented goodness) has yet to thrill me.

Two summers ago we installed a lawn in our backyard (low water Xerilawn) and I don’t regret it one little bit.

Evidently I’ve bought into the Apple revolution as I own THREE different devices – iPhone, iPad and a Macbook.

In the beginning I was sure attachment parenting was for us. Turns out sleep training (and some cry it out) was one of the best parenting decissons we’ve ever made.

My son is vaccinated, using the Dr. Sear’s alternative schedule.

In the five steps to a Zero Waste Home, I’m terrible at step one: refusing.

My son watches some television almost everyday, and so do I.

Can you say caffe breve? I drink one a day and we use our Nespresso machine, which only has dissposible pods in which I have no say as to what kind of coffee is used. Although I’ve been searching desparately to find good reusable ones, to no avail.

We aren’t members of a CSA (see squash reference above).

My cats used to get a homemade raw food diet, but when the baby came they got reverted back to dry (grainless) cat food.

I’m sure if I thought about it I could come up with 100 more things to add to this list, but I’ll stop here for now. Remember, we’re all human and we’re all works in progress. Do what you can do and take small steps. Continue to be optimistic that whatever goals you have for being a parent, being green or maybe just starting to cook dinners at home – you’ll get there, slow and steady wins the race. Celebrate small successes and make choices you can stand behind. And last but not least, be well!

 

This post featured on: Party Wave Wednesday, Thank Your Body Thursday, Tasty Traditions, Small Footprint Friday, Fight Back Friday, Sunday School, Thank Goodness It’s Monday

Uncategorized

Weekly Link Love

link loveRelate-able 

In making lots of food at home, I have certainly tried my fair share of weird recipes. It’s always nice to know I’m not alone.

Another hilarious “I’m not alone” moment.

When I was waiting 2.5 weeks after my “due date” I seriously thought I would be pregnant forever. FOREVER. Here are some ideas for that time in between.

Odds & Ends

Growing up, my brother was into calligraphy and that meant really cool pens.

Do you buy second hand? I haven’t done a lot of that, but I’m hoping to in the future.

Swimming pool chemicals and washing vegetables, you probably want to know.

Ever wanted to live in a converted school bus, with a family of 6?

Good Eats

If kids like these fermented foods, than you just might too.

We travel a lot, and I struggle with bringing enough food to make it on long flights and in airports without eating plane food. I also love seeing what other people bring with them. So, I loved this.

Because It Feels Good

What do goats and barbies have to do with each other? Bet you’ll never guess.

Paris, open market and photography?! Yes!

What does Gwyneth Paltrow feed her kids and why is she catching flack about it?

Know Your Ingredients

Eating seasonally? This is how you pick spring produce.

I posted this information about canola oil on my Facebook page, but I thought it was good enough to put it here too.

My recipes all include soaked or sprouted flours. I’ve been buying my flour already sprouted (until I can get my own dehydrator and flour mill) but heres a perfect guide for how you can soak already processed wheat flours.