Eco-Mama Musings

Late Summer Gardens

2011-09-10T11:58:00.012-05:00

Sometimes at this time of year I pull into the driveway and think: "Ugh." What must the neighbors think? The cupplant are beginning to brown, towering above the rest of the garden beds. Most of the flowers have given up their blooms. Various plants are dying back, setting seeds, and generally not putting on the best show. This is when I have to stop and remind myself that this is one of my favorite times of year in the gardens.
Those dried cupplant heads attract my beloved goldfinches. The finches stop throughout the summer, checking to see if their coveted seeds are ready yet, knowing our yard will provide a smorgasbord when they are. Now we hear the finches from everywhere in the yard, chattering as they feast. There's one little lady in particular that steals my heart. Yes, one. There's no doubt who she is when she arrives. She's cheeky as can be and she prefers some of the seeds that are setting in one of the forest garden beds near the rain barrels. When I water from the barrel, she scolds me until I leave the premises. She gets more daring each week. Today when I decided to try to get a shot of her, she let me within 3 to 4 feet before flying to a further perch and scolding me heartily. Her mate has begun his transition into fall coloring, and is a lovely shade of lime green.

The prairie beds, rain gardens, and spent vegetable beds all buzz with pollinators that find our yard to be an oasis as gardens start to die back. Our asters, butterfly weed, and even traditional garden plants like sunflowers, butterfly bush and russian sage all attract visitors. I watched a female hummingbird at the russian sage and sweet peas for a solid 10 minutes today. In the summer, they only visit for a few seconds at a time. The spiders love the visitors as well. As little love as I have for arachnids, I have to admit their particular stark beauty. The yellow and black arigopes are the most prominent, with their zig zag down the middle of their web to support their bulk. It's always a bit of a shock to come across one in the gardens, so you have to step carefully, knowing they're quite abundant. We have a variety of crawlers, and they decorate the spaces in-between the plants throughout the yard.

It's amazing what you find when you take a few moments to just poke around. We haven't spotted a single monarch caterpillar this year. Usually we have dozens in the gardens, but the butterflies have been few and far between this year. In my quest to find one yesterday, I came across this beautiful imperial moth caterpillar in our sycamores that dot the back prairie bed. He'll be heading underground soon to pupate.

As the garden beds slow down and surrender the last of their fruits, I almost forget to look up and remember that we're just weeks away from the trees' contribution to our harvest. A few tiny apples and some lovely asian pears are shadowed this year by our big pear trees. They had hundreds of buds this year and are boasting impressive fruits now.

It's a busy time of year, and it helps to remember that though our suburban neighbors may shake their heads, we are hosting a whole amazing ecosystem right outside our door. Enjoy these last beautiful days of summer.

For a closer look at any of the pictures, just click. Enjoy!

Groupon's "Save the Money" Commercials

2011-02-07T08:19:00.005-06:00

Once a year our family goes in for a night of being a "normal" American family and watches the superbowl together. None of us are into football at all, but we have fun cheering along with millions of those who are around the world, gnoshing on goodies and best of all, watching the commercials. I admit I don't have the toughest skin, and there were a few moments in multiple commercials that I found tasteless. But when Groupon's Tibet themed ad came on, I had a naive moment of thinking that the ICT had actually raised enough money to run a superbowl commercial, which quickly turned into having my jaw drop when it turned into a "ha ha" moment for Groupon. My husband and I were both shocked that a company would take something as serious as the atrocities of Tibet and try to make a joke out of it. We logged onto Facebook to see the potential fallout. While encouraged that there was some, we wished there was more. Plenty of people were posting to bash the "hippies" (there was much worse name calling going on) who were offended. I tried to take a moment to analyze my feelings about the commercial. After sleeping on it and watching it along with Groupon's other commercials, I've decided that my initial reaction was sound. Quite simply, using a situation where we have seen a generation of murder, rape, religious oppression, and exile to make a joke is tasteless in the extreme. I've seen bloggers this morning defending Groupon as having been making a joke about themselves--being self deprecating by admitting that it's about money and nothing more. I don't see how that excuses the situation. Once again, it seems that the only way to try to get people to understand why it is offensive is to beg the comparison of something that would be significant to them. Can you imagine a company trying to get away with making light of something that the majority of Americans hold sacred? Would Groupon have ever even considered starting a commercial with the tragedies of 9/11 and then turning it into a joke about getting cheap New York pizza? Absolutely not. Yet they exploited an equally tragic situation because it was removed enough from the American psyche for them to get away with it.

Perhaps the saddest part of all of this for me is the opportunity it has created for the division of our country to play itself out on yet another canvas. Go to Groupon's Facebook page or any of the blogs where people are commenting, and you'll see people ripping apart those condemning Groupon. Thankfully as of early this morning there wasn't too much acknowledgement of those barbs, but there was some mud slinging back and forth. There is a definite air from those not offended of "Why should I care?". Mostly it's all just name calling and cries of "It's just advertising!" Again, I would challenge those defenders of Groupon to imagine a similar commercial with something that is dear to their heart. How about a joke ad about Hurricane Katrina's devastation that turns into a funny bit about saving money at a hardware store? Or maybe poking fun at our men and women in uniform who are in the line of fire and then turning into a laugh about cheap airline tickets? The point is that with this method of advertising, Groupon is capitalizing on our propensity that already exists to turn a blind eye to issues that we can easily forget about. These are issues that are easy for Americans to forget about--to think it doesn't affect us because it's not our backyard. Groupon is giving a nudge and a wink to things that we should be ashamed to be brushing aside as "not my problem". It's truly shameful.

Groupon's only saving grace is their "Save the Money" site where the ads are posted along with buttons where people can donate to related charities for each of the issues that Groupon is mocking: currently commercial whaling, rainforest deforestation, and Tibet. (All very funny issues, right?) For the Greenpeace donation, Groupon will give you a $15 credit for a $15 donation. Groupon is also matching donations to the organization they chose: "The Tibet Fund", up to $100,000. That's nice, sure, but does it really make up for exploiting gross human rights violations for advertising? I find it almost equally offensive that they feel that throwing a "donate" button up under the commercial makes up for their tasteless ads. There is some information from The Tibet Fund on the option to purchase the $15 donation for them. At this point I think Groupon should at the very least make a bigger deal about encouraging people to learn about the issues in Tibet. At the time of this post 1,667 people have purchased the donation to Greenpeace (getting $15 back in Groupon credit). Only 47 have purchased the Tibet donation. I myself wouldn't purchase it because it feels like condoning the ad. Until Groupon ups the ante in repairing this colossal blunder I'll be canceling my Groupon account (which they've made very difficult to do) and continuing to ask people to pay attention to things like these ads that are encouraging us to forget about everyone else's problems in favor of lining our own nests. While I would love to see an apology from Groupon, I'm learning to tone down my naivete.

M2F Brand Denims

2011-01-22T20:13:00.005-06:00

I was very excited to discover a new denim brand that focuses not only on sustainable fibers but also sustainable dyes. I first heard about the denim on Facebook when a friend posted about how incredibly comfortable the jeans were. I'm always on the lookout for eco-friendly fashion so I started doing some digging. I was impressed to learn that the yarn that M2F produces for their fabric is OKO-TEX certified. At first I was a bit hesitant about M2F's approach to color. Their dyes are completely non-toxic and use 50% less energy and water than standard denim dye processes. The dye process is designed to create an authentic saturated color. The colors in M2F's denim range from soft pastels to deep jewel tones. The more I looked, the more I warmed to the uniquely colored jeans. After all, I'm always envying my daughter's bright, bold colored clothing. I opted for a couple of skinny pairs from the previous collection, one in earthy Greek Olive, another in Purple Haze. They are wonderfully soft jeans with a hint of stretch. Not too low cut, they are a true skinny jean, fitting almost like a legging. My previous jean colors have delved only into black, brown, and traditional indigo. These colors are deliciously fun. Both the olive and the purple are deeply saturated but also naturally faded, creating a rich vintage look. My picture does not do them justice, but take a gander at the beautiful picture of the colors from M2F's Spring Line above. As far as price goes, they're reasonable for a sustainable fashion jean at around $129. Look for M2F's Spring Line to start appearing as Winter fades away. The pastel color lineup will be a welcome light note. The Spring Look Book can be found at Made to Fade's website.

More Monarchs

2010-08-11T14:36:00.013-05:00

Back in 2006 I wrote about our first adventures with monarchs on the fledgling praire plants in our yard. Those plants have come a long way, and this year our monarch population caught up. I haven't noticed too many caterpillars the past couple of years, but this year has been absolutely insane. We started looking for eggs shortly after learning in early July that many monarch eggs get eaten by ants or earwigs. I always thought it was better to leave nature well enough alone, but I decided to go ahead and 'save' some butterflies and that the ants and earwigs could find plenty of other munchables in the prairie. Our first night out Bird spotted a gigantic caterpillar and we found a couple of eggs. Over the course of the next month we found more and more eggs and started a monarch nursery! It's minimal work but you do need to keep the enclosure clean and make sure that the leaves are fresh. We did have a couple of very tiny caterpillars "disappear" but overall we had really good success with those we brought in. In recent weeks it's gotten to the point that we would have them randomly appearing in the cage, having hitchiked in on some of the fresh milkweed we brought in. I got tired of the constant cleaning and getting fresh leaves so I've been trying to avoid bringing more in, but I can't really avoid it. Today I was getting ready to take out a vase of flowers I picked from the gardens last week, and I spotted some frass and a caterpillar skin--they molt theirs when they go into their chrysalis stage. I poked around and sure enough, there was a chrysalis hanging from a wilting coneflower blossom. We'd had red milkweed in the bouquet and he must have been living there the whole time. Interestingly enough we found the earlier eggs and caterpillars on the regular milkweed that you see in ditches, etc. that we have around the yard. But lately it's been the native red milkweed we planted that's literally crawling with them.

One of the best things about having so many is that we've had a better chance of seeing the "as it happens" moments. We saw a caterpillar just as he molted into his chrysalis a couple of weeks ago. This morning that same little guy emerged from his chrysalis right before our eyes. His chrysalis had turned clear so Bird was keeping a close eye and called us all over just in time to see him burst out. Simply amazing. We've learned a lot and enjoyed feeling like we're playing for the monarch team. I think it's an experience every child should get to enjoy.

You can look for eggs on the underside (sometimes the top) of milkweed leaves. They are a tiny white raised bump. Just before they hatch they will turn dark as the little one emerges. Keep the original leaf fresh by wrapping some wet paper towel around the stem and covering it with foil. You may need to moisten the towel again but don't let it go too wet--you want to avoid mold. After that just make sure that you leave fresh leaves in. They get positively voracious when they're about ready to go into their chrysalis (about the size of the caterpillar in the third picture, but we've noticed they do it at all different sizes--just look at the difference in the sizes of the chrysali on the lid), so be prepared. Our latest caterpillars have preferred red milkweed right on the stem. Don't let the frass build up in the cage. Remember that when they want to build their chrysalis, they go UP, so be sure to have a secure top on the cage that the caterpillars can't crawl out of. We use a terarrium type plastic cage with fine ventilation. Keep an eye on the chrysalis and you'll see it turn clear before the butterfly emerges. Ours have emerged between 8:30-10:30. Let the wings dry for a couple of house before releasing them. Don't release them in the rain or the dark. Release near a food source is ideal. Enjoy the magic of seeing this spectacle of nature up close and personal!

Elemental Garden Dinner

2010-06-22T18:56:00.003-05:00

All the fancy recipes come later. For our first big harvest, we stuck with the basics. Tonight's dinner is brought to you by what Rob brought home from the farm today: broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots; and my evening's garden harvest: chard, and beets. Throw in some onions from last year's garden, a bit of olive oil here, lemon juice there, a sprinkle of apple cider vinegar... Ahhhh, summer!

Fraternizing with the Enemy

2010-04-10T14:01:00.003-05:00

Spring has come on so quickly here in Wisconsin. I've watched Rob busily working on starting seeds and getting cold tolerant crops in the ground for the farm and nearly forgot about our home gardens. Last week I got a small area cleared and turned and got a few rows of beets started. My goal on this beautiful day was to finish clearing and turning that bed and get it planted with carrots and spinach. I was clearing the last little corner of the bed with a small rake when I noticed some fur in the straw I was pulling back. I carefully cleared away a bit more, expecting an abandoned mouse nest, but saw it was actually rabbit fur, and soon spotted a few pairs of teeny ears to match. I know I will be cursing our cottontailed friends in a few short months or even weeks, but lets face it, I'm a sucker. I've always been a sucker in particular for baby bunnies. So I called Wildlife in Need and they assured me that mom won't care that I disturbed the nest, and that if the dogs hadn't bothered them thus far then they might not bother them at all. Baby bunnies have big mammalian tummies, so Mom is careful to only visit at dawn and dusk so as not to attract predators. Wildlife in Need assured me that I could even fence off 3 sides of the nest to keep the dogs out, and that as long as mom could get to them, she would. I let the kids get a closer look before I covered them back up. They are quickly outgrowing their little depression in the garden but we think we counted 5 sets of ears in the little jumble of legs and backs. I planted the other half of the bed that I'd already turned, but left this half for momma and her babies. Hopefully when they grow up they'll decide that a two-dog yard isn't the best home, and move along. Happy planting!

WGBH Family Nature Program

2010-03-10T16:23:00.002-06:00

WGBH-Boston is developing a new TV program to help parents connect their kids with nature and get families outdoors! They have asked that I share this survey with you to help them design the program. It is short and to the point, so please take a minute to provide your input on this valuable project! I'm excited to see what develops!

Packing Veggie Kid Lunches

2010-02-08T16:10:00.009-06:00

Packing healthy, fresh lunches for Sprout and Bird has become much easier now that I have a few years of practice under my belt. The more I read about the standard school lunch, the happier I am that we send the kids lunches with them every day. Inspired by Vegan Lunchbox, we got Sprout a Laptop Lunchbox and started planning all kinds of fun meals. The boxes work great--the kids love them, and the carriers provide some insulation. Some lunches have gone over better than others with the kids, but what I've ultimately learned as that I need to take my own advice and keep things simple. What I mostly do now is things that the kids can "put together" themselves. Don't overthink it. Use fresh, whole foods. I try to choose nutrient dense foods and always have something fresh. I'll put a big glob of peanut butter or hummus in one of the smaller containers, and then do 2 things they can dip in in the big containers--usually a veggie and something whole grain. The other small container gets some dried fruit or applesauce. Or I'll do whole grain crackers in one, slices of cheese in another, a veggie and a fruit. The kids each have favorites, and as with most things, letting them have a say, or even help with preparation and/or packing, helps a lot. I was surprised to find out that kohlrabi sticks were one of Sprout's favorite veggies, and that they thought that cream cheese cranberry sandwiches sounded good. Here are a few of our favorites to mix and match:

Whole grain pita wedges
Whole grain crackers
Kohlrabi sticks
Carrot sticks
Cucumber Slices
Cherry Tomatoes
Edmame
Celery
Dried Cranberries
Raisins
Peanut butter
Hummus
Cream Lunches
Almonds
Cheese

I'll include a knife for spreading or encourage them to make their own sandwiches with the "ingredients" that I pack. They love making their own "ants on a log" (especially with cream cheese and cranberries). I will also occasionally pack a hot lunch for them in a thermos--a baked potato with black beans on top, soup, etc. along with a whole piece of fruit. I will include a square of dark chocolate as a treat every now and then. I've also learned that they actually eat more if I keep portion sizes small. They don't have much time to eat and Bird especially would get overwhelmed by how much food I used to pack, and hardly eat a thing. You'll figure out what works for your kiddo. I used to send an organic juice pouch with them but frugality and packaging concerns have led us to include a bottle of water instead. (Sigg's tiniest bottles will squeeze into the Laptop Lunch carrier with the lunchbox if you really try, trust me!) I hope this helps you with some simple ideas to help make your child's lunch healthier and easier for the whole family.

Childhood Obesity vs. Eating Disorders

2010-02-04T11:22:00.004-06:00

I was pleased to learn that Michelle Obama has chosen combatting childhood obesity as her focus for 2010. Let's face it, this is a growing problem in our society, one focused around our twisted American food culture. Her focus will be on promoting health, expanding the education efforts on the importance of health eating in families with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables. I probably shouldn't have been surprised, but was, to learn that there was outrage spreading about the fact that Obama had mentioned her own daughters' weight issues in a recent comment about the importance of fighting child obesity. People who have experience with eating disorders feel that by drawing attention to her own daughters bodies. I will never make light of eating disorders, but I am shocked that people are drawing this conclusion from Obama's statement. In her comment, Obama specifically said that their pediatrician had told her that her daughters were overweight and needed to lose weight. The eating disorder folks are lamenting Obama putting her daughters on a "diet" at such a young age. Surely they must see that a healthy diet goes hand in hand with preventing eating disorders? Without a doubt, our society gives our youth an unhealthy image to live up to. I would love to see less rail-thin models, especially when it comes to youth-targeted advertising. However, the other side of our advertising to children is encouraging them to indulge in fat-laden, vegetable-deprived, HFCS-filled junk. How can we try to condemn Obama for wanting to help her daughters find a healthy weight by eating healthy foods, and making it a family effort? I think Obama should be applauded for not only her efforts, but for showing that the first family deals with many of the same issues that we all deal with. I hope that she will be able to educate more families on the importance of healthy eating, and hopefully expand programs to take these educational efforts into schools as well. Our kids should be the best motivation for us to eat healthy, whole foods again.

New Year's Revolutions--Goodbye Procrastination

2010-01-02T13:17:00.003-06:00

Rob and I have been talking about the concept of New Year's Revolutions rather than Resolutions. I love thinking of ringing in the new year by making the decision to revolutionize something rather than just "resolving" that something needs to be done. In the past couple of days I have realized that for me, one of the biggest revolutions I can make is changing the way I think about things. My number one obstacle to getting "organized" in the past has been plain and simple procrastination. I have so many things on my plate that I try to balance. Between the gardens, my jobs, being a Mom, being a Wife, volunteering, and keeping the house in order, it seems I am always putting something off. I purchased a book on organizing last year and it emphasized that when we procrastinate, we never do ourselves any favors. We put an extra burden on our shoulders and have that stress eating away at us until we finally complete the task. This is so true!

So my first Revolution of the year, is giving myself the gift of doing, rather than procrastinating. Now an important part of this for me is that I tend to put things off because I "don't have time" to do things. I look at the kitchen counter after cooking a meal, and think "I don't have 30 minutes to clean this before I get the kids in bed, I'll do it in the morning." Or "I don't have time to take pictures of the kids artwork right now, I'll just add it to the pile." The truth is that if I break down a task into increments that I DO have time for--i.e. rinsing all the dishes and getting the counter wiped down, or taking just one picture instead of trying to do 20 later on, I can fit in a lot more accomplishments. By doing so, I take a lot off my plate, little by little. This will reduce my stress along with helping me actually achieve more of my goals!

I also tend to put things off because I need to take time to just relax and take care of myself--which is true! But by taking breaks and putting reasonable limits on them, I can take time for me without feeling like I wasted time. Instead of getting sucked into the computer for an hour, I can sit down and give myself 10 minutes before tackling something else. I personally have found this Revolution in thought to be very liberating. I hope that whatever Revolutions you need to make your life more fulfilling come to you, and that 2010 is a fabulous year for you and yours.

"Cream" of Broccoli Soup

2009-12-06T18:04:00.002-06:00

The piles of brassicas at the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago caused a bit of overindulgence. I filled a bag with heads of cauliflower and broccoli. We've been enjoying them, but tonight I realized that I needed to use up the last few heads of broccoli quickly. Now that it really feels like December, soup came to mind right away. Cream of Broccoli was always one of my favorites, so I decided to do a vegan version. I don't always enjoy cooking with soymilk, so I wanted to find an alternative. I found some recipes that substituted silken tofu, but as I was prepping the onions, I realized I had a better alternative! The other night Rob made a great alfredo-like pasta sauce that was potato based. I tried this method, and it turned out wonderfully. As most of my readers know, I tend to freehand cook, but here is the basic idea:

Vegan "Cream" of Broccoli Soup

2 small onions
2 cloves garlic
6-8 cups veggie broth
2 large potatoes
1 turnip
3 small heads broccoli
salt

Directions:
Chop onions and saute in oil in a large soup pot. After a couple of minutes, add garlic. Continue to saute until onions begin to carmelize. Add vegetable broth to pot and increase heat. Add cubed potatoes and turnips, then florets of broccoli. Add broth as necessary to keep vegetables covered and able to move freely. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer until all veggies are tender. Let cool slightly, then transfer in batches to a blender and puree. Reheat if necessary.

Turnips add wonderful flavor to soups and are plentiful this time of year. We've really been enjoying them. The kids gobbled up this veggie-rich soup. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Summer Meals

2009-08-27T18:38:00.007-05:00

I have been taking photos of a few of our great locavore meals this summer, but haven't taken the time to sit down and blog. So I thought I would briefly share a couple of recent creations to get back on track.

Veggie Chili with Herbed Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

We had a lot of fresh herbs left over from our Farmer's Market stand last week, so I've been planning some kind of savory bread. I had decided to do some savory scones with a veggie chili, and thought about doing biscuits instead and baking them right on top of the chili in a dutch oven. It turned out wonderfully. The chili was entirely homegrown with the exception of the beans--onions, shallots, carrots, and tomatoes all came from our gardens.

Honey Glazed Pear Upside-Down Cake

We are lucky to have an orchard on-site at the farm we rent land from. They are generous in their produce trades with us, and we took home a bushel of early asian pears last week. I made this pear upside-down cake from a recipe I found on-line (just google it). The only change I made other than making up for using asian pears instead of big ones was to sprinkle chopped pecans instead of almonds. It was amazing!

We've also been eating a lot of potato "nachos"--baked potatoes with tomatoes, salsa, black beans, cilantro, and sour cream. Those are a big hit with the whole family. Marinara has been the other big meal maker. Since we sell almost all of our "good" tomatoes, usually I'm left with tomatoes that are only good for sauce. We've been trying to be better about keeping some of the good stuff for ourselves this year though, so we've had some yummy cucumber-tomato cold salads and the like.

Please send good energy against late blight. Our two main crops of heirloom tomatoes were completely taken out in the past couple of weeks, and with 1000+ pounds of potatoes still in the ground, we are very concerned about it spreading. We appreciate all the energy you can give us, as nothing else seems to stave off this awful disease. Thanks all, and enjoy the last "real" week of summer!

Local Dinner with Far Away Flavor

2009-07-16T19:01:00.005-05:00

I just had the most excellent meal ever, and I made it. This is one of my favorite times of the year, as the produce selection from the gardens really starts to explode. I made a sesame vegetable stir fry earlier this week with kohlrabi and broccoli from the farm we grow at--we traded our potatoes for them. I was paging through Vegan with a Vengance when I came across the recipe for potato and edmame samosas with coconut-mint chutney. I've come to realize that samosas are one of my favorite foods, so I was sold. I had some frozen edmame and thought it would be a great way to use some of our plethora of potatoes. I picked up my copy of Six Spices, a wonderful cookbook by the talented Neeta Saluja, who I've been lucky enough to take a cooking class from. Curried zucchini seemed like the perfect accompaniament since we had also traded potatoes for a good pile of zuchs. Yesterday I made the chutney--a simple blend of coconut milk, herbs, and spices. The mint and cilantro came right from our gardens. (If you wanted to make this more local and weren't trying for a vegan meal, you could make a locally produced yogurt based chutney instead.) Today I realized that I probably had enough carrots I could thin to use those for the samosas, and that the peas from the Farmer's Market would be a great substitute for the edamame. I got excited as I prepped the vegetables and collected a beautiful workspace of colors, textures, and aromas. This was a pretty labor intensive meal, but well worth it. I made chapati (Indian flat bread) to accompany everything and served brown rice for those who wanted it with the curried zucchini. All the dishes turned out wonderfully. I have never made a curry like the zucchini recipe--it had a lemon and sugar finish. If you enjoy Indian foods, I highly recommend that you check out this book and experiment with some of the wonderful different authentic methods. I was thrilled to be able to make such a great Indian meal with such local food. As Rob pointed out, it makes sense that it would be so easy to do, since much of ethnic cuisine draws from good whole foods. As you enjoy this summer's bounty, I hope you explore the many possibilities that your local gardens offer.

Strange Times

2009-07-15T09:47:00.005-05:00

My head has been in a very strange place lately. I seem to be at a precipice, but I haven't decided yet what the significance is. As a firm believer in what I refer to as the "Divine Nudge", I try to be open to feelings which urge me to sway one way or another--change direction, or make a certain decision. But as I have sat in this new mindset for a few days, I'm beginning to believe that I've just reached a point where I am open to making that change or taking that big step at any time, not just the "right" time, where there may be a critical choice to be made.

Maybe I should back up and try to explain a bit where I'm at. I've been feeling a bit burned out in the previous few months. I've been in my current field for about five years now, and I love my organization, but I feel like there is more I could be doing. I don't feel as called to it as I once did. I've been able to cut my hours back and still get the job done though, and spending less hours has been helpful in allowing me to step back yet continue to meet the needs of my organization.

Local, organic food is a bigger passion, but that too has seemed to loom as more responsibility than I can keep up with. I've enjoyed our home gardens more this year though, particularly as we have established relationships with local outlets that want our produce. There is nothing like growing your own food, and extending that to sharing it with others. The cool season has made growing slow, which has been nice as we haven't been overwhelmed as much as last year with weeds, haven't had to fight flooded fields, etc. The gardens have been just right--a source of food but also of solace and respite from the busy day-to-day.

The kids have been doing activities almost every morning, but I have them in the afternoons, and have struck a good balance I think between "doing" with them, and just letting them be. We have our beach days, and we have our days where they splash around in the backyard while I chill out with a book or putz in the gardens.

So that's where I've been, and then Rob took a week off of work last week, and before that I had a few days with my family visiting. The kids had off of their activities, and we didn't plan a million things to do, so it was just spending time with family, visiting bookstores or the farmer's market--just living life. It seems weird to say that it was just a week--maybe 10 days. It felt like much more. I felt so relaxed and at peace with everything, but as the days went by, I started noticing some strange things.

First, I started listening to different music. I's been listening to a lot of my typical workout music all the time now, to the point that Bird was starting to sing along with Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas a bit more than I was comfortable with! Then I got the new Regina Spektor album, which was a change since I normally just buy a select song here and there, and somehow it allowed me to get into this very internal mindset. I went back to my more mellow music, it just feel right again.

I think the strangest thing though has been books. I am an avid reader, and "have" to have a good novel on my bedside table to read myself to sleep. I rarely read for pleasure outside of that bedtime window, but at the beginning of this little mini-vacation I spent much of a day reading a novel I'd picked up from the library. It wasn't particularly fabulous, but a nice pleasant read. When I finished it, it was too late to go to the library but I needed something to read at bed, so I went to our bookshelves and grabbed the last Harry Potter. I am usually someone who has to finish what they start readig, but I have a few select books that I have read enough times that I'm okay with just reading a bit in-between other books. So the next day I looked at some of the "best of" summer reading lists, and couldn't find anything that appealed to me. I went to the bookstore, and looked at dozens of books, but nothing called to me. Another bookstore--same thing, and another... Then I went to the library and experienced the same phemomenon. You have to understand, this has never happened to me before. Yes, I'm picky about books, but I've always found something I want to read. I spent about 30 minutes staring at the spines of the books on the shelves in the non-fiction section pondering this. Perhaps it's because my normal reads are escapist--sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction--and something in me is rejecting that as I get closer to--what, reality? But that can't be all there is to it, because not even my beloved non-fiction appeals right now. I left the library with a copy of Vegan with a Vengance (an old friend) just because it felt ridiculous not to check out something.

Maybe it's not just reality that I've discovered, but somehow managed to find that near-enlightenment of living in the present. Having no work responsibilities, having Rob home (and really home, not able to go to the farm to work because of a shoulder injury), not planning any grand trips or adventures, having the kids home and happy... I've done plenty of thinking about where I want to be eventually. Should I get my Masters in Non-Profit Management? Should we look for a farm here, or closer to my parents? Should I try to find a job with more hours but less responsibility? I've thought about how the reason we're all so stressed is that we fill our lives with STUFF, and then we stress about keeping up with all of the STUFF in our big houses that we don't have time to clean, and we're not happy so we work harder so we have more money to buy more STUFF... But I haven't stressed out about it, it's just passed through as a truth. Is it as simple as coming to terms with the present? Carpe diem? I feel disconnected from all of the normal stress, all of the worries. It's like I'm somehow floating above the currents that I was previously constantly caught in. I'm curious, especially to see what happens next, but not so much that I'm stressing about it. I'm just...living. And really enjoying it.

Barter

2009-07-11T13:43:00.006-05:00

Back in February, I wrote about the new bakery that opened in our area. We've continued to patronize the bakery and have been happy to see it continue to succeed. We have talked to them about their desire to use more local ingredients and offered to grow more herbs this year so that we could provide some of their stock. We started a new bed in the Spring and dedicated most of it to herbs--basil, cilantro, sage, thyme, and rosemary. We tried to grow oregano as well but couldn't get a single seed to start up for us. The cool weather has hampered the more woody herbs' progress a bit, but I told the bakery yesterday that we had a good batch ready for them. This morning I delivered about 3 ounces of basil, 2 ounces of sage, and an ounce of thyme, and brought home a bag of whole grain rolls. I can't describe in words the feeling of growing something, being able to provide fresh, organic, local ingredients, and receiving something we need in exchange. What's more, the bakery is able to get the ingredients they need at a much lower cost to them. It has a feeling of such satisfaction and accomplishment to be able to somehow amplify our resources to gain more of what we can't do ourselves. Check it out:

BEFORE

AFTER

I love it. I've been trying to slow down a bit more, and have found myself more apt to muse, so I hope to be blogging more in the coming months. I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful growing season!

Just Sayin'

2009-06-09T20:21:00.004-05:00

And now, for something completely different!

One Tribe
Black Eyed Peas--The E.N.D.

Lyrics -- best I could do tonight, forgive my mistakes and lack of proper repeats!

One Tribe, one time, one planet, one race
It's all one blood don't care about your face
Color of your eye or the tone of your skin
Don't care where you are, don't care where you been

'Cause where we gonna go, is where we wanna be
The place where the native language is unity
And the continent is called Pangea
And the main ideas are connected like a sphere

No propaganda to try to upperhand us
'Cause man I'm lovin' this peace,
Man I'm loving this peace
Man I'm loving this peace

I don't need no leader that's gonna force feed a
concept to make me think I need ta
fear my brother, and fear my sister
and shoot my neighbor with my big missile

If I had an enemy, enemy
If I had an enemy, enemy
If I had an enemy then my enemy's
gonna try to come an' kill me
cause I'm his enemy.

There's One Tribe y'all
One Tribe y'all
We are one people
Let's cast amnesia
forget about all that evil
all that evil that they feed ya
remember we are one people
We are one people

One Tribe, one time, one planet, one race
One love one people, one
Too many things that's causin' one
to forget about the main cause

Connecting, uniting, but the evil
is seeded and alive in us
So our weapons are collidin',
and our peace is sinkin' like Poseidon

But we know that the one
the evil one is threatened by the sum
so he come and try to separate the sum
But he dumb

He didn't know we had a way to overcome
rejuvanatin' by the beating of the drum
come together by the supper of the hum
Freedom when all become one, forever.

It's One Tribe y'all
One Tribe y'all
We are one people
Let's cast amnesia
forget about all that evil
all that evil that they feed ya
Remember we are one people
We are one people

One love, one blood, one people
One heart, one beat, we equal
Connected like the internet
United that's how we do

Let's break one soul we situ
Let love and peace lead you
We can overcome the complication
cause we need to

Help eachother make these changes
Brother Sister rearrange this
We are fakin but we can change this
bad condition break

Use your mind and not your greed
Let's connect and help proceed
This is something I believe
We are one, we're all just people.

One Tribe y'all
One Tribe y'all
We are one people
Let's cast amnesia
forget about all that evil
all that evil that they feed ya
remember we are one people
We are one people
One Tribe y'all
One People

Lord help me out
trying to figure out what it's all about
'cause we're one and the same
same choice, same pain

And I hope that you get what I need ya
'cause maybe we need amnesia
and I don't wanna sound like a preacher
but we need ta be one

One war, one love, one passion
One tribe one understanding
cause you and me can
become one
***
New album is out--check it out!

Earth Day--Transplants

2009-04-22T15:53:00.003-05:00

When Beo and I were shopping for seed trays recently, I found myself going all "Ooh, shiny!" over a little wooden "Pot Maker". The Richter PotMaker is basically a wooden pestle and shallow mortar, which you wrap strips of newspaper around, fold over the bottom of the pestle, and then press shut with the pestle. I went ahead and picked it up for $12.95, fully knowing that it might not actually replace the strips of peat jiffy pots we were buying for $17.95. It was too nifty not to give it a shot. In past years, we've used peat pots minimally, trying instead to reuse plastic seed trays, but the transplant shock sets us so far behind that we're converting more. I figured Earth Day was a good day to give it a go (particularly because with how busy we've been we're getting behind schedule to get transplants started!). We don't get the newspaper, but Beo had asked a local restaurant for their old newspaper, and I stopped by the library for theirs. Lo and behold, the thing really works. You cut strips of newspaper about an inch wider than the bottom part of the pestle, and the width of one page of newspaper, give or take. I tried using double and single thickness--both worked fine. Roll it up, tuck the ends under, smash it, and voila--a little transplant pot! It took me less than 10 minutes to make 20 of them and get them seeded with pepper seeds. The kids helped me after school and we made some more--20 Wisconsin Lake Peppers and 16 Buran Peppers will be testing out these first batches of pots. (Those 36 fit well in a standard seed tray.) It doesn't take much newspaper at all to make them. Happily, the little it does use keeps that newspaper from having to be recycled, and saves us from having to use manufactured peat pots. If these work well as the seedlings get bigger, I will definitely do more of them next year. Just a little way to remember that we can celebrate Earth Day every day, in little ways. Keep on keepin' on.

Early Garden Days--Propagation

2009-04-11T14:58:00.004-05:00

Spring seems to have finally won over Winter, just in time for Ostara. A few warm days have finally lured me out of the shelter of the house and into the garden. Our crocuses are finishing their show, which was better than ever this year. Our hyacinths didn't do much of anything this year, and our daffodils are a bit behind, but our early blooming daffs are just about ready to burst. The peonies, iris and allium are up, and I've seen peeking leaves from the columbine, bergamot, bleeding heart, and a few others. I took clippers to the perennial beds today to take most everything to ground level--we leave almost everything up in the winter to provide food and/or shelter for the critters. I also began this year's battle with the quack grass, which apparently got a better foothold than I'd realized last year. As I was trimming the false indigo, the lure of the crackling pods finally got the better of me. I harvested the pods that hadn't yet split open, and set them aside for planting. One of the things I most enjoy about gardening is propagation. To me, that's a huge part of the magic--taking just one plant and seeing it become many more. For years, that's been a necessity for us as we build beds faster than we can afford to fill them with new stock. So I've gotten pretty good at splitting and dividing plants and letting them fill in where they will. In the past I've toyed with the idea of propagating more seriously. Now we're finally at a point where our beds have filled in nicely and we can turn our efforts in another direction. Last year I had a small nursery bed where I kept plants leftover from garden installations and "volunteer" plants from our more controlled prairie beds. We were able to use a few of them for more installations and to fill in to other beds. This year I'm hoping to do much more. I started all of the indigo seeds I could find in some peat pots, and rounded up some red milkweed seeds from the rain garden to try as well. I also dug into the dwarf iris in our larger rain garden, to split some for professional propagation, and move a few. I'll do most of the splitting for our own garden in the Fall. I'm confident that I'll be able to stock up on a good number of Purple Coneflower, Cupplant, and a few of other frequent volunteers before the season gets too far. I'm hoping that if I can succeed in expanding our collection of native nursery plants, I can supplement our stock that we need to order for garden installations as well as give us something to sell at the Farmer's Market when all of our produce is going to our restaurants and regular customers. Last year we didn't make it to market once, because our produce sold so quickly.

Vegan Lasagna

2009-03-24T11:50:00.005-05:00

Lasagna has always been my go-to meal when I want to have a hearty veggie dish for company. I am a huge fan of the recipe from the original Moosewood Cookbook--a recipe which is no longer in the revised version. As I've been cutting more dairy out of my diet, I've been contemplating ways to make some of my favorite dishes which normally have cheese. I still eat a little bit of dairy (mostly organic goat cheese), and most of my favorite dishes are already dairy free, but the challenge has still been bouncing around in the back of my mind. So this week I finally buckled down and put my ideas into action. The challenge was to replace the creaminess and different textures that the cheese provides. I decided to replace the mozarella layers with roasted butternut squash and roasted garlic, pureed together. The ricotta layer kept it's spinach from my Moosewood recipe, but instead of the cheese and egg, I added finely chopped almonds and sauteed chopped onions. Here is the final recipe:

1 box lasagna noodles, cooked

1 large butternut squash, roasted

4 cloves garlic, roasted

1/3 c. chopped almonds

1 small onion, chopped and sauteed

1 bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

1 jar marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Puree the squash and garlic together, set aside. Mix almonds, onions, spinach, and salt if desired, set aside. In a 9x13 pan, spread a small amount of sauce in the bottom. Add a layer of noodles. Spoon half the spinach mixture over the noodles, then spoon about half the squash mixture over the spinach layer. Drizzle about 1/3 of the jar over the top. Add another layer of noodles and repeat the layering. Follow with one more layer of noodles, and the remainder of the sauce. Cover the pan with foil and bake approximately 40-45 minutes.

The lasagna was pretty well received. The kids ate it despite the fact that they knew they were missing the school fundraising night at the local fast-food place. The squash definitely gave it that creamy layer that I wanted. I do recommend adding about 3/4 t. of salt to the spinach mixture. I also added a pinch of turmeric to the squash. I would really like to make it with a thick, homemade marinara--I think the tomato sauce is the key to a good lasagna. Next time I will probably use a full head of garlic. The garlic can go in at the end of the roasting with the squash--makes the house smell great! I may also try toasting the almonds before I use them next time. Rob would like them chopped more finely, but I liked the texture. If you give this a try, let me know what you think! Enjoy!

V-Day, Like it or Not

2009-02-14T11:32:00.008-06:00

I know that plenty of people scoff at the "commercialness" of Valentine's Day. My whole view on the "Hallmark Holiday" is, if they're trying to get us to appreciate one another and be nice to eachother--heck, I'm in. This year Bird is in a double classroom with 2 teachers, so she had 30 valentines she needed to provide. Combine that with Sprout's almost-20 and that's a lot of sugar and/or flimy cardboard squares to come up with. So we decided to do something a bit more fun and utilitarian. I had visions of something much more handcrafted and elaborate, but after I got realistic I came up with the following: Take some die cut bookmarks, stickers, and markers. Add children. Leave for approximately 30 minutes, and voila--homemade Valentine bookmarks. No, they're not entirely eco, not really sustainable other than the fact that they might not get trashed like a standard valentine would, but the kids had a blast making them, and they turned out pretty swell, if I do say so myself.

Last week we headed up to the local bookstore I mentioned in my last post only to find it not only closed but entirely gutted. That was a bit of a blow. But the bakery we discovered seems to be doing well, so that's given me some hope. I feel so lucky to have a local place using local organic ingredients. Living in a rural area, we are pretty fortunate to have the local coffee shop, the bakery, and a few organic farms to choose from. The bakery's Saturday cinnamon rolls have become a new family tradition. Today we went in and found that the buttercreme frosting was pink, and the maple frosted rolls had conversation hearts on them. I'd hoped, but was afraid it wouldn't be "natural" enough. These are my kind of people. Even more to that point: they had giant heart shaped chocolate chip cookies. Giant cookies for the win! Nothing says "forever" like a ginormous cookie. Tonight we're dropping the kids off at the Children's Museum for a few hours of fun and pizza while Beo and I run out to have some incredible Himalayan cuisine. An excuse to use a ridiculous amount of stickers, eat gratuitous amounts of sweets, and make some couple time? I'll take it! Happy Valentine's Day!

The Economy v. The Economy

2009-01-22T12:38:00.005-06:00

I think it's safe to say at this point that all of us have been affected in some way by that dreaded elephant in the room: The Economy. Maybe you've had your hours cut back at work, or have had a spouse, friend or family member lose their job. Perhaps you've seen your favorite restaurant close its doors, or a local plant shut down. Maybe you've seen an increase in the cost of some of your own expenses. Our household has been lucky thus far in that our own jobs haven't been affected--yet. But with Beo working in retail and myself working for a non-profit, we know that nothing is certain. We've watched friends, colleagues and neighbors lose hours, jobs, and even their houses. Learning that a neighbor packed up and left in the night is sobering (especially when it happens more than once). So months ago, we started tightening our belts and building up savings. We tried to get back to basics with food, stop going out to eat, spend much less on clothes, and cut back on the "extras". I stopped collecting dolls and sold off most of my collection to help pay bills and build up our savings. We're in good company, knowing that likely millions of other families are doing the same thing.

So we're feeling pretty good, though nervous, as we build up our potential "island", even as it's been challenged by medical bills and the like, and then we start looking out in the community and realizing: What is going to happen to the businesses we support if they don't get our dollars? Yes, we can go to the library instead of the local book store, but how many families can do that before the book store has to shut down? What about the local family-run restaurant, or the indy coffee house? Beo is baking bread again, but what about the new local organic bakery we just discovered, that is trying to get off the ground? We have to face that this is a dangerous dichotomy. We can build our own ark, or we can reach out to the community and figure out how to keep the flood waters at bay. Those who know us probably know that we've decided to go for the latter. It is a bit of a balancing act, and we have to be wise, but we believe it's necessary. These small local businesses reflect a model that we know is more sustainable not just for society, but for our environment. If we get through the current economic crisis ourselves and have no local bookstore, no local indy coffeehouse (which buys our produce), no local bakery, then how much have we gained? Futhermore, when these businesses close, business connections are severed, hurting more companies, and jobs are lost. It is in everyone's best interest to keep our local businesses strong.

So we're being smart with our money, but we're making sure to share what we have with the businesses that we most want to support. Baking our own bread may save me $20 a week, but it doesn't save the local bakery, and I can make room for that $20 in our budget. If we all work together, we can get through this as a larger community--not just here in our community, but in yours too, and as a nation. We can't do it alone. Last night when Beo took Sprout to the local bookstore, he questioned the owner about the signs announcing an "Inventory Reduction Sale". She confirmed his suspicions that she will likely be closing her doors soon. It's so difficult to watch a small, family operated business fail, especially when it is an important cultural hotspot for a small community. So please, take care of yourself, and your family, but don't forget to support the web that your strand is a part of, and help to keep that strong as well. Let's all try to do our part and work together to keep our communities strong.

Meal Planning

2009-01-17T11:21:00.003-06:00

I have been trying to get back-to-basics with healthy eating and frugal cooking, for the benefit of the whole family. The thing that has kept me on track for a few weeks now has also helped to get the kids eating more of our different meals is to have a weekly schedule. Each night of the week is someone's night, with Friday being pizza night. (I still love Whole Foods' pre-made whole wheat crust On the weekends we can finish up leftovers, make a big pot of soup, or have a family favorite like veggie lasagna or field roast. Other leftovers go to lunches for Beo and I.

To make things simple, I compiled a list of main dish options and options for sides, and each week I have everyone choose their menu for their night, and put together a shopping list. The kids not only are more willing to eat their menu, veggies and all, but seem more willing to eat on other nights as well, as though they have a sense of fairness about it all. The kids have been helping out with dinner more too, setting the table, peeling potatoes (they're pretty good!), breaking cauliflower into florets, etc. As I've said before, I think having the kids partcipate in meal prep really helps them to be more open to eating the meal. So, our menu for the coming week:

Monday (Beo): Cauliflower and Potato Tian (Simple Vegetarian Pleasures) and Spinach Salad

Tuesday (Me): Potato Curry with CousCous and Mixed Greens Salad

Wenesday (Sprout): Homemade Mac&Cheese with Lentils and Steamed Carrots

Thursday (Bird): Cannelini Beans and Lemon Cauliflower (both Emeril Green recipes)

Friday: Pizza

Beo has been making bread again, so we often have fresh bread (or pitas/roti) in addition to what's been planned. We sometimes have a little salad or a second steamed veggie as well, but when it's a dish like the tian or curry, it usually is a meal to itself. This plan has helped take the stress out of planning meals for me, has kept us to a tighter shopping list, made it easier for me to plan my day Weight Watchers point-wise, and has made the dinner table a more relaxed and enjoyable place.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T18:44:00.002-06:00

The Future of Hope

2008-11-05T09:05:00.003-06:00

Last night, when we heard Robert Siegel of NPR say it for the first time, we hung this second banner next to our Hope banner that's been up for a while now. We hung the banner as we cried tears of joy, as we laughed with disbelief, as we made a champagne toast to the future, as we hung blue crepe paper throughout the kitchen and the deck. We woke up Sprout and Bird, and carried our sleepy eyed children down as we turned on the TV and watched President Elect Barack Obama take the stage in Grant Park, and tell us that our hope has NOT been in vain. We watched over and over again this video, and sang along, and laughed and cried some more. Thank you voters. Thank you America, for standing up to make your voice heard. Thank you for believing, for hoping, for dreaming, and making a better tomorrow, a reality. I am so hopeful, so proud, and I stand with you today and share the dreams for the future, that now seem brighter than ever! YES WE CAN!!!

Things We Don't See on The News

2008-09-22T21:23:00.001-05:00

Spread the word...

The Apron Strings

2008-09-10T20:29:00.005-05:00

The introduction of Sarah Palin into the current political mess has sparked a flood of talk about feminism in America. Frankly, I haven't heard a single political comment about Palin and feminism that I agree with. I heard an article on NPR about Palin a few months ago, and she struck me as a strong, powerful woman. Still, I was shocked at McCain's choice of a running mate with so little experience. I cringed at what seemed obvious: He was gunning for Clinton supporters. There have been so many cringe-worthy moments since that initial announcement.
One thing that's driving me crazy is the people saying that they are going to vote for Palin because the "talking heads" are saying she shouldn't run for Vice President because she's a mom. Moms are great, they say. Moms can do anything. Well trust me, I know that most Moms are superheroes. Even Palin has donned this pitbull-with-lipstick-hockey-mom image with pride. But frankly, I have a real problem with the "I'm a mom just like you." line of thought. I want an individual who isn't all that much like me, frankly. I have some major ideas about government, but do I think I'm qualified to run the country? Heck no. And frankly I cringe at the fact that these self professed "feminists" say they are voting for Palin because the powers-that-be say she can't do it, or because Palin is a Mom. Shouldn't we empowered women be intelligent enough to realize when someone is chosen based on their gender? Palin may be a strong woman, but the idea that she is qualified for VP is outrageous. Shouldn't we expect more from our politicians than this?

Amidst all of the gender talk, I keep hearing the term "Apron Strings". They say Palin is tying on the apron strings with pride. (Some say this against Palin, some for Palin.) They play clips of conservative analysts accusing Hillary of "hiding behind the apron strings". Outside of politics, people accuse people who stay close to their mother's as "holding on to" the apron strings. I recently became the proud owner of an apron, so maybe that's what made these comments stick out to me. What does that mean, apron strings? In context, people seem to think it represents feminine, stay-at-home, dinner-on-the-table womanhood. Are strong women "hiding" their strength behind femininty? If so, apron strings are the wrong way to go about portraying this. As I was tying on my apron the other day, I realized something. Apron strings are designed to cross in back, and tie in front. Why? Because while we women are going about our business, there is no one standing around waiting to help us out. There is no one there to tie the strings of our aprons so we can keep our dresses clean. No, we tie our apron strings ourselves, and get down to the business of doing all of the hard work that--while behind the scenes--is so crucial to keeping everything running as it should.

My youngest started school last week. I have been a proud stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) for nearly seven years now, so this was a huge change. People kept telling me I would have "so much time" now, but I couldn't believe it. Indeed, I seem just as busy now as I was before. I still have two non-profits to Direct, a gardening business to co-operate, a house to keep, 3 dogs to care for, and 2 kids that now not only need much more of my attention when they are here, but need to be shuttled back and forth to school and have all sorts of new needs because of school. People used to tell me I was a superwoman, and I shook my head. But now I look back and wonder how I managed it all. I don't often pat my own back, but I'm doing it now in hopes that some of my readers will acknowledge their own superhero status as well, and wear their self-tied aprons with pride.

Sweet retro apron by Pretty Industries--ampirlot on Etsy.com.

Catching Up

2008-09-07T16:45:00.001-05:00

It has been far too long since I've posted--so long that I don't think I can possibly catch up. So since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is what I did this summer.
Any questions? I hope to be back to normal speed blogging very soon. Hope you all had a wonderful summer!

Swallowtail Caterpillars

2008-06-17T22:03:00.004-05:00

Our fennel went nuts last year and ended up dropping seeds all over our herb spiral. I cleaned out the spiral this spring as I was putting in new plants, but even with a few trips back through, we've had dozens of little fennel plants all over the place. Thankfully, I'm not that vicious of a weeder, because all of these plants have attracted the notice of swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! We counted 4 big fat 'pillars this evening. Pretty fun since the kids just attended a library presentation about bugs. It was especially nice to see them since at the moment our yard feels like anything but a nature preserve. The flooding that has closed I-94 in Wisconsin is bad enough that we were looking at weeks of closure, so they are building a crossover to get 2 lanes of cross-directional traffic across the "good" bridge. All that is happening directly across from our bedroom window. So the kids have had fun with the construction site right in our backyard, but we got this nice reminder of what progress we've made in building up backyard habitat in the midst of a new subdivision. We're looking forward to watching them develop into beautiful butterflies. Bird turns 5 tomorrow: Happy Birthday, Bird!

A Watery Glimpse of the Future?

2008-06-16T21:08:00.009-05:00

Some of my dear readers have been wondering how we're doing here in Wisconsin with all of the flooding. Before I begin, let me say that we are fine. We are 1000 times luckier than the majority of people in our area. Our basement is dry, we can not complain. We have had some major damage to our seed crops and lettuce, and our vegetables that survived are overgrown with weeds in fields so soggy we can't possibly step foot in them without damaging the plants. So. We've done what we could. We did two huge lettuce harvests before hail took the remainder that we couldn't get out in time. The refrigerator was overflowing with lettuce. Think I'm exaggerating? That's where you'd be wrong. I have photographic evidence! So that and a car with a few hail dings is really all we can claim as inconvenience. That--and being relatively stranded. We live very near the Rock River. Most of you know we live right up against I-94. Half of it has been closed because of flooding on the Rock. We basically can't get West with any rhyme or reason. We can't get South either without going way east first. We can go North, but not far, and not to any practical purpose. We can easily go East, we just can't get back. The first picture up above shows the Rock River 3 days before we got the last set of really big storms--3 nights before we spent most of the night in our basement listening to tornado sirens go off. We've seen the Rock flood it's banks a bit at this farm before--the normal path is a few yards to the right of the line of trees on the right of the picture. It's crept into this farmyard a bit before, but nothing like this. If you look at the fenceline, you'll see that it's under about 3 feet of water. Now this picture is of the park directly across the water. There is usually a parking lot in front of that sign. (It's still there, just under a couple of feet of water. Notice the picnic pavilion that's barely above water. Now. Like I said, this was three days before the last big wave of storms hit. The day after the storms hit, we were driving home from the North and the bridge was closed. This pavilion? Was 3 feet deep in water. And then? It rained again. A lot. So we can't even get onto this road anymore but I can only imagine what it looks like now. And the farm on the other side--the water has to be up over the ground floor level of that house now. I'd guess their first floor is under at least a foot of water. The water just keeps coming, and there is nowhere for it to go. It is bizarre to be stranded like this. Events are being canceled left and right, local business is suffering since most people are avoiding the interstate, and you just "can't get from here to there" as someone reminisced is once true again. This is all bad--but nothing compared to what's happening in Iowa. The scariest part is that this may very well be just a glimpse of the future as we experience continued climate change, AKA global warming. In other news Sprout graduated from Kindergarten and our little bird turns 5. The world keeps turning on, regardless of climate change, regardless of the rain. It helps a little to know that hopefully our kids will grow up in a brighter future if we all do our part to stop and reverse the changes that past generations have put into motion. As Beo says, and it is more important than ever now: Be the change.

Close Up of Spring--Baby Robins

2008-06-03T12:04:00.006-05:00

Greetings Dear Readers! I am taking the week off from both of my (paid) jobs, so I'm hoping to catch up with all of the blog posts I've had sitting in the hopper! First, I'd like to share the special close up of Spring we had the treat to see this year. A momma robin built her nest under the tiny eaves of the kids' playground in our backyard. We thought for sure she'd give up on it with the kids always running around, but no, soon there were three twee blue eggs, and one day Sprout noticed that one had hatched. I decided to take a picture so that the kids could get a close up view without traumatizing the mama. By the time I got the camera out, there were 2 babies. This was May 17th.

We tried to have the kids avoid the playground as much as possible after that. The momma would get super irritated even if the kids were in the vicinity. We didn't want to bug her, nor did we want the kids to get a pecking. We promised them they'd have their playground back soon, but I didn't look up how soon we could expect that to be. Well a week and a half later, we were outside while I hung out the laundry, and Sprout noticed that one of the babies was on the playground mulch. We got a towel and I went and looked at it. He was pretty sturdy, but I was afraid he'd be dog bait, so I gently scooped him up and climbed up the playground ladder and set him back down on his brothers/sisters. That was May 28th.

Just 3 days later, Bird came running upstairs early in the morning to tell us that the baby robin had come to visit. We wrote it off to her dreamy mind, but when Beo went downstairs, he came up laughing and told me I had to come look. Sure enough, there was a baby robin, right in the bush about 18 inches in front of our living room window. I tried to get some pictures through the screen. Poor momma was going crazy. She kept trying to come bring him food but she was scared to come so close to the house. She mostly sat on the bird feeder out front and squawked like crazy! Later that morning we were out front and had forgotten that the baby was so close. When I saw him I decided to get a closer picture. I got this shot, and then off he flew--right into the road! He just sat there so I walked around him to try to herd him back into the yard. He actually flew right up onto the neighbor's roof, so I wasn't worried about his flying ability then. Momma Robin was much happier taking food to him over there. We got squawked at a bit more that afternoon when we were in the backyard, but by the next day there was no sign of momma or babies. We're hoping that she might come again next year though. It was a really neat experience for all of us.

Fiddlehead Fabulosity

2008-05-03T18:56:00.004-05:00

Earlier this week I heard an interview with a local, seasonal, slow-food enthusiast. He was singing the praises of the foods that could be foraged locally in this burst of Spring weather. One of the things he mentioned was fiddlehead ferns, so when I saw a package at Whole Foods last night, I snatched them up. I was a bit intimidated by them, but I took it as a challenge to my culinary ingenuity. I found a recipe published in Mother Earth News, by "A Taste of The Mountains" cooking school. After a thorough cleaning the recipe instructed how to lightly sautee the fern heads in olive and sesame oils, with a touch of freshly ground corriander and honey. (If you use this recipe, I'd recommend going light on the pepper at the end.) They were perfectly delightful served over a bed of linguine tossed with a bit of butter and salt. They reminded me very much of asparagus, but with an undertone of earthier flavor. If you have the chance to try this ephemeral Spring delicacy of the Earth, I'd highly advise you to do so. Bon appetite!

To Go, Green Style

2008-04-28T18:00:00.006-05:00

One of my biggest green-smashing vices is take out. Life has gotten a lot busier in the past year with taking on a second job, stepping up the gardening business, and ironically, having Sprout in school. The local coffee shop is the main place we indulge in now and again. They have a divine soup, make a mean veggie sandwich, and have sweets galore. It's all reasonably priced and I like supporting our local, family-owned coffee shop that buys our organically grown produce in the summer. There's just one problem: packaging. We usually eat there, but there's almost always leftovers. I most often eat there with Bird, and she's the only one to get lunch (I eat when I get home), but she always has half a sandwich left over. Yes, the soup comes home in a paper cup, the rest comes home in bulky styrofoam. It finally got to the point where I realized it was time to do something about it, so I went searching, and discovered these items which are some of my favorite new things! The first are Sigg snack boxes, like the blue one pictured at right, and the red one below. These are perfect for putting Bird's leftovers or a sweet treat in. They will also be perfect for when I don't have Sprout's Laptop Lunchbox clean and need to use his regular lunchbox (a soft-sided number). We only use a few plastic baggies a month but I expect these will totally eliminate our need for them. The snack boxes also come in a larger size for people who want to take a big salad to work or otherwise pack a bigger portion. They are lightweight and sturdy, and close securely. The second is a tiffin by To-Go Wear that I first saw on Vegan Lunchbox. It really is divine. I can have soup or a salad in one container, and a half-sandwich or roll in the other. The divider between the two can be used as a little plate. The handle allows you to put in hot foods and not burn yourself walking around. Very handy. So now I can get my take out completely waste free and enjoy my "fast food" with much less guilt. Hooray! I found my new treasures at www.reusablebags.com.

Happy Earth Day 2008

2008-04-22T07:08:00.003-05:00

Happy Earth Day! We had a smashing Earth Dinner on Sunday--our 3rd annual Earth Dinner, and it was just wonderful. We had old friends, people from our church, the community--a full house of people talking about food, climate change, and how we can play a part. It was inspirational and heart warming. Wisconsin offered up food that became curried potatoes, chili, corn chips, sourdough and sweet breads, cherry pie, salad, maple popcorn, wine, and more. I got to wear my herbivore "Eat Like You Give a Damn" tee and hang out with eco-friendly friends while eating great food. Yeah, that's pretty much perfection for me. My dolls are helping to spread the message of Earth Day this year, as hundreds of board members access the album that I put together on our Traveling Doll's blog: www.travelingnora.blogspot.com. Check it out for some lighthearted fun. I hope you and yours have a renewing, inspirational Earth Day 2008!

The Branch Will Not Break

2008-04-19T17:15:00.008-05:00

Lately life has been quite busy, yet has seemed more balanced at the same time. As I've had this realization, I've found that I'm more susceptible to being touched by poetry. Maybe it's just that it's National Poetry Month. I heard this poem on "To The Best of Our Knowledge" (NPR) last weekend and found it positively delightful:

In a pine tree,
A few yards away from my window sill,
A brilliant blue jay is springing up and down,
up and down,
On a branch.
I laugh, as I see him abandon himself
To entire delight, for he knows as well as I do
That the branch will not break.
--James Wright

I so loved this poem, and actually the entire show was just really excellent. As a matter of fact, you should listen to it if you have the time. You can do so HERE. It sent me chasing to Barnes and Noble for the book "Sightings" by Sam Keen, and I decided to see if I could find the book that the poem was in. It was only $5, so heck yeah, throw it in there. I ordered those two books along with SMITH magazine's "Not Quite What I Was Planning" (a blog for a later date). These books are so good that I sent the exact same order to my sister and her roomie because they needed them. Well, the books came, and the poetry book was just twee! At first I felt like an idiot, but then I realized that it was all poetry in motion,

because Goodreau Privera had just arrived and looked so sweet sitting in her chair, but really needed some reading material. Hello, how cute is this? Ah yes, my doll collecting has branched out a bit since last I mentioned it. I'm more into them now, but into different dolls. Beo surprised me with some mad money from an unexpected bonus, so I got to make the jump and purchase this Beauty. Seriously, isn't she gorgeous? It's silly how happy she makes me.

Balance in the doing,
In the music and the craft.
Creativity and Hard Work,
Challenge and Longing.
Accomplishment and sometimes,
sheer unexpected joy:
A laugh
A smile
A song
And I know that I am blessed.

Happy Poetry Month!

April Just One Thing

2008-04-08T15:56:00.003-05:00

April's Just One Thing is the two degrees of separation. Did you know that a difference of just a degree or two in your thermostat setting can make a big difference? This is usually a mild time of year, so now might be a good time to try it. If you're thermostat is set to heat, try turning it down two degrees. Already cooling off? Turn it up two degrees. By doing so, you can save about 2,000 pounds of carbon emissions each year! You probably won't even notice the difference in temperature, but you may notice the average energy cost savings of $100! Thank you!

To learn more:
EPA Individual Emissions
Programmable Thermostats

Spring Craft Time

2008-03-29T11:13:00.008-05:00

Bird is getting to the age where she has a bit more interest and patience for "real" crafts. Yesterday, a unique shop on State Street in Madison lured us in again. Anthology, a newer boutique near the Children's Museum end of State Street, combines unique handcrafted art for sale with a few do-it-yourself art projects. The window's bright colors, vintage fabrics, and creativity caught our eye. The shop was filled with bags, cards, magnets, colorful unique quilts, beautiful papers, books, handcrafted toys, jewelry, and other delights. I spotted many items made from salvaged fabrics and papers. I picked up a handmade fabric coffee cozy for when I forget my reusable mugs. A table near the back offered materials and instructions to make your own tissue paper flowers for an insanely reasonable fee. Sprout picked out a "wallet" (change purse) made of an old capri sun juice packet. Bird and I couldn't resist this cute kit from "Artgirlz". We've never been so quick to finish a project! We started on it shortly after getting home yesterday, and finished it up this morning. Bird was more than willing to attempt some sewing as we appliqued a big "E" on the front (yes it's true, "Bird" is not her given name); and happily strung beads despite a frustration here and there. I think the thought of the finished project made it worth it for her. I can't believe we didn't have a single meltdown, as she's been more prone to tantrums lately. There's a little flower garden started on the other side of the bag, but Bird was so overcome with the present success of the bag that she wanted to call it quits for now. I'm totally fine with that. It's nice to have a project that looks so great and was so easy to do. This allowed Bird to be creative and still have an incredible finished piece, so we'll be looking for similar projects. Overall, I think this was a big success, and I hope we'll be doing more crafting like it in the future. Anthology will be a good source. I highly recommend that you check it out if you're in the area!

Spring--I Believe!

2008-03-20T14:19:00.003-05:00

Spring, it has sprung. There's no going back now! Every year, I try not to get my hopes up on this, one of my two favorite equinoxes. It's almost impossible though. The sun is shining brightly. I can go outside without a coat and not get frostbite on my way to the mailbox. Bird is bubbling over with enthusiasm and shouting: "Welcome, Spring!" out the window of the car. Now this--an actual flower peeking up out of the bleak gardens of winter, hinting at the transformations just around warmer corners. I am a purple woman at heart, but the radiant sunshine of these blooming bulbs seems simply perfect on a day like today. What's more, Beo and I celebrate our anniversary on March 20th, which adds to the feeling of overall happiness, joy, renewal--even after nine whole years. (Y'all are invited to our 10 year anniversary party next year. I can promise good music and good veggie lasagna!) It's all too much to ignore that the winter doldrums will soon be a thing of the past. So I'm jumping in. I believe! Spring is here! We even get to attend a party tomorrow where we're going to welcome in Spring with good food, drums, and loads of happy kids. Welcome, Spring! Now repeat after me dear readers: "The 7 inches of snow predicted for tomorrow will NOT come..."

Ebullience

2008-03-17T18:43:00.003-05:00

My daughter, she is ebullient. Bird has always been a spirited child, but she just never ceases to amaze me. With the spring thaw, her spirits have been rising with each inch of grass that's revealed degree by degree. For days now, she'll point out the window saying "Look, look!" as if there was some incredible wonder out our own back door. When we ask what she sees, she says: "Grass!", and she's truly thrilled, just glowing.

The other day, she heard an NPR DJ say "Obama", and said: "Mommy, they said Obama!" and I said: "Who is Obama?" Bird started singing "Yes-we-can, Yes-we-can, oh Yes-we-can!" So I asked her, "We can what?" She stopped and said she didn't know, so I told her that that song about Obama was saying that Yes, we can make the world a better place. Well that just set her off into her own version:

Yes-we-can make the world a better place! Yes-we-can give food to puppies and kitties! Yes-we-can make the wars stop and the soldiers stop fighting! Yes-we-can see a robin because it's almost spring! Yes-we-can stop global warming! Yes-we-can turn off lights to help!

How can you not just adore this kid? You can't not adore her, that's all there is too it. She is just full of joy and love, and is all about spreading it around. You rarely see this kid without a smile on her face. Just now, I hear her saying: "Wow, this is so amazing! This is just SO beautiful..." so I peek in her room, and she's looking out the window. "What is it, Bird?", I asked. "The world." said she.

We could all learn a lesson from my Bird. I know I'm blessed to have the opportunity every day.

Envirosax

2008-03-14T10:37:00.007-05:00

I am a reusable bag freak. I just love all of the different styles and options. I have to be careful not to undo the good of reusing bags by buying too many sustainable bags! We've all seen the string bags, recycled plastic bags, and insulated bags out there. But can reusing bags be chic? Oh yes, yes indeed. If you want to go a bit more chic with your reusable bags than the inside out plastic bag with "Reusable Bag" markered in (which I still love), ehere's another option. I came across these incredible bags at a great little shop in Madison on State Street: Pop Deluxe. These bags are theoretically easy to roll up (I confess, I haven't tried yet) ala those little umbrellas, and stow away in your purse/car/backpack. The material is very much like those lightweight umbrellas--a polyester fabric. Don't want to go polyester? Spend the money on their new Organic line, made from either a bamboo, linen, or hemp blend. The Envirosax Website explains that the company was started by a family in Australia, which lives sustainably on their bit of Queensland. Their green living includes use of a solar water heater, rainwater tanks for their garden and orchard, and recycling sewage system. While the bags are made in China, the company assures that fair trade standards are met at their factories. These little lightweight bags are designed to hold the same amount as two shopping bags. Checking out the site,I found that they have a new line for kids, to encourage them to get into the reusable bag habit as well. Yeah, I can support this company! Sprout would love these cool bags to tote his snowpants back and forth to school, stow his show-and-tell in, and Bird will sock away her many treasures. These are a great way to call attention to the fact that "Green is the new Black". Check them out! Choose your favorite one of save a bit of money and stock up by buying a series. Right now they're even offering a shower timer with full-series orders, so you can have some help saving water too. This is a super fun way to be green.

March Just One Thing

2008-03-12T20:52:00.004-05:00

If you can do Just One Thing to help sustainability efforts this month, try washing your clothes in cold water! According to TerraPass, the great majority of energy used in washing our clothes is in heating the water that the washing machine uses. Washing in cold water saves the average household $60 a year in electricity, and keeps 1,281 pounds of CO2 out of the environment each year! Here at the Mia-Beo household, we do virtually all our loads in cold water. I confess that once in a while I let the first run of water on towels or sheets run on warm, but then switch over to cold. I know logically that the heat of the water won't make a difference germ-wise, but it's a mental comfort I have nonetheless. It's silly because when I do use cold-water only, our clothes and linens come out perfectly clean! Plus, it helps keep our energy bill low. Running your wash cycles on cold is a simple thing you can do to make a difference. Thank you!

February Just One Thing

2008-02-08T09:44:00.001-06:00

February's Just One Thing is to use a reusable bag! By bringing your own bag, you can be part of reducing the use of 12 million barrels of oil that go into manufacturing plastic bags and the 10 billion paper bags that are used each year. Bringing your own bag also helps cut down on landfill waste, litter, and wildlife injuries. Just by bringing your own bag, you can help reduce climate change and make the world a better place for the future. Thank you!

Some ideas...
Many grocery and department stores are offering inexpensive reusable bags to make this simple for you. (I've purchased them at both Whole Foods and Target but have seen them at normal grocery stores and understand WalMart is offering them too.)

For more ideas, check out:
Haute Reusable Bags
Knit a Bag!
Feeling ambitious? Make a bag from old bags!
Or go ultra simple. I love the idea of using old plastic bags and turning them inside out, labeling them "Reusable Bag", like this blogger!

Yes We Can

2008-02-03T20:34:00.000-06:00

Let's start believing, my friends! Tuesday could be the day that marks the start of the change we're all HOPING for.

Making The Choice

2008-01-31T19:09:00.000-06:00

It has to be done. A choice must be made. I'm done being undecided. I forgot to mention in my last post that I had taken a web survey a while back, and Obama was the highest match for my value after Kucinich. I took a simpler one today, and it showed Obama on top for me. (You can take the qui) I've been thinking about that today, and about how jaded I've become about politics. I hear person after person saying that they are so inspired by Obama, and I just squirm, but I've been thinking about how much I want to believe Obama, and how sad it is that I've lost so much faith. I hate feeling this way. Right now, on the top of Obama's website, is one of his famous quotes.

"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington, but in yours."

Okay. I'm in. If he has the vision, and he is elected, he will have the power to make that vision a reality. I have to believe in something myself to start directing my energy there. Well let's get a move on. I'm in, Obama, let's make this happen.
P.S. Hey Barack--Edwards for VP!

Your Web browser software doesn't support frames, but you can visit Select A Candidate™ at &amp;lt;a href="http://www.selectacandidate.org/"&amp;gt;www.selectacandidate.org&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;.

Edwards Out

2008-01-30T09:05:00.000-06:00

It's just been announced that John Edwards is going to be dropping his presidential bid today. I knew it was coming, but it still hurts. I feel like the Democratic party allowed itself to be blinded by the novel possibility of an African American man or a woman in the white house, and forgot about the importance of policy and vision. I know that's not PC of me to say, but I feel as strongly about it today as I have since before the Iowa caucus. So now what? I have to say I'm really undecided. To be perfectly honest, I'm not a Hillary lover. I campaigned in my youth for Mr. Clinton, and was thrilled with his presidency and felt betrayed by later scandal. Hillary has seemed over confident and even flippant to me in the past. On the issues, she seems to have relatively solid plans. I admit that I softened to her when she did her playful You Tube videos, and again when she had her "teary" moment. I was livid that the press jumped all over her for the incident, though I knew immediately that it would be a big issue. Later, when I saw footage of the "incident" I realized it wasn't that big a deal, and seeing her interviewed about it, I was very impressed with the way she described what happened, both brushing it off and acknowledging the emotions, embracing the importance of being human while making it clear that it didn't affect her ability to lead. That said, I still have my reservations about bringing Old Washington back to the White House. I'm not totally sold.

Now Barack Obama had me at "hello" when he spoke at the Democratic Covention a few years back. I became a big fan even though at that time I was not familiar with his politics. He was inspirational and charasmatic, and I believed in his vision. Now, nearly four years later, what his "Audacity of Hope" done? I find it interesting that the American Rhetoric site was the first to come up when I googled for that speech. Of course "rhetoric" is the proper term for the speech, but it also has connotations which I now associate with Obama. To keep with my movie terms, show me the money, Obama. I have a hard time looking at his voting record and seeing "NV" for no vote so many times. Obama is 4th on the list of senators who has missed the most votes. It should be noted that #1 is dear Senator Tim Johnson, who was absent most of his term due to a stroke, #2 is candidate John McCain, and #3 is Joe Biden. Hillary isn't that far behind at #7. I realize that these people are missing a lot of votes because they're campaigning, but c'mon, you have a job to do! Obama missed 178 votes, over 37% of the votes he had a chance on. (Clinton missed 105 for 23%.) So what is he doing there? I hear his incredibly eloquent words, and I want to believe, but where is the action? I like his ideals, I like his diverse background, but it just doesn't feel right.

I've been dissappointed to hear the intense and immature bickering that's gone back and forth between Clinton and Obama, dissapointed in the real estate scandal and WalMart ties that have come forth, and I'm left completely undecided. So why only a picture of Hillary today? Well, I tried to download a picture of Obama, but every time I did, his site locked up my computer. Maybe it's a sign. We'll miss you, John. Keep fighting the good fight.

The Cold

2008-01-29T17:36:00.000-06:00

I love living in Wisconsin. Really, I do. Sure, I wish that we lived closer to family, but all in all I really love the little corner of Wisconsin we've found as our home. Right now though? I'm so done with Wisconsin Winter. This winter has been downright bizarre. We got a lot of snow early on, but it all but melted right before Christmas. This past month we had two weeks where it was below freezing (without the windchill) nearly every day. I went to a rare ladies evening a couple of weekends ago, and we sat outside in the hot tub while the -6 degree air blew around us. Ironically, hat's been about the only time I've felt warm in the past couple of months. We actually keep the thermostat at a relatively reasonable spot. The upstairs, where I do most of my work, does get cold since our thermostat is located downstairs in the sunny living room. Rob feels badly for me, and bought me an energy efficient space heater that I keep about 4 inches away from my chair when I'm going to be in my room for a while. I wear layers, thick sweaters usually, but unless I add a hat and a throw, I still feel cold. I bought UGGS in the hope that they would keep my feet warm, but it didn't make a difference. Cold like this is just permeating. It seeps through the windows (literally) and into my mood as well. We had a brief respite this weekend. It crept into the 20s on Sunday, so we went snowshoeing. Monday morning was even warmer so I went for a run. It was only my second of the year. With temperatures what they've been and 6 weeks of pneumonia behind me, I don't want to tempt fate. It felt so good to be able to get outside and get a good run in. I think that will be part of my routine once both Sprout and Bird are in school. This morning it was over 40! It wasn't to last though, we are supposed to drop below zero by this evening. School was called off early with the nasty weather approaching. Apparently people who watch TV knew that, so Sprout was only one of a few kids who was still there when I got the call that I should have picked him up a half hour before. Talk about one of those "bad mom" feelings. Poor guy. I couldn't figure out how people were supposed to know until Rob reminded me of TVs. Oh yeah... Anyway, my sister has been updating me on their temps in Fairbanks. They have been dealing with -30+ without windchill. She says when it drops to -50, brakes stop working. So I will take Wisconsin as cheerfully as I can manage, even with all of the crazy weather that global climate change is bringing the badger state. It's nothing a good hat, a thick sweater, some capilene baselayers, fleece socks, a space heater, hot tea, a blanket and a steaming bowl of soup won't fix.

More Ways to be Green

2008-01-28T19:59:00.000-06:00

The Nature Conservancy is one of my favorite organizations. They have a realistic, dig-in-your-heels, practical approach to-you guesssed it-conserving nature. Back when I visited my sister in Door County, she was doing scientific work with endangered dragonflies, in part on Nature Conservancy land. Now The Nature Conservancy has a new way to protect nature--encouraging "Everyday Environmentalism". Check out this new page, which gives some tried and true ways to be green, and other ways that you may not have thought of or heard of before. Have you thought about taking the stairs instead of elevators as an environmental choice? Do you clean your boots after you hike to prevent the spread of invasices? These ideas come from TNC's own staff as well as some of the top eco-bloggers out there. What's even better is that they want your ideas too. So check out the page and get some new ideas for ways to go even greener than you already are, then echo your own back to TNC.

The Fast Report

2008-01-18T11:55:00.000-06:00

9:00: 14 hours of "fast". The morning hasn't been too bad. I've had a mug of black tea and another of warm water. I usually wait to eat until the kids have been fed and Sprout is off to school. So there wasn't a lot of temptation and I wasn't too hungry. I'm suddenly very cold though. That's not abnormal for me, but this feels worse. Maybe it's a blood sugar issue. This feels very do-able.

12:00: 17 hours in. 2/3 of the way there! Another mug of warm water--probably should have been more. I had a two hour conference call which helped distract me. Bird offered me some of her cashews and didn't like that I wasn't eating. It's hard to explain to a 4 year old. Serving her lunch was difficult. All of the cues to eat were there, at the fridge, the pantry--even just being in the kitchen. I didn't stay with her while she ate. It made me a bit more emotional as I became increasingly more hungry, just trying to contemplate the uncountable number of people--and children--who are hungrier than I, with no end in site. My stomach does feel crampish now, and I just feel a little light headed. 7 hours more will be interesting.

3:00: This really isn't so bad. The weirdest part is fighting my brain, which seems to be quite confused about why I don't just go eat something! I noticed around this time that water started to taste sweet. That continued through the rest of the fast.

5:00: With dinner time drawing near, I'm starting to feel a bit more anxious, and the 2 hours seems like a long time. On the other hand, I'm surprised at how much easier this has been than I expected. I realize at this point that I'm not going to break my fast lightly, and we resolve to hold off dinner until 7:00 and all eat a meal together.

7:00: Cheese pizza for dinner! I am really hungry and it feels good to eat, but it also feels a bit sacrilegious. I definitely want to break my fast with a cleaner, healthier food next time. My stomach did cramp just a bit a few minutes after eating, but it wasn't terrible.

Overall, the 24 hour fast was much easier than I expected it to be. It's definitely something I want to continue doing. It was so interesting to break my normal (sometimes mindless) eating habits, and in a much different way than doing Weight Watchers did that. I felt more mindful throughout the day, able to focus as my instincts rose up and I consciously had to suppress them. Of course I can't tell if I came out technically any "healthier", but I don't think that I did any damage. I do feel, just inherently, that it was a cleansing experience for me. I'd love to hear about your own experiences if you fasted with me or have fasted on your own.

The First Fast

2008-01-18T08:40:00.000-06:00

So today is my first attempt at the 24-hour fast. I'm nervous, excited, and yes...hungry. It really is putting some perspective on things. I have had a couple of moments while focusing on work where my mind has wandered and I've thought: "Hmmmm, I'm hungry. I'll go eat something." It's a bit of shock to realize I "can't". Then of course, as I mentioned before, I think of how many people are far hungrier than I am, without a choice. Even looking out the window and watching the birds, seeing the rabbit tracks around the feeder, I think of how grateful they are for an easy meal. Life is good for me. Still, I can't eat for 24 hours, and I'm hoping it's for a good reason. So I decided to spend some time looking for more articles about the benefits of partial fasting. The original NPR article that got me thinking about this cites Dr. Mark Mattson. Searching for information about his studies brought me mostly to articles from every source about his studies in 2003 that focused on fasting in mice. Here's the most comprehensive one:
NIA/NIMH: Fasting Forestalls Huntington's Disease in Mice. Finding more information from the other researcher cited by NPR was more difficult. She focuses mainly on pediatric diets, and discourages "fast" food. The articles I did find about her work with the American College of Endocrinology on fasting was so technical that I had trouble discerning exactly what the results of the studies were. This quote from the NPR article seems to sum it up for the lay person though: "You re-tune the body, suppress insulin secretion, reduce the taste for sugar, so sugar becomes something you're less fond of taking".

It's frustrating that there doesn't seem to be a good resource out there for the everyday person who wants to do a 24 hour fast for health. There are a lot of individual organizations that have different recommendations, but they all have their own take on why their fasting, and how it should be done. Can you drink coffee and tea? Do you really only fast for 24 hours, or do they mean 36--no meals waking to sleeping plus an entire night? How do I prepare myself for a fast? How do I break my fast? I've tried to put it all together and have come to a few conclusions, to be taken with a big grain of I'm-not-an-expert salt.

1. 24 hours is a sufficient period of time to allow for cleansing and stress the cells to a point that gives them a "work out". Dr. Mattson recommends simply skipping meals as one method of benefiting from calorie reduction. Any longer than 24 hours and you can start to have issues with muscle break down, etc. I am doing mine from 7PM-7PM.

2. Coffee? Tea? I don't know. Definitely not anything sweetened, including juice. Your pancreas is getting a break here and any sugars you consume have to be processed. I chose to have a cup of black tea this morning so as not to add a wicked caffeine headache to my hunger, but I will forgo anything but water for the rest of the period.

3. Fasting isn't about weight loss. There are lots of studies out there that show that fasting doesn't help weight loss, and can even screw things up. However--and this entirely my speculation--it seems to me that it can help if you are following a program where you are already regulating your food intake. That means that you won't binge when you break your fast, and you are going to go back to a healthy method of eating--possibly with your taste for sugar reduced, which can be very beneficial. I know one of my biggest challenges in losing weight is that craving for sweets.

4. Break your fast sensibly. Different methods call for different ways of resuming eating. My own common sense tells me that eating a full meal after depriving my body of food for 24 hours could throw a wrench in the system. I plan to start with a small amount of fresh fruit, then vegetables, and possibly wait until tomorrow morning to eat a normal meal.

So those are my thoughts for now. I will check back in to share more about my experiences once I complete the full 24 hours. Bright Blessings!

The 24-Hour Fast

2008-01-13T16:24:00.000-06:00

When I was perusing NPR's top 2007 stories, I came across a piece abour 24 hour fasting. Fasting is something that I've always found fascinating and mystical. Growing up as a catholic, even the brief fast before communion on Sundays seemed very cleansing to me. As an adult, I've been loathe to try it myself. I've made plenty of excuses, but when I saw it come up on NPR...well c'mon, it's NPR! According to the story, fasting for 24 hours retunes the body. It cleans out your pancreas and basically resets your insulin baseline. Other benefits mentioned included: reducing your taste for sugar, lowering blood pressure, and possibly reducing the risk of cancer. Some researchers say it may extend lifespan in general because it stresses cells in a way that basically gives them a workout. Still more research shows that "partial" (24 hour) fasts may be beneficial for the brain and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. This was the clincher for me. CADASIL, the genetic disease that is causing my father's stroke--the one that I have a 50% chance of having, it a disease that affects the brain and shares many characteristics of Parkinsons, and causes dementia. If I have it, I have it, there's no getting around it. All I can do is work at keeping my body and brain as healthy as possible, so that when the disease begings to progress, I'm at the best starting place I can be. So, I've committed to fasting 24 hours at least once a month this year, with hopes to move up to once a week.

I did a trial run today. Things have been busy and the family has been sick, so there hasn't been a good time. Today I am recovering from the nasty cold we've all had, but I just had a moment this morning where it seemed like I could try a mini-fast of sorts. I made it seven hours, and it wasn't too bad. I know this is going to sound corny or "out there", but I must admit, it felt very empowering to acknowledge my body's urges, and choose to deny them. There was something ascetic there that I hadn't taken into account. What's more, after a couple hours of actually feeling genuinely hungry, I began to think about how incredible it is that when I'm hungry I can just walk a few feet, grab some food, and satisfy my craving. I started thinking about how much is involved in getting my food to me (something I contemplate regularly, but it threw it into sharp perspective.) I thought about how many people in the world get by on a bowl of rice a day--if they're lucky. For me, fasting is a complete luxury. It's something I'm committed to doing though. Now I realize that it will also give me the chance to retune my mind as well as my body. I believe it will improve my long term physical, mental, and spiritual health. I plan to do my first complete fast this Friday, January 18th. No food, just plenty of water and thought. I'd love to have you join me.

For the original NPR story, visit http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16513299.

I Can Has Al Gore?

2008-01-10T18:59:00.000-06:00

If you are not familiar with lolcats or similar macros, and you need to lighten up, check out icanhascheezburger.com. For the macro newbie, you may want to read the "About Us" before anything else. You'll get used to the weird chatspeak/bad grammar after a while. I guess it's that cats don't type so well. There are also a lot of insidish jokes, that you'll start getting if you check back in regularly. I try to check it once a week to get a good laugh. (How sad is that picture though?)

Just One Thing

2008-01-07T21:13:00.000-06:00

Anyone who considers themselves an environmentalist has seen the “Gee-Whiz” factoids of how many small things can make a big difference. “If every household in the U.S. replaced just one package of 20 count drawstring tall kitchen bags made from virgin plastic with 65% recycled ones, we could save: 45,100 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 2,500 U.S. homes for a year; 824,800 cubic feet of landfill space, equal to 1,200 full garbage trucks; and avoid 16,800 tons of pollution!” “If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars.” These small changes add up in big ways. What if every household in America really did these steps? With today’s “Us vs. Them” mentality, that seems almost impossible.

“Doing my part” for the environment has always come easily to me. I was one of the “granolas” in high school, and wore my earthy t-shirts with pride. As an adult, I’ve been passionate about making our household an environmentally responsible one. We eat local, organic, and vegetarian. We shop with a mind to reduce packaging, we use all natural household cleaners, compost, drive a hybrid. Yes, I admit, I often go through the garbage at work to rescue paper and cans for the recycling bin. I am “That Crazy Environmentalist”. The many other folks out there, who like me are passionate about the environment, continue to inspire me to do even more. Sometimes it’s overwhelming for me. How must it look to someone who is just thinking about taking the first steps to being a bit more Green?

I’ve been thinking about how some extremes keep people from taking that first step. Someone who is thinking about reducing the amount of meat in their diet might walk away from the whole idea if they are given a vegan meal plan. It was when I was watching “Who Killed the Electric Car?” that I realized that this applies to environmentalism. One of the gentlemen in the movie said that there are people out there who think that to make a difference they have to keep their house frigid, drive a tiny car—basically make big lifestyle changes that they’re just not willing to make. I wondered, how many people out there might do just one or two small things, but don’t want to be an “Environmentalist”? How many of those people would be willing to make a change if a different approach were taken?

For us guerilla recycling, do-it-all Environmentalist types, we so often can’t stop with just recommending the compact fluorescent, the natural cleaner, the one step that if “every household in America” would do would create those Gee-Whiz impacts. We feel compelled to tell them about the 20 other “small changes” they could make. I’ve caught myself doing it so many times. “Just start with organic milk, you can find it anywhere these days. You’ll hardly notice the difference in cost, and it makes a big difference for the environment.” That should be enough, but I don’t stop there. “Next you can switch to organic yogurt and cheese, then switch all your veggies and fruits, then go to pantry products. Before you know it, you’ll be 100% organic!” At this point my listener is picturing their grocery bill skyrocketing and having to shop at one of those “weird” stores, and I’ve lost my audience. If Green Explorers feel they have to sell their car, reject new clothes, overhaul their diet, and more, they may choose to turn away completely.

I believe that many people want to do “the right thing”, but the fact is that Americans are a busy lot and we all have our own priorities. So let’s start with just one thing a month. No scary facts about our current energy supplies running out, rising sea levels, or even pollution. We could have a catchy tagline, like “Today, you made a difference.” Pair that with a simple fact, like “You changed just one light bulb in your house to a compact fluorescent, which means that this year you’ll use 2/3 less energy on that bulb, and keep more carbon dioxide out of the environment. Thank you.” That’s it-stop! Don’t tell them anything else; don’t ask even one thing more! It’s hard I know, but I really think that slow, steady, and reasonable approach will give us a far better chance of inspiring people to “be the change”. What’s more, this approach might change the mind of those who think that their small actions don’t really make a difference. Next month the “One Thing” might be dropping the thermostat one degree. The next could be using one recycled paper product. They’re all simple, easy to do things, without asking anything more.

I’m not the first to propose this. I’ve seen the simple ads in magazines that just ask the reader to drop the ‘zine in the recycling bin. Energy companies ask their customers to consider using more compact fluorescents. My fear is that we passionate environmentalists often scorn these small efforts as “slacktivism”, and snub these little steps as not making enough of a difference. The truth is these small steps are our chance to reach out to “Unlikely Environmentalists”. “Just One Thing” might seem doable where our 20-step plans are unthinkable. It may be that when people see that their small steps make a difference, they’ll take more steps. “I changed one light bulb; that was easy enough, why not do them all?” Maybe they’ll even be inspired to find out what else they can do. The point is that even if they only do that “Just One Thing”, it really does matter. That one thing is one step closer to getting those “every household in America” statistics into play. We can all take this approach with our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers, and see a real difference. I’ll be starting the monthly “Just One Thing” on my blog, and I invite you to do the same. For now, let’s start small. Reach out to one person, and ask them to do just one small thing. Tell them they make a difference.

January Just One Thing: Switch one incandescent bulb to a Compact Fluorescent. That's it. You'll keep 300 pounds of carbon dioxide our of the environment! Just one thing--thanks!

A shout out to David Roberts, who inspired this idea for me last year with this article, which I adore.

Looking Forward-2008

2008-01-06T18:50:00.000-06:00

I start this post and I take a deep breath. This year holds so much in it. I read last year's new year post, and I try to think about what has changed. My many blessings are for the most part still in place. My Dad is healthy, we have the luxury to live a sustainable lifestlye in our community, and I have a wonderful family. I've lost a dog, added a job, and let's face it, a few of those lost pounds back. Well, nothing stays the same.

2008 is going to be back to basics for me. Someday Gardens took a lot of time last year, and it's bound to take even more this year. My workload with my paid job has doubled, and it's going to be a rather big year with lots of responsibilities there. If I weren't so passionate about interfaith volunteer caregiving, I would quit, and find a way to do without that income. As it stands, I feel called to continue my work. Somehow though, I need to be able to balance those responsibilities with the other things that matter.

I want to get back to cooking more often. Yes, there's convenience food out there that's organic, but with all of the extra packaging, expense and the added fat and calories, there are lots of drawbacks there. It will still be around as an occasional fall-back, but cooking has to take priority again.

I want to spend more time just doing little things with the kids--reading, playing, gardening, hiking, but giving them my full attention. Bird will start school this year, and it's going to be such a huge change. I want to give her my time while I still have so much more with her, and make sure I take advantage of the time I'll have with Sprout this summer. Public school is as hard as we thought it would be, and if I want to continue to have them hold our values dear, I need to exemplify that and be there with them to drive it home.

With the extra income from my second job, our budget got a little loose. Everyone gets one new outfit a season, tops. Material accumulation needs to get checked. We cut the kids off from their occasional new toy in early Fall, and it made their holiday gifts a lot more exciting. I want to stick with that this year. We need to cut back on eating out and coffee out and focus on saving up for our Someday.

I have to take time for me too, but healthy time. Knitting, reading, gardening, have all fallen by the wayside as I find myself stressed out with work-related tasks. With the elections coming up, I know I'll want to get involved with politics again, and I want to make time for that. I did get a lot of canning done in '07, but I hope to shoot for even more this year.

It's a lot, and it's rather nebulous, but I don't find it overwhelming. I think I'll be happier once I feel that I'm back on track. Right now I tend to just get overwhelmed with work and zonk out from things like relaxing with the kids, knitting, cooking. Yes, those things take time, but they're the things that I value, the things that make me happy, and I think I'll feel clearer once I refocus. I wish you and yours peace of mind and happiness in the year to come.

John Who?

2008-01-04T09:34:00.001-06:00

Who is this handsome guy with the winning smile? That's right, dear readers, it's my favorite presidential candidate, John Edwards. Don't tell anyone, but he won second place in the Iowa caucuses last night. Shhh, don't tell, it's a secret! Clearly it is--look at these lead paragraphs from the media:

Chicago Tribune - Young voters and independents flooded gyms and church basements in record numbers Thursday night, delivering a historic and decisive victory in the Iowa caucuses to Sen. Barack Obama, as he vanquished Sen. Hillary Clinton and certified his standing as her principal challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Salon-There are many rivers to cross before Obama is greeted with "Hail to the Chief." But this is the moment to marvel at what the first-term Illinois senator -- virtually unknown in the nation before his epic speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention -- has already achieved. A semireluctant candidate just a year ago, Obama defeated Hillary Clinton and the politics of inevitability in a state that destroyed anti-establishment candidates like Howard Dean and Bill Bradley.

I could go on, I saw plenty this morning. Do they get around to mentioning the candidate that beat Hillary anywhere? Well yes, later in the articles they go on to mention our dear silver medalist, but quickly sweep him into the corner because he has only spent a measly 3 million dollars on campaign ads, whereas Barack and Hillary have spent 7 and 10 million. Let's not forget that he's not exciting on TV either, just a white guy with strong experience, good plans, and one of the most solid characters I've ever ecountered. So does it matter that he got the second highest number of votes? No, good readers, no! Let's remember what our country is about: money and television. I encourage you all to count the number of ads for each candidate and research how much money they've poured into their campaign in our country where people are starving and going without basic medical care. That's what it's about: money and televsion, money and televsion. ([/sarcasm]) Don't get me wrong, if Barack gets the nomination, I'll be behind him. But let's not discount the individual who I think has the best chance of truly changing our country. Time is short my friends.

P.S.--Happy New Year, all! The standard, inspirational new beginning post will be forthcoming. Bright Blessings--M

Our Winter Stores

2007-12-03T21:11:00.001-06:00

Here I am again, with my thanks to those of you who have checked in over the past few months. It's been a bit of a rough road balancing the two jobs, losing our long-time pup, and battling pneumonia for 6 weeks. There was a myriad of other sore luck, including losing our hard drive along with the past four months of pictures we'd taken. That included a much fuller picture than the one in this post, showing off our winter stores. At this time last year I was pining for having put up more local foods. This year we remembered, and were good little squirrels. We have strawberries in the freezer still, (my dream of our own strawberries in November and December oats has come true), jams from our strawberries and currants, salsa verde from our early tomatoes and peppers, diced tomatoes and sauce from our garden bounties, and applesauce from local orchards. The pickled peppers came from my sister's garden--we canned them together at our grandmother's house. (That was an adventure--believe the part of the recipe that tells you to wear gloves. I'm just sayin'.) We had our own garden peas for dinner tonight, and there's at least one more dinner of those, and also in the freezer we have double the tomatoes pictured. We've supplemented here and there with store-bought sauce and jelly, but I think we should move comfortably into the next harvest season. Supplementing this are the local pumpkins, squash, potatoes, onions, carrots and beets (some from our own garden) that we remembered to stock up on this year. We have certainly learned a lot and come a long way since committing to eating as local and organic as possible.

Looking back at my goals for this year, I can say that I've come closer to meeting them. I wasn't perfect, but I made improvements here and there--I'm moving in the right direction. Our holiday gifts this year will consist of (hey family, skip the rest of this paragraph!) a sampling of our preserves and photo gifts of the kids. We worked hard all summer to make that happen. (If you are doing your own gift shopping, feel free to check out my Guilt-Free Shopping Guide from last year.)

I admit my shortcomings and I can assure you I won't be posting a lot in the next few weeks. Enjoy my posts from last year if you so wish. Much of this month will be reliving the same joys. This year we've adopted a local family to give them a special holiday, which will make our own twice as helpful. Tis the season of giving, and I feel blessed knowing that my blog readers will be taking that to heart, and spreading their good will to all in their own communities. Happy Holidays to all of you, and best wishes for the new year.

Whole Foods Does It Again

2007-09-21T20:27:00.000-05:00

I've written before about how much I believe in the power of Whole Foods as a champion for local, organic food. Well, they've come through again, riding a white horse, carrying a banner, blaring a trumpet. Wisconsin had a rough summer. In our own backyard we spent the first half of the summer watering daily to keep up our market garden. In the last half we picked madly to try to keep ahead of the torrential rains that were bursting our tomatoes and carrots, stagnating our cucumber production, and drowning seedlings. What we saw in our gardens was mirrored horrifyingly in the big organic family run farms in the state. Beo and I didn't even bother holding back tears when we read about the damage to our favorite Farmer's Market vendor's farm. Harmony Valley lost acres of topsoil and tens of thousands of dollars worth of profit. Their story was repeated over and again at numerous farms throughout our area. Avalanche Organic, Driftless Organics--the losses were devastating.

That Saturday Beo and I went to the Farmer's Market and got our normal produce from Harmony Valley, then paid double for it. We've done the same whenever we could make it since then. Today, I found out that Whole Foods Market is doing much more. I was greeted today by a television set showing a video about the horrible damage our farmer's have experienced in these past months. Nearby, a sign explained that Whole Foods had committed $25,000 to farm relief, and had pledged $10,000 to match customer donations. That in and of itself is an incredible support of our local farmers. The story goes on though. When I took my donation coupons to the register, two employees told me that they've already raised $6,000 in their store alone. One gentleman explained that not only does Whole Foods in Madison buy from these local farmers as they go into the market each week, they have the buying power to buy up the leftovers of what the farmers don't sell at market. (He added that these days that's not an issue--there's just not enough produce to go around.) Whole Foods has also been assisting local farmers even before this crisis by trucking their produce out of state, in Whole Foods Market trucks that would be headed to those stores anyway, providing distribution that these small farmers could never afford. This employee told me with pride that the hard squash displayed for sale in the front of the store that day had been picked by Whole Foods employees. Avalanche Organic, washed out and strapped for cash, couldn't afford a harvest crew, but a crew of volunteers came to do their harvest last weekend, including a large group of volunteers from Whole Foods.

If anyone having read my former posts had any doubts, I hope they stop here. Whole foods is walking the walk--they're leading the walk. They're not just getting local organic produce to more consumers, they're standing up and giving those farmers the support they need--formerly to thrive, now to survive. Eat your heart out, Michael Pollan.

Please consider giving what you can to the cause. For More Info:
Press Release on Whole Foods' Recent Action
Harmony Valley Farm
Sow the Seeds Fund

2007 Preserves

2007-08-30T22:44:00.001-05:00

This has been a challenging garden year, between the dry spells, the wet spells, the heat, and our busy lives in general. Still, we've already managed to put up more food than last year, and we hope to get a few more good weeks in before things really taper off in the garden. We lost at least 100 tomatoes to the rain--probably more--batches and batches of sauce. We've gotten a few good batches in though. This year we opted to skip the boiling, de-seeding, coring and peeling and go for a food mill. With ripe tomatoes, this thing is a dream. Orange tomatoes make it a bit more of a chore. In some respects, it's as much labor, because you have to set the thing up, clean it, wash all of the catch bowls, etc. It's far more efficient though. I end up with a small dry pile of peel and seeds instead of a huge pile of gorp. Check out the before and after shot of how much more pulp and juice I got and how much "waste" was reduced, just by re-processing the "waste" from my initial run through of the tomatoes.

Yes, these are actual pictures. No, my kitchen's never really this clean except for pictures and company.
We also invested in a pressure cooker, but we've only done one batch of sauce in it. I don't really care for the sauce that we've found recipes that are safe for canning for. We've eaten lots of my own special non-recipe (sauteed onion, garlic, lots o' garden herbs, simmered waaay down, S&P at the end) and frozen 4 pints. I also did a few batches of salsa verde about a month ago, before the tomatoes started turning. With all of the cucumbers we had before the rain, pickles were tempting, but we had a market at the coffee shop for them, and Bird eats them whole, so we let all of the cukes go beyond pickling size. Maybe next year. My sister is bringing some of her banana peppers this weekend and we hope to pickle those. If I can get one more batch of sauce put up, along with the applesauce and apple butter to come this fall, I'll be pretty happy. I do hope we're spared some of the rain next year so that we have more tomatoes to put up, but I can hardly complain when I look at the devastation our big-cousin family farms have suffered.

Sprout starts school next week and I can hardly believe it. I've had unbelievable anxiety this week instead of the calm relaxing preparatory week I'd hoped to give him. We're heading out for the weekend though, and hopefully that will refresh us for jumping into this next big phase on Tuesday. My baby is growing so fast.

Darling Vermin !@#$%#!s

2007-07-29T15:54:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year Beo and I were thrilled to spot a thirteen-lined ground squirrel in our front yard. He was eating the seeds around our bird feeder, and we were so glad to have attracted more wildlife. Soon we saw him scurrying around the back prairie, and we crowed over the fact that we had a real ecosystem going there now, with a native critter having made his home back there. When the gardens got going, we were happy to see that we didn't have any problems. Beo had spotted more than one ground squirrel at a time in the backyard now, and we'd seen them scurrying in from other areas of the neighborhood.

Then about 6 weeks ago we had such a rush on lettuce orders from our coffee shop that we started some new lettuce seedlings. Once they had multiple leaves, we transplanted the 1.5 inch plants into a carefully prepared bed. The next afternoon, they were gone, nibbled to the ground. Meanwhile the new bed couldn't seem to push up a seedling for the life of it. We'd planted about 100 seed patches, and only a few things were coming up. Finally we realized that the seedlings were coming up, only to be gnawed down overnight. At first, we decided it was rabbits, and we put up chicken wire. No dice. Next we decided it was birds--we'd spotted a robin in the lettuce beds on multiple occasions. Beo spent an afternoon and rigged an elaborate netting system over both of our seedling beds. Our poor little lettuce seedlings kept getting nibbled to the ground. Soon we noticed holes appearing in our garden. One little burrow came up right in the middle of one of the seedling beds. Another exited on either end of the raised potato bed, and as soon as the tomatoes started turning orange, we began finding half eaten tomatoes at the edge of the hole. It was the dang little adorable thirteen lined ground squirrels.

We debated over how to handle it. They're so tiny that there's really no way to protect the garden from them. Although we loved having them in our ecosystem, we finally agreed that since they were ruining our gardens, they had to go. Beo bought a small live trap and we baited it with peanut butter--somewhat skeptically. The next morning I spotted our little friend sniffing around the trap. He got a tomato (little bugger) and ate it on top of the rock border, eyeing the trap the whole time. When I next looked out the window, the trap was sprung, and sure enough, our little friend was in there. We took him to a local park where I'd recently found there was a whole colony of his kin. The next day, Beo took the NEW lettuce seedlings of of a bench, and by that afternoon they'd been eaten to the stem. We saw another little friend in the prairie today, so set the trap back there. 5 minutes later Bugger2 had sprung the trap, but we had set it wrong and he got out. You'd think he'd have learned a lesson, and you'd be right if that lesson was "Peanut Butter is tasty!". We baited the trap again and less than 2 minutes later he was in it again, this time for good, and is off to find a new home. There's definitely a balance to this whole permaculture thing, and I guess sometimes there's just not enough room for all of us in the backyard.

The Fruits of our Labors

2007-07-24T19:49:00.001-05:00

I'm behind in writing this, but wanted to give you a picture of our June. Our strawberry plants are in their third year, and gifted us with a steady supply of fresh fruit. It was so wonderful to have it after a long winter/spring with fruit being a rare treat. At first, we were excited with the first single strawberry that came into perfection. We picked it, photographed it, savored it. Before long we had such huge harvests that we didn't know what to do with it all. In years past, Bird would forage her way through the beds and there was little left for the rest of us, but this year even our little Bird had her fill. Our visitors were encouraged to pick their heart's delight--and still we had more than we needed. With an early and mid producing variety, we had a steady supply for weeks.

Last year's attempt at jelly put me off of such ventures, but looking at strawberry jam recipes, that looked less intensive. Grape jelly involved peeling, seeding, and boiling down the grapes, but strawberries just get hulled and mashed. It's still work to prep the strawberries and prepare and can the jam, but after a first batch we decided it was more than worth it. We did 2 batches of straight strawberry jam, and one with currants when our champagne currants came into fruit. The strawberry-currant jam is particularly delightful. I still get a bit nervous about the canning aspect, but I am so paranoid about doing everything right that I realize I have little to worry about.

As we went hulled our strawberries from huge bowls, I selected the most perfect berries to be frozen for later. I set these individually on a tray, froze them for a few hours, then put them into a freezer bag. (This method prevents them from freezing together in a great lump.) I'm looking forward to making a strawberry smoothie with our own backyard local organic straberries--in October. With a gallong bag of frozen berries, and a dozen jars of jam, we're a far cry better this year towards preserving more of our fruit, to take us further into the less productive garden months on local fruit. If we do as well with our garden goodies, we'll be in great shape.

I Play with Dolls

2007-07-19T07:25:00.000-05:00

Those of you who know me a bit know that I am a pretty eccentric individual. I tend to pick up hobbies that are often far from what one would expect of me. So here's my latest confession: I've fallen for dolls. When I first heard about the American Girl Benefit Sale for Madison Children's Museum, it sounded great to me. American Girl donates their seconds and returns to MCM, and MCM has hundreds of volunteers who fix them up. Once a year there is a huge warehouse sale where the items are sold. All of the proceeds benefit MCM and American Girl's charities. So let's see, we're reducing waste AND benefiting charity. Sounds good! Doing a bit of research I really liked the way American Girl emphasized girl's self esteem, worth, strength, and intelligence. I loved the history and stories behind the dolls. My sisters and I played with dolls when we were little, and as I started looking at these new dolls, I enjoyed reminiscing with them over our favorite doll friends in childhood. I was lucky to get an early ticket into the sale, so I started doing some research, thinking I'd pick up a doll or two for the kids. That's when I discovered the world of adult collecting, and what a world it is! I decided pretty quickly that this was something I wanted to do. It's pretty out-of-character for me, and Beo is more than a little freaked out about the entire thing, but is being relatively cool about it. He said that it helps that I'm pretty embarrassed about the entire endeavor. I've found a little niche for myself in the world of collecting, and discovered that I enjoy getting dolls that just need a little fixing up. I've gotten a couple of fixer-uppers on E-bay, learned how to make them over, and resold them to help fund my own collection. My collection started with a second-hand "Kit", the doll from the Great Depression, around 1934. She's pretty new and just needs some stray candle-dye removed from her hand. (It's a long process, but she'll recover.) Last night we picked up a Craigslist lot from a family about a half-hour from us. It was so fun to meet the girls who grew up with this doll, to watch Sprout and Bird fawn over and name the new "girl" (Daisy), and then to get to work on fixing her up. I just love the transformations of these well-loved dolls, giving them a new lease to get some more love and bring another child (or adult!) more joy. Check out the before and after--to me it's just really satisfying. Daisy caught me by surprise and will probably be a permanent member of the Sprout-Bird collection. I do think that playing with dolls is important for children, helping to teach them about caring for another being (even if it happens to be inanimate), and in this case, teaching them about believing in themselves. The Madison Children's Museum Benefit Sale is this weekend and I've saved up my lettuce money and some overtime to build up a starter collection. I'm so excited! So now you know what's been filling up my time between weeding and watering. It's doll collecting, and while I can't yet say I'm proud, I'm getting there, and having fun in the process.

Us at the Farmer's Market

2007-07-14T12:51:00.000-05:00

Today marked a momentous occasion: the first ever Farmer's Market in our little village. A couple of industrious folks finally riled up the board enough to get permission to use the village hall parking lot to hold a farmer's market. We were asked to join in. We're pretty "between" crops right now. All of our lettuce has gone to the coffee shop, and our new seedlings were all mowed down by birds within 24 hours of putting them out. We have potatoes like you wouldn't believe--the current pride of the garden, but Beo refuses to share (and I'm not about to argue!). We also have beets and zucchini, but we've been living on them. I wanted to be a part of this though, so managed to get together a few bouquets of flowers, some beets, baby zucchini, garlic, and herb bundles to take down this morning. I was pleased when I arrived to find that we had a good spread! There were 5 other vendors. One had a wide array of vegetables and flowers, another had eggs, a third had preserves, a fourth had plants for sale, and the last had honey. Traffic was sparse, I don't think we'd have known about the market ourselves had we not been asked to join in, but there were enough drive-bys to keep people trickling in. In the two hours we were there we sold all of our basil, mint, and beets, and a bouquet of flowers. I felt kind of guilty about the flowers because Bird asked the lady to buy them, and who can say no to Bird? The customer even asked Bird to pick out which flowers she should take. Yeah, that was all about those big brown eyes. People's asking prices were loooow. The only other veggies seller there was selling almost everything for $1, so I ended up selling my herb bunches for $1 and the beets were $2 but my last one I sold for $1. Tough critics. The flowers only went for $3. So I spent an hour prepping and two hours there, and made $10. $2 of that went for eggs from our fellow vendor. It was a nice experience but boy, that's tough money-wise. I won't be able to make it next week, but the following week, once tomatoes are rolling in, we may give it another shot. The money is not why I showed up this morning, it was a matter of being the change and offering organic local food from our own backyard to our community.

Summer Updates

2007-07-04T15:27:00.000-05:00

Well I've planned a half dozen posts but there's just not time for them all, so let me give you a digest version of how summer is going. We've been gardening, traveling to weddings, celebrating birthdays, and gardening...and gardening. The gardens are glorius this year, and in some ways less maintenance as they mature and shade out weeds. We've put in more beds this year though, mostly vegetable beds, so there's more to keep up with, and much more watering. When we get a good rain I breathe a sigh of relief knowing I'll get a few more free hours the next day or two.

One of the most exciting things is that I've taken on the market garden component of Someday Gardens. We have been selling our lettuce to a local coffee shop, that's featuring them in a special salad. It started off slow, with a delivery every week or so, but the salad took off in popularity, and soon we got a call that they'd take all we could deliver. Suddenly we were delivering two containers (about a pound of lettuce each, washed and dried) a day. Beo went in and asked for the salad for lunch one day after I'd made a delivery that morning, and they told him that our lettuce was already gone! It's nice to have it going over so well, even moreso when you look at the cycle of it. We drink their coffee, compost their coffee grounds and vegetable waste, grow lettuce with the compost, which we sell to them. I've even been watering our new lettuce seedlings with the rinse water from the lettuce. We had to put in an entire new bed just for lettuce because we quickly tired out our early spring batch. It is pretty labor intensive to pick and triple wash, then spin and dry that much lettuce, but I am thrilled to be able to do it. The other day I came out from making a delivery, saw our "Be the change you wish to see in the world" bumpersticker, and smiled to think how we were implementing local organic foods in our own community.

The flower gardens and the prairie have taken off as well. We're thrilled that a little thirteen-lined ground squirrel has made our yard his home. We've also had a frequent hummingbird visitor who is new to us this year. There are pollinators galore buzzing all over the place, and we had a huge influx of butterflies late last month. There were dozens all over our front yard, and at first I thought they were just everywhere, but looking up and down the street I realized that they were all concentrated in our yard. If I were a butterfly I guess I'd hang out here too. Heck, I'm not a butterfly and here I am.

Eating local has been somewhat of a breeze. We've made a couple of trips to the Farmer's Market, but many of our meals came from our own backyard until late last month, when things got so busy we were always on the run and our lettuce was all going elsewhere. We did enjoy a harvest of peas though, and an early harvest of beets. Beets are one of those vegetable creatures that I never learned to love until I'd had them fresh. Now they're one of my favorites. This meal was oh-so-local: backyard peas, lightly steamed; backyard beets, roasted, homemade bread spread with locally produced goat cheese; backyard lettuce with local feta and a homemade vinaigrette. Divine. I so love eating locally. It gives one something to look forward to. I will do my best to keep up more with my blog. It's frustrating that the time of year I have so much to write about, I have so little time to do so. I hope everyone's enjoying a fabulous summer.

Salad Season

2007-06-09T15:55:00.000-05:00

When we returned from our trip, we were greeted with exploding gardens. In the vegetable garden, our Speckled Trout Romaine (Forellenschluss) was ready for harvest. Beo was up for trying some salads as our main course, and we have both found them delightful. This is a wonderful lettuce variety and I highly recommend it. Working on the CSA, I learned how to best prepare lettuce. After harvesting, it should be rinsed in a cold water bath as soon as possible. Make sure to use plenty of water so that any debris can float away from freely-moving leaves. Remove the leaves from the water, drain the water, and rinse any dirt or other undesirable material from the sink or rinse container. This process should be done 3 times to get clean leaves. If you don't currently clean your lettuce this way, you will probably understand why you might want to after seeing your rinse water the first two times. I've been using our first rinse water to water plants outside, the second for inside plants, and the third for the dogs water dishes (heck they drink out of puddles in the mud outside) or to fill pots that need to soak. I just use another container to scoop the water out of the sink, or use a large bowl if I only need to wash a small amount of lettuce. After washing, let the lettuce dry (this will help it stay crisp and retain nutrients--use a salad spinner or lay leaves on clean towels), and store it in a ventilated container in the refrigerator.

We started out with some basic salads. Our radishes were ready too, so the basic formula was lettuce, sliced radishes, and nuts. We like almonds, pecans, and walnuts for a little crunch. For extra protein, we often saute some sliced tempeh with a bit of Bragg's Amino Acids. We've also been doing sliced boiled eggs lately. I do not particularly like eating eggs. I have a personal mindset that just puts me off of them. However I've realized that if I want to eat more locally, eggs are far and away my best vegetarian protein source until we have enough land to grow heirloom beans. That's not in the near future, so for now, eggs it is. We enjoyed the beautiful pear, walnut, and goat cheese salad last week. The pear was our last domestic one we had, and I wanted to really highlight it. I was inspired by a salad Beo and I shared when we were at a restaurant in North Carolina.

You may have a favorite dressing recipe, but try something new to spice up your salads. I recently got some Organic Valley Mexican Blend cheese on sale, so I threw it into a salad with some seasoned black turtle beans, salsa, corn chips, and goat cheese for a Taco Salad. (Forgive the picture, I was in a hurry. My dear family is often waiting to eat while I try to get a good shot of our dinner!) I concocted a basic vinaigrette and added lemon juice and chili powder. It was delicious! To make your own, just use a formula of 2 parts oil to one part vinegar, and add a pinch of salt. You may also want to try a bit of sugar. I have used mustard, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce, garam masala and more to try to create the right dressing for the salad. Give it a try and enjoy the wonderful greens that are in season now!

Prairie Dogs, Ferrets, and Poison, Oh My!

2007-06-07T12:41:00.000-05:00

On our recent trip, one of the animals Sprout and Bird found most captivating was the prairie dog. We spent so much time parked near the edge of their "towns" in the Badlands and Custer State Park, watching their antics. Beo told stories about being in the backcountry of the Badlands the year that Black-footed ferrets were reintroduced to the area. Now more than 200 of these endangered creatures live in and around these same prairie dog towns. It's a success story in the endangered species world. Now the ferrets are threatened again, as cattle ranchers push the Forest Service to expand their prairie dog poisoning programs deeper into federal lands--into the heart of where the ferrets can potentially thrive.

I hope my readers know that I am no (stereotypical) garden-variety tree hugger. I understand the importance of cattle grazing (especially in the face of CAFO expansion) and the need to remove prairie dogs from private lands. Federal lands however, are there for a reason. These areas already permit grazing. In my mind, ranch owners should be able to use the land within its ecological limits, but not dictate how the federal government controls the land. The Forest Service is in part responsible for keeping these ecosystems balanced and preserved. Moving the poisoning program into an area where an endangered species is getting a foothold is foolhardy at best. Our world is under threat from all sides. This is one area where we've done the right thing and tried to set up an ecosystem that belongs. Let's not let business interests throw that away. Please, take the time to read this article, and follow the instructions for contacting the Forest Service to share your thoughts about the plan. My letter is ready to get dropped in the mail.

Yellowstone and Beyond

2007-06-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

Things have been a blur the past month. There was much to do with volunteering, work, home, and the gardens. Our trip to Yellowstone was a wonderful respite. My Dad asked us a few months ago if we would like to take this trip with them when my sister flew back from Alaska. We jumped at the chance for a planned family vacation! The last time we took a vacation with my parents and sisters was back when I was in high school, excepting trips to Ohio for Christmas. My Dad planned everything out ahead of time, basically removing all pre-stress from the trip. Believe it or not, what follows is the Readers Digest Version of this journey. Our trip began at my parents house in SD. On the one-year anniversary of my Dad's stroke, we picked up my sisters and their/(ours too) dear friend, and we were off. We visited the famed Corn Palace, the Badlands and stayed in Spearfish the first day. The badlands never cease to awe me, no matter how many times I visit them. We saw Pronghorn, Prairie Dogs, Meadowlarks, Bluebirds, Vultures, and some young Bighorn sheep in the park.

The next morning my fam enjoyed a lovely local coffee shop and a brief drive into Spearfish canyon before meeting up w/ the rest of the family after church and visiting the historic Booth Fish Hatchery. Next we were on to Devils Tower, a truly amazing place. It was and still is sacred to the native people of the land, and on the trail up to the base you will see various offerings and prayer ties in the trees. From there we drove across Wyoming and into Cody. We took the less-traveled Highway 14. It is a STUNNING drive through the mountains, and I highly reccomend it if you ever head out that way. Just be sure to check your brakes before going, and don't forget to brake with your transmission too. The next morning we left Cody for a drive said to be the most beautiful in the country, through the Little Bighorns and into Yellowstone. The drive was definitely exceptional. Yellowstone was much chillier than I'd originally anticipated, but we layered up and were fine. The first day there, we saw Yellowstone Canyon with it's falls, Mammoth Hot Springs, and the mudpots. Mammoth Hot Springs has changed so much since I was last there more than 10 years ago. Many of the springs are now dormant and are a simple chalky white rather than the cascading, shiny colors that I remember. Still, they are impressive and unique.

The wildlife was amazing. We saw elk, birds of all kinds, moose, mule and white tailed deer, a few bison, and a large herd of bison with calves in an incredibly picturesque river valley. Those calves are so darling. Even with all of the little traditional cute things we saw, Bird's favorite throughout the trip was the baby bison. She got a closeup view shortly after we left this herd, as a huge herd came straight down the road we were driving on, all but stopping traffic. I have to tell you--these are some impressive animals. Even as I was trying to get a good shot, I was catching my breath at how awesome they are. They have quite a presence.

We stayed in West Yellowstone and the next morning we were off to the Geyser Basin and Old Faithful after layering up and getting some nice warm sweatshirts for the kids--big so that they could go over all those layers! We saw Old Faithful Lodge and a number of neat smaller geysers before getting to see Old Faithful. It was snowing as we all watched it erupt. It was really cool to get to experience that with not just my parents and sisters again, but all together as a huge family. Sprout absolutely loved that part. From there we headed on to Flagg Ranch, in between the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. I have to say that this was possibly my favorite part of the trip. My Dad had arranged for us to stay in these great cabins, all close to each other. We were very near the edge of the bluff that the ranch is built on, having been moved out of the river bed in order to expand Grizzly territory! The bluff overlooks the Tetons, and a beautiful expanse in-between where we saw bluebirds as well as many of their cousins, a big bull bison, a moose cow just below our feet, elk, and a coyote, or possibly a wolf--we couldn't be sure. Quite a backyard, at any rate. Right outside our cabin we had a flicker trying to make it's home in the cabin roof nearby, ground squirrels, and on the first morning there, a precious sighting of a pine marten! We heard news of a nearby bear, but a drive to the suggested spots yielded nothing but some stunning views of the mountains. It was still a fun chase. The next day we took a morning hike together, and then Beo and I broke out on our own for a hike into Flagg Canyon. Later we all met up to drive down to a waterfall in the Tetons. We didn't make it to the waterfall, but we had a wonderful afternoon seeing the sights, including a young Griz! We hung out at a streamside for a while, and made some wonderful memories. On our way back we stopped and watched a little sleeping fox alongside dozens of other viewers. That night we had a campfire before heading for bed. It was positively idyllic.

The next morning we went back through Yellowstone, stopping at Moose Falls and the West Thumb Geyser Basin. This was one of my favorite parts of Yellowstone. The hot springs are so beautiful and otherworldly. Next the beautiful drive back to Cody, and the next morning it was on to the Black Hills of South Dakota again. We stopped in Spearfish Canyon to try to find an American Dipper (aka "Water Oozle") in the creek, and sure enough spotted one and enjoyed it for a while. That night we stayed in Hill City and got to see Mount Rushmore at sunset. Sprout was incredibly impressed. The next morning we went to Sylvan Lake for a little hike and through the Needles Highway and across Custer State Park before heading back towards home.

I can't tell you what an incredible experience this trip was for me and for my little ones. I got plenty of chances to practice my photography. If by some chance you didn't get enough of my pictures, you can see some of the 1600+ that I shot at this flickr album. It was great just to be with my family, but moreso it was so great to see the kids as part of a larger family. We had car seats set up so that we could move them between vehicles, everyone helped out with them at meals, bedtimes, playtimes, hikes, entertaining in the car, and even bathroom breaks. It was so neat to see the kids reveling in all of the grown-ups who love them so much. It felt so good. My Dad pointed out that it was pretty amazing for the kid's first visit to Yellowstone to be with a biologist and a geophysicist! ("Ask your auntie" was a standard reply to their many questions!) The trip an incredible way to celebrate my Dad's health. It was a wonderful experience to get to spend time with my family doing something just to be together and go out and appreciate the beauty of nature. I know I'm waxing like aged cheddar here, but it's the truth. We saw an incredible variety of nature and wildlife, and did it all together as a family. In this day and age, that's an incredible gift.

Thanks to everyone who checked in with me during my absence. I'll try to post more regularly! family. I know that in todays day and age, it's something to cherish. Updates on food and the gardens coming soon.

Frugal on a Time Budget Meal of the Day

2007-05-10T07:40:00.000-05:00

Last week I committed to buckling down on frugality while trying to find time to do everything else. My current duties besides the everyday of keeping up with my paid job, keeping the house within health code standards, and keeping the family fed and clothed, include working on my church's Mother's Day for Peace event (more on that later) and working on Someday Garden's biggest consultation job to date. Not to mention, our own gardens are established and filling out, but the weeds are still competing and there are always things to be moved, pruned, watered, you name it. However busy I might be, I did find time to make a big pot of veggie chili. I made my standard from diced tomatoes, bulk kidney beans, corn, onions and seasonings, and added some bulk barley to fill it out nutritionally and budget-wise. (Saute the onions, then add remaining ingredients. Cook the barley ahead of time or add a goodly amount of veggie broth with the dried barley into the chili, and let it simmer gently until the barley is tender.) It turned out great. The first night, I decided to keep things interesting by serving it over a baked sweet potato, with a dollop of plain yogurt. For some reason I thought some steamed broccoli on top sounded good, and it ended up complimenting the whole thing quite nicely, giving a sweet freshness to the savoriness of the general dish. It may not look like much, but it was absolutely delicious, and very filling. I believe the cost per person was about $1. The kids are currently shunning tomatoes, but gobbled up a Sprout-Friendly chili version with just beans, corn, and (shhh) a little bit of tomato juice mixed in. It helps to find new ways to make old frugal favorites interesting.

Heatwave with Flowers

2007-05-08T14:40:00.000-05:00

We are in our third year of gardens here, and it's wonderful to see how things have finally gotten well established and are coming up bigger and stronger than ever. We were surprised to see how well the shade garden is coming back. My anemone is finally doing what it's supposed, to being big, white, and showy early in the garden.

We have one Jacob's Ladder that is weeks ahead of it's kin in a shower of delicate periwinkle buds.

The columbine have budded out and the bleeding heart are already blooming. I love how they capture moisture within their luscious petals. You can see the drops when the sun shines through.

I was thrilled to spot our lone trillium which my sister picked up for me at a native plant sale. I didn't really believe it would make it back, but it made it's ephemeral debut this week. These are one of my favorite flowers. They're so simple in essence, but their elegance is enhanced by the smooth green leaves that frame the three white petals. They remind me of the big ruffs that English queens sometimes wore--or the big headresses of vegas showgirls! I hope you enjoyed the walk through our garden today.

His Holiness The Dalai Lama

2007-05-05T07:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had the incredible honor to join thousands of others at a teaching given by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. Seeing His Holiness has been on The List of things I'd like to do in my life, along with seeing the Great Barrier Reef and Alaska. We joined people from all walks of life to crowd into a sold out hockey stadium to hear this incredible individual. When we arrived, I had to practice my open heart and compassion as we walked past people carrying "Trust Jesus" signs, shouting at us from behind big placards with bible verses, and handing out "Heaven or Hell?" flyers. Good practice.

As we joined the massive crowd waiting to enter, we found ourselves next to a group of individuals I believe to have been Tibetan. I felt a surge of emotion as I was torn between happiness and sorrow from the old woman, who perhaps remembered leaving Tibet, to the young girl, who perhaps never would, and also the joy in them being able to see the great spritual leader from their native country.

Amazingly, arriving 45 minutes late because of the crowding, we were seated (far, far in the back but with a decent view) and only minutes later His Holiness entered the arena. I knew I would be overwhelmed by the emotion, and I was. Tears started running down my face as I saw this "humble Buddhist monk" who radiates peace and calm. He waved to everyone, even comically peering up into the highest reaches of seating and getting laughs right off the bat. As he was introduced, he removed his shoes, exposing his maroon socks and then tucking his feet up under him as he settled comfortably into a seat that was part throne, part victorian setee. I have read hundreds of pages of text in the words of HH, studied his teachings and learnings over the years, most recently about neuroscience, and to hear him speak still ignited a spark in my heart. He spoke at first in Tibetan, with a translator, but mostly in English. As I've heard, he will sometimes be so into a thought as he teaches that he switches to rapid Tibetan and his translator explains the end of the thought. He also checked words occasionally with his translator. Their relationship was so smooth and easy that you didn't miss a beat, and the nature of it was charming. His Holiness has a very strong accent, but is easily understood when you pay attention to him--easy to do when he is mixing comedy and lightheartedness with his teachings.

The nature of his teaching was Compassion as the Source of Happiness. He spoke about how humans by nature have a biological need for compassion and affection from the time we are born. He described how in consciously choosing to be truly compassionate towards another individual, we gain self-confidence and strength, dispel our fear, and are able to be more peaceful and calm. Later he described how having this underlying calm and compassion can help us not only to have a higher level of happiness day-to-day, but gives us the serenity to handle more difficult situations and even tragedies when they arise.

When his lecture was over, His Holiness spoke about his optimism for Our World--peace and sustainability. He drew wave after wave of applause when he said firmly that prayer and meditation was not enough, that we must work for change, and then we can see the next century as one that is known for it's peace, and our environment can survive. He also spoke about parenting compassionately, with affection, joking that it was easy for him to advise because he was a monk. He said that if he had to be with children he would be very kind--maybe 3, 4 hours. Then, maybe not so kind. He also spoke about being a vegetarian. He said that because many monastaries are strict vegetarian, they do promote a vegetarian diet. However, he said that he eats mostly vegetarian, but then, once maybe one or two weeks, a little not-vegetarian. He spoke about how monks are supposed to fast from solid foods after the noon meal, but that if he is very hungry, he'll have a biscuit or two. You see, His Holiness teaches us that greatness doesn't come in some abnormally Divine individual, it comes through people just like you and me. We all have the ability to be compassionate, and to actively develop that compassionate to be happier and to make a difference in the world. We are all Divine. We all have the ability to pray, meditate and move our feet as we do.

Resources:
Biography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama Teaching Webcasts
Books by His Holiness (I highly recommend "The Art of Happiness".)

Picture from the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Flickr Photos

2007-05-03T07:38:00.001-05:00

False Cherry Blossom
Originally uploaded by SproutsMom.

One thing I've been finding time for is taking pictures. If you're in the mood for browsing, feel free to check out my Flickr account. I'll keep it updated with my latest favorites. You can also subscribe to an RSS feed of my Flickr photos if you're interested. Just click on the picture to go to Flickr, or visit my homepage at http://flickr.com/photos/sproutsmom/. The link for the feed is at the bottom. Of course I'll continue posting photos here as well.

Enjoy!

Frugal on a Time Budget

2007-05-02T08:47:00.000-05:00

Oh how crazy life becomes. While I'm thrilled with the success of our garden business, its meant that Beo is away for many hours. We did get to work on a project together this week, which was great, but there's much to do at home too, and we're finding ourselves constantly in a time crunch. Housekeeping, paid-work, cooking, shopping, time with the kids--how do I balance it all? Lately I've found myself withdrawing from all of it because it feels so overwhelming. With all the crazy scheduling, we've found ourselves eating out more and cooking far less. After a week and a half of it, we both were downright sick of it. Beo and I sat down (okay, we had the conversation while we were both getting ready to go somewhere else) and came up with a plan: Back off from the gourmet, 10-step, dirt-cheap meals, but find a way to still cook inexpensively and simply. So I've tried to take what I've learned about frugality, and combine it with my favorite simple cooking. Time to take a step back.

So I went to Whole Foods Market, with only a basic idea of a plan, and here are a few things I came up with.

1. Bulk beans, rice, steel cut oats and nuts still work time-wise, and save us money. Beans and SCO may be more time intensive, but there's little labor involved, I just need to think ahead. Money and packaging saved.

2. Sweet potatoes still work over frozen potatoes. I can nuke one for lunch or throw them into the oven while something else bakes.

3. It may be warmer weather, but nothing stretches the budget and fills in menu holes like a big pot of veggie chili or soup.

4. Homemade bread is out until further notice. I found a bakery variety on sale and *gasp* had it sliced.

5. Time to go back to big batches, leaving leftovers for lunches. If I'm going to do Mollie Katzen, I'll do the full batch and we'll live with a little less variety.

6. While we wait for our favorite veggies to come into season, let's stick with frozen. A bag of mixed organic veggies is $2. That's two sides or one great stir fry. Speaking of...

Our first frugal meal this week was a stir fry, which we haven't done in ages. I made some rice from bulk (25 cents), browned some tofu in marinade ($1.50) and combined it with stir fried veggies ($2) and onion (10 cents). Total cost for the meal: $3.85. It was delicious, and even the kids ate it. It gave us each a generous portion, with enough left over for lunch for Beo today. Total time spent? I was in the kitchen for about half an hour, but I easily could have cut 10 minutes off of that by remembering to thaw the tofu beforehand. What's more, I was able to spend time putting away dishes and cleaning while things cooked up. I'll keep you updated as we try to make our frugal food more time-friendly. Now if I could just get as efficient with the other things on my proverbial plate...

Chickpeas and Spinach Stew

2007-04-26T14:11:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season for spinach recipes! I picked up a beautiful two pound bag of big green leaves at the Farmer's Market this weekend. It was gone before we knew it. Spinach is so incredibly versatile and nutritious, and it's one of the easiest foods for us to get local and organic. I received this recipe in my "Green Guide" e-mail yesterday and decided to give it a try. This is modified only very slightly. This is a quick and easy dinner that plates nicely and is very satisfying. Made with bulk rice and beans, it's also inexpensive--especially if you don't burn the first batch of rice. Not that I did.

Chickpeas and Spinach Stew

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 cup veggie stock
3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
12 ounces fresh greenmarket spinach
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 cups cooked brown rice
Plain Yogurt

Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and spices and cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes. Cover pot, lower heat and simmer 7 to 10 minutes. Add chicken stock, canned chickpeas and tomato; cover and cook 10 minutes at medium-high. Add spinach, cover for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and serve over brown rice, Top with a dollop of plain yogurt, and a sprinkle of spices.

I originally followed the directions to cook for another 10 minutes after adding the spinach, but I think it would have been nicer to let the spinach retain more of it's natural brightness and bite. The chicklets ate a modified version--brown rice, chickpeas, yogurt, and cumin. They had baby carrots on the side for their veggie. It was a big hit. Leftovers were great too. Enjoy cooking local as more variety becomes available!

Early Spring in the Garden

2007-04-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

Now that Spring seems to have taken hold over the late spurts of Winter, the Gardens are starting to take off. It's so nice to see things popping in to bloom. I'm pleased to say that as of right now, it looks like we may have lost only a few plants. My perrenial snapdragons have yet to bud out, but I haven't given up hope yet. The clematis we put in last year had a rough year and I don't think it will return, and it's too early to look for hostas yet. Our Wood Poppies are probably my favorite native that we have. They live in our partial shade bed, liking wooded edges in their normal habitat. They've done so well over the past few years. I shared a picture earlier this week, but here's a better shot of the plant, now that the flowers aren't bent over.

Our cushion spurge (Euphorbia epithymoides) is some of the earliest color in the garden every year. It's bright yellow foliage belies the fact that it's flowers are actually tiny little things set in the middle of the riot of color. (They are related to the pointsetia, which has the same characteristic.) Our flower lady recommended these when I first had the garden set 3 years ago and was looking for anything I could put in in the earliest days of April. I haven't been dissapointed. As it fills in, it will create a mass (cushion) of these yellow "flowers", that really create a nice chunk of bright color in the early garden.

The last of my favorites to emerge is our Indigo. This is actually a lovely hybrid of two natives, and is known as Baptisia Purple Smoke. I sought our it's lovely shoots under their blanket of wood chips, and was finally rewarded with the lovely purple spears. As they open up their leaves, they lose some of the dramatic color, so these shoots are one of my favorite stages of the plant. They're quite pretty after they go to bloom, and it looks like they're happy where they are--lots more shoots this year than last. Beo loves it too because it's a nitrogen fixer, so every year we add a few more indigo to our gardens.

Last fall we finally decided to plant bulbs, and we've been rewarded with some spots of color as most everything else fils out it's leaves. This narcissus just opened up today to contrast it's yellow cousins. I look forward to continuing to share as our gardens grow and new things come in to bloom.

Earth Dinner 3

2007-04-22T17:06:00.000-05:00

Last night we had our third annual Earth Dinner. These dinners, founded by Organic Valley, are a wonderful way to celebrate local, organic, and sustainable foods. It's always fun to try to plan a local dinner in April here in Wisconsin. Some years I wish Earth Dinner would wait until July when things are in full swing! As I've come to learn though, there's more available than one might think. I started yesterday with a rare solo trip to the Madison Farmer's Market. It was the first day of the open air market this year. What a wonderful thing! It was great to see some of our favorite vendors back, and our winter vendors with a much bigger selection. I got lettuce, spinach, radishes, potatoes, beautiful flowers (hyacinths, daffodils, freesia), honey and grass-fed-goat organic feta.

Our menu: Vegetable Lasanga with Farmer's Market Spinach Organic Valley cottage cheese and eggs, homemade pasta; Tossed Salad (all local); Rolls made with Organic Valley eggs; Roasted Heirloom Baby Potatoes from the Farmer's Market; Pear-Applesauce, brought by our neighbors and made from their own pears; Chocolate Chip Cookies brought by our neighbors made with their own maple syrup; wine brought by our friends, from a local winery; pasta salad brought by our friends. I also made a key-lime cheesecake with Organic Valley cream cheese and eggs. The limes came from my fruit angel, so they were quite local for her. It was a sumptous feast (that somehow managed to get eaten amidst the 6 children under 5 that were chaos personified and a complete joy)!

We celebrated last night with two families new to our lives, one from our church and another from just around the corner. It was great to celebrate this event together. I put out our Earth Day cards (pictured above) but the conversation was so lively, they went untouched. I highly recommend these dinners for a way to bring neighbors or friends together in a celebration of local food.

Our Earth Day celebration continued at church this morning, with a lovely service and the planting of a native garden by the children. What a wonderful way to celebrate the Earth! What's more, it was 80 degrees out! That made it especially nice to be outside enjoying our environment. For my favorite Earth Day tips, check out last year's Earth Day post. Thanks to all of you for the things you do to walk more lightly on our planet. Happy Earth Day!

100th Post

2007-04-22T16:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Earth Day! This is my 100th post. Yep, it is. I thought I'd show you a number of different things for this momentous occasion. Here's some things growing in our yard. Here's our great groundcover:

Here's one of the native plants in our shade garden: Beo's latest rock wall: Here are the flowers I got at the Farmer's Market Saturday:

Here's my little beauty and my big dopey hound:

Here's me really, really happy that Beo felt 100 posts deserved a new camera! (Actually the 100 thing was a bonus to the fact that Beo got a bonus at work and has secretly been planning to get me this. What do I call him in my profile? Enviable? Yes, I think that's apt!)

Bird's Nests

2007-04-18T18:13:00.000-05:00

The birds all but disappeared this winter. Despite our food stock for them, our goldfinches, sparrows, and house finches were seldom visitors. This week, as Spring arrives (again), we've finally been graced with sweet songs from some of our favorites. Today there was a cheeky little house finch, singing his heart out from a sapling in our front yard. I watched as he flew down to our garden and tore a few pieces of newspaper from a piece of mulch in our garden. He inspired me to provide some more material for our guests.

The kids and I gathered up some used scrap paper, and yarn ends, and set to snipping them into beak-friendly pieces. Four inches is the reccomended length for thread, yarn, etc. While searching for that handy fact, I saw this great article on building a nesting materials site for birds, in Wonder Time. I actually subscribe to this magazine but rarely find time to read it. They suggest using a mesh onion bag to hold the materials. We packed our yarn and paper into an onion bag, pet the dogs for a little more material to add, then the kids snipped small holes around the bag for the birds to be able to poke around in. We tied it together with a piece of yarn at the top, then hung it in a small tree near our feeder.

This was a nice little Earth Day project for the kids--free and simple, and I plan to have it be an ongoing project as we come up with things like dryer lint that we can add to our nesting collection. The kids were thrilled, and are anxiously waiting at the window to see if we get any takers. I'll keep you updated on whether we have success on the bird's end!

Veggie Kids

2007-04-16T16:18:00.000-05:00

Our household is one of "Virtual" vegetarians. In our case, this means that in principle, we don't eat meat. However we do make exceptions where we feel that not eating something is actually less ethical. (We'll eat a dish that's served to us rather than it going to waste is the bottom line.) Rather than get into the difficulties of helping the kids to understand the ethics behind that particular dietary choice, I thought I'd focus on the tips I've learned as a veggie momma. I hope that these will help mommas of any food choice help their kids to make healthy choices.

First there are the health aspects. I'm proud to say that we've had two very open minded pediatricians who haven't batted an eyelash at the fact that we eat veg. (At Sprout's 4 year old well-child visit, the pediatrician asked Sprout if he liked turkey, and Sprout very sternly said: "We do not eat turkey!" Both of these docs know that kids (and grown ups) can get all of the nutrients that they need from a plant based whole foods diet. Most Americans get far more protein than they need. Our kids get plenty in milk/soymilk, beans, and even whole grains, nuts, and vegetables. A quick google search will give you plenty of information on veggie kids and nutrition.

Does that mean your kid has to be a non-picky eater? Nope, you've just got to work with their likes to figure out what will work. Most kids love quesadillas. Made on a whole wheat tortilla with black beans and shredded carrots mixed in, you've got a well-balanced meal. Try stirring peas or beans into (whole grain) mac and cheese. Offering dips of any kind can encourage kids to try new things. I can't count how many foods I've finally gotten the kids to eat by offering to let them dip it in ketchup. (Just make sure you're using organic ketchup--high in all the good nutrients, no HFCS.) The kids love pan-fried tofu in any shape as long as there's a healthy side of ketchup!

Still no luck? Try letting your child help choose meals or partcipate in preparation. Offer to let your child choose the side vegetable. Make pizzas on whole wheat pitas, and let your child choose their toppings, spread the sauce, sprinkle the cheese. Try a kids cookbook like one of Mollie Katzen's--Salad People and Pretend Soup are both big hits at our place. It takes a bit more time, but it helps the kids get excited about their food. I couldn't believe it when Sprout loved "Green Spaghetti"--he wouldn't touch pesto before! Even just letting the kids have a couple of turns stirring a bowl can give them a sense of ownership and pride that will encourage them to try something new. Similarly, offering the kids free snack choices can be empowering and help them make healthy decisions. Sprout and Bird know that they are welcome to raisins and baby carrots most anytime, and they take advantage of that! Other favorite (but limited) snack choices include almonds, PB& Celery, string cheese, and yogurt. Sometimes choices can make things complicated (Sprout will only drink soymilk now, while Bird prefers cow's milk) so be sure to offer things where you'll be happy with any choice.

Make food fun! I occasionally have time to be as creative as Vegan Lunchbox, as evidenced here by my polenta dinosaur in a marinara volcano, spouting parmesan steam in a broccoli forest, but more often than not it's about making everyday food creative. Make mashed sweet potatos into a mountain, with a plain-yogurt stream. Make a veggie smiley face on a bagel, or just out of plain veggies on a plate. Even names can make a big difference. When I first made Mollie Katzen's "Carrot Mushroom Loaf", I didn't tell the kids what it was. I let them name it, and they loved it so much they called it "Second Thanksgiving". They didn't even notice the 'dreaded' mushrooms throughout. We also have "Green Goddess Quiche", and tacking "Magic" on to many things is enough to do the trick. Tofu dogs wrapped in a tortilla become "Perritos"--you get the idea. Think "Ants on a Log"!

Lastly, don't give up. Repetition can go a long way. Encourage a "try it" bite of everything, but don't push too hard. (Easier said than done, I know, and there are plenty of time food goes uneaten on Sprout and Bird's plates.) Eventually, your child may find a new favorite in a previously shunned meal. I hope I've offered a few new tips for Moms of little veggies and picky eaters.

Refreshing Veggies

2007-04-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

We're not talking about a crisp cucumber in the summer's heat. Nope, this is about revitalizing limp, tired veggies that were formerly destined to the compost heap (or your veggie broth scrap bag)! It doesn't happen as often now that we cook so much from scratch, but perhaps you understand my occasional celery bunch that's discovered wilting in the very back of the bottom shelf, or those floppy carrots you discover under a bag of potatoes in the crisper. I've read before that dunking these sad little veggies in ice water can perk them right up, but I didn't believe it. Then during a recent round of pantry cleaning, it was perk up those veggies or eat a soggy veggie stir-fry, so I went for it. I was pleasantly suprised to find out that it worked just fine! I don't know if there are any nutritional drawbacks, obviously veggies are best eaten fresh, but it certainly works on the texture. So far I've just tried carrots, and celery. With celery, I just stick them in the fridge in a container of cold water. (Remember the experiments in elementary school with food coloring that left you with blue celery leaves?) These pictures were taken after an overnight in the refrigerator, but even after 30 minutes they've perked quite a bit. (No doctoring was done to these photos, it just works!) I hope this saves the next droopy veggie in your crisper.

Ostara

2007-04-09T19:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Ostara (a bit late) to all. I hope everyone had a nice Spring celebration. Things have been busy here and as they settled down I found myself dealing with a bit of depression again. Ah well, life goes on! We managed to do a few Ostara activities. We made little nest treats for a sweet activity. An outdoor egg hunt turned out to be a disaster (two children in tears, baskets blowing away) but what do we expect with 27 degree weather and flurries in April? Spring made a brief appearance but appears to be feeling a bit shy! Our Ostara treats came from Sweet Earth Chocolates this year. I highly reccomend them! Their customer service was great, shipping was exceptionally fast, and the goods are GOOD! We tried all of the different "eggs" (mint crunch, peanut butter crunch, dark and milk chocolate, and the bunnies. Their chocolate is fair trade and organic, and they have a number of vegan options. Be sure to check them out the next time you're in the market for sweets. (I see they have Mother's Day specials on their website today!) They made a lovely basket, joined by a small amount of precious Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans. Bird's Ostara cardigan got finished in a nick of time. Luckily I'd made my own shawl last year, so no worries there. I hope Spring is showing it's face wherever you are this week. Happy Ostara!

Fruit From Heaven

2007-03-23T16:29:00.000-05:00

Things have been busy, my friends, but there is light on the horizon! Beo and I are turning a business trip into a little getaway this weekend for a much needed break. Phew! Amidst the hectic pace and stress of the last couple of weeks, we received an amazing gift--a box full of sunshine sent by a positive Angel! Organic avocados, grapefruit, lemons, limes, bringing a taste of the exotic to our bleak pre-Spring days. It was the height of luxury this week, squeezing lime juice on our rice and beans, eating avocado (quite possibly my favorite food) with every meal, grapefruit for breakfast. What a bright blessing at a perfect time! I don't know that I've ever baked with real lemons before, but my Angel sent us Ponderosa Lemons, known as "Pie Lemons" in the south because they're the size of a large grapefruit and can take the place of the 6 usually called for in a recipe. I decided I had to find a killer recipe for these mommas, and I did. I made The Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Cake last night. Lemon cake is not necessarily one of my favorite things, and I tend to find complicated baking daunting, but this...this was heaven. Each and every step was worth it. I highly recommend this recipe if you are looking for a doable fancy recipe, going to a brunch, or just like lemon sweets. (If you're using "Pie Lemons", you'll only need two, not the six to eight the recipe calls for!) The recipe makes two cakes, so I had Beo take one to the neighbors. It got rave reviews from them, who said this morning that it was like eating Spring and Summer. So true! It was positively delightful, a highlight to our Sunshine Fruit Week. Thank you, Fruit Angel!

Hanna's Dream

2007-03-13T15:55:00.000-05:00

My regular readers will know that I do my best to reign in my love of kids clothes. That's true, but I know a great source for sustainable, stylish kids clothes when I see one! I've had the chance to work with the owner of Hanna's Dream a bit this year. (Within my budget, I promise!) She is a real delight and has a great site. Hanna's Dream has everything from baby clothes to blankets to toys to adult clothing. Much of what they carry is hard-to-find European brands. There are lots of lovely natural organic color grown cotton pieces, but there are also fun and funky pieces as well. Their prices are very competitive and they're often offering great deals such as free-shipping or a percent off a certain brand, in addition to a daily special. Right now the site is offering 20% off all of their Lapsaky line for kids. They even offer used clothing occasionally. How cool is that? Take a look! I'll be adding a permanent link if you want to check back in the future.

Spark People

2007-03-10T14:52:00.000-06:00

Things have been crazy around here once again. I do have some recipes to share once things calm down a bit! One thing I wanted to share is a website I've been enjoying: Spark People. This is a great site for a variety of purposes: losing weight, tracking nutrition, analyzing recipes, tracking exercise, setting goals, and more. I first learned about this site on my beloved Veggie Board. I was skeptical, only because it's FREE! I've been very impressed though. I think this site is probably just as valuable as the Weight Watchers site for folks trying to lose weight, and infinitely more useful for those just maintaing their weight. It's helped me to see where I'm doing okay with my nutrition, and what I need to work on. (I need to eat more spinach!) I've also really enjoyed being able to get a better idea of the nutrition in the recipes I create. It took me a bit to get used to the system, but if you're interested in this kind of program, I'd encourage you to give it a week or two and see how you like it. I'll keep a link to it in my sidebar in case you want to find if later. It's become a valuable tool for me.

Threadless T-Shirts

2007-03-05T19:17:00.000-06:00

This is one of those completely-off-my-normal-beaten-path things. I recently discovered Threadless.com through Groovy Green. This is a website that lets designers submit ideas for t-shirts, and some get printed and are available for purchase. The t-shirt designs are so independent and different. I have enjoyed just flipping through the various submissions. I'm a sucker for tees but have way too many. The kids on the other hand, could use a couple of new ones. I love that these designs really let them march to their own drummer. (A few of their favorites along with some of mine are pictured above.) The original post on Groovy Green pointed out some cool Eco-submissions. The tees aren't organic but they're printed mostly on American Apparel-not necessarily the savoriest company, but at least sweat free. Threadless is having a $10 sale right now, so check it out!

Resolution Check-In

2007-03-01T10:19:00.000-06:00

It's March 1st-2007 is racing right along. Did you make any resolutions? Have they survived the first couple months of the year? I am reasonably happy with how my focus areas for 2007 are going. My main goals were to be more frugal, especially with food; to buy 50% of the kids clothes used, to be more resourceful, and to eliminate credit card spending. This is all about simplicity and sustainability.

Frugality and Food is going well. Our grocery budget for this year is already $100 less a month than 2006, and we've finished January and February with $100+ left in those budgets. We've done this sticking to local, organic, and low packaging. Make sure to check out my posts on frugality if you haven't already. I'm really amazed at how much further we've been able to cut back, even being 99% organic.

Things with the kids clothes are overall going well. Right now both kids have a solid half of their clothes second-hand. I confess that it has still been a real struggle for me to regulate my buying habits, however I have done much better than in the past. I have also been vindicated in my belief that quality counts. Sprout recently wore clean through a pair of pants and is on his way through another--his last 2 pair of, let's face it, sweatshop eco-disaster pants from a big chain. The ones from quality eco-friendly and socially conscious places are still going strong with barely a sign of wear, even though they've been through just as much.

In keeping with working with what we have-talents and skill included, I'm knitting an Easter cardigan for Bird rather than purchasing one. I don't do dainty, but it will be fun and cozy for one of my favorite celebrations of Spring. She may only be 3, but she already seems very excited about the fact that I'm making something for her to wear. I've been making decent progress, knitting as I watch documentaries (a recent habit), and should have it done on time.

Our credit card spending has improved dramatically. We are down a very decent amount for the year. We have used the cards a couple of times but they have so far all gotten paid off quickly and we've stayed far ahead of the game, enough so that Beo and I have decided to use a bit of our tax refund so that he can accompany me to a meeting I'm going to in warmer climes. It will be a much needed vacation for him, and we'll have a bit more time than usual to spend together.

It hasn't been all sunshine and roses, there have been slip-ups along the way, but we've kept working towards our goals and I feel proud to keep moving in the right direction and holding to the values I want to stick with this year. If you've fallen off your own bandwagon, don't forget that it's yours to stop when you need to. Pick yourself up, brush off, and climb right back on. If I hadn't done the same, I'd be in a cloud of dust myself.

EcoMama's Spice Rack

2007-02-27T17:12:00.000-06:00

Ah, finally we reach the crown jewel of my culinary stock, the spice rack! Yes, technically rack(s), although if we really want to get techical i'm not sure they're even "racks". We had to expand after I started cooking lessons, started getting higher quality spices at Penzey's, and started to overflow the cabinet. These are a great little spice holder from Target. They come with labels but I prefer to write on them with dry-erase markers so I can switch things around. There was a time when I didn't ever replace spices unless they became so old that they were 1) rock hard or 2) flavorless. Now I buy bulk bags and refill my spice containers frequently. It's definitely worth it to buy quality. It is more flavorful so you not only get a better quality flavor, you also have to use less.

So what do I keep on hand? Curry Powder, Turmeric, Garam Masala, Cumin, Smoked Paprika, Mustard Seeds, and Corriander start my savory and Indian to Middle East collection. I use a lot of chili powder to add flavor to soups. The next rack has nutmeg, cinnamon, a savory herb blend, rosemary, homegrown thyme, crushed mint, peppercorns, and powdered ginger. The nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger are mostly used for baking though they do make their occasional appearance to set off a savory dish. Beo loves rosemary in anything, though especially paired with egg. He has been making a mean hashbrown with lovely rosemary tones. We recently ran out of our dried rosemary from the garden and plan to grow more next year. Rosemary along with thyme it makes a nicely rounded flavor mix. Crushed mint I mostly use in making yogurt dips. You'll notice two empty containers, and it's not for lack of spices, I just can't decide what is most worthy of a spot on the rack. Is it cardamom which I use rarely but as an esteemed spice deserves a showcase? Should I give a spot to cayenne, or is it used to sparingly to have it's own container? What about straight up Paprika that I've realized has it's own place in addition to my smoked variety? There are another half dozen or so contenders still regimented to the cabinet, including a mean mexican vanilla which actually enjoys the cool dark of it's current home, of course. I never imagined that I would be such a spice hound, but my love of cooking has expanded my knowledge and thus my love of a good spice. I hope you enjoyed the tour of my little stovetop universe o' flavor.

Our Frugal Pantry

2007-02-17T11:23:00.000-06:00

Next up, the frugal pantry! Our pantry is a lot less cluttered these days than it used to be, thanks mostly to our cutting back on convenience and prepared foods. I have always wanted a pantry, so I was very excited that our new house had one, and quickly set to work filling it up. It took me a while to get it organized, but we have a good system. I keep bulk spices and other seldom-used items on the top shelf. The next shelf has snacky things: applesauce (mostly used for baking), apple butter, and convenience foods for the kids. We keep stocked up on Clif Z Bars. These are great organic whole grain bars that can even substitute for a meal if you have to rush out the door. (All you Weight Watchers folks, they're also a filling treat for 2-3 points!) We also keep Archer Farms (Target) organic fruit leather on hand for the same purpose. (Again, these were nice when I was counting points-just one point for a chewy snack.)

Next comes the grains shelf. Here we have a few bags of whole wheat pasta for quick meals, brown and white rice, whole wheat couscous, oats, and other grains that don't fit in our fridge drawer. The protein shelf is next. I used to keep loads of canned beans on hand: Kidney, black, cannelini, garbanzo, lentils. Now we keep mostly dried on hand, but I keep a few cans in case I've forgotten to plan ahead. I also keep the miscellaneous extra condiments like tamari and tahini on this shelf, just because there's room. (I'm slowly collecting enough containers that I can keep all of our bulk items in sealed glass, to avoid pest problems. A rogue mouse was once deleriously happy in our pantry before we found him out.)

Our next shelf is the tomato shelf. Next year I hope that this will be filled with home grown jars. We use a lot of tomato products in our cooking: marinara for pasta, pizza sauce for Beo's famous homemade pies, diced for soups and curries, etc. I love Muir Glen products, especially their fireroasted tomatoes. Whole Foods now has 365 organic canned tomatoes which are much cheaper, so we always stock up on those unless Muir Glen is on sale. I used to keep 5-6 boxes of veggie broth on hand, now I just keep 1 or 2 for the occasion that we run out of homemade. I also used to have a whole row of Annie's organic mac and cheese. I don't put much stock in all of the hype Annie's recently generated. The kids love it, and it's a relatively healthy alternative. That said, we have moved away from it a bit just for frugal purposes. The kids love white bean soup so that has taken a large part of the Annie's market away in my house. We've also discovered that the kids are pretty happy with some whole wheat pasta mixed with some beans and sprinkled with a little parmesan and Earth Balance. So while you'll still find Annie's in my pantry, it's no longer a staple due to price and our move to less packaging. Voila, our frugal, whole foods, vegetarian friendly pantry. The great majority of what I cook is easily made from the contents of this pantry and our fridge. Extra ingredients are a rarity. It's nice to be able to pull together a wide variety of meals once you've staked out your basic needs.

Frugal Filled Fridge

2007-02-16T11:42:00.000-06:00

I figured that since I showed you my frugalfied, pared down fridge, I'd show you it stocked up with frugal friendly foods too. It's taken me a year of healthy cooking, but I've come up with what I think is a good stock list. We'll start with the fridge, move to the pantry, and then check out my spice rack. Today, let's look at the fridge. There are a number of things I try to always have. They include:

Milk and Soymilk
Eggs
Juice or Herbal Tea
Cheese-Mozzarella, Cheddar, Parmesan, Feta
Tempeh or Tofu
Earth Balance Spread
Butter for Baking
Yogurt-Plain and Flavored
Vegetable Broth
Cooked Beans
Prepared Steel Cut Oats (Cooked+Fruit)
Oodles of Fresh Produce
Nuts and Grains
Peanut Butter
Tahini
Jam
Raisins
Condiments Galore

The must-have produce items I keep on hand are carrots (full-size for cooking, baby for snacking), onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green, garlic, and mushrooms. I usually have celery and an easy side veggie like broccoli, cauliflower, or beets. I try to have a good stock of fruit to choose from-usually apples and citrus is the only thing we can get organic and US grown these days. Our nuts and grains drawer usually has steel cut oats, barley or millet (or another filler-type grain), almonds, walnuts, flax seeds and meal, and homemade bread crumbs. We also have various specialty flours and grains like wheat berries for Beo's breadmaking. Condiments include peanut butter, jam, salad dressing (a creamy one for dipping and a homemade vinaigrette), salsa, asian marinades/tamari, Bragg's, lemon and lime juices, ketchup, and mustard. Of course there's always a variety of leftovers as well, and beer and white wine-when it's too cold to keep it in the garage! Each week I try to plan at least 2 or 3 recipes outside of our standards, and make sure I have the necessary ingredients for those in addition to our basics. With these things in my fridge, I'm able to prepare a healthy frugal meal at the drop of a hat.

Afghan Stewed Vegetables

2007-02-11T16:39:00.000-06:00

Well, dear friends, Soup Week has come to an end. I don't want to shock your system too much, so I'll ease you out gradually. One of my underlying goals for this year was to be sure to take time for myself. Sometimes being a full-time Mom, running a non-profit program, and trying to keep up with the gardens seems like a full-time job. I enjoy cooking so much, so this year I am going to try to take a cooking class every month at Whole Foods Market. Not only does it allow me to indulge my foodie nature, it gives me new tips, tricks and recipes, and gives me a night to myself. One of my dear sisters is underwriting these classes for me as a congratulatory gift for attacking our debt and sticking to our budget. My first class was a fabulous course in Afghan cooking. It was taught by the head chef of a popular Afghan restaurant. One of my favorite dishes of the night was this stewed vegetable concoction. It was just enough of a new twist on a curry-like meal, combining spices and flavors in a uniquely Afghan way.

Afghan Stewed Vegetables

Onion, diced
Small Can Diced Tomatoes
Large Can Crushed Tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, crushed/diced
curry powder (up to 3 t.)
ground coriander (about 1 T.)
cumin (up to 1 t.)
salt (about 1 t.)
1 T. grated ginger
1 c. Water
Vegetables cut into large chunks (potatoes, peppers, cauliflower, carrots)
1 can or 1.5 cups chickpeas (rinsed and drained if canned)
couscous (prepare while veggies stew)

In a large pot, saute onion in a bit of olive oil. Add canned tomatoes, garlic, spices, and ginger. (Add spices according to your taste. I am estimating about what she used and I've used since.) Add water. Bring to a simmer. Add vegetables and bring to a boil. (Add them according to which will take the longest to cook. i.e. add potatoes, then 5 minutes later add carrots, etc.) Add chickpeas. Allow to stew until veggies reach desired tenderness. (Meanwhile, prepare couscous.) To serve, fluff couscous and arrange in the center of a plate. Surround with vegetable mixture and serve immediately.

I served this with bulani, another lesson from my class. They're quite similar to the carrot rangoon I made in my frugality efforts last month. These I made with some of the last of the frozen shredded zucchini from summer. Use wonton or egg roll wrappers and fry in a bit of oil. You can use almost any filling. Serve these with a yogurt mint sauce. The coolness of the yogurt sauce is perfect with the spicy rich warmth of the stewed vegetables. Enjoy!

Soup Week, Part 4

2007-02-09T13:01:00.000-06:00

What's that? Enough beans already? Well beans are a wonder food, but okay. I'm not going far though, just traveling to an underloved grain: barley. I recently discovered barley and have found it to be a wonderful tool for frugal and healthy vegetarian cooking. When it comes to barley's nutrition, think whole wheat on all natural steroids. Barley is high in protein, fiber, and iron, and rich in fatty acids which make it a good complete protein. Hurrah! Barley, where have you been all my life? I have been using organic pearl barley, which is less nutritious than whole barley, but has a delightful texture and still retains some of the nutritional values previously mentioned. It can be purchased on the cheap in the bulk section. The stuff really expands when cooked. It's a great filler when you have the bare essentials for a soup.

Making a soup with barley is simple. Cook the barley ahead of time. Pearled barley does take a while. Cook it for about 35 minutes with a ration of 2 parts liquid to one part barley. It takes on flavors well, so consider cooking it in a good veggie broth. I think you could theoretically throw some barley in to a soup uncooked, but you'd need to make sure there was plenty of liquid for it to soak up. I make my barley soup with potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery, and whatever seasonings I'm in the mood for. Rosemary, thyme, the basics-all work well, but you can certainly get more exotic. Salt and pepper round things out. Bring to a boil and simmer until the veggies are as tender as you'd like them.

You can also use barley as a filler for leftover soups. Recently Beo threw a couple scoops of cooked barley into some leftover baked bean soup to stretch it for a hearty lunch. He served it in fresh baked bread bowls! They were his first attempt at bread bowls, and they were wonderful. Enjoy exploring the wonderful world of barley!

Soup Week, Part 3

2007-02-08T11:20:00.000-06:00

The soup du jour is White Bean Soup! The base for this recipe comes once again at the reccomendation of Virtual Veggie "Geek". I first had this soup in it's original incarnation as "Smokey White Bean Soup". The original calls for 3 oz. of smoked gouda and 1 c. milk. I have modified it only slightly to use whatever cheese you have handy, coordinating spices, and have eliminated the milk. The flavor of the soup really hangs on whatever cheese and seasonings you use. This is very versatile, and something both Sprout and Bird absolutely love. It's as much a staple for them as anything now. I don't measure anything with this soup. Just figure out what you'd like the texture to be, and take it from there. I chop the potatoes, put them in the pot, and barely cover them with liquid. I add beans according to how filling I want the soup to be.

White Bean Soup

1 lb. potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 onion, chopped
3 c. water, broth, or mix
3 cans (15 oz) cannellini beans drained & rinsed (I use a bunch of cooked white beans)
1 tsp. cumin, or to taste
1/8-1/4 t. cayenne
nutmeg to taste (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
3 oz. cheese of your choice, shredded (cheddar and parmesan work nicely)

In a soup pot combine potatoes, onion and water. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender. Process potatoes, onion and cooking water until smooth. Return to pot (or use immersion blender) and add beans, spices, and S&P. Heat gently until it's uniformly hot. Stir in the cheese of your choice and continue heating until the cheese has been melted.

Yesterday I made this with a raw milk cheddar from our farmer's market. I topped my serving with smoked paprika, which brought that smokey taste from the original back in. It was wonderful. Geek also reccomends adding chopped spinach to this soup to switch things up. Enjoy!

Soup Week, Part 2

2007-02-07T09:43:00.000-06:00

Today's soup comes again from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. I've only dabbled here and there in this great book. This soup was pointed out and recommended by my Virtual Veg friend, Geek. I can't believe I missed it-it's just a few pages from one of my favorite soups in the book. This has become one of our favorites. Thanks, Geek!

Baked Bean Soup

2 c. chopped onion
1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. diced celery
1 c. peeled and diced carrots
1 T. chili powder
2-3 t. dijon or german style mustard
2 c. water
1-1/2 c. undrained stewed tomatoes
1-2/3 c. white beans
2 t. cider vinegar
2 T. molasses
1 T. soy sauce
salt/pepper to taste

In a soup pot on medium heat saute the onions in the oil for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add celery, carrots, and chili powder continue and cook until veggies are tender, about 5 [to 10-15] minutes. Stir in the mustard, water, tomatoes, beans, vinegar, molasses, and soy sauce. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and gently simmer for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes and Optional Additions: I use veggie broth instead of water, for a richer soup. I also like using diced tomatoes rather than stewed-fire roasted are great. The first time I made the soup I accidentally used twice the tomatoes, and I prefer it that way. You can also use more beans if you wish. Geek recommended adding garlic in with the celery and carrots, and also adding in a splash of maple syrup w/ the molasses. It definitely adds a nice sweetness. Both Geek and I found that the end cooking time is more like 30-40 minutes to allow the flavors to blend properly and the veggies to get tender. You don't want them to get soft though. This soup is even better the next day. When I make it for company, I always make it the day before and let it "marinate".

Geek recommended a great cornbread with this soup. I did cornbread muffins the second time I made this, and made a recipe I found a bit lighter. They turned out beautifully.

EcoMama's Cornbread Muffins

1 c. cornmeal
3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. honey
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c. plain lowfat (or fat free) yogurt
1 c. skim or soymilk
1/4 c. corn kernels

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until mixed. Gently stir in corn. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean.

Soup Week, Part 1

2007-02-05T19:46:00.000-06:00

It's Soup Week at EcoMama! To be accurate, it's the end of two soup weeks in the EcoMama-Beo Household. We've been eating soup, soup, and more soup in this frigid Wisconsin Winter. This morning it was -15, with a windchill of -30. Brrrrrr. Our nice new house has ice build up on the inside of the windows. It's cold. Nothing a good pot of soup won't fix though. We're starting with a great new favorite which, like many, comes from my Moosewood Daily Special. (Well it's not technically mine-it's Mollie Katzen's. I do own a copy though. Mine.) I highly recommend this cookbook for it's soups and accompaniments. This soup is versatile and easily adaptable to whatever cuisine you'd like to pair it with. The recipe calls for fresh sage, but I subbed a good deal of whole rosemary leaves and thyme, and it was heavenly. Without further ado, Tuscan Bean Soup.

Tuscan Bean Soup

2 c. diced onions (about 1 large)
1 c. peeled and diced carrots (2-3 medium)
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 T. olive oil
15 large fresh sage leaves (or other herbs)
6 c. cooked pinto, Roman, or small red or white beans*
3-4 c. Vegetable Stock, bean-cooking liquid, or water
salt and pepper to taste

*Beans: 3 15 or 16 oz. cans, undrained. Or, 2 c. dried beans yields about 6 c. cooked.

In a soup pot, saute the onions, carrots, and garlic in the olive oil on medium-low heat until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Stack the sage leaves and cut them crosswise into thin strips. Stir the sage into the vegetables. Add the cooked beans and 3 c. of the stock or other liquid. Continue to cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the soup is hot and simmering, 5 to 10 minutes.

Carefully ladle about 3 c. of the soup into a blender and puree into smooth. Stir the puree back into the soup. (Using an immersion blender sparingly also works.) If you wish, add more liquid for a less thick consistency. Add S&P to taste. If necessary, gently reheat the soup. Serve hot.

This is a great soup for chilly nights. It's very filling and the thyme and rosemary made the house smell warm. Beo loved this soup. He said it tasted "meaty". Coming from him, this is quite a compliment. Stay tuned for more great soups for these cold Winter days.

Frugal is the New Green

2007-02-03T14:41:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of talk lately on how being Green can be so frugal. Daily Kos, Ethicuran, and Groovy Green along with others have been touting all of the penny pinching that comes along with greening up a lifestlye. Beo has discussed on his blog how we have found that we can afford organic by making more things from scratch and cutting down on packaging. Over the past few months we've been trying to make more out of less, both for the environment and for our budget. I've been surprised at what a difference some of the little things really make.

One item we've swtiched to is bulk beans. I've had people telling me for a while that my canned beans were a convenience food, and I've scoffed and kept on stocking my pantry. Do you seriously think I have time to cook my own beans? We eat beans like they're going out of style. Sure, some organic beans are $1.79 and up per can, but at 99 cents a can, Whole Foods was making it easy for me to think canned beans are frugal in and of themselves. I decided to try a batch or two of bulk beans, and they were so easy that I gradually started switching over to all of our beans in bulk. Today I took the last step and bought bulk dried garbanzos instead of canned. I decided to do some weighing and measuring and seeing how much I was saving not just in packaging but also in cost. It turns out I'm paying an average of 25 cents for the same amount of beans that I used to pay 99 cents for in a can. No can, no sealing, no label, and I'm saving a whopping 75 percent. Not bad at all. In this veggie household that's saving us a bundle on soups, chilis, casseroles, and hummus.

Another switch we've made is a bit less about Green and more about frugality. When I read Kos's article about Kossacks being Frugal, I skimmed the list of reader submitted ideas on saving money. One was "Give up Coffee". Behind it, Kos had written "(You first.)" I laughed hysterically. But guess what? Yesterday I finished packing up our $100 coffee pot and stowing it away. We are coffee lovers extrodinaire, but we decided it was time to give up our daily 6-cup each habit. Neither of us is sure how we came to this conclusion. I had a splitting headache one day when sharing our coffee with visitors meant I didn't get as much as usual. The next day I was late in getting my coffee and the headache worsened. It was so severe that I decided that I didn't want to have something messing that much with my body chemistry, and I've only had a cup or two now and then since then. I started drinking a lot more tea, and soon Beo was on board as well. I ran the math, and I figure that we were paying almost 50 cents a cup for the shade-grown, fair trade, organic coffee that we brewed at home. The cost of a cup of tea? 15 cents. It varies a bit with the varieties we choose, but that's the average-and this is high end tea. What's more, that cost doesn't take into account re-using your tea leaves, which we do, so you can cut that in half again. We're still working on balancing out the smaller choice of organic varieties in the Tea world, but we've ordered a variety and are buying from Republic of Tea, which is a fair trade certified company. (Some of their teas have an additional Fair Trade premium on top of the already fair trade price.) We're not giving up the bean entirely, we've ordered a french press for an occasional brew now and then, but in the long run the switch from coffee to tea is saving us anywhere from $500-$1000 this year (depending on how much we'd have brewed day to day.)

I'm also happy to report that I finished the first month of 2007 within my budget limitations for kids clothes spending, and hit my goal for buying 50% of it second hand. Green = Frugal. The great thing is that like my diet-diet last year, the success of my financial-diet this year is motivating me to keep on track and see how much farther we can go. Stay tuned for frugal meal ideas. I've declared next week "Soup Week" on EcoMama Musings, and will share some of our favorite recipes.

Crackers

2007-01-28T10:18:00.000-06:00

We're having friends over for lunch today, which means I get to splurge just a wee bit on the food budget. I'm serving a frugal muffin and soup main course, but the big to-do is the feta walnut pate I'll serve beforehand. I picked up the feta and fresh parsley, then headed for the cracker aisle. I've been trying to avoid buying snacky things, so it's been awhile since I've perused there. I was shocked at how expensive organic crackers were. There were a few conventional brands that were $3-$4 a box, but the organic crackers were $6 and up. With our frugal cooking lately, even $3 seems like a lot to spend on one item. My neighbor gave us some crackers a while back. She had made them while experimenting with different recipes to accomodate her daughters many allergies. I decided to give it a try myself.

I found a simple recipe on Allrecipes.com. This is a nice recipe website because you can read reviews by other users and see what modifications they made to the recipe. It's a very simple starter, and I decided to make them straight up this first time around. The dough is made from:

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water

It's a very easy dough to work with. Once the dough is formed you roll it to approximately 1/8" thick. For the first batch, I laid a piece of parchment paper over my rolled out dough, and used a pizza cutter to make straight edges and trim the dough to fit the baking sheet. (The recipe instructions call for an ungreased cookie sheet, but I love my parchment paper!) I also used the pizza cutter to mark the lines for the crackers. You score the dough, but don't cut all the way through. Next use a fork to pierce a few vents into each cracker. Bake the crackers at 350 for 15-20 minutes. (About 18 minutes worked for me.) While my first batch was baking, I collected and rolled out the trimmings from my first batch to make a second batch. For this one I left the edges ragged so as not to waste any of the dough. My second batch turned out crispier. I think I may have gotten them a bit thinner with less dough to work with, so next time I'll probably seperate the dough into two before rolling it out. These are a very basic cracker, perfect for highlighting the intense flavor of the pate. They are also a great springboard for making any variety of crackers. You could try adding dried herbs, parmesan, cracked pepper, paprika, or any number of flavors. This box-worth of crackers probably cost less than $1 to make, and was quite simple. I may never buy crackers again!

Groovy Green

2007-01-24T20:12:00.000-06:00

I'm pleased to share with my lovely readers that Beo and I have been invited to be Contributors at GroovyGreen.com. Groovy Green is a great Environmental site that is both an on-line magazine and a blog, and has great features such as videos and links to other Eco-blogs. Beo has already had two articles on the 'zine side of their site, and we've both had a few posts on the blog side. Check out the homepage, www.groovygreen.com, to see Beo's articles on our side business, "Someday Gardens", as well as his tale of convering from sports car to hybrid, which you may have caught in it's first form on his blog. So far I've stuck to former EcoMama blog posts and new Environmental news, like Pelosi's charge against global warming. I hope you'll check out the site and watch for an upcoming article I've written on how doing one small thing can make a big difference in the world.

Curry Nights

2007-01-24T08:39:00.000-06:00

Winter has finally gotten some bluster to it, and it's been cold and snowy. Last night I decided that after weeks of having soup as our staple, it was time for a good curry. Curry in winter is comfort food akin to the Tian that is Beo's favorite-savory, rich, and nourishing. Since it's relatively new to my foodie repetoire, I hadn't thought of this before. I also realized that a curry is a great frugal dish for using up the last of those veggies too. A curry can take in almost anything and meld it through the wonderful array of spices that seep into the tomato "gravy". Last night's curry included cauliflower. I've been buying big heads of cauliflower and using half to make Tian, then blanching and freezing the rest. In addition, I used the last of some fresh spinach, and a can of chick peas. Instead of brown rice, I served it with whole wheat cous cous, of which we had an overstock in the pantry. Beo and I both agreed that the cous cous was probably better than rice, really soaking up all of the wonderful juices and not interfering with the just-right texture of the curry. If you feel like cooking up a curry with what you have on hand tonight, but don't know how see my original post on making a gravy curry. Enjoy!

"Bruin" the Hound

2007-01-21T07:34:00.000-06:00

Last week Ruben turned three. It was his first birthday off the tracks and out of the kennels. A lot of people think that greyhounds get spoiled after their retirement, but it's just not true. His life here hasn't been a cake walk at all. For one thing, he's hardly allowed on any furniture.

Okay, maybe the bed but NOT the pillows.

Allright, fine, the pillows, but lets keep the couch nice for company.

After a hard life on the tracks, he deserves it. Even the organic dog treats from the local doggie bakery! He's been a great dog. He's learned to be super gentle with the kids, he has the rare quality of being a "watch hound", and he's obviously made the life of Kamey (our older hound) complete. For more information about greyhounds, check out your local chapter of Greyhound Pets of America. Happy Birthday, Ruben, our big bear-"Bruin"!

Tough Talk-Shopping Addictions

2007-01-19T13:05:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned my love of kids clothes in the past. I probably haven't been real candid about how out of control that "love" has gotten in the past. It's not real fun to talk about, but here goes.
A couple of years ago, I truly became a shopping addict, going way out my comfort zone in terms of what I was buying and how much I was spending. I spent a couple thousand dollars on a big name brand clothing company, buying clothes that didn't fit our lifestyle from a company I didn't want to support. This wasn't "me" at all. I always swore that my kids would wear plain t-shirts, hand tie-dyed of course, and hand-me-down jeans. By the time I realized how bad I'd gotten, Bird had over 30 outfits. Halfway through my "recovery", Beo walked into Bird's closet, saw her nine pairs of shoes, and got more serious about my problem. I know he worried about me, but with me being in control of the finances, and having all sorts of great justifications, I'm sure he felt reluctant to get too wrapped up in it.

What is it that made me so crazy about these clothes? It was so out of control. Sometimes when there was a big sale rumored, I'd drive over 100 miles to hit both store in our area. I would buy something, then end up feeling terrible about it, and sell it in a storm of guilt. For a while, I made myself feel better by looking at how I wasn't as bad as "the others". In one of my online recovery groups there were women hiding huge boxes of clothes in their attics, lying to their husbands, secretly spending savings and maxing out credit cards, and even going into bankrupcy, all for these clothes. We talked about how having our kids so well dressed somehow validated our lives as Stay-at-Home-Moms. There were work-for-pay Moms too though, and I think they thought the same thing-that having well dressed kids meant that they were good Moms even though they couldn't stay-at-home. There may have been some of that "Good Mom" validation for me, but I think a big part of it was that I just plain loved the clothes, and how good the kids looked in them. I loved getting something lovely and new in the mail, washing it, hanging it in the closet. I loved going through the many outfits. At the core though, it wasn't healthy. I think it's okay to have a guilty pleasure, but when it starts making you compromise your values, live outside your means, and make questionable judgements, it's time to step back. A lot of times I'd catch myself shopping when I was going through a depressed period, or stress. Buying something made me feel better. Finally, about this time last year, I got fed up with myself and called it quits. I've only made one purchase from "them" since. That doesn't mean it's been smooth sailing though.

I switched my loyalty to a company I believed in, which was a good start. Hanna Andersson is a wonderful company-dedicated to social responsiblity. They believe in being environmentally conscious, and offer organic clothing options as well as Eco-Tex clothing. It's been tough for me not to let the allure of supporting a company I believe in get me back into my old buying habits. I'm definitely improving, in 2006 spending about 1/3 of what I did the previous year, but I'd like to do even better. I've vowed to get half of this years clothes second-hand, returning to my environmental values. I've set a strict budget for myself, allowing myself $40 a month for kids clothes, plus whatever I can get for resale values on last years clothes. To you, it might sound like plenty. To me, I feel like it's barely enough. Today when I noticed that Sprout had outgrown yet another pair of shoes, I immediately thought to order another pair. I had to stop myself to remind myself that one pair of shoes could be enough. As I go through the kids clothes for Spring, I have to ask Beo for help in decision making at every turn, because I'm so scared of making a wrong turn. So far though, I've done well. We're getting ahead instead of behind on our budget goals, and I've resisted many a siren call.

The whole shebang is so unlike me. Some of our friends laughed when I told them about it, back when I decided to get control of the worst of the habits. It's not just that it seemed ridiculous to them that someone like me would get actually "addicted" to something like this. To people who have never felt the compulsion, or the rush of shopping, it's virtually impossible to understand. It's hard for me to admit to all of this. I feel downright ashamed to have let myself get sucked in to something that is so contrary to my values, that feels so superficial. Ultimately though, I have to face my issues to deal with them, so here I am coming out of the closet. I took this picture of Bird's closet to show my recovery board how far I'd come, and how proud I was of how much I had "purged". A year later, the closet is about half as full. I don't want my kids to grow up thinking that they have to have dozens of outfits to be happy. I don't want them to think that that's normal. I want them to feel blessed that they have enough, but I don't want them to feel entitled to more than they need.

Homemade Veggie Broth

2007-01-18T20:56:00.000-06:00

For a year now I've been making my own veggie broth. Not from any recipe, mind you, but in the most frugal way possible. We are composters here at the EcoMama-Beo household, but our veggie trimmings get another life before worm food. It's all quite simple. All of my veggies get a quick rinse before I start peeling, chopping, dicing, or shredding. (Yes, even good organic produce needs washing, folks!) Any good bits that are left over get thrown into a Ziploc bag that I keep in the freezer. Garlic bulb ends, onion trimmings, the outer leaves of cabbage, the ends of mushrooms, carrot peelings, root vegetable greens, celery leaves- it all goes in. Nothing moldy or particularly icky, but I will throw in the occasional handful of spinach that's become a bit too wilted for salad, or a few pieces of limp celery. When the bag gets full, I dump it all into a pot. I use my pasta pot that has a built-in, removable collander. This makes the end stage particularly easy. The veggies get covered with filtered water, and you bring the lot to a healthy simmer. I add in whatever herbs we have in plenty. Today it was a big handful of frostbitten thyme and a few bay leaves. Now I've had some parsnipy or cabbageful batches that didn't smell too pretty, but today I had a great mix. After simmering for about an hour, the house smelled heavenly. I turned off the burner and let it steep a bit longer. Then I pulled out the collander of veggies, and poured the resulting broth through a strainer and into bowls to cool. The remaining veggie trimmings can of course be composted. You can add salt if you wish, but I choose not to since I can add it later in the cooking process if need be.

This gives me 6 quarts of fabulously rich, tasty organic veggie broth. We go through a lot between soup, rice, etc. in our veggie household. The equivalent Whole Foods 365 Organic Vegetable Broth is about $2/quart. With this home method, I rarely have to purchase any broth at all--a big improvement over the 3 quarts I used to buy on each grocery trip. Every little bit counts!

Bread and Jam

2007-01-15T21:40:00.000-06:00

I'm offering a rare glimpse of my little ones today, just because you all deserve a glimpse of Sprout and Bird's amazing spirit! This was taken while they helped Beo make bread. Today Bird announced that she is changing her career goal from "Train Driver" to "Veterinarian". Maybe she'll be a composer though...

Frugalfied Fridge

2007-01-13T21:15:00.000-06:00

Leftovers for lunch, ravioli for dinner with the last of the roasted squash, roasted root vegetables with the rest of the baby taters and half of the remaining beets. That pretty well cleaned us out. I have some milk, soymilk, yogurt, cheese, eggs, apples, and a bit of leftover stir fry, hummus, and lentil soup. My only veggies are about 2 cups of fresh spinach, 2 onions, and 2 bulbs of garlic. I don't think I've had that few veggies in my fridge since we moved here. Other than that it's just our drawer full of nuts and grains, and some condiments. Tomorrow will be a grocery run, but I'll be much more mindful in my choices after these few days of lessons.

Creative Pantry Cleaning

2007-01-12T19:06:00.000-06:00

Well, the Beo-EcoMama household is recovering, slowly but surely. Many thanks to all who sent well-wishes. When we first started getting sick, Beo headed off to Whole Foods to stock up before the plague struck him down as well. I was flabbergasted by how much food he brought home. He doesn't often do such big stock ups on his own. We're talking over 40 pounds of flour, over a dozen huge carrots, three bags of apples--you get the picture. Earlier this week I realized that we hadn't been on a real grocery run in over 10 days. Beo had picked up a few things here and there on his way home from work, but just bare minimum stuff. My knee jerk reaction was to summon up the energy to do a big shop. Realizing that I couldn't possibly summon enough, I decided to get creative with what was left. I turned to the Veggie Board and was thrilled with the ideas they came up with, which ended up inspiring me to do something entirely different. Last night I started with tortillas, rice, tomato sauce, onions, a wilted pepper, frozen corn and some frozen tofu. By the time I was done we had veggie fajitas and spanish rice--a meal we haven't had in ages. I really enjoyed the challenge to break out of the recipe ruts I fall into, and to use up the last bits of what we have around. So, I decided to see how far we could go. Tonight I took a half package of wonton wrappers (left over from ravioli) two carrots that needed to be used up, some ginger, onion, and a package of cream cheese left over from the cream cheese frosting and made "Carrot Rangoon". I used leftover rice, eggs, a bit of onion, and frozen peas to do a veggie fried rice. It made a fabulous meal. None of this was from recipes, it was all improv. A lot of this stuff would have gone to waste because it would have gotten stuck in the back of the fridge until it went bad. It feels good to be creative, frugal, and foodie at the same time. We're getting down to the last of the veggies and fruit, but I think I can make one more meal out of it, making it two full weeks since we did any grocery shopping. Even with the gigantic nature of our last trip, this is still pretty astounding for our family. I'm hoping to stock up only on fruit, veggies, eggs, and milk/soymilk on our next trip, and see just how far I can stretch the pantry next week.