Clean Your Indoor Air

Did you know that inside your office and home, you have the off-gassing of products that you have brought into the space?  Yep.  Indoor air pollution.  Chemicals we breathe into our bodies. According to NASA, just one 10-inch houseplant per 100 sq feet can remove 90% of indoor air pollution in 24 hours.

The three main household toxins of concern are:

• benzene
• formaldahyde
• trichloroethylene

Great plants to get to diffuse this situation are:

• aloe vera
• baby rubber plant
• bamboo palm/reed palm
• boston fern
• chinese evergreen
• dwarf date palm
• english ivy
• ficus
• gerber daisy
• moth orchid
• mums
• peace lily

Bee keeping

I have been really interested in learning more about bee keeping.  My wife is allergic to bees, so she is not so keen on the idea.  I had hoped that when I get my veggie garden going, I could also get a little bee house.

My friend has a wonderful, huge garden and is planning to grow heirloom veggies this coming year. I got her a bee house for her garden.  I cannot wait to see how it goes for her.  She is also planning to plant flowers in between her veggie and fruits, too, for cross pollination.

It looks similar to this:

The agricultural benefits of bees has been well documented; their pollination services to our agricultural crops are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat.

In fact, they are responsible for pollinating more than 90 of our traditionally favorite flowering crops such as apples, asparagus, avocados, blueberries, broccoli, celery, cherries, citrus crops, cranberries, cucumber, kiwis and melons, just to name a few.

The bees need help, and for so long we have relied on them for their incredible food-producing superpowers and the byproducts of their laborious work – it’s time to now help them. 

Fast (Vegetarian) Food?!

I just hear about Amy's Drive Thru and I am blown away!  From the same company that brought you Amy's organic, natural food that you find in the freezer section.

No GMOs.  Organic vegetables, beans, grains and dairy.  Burgers, fries, burritos, mac 'n cheese, pizza, salads and even chili cheese fries! Sodas, milkshakes and yes, vegan milkshakes.  Don't forget fresh, squeezed lemonade.

Their mission:  Amy's Drive Thru is returning to the roots of American fast food, serving lovingly handcrafted food to nourish hard-working citizens, busy families and road-weary travellers.  And everything has gluten-free and vegan options, as well!

I am seriously in Hippie Heaven!  If only I could go eat there!  It is in Rohnert Park, CA.  That's 1685 miles from my house.  So.... I hope it does well and starts franchising all across CA and out into the rest of the states.  I think it is needed.

Not Your Dorm Room Ramen

So I thought (for a change) I would try to make something for dinner.  I am not the one who typically cooks, unless we are having breakfast food or grilling.  I have pretty much forgotten how to cook over the past 9 years that my wife has been a SAHM and has taken over that domain.

But a ramen recipe? I figured I couldn't mess that one up!

First you put your (organic, free-range) eggs on to boil.  You peel and slice your (organic, locally-grown) carrot into thin slices.  Warm 2 tsp of oil in a large pot of med-high heat, add carrot and saute for about a minute, add vegetable broth, water, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Warm a tbs of oil in a saute pan, over medium-high heat. Slice bok choy down the center into 2 long pieces.  Salt and pepper the cut side. Lay cut-side down into the hot oil.  Cook about 3 minutes until golden brown and then flip.  Cook about 3 more minutes.

Slice radish in half and then cut very thin, half moon slices.  Cut scallion into rounds.  Put aside for garnish.  Put the ramen noodles into the simmering stock.  Cook 4 minutes.  Peel and cut eggs in half.

Ladle the soup onto bowls.  Place seared bok choy leaf side up and out of the bowl.  Garnish with radish and scallions.  Rest the soft boiled eggs on the noodles.  Add sriracha to taste.

Farmers Market

My wife had a booth down at the local farmers market today, selling her awesome natural product line, Perfectly Posh.  She was doing REALLY well and one of our favorite vendors - Lovera's - had a booth, too.  So I went down there to check it all out.  Also, my youngest son insisted we needed blueberries.  LOL  So I headed down there, got some blueberries and other things.  Came home and made some blueberry pancakes, sliced peaches and used some jam on one of my pancakes.  Is all really good stuff.  My wife came home with some raspberry jalapeno jelly, so we will spoon some of that over cream cheese and eat it with fritos!  Yum!

Blueberries

Jelly - Oklahoma Sunrise (peach, strawberry and pineapple)

Lovera's - homemade vodka sauce, sausage and cheese

Stratford peaches!

Breakfast for Dinner

I know I am on a food kick, but we have been having some wonderful vegetarian meals and so I have to brag on my wife's cooking and share these wonderful recipe ideas!  I am so very glad we have been introduced to Green Chef, because by getting all the ingredients and the recipes, we have discovered new things that we wouldn't have, otherwise.

Tonight we had Corn Cakes with Herb-Ricotta with a Fried Egg on top and an Arugula Salad.

Preheat your oven to 350F and make your corn cake batter.  Thinly sliced scallion, lemon zest, corn meal, flour, corn and milk. Mix gently and let rest for 5 minutes.  Warm a tbs of olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Cook sliced onion for 2 minutes then add halved grape tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir and cook 2 more minutes, then place the pan in the oven to roast for 12-14 minutes.

Melt some butter in a non-stick saute pan over medium heat and divide batter into small patties. Cook 2-3 minutes, until small bubbles form in the middle of the patty.  Carefully flip them with a spatula. Add more butter to promote browning.  Cook another 1-2 minutes. Place on cookie sheet and place in oven to keep warm.

Place arugula in a bowl.  Squeeze lemon over arugula and salt and pepper.  Toss.  Using non-stick pan, fry 2 eggs.

Spoon herbed ricotta onto plate.  Place 2 corn cakes on top. Place an egg on top, arugula on the side with the onion and tomato medley.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Amazing.

Black Pepper Tofu, Pineapple Rice and Bok Choy

Well..... she did it again.  Wow.  Amazing dinner!  Shallots, bok choy, red Fresno chilis and crispy tofu.  The chilis were mild and the black peppercorn had a little kick!  It was sweet and spicy and very good.

The sauce was made with scallion, garlic, ginger, soy, honey and crushed black peppercorns.

Caprese Pasta with Arugula & Balsamic Reduction

So my wife made the most amazing vegetarian pasta last night.  O.M.G. She even loved it, and she is hard to please with the vegetarian meals.  It was a simple salad of mozzarella, basil and tomatoes with some farfalle (bowtie), whole wheat pasta.  The arugula with the honey balsamic drizzle tastes fresh with a hint of sweet and sour.  She finished it with some black lava salt and it was amaze-balls.

I think this is something we will do again and again - especially in the summertime, when you want something lighter and fresh.  Plus, no oven!

You need 2 saucepans.  In the first, start your balsamic reduction and in the second, cook your pasta.  When the pasta finishes, drain and use that pan to blister the tomatoes with 1 tbs olive oil and some salt and pepper.  After 2 minutes, turn off the heat and add pasta, mozzarella and basil pesto.  Stir to coat.  Add the arugula and stir to coat, wilting slightly from residual heat.  Balsamic reduction is finished with slightly syrupy.  Divide pasta into separate dishes, drizzle with reduction and finish with salt.  Enjoy!

Me Time

On a very rare occasion, I get to spend time alone.  With two teen-age boys and usually anywhere for 2 - 5 of their friends over at our house, it is relatively busy.  Add to that, 2 large, aging Old English Sheepdogs, a needy Jack Russell/Rat Terrier mix and 2 cats that may or may not want attention - my energy gets zapped fast.  Especially if I have been at work all day long.  My wife tries to leave me alone, but sometimes, she wants attention or just for me to do some things around the house.

I often feel tired.  I often stay up too late because I just enjoy the quiet when everyone is sleeping or getting to watch whatever I want on TV or play stupid games on my tablet.  The stillness is nice.  It has been so long since I lived without another person/pet to be responsible for, that I often will "day dream" about what life would be like if I only had myself to worry about, pay for, etc.

I am certain I would live a much different life. I wouldn't need a 4 bedroom home in the suburbs, where the schools are good and the kids can play outside in the yard.  I wouldn't be saving for college and saving for 2 beginner cars and figuring out how to pay for insurance for 2 teenage boys.  My cell phone bill would be so much smaller.  All my bills would be so much smaller.  If I went out to eat, I wouldn't have to pay for 4 people (and their friends).

I could probably take those long weekend theater trips to NYC or London to see the plays and musicals that I love and not listen to the cast recordings and pretend that one day I may see some version of it somewhere locally,  I would have disposable income.  What a thought!  I could drop whatever I was doing, whenever I wanted.  I could pick what I wanted for every meal without mediation.  I could make decisions without consensus!

I am sure that "the grass is always greener on the other side" and all of that jazz.  There are so many things I would've have missed out on if I weren't married with children.  I wouldn't want to change the past, but having this conversation recently with several single and married people joining in, I realize that I have not given myself much of an identity beyond wife and mom.  And that it is okay that there are things that I want to do that do not include my spouse and my children.  I just have to get past the guilt of not putting them first.

In 5 years and a couple of months, my youngest will be leaving for college (fingers crossed).  I fear I will be suffering from empty next syndrome in a bad way, so I am thinking that maybe, if I work on some things now, things that I want for me, I will have stuff to fall back onto and not just be left a mom all alone, missing her kids.  I hope so anyway.

But what do I want to do? What am I interested in?  Who am I besides a nonprofit manager, a mom and a wife?  What kind of life to I want to create for myself?  I have been married for 10 years, I have been a mom for 19 years, I have worked at the same office for 14 years and things are all just a little bit "same ole, same ole".  I have a lot of research to do.

Farmer's Markets

I really want to start buying my food as local as possible.  I have been very surprised at all the farmer's markets that are going on in the Oklahoma City Metro area!  I am really excited to check out the 23rd Street Farmers Market this Sunday.

The first big reason, I want to shop at Farmers Markets is FLAVOR!  Fruits and vegetables you buy from farmers are the freshest you can get.  They are allowed to vine-ripen, instead of chemically ripen like big chain grocery produce.  It is simply fresh from the farm (the farm down the road!)

Another reason I want to shot at Farmers Markets is because I want to support family farms.  I am already a HUGE proponent of banking and eating at locally owned places.  This is just one more component of that.  You are helping your neighbor stay in business and it tastes better than shopping at Super Walmart.  You can find meats, eggs and cheeses from animals that are cared for without hormones or anti-biotics, that are raised eating real food, grass fed or natural diets, not feedlots and cages.

When you buy locally, you know where your food comes from.  You can meet and talk to the farmers and food artisans that you are buying from.  And you get out and meet the people in your community. I would much rather walk around selecting fresh foods outdoors in the sunshine than wheel a cart through a cold, fluorescent lit store.

Meatless Mondays

In an effort to try to eat more healthy meals and eat more vegetables, I have started doing a "meatless Monday" several months ago.  Since I started this, I have been in awe at all the great vegetarian and vegan meals that are out there - that taste great and have great flavor and textures.  I have been pleasantly surprised!

Going meatless once a week can reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, and obesity.  And going meatless once a week can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fossil fuels and fresh water.

Approximately 1,850 gallons of water are needed to produce a pound of beef!
Approximately 39 gallons of water are needed to produce a pound of vegetables!

Some of my vegetarian meals have included Sweet Earth Natural Foods burritos.  They are amazing! The Anasazi is one of my favorites.  It has Anasazi beans, green chilies, butternut squash, chipolte seitan and ginger.  It is very good.  The seitan is flavorful and has a constancy very similar to meat. There are 15 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber in one burrito and about 300 calories.

My other favorite is the Peruvian burrito.  It has black beans, red quinoa, sweet potato, goat cheese, roasted corn and spirulina.  It has 17 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.  And about 300 calories.

We have also been getting meals from Green Chef delivered to our house.  It comes with everything you need to make a great vegetarian meal.  So far, everything we have tried, we have liked.  Which, I usually like the meatless things, but my spouse does not.  She has been pleasantly surprised at the things she has liked.  In fact, she recently went to chipolte and got the vegetarian burrito and is addicted to it!

My kids are not as easy, but they will have an omlette or try some of the tofu, seitan and other meat substitutes.  But the point is, we are all making an effort to eat less meat, which I think is a good thing!

City Chicks

I am not very rural.  I grew up in a small town and knew many people who had farms and ranches, but I grew up a banker's daughter.  We lived on 4 acres but never had anything more than a dog.  I did, however, go with my dad to visit his trust customers and most of them lived on farms.  I would help the lady of the house collect eggs from the chicken coop while my dad "talked business" with her husband.  I once bottle fed a baby goat and helped some with lambs and calves and pigs on my many visits to different farms.

Something about it I loved.  Being up close and personal with nature and taking care of animals.  It made me feel good inside.

I have been reading a lot about raising chickens for eggs.  I (unfortunately) cannot do that right now, because my neighborhood HOA has a stipulation in the bylaws forbidding it.  However, the town I live in recently passed a city ordinance lifting a ban on it.  Backyard chickens!  A lot of people in town have them now.

One thing I have read a lot about is that you need to be ready to be a Mother Hen before you get some chicks.  For the first several weeks, they need hourly attention.  You have to decide on using a coop or letting them be free range or a combination of the two.  I would love to have a "chicken run" fenced off on the side of my back yard where there could be a coop, but also let them out to peck and scratch in the grass and get plenty of fresh air and sunshine.

You can build a coop, there are many plans to find on the internet and you can even find chicken coops now at Petco or PetSmart!

And what kind of chickens?!  There are over 400 breeds of chickens today.  When choosing a breed, it is important to think of temperament, climate, egg-production levels, and if you will be just using them for eggs or also for meat.

If you have backyard chickens, how do you do it?  How long have you have them?  Tell me about it!

Deodorant Intolerance

I have had a metal allergy for as long as I can remember.  It has affected my wearing contacts (to the point I stopped several years ago), the type of glasses I can wear (no metal on the frames), jewelry... barely anything but some small sterling silver hoops in my ears and a sterling silver ring on occasion. If I have metal on my skin, I break out in red, scaly, flaky rash that burns and itches, wherever the metal touches me.

I have had these patches on my cheeks from metal frames on glasses that would touch my cheeks when I smile; patches by my ears where the metal frames rested; patches on my fingers from wearing rings; my ear lobes swollen and red from earrings.  No fun this stuff.  I have even had three years of crazy issues with a tattoo on my calf, where the red ink (containing metal) was being rejected by my skin.  Just the red areas were puffy and swollen and trying to expel the ink.  Crazy!

A few years ago, I started to have issues with my underarms.  The same scaly, red, itchy patches were occurring, but it took me awhile to put two and two together.  It was actually my 10 year old that asked me "what is deodorant made of?"  I read off the contents and there it was - aluminum.  He shouted "You are allergic to metal!"  Smart kid!

I had realized that my deodorant was not absorbing into my skin, but sitting on top of it and creating a big, icky mess.  I would have to scrub it off everyday with a loofa and so I slowly stopped wearing it.  I don't have a big issue with sweating, so I really do not need an antiperspirant, but I do get stinky by the end of the day without something.  I started using a powder, by Perfectly Posh and that helped a lot.  It is great and has a faint scent of lemon berry.

One day, I decided that there must be some vegans or hippie folk out there on Etsy that made something.  I found Aspen Tree Naturals and this great lavender and tea tree deodorant made from organic coconut oil, organic shea butter, organic arrowroot, baking soda, lavender oil, tea tree oil and beeswax.  I was so excited that it came in a typical deodorant type container and that it was metal free.  It is really great stuff.

Because it is not as solid as a typical deodorant, I have actually decided that I don't like the "stick" as much.  I liked it because it was what I was used to but it is sort of goopy.  I scoop some out with my fingers and just rub it on with my hand.  I do the same with the Nature's Purest Gifts Deodorant - my second trial in organic deodorant.  I got the unscented and now wish I had not.  I do like having a little bit of scent.  It isn't overpowering.  It is made from coconut oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, beeswax, baking soda, arrowroot powder and essential oils.  I like it a lot too, but the same thing goes, it is easier to scoop some out with your fingers and rub on with your hand.

I received a coupon from my spouse for Primal Pit Paste, so I think I am going to order some of that next to try.  It is also natural, organic ingredients and you can get it in a stick or a jar.  I am going to try a jar this time, in fact, I am going to order some for my teen boys, too.  I don't like the thought of them putting a bunch of metals and chemicals all over their bodies.

Even if you do not have a metal allergy, I really recommend trying natural, organic deodorant (and other self care products).  We put way too many chemicals on our body.  I have started using a lot of the Perfectly Posh vegan products.  The face wash, moisturizer and body bar that I use everyday is vegan and chemical free.

Non Toxic Living

As much as I would like to clear out my cleaning supplies, hair and beauty products, pesticides, etc and replace them all with chemical free, "green" products, that isn't something that I can afford to do.  Most likely, you cannot either.  What have have been doing over the last year is slowly replacing everything I buy with less toxic and more natural products.

There are a lot of good alternatives you can buy and also many that you can make yourself, if you are into that type of thing.  Etsy and Pinterest have been a terrific way for me to find the things that I want or learn to make them myself.

Most of my skin care products come from Perfectly Posh.  They are cruelty-free as well as not containing many harmful chemicals.  No parabens, paraffins, gluten, fillers, soy, sulfates, lanolin, or phithalates.  And no animal testing.

On top of that, they feel and smell great and are packaged so hip many of the containers are reusable as well as having labels that peel off.  And they are made in the USA.  I love their vegan products and use most of them.

Simplify Your Life!

With the coming of Spring and warmer weather, comes that feeling I get every year of wanting to purge - ah, Spring cleaning!  I always have a hard time with this because of trying to make the time to do what needs to be done and balancing it with everything else that life has brought on.  This year, I am going to try to make some baby steps toward downsizing my life and I am starting with these three ideas:

• Minimize: Use less, conserve more. What can you use less of? Electricity, toilet paper, clothing, shoes, just to name a few.
• Maximize: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. Basically, get the most out of your clothing, food, personal energy, resources, etc.
• Prioritize: Make time for what matters. Eliminate things that don't. Don't waste time, money, energy, or resources on the wrong things. Do you know what matters most to you?

So, I am going to sit down and grab my 2015 "Decomposition Book" that I started in January that has all my lists and ideas and gratitudes and start a new list of things that matter to me the most on a day to day basis and things that I spend time doing that I can not do.  Sometimes it is hard, because while I would like to not spend time on my commute to and from work, I have to as part of the job that I have.  But how can I start spending that time wiser?  Is there a way I can learn something or decompress more while driving to and from home?  Perhaps.

Beltane

Great Earth Mother!
We give you praise today and ask for your blessing upon us.  As seeds spring forth and grass grows green and winds blow gently and the rivers flow and the sun shines down upon our land, we offer thanks to you for our blessings and your gifts of life each Spring.

Merry Meet!  It is Beltane!  Light a fire, dance and feast, light a fire with the one you love!  Today is a turning point in the year and is all about the coming of Spring! The coming of fair weather and longer daylight hours would be most welcome after a long cold and dark winter.

To the pastoral Celtic people’s of Europe the changing pattern of the seasons was a matter of life and death, and marking these changes key moments in the life of the community. Beltane – “bright fire” – was one such marker celebrated in various forms across Ireland, Scotland and Man as the starting point of summer. A celebration of the time of light and growth to come, Beltane was associated with a variety of practices, from the display of fresh greenery to the baking of Beltane bannocks. Perhaps the most important element, however, was the lighting of Beltane fires on the first of May, which would recall the growing power of the sun and provide an opportunity to cleanse and renew the conditions of a community – both humans and their animals – that had spent the dark months indoors. 
In Scotland, the lighting of Beltane fires – round which cattle were driven, over which brave souls danced and leapt – would survive into modern times, although a process of slow decline saw towns and villages slowly abandon the practice in the nineteenth century. The last Beltane fire recorded in Helmsdale took place in 1820. In the middle years of the century the fires of Fife spluttered out, and by the 1870s they would go unlit in the Shetland Isles. By the start of the twentieth century, Edinburgh, which had for time immemorial seen beacons lit on Arthur’s Seat, ceased such public Beltane celebrations. (from A Detailed History of Beltane)

To me, Beltane is like the "new year" and I want to start off this new year living more green and sustainable; reusing or recycling; producing less waste and purging my house and life of things that do not bring me joy. (I read this great article about Marie Kondo, check it out!)  She says to discard everything that does not "spark joy" after thanking the objects for their service.  She says to dump your whole closet of clothes on your bed and go through them one by one and thank the one's you get rid of and only keep the one's that make you feel good.  I want to try this.