Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday Funny
A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.
The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.
In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.
He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.
As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"
She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?"
"Yes," was his incredulous reply.
She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Healthiest Oil On Earth
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO) is an amazing product that you can find in any health food store. We use it for a plethora of things: cooking, diaper rash cream (cloth diaper safe), face and body moisturizer, and even as a deep conditioning treatment for my hair.
The oil is more solid during the winter and melts to liquid in the hotter months. The light smell of coconut is refreshing, and beachy. Plus it has a unique form of saturated fat that actually helps prevent stroke, heart disease, and hardening of the arteries. If you're not sold yet, you will be shortly... EVCO contains medium chain fatty acids that also speed up the body’s metabolism, burning more calories and promoting weight loss. Bottom line, you have to try this product or you'll be missing the benefits of the healthiest oil on earth.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Compost 101
What to Compost:
There are two classes Greens, which are high in Nitrogen and provide protein. While the Browns, which are high in carbon provide energy. The ideal compost would have four parts brown to one part greens.
Browns:
- shredded cardboard, this means pizza boxes!
- dried leaves
- bark and sawdust, in moderation
- straw
- corn stalks
Greens:
- grass clippings
- leaves
- kitchen scrapes (fruits, veggies, coffee grounds, tea bags)
- fruits
What NOT to Compost:
- pet droppings
- ashes
- colored paper
- meat
- bones
- dairy
- chemicals
I just toss everything in the compost bin and let it cook, I turn it often with a pitch fork. A healthy compost pile will have worms, but not flies. If I missed anything, please add it to the comments!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Diaper Diary part 1
If you would have told me that I would cloth diaper my baby and love it, I would have laughed in your face. My conception of cloth diapers was seriously dated. I had visions of safety pins and complicated wraps that would leave me elbow deep in baby poo. All skepticism aside I decided to do some research, to make the best decision for my Daughter. The facts that I uncovered were terrifying, do you even know the cornucopia of toxic chemicals disposable diapers contain? Or that Scientific studies show a link to asthma? If our founding Father's used disposable diapers they would still be sitting in our landfills, because they take a whopping 500 years to biodegrade. My main concern was how in the world would I keep up with the laundry?! The benefits of cloth out weighed my fears, so I jumped in.
My Cloth Diaper Wash Cycle:
With a lot of 22 diapers I do my laundry every other day. For potty diapers you toss them right in the diaper pail. For poo diapers quickly rinse the poo off with a diaper sprayer into your toilet, and toss in the diaper pail. My diaper pail has minimal stink. A lid keeps all funk contained and a sachet of baking soda helps absorb any odor. When laundry day arrives I simply empty the diaper pail into my front loading HE washer and do as follows:
- 1 cold rinse (no detergent)
- 1 hot wash with 1/3 tablespoon powder
- 1 extra cold rinse
- Hang to dry
One Love Mama's gone Carbon Neutral
- Write a blog post about the initiative + insert your favourite button
- E-mail the link to your post to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de
- We plant a tree for your blog in Plumas’!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Happy 101 Award!!
- My daughter's smile! It's so sweet, I want to pour it on my pancakes!!
- The sound of my Husband's laugh.
- A big pipping hot cup of coffee.
- Chatting on the phone with my sister, laughing until our bellies ache.
- My compost pile. There is something very empowering about turning what appears to be trash, into rich soil.
- Getting my hair cut. I only do it about every 6 months (if that). I will literally be on cloud nine for weeks after!
- My dogs! They are so hilarious and cute. Even if I'm having the worst day ever, they make me smile through my tears.
- Really old friends. The kind you don't hear from for months, but the minute you do its like you just met for coffee yesterday. Love that!!
- Snapping the perfect photograph. A picture so full of life that when you find it years later, your transported back to that very day.
- Riding around in the car on a sunny day, windows down, and Tom Petty on the radio. Bliss.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Happy Earth Day!!
I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't always do my part. I was not born, nor raised to reduce, recycle and re-use. I would consume things, toss them away and never look back. However once I became a Mother all that changed... It was as if my Daughter woke me up.
What I do today matters. Long after my Husband and I are gone, this earth will still be her home. I want to be able to look my Daughter in the eye, and honestly say that I did my part in preserving our planet for her.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
WFD: Carnitas
In California we have some of the best Mexican food North of the border. If you let my Husband pick, we would have it for every meal.
- Pork shoulder
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 jar orange marmalade
- 8 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 onion
- The night before place pork, soy sauce, orange marmalade, and garlic in a container to marinade.
- In the morning chop onion and place at the bottom of your slow cooker, empty pork and marinade on top of the onions. *Do not add any water!
Natural Teething Remedies...
1. Baltic Amber Teething Necklace:
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Party Planning Maniac!
Friday, April 16, 2010
10 months old.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
30 day shred
Friday, April 9, 2010
WFD April 9, 2010
Shrimp Cakes! I got the recipe from my girlfriend and I have made them ever since. One of the great things about this dish, is that you can make the shrimp cakes in the afternoon and fry them at dinner time.
- 16 uncooked large shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled, deveined
- 1 large egg
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon spicy mustard
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of ground black pepper
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons (or more) Olive Oil
preparation:
Step 1: Coarsely chop shrimp in processor. Add egg, lemon juice, mustard, cilantro, hot pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. Blend in using on/off turns.
Step 2: Dump mixture in a large bowl and pour in breadcrumbs, mix well with your hands.
Step 3: Form mixture into cakes, transfer to foiled baking sheet. Refrigerate 10 minutes. (Can be made up to 4 hours ahead.)
Step 4: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry cakes until cooked through and golden brown on both sides, adding more oil to skillet as needed, about 6 minutes.
What's For Dinner?
40 Garlic Clove Chicken
2 bulbs of garlic
4 chicken breasts boneless/skin less OR with bone and skin (I use boneless/skinless)
½ cup white wine
½-cup chicken broth
1-teaspoon tomato paste or tomato sauce (I use the paste)
1 sprig rosemary or use the power (I use fresh)
1 sprig thyme or use the power (I use fresh)
1 bay leaf
Cook chicken in a little bit of olive oil to brown transfer to plate
In pan, add
Wine
Chicken broth
Tomato sauce
Rosemary
Thyme
Bay leaf
Pull the garlic bulbs apart and you should have about 40 gloves
I do take off the paper however; the recipe says do not remove the paper.
Place chicken in a roasting pan single layer
Pour over the mix from the frying pan
Place the garlic over the chicken
Cover and cook at 375 for 1 ½ hours