simple green mami

It's been a while...

2011-08-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

A lot has changed in the last year, where to begin... I was teaching at my daughter's preschool, and I loved it, but because circumstances have changed (I'm about 9 months pregnant right now) I am back to work full time at my old job doing social work. I received the offer when I was about 5 months pregnant and had to take it because a preschool salary was just not going to cut the mustard when it came to paying for infant care. I wish I could stay home with the kids but I also feel grateful to be able to help support my family. I guess I'm writing because in a way things have come full circle. I started blogging after my daughter (who is now 3) was born and now I'm back at it (at least for today) because I want to try to reconnect with the Mami inside of me who just takes a second to slow things down, let things be and reconnects with my body and the planet.

My son is due at the end of the month on my husband's birthday, and I am super excited to meet this new little being. It is so exciting to imagine what life will be like with him in it. I guess how this all relates to the blog is that I plan on breastfeeding for as long as I can, (I will actually admit that I nursed Luna for 2 years) that I am all set up to cloth diaper this little guy, and that the majority of the clothes that we have for him are wonderful hand-me-down's from a really cool teacher that I was teaching with at the preschool. In fact, we were also given a used but almost new Britax car seat from some grandparents at the preschool who were no longer using it, and because we wanted two car seats for each car I simply bought a new car seat cover for $20 on e-bay and have put it on Luna's old infant seat. All of these things have been great money savers and are definitely better for the planet. I was also able to buy a used, but in almost perfect condition, Maclaren Techno Classic stroller on e-bay that I am super excited to use. It was a fraction of the cost of a new one, and I like it even better because it is used!

I hope to write soon and update ya'll on all of our other exciting endeavors:)

All the best,

-maritza

a working mami

2010-09-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

So I have been very slow at posting lately, the summer was really busy and now I am back to work, part time that is. I was really fortunate to get a job at a preschool close to our home and Luna gets to come with me! However, it means that I have less time to do leisure activities such as blogging and exercise but definitely for a good reason:) I also have a side job babysitting and I am taking a classes at the local college.
Although I am super busy trying to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner all before 12:30 pm I am really happy with the way things are going. It really is the best of both worlds. I guess I am writing because it is so interesting how your life changes when you have kids. I mean how priorities change and then your life changes. Cheers!

Luna's new lunchbag

2010-09-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get Luna a Mimi the Sardine lunch bag but when I looked on line I found that they were $25 a pop. I decided to make my own and followed, and then modified this tutorial to make it. Some of the modifications I made were: widening the base, using rope of the handles, and lining the bag with plastic for easy clean up. It cost me about $6 total!

parting is such sweet sorrow...

2010-09-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

So the chickens have been moved into their new home on the balcony...

This is a view from our balcony, we are in a condo on the 4th floor...We were hoping that the new white lattice would give the chickens some privacy, AKA hide the coop;)

Trav modified the original building plans for this coop and worked really hard building it. A few things you should know: We got the wood almost entirely from a friend who happened to be on freecycle, we borrowed almost all the tools from said friend, and the other items that were purchased, such as the feeder and waterer were bought from a small local business.

(view of the roost/upper level)

The chickens seem to really love their new home, and Mami is happy that she no longer has to clean up chicken poop every day! A win-win in my book. We are going to get the chickens some more plants to nibble on, and when I am feeling up to it ill go to the garden and dig them up some worms to eat.

We are using a combo of corn cob and hay as bedding and we are really happy because the neighbors haven't complained, yet...

One pretty sad thing that happened though is that one of our girls ended up being a roo, rooster that is, so we had to give him away. My suspicions were confirmed when he started crowing consistently at 6:30 a.m. every morning and grew a bit of a comb. We found him a great home though on many acres of land so the whole thing was bitter sweet. However, Loretta seems to be greatly affected by this and the second I took Dale out if the cage she was dying to get out and go after him. This isn't surprising because they have been together since they hatched, but I guess I didn't expect her to be so visibly affected by his departure. I have been spending some extra time with her by holding and petting her and this seems to comfort her for a while.

I put a white stuffed animal in her cage to see if that would keep her company but she didn't seem very interested in it. I also had the great idea of putting a small mirror in her cage to see if that would help ease some of her anxiety, and it did help a bit. It's really cute because she sleeps up against the mirror and I imagine that it reminds her of Dale, her Romeo.

We decided to get her a girlfriend to see if that would curb her loneliness, and ended up picking one up this weekend. I didn't want to fool her by getting another silkie bantam so we got a Cochin bantam that is grey with white specks on it. She is very mellow and seems to be adjusting well to her new home and is yet to be named. I checked on the two birds this evening and they were huddled together next to the mirror. Here's a pic of our newest addition:

Dale you will be missed.

Delicious popovers

2010-08-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

If you haven't made these yet then you gotta give them a try. I made these for breakfast for our wedding anniversary the other day and they were a hit. We ate them with some local strawberry jam and butter. Yumm! This is the recipe from Aunt Tara. It couldn't me any more simple than this! Let me know what you think:)

Popovers:

Heat oven to 375. Melt 2 tbsp butter and portion into a muffin tin. In a large bowl whisk 3 eggs and 1 1/4 cup milk. Add in 1 1/4 cup flower and 1/2 tsp salt. Whisk until smooth. Portion evenly into muffin tin. Bake 30 minutes without opening oven. Eat and enjoy!

just a test

2010-07-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

to see if facebook is connected

Luna's new sleep mat

2010-07-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

It about time for me to go back to work and I wanted Luna to have something special to take with her to preschool. I looked on line and found an e-how tutorial called how to make a toddler nap mat. I made some modifications to the tutorial because I like to keep it simple, and because I am new to the whole sewing thing.
I used some old egg crate off the mattress that Luna sometimes sleeps on and cut it about 25 inches by 45 inches. The tutorial mentions making it 20x40 but I gave myself the extra 5 inches for room for error.

Next, I cut the minky and satin fabric at about 30 x 45 inches. I have to say that because it was challenging for me to cut the fabric straight that I'm not sure what the fabric measured at the end...

I placed the pretty sides together and surged the long sides together leaving the "short" sides open. I did this because I still needed to add some tabs and Velcro.

I just cut 4, 4x6 pieces of fabric, 2 of the minky and two of the satin and surged on three sides leaving the bottom open. I then top stitched, pinned to one of the open sides of the 30x45 inch material and surged to form tabs. Next, I sewed the rough side of the Velcro to the tab and after stuffing the egg crate (foam material) into the pink case, I sewed the soft side of the Velcro where it matched up after rolling. I had some extra foam so I stuffed it in and doubled it up as a pillow.
Here is the finished product! It cost about $15 total. Not bad. I also made another pillow with the extra material and some fill from a pillow we had around the house. I made a smaller simpler version for Luna's doll as well.

busy, busy, busy...

2010-07-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

We have been having a super fun and busy summer so far, which is why I haven't posted in a while.
Lets see, we went camping for a few days up in El Dorado forest as part of a combined bachelor and bachelorett party. Trav Luna and I went and we had a fun time swimming in the beautiful lake up there, although there were a ton of mosquito's and we got bitten all over. I did bring my all natural bug spray made by California Baby but to tell you the truth it really didn't work. Actually, we used a combination of three sprays (the others being "Off" that has some nasty chemicals in it, and a spray made by an eco-friendly company named Badger) I'm telling you nothing worked against these suckers. I am thinking of investing in mosquito nets for our next trip because I HATED spraying that stuff on.

I would say that the best thing that we brought on this trip was a make shift portable potty for Luna that was made out of a small grey bucket and a "travel" potty seat that folds up and can be placed on top of a traditional toilet seat. This was clutch. We were easily able to fill the bucket with dirt after each use, turning it into a compostable toilet. This was also easy to clean (just dump into port-o-potty thus canceling out the compostable feature) and could be lined with a plastic or compostable bag while we were on the road.

What else...My husband also made a wedding cake for our friend's wedding that came out amazing! It was his first time making a cake of this stature and he made it out of all organic and local ingredients. As requested by the bride the cake was a layered cake consisting of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, and white chocolate mousse wrapped in a dark chocolate "shell" if you will. Because the (non-traditional) wedding colors were green and copper the cake was also topped with a green gelee. Here is a pic.

We have also been doing some gardening...

The plants have been getting really big, and so is Luna. She is very helpful in the garden with watering and weeding and keeps a good eye on the chickens when we bring them. You can spot one just below the watering can that she is holding.

We made a huge batch of pesto from all of the basil we harvested and have had it on veggies, pasta and we're planning on putting it on a home made pizza sometime soon. We also harvested a huge squash that we baked and topped with pesto, marinara sauce and cheese. Yumm. Here is Luna carrying the squash out of the garden.

BART

2010-06-23T23:39:00.000-07:00

Luna has been asking "Mommy ride the BART train together?" for the last few weeks so we decided to give it a go the other day. We didn't really have anywhere to go, so we just rode it for a few stops but it was such a beautiful thing watching a child experience something for the first time. As the train took off Luna stood on Papi's lap and yelled "BART train!!!" with such volume and delight that the other passengers had to smile.

super simple sewing

2010-06-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty busy over the last few weeks getting some exercise in, gardening, taking Luna to the pool and learning to sew, that I haven't really been posting as much as I would like to. I feel like I begin one project and then get about half way through before I'm starting on another so I don't have many finished projects as of yet.

However, I am super excited to report that I have learned how to make very cute "yoga" pants for Luna (by yoga I mean stretchy cotton and slightly bell bottomed) out of recycled t-shirts that I had here at home. I got the idea from a site called Crafty Gemini, and found her Youtube video explanation to be very easy to understand and execute. I did make a few modifications to her original instructions, mostly using a serger instead of a standard sewing machine, and also by making a more "curvy" version.

Crafty Gemini suggests using a pair of pants that your child already owns as a "pattern". You do this by folding the pants in half and chalk tracing, and then cutting out a one inch perimeter on your fabric (which in this case is a t-shirt). Be sure to match the bottom of the pant leg to the already hemmed "bottom" of a t-shirt. Do this twice.

I then placed the "pretty" sides of the fabric together and serged the whole outer side of the pant together. I did this on each piece of fabric.

Open the fabric and it will look like this:

Match up "pretty" sides of the fabric together, pin and trim if necessary (I did most of my cutting and trimming with a rotory tool). When sewing don't stretch the fabric as this will distort the garment.

Next serge through both pieces of fabric from the waist to the crotch (remember pretty sides of fabric touching). Now it looks like pants!

Next, serge the inside of the pant leg in one continuous swoop. It is easy if you simply make the pant do the splits!

Fold down and pin waist band. Sew on serged line using a zig zag stitch leaving a gap to insert 1/2 inch elastic. Feed elastic in through gap attaching one end to a safety pin.

Zig Zag stitch elastic to "close the loop" and then sew up the gap.

Turn pants right-side-in and viola! Pants!

I made the brown pair out of an old American Apparel t-shirt and this white pair out of one of Trav's old cotton t-shirts that we were going to use as a cleaning rag.

Paper bag art

2010-06-16T21:10:00.001-07:00

My Grandmother was a very creative and resourceful artist. When we spent time with her she always had us doing art projects with various mediums; sometimes with wet newspaper, sometimes clay, sometimes making paper with a makeshift screen and flax meal and flower petals we gathered from a walk. I also remember going on walks with her carrying large pieces of paper and charcoal and doing rubbings on leaves, tree stumps and benches and marveling at the different textures.

Seeing my Grandmother's series of paper bag sketches, prints, and painted bags reminded me of the time we spent together and also of her creativity. I am going to get a few more pieces of this series and plan to make a nice living room display. I love the simplicity of it.

Potty training!!!

2010-06-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

I just had to share that Lunita has just turned two and is doing a fabulous job potty training! I think what happened is that I just grew sick and tired of hand washing cloth diapers and decided that it would be easier to potty train. Luna has been partially potty trained for a while now but was struggling with going "pee pee potty". I am so excited and optimistic this morning because Luna made it through nap time yesterday in her training panties without an accident, and through a whole nights sleep last night! My little girl is growing up.

She has also started to sleep in a "big girl" bed, which is really a twin mattress on the floor, and is doing a great job there as well. Trav and I think that getting her on to a "big girl" bed will allow her to get up and use the potty if she has to go in the middle of the night. I am so proud of my little girl.

Luna is also starting to recognize the difference between numbers and letters which is really cute. We were at the pool the other day and she tried to identify the numbers that indicate how deep the pool is. Luna said "this 5" when it was 1, but I was amazed that she was giving it a go. Yesterday she also tried to read the exit sign in the hallway saying "T, R,O" close enough for me!Luna is also counting to 20, and to 10 in Spanish!

Wow, it seems like the second she turned 2 she grew up!

2010-06-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

I am reading this really easy read that is a plethora of information called Fix it Make it Grow it Bake it. I was actually fortunate enough to see the author, Billie Sharp a few weeks ago at one of my mother-in-law's independent book stores, Pegasus on Shattuck in Berkeley that sells new and used books. I love her stores!!! To check out their site click on the Pegasus link and you can even see their first commercial starring my super hero brother-in-law!

In Fix it Make it Grow it Bake it the author offers great tips about local organizations that I never knew existed such as the, Really Really Free Market and freefarmstand.org to name a few. SO COOL! Check it out for yourself!

Inch by inch row by row

2010-06-08T21:49:00.001-07:00

Thanks to some great sunshine the garden has taken off! Our sugar peas are coming up slowly but surely and the basil is looking great. I am so excited to make some pesto soon;)

Our harvest this week, along with a generous bounty from a neighbor that sells at farmers market, allowed us to skip our weekly trip to the market for veggies. We did however buy some heirloom tomato starts and got them in the ground this weekend.

Our potatoes are doing great in this oak barrel. The method we used was to cover the potato pieces with about an inch of soil in the bottom of an empty barrel. We then covered the shoots as they began to grow with more soil until they reached the top of the barrel. We are waiting for the leaves to die down so that we can harvest them.

Stay tuned as I hope to have a canning post coming up soon! We have a bunch of fruit (from the neighbor, the one that works at the market) and I hope to make jam for the first time ever!

Dale and Loretta...

2010-06-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

I remember asking my mom if we could keep chickens in her back yard all the way back when I was in college. I think at the time she thought that I was joking and gave me a "what would the neighbors think" kind of look. Actually, the look might have also been a, "yeah right I'm not going to look after your pet" kind of look. I'll have to ask her.

Well the time was right, and after years of wanting chickens I've finally got 'em. I don't feel like a crazy person with an odd choice in pets because I have two friends that have coops, (although they do have backyards) and as I mentioned in an earlier post, there really is a whole urban chicken movement going on.

We did end up getting our two white Silkie Bantams on Thursday (they were the last two left) and have officially named the birds Dale and Loretta (Trav and I have alter farmer ego's). I do suspect that one of the chicks is a rooster because it is more aggressive than the other, but I also would have bet that Luna was a boy, which she clearly is not.

We are feeding the birds organic feed that we purchased at non other than, well, the gas station aka BioFuel Oasis, hurrah! Gotta love that place.

BioFuel Oasis offers complete backyard chicken set ups including brooding lights, glass mason jar feeders, grit as well as books on homesteading and chicken rearing.

Check it out!

2010-05-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yumm. This is my newest felt creation, a chocolate and vanilla soft serve waffle cone. For the original tutorial (a smaller cone) click here. By the way the felt is made from reclaimed fabric as an added bonus!

felt food

2010-05-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a sewing machine (I have wanted one for soo long) and have been attempting to make some things on it after staring at the machine for a few weeks. For a while I wasn't even sure where to begin, but then I found some really great tutorials on the internet.

I was at the fabric store the other day and picked up some felt which is pretty cheap and fun to use. I used this tutorial to make a felt Donut for Luna.

Not perfect, but not bad for a first project!

I am now working on a felt waffle cone with soft serve strawberry icecream on top. Damn, if I could only get the darn machine to work! I guess I'm off to the sewing machine shop tomorrow :(

Luna's new/used bike!

2010-05-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

An early birthday present found at our local consignment store! A great deal and so much fun!

Luna is still getting the hang of riding it, but she loves to ring the bell, honk the horn and put stuff in her basket. Every time she honks honks the horn she has a big grin on her face.

Fresh Fettuccine

2010-05-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

It had been a while since we made home made pasta, but I figured that if I was going to indulge in some that it better be good and worth it. Believe me it was! We decided to make egg noodles in the food processor which really helped decrease mess, which I love. The recipe was very simple and called for:

Ingredients:

2 cup of flour
3 eggs
water

(simple enough for ya?!)

Steps:
Pulse flour in food processor. Add eggs. If dough resembles tiny pebbles add 1/2tsp of water and pulse until dough forms a ball (We only needed 1tsp total).

Form dough into a ball with hands and leave to rest on work surface. Cover with plastic wrap for 1-2 minutes.

Cut dough into 1/6ths and feed one portion through pasta makeer beginning with the widest setting. We roll dough through each setting twice once one direction and then the other.

(there are only 5 portions here because we are rolling one...)

(for the first go through of each portion roll through the widest setting, fold the dough and roll again. Do this twice. This shapes the dough so it doesn't get super wide, think of it like rolling dough with a rolling pin. You don't want to just roll the dough in one direction). After rolling through all the settings then "cut" the noodles.

After noodles are formed hang on the back of a chair or clothes drying rack.

Cook pasta in salted water for 2 little minutes. Eat and enjoy!

Some for Luna...

Some for Mami...

Super simple mayonnaise.

2010-05-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

So we were in a bit of a pinch because Trav had to bring a dish to Spanish class and the particular one he was making called Causa (its a Peruvian casserole made with layered spiced mashed potatoes, tomato, boiled egg and avocado) called for mayo, which we were out of. I remembered my mom making mayo from scratch when I was younger, so a quick call to "grandma" solved all our problems. It was super quick and simple. My favorite.

Recipe:
1 whole egg
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper
a squeeze of lime juice (approx 1 tsp)
a squeeze of lemon juice (approx 1 tsp)
approx 3/4 cup canola oil

Directions:
combine all ingredients in blender except for oil. Stream in oil until mixture thickens. (this should take about 10-15 seconds). Serve and enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Cake.Yumm.

2010-05-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is one of my all time favorite recipes. I love it for oh so many reasons. First, there are very few ingredients. Second, it only takes about forty minutes to make start to finish. Finally, it is delicious and lower in fat than traditional cake recipes.

I made this cake for Luna's birthday last year (a few times) and it was a hit. Once I topped it with freshly picked halved cherries, another time with powered sugar, yet another time I filled it with vegan coconut frosting. I also adapted this recipe and made cupcakes for a friends baby shower that were topped with home made icing and pomegranate seeds, beautiful and elegant.

Here it is. Vegan chocolate cake. Never use boxed cake again!

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar (turbanado and sucanat are vegan sugars. regular sugar is fine though)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup oil
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 cups water

Combine all dry ingredients in a 9'' x 13'' pan (I like to use a bunt pan).Mix well. Add wet ingredients. Mix using a whisk or a hand blender on low until ingredients are combined with out over mixing. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool slightly before removing from pan. The cake should be fudge like on top and fluffy on the bottom. Heaven.

The Gates Cooperative

2010-05-05T16:14:00.001-07:00

After a beautiful day at the Marin Headlands, Luna and I were heading home and something caught my eye. It was right before the freeway entrance. It was some really old, but artsy mailboxes that for some reason were intriguing to me. I pulled over without even thinking, and got out of the car to take a photo.

I then noticed a sign that read, "The Gates Cooperative" and got out to take a closer look.
I asked the first person I saw what the cooperative was about and he directed me to a ramshackle little place with a van in front of it that someone was painting. (When I say painting I mean like with a paintbrush, like old school hippie style).

I asked the very old, long bearded, kind man what the cooperative was all about and he said that it is a houseboat cooperative for low income people, but that it was probably going to be shut down any day now. I sensed that he might be putting me off thinking that I was a tourist, which technically I am, so I pushed a little further. I asked him why they were shutting it down, and he said that the city has been trying to take the land over for years now. He said that "they" want to build a park there instead.

I told him that I hadn't been by the houseboats for many years, but that my grandfather used to work out of a houseboat near by. This is the sign that caught my eye.

(Image by weed-dawg.com)

Now, I was interested in writing about this because a similar thing happened when Trav, Luna and I were on a bike ride on the path behind our house a few weeks ago. I noticed an apartment complex of some sort, that really caught my eye. It looked interesting to me because it had a series of garden plots and a play area for kids. I couldn't stop thinking about it so we explored it a bit further on our way back home from the ride. What we found was a sign that read, "Pleasant Hill Cohousing." Yes, another co-op.

When we got home I looked this one up on the internet and found that there are 32 condominiums that have some shared amenities such as a dining room and recreational area, although every condo does have private facilities as well. The idea however, is that there is a strong sense of community and the shared facilities help to foster this.

Amazingly enough if you are interested in taking a tour, you may on the first Sunday of the month. To get more information on the tour click here. For more in depth information on co-housing click here to be connected to the Cohousing Association website.

Its funny because it seems that now a days I am drawn to co-op's and the idea of cohousing is very interesting to me. I like the idea of like-minded individuals working together for the common good, as well as having a strong sense of community. It seems that we are loosing that type of bond as a culture, but apparently there are those that are fighting to keep it.

Chicken diapers...?

2010-05-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

Did you know that there is a movement going on called the "Urban Chicken Movement?" Well, we are dying to be a part of it! As some of you know we live in a condo, on the fourth floor. Needless to say we don't have a backyard, or a field with rolling hills, but we do have a balcony...

Now, if the rule is right I've heard that a single chicken needs about four square feet to be comfortable. I'm not sure when they say "comfortable" whether they mean like how a car is "comfortable" or if this is really comfortable for the chicken to live in. Does any one know?

So, we do have the room on our balcony for a suitable two story coop for a chicken (larger than the recommendation), but my second question is whether or not it is more kind to the chicken to have a friend maybe? Is it like the ark? Two by two?

So people are doing this in San Francisco, of course, but I guess the next step would be to make sure it is even legal to have chickens where I live. I know that other apartment and condo dwellers are doing it, and I can prove it by the fact that someone is actually making chicken diapers for those that keep chickens and give them the run of their house. Check this out!

(Yes, that is a chicken wearing a diaper!)

There is also a site called chickendiapers.com that gives some pretty good information about the diapers and caring for an indoor chicken.

My inner voice tells me to be kind to my neighbors, but I think I could get away with one... maybe a smaller breed of chicken like silkie bantams...

Seriously! This is the cutest thing ever. Papi Pleeeese, its only fair because I am allergic to cats and dogs.

Luna is part Asian...

2010-04-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

or so we think, because she really likes any kind of Asian inspired food. Really. She downs miso soup like there's no tomorrow, loves home made ramen soup (not Top Ramen, real ramen) loves eating sticky rice and seaweed, and goes to town at a really good Korean restaurant close to our home. Because Trav and I have noticed this trend in her eating habits I have been trying to learn how to cook a wider variety of foods.

A few days ago I made some avocado roll sushi by hand. Not bad for a first timer huh?

This was Lunita's bento box that I sent for her on her last day of daycare

Trav and I were cracking up at the bear that we made!

Doing laundry is cool...

2010-04-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

...says Luna

This is a new method of potty training were trying out. Mami thinks its cool that Luna washes her own diapers...

Luna and I actually had a great time doing the laundry together yesterday. We did a full load of diapers in the shower. The bucket was perfect size and fit perfectly under the water spout. We did two hot soaks followed by a soap/disinfectant load and then a double rinse (one with vinegar, one without) . Luna helped me "agitate" the diapers as you can see above. We are using Maggie's Soap Nuts for detergent (which is 100% natural, compostable and biodegradable) and Oxobrite to disinfect.

I swear that this is the cleanest these diapers have ever been! It was a bit of work wringing them by hand, but we did take them upstairs to the dryer as we don't have a drying rack quite yet. I was really impressed with the quality of the products that I purchased at Lehman's (the glass washboard and the rapid washer) and I plan on getting one from there.

I just can't leave her...

2010-04-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

This really has two meanings.

When I was really little I'd say about five years old, I was on a walk with my brother and grandfather and was really tired and fussy. (My grandparents never had a car, so we would walk everywhere. This was a good way to get exercise, get familiar with our surroundings and be kind to the planet). Well, on this one day when I was throwing a tantrum my grandfather and brother walked further ahead pretending to leave. Grandpa was saying jokingly, "OK Maritza, you'd better come or were gonna leave." My slightly older brother chimed in saying, "yeah were gonna leave," and they walked a bit further. When they were just a little further up the block my brother turned to my grandfather and looked sadly at him and said, "grandpa, I just can't leave her!"

This is exactly the way I have been feeling about going back to work. It has been a very stressful and anxiety ridden decision for me, but I have decided to stay home with Luna for at least a little longer. Hopefully I can find a few part time jobs or get a stay-at-home gig. Really, "I just can't leave her!"

Luna...

2010-04-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

rides horses...

And giraffes...

Going back to work...

2010-04-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

So my old job has called me to come back to work after having been laid off for about a year and a half now. They really are giving me an offer that I just can't refuse, but it is bitter sweet because staying home with Luna has been the happiest time of my life.

I started Luna in daycare this week in preparation for the transition, which was a bit hard for the both of us. I only dropped her off for a few hours Wednesday and Thursday, but it seems that my little one refuses to sleep on the mats during nap time and tries to wake up the other children...I know that we will get the hang of a new routine eventually, so for now we will "fake it until we make it."

I did send Lunita off with her cloth diapers (I'm teaching the daycare how to put them on) and a bento box that I thought was really cute, although very very amateur.

I plan on putting in bit a bit more practice into her bento boxes, and hope to get really good at it. Tomorrow we are going to pick up some good local, organic rice at farmers and we'll see what I come up with on Monday granted that I have the time to put it together...

Gearing up for no impact week

2010-04-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

We have been working on a few changes around here as we prepare for a smooth transition into No Impact Week. One of things that we have been doing is shopping in bulk. We purchased some bulk food bags that are made from 100% cotton by Blue Lot us at the farmers market and we are bringing them to the market when shopping for grains, nuts, cereal, dried fruit and legumes.

I have noticed that this is starting to reduce some of the clutter in our kitchen from previously purchased packaged food items which is definitely a good thing. We have been saving glass jars, particularly pickle jars to store the bulk food items in and to aid in the preservation of these food items.

I have also been carrying reusable containers with me such as a coffee mug, canteen, and an old 2 cup Tupperware for any items purchased on the go. The rule I have for myself is that if I haven't brought the reusable container then I can't purchase the coffee, frozen yogurt etc. Luna and Travis are not penalized however, I swear I'm not a Nazi...

I thought it might be weird to ask the fro-yo guy if I could fill my own container, but it really wasn't although we both forgot to pre-weigh the container.sigh.

I am also carrying a handkerchief with me as I have horrible allergies, as well as a cloth napkin and some to-go ware. Of course a plain old fork, spoon and knife would do just as well...

I would like to get this...

for food on the go or for leftovers, but it is a bit bulky and I haven't wanted to drop the $23 on it. I figure that some old Tupperware will do just as well. We'll see, as we have accumulated all are "green" items over the last few years, little by little.

I am excited because I just bought some cool things from Lehmans to help me with doing Luna's diapers by hand. The issue that we are having is that they replaced the washers in our laundry room and the new ones don't have an extra rinse cycle option. This means that I have to wash her pre-folds twice to get them clean, which uses tons of water and quarters. After doing some research I purchased these two items to help me with hand washing:

This is called the rapid laundry washer and is a sort of laundry plunger that is supposed to help push more water into the clothes when washing, therefore getting them cleaner. I plan on using a large plastic hand me down bucket, that we are currently using to hold some of Luna's toys in, as the official diaper washing bucket as we do not have a bathtub.I also bought a glass wash board to help get the stains out. I plan on eventually passing both these items down to Luna when she is old enough.

I haven't quite developed a drying system yet, as we live in a condo with a small balcony, so I plan to haul the diapers to the laundry room for now to dry. I should be getting these items in the next few weeks. Is it weird to say that I'm excited?!

heirloom seeds are here!

2010-04-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

We decided to get organic heirloom seeds this year for the garden instead of visiting our local garden center. We did this partially because starts from the farmers market are pretty expensive and also because when I asked the garden center, they couldn't give me a straight answer about their starts being organic/pesticide free or not.

We ordered the seeds from a seed catalog in our area because its local, and because if you order seeds from your area they tend to be appropriate for your growing climate. Makes sense right?

This year we also decided to get a bit more organized with our gardening and made a garden plan. We did this as a suggestion from a really good book called The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, by Edward C. Smith. He uses a lot of great pictures in this book, and everything is explained very clearly and simply. love it.

Trav originally wanted to do a plan himself with paper cut out movable pieces (we actually saw something similar on Sesame Street of all places), but then he started looking for an online tool. Why reinvent the wheel? He found an online gadget at Growveg.com which offers a a free thirty day trial, then regular use at $25/year. It's pretty easy to use. First, you type the dimensions of your garden. Then, you can mark off any objects (pathways, raised beds, containers, rocks, etc.) with easy to use filled or open circles and rectangles. Finally, the tool has all of the major plant and vegetable types and the basic space requirements for each programmed in, so that you can literally drag and drop any vegetable into your garden grid, and stretch to plant rows or clusters. It also has pretty useful information about specific types of plants and their needs. The tool also supports planning for succession planting and crop rotation, although we haven't gotten that far yet.

Here is what our plan looks like:

solar powered i-phone

2010-04-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

I saw this while browsing and was wondering if anyone has used it, or knows if it works? Its called the Solar Surge and it uses a small solar panel built into the carrying case to power the battery of an i-phone. This means that you can charge your battery while spending time in the great out doors. Sounds cool! They run around $79.00 and you can get more detailed info here.

Super simple Easter

2010-04-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Trav and I sort of forgot about Easter this year, but grandma and granddad sure made up for it. I had told my mom to not worry about buying anything for Luna, specifically plastic eggs, but she set up a chocolate egg hunt for Luna which was a lot of fun. Luna collected the eggs in one of grandma's little silver bowls. She ate as she went...

Ecstatic Dance

2010-04-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

We went to the Berkeley farmers market on Saturday looking for some organic plant starts, but who knew we would find an outdoor dance party! The park right behind farmers had a DJ spinning some break beats/tribal dance music, a portable dance floor and people practicing flying partner yoga near by. We jumped right in, but Luna was a bit reluctant at first, which is strange because she is always dancing and loves music. After about half and hour she was the life of the party. Check it out!

Shade grown coffee

2010-04-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Trav came home from work today and was happy to announce that the health club that he works at has switched from selling Peet's coffee to a more sustainable brand called Tony's which is organic, fair-trade and shade grown. a trifecta of goodness.

Tony's is shade grown which is how coffee was originally produced in rain-forests; to coexist with other plants that thrive in a shady environment. "Despite this, more than 40 percent of the shaded coffee fields- have been converted into sun-exposed plantations, their once-nurturing forest canopies destroyed in the process. In the 1960s, scientists began tweaking coffee plants so they could withstand sunlight and produce more beans. Thus relief agencies, hoping to raise the income of farmers, encouraged the switch from shade-grown to sun-tolerant varieties (www.conservation.org)." Although this increased yield, it also promoted the destruction of the rain-forest because of the cutting, pesticides and fertilizers used. This means that the land is contaminated and habitat for birds and other forest dwelling animals is disrupted.

When we choose to buy organic, fair trade, shade grown coffee we support a better habitat for both humans and animals as well as ensuring that workers are paid a fair wage. Although I have never been much of a coffee drinker I will definitely grab a 100% recycled and recyclable Aladdin cup of decaff coffee. Yumm!

No Impact Experiment

2010-03-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's posting about the movie No Impact Man I spent some time on the No Impact Project website. I found that there is an option to try the experiment that Colin Beavan and his family did for one year. This experiment is only for one week though, and will guide willing participants with a "how to manual" in a "one week carbon cleanse-and a chance for you to see what a difference no-impact living can have on you quality of life."

I am so down!

I have signed up our family for the experiment that begins the week of April 18th. So my question to ya'll is, whose coming with me?

To be directed to the No Impact Project and to sign up for the one week challenge click here.

rts but an opportunity for you to test whether the modern

Great "green" movies

2010-03-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

Trav and I have been really enjoying our instant queue on Netflix. Today we watched No Impact Man which is a documentary about a writer who wants to write something that will "change the world." He decides to take the eco-friendly route and entirely changes his and his family's lifestyle for one year.

His first phase begins with smaller changes like: eating locally, becoming a vegetarian, not using carbon fueled transportation, cloth diapering his daughter and producing minimal waste through using the 3 R's (recycle, reduce and reuse).

The second phase consists of emptying the house of all unnecessary cleaning and beauty products and making his own out of borax, castile soap and baking powder. He also begins a worm composting box and does the laundry in the bathtub to save energy.

The final phase which lasted for about 6 months was living "off the grid" by cutting the power to his New York apartment and using candle light instead. He eventually decides to use solar power which makes the situation a bit more manageable but still a challenge if you ask me!

I was intrigued and inspired by this movie, and Trav and I are discussing some changes that we plan on making in the near future. I'll keep ya posted!

The other movie that we thought was interesting was called, Food Beware: The French Organic Food Revolution. Although, this movie was a bit slower paced and had subtitles, it illuminated the dangers of pesticides and documented the change to an all organic diet that a school in France made to their lunch program.

I liked this film overall, but my favorite part was watching the children eating a school lunch that was cooked by cooks at the school, from scratch, served family-style on real plates with real silverware. Only in France! Or is it?

Raised beds!!!

2010-03-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that as of today we have a raised bed in our community garden plot! Travis got the wood from the lumber yard Friday after work, and put it together in about 20 minutes! It is made out of beautiful untreated redwood and is a lovely addition. I'm also excited to report that thanks to some gracious and generous family members (thanks Brook and Vic) we now have a really cool oak barrel in our plot for herbs and some new stepping stones.

Of course we had to fill the bed and barrel with soil, so we spent most of the day shoveling some really beautiful soil from the soil yard into the plot (our soil has a lot of clay in it and needed some sprucing up). This was quite a bit of work because its not like you can just pull the truck up to the garden, rather this consisted of shoveling, and more shoveling, then wheelbarrowing and dumping into the plot. We bought a cubic yard of soil and the plot dimensions are 8' x 27' which is a decent size.

Travis says he'll build another raised bed in the next few months. Here are some pics of him building the bed and Luna using it as a seat. I am really pleased with the end result, and was too exhausted to remember to take a photo of it in the plot. I'll update with new photos soon.

These pictures remind me of the song, "if I were a carpenter, and you were a Lady, would you marry me anyway? Would you have my baby?" Well, he knows the answer;)

Luna helping Papi get it just right...

Oh look, a seat just my size!

After the box was assembled at grandma's house Luna and Mamie (May-me) this is what she calls her grandma) picked lemons off the lemon tree. And when life gives you lemons...

But that's for another day...

exercise, fruits and veggies

2010-03-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have been on a quest recently to get at least 20 minutes of exercise daily. I'm attempting to get in shape for the summer, but most importantly to improve my overall health. Last week I exercised 5 days, and although I was exhausted it was really nice to take this time for myself. I think I got a little "runners high" going on (in my case we'll call it a walker/jogger's high) which felt very revitalizing. One really nice way to get in some exercise was going on a hike with one of our good friends. She took us to see some waterfalls in Marin. Simply beautiful. Luna kept saying, "see animals" (as in she wanted to see some) but we mostly saw birds and people walking their dogs.

Another thing I am trying to do is eat less refined sugar and flour (as these products contain empty calories and little nutritional value) and more fruits and veggies. My meal plan for breakfast is lowfat yougort with fruit (or a smoothie) and a bowl of brown rice cereal (or oatmeal) with lowfat milk. Lunch is a salad, cooked beans (or eggs) and a cooked veggie (usually on a stir fry), and dinner is brown rice or quinoa, veggies, beans and more veggies. Of course I'm not following this exactly, some days better than others but I am really eating a lot more veggies than I had been. I'm also feeling really good because Luna has been eating a lot more veggies because she sees me doing it also.

Juicing is also a great way to get them veggies into the diet, so if you have a juicer dust if off and use it! Of course it's always better to eat the actual fruit or veggie, because then you get the fiber in your diet, but we had some fruits and veggies that were just about to turn and the juice was super refreshing.

This juicer is the shiz-nit, Trav got it for me as a Valentines Day gift a few years ago. Its a Breville Juice Fountain Elite and has a high and low setting for firm and soft fruits and veggies. It can juice whole apples with out a stutter.

The pulp is perfect for composting...

Luna specifically asked for apple juice!

Its so cute because the "glass" Luna is drinking out of is really a votive candle holder. It reminds me of a book where the mouse drinks out of a thimble, know what I mean?

Hippy Dippy Deodorant

2010-03-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

I was just about to apply some of my Tom's deodorant when I realized that the container was empty. dun-dun-dun. We do have the liquid form of the Crystal Stick which is completely natural, but to tell you the truth it doesn't work that well for me or my husband. I happened to check a blog that I follow called Crunchy Chicken and she had the answer I was looking for, Dirty Hippy Deodorant!

I had considered making deodorant in the past but never got around to doing it. This time, desire met opportunity and I had the necessary ingredients to make it.

Ingredients:

2 T coconut oil
1.5 T cocoa butter
2 T baking soda
2 T corn starch
3 drops Tea tree oil

First step is to measure the coconut oil and cocoa butter. We have unscented coconut oil that we use for vegan pies. This is nice if you want to scent the deodorant yourself, if not, then you'll get a strong coconut scent to your deodorant. hey, could be worse.

Next, melt the coconut oil and cocoa butter in the microwave for about one minute. The cocoa butter was harder to melt than the coconut oil so I had to chop it up with a knife. If I make it again I will grate the cocoa butter in to the coconut oil.

Measure and whisk the baking soda and corn starch into the melted oil. Add any scented oil if you want a scent. I used Tea Tree oil because of it's antimicrobial properties.

Finally, pour the mixture into an empty deodorant container (the solid, screw kind)

Refridgerate for 1 hour and you will have ready to wear super simple home-made hippy dippy deodorant! Please note that it sould be refridgerated if your residence gets hotter than 73 degrees or it may revert back to a sludgy liquid state. splat. Just ask my couch.

So cool! And it does work!

Breakfast at Bacheesos-Fun at Fairy Land

2010-03-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

Home made hummus with french bread, roasted eggplant topped with salsa, mushroom pate crostini, artichokes with a spicy aoli, fresh veggie salads, vegetarian moussaka, pizza, french toast with caramelized fruit and bread pudding. A vegetarian's sweetest dream. If your mouth is watering check out this Mediteranean buffet in Oakland called Bacheesos. All this and more for a grand total of $8.99 on Saturday and Sunday. Best in the Bay in my opinion.

After Brunch we took Luna to Fairy Land and had a wonderful time in the California sun.

She doesn't like the chickens so much and shied away from it...

Luna says, "Daddy do it" and learns to turn the key on the second shot. No, Luna this key won't drive the car!

And yes, I am a vegetarian that wears leather. Some may call me a poser but I say progress not perfection, ya dig!

Luna saying, "Oh yook!"

Action shot. Luna running in and out of the castle that is just her size. I love to see her so0 excited.

Yummy Almond Milk

2010-03-12T14:10:00.000-08:00

I was in the mood for some cereal yesterday but when I went to get some I realized that we were out of milk. bummer. I was looking around for an alternative: juice-too nasty, water- just a bit too ghetto for me, yogurt-no, too thick, grocery store-too lazy. That's when I got the bright idea. Almond milk, yumm. I was just about to make some, but then I remembered that I would have to soak the almonds for quite a while. No cereal for me:(

I decided to start the process so that I could have some almond milk in the morning. Some of you may have tried boxed almond milk from the store, but believe me there is absolutely no comparison to having home made milk. It is similar to getting horchahta from a packaged mix, yuck, and ordering it at a good Mexican restaurant where it is made in-house. Actually, I believe that the process is very similar except horchata is made with rice and is heavily sweetened.

I referenced a vegan recipe book called, "I am Grateful" for a quick refresher and and began the process.

Directions:

1) Soak 1 cup of raw almonds for 12 hours. (This starts the sprouting process and increases the nutritional value.) After soaking is complete rinse nuts until water runs clear.

2) Place almonds in blender and blend on high for a few minutes with 4 cups of water and a pinch of salt. (I wish we had a Vitamix blender for this, I wrote to Vitamix saying that I would review one for them if they sent me a loaner but I haven't heard back. Hey it was worth a shot!)

3) Strain milk through a milk bag or cheesecloth. (I used cheese cloth, but when doing this make sure that there are enough layers of cheesecloth to catch any nut particles that may fall through. The milk should not be grainy, just smooth like regular milk so

be careful not to over squeeze the bag at the end.

4) Enjoy on cereal, or my absolute favorite is adding it to a cup of home brewed chai tea with agave. Oh so comforting.

Super simple crackers and cookies

2010-03-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

I was directed to a super simple cheesy cracker recipe from my friend Erin's blog at Valley Girl Has Baby Goes Crunchy. I love love love her blog and its really the inspiration for Simple Green Mami. Thanks Erin! Well, she got the recipe from the blog Toddler Treats and More (just click on the blog name to be directed to the recipe) and I encourage you to try it, because its really simple and the crackers come out tasting like the cheesy crispy bits that are left on a baking pan after making lasagna.

Seriously, my picture does not give these gems the credit they deserve. We tore through these today!

I also found a great recipe for 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies on the same blog. I made these today and as a result I have increased my waist size by at least two inches.

You gotta try this. The three ingredients are one cup of peanut butter, one cup of sugar and one egg. Mix ingredients, roll into small balls, place on parchment paper on baking sheet, and bake at 350 for ten minutes. You can press them down with a fork to get some criss-cross action. Simple.

Kid Safe Chemicals Act

2010-03-09T19:25:00.000-08:00

I received an email from EWG (Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to disseminating information that protects health and the environment). The email was about a study they conducted on ten Americans. The study showed that there were around, "300 chemicals in their chord blood, including BPA, perchlorate, fire retardants, lead, mercury, and PCB's." Of these around 200 chemicals that were found had been banned 30 years ago! This means that babies are born with these harmful chemicals in their bodies, and that the placenta is not filtering them out as once was thought. EWG is petitioning for the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act which would protect Americans from these chemicals as they have been found to cause learning defects, infertility, ADHD and cancer.

After looking into this a bit further, I learned that the last Act (Toxic Substances Control Act) was passed in 1976. It is a law that protects the producers of chemicals and not individuals. It has not been reformed to include "newer chemicals" that we have been exposed to on the market, and the chemicals that were deemed safe were not tested as thoroughly as one would hope...

The overall goal of the Kid Safe Chemicals Act would require testing on all chemicals that exist on the market and to determine which chemicals are safe, which ones are not, and in what amounts. To Check out their page and view their informative video click here.

To sign the petition to protect kids click here.

Luna's first photograph...

2010-03-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

Luna took this picture unbeknownst to me when she was playing around with my phone. I think it looks really pretty! Mami's boot and Luna's zapato;)

BioFuel Oasis, Simple.Green.Transportation.

2010-03-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

BioFuel Oasis is located in Berkeley and is where we go to get biodiesel for the Mercedes, B99 to be exact (B refers to biodiesel and 99 means 99% biodiesel and 1% petroleum in the blend). I swear I have never had so much fun at a gas station. For those of you who haven't been in it is a worker-owned co-operative that sells biodiesel that is made from recycled vegetable oil. They also sell fuel filters, books, things related to backyard farming, and locally made items. They also offer classes such as beekeeping, rainwater harvesting and fuel filter changing. I have found the workers to be very helpful, kind and knowledgeable. I have purchased a 5 micron filter from them in the past and used it to filter my own veggie oil. Here is what I came up with on our balcony.

In the past we have run the car on WVO (waste vegetable oil) that we were buying from a man in Oakland who collects and filters it in a little garage. We stopped doing this because we got a batch that had too much sediment in it which resulted in an extreme loss of power, and eventually the car breaking down. Although I would love to drive on WVO because it is much cheaper that biodiesel, we don't have the room to filter it ourselves so our next best bet is biodiesel from BioFuel Oasis.

How did we end up driving a grease car? I was remembering that this all happened when I got pregnant with Luna and realized that there was no way that we were going to get a car seat into the back bucket seats of a Camaro. I gained 55 lbs total during the pregnancy and let me tell you, I could barely fit into that car... I really wanted to buy a Honda Civic hybrid but couldn't afford one outright. I am against making car payments because cars depreciate in value the second you drive them off the lot, so when I saw a older Mercedes on the road with a bumper sticker saying "Powered by Veggie oil" I knew I had to get me some. I loved the look and felt that it had a bit of swagger to it like an old classic. I started doing research on the internet and learned how these cars run and how to do veggie conversions. I talked it over with my husband and he mentioned that we had a friend that owned one, and that I should talk it over with him. One thing led to another and few months later we were rolling in the Benzo which is a 1983 300D Turbo Diesel.

Whole Foods face painting

2010-03-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

Here is Luna getting her face painted for the first time outside of Whole Foods. She sat perfectly still...

Poor thing, she looks a little scared but she loved her ladybug after all was said and done!

community gardening

2010-03-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

I decided that it was about time to go and check out our plot at the local community garden as it seems that spring has come early this year. On my way there I stopped at a garden supply store to see what starts were available, and was a little surprised to see that they already have the tomatoes out. I almost purchased a few but then had second thoughts about it because I wasn't sure if I was ready to plant quite yet. It was a good thing that I didn't get them because when I got to the garden I saw that it was covered in weeds. I was afraid that this was going to happen because last time I was there the neighboring plot was so overgrown with weeds that it looked like they were intentionally growing them.

I was a little pissed because I just knew they were going to migrate into our plot.The weeding took me about two hours to do, and although it was hard work it was so lovely to be outdoors working in the soil. When I'm gardening it almost feels like I'm doing a meditation of some sort. I loose track of time and get a chance to clear my head.

I was grateful that Papi was home watching Luna because although I love being at the garden with her, it is a lot harder to get stuff done. Most of the time I let her run around and explore, but when I have a lot to do I carry her on my back in a carrier which is a lot of work. I do like it though because sometimes I pretend to be a Peruvian in the Andes. I don't know how those women do it!

Here are some pictures of the plot after weeding. Next time I go I'll turn the soil and be ready to plant soon after. I would love to make some raised beds, so we'll see if that happens this year...

This is the newest edition to the garden. We found this in a "free" pile on the side of the road and thought that Luna may like some friends while gardening.

yummy yogurt

2010-03-04T21:38:00.000-08:00

The yogurt came out very tasty, but a little less tart than I remember it being in the past. The consistency was velvety and smooth like the European style yogurt from Trader Joe's.

We put the yogurt into glass jars because I still have some milk left, and am making some more tonight. I am going to add a little more starter (about 1/2 a tbsp more) to the new batch and am going to let it sit for twelve hours as opposed to 10. I have a feeling that the difference in tartness may have to do with the temperature in our house, as it is much cooler in here than it is in the summer. It is interesting to think of it in terms of bacteria growing, and of course we all know that bacteria loves to grow in warm damp places. yumm...

A few days ago we also made some hummus that turned out especially good because it is really creamy and smooth instead of being grainy. We topped it with some cold pressed Bariani olive oil and paprika. The recipe that we used is from my husband's favorite magazine Cooks Illustrated.

The simple tip here for really good creamy hummus is after you cook the garbanzo beans separate the skins from the bean before processing. Also, it is important to add the oil and tahini as it is processing to form an emulsion.

Home made yogurt

2010-03-03T21:37:00.000-08:00

Mission: Use 1 gallon of milk in 2 days

We had a gallon of milk that had an expiration date of 3/5/10 on it, just two days to go. Part of the reason that milk doesn't always get used in our home is that we get it for Luna, but she is really not interested in it unless it is loaded with chocolate. She is still nursing so she prefers "mommy's milk" to cow's and just doesn't want to give nursing up. I figure that I will let her nurse until she is two, and then at that point she will be cut off...I'll let you know how it goes.

I knew that I didn't want to throw the milk out, and then suddenly a little energy saving light-bulb appeared on top of my head. "I'll make yogurt" I thought.

We have made yogurt in the past and it is sooo good. The thing is that it takes some extra time and patience that I don't always have. I usually make it with my husband and have never made it on my own because he has the precision and accuracy thing down, and I have a tendency to rush through things and not follow directions. You will see that for the most part the recipes that I post rarely need to be followed exactly, because if they are very precise or too intricate I probably don't have the patience for them. Believe me, I'm working on it one day a time.

So the recipe that I followed comes from the book, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz. This book is really cool because it discusses the benefits of eating live cultures and provides recipes for: kimchi, tempeh, sourdough bread and of course yogurt and cheese.

Here is the recipe that I used to make the yogurt:

1.) Heat 2 quarts of milk in a saucepan on medium heat to 180 degrees. (you will need a thermometer to check the temp, and it is important to whisk the milk to prevent burning).

2.) Cool the milk to 110 degrees (I filled the sink with some cold water and cooling packs that Trav salvaged from work that were going to be thrown out).

3.) Mix/whisk in starter yogurt, (we use Stonyfield because we like that consistency). The ratio is 1 tablespoon to 1 quart of milk.

4.) Pour milk into insulator. We use the Yogotherm which is basically a small plastic bucket with a foam insulated jacket. Below is a terrible picture of it for reference. You can also also put the yogurt in the pan into the oven with the pilot light on, or other people fill coolers with jars of hot water to insulate the yogurt. It is really important to leave the yogurt undisturbed during this stage.

5.) Check the yogurt after 10 hours and then put it in the fridge.

6.) Eat and enjoy!

I'll post the finished product at some point tomorrow;)

My simple secret ingredient

2010-03-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

This is my go-to vegetarian bouillon for just about anything that can use a bit of extra flavor. I use this when I make brown rice, quinoa and soup, and it really kills the meat craving. What I love about it is that it comes in eight flavors and the ingredients are truly natural.

Ingredients: sea salt, organic expeller-pressed palm oil, yeast extract, organic evaporated cane juice, organic garlic, maltodextrin, organic mace spice.

Agave, not so sweet after all

2010-02-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

I was a little bummed to read an article called Debunking the Agave Myth which states that agave isn't as healthy as we once thought it was. We have been using agave almost exclusively (turbinado sugar which is a "raw" product is a runner up) for a few years now for almost everything.

We started using agave because we had read that it is a good alternative to using sugar and honey due to its very low glycemic index. It was my understanding that the body processes foods with a lower glycemic index more slowly, (therefore not spiking sugar levels) and that lower glycemic foods help to control weight.

However, new studies have shown that agave is, "basically high-fructose corn syrup masquerading as a health food." Studies have also shown that agave can also contain as much as 90% fructose which can agitate existing health problems such as diabetes, and aid in weight gain. Bummer!

I guess the bottom line is that sugar, is sugar, is sugar no matter how you slice it.

Rainbow Grocery & recycling

2010-02-26T14:20:00.001-08:00

We spent some time in SF this weekend and had a chance to do some grocery shopping at one of my favorite grocery stores called Rainbow Grocery. It is a grocery store that was formed in 1970 and is a worker owned cooperative which means that the people that work there own shares in it. It is a vegetarian grocery store, so don't go there looking to buy meat. We walked around looking for the meat department, (Trav and Luna are both omnivores although they eat very little meat) and then realized what the deal was.

Rainbow grocery sells many of their items in bulk such as: spices, tea, oil, honey, syrup, vinegar, sauces, raw foods and even soap which allows the consumer to buy as much, or as little as they want, and also encourages customers to reuse existing containers they may already have. We brought our large Dr.Bronner soap containers to fill, and it was as easy as could be. For those who have forgotten to bring containers, Rainbow sells an assortment of glass or green ware.

This experience made me think of recycling in general because when it comes to plastic, most of the time recycling is just not enough to "close the loop." This means that not all plastic is recycled, and that some plastic is going into landfills.

The chasing arrows on the bottom of plastic containers represent "closed loop" recycling which means that the end product of recycling is used to make other useful products. The number indicates the type of plastic used to make the product. Check out this chart from www.ecologycenter.org. I know I learned something new!

Most recycling centers will only recycle #1 and #2 plastics even though they collect all or most numbered plastics. They do this to encourage recycling, but I think that it is really important to note that just because we think we are helping the planet by recycling that lots of waste in being produced.

Eating and Mindfulness

2010-02-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

This is a prayer that I really like by Thich Nhat Hanh. I was saying it a while back before eating but have forgotten to do it for some time now. I'm going to try to get back in the habit of saying it again on a regular basis because I find that it helps me to be grateful for the food that I have, and also brings me into the "now".

The Five Contemplations

This food is the gift of the whole universe-
the earth, the sky, and much hard work.
May we eat in mindfulness so as to be worthy to receive it.
May we transform our unskillful states of mind
and learn to eat in moderation.
May we take only foods that nourish us and prevent illness.
We accept this food so that we may realize the path of understanding and love.

"Being not good enough is good for the economy"

2010-02-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

"Society has perfected the art of telling mothers that we're not good enough. Being not good enough is good for the economy, after all. If we were already providing our children with everything they needed to be healthy, safe, and super-intelligent, we wouldn't need black-and-white mobiles to stimulate their neonatal intelligence, pricy baby skin care products to prevent irritation, or scientifically researched videos to teach our one-year-olds to read (Elizabeth Glyck, The Tao of Poop pg. 79).

Amen sister.

Simple "ratatouille lasagna"

2010-02-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

This is the best name that Trav and I could come up with for tonight's dinner. It is a home made veggie creation that is super yummy and super simple to make. I know I called it lasagna but there are actually no noodles in this dish.

Tonight the recipe consisted of eggplant, zucchini, kale, olive oil, pasta sauce, mozzarella and cheddar cheese, because frankly that's what we had in the fridge. I have also made this with just eggplant, no kale, or added goat or feta cheese. No rules here just use what you have:)

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the eggplant in 1/4 inch rounds and then salt them. Place the eggplant in a Pyrex dish allowing some to overlap if necessary. Next dice two small zucchini and place them on top of the eggplant. Shred about four leaves of kale and put it on top. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover veggies with some good quality organic pasta sauce. Finally, shred some mozzarella and cheddar cheese to cover the dish. Bake at 400 degrees (covered with aluminum foil) for about 45 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and slightly brown. Eat and enjoy!

I swear you will not miss the meat or the noodles that are in a traditional lasagna. This is a healthy alternative and good way to eat them veggies. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Prep time is only about 15 minutes and you can "set it and forget it" while you go read a good book or your favorite blog;)

Luna and Papi rocking out

2010-02-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

I think Luna may be better at playing the guitar than me!

You really can garden anywhere...

2010-02-21T16:13:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of one of our neighbor's trucks. I guess this is one way to garden when you live in a condo. Love it!

Our solution has been to get a plot at a local community garden. This will be our second year gardening there. Right now our plot looks like a heaping pile of...compost.

Mildew update

2010-02-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I posted that I was attempting to tackle my mildew problem in the shower with a home made solution of tea tree oil and water. Here is the update. I would say that after spraying the shower with the solution for a few days that it has worked well. I'm not going to lie and say that the mildew is completely gone, but the solution has clearly dissolved some of the mildew. When I scrubbed the shower tonight with baking soda and a bit of water, almost all of the mildew came off with the exception of a few bits left in some hard to scrub areas such as the corners. I am embarrassed to say that these corners were black before the experiment, and now are a medium gray color which is an improvement. I will continue to spray this solution on the shower periodically and feel confident that it will work particularly well as "mildew prevention".

I need to say that as a culture we have become very accustomed to quick fixes in general. This really covers the whole gamut, from something as simple as expecting a cleaning product to work instantly because we "just don't have the time to deal with it", or expecting a particular medicine to "knock out" our symptoms in a just a few minutes, rather than taking a more homeopathic route that may take longer to show results. I really believe that most of the time that when something appears to be "to good to be true" it usually is, or their is a hidden cost that hasn't yet been considered or investigated. I have to constantly remind my self to slow down and pause when dealing with even the smallest issue such as mildew, instead of reaching for a quick fix that I may regret in some way later on. At the very least this allows me to make an informed decision.

Save the Bay!

2010-02-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share something with ya'll that I saw on TV a few months back. It was a special that was on KQED channel 9 about the history of the San Francisco Bay called Saving the Bay (its part 4 of a four part series). This documentary struck me because it explained how, for a time the San Francisco Bay was shrinking. This documentary explained that prior to 1961 the Bay was commonly used by individuals (yes residents in the local community) as a huge garbage can.

Large corporations used it as a dump for raw sewage, left over building materials, and landfill to build homes on as well as, harbors, malls and freeways. Needless to say at this time no one was swimming or fishing out of this particular body of water, I guess it was the neon red color of the water and the smell of sewage that was putting people off. Weird huh? As a result of all the pollution and filling over the years the Bay had shrunk by one third of its size! One third! This almost sounds like a magic trick to me.

(Picture from the Oakland Tribune, as sposted on www.savesfbay.org)

Some local Berkeley housewives named Kay Kerr, Sylvia McLaughlin and Ester Gulick saw what was occurring and decided to do something about it. They began to distribute educational fliers and formed a grassroots campaign that charged $1 for membership. They printed out a map showing what the Bay looked like prior to the filling and pollution and showed what the Bay would look like if we continued the filling. Thus began the Save the Bay organization. Because of their hard work, convictions and determination these women were able to stop the filling and pass the first of its kind legislation that protects the Bay to this day. The Bay is even a bit larger now because of it. Cool huh?

I was impressed by this film because I really knew next to nothing about the San Francisco Bay, even though I have lived in the Bay Area my whole life. Frankly I take it for granted. This is not to say that I don't appreciate seeing the boats sailing on the water on a clear day, but if I hadn't seen this film I wouldn't have even known that the Bay was ever really in danger. Save the Bay still exists and is in action working to continually restore bodies of water in the Bay Area. For more information about Save the Bay visit their website at www.savesfbay.org

Isn't it amazing what a few housewives can do? I am truly inspired.

All natural air freshener

2010-02-19T14:42:00.000-08:00

Trav got me these flowers from the farmers market for Valentines Day and the stargazers just opened up yesterday. The whole house smells wonderful!

Luna is sooo cute

2010-02-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

Lunita seems to be growing up so fast (she is almost 21 months old now) and is gaining independence every day. Yesterday we went to the park and I was so surprised at how comfortable she was at swinging in the "big girl" swing. I really looked at her and saw that her legs are getting really long and lean and saw that her face is changing from a baby/toddlers to a little girls. Its all happening so fast.

For those of you who haven't seen her in a while, she is really talking up a storm and she loves to read. She has already memorized one of her favorite board books that has words in it like, daddy, mommy, family, friend and party. In fact reading is one of her most favorite things to do, besides visiting family and friends of course:) This makes me so happy because one of my most fond childhood memories is sitting in my Grandma's lap reading a book. It was just so comforting and cozy, and I hope she feels that way too.

Luna also really loves to sing and dance, some of the songs she sings and loves are: ABC's (she knows the whole song) Where is Thunbkin (She says where is Luna), Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (she is now identifying all of these body parts) Ring Around the Rosy, And none other than Poker Face by Lady Gaga. Yes I said Poker Face! Luna sings it as, "you remind, you remind my poker face...you remind you remind my poker Noona" (Noona is what she sometimes calls herself) This just kills us! Luna also sings Umbrella by Rhianna as, "Umbrella eh eh eh" it is absolutely ridiculous.

Luna also knows a few words in Spanish and is saying, zapatos (shoes), pompones (she means pantalones) and camisa (shirt). Loves ya.

Simple healthy home cleaning tip

2010-02-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

So I can't say that I really enjoy cleaning our bathroom, but it can be interesting. We currently have a bit of mildew in the corners of our shower that just looks nasty. Since we don't keep many cleaning products in our home, I was wondering what household item I may be able to use to tackle this issue. I took a look at our go-to items such as lemon, (I just have to say that if you ever get pink eye, squirt a bit of lemon in your eye. It will hurt like hell and make you say curse words you never knew existed-be sure to give the kids earmuffs-but I swear in a few hours your pink eye will be gone!) vinegar and baking soda.

For some reason these did not look like they would do the trick. I tried scrubbing with the baking soda and some soap but it looked like I would need some more help. My head said take the easy route and go to the store and buy a potentially toxic heavy duty chemical laden cleaning gel, but my heart said look on the net and see what you can do with what you already have. What it really boils down to is that I don't feel comfortable keeping these items in my home where my daughter can get to them and I don't want these products in our/your water ways.

Know, I know that tea tree oil serves as an anti-fungal and I had some on hand, so I googled tea tree oil and bathroom cleaning, and I came across an article on http://www.natural-healthy-home-cleaning-tips.com about how to clean mildew in the bathroom the natural way. The author says to mix two teaspoons of tea tree oil with who cups of water in a spray bottle and viola a solution to my problem. This only took a few minutes to do (like one minute) and I guess this will take a few applications over a few days. So I have this solution sprayed in my bathroom as we speak (Luna helped with the spraying, the bottle is an old trader joes spray bottle) and I will let you know how it works! My fingers are crossed. Peace.

Tradition and Innovation

2010-02-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

I know that most of my posts so far have had to do with food, but I guess that has been whats on my mind lately. I just had to share that I was able to go to a very interesting panel discussion about sustainability and the Jewish Deli. The panel discussion was a few weeks ago in Berkeley and included Michael Pollan and Willow Rosenthal to name a few.

For those of you who may not know, Michael Pollan is a famous author of books such as The Omnivores Dilemma, and In Defense of Food. Willow Rosenthal is an urban farmer who has a farm and farm stand in Oakland, CA called City Slicker Farms which is mentioned in Novella Carpenter's book, Farm City the Education of an Urban Farmer. So Cool, thanks for the tickets Amy!

The discussion illuminated the challenges that Saul's Deli is faced with when attempting to serve humanely raised meats in traditional Jewish dishes while keeping a moderate price point, and also pleasing the customer/giving them what they are used to.

Know, this isn't just a discussion for the traditional Jewish deli but for us all, no matter what cultures or upbringing we come from. An interesting question that came up for me was how do we preserve comfort food from our childhood, traditional dishes that are passed down from generation to generation while also being kind to our planet, the animals in it, as well as making conscience food choices and maintaining our health? Not so simple is it? Its the age old question of tradition v. innovation.

Now, most of you know that my Mom is from Peru so this makes me wonder exactly how much Peruvian culture I will be passing on to my daughter, seeing how food, art, and language are some of the primary links to culture. It doesn't look like I will be preparing traditional Peruvian foods for her like Antecuchos (marinated beef hearts), Ceviche, or Aji de Gallina (spicy shredded chicken) any time soon, but I am at peace with this because there are some vegetarian dishes that I happen to love such as Causa (avocado, egg casserole) and Papas a la Huancaina (potato with a spicy feta sauce) that are divine.
What do you think?

Thanks

2010-02-17T18:54:00.000-08:00

So I wanted to say a thank you to everyone that took the time to check out my blog. I say this because those of you who know me, who really know me, know that I suck at using the computer. This dates way back to computer class in middle school and in high school where I used to cheat at "typing tutor" by leaning far enough back so that I could look under the box they use to hide the keyboard. I am also easily frustrated and don't like to do things that I am not necessarily good at because I don't always want to take the time to learn. I have also said that I don't like the computer, but secretly I was just mad because I'm not that good at it. blush. However, those days are gone. Life is too short and I am determined to try new things and to do new things just because I like them and not because I am good at them. There you have it.

So today Luna and I had a delicious breakfast of oatmeal and eggs. Now I don't really eat a lot of eggs these days because the free range, local and organic ones are a bit pricey. However, we were blessed with some delicious eggs from chickens that came from my dear friend's back yard. What a come up, and what a difference. These eggs we super good and the yolks were almost fluorescent orange color, unlike any Ive seen before. It doesn't get any more local than that.

After breakfast, Lunita and I went on a bike ride and she had a blast checking out the birds, dogs and trees on the way to the Wild Life Museum. It was a beautiful day to get some fresh air and exercise and tally up zero emissions.

First Post Ever!

2010-02-16T18:48:00.000-08:00

OK so this is my very first post ever! I'm not sure who exactly will be reading this but if you are, and you are looking for a few good, simple stir fry tips i got em. Tonight for dinner Travis and I cooked stir fry that was really very good. All the ingredients were organic and most were local. The ingredients included eggplant, shitake mushrooms, bell pepper, tofu and kale.
Simple tip #1: drain the tofu while it is still in a block between two towels to soak up moisture.
We cut the tofu and veggies in cubes and made sure that they were all similar sizes and then set aside.
Simple tip #2: While heating peanut oil in a large pan, coat tofu cubes with corn starch and fry evenly on all sides until golden brown. Remove from pan.
Simple tip #3: Coat and fry eggplant in the same manner as tofu. Remove from pan.
Continue to fry remaining veggies and then add tofu and eggplant. The sauce for this is made of 1/4 cup Nama Shou (or soy sauce) some grated ginger, 1/4 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar, a splash of fresh OJ and a teaspoon of honey. Cook veggies in sauce for a few minutes to infuse flavors. Yumm! Here is a pic.

Now one may ask why I chose to post a recipe as my first entry, and the answer is that I am also a self proclaimed foodie and happen to be married to one as well. The other reason is that after reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, I had to give up meat and switch to the "dark side." One of the most compelling facts he states in this book is that:
"A University of Chicago study recently found that our food choices contribute at least as much as our transportation choices to global warming...According to the UN, the livestock sector is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, around 40 percent more than the entire transport sector..."
Just some food for thought! I know most of you out there are aware that there are alternatives to factory farmed animals (one of the best examples in my opinion being BN Ranch-Bills newer establishment after a falling out with Niman Ranch) but for this mami it seems to be easier just to abstain all together...Don't worry I wont judge ya! This is just what works for this here blogger:)