Ok time for a confession..... ready here it goes....
I am not perfect- shocker I know! I actually am feeling like a total slacker these days. Which is odd because the house is only a little messy- think lived in, with 3 kids. I have been tweaking our diet to include much more organic produce, and I have even gotten into raw milk. But I feel like I am hanging on by a thread.
I have made, eaten and survived 2 lacto- fermented foods....ie sauerkraut, and kombucha. And both were a ton of fun to make and tasted fantastic! With the raw milk I have learned how to make yogurt, and it too is fantastic. Even the kids like it! I have also tackled green smoothies, which I am currently looking for a support group for because I would live on them if I could.... which I think I could. Laundry detergent is green and 100% homemade, and hand soap well I have a gallon so it will last until at least mid-summer. And I figure mid-summer because gardening season will start eventually- so I've heard. But as I look outside I do not really believe this snow will ever go away!
So I have gotten those thing off my life to do list what now? Where do I go from here? This is the problem that I think I have. It is the middle of winter, and I don't know what to do. I can day dream about my garden, and how organic I want it to be. I can also sit with my cup of organic tea and think of the memories of the farmers market. Both of which depress me. I am out of inspiration....how do I green a family when all I see is white....as in snow...lots and lots of snow.
Ok I think I will make a list of things I can do...
1. There are ALWAYS diapers that need to be washed, seeing as cloth diapers are always getting dirty.
2. I can sew some more slings, seeing as I have a craft fair coming up and my Etsy store is kinda sparse.
3. I can get baking.
4. I can figure out how to garden by the square foot, and in raised beds.
5. I will start to plan out how to home school my children next year.
6. I will start to plan on how to become a doula.
Those are good places to start. What are your ideas? Do you have an adventure you are not brave enough to try and would like to see me be the guinea pig for?
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Super Bowl Sunday =?
Ok it is super bowl Sunday, and in our house that mean at best we are going to eat junk food, and possibly watch some of the commercials. I was blessed enough to marry a man that could care less about sports, so much so, that a week ago he couldn't have told you who was in the Super bowl.
That being said it is a quiet day here.... well as quiet as a house with 3 kids, 1 dog 2 cats and assorted other critters can be. So While hubby is outside unburing us form the snow and ice we got last night I am sitting in here hiding.
From what you ask? Well many things... one bing the umpteen loads of laundry that either need to be washed, dried or folded....or all of the above. I am hiding from the fact I have no clue what is going to be for dinner....we have a ham ready to go, but I am not really feeling it. But most of all I am hiding from bottling the first batch of Kombucha I made.
Yup I am skeered of it! First it means I have to go through the bags of bottles and cans I have to find enough to wash and fill with the kombucha. Then I have to find storage for said kombucha. And then I have to drink it all. And there is a lot... like a gallons worth. What if it blows up? What if it tastes bad? What if it tastes good but kills me?! OMG the possibilities. What I should do is go fish the mother out, see if she had babies and then go from there. Try a glass, and if it is worth keeping, bottle it up and have a bottle everyday or so. And I should start a new batch....because if it is good....well then it will be another 3 weeks till this next batch will be ready.
Oh how I wish I had been a drinker in my college years, at least then I would have a funnel to help make this bottling part easier. Ok going to snap some pictures of my stuff and the process of bottling it up. And maybe get that laundry going just in case it is my last load ever.... you know in case the kombucha kills me. At least my kids will have clean undies for school this week!
That being said it is a quiet day here.... well as quiet as a house with 3 kids, 1 dog 2 cats and assorted other critters can be. So While hubby is outside unburing us form the snow and ice we got last night I am sitting in here hiding.
From what you ask? Well many things... one bing the umpteen loads of laundry that either need to be washed, dried or folded....or all of the above. I am hiding from the fact I have no clue what is going to be for dinner....we have a ham ready to go, but I am not really feeling it. But most of all I am hiding from bottling the first batch of Kombucha I made.
Yup I am skeered of it! First it means I have to go through the bags of bottles and cans I have to find enough to wash and fill with the kombucha. Then I have to find storage for said kombucha. And then I have to drink it all. And there is a lot... like a gallons worth. What if it blows up? What if it tastes bad? What if it tastes good but kills me?! OMG the possibilities. What I should do is go fish the mother out, see if she had babies and then go from there. Try a glass, and if it is worth keeping, bottle it up and have a bottle everyday or so. And I should start a new batch....because if it is good....well then it will be another 3 weeks till this next batch will be ready.
Oh how I wish I had been a drinker in my college years, at least then I would have a funnel to help make this bottling part easier. Ok going to snap some pictures of my stuff and the process of bottling it up. And maybe get that laundry going just in case it is my last load ever.... you know in case the kombucha kills me. At least my kids will have clean undies for school this week!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Don't know if this is a quickie or a nooner?
Either way I got you reading! I really only have a few precious moments left until my charges wake up from their morning naps...that are quickly turning into afternoon naps.
So I figured out that I never posted the recipe for the 12 gallons of hand soap I made ( ok it was more like 1 gallon). So here it is!
1 bar of soap of your choice- I had Ivory on hand for my detergents.
3-4 cups boiling water.
Essential oils (optional)
Honey (optional)
grated soap, careful not to add too much knuckles, and then pour the boiling water over the soap flakes and stir until mixed. At this time add EE oils or honey or what ever it is you like in your hand soap. For mine I added 2 Tbs honey and about 6 drops of sweet orange oil. I mixed and mixed and mixed some more. I added water until it got to the right thickness for me and then I let it sit out overnight and poof it was like jello. SO I re-heated it added more water and then let it cool. At that point I was good to go to bottle it up. I filled my pumps and then filled an entire empty Downy container to the top. I am still on my first pump bottle in the kitchen and it works great, other than lacking a lather. Besides who needs lather? It is just full of air anyway!
Ok so this turned out to be a nooner. Seeing as I am done and it is barely past noon!
So I figured out that I never posted the recipe for the 12 gallons of hand soap I made ( ok it was more like 1 gallon). So here it is!
1 bar of soap of your choice- I had Ivory on hand for my detergents.
3-4 cups boiling water.
Essential oils (optional)
Honey (optional)
grated soap, careful not to add too much knuckles, and then pour the boiling water over the soap flakes and stir until mixed. At this time add EE oils or honey or what ever it is you like in your hand soap. For mine I added 2 Tbs honey and about 6 drops of sweet orange oil. I mixed and mixed and mixed some more. I added water until it got to the right thickness for me and then I let it sit out overnight and poof it was like jello. SO I re-heated it added more water and then let it cool. At that point I was good to go to bottle it up. I filled my pumps and then filled an entire empty Downy container to the top. I am still on my first pump bottle in the kitchen and it works great, other than lacking a lather. Besides who needs lather? It is just full of air anyway!
Ok so this turned out to be a nooner. Seeing as I am done and it is barely past noon!
Monday, January 31, 2011
One more for January
Ok month one of January is down, done and over....well in less than 12 hours it will be. Now did I stick to becoming more green as a family. Maybe kinda in some ways. I have not had to buy hand soap yet this year...and I am thinking that I will not have to until some time in ohhhh 2020. Ok not really but having made so much from 1 bar of soap makes me feel a little greener. If nothing else it makes my wallet a little greener.
As for the homemade kombucha, it is about 2 days away from needing to be bottled, which I might add is green because of the natural carbonation in it you have to bottle it in bottles that were once used for soda bottles....yippy for re-using! This again add some green to my wallet!
And the kraut....yup it is done and perfect! I am going to start my next batch in a day or so, and in 2 days we are going to eat what I made on kraut dogs.....yummmo! No green unless you count the looks on my kiddos faces when I inform them of dinner that night hehehehehe.
I am now going to tackle the job of recycling. We are pretty good here, but I do admit that I am one to throw out the junk mail once in a while instead of walking into the garage to but it in the blue bins. I am going to figure out a way that makes it easier when it is sub zero temps to recycle the junk mail. I am thinking a box and use it to start the firs in the wood burning stove. Hmmmmm I'll figure that one out soon enough.
Oh! How could I forget? I think I have perfected my recipe for homemade laundry detergent. I found the right balance of soap and cleaners, and it is about 3 cents a load. My next big idea is going to figure out natural or at least homemade fabric softener....that does not smell like pickles....aka white vinegar. I will keep you posted when I find the time and energy to do that.
I scavenged the garage this past weekend and we found all the supplies to put the trim up around the front door.... good Lord it only took 3 years to get that up and I also found enough paint to give my bathroom a face lift! Both projects cost a grand total of 1 dollar! Yup 1 dollar spent on a new paint roller. Woohoo! I wish I had taken before pictures of the bathroom, but it is clean, and freshly painted and feels new!
So as for being green I am thinking January only held the promise of a greener wallet....not a bad thing at all. It makes us inch one inch closer to getting out to the country where I can cloth dipaer, homeschool, organically sustain our family the way my heart really really wants to.
So for February my goals to aim for are....
1- fabric softener
2- brew own beer? The kombucha and kraut were a success why not right?
3- Get my sling business up and going full force
4- learn to make my own wool and fleece soakers- I'll tell you more about this later too!
5- Map out my garden for 2011
As for the homemade kombucha, it is about 2 days away from needing to be bottled, which I might add is green because of the natural carbonation in it you have to bottle it in bottles that were once used for soda bottles....yippy for re-using! This again add some green to my wallet!
And the kraut....yup it is done and perfect! I am going to start my next batch in a day or so, and in 2 days we are going to eat what I made on kraut dogs.....yummmo! No green unless you count the looks on my kiddos faces when I inform them of dinner that night hehehehehe.
I am now going to tackle the job of recycling. We are pretty good here, but I do admit that I am one to throw out the junk mail once in a while instead of walking into the garage to but it in the blue bins. I am going to figure out a way that makes it easier when it is sub zero temps to recycle the junk mail. I am thinking a box and use it to start the firs in the wood burning stove. Hmmmmm I'll figure that one out soon enough.
Oh! How could I forget? I think I have perfected my recipe for homemade laundry detergent. I found the right balance of soap and cleaners, and it is about 3 cents a load. My next big idea is going to figure out natural or at least homemade fabric softener....that does not smell like pickles....aka white vinegar. I will keep you posted when I find the time and energy to do that.
I scavenged the garage this past weekend and we found all the supplies to put the trim up around the front door.... good Lord it only took 3 years to get that up and I also found enough paint to give my bathroom a face lift! Both projects cost a grand total of 1 dollar! Yup 1 dollar spent on a new paint roller. Woohoo! I wish I had taken before pictures of the bathroom, but it is clean, and freshly painted and feels new!
So as for being green I am thinking January only held the promise of a greener wallet....not a bad thing at all. It makes us inch one inch closer to getting out to the country where I can cloth dipaer, homeschool, organically sustain our family the way my heart really really wants to.
So for February my goals to aim for are....
1- fabric softener
2- brew own beer? The kombucha and kraut were a success why not right?
3- Get my sling business up and going full force
4- learn to make my own wool and fleece soakers- I'll tell you more about this later too!
5- Map out my garden for 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
you want me to eat what?
You want me to eat whaaaaat? Said in my best minon voice. I have been researching the benefits on eating lacto fermented foods. What is that you ask.....think rotten but still safe to eat pretty much. Ok, ok not really but kinda.
I got into this book called Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz. My fist adventure is going to be making sauerkraut. Amazingly enough all you do in theory is shred cabbage sprinkle with salt cram it into a jar cover the kraut inside the jar and cover the whole thing with a cloth and wait.... a while.
On that note I am also going to try my hand at kombucha. I hate hate hate paying $3.50 a bottle for it, and I could honestly drink a bottle a day. So there is a process of fermenting your own tea, adding a scoby...aka the stuff that makes it ferment, and sugar and you wait... again with the waiting. I am beginning to wonder if there is something to this way of life. That it takes time to grow and can and ferment your own food, with that time you actually get to know your life and the people in it. Seems pretty simple to me.
So I will post pics of my kraut journey and my kombucha journey and let you know how it all turns out.....in a while. But I recommend that book for cool ways to make your own stuff...and by stuff I mean fermented food that will help aid in digestion- think pro-biotics.
I'm off to shred the cabbage, the wonderful cabbage I'll rot...hehehe Wizard of OZ.
I got into this book called Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz. My fist adventure is going to be making sauerkraut. Amazingly enough all you do in theory is shred cabbage sprinkle with salt cram it into a jar cover the kraut inside the jar and cover the whole thing with a cloth and wait.... a while.
On that note I am also going to try my hand at kombucha. I hate hate hate paying $3.50 a bottle for it, and I could honestly drink a bottle a day. So there is a process of fermenting your own tea, adding a scoby...aka the stuff that makes it ferment, and sugar and you wait... again with the waiting. I am beginning to wonder if there is something to this way of life. That it takes time to grow and can and ferment your own food, with that time you actually get to know your life and the people in it. Seems pretty simple to me.
So I will post pics of my kraut journey and my kombucha journey and let you know how it all turns out.....in a while. But I recommend that book for cool ways to make your own stuff...and by stuff I mean fermented food that will help aid in digestion- think pro-biotics.
I'm off to shred the cabbage, the wonderful cabbage I'll rot...hehehe Wizard of OZ.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
green smoothies?
So I got a book out from the library on how to make green smoothies and how good they are for you. So today I took the plunge and tried one. I went with spinach, mango and apple juice. In the blender it went. Round and round it went and all of a sudden it looked like pond scum...only a littler brighter.
Good God what have I gotten myself into!? It looks like something from a science fiction movie...or at least a horror movie. So here I stand in the kitchen all alone cup in hand. And I might add it was a big 16 oz cup full of pond scum. I ponder this...do I plug my nose and chug.. like jumping into an ice cold pool with my nose plugged. Or do I take a micro sip...kinda like sticking a toe into said pool?
I am not a toe sticker, nor am I a nose plugger. So up to the lips it goes...once... twice...ok third time is the charm and I take a big ole swig! Swallow...breath...gag? NOPE! It turns out to be good, and not taste like pond scum, grass or even spinach for that matter! I will totally do it again.
Wait let me correct that, I will do it again and again, IF and see how BIG that if is... if it is not too much fiber for my poor body to handle. And a few hours later so far so good.
Now this health kick goes hand in hand with getting rid of my baby weight. So today I also zumba-ed and I tam thinking tomorrow I will be walking funny.....and hopefully it is just from the work out and not the green smoothie!
Good God what have I gotten myself into!? It looks like something from a science fiction movie...or at least a horror movie. So here I stand in the kitchen all alone cup in hand. And I might add it was a big 16 oz cup full of pond scum. I ponder this...do I plug my nose and chug.. like jumping into an ice cold pool with my nose plugged. Or do I take a micro sip...kinda like sticking a toe into said pool?
I am not a toe sticker, nor am I a nose plugger. So up to the lips it goes...once... twice...ok third time is the charm and I take a big ole swig! Swallow...breath...gag? NOPE! It turns out to be good, and not taste like pond scum, grass or even spinach for that matter! I will totally do it again.
Wait let me correct that, I will do it again and again, IF and see how BIG that if is... if it is not too much fiber for my poor body to handle. And a few hours later so far so good.
Now this health kick goes hand in hand with getting rid of my baby weight. So today I also zumba-ed and I tam thinking tomorrow I will be walking funny.....and hopefully it is just from the work out and not the green smoothie!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
2011.... the new green leaf
OK so I have been slacking on my blog, or maybe I have just been trying not to bore you to death. So it is a new year and I am turning over a new green leaf.
As you know I am a cloth diapering momma, and have actually drug a couple of my near and dear friends down the road with me. And on this journey I have discovered a whole new world of like minded friends, that are just a crunchy and green as me. And that there are a lot more people out there that are WAY more green than me.
So on that note I have decided that I am going to continue making my own cleaning supplies. I am going to continue to make my own laundry detergents. I am going to continue to buy organic when I can, and local even more. I am going to join a CSA and plant a huge garden to can and freeze my own stuff. I am also going to work on getting on a tight budget, and start chipping away at our debt...and we have a lot but that is another blog post all together. I am also down sizing the amount of stuff we have. I am aiming for a less is more kind of year.
That last one is going to be hard to convince my family to go for but fingers crossed it will work. And we will find our way back to the simple pleasures in life. And simple really is green!
As you know I am a cloth diapering momma, and have actually drug a couple of my near and dear friends down the road with me. And on this journey I have discovered a whole new world of like minded friends, that are just a crunchy and green as me. And that there are a lot more people out there that are WAY more green than me.
So on that note I have decided that I am going to continue making my own cleaning supplies. I am going to continue to make my own laundry detergents. I am going to continue to buy organic when I can, and local even more. I am going to join a CSA and plant a huge garden to can and freeze my own stuff. I am also going to work on getting on a tight budget, and start chipping away at our debt...and we have a lot but that is another blog post all together. I am also down sizing the amount of stuff we have. I am aiming for a less is more kind of year.
That last one is going to be hard to convince my family to go for but fingers crossed it will work. And we will find our way back to the simple pleasures in life. And simple really is green!
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