Fun with Worms - Part I

This is a late post but I need to get it up because it's just that cool. In March we started Vermicomposting (Confused? Go here.) The short explanation is that it's worm composting. So without further ado, meet Sam.


All of our worms are named Sam. There are several hundred of them in our bin. We believe they are happy and we know they are making some fantastic castings for us. Castings are worm poo and excellent fertilizer.


Soo why are we vermicomposting you may ask. I have several answers. First, we've been wanting to compost for awhile but were having a tough time finding the right size composter for a good price. While researching bins, I discovered the wonderful worm world and thought Ally would love it. She's been very intrigued by snakes for awhile and I thought she would appreciate the worms.

Second, we have a lot of fresh fruit and veggie scraps from our Farm Fresh Delivery bin and I hate throwing it all into the trash.

Third, I think hands on toddler lessons are the most long lasting and effective. Ally loves showing people the worms when they come to our house and can explain vermicomposting really well.

Fourth, you don't need fancy equipment for this project and the upkeep is minimal. We have no smell coming from our bin because we've followed a few simple rules.


I'll explain how to make a bin of your own in the follow up post. It's quite simple and you most likely already have everything you need to start. (Except the worms!)

Laundry list

On my attempt to clean up my cleaning supplies, I purchased Ecos Laundry Detergent from Sam's Club. We have an HE machine but this detergent is low sudsing so it can do traditional and HE both. Okay on to the specs: Ecos is a natural, earth friendly product. Ingredients are 100% natural anionic coconut kernel oil based surfactant, horsetail plant, lavender, coconut based fabric softener, essential oil of lavender (NOP Certified Organic), purified water. It is $13 for 100 oz which is supposed to be 210 HE loads (I haven't confirmed because I'm not keeping track and not super precise in my measurements. I'll take their word for it I suppose.) But above all it's made from sustainable and replinshable ingredients that are safe for us and the environment. It doesn't contain phospates, petroleum, enzymes, or chlorine. My youngest daughter has very sensitive skin and this hasn't bothered her in any way. Clothes come out clean but not scented. The Ecos website says that there are 3 scents: magnolia, lemongrass and lavender. (I have lavender and love the smell.)

Now a couple comparisons. I previously used Tide Free HE. It cleaned my clothes well and didn't irritate our skin. However, here are the ingredients: Borax, Citric Acid, Diethylenetriamine Pentaacetate (Sodium Salt), Amylase, Protease, Disodium Diaminostilbene Disulfonate, Diquaternium Ethoxy Sulfate, Polyethyleneimine Ethoxylate, Calcium Formate, Dimethicone, Ethanolamine, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Formate, Water, Alcoholethoxy Sulfate, Lauramine Oxide, Laureth-9, Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate. (Taken from Tide.com) Okay so I can't understand what all those things mean but I'm fairly confident they aren't all natural and environmentally friendly. It's like the rule that says if you can't pronounce it, don't eat. Maybe if I can't prononounce it I shouldn't expose my family to day in and day out. The cost is about $15 for ~64 loads.

Okay so there are the facts. I'm all about products that do the job without the extra fuss. I like knowing that we're slowly taking unnecessary chemicals out of our house. Ecos website can give you even more info so check it out. www.ecos.com I look forward to trying more of Ecos products and will be sure to let you know what I find out.

Clean up! Clean up!

A few weeks ago I found a website about an under-sink makeover that took a lot of harmful chemicals out of our cleaning repertoire. I didn't rush out and throw everything away but I've been using my homemade cleaners a lot more and supplementing with a few of the old products I still have. I checked out a few home made cleaner books from the library and googled the topic until I had way too many sites bookmarked. It's a popular trend so the info is everywhere. You can make a solution to clean anything and there's a good chance you have most of the ingredients in your cabinets without even trying.

1) Vinegar - This is like the natural wonder product apparently. It does just about anything I need it to. The dollar store sells a large jug for a $1 and it's a very handy thing to have around the house. Did you know that vinegar is a weed killer? Or that you can make a vinegar and water mix to clean moss off of anything, even tree bark? Vinegar and baking soda is a well known combo that is great on tough kitchen counter messes. Vinegar and water in a spray bottle can be used as an all purpose disinfectant. Spray bottles from the dollar store are a cheap way to mix up solution to keep on hand. Apparently some vinegar is made from petroleum (??) so make sure your bottle says made from plants or something similar. I also read that stubborn weeds can be killed easier with a higher grade vinegar, like those that can be found at restaurant supply stores.

2) Lemon - Lemon juice or rind can be mixed with water to make a simple air freshener. It has taken care of some funky kitchen smells here. Lemon is also a disinfectant so it can be added to all purpose cleaner mixes as well.

3) Borax - I love this stuff. I use it as a prewash for laundry and it has helped with brightening and stain removing. It's gentle enough that it doesn't irritate the baby's skin (which is super sensitive!) It is a great product to soak that toddler tshirt that is covered in strawberry juice and popsicle stains. It can be used in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and on upholstery. You can find it with the detergent at the grocery store.

4) Seventh Generation All Purpose Cleaner - Okay so I obviously don't make this one but it's a great product. It has a good smell and is made from plant material. It kills 99.9% of bacteria and I use it as my heavy hitter for after meal cleanup and for the sink at the end of the day.

5) Plant based dish soap - I have seen several of these on the shelves at stores recently which is awesome! Sam's Club brand Member's Mark EcoResponsible has a great one that is inexpensive ($7.88 for 135 oz) and effective. It is made from biodegradable and plant based ingredients and contains no phosphates.

Portobello Burgers

I have a strong love for mushrooms. Pizza, salads, pastas, on their own - doesn't matter. So when Farm Fresh Delivery brought me two giant portobellos I wanted to do something wonderful with them. I hunted for recipes, invited Jill over for dinner and the rest was history. It was a delicious alternative to a big heavy hamburger. We had a pear and mixed green salad with homemade pear dressing and fresh strawberries. It was a delightful dinner with my favorite Jill.

Portobello Burgers

• 4 portobello mushroom caps
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 (1 ounce) slices provolone cheese

Directions

1. Place the mushroom caps, smooth side up, in a shallow dish. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, basil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour over the mushrooms. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes or so.
   
2. Broil or grill for 5-8 min on each side. Add cheese on the smooth top for the last 2 minutes.
   

Love for the Quinoa

We recently tried Quinoa and it's been a fun new alternative to rice and pasta in our house. So what is quinoa and how do you pronounce it. Wikipedia calls it a pseudocereal and a grain like crop. It can be found near the bags of rice or pasta. It's pronounced like keen-wah.

My first real meal with it was a Quinoa, Spinach and Mushroom recipe (found here). I loved this dish but Brad wasn't crazy over it. However, we attended the Green Fest in Indianapolis in March and a cooking demonstration gave us a new Quinoa recipe. Here it is:

• 1/2 cup quinoa, (rinsed well)
  
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (i used white wine vinegar)
  
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (i used canola oil)
  
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger (i used powdered ginger)
  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 small mango, diced
  
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Toast quinoa in a small dry saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until it crackles and becomes aromatic, 4 to 6 minutes. *Don't burn. Error to lightly toasted* Transfer to a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly. Return the quinoa to the pot and add water. Bring to a simmer; reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, whisk orange juice, cilantro, vinegar, oil, ginger, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl. Add mango, bell pepper, beans and scallions; toss to coat.
3. When the quinoa is finished cooking, add to the mango mixture and toss to combine.

This is a great alternative to traditional cook out side dishes. It even works well for 2 days or so in the refrigerator if you have leftovers.

Whole Foods

Our quest to eat healthier has led us to Whole Foods and we are so glad we live close by. We live almost exactly halfway between the only two Whole Foods in central Indiana so we can make smaller more frequent trips. In the past, that was the last thing I wanted to do. Our previous school of thought was to buy the biggest we could find and to stock up. This led us to buying a lot of food that we didn't really need and that wasn't that good for us. Obviously if you can buy something in large quantities and hang onto it, it is probably packed full of preservatives and is highly processed. Since those are two of the things we're trying to cut out of our diets, small and frequent trips is the logical conclusion.

We learned about this type of shopping during our time is Derby, UK. We didn't have a car and our apartment was only a few blocks from the city centre. Ally and I only had one real goal while we were there and that was to see as much as we could. So we walked. A lot. Okay I walked a lot and she rode in the back pack carrier. Every day we would walk into town and pick up some fresh goods from the city market or from the grocery store. The store that was closest to us was actually in a gas station. It's better to describe it as a small grocery store that just happened to have a few gas pumps outside. But I digress.

Since I couldn't carry many groceries back, we bought what we needed as we needed it. We bought fresh veggies and basic ingredients. We tried new foods and discovered that we really love parsnips. It was fantastic. And my favorite part was the farmers market that was open on Friday and Saturdays where local farmers and family owned businesses came to sell their fresh goods. I've been to a lot of farmers markets but never one with as much variety and such wholesome food. It was heavenly.

This was a snack stand in the middle of a mall. There were at least 10 people in line.

So where am I going with this? I'm saying it's okay to change. It's okay to shop for the things we need in a big trip but it's okay to shop small for the fresh stuff.

A few things we love from whole foods:

*Fresh ground peanut butter. There's a grinder with peanuts in it and a little on button. It's delicious and not more expensive than a jar of the healthy stuff on the shelf. I used it in my granola bar recipe and I think it made a huge impact.

*Bulk bins. You can get abstract items in just the amount you need. If I want to make a recipe with some obscure ingredient that I'm not interested in keeping in the pantry or if a full bag/box is an expense I don't want, I can head to the bulk bins. Recipe specific flours or even a new type of grain are fun to try but we don't always fall in love with everything. (Just make sure your kid doesn't dig her hand in the wheat germ bin like mine did. It's really embarrassing..)

*Locally grown products. We love supporting local businesses. I think that is extremely important. At whole foods there are little tags on the items that are grown in Indiana.

*Kids Free Cookie Club. Okay so it's cheesy but the mommas know how much easier it is to grocery shop with a toddler when there's a treat promised. Chocolate chip cookies make everything better.

*Not so stuffy health food. We want to eat healthy but we have a 3 year old and we have to be realistic. We can't go to extreme all at once and expect her to give up all the foods she knows and loves. So we've found some great alternatives. For example, Ally eats cereal most mornings for breakfast by choice. She'll usually ask for cereal for lunch at least once a week. We've found some really tasty and good for us cereals that have totally passed the toddler test. We've also found healthier cookies, juice and chips.

*Coupons! Each month Whole Foods comes out with a little newsletter of sorts with a calendar, product info and coupons. It's a great way to try new products and save some money on things we want to buy. There are also classes and lots of events as well.

The biggest complaint I hear about Whole Foods from people is that it's too expensive to shop for everything. I say yes and no. Admittedly we don't buy paper products, personal hygiene items and pet food at Whole Foods. However, we also don't shop for these type of items on weekly basis. We still stop into the bigger grocery stores or the local superstore so it's not like we can't get things when we need them. It takes a bit more planning but our food budget hasn't spike out of control.In fact, eating healthier has saved us money in some ways. Brad and I both have stopped buying soda and we don't pick up unnecessary junk foods just because they look good during our trip.

Farm Fresh Delivery

In an earlier post I mentioned that earlier in the year we joined a fruit and vegetable delivery service so I had to elaborate. For anyone who is even remotely interested in this, give it a try. You'll probably love it and if you don't, just cancel your orders. No fees and no contracts. Their customer service is delightful and the produce has been fantastic.

Farm Fresh Delivery brings us a small green bin every other Wednesday that is packed full of healthy goodness. We set up our schedule (bi weekly) and we can customize our bin to suit what sounds good to us. So far Brad has gone crazy over the tangerines and is extremely excited about the whole pineapple we have sitting on the counter. (Our cat is equally excited as she keeps attacking it and trying to drag it off as though it is her most recent kill. Different story all together) I am extremely happy with the fresh mint we received, which I used to make spearmint tea and also the picture of perfection strawberries. We've gotten some great parsnips and even have a leek in the fridge at the moment, which will be a learning experience for us in the next few days.

My favorite part of this deal is that the produce is either natural or organic and is clearly labeled as such. During the appropriate months, FFD buys from Midwest farms and growers so food travels less and we're supporting local commerce. The off months bring food from growers that grow organically or naturally and are fair trade. Obviously not much is growing in Indiana in January but this week we got our first Indiana produce - lettuce.

We order the small bin every other week. It is packed full of stuff and we usually donate a little bit at the end to the compost bin right before our fresh comes in. We're working to eat everything we get because it's a great monitor on how much good stuff we're taking in but sometimes we fall a little short. We'll get there. I do get a couple extras from Whole Foods if we need something specific for a recipe but it's not that much. I know our trips to the farmer's market this summer will bring some extra goods in as well so we'll adjust our bin as necessary.

The perks: No delivery fees if you stay over $35 order (which is the small bin). No contracts or set time frames. Cancel if you're going on vacation, up to your eye balls in lettuce or just not going to be home much during your delivery week. You can add just about anything to your order. Fresh breads, milk, eggs, meats, cheeses, sweets and baked goods (!), and even coffee and teas can come right alongside the veggies. The meat is from a local farm/butcher and it is delicious. We visit them in Zionsville and get all our meat there. (Separate post on Moody's Meats to come later!)

So that's my shameless plug for FFD. If you have any questions, just ask or even call their customer service line. They're super friendly.

Homemade Granola Bars

We're trying to make foods instead of buying prepackaged so we have a better control of the ingredients and their source. After much searching, I settled on a granola bar recipe I found online and modified it a bit. They turned out stinking incredible. Here you go:

1 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granola*
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup fresh ground peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup golden flax seed
1/4 cup currants (tiny raisins)
1/4 cup dried cranberries

*I used the bulk organic Vanilla Granola from Whole Foods. It had slivers of almond mixed in but you could use plain granola and add in a nut of your choice.

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray.
2) In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, granola and cinnamon. In separate bowl combine the egg, peanut butter, honey, brown sugar, and oil. Mix wet into dry. Stir in the flax seed, walnuts, and dried fruit. Spread mixture evenly in the prepared pan.
3) Bake 30 minutes, or until firm and lightly browned around the edges. Let cool. Use the foil to lift from the pan. Cut into squares.

And try really hard not to eat all of them right away!

This is a fun recipe because it can be modified in any way. The flax seed could be exchanged for sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. The dried fruit options are endless!

Baby Food Basics

I have a serious love of making homemade baby food. It's simple and it's kind of fun (shhhh..don't repeat that!) and it's nice to know what we're feeding the tiniest member of our family is healthy and unprocessed.

There are a ton of baby food recipe books. You may laugh at the thought of that (I did at first) because really baby food is just stuff thrown in a blender, right? Well yes. But the book I have is a good tool on age appropriate food. The "recipes" also give a good guideline on how to prepare and cook each fruit and veggie. It also gives good suggestions on stuff I wouldn't have thought of trying. As your child gets older, the recipes become more complex. Admittedly I stopped referring to the book as much when Ally started eating the same meals we did but it's a nice reference if I'm looking for a unique snack or a healthy fruit/veggie combo.

A quick over view of my baby food practices. I make big batches of food at one time. I freeze the food in ice cube trays and then store the frozen cubes in ziploc bags which are labeled with type and date made. Most food can be frozen for months (veggie freezing) and you're likely to use it all up long before quality becomes a concern. I did buy a heavy duty blender when I started making Ally's food because I used it a lot and it was worth the investment. It's still going strong now. A coffee grinder designated for grains only is also helpful (see below.) Aside from the range, that's really all you need.

Something I have learned about recently is making your own rice cereal as opposed to the iron fortified processed flakes from a box. I never really thought about the rice cereal until I started reading the ingredients and did some research. Many babies are started on rice cereal first because it is so basic and easy to digest. Very few people have rice allergies (more common is an allergy to the pollen that may be on the rice) and it is typically well received by immature digestive systems. For babies with GERD or similar issues, rice cereal can help "thicken" the food and reduce spitting up and easy tummy pain. However, the boxed cereal is a bit deceiving. There is a long ingredient list of additives because the rice has to be "stripped down" before it can be dehydrated. All the basic good stuff has to then be added back in. The bottom line to this topic is that this 1st food has been cooked and dehydrated and enriched and made into a complicated product.

So I decided to try making my own rice cereal. It couldn't be that hard right? Well it took a little experimenting but I figured it out.

1) Follow package instructions to make 1-2 cups of short grain brown rice. Let cool slightly.
2) Puree rice in blender with 1/4 cup water until smooth, adding water as necessary to thin down mixture to desired thickness.
3) Freeze in ice cube trays.
4) When frozen, put cubes in plastic bag and label.

That's all there is too it. I also used a coffee grinder (one that is just for grains) to grind up some rice into a fine powder. This can be taken to Grandma's house and kept in the fridge for meals over there. For the powder you use 1/4 cup powder to 1 C water and boil together for 10 min.

As we all know, many kids move past enjoying rice cereal once they try fruits and veggies because there's not a lot of taste. However, mixing one cube of cereal with a fruit or veggie makes a great meal and adds in good nutrition such as bran, iron and magnesium. You can also use the above method for oatmeal cereal.

Welcome!

Hello there!

This year has found our family of 4 wanting to live greener and eat healthier. We've changed a lot of our habits in the past few months and we're learning so much. I'll post our ideas about what has worked for us and what hasn't in hopes that it will help others who are wanting to GO GREEN!

The back story here is pretty simple. For the last several years we have been slowing trying to make better food choices but it was a slippery slope. As part of our 2010 New Years Resolution, Brad challenged me to only shop the outer ring of the grocery store (except for the necessary aisles like condiments, pasta, rice, diapers, etc.) I scoffed at the idea at first. But we started looking at how we ate here and realized we were starting to rely on boxed meals more than we should. The convenience was great but we paid no attention to what we were actually ingesting. Even worse, what we were providing for our daughter!

Like most families, fast food was easy and readily available to us so we took advantage of our new home amongst the endless easy food options. What use to be a rare treat started becoming a habit before too long. We knew it wasn't the best for us. Our oldest daughter was recognizing a certain fast food venue (which seems to be on every corner!) and began begging to stop every time she spotted it. She knew just what she wanted before we pulled through the line.

We joined a fresh produce delivery service a few months ago and fell in love with it. It was like Christmas getting organic fruits and veggies delivered to our door. And our second daughter started eating solid food and I began making her baby food just like I did the first time around. Our habits began to change for the better.

Then one fateful night it happened. We watched Food, Inc.

I know it seems silly to say that a documentary was the cause for our big turn around. It really wasn't brand new information for us. (Okay some of it was!) But for us, it was a jumping off point. It was a realization and a bit of a wake up call. It was the beginning.

We made up a game plan. We talked about eating healthier and fresher. We talked about recycling more and consuming less. We talked about composting and vermicomposting. We talked about using fewer chemicals for cleaning and around the house. We talked about living smarter and paying more attention.

So that brings you up to where we are now. We're still young in our venture and we have a lot to learn but we've also come a long way so far. Come along as we figure out what we're doing (ha!) and where to go from here.