Natural beauty

Since I've been working toward an organic, natural lifestyle, I have done my best to research my decisions.  With every little piece of information that I seek, I am flooded with realizations about things that were not even on my radar.  The latest is beauty products.

As early as my teenage years I heard about animal testing and disgusting additives, but I always associated it with makeup, and I wear little to none on a daily basis.  Shampoo, face wash, soap, etc. never even crossed my mind.  To me these were necessities for cleanliness, not a function of beauty.  Now I realize that these things are full of toxins and dangers which can be quickly absorbed by your skin.

Recently deodorant came up in discussion.  My friend Leslie posted this article regarding the effects.  It caught my attention since it stated a huge increase in breast cancer and that is very close to home.  Sorry to get personal, but I am not a person that can go without.  I heard of someone using baby powder and found it quite laughable.  I don't think that I could make it from our bathroom to our bedroom without it wearing off, forget about all day.  I became frustrated because it is such a necessity for me and decided to ask her what she used instead.  Of course she is one of those people that doesn't need deodorant, but one of her friends recommended Crystal.  I ordered a stick and will give it a shot tomorrow.

Next up is eliminating my facial skin care regimen.  This is another tricky area for me.  I am prone to acne and general bad skin.  It's not overly sensitive, but I've had reactions to certain brands of face wash.  I plan to use coconut oil as my wash and witch hazel as an astringent, if needed.  My coworker, Allison, recently switched to washing with coconut oil and loves it.  My sister, Jamie, has been using coconut oil instead of lotion and also raves about it.  I'm excited to give it a try!

One small step that I've already made is eliminating sulfates in my shampoo.  I've done that for years and now it doesn't feel like a big enough step.  I'd love to go to no poo or homemade shampoo.  Please share any methods or experiences with no poo or homemade shampoo.  Any methods that have worked (or not worked) for anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Here's to natural beauty!

Our first garden

This winter I decided that we are going to garden this year.  I figured that we would start small, probably a container garden, but we would have something growing.  I became excited with the idea and spent cold winter days researching container gardens and preparing for the upcoming spring.  I had visions of perfect matching clay pots neatly lined up growing our amazing vegetables.  I couldn’t wait for spring.

As soon as the seasons showed signs of change, my attitude changed as well.  I couldn’t see past the dollar signs involved with my perfect matching containers and organic seedlings.  It didn’t take long to table the idea with the thought of “maybe next year”.

Then one day my stepmom showed up with a flat of seedlings and quite a few containers and told me to buy soil.  I looked at the not perfectly matching plastic pots and the nonorganic seedlings for over two weeks.  The images of my cute, perfect garden were gone and that was fueling my excitement.  It's not that I'm not extremely grateful of the gift, but even with everything delivered to my doorstep, it still seemed like so much work.  Finally I just decided to do it.  Seriously, who turns away a free garden?  I had to get these poor little plants into some soil this weekend, I just knew that they wouldn’t make it another week.

Sunday morning I brought the boys outside and began planting.  William immediately wanted to help and quickly figured out how to cup his hands to transfer dirt from the bags to the pots.  He loved watching me put the seedlings in the soil and cover up the roots.  He even started adding sticks and picked dandelions to imitate the little plants.  We made several references to The Lorax.  Collin was more entertained by our horse tire swing.

When we planted about 2/3 of our seedlings, I realized that we were not only short on soil, but containers.  With William’s help, I watered the already planted containers and then went to buy more soil and containers.  This is what we planted at this point:

William.  My dirty little helper!

When I got home the boys were taking a nap, so I finished planting the containers myself.  When I finally planted the last seedling, I couldn’t help but to proudly look at our garden for a while.  The containers may not all match and the plants may not be 100% organic, but we put a lot of work and effort into it and it’s ours.  Honestly, I think that it looks pretty cute, even all mismatched!  We have nine cabbage, three broccoli, three red bell pepper, three hot pepper, and six tomato plants.  Not bad for a first garden.

Peanut butter chocolate chip muffins

I'm not sure which I love more, the marriage of peanut butter and chocolate or the marriage of caramel and chocolate.  Both combinations are heaven to me.  I also love making muffins.  They are quick and simple and perfect for freezing and packing in little one's lunches.  When I found these peanut butter chocolate chip muffins on Pinterest, I just knew that I would be baking in the near future.

I realized that I had everything on hand already, so I whipped up a batch.  These muffins did not disappoint.  My partner in crime at work, Allison, was just as smitten as me after her first taste.  I feared that they would be more of a cupcake than a muffin, but they really are a more of a muffin and the not too sweet with the chunks of chocolate and just yum!

Here it is:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
6 T butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky, creamy, whatever you prefer)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used huge chunks, the original recipe called for mini, so again, personal preference)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar.
In the bowl of your mixer (or another large bowl) combine butter, peanut butter, eggs, and milk until smooth.  The peanut butter may remain a little clumpy and that's ok.  Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture until just combined (you do not want to beat muffin batter too much).  Fold in chocolate chips.
Scoop batter into paper lined muffin tins filling about 3/4 full.  Bake for 17 - 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I couldn't help myself and had to try one right out of the oven.  The melted chocolate and warm peanut butter was amazing.  Although warm and melty is my preference, Allison prefers them at room temperature and claims that they were even better the next day.  Enjoy!

Original recipe adapted from kaitlininthekitchen.com

Roasted turnips

Last Saturday I received an amazing turnip from my CSA share.  I love turnip greens and have a few go to recipes, but I've never had much luck with the turnip.  I cleaned and chopped it and put it in the fridge hoping that I would find a use for it.

I was sitting at work and then it hit me - roasted turnip.  Recently I've been roasting every vegetable possible, so I was excited to give the turnip a chance.  It didn't disappoint.  I thought that it was delicious.  And incredibly easy.

Turnip (mine was rather large)
Olive oil (enough to lightly coat turnip)
Rosemary (also from my CSA share)
Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss chopped turnip with olive oil, rosemary, and salt until turnip is lightly coated in olive oil.  I put all of the ingredients in a plastic bag and just gave it a good shake.  Roast turnips until tender and browned, start checking on them after about 30 minutes.  Try not to eat the entire pan at once.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from localfoods.about.com

Spring has sprung!

Every day I see more and more evidence that Spring is finally arriving in Ohio.  The daffodils are finally blooming, the grass is turning green, and the air is definitely warmer.  Another indication, last Saturday we had our first CSA share delivery and I forgot how much I missed it.

I love our CSA share and our farmers.  We've bought from them for years and they are always extremely generous and genuinely concerned about customer satisfaction.  I am sad to hear that they are struggling a bit this year with a family illness and I really hope that they can continue offering shares in the future.

I have to admit that this time of year I love our share more than I do in the summer.  Seems like a strange statement, right?  The thing is, once we pick up our share, it's a lot of work.  I take at least an hour, and most of the time longer, to clean and prepare everything so that it's easy for us to eat during the week.  If I don't take this time, then we end up tossing a lot of it, and what a waste!

Of course I am busy now, but I'm "winter" busy.  I don't mind sticking a movie in for the boys and working in the kitchen for a while.  When the weather breaks, it just about kills me to be inside (and to keep the boys inside so that I can keep an eye on them) while I clean and prepare our share.  That warm area and beautiful sunshine beckon to me as I stand over my sink washing and chopping.

Since I fully realize my struggle, I've vowed to myself to use more and more of our share this year.  I plan to utilize our freezer and I'm already looking forward to fresh summer produce during the cold months of winter.  I'm constantly looking for new recipes that incorporate the vegetables that we receive and to keep meals interesting.  Any tips or tricks are welcome!

Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

I realized that in the long months on winter, we've been slipping on serving vegetables every single dinner. I always feel guilty when this stuff happens. It's not intentional, but I still feel like I am missing an opportunity to make my kids a bit healthier and introduce them to nature's yummy foods.

Last night I decided to break this trend and pulled out a bag of frozen green beans. Feeling more inspired than the usual steamed with butter, I found a recipe for Parmesan Roasted Green Beans. Yum, right? Super easy, too.

Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

Green beans
Olive oil
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place dry (since mine were frozen I patted them dry with a towel) green beans (ends removed) in a bowl. Add enough olive oil to just coat green beans and salt and pepper to taste. Spread on a baking sheet (as single layer as possible). Top with parmesan cheese (we love it, so ours got a pretty good coating). Place in oven for 15 - 20 minutes. Enjoy!

My boys (Jason included) each ate healthy servings. I've never seen them go after green beans like this. They've eaten them before, but not so willingly and happily. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the process and final result. I will take one next time and update this post. This will definitely become a regular in our house.

How do you get your kids to eat vegetables?

Labels

Lately the subject of food labeling has been popping up frequently. Either friends are interested in a cleaner eating lifestyle and have questions, the topic finds its way onto facebook, or it's in the news, either way it seems to be mentioned a lot lately. Those of us passionate about the organic lifestyle can spot marketing labeling lies a mile away, but for those that are new to the process, this can be one of the most confusing and intimidating things to learn.

I was trying to find information quickly about the subject, but was repeatedly routed to the confusing laws on government websites. Sure, at least it was a more trusted website, but reading through the legalize was overly frustrating. I decided to come up with a quick guide that will (hopefully) be easier to read and understand.

100% Organic - must contain (excluding water and salt) only organically produced ingredients and processing aids.

Organic - must contain (excluding water and salt) at least 95% organically produced ingredients and processing agents. Any remaining product ingredients must consist of nonagricultural substances approved on the National List including specific non-organically produces agricultural products that are not commercially available in organic form.

Products meeting these requirements must display these terms and the percentage of organic content on their principal display feature. These product packages may contain the USDA seal. Agricultural products labeled "organic" cannot be produced using excluded methods, sewage sludge, or ionizing radiation.

Made with Organic Ingredients - processed products that contain at least 70% organic ingredients can use the phrase "made with organic ingredients" and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel. For example, soup made with with at least 70% organic ingredients and only organic vegetables may be labeled either "soup made with organic peas, potatoes, and carrots" or "soup made with organic vegetables".
These products cannot be produced using excluded methods, sewage sludge, or ionizing radiation. The USDA seal cannot be used anywhere on the package. However, the percentage of organic content and the certifying agent seal or mark may be used on the principal display panel.

Any product containing less than 70% organic ingredients cannot use the term "organic" anywhere on the principal display panel. Although, they may identify specific ingredients that are organically produced on the ingredients statement on the information panel.

Natural - there are no regulations on the label "natural". This term can be found on any product. Beware of this word!

I hope this helps in deciphering labels. Good luck at the grocery store!

Information source: organicdeals.com