New Hope for #5 plastics

Here is some exciting news about recycling #5 plastics and lids (lids from almost anything that has a lid -cool huh!):

1. The company “Preserve” now accepts any #5 plastics, including Brita filters, and recycles them to make their own product line of recycled items. Check out the program here, and how/where to drop off #5s:
http://www.preserveproducts.com/gimme5/

2. Aveda accepts all rigid polypropylene plastic caps/lids, sometimes noted with a 5 for recycling into “new” packaging for their products. For more info check out the program here:
http://aveda.aveda.com/aboutaveda/caps.asp

Does this mean that I can guilt-free eat my hummus and salsa in the #5 plastic tubs again?

So, it's not my fault. I've been brainwashed!

I spent this past weekend participating in a workshop at the beautiful, lovely, enchanting, magical Esalen Retreat Center in glorious Big Sur. OMG was it amazing! As I was saying all weekend to everyone I met, "I feel like I have come home!" Esalen is truly a grounding, special place filled with people who feel like family, food that fills your belly as well as your soul, and nature that grounds you instantly upon arrival!

On Sunday afternoon when the time came to depart from this magical place, I felt a natural sadness that comes from leaving the safety and happiness of a place that seems so rich with life, and community where everyone is willing to be a mirror for love and acceptance for you. I was continually trying to delay my departure from Esalen, being scared of how I was going to take the beautiful feeling of community, stillness, love, and groundedness back into the minutiae of my everyday life.

I was sitting in their mineral hot spring tubs, conversing with a beautiful group of "friends" including my retreat leader from the weekend, and delaying (once again) the inevitable drive home and departure from this fairyland. We were discussing everything from painting, to consumerism, to book writing, to life themes, and I was basking in the glory of this experience and wishing that conversations like this happened more in "real" life.

Anyway, a beautiful friend to my right mentioned that we should all go home and watch "The Century of Self" online. This is a 4-part video documentary produced by the BBC. This documentary describes how Edward Bernays and his uncle Sigmund Freud used psychological techniques to create the desire to want and consume things. As mentor to Edward Bernays, Paul Mazer, is quoted in the movie:

"We must shift America from a needs to a desire country. People must be trained to desire. To want new things before the old had been entirely consumed. We must shape a new mentality in America. Man’s desire MUST overshadow his needs." (1920)

And the concept of consumerism was born. We've been brainwashing into believing that our identity is wrapped up in what be buy and how we present ourselves with things, and fashion. Objects become the symbols of how we are perceived by others.

Yow! So it's not entirely my fault that I am a selfish, consumeristic nutter who tries to project myself through the things I buy, own, and wear? Okay, so that makes me feel a bit better, but I still want to be back in the safe bubble of Esalen where you don't have to try and project yourself through your stuff, because the people who are there have the ability to transcend this, and see through that junk to the real you. That is the magic of Esalen. You can cut through the BS and just be you!

And here I am back in real life, trying to figure out how to be real without hiding behind the comfort of my stuff. Any help?

If anyone is interested in watching the 4-part documentary episodes of "The Century of Self" here they are. P.S. You will be sickened, and turned on your end after watching these:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

The State of the World is Overwhelming Me!

So, I'm just having one of those days when the state of the world seems so yucky, and I feel evil, consumeristic, fat, selfish, annoying, whiney, the cause of global warming, wasteful, and unfriendly. In reality it is probably just PMS casting a gloomy haze over my day, but my funk does make me wonder if I am doing enough to help stop polar bears from drowning, and the Northern Pacific Gyre of plastic from expanding. I want to fix it all, and I want to do it now! Here is my extreme top ten list of to do items for saving the world:

1. Eat a diet of food grown within a 250 mile radius (or let's just say all of California)
2. Eat 80% raw and 20% cooked food
3. Give up consuming any new petroleum based plastics
4. Only buy organic cotton if I "need" to buy cotton
5. Stop buying anything new
6. Eliminate garbage (sending anything to the landfill)
7. Buy only used/antique stuff
8. Give up my car and only bike/take public transportation
9. Give away everything I own (ha!)
10. Turn off the TV and give it away

So, a little ambitious are we? I feel so overwhelmed with feeling that I need to do it all, that I instead become paralyzed and do nothing. Which ones should I do? Where should I start?

Perhaps I could just start with a smaller goal of mine: meditate daily, and drink a green smoothie for breakfast.

I LOVE Baking Soda!

For a week now I have been using pure baking soda as a deodorant, and it works!!! I just rub a bit of dry baking soda under each armpit, and am good to go. If I feel a little crazy, and want to "smell nice" I will spray essential oil on my pits. It even works after 5 solid hours of dancing and a few days in between showering (yes I did just admit that!). Anyway, I am a convert. The other "hippie" deodorants never had these miraculous results. This really works! Try it!

Here are some other blogs/pages that tout the results:
Life Less Plastic #1
Life Less Plastic #2
Fake Plastic Fish
Homemade Deodorant

Oh the Irony!

So, as ironic as this post is going to be compared with the previous post here it is... Drum roll please...
A list of of things (in addition to salsa and hummus) I will miss in my new (wannabe) plastic-free lifestyle:

*pens
*those pore cleaning strips (yeah...well... I hardly every buy/use these, but I really do like them!)
* kombucha (plastic seal around and under the metal lid)
*tapatio (plastic cap)
*Fleece
*Take out from Garden Fresh, and Vegetarian House (yummers!)
*Toothbrushes (must find a way to mitigate this!)
*Packaging tape (really any tape)
*"100% Pure" beauty products
*Sponge refills for my sponge with soap in the handle
*Chips (salsa's gone now too -sad!)

Yes, I realize that I seem spoiled and ickily consumeristic, but I do think that I will miss these things. Sniff. I'm sure that I'll manage; please don't pull out your violins for me, but if you do have suggestions for plastic-free alternatives to these items I would love to hear about it!

Oh the stuff I have!

Okay, so after a week of reading blog after blog, and several articles about people who have given up plastic and are fighting their consumeristic ways, I am hating everything that I own! I think that it also has something to do with the fact that moving, packing up, and schleping my belongings always tends to overwhelm me (and bring into stark spotlight) the amount of stuff that I actually own. I have too much stuff, whaaaa!!! and what I really want to do is give it ALL AWAY -all of it! Call up the Goodwill truck!

In all the boxing up, organizing, rearranging, etc. I was able to take inventory of the annoyingly large amount of crap I own. These are just some of the shocking things I discovered:
23 tubes of lip glosss, chapstick, etc. (just how many lips do I have?!?)
10 tubes/jars of hair product (I have crazy hair that needs management, but this is nuts!)
7 pairs of scissors (Really?!?)
10 highlighters
42 ballpoint pens (OMG! -I'm taking all but a few of these to work!)

Cathy, you don't need to buy anything, ever again! Just in case I need some motivation to resist my evil consumeristic ways I will watch this video: The Story of Stuff.

Bye-bye salsa and hummus!

Alright folks! After the past week of reading blogs, and watching heart-wrenching videos on Youtube, I feel awful about my plastics consumption. Therefore, I am giving up my delicious fresh salsa and hummus in plastic containers. This is just a small step in a journey of many, many steps in the future, but for now I'm putting the kibosh on my wonderfully delicious, HOT Casa Sanchez salsa from Whole Foods, and any creamy delicious (and highly addicting) fresh hummus in evil plastic containers.

Instead I'm going to sprout my own dried garbanzo beans in the new linen sprouting bags that I made last week and make my own raw, fresh hummus in large batches and freeze it in mason jars. Here are a few recipes that look easy and yummy:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Raw-Hummus/Detail.aspx
http://reversemonster.org/RAW/raw-hummus-its-alive-and-more-importantly-its-yummy
http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/rawhummus.html

As for the salsa, well, I guess that I have some options: (1) salsa in jars (not as yummy as fresh salsa & probably have plastic seals under the metal lids -darn!); (2) give up salsa (Pu-leeeze!); (3) make my own (I'll have to try that in the summer when I can get fresh, local, organic ingredients).

Sniff... sad to see you go lovely salsa and hummus, but I have me some Mother Earth to be a savin'!

Scrumdiddlyumptious Squash Soup

Put everything in a soup pot:

Bake 1-2 pumpkins, depending on size
Saute 1/2 to 1 onions in olive oil
add fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme
add carrots and celery
paprika (or cayenne), pepper, salt

Puree all with a hand blender, oh and you'll need to add some water too.

mmm...mmmm...mm!

Peter and Cathy's "Grate" Zucchini Bread

Mix dry ingredients:
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup white flour
½ cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ fresh ground nutmeg
¼ tsp cloves

Mix wet ingredients:
2 eggs
3/8 cup (6 Tbls) oil
1¼ cups packed grated zucchini
1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Butter one bread pan. Pour in mixture and bake on 350° F oven for 50-60 minutes (until you can prick a knife in the center of the loaf and have it come out clean).

Extra goodies to add:
1. In the 1st loaf we added to the general recipe some chopped walnuts, half a banana, and some chocolate chips. It tasted like CANDY!
2. In another loaf we added some ground cardamom, half a banana, some sunflower seeds, and a touch of maple syrup. Also incredibly delicious!
3. Something to try: replacing some of the flour with flax meal.

Peter's "SOUPer Food" miso soup

This heavenly miso soup will nourish your soul as well as your body...

1. Start quinoa in more water than you need.
2. In another pan, saute chopped onion and Hungarian Wax chilies in olive oil.
3. Saute tomatoes and frozen shiitake mushrooms in onion/chili mixture.
4. add carrots
5. After 5-7 minutes add zucchini, yellow squash, and swiss chard stalks,
6. After a bit, add corn, parsley, and chard greens.
7. When almost done, add tumeric, cumin, chopped garlic and ginger.
8. Stir miso into individual bowls when ready to serve.
9. Enjoy!

The "coolest" thing since hummus and sprouts on sliced bread!

Earlier this summer I got this very nifty, sustainable lunch tote made out of used juice containers. The lunch tote is insulated so all you have to do it pop a small icepack in there with your lunch and you will find that your your organic, orange juice & hummus, cucumber, and sprout sandwich will stay cold until lunchtime. I LOVE my new lunch tote, and encourage others to check out this "cool" product as well. These lunch totes are very fashionable and come in a variety of colors to match your wardrobe.

To find out more information please email Paul at paul@mondeami.com or check out his website www.mondeami.com (the lunch totes are not up on the website yet). Enjoy and happy lunching!

Delicious Late-Summer Harvest Soup

-Fresh zucchini
-Fresh Basil
-Oil
-Fresh Corn (cut from cob)
-Salt
-Cayenne Pepper or fresh jalapeno pepper
-Fresh Garlic

Steam zucchini in a bit of water. Puree with lots of fresh basil, a jalapeno pepper, and garlic. Add oil and fresh corn. Salt to taste. SO DELICIOUS. Perfect for a blustery late Summer/early Autumn day.

Chocolate Chili

yield: 6-8 servings

- 1 T olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 sm. onion, chopped fine
- 1 green bell pepper, diced fine
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 2 15 oz. cans chickpeas (drain & rinse)
- 2 15 oz. cans kidney beans (drain & rinse)
- 5 cups veggie broth
- 2 t ground cumin
- 1 t salt
- 1 ½ oz bittersweet chocolate

Cook oil. garlic, onion, pepper in stockpot over medium heat until
slightly soft (stir about 5 minutes). add everything except chocolate,
boil, then reduce to low, cover & simmer... Stir until thick (about 1-1½ hours) [you don't have to stir too often] Before serving, stir in chocolate until melted.

Dear, Sweet Macie

Veronica to Macie: "You may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but you sure are the warmest color."

Midnight Snack

One of my Nori sheets that I was snacking on fell on the ground, and of course Annie gobbled it up. So I fed her another sheet, and she gobbled that right up too. She absolutely loves the salty, delicious seaweed sheets! That brings Annie's favorite foods list to cantaloupe, tuna fish, feta cheese, white wine, and Nori.

Anyone want to come over for tuna & feta sushi, white wine, and cantaloupe for dessert?

Amul's Barley Granola

9 cup barley grains
1 cup spelt or whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup coconut
1 cup raisins
1 cup honey or maple syrup
1/2 cup oil
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup of flax seeds (optional)

Blend together all liquid ingredients and add to dry ingredients,
until well distributed. Crumble the mixture and spread on to cookie
sheet. Start baking at 350F for 15 min., then lower heat to 200F and
bake (stirring occasionally) until dry. Store in covered jars. This
recipe can be made in smaller quantities.

Duh?!!

me: What makes you think you can train chickens?
him: You can train a dog.
me: Yeah, but dogs are like smart and stuff.
him: So are chickens.

Ashley's Scrumptious Couscous

-couscous
-pine nuts
-cucumber
-grape tomatoes (halved)
-chopped mint
-vegetable broth (about 1 can)
-salt
-pepper

Marinade (on the side) add after cooking
-olive ol
-dijon mustard
-lemon juice

Bring the veggie broth to a boil. Remove from heat and add the couscous and pine nuts and cover for 5 minutes. Add in the cucumber, tomatoes, mint, salt and pepper. Mix. add in the marinade, mix, and let it sit (the longer you let it sit the better, overnight is best). Can be served warm or cold.

Mrs. Goswamy's Incredible Indian Rice

1 T cumin
olive oil
Sauté with washed rice grains until rice becomes clear
Add 2xs the amount of water as rice
Add some salt and star-anise pods
Simmer for 20 minutes (or until water is absorbed)

ohh my goodness YUM!

Oh Shelley...

"Okay. I have some gossip to tell you. The only reason I can tell you is because it's my gossip...Actually, that's not true. I would tell it anyway."