Gabie the Genius!

I just found a piece of paper TODAY where I wrote down a quote from one of my first grade students from last year:

"Torque is when the shorter side of the (I can't remember what the object was) will fall down because the longer side is heavier."

What a genius!

Gezellig

I think that we all should have a some more of this in our lives. Here is what Gezellig is: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gezellig
I first heard about it on a radio commercial that was advertising Cost Plus as the place to buy everything you need for a winter gezellig at home with friends. Huummm... Random, but totally cool too!

My (not anymore) secret apple pie recipe...

I'm selling the cookbook this came out of, so I need to write down the recipe. I'm not giving much detail here on what to do, so it's up to you (yeah right, like anyone besides me reads this blog) to figure out how to put it all together...

6 apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

cook 50-60 minutes at 375.

Love does that sometimes...

The wisdom of a beautiful stranger at Esalen:

Him: "That looks like a labor of love."

Me: "Yes, it is, but right now it is making me angry. I am stuck and can't figure out what to do, so I am angry at it."

Him: "Well, love does that sometimes."

Me: "Oh, I guess you're right. I guess it does."

...perhaps I'll just sit with this anger and uncertainty, and wishing that I could make things perfect...

Pumpkin Pie Soup

Pumpkin Soup with Spiced Croutons
* Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, Feb. 2009*

2 medium carrots, sliced
2 Tbsp. butter/oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
30 oz of pumpkin puree
32 oz of veggie stock/broth
1/2 cup half and half or light cream
3 Tbsp. maple syrup (I used a dash more)
1 tsp. pumpkin spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger)
1 recipe for spiced croutons, see below
Salt and pepper to taste

1) In large saucepan, cook carrots in hot butter over medium heat for 2 minutes; add onion, celery and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes or so until tender.

2) Stir pumpkin, broth, cream, syrup and spices in. Heat through. Season with salt and pepper.

3) To serve, top soup with croutons.


Serves 8.


Spiced croutons: In a bowl, toss 3 cups 1 inch bread cubes with 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. In a large skillet, cook bread cubes in 2 Tbsp butter/oil for 8 minutes or until toasted, turning occasionally.

I'm in LOVE!!

On a whim I decided to make a detour on my way to Berkeley, and seek out Rainbow Grocery Store in San Francisco. I had been hearing about how wonderful this store is, and pining over its offerings for years now, and today, I finally got to experience this sustainable grocery Mecca. It was everything I could want in a store and more! Bulk isles as far as the eye can see; reusable glass, plastic, and cloth containers available to fill with as many bulk food items as my little pocketbook could afford; cool food items that I had never heard of and may never need; even bulk chips (oh yeah!). I love this place. So yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking: all "hippie" food stores have a bulk isle -right? But Rainbow Grocery doesn't just have a bulk bin isle they have a whole store full of bulk bins, the bins at Rainbow are WAY more expansive and awesome than anything I could imagine, and they have SO many things that I have never seen before, and want to try!

So here it is, the top 10 list of reasons to LOVE (and shop at) Rainbow Grocery:

1. They have SO many bulk herbs and spices available. They even had Vietnamese cinnamon that is so spicy that it smelled like Big Red gum (A favorite of mine from childhood- I used to chew so many pieces at once that I would get huge, spicy headaches.)
2. Paper bag containers for the bulk spices (yeah plastic-free).
3. Reusable, durable containers (for purchase) for filling with bulk items, including the 1/2 gallon mason jar that I have been pining after since I was at Telion Holon and saw their wall of mason jars (I bought one just because they are cool - a horrible consumerist response I know, but I will actually use it- promise!).
4. Oil, honey, nut butters, chips, chocolate, and other junk food in bulk.
5. Cleaning/beauty products in bulk. Okay, this one is REALLY cool because I've never seen this selection before, and in my desire to reduce/eliminate(?) the plastics that I consume this isle of bodily and house cleaners in bulk will be key.
6. They sell 100% Pure products. A company that I love for their philosophy, and product line, but am annoyed at because they never responded to my letter. (More on that later, but bottom line they still rock! Check them out!)
7. They sell organic, raw Kimchi from this cool place in Berkeley which is closed on the weekends. Since Rainbow is open on the weekends, now I get to have my kimchi and eat it too.
8. Rainbow is a worker-owned coop. (This probably should have been higher up on the list. Silly me.)
9. Their website is awesome, and filled with recipes, info on the food they sell, and links to so many other cool enviro info.
10. They are closed on March 31 in honor of Cesar Chavez' birthday. How cool is that?!

So, I'm a smitten kitten as you can see. The only sad part (although lucky for my wallet) is that Rainbow is in the City, and I am not. I will have to plan special trips there, bring all of my reusable, empty containers to fill up with yummies, and burn up a ton of fossil fuels transporting myself there in future visits.

Long distance love. How do you make it work? Will it last?

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."