Food Snobbery on a Budget...

this post also appears at "Cooking Green with Lia Jean"

Hi, my name is Lia Jean Green bean-eating-machine Mack, and I'm a food snob.

I blame my parents for having us live in Italy for three years while I was growing up. Every Friday morning, the town we lived in held an open air market - mercato - where you could purchase anything and everything fresh.

Fresh fish from the sea, fresh artichokes picked that morning, homemade pastas that took two seconds to cook...and eat ;) Oh, and let's not forget the cheese wagon. Every Wednesday at the same exact time, a man pulling a cart of cheese wheeled down our street singing, "formaggio... mozzarelli... provelone..."

Now that's a real cheese wagon :)

So I got mega used to eating whole fresh foods...and fell in LOVE! There is no beating the taste of a ripe red tomato mixed with fresh basil, straight from the garden. I think that's why everything tastes so much better in Italy. Everything is fresh and local. So what if I couldn't drink the water or that the heat and electricity went off daily at 3pm because someone had to go home for siesta. I was in food heaven!!!

And then we moved back to the States - God love America - where there is a grocery store open daily on almost every corner. Only thing, most of the food available here comes in a box. Or a plastic bag. Or worse! And it's not fresh. It's not even local!

Oh, the horror!!!

Well, fast forward to 2010. I'm married to super conservation man and together we are raising two amazing little greenies. I've been a stay at home mom for six years and have not one thing in my life to complain about. Nothing, that is, except my food budget. It's tight. Living on one income in a very expensive part of the country and being able to buy good whole food that is fresh, organic, and local is difficult to say the least. But it's doable. And for a while there I was doing pretty good.

For the last two years, however, I've been feeling the pinch. Food prices continue to rise, utilities are still going up, and summer is coming, which can only mean one more thing will be getting more expensive. Gas. Just in time for everyone to want to get out and have fun after being frozen all winter. So nice of them...

Yet, I still want to be able to feed my family well, but wanting to buy and eat only organic, local, fresh foods can be quite costly. I know of one local mom who spent over 15K last year in food alone because they ONLY eat local, organic, fresh meats, cheeses, fruit, vegs, ect.... That's a lot of money.

Of course I could easily manage to buy all sorts of shit food (pardon my language) with my food budget. I could feed my family from the box and dollar menu and have money left over! But I'm a food snob, remember? I cannot eat that stuff. Ingredients I can't pronounce? Food that doesn't even look or taste anything like food? Packaged, frozen, processed, freeze dried disgustingness???

Oh no. Not me, baby. Not after eating REAL food. It's just not possible.

Plus, I don't want my kids eating shit - crap - either. We are what we eat. When we eat crap, we feel like crap and therefore act like crap. And I'm not interested in taking care of kids who act up all the time and get sick all the time because they are being fed crappy food.


So, having very little wiggle room in the budget, but wanting only the best (what mom doesn't?), I've learned how to get most everything we need (aka: I want) on the budget we have. It's fun being a food snob. You just have to find a way to do it when you don't have endless amounts of the green stuff lying around. Below are some of the things I do to get what I want, thus enabling me to eat really yummy good for me food all the time

I don't do all my shopping in one place.
Some things at my main grocery store are too expensive, yet elsewhere they aren't. Took me a while to scout out all the good deals, but now I know that by going to three separate stores on a rotation, I can come home with a lot more of what I want for less $.

I garden.
I grow tomatoes and herbs and carrots and potatoes and all sorts of yumminess :) By doing so, I control what goes in and on my food. The kids have their own garden plots too, and we spend a good deal of time with our beloved Mother Earth to keep it going. After the cost of seeds, what we reap is free. FREE! Best price ever :)

I go to Farmer's Markets.
And stock up. What I find for good deals, I buy bunches of and freeze what we're not eating that week. Frozen blueberries, frozen green beans, frozen anything. Tastes great when picked and stored at peek season. Nothing better than pulling out veggies in the dead of winter that you bought fresh and know where they came from. Tastes great.

I buy in bulk.
When I can, I save up and buy staples in bulk. Flour, sugar, pasta, rice... This year I'm buying 1/4th of a bison and a neighbor of ours who likes to hunt is getting us a deer. Who knows how long this supply of meat will last, especially since we only eat meat two to three times a week. (Meat is pricey) This, of course, will happen after I find an inexpensive deep freezer on Craigslist (anyone have one they don't want?)

I do without.
Yes, you heard it. We don't buy pop (soda). The kids drink juice once a day and that's it. Instead we drink water, H2O, aqua fresca...you get the picture. Same thing with junk food. Since we don't eat it, we don't buy it, thus we save big bucks. And if it's not on sale and it's not in the budget, oh well. Better luck next time, right?

I stretch it.
I can make five meals out of one chicken. And that doesn't include the amount of chicken stock I make and use from the bones. So I might spend a little more buying an organic chicken - or A LOT more buying an organic local chicken - but I'll make that dollar stretch as much as possible. With a little ingenuity, you can think of ways to make anything stretch more than one meal.

Of course, all of this takes time, energy, and knowledge, something that most of us are hard pressed to find. But it CAN be done if you put in the work. The biggest benefit from all of this? You won't have to compromise. I don't. Just know that there will be times when you can't get the big ticket items, but that's fine. You don't have to have exactly what you want ALL the time, do you? My goal is to have good for us food only, and don't concern myself with specifics.

Everyone can be a food snob on a budget. All you have to do is learn to go with the flow, enjoy what's in season, and make the most of what you've got.

:)

Baby food...doesn't have to be PUREE

When you think of baby food, a few words come to mind, bland, dull colored, puree, mush, all around YUCK! As my 6 month daughter is venturing into the world of food I have realized how many options there are. First, let me start by saying that I had already decided that I would be making my own baby food. For a few reasons, first and foremost because I want to be able to expose my daughter to a variety of different flavors, textures, colors, fruits and vegetables. If I was to buy her food at the store I would be limited in what I could expose her to, if I make it myself the sky is the limit, well actually the produce section at the grocery store but you get the idea.

I want to be able to control what goes into her food, if I make it myself I know EXACTLY what went into her food and I could add things like leeks, basil, vanilla bean, nutmeg...of course not yet she has to get introduced slowly but the options are limitless. I can make kale for her, how many times have you seen kale on the baby food aisle at the grocery store? The future for her and her palate are as big as my imagination.

I think the biggest revelation I have had is that baby food doesn't have to be PUREE. Of course I'm not saying that I can just cut up and apple and gave it to my daughter. What I'm saying is that we start our babies off on food that is a consistency that unless you're eating pudding everyday for the rest of your life isn't a natural consistency. Not that pudding everyday would be a bad thing, but I think one of the greatest things about food (other than the taste) is the different textures everything has in your mouth. How a pear feels when you bite into it compared to an apple, of course you can tell an apple from a pear by the taste of it, but if they both had the exact same flavor you would still be able to distinguish the two by texture.

Anella's first food was avocado, I was really excited to start with avocado because when I feed it to her it will be the exact same texture as when I eat it myself. After avocado, we moved onto peas, now we had a rainy weekend and I decided to puree some peas and freeze them for her. So we heated up the puree fed it to her and she enjoyed it. At dinner that night my husband and I had peas as well, and I realized that if I just pop them out of their little shell she would be able to eat the small pieces that were left. And so it goes, pea after pea. I placed them very carefully on her highchair table and she would slowly pick it up, look at it and stick it in her mouth. Once she got it in her mouth she would make a "chewing" motion and it would be gone. And so it goes, pea after pea. Every once in a while I'd take a peek into her toothless mouth to make sure she wasn't storing them all for later, but after much searching I found that her mouth was empty and she was just enjoying her new ability to feed herself. So this got me to thinking. baby food doesn't have to be puree, and why should it be!

Join Women’s Voices for the Earth to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals

The following guest blog post is by Cassidy Randall, Program and Outreach Coordinator for Women’s Voices for the Earth


Moms know that the ads we see are often the front lines for whether a product gets bought or ignored. A large and increasing number of greener moms may read up on blogs, read reports and articles and try to look up chemical names of material safety data sheets, but not everyone does this. Many moms are still influenced by ads that say “this will get your laundry smelling like a spring breeze!” and buy the bottle—along with the messages and ads that are sold to them.

That’s why I find it so unnerving that Procter & Gamble has issued a complaint to green company Seventh Generation, asking them to take down one of their online advertisements for the inexcusable crime of talking about safety.

The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ ruling upholding Procter & Gamble’s claims against Seventh Generation’s commercial implies that companies can’t make claims based on the safety of their products, even though more and more research shows that consumers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on product safety due to health concerns.

Case in point: a recent report by EcoFocus Worldwide found that the category they term “EcoAware Moms” (more than 51 million women) have $1.45 billion in buying power, and that of the top five products that these women are buying more often, two of them are safer cleaning products: chemical-free cleaners (47%) and plant-based cleaning products (40%). You’d think companies would want to advertise the relative safety of their products to this powerful consumer group.

More disturbingly, the ruling upheld Procter & Gamble’s claim that chemicals in conventional cleaning product chemicals have no connection to a rapid increase in illnesses such as autism, ADHD, asthma, allergies, immune system deficiencies and birth defects. But scientific research continues to mount, linking chemicals in cleaning products to chronic health problems. Women’s Voices for the Earth has released three reports compiling the science on certain chemicals in cleaners and impacts to human health, finding:

• A class of chemicals called APEs are linked to reproductive harm and fertility problems.

• Phthalates are linked to genital malformations in baby boys, reduced sperm count, and increased asthma and allergic reactions in children.
  
  
• Triclosan is hormone disruption and is linked to increased risk of breast cancer.
  
• Synthetic musks are bioaccumulative, showing up in blood, breast milk, and infants, and may break down our bodies’ defenses against other toxic exposures.
  

These are just a few of the chemicals of covered in WVE reports—for more, visit the WVE website at www.womenandenvironment.org. For the past several years, WVE has reached out to all the major cleaning product companies, pressuring them to remove these chemicals of concern. Procter & Gamble has not removed ANY chemicals of concern identified in WVE reports (SC Johnson has removed 4, Clorox has removed 5, and Seventh Generation products contain none, for comparison), and has ignored WVE’s inquiries on whether the company uses synthetic musks or phthalates in their fragrances.

Procter & Gamble is the maker of Mr. Clean®, Tide®, Dawn®, Febreze®, Cascade®, Gain®, Swiffer®, and more. It seems like a company with such high-profile brands would want to advertise their safety. And if companies aren’t allowed to advertise how safe their products are, then consumers should be able to look on a product label to decide for themselves—too bad Procter & Gamble is only disclosing a few ingredients on their website, and no ingredients on product labels (as U.S. law doesn’t require ingredient disclosure for cleaners, few do). At least consumers can look on Seventh Generation product labels to see all ingredients and make a choice based on safety at the point of purchase.
The bottom line is that harmful chemicals shouldn’t be in cleaning products to begin with. Join Women’s Voices for the Earth to eliminate toxic chemicals that impact women’s health from products we use every day!


Sign our Twitter petition to the American Cleaning Institute
http://act.ly/2dc

Follow WVE on Twitter
www.twitter.com/women4earth

Join us on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Womens-Voices-for-the-Earth/110000049854

If you have something to say and would like to be a guest blogger
for The Green Mamas blog, please contact us. Thanks :)

Body After Baby Challenge: Let's Get Motivated!

Alright green mamas, are you ready for a challenge? I know I am, so that's why I'm signing us up for the "Body After Baby Challenge"!

Oh, don't look at me like that...this is going to be fun, I promise ;)

This weeks question from the challenge's host MamaNotes is simple:

what motivates you?

Do you want to fit in your pre-baby jeans again? Be fit and trim in time for bikini season? Or just plain ol'feel good?

As for me, what motivates me the most is whether of not I feel healthy after my meals. I don't particularly care what I look like - fit, thin, trim. Yes, I do enjoy fitting into my pre-baby jeans, but I'm not obsessed about how I look at this point of my journey. I'm not posing for any centerfold anytime in the near future.

But what I do care, really care about, is how I feel.

If I eat pre-packaged, processed foods that contain wonderful ingredients such as HFCS, MSG, and the like, I feel like I've been hit by a Mack Truck the following day. No joke, and no pun intended (my last name is Mack ;). So my constant challenge is to find good healthy food choices for every meal, every snack, every day.

And this is no easy challenge since I'm a stay at home mom, make no extra income, and live in a high dollar area. And while I've chosen this lifestyle of frugalness with pleasure - as I love consignment shops and being thrifty in general - when it comes to food...there isn't much wiggle room when you want the good stuff.

But in order to feel the best I can feel, I need to eat whole foods, preferably organic, and totally fresh. This motivates me to find local markets, even in the winter time, where I can buy fresh produce, eggs, breads, and grass-fed meats and dairy. To find local markets near you, check out LocalHarvest.org. They've got a listing for everything.

Joining the challenge? What's your motivation?

:)

Good-Bye 2009...Hello 2010! Bringing in the New Year with Peace, Love, and Good Health!

Happy New Year, Green Mamas!!! Hope you had a great time bringing in the new year last night :)

I don't know about you, but I was actually glad to see 2009 go. It was a mentally exhausting year for my family.

True, a lot of good things happened in the course of that year that I am thankful for. I became an Aunt two more times, a new niece in August and a new nephew in December. I love babies. Plus it gave me the opportunity to watch my beautiful sister-in-law become a mother. And a beautiful mother she is.

However, watching my wonderful mother-in-law go through chemotherapy for breast cancer, helping to take care of her almost every week from January to June (whenever she'd let me help! ;), and watching her spirit drain out of her was how we started off 2009. Thankfully she made it through, has been doing good since, and had enough hair by Christmas to do it up nice. She's a spirited high energy woman that I want around for a long time. Yes, you heard me. I like my mother-in-law!!! :) How many people can say that? I hope and pray her 2010 is a healthy one!

The year also saw some of my best days. In the beginning of July, my husband and I celebrated our ten year anniversary! And our relationship is like a fine wine...as the years pass, it keeps getting better. Then a few weeks later I got to go to sunny southern California and run on the beach every morning, eat fresh local organic food each and every day. I felt fantastic! I've been having some of my own health issues and for some reason I didn't feel them while on vacation.... Fresh food, fresh air, beautiful vistas...Think I might have to make Del Mar my home sometime soon! ;)

Then I flew back to Maryland two weeks later that July...and not even two days passed before I experienced something that I hope and pray no one ever has to experience, ever. I watched a little boy die. Finding him. Calling 911. Watching them work on him. Holding his little hand, saying good-bye...

And for no reason. It was unexpected, unexplained. It happened just like that and the only reason the doctors and examiners can come up with is unexplained natural causes. Absolute horse shit.

Although we've become even closer to his mother and father, our good friends already, due to the tragedy, I'd rather have become better friends through something else. Like going on a week long vacation together, them with their kids and us with ours. We were planning something like that. Going to do it sometime in the future, not sure when. Don't we all plan something and take forever getting around to it, simply because we think we have time?

Why did this have to happen to little Andrew? How does a two year die for no known reason? One minute he was dancing with my daughter in the living room, playing with toys, and running around the house having a good ol'time. The next minute he was tired, laid down for a nap..can't wake him up. It wasn't SIDS. He was breathing, alive. But only faintly there...then gone.

It was SUDC - Sudden Unexplained Death in a Child. I agree with Andrew's father. The acronym should really be SUCD, because that's exactly it. It sucked. I hope no one has to live through that ever ever ever ever ever... The only thing I can pray for now, for Andrew's parents, is that they find peace and love in 2010. I know it has been hard for them. I know it'll never be the same or easy ever again. Anything that will bring them some peace of mind to help them through each day is what I hope for them for their new year.

My hopes for my own 2010? That it is an uneventful year. Sorry, but I just want it to be a quiet, low key year. Sure, I'd love to see my book finish it's edits and find an agent who wants to publish it. But I'll trade all of that for a year where nothing major happens. No one gets sick. No one dies.

So...Knowing that the Universe - God - gives you what you give, I'm getting all of this off my chest now so that I can start anew. Start this year on a good note, a happy note, a positive note. And you should do the same if you have any lingering angst against 2009. I am purging my negativity towards last year in hopes for a wonderful prosperous new year. I am filling up my heart, mind, words, thoughts, and spirit, with love, good things, peace.

Here's to a wonderful 2010 for everyone ...

Good health to all ... Peace of mind to all ... Love boundless to all

...

How to Grow Fresh Air...Inside Your Home!

With the cold winter months just ahead of us, most of us moms will be spending more time indoors. Which means the kids most likely will be spending more time inside as well. And we all know what that means...kids, confined in the home + toys + food + etc...more messes for us moms to clean up!

However, there is something that we can make and keep squeaky clean inside our homes that the kids can't destroy the moment we turn around.

The air we breathe! :)

How to Grow Fresh Air by B. C. Wolverton shows how 50 house plants can purify our homes. And with people, in general, spending upwards of 90% of their times indoor - where the air is more polluted than the air outside - its essential that we moms clean up our children's environments as best we can.

How easy to filter out pollutants and make fresh squeezed oxygen that with a couple beautiful house plants!

With an easy to follow growers guide, purifying your home's air with houseplants will be simple.

See...being green is easy!

:)

What To Do About the Flu...

With everyone stressed out about all the hype pertaining to the various cold and flu bugs going around, I don't know about you, but I'm not sure what to believe anymore!

I know that every fall we amp up our hand washing behavior to practically obsessive and avoid hanging out with anyone who looks suspicious (aka: sick). But since you can't always tell who is sick and who isn't, in our family we also increase our probiotic intake: kefir for breakfast, a probiotic chewable for lunch. And always eat vitamin C rich fruits in mass!

The other day I saw this list of links concerning different questions that pop up concerning the flu and found the info helpful in refocusing me on what information is really important. The media would want you to worry a hole in your heart about every health threat out there! But that is a health threat in and of itself.

• Your Child Has the Flu: What's a Mother to Do?
• Are Essential Oils as Effective as Hand Sanitizers?
• Vaccinations: Why All The Fuss?
• Who Will Protect the Children?
• Your Child's First Healer
• But Is It Safe for My Baby? Medications and Breastfeeding
• Flu Proofing Garlic and Lemon Tea
• Toxic Overload: Assessing the Role of Mercury in Autism

I try to always save worrying for when the time comes to worry. And since negative vibes and worry can hurt your immune system, staying on top of your family's health should never involve running around like a crazy person.

Stay calm. Stay informed. And wash your hands.

Making the Most of a Rainy Day...

It's been freezing and raining for three days now and looks like the forecast for tomorrow is the same. And usually by day three is when my kids start getting board of the same old toys, games, books, routine...so what's a green mom to do when you can't go outside?

I fondly remember all the games and activities my brothers and I came up out of necessity when we lived overseas. We had one TV channel, one radio channel, and sometimes no books or toys to play with since our military family was always on the move and most everything was packed up.

The most interesting and long lasting memories came from days like these where we had to come up with our own ideas and games to pass the time. Some of the best were:

• Make a Movie
  Using our parents video recorder (remember the BIG ones? They weighed a ton!) and a blank tape, we put together some of the most hilarious skits and plays. We'd have a director, actors, lines, and costumes. The scenery had to be made - couches had to be moved, tables turned into caves, sheets into tents. Of course we'd put the house back together again...but in the meantime, our imagination was the limit and boy did we have a great time!
  
  
• Fashion Show
  I know my little fashionista would love to do this one! Pull out all those crazy accessories, shoes, and fancy clothes and dress up as a family - or just the kids - and have everyone strut their stuff down the catwalk, uh, hallway into the living room. Take some pics, print them out, put them online, especially if you have most of your family living far away. Doing this is not only a blast, you might actually get around to cleaning out that closet and, after the fashion show is over, bag up and consign what you can live without!
  
  
• Put on a Play
  My brothers and I would do this for guests all the time...it was fun! We'd perform all sorts of short odd ball plays that were definitely akin to making our movies, just shorter. Have songs, dances, action scenes! The kids can help write the script, pick out the costumes, choreograph the dances, and make up the songs. Tonight: a little family dinner theater in the living room!
  

Are Vaccines Safe?

Really...are they?

If you ask your pediatrician, more often than not, they say yes. If you ask the growing number of families opting to forgo vaccines all together, the answer is no.

But what's the truth? Is it YES or NO? Or somewhere in between?

* Are some safe? And others not? If so, which ones?

* What schedule is safe? Can I use an alternative schedule?

* And what exactly is in the vaccines? How are they made?

There are an increasing number of mothers asking these questions and more. Unfortunately, unless you have an open-minded/open-mouthed doctor, you're not going to get anything but pharmaceutical company and government scripted responses.

So then, how are we - mothers, fathers, families - supposed to make an informed decision based on informed consent when none is being given?

I came across Dr. Sear's Vaccine Book and found freedom in its pages and unbiased approach to all the questions I have concerning vax's:

• Detailed information about the ingredients in each vaccine.
• How different manufactures create their vaccines.
• Which vaccines have mercury. Which don't.
  
• Alternative vaccine schedules.
• Lists of questions to ask yourself and your doctor.
• Pros and Cons of each vaccine.

Because, let's be honest here - there are both pros and cons when it comes vaccines.

It just depends on which vaccine your talking about, which manufacturer makes it, what ingredients are in it, and in what order it's given to your child...not to mention what other vaccines should and shouldn't be given along with it.

Everyone should educate themselves about what they are injecting into their child BEFORE they get one.

And if you have questions about the H1N1 vaccine, Dr. Sears has detailed information about the ingredients and creation process of each on his website.

Check your local library for a copy of Dr. Sear's The Vaccine Book. That's where I found mine.

Cooking with Kids...

Kids are interested in so many things. One of which is cooking! The preparation of the food. The chopping. The stirring. Adding spices. With all that goes on in the kitchen, what's not to get excited about!

My husband and I love involving our little sous chefs in the kitchen, whether it be breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack...you name it, they want to be in the mix ;)

My mother used have each of us kids be the cook one night a week, where we got to choose what was for dinner and be the main chef in the kitchen. I have yet to institute this tradition in my own family, as my children are 3 and 5. But very soon I think I'll have them start picking what's for dinner once in a while by flipping through cook books, picking out items at the farmer's market, and helping me in the kitchen that night. The foodies they are, I know they will think it a great treat.

And even if your children are young and you know they will loose interest quick, you can still involve them in measuring, pouring, and helping set the table. And why not make all these ordinary daily tasks special and fun, right? :)

When we cook with our children we are helping them see where their meals come from - whole healthy ingredients, made at home. So many kids think that the only place food comes from is a box, bag, or some other packaging with a multitude of unhealthy, unnatural additives. What a great lesson to teach our children that the best tasting food is made with our own two hands at home, with our families.

Be Really Green... Have a Diaper Free Baby!

When my son was 14 months old, I started to have a hard time keeping him dry all night long. Even using cloth diapers with two inserts and a doubler, it still wasn't enough for my super soaker. And I felt so bad putting him to bed at night with such a huge poofy diaper. Plus we sleep as a family, so...

So I went to my favorite naturally-minded online community of mothers to ask around for some ideas on how to help keep all of us dry at night. I went straight to the diapering area of the forum and was about to post a question when I saw the Elimination Communication forum. I assumed it had to do with questions concerning elimination, right? So I entered and asked my q...

And the responses I got?

That must be uncomfortable for your baby to sleep in so much padding.

Why don't you just have him potty during the night instead of using diapers?

Potty? At 14 months? No diapers?

What?

I hadn't even thought to start introducing the potty to my toddler let alone have him diaperless. What were these women thinking?

So I started asking questions in this strange Elimination Communication forum...

And the information I started seeing was very intriguing. Turns out Elimination Communication - EC for short - is a method of following your baby's cues, placing them on the potty when you can see that they are about to eliminate, and thus having a diaper free baby!

Diaper free baby?

Oh, boy, I thought. I've got to try this!

And we did. I still used cloth diapers on my son but instead of waiting to change him when I could tell that he had eliminated (aka: He was wet or not so sweet smelling anymore...) I started to watch for his elimination cues.

I started to take note of what his body language looked like or what he did when he was about to eliminate. I also taught him the sign for toilet that he could use when he thought he had to use the potty. Although it wasn't fail proof - hence the reason for continuing to use cloth diapers - it turned out to be quite easy to follow his cues, place him on the potty, and subsequently still have a clean diaper on his bottom!

By the time he was 15 months we were EC'ing him during the day almost flawlessly, dropping the number of diapers he soiled during the day considerably. I also got to use the potty once during the night which helped with the super soaking!

So what started as an accidental turn in an online forum turned out to be a very educational adventure!

When my daughter was born two years later, I knew I wanted to EC her too. When she was 3 months old, I started and she loved it! I'd hold her upright on the potty, she'd pee or poo (oh, aren't those newborn poos so cute!), and her diaper was still clean to use again! By the time she was 2 years old she was a potty pro, never needing a diaper at night, never having an accident at night, and learned how to use the potty on her own.

Many EC'ers don't use diapers at all, while others use woollies and very thin diapers. Every family finds their best way to EC. I loved it because it kept my kids mostly dry since they rarely used their diapers to eliminate in, AND it cut down on my water and energy usage.

If you're interested in trying EC'ing out, go for it! There is tons of support out there. Even if you are a mom who works outside the home and have your child being cared for else where, you can EC when you're with them at home and at night. And moms who EC have reported that because of it, their children have learned to use the potty all on their own at a very early age. Besides, this whole EC thing is nothing new. For eons moms have respected their baby's cues and responded to them.

So go ahead and be really green...have a diaper free baby!

;)

Supporting Breastfeeding-Friendly Businesses...

In celebration of Breastfeeding Awareness Week and breastfeeding-friendly businesses everywhere, I met with LLL Leader Suzy Provine and asked her a few questions about her groups latest outreach program...the sticker campaign...

TGM: What is the sticker campaign?

Suzy: Have you ever been out and about with your breastfeeding baby and been offered a comfy place to sit or a glass of water? Found a place that really, truly welcomes moms and nursing babies?

Then let's thank those businesses where we have found ourselves comfortable nursing by giving them a card and free sticker with the International Breastfeeding Symbol to display in their window. Let the next nursing mother who visits their establishment know right away that she can be comfortable there with her child.

La Leche League of Northern Anne Arundel has created a friendly card that you can carry with you to give by hand or send by mail to any business you would like to THANK for helping you and your baby have a comfortable visit in their establishment.

TGM: What brought about starting this campaign?

Suzy: One of our group mothers was told she could not feed her baby in a local business that caters to children. Rather than try to change the policies of that business, we decided it would be more productive, and more positive, to recognize the good places rather than the bad.

TGM: How do others obtain stickers?

Suzy: Anyone who makes a donation to La Leche League of Northern Anne Arundel of $5 will receive a sticker and card set. Contact any of our Group Leaders for stickers.

TGM: Can anyone participate?

Suzy: Absolutely! We would love to see this sticker on business windows everywhere!

TGM: So far, where can we see these breastfeeding-friendly stickers?

Suzy: We just started. The first stickers went up at the Bruster's Ice Cream store in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

Read Your Labels! What to Ingredients to Avoid

If most of your time shopping is spent reading labels, you're not alone. More and more moms are wising up and informing themselves about the beneficial and harmful effects ingredients in everyday products have on their families.

You do your homework. You read your labels. But do you know which ones you should be avoiding and why?

Pull out some of the things you already own at home: shampoo, sunscreen, toothpaste, hand soap... You've checked them before, but check them again. You might need to rethink your choices and find more healthy alternatives for you and your family.

Here are some of the worst offenders in ingredients, along with what they may be doing to you and your family:

• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) - skin irritant with mutagenic effects
  
  
• Parabens - causes breast cancer
  
  
• Propylene Glycol - alters skin structure for other chemicals
  
  
• Phthalates (aka: fragrance) - disrupts hormones; decreases sperm mobility; genital abnormalities in baby boys; linked to asthma and allergies
  
  
• Petrolatum (aka: mineral oil, Vaseline) - banned in Europe, linked to breast cancer
  
  
• Cocomide DEA/Lauramid DEA - human immune system toxicant
  
  
• Diazolidinyl Urea - human carcinogen and nasopharyngeal cancer
  
  
• Butyl Acetate - skin, eye, and lung irritant
  
  
• Butylated Hydroxytoluene - human immune system toxicant and neurotoxin
  
  
• Ethyl Acetate - linked to cancer, developmental and reproductive deformities; skin, eyes, and lung irritant
  

This short list, borrowed from the Environmental Working Group, is just the tip of the iceberg. To learn more about all the dangerous chemicals found in our everyday products - and why we should be avoiding them - go to www.ewg.org today.

Be a Mad Scientist! Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Everyday Cleaning...

by guest boat-dwelling mama blogger Cindy Wallach of spinsheet.com ...and yes, Cindy actually lives on a boat...isn't that cool ;)

A friend who was born and raised on the Chesapeake Bay told me a story recently. When he was a boy 40-some years ago on Harness Creek there was so much seaweed they had to constantly pull it off of their oars as they paddled along. And there were so many crabs that he and his little friends were constantly jumping around to avoid them as they waded into the creek. The one word he used to describe the Bay back then was "alive". I can count on one hand the number of living crabs my son has seen the past 5 years (though the dead ones rack up on fingers and toes) and we live aboard full time. Talk about a wake up call.

If you've got green running through your veins, greening up your everyday life is easier than you think. So get to it.

Instead of using... Use these Eco-Friendly Alternatives

• Bleach... Borax
  
  
• Detergent & Soap... Elbow grease
  
  
• Scouring Powders... Baking soda. Or rub area with one-half lemon dipped in borax, then rinse
  
  
• General Cleaner... Baking soda and vinegar. Or lemon juice combined with borax paste
  
  
• Floor Cleaner... One cup vinegar + 2 gallons of water
  
  
• Window Cleaner... One cup vinegar + 1 qt. warm water. Rinse and squeegee
  
  
• Aluminum Cleaner... 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar + 1 qt. of hot water
  
  
• Brass Cleaner... Worcestershire sauce. Or paste made of equal amounts of salt, vinegar, and water
  
  
• Copper Cleaner... Lemon juice and water. Or paste of lemon juice, salt, and flour
  
  
• Chrome Cleaner/Polish... Apple cider vinegar to clean; baby oil to polish
  
  
• Stainless Steel Cleaner... Baking soda or mineral oil for polishing, vinegar to remove spots
  
  
• Fiberglass Stain Remover... Baking soda and salt in a wet paste
  
  
• Mildew Remover... Paste with equal amounts of lemon juice and salt, or white vinegar and salt OR diluted tea tree oil
  
  
• Drain Opener... Dissemble or use plumber’s snake. Or flush with boiling water + one-quarter cup baking soda + one-quarter cup vinegar
  
  
• Wood Polish... Olive or almond oil (interior walls only)
  
  
• Rug/Upholstery Cleaner... Dry corn starch sprinkled on; vacuum
  
  
• After Cleaning Cocktail... One part rum mixed with 2 parts fruit juice. Add ice as needed...
  
  :)
  

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Yummy Drumsticks...Perfect for Summer Supers ;)

recipe provided by guest mama blogger Cara Bergman, licensed Acupuncturist specializing in fertility...

My daughter Lily turned 5 this weekend and this is the chicken she wanted for her party. It was surprisingly delicious!

• 7 garlic cloves, pressed
• 2 Tbsp. local honey
• 4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 4 Tbsp. wheat-free naturally fermented soy sauce
• 4 Tbsp. organic lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of a mixture of equal proportions of coconut oil, sesame oil, and olive oil
• 4 tsp. Celtic sea salt
• 2 tsp. pepper
• 30-40 local free-range chicken drumsticks
  

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken. Place chicken in one or more gallon sized Zip-lock bags. Pour mixture over chicken and let it marinate for 1 - 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken in several 9X13 glass pans. Bake 40 - 45 minutes until chicken is cooked.

Enjoy!

Punch Buggy Red...now Punch Baggy

As I was riding home from work a few months back on the back of our Vepsa I came to a sad realization. Growing up, my brothers, sister and I always played Punch Buggy...you know the game the first person to see a VW Bug screams at the top of their lungs "Punch Buggy _______ (and then the color of the VW)," and at the end of the drive that is how many times you get to punch (gently of course) your sibling. What a great game!

Today I realized that my kids won't be playing Punch Buggy, instead they will be playing Punch Baggy, because there are so many plastic bags littered around that they'll be easier to spot than VW Bugs. I counted on our drive home which is 13 miles and I saw 9 plastic bags. Americans use 100 BILLION

Tomorrow on your drive, no matter where you are going try it yourself. Count the number of plastic bags you see on the roadside, in the bushes, stuck in fences, they're everywhere. disposable plastic bags every year yet recycle less than 1%. Plastics which don't biodegrade.

Quick Summer Favorites: Quinoa Salad

Quinoa, gold of the Incas, is a wonderfully light tasty grain that again is increasing in popularity among those of us who want to eat a whole healthy diet.

High in protein - complete protein, meaning it has all 9 essential amino acids, including amino acid lysine - quinoa is a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus.

A wonderful addition to every cook's pantry, there are endless uses for quinoa. Cooked warm with sauteed veggies, tossed cool with beans in summer salad, and even ground into quinoa flour.

Quinoa Salad
recipe from NDNcookingandhomemaking yahoo group

What you need...

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn
• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed well
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 3 tablespoons red onion, minced
  

How to make it...

1. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, bring 1-1/2 cups water to a boil and add corn. Reduce heat and let corn simmer until tender. Drain corn, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid.
3. Bring cooking liquid to a boil and add quinoa and cumin. Cover, reducing heat, and let simmer until liquid is absorbed (about 10 minutes).
4. Remove pan from heat and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes.
5. Fluff quinoa with a fork and allow to cool slightly.
6. In a bowl, combine cooled quinoa, corn, black beans, tomato and onion.
7. Pour dressing over and toss gently to mix.
8. Refrigerate salad until ready to serve.
   

Makes 4 servings.

My Fertility Bootcamp...A Natural Approach to Restoring Fertility

by guest blogger mama Cara Bergman

Fertility Secrets Revealed FREE call
**Tuesday, June 9th 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. EST**

What is going on?
The fertility world is currently very high-tech. There are hormones to inject, procedures to undergo, and it can add up to tens of thousands of dollars.

Is there another way?
Is it possible to use Grandmother Wisdom to create the same (or better) results? It seems as if our parents' generation were trying NOT to get pregnant. Our generation has seen the highest rates of infertility of all times. What is going on?

A Natural Approach
Cara Bergman, owner of Stillwater Fertility Acupuncture Clinic in Maryland has a natural approach to restoring fertility. She focuses on Grandmother Wisdom of eating well, sleeping well, and kicking the toxins out of your life. She offers a 30 day immersion program for people who want to jump start their fertility using nothing more than food, sleep, and healthy lifestyle practices.

Hear the Good News for Yourself!
Sound too simple? Cara has seen enormous success at her fertility clinic and she is willing to share her knowledge for the first time in a free one-hour call. If you are working through fertility issues or planning to be pregnant in the next few months, this is the call for you. To be join in on this free call, simply visit www.MyFertilityBootcamp.com.

The call will be held next Tuesday, June 9th, 8:00 - 9:00 pm EST.


A note from Green Mama Lia
Please pass along this information about the free call to any and all family and friends that you know are having fertility issues. I know I myself will be on the call as I have my own hormonal issues, still... Although I'm not actively trying to get pregnant, I'm sure I can benefit from the free info Cara will be sharing. HTH! :)

Breastmilk is GREEN milk!

"Breastmilk is one of the few foodstuffs produced and delivered to the consumer without any pollution, unnecessary packaging or waste, whereas the production, shipping, and preparation of formula and bottles requires large amounts of water, fuel, glass, plastic and rubber -- and produces significant amounts of garbage." - www.breastfeeding.com

Breastfeed! Best for Baby, Mommy, & Mother Earth!

My Journey to being a Green Mama...by Amanda Green

My journey to becoming a Green Mama started years ago. Soon after my husband and I got married in December of 2000 he started a job at a local BioTech company. One day while at work he learned about the process of the non-organic chicken's life and death, he came home and told me of his day. That day was the day we both vowed to only eat organic meats and we've never gone back. We learned that this path into a "green lifestyle" was a slippery slope and soon everything in our lives was "green." All of our vegetables, household cleaning products, paper products, laundry detergent, the list goes on and on.

Although we were not at that time ready to start a family we knew that we were preparing ourselves for the healthiest lifestyle possible and in doing so giving our future children a healthy start. We spent 7 wonderful years married, just the two of us when we decided that it was time to start our family. It was a wonderful 7 years of just the two of us but we were ready to know the miracle of children.

We were so blessed to get pregnant the first month we started trying in January of 2008, and we couldn't be happier. Sadly that pregnancy ended with a missed miscarriage at 14 weeks on April 11, 2008. Until this moment in my life I never knew that missed miscarriage's even existed, I assumed (naively) that the pregnancy was fine as long as there was no bleeding. I couldn't understand how this could happen to me, I was healthier than almost any pregnant woman I've ever known and yet they all went on to have healthy pregnancies. This single event in my life took the ground out from under me and my husband, we struggled with daily life and finding our path to happiness again. We spent each month after that trying again for a baby only to be disappointed month after month. 8 months to the day of my D&C, December 11, 2008 we were thrilled to find out that we were expecting again. All of the pain, loss and grief we had gone through the last 8 months was finally overshadowed by pure elation and happiness.

That brings us to the present. I am now currently 25 weeks pregnant and due August 21, 2009! I have never felt better in my life. I did not suffer from a single moment of morning sickness (for this I feel very lucky), I have had the most amazing pregnancy. I have dreamed my whole life of being a mother, of being pregnant and relishing in this miracle that is growing inside of me, but never in my life did I imagine I would LOVE being pregnant as much as I do. I knew I'd love it, but I never knew I could love it this much. From the moment I knew I was expecting this baby my husband and I felt so blessed and promised to not take a single moment of this pregnancy for granted, every single day we feel so blessed to have this miracle in our lives and we cannot wait to meet our son/daughter (we waiting until delivery to find out the sex). Until that moment we are going to enjoy every minute of every day and not take a single second for granted.