Aaahhh! The Holiday Season

Ah! I love the holiday season. Time to gain 10 pounds, sit on your butt and snuggle. This is usually the only time of the year I can get through a book. Any other time I can't sit down long enough. So this season I have chosen my books: Marley and Me and Generation Me.

I have been wanting to read Marley and Me for a while now but like I wrote I have to wait for the holiday season. I just adore dog stories. And since the movie will be out soon I have a goal to read it sooner than later.

I found out about Generation Me from a radio morning show out of Sacramento called Armstrong and Getty. The author, Jean M. Twenge, was featured on their show recently. I am always intrigued by people's behavior as a group. This book is based upon my generation, well, barely, I was born in the early 70's (damn, I have to disclose my age!) and that is when she says "Generation Me" started. The premise is that people born to the "free love" generation that experienced a new openness with themselves in the 60's have created a generation that thinks they have no boundaries and are all individually great because mom and dad and society told them so. That is all grand until you get into the "real" world where you are no longer perfect at everything and you no longer get a trophy for just showing up. Interesting?

Anyway, if I feel inclined I will spoil the books for you when I finish them. Ha ha!

I still have my eco books waiting on the shelf like Omnivore's Dilemma and Silent Spring but I tend to read those in the springtime.

Oh! I am looking for a good Christmas themed book to read. One with a good message to it. A real feel good book. If you have read any let me know.

Happy holiday season!

Friday Finds: Found Myself in Books This Week

I'm at a loss for words this morning. I am computered out. And frankly tired of hearing about our weakening economy. To cope and not worry so much I have lost myself in books.

I am reading The Secret Life of Bees. I started it because the movie will be released soon and I want to try to read the book before the release. I never do that. I mean read books. I read blogs and internet articles but rarely novels.

I am about half way through and it is a great story. It takes place in South Carolina, 1964. The author does a wonderful job of describing the South during a time of Civil Rights upheaval but manages to keep the tone positive and the intertwined stories interesting while using the beautiful imagery of bees.

As if that is not enough I almost finished with The Girl's Guide to Starting Your Own Business. Yes, I am looking into starting a business. The economy is throwing a wrench in it but I am in the research part of starting so I still have some time for the economy to strengthen. I won't tell you what I want to do just yet, some day.

Anyway, this book is awesome. The author's take a bland subject and makes it fun. It addresses serious business with a girlfriend's advice. I love it!

And lastly, I was at the book store yesterday and found this materpiece. I went against all my green morals and bought a new book. I had to have it. I usually go to the book store to get lists of books I like then go home and order them used online. But this book wanted me to take it home.

I haven't started it yet. Actually, it is not a novel. It is a "how to" book. The whole book is hand written, even the copyright page.

Keri Smith, the author, seems to trully be an "color outside of the lines" girl. I am looking forward to exploring this book and exploring my word through different eyes.

How to Be An Explorer of Your World:

p. 5 Keri Smith

1. Always be looking. (Notice the ground beneath your feet.)

2. Consider everything alive and animated.

3. Everything is interesting. Look closer.

It goes on for 10 more. You gotta get the book to read the rest.

Have a green weekend.

What Do You Do With Your Zucchini?

I remember back in June our zucchini looked like this. I was thinking at the time, "will I get any zucchini?" HUH! Will I get any zucchini?! I was flooded with it! Soon the monster plants produced monster zucchini and I was freezing and eating it as much as I could. I steamed, I froze, I ate it raw and gave it away. But it kept coming. I realized I needed to cook it into something. As you all know, and if you don't, I am not fond of cooking. If it wasn't a necessity I wouldn't be doing it. But I can say I am a pretty good cook, when I put my heart into it. Actually I prefer to bake. And that is what I started with...zucchini bread.

So in late June I made my mother-in-laws Zucchini Bread. It was so yummy, she liked to put a lot of cinnamon in her recipes and it works very well. I later snuck in some whole wheat flour, about half the flour needed, and my family still liked the bread but I couldn't slip it past my husband too many times. He grew up with this bread and wanted me to stop messing with the recipe. I proceeded to find a whole wheat recipe and make variations on this classic bread. I made it with brown sugar and honey, just honey, just brown sugar, butter or oil, loaf of bread or mini-muffins. Every variation was very tasty.

I froze some of the bread for later consumption and moved onto more serious recipes like kitchen sink cookies. This recipe came from The Classic Zucchini Cookbook, that I got from the library but I am thinking of buying, used of course. These were a hit. They have everything a good cookie has-sugar, butter, vanilla, chocolate chips-but also goodness for your body-whole wheat flour, oatmeal, zucchini. The recipe called for dried fruit but I knew my kids had nothing to do with that.

Now that I had gained 3-5 pounds eating all these yummy baked goods, I thought I would get more serious with the zucchini. Now came zucchini pizza, zucchini goulash, zucchini cheddar cheese soup, and soup starter. All pictured below and all from The Classic Zucchini Cookbook. I have yet to grill, saute and deep fry it. Every recipe I made we loved and would make again. (The last 2 pictures are before and after for soup starter. The veggies are sliced and sauteed then chopped in the food processor to save for starting soups.)

I had a lot of fun with my zucchini this year. I know, the season is not over yet. But my plants are starting to slow down their production so there may not be much more going on here.

If you have a favorite book or recipe you like to use for your garden gifts let me know. Beth, I know you like Putting Food By, I already ordered it. My library didn't carry it so I ordered it used based only on your expert advise.

Been Busy

Since my kids went back to school I feel like I need to get things done. (And have breakfast with friends, hee hee.) So if I am not up to date with my posts this is why:

I have all my bills lined up to pay for next month, I am never early. We don't actually have a lot of bills personally but my husband owns his own biz and we have more bills coming from that direction.

I went shopping without them for a food processor. I finally broke down and bought one to help process all the zucchini that I have. And help with just cooking in general. I debated buying it used or looking on freecycle but I got the heeby jeebies thinking about whether someone else cleaned it correctly. So I bought it new.

I answered everyone's comments they left. If I didn't give me shout out and I will get to you. Don't feel like your pushing me or being annoying, just do it. I try to answer everyone. Thanks for stopping by.

I am a girl scout leader and still have not turned in my financial report. OUCH!!! It was due a month ago. If anyone out there is familiar with Girl Scouts you would know that I am in deep doggy doo doo! I think we get punished and not get to sell cookies or something. I am so scared to turn in the report and get yelled at by our area treasurer. Anyone have some good excuses?

I needed to catch up on my episodes of "Jamie at Home" on Food Network. I especially liked the one with him making Zucchini Carbonara. It looks so good. I think he is so cute. He cooks great dishes straight from his garden while in his garden.

My "office" (our 4th bedroom) needs to be cleaned desperately! I will try to do that after posting.

I need to get my scouting butt in order. I love my scouts, girls and boys, but there is a lot of planning involved if you want an enriched program. So if you don't see me at times on the blog-o-sphere I am scouting.

My kids start football and cheer leading Friday. And it is intense for 3 months. Many practices, and games starting in September. It is so fun to watch them and I get very proud of their accomplishments but, wow, it takes a lot of your time.

I will get back to posting my green thinks soon. I recently bought Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv and I am enjoying it so much. I'll give you an update soon. Or if you read it leave me some feedback but please no spoilers.

And lastly, I need to catch up with friends. They are my rocks. Morning get together are a must!

And did I mention maybe seeing if my husband is still around after my whirlwind love affair with keeping busy? We have our time at night and watch The Mole and Mad Men together. If you watch The Mole I think the mole is Nicole. We made bets at the beginning of the season who the mole was going to be and I guessed Nicole. My husband guessed Paul. Too bad Doug, you lose.

Thanks for putting up with my long-winded catch session. I gotta run.

Be Green.

Slightly Greener

Well, pat my back and call me a slightly darker shade of green. I am excited to share my green finds, buys and actions with you.

-My A/C was fixed on Monday by a very nice and local HVAC company. I am so happy to give a local guy my business. He is not only local but his kids go to school with mine. And he came recommended by 3 of my friends. I love to keep it local. (Ok, that wasn't green but he was local.)

-We have managed to keep the A/C off until about 30 minutes ago. We hovered around 92 degrees today and at the end of the day the house absorbed all the heat. My husband got home from work and wanted cool air after refusing to turn the A/C on in his truck to try and save gas.

-My garden, specifically the zucchini, is growing. I now have 8 bean plants now and every time I take a zucchini off the plant another one is there to replace it the next day. Wow! Zucchini bread for everyone!

-Because of the plethora of zucchini I am prompted to purchase a Foodsaver. I cleaned out my large freezer today and found some of my meats are starting to look rather unsavory. This year I want to start freezing more of my local finds to eat them over the non-growing season and hopefully the Foodsaver will keep my pretties well until I devour them.

-My new toothbrush is green, well actually pink but green. I found it at Trader Joe's. It is called the Preserve toothbrush. The handle is made from yogurt cups. And get this, when you are finished with the toothbrush you can send it back to the company in their pre-paid envelope to be made into park benches. Check it our at Recycline.com

-Meet my laundery team: Trader Joe's Laundry Detergent, Borax and Baking Soda. TJ's Laundry Detergent says it has no harsh or petro chemicals and is pH balanced. I did a little research on Borax and Baking Soda and they are better for the environment than the harsh alternatives. The detergent and Borax keep my clothes clean and the baking soda makes them soft. I do plan on trying to make my own detergent to keep my plastic use down but for now TJ's will do. And I only use 2 tablespoons per load because I have a High Efficient machine. Here are some other things Borax does. And baking soda.

-I finally hung my towels outside to dry. I usually only hang my delicates but the heat was calling to the towels. They were a little crunchy so I cheated a little and put them in the dryer for 5 minutes to soften them, that is better than the hour they would have been in before.

-As you have guessed I love Trader Joe's. They have great organic cottage cheese, the best, I mean best hummus and they always have samples. Anyway, I found some great dish sponges there. They are made from vegetable cellulose. No chemicals or synthetic stuff there. The only drawback is they are made in France. Boy is that a LONG way to travel but until I find a good alternative I will use these. They are firm and hold soap well for washing dishes and there is no smell.

-I have been trying to be more organic and fair labor in my clothing choices but that is a very hard place to go. Organic is expensive. I did manage to buy flip-flops for $25 a pair. I got them from Simple Shoes. They boast recycled this, vegan that. Just check em out for yourself. If you like flip-flops like I do and wear them even in the rain (on warmer days, of course) then you will like these. They are cushy.

-I found an awesome book at the library called Stocking Up by Carol Hupping. She writes about everything from freezing to canning to making fruit leathers. It is a great book and has helped me, the complete novice, learn so much about what to do with your fresh zucchini. I was also shown another book on Beth's site called Putting Food By. The only reason I don't have that book in my possession is the library didn't carry it! Can you believe it? So I will buy it from Amazon used.

I can smell the zucchini bread, gotta go.....

I apologize if the page loaded slower because of the pictures. I love pictures. I am not an eloquent writer and the pictures help to tell my story.

I would love some feedback from you guys. Please be honest, just not brutal. Does anyone have a Foodsaver? Do you like it? Any simple zucchini recipes? Do you have a green store you like?

BE GREEN!

Mixed Greens

I had a good eco day today.

My Acme Workhorse 1500 bags came, don't you love the name? I love them already and haven't even used them. I should go grocery shopping to break them in! And my daughter got a Hello Kitty Sigg bottle, she thinks she is so cool now.

I finally listened to "More Hip than Hippie" with Val and Dori. I first heard of them on Green and Clean Mom's blog. I happily uploaded the last few days worth on my ipod, headed off to the gym and got a longer workout just so I could finish the segment. These gals are funny and informative. And they are out of Sacramento, I will have to meet these ladies some day.

I haven't killed my veggie garden. Actually my husband planted everything-tomatoes, beans, peppers, zuchini, cucumber, and watermelon-I just water them. But I can try to not kill an herb, Trader Joe's has these awesome basil plants for cheap right now, I may head over there to snag one. MMM...fresh pesto!

I picked, with very minimal help from my children, 5 pounds of boysenberries. MMM...they are going to taste great on top of French Vanilla Ice Cream!

I also ordered from Amazon three books. Silent Spring by Carson, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Pollan and Organic Body Care Recipes by Tourles. I did order them used, one is even coming from the San Francisco Good Will. I am so excited to read Silent Spring and Omnivore's Dilemma, they come highly recommended.

My Book Dilemma

So I joined a book club. (I mean a wine drinking club.) And I love it! I don't read very quickly. Actually, let me say I never sit down to read a book and when I do it puts me to sleep. BUT I love to read. So our next book is Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time and I am so excited to read it! This is where my green journey begins...

I head over to FreeCycle, one woman has it but is reading it and no one else answers my request. I try Paperback Swap, nope not there. I try Swaptree, not to be found. Half Price Books (used book store near me), nada. I break down and look at Amazon and Target. Now, do I buy it used and worry about the waste in packing, money (about $10 with shipping) and gas to get it to me. Or do I shop Target and buy it for $8.25 new? I would drive there but I would also buy some necessities while there. Argh! Sometimes being green is complicated. Or should I even worry?

And then I forgot...I took a vow to buy nothing this month!

Maybe I will just wait until May.

Turning Green?

Today I bought a magazine and 2 books about living better. Living better in a greener and less stressful way. I wonder if I can do it? I want to live a long happy life. Right now I am 36, married and have 2 kids. I live healthier than "normal" Americans, meaning I don't eat much fast food, I workout and I recycle. But I am 20 pounds overweight and I really like a good In-N-Out hamburger.

Can I eat more veggies or even cut out eating meat most days? Can I go green? Can I cut out plastics? Can I save more water? Can I really go organic? Can I afford to accomplish this?

I started here:
Secrets of Longevity by Dr. Maoshing
365 Ways to Live Green by Diane Gow Mcdilda
Natural Solutions Magazine
http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/
http://greenerbeings.blogspot.com/

Hopefully I can get off to a good start. I already decided to use and reuse my cloth grocery bags I bought and request no bags for small items.

But wow! Is organic milk really expensive!