Guacamole

I've read before that avocados supply so many of the necessary nutrients, that a human being could survive on avocados alone. I'm not so sure I want to test that statement out, but I do know that I enjoy adding more of this wonder food into my diet. Avocados supply 20 essential nutrients and act as a nutrient booster to allow for fat soluble nutrients from other foods to absorb into your body better when eaten together. Plus the fats found in avocados are all those good, healthy fats (like EVOO and nuts). So eat up and get healthy.

Guacamole
-2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and mashed
-1/2 small sweet onion, minced finely
-1/4 c tomatoes, chopped fine (optional)
-1/2 t salt
-1/2 t garlic powder
-3 T lime or lemon juice

In a small mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. To prevent discoloring, put avocado pits in bowl with guacamole and cover top of dip with plastic wrap, taking care to remove all air.


We've been eating this stuff up weekly now. We even have straight up guacamole sandwiches sometimes. When I get extra time, I like to make homemade whole wheat pita bread and then toast little wedges of that to make homemade pita toast- YUM!

Online shopping fun

I recently came across an excellent article in a Family Circle magazine about websites to check out before buying things online. These websites can help you save money. I'd like to share these findings with you all (I'm just going to type up what the Family Circle article says):

-Promotional Codes : Thousand of codes for popular retailers, many of them originally uploaded by customers who received them by e-mail or snail mail

-Free Shipping: Hefty shipping charges can scotch an otherwise excellent deal. Look for merchants who ship gratis or rustle up a code for the order already in your cart.

-Retail Me Not: More than 400,000 coupon codes for more than 100,000 retailers. Bonus: a tool to add to your web browser that alerts you if you're shopping at a site for which there's a code.

-Red Plum: Not just online discount codes but also a database of printable coupons for local merchants. Just click on Shop Online and sign up by entering your name, e-mail address, and zip code, then hunt for exclusive offers.

-Ebates: Beyond supplying discount codes, this site offers cash back at over 1,300 stores when you start your shopping trip there. For instance, if you splurge at Victoria's Secret, you'll get a check from Ebates for 2% of the total order. Checks go out every three months as long as you earn at least $5.01.


Thank you Family Circle!!! Woo!

As with all websites, use your own caution. If you are not comfortable giving out your e-mail address, then don't use ones that require it, etc. I have only tried out two of these websites- retailmenot and ebates. Retailmenot is top notch. You search for your store, it brings up a page full of coupon codes posted by people and their success rate at using them. Perfect and easy. Ebates I have yet to see how it fully works. I signed up a few days ago and made a few purchases I had to do anyways and am now waiting to see if they show up in my account. If it does not work or if there's anything fishy, I'll be sure to let you all know.

Good luck and happy shopping!

Make your own vanilla extract

Don't ever buy artificial vanilla extract.

I know it's much cheaper, tastes close enough to do the trick, and isn't used very often. But let me tell you why you shouldn't.

It is cheap because the flavor comes from chemicals, not vanilla bean. Chemicals that are manufactured in a laboratory in mass quantities. Most of these flavorings are derived from petroleum. You heard me. Petroleum. Oil. Going into your body. Now it isn't hard to imagine what bad consequences that can have on your body, but let me indulge you nevertheless.

Many of these artificial flavorings and colorings are legal to use in the United States, regardless of the safety of them. Unfortunately, it looks like these big businesses are willing to sacrifice our health for their pocketbook.

Some of the health dangers that have been found in animal studies include: cancer, thyroid problems, allergic reactions, tumors of the brain, thyroid, kidney, and adrenal gland.

Diacetyl is an artificial flavor that was recently banned. It is used to give commercial popcorn it's flavor. Apparently it was found that it was harmful to the nose and airways of mice. For humans, it causes a dangerous lung disease called lymphocytic bronchilitis. Whoa.

If you are interested in some more information on common additives/artifical flavors and colors and their effects, check out this website.



So let me fill you in on a little secret. You can make your own vanilla extract. See the above photo? That is my first batch, started this morning. Here's what you will need:
-vanilla beans
-vodka or other alcohol (brandy works good)
-a jar with a lid

Put 3/4 c alcohol in your jar. Slice your vanilla bean open, but don't cut all the way through. Just enough to open them up. Make sure all that good filling stays on it/in it. Chop them in half if you need to to fit in the jar. Put about 2-4 beans in the jar, depending on how strong you would like it. Put the lid on and store for 2 weeks. Shake occassionally (every few days or so) and there you go! Homemade vanilla extract! It will not be as dark as the store bought stuff, but it will taste much better. Vanilla beans should be replaced every 6 months and as you use your vanilla extract, replace the alcohol as you go and you will have a continuous supply.

In case you are wondering where you can get whole vanilla beans, try checking out your local health food store. We don't get to one very often, as the closest one is 2 hours away from us :( so I actually ordered mine on Ebay. Yes, Ebay! I bought 12 organic vanilla beans for $5.00 total. It came from India! And it was the coolest looking package I've ever gotten in the mail! It was in a cloth package and it smelled INCREDIBLE!

There is no denying the incredible taste difference when real vanilla is used instead of artificial. I couldn't go back once I started using the real stuff.

Good luck and enjoy!

Recycling your electronics

If anyone is doing any spring cleaning and has some stuff they'd like to get rid of, I have come across some websites that may aid in that.

Gazelle: Here you can get cash for some of your old gadgets. They pay for the shipping and they even send you a box. Talk about making it simple!

NextWorth: This website is the same idea as Gazelle. They also sell used stuff, so if you're looking for a bargain and don't mind pre-owned, check it out!

My BoneYard: Here you can donate your used electronics. Shipping is free.

Call2Recycle: This place recycles old cell phones and batteries for free.

National Cristina Foundation: Here you donate your old electronics and they use it to train people who have special needs. Talk about a win-win situation! :)

Reconnect Partnership: This website allows you to drop off any computer equipment at any Goodwill store and you can receive a tax credit in return for it.

DigitalTips: This website allows you to search for places that give you money in return for recycling your old electronics.

I haven't fully investigated all of these websites as I haven't had to recycle any electronics yet, so please be aware that they may not all be free. I just wanted to post these links in case anyone could take advantage of any opportunities there may be in these. Always try to check and see if what you're throwing away can be recycled first! You'd be amazed! We found a place to drop off our recyclables, but it's in the next town over- about 20 miles away. We save up our stuff and when we're passing by the town we drop it all off. We also compost all of our food scraps, so between these two methods, we have drastically cut down the amount of trash we send out, which in turn helps save us lots of money since those trash bags are so expensive! I don't know about you, but I'd much rather spend my moolah on other stuff than paying to take out my trash. lol

Popcorn galore

Here at our humble little abode, we are fans of popcorn. We prefer to pop our own popcorn and season it ourselves. Once we tried it this way, we just couldn't go back to microwave popcorn. (Not to mention microwaves are bad and my good pal who informed me of this should really do a post on her new blog about that!!! HINT!)

We had been popping our little kernels in oil on the stove the old fashioned way, but one day we found ourselves a nifty little gadget at a rummage sale. Here it is: Presto Pop Lite. So for $2.00 we were able to pop our popcorn, without oil, which saved bundles on the calories and fat. (Which of course justifies being able to eat the whole bowl then) Since then, we've gotten creative with our use of toppings. I've come across some fun little recipes which I'll post below, so give 'em a try if you're ever in the mood for something new!

As far as buttering your popcorn goes, do keep in mind that you can use anything you want. It doesn't HAVE to be butter. As weird as it may sound, we have switched to drizzling extra virgin olive oil over our popcorn before seasoning. I use a lot of it in my cooking, so we are used to the flavor of it already, but if you're not used to it, it may take a few tries. But it's a much healthier alternative, because really all you need it something to help make the seasoning stick. Keep in mind these recipes are for 4 cups of popcorn, so you probably have to double the recipe. Oh and we usually used butter for these recipes if it specifically says to combine it with butter. NOM NOM NOM

Recipes:
Honey Pecan: Combine 2 T melted butter and 2 T honey, toss with 4 cups prepared unbuttered popcorn and 1/4 c chopped pecans.

Parmesan: Toss 1/4 c grated parm cheese and 1 t grated lemon zest with 4 cups buttered popcorn

Maple Vanilla: Stir 2 T maple syrup and 1/2 t vanilla extract into 2 T melted butter; toss with 4 cups prepared unbuttered popcorn.

Curry: Mix 1 T sugar, 1 t curry powder and 1/4 t ground cumin; toss with 4 cups buttered popcorn.

Smoky Chili: Toss 4 cups buttered popcorn with a mix of 1 t smoked paprika and 1 t chili powder.

**These next recipes don't say how much popcorn these mixes are good for, so just eyeball it and mix extra if needed.

Cocoa: 2 T of instant hot cocoa mix plus 1 c of peanut butter chips

Pumpkin pie: 2 T sugar and 1 t pumpkin-pie spice plus 1 c of toasted pumpkin seeds.

Cinnamon Harvest: 2 T of cinnamon-and-sugar plus 1 c of craisins.


Our favs are Maple Vanilla and Curry. We weren't terribly impressed with Honey Pecan and haven't tried the rest yet. If you try any, leave a comment and let us all know how it went!

The family that doesn't cut their hair

My husband informed me a few days ago that he has decided he wants to grow his hair out. He said he is running out of time to do it and it is something he has always wanted to do. Going bald is in his genetics, so he feels that he is up against time to do it. Therefore, it has begun.

I guess we will now be officially be known as the family that does not cut their hair.

An ode to my Finnish heritage...

Pannukakku! Oh how I love thee! Sweet, salty, goodness bright and early in the morn'! For those who don't know, Pannukakku is a traditional Finnish oven pancake. Serve it with sugar or maple syrup. NOM NOM NOM!!!

Pannukakku
-1 stick butter
-4 eggs, beaten
-2 c milk
-2/3 c flour
-1/3 c sugar
-1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 425. Put stick of butter in 9x13 pan and put in oven to melt the butter. While butter is melting, mix the rest of the ingredients together and beat until it is the consistency of thick cream. Once the butter is melted, pour the batter into the pan, pop it in the oven and bake for about 15-30 min. Just keep an eye on it and wait until it browns on the top. After you take it out of the oven, it will drop/flatten a bit. This is good. Serve half the pan onto your plate (if you're like me) and chow down!

To all who read my blog...

It has recently come to my attention that some of my posts, thoughts, and ramblings may have the potential to offend some of you or put you on the defensive in regards to your lifestyle/views vs. mine. Please, please, please do not be offended by anything I post. It is by no means an attack or criticism of your lifestyle or views.
I have not posted this blog to make any points or to challenge anybody. I have created this blog largely for my own benefit. To have a place to record my thoughts is priceless and the fact that it is public is encouragement for me to continue to explore myself and put myself out there. This is a tool for me to become comfortable with who I am.
I think that the green lifestyle is one that can offend a lot of people because some may feel that they are judged for the way they live. The same goes for a vegetarian/vegan diet. Eric and I have seen this offensiveness occur within our family and it pains me greatly. The last thing I would ever do in the world is look down up on those I love. I hold them higher than they can ever imagine. The same goes for my close friends who read this.
May I also take this opportunity to point out that Eric and I are by no means perfect. We don't adhere to a strictly vegan or even vegetarian diet. I just can't. I'm sorry, but life would be sad without my ocassional meatloaf, malts, pizza, and ice cream binges. And in regards to buying stuff or living green...let's not talk about how much clothes shopping we did on our last roadtrip....hehe
Now why do I write posts saying things contradictory to some of my actions? It is in part to help encourage myself to live more in this way. By writing these blogs, it serves as a good reminder of the reasons why I would like to live a certain way. And I thought, well, since it's public, it serves as a bonus because perhaps I can teach others something they didn't know before or even encourage them to take steps towards a more healthy lifestyle. Who knows! That's the best part about this! There are no expectations- it just is what it is.

In parting words, I ask this of my readers; please just take this blog for what it is. If you learn something- great (as Eric would say in his cheesy manner, "Knowledge is power!"). If you gain better insight to us- great. If this blog makes you think- great. If this blog offends you, upsets you, disappoints you, etc- not great. Let me know. And please don't be afraid to post your own views in the comments as well. I will try my best to get to them all and it will be good to encourage both sides of the story to some of these topics.

Our spiritual journey

My husband and I have been on (and quite frankly, still are on) quite the spiritual journey. He was raised Catholic and even went to a Catholic grade school. I was also raised Catholic, but there wasn't a whole lot of emphasis on religion while growing up. It was just kind of an automatic answer for me to say "I am Catholic" whenever asked what religion I followed. That all changed once I got to college. That was my first exposure to other possibilities in religion. A co-worker of mine during that time was really in Buddhism and he encouraged me to attend a class with him on meditation. I had planned to go when he mentioned later that it had a connection with Buddhism and I backed out at the last minute, fearful that it was going to be a pressure-filled ceremonial event. Not my style. Regardless, that first incident reminded me that there were other religions, other options, other beliefs. I had never felt a big connection to the Catholic religion as I had only gone for a few years when I was very young and my only recollection of it being the cookies offered downstairs afterwards. However, with so much else on my plate at the time, religion took a backseat again in my life as I plugged away at my studies.

Then my hubby and I got serious and moved in together. We were only dating at the time, but knew we were in love since we had first met many years ago. It just took us a while to find each other again. On a snowy cold day in March, he proposed to me and we wed in August that following summer. Very soon thereafter our little one was conceived and thus begins the next chapter of our spiritual journey. For many months, we watched as my belly grew and little kicks and jabs became evident. Ultrasounds were like tear jerkers for me as I saw my little boy growing bigger every time. As I walked around for those months with my hands on my belly, I felt an undeniable, powerful spiritual connection to my little Bean. My body was nurturing him and it was so in sync to work perfectly and provide him with whatever he needed to continue growing. It was just mind blowing to think about. My hubby and I had many conversations on this topic and were in complete awe of God's glory.

By around Christmas time we had a sudden urge to discover our beliefs. We had been talking about it for a while and we even whipped out a NY Times Guide to Essential Knowledge book to read up on the differences between religions. We only succeeded in overwhelming ourselves and ended up more confused than we had begun. Then one night we were sitting down for dinner and we decided to turn on the TV for some amusement. We were only pulling in two fuzzy channels (we do not subscribe to cable- that's a whole other post someday) and the clearer of the two happened to be Oprah. Oh joy. But we left it on for some reason. After a few minutes of watching, we were actually very interested. She was doing a special on Blue Zones. This is where people live the longest and they were investigating what traits they all have in common. The only blue zone in the US is in Loma Linda, CA and lo and behold the biggest common denominator there is they are all practicing Seventh Day Adventists. They went on to talk about how the Adventists eat a vegetarian diet and how that is a big factor as well in their longevity. We were floored. We had just been delving into a vegetarian diet. We are both very big believers that signs appear in life to help guide you on your path and we were convinced that this was a sign. As odd of one as it was, it just seemed to be right. So my hubby got up, grabbed a telephone book and found the nearest SDA church. We attended a few days later.

The SDA church was a complete 180 from the Catholic church we had tried to attend in our area. At the Catholic one, nobody wanted anything to do with the newcomers. We just got blank, intruding stares. We tried to introduce ourselves and we got a quick "hello" as they continued on. At the SDA church, the door was opened for us before we even got to it, with a gentleman boasting a big smile and warm "Hello". There were only about 8-10 people there and they were all so excited to meet us and get to know us. There was a fellowship dinner afterwards which consisted of health-conscious vegetarian dishes which were super scrumptuous. We felt like we had found our niche. We continued to go and requested to partake in some Bible studies to learn more about their religion. Their religion focused entirely on the Bible and we got a big kick out of that. How could they be wrong when they have us open our Bibles and read the verses during mass while they read it out loud?

The Bible studies took months. They continued, in fact, until after Bean was delivered. During that time, we learned a lot about their religion, but we were tired. We were tired of the rigidity of it, the expectations, the pressure. There were a lot of things that felt suffocating to us; keeping Sabbath (which included things like not fueling up or harvesting your garden...i.e. any work whatsoever), wearing no jewelry, restrictions on listening to music/watching movies, etc. It started to seem quite...crazy. A bit radical. But we like crazy and we like radical. We quite enjoy being different from the mainstream. So we kept investigating. We even gave it a whirl. I took out my nose piercing and all jewelry except my wedding ring. We studied the Bible, attended church, and kept sabbath. But it just seemed like we were going through the motions rather than doing it because we wanted to. It seemed like we were fulfilling expectations and there's nothing more that we hate in life than to fulfill expectations.

Then came the fateful day of the last Bible study. We had just finished going over the study, when the pastor looked at us from across our kitchen table and began to talk to us about baptism. In order to become members of the church, we needed to be baptized. In order to be baptized, we needed to sign this paper stating that we agreed to the above listed beliefs of the SDA church. It all felt a bit awkward, not to mention hurried. We expressed our hesitancy and more pressure was applied. Then we really started to feel like something was wrong. We informed him that we would get back to him within the next few days as we thought it over. My hubby felt that something was off in this situation and he was suspicious. This also raised my suspicions. We informed the pastor that we had some disagreements with the beliefs and he challenged us on it. This was a frustrating time for us, as here we were dealing with a man who had gone to college specifically for this type of stuff and he would hold up the Bible and say "Prove it to me". My biggest disagreement was with jewelry-wearing and most specifically about my wedding ring. When I brought it up, I was read Bible passages that were supposedly supporting his claim of "the truth" on this subject. It frustrated me to no end. The pastor even brought in his wife and together they read verse after verse to me to try and prove their points. My hubby had grievances in regards to tithes and was answered in the same manner. Ultimately we began to question the authority of the Bible itself. When this book is written by man who is prone to error, how can we be 100% sure of its accuracy? This was the deal breaker for us. The Bible is the whole premise for the SDA church and if we doubt the Bible, then the SDA church has no grounds to stand upon. So we left.

Since then, I have been working on trying to free myself from the last shreds of guilt that the SDA religion had born upon me. Everything from what I did on Sabbath, to what I wore, to how I spoke on Sabbath, to what I ate was racking my brain from guilt. I just never felt good enough. During one specificly heated Bible study, I ended up in tears because I felt so guilty about how I dressed and what jewelry I wore. I now believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with that. I feel that God is going to love me no matter what mistakes I make, what I wear, how I act, etc because God loves everybody.

My hubby and I are still searching. I think we have come to the conclusion that there is not going to be any one organized religion in particular that we are going to agree with 100%. Thus, our beliefs will probably end up being a mix of a lot of them. And that's okay. As long as we have a strong love and belief for God, I think we are going to be just fine. We believe in the golden rule and we have a very strong belief in respect for nature. The rest we are still figuring out and again- that's okay.

As for anybody reading this who is in a similar position, remember- keep your focus on God and it will all be okay.

How quickly they grow...

My little guy likes to wake up early now. He's not supposed to do that, as morning is supposed to be mama's time to herself. Her date time with her coffee. But whatcha gonna do, right?

He's got three teeth in on the bottom already and two that are just sprouting from the top. Yesterday I saw the moment when one broke through. He was crying pretty hard. Made my little heart crack.

He seems very interested in musical stuff, which excites me. He loves going over to my guitar and plucking on the strings. I sat with him for a while this morning as he strummed away and he was actually very gentle about it. He also loves his xylophone toy and plastic bowls with a wooden spoon to bang on them all. What kid doesn't love the plastic bowl drumset exclusive of babyhood?

His hair is getting long now. It curls up around his ears which amuses me greatly. It's hilarious when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap- it looks different every time. I should get some photos of the unique styles up sometime.

He is also getting more brave. As you can see in the photo, he prefers to ride his bike Evel Knievel style.

Speaking of the little man, I had better get going. Another poopy diaper. How many is normal in a day??!? Seriously!!!

Live simply

Live simply, so that others may simply live
-Gandhi

I think I first heard this quote on the movie Gandhi and then again on Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. It is a good reminder of the more important things in life.

I used to be the type of person (high school and first few years of college) who always wanted to shop. I had to wear brand name clothes, be up to date on everything from technology to music. I blame public schooling for this. What a vile environment for youth to grow up in. It is the perfect breeding ground for what "the man" wants you to turn into. You are a pawn in their game. You are told that the only dream you should have is the "American Dream". Well, to quote George Carlin "It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

On a semi-side note, here's a tasty little morsel for your brain- George Carlin rant *Warning- adult language*

Now back to this "American Dream" conspiracy, as I like to call it. We are told in high school that the only way to get ahead in life is to go to college and get a degree. So, you do just that. You spend 4 or more precious years of your life studying hard, hurtling yourself down the slippery slope of debt and come out of the tube on the other end, weighted down with thousands of dollars of money to pay back and the real world smacking you in your face. Now you are in a sea of people who all also have college degrees and you're all scratching your head going "Well now what- who's going to hire me now?" Now I have lots to say about this topic here. To begin with, I am not bucking college completely. I feel that college is a great experience for anybody to go through. But it's just that- an experience. It's a way to expand your mind and be exposed to many different things you may not have been exposed to. For example, I left a tiny, tiny little town and went to Michigan State University, which is known for it's large campus. Campus was so big that I had to take a bus route to get to the other side of campus for class. My hometown didn't even have a stoplight in it. As I walked the halls of my dorm, I heard more languages being spoken than I even knew existed. It was just an incredible atmosphere. But after two years, I felt I had had my fill and I moved to a smaller college back in the UP and spent my time living my life the way I had felt was true to myself.

Now that I'm graduated, I have over $20,000 of debt in a field of study that I wish I would've changed. I majored in Criminal Justice, minored in Psychology. I started out in this field, very excited and ambitious, but I had dreams of working in my hometown, where help in this area was needed. By the time I had graduated I had lost my desired to want to work in the field anymore as all the officers and other professionals I had interviewed or worked with seemed to hate their jobs. High stress, low pay, poor treatment. I also didn't agree with the types of laws they are required to enforce. Last but not least, there wasn't going to be a job opening for my type of field anywhere up here for years.

Luckily, I got married while in college and then got pregnant and found my new passion: being a stay at home wife/mother. Talk about fulfillment in life.

At first, I looked back on my college degree with regret. Especially when I see those bills in the mail for my loans, but I'm trying to teach myself not to have any regrets about my past. Thus, it was my college experience, not just a degree.

But back to this American Dream thing. All these people graduate college and have to find a good job to pay back their debt. They also have to have a place to live in and a car to get to work with. Buy, buy, buy = more debt, debt debt. Now you're further in debt. It'll take years for you to be able to pay it off. By then you'll probably have bought other things; a boat, a different car, more stuff, stuff, stuff. What a cycle! It's evil!
Tasty morsel #2: The Story of Stuff

Does this sound in line with the quote I posted at the beginning of this post? Certainly not! Is it really necessary to own all those movies? That many outfits? All those knick knacks? When you start looking around your house, think about what each item means to you. Does it have a real meaning? Or is it just there...to be there? To "decorate" your house? Why not try decorating with more natural things like flowers? Or try decorating with less. Sometimes clear space is more nourishing for the soul than a "decorative" knick knack.

I've begun purging my house of all the unnecessary things and it has been incredibly refreshing. We now have so much more space and it is such a freeing feeling. I have gone through our bookshelves, our closets, our cupboards and Bean's toys and gotten rid of a lot of stuff. A lot of it goes to people who have a need for it. I post it on a great website, called Freecycle and if somebody can use it, they come and pick it up. I just had a lady pick up two big bags full of extra dishes, glasses, bowls, etc from my kitchen that I didn't need. Now putting away my dishes is less annoying. And the best part was that her eyes were wide open in complete amazement that I would be giving them away. How rewarding!

I purged my closets of a lot of clothing. I took out the clothes that I don't absolutely love or ones that don't make me feel particularly cute. Not only do I have more space in my closet now, but it's a lot easier to get dressed since there's less to choose from and it's all just things that I love.
Don't ask me about my shoes though. That still a work in progress. I have a shoe obsession. In all fairness I did get rid of three pairs though...I know that made my hubby happy, considering my shoe rack takes up about half of the closet. Ack!

Toys are becoming an annoyance for me. I know every parent goes nuts from the amount of toys their children has, but why do we keep the cycle going? There's always the joke that the best toy is the box that it came in. But it's not just a joke, it's the truth and we all know it. My hubby and I restrained ourselves this past Christmas and we bought Bean three things. We knew he was going to get spoiled by the rest of the family and there was nothing we could do about that. But we controlled what we could. Not only did we save money, but he doesn't have as many toys to overwhelm himself with. I encourage all parents to reduce the amount of toys they buy their children. Try to find something else to replace gift giving. I hope that over the years we can move more towards Christmas being a time of goodwill towards others and less emphasis on getting toys. I hope that we can also do something similar for his birthdays. I don't want him to ever be the type of child who asks people what they got him for his birthday or Christmas. I also don't ever want him to be greedy or ungrateful.
I'd still like to reduce the amount of toys he has. The toys still take over the living room and his bedroom. The worst part is that he still ignores a large percentage of them. He enjoys playing with my mixing bowls and a wooden spoon, playing drums in the kitchen. Or pulling the books down off of the bookshelf. Anything but his actual toys. And this makes me very happy. Now I can give these toys to a child who may use and enjoy them more than mine does.

On a last note, keep in mind that the less things you own, the less care you have to provide for them. Now this is true for everything- not just motors and stuff. Knick knacks too. You have to move all this stuff around when you clean, you have to dust it, keep it from getting broken, keep up the engines, etc, etc, etc! That makes me exhausted just thinking about it! Get rid of the unnecessary and devote that extra time to something that makes you truly happy, like crafting or exercising or being kissy face with your significant other. It's liberating.

So remember everyone, things are not what makes the world go 'round. Don't fall into the trap of the American Dream. There are other, more fulfilling things to do with your time and energy. Good luck!

Ummm. Items of discourse

Okay, I don't even know how to organize all of these thoughts in my head. I want to write about them all, so perhaps I will just lump them all into this one post. Prepare yourselves!

Yesterday was like the cream of the crop- weather wise. Absolutely beautiful day. So beautiful, in fact, that I whipped out a pair of capris and flip flops. YES flip flops in MARCH. In the UP! That's like unheard of. My hubby, baby, and I took a looonnnnng walk to soak up as many of the suns rays as we could. During our walk, we talked a lot about summertime and what our expectations were going to be. Our chat quickly turned serious after I voiced some of my concerns about drinking during the summer. I tend to associate the two and I have a hard time staying sober because of it. I'd really, really, really like to stay sober this summer. I think it will be the first time in....too long that I have been. I have a child who needs me, relies on me to care for him. How can I do that when I'm shotgunning beers around a bonfire?

If it weren't for my hubby-man, I wouldn't be back in high spirits. He has a knack for solving all my problems and he did it again yesterday. He encouraged me to get in the correct mindframe for the summer and to plan on abstaining. My goal for helping to avoid temptations is to focus on my health. I've really been doing that a lot over the past two years or so, as we first transitioned to a vegetarian diet, then added in a lot more exercising, and now we've been eating a more vegan-based diet. I've even been learning a bit about a raw food diet. I tried it for a bit, but my stomach just was not handling it quite so well. Perhaps someday in the future I will attempt that again. But anyways, I hope to focus my attention on getting our bodies in tip-top shape. Be the healthiest we have ever been. If I focus a lot of health, how could I possibly want to drink to destroy any progress we've made?

The other week, Bean (my son...that's his nickname, not his real name) had a checkup and had to get some bloodwork done, which came back saying he had an abnormal level of smudge cells. So more testing had to get done and we spent a few more days worrying about it. I should find out more today, but the nurse was saying something about it possibly being anemia. This is incredibly disappointing to me. Anemia is something I have battled since high school. I couldn't stay awake during my fifth hour chemistry class- ever. But that was because I ate a very poor diet. I half starved myself sometimes as a small bag of Doritos chips for lunch is just not adequate for anybody. When I became vegetarian I knew that was something I was going to have to work on and I tried, but sometimes I wouldn't pay attention too much on what kind of meals I was making and after a few days of that, my iron stores were down again. Now that we're vegan, it's still hard. I know all the plant foods that are high in iron and I try to incorporate them as much as possible. I take a prenatal, which has a higher level of iron and other goodies, but it doesn't seem to do ANYTHING. I was browsing a fav. blog of mine- Walk Slowly, Live Wildly and she recommended a prenatal that absorbs well and is chock full of good stuff. Soooo I ordered it and hopefully it's as great as she said! She also suggested a test to do with your vitamin to see if it's readily absorbed by your body. Put your vitamin in apple cider vinegar for 45 and see if it dissolves. Mine had just gotten the nasty artificially colored coating off of it. Lame.
Anyways, I feel like I've been dragging butt again. About 1:00 on the dot, I have to lay down and take a nap. I can't get through my afternoons anymore and I'm suspicious of anemia again. If I have anemia, it's pretty likely that Beaners is getting it then too. How awful. I feel like a horrible mother.

According to some of my research, vegans/vegetarians are no less likely to get anemia than meat eaters. Which is surprising. As long as they follow a varied, healthy diet, they should have no problem. I think I have a few things against me in this regard though. For one, I am nursing, so a lot of my iron goes to Bean. Two, I haven't had high iron stores since goodness knows when. And when I gave birth and for the weeks afterwards, it was very low. So low that whenever I stood up, no matter how slowly, I would get dizzy. Also, we just took a completely random road trip to New Orleans that lasted about a week or so and during which we weren't the healthiest of eaters. So perhaps that screwed me over. Who knows! Regardless, I've gotta get it up! And for all you vegans, vegetarians, or meat eaters out there- make sure you keep your iron levels up. Otherwise you feel like poo. Very, very sleepy poo.

I forgot some of my other topics and I don't like cramming them all into one post anyways. Cheers for now!

Agave-Sweetened Carrot Muffins

YUM! I just made these this morning. It's a recipe I got from a Country Living magazine and I have modified it slightly.

Makes: 16 muffins, working time: 15 mins, total time: 40 mins

2 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
4 carrots
**2 eggs (I modify this to a vegan version, see below)
1/3 brown sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 c agave syrup (I use a little less sometimes)
*1/3 c olive oil (I like to use applesauce instead)

Heat oven to 375, line 16 standard-size muffin pan cups with baking papers and set aside. *(Please note that if you are using appleasauce, it's better to forgo the liners and just grease your pan) Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt in large mixing bowl. Finely grate the carrots and stir together with remaining ingredients. Stir the carrot mix into flour mix. Divide batter evenly between cups and bake til a skewer inserted in muffin center comes out clean, about 25 mins. Immediately remove muffins and cool on a wire rack.

**So, to replace your eggs in a recipe, you have two options. You can use ground flaxseed or you can make a flax gel egg replacer.

1 T ground flaxseed + 3 T water = 1 egg
or
2 c water with 2-4 T whole flaxseed- combine this in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat once it boils. You can strain the flaxseed out if you just want gel or you can leave it in for added nutrition (good for cookies, breads, etc where you won't notice it) 1/4 c = 1 egg

And so it begins!

Greetings! I have officially begun my journey in the blogging world. What awaits me, nobody knows, but I hope that it is a prime opportunity for me to grow as a person.

So allow me to introduce myself...

I am a breastfeeding, stay at home mom of one little boy. I am married to THE most wonderful man on this planet :) I love seeing how frugal I can live, but I also like being frivolous when the mood strikes. I change my mind quickly and I have to be in something 100% or else it doesn't feel like it's going to happen. I live in my head most of the time and I am one of the biggest worry warts you will ever meet. I have a very addictive personality and struggle sometimes with being alcohol free. I have a desire to learn too many skills and thus end up with a capability in most, but not able to excel in most due to my wide spread interest. A good example of this would be musical instruments. In the past 6 years I have picked up guitar, saxophone, drums, harmonica, violin, piano, and now I'm thinking about picking up bass guitar. The only instrument I truly excel in is flute, which I played since childhood.

As far as this blog goes, I'm not quite sure what direction it will take. I have many ideas, so I think I will just let it evolve into it's own creature. Some things you can expect include recipes, health discussions, tips on living green/natural living, parenting, homesteading, thoughts on life, etc.

WARNING: My brain moves fast and as fast as ideas come, they will go. Luckily my husband is the same way. We have an ongoing joke that our plans can be destroyed by the slightest breeze. We will be gung ho about doing something one minute and we will call everyone we know and tell them all about it, then change our minds the next day. So don't be surprised if I claim that I'm going to become a deep sea diver one post, then that I want to be a horse jockey the next. I even have a hard time keeping up.

Oh...and I think I have an obsession with commas. You, were, warned.