A Peek into...the kitchen table.

We have an eat-in kitchen.  Since, it has a washable floor, that is where I make Science happen. Well, I don't make it. But, I do allow science things to happen in there.



One kid had stuffed piled up that was non-messy.  Messy stuff was on the uncovered side.  Not sure if that would have helped in case of a spill.  If you click over to flickr you can see notes and stuff.

Boy vs Food

DSC08620
Originally uploaded by OakBlossoms

One of his favorite shows this summer is Man vs Food. He has taken to asking us for challenges. We all need a hero right? For a number of years, he has been set on owning his own pizzeria when he is an adult. So, I shouldn't be surprised.

Plastic shampoo

I really have been looking more at the plastic we use.

Shampoo does come in plastic bottles. It's just one of those things you know.

I guess you could buy a big bulk container of shampoo. I have to use more expensive shampoos because my scalp (heck all of my skin) is really sensitive. I'm on vacation and the store here has big plastic containers of shampoo and you just pump what you want into a small reuseable bottle. But, I bet your local store or a salon store could get you those large bottles. The fill your own is cool though isn't it?

I know I use way less shampoo and NO conditioner since I cut all my hair off, but I realize a lot of women are not comfortable with that.

I did buy applesauce in a glass container instead of plastic this week. I would say it's probably more enviromentally friendly to just buy the apples. Speaking of which I hate those dumb little stickers they put on the apples, but I'm not so sure I like the tattoothing they are coming up with now.

How to buy Green Groceries, Improve your shopping trip, and get a smaller, trimmer you....

So, I cannot promise you will loose weight.

A discussion prompted some thinking about how and why we shop. Here are a few suggestions I came up with. Do you have any suggestions for making a "green" grocery trip.

These are the tips that have allowed me to do the things like buy more organic or a new cloth bag. I have revamped my relationship with food and my shopping cart.

Give yourself a wholesome and good connection to your food so you can make good choices when you eat and shop.

1. Actually eating what we make. If I make soup then we eat it all. Sometimes I even freeze a portion or two before I serve it. I like mason jars for that.

2. Have a leftover day to do the above. Do this the day before you plan to shop if you shop once a week. Clean out the whole fridge, too. Take everything out and scrub it up a bit. Reshelf all your goodies. Freeze anything you don't think you will eat. Chop up that half of onion in the bottom bin and freeze it. You will feel better about what you have and you might get inspired, so you don't get wasteful at the store.

3. If you can buy from bulk bins than only buy what you need. If you need 1 cup of flour or only one meals worth of falafel than buy just that.

4. Make a menu or a list of meals and snacks family members want this week. If I'm craving something I will often stick it on the grocery list. If I want homemade pizza I'll put it on the list. When I get ready to go to the store I can just write down the ingredients we need.

Stupid things the Potato Board says...

Oh yes...they really said this about the wonderful potato. You can read it for yourself. The list all the wonderful valuable things about eating a potato and then they dive into this beautiful and very likely highly paid for bit of information.

So think of a potato as a big vitamin pill you can top with butter, cheddar, chives, sour cream, bacon, black beans, cheesy chicken...

You can add those tasty toppings to your potato because it contains no fat or cholesterol and minimal sodium.

If you are reading this than you know I am a big supporter of a Plant Based Diet. Evan (the husband) and I were just talking about potassium. So, we thought we would google for foods that have more potassium than a banana because everyone moms says to eat bananas right.

Uhmmmmm.....if cholesterol is bad for you and the potato has none than does that really give you permission to add some to the top?

Veganism

Mollie started my obsession with these little videos. I look up Vegan and found these:

Steven the Vegan I just want to note, yesterday in my Photography class we were discussing going out to eat after our final class and someone mentioned a steak house. "I'm a vegetarian."

"They have a salad bar!"
"Do you eat seafood?"

Dead animal=Had a face, Had a mom

Crab=?
fish=?
shellfish=?

Why are there still people who call themselves vegetarians and eat fish? I don't care if you want to eat plants, but you can't say that's all you eat and then eat fish.

Another video Making Vegan Pizza

This one made my sons really laugh. It's a bit Pythonish ya know. If you let kids watch it you might want to pull the screen over to hide the tags on the right hand side. Vegan Pig

Who doesn't like Sarah Kramer...remember that Sara Lee jingle