How Eco-Friendly is Bamboo? Sometimes it's Not as 'Friendly' as You Think...

Oh Bamboo! There is much ado about you....

Sing with me here people!  

Sorry for the totally lame attempt at a rhyme, I couldn't help myself! ;o)

But really, bamboo is everywhere these days and it's touted as one of the most uber eco-friendly options out there when it comes to fabric, flooring and more. I've bought the odd item made from bamboo thinking that my choice was a more environmentally responsible one. Most times I was probably being grossly misled and if that was the case, I was definitely overcharged. Greenwashed if you will (which drives me nutty - I hate companies that greenwash! Grrr...)

What has me on this rant against bamboo? Well, it started with a conversation I was having with my cousin - a fellow granola girl (and a definite soul sister for sure - I'm sure we were twins in a past life or something, but that is for an entirely different post... :Þ). As I mentioned last week, we bought a lovely old farmhouse on 10 acres and before we move in next month we want to fix up and refinish as much as we can. 

There is original hardwood on the main level which of course we will restore, but I am looking for other flooring options for the basement and the top floor. We're on a ridiculously tight budget and we want to make sure we are making choices that fit our budget and that we aren't getting greenwashed (ie being misled/tricked into buying something that appears to be environmentally responsible when in fact it isn't). One of the ideas I had in mind for flooring to look into was bamboo. All I've read and heard about is how eco friendly, sustainable, renewable, and wonderful it is for the environment and how it is a much better choice than say, chopping down trees.

It was my enlightened cousin (hi K! ♥) who told me to wait and do a bit more research into bamboo, especially for floors. She explained that when she was having to choose new flooring for her home she looked into bamboo too and found that a lot of the bamboo options on the market aren't nearly as eco friendly as they are touted to be.  

Meal Planning Monday: 05.09.2011 - 11.09.2011

Welcome back to Meal Planning Monday!  After taking the summer off and completely 'winging it' with meals, I am so happy to be back to making meal plans and grocery lists - and saving money!  :P

I've found a few terrific recipe sites over the summer and this week's meal plan is entirely from  Skinny Taste.  The site is great because it showcases fresh and tasty food all the while listing all of the nutritional information, including Weight Watchers point values.

I think you'll really like what I've chosen this week:

Vegetarian
Easiest Pasta and Broccoli with salad

Beef
Mom's Beef Stroganoff over rice with a hearty helping of asparagus

Photo Credit

Vegetarian
Arroz Congri - Cuban Style Black Beans spooned over rice with a side of tossed salad with vinaigrette

Chicken
Chicken Parmigiana Burgers with vegetables and dip


Vegetarian
Carmelized Onion, Red Pepper, and Zucchini Frittata with a big spinach salad

Photo Credit

Pork
Slow Cooked Pernil (Puerto Rican Pork) with whole wheat rolls and peas fresh from my mother-in-law's garden

Love to hear what will be on your plates this week.  And if you have a favorite food website you think I should check out, let me know in the comments!

Whoosh! And There Goes Summer...

Omigosh it is almost September! What the heck?! It feels like I just posted yesterday and yet it has been well over a month already. Where does the time go?

So, did y'all think Heather and I fell of the face of the earth and forgot you? Ha! Not a chance! We love our little blog and writing about "this, that and everything in between" and we are super excited to get back at the keyboard in the next couple of weeks.

So, how is everyone? How was your summer? Anything new and exciting? Do tell!

I have to gush that I am absolutely fabulous! :D

We bought an acreage this summer that we take possession of on September 2nd and I am up to my eyeballs in the beautiful mess that comes with packing up a house and family of 5. It's quite the story of how it all came together (can we say "divine intervention"?!) and we're really looking forward to creating our own modern homestead, becoming self sufficient and living off our land as much as we possibly can. As 'crunchy' as I am, I also have to humbly admit I'm a total city slicker having grown up in Vancouver and Calgary - so you can be sure that you will get your fill of humorous stories detailing the ins and outs of all of us trying to adapt to a rural lifestyle! :Þ

The kids are excited to build chicken coops and get their chickens and I can't wait for the eggs our sweet little heritage hens will provide. At the same time I realize too, since we have a dream of doing a little bit of free range farming to raise our own meat and eggs, that I am actually going to have to learn to get over my um, fear of chickens and farm animals and well, pick.one.up. I've never picked up a chicken before, let alone raised a flock (is that what they are even called? I don't even know for sure what a group of hens is called...I need "Raising Free Range Chickens For Dummies"...)

We (as a family and as a society) are so used to buying what we need, be it organic, free range and everything in between, that we are quite clueless and totally dependant on others for one of the necessities of life (food in case you are wondering what I am getting at here) and I think it is quite sad, really. Scary even. I can't wait to learn with my children about how to grow and make our own food, raise our own animals and not be so dependant on everyone else for our survival.

Most of all I am looking forward to the quiet, the space, the freedom the kids will have to run, play and learn hands on and to sound cliche, just get away from it all. It will be a wonderful learning experience for the entire family and something my husband and I have been dreaming about for years!

Well, that is my little recap of the summer! We had some great road trips, visited with our friends and family, I got my Level 2 Reiki and we bought our first home and acreage - to say it has been a wonderful summer would be an understatement. ♥

Heather and I will be back into the blogging swing of things again next week after the Labour Day long weekend. We have some great ideas swimming around in our heads that we are twitching to write about and even better, we have some fabulous give aways coming up for the next few months!

Be sure to stay tuned!

With love and light always,

 

Summer Water Safety: What Drowning Really Looks Like

Along with thousands and thousands of other families, we are happy to have a pool in our back yard.  Pools range from kiddie pools to large, in-ground pools.  Ours is about 3 feet deep and 16 feet across - fun for the whole family!

We have pretty strict rules about pool use - the kids know they are not allowed to even touch the pool when we're not outside with them.  We keep a solar cover on the pool so the water doesn't tempt them prematurely.  We remove the ladder from the pool unless we are actually using the pool.  We keep it about 25 feet away from the pool and the kids can't carry it - it's too heavy.   So we're safe, right?  Our kids are safe, right?

But what if I slip inside to make a snack?  Or go pee?  What if I'm on the deck browsing through a magazine and can finally read to the end of the article - I look up every few minutes - the  kids are perfectly safe - and besides, if they were struggling, I would hear it - they'd be yelling and splashing all over - I could go running from wherever I was.  Right?

WRONG!

I'll say it again - not only would I not be right, I would be totally and completely wrong - to the point that it could be too late.  And to be crystal clear about what 'too late' means, it means that a child could have drown while I was finishing the article, making a snack, or in the washroom.  They could have slipped silently to their death in as little as 20 seconds while I was 20 feet away.

How is this even possible?  It's entirely possible because we rely too heavily on movies and TV to show us how real life happens.  Most of us assume that drowning is a loud, splashy event that alerts people from all over, who will all come running.  In fact, quite the opposite happens.



Take a look at these statistics - I hope they will shock you into better supervision while your little ones are in the water:

A swimming pool is 14 times more likely than a motor vehicle to be involved in the death of a child age 4 and under. Orange County California Fire Authority

Drownings are the leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 4, and three children die every day as a result of drowning.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[O]f the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).  www.mariovittone.com

If drowning is not yelling for help and splashing frantically, what exactly does it look like?  I have found a great list of things to watch for at Mario Vittone:

1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

(Taken directly from Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning.)

Please take a few minutes today to look through the links I've put in this post - there aren't very many, so it won't take a great deal of your time to read through them - they could save a child's life.

If you can forward or share only one item with your friends today, please make it this post - share the information - the list of what drowning really looks like can truly save a life.  Go to our Facebook Page to 'Share' this post with your friends.


 

Super Yummy Power Muffins That the Kids Will *LOVE*!

I stumbled across this muffin recipe the other day in a desperate attempt to keep my 3 year old (well, almost 4 but I don't want to go there yet *sniff*) entertained while his sister was off to her friends house up the street (a place where he isn't usually invited because, well, what two nine year old girls want to hang out with a 3 year old boy? None. :P )

I looked in the pantry and I had some oatmeal, some flax seeds and a few other things. I wasn't sure if it would be enough to make anything decent but it was worth a try even if it was just to keep Noah happy for a bit! 

After searching on Google for a few minutes I found a wonderful website called "Oh She Glows" and it is full of fabulously healthy recipes, including my new favourite "Flax and Oat Breakfast Power Muffins"! 

Noah and I whipped up a batch in no time at all and they were delicious, super healthy and even better, they were also very kid friendly to make. The family, (especially my picky, picky eater Matty, who is 7), has been asking for more every day. Wooohooo! They could eat these all day and night and I would be thrilled! I'm realizing I need to take an afternoon and make a bunch of them and then just keep them in the freezer.

So here is my fvourite treehugging recipe for the week...they don't call me Crunchy Canadian for nothin'. ;o)

Flax and Oat Breakfast Power Muffins

Recipe and photo courtesy of Angela Liddon, owner of Glo Bakery and OhSheGlows.com

Prep Time: 15 min   ~  Cook Time: 20 min   ~ 

Total Time: 35 min  ~  Yield: 6 power muffins

Ingredients

• 1 ripened banana
• 2 tsp. Olive Oil
• 1 organic brown egg
• 1/4 cup non-packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup freshly grounded flax seed
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease 6 muffin tins.
2. Mash banana into a medium sized bowl.
3. Beat in oil, egg, and brown sugar.
4. Grind 1/2 cup flax in a blender for a couple min.
5. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (Oats, ground flax, whole wheat flour, baking soda).
6. Add dry ingredients into wet and stir. Do not over mix.
7. Add nuts or dark chocolate chips if preferred.
8. Spoon into muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 min.

(**Note from Laila: Noah insisted on adding some vanilla and cinnamon in for fun. Oh and we also doubled the recipe and everything turned out great. It seems to be an easy recipe to play around with! ♥)

 

Nutritional Profile (per muffin):

 

200 calories

9 grams of healthy fats (from flax and olive oil!)

6 grams fibre

6.5 grams of protein

 

I hope you are all having a great week so far!

 

With love and light ♥,

 

Fantastic and Safer Alternatives to Bug Sprays Loaded With DEET!

I hate mosquitoes. However, I hate DEET even more. Something about spraying myself and the kids down with DEET every time we step outside the house, to avoid the nasty little blood suckers that seem to be waiting for us, just doesn't sit right with me ya know?

So I've been on this search to find something that is safter and more natural that actually works. Over the years I think I have tried everything I could get my hands on. I don't know about you, but sprays made from citronella and/or cat nip just don't cut it for our family and no matter how much or how often we applied them we still were a walking buffet for the mosquitoes in our neighborhood.

Last month however, I happened to notice a conversation going on on a Yahoo group that I'm a member of and they were all talking about a certain blend of essential oils that apparently were working like a charm. Could it be? A natural alternative to DEET that really, really works?! I was definitely intrigued and I'll admit a little skeptical at the same time.

Later I happened to be our local Community Natural Foods here in Calgary and I stumbled across a book called The Fragrant Pharmacy - A Complete Guide to Aromatherapy and Essential Oils by Valerie Ann Worwood. In there was a section on insect repellents using just a few easy to find essential oils. I grabbed the book and bought the extra oils I needed, excited to get home and mix up this lovely little concoction and put it to the test. The mosquitoes are awful around here and some days a heavy duty DEET based spray doesn't even work. If this blend of essential oils actually worked, I would be totally impressed.

I wasn't sure how to apply the bug repellent that would be easy so I decided to mix it up into a small mason jar with my Green Beaver Sunscreen (which totally rocks btw, I LOVE this sunscreen!) and apply it that way since we are using the sunscreen all the time when we are outside anyway.

You know what? The essential oils work! It really, really worked!

I took the kids to the park and we all had our bug repellent/sunscreen combo on that I had mixed up. We also had a couple of neighbourhood kids tag along and they didn't have any type of bug repellent on. I was sitting there on the grass and noticed that me and my kids weren't getting bitten. The poor neighborhood kids however were being feasted on by all the mosquitoes swarming around. I offered my jar of sunscreen to them explaining it also had a natural 'bug spray' if they wanted to scoop their hands in and put some on, but they weren't interested and seeing that they weren't my kids I obviously couldn't (and would never) force the issue. It was hard watching them get bitten like that though! To say I was impressed with the fact that the kids and I were going home 'bite free' would be an absolute understatement.

It is worth noting that the mosquitoes were landing on all of us, but they weren't biting me and the kids. Not once (and we were at the park on the grass for a good 45 minutes or so). The blend of essential oils as well, didn't keep the mosquitoes from buzzing around us, but I can handle that if I'm not going to get feasted on every 5 seconds or having to coat myself in DEET to try and avoid them.

So,without making you wait any longer, here this lovely little blend I found in The Fragrant Pharmacy by Valerie Ann Worwood. :D

Insect Deterrent Synergistic Blend

From The Fragrant Pharmacy, page 60.

Essential Oils of:

Thyme - 4 drops

Lemongrass - 8 drops

Lavender - 4 drops

Peppermint - 4 drops

That's it! Of course double, triple, quadruple etc as you see fit. But that is the proper ratio according to the book and the ratios that I have been using and having success with so far this summer.

I knew I could mix it up in a good carrier oil (sweet almond oil is my go to favourite), but at the same time I didn't want to smother my children in oil during the hot summer days and inadvertently roast them to a crisp in my attempts to keep the bugs away. I didn't have a small enough spray bottle handy to spray it on them sooooooo, I settled on squeezing my sunscreen into one of my trusty little mason jars and mixing it all up together. :Þ

It's the synergistic effect however that works, not just one oil in particular. Like Valerie says in her book, "By mixing together two or more essential oils you are creating a chemical compound that is different to any of the component parts, and these synergistic blends are very particular and powerful." 

Another apparently fabulous safe and natural mosquito repellant is The Insect Defend Patch. It's a transdermal patch that contains 75mgs of vitamin B1. I haven't had a chance to try it simply because I haven't been able to find it anywhere, it's all sold out!

For this great little find I have to thank my friend Nadine who posted about it on Facebook! She lives in an area that has had to deal with ridiculous mosquito populations this summer and it's been soooooo bad that people are staying inside, even on beautiful sunny days. When school was finishing up in June the schools had to keep the kids in during lunch and recess and people have been commenting that any and every bug spray isn't working at all. Nadine happened to mention that her girls wore the Insect Defend Patch patch to day camp and didn't get one single bite, which is absolutey astounding considering the mosquito problems they have been having this year!

We, as a culture, have this complacent way of thinking and believing that if it is on a store shelf it must be safe and that just isn't true. Sunscreens can contain toxic ingredients, bug sprays contain toxic ingredients and what happens every summer is that we coat our skin, one of the most absorbable organs we have, in carcinogenic creams and sprays in our efforts to stay healthy. Rather ironic isn't it?

Now, if you are travelling or live in places where you are at risk of contracting malaria, Lyme Disease and other serious diseases carried by mosquitoes, ticks etc then you need to weigh the pros and cons obviously. But here where I live, running around the park shouldn't require massive amounts of chemicals when there are safer and natural alternatives that actually work. Like anything in life, do your research and make informed decisions. :o)

Click here to read more about the dangers of most sunscreen ingredients and to find a list of safer alternatives. Also, be sure to read about DEET and the long term impacts it can have. DEET has it's place, but it is not something to be taken or used lightly.

There are safer alternatives out there, you just have to look for them. Yes sometimes they cost a little more but sometimes spending the extra few dollars if you can afford to, is worth it in the long run.

Do you have a natural alternative to a commonly used product that is safer and actually works? Let us know!

Better and better ♥,

 

In Search of That Elusive 'Perfect Mother'...

I have to confess, I'm having a week. You know, one of  *those* weeks. Apparently, I'm told, we all have them. I'm tired. I'm cranky. My nerves are raw and some moments I have found myself up in my bathroom crying quietly to myself, where no one can see or hear me. It's a nice release sometimes to be able to do that I find.

I feel like there are all these expectations piled on me that I just can't meet, like what I am doing (or not doing) and who I am just isn't good enough.

So who is this 'Perfect Mother' I hear about all the time? Does she really exist? You know who she is right? Perfect Mother is usually found online, although sometimes, very rarely, you'll catch a glimpse of her in real life.

She is the one with the perfect children who never fight and if they do all problems are solved perfectly by absolute gentle discipline standards all the time. Perfect Mother never yells or raises her voice and her children always listen to her - not because they have to, but because they live in such a perfect democratically respectful household that they want to. She's doesn't need any form of western medicine because herbs and homeopathics cure all her family's problems, all the time without fail. Always.

Who is this woman out there who has a perfectly clean and organized house and happy perfect neuro-typical kids and homeschools so well her perfect children are 2 grades ahead and gifted beyond Einstein? This in addition to homebirthing and breastfeeding until the politically correct age of 2.5 years, babywears, follows elimination communication because she is totally beyond cloth diapers, has the perfect marriage, perfect house, perfect fridge and pantry nicely stocked with only organic foods from which she is able to make perfect nutritious meals and snacks from scratch all the time? Oh and this perfect mama also finds time for a run everyday, is in fabulous shape and is oh so happy all time. Perfect Mother is the perfect human. The perfect wife and well, perfect everything.

Just a heads up 'Perfect Mother' doesn't live here. Neither do 'Perfect Children'.

Now you'll have to excuse me while I sign off so I can feed my kids a smoothie, a sandwich or a bowl of cereal for supper, because like I said, it's been one of those weeks.

(trying to be) Better and better,