Saturday, December 18, 2010

Monday, October 11, 2010

Camping Trip: Prepared for everything.... except man

This weekend was a 4 day weekend for us so we decided to go on our first camping adventure as a family. We have used a tent before (to stay at a retreat) but we basically just used it for sleeping so I don't really count it as camping. We found out that just 20 minutes from us there is a state park in Iowa called Lake Manawa State Park and you can camp right on the lake. Awesome! Off we went!
It was amazing and gorgeous! We got there Friday and were lucky enough to grab a spot right on the lake with our own tiny beach (very rocky so not good for swimming but great for fishing and relaxing.) Before we went, I bought an e-book: Kitchen Stewardship in the Big Woods: A Family Camping Handbook with Real Food Options and it was filled with really great tips and recipes for preparing your own food and surviving in the wilderness with little ones. Such a great buy! It was less than $5 and well worth it. So let's just say that we were prepared for every eventuality. Friday was great and we spent the day fishing (and learning we are not good at it) and getting our camp ready. The weather was gorgeous and the facilities were very nice. Saturday was spent the same way and we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. The little bug was having a blast and we even saw a baby snapping turtle and other creatures! So cool.
Saturday night we had an event at our church which we decided to attend since we were already committed and only 20 minutes away. And upon returning had a lovely evening with the husband chatting and drinking wine (the bug was asleep in the tent by herself! A feat I thought impossible to accomplish!) In the Family Camping Handbook, Katie Kimball, the author talks briefly about what type of campers your family is and about an hour later we found out what kind we are. Definitely not the "crowded-modern-campground-with-lots-of-party-people". Late Saturday night the campground filled with people who maybe were there to enjoy a little more than nature. Let's just say that someone tried to fight husband when he asked them to turn their music down at midnight. Yikes! But kind of a funny story since the gentlemen in question was well over 70.
So the party didn't stop until 4am and suffice to say, we left Sunday morning instead of staying as planned until Monday. Kind of a bummer as it was beautiful and we didn't get to explore as much of it as we wanted to but we had a great time learning a little bit about ourselves and now know that we are willing to give up a hot shower for a little more solitude. And we now have a better idea of what to pack for the next adventure!
P.S. We also got a little revenge... up at 7am and not quiet at all while packing up. Serves 'em right!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

No Impact Man

How on earth have I never heard of this guy before!? I just watched the documentary about this family and geez-louise- I am the wife!! She cracks me up- in fact- husband and I have had the exact same argument that the Beavans had about coffee. I laughed out loud- it was like verbatim- hilarious.
Also- he totally copied me =)
Check out his website- it's got a lot of great information and watch the documentary if you can. He's a total hippie chick!

Update: I'm a dummy and forgot the link: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/
And the documentary was on watch instantly on netflix.

Monday, August 16, 2010

The lazy vegetarian: Tamale Pie

This recipe is super easy and can easily be doubled making it a great potluck dish. I love those veggie crumbles because they always fool meat eaters when they are in a casserole (or "hotdish" if you're Minnesotan) or stew. I've also made this with 2 cans of black beans and eliminated the crumbles for a 'less-processed' version and it was delicious too. Again, for my Minnesotan friends, this has got a little kick to it but you can substitute regular ol' diced tomatoes for the rotel to help cool things down. enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup of chunky salsa verde
1 (10 ounce) can rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles), drained
1 can (15.5 ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 12 oz package frozen veggie crumbles
1 cup cream-style corn
1 (8 ounce) box Jiffy cornbread mix or 1 (8 ounce) box other sweet cornbread mix
1 can (2.25 ounce) sliced black olives, drained
1 cup shredded cheese, mexican blend

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix the salsa verde, the rotel, black beans, and veggie crumbles in a casserole dish.
3. In a small bowl mix the cornbread mix and the cream corn just until moist and mixed.
4. Spoon the corn mixture into the casserole dish, spreading it evenly over the bean/veggie mix.
5. Sprinkle the top with sliced black olives.
6. Bake for 40-50 minutes. During the last five minutes of cooking add the shredded cheese, and return to oven until cheese is melted.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Homemade Natural Deoderant Video


 
So here it is! My first "how to be a hippy" video... very exciting! Below you will find the recipes I used. Please let me know what you think, maybe I'll get some more videos up (here is the direct link if the video is not working above.) Don't worry- I'm new but I'll get the hang of this!

Pit Goo:

1 part cornstarch
1 part baking soda
1 part coconut oil
A few drops of your favorite essential oil (optional)

Mix together and store in a cool place.

Pit Powder:

1 part cornstarch
1 part baking soda

Apply liberally with a fancy powder puff

Monday, July 19, 2010

Fancy Pants

I recently bought the book Handmade Beginnings: 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby by Anna Marie Horner and I can't say enough about how much I love it! Such cute, simple projects and Anna Marie has introduced me to the world of quilting which is helping (sorta, not really...) with eating up my ever-growing stash of fabric. I made a pair of the quick change trousers for my bug and her BBF (best baby friend) that lives next door. Aren't they adorable!


"Why make something when you can buy it for less?" I get this question a lot and I've never had a really good response. I like making stuff so I do. I tend to cherish things that I've put a lot of work into and it makes me happy! But I recently read a very good article about the ethics of handmade. Why can we buy things for less than it would cost us to make them? Does it make sense that I could purchase a pair of pants for less than half what the materials cost me, before even counting the labor? So I started looking at where things are being manufactured and it makes me so sad!! All these things are made in countries that have lax labor laws including sweatshops and child labor. Boo on that and yay on handmade lovely things I say. Here here!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

High School Reunion

My high school ten year reunion is this year and time for some reflection on where my life is and where I wanted it to be. wow. Who knew that I would end up so incredibly happy with my life now when...
...I live in Omaha.
Nothing against the midwest but during high school in California, I don't think I could have even pointed Nebraska out on a map.
...I'm a stay-at-home-mom.
Yeah- I wanted to be one of those super-sluething journalist types when I was in high school. You know, fighting the good fight, righting wrongs, traveling the world. That cracks me up.
...I married a lawyer!
Who (whom? I never know) I met like the minute I left California and have been with ever since (going on 10 years!!)

Life is so funny- I had a long talk with my high school BFF Jen today and was half covered in snot and chocolate and who knows what. I have a super dirty kitchen right now and haven't brushed my hair today. I'm super pudgy and the most sluethiest thing I've done this year is find all the pieces to the bug's wooden puzzle under the couch. But I've never been happier. who knew that this is the life for me?

Yay for BFF Jen! And for some perspective on my fabulous life, even if no one else thinks so.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Knitting

Hippy chicks knit. They just do. All of my hippy heroes knit (check out Amanda Soule's amazing blog at www.soulemama.com. I want to be her when I grow up!) I should knit. Oh- but I really, really suck at knitting. Erg.
I just don't have the craft stamina for knitting. It takes dedication, and patience. My crafting style is more like "I-need-it-quick-so-I-can-show-off-what-I-just-made" which is why I like sewing. It's more instant-gratification. But I do get a craving to knit at times, especially when it gets cold outside and right now, for whatever reason. I just feel like the bug needs a knitted sweater. Why? I dunno- it's been in the 90s here so of course she needs something made out of wool right this minute right?
So knit I must... I'm thinking of trying this baby pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Does anyone have any other super easy patterns? Or have any other similar knit love/hate stories?

Friday, April 9, 2010

The lazy vegetarian: Indian night

Megan's Lazy Aloo Gobi with Pumpkin Pie Spiced Rice

I never met a spice mix I didn't like. Curry purists will tell you that you should make your own mix but I just buy a big container of premixed curry and use it liberally. A mix may contain cumin, coriander, turmeric, pepper, Ginger, coriander and/or cardamom. If you like one of these spices more than the other (I can't get enough cinnamon in this dish) buy it and add extra to taste.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup curry mix (choose your favorite mix, this might take a little trial and error)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can coconut milk (Light coconut milk can be substituted)
3 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed (you can peel if you'd like but I leave them unpeeled)
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into bite size pieces
3 cups of your favorite rice, cooked
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice mix (sounds weird, but go with me)

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large pot on medium-high heat and add onion. Cook until softened, about 4 minutes, then stir in garlic and curry mix. Continue to cook until onion begins to brown.
2. Stir in tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir until mixture begins to boil, then put in the potatoes and cauliflower. Blend well. Reduce heat to low and cover.
3. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to an hour (this will depend on the size of the potato chunks).
4. Add pumpkin pie spice to the rice and stir. Serve the aloo gobi on top of the rice. enjoy!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

The lazy vegetarian

I am the laziest person when it comes to cooking. If the recipe has more than 5 ingredients or more than 3 steps, I lose interest pretty fast. I also hate when a recipe calls for some ingredient that you are only going to use once for this one dish or worse when a recipe calls for a cup of something that comes in a can. Triple erg. That's why I love Sandra Lee. She always uses a can of this or a box of that. My kind of gal. Problem is she rarely has vegetarian menu options so I've started coming up with my own recipes based on this same philosophy... Maybe call it my lazy vegetarian philosophy.
Also, my super friends Beth and Christina schedule their family meals by week by having a different theme for each day. That way it is easier to plan for the week with minimal stress. For example, Tuesday is taco night. Now, that can be fish tacos, bean tacos, tofu tacos... Whatever. Great idea right? So I'm totally steal in it. Yay!
I'm going to start posting some of these awesome recipes so you all can steal them too and see how lazy I am (and awesome too!) so look forward to that friends!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Airstreaming

So this is going to be a weird post... Husband and I have been batting around the idea of living full-time in an RV for awhile now. It started off as kind of a joke- we just thought the idea of getting rid of all of our furniture and living like nomads for awhile just sounded really awesome and fun. I mean- how great would it be to just take off on friday and go somewhere awesome every weekend. Lovely dream. But also, the average RV is a real earth killer. They aren't built for sustainability at all. Boo. Alright- enter in the amazing airstream!
Apparently there is a whole community of "full-timers" who live in their airstreams. Some of the new airstreams are wired for adding solar panels to the roof and these awesome hippies can just find a spot in the woods and live off of their solar energy- and they do it with internet, cell phones and satellite TV too. How great is that! Some families will buy a used airstream, gut it, and then totally hippify it (although I am nowhere near that skilled). I found one family who use only 9 gallons of water a day when the average household uses over 100. How crazy is that! So we decided to start searching and see if we can find one. I know right! Now whenever husband needs to travel, we can go with him. We'll see what the hunt turns up- but I'm really liking the idea of living like a turtle. Hmmm... more researching needs to be done but if you have any suggestions please share them!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I am a winner!

This is so funny and random but I had to post about it as I don't think I've ever won anything before but I entered a contest that one of my favorite baby clothes stores had on facebook (My Baby Rocks) and I won a super cool organic onesie for my favorite bug! Super day!
Also, it has been in the 70s here for the past few days and I am loving life! Also, I'm thinking of getting a chicken.

yeah, it's been awhile...

I feel like half my posts are me apologizing for being gone for so long. You would hate to live in my head- it is a guilty, guilty place and it is turning this lovely blog into a guilty place so from now on no more pressure but just writing whenever I can. yay!!
Now onto the guilt for my swiffer wet jet... I went to the WalMart the other day (don't look at me like that- we don't have a febric store anywhere near us so I have to go there sometimes for fabric and other crafty related items.) Anyhoodle, I usually just keep my head down to avoid temptation of unnecessary purchases but this particular trip I couldn't avoid the swiffer wet jet that was on sale. Big time hippy fail!!!
Alright, no problem- I have a fix on how to hippify my new mop. Weeee! Apparently, many people on the internets have faced this same conundrum. Here's the sitch (as in situation): 1.) Order some homemade cloth pads from etsy (check them out here) 2.) figure out how to "green" up the cleaning solution and I found a great article here 3.) and last but not least use my awesome rechargeable batteries.
Okay, so I know that I had a giant fail but I think I made up for it a little and that is a giant hippy win! And that is so great because I lurve my wet jet and it would be so sad if I couldn't use it but now I can because it looks so cute with its new homemade pads and little corked bottle filled with white vinegar. Yay!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Hippy Church Day

Headed to church to ask forgiveness for buying a swiffer wet jet.

I love that swiffer wet jet.

Shame on me.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

A Tale of Two Viruses

erg and double erg!! I haven't been able to get online for the last few weeks because we got a terrible virus on our computer which I attempted to fix with all of my techie prowess (which equals none) and ended up erasing too much from the computer. Anyhoodle- we ended up having to get a new computer. Erg.

But the happy ending to this story is that I should be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow- so yay!

Also, the bug caught a "wicked cold" (as her pediatrician so eloquently put it) and I earned a few punches on my mommy card by staying up with her all night and holding her as she could only sleep if she was sitting up. So it has been a couple of crabby weeks here at the house but now everyone is getting back to normal and all is well and I promise to bring lots of hippy goodies to you this coming week =)

Friday, January 8, 2010

Plastic is evil

I'm totally convinced after seeing this episode of The Colbert Report. Captain Moore found a floating island of trash that is twice the size of Texas just floating in the Pacific. Erg. Check it out:

The Colbert Report
Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Charles Moore
www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor
Economy

Yikes! It makes me so sad that we have been so wasteful, but fear not hippies! I have not lost all hope, I'm just more convinced that plastic is non-biodegradable and awful for our environment and will be ever more mindful of what I purchase and use and what I throw away. I also love that Captain Moore is so dedicated to telling people about this. I feel like I'm on his team- Captain Moore is definitely a hippy chick!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Book Review: Sewing Green

I was at the book store last month and had to have this book Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials. I have been on a serious sewing kick because of this book. Most of what is in this book is common sense; buying material at thrift stores, repurposing things you would be throwing out, etc. But there are some great projects in here like making an apron out of a man's dress shirt and how to make reusable sandwich wraps (might help a little with my ziploc obsession).
So armed with my new repurposing resolve, I visited my local Goodwill and found a great lime green sheet to remake into a bed skirt for a twin guest bed we found on Craig's list. And here is the result:


Cute right? I had to buy the comforter (boo) as there weren't any at my LTS (local thrift store), but I added the quilted stripe to match it to the rest of the room using scraps I had left over. 
Back to the book: it has some great info. that I had no idea about like: did you know that 4.5% of our lanfill space is used for textile waste? Yeah. I know. Conclusion: loving the book and will be using craft night to make some of these fab projects-- more updates on those later!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

God, I love ziplocs!

Yes, this is a post about the majesty of ziploc bags. They are magical and lovely and I've decided that they are way too convenient to pass on. I made this realization after the last two weeks of the never-ending food parade that has been going on at my house. Erg to holiday hippy weight, but it is soooo cold here that I needed the extra layer of blubber! Seriously, it was -18 degrees here last night. Is it ok to hibernate? I'll be taking my ziploc bags of course....