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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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?

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!

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!

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!

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!

Hippy Church Day

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

I love that swiffer wet jet.

Shame on me.

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 =)

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!

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!

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....

Christmas Update

It has been a busy couple of weeks here at hippy headquarters and I am sure it has been busy for you as well. Just a few more days and we will be back to our regularly scheduled hippy programming. In the meantime I just wanted to pop in and say Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! (Or is that Hippy Holidays and Hippy New Year?? Hmm?? Is it? Wow... maybe my gift to you guys this next year will be no more bad hippy jokes... nope sorry, can't do it. That is just too much than I am willing to give.)

UPDATE: Handmade Xmas Gifts

Wow! You hippies are sooo creative! There were some great suggestions and I am going to be stealing these and claiming them as my own ideas to be sure... Here's a sample of the awesomeness:

• Hippy Lola suggests "You could take a bunch of jars and fill them with the dry ingredients for cookies, then tie a patch of fabric around the top and include instructions. Voila! instant cookie mix."
• Hippy friend Julie recommends "Homemade heating bags: I have one that I bought at a store and I use it all the time. I looked at it and thought, this is SO easy to make, yet I paid $16 for it.  I just sew up a rectangle of thicker cotton cloth and fill it 2/3 full of flax seeds. Super easy, and you can fill it with something a little cheaper than flax seeds too.
• Virginia, my español hippy chick says "I just made a bunch of change purses from vintage silk neckties. Super fast and easy. You can either machine sew or hand sew. Cut off about 8" from wide end of tie. The point becomes your flap. On the inside of the point the two halves of the tie need to be sew to each other. Then tuck the raw ends inside each other and sew that hole closed. Fold into desired shape, sew sides. Sew on snap. About a 30 min commitment. (The narrow end can be made into headbands!" (Sidenote: Check out Virginia's etsy shop for awesome "upcycled" projects that she makes including her neck tie coin purses. Very hippy chic. I also am using her suggestion of making napkins and a table runner for Christmas dinner out of old linens I found at Goodwill.)
• Hippy neighbor Stephanie suggested making handmade ornaments for the grandparents and I found a few simple recipes for those dough ornaments that you used to make in school here and here. 

Thanks everyone for the input and I'll be posting some of my Christmas crafting adventures later in the week (let's hope my gift recipients don't read this blog =)

Handmade XMas Gifts

This year, the family and I are trying a new thing: making each other Christmas gifts. It seemed like a great idea at the time (take the focus off of shopping for the holidays and put it back where it belongs) but now I am rethinking this idea. I should have started like January of last year making gifts as I think I will be lucky to finish one before December 24. Eeek! Maybe everyone will just settle for me making copious amounts of food and that can be everyone's gift. What do you think? Any quick gift projects you like to use? Come one hippies! Help a gal out for the holidays!

Back from Colorado

So good to be back! Our trip went so well and the bug did so good on the car ride. Our family is being really supportive of our new-found hippy-hood. Woot! They did think that the knitted plastic bag bag was a little weird (more on that later) but they were nice enough to not make fun (they are so polite =). And they even let me spread potato peelings in their yard. Awesome.
Also, I would like to take this opportunity to give mayjah props (yeah, that just happened... don't laugh, I'm old) to the city of Fort Collins, Co. Honestly if you have the chance to go it is so awesome and hippies thrive there. And they have lots of sweet parks where we took the bug to swing. Honestly, the picture says it all: