BACON!

I know that when I was an omnivore one of the meals I enjoyed was pancakes (topped with maple syrup) and bacon.

Since assuming a plant based diet, meals like that are a thing of the past...or are they????

I thought they were gone and dead until I found Wayfare's "Pig Out"

These taste just like I remember bacon tasting.  

They are crunchy bits which are good on salads and by the handful for snack...but put them IN my pancakes and it is just like having one of my favorite meals back.

They are hard to see but the confetti you see in the pancakes are the "bacon" bits.

The batter was just a simple pancake batter:

1 C all purpose unbleached flour (I prefer King Arthur)

1 C almond milk (regular or vanilla will work in this)

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp oil (I use grapeseed or olive)

1 ener-G egg 

1-2 Tbsp Wayfare bacony bits

Cook them up in a skillet and enjoy!

I highly recommend these for a nice leisurely weekend breakfast so you can sit back and enjoy the delicious flavors.

Do you have any combinations that you really enjoy pairing?

126e391ff3c4f32b7f39fd03aeabb86900c4a63f4aaeb73892

Tweet

Memorial Day 2013

Today please remember those who died protecting our freedom

Tweet

The Weekend is Here

Funny story last week I went strawberry picking with Andrew.  When the owner of the farm started passing out plastic clamshells, to put the freshly picked berries in, Andrew and his friend gave her the lowdown on why plastics were bad and let her know that plastic released nasty chemicals into our environment.  It seems that Andrew not only took in what Beth Terry and Danielle Richardet had to say 2 months ago when they were in town, but he is sharing the information with everyone he knows.

I wasn't the least bit embarrassed by his announcement, I was proud that he was sharing the information he had.

Our family has been slowly incorporating more plastic free options in our house.

For example I only buy tomato sauce that is in glass jars.  No more cans because the acid from the tomatoes can leach chemicals from the cans.  We don't buy food items, if we can help it, that are in plastic.  Case in point all our peanut butter now comes in glass.

The flipside having all of these glass jars has made getting bulk items at the grocery store easier AND I have been packing leftovers from lunch in them handily.  My son Owen actually had a plastic talk with one of his friends one day while he was heating up his lunch.

We are spreading the word!

Today I want to share a product that I was introduced to through Conscious Box and that is Bambooee.  These are towels are sustainably produced from organic bamboo.  They are soft in texture and can be washed over and over again.

The number of uses for them is endless.  You can clean up spills, wipe messy little faces, or wash up the windows.

What I think is pretty amazing is how clean they come in the wash.  My husband used one to soak some grease out of bacon.  Once washed the towel looked just like new.  He was super impressed and at that moment bought in to why I made the purchase.

Fun fact Bambooee gives back to the global good by planting a tree for each purchase.

To help proliferate the anti-paper towel movement I would like to give away a towel sample to 15 lucky winners.

I haven't been compensated by Bambooee in anyway to provide this review, I just did it because I really believe in their product.

To enter the giveaway please use the rafflecopter below.  The winner will be announced in Wednesday morning's post.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So do you have any good plans this weekend?  I am taking my oldest, Owen, to his first political activist movement.  We are going to participate in the March Against Monsanto on Saturday.  This should be an interesting learning experience for him and will expose him to what regular citizens can do if they band together.

Tweet

Hello Again

I just want to say for starters I am well.

I have been busy and caught up in life and all of the fun things that go along with having 3 kids.

I got an e-mail today from one of my favorite friends and she was a little concerned about my absence.  I realized I had to get on the stick and get back in the game.

I love blogging and I love reading blogs so I needed to carve out time to do that.

Well since I blogged last I've:

• attended a Chikara wrestling show
• hosted a birthday party for both my 6 and 4 year old
• my baby girl turned 4
• I went strawberry picking
• went on a girls weekend for Mother's Day

The week of Andrew's 6th birthday we were lucky enough to have family friendly Chikara coming to town for a wrestling show.  The were kind enough to say Happy Birthday to Andrew and to let him pick the winner in a raffle contest.

We decided that in lieu of gifts we would give the kids a rocking good birthday party.  So we got a bounce house.  Do know how much fun 4-6 year olds have inside a bounce house?  They almost didn't want to come out for cupcakes...they were serious about their bouncing.

For Mother's Day this year all I wanted was to go to Virginia and hang out with 6 of my girls from college.  We had a blast eating, shopping, playing putt putt, shopping, and then hanging out until late into the evening.

(here are a few of my besties)

Having my baby girl turned 4 just seems a little unreal.  In fact I really just don't know where the time has gone.  She is so much fun and enjoys life so very much that it is hard to not just laugh when you are around her.

Case in point, when my aunt sent her a singing birthday card it was cause for a dance party (and I was lucky enough to be allowed to film it).

I think that might be it for now.  I know this post was kind of all over the place, but it was things I wanted to share with you all.

I have a BUNCH of blog reading to catch up on.  I hope you all are having a fabulous Monday and I look forward to any and all comments.

So what have you all been up to lately?

Tweet

Way Behind

I intended to post on Monday.

Then I thought I would post on Tuesday.

Before I knew it Thursday is here.

Where did the time go?

I realize that this information is less relevant do to it's age, but I did want to share some stuff from this past weekend.

We went to the beach and I ran a 5k "Run Like a Diva" in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Those are some volunteers waiting with roses and champagne for you at the finish line.  Yeah champagne is a pretty awesome way to finish running.

I took a post race pic, and I don't think I look too rough (it was early and I had not had breakfast yet...at least that is my defense).

We continued with the family fun later in the day by stopping in EVERY golf store so that my husband could look at the shoes, clubs, etc.  My daughter found an older man she wanted to call her "boyfriend" (never mind that he is a headless mannequin).

We kept with the golf theme and went to play mini-golf.  SO much fun and between the 5 of us we had 4 hole-in-ones (even Caroline got one).

A beach trip would not be complete without some playtime on the beach itself...no worries we spent time there as well:

The fun didn't end with the beach trip...no we are partying all week long.  See my middle child, Andrew, turned six yesterday (I have no idea where the time went).

He got to spend the day being Head of School (note they both sported AWESOME bow ties):

He also took a walk around the sun (to illustrate the number of times he has orbited the sun):

After that we headed to a lunch location of his choosing...Chick Fil A.  I tried to persuade him to other locations, but in the end I let him have his pick and enjoy his special day the way he wanted to do it.

It has been a wonderful week.  The fun isn't over yet we have a joint birthday party this weekend (Andrew and Caroline are in the same class we didn't want to have two birthday parties inviting the same kids).

I hope you all are having a wonderful week and I look forward to catching up on my blog reading, as I am sorely behind.

Tweet

The Weekend is Here...almost

Happy Friday to one and all!

We have made it through another week and the weekend is almost upon us.

To say I am excited about this is an understatement.

This weekend I am running in a fun event

I am doing my third 5k in a months time and this one is...wait for it...

AT THE BEACH!

You really can't beat having a weekend vacation to the beach and pairing it with a fun event like this.

At the finish line you get boas and a tiara to "diva" up your running attire:

I am pretty certain my daughter Caroline is going to want my swag...but I am a sucker for that girl so I will probably give it to her.

I mean after all could you say no to this face?  Yeah  me neither.

I am going to take a page out of Laura's book and pack as much of our food as possible.  That way I know we will be eating healthy and won't have to resort to eating at restaurants that might not be on the "approved" list.

I got some of my prep work done last night be making a loaf of banana bread and sandwich bread (it all just tastes better homemade).  I need to pick out snacks and pack the suitcases and then we should be ready.

What sort of fun do you have planned this weekend?

Does it involve any exercise?  If you are looking for a fun exercise challenge I am participating in a squat challenge without about 100 of my co-workers.

Here is the chart if you would like to give it a try:

Tweet

What I Love

I am totally stealing this from Shauna (I hope she doesn't mind) and sharing with you something that I love.

What I love....the library.

Since slowly adapting my family to a "consume less" lifestyle we have found a large love of the library.

I have read more books in the last month then I have in the last 5 years (that's a little embarrassing to admit).

Now part of that is I have found more time for reading and have found ways to work it into my schedule.

My kids have enjoyed playing together more and have needed me less.

Now while that was a little disheartening it also has been a pleasure.  I can let them play outside and I can enjoy some sunshine on the deck while being immersed in Alice Steinbach's travels around Europe.

My daughter has really shown a love for our weekend jaunts to the library.  She looks at it almost like shopping.  I allow her to pick out whatever she wants (and as many as she wants for that matter).

Who knew there could be such unbridled passion for picking out books?  She then picks out a new book each night for the next two weeks to read before bed.

I love that my kids enjoy reading more and that they get upset if we can't go to the library (I don't like to make them upset but you get the point).

Anywho the library we go to is beautiful.  It is set in a park and there are walking trails (which we haven't explored yet) and a butterfly meadow.

The entry has a beautifully painted ceiling

The beauty of it really brings the whole package together.  So how about you?  Do you enjoy the library?  Marie, if you read this I know the answer is a resounding "YES" as you had Christmas pictures taken at the library (they were SUPER cute by the way).

Well I hope if you don't visit your local library that maybe this will spur you into visiting.  I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday.

Tweet

Weekend Send Off

Well it's Friday...WOOHOO!

You can't tell me that you aren't just jumping with joy for the weekend to be here already (I really would hate to think I am alone in the jumping).

This weekend holds lots of outdoor activities for my family.

Slowly we have been making more and more vegetable/fruit/flower beds around our yard.  One day we will cease to have grass and no longer have to worry about it being mowed.

Because what we don't have covered in dirt, we hope to have covered in clover.

Yes you read that right clover.

Did you know that clover, yes that little weed so many try to kill, is beneficial for your yard?

                                              Source: browse.deviantart.com via Jessie on Pinterest

Here are 6 of top benefits:

• Nitrogen fixating--it takes nitrogen from the air and deposits it in the ground as absorbable fertilizer
• Drought tolerant
• Resists pet urine (won't turn brown like grass does)
• Grows in bad soil--since it brings nitrogen to the ground it can heal the ground it grows in
• Grows year round--a perpetual green lawn, how nice
• Fertilizes surrounding plants

I thought this was just some food for thought as you go into your weekend.  Think twice before killing those weeds.  I am pretty sure the chemicals in the weed killer is way more harmful than the weeds themselves.

Hopefully wherever you are there will be beautiful weather.  Here in Carolina the temps have been anywhere from 90 to 72, just the way I like it nice and warm.

So what will you do with your weekend?

Tweet

Emmy's Macaroons

I was lucky enough to be allowed to sample Emmy's Organics delicious/raw/vegan macaroons.

The most difficult part of this assignment?

Deciding which flavor to try first.

I was given six delicious flavors:

Coconut Vanilla, Choco Chili, Dark Cacao

Lemon Ginger, Mint Chip, and Choco Orange

I surprised myself and started with Coconut Vanilla (I thought for sure I would tear into the chocolate).

I was kind enough to share these with my kids.  My daughter thought they tasted like vanilla ice cream...just not cold.

I have to agree with her the vanilla had a nice light and pleasing flavor.  A completely fantastic way to end a meal.

The only flavor I did not try was the Choco Chili...I don't like the two mixed together.  So I gifted them to a friend of mine, and he thought they were wonderful.

So I mentioned that they are delicious but they are also made with a short list of ingredients (always a plus sign in my book).

The coconut vanilla are made up of seven things (all of which I can pronounce and more than likely probably have in my pantry):

• organic raw shredded coconut
• organic raw agave nectar
• non-gmo almond flour
• organic raw coconut oil
• fair trade vanilla flavor (alcohol-free)
• raw vanilla bean
• himalayan crystal salt.

Not only does Emmy's make a delicious and well thought out product but they carry that through to their packaging.  The macaroon packages can be composted.  How cool is that?

I love getting behind companies that subscribe to the same types of ideals that I do.

I am happy to say I would recommend these to everyone...you just need to like coconut!

You can find Emmy's on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Tweet

Nuk Fresh Foods Cook N Blend

I was given the opportunity as a Mom Ambassador at Green Mom's Meet (through Kiwi Magazine) to review Nuk's Fresh Foods Cook N' Blend Baby Food Maker.

The product title may be a mouthful, but it will provide a VERY healthy mouthful for your child.

Nuk always a leader in the baby product market has come out with a baby food maker that steams AND blends the food for you.

No longer will you need to steam your fruit and vegetables in one vessel and then move them to another (such as a blender or baby food mill).

Now there is an all in one product to handle this.

While not just a pretty face the Nuk Cook N Blend has the following features:

• Dual action function steams and blends food
• Healthy steaming preserves vitamin and mineral content
• With 32 oz bowl it can make up to 4 meals at a time
• Double steamer basket separates food
• Beeps and stops automatically
• Two texture (smooth and chunky) options so that the product can grow with your child
• Dishwasher safe
• Bonus smoothie blade so the whole family can get in on the action
• Free recipe book with  meal ideas from Annabel Karmel
• There is a $20 off coupon available here as well

As a mother of three I loved making food for my kids.  For me it was my way to do all that I could to ensure they would grow up as healthy as possible.

Maybe it was the budding homesteader in me, but it was oh so satisfying to do it...plus it was so much cheaper than store bought food.

Now I used a hand powered baby food mill, like this one, but Nuk has been forward thinking enough to make a product that is useful past the toddler stage.

With that being said I think this would make for a great baby shower gift to a new mom.  It is one that I would recommend to my friends and co-workers.

I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms MeetSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinions on my blog.  My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

Tweet

Weekend Wrap Up

This post is a day late, I apologize...I like to get the Wrap Up's up on Monday.

Anyway this past weekend was a long one (I love a 3 day weekend) and it included some fun activities.

On Saturday I ran in the Color Me Rad 5k.



There were about 8000 runners, which I thought was a lot of people, taking part in this fun run (it was not timed).

It was so much fun to run through the cornstarch paint and to come home looking like a tye-dyed shirt.

My oldest didn't mind giving me a hug

But my daughter didn't even want me to give her a kiss.

In fact this was as close as she was willing to get to me:

They have already announced that the race is coming back to town next year...so I will be ready when it is time to sign up.  Hopefully I can convince some friends to join me.

Sunday was Easter.  

We have started to not give gifts to the kids.

By that I mean they have no need of toys (we have way more than 3 children can play with). 

So they woke up on Sunday to no Easter baskets but they did have some cards from family members and they each got a small bag of jelly beans.

You know what?  

They were perfectly happy.

People get caught up in consume, consume, consume, and in the end you don't need everything your purchased.

Now I don't mean to go far off track here, but the reason we don't want them to be gifted with tons of stuff is so they realize they can enjoy what they have and we can make sure quality items are purchased (quite often you end up with chintzy plastic stuff that breaks so quickly).

I'll get off my soap box and show you what I did make for the kids:

These are chocolate Easter eggs filled with vegan buttercream.

My paternal grandmother made these every year and they were the highlight of the holiday (now mind you she also put a little bit of money wrapped in plastic in the middle) but they were oh so delicious.

I have such fond memories of these that I wanted to pass this love on to my kids.

Hopefully they will appreciate them.

So that was my weekend in a nutshell, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend what sort of things did you get into?

Tweet

Weekend Wrap Up

I don't know about you but when someone asks would you like the good news or the bad news, I always go with bad news first.

Something about getting it over with and ending things on a positive note.

This past weekend was no different.

I started off with pain and ended with a sweet time.

Saturday my friend Amy and I ran in the St. Patty's Day Revenge Obstacle Course.

There were 21 obstacles for us to go through and before we kicked off Amy and I were looking pretty cheery (although chilly):

Her husband captured photos of our fine form (nothing like going across a soccer field doing lunges):

And you know sometimes when you are called upon to do WAY more push-ups then you anticipated you just have to get down in child's post to give your arms a break:

I have been sore for two days, but it is a good sore.  I look forward to running this event next year...hopefully we can get more than the two of us on a team.

On Sunday was the sweet.  I attended the Mad Hatter Tea at the O'Henry Hotel with my daughter and mom.

sporting our lovely paper hats

the delicious plate of goodies

sometimes things taste better when you don't use hands

Caroline and her best friend posing on a toadstool

The event was put on with great pageantry and detail.  The girls got to eat a plate full of treats, make crafts, and play a few games.

It was the perfect exposure to a "fancy" outing for these 3 and 4 year olds.

The hotel holds 3 of these themed teas a year.  We are looking forward to October when they host The Wizard of Oz.

It was a fantastic weekend with friends and family. 

I hope you all enjoyed your time.  Did you do anything fun?

Tweet

Weekend Wrap Up

Well this weekend wrapped up No Impact Week here in Greensboro.

To commemorate the week I finished by reading No Impact Man by Colin Beavan.

A good book indeed and it gave more in-depth information than could obviously be included in the movie.

I do have to say, and I in no way receive any sort of compensation for doing so, that the book is well done and the real jewel of the book is the list of resources in the back.  You can get website information about how to volunteer with a local environmental group or how to find a clothing swap in your area.  There are also numerous book suggestions (many of which have gone on my list to pick up at my local library).

To further apply our no impact philosophy, and to do something useful with a plastic item, my son Andrew and I made a watering can from a large white vinegar bottle.

To make it was super simple.  He drilled (yes he got a little power tool exposure) one hole in the cap and then several holes in the bottom of the bottle.

To make it work

• Fill a bucket with water (preferably with water from your rain barrel).
• Push the bottle down in the water so that it can fill up (keep your thumb off the top hole)
• Put your thumb over the hole on the cap and lift from bucket

The water is trapped and you can just remove your thumb from the hole once you are at the flower bed.

I was really impressed with how easy this was and that it worked.

Once the recycling project was finished we were on to another project...chocolate making.

I am so very lucky to have a friend like Sharon, Bit of the Good Stuff.  She sent me this fantastic raw chocolate making kit.

I put my fear aside and got out the kitchen scale.

I put WAY to much thought into how hard this was going to be...because in the end it was SO easy.

It took all of about 10 minutes (and then another 90 while I waited for it to set up in the fridge).

My result...well take a look for yourself:

They are in a four leaf clover pattern for St. Patrick's Day

I put a goji berry on each one and waited.  I didn't want to get too fancy or stray from the original recipe as I wanted to make sure I got it just right.

My kids will tell you they love them, but are mad that I didn't let them eat more than one a piece.

They are indeed delicious and I highly recommend raw chocolate making to anyone who can do a little measuring.

Other than that that was about it for my weekend...OH well there was a little matter of Georges St Pierre retaining his welterweight title (in a fantastic fight against Nick Diaz).  

Yeah for GSP!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are ready to kick off a fantastic Monday.

Remember today is the last day to enter my Plastic Free by Beth Terry giveaway (check it out here).

Tweet

Cool Stuff to Share

Plastics

Am I the only one or do you also think of The Graduate when you hear people talk about plastics?

This past Saturday I went to one of our local libraries and heard Beth Terry, author of Plastic Free, and Danielle Richardet, It Starts With Me, speak.

Beth spoke about how she has moved to creating almost no plastic trash (except for some of the unavoidables like prescription refill bottles) after reading the article "Our Oceans Are Turning to Plastic...Are We?"

She showed us the ugly, British trash exported to China:



But she also showed us the good, products that can make for more eco-friendly living:

Glass Dharma glass straws

Chico reusable bags that come with a pouch (so you can always keep one on you)

RePEat bamboo utensil set that you can keep in your purse

Danielle also read the same article on water pollution and became driven to bring down her plastic consumption.

She not only uses reusable bags at the store but she brings jars everywhere with her.  She has them for her bulk bin items at her local co-op but also for leftovers at restaurants.

I have never thought about bringing my own container to a restaurant.  But it is rather wasteful to bring home the one time use container when I could plan ahead and bring something with me.

Did you know you can bring your own jars to fill at the bulk bin section of grocery stores (places such as Whole Foods, local co-ops, and natural food stores)?  

After the talk I was overwhelmed with information.  Beth's advice was to just do what you can and don't try to tackle everything at once...because after all every little bit helps.

That was good advice.

Now I mentioned that Beth wrote a book, Plastic Free:

I would like to give you all an opportunity to win a signed copy of this book.

The giveaway will run through Monday March 18th and I will announce the winner on Tuesday the 19th.

To enter fill in the Rafflecopter below (I promise the winner's book will be shipped plastic free)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tweet