After picking our own peaches this past weekend in Berryville, Virginia, my husband and I prepared ourselves for a first try with canning and freezing. Oh boy was it work! I think the hardest part was removing the skin, which, while made easier by blanching the peaches, still took the bulk of our time and energy. The best part about canning peaches though, in my opinion, is the delicious aroma of peaches and spice throughout the house.

Since we are beginner canners, we referenced 2 articles on canning. One article comes from my green friend Elizabeth, whose tips on canning were not only useful but detailed in such a way that I knew what to look and listen for (the sound of my cans popping when sealed was music to my ears! Thanks Elizabeth!). To create the recipe for my peach jam, I followed another article: Recipe Zaar’s Peach Jam Recipe. All together, the canning process took me about 2 1/2 to 3 hours from start to finish. It was quite an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon with the family, and the rewards this winter, I am sure, will be well worth the time and effort.

In addition to canning our peaches and making peach jam, my husband and I portioned off about 8 lbs. of peaches for freezing, which is a little bit easier than canning (although you still need to blanch the peaches and remove the skin). Here are a few tips on freezing your fruit. I can’t wait for winter smoothies and vegan fruit jello! Yum!

Hopefully we’ll continue with our canning and freezing in a couple of weeks when more apples are in season. On a final note, I think it is a good idea to invest in a pair of jar lifters (metal tongs are not necessarily the safest way to handle hot jars and it’s a little bit tricky to do too).

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on jarring, freezing, and preserving foods for the winter. Thanks for sharing!

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A good friend once told me that she is a collector of friends. In my own lifetime, I have met many wonderful and interesting people with whom I cultivated friendships that lasted the years. More recently, since becoming a mamma and a blogger, I have met and become friends with many environmentalists (and discovered old friends who had been living environmentally all along), many who I not only admire but whose reverence for planet earth I can only hope to emulate. A few months ago I met such a person when I brought Annabelle to the park. While Annabelle ran around and around the playground, she caught the attention of 2 older little girls who followed her and doted on her. The girls belonged to Laura, a mom who loves to talk as much as I do. When we discovered a shared love for the environment, so began a new friendship.

What I love about Laura, aside from the fact that she shares my passion for green living, is that she is a passionate thinker. When Laura comes across new information, she researches it until she finds answers that satisfy her. And as a full time mother, she is not one to sit and watch her children play by themselves in the yard but feels free to run around and play with them. A few weeks ago when I visited Laura and her girls in Hamilton, she showed me her backyard where her children are tending a large vegetable garden. Propped up next to the garden was a huge repurposed water barrel, which once stored pickles for a Greek exporter. Laura and her girls water their garden by collecting water in the barrel and transporting it over to their garden.

Water conservation is vital in Laura’s hometown of Hamilton; because of the cost of water there, as well as Laura’s commitment to protecting the earth’s resources, she has become an expert on how to save water. Since she knows a bit more about water conservation than I do, let me turn you over to her:

There are the usual water saving tips like turning off the sink when you brush your teeth or put soap on your hands [before washing], [but] there are less obvious ways to conserve too:

Outside

1. Add compost. When planting a garden add compost. Compost acts like a sponge and absorbs water [to help nourish the plants in your garden].

2. Mulch heavily. Mulch acts like a blanket keeping the moisture in and decreases the weeds that grow and steal water from your garden plants.

3. Water 2 in 1. Hold smaller pots over larger ones when watering in order to catch the overflow from the smaller one.

4. Say no to mow. Keep your grass a little longer in dry spells as freshly cut grass allows for more evaporation.

5. Don’t throw the baby out with the kiddie pool. If you have a young child who likes to use a wading pool use the water to water your garden after play is over. Better yet, fill it with water from a water barrel and refill the water barrel with it when done.

Thank you Laura for these wonderful water saving tips! By making small changes, even one or two, in our own homes, we are able to make a huge difference for the environment.

Do you have a water conservation tip? If so, please share. I love hearing your thoughts! =)

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This week on Green Mamma, I am happy to introduce Forced Green, a new green living web-site started by Laura Rembowski, who says that going green means being “aware of our carbon footprint and . . . mak[ing] changes in our lives . . . [to] make this world a better place.” Currently, Linda lives in a recreational vehicle, or an R.V., which she describes as  “bootcamp” for going green. Here’s what Linda has to say about living green when your home’s on wheels:

1. Conserve water and power. Water conservation and power are daily necessities for R.V. living. By reducing the gallons of water used each time we flush the toilet, wash our hands, toss in a load of laundry, or hop into the bath and shower, we are helping to save water, water, water! Ways to be mindful of water use include: installing a water dam into our toilets or purchasing low flush toilets, using energy efficient and high efficiency washers, and co-bathing or timed baths and showers.

As for cutting out power draining habits? Linda explains the way our society’s dependency on power adds up: “Even when powered down, computer desk equipment, entertainment center, coffee pot, hair dryers, and appliances are consuming energy. Use power strips with on/off buttons. Plug all your equipment into them and switch them off when they’re not in use so that they’re not pulling a load.”

2. Grow a young environmentalist. Linda is aunt to several green nieces and nephews. To peak youth interest in caring for nature, Linda suggests that children be allowed to grow a plant or garden. To get started, she explains, “Give them a packet of seeds, let them plant it, and care for it. They will go out each and every day to watch it grow.”

In addition to showing children how to grow and care for plants, Linda suggests taking children for a walk, bringing a plastic bag, and allowing them to pick up debris to help keep the environment clean. One of my own favorite green moments with Annabelle happened on a hot summer morning last August; we jogged down to our bike trail where Annabelle sat in her stroller and observed her passionate green mamma picking up discarded bottles, cans, paper, and cigarette butts for some 500 yards. I filled 6 bags or so, which isn’t much in the grand scheme of things; however, I know that somewhere in my little one’s mind, she’ll understand the value of cleaning up and caring for our earth.

When it comes to teaching our children to value their environment, Linda puts it best, “If they keep the land clean, they’ll learn that [the earth] will take care of them.”

3. Go high-tech! Linda swears by Hy-Tech paint, which incorporates a ceramic barrier into household paint and works to reduce your home’s absorption of heat by reflecting the sun off the walls of a house. And guess who is a major customer of Hy-Tech paint? None other than the leaders of air and space research, NASA! To learn more about Hy-Tech paint and its environmental benefits, visit Hy-TECH Sales.

4. Grow a dirt-free garden. While living in a motor home provides access to wide open spaces and beautiful scenery, Linda’s front yard is ever changing. To stay in touch with nature when out on the road, Linda makes use of aeroponics, a dirt free growing method in which a plant’s roots are suspended in a 100% humidity, highly oxygenated chamber. Aerogrow, the company that provided Linda with her own aeroponic garden, is committed to sustainability for climate protection and employee wellness. Oh, and just in case your wondering, aeroponics is said to produce vegetables that are just as nutritious, if not more so, than traditionally grown plants.

5. Spot the Green Seal. Linda recommends that when shopping for green products, especially suspect items that may be “green washed,” to search for the Green Seal of approval. Based on a life cycle evaluating process, Green Seal evaluates a product from material extraction and its inception to manufacturing and use and ending with recycling or disposal of a product. To find out whether your favorite green products are Green Seal certified, visit Green Seal.org.

Living green on the road has opened Linda’s eyes to ingenuous ways to care for the earth’s environment. Of her unique motor home lifestyle and its influence on her efforts to care for the earth, Linda comments, “I often [think] that if everyone in the world was required to live in an RV for year or two, there would be absolutely no problem[s] living in our environment.”

With the rising costs of gasoline on our budgets and the environment, those living an RV or motor home lifestyle may want to learn more ways to live green on the road, save money, and reduce their overall impact on the earth. And for everyone else concerned with caring  for the earth, check out Linda at Forced Green to learn easy ways to live a natural life in an industrial world.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the RV lifestyle is growing.  Here’s a few neat facts and stats about RVs from RV-N-Motorhomes:

Typically RVers travel 4500 miles annually on excursions that total 28 to 35 days annually.

Americans in the age group of 35-to-54 year are keener on owning an RV of their own.

The typical RV owner is age 49, married, owns a home and has an annual household income of $68,000.

With nearly 7.2 million RVs on the road in the year 2001, the sales of RVs have steadily increased through the following years: 2002, +21.1%; 2003, +3.2%; 2004, +15.4%.

RV rental has become a $350 million/year business, experiencing a 63% growth rate between 1997 and 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the RV Rental Assoc.

The retail value of RVs produced was more than $12.4 billion. Combined with the RV rental market, it is estimated that RVs are $15.75 billion a year industry.

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Caring for the environment and living green is an investment that many individuals are making for their own and their children’s health and wellness. Everyday I meet people and learn about companies who are doing their part to eliminate practices that harm the earth, and inevitably, human and animal life. This week on Green Mamma we meet David Webster, founder of the web-site Healthier-cleaning-products.com.

David’s objective at Healthier-cleaning-products.com is to educate consumers about the consequences of selecting harmful and toxic household products versus those that are not only good for planet earth but are good for your home and family too. Here’s a little bit about David and his family, as well as a few insightful tips on how to clean green for a healthier earth and family:

1. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. David says that the 3 Rs are the “easiest ways” for his family to protect and preserve the earth. He comments, “It’s almost to the point of only buying products packaged in recyclable containers.”  Purchasing products in recyclable packaging not only allows consumers to recycle, but it also reduces waste (just think about all those #5 or #7 plastic containers that many waste collectors do not recycle).

Recycling newspapers and plastics are an easy way to get our children involved in saving the planet too.  David says that his 8 year-old daughter Marlaina loves to help him and his wife Mary Jo with their recycling efforts.

2. Wear your favorite threads more than once.  David’s family tries to wear their clothing more than one time before tossing items into the laundry.  In addition, this green family hangs their laundry outside to dry, which minimizes dryer use and saves energy.

3.  Plant a tree.  Last Spring, David and his family gave Mamma Earth a wonderful gift when they added 12 new trees to their yard.   Trees not only keep our air fresh by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, but in a single year, a tree absorbs the amount of carbon produced by a car that has driven 8700 miles!  For more fun facts about trees, visit Trees Are Good.

4.  Grow, grow, grow organic! David and his family maintain an organic vegetable and fruit garden, which they fertilize with rich soil made from their home compost.  Organic gardening is a wonderful way for parents and their children to connect with nature and create beauty together.  David’s daughter Marlaina not only helps her parents with their own organic garden but she maintains her own vegetable garden too!

An added bonus to organic gardening?  The local soil and water supply is kept clean and uncontaminated by the chemicals that are often used in yards and gardens, which can have adverse effects on the health of children, pets, and wildlife.   Visit Mostly Organic Gardening for more information about growing your own organic garden.

5.  Eat green.  One of the easiest ways that David, Mary Jo, and Marlaina take action on behalf of the environment is to purchase organic, natural foods and to educate themselves about the ingredients in their food.  David comments, “[Marlaina] likes to go food shopping with  . . . Mary Jo and attempts to read ingredient labels.”  Sadly, the wording on food labels is sometimes misleading.  For example, a product that claims to be made “with real fruit” is not necessarily a nutritious choice, nor is it one that is good for the environment.  To learn more about deciphering food labels, visit Dr. Sear’s “Learning About Food Packaging Labels.”

6.  Love your pet and Mamma Earth!  David says that his pets Tippy the Cat and Hartley the Dog are not recycling, yet =), but that both pets are going green.  Tippy uses a wheat litter, and both Tippy and Hartley eat all natural pet food that is made without unhealthy byproducts.

7.   Clean up your green act!  David’s family chooses green cleaning products and personal care products.  Their favorites include Melaleuca personal care, laundry, and dishwasher soaps.  For his carpet cleaning business, David chooses Green Seal Certified products by Procyon.  According to the Procycon web-site, their soap and odor free products are hypo-allergenic, non-toxic, with no VOCS and off gassing.

Below is one of David’s homemade recipes for a vinegar cleaner that eliminates pet odors:

Make your own “white vinegar” by diluting acetic acid in water. Dilute 1 ounce with a quart of warm water. Keep this mixture as a cleaner and as a first step to neutralizing animal urine in your carpet. Be very careful of the acetic acid concentrate as it can cause skin burns. Please keep this and all cleaning products out of the reach of all children.

David’s work to protect people and the environment from nasty chemicals is admirable.  Here’s a little bit more about how chemicals in cleaning products effect our health, homes, and the environment.  David writes:

Let me begin by asking “why should we be concerned about the cleaning products utilized in our indoor environment”? There are a couple of different answers to this question.

First is the issue of detergent residue, the film that is left behind by cleaning chemicals. How often have you spilled something on your carpet and reached for either a commercial cleaning product or perhaps you made your own with a little dish detergent and water. It seemed to clean but within a short time the spot is back, darker and larger than before.

You retreat it and that little spot continues to grow many times its original size. This is detergent residue and it will attract dirt like a magnet. This cycle will repeat unless the residue is completely rinsed. Unfortunately detergent residue cannot be completely rinsed. Let me illustrate with a couple of examples:

The average washing machine uses two rinse cycles to remove the dirt and detergent. Take a washed and rinsed article of clothing and place in a small bucket of clear water. Squeeze and squish the garment several times in the water. The foam that appears is detergent residue.

Similarly, why do hot tub retailers sell defoamer? To control the foam caused by detergent residue from the bathing suits of the hot tub users.

The examples given here involve laundry detergent but it is the same with carpet cleaning products. To clean your carpet and not be able to rinse out the detergent can be likened to shampooing your hair and not rinsing the shampoo out.

Worse yet, this detergent residue is in constant contact with, and it is absorbed into your body through the skin. If you took a fresh moist piece of garlic, and rubbed it on the soles of your feet today, by tomorrow, you would taste the garlic.

The feet are very porous and can absorb pollutants or chemicals. Many people walk around their home in bare feet or allow their children to crawl or play on their carpet. The skin will absorb toxic cleaning chemicals found in the carpet.

To stop cleaning your carpet or remove all carpet from your home is not the answer. In fact, many people concerned with allergies, remove their carpeting with the assumption hard flooring is healthier. I question this thinking. Have you ever noticed “dust bunnies” fly around the room by the air current that closing a door creates. Any allergens are in constant motion.

Your carpet on the other hand functions as a giant filter in your home. It traps many contaminants, pollutants and allergens which can then be removed by cleaning. This in turn helps keep your indoor air quality at its best.

One of the simplest lines of defense to improve your indoor air quality is to vacuum your carpet, hard flooring, mattresses and upholstery often. Have your home furnishings professionally cleaned twice yearly, particularly, if pets share your indoor environment.

As the popularity of the “green movement” grows, it seems that cleaning product manufacturers are labeling everything green whether it’s truly green or not. Until uniform standards for cleaning products are established, insist that your carpet cleaner use Green Seal Certified Products (www.greenseal.org).

This Green Seal certification qualifies a product as green. To further safeguard your health, indoor air quality and the environment, allow only the use of detergent-free, non-toxic cleaning products. Choose those which are odor free, hypo-allergenic and do not contain volatile organic compounds (VOC’s)   www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html.

A document to check most cleaning products is the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). This is a detailed informational document prepared by the manufacturer or importer of hazardous chemicals. It describes the physical and chemical properties of the product.

Although this document is geared more for the occupational user, it can benefit the building occupant as well. The MSDS includes the name of the chemical (same as on the label), a listing of the ingredients, a statement of the ingredients that are known carcinogens, or that present other known hazards, and any specific hazards.

I hope this information is of help to anyone in search of the “real dirt” on any cleaning solution that you may consider utilizing for your carpet cleaning needs. The increase in children experiencing allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivities and even comprised immune systems is alarming. Our lifestyle of plastic and chemical based products is a major contributor. I wanted to give the public a tool to help make informed decisions when choosing cleaning products.

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In the mood for some delish vegan eats? Or maybe you want to find out the latest news about breastfeeding and vaccination legislation or learn about attachment parenting? One of my favorite blogs that I stumbled across recently is Veggie Way, authored by Isil Simsek, a vegan green mamma currently living in Guilford, United Kingdom. This week on Green Mamma, Isil is our Green Friend of the Week! This is what she has to share about living green and loving planet earth:

1. Vegan it is! Isil doesn’t beat around the bush in explaining why a vegan diet is the eco-friendliest: “A plant based diet is sustainable and earth-friendly because animal agriculture takes a devastating toll on the earth. It is an inefficient way of producing food, since feed for farm animals requires land, water, fertilizer, and other resources that could otherwise have been used directly for producing human food.”

Not sure whether switching to a vegan diet is the right choice for your green family? Consider the benefits, as noted by Dr. William Harris of VegSource.com: permanent and long term weight loss, lower blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and blood sugar, as well as lowered risk for cardiovascular diseases and various cancers. The advantages of being a vegan for your health and the planet are abundant. Of her family’s vegan lifestyle, Isil comments, “We switched to a vegan diet . . . about 4.5 years ago. We feel great about it!”

2. Go car-less. Not only will you save gas and money, but people will take notice too! To get from point A to point B, Isil’s family has sworn off the old gas guzzler and instead prefers to exercise their legs and take advantage of public transportation. Of her family’s eco-friendly transportation choices, Isil says, “Using public transportation does not only lower your carbon foot print but it’s actually a pleasant way to get in touch with other people.” To learn more about car free living, check out the cycling and carless adventures of Tim and Anne at Car Free Days.

3. Get a bright idea. One of the simplest ways that Isil and her family reduce energy use is by changing their light bulbs to CFLs, or compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Considering that CFLs are designed to fit into standard light sockets and that these energy efficient bulbs help folks lower their energy bills, making the change to CFLs is a great choice when used appropriately. Since CFLS contain mercury, make sure to dispose of these energy efficient bulbs in the right place. Check out Earth911.org for local drop off points.

4. Help Your Baby Eat Local: Breastfeed! According to the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog, breastfeeding our children is not only a natural food for them but is a green choice for our planet. The green advantages of breastfeeding are:

“No land is used for dairy farms, no energy is consumed in factories, no resources are used in packaging, and no oil is used in transporting breastmilk to a store and to your home. The primary energy source for breastfeeding? Your pregnancy fat. Breastfeeding leaves no packaging waste, and saves our health care systems billions a year. And you can’t eat much more local than this!”

5. Be gentle to Mamma Earth and Your Baby’s Bottom! Isil uses cloth diapers and cloth wipes for her little one Defne. According to the article “Diapers, Diapers, and More Diapers” at the New Parents Guide, the debate over which diaper is the most environmentally friendly is ongoing. However, consider the following, from the New Parents Guide, if you still think that disposable diapers are not taking a toll on our children’s planet:

“It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.”

Isil chooses “real cloth nappies and wipes” (nappies are diapers in the U.K.), because she finds they are an easy and gentle way to keep Defne’s bum clean. Here’s her recipe for homemade baby wipes:

Ingredients: a few drops of baby shampoo, lavender oil or tea tree oil, cloth wipes and a jar.

Recipe: Combine all ingredients and place the wipes in a jar. Shake them and voila!

Note from Isil: It’s also okay to just use water. Much better than the nasty chemicals that are found in baby wipes.

6. Reuse your shopping bags! Most retail stores are happy to supply shoppers with reusable bags bearing their stores logo. To make your own fashionable and reusable shopping bag, check out Farmer’s Daughter pillowcase tote, which was inspired by Creative Kismet’s Pillowcase tote giveaway, here on Green Mamma!

7. Become a Fly Baby: Declutter, Declutter, Declutter! Isil points to the advantages of her family’s nomadic lifestyle, noting that it has taught them to value the simple life. She says, ” We really do not need so many stuff. It is perfectly fine to live with basic stuff. Declutter, declutter, declutter! Donate all those unneeded/unwanted stuff to charities or to people who might need them.” To learn a few tips about greening your home, getting rid of the clutter, and giving away what you do not need, visit the FlyLady! I myself have been a Fly Baby for about 6 months now.

8. Investigate. Isil’s family relies upon the Good Shopping Guide to protect her family’s consumer interests. She explains, “We make sure to boycott companies who do not care about the environment, animal rights and human rights.”

Some of Isil’s (and Green Mamma’s too) favorite green products include: Ecovert, a formerly vegan company, Jason, Green People, and Weleda baby care.

Again, Isil’s Veggie Way blog is a wonderful resource for vegan living (and green living too), as well a resource for breastfeeding, attachment parenting, and the Montessori approach to education and living. Thank you again Isil for being a green friend and giving props to Mamma Earth!

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Going green and living in an environmentally friendly way is not only all the rave but makes headlines every day because more and more regular people are finding easy ways to make eco-conscious choices in their day to day lives. This week on Green Mamma we meet such a person: Tabitha, the founder of Organic 4 Baby. Organic 4 Baby is a new website that features healthy, quality, and stylish organic products for babies. On getting started as an environmentalist with an organic company, Tabitha comments on her website: “I feel it is important to be well-educated when looking for products, especially those for our children. Unfortunately, there are too many products that can be harmful, even dangerous, so it is important to be aware. My goal for this website is to find the best organic products on the market.”

Below are a few easy green changes that Tabitha, her husband, and their dog Oscar made for a healthier, more eco-friendly lifestyle.

1. Read, read, and read some more. When Oscar came into Tabitha’s life, she says she researched “everything [she] could get her hands on regarding puppy care.” To her surprise and dismay, the ingredients in Oscar’s food were unwholesome. Tabitha wanted better and sought out quality pet food. To read more about selecting healthy, organic food and products for your pet, click here.

2. You are what you eat. Once upon a time, Tabitha ate a non-organic foods diet that she describes as “whatever was fast and easy.” But after she started paying closer attention to what she was feeding her body, she changed her purchasing habits, eliminated processed foods from her diet, and now sticks to fresh organic foods. Of her healthier, greener diet, she explains: “I am the healthiest I think I’ve ever been!”

3. Ah, push it! The lawn mower, of course! Tabitha and her husband recently purchased a push lawn mower to reduce gas consumption and ware on the environment. According to the EPA, gas lawn mowers represent 5% of U.S. air pollution. An added health bonus? Tabitha says her husband is getting into shape each time he pushes their lawn mower: “[It] takes a little more muscle . . . [and] is a good workout.” To learn more about the advantages of push machine mowers, click here.

4. Recycle. By now, green people everywhere are taking advantage of local recycling services. As Tabitha puts it: “The community makes it so easy and everywhere you go you see the blue bins–it’s just a matter of throwing stuff in there.” To find a recycling center in your area, visit RecyclingCenters.org and Earth911.org.

5. Rub it on right. Tabitha loves all natural beauty products and some of her faves include products sold at Trader Joes. To learn more about the health and safety of your favorite personal care and beauty products, visit Skin Deep: Cosmetic Database and read about another Green Friend of the Week: Abbie from Connecticut who loves to seek out healthy, environmentally friendly beauty care.

Thanks again to Tabitha of Organic 4 Baby for sharing a few simple tips on how she is taking on the environment and going green, one step at a time. And thank you also to her dog Oscar, the inspiration for Tabitha’s eco-conscious lifestyle.

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This week I enjoyed one of the frenziest (that’s a Green Mamma coined word) weeks ever on Green Mamma thanks to Regina of Creative Kismet and her ingenuous pillowcase tote giveaway. As a featured Green Friend of the Week, Regina taught me (and I hope other green people) a couple of new ways to live in an environmentally friendly way. Regina is the first actual person I’ve “met” who drives a veggie car! All around, she is one of a kind, and I’m glad that I stumbled upon her web-site a few years ago. Also, thank you to new visitors for stopping by and leaving a comment and to the regulars, who’ve been making the rounds at Green Mamma for a while now. Aside from all the excitement on Green Mamma, our family enjoyed a more upbeat week too. Here’s a little bit about what happened and why we’re all a little more grateful:

1. Music. Thoreau said, “Music is perpetual, and only the hearing is intermittent.” After experiencing two weeks with muffled hearing in my right ear, I am happy to share again in the beauty that is music and sound (even if it is the ever so endearing sound of my daughter’s shrill and frustrated scream). I hear everything now, and with both eyes, I delight in the sight of my daughter dancing and swaying to hip hop music. Holding up both of her hands in the air, and bopping her head to the beat, she is a true example of one who appreciates the sound of music.

2. The Great Tim Russert. On Friday afternoon as I drove home from an Attachment Parenting meeting, I heard the news that Tim Russert had passed away. For some reason, I cried. Of course, I never met Tim Russert, but I knew him as a dedicated journalist and correspondent on NBC’s Today Show and as a moderator on Meet the Press. I joke to friends that Washington, D.C. and its uber-political culture is infiltrating my sense of self; ever so slowly I have become something of a news junkie (I mean c’mon, I flip on MSNBC and CNN to relax at the end of a long day). Tim Russert was a familiar face to me each morning; I listened to him report on the primaries while I exercised or fed Annabelle breakfast. I always considered him a fair journalist. I trusted his point of view, his take on how events would play out. Right now I worry that ethical news coverage in the U.S. may suffer without him, but at the same time, I am grateful that he served as an example and a reminder that the media can have integrity, can be straightforward, and can be fair.

3. Daily To Do’s. I remember the early weeks of being a mom, at home and alone, trying to figure out what to do with the beautiful little girl that the universe had entrusted to me. Most days ran into each other, and it stopped mattering that sleep and wakefulness didn’t coincide with light and darkness, or day and night. Around the time that Annabelle turned 2 months, life returned to something that I might call “normal.” All of the sudden, I had the energy to start getting out of the house, to begin showing my daughter the world, to try and network–making friends with other new parents, and to once again, work to accomplish things.

As a full time mother, it is important to me that I set goals for myself and review my progress. Taken from an article in Discovering Motherhood, I write the following daily list to help me stay organized and focused when I’m on the job as a mom:

1. Household Chores; 2. Appointments; 3. Contact; 4. Milestones (that Annabelle has made); 5. Groceries; 6. Daily Menu (although weekly menu planning is helpful for budgeting); 7. Special Projects and; 8. Personal and Professional Goals

Making the above list helps me look forward to the day, keeps me from procrastinating, and gets me to focus and think about events that I think will be challenging; for example, on days when I know that our family will interact with challenging people, my personal goal for the day is to see the best in people, stay positive, and smile. My daily list also prevents me from forgetting about important upcoming events, like birthdays, talks I want to attend, and visits from family. All together, my daily list helps me to be good at the work I do, which is raising a good human being and making a home for our family.

4. Father’s Day. Yesterday was a special day for my husband. It was his second Father’s Day with Annabelle, who, as anyone might guess a daughter can do, has a rare power for lighting up her dad’s face with a smile.  To celebrate, we met up with friends, spent the day outside, and honored my husband’s father (who recently passed) by making spaghetti and clams, a favorite of my father-in-law’s.  I also thought about the other great dads who’ve made a difference in my life, including my own dad (who passed away 5 years ago and who I miss everyday), my mother’s boyfriend Joe (who is a dedicated dad to his own kids and is a wonderful friend to my mom), our friends who are loving dads, and many more.  Happy Father’s Day Dads!

5.  The Iffy Cocktail that is Our Neighborhood Pool.  Admittedly, our public pool frightens me, what with its mix of R.W.I.s and high levels of chlorine, but I can’t help but be thankful for it.  Since purchasing our pool passes, our family visits the big water hole (as we like to call it around Annabelle) each day; my husband romps around with Annabelle, encourages her to kick and swim, and then does laps.  I splash and play too, but I mostly enjoy making conversation with the other parents and kids.   And to maintain our family’s safety, we detox after each visit, breathing deep and rinsing all the chlorine and other “stuff” off with a shower.

So, that’s it in a nutshell.  Until next week’s Gratitude post,

Green Mamma

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As promised, here is the beautiful tote that Regina of Creative Kismet designed for green folks who are jonesing for a reusable and fashionable shopping bag.   In order to win this bag, leave a comment by next Thursday on this post or on this week’s Green Friend of the Week: Regina/Creative Kismet from Arizona.  On Friday, I will select and announce the winner.   Happy commenting!

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“My name is Regina and I am a thirty-something.”  So begins the introduction at Creative Kismet, one of my favorite blogs. Authored by a talented artist, nurse, and hip green mamma named Regina, Creative Kismet is a wonderfully inspiring place to learn about crafting, kids’ art, recycled art, homemade gifts, stamping,  vegan eats, and much more.    Regina and her family are ingenuous environmentalists who not only find ways to take care of the earth but also manage to do so in a stylish way.   Here are a few pointers from Regina of Creative Kismet:

1.  Reduce, recycle, and compost. Regina is mindful about the purchases her family makes and pays special attention to the packaging that products come in.  Her tip for reducing waste: “Look at packaging and  . . .  [only] buy  things with recyclable containers.”   In addition to recycling product packaging, her family composts food waste.

2.  Eat french fries and fuel your car.  That is, a veggie car.  Regina’s family owns a 1983 Mercedes diesel automobile converted to run off of used vegetable oil from restaurants.  To learn more about cars with vegetable fuel systems, visit Greasecar.com.

3.  Get thrifty.  Regina’s family buys 90% of their clothing from thrift and secondhand shops.  Also, as a talented fabric artist, she finds great fabrics and linens that she repurposes and designs as curtains, clothing, bags, and much more.  Based on the work I have seen on her Creative Kismet website, it is obvious that she not only has a talent for crafting and design but also has a wonderful knack for thrifting.  On the value of shopping regularly at thrift stores,  she says, “You’d be surprised at how many great things you can find in good to new condition.”  To locate a thrift store in your zip code, visit TheThriftShopper.Com.
4.  Clean the green way.   For her home, Regina chooses animal friendly, biodegradable, and natural ingredient cleaning products, and uses homemade remedies for around the house.  Her favorite recipes can be found at Junie Moon : cleaning recipes.

5.  Eat good stuff.  Since part of our connection to the environment is through the food we eat, Regina and her family pay special attention to the foods they put in their bodies.  Of their vegan cuisine, she says, “We eat lots of good stuff, primarily vegan foods (lots of veggies, legumes and grains) and locally grown vegetables from our local CSA  (http://www.localharvest.org/csa.jsp).”  And when available, her family buys organic food.

6.  Get fanatical.  Of her family’s habit of toting water bottles and reusable bags, Regina comments, “We are fanatical.”  Each family member uses a SIGG bottle and kleen kanteen on a daily basis.

Her family not only takes the ideal of reusing and repurposing seriously, but Regina’s eye for design allows them to be green in a stylish way.  She explains, “We  make our grocery bags out of re-purposed pillowcases and we use them whenever we go out.”

This week, one lucky commenter will receive a free reusable bag designed and made by Regina.   To see samples of her work, click here.

7.  Breastfeed.  As an RN for mothers and babies, part of Regina’s job is to teach about and promote breastfeeding, however, she also believes that it’s good for the environment.  She explains, “Not only does breastfeeding have long term benefits for both mom and baby that last a life time, but there is less energy use, trash and plastic waste compared to that produced by formula cans/bottles, supplies and transportation of formula.”  To learn more, read the  Benefits of Breastfeeding.

8.  Pledge Handmade.  No doubt that friends, family, and anyone lucky enough to receive a gift made by Regina are delighted with the thought, care, and creativity of her works, but in addition, those who receive handmade gifts participate in a meaningful object that is absent of large scale manufacturing.  Handmade gifts and purchases also value the artists, local cultures, and the environment.  To learn more about the Handmade Pledge, click here.

9.  Landscape and reduce harm.  Regina’s family chooses drought resistant plants and uses drip irrigation for the landscaping in their yard.   She notes that the environment influenced her family’s choices, “With very little rain in Arizona, we have to be very careful about water usage.  Having plants that are native to southern AZ helps to cut down on water.  We also have planted mesquite trees to help with shading our home and keeping it cool during the long hot summers.  We are currently learning about rain harvesting and are hoping to have a system in place before the monsoon’s hit in August.”   To learn about how to design an eco-friendly and edible landscape, visit Treehugger.com’s “Bountiful Backyards.”
10.  Purge the plastic.  “I’m on a quest to reduce plastic in my home,” explains Regina.  As part of her quest to rid her home of plastic, she is getting rid of plastic cups and containers, as well as poorly made plastic toys.  Her motto is, “Buying quality products made from natural materials will ensure that it lasts longer.”  And what about those well meaning plastic gifts from friends and family?  Regina recommends asking loved ones to “kindly buy . . . toys that are made from natural materials and have some kind of learning connection.”  Among her family’s favorites: handmade toys, books, creative kits, music, and games sets.  Natural made products to check out include:

• Eco-artware.com
• OurGreenHouse.com
• ImagiPLAY

Thank you again to Regina and her family for sharing a little bit about their green lifestyle.   I am convinced that there is more that they do, so maybe we’ll get to learn more sometime soon.  In the meantime, drop a comment and enter to win a stylish reusable shopping bag made by the talented Creative Kismet.

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This week’s Green Friend of the Week, Elizabeth from Boston, shared some great tips with me about canning food, which is a great alternative for enjoying out of season foods during the cold weather. Before you get started, please read the U.S.D.A.’s Canning Guide to ensure safe canning. Once you’re ready to get started, follow Elizabeth’s recipe for canning:

Canning tomatoes

Equipment: You need a very large stock pot with a canning rack. I bought mine at a local mom-and-pop hardware store, it was about $25. You also need jar lifters, here’s a link to a picture - http://fantes.com/images/5481openers.jpg - you can’t use regular metal kitchen tongs because the metal could damage the hot glass. You’ll also need a small non-metal spatula or a chopstick. Then of course, the jars. This recipe make about 6 500ml jars. They usually come in packs of 12. Your first set will have flat lids and screw caps. The screw caps are reusable, the flat lids are not. You can buy refill packs.

Picking your tomatoes:

This goes for anything you are canning - you want to pick fruit that is ripe but not over-ripe. Avoid any fruit that has a lot of soft spots, and cut out any spots you do have. Bacteria tend to gather in the damaged spots of fruit so you want to make sure to get rid of those pieces.

Preparing your jars:

I put my jars in the dishwasher (with nothing else) and run them through a hot rinse. You can also put them in a sink full of very hot water and then add boiling water from a kettle. But they need to be hot because if you put hot liquid into a cold jar it can break. The flat lids should be simmered in a small pot of water until you are ready to place them on the jars. The screw caps do not need to be heated because you will need to be able to touch them and screw them on the jar.

Fill your stock pot with enough water to cover the jars by about an inch and put it on high heat so that the water is boiling

The Recipe:

Note – canning does not allow any room for creativity with the recipe. The proportions need to be exact because changes in the acidity level can compromise the hermetic seal. I prefer a really basic recipe without any spices because then when I open them up I can do almost anything with them. They will be a little more liquid-y than many tomatoes in cans, but you can just simmer them for a few minutes and it will evaporate.

Ingredients:

12 cups halved, cored, peeled tomatoes (to peel the tomatoes place them in a pot of boiling water for 30-60 seconds until the skins crack, then place them in cold water and the skin will slip off)

Bottled lemon juice (it needs to be bottled because there has to be a consistent acidity, which you can’t predict from fresh lemons)

Salt (optional)

Recipe:

1. Place tomatoes in large, stainless steel pot, add just enough water to cover, bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring gently, reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.

2. Take each jar and add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and ¼ tsp of salt (if wanted). Then ladle tomatoes into the jar, leaving ½ inch of space at the top of the jar. Take a small non-metal spatula or a chopstick and run it around the sides of the jar to make sure there are no air pockets. Add more tomatoes if you now have more than ½ inch of space at the top.

3. Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp cloth to ensure that there is no food on it as this can disrupt the seal.

4. Using a magnet, take one of the flat lids out of the hot water and place it on the jar, then put the screw band on firmly, but not too tight.

5. Place the jars in the boiling water canner rack using your jar lifters, make sure water covers by an inch, then cover the pot. Bring it to a boil, and once it is boiling set the timer for 40 minutes. After that, turn off heat, take off the lid, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then remove jars using your jar lifters and set them on a flat surface where they can sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Don’t dry them or wipe them, there will be water gathered on the lid but it is important not to disturb them so the seal can form. In a little while you will start hearing the lids pop down as the cool and seal.

6. The next day, take the screw band off, wipe the rim, and test to make sure everything has sealed by pressing down in the middle of the flat lid. It should be depressed and make no popping sound. If it does make a popping sound, it means the seal didn’t form. Technically you can try to process them again, but it doesn’t happen to me very often and I just stick that jar in the fridge and use it within a week.

Note: Please read the U.S.D.A.’s Canning Guide to ensure safe canning.

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