Things I Will Never Give Up

Recent weeks have seen me intensifying my crunchiness somewhat out of the blue.  Here's how it happened.

I had been toying with the no 'poo method of hair maintenance for some time, but my mother (a soon to be retired hairdresser) kept bringing me huge bottles of pricey shampoo.  So every time that happened, I decided I would do no 'poo when that bottle was done.

Then lo and behold, the very same woman comes into my house and tells me she stopped using shampoo!  Then my sister told me the same thing!  Well, not to be out-crunchified, I figured I could do it too.

(I'll write a post soon about the details of no 'poo).

After that, it seemed counter-intuitive to continue to use harsh chemicals and petroleum based products in other aspects of my life.  So I started the oil cleansing method and I ordered soap nuts and I started experimenting with making my own toothpaste.

But there are certain things that I absolutely will not give up, no matter how crunchy I get.  What are they?

• Toilet paper: Family cloth...no thank you. 
• Bleach: I'm sorry, but I have two little boys and a white kitchen sink.  Sometimes bleach is the only answer.
• Shaving: Itchy armpits, Sasquatch legs...I'll stay clean shaven if it's all the same to everyone.
• Soap: There are a lot of natural alternatives to traditional soap.  I found a great bar of Shea Moisture soap at Target.  I just made my sister body wash using Dr. Bronner's castile soap (the verdict isn't in...I'll make her post a comment when it is). 
• Meat: My thoughts on this are long and detailed.  The nutshell version is that when the meat is humanely sourced and the animals are properly cared for, I don't feel guilty eating meat.  Find a local farmer who raises pastured animals and you'll know what I mean.
• Diapers: For the baby, obviously.  I try to use cloth for the most part, but I do use sposies at times, and there is no way I would do elimination communication.  Again, no thanks.
• Modern Medicine: As much as I believe in homeopathy and natural remedies, there are times that aspirin and antibiotics are needed.  Everything in moderation.

Anyone want to add to the list or make an argument for why I should give up one of my holdfasts?

Oil Cleansing Method, or You wash your face with what?

Washing one's face with oil?  Sounds counter-intuitive, yes?  I mean, one washes one's face to remove oil, so why would you rub oil all over your face and then call it clean?  Honestly, I don't know.  According to this post at Crunchy Betty, a blog I've recently discovered and fallen in love with, like dissolves like, so when you wash your face with oil, the oil in your pores is actually bought out and dissolved.  Then you wipe it away with a very warm washcloth.  The steam from the washcloth further opens your pores, allowing the gunk in them to be brought to the surface and wiped away.  

In theory, it sounds great.  In practice?  It's too soon to tell.  This is my second night using the oil cleansing method, hereafter referred to as the OCM, and my skin feels great.  But am I just days away from huge embarrassing breakouts?  I don't know.  

There is a the reason I wanted to try it (aside from finding a non-toxic way to wash my face). I wax away the unwanted hair from my face (in a perfect world, I would get threaded, but I don't have time to do that every couple of weeks), and the best way to dissolve the extra wax from my skin is to gently massage it with oil.  When I wax and wash it away with the oil, I end up essentially washing my entire face with oil and wiping it away with a warm washcloth.  Every time I do that, my skin feels great afterward.  So when I read about the OCM, something clicked.

There are quite a few blog tutorials out there that describe the OCM in detail.  For the most part, I followed Crunchy Betty's advice, with the exception of the castor oil.  I don't have any at the moment, so I figured I would give it a go with two of the oils she suggested that I do have. 

So here's a rundown of what I've been doing:

1. Mix a 1:1 ratio of grapeseed oil and sweet almond oil.  I'm mixing on a night by night basis in case my skin freaks out.  That way I don't have a vast quantity of unusable oil sitting around.  
2. Turn the faucet on hot and let the water come up in temperature.  
3. Splash some very warm water on your face.
4. Rub the mixed oils into your face.
5. Continue to rub for a minute or two.
6. Turn the hot water back on while you allow the oils to sit on your skin for about 30 seconds.
7. Wet a washcloth with very warm water and hold it against your oily face for about 10-15 seconds, then begin to wipe.  Wipe well, rinse your cloth, wipe again, rinse again, wipe again.  Continue until you feel that you've wiped all the oil off and your skin feels clean.
8. Last night I patted dry with a towel, tonight I allowed it to air dry.  

Right now, my skin feels fabulous.  Soft to the touch and moisturized without feeling oily or greasy.  Will this become a nightly routine?  Don't know...if my skin breaks out and I suddenly look like I'm going through puberty again, I'll probably pull it back, but for now, it's my go to face-washing routine.

Two Goals

Recently it was Earth Day and with it, there were scores of online articles detailing how to be less wasteful.  It theory, it's simple...throw less stuff out.  But in practice, that is harder than it seems.  No matter how many scornful looks I give him, my husband still reaches for paper towels over cloth ones when our sons make messes.  And I've been using disposable diapers on our little guy far more than I ever did for his brother. 

Oh the guilt!

But the waste that really galls me...that just makes me crazy...is food waste.  I pay a lot of money on expensive organic food so that my kids get the best nutrition I can give them.  And when they willfully and purposely waste it...a part of my brain explodes.  Now of course, I recognize that they are children and "waste not, want not" is not a maxim that they understand or care about, so it's my job as the adult to ensure they waste as little as possible.

So my challenge to myself for the month of May is going to be zero food waste.  This means making good use of my freezer, maybe even plugging in the deep freezer and using that for our meat and veggies.  If I do that, I'll use our regular freezer for things that we need access to more often.

Now I'm lucky because my sister keeps chickens, and they eat all sorts of food scraps, so things that don't get eaten, like strawberry hulls and eggs shells, get fed to the chickens.  Also we (my sister and I) are growing a huge garden at her house, so things that don't get fed to the chickens, like coffee grounds and potato peels, will be composted. 

But my goal will be to reuse or freeze every scrap of edible food.

My second goal is more long term.  I've been thinking a lot lately about the petroleum industry and the amount of chemicals we are all exposed to.  Now, it's pretty much impossible to have zero exposure to chemicals in our modern lives, but I'd like to limit the exposure of my family (especially my two sweet little boys) to the shit-storm of chemicals they are likely to be bombarded with.

So I'm going to start making my own body products and all-purpose cleaner, using a more eco-friendly laundry detergent and shampooing with baking soda rather than commercial shampoo.

This is going to be a work in progress as I phase out mainstream cleaning and bathing products in favor of more natural options.  Will everything I try be met with success?  Nope!  But that's okay!  This is about trial and error...I will do my best to post successes and failures with all sorts of interesting tidbits about what worked and why!

I know you'll be waiting with bated breath.

The Diet Trap

Recently I found a prom picture of myself.  It was a bit of a revelation because I had always held my high school weight as my gold standard.  I knew I would never get back to that miniscule number, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I hoped against hope that maybe I could get there.  But here's the thing...I looked at the girl in the picture, all fresh-faced and newly in love (for real, I married my prom date), and I realized that I looked emaciated.  I can't believe how skinny I was.  And of course, in those days, I ate whatever I wanted.  Not a single thought about calories or health value crossed my mind. 

Now, here it is, nearly 20 (WTF!) years later, and the health value and calorie count of nearly everything I eat is known to me.  I can't blame my children alone for what no longer counts as a girlish figure.  I've eaten my way to 30-odd pounds heavier than my prom self.  Of course, almost everyone gains weight as they age; my (almost) middle-aged boobs aren't in the same locale that my prom boobs were, and other areas have lumped or sagged as my body has stretched to the limit and back again twice now. 

My point in all of this rambling is that I, like many others, want to lose weight.  But unlike many others, I don't automatically reach for low-fat, low-calorie options.  Nor do I punish myself with brutal workouts repeatedly.  (Actually, I would love to workout more than I do, but my children seem to take my desire to workout as a personal affront, and they both flip out the instant I pick up a weight.)

Anyway...man, someone shut me up, I can't stop with the digressions tonight.

Here is my point...DIET!

And by diet, I mean as much what you eat as what you don't eat.  Now it's true that a life entirely devoid of French fries and ice cream is not worth living, but if you want to be skinny, I mean, healthy, you need to focus on a diet of real food.  Don't fall into the diet trap.  Most "real foods" are naturally low in calories and high in nutrition.

I certainly indulge and lately, I seem to be indulging a little too often, so I try to write about both my indulgences and my more restrained moments.  I feel like keeping track of both sides of the coin will keep me on track.  So in the spirit of confession...I sandwiched my real food breakfast of yogurt and homemade granola in between large bites of apple crumb cake leftover from Easter.  Both were delicious, but only one left me feeling guilty.

If you are at a loss for how to live a real food life in a way that will help you lose weight, look to these types of foods:

• Dairy: Organic cheese, milk and yogurt are great sources of protein, and because they tend to be rich and creamy, they can full like an indulgence.  Pairing dairy with fruits or veggies will help you feel full and satisfied.

• Fruits: Nature's candy.  It's about to be full-on berry season, and I can't think of anything better.  Seriously, what is sweeter and more delicious than a sun-ripened strawberry? When you want something sweet, try to assuage that craving with fruit instead of a fake fruit product (juices or fruit-flavored candy).  Plus, so many fruits transport well (apples, oranges, bananas); throw one in your purse as you head out the door and you're good to go.

• Veggies: Most veggies are delicious (and wonderfully low calorie), but if you honestly don't like them, focus on one or two that you can tolerate, and work from there.  Or fool yourself.  You think you hate spinach?  Blend it into a smoothie and you won't even know it's there.  Cut up tomatoes, carrots or cucumbers and drizzle them with a little olive oil and vinegar or sprinkle some salt on them and you have a delicious appetizer.  My favorite way to cook broccoli is to roast it in the oven.  Spread broccoli (fresh or frozen) in a single layer, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic and roast until it gets a little crunchy around the edges...even my husband loves it that way.  And branch out.  I didn't think I would like cauliflower, but I made it mashed one night (like mashed potatoes) and it was delicious.  My point is, take risks.  If you honestly don't like something, then don't eat it again.  Tell yourself what I tell my kid, "take one bite, if you honestly don't like it, you don't have to finish it."

• Vegetarian protein: The aforementioned dairy fits into this category as does hummus, beans, lentils, tofu, and eggs.  Personally, I can't stand tofu; I've tried it a bunch of different ways to see if I could find one that works...I couldn't, though, so it's off my grocery list.  But eggs are delicious. Try this "real food trick," buy two dozen eggs when you grocery shop, hard-boil one full dozen.  Instantly you have a real food addition to salads, breakfast or just a quick snack.  Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) are also a delicious and nutritious addition to a salad.  You can also roast them in the oven and season them with herbs and spices for a quick and healthy snack. 

• Animal protein: I realize technically dairy and eggs are animal protein, but they are more byproducts, rather then the animal itself.  Here's the nutshell version of my love-hate relationship with meat.  I gave up all red meat and most pork in my twenties and never looked back.  I attempted full on vegetarianism, but it just didn't work for me.  I always tried to buy organic, but as I've gotten older (and more knowledgeable if not wiser), I've doubted the large-scale organic food complex more and more.  Last summer, I joined a whole food CSA and it was the first time I actually ate and enjoyed red meat in nearly 15 years.  My rule is, I will eat anything I get from my farmer, but otherwise, I tend to stick to chicken only.  Now all that aside, if you want to include quick and easy meats for lunches or snacks, I highly recommend Applegate Farms deli meat.  Boar's Head is okay because they don't add fillers, you are just getting meat.  What you're looking to avoid in deli meats is nitrates, nitrites and fillers like grains.  As far as dinner is concerned, most meats would fall under the category of real food, but I can't recommend strongly enough, that you buy and eat only organic meats that have been raised in the way that animals are meant to be raised.  Think of it this way...if you are what you eat, then aren't the cows, chickens and pigs what they eat too?  And if so, you are what what you eat eats.

So the long and short of it is, eat real food.  Food that has one ingredient in the list of ingredients, food that came from nature, food that your great-great grandparents would recognize as food.  If you need a master's degree in chemistry to understand the ingredients in your afternoon snack, maybe you should think twice about eating it.

Just Another Manic Monday

So tomorrow is back to work for the 9-5 crowd.  I also have to work tomorrow, but such a short shift hardly counts.

Anyway, as I posted about last week, prepping ahead of time is crucial to the success of living a real food life.  Though, in the spirit of full disclosure, I will say that today was a total real food fail.  I prepared a lovely brunch and my parents came bearing cupcakes, chocolate, jelly beans, and other such junk.  Guess what the kids picked?  I did eat eggs, bacon, potatoes and berries, but yes, all of the previously mentioned junk crossed the gates as well.

Anyway, tomorrow we get back on track, and it started with making hubby's lunch tonight.  

Two rolls of Applegate Farms deli ham, two small stuffed peppers, a Sargento cheese stick, a clementine, baby carrots and gluten free crackers. 

A note on the stuffed peppers, hubby brought them home today.  I haven't read the ingredients list, so I don't know yet how "real" they are, but I figured, pepper, prosciutto...a least it's a vegetable/protein combo.  

Also, after complaining that he wants to lose weight and that he thinks he might be snacking too much, I advised hubby to eat breakfast.  I know I always eat too much on the days I don't have breakfast.  I suggested he eat yogurt and granola (a favorite of mine), a banana and a hard-boiled egg, or an apple with peanut butter.  Some combination of protein and fiber to fill his belly and ward off cravings.

Grab-and-Go

Eating on the fly is a big part of most people's lives these days.  Often, it's one of the biggest challenges of eating a healthy, homemade diet.  But just because it's a challenge doesn't mean it's impossible. 

It takes a little bit of planning ahead, but eating a homemade lunch at work or snacks while running errands is totally doable.

I know this is going to sound a little old-fashioned, like I'm some '50s era housewife, but I pack my husband a lunch to bring to work almost every day.  Some days I run out of time or I'm not prepped enough, those days, he's on his own.  I do this not just to make sure that he has something healthy to eat, but to save money as well.

I've found that having the right containers makes a huge difference in how easy it is to pack his lunch, and now that I'm back at work, my own too.  I work short shifts, but between dropping the boys off at my sister's house and driving to work, I'm usually hungry by the time I get here (yes, I'm blogging on the job, don't tell anyone).  And even though I have healthy options on campus, it gets a little crazy to pay $7 for a salad several times a week.

I posted about our lunches a few weeks ago here.  And wouldn't you know, the cute little red Bento box I got on sale at Target broke the very next day.  We've been holding it together with duct tape, but it definitely detracts from the cute factor.

The 17-piece set we got a BJ's, however, is fantastic and offers a ton of variety.  I always pack hubby's lunch the night before in case the kids let me sleep in (ha ha).  Last night, I used the sandwich sized part of the kit to pack hubby a lunch that consisted of 2 slices of deli ham rolled up, a cheese stick, a hard-boiled egg, gluten-free crackers, 2 carrots cut up into sticks and a clementine.  I organized these items with silicone muffin cups I got on Amazon.  Since that particular container doesn't have compartments, the cups kept everything from getting all jumbled together.

If you know that you'll be out running errands all day, throw an apple or banana into your bag to take with you.  A little bag of trail mix or granola is also an easy grab-and-go snack.  I like to make my own granola, and one thing that helps is to store at least some of it in snack-sized Ziploc bags so that you can just grab it out of the cabinet and go.  You can also prep little baggies of veggies to keep in your fridge for grab-and-go snacks.  The type of cheese stick I put in hubby's lunch is also a good option.

If you forget or you absolutely need to eat while out and about, try to find something healthy.  For example, today I packed more of a snack than a lunch for myself and I knew I'd get hungry before quitting time, so I went down to the café and grabbed a Greek yogurt and a bottle of water.  Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt, so it helps fill you up more. My campus also has individual hummus and pretzel servings.  This is a good combination of carbs and protein that will help fill you up for longer.

Whether diet is on your mind because you are counting calories or because you want to focus on real food, eating healthy on the go is something you can do!

• Prep ahead by preparing snack-sized portions of granola, trail mix or cut up veggies so you can grab-and-go.
• Keep easily portable real food around...think fruit: apples, oranges and bananas are all easy to slip into your purse and eat one-handed.
• Pack a lunch the night before.
• Get the right containers...ones with sections make it easy to pack a lunch with a variety of healthy components.
• Make existing containers easier to use with muffin cups and Ziploc baggies.

Finding a Way

You know that saying, "life will find a way"? It's a true story, and no, I'm not pregnant. I am desperate for a vegetable garden.  Last year, I joined a CSA and enjoyed a half share of vegetables, several pounds of local and humanely raised meat and a gallon of farm fresh milk each week.  In addition, my mother-in-law put in a huge garden and brought me loads of fresh veggies each week.

The thing is, I only learned to can at the end of the summer and I didn't have a deep freezer...this year, I'm planning ahead for summer's bounty so that I can preserve as much of it as possible.

My hope is if I double the amount of meat I get each week and freeze it and the overage of vegetables in my new-to-me deep freezer, I can drastically cut down on what I spend on groceries next winter.

But here's the thing, my yard--as my husband helpfully pointed out--is more ornamental than practical.  Basically he meant that since we only have a front yard and not a backyard, it's meant to be pretty, not functional.  This is very annoying to me as I've spent a fair amount of time looking up "front yard vegetable gardens." (I think I'm going to sneak a few herbs into the front garden anyway, they're pretty enough to pass muster.)

So the solution is that I'm working on my sister's garden with her.  It's going to be "our" garden in that we'll share the workload and share the harvest.  So this past weekend, I went over and helped stake the fencing, start the potato patch and push rocks out of the way to reframe the border.  She has tons of space and the biggest problem is fencing the garden space off from the chickens and children so that the first group doesn't eat everything before we get to and the second doesn't trample everything before it has a chance to sprout.

As the days get warmer and my semester at work winds down, I'm hoping to get over there more and more to pitch in and get my hands dirty.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about using the one back corner of our yard that could grow something and perhaps planting in containers on our deck. 

If you are desperate to grow your own food but you lack space, there are options.  First check out your town or city's webpage for community garden options.  Some areas allow you to share space at community centers, community colleges or other shared spaces.  Or check out books on small plot or urban gardening from the library.  There are a lot of options for container gardening if you have a sunny window or balcony.  Even if you start small with some herbs on a windowsill, it can feel truly rewarding to reap the benefits of homegrown food!

Happy Birthday!

My baby just turned one (sob!).  We had his birthday party this past weekend; we kept it small, just grandparents, auntie, uncle and cousins.  But all the same, a party means a menu and a menu means food...which in this house, brings a whole bunch of questions.

One of the things about a party that I always ask myself is, should I get organic, all-natural stuff for people who don't really care?  In the end I usually do a little organic, a little not.  I mean, it's a party...you gotta loosen up!

So for the little guy's first birthday, I made my sister's pulled pork with coleslaw, a big green salad and homemade chocolate cupcakes.  For munchies, a veggie tray and chips and dip.

To me the big thing was the cake.  For my first son's first birthday, I made him a from-scratch yellow cake.  I wanted him to have a smash cake that wasn't full of additives and food coloring.  The thing was a brick.  The poor kid couldn't even pull a piece off, let alone smash it to bits.

I have vanquished the cake!

Fast forward a couple years and I have discovered a chocolate cake that is homemade, delicious and light and fluffy.  It doesn't taste exactly like box cake, but why should it?  I've made it for several birthdays now, so I knew that my little guy would have no problem ripping into the cupcakes I made.

Here's the thing though, I got the recipe from the book, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter and she adapted the recipe from Peg Bracken's The I Hate to Cookbook.  Seeing as those are both copyrighted by someone other than me, I probably can't legally share the recipe here, but if you want it, I will be happy to give it to you...just hit me up in the comments and we can exchange recipes privately!

Yum...chocolate cake!

Never Buy Breadcrumbs Again!

Part of the reason I like to be "mostly homemade" is to save money. It's also to keep chemicals, pesticides, additives, etc. out of my family's diet.  Whatever the reason you choose to eat organic food, it can truly bust a budget, so doing the work to make things from scratch can save money. Especially if the things you're using would usually be tossed out, like leftovers or the stale ends of bread.  Leftovers can always be transformed into another night's dinner, or frozen for later reheating.  The stale ends of bread are perfect for making breadcrumbs.

Making your own breadcrumbs is 1. easy, 2. free, 3. does there need to be a third reason?

Here's what you do...

Step 1: Save the ends of bread that would normally end up in the garbage, compost or tossed to the birds. I keep mine in a bag in the freezer.

Step 2: When the bag is full, toast the bread in the oven. You're looking to dry it out. I did about 5 minutes at 350.

Step 3: Cool the bread on a cooling rack.

Step 4: Break the slices into chunks and whir them in the food processor.

Step 5: Store in a freezer bag or freezer safe jar and keep them in the freezer for whenever you need them.

Bam...fast, easy, free. What more do you need? No need to search high and low for organic breadcrumbs when you can make your own from the bread you already buy or make!

Packing a Real Food Lunch

One of the hardest things about a "whole/real food" diet is eating when out of the house.  When you're home, it's easy enough to control the food in your environment, but when out at the office or running errands, it's too easy to succumb to the vending machine or impulse purchases at the checkout.  In fact, in my first couple of weeks back at work, I totally gained a couple pounds.  I would head down to the cafe, grab a coffee and a pastry and head back to my little corner of campus.  Not good for a real food diet, not good for the wallet, not good for the waistline.

So now that I'm starting to get into a better routine with my schedule, I'm better able to plan ahead. I've made lunches for my husband to take to work for a long time to save money, so it's really no big deal to just make one for me too.  For a long time, I was just packing a sandwich and apple for Hubby, but he's recently decided to go gluten "lite," so I've changed his lunch routine too.  

This week, I've been packing both our lunches in these super cute little Bento boxes.  The sections make it easy to add variety and control portion sizes, something that the average American diet needs a little work in.  I've been able to pack us each a variety of fruits, veggies, protein and carbs thanks to some inexpensive hardware.  The blue one was purchased at BJs as part of 17 piece for about $13.  The red one I grabbed on sale at Target for $4.99.

Hubby's lunch: Applegate Farms salami, gluten free crackers (it looks like a lot, but it's one serving), baby carrots, cucumber slices, a cheese stick, a clementine and dip for the veggies inside the covered dish.  

My lunch: Cucumber slices, baby carrots, Applegate Farms turkey, half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar.