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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I've Moved!



Well, it's official. Today is moving day. I am packing up this blog and moving to Wordpress. If you visit me there you may notice a few changes. A new address to begin with and a new look.

This blog started as one thing and morphed into something else entirely. It began as a way to reach out to others on the same path as I – living sustainably, going green, environmentally friendly, or whatever you like to call it. I was quite shy about my experiences at first, at home anyway. Online I felt free to let it all hang out, quite literally. Underwear, reusable menstrual pads and all, line drying for the world to see, but at home I didn’t dare tell a soul for fear of ridicule. I hid my tree-hugging ways like a dirty little secret. Connecting with others online and sharing experiences bolstered my confidence. Step by step I began to do more and little by little I became more open about it. Two years later I have come out of the crunchy closet, living sustainably is my way of life and I see no reason to hide it. I am no longer the “greeen sheeep” of the family.

Sustainability is still a big portion of my life and you will still find information on “going green” and my experiences with it on the new blog: Midnight Maniac, but it isn’t all my life. I have many interests: gardening, biking, planning parties, flower arranging, cake decorating, cooking, baking, bird watching, mushroom hunting, volunteering, homesteading, thrifting, fashion – Yes, fashion. Vintage fashion, more precisely. Reusing, buying second-hand, wearing vintage – they are all ways to go green. Basically, I can’t decide what I want to do when I grow up, so I just do it all and Midnight Maniac is where I will blog about it.
It is still a work in progress, but I would love for you to poke around and offer feedback. I have no idea what it looks like on a browser other than mine (Safari), so if you see something blatantly out place or broken, please let me know. You may have noticed I have already changed my Twitter name, email address, and Blogger profile. You can follow me on Twitter as @Midnight_Maniac or on Facebook by liking Midnight Maniac. I will still be EnviRambo at The Green Phone Booth and have created a profile under that pen name. At my new digs I will just be me, Rebecca Jean.

Cheers!










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Monday, February 22, 2010

Week of Eating In - Day One



This week we are participating in Huffington Post's "Week of Eating In" challenge, which I have outlined in my Monday post at the Green Phone Booth. The rules are simple, basically stay home and cook all your own food for a week. HuffPost encourages using basic, whole ingredients to prepare food, avoiding pre-packaged, pre-made food, like frozen dinners and ready-to-eat canned goods, but there are no strict rules.

For day one of our "Week of Eating In" and Meatless Monday we dined on leftovers. Nothing fancy nor exciting, but within the rules of the challenge. To sweeten the notion of eating leftovers I whipped up a batch of brownies for dessert. Keeping in line with the challenge, homemade brownies. I have always been a cake, brownie, basically-any-kind-of-dessert-from-a-box girl. Except cookies, they have always been homemade. Homemade brownies are awesome and super-easy to make! The day I thought those words would pass my lips, is the day I would eat my words. Now, this is our go to dessert when we want something satisfying, quick, easy, and with minimal mess.

(Reason #39 to stay home and cook your own food: The hair you find is your own!)


Aunt Rose's Brownies

Melt together (microwave) in a large bowl:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 stick butter
10 tablespoons cocoa

Add:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
Beat well.

Add:
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
Beat well.

At this point you can make any other additions you see fit. We are partial to chocolate chips and nuts, but to each his own. I suggest leaving out the hair. In regards to beat well, we just use a wooden spoon. Everything goes into one bowl and gets mixed with one spoon. Less dishes!

Pour into a 9x13 pan (we use glass), greased or not. (I always forget which it is and have done both.) Bake at 350 about 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Don't over-bake! (Aunt Rose's words)

Now eat! (My words)

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Kid-Safe Chemical Act



The other day I received an email from Environmental Working Group (EWG) containing some disturbing information. EWG tested the umbilical cord blood of ten newborns and found nearly 300 chemicals! Shouldn't a newborn be pristine? They just entered this world! Unfortunately babies are exposed to toxic chemicals before ever leaving the womb. EWG found BPA, fire retardants, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and even pesticides that were banned over 30 years ago! What? Are babies are not even safe from something banned possibly before their mothers were born? Yikes! That speaks volumes about the consequences of allowing chemicals to be sold before being proven safe. That is right, right now chemicals are approved first and tested later. Crazy, huh? EWG wants to stop that. As do I and hopefully you. EWG is collecting signatures for the Kid-Safe Chemical Act. The Kids-Safe Chemical Act would require that all chemicals be proven safe for children before they can be sold.

Please take a moment (30 seconds) to sign the petition. EWG is shooting for 75,000 signatures. Just click the button above, it is super-easy. Then if you would be so kind to spread the word, use the links below to notify your friends.


I signed the petition. Have you?

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Sunday, February 14, 2010

An Organic Love Story



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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Take Your Canvas Bags




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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A Wake-Up Story


A Wake-Up Story from Healthy Child Healthy World on Vimeo.


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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!


Last week Citizenpip generously offered up a Square Meal kit to one lucky reader. You all left great green resolutions! But, since there can only be one...

True Random Number Generator 9Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Number 9:

jelly bean said...

Hi! I would love to win this for my kid. I think I'm the only mom who doesn't send a juice box or packaged snack school. My green resolution is to reduce instead of recycyle (which i will still do). But the less I buy the less I need to reuse or recycle. Better for my pocket and earth!

jelly bean - You are the winner!

Congratulations! Please contact me at flockmaster@greeensheeep.com with your name and shipping address to receive your fantabulous prize. Once you get it, action shots would be wonderful, too!

The rest of you do not fret, I have much more giveaway goodness to come. Stay tuned!


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Thursday, January 7, 2010

New Year - New Resolutions - And a giveaway to get you kick-started!

It is a new year and you have made your New Year's resolutions. To eat healthier? Live lighter? Be greener? All of the above and more? Citizenpip is here to help! A mom-powered business, Citizenpip was inspired by the belief that making small changes in your daily habits can make a significant impact. Citizenpip offers eco-friendly, practical, and safe reusable lunch kits that make it easy to pack a waste-free lunch.


Citizenpip generously sent me one of their Soup To Nuts Kits (pictured above) for review.

The Soup To Nuts Kit includes:
All of Citizenpip's "munchgear" is "muck-free" containing no lead, no BPA, no PVC, and no phthalates. What it does contain is great little air-tight containers perfectly sized for snacking at lunch. Now your child can have their favorite sandwich at school without it getting smooshed in a brown paper bag. Not to mention, there is no bag to throw away! Maybe you want to take some leftovers to work for lunch the next day? No problem, the silicone-seal leak-proof containers can handle an ooey-gooey entree too. Each BPA-free polypropylene container comes with four flaps on the lid, that snap onto the bottom, to securely seal the contents inside. I sent my 13-year old with it on a school trip and she arrived home incident free. Since she only packed a sandwich and some dry goods that day I thought a little more rigorous testing was needed. I filled each of the containers with various levels of water, packed them into the lunch bag and carried it around in my purse (Yes, I have a big purse) for the day while running errands. I am not as rough and tumbly as an 8-year old boy, but jumping in and out of the car, running to and fro car to store - it is darn cold out there(!) - throwing my purse in shopping carts, and sloshing around while schlepping groceries into the house, I think I put it through its paces. Happy to report that I and the contents of my purse remained dry, I decided to go Mythbuster style and see just what would happen if I were an 8-year old boy.


Dropped from three feet or more and still good! While I honestly believe that glass is better than plastic, I do realize that not everyone may be at that stage and reusable is definitely better than disposable. I love that this kit comes with it all - beverage container, utensils, and napkin are all included. Not just one napkin mind you, but a whole week's worth! Who has time to do laundry every night after returning home from work? No need to worry about that with this kit. There is even an insulated container for packing soup on those cold winter days - like today.

For the complete lineup of Citizenpip products check out their website: www.citizenpip.com


To get your New Year's resolution off to a fun, convenient, eco-start Citizenpip is offering up their Square Meal Kit (pictured above) to one lucky reader in the continental US. Thanks Citizenpip! Leave one of your green resolutions in the comments below by January 13 to be entered to win. I will announce the winner the following day, January 14. Good luck!

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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Plastic Resolution

Think it is impossible to live without plastic? Think again. Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish is well on her way. She saves and tallies all the plastic she consumes and then graciously blogs about it, offering up ways to reduce your consumption. Her plastic tally for 2009 was 3.7 pounds. For the whole year! That is amazing! Most Americans probably tossed 3.7 pounds of plastic packaging during Christmas alone. In fact, her 3.7 pounds averages out to just 4% of what the rest of us consume. I am in awe.




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