Greeen Sheeep

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!

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)

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?

Sunday, February 14, 2010

An Organic Love Story

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Take Your Canvas Bags

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A Wake-Up Story

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

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 GeneratorMin: Max: Result: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!
January 11, 2010 5:49 PM

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!

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:

1 insulated lunch bag with nametag and carabiner that easily attaches to a backpack
1 stainless steel water bottle
1 stainless steel insulated food jar
4 BPA-free airtight food containers
1 stainless steel fork + spoon set
5 100% cotton napkins

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!

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.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Meatless Monday - Pasta with broccoli, edamame & walnuts

Inspiration for this Meatless Monday meal came from Moosewood Restaurant's Farm Fresh Meals Deck. It is this great little deck of cards that was sent to me for review. The deck consists of 50 recipes broken down by season. Each season gives you a variety of side dishes, main dishes, and desserts - my favorite! What I like about it - besides that it encourages you to eat seasonally using local ingredients - is that each recipe is contained within one card, including the ingredient list. All I have to do is take the card to the store with me and I already have a pre-printed grocery list. Very convenient!

Some of the recipes include:

Black Bean & Citrus Salad
Barbecued Tofu & Vegetables
Navajo Peach Crumble
Cranberry Bulgar Pilaf
Pumpkin & Mushroom Lasagna
Chocolate Cranberry Crunch
Sweet Potato-Stuffed Eggplant
Green & White Bean Gratin
Lime Pecan Bars
Potato-Leek Soup
Spinach Artichoke Risotto
Strawberry Chocolate Quesadillas

The recipe we used for Meatless Monday was pasta with broccoli, edamame and walnuts.

Ingredients:

3/4 pound chunky pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

3 cups bite-sized pieces of broccoli

1 cup frozen shelled edamame

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, oregano, thyme, or marjoram*

1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese (optional)

*In place of fresh herbs, you can add about 2 teaspoons of dried herbs to the skillet with the broccoli.

Directions:

Bring a large covered pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet on low heat. Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds. Add the broccoli with about 1/2 cup of the hot pasta-cooking water, turn the heat to high, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the edamame, salt, and herbs. Continue to cook until the water evaporates and the broccoli is crisp-tender and bright green, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

When the pasta is done, drain it. In a serving bowl, toss the pasta with the vegetable mixture, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and the walnuts. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with grated cheese if you wish.

I did not have any chunky pasta, so I used spaghetti instead. It was a nice light meal. My family is used to pasta smothered in sauce. It was good, but I could not help thinking this would be really good with some Alfredo mixed in. If your family are not slaves to the sauce then you would probably rate it higher. My family gave it lukewarm reviews.

Despite the lackluster results of the dish, the deck itself is great. Each recipe offers something different. When I feel like switching up our mundane weeknight meals this will be the recipe "book" that I reach for. The fact that it takes up very little space in my already overflowing collection is an added bonus. Heck, the whole deck can slip easily into my purse for a little farmers' market adventure. It retails for $14.99 and is available for purchase from these online bookstores: Moosewood Restaurant Farm Fresh Meals Deck.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Send Diane!

Huffington Post in conjunction with Hopenhagen.org is sending one person to Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Conference to both represent concerns of people around the world and to report back daily as a HuffPost citizen journalist. Our own beloved Green Mom, Diane MacEachern is in the running! Diane is author of the best selling book Big Green Purse, voice behind the Big Green Purse blog, and fellow blogger of the Green Moms Carnival.

Diane understands how the current environmental crisis effects us all on a daily basis. She can speak for all us individuals who take personal responsibility for the change needed. We blog, tweet, and update our Facebook statuses everyday with information about going green/living sustainably. Let's get our voice heard at Copenhagen, too. Watch her submission below, then go to HuffPost, rate her video a 10, and send Diane!

I nominate Diane MacEachern, author, businesswoman, activist, and Green Mom to be the Huffington Post's "Hopenhagen" Ambassador. Please show your support by voting now. Voting ends December 4!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Story of Cap & Trade

See the full video here: The Story of Cap & Trade

Monday, November 30, 2009

Meatless Monday

This week's Meatless Monday recipe comes from the one thing I cannot resist at the supermarket checkout. Candy bars and soda... no problem. Cooking magazines... kryptonite. Some time not that long ago, I picked up a copy of Fine Cooking's fresh: 350 recipes that Celebrate the Seasons. It was within these delicious glossy pages that I found inspiration for today's Meatless Monday.

Luxurious Four-Cheese Macaroni & Cheese

This is not your neon-orange-nutritionally-defunct-out-of-a-box-kid-crack macaroni & cheese, but a much more sophisticated-yet-down-home-comforting version that is sure to please adult and child palate alike. It uses Gruyere, Blue, Monterey Jack, and Parmesan cheeses. Now let me just say up front that I am not a fan of blue cheese and was extremely hesitant to try this recipe. However, since embarking on the Meatless Monday journey I have been forced to become more adventurous with our absence of meat, so I held my nose and reserved judgement for the final outcome. It was good! The blue cheese was detectable and I would probably decrease the amount used next time, but it was quite tasty nonetheless.

This recipe filled a 13x9 pan. Even small portions were deceivingly fulfilling. We were able to get several meals out of this one recipe. Any time I can cook once and eat a lot is a bonus in my book. Yep, this one is a keeper.

Luxurious Four-Cheese Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
3 cups whole milk (I used 2%)
4 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce; more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
5 oz. Gruyere, coarsely grated (about 1 3/4 cups lightly packed)
1/2 lb. blue cheese, crumbled (about 2 cups; use less if not crazy about blue cheese)
1 lb. dried penne rigate pasta
1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest
11 oz. Monterey Jack, cut into 1/2-inch dice (2 cups - I used a vegetable medley Monterey Jack)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves
2 1/2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated (scant 1 cup)
3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Instructions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put a large pot of well-salted water on to boil.
Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat to just below a simmer. Remove from heat and cover to keep hot. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and bay leaf. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, whisking frequently, until thickened and smooth. Season with 1 tsp. salt, the nutmeg, the Tabasco, and pepper to taste. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in the Gruyere and blue cheese.
Cook the pasta in the boiling water to al dente, following the package directions. Drain well and return to the pot. Toss the lemon zest and half of the Monterey Jack into the pasta while it is still hot; add the cheese sauce and quickly toss to combine. Stir in the parsley and thyme and transfer half of the pasta to a large (3-qt.) shallow casserole or lasagna pan (I used a 13x9 baking dish). Sprinkle with the remaining Monterey Jack and half of the Parmigiano; top with the remaining pasta. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano and the breadcrumbs. Bake until bubbling and golden, 50 to 60 minutes. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Starting a new Thanksgiving tradition

Thanksgiving is steeped in tradition. Families have gathered for centuries to enjoy the bounty of the Fall harvest. Maybe some of your traditions include gathering at the same home, preparing your fabulous pumpkin pie, enjoying traditional Thanksgiving dishes, watching the football game, traveling home to see family, whatever they may be, breaking tradition is hard to do. My family enjoys the traditional Thanksgiving fare, every year, the same thing; turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn, sweet potatoes, jellied cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, lefse, and of course pie - pumpkin and apple. Not wanting to throw tradition out the window, but wishing to be mindful of the impact our feast leaves on the planet, I thought a little tradition tweaking was in order.

I kept the menu traditional, but changed the source of my ingredients. This year I opted to try the 100-mile Thanksgiving, choosing local ingredients for our meal. Research shows that on average food travels over 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate. There is a lot of fuel, energy, and pollution expelled in the journey. It has also been suggested that nutrients are lost in transit. Keeping your food miles limited to a locavore's guide of 100 miles benefits your family's health and the planet's.

To keep from blowing my family completely out of their comfort zone, I served the same traditional dishes, but injected some of my sustainability by using local ingredients.

100-Mile Thanksgiving Menu

Roasted Organic Turkey - 40 miles

carrots - 37 miles
parsnips - 32 miles
celery - 2,000 miles (California)
onion - 37 miles
turnips - 37 miles
butter - 40 miles
dry white wine - 103 miles

Porcini and Sausage Stuffing

porcini mushrooms - 12 miles
slab bacon - 315 miles
onion - 37 miles
leek - 20 paces to my garden
celery - 2,000 miles (California)
garlic - 37 miles
sweet Italian sausage - 23 miles
liver from turkey - 40 miles
white bread - 14 miles
fresh thyme leaves - 4 steps outside my door
giblet stock - see below

Giblet Stock

neck, heart, and gizzard from turkey - 40 miles
celery - 2,000 miles (California)
carrots - 37 miles
onion - 37 miles
white mushrooms - 12 miles
bay leaves - ???
whole black peppercorns - ???
coarse salt - ???
fresh thyme - 4 steps outside my door
flat-leaf parsley - 20 paces to my garden

My sister-in-law brought the mashed potatoes, I made the gravy.

Riesling Gravy

pan juices from Roasted Turkey
dry Riesling - 103 miles
giblet stock - see above
flour - 45 miles
butter - 40 miles

Green Bean Casserole

green beans - 5 miles
morels - 36 miles
butter - 40 miles
garlic - 37 miles
flour - 45 miles
giblet stock - see above
half & half - 40 miles
bread - 14 miles
French fried onions - ???

Cranberry Relish

raw cranberries - 48 miles
apples - 30 miles
1 orange - 2,000 miles (California)
sugar - ???

I know holidays are exceptions to the rule and we tend to be more lenient, but that does not mean we have to throw all sustainability out the window. You can have a traditional feast with all the fixings - just look for them locally. You can have gifts at Christmas - just make them purposeful; like giving to charity, experiences, homemade, etc. Progress does not have to come at the expense of the past. No need to turn your back on tradition - just tweak it.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Meatless Monday

Lately my husband has been toying with becoming vegetarian. While I am not sure my bacon-loving beau is ready to take that step, I am all for reducing our meat consumption. Americans consist of 5 percent of the world's population and process more than 15 percent of the world's total meat, at a rate of 10 billion animals annually! All that meat consumption comes at great environmental costs. Producing meat is very energy intensive. One-third of all fossil fuels produced in the United States are used to raise animals for food. Much of that going towards producing food to feed the animals that we eat. It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of meat. 1.4 billion people - 20 percent of the world's population - could be fed with the grain and soybeans fed to U.S. cattle alone. Then there is the water needed to irrigate the crops to feed to the animals and water the animals to feed to us. It takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat, while growing one pound of wheat only takes 25 gallons. Seems like we could skip a step in there and just feed the crops to us. A totally vegetarian diet only requires 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day! You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year. I will skip the steak and take the shower, thank you very much.

Aside from the environmental aspect of meat consumption, there is the impact on your wallet to consider. I started lowering our meat consumption a few years ago by reducing our portion sizes. Meat is no longer the star of our meals, but acts more as a filler to round out the meal. One pound (16 oz.) of meat can make a meal for my family of four, compared to the 8.4 ounces that the average American consumes daily - each! Given that meat is the most expensive item in the grocery store, how much money could you save by consuming less of it? We already consume half as much as the average American, but I still think we could go lower. Enter Meatless Monday.

Meatless Monday is a non-profit website dedicated to reducing meat consumption 15 percent in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet. I pledged to make my family's Monday meals meatless. Unsure of where to start, I searched the website's recipe section (conveniently sorted by the meal you are looking for) and decided to give Great Northern White Chili a try.

1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 (15-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce)can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles, drained
1 (14-ounce) can white sweet corn, drained
Coat a large pot with nonstick cooking spray, then sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until tender. Stir frequently so vegetables don’t stick. Empty one can of the Great Northern beans into a food processoror blender and process with one cup of the vegetable broth until smooth. Add everything to the pot: the pureed bean mixture, the second can of Great Northern beans,the garbanzo beans, the remaining 3 cups of vegetable broth, chili powder, cumin, oregano, green chiles, and corn. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes. Garnish with a dollop of tomato salsa.