Change change change...

For months I have been collecting small glass jars, and then I realized that instead of letting them pile up in my pantry I could actually put them to use. So I have started buying bulk spices and storing them in my little jars. My pantry looks so nice with all of these jars lined up. It is cheaper, since I'm not paying for any packaging, and I can buy organic spices. Maybe it's just me, but these spices seem to be a lot fresher as well. Another great thing is that the jars are glass. The safety of storing food in plastic is questionable, so I am phasing out the plastics in my house.

That is my big change for the week. Not too exciting, but so simple.

Total Eclipse of the Moon

After watching the eclipse last night, I awoke this morning feeling, inspired, in love, and so grateful for my life. It is one of those days that seems sunnier than most. Maybe it was the company, my good friend Claudia was visiting from Central America. Maybe it was the fine Chilean wine that she brought, or the great dinner that we all shared, or the long walk outside on a crisp cold night. Maybe it was the conversation as we sat on the porch watching the night sky, remembering old times and looking forward to new adventures. Whatever it was, it was lovely. 

I felt inspired to go for a long walk this morning to enjoy the sunshine, however fleeting it may be. Today is thursday, which is garbage day in my neighbourhood. As I walked through the streets I noticed a lot of people have 8-10 bags of garbage. 8-10 bags of garbage from one household in one week?? That is disgusting and these people should be ashamed of themselves.

It got me thinking, what if we were forced to deal with all of our garbage? What if it didn't just go "away" every week? What if all the mountains of crap that we create had to be stored in our backyards, or worse, in our homes? I'm sure it would make a lot of people rethink their waste. Imagine the smell of rotting food scraps and the mountain of cardboard from useless plastic toys...(that is a whole other topic!)

A few years ago there was talk about a limit on the amount of garbage that one household generates, and a fine for those who exceed the limit. Other forward-thinking Canadian cities have this, but Calgary, it seems, is more of a backward-thinking city. 

On one of our many classic rock stations, there was a phone in where people could say what they thought of this garbage limit, and I thought others would like the idea as much as me. To my horror, most people couldn't even fathom the idea of limiting their garbage. I felt sick to realize that most people don't even give it a second thought, and think that we have unlimited space for all of the useless junk that clutters up our homes, and our minds.

The Big Debate

Over the past few weeks I have heard, and read, about the big "cloth vs. disposable diaper" debate. In my mind there is no debate to be had. It's common sense, which is a funny term, because I honestly don't think that sense is too common. 

Anyway, back to my topic. The big "debate" is that cloth diapers aren't any better than disposables because you have to use bleach to get them clean. BLEACH! On your baby's bum! Let me make one thing clear. Bleach causes cancer. It is toxic. Now why oh why would you bleach something that you put onto a small infants bottom? 

Cleaning them is easy. You put the poop into the toilet, which is something that you should be doing even if you use disposable diapers, and then you put them into a bucket with a little vinegar in it. Then, after a few days when you are running low on diapers, you put them into the washing machine with some ecologically friendly laundry detergent, (I use Nellie's) and wash them. Here is the shocker, they come out clean, and smelling like, well nothing. Not poop, not pee, and certainly not laundry soap scented with fragrances. They also come out with some stains on them. You are dealing with poop after all.

Another argument for the disposable side is that washing cloth takes more water. In reality, it takes more water to produce disposables, and the wood pulp inside is bleached so it is that nice white colour that so many people are so fond of. So, by creating these diapers there is more water used and more water polluted by the runoff. 

To reduce the amount of water that you use, get a front loading washing machine. They use less water and less energy, and they get your clothes cleaner. You could argue that they are expensive, but it is all a matter of priorities as far as I can see. Think of it as an investment. I saved up for my machine, and I love it. I sometimes sit in front of it just to watch the clothes roll around and around and around... I'm kidding!! I'm not that crazy.

Glimmer of hope

I decided to watch the Planet Earth DVD with Elias tonight. I chose the "saving our species" disk. When I watch things like this I feel very small. There is so much destruction happening in our world, how can I make a difference? Will it change anything if I give up coffee and tissue? I sat down at my computer and I ended up at TED, which is an amazing website full of inspiring ideas. If you have some time and are in need of a little glimmer of hope in your day, watch this. 

As for more small changes in my life, I am further reducing the packaging that comes into our house. I am making granola, and bread once a week, and I am learning how to make yogurt. Less packaging, less preservatives, better taste. 

It's been two weeks that I've been doing this, and I like it. When did we decide that baking bread was back breaking labour and that it's easier to buy it at the store? Besides the rising and actual oven time, making bread takes about 20 minutes. Here's a little secret. While your bread is rising, you can do other things. Like go outside, do your bookkeeping, and play with your kids.

The granola is easy too, and cheaper. I can buy all organic, some local ingredients and make my own for about 1/4 of the cost. We go through a lot of granola in this house. Mike is a little addicted.

The ultimate chocolate chip cookie

I love cookies, but not overly sweet ones. This recipe is just right, with lots of chocolate chips. I adapted it from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics *my favorite recipe book.

You need:

3/4 cup coconut oil (or butter)

1 cup sucanat (or brown sugar but sucanat gives them a nice dark colour and rich taste)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

3/4 cup whole wheat or spelt flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla 

2 tbsp water (or milk if you prefer)

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips (organic of course)

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, soda, and salt. Add this to the butter mixture and mix some more. Add chocolate chips and mix. Drop by the tablespoon full onto baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool. Eat. Makes 12 big ones.

Giving up on giving up

It's true. My days are not so great without my morning cup of coffee. The world sucks actually, and all I do is eat cookies, so I have revised my pledge. No more starbucks. No more coffee in disposable cups. Only shade grown organic beans for me, thank you very much. I feel better all ready.

On to my next change for the year, and I really can't believe that it's taken me this long. 

Reusable baby bum wipes. It's so simple, and so great. I made them last week and they are WAY better than the ones I have been using up to this point. We have always used cloth diapers and reusable wipes are just so smart! I have always made my own because the thought of paying for something to wipe Elias's bum with seemed crazy, and those packaged ones are expensive. I was making them out of a roll of paper towels, cut in half.

Now I am making them out of old flannel blankets. 

It's easy. Cut blanket into squares the size of a tissue or so. If you have a baby you most likely have a 100 or so receiving blankets, so use them up. 

You will need: Dr Bronner's baby soap, water, lavender or tea tree essential oil, your blankets, and a container to hold them in. I use an old tupperware that is rectangular and thin so it easily fits into the diaper bag.

Measure out 1 cup water, 1 tsp soap, and 10 drops essential oil. Lay your cut up wipes into the container and pour soap and water over. Put the lid on. Voila. Wash with your diapers or rinse after using and wash with towels. Simple.

I can't tell you the joy this simple thing brings me. Maybe that's just the coffee talking.

oops

I started out the week with a great resolve to finally kick my coffee habit. I was so on board and excited by a fresh start, and a chance to give my body a break from all of the caffeine I've been ingesting over the years. Well, by wednesday I was miserable. MISERABLE I tell you. My world was not a happy place. I wanted to move out of the city. The traffic was hell, people were rude and my family was driving me crazy! 

But still I kept on. Not a drop of coffee passed over my lips.

Thursday was no better. Then some old friends dropped by for a visit. Eagerly I asked them "do you want a coffee?" One was a non-coffee drinker, the other a caffeine junkie. I got out my espresso machine, ground up some fair-trade-organic-shade-grown beans and brewed us a cup. Oh the joy I felt as I sipped my first coffee in days. Suddenly, my world was a brighter place. Old friends, new babies, and coffee, shared in my sunny kitchen on a fine day in February.

On a side note, I spent monday, tuesday, and wednesday eating chocolate chip cookies. I swapped one vice for another. But I am happy to announce that my chocolate chip cookie recipe is now perfect. I will post it another day. Right now I'm off to the basement to mix up some cleaning products.

ode to coffee

Oh Coffee, how I have loved thee. It was so long ago when we first met and I inhaled your pungent scent. It took years to really acquire a taste for you. It started with black coffee in mcdonalds while skipping classes in high school and moved forward from there. You were there for me each morning through college, and through my years as a lifeguard. I looked forward to relishing each sip from a disposable paper cup while driving to the mountains. You became a morning ritual and soon I was unable to start my day without you. It felt incomplete. My passion soon became an addiction as I sought out coffee shops where ever I happened to be. 

I'm afraid our love affair has come to an end. You give me gut rot and your production weighs heavily on my conscience. I have moved on. Goodbye coffee, I'm sure I'll miss you sometimes. 

A few facts about coffee:

The production of coffee leads to river pollution, soil erosion, and deforestation. I know that you can buy fair trade, organic, shade grown coffee, but seriously if you look around at the first world's thirst for coffee how can this be at all sustainable? Starbucks is worldwide with at least 15,000 stores. That's a lot of coffee; that's a lot of coffee cups! And that is just one chain.

Not only that but it just isn't good for your adrenal glands, or your bones. It hardly seems worth it for a cuppa. 

It's been two days. I've been drinking a lot of tea.

small changes

This year, I am committed to making one earth friendly change per week in my house and my life. Here is a short list of what I have accomplished so far this year.

1. Reduce the garbage that we generate each week. We have a recycling pick up each week and the biggest part of that is plastics. Yogurt containers, plastic bags- everything comes in a plastic wrap of some sort. I am going to reduce our amount of recycling too. 
   
2. Composting. We just starting composting and there is a lot of organic matter that leaves my kitchen each day. Compost is a beautiful thing!
   
3. Reusable menstrual pads. hmmm. Not loving this change too much. I suppose that if you like the feeling of walking around with a submarine sandwich between your legs then you might like this idea. That being said, I am committed to this. (that is reason enough to get pregnant again!!)
   
4. 100% recycled toilet paper. We have made the switch, much to the disappointment of Mike's sensitive bum.
   
5. No more Kleenex. If you need to blow your nose in my house then you can use my (oh so soft) toilet paper. I often use old bandanas or some of the cotton hankies that my grandma gave me. I would like to note that if I get a head cold, then I WILL be buying some kleenex.
   

That about sums up the changes for the first five weeks of 2008. As this is a new week, my new change is to eliminate coffee. HA! Day one has not been fun. Maybe I should wait until December to implement this ? 

Here is my recipe for warm chickpea salad:

You need:

1 bulb roasted garlic

1/2 red pepper diced

1/2 yellow pepper diced

2-3 cups chopped spinach

1/4 cup feta cheese

3/4 cup chicken (or veggie) stock

1/2 onion finely chopped

1 can chickpeas

olive oil 

1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Roast garlic. Wrap it in foil, drizzle with 1/2 tsp olive oil and roast in toaster oven at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Saute onions in 1 tbsp olive oil, add drained chickpeas, chicken stock, roasted garlic, and salt and pepper. Saute on med. for about 15 minutes until stock is absorbed.

While the peas are cooking, chop the spinach and peppers and crumble the feta. Place into a bowl. When peas are done pour them over the spinach and toss. Squeeze juice of lemon over top and top with more feta.

hello small planet

Finally a space to call my own! Here it is folks, the first edition of the small planet daily. Except that it might not be daily....

I just returned from a morning round of deliveries and Elias is sleeping like a baby, because he is a baby. An 18 month old baby. He is so peaceful when he is sleeping, all rosy cheeked and gorgeous. Here is a short list of things that I have learned in the past 18 months.

1. having a baby is a lot of work, but when you're done, it's well worth it. I think that if you knew before hand that you were going to have this funny little person who you love more than you ever thought possible, labour and delivery would be a little easier. You see, before I had Elias I just didn't know what it meant to be a mom, or what I was in for. If I had known this before the big day it would have been easier! That is why I think that our second will be easier. ( I must keep telling myself this...)
   
2. lack of sleep is really no big deal. It's all a state of mind. If someone had said to me, "jennifer, once you have a baby you will not ever get a good nights sleep again" then I might have said "well no babies for me!" You see I was a person who NEEDED at least 8 hours EVERY night. Who was that woman? Give me four hours of uninterrupted sleep a night and I am on fire!
   

That is all I have for today, but come back and check out my new recipe for a warm chickpea salad that will have you loving chickpeas. I'm not kidding, it's that good.