Samantha at Color Wheel Meals is putting together an ebook full of fun and healthy recipe ideas for kids.  I finally was able to send my recipe submissions to her recently.  I realized it was a great excuse to actually write down some of my favorite dishes instead of always just mixing, baking, and cooking on intuition.  I am very guilty of eye-balling and not following formalized directions!  This creative outlet is undoubtedly what I love most about food.  Making something delicious that is at the same time nourishing is such a great feeling of accomplishment!

And what better place to exercise unrestrained creativity than smoothie-making?

So here is one of my toddler son’s favorites.  Blend all ingredients together and enjoy:

The sun was shining brightly today in Portland.  It was definitely the nicest day in a long time and actually really felt like Spring.  Unfortunately, that meant allergies for me and a trip to the pharmacy to get a refill inhaler, something I haven’t used in about 2 years.  Not sure why I didn’t have allergies as a pregnant person or why I wasn’t bothered by them last Spring right after giving birth.  It was really nice while it lasted!

The weather has me itching to “Spring Clean” and get rid of even more non-necessities:  a sort of detox home tune-up.  Lately I’ve been having vivid dreams.  A few days ago, I woke up in a panic because I thought we were moving to a new city.  Not that I wouldn’t welcome a change, but the actual process of packing, organizing and moving is just so… well… so much work!  It made me long a little for the college days when all my possessions fit inside my little green Saab 900s, and then later when it all fit inside the smallest Uhaul trailer with room to spare (thank you Ikea furniture). 

Decluttering is so easy at the beginnings.  Then the process becomes much harder once you are down to only quality and sentimental items, or things used very infrequently (my nice NorthFace backpacking tent anyone?).  From experience I know that it’s extremely rare that I’ve regretted getting rid of something.  I always get a receipt from Goodwill or the donation pick-up guys and if I don’t write exactly what was in the pile right away, I have a hard time recalling the items.

I have been taking baby items (clothing and gear) to some resale stores around Portland.  The ones that I’ve tried are Baby to Baby on SW Canyon, Bella Stella on NE Broadway and Piccolina on SE Clinton.  I admit that I like Baby to Baby because they give you cash after stuff sells, like regular consignment.  Store credit is nice and probably a better deal, but I often have a hard time finding things that I need.  With my next stash I am thinking about posting items on Craigslist to see if I can get any direct sales, if not… I’ll probably haul a car load out to the shops again.

I think my new “Spring weeding” goal will be to pretend that we are actually moving.  For me there is no greater motivator to clear out non-necessities!  Maybe it’s the changing seasons, but I am just craving the feeling of lightness.

Photo Credit

I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the other moving carrots in life.  Just like in running or wellness, you can’t reach an optimal level of fitness and then decide to rest on your laurels.  It takes constant effort.   In the pursuit of health or sustainability, changing habits at the beginning is difficult but the gains are much bigger.  Once you pick the low hanging fruit, the rate of return diminishes and you have to work harder to see incremental improvements.  However, the initial stage of changing and forming new habits is hardest.  For me at least, once I am over that hump, the journey becomes more enjoyable.

In my own life, I equate living sustainably with employing a certain amount of minimalism.  Though the two are not entirely interchangeable, they work in concert.  The Natural Step encourages creating a vision of an ideal future and “backcasting” to determine which steps will lead you down the right path toward the goal.   I tend to think of my own quest for minimalism in the same way.  Though I am no where near the extreme of living with only 100 possessions, I have my own vision of what a streamlined, efficient life with less looks like for my family.

To be honest, the 100 things challenge would have been a great exercise in my life BS (before Sebastian).  Not only do  babies seem to come with their own plethora of possessions*, but being a mom has also changed the way I view the world- almost like a soft focus lens.  I was resistant to believe all the people who insist that having a baby changes everything, but it does.  I’ve seen my priorities shift and my edges soften.  Becoming a mom has altered my life in that it has forced me to strip away the non-essentials.  It hasn’t changed my beliefs, but rather it’s helped refine them.  Though I own more things now, I own less things that I don’t use. 

Now, unfortunately, Hot Lips doesn’t make a gluten-free crust** so I might have to satisfy this new craving (too much talk of sun-dried tomatoes!) with a trip to Mississippi Pizza in the next few days. 

*Coming soon… Suggested minimalist baby items for a natural-minded mom

**Hot Lips let me know that they do offer a gf crust, just not produced in a gf environment.

This is definitely set up to the biggest-hyped Earth Day ever. “Green” is now an adjective used everywhere, for everything… and recognizable by everyone. It’s definitely great to see how even large companies are realizing that they need to at least be seen as making an effort. I guess the skeptical side of me just wishes they spent as much cash on actual scientific innovations and solutions as they do on letting us know about it. Walmart is now on the “green” bandwagon and sells organics. I suppose it should be good news, it just seems like the “green washing” is more about PR and advertising these days than it is about the principle and doing what’s best for the planet. Maybe it’s impossible to separate the two. And maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe I’ll just always be suspicious of the biggest players. We have reason to be. It just feels weird to suddenly find them on our side.

On a happy note, the printer I use (Greener Printer.com) just announced that they are giving away 200 free business cards to celebrate Earth Day and their new thicker 100% recycled card stock. They use soy ink too and have done beautiful work for me.

We should all take a moment tomorrow and celebrate any changes we made this last year to decrease our footprints on our planet. (My favorite is that Ian and I were able to lower the electric bill for our house to $20/month). It’s also a good time to reflect and think about Spring Cleaning- inside and out.

• Some Celebratory Ideas:
• Go Veggie or Vegan for the day
• Drink a green smoothie
• Make an Organic Feast and toast with a glass of biodynamic wine
• Take a walk
• Read a book (like the Food Revolution)
• Don’t shower! (you know you shouldn’t be washing your hair every day anyways!)
• Screw in a CFL lightbulb
• Turn down your thermostat (yes- it is still FREEZING in Oregon)
• Turn your hot water heater temp down too
• Bike to work
  
  And on the commercial side of things:
  
  Sign up at idealbite.com for daily tips. This is a fun site.
  
  How about a green cell phone? No kidding. Credo Mobile (formerly Working Assets Wireless) has the greenest phone on the planet! I wish I hadn’t renewed my contract last fall. I’ll be switching when it runs out.

And there’s always carbon offsets, but do some serious research before you buy. There have been many reports of bogus companies just collecting money and doing nothing.

Yeah- same old stuff… but a little does help a lot. It’s got to.

Wishing you peace & balance, Dana

Last Sunday, after running 3 times in two weeks- Ian decides that he should run to bank and deposit a check. Being 34 degrees (and snowing!) and not really wanting to run by myself, I beg to go too. The hitch in the plan is that since we moved in June, our joint account is housed at a bank about 8 miles away. No big deal. I must have been well rested or something, because I surprised myself a little being able to make it back so quickly.

The rest of the day, consequently, all we managed was to walk to coffee (Ian hates coffee, but drinks chai), play on the computer, and fix dinner. Not a bad Sunday really…. and I wish I could say that life was generally more exciting than that, but not having many free days together in a few months…. I LOVE those times.

I think the light- or lack of light- is getting to me. The mornings are SO dark… and then by 3:00 I start thinking it is getting late. Last night we actually ate dinner at 5:00….!

Anyways- last week we saw “What would Jesus Buy” at the Mission. It was definitely disturbing on many levels. In fact, I don’t know which was more disturbing: the disgusting state of the typical over-extended American consumer; the advertising culture that we subject our children to and the greedy monsters they become; the way we equate money with love; or the struggling band of misfits that is the “Church of Stop Shopping.”

I will give Rev. Billy credit for one thing: I wouldn’t be surprised if Mickey Mouse did turn out to be the Anti-Christ.

Better get to the gym. cheers.