Tomato Thievery

Let me preface this post by saying that I should be studying for a test right now, but I need to get this off my chest or I won't be able to concentrate on anything else! Yesterday, as I left for school, I walked out the front door and paused to take a look at my tomato plant. It's been warm the past week or so which has prompted my plant to put out some new flowers. I had hopes that these would be the last tomatoes of the season. When I returned from school however, the plant was gone! That's right. GONE. Pot and all. The only thing that remained was a wet ring of dirt on the cement where the pot had been sitting all summer. Who could do such a thing?

Updates, Updates, Updates!

Phew. It's been a busy couple of months and it's been a while since I've had the time to sit down and write. I'm still keeping up with environmentally friendly changes in my life (still letting it mellow!). I'm still keeping up with the indoor garden and harvesting the last of the peppers from my outdoor plants (which have produced amazingly throughout the summer!). The biggest bit of news, however, is that I'm beginning culinary school! I can't even really put into words how excited I am about it. I love to cook (and eat) and I can't wait to learn all about it. Since I'm about to be busy with school I decided to post this quick update. I probably won't be writing as often as I previously had.  With that I'll leave you with this quote that pretty much sums up the way that I feel about food...

"When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about." -Thomas Keller

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead & My 3 Day Juice Fast

I watch a lot of documentaries and I always try to take them with a grain of salt, but this one really struck a chord with me.Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is a film about Joe Cross (who also happens to be the director) and his journey to better health. At the beginning of the film he is overweight, tired, on multiple medications and basically feels fat, sick and nearly dead! Since he is so drastically overweight (about 100 lbs) he decides to attempt a 60 day juice fast. The requirements on the juice fast are that he cannot consume any solid food, only fruits and vegetables in juice form. We're not talking about store bought juice either. We're talking about freshly juiced fruits and veggies for maximum nutrient intake.

Brand New Old Bike!

I finally have a bike in my possession! My dad was able to give me his old mountain bike. He has a road bike that he uses and no longer needs this one. I used to ride this bike while I was living there, but since then I haven't gotten my own bike mainly because I've been trying to find a used bike which turned out to be harder than I thought (more on that later). So far I have bought a bike basket, a side mirror and a cable lock. These purchases were made easier by the fact that I didn't have to spend money on a bike in the first place.

Freezing Your Herbs

My chocolate mint is starting to take over the pot that it's growing in so I decided to cut some off, but I didn't have an immediate use for it. I recall reading in a gardening book that herbs can be frozen and stored for a few months. Throwing the herbs into a bag and tossing it into the freezer will result in a clump of frozen mint. To prevent the leaves from freezing together, first place them on a baking sheet. Then once they're frozen they can be put into a bag and stored in the freezer until needed.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Dessert

This recipe always makes me think of summer. As far back as I can remember my dad has made this rhubarb dessert during the summer from the rhubarb plant that grows in my parent's backyard. In recent years he added strawberries to the mix to add more sweetness as rhubarb is pretty tart. This year my dad shared some of the rhubarb harvest with me so I got to make it on my own for the first time. Just a side note about rhubarb, the leaves are NOT edible. Only the stalks can be eaten and the stalk looks similar to celery, except it will be red when ripe. This can be eaten hot or cold (I prefer it cold) or even spread over some sponge cake.

Harvested Mini Bell Peppers & Stuffed Mini Bell Pepper Recipe

Last I wrote the mini bell peppers were beginning to turn yellow and in anticipation of a harvest I had discovered a recipe for stuffed mini bell peppers. I was able to harvest some peppers and try out the recipe and now I'd like to share! I found the recipe at this blog. It's delicious! First of all I love all of the ingredients. It could even be made without the bacon for a vegetarian version and would be just as tasty. The feta gives it a nice saltiness so I don't think there is any culinary reason for the bacon in there. In other words, it's just bacon for the sake of bacon! But most people don't mind that at all.

Harvested Serrano Chili Peppers and Mini Bell Pepper Update

I'm just popping in here to write a quick update on two of my plants. My serrano chili pepper plant had a nice amount of full grown peppers ready to be harvested so I picked some yesterday. I'm so excited to make some salsa with them! It's still flowering and producing peppers, but I'm not sure how long that will continue. I also still have the two outdoor serrano chili pepper plants (which are in my parent's backyard) that have their first peppers appearing. My two outdoor mini bell pepper plants are also starting to form little peppers. The indoor mini bell pepper plant is doing fantastic! The two biggest peppers are starting to turn yellow which means that they are just about ready to be harvested. 

Grilled Sausage and Onion Panini

Let me start by saying that I just made this recipe today and I loved it so much that I had to blog about it right away! It's from my Fine Cooking magazine collection, with a few changes. I used spinach instead of arugula and I broiled the sausage instead of grilling it. The reason for broiling the sausage was simply a time saving decision. I don't have a grill (I hate saying that) so I used my grill pan which has limited space. I had to grill the bread in two batches and then grill the onions. In order to save time I had the sausage broiling in the oven in the meantime. This recipe serves 4.

Grilled Chicken and Potatoes with Tomato and Cucumber Salad

It's time for another Fine Cooking recipe! This one is super simple and it will really impress your friends. Especially if you're able to get some nice grill marks on the chicken! I don't have an outdoor grill, because I don't have a backyard, but this recipe can also be cooked using a grill pan on a stove. When using a grill pan the chicken and the potatoes will most likely have to be cooked separately (unless the grill pan is big enough). Everything is tossed in a lemon vinaigrette, which adds a nice brightness. This recipe serves 4.

The Indoor Garden Expands to The Outdoors

The last I updated about the indoor garden everything was moving along nicely. Since then, I've moved some things outdoors. The tomato plant was outgrowing the space that I had for it in my front window, I had some pepper plants transplanted into my parent's backyard and I also planted cucumber seeds in my parent's backyard. It's been an interesting experience to see the plants begin to flower and set fruit. The carrots were recently harvested and they tasted delicious. Although, they were smaller than I had expected (more on that later).

Aloe Vera Lemonade

I was doing some blog surfing when I came across this recipe for aloe vera lemonade and since I have an aloe plant I decided to give it a try. I found the recipe over at The Thrifty Mama and, as usual, deviated from the recipe a bit. The recipe calls for lemon juice and of course I couldn't just pour it out of a bottle. I had to buy lemons and squeeze them myself. Since lemons are in season right now I was able to buy them at a fair price. If you'd rather used bottled lemon juice, like the original recipe suggests, I would advise against buying Realemon (no offense meant to Thrifty Mama!) Firstly, Realemon comes in a plastic bottle (my awareness of plastic and avoidance of said plastic is ever increasing) and secondly it's lemon juice from concentrate. We can do better! For cooking I purchase Italian Volcano Lemon Juice which is also available at Costco. It's in a glass bottle, it's 100% juice AND it's organic... sold!

Old Fashioned Kosher Garlic and Dill Pickles

I love cucumbers and an awesome way to preserve them is to pickle them! Pickles have been a favorite of mine since childhood. My sister especially loves them so I knew that the true test for this recipe would be to get my sister to like them. Well, she does! I found this recipe here and I altered the amounts just a little bit. My version will be below. The pickles come out with a more noticeable garlic flavor rather than dill, but I like them that way. Also, I tried this recipe out twice. The first time I left the cucumbers whole, which is what the original recipe calls for, but I found that the pickles still tasted a little cucumber-y and not as pickle-y as I would have liked. So the second time I cut the cucumbers into quarters and it came out perfect!

Environmental Enlightenment #18 (If It's Yellow Let It Mellow)

Yep, you read the title correctly and I'm sure that most of us have heard the phrase, "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." For those who haven't heard the phrase before, the first part means that while using the restroom one wouldn't flush the toilet after urinating and instead "let it mellow." The second part of the phrase refers to always flushing after solid waste. Some people get really grossed out by this concept and honestly I don't see any rational reason for it. Also, I don't know why I didn't start doing this sooner!

Mint & Lime Mojito

The first time that I had a Mojito was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in 2008 while I was on vacation with a few of my girl friends. It somewhat become our signature drink of the vacation as we ordered them every time we were at a bar. Here is 20 year old me enjoying a Mojito in Mexico...

When we came back from vacation we started to ask for Mojitos at bars and restaurants, but most of the time our server would give us a puzzled look. After being disappointed with the few Mojitos that I could find, I decided to make my own Mojito recipe. Some people like granulated sugar in this drink, but I prefer simple syrup (which can easily be made at home and I will include this recipe as well). You can substitute granulated sugar instead of simple syrup if you like.

Environmental Enlightenment #17 (Giving Green Gifts)

I'm making an effort to make ALL aspects of my life more environmentally friendly and this includes giving gifts. The goal is to be able to a) find something the person will like and b) have it be in line with my environmental values. Another part of giving green gifts involves the wrapping paper. This past Christmas 2010 I "knot wrapped" all of my Christmas gifts in order to avoid wasting wrapping paper. I discovered "knot wrapping" at Lush (they will "knot wrap" gifts in the store when asked) which is based on the Japanese tradition of Furoshiki. 

Mango Salsa

As summer gets into full swing, and the variety of in season fruits and veggies increases, I will most likely be posting more recipe blogs and less environmentally friendly related blogs. Not that I haven't been making new environmental changes to my life, but I've been trying out so many new recipes and I want to share them all! Well, the good ones at least... This mango salsa is perfect for summertime. It still has the spiciness and freshness (from a habanero and cilantro) of a tomato based salsa, but the mango adds a nice fruity layer. I discovered this recipe in my favorite cooking magazine... Fine Cooking! Beware of the habanero, it is one of the hottest chili peppers. It is only about 2 inches long (see picture below), but it packs a punch! For this reason, see my safety tip after the recipe.

Sweet Beginnings Local Raw Honey

I first mentioned Sweet Beginnings honey in my post about the Green Festival. I had read about them previously, but until then I hadn't actually tasted the honey. Since I bought some of the honey at the Green Festival I have been using it everyday. The 12 oz jar that I had purchased is half gone! I figured that I should write a review about their company and their honey (for people who may not know what local raw honey is).

Cucumber-Mint Water

Earlier this year I purchased a Jack LaLanne Power Juicer. My thought process was that it would help me drink healthier, because I rarely drink water and I'm usually drinking some sort of artificially flavored juice. I don't know what it is about the taste of water, but I just don't like it! I like something with flavor. So I started juicing and I juiced everything under the sun! Let me tell you, fresh fruit juice is way better than anything you can buy in the store. I then experimented with mixing some veggies into my fruit juices and I discovered that cucumber added a very cool and refreshing note. So when I came across a cucumber-mint water recipe in my Fine Cooking magazine I just had to try it out. You don't necessarily need a juicer for this recipe, but you will need a blender.

National Ride Your Bike to Work Day

According to The League of American Bicyclists, May is National Bike Month and National Bike to Work Day is today, May 20th, 2011.

If I had a bike, or a job for that matter, I would definitely participate. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I've been trying to figure out a way to get rid of my car altogether. In the mean time, that means reducing its use as much as possible. I think that Ride Your Bike to Work Day can be a good experience for people to test the waters and see what they think about incorporating a bike into their commute.

Pasta & Shrimp with Fresh Lemon & Cream Sauce

Let me start by saying that this recipe is very easy, has a small number of ingredients and cooks very fast. It's the perfect solution when you're short on time, because the sauce takes about the same time to cook as the pasta. The original recipe is by Lidia Bastianich, but I added shrimp and used box linguine noodles instead of homemade pasta. Feel free to get creative and add whatever you like! It's a very basic recipe. The boyfriend will tell you that I've been on a lemon kick lately, but I feel like spring/sumer is the perfect time for the brightness that lemon adds to many dishes.

Green Festival 2011

Yesterday I attended the Green Festival in Chicago at McCormick Place. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was very excited! The festival took place on Saturday May 14th and Sunday May 15th, but I only went on Sunday. There were stages where people were giving talks, a music stage, an organic wine/beer garden, renewable energy booths, fair trade booths, organic food booths and so much more! I was a little overwhelmed at first, but we made our rounds, I snapped some photos and grabbed a bunch of pamphlets. I'll post some pictures here and talk about what I saw and also what I bought.

Chicken Cutlets with Bell Pepper Ragout

I received my June/July copy of Fine Cooking and as usual flipped through and drooled over all of the awesome recipes inside. One of the recipes that caught my eye was Chicken Cutlets with Bell Pepper Ragout. This section of the magazine provided some great seasonal recipes utilizing boneless skinless chicken breasts. The main ingredients for this recipe had me running to the grocery store! It combines chicken, tomatoes, bell peppers and onions. Sounds delicious, doesn't it?

Environmental Enlightenment #16 (Reusable Produce Bags)

I've been taking reusable grocery bags on my shopping trips for quite a while now and whenever I got to the produce section I always felt bad about having to use those thin plastic produce bags. I tried to rinse them out and reuse them, but at the most I could get two uses out of them. I had no idea that reusable produce bags even existed until I happened to come across an ad for them in a magazine. Right away I knew I had to have them!

To Buy or Not to Buy Organic

I loved this book and learned so much that I didn't know about food and how it is grown! The book goes into details about how foods are grown, what type of pesticides/chemicals are generally used and why organic foods are healthier. It also covers 12 foods to only buy if they are organic aka  The Dirty Dozen, because of the amount of pesticides used on their conventionally grown counterparts. What interested me the most was the fact that the author mentions "going beyond organic" by choose local and sustainable foods. This wasn't something that I had given much thought to previously. 

Environmental Enlightenment #15 (Know Your Meat)

I'm about 3/4 of the way through "To Buy or Not To Buy Organic" and already it has encouraged me to discover where my meat is coming from. I'll review the book in a future post, but I do want to say that it brought up a very good point about not only considering organic foods, but also considering local and sustainable foods. Those organic grapes from Argentina may not be worth all the fossil fuels used to transport them to your doorstep. Anyways, it got me wondering where my meat is coming from. So I did a little research...

Chunky Fresh Tomato Salsa

Today I decided that it was time to pick some cilantro and make salsa. My favorite recipe for salsa comes from Rick Bayless. It felt very cool to be able to pick the cilantro myself and use it while fresh! I can't wait until my tomato plant starts producing... for now I have to use store bought tomatoes. Although I am lucky enough to have a nice produce place close by. The following recipe makes 2 cups of salsa and don't forget to have some Mexican style chips on hand for dipping!

Mini-Farming Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre

I finished reading the Mini-Farming book yesterday and I was very pleased by the 200 plus pages of detailed information! Reading this book made me want to throw on a pair of over-alls, grab a shovel and get planting. Unfortunately, as it stands right now, I don't have any "land." The indoor garden is it for now. Although I have made a bargain with my parent's for some of their yard space and I fully intend on applying some of the methods that I learned in this book when I transplant some things over there.

Indoor Garden Update

The indoor garden is coming along just as planned with the exception of the stubborn mint and the addition of a few new plants. I got a strawberry plant for the boyfriend's sweet tooth and a lime basil plant for my Mojito tooth. I never heard of lime basil before, but when I saw the seed packet I had to have it! I immediately imagined it in various cocktails, teas and pasta sauces. Also, I had been waiting for my potato tubers to come and they finally arrived earlier this week. I will be planting them today and I'm so excited!

Earth Day 2011

This past Friday, April 22nd, was Earth Day. I have recollections of a handful of Earth Day "clean-ups" taking place at my grammar school, but I haven't attending any such events since then. When thinking about what to do for Earth Day this year I thought back to this blog post about picking up litter. It seems that I got ahead of myself in writing this blog. For one, I didn't take into consideration weather. It's snowed here well into March and April has been a cold rainy mess. Now, there have been a sprinkling of unseasonably warm days, which I have taken advantage of, but for the most part it seems like picking up litter everyday will be more challenging than I expected.

Environmental Enlightenment #14 (Lunapads)

Prepare yourself for another "feminine hygiene" related post. When I first wrote about the DivaCup I was only beginning to realize how much this product would change how I handled my monthly gift from mother nature. In this post I would like to go into a little more detail about the DivaCup as well as my new experience with Lunapads.

In my original post about the DivaCup I briefly mentioned Lunapads as an alternative reusable menstrual product, but I hadn't yet tried them for myself. Since I was using the cup I saw no reason for purchasing a Lunapad. While learning how to use the DivaCup I was still wearing a disposable liner "just in case." I thought that once I became confident in my DivaCup skills that I would be able to stop using the liner and just go with the cup. I underestimated my paranoia! The cup has never leaked, but I just can't help wanting some extra protection on the off chance that it does leak. So after reading numerous positive testimonials about Lunapads I decided to try one out for myself. I purchased a mini pantyliner to wear as a back-up with the cup.

Environmental Enlightenment #13 (Natural Easter Egg Dye)

In addition to my magazine subscription to Fine Cooking, I also receive e-letters from them via e-mail. These e-letters usually include recipes related to the season. For example, the most current e-letter features how to plan your Easter menu. It also includes how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg and how to naturally dye your Easter eggs. That last part caught my attention. So I followed the link that they provided and found the recipe for naturally dyeing Easter eggs here. This recipe uses vegetables, fruits, coffee, tea and spices to dye the eggs a wide range of colors. I haven't dyed Easter eggs since I was a kid, but I might just try the recipe out this Easter.

Grapefruit Infused Tequila

I love infusing liquors with my favorite flavors and so far I've made bacon infused vodka (which I used in a Bloody Mary) and also ginger infused vodka (which I used in a Saketini... upcoming blog about this recipe!) So when I came across a recipe in my Fine Cooking magazine for Tequila-Grapefruit Cocktails, I couldn't resist! This recipe features grapefruit infused tequila which is very simple to make. Shave the zest from 2 grapefruits with a vegetable peeler. Add the zest to a 750 ml bottle of silver tequila. Make sure that you pour off enough tequila to make room for the zest in the bottle (I used the tequila that I poured off to make myself a Margarita). Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 days and up to 2 weeks. Also, don't get rid of those grapefruits that you zested! The cocktail recipe calls for fresh grapefruit juice, so I kept them in the fridge in Ziploc bags until the tequila was ready.

Environmental Enlightenment #12 (Recycle Old Shoes)

When it comes time to get rid of something used/old I am trying my hardest not to throw it away. I've been doing a lot of research on how to recycle things that I never knew could be recycled! Earlier this week the boyfriend had some old gym shoes to get rid of and my first thought was to donate them to charity. However, they were unwearable at this point (falling apart and too abused to be useful to anyone else's feet). As far as I knew there weren't any shoe recycling programs, but I decided to do a quick Google search to double check. To my surprise there is a way to recycle old gym shoes! Nike (and their sister company Converse) has a re-use a shoe program. Every part of the shoe is used. The rubber from the out-sole is used to make running tracks; the fabric from the upper-sole is used to make padding for basketball courts; and the foam from the mid-sole is used to make the springy surface of tennis courts. The materials are passed through grinders to make the raw material which is then used for the previous mentioned purposes. Yesterday I found the nearest drop-off location and took the old gym shoes into Nike to be recycled.

Newly Purchased Books!

Online shopping can be a dangerous thing. I went on Amazon for just one book, I swear! But I ended up checking out with four books. Although I'm pretty excited about all of them. I'll be writing up a review for each book as I read it, but for now I wanted to share the titles of the books and what I know about them from their inside covers.

Sweet & Sour Shrimp with Veggies and White Rice

I don't know why, but for some reason when I'm thinking of new foods or recipes to try I tend to lean towards Asian inspired foods. A few days ago I started a search for an easy to make sweet and sour sauce that I already had the ingredients for in my kitchen. I found a recipe By Rhonda Parkinson on About.com and I decided to try it with some shrimp, veggies and white rice. You can substitute shrimp with chicken and use any veggies that you like. I used red bell pepper and onions. I also only made one serving for myself as I was just testing out this recipe, but the ingredients can be multiplied for more people.

Renewable Energy Tour

Saturday, April 2, 2011 I embarked on a renewable energy tour in White County, IN. I had no idea what to expect, but I was mainly attending out of curiosity anyways. I live in a big city where farmers and their land are very much out of sight, out of mind and it was interesting to see what the farmers of White County were doing with their land and resources. The description of the tour according to the IEEE website is as follows:

"The tour is an all day event with the tour taking four hours having stops at a 500 Megawatt wind farm, a Algae wheel wastewater treatment plant, a Anaerobic Digester running off cattle/swine waste and other organic products to produce 3 megawatts/hour of electricity off methane gas and a visit to the Liberty Landfill for a 6.9 Megawatt biomass power generation plant."

Earth Hour 2011

This past Saturday, March 26th at 8:30pm, was Earth Hour. There are many opinions on whether or not turning lights off for one hour each year actually accomplishes anything, because burning candles still releases carbon dioxide. Regardless of any environmental benefits, I think it is nice to unplug from technology for a while. I set up some candles in the front room, bathroom, home office and kitchen. The boyfriend played some acoustic guitar and friends came over with wine which we drank by candlelight. It was a nice night and we even went beyond the hour because the candles just looked so nice and I was talking and lost track of time anyways.

Environmental Enlightenment #11 (The Diva Cup)

Let me preface this post by saying that this one is for the ladies. More specifically, this post will be about environmentally friendly feminine products. Boys feel free to stop reading now, or keep reading, but know that I warned you!

When I started reading Sleeping Naked Is Green I was hoping for a chapter on how to green that special time of the month and I was not let down. There was a chapter about The Diva Cup. This was the first time I had heard of menstrual cups and I was instantly intrigued. I had a feeling that a large amount of waste in my life came from disposable pads, tampons and their packaging. The following statistic is taken from the Diva Cup website:

"Women, on average, experience a lifetime menstruation span of 41 years (11-52). From use of disposable feminine hygiene, an estimated 12 billion sanitary pads and 7 billion tampons are dumped into the North American environment each year (1998). More than 170,000 tampon applicators were collected along U.S. coastal areas between 1998 and 1999."

Environmental Enlightenment #10 (Natural Bath Products)

I promised a post in which I would share my love of Lush products and here it is! I'd like to start out by saying that I haven't used many of their products, but the ones that I have used I love. Lush has a wide selection of bath bombs. I enjoy a soak in the tub a couple times a month so I decided to try two of them out. My favorite was the French Kiss Bubble Bar.

I have a soft spot for Lavender. It smells so good! One day while I was out shopping with my sister we stopped in Lush and started sniffing all of the bath bombs. Picking up their products and smelling them in the store is totally acceptable and quite fun. The woman working at the time was very helpful. She asked what scents I liked and directed me towards the French Kiss Bubble Bar. It contains Lavender oil, Rosemary oil and Thyme oil. Then she performed a demonstration on how the bubble bar works. She plopped a small piece of a bubble bar into a pitcher and started to pour water into it. My sister and I watched as the water began to bubble up. Then she poured the bubble-y water back and forth between two pitchers and the bubbles became fairly thick and soapy, just as a regular bubble bath solution would. This demonstration was supposed to mimic the act of filling up your bath tub with a piece of the bubble bar in it. I took it home and tried it out and it worked so well. I also have jets in my bathtub so when the bubbles popped I just ran the jets and it stirred it back up into bubbles again! I used about 1/4 of the bar for one bath and it was plenty. I love this product and would recommend it to anyone who wants to take bubble baths in an environmentally friendly way.

Mongolian Beef w/White Rice

This is one of my favorite dinner recipes to make. I developed this from a combination of a couple different recipes that I found online. I tried a few different recipes and then took the parts that I liked from each to make this. One of the recipes had a good sauce, but the meat wasn't all that flavorful. Another recipe marinated the meat prior to cooking which added a lot of flavor to the meat, but the sauce wasn't so great. With a few adjustments this is what I came up with...

My First Freecycle Transaction

I completed my first Freecycle transaction today! I've been perusing the OFFER posts for something I've been wanting/needing, but I haven't found anything. So I started going through the WANTED posts to see if I could find a post for something that I had laying around and wasn't using. I came across a post for a floor length mirror.  I responded to the post yesterday and set up pick-up for today. Like Vanessa in Sleeping Naked Is Green, I was a little apprehensive, but I live in a condo building so I advised my fellow Freecycler to ring the buzzer and I would come down with the mirror. I ended up getting rid of this mirror...

Going Car-less

I've been fantasizing about getting rid of my car, but there is a part of me that loves the convenience of having it and is a little afraid to give that up. I've been doing some research, looking into alternative modes of transportation and trying to apply the idea of not having a car to my current lifestyle. I live close enough to the train to take a short walk, hop on and go pretty much anywhere I want in the city.

I haven't owned a bike for a while so I started looking into buying a new one and the choices are endless! For the first time I discovered folding bikes. The CTA does not allow regular bikes on the trains during rush hours (7am-9am and 4pm-6pm), but folding bikes are allowed during these times. This is a plus for me because if I get rid of the car and getting on the train with my bike is the only option to get somewhere then it would be much more convenient to not have to worry about avoiding the rush hours.

Environmental Enlightenment #9 (Natural Deodorant)

I realized after I wrote my last blog that someone out there may be asking themselves why I didn't mention grocery shopping at Whole Foods. I have a confession, I've only been inside of a Whole Foods once. That store is so huge and overwhelming (and I am pretty easily distracted). I ventured into Whole Foods with a purpose, to purchase a Diva Cup, which I will write about in a future blog in as lady-like a way as possible. But of course I got distracted and ending up buying a natural deodorant also. I had been looking for a good natural deodorant for a while. Burt's Bees makes a spray natural deodorant, but I couldn't find it in stores anywhere and I couldn't bring myself to have it shipped. I tried Lush's solid bar natural deodorant, which smelled fantastic and worked well, but it wasn't very easy to apply. It was powdery and broke into chunks. So when I found myself at Whole Foods in the Personal Hygiene aisle, I took a sideways glance towards the natural deodorants and came across this little guy...

Environmental Enlightenment #8 (Fair Trade Tea)

Food has always been the hardest thing for me to change when it comes to being the most environmentally friendly as possible. Since I love to cook it is personally very hard for me to go without avocados, butternut squash, mangoes and other food items that come from outside of the United States. The indoor garden will be (I hope) a small step towards alleviating my reliance on non-local produce. My trips to the grocery store are becoming more and more time consuming because I have been spending more time reading labels and scanning for organically made products. I normally get my fresh produce from a store called Fresh Farms, but for other food purchases I head on over to Jewel. I've noticed that recently they've been stocking their shelves with a brand called Wild Harvest Organic. So I bought some of their organic tea which is certified fair trade.

Basil and Cilantro Planted

A couple days ago I planted the first two plants that will be a part of the indoor garden: basil and cilantro. I've grown basil before, but not cilantro so I'm pretty excited about that. I've also been reading up on how to save seeds from these plants so that I can possibly grow other plants from my own seeds. The main reason that I wanted to write about the basil and cilantro was to share a couple of crafty ideas on how to label your pots so you don't forget which plant is which before it sprouts. The first idea came from Gayla Trail's book Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces. She writes that an inexpensive way to make plant tags is to spray tongue depressors with chalkboard spray and then write in chalk which plant is in that pot and you can always erase the chalk and reuse them! At Christmas time I was given a chalkboard wall decal which I didn't have a purpose for, but I remembered Gayla's idea and came up with my own version. I cut up the wall decal into smaller pieces and stuck them to the pots (labeling what plant was in there and the date that it was planted).

Environmental Enlightenment #7 (Freecycle)

I've always been a fan of hunting through thrift stores. When I was little my mom used to take me on countless journeys to either thrift stores or antique stores. I always thoroughly enjoyed finding some treasure with the 25 cents that I had in my change purse (which I had also found at an antique store for 25 cents!) As I got older my love for second-hand clothing faded. I started wanting the "new" and "in-style" looks. That's when I became aware of Plato's Closet. It's like a thrift store, but they only take in labels and looks that match the current trends. I can't remember the last time that I bought new clothing or shoes, because every time I need something (say a new pair of jeans) I can find it at Plato's Closet.

Impossibly Easy Cheesecake

I found this recipe in a Costco cookbook and it really is impossibly easy! This is my favorite cheesecake recipe that I've come across because it doesn't have a crust. I've never really been a fan of the graham cracker crust. Also, the outer edge of this cheesecake will cook a little bit more than the rest of it giving it the appearance of a crust anyways.

The Beginning of the Indoor Garden

I determined that the best place for my plants would be near the front window. The next step was to find a table for the plants. My mom helped me out and found a sofa table that is the perfect height for the front window and that matches my current coffee table and side tables. (Yay mom!) The table arrived yesterday and I put it together today... all by myself!

Environmental Enlightenment #6 (Picking up litter)

Since my parents scolded a drive-by-littering I have become increasingly aware of all the trash in the streets. Add to this the fact that the snow recently melted revealing a nice coating of trash (mainly plastic bottles.) In all seriousness it makes me feel gross. It saddens me to imagine plastic bottles being tossed out of cars with the thought of...? I know that people care about their homes and personal space and it makes me very sad to think that those feelings don't extend any further than their front doors. Also, the recycling drop-off center for my neighborhood is at the end of the block. Come on people! Combining all these factors creates a perfect storm of annoyances for me. So instead of complaining, I decided to do something about it. I'm going to set aside some time each day to go for a walk (exercise, yay!) and pick up trash along the way. I'll end my walk at the recycling drop-off center and return home with any un-recyclables. Of course picking up trash involves some precautions for health reasons so I will be wearing plastic gloves. I did some research and discovered that latex is in fact biodegradable, but landfills don't necessarily create the best environment for decomposition. On the other hand (pun intended) there is a synthetic latex glove made from Nitrile which most recycling facilities are now able to recycle. I haven't decided which glove is the lesser of two evils yet, but I'm hoping to make that decision by tomorrow in order to get this show on the road!

Environmental Enlightenment #5 (Composting)

Once I started paying attention to everything that I was using and throwing away I couldn't help but feel bad about throwing food away. Generally speaking I try to save leftovers and eat them later, but there is always that food that doesn't get eaten. Besides that there is also food waste such as onion skins, peels, fat cut off of meat, egg shells etc that we can't use for eating purposes so it gets thrown away.

I started to research composting. It seems easy enough, if you're blessed with a backyard. However, I live in a condo on the third floor (no balcony either!) I first looked into vermicomposting. They sell plenty of kits (including the worms) and it sounds like a nice little ecosystem. I feed the worms and in turn the worms poop out glorious plant food.  I poured over dozens of reviews and came to find that many people had trouble keeping the worms alive. Apparently they can be pretty picky about what you feed them. Plus, I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of keeping a bunch of worms inside my home. If I had a backyard or balcony it might have been another story...

Environmental Enlightenment #4 (Natural Shampoo/Conditioner)

When I first started looking into alternatives for shampoo I came across the no 'poo movement. Yes, there is a movement of people out there who don't use shampoo at all. Instead you can use 1 tbsp of baking soda dissolved in water until it forms a paste. This mixture gets rubbed onto your roots. Really you should only be washing your roots and only conditioning your ends. After rinsing out the baking soda then apply 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar (mixed with water) onto your ends. And, that's it! I spoke with my hairstylist about this method and she said it would work, but it wouldn't smell nice.

Beef Braised with Red Wine and Chocolate Mousse

The boyfriend loves beef. He also has a bit of a sweet tooth. So I came up with this menu for Valentine's Day dinner. This was my first time trying these recipes and they both came out great! The meat had so much flavor from the red wine and the chocolate mousse was nice and fluffy. I came across the beef recipe while watching Everyday Food on PBS and the chocolate mousse recipe is from allrecipes.com. Let's start with the main course (this recipe serves 2).

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Basil-Brown Butter Sauce

It turns out that I had some leftover squash after making the Apricot Squash Soup. I decided to try out a new recipe with it. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com which I use quite often. The original recipe called for sage, but I substituted with basil because I have a plant growing and I love to use it! This recipe is fairly easy, but time consuming. Since I only had half a butternut squash leftover I halved the original recipe. The original recipe served 8 and my list of ingredients below will serve 4.

My Green Parents

I've come to realize that my parents are the ones who "planted the seed" of environmentalism in my life. Although they haven't taken it as far as I have, they recycle and reuse whatever they can. More-so than anything else they despise littering. I went out shopping with them earlier today and on the ride home the car in front of us pulled over to the side, slowed a little bit and the passenger tossed a bunch of garbage out the window! My dad sped up next to their car, my mom rolled the window down and they both yelled out the following statements of disgust: "The world isn't your garbage can!" and "Litter-bug!" I have to say that I was pretty proud of my parents.

Apricot Squash Soup

Time for another culinary related post. This recipe was give to me by my mother and it's one of my favorite soups to make during the winter.

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
1 can (15 oz) apricot halves in extra light syrup, drained
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1/8 tsp pepper
1 green onion, thinly sliced

Royal Caribbean Cruise Report

I just returned from a Royal Caribbean cruise yesterday and I figured that I would write a blog about my experience and how it related to my ever increasing environmentally conscious life. Before I go into more detail I just want to say that I won this trip by entering a contest. I didn't go out and plan specifically to go on a cruise. My dad has a saying: If it's free, it's for me.

Before I left I looked into carbon offsetting my trip. In Sleeping Naked is Green she talks about carbon offsetting her vacation because she was taking quite a few airplanes to different places. She also mentioned an article she came across on treehugger.com comparing the purchase of a carbon offset to the purchase of an indulgence from the Catholic church to get into heaven. You can read the full article here. The idea of carbon offsetting didn't fit my ideals. In my opinion, offsetting does nothing more than clear a guilty conscious. So I went on my vacation well aware that I was going to add to my carbon footprint without offsetting, but I took some steps to reduce it as much as I could. I owe a lot to Vanessa Farquharson for providing these tips in her book. I fully intend to write her and let her know how much her book meant to me. (I finished the book on the plane... a little sad that it ended!)

Environmental Enlightenment #3 (Support Sustainable & Socially Responsible Companies)

I'm banning all Nestle products.

I've been on somewhat of a documentary binge lately. A while ago I watched Tapped which was a film about the bottled water industry and it's detriment to society and the environment. The star of the film was Nestle who owns a wealth of bottled water companies and 5 of the largest in the U.S. (Deer Park, Poland Springs, Ice Mountain, Arrowhead and Perrier). Then a month or so ago I watched Flow: For The Love of Water which asks the all important question: Can someone own water? Think about it like this; Would you pay someone for air to breathe? You need air to live just like you need water to live. Why would you pay someone for water when you can turn on your sink and get it for free?

Organic Vodka

Until recently I didn't know that organic vodka existed. A couple months ago I walked into my local liquor store and there happened to be a woman inside giving out samples of various alcohols. She had me sample a citrus flavored vodka and then told me that it was organic. It tasted smooth and less harsh than any other vodka that I had previously tried. So I picked up a bottle of Moon Mountain vodka.

How is vodka organic? Well it turns out that Moon Mountain vodka is made from organic grain. You can learn more about their brand here. Just last night I tried their Wild Raspberry flavor which was equally delicious!

Environmental Enlightenment #2 (Recycling)

Recycling facilities and programs are different for each area. I can only speak for the area that I live in, which is Chicago. A while back Chicago had a blue bag program which failed miserably. The idea was that everyone could purchase blue garbage bags, fill them with their recyclables and then throw them in the garbage can with the regular garbage. The garbage men would then load everything onto the truck and sort blue bags from regular garbage bags. Sending the blue bags to a recycling facility. There are a few problems with this. Sometimes blue bags would rip open and mix with the regular garbage before they could be sorted out. Also, who wants to reach into a truck full of garbage bags to pull out the blue bags? Gross.

Bloody Mary with Bacon Vodka

This is my first culinary related post and I figured that as such it should somehow involve bacon. I recently stumbled upon a recipe for bacon vodka. You can find the recipe here:
http://www.browniepointsblog.com/2008/01/20/homemade-bacon-vodka/
(I always try to give credit where credit is due). The suggestion is made to try using it in a Bloody Mary. This intrigued me. So I fried up some bacon, waited for 3 weeks and just today filtered it. I tried it in a Bloody Mary and it is delicious! There are so many different recipes out there for Bloody Marys and some of them have some out there ingredients. I've tailored my own Bloody Mary recipe and adding the bacon vodka to it makes it perfect! Here is my Bloody Mary:

Environmental Enlightenment #1 (Reusable Bags)

My first step towards becoming more environmentally friendly was reusable bags. Easy enough, right? Well, not for everyone. People have told me that they often forget to bring their reusable bags with them to the store. I did this too at first. It's a habit that takes some getting used to and now I try to keep some bags in the car at all times. Still, I rarely see people in stores with reusable bags when I go out to do my shopping. Yet I see them for sale in just about every grocery store. Usually for $1 a bag. Not bad! I've seen reusable bags for sale at big chains like Target, Home Depot, Walgreens and Forever 21 (just to name a few). Even at places that sell the reusable bags it seems like the cashier is always thrown a bit off balance when I present my own bag. Again, I think it is the habit of bagging in paper and/or plastic that is imprinted into our brains.

The Purpose

I'm starting this blog as a place to document my experiments regarding cooking, gardening and becoming more environmentally conscious. I feel like my lifestyle is constantly changing as I become aware of new options and endeavors and I wanted a place to share my progress (as well as stumble upon other people moving in the same direction or have them stumble upon me). This is by no means a "diary." I already have one of those. It's private and handwritten (just the way I like it).  I just want to share information that I have come across that has been making an impact on my life recently. For starters there are a few books/magazines that have been very helpful. Such as: Fine Cooking, Chicagoland Gardening, Grow Great Grub and Sleeping Naked is Green. I'll go through each one and let you know what I've found to be useful.