Homemade Iced Tea Recipe

In case anyone gets a craving for some good ole homemade iced tea and doesn't know how to make it, here's one way:

Boil about 2 cups of water on the stove.  Let sit at least 15 minutes.  Add 5 green tea bags and 3 black tea bags (or 4 of each if you prefer).  Get a gallon pitcher and add 2/3 cup of sugar.  Pour in the tea mixture (I like to add water and squeeze out the tea bags several times into the pitcher to make it stronger).  Fill water up to the top of the pitcher.  Squeeze in the juice of one lemon.  Add a few sprigs of mint if you have them growing in your backyard (optional).  Chill and serve.

I use Celestial Seasonings decaf green tea because they:

• Use all natural ingredients
• Engage in ethical trade for their tea
• Don't use bleach in their tea bags
• Don't use strings in their tea bags or wrap them (to eliminate waste)
• Use recycled paper boxes

I actually just signed up to get them through Amazon subscription for cheaper (6 boxes of 40 bags at a time).  I use Tetley black decaf tea for no impressive reasons.  They do not do most of the above listed impressive things.  My husband grew up drinking Tetley iced tea and believes it is the black tea, that is the only reason for that.

Natural Homemade Cleaning Spray

This recipe is from Sophie Uliano's Gorgeously Green book (mentioned on Earth Day on this blog).  I use this in my kitchen, but plan to use it in the bathroom, too, when my store-bought natural cleaner runs out there.  (The store-bought one is citrus-based, and I've actually heard that you need to avoid pine and citrus oils on high smog days because they combine with ozone to create formaldehyde, so I'll have to phase it out as summer gets smoggier anyway.)

Ingredients for All-purpose Cleaner:


32-ounce plastic spray bottle

2 cups water
1⁄2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon pure castile soap (peppermint is my favorite)
3⁄4 cup hydrogen peroxide
20 drops tea tree oil (sold at Trader Joe's)
20 drops of lavender or lemongrass essential oil (optional)

Either put this in a bottle that isn't see through or store somewhere dark because of the hydrogen peroxide.  I don't always add the essential oil at the end, though those are anti-bacterial and make it smell better.

Dinner Tonight

I was excited.  Between the local grass-fed beef burgers, fries made from local potatoes, and the toppings (sauted mushrooms, lettuce, and greenhouse local tomatoes) all local . . . the only "grocery store" parts of the meal were the ketchup (I toyed with the idea of making some but ran out of time), mayo, and wheat rolls.  It was pretty cool.  We've been doing really well at Clark Park on Saturday mornings lately, they have a great selection, and I've been getting a lot of things from a farmer that lives near my parents. 
Can't wait for the farmer's markets to open closer to my house!

Interesting Article on Food Aid

I don't actually know where Owen finds them, but here's another article he forwarded to me about how the "Slow, Local, Sustainable" movement is of no help to Africa and other countries with many in extreme poverty.  The article suggests that people are less interested in supporting the modernization of agriculture in these places because of a belief that modern agriculture is so bad (a belief that, I will admit, I share).  The U.S. is shipping food instead of investing in improved farming methods (according to the article), a real shame since this reaches way less people. 

Here's the article:
Attention Whole Foods Shoppers

WANTED: The Mouse in my Kitchen

We have a mouse in our kitchen, a young, friendly one.  It keeps popping out every few hours or so, at least, causing Mommy to scream and stamp (or scream and run back out of the kitchen) and resulting in contractions.  Mommy is 6 months pregnant.  She does not need the drama of 7 mouse sightings in one day.  She shared this need with her brave and capable husband, saying that she needs the mouse to be gone and to not have to see it or hear it squeaking half dead on a glue trap.  (Her husband laughed and pointed out the irony of her "City Mouse" title to her blog, though he did go buy some traps and set them up in the kitchen.)

Her protective son, Micah, said, "Mommy!  You need to stay out of that kitchen!  You only go in there to clean up or to make breakfast or lunch or supper, but that's it!"

How lovely it would be if that didn't mean most of my day (sigh).

Why I am Becoming a Nut Regarding Plastics . . .

Look at this truly terrifying article about fish and the result of chemicals in our water supply (many of them chemicals that we consume or use daily).  I'll give away the punchline: Male fish are starting to produce eggs in many of our rivers because their hormones are out of whack from all the chemicals.  Wow.  No wonder I am becoming a nut.  (Some may be thinking at this point, "Becoming?  Val, really . . .")


 article:  "Toxic Stew"


If you're looking for ways to cut chemicals from every day living, I found this book really helpful.  It was somewhere to start for me, and the woman (while extreme in her lifestyle changes) was somewhat of a girly girl who liked her products but got concerned about what was in them and did research and changed a lot.  Anyway, it was helpful for me.

Happy Earth Day!

Hope the info is helpful.  Just thought I'd pass it on.  :)

Sad Seedlings

Guess which flat I bought and which one I started from seed myself?

So I tried starting tomatoes and squash and cucumbers from seed.  I guess the window I had them in wasn't bright enough, I should have set up my grow light.  Anyway, I went away for the weekend and didn't leave the window blinds up again and when I returned, all the seedlings had sprouted up spindly and pathetic. 

While I was gone I bought the second flat of plants.  At least those plants look like they have a chance.  Aye me, what a lot of trouble to start from seeds just to create such sad seedlings!

City Kids do Spring

The family went to Morris Arboretum to celebrate Spring, and I thought I'd share a few pictures from our visit.  Micah and Jesse loved the big fields of grass (those poor city kids).

Rocks and water are always a great idea.

Happy Spring!

Urban Gardening Planting schedule (zone 5b)

Here in Philadelphia, we're at the beginning of the spring planting.  I put in a few things in March, but hope to get most of the seeds in in April and some of the plants in the ground around Mother's Day.  From what I've heard and read (and contrary to what I thought before), the early bird doesn't always catch the worm.  Even if your plants survive the nights, they might not be as healthy if they are too cold in the beginning.  I think my planting schedule will look something like this:

March: 

• peas, arugula, spring onion, sugar peas, and broccoli rabe (seeded in ground)
• tomatoes, eggplant, crookneck squash, buttercup squash, zucchini, cucumber, celery (indoors)

April - early May

• green beans, radishes, lettuce, swiss chard, kale, basil (seeded in ground)
• tomatoes, eggplant, crookneck squash, buttercup squash, zucchini, cucumber, celery (seedlings put outside) . . . and pepper and herb plants I'll have to buy since I didn't start those from seed
• (plant raspberries and strawberries if you didn't last year)

June

• second planting of green beans
• carrot, kale, arugula, leeks (seeded in ground, to harvest in fall or spring)

Crafty Trellis for the Garden

This was an idea that I actually took from a kid's magazine.  I usually like to come up with my own ideas (aka: reinvent the wheel).  But this was an idea I've been meaning to try for a long time.  Last time I bought paint I took an obscene amount of paint sticks, so we should have some more of these for some summer climbing vegetables.  I spent a really long time tying it together, then got into a fight with hubby when he picked it up and it fell apart.  The staple gun solution was a great idea of his.  The kids colored the paint sticks with crayons (I didn't want paint in the garden) for the decor.  I think it came out well.  :)

The artists are posed with the trellis below; I'm really excited about the raspberries starting to leaf out behind Jesse's head.  I'm less excited about the lily-thinning I'm going to have to do.

Men and Cars . . .

What is it about a movie about cars that brings together all the generations?

Stand up for healthy food

OK, so I know it's a little cheesy to promote a television show/petition online, but I really find this an exciting movement, cheesy and star-studded though it may be.  Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show is going to approach Congress about increasing funding for school lunches so that we can afford to provide children with fresh foods (they cost a lot more than processed atrocities).  Anyway, they want to take 1,000,000 signatures with them when they go.  It only takes a minute to sign online, and in my humble opinion, it's a worthy cause:

Sign the petition Jamie's Food Revolution USA Jamie Oliver

Granola Recipe . . . per request

Homemade Granola

(a recipe from Sarah)

I'm giving you the recipe for using 8 c of oats--otherwise my family goes through it too fast to make it worth the trouble.  If you want less, halve or quarter ingredients.

Granola

8 c oats
2 c flax
1 t salt
4/3 c coconut
4/3 c nuts
----------
1 c maple syrup (or honey)
3/4 c canola oil (I actually use olive oil or coconut oil/olive oil blend
1/8 c water
2 t cinnamin (or vanilla)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients together.  Warm the wet ingredients on the stovetop until they thin.  Pour over the dry ingredients and use hands to squish oats together.  Spread out on baking sheets (preferably with slight raised sides).  Put in oven for 30 minutes.  Take out and stir.  Add 4/3 c raisins or craisins or other dried fruit.  Bake 15 more min. until golden. (I've gotten too lazy and just add the dried fruit when it's done baking.)

Enjoy!  Hope you like it!

Val, Mommy, Gardener . . . Super Sleuth?

So after reading the book I described below, I have been highly attuned to chemical pollution around us.  And when I watched the show "Food Revolution with Jamie Oliver," I was curious to see the connections between the health problems of the residents there and similar health problems with residents described in Slow Death by Rubber Duck that were caused by scary pollutants in the water supply.  So I researched online and found that this town is only two hours from the town described in the book, on the same river, and with its on branch of a Dupont plant in their area.  Coincidence?  Well, maybe, maybe not.  So I contacted the EWG (Environmental Working Group) about it and found someone really interested in my surmise who said she was going to look into it.  Super Sleuth strikes again!

Review of "Slow Death by Rubber Duck"

For those interested (even in a looking-through-fingers-covering-your-eyes kind of way) in avoiding some of the most harmful chemicals in household products all around us, this is a must read.  It isn't, however, a good book to read right before going to sleep at night.  I found it distinctly unhelpful for that purpose, because I'd lie awake in bed and think about the alarming statistics or historical account of the industry's development of products and their impact on the environment.

Since most people probably won't go running to the book store (or library, if you're cheap like me) to find out all about scary chemicals in products, I thought I'd summarize some of the most useful info from the book.  Initially I wrote seven, but had to come back and make it an even fourteen:

1.  If you want to check the possible health risks in personal care products (toothpaste, deodorant, lotion, gel, sunscreen, shampoo, etc.), a very thorough analysis of products is available at Environmental Working Group's website:

ewg.org

You click on their "skin deep" cosmetic resource in the bottom right corner, and then there's a task bar where you enter a product name and they give you an overall rating with an explanation of why and an analysis of the safety of each ingredient.  It's really helpful, I've found.

Castille soap works great as a body wash and as a shampoo, if you are interested in a cost-effective safe alternative to either of those products.  Shea butter is a great moisturizer.  And Purple Prairie makes an affordable sunscreen called "Purple Prairie Sun Stuff" that was the best product for the best price I could find after a lot of time (about 4 hours) on the EWG website and searches from sellers.  You can get it from them directly and get free shipping if you spend $40 (which isn't hard if you find someone(s) who want to go in and get a bottle, too) at the following web address:

http://www.purpleprairie.com/results.php?prod_group=SunScreen

2. Get chunk light instead of white tuna.  It's made from smaller fish and has way less mercury.

3.  Buy close fitting 100% cotton pjs--all the others, by law, are sprayed with hormone-distrupting flame retardants.

4.  Remember this rhyme to help avoid scary plastics:

"4, 5, 1, 2, all the rest are bad for you."

And don't buy tomato products in cans.  All cans, but especially tomatoes (to combat the acidity), are lined with BPA that leaches out into the product.  Never microwave plastic containers.

5.  Replace your BPA vinyl shower curtain with a recycled polyester one.

6.  Avoid nanoparticles (nano-silver, etc.) and triclosan as ingredients or anti-bacterial products (the only safe antibacterial products are alcohol-based).

7.  Switch from teflon anything to cast-iron or stainless-steel (teflon is a big one to avoid).

8.  Use a stainless steel water bottle.

9.  Don't spray pesticides on your lawn. (Or use an environmentally friendly company.)

10. Buy local and/or organic.

11. Use reusable bags for shopping.

12.  Buy electronics that are PBDE free.

13.  Avoid too much fat (that's where your body stores chemicals and toxins--and where animals' bodies have stored theirs).

14. Buy fragrance-free products (fragrance is pthalates) and "rubber" children's toys (also pthalates).

I highly recommend the book, but thought some people might rather get a short summary, so here you go.  Really implementing any individual change involves becoming a label-reader.  But if you read what all these chemicals are doing to us and especially our children, there's plenty of motivation to do so.  It also compels us to join any kind of combined efforts to pressure government into passing bans on dangerous chemicals.

Shea Butter, Anyone? For Hair Gel?

You can get it for a great price from: Empower Village
at
http://www.empowervillage.com/

Supplier of wholesale 100% Shea Butter. For those of you using it for body cream or to make hair gel out of it! :)   It's really great stuff!

Owen and I made some hair gel today (based on the alarming info I read about in a book I will go into later, Slow Death by Rubber Ducky), containing shea, aloe, and a little olive oil.  It worked for Owen, I haven't tried it yet.  Here's the recipe:

Shea Hair Gel:

4 oz shea (100%, if possible)
2 oz aloe (I squeezed it out of our plants, actually)
2 T olive oil or coconut oil

(source: http://naturalhairrules.blogspot.com/2009/08/shealoe.html)

You heat up the shea on the stove in a double boiler.  Then add the other ingredients.  It is liquid at first but cools to a really cool semi-soft texture.  And you could use it for body lotion if you wanted, too.

Guess What Survived the Winter?

When all that snow melted a few weeks ago, I was amazed to see arugula and kale that looked like it might still be alive and edible.  Closer investigation of the garden this week revealed carrots that are still crunchy-- and with green tops that have evidence of fresh growth.  I was out of salad toppings and went out to see if I could find any carrots big enough to eat.  I came in with the ones above.  That's arugula to the left of those little orange beauties.  I was amazed to discover that the arugula is young and in great shape, too.  And there's way more of it out there than I thought.  I think some of the plants that were looking wet and spindly are now thriving after all the sunshine we've had lately.  Needless to say, we had an impressive salad (considering it included local ingredients this early in the year).  And today I picked a bunch more carrots.

My next big discovery was that my surviving kale plants were not only in better shape but greater in number than I had realized.  There are a few squashed plants and broken off ones that give the impression that the kale bed is not in great shape.  But once I space out all of the healthy little plants and it gets warmer, we should be in great shape.  I bought seedlings of kale last summer and 10 plants fed us up until winter started.  This year I am starting with 22 seedlings (though I'll give some away), and two or three of my plants from last year (the full-grown ones--the ones I didn't strip of all leaves to put in pasta sauce) are still alive.  So it should be a kaleful summer. 

These pictures show some new growth on last year's marjoram and savory herb plants.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

I had no idea some of these things could live through the winter.  Isn't it unbelievable to start spring with some stuff in the garden already??!

 

Plus, I did plant some peas and raab and lettuce.  Come on spring!

Red Beet Eggs: A Pennsylvania Dutch Treasure

In case anyone wants ideas of what to do with their leftover painted boiled eggs this Easter . . .

a Lancaster favorite is red beet eggs (some refer to these as "pickled eggs" but I think we can all see how red beet eggs is a more exciting name).  :)

Use local eggs if possible!

My mom's recipe is as follows:

Red Beet Eggs

15 oz can red beets (or one or two beets boiled in a small amount of water)

1/3-1/2 c apple cider vinegar

2-3 T sugar

onion slices

salt to taste (~ 1 tsp)

1 tsp peppercorns

1/2 t whole cloves

~ 3 bay leaves

Heat the ingredients to dissolve the sugar.  You can dilute with a small amount of water to stretch the liquid.  Add 6-10 boiled peeled eggs and put in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.  They last for a while because the vinegar preserves them.

Enjoy!

PEA PLANTING TIME!

Now I obviously have no idea if this is true, but today my mom's neighbor told her:

"It's the fifth warm day of March in a row, today's the day to plant peas."

My mom told me this news this evening.

Coincidentally, I had planted my first round of peas today.  The ground was moist but not mucky and it was lovely outside.  The weeds and rocks were less than lovely, but you'll have this. 

Since I really have no idea what I'm doing and just realized, "Oh dear!  Peas are supposed to go in early!" I'm really quite reassured to know that this was the day my mom's neighbor felt peas should be planted.  It's nice to happen to align with someone's schedule.

Here's hoping he knows what he's talking about!

"Fast Food"

So if you are ever having one of those nights when you just can't handle to make any cooking effort (like I had tonight) . . . here's a great one to try:

Polenta with Veggie/Tomato Topping

Veggie Topping Part:
Chop up kale or broccoli or something green into small pieces.
Chop up onion and/or garlic (if you're not pregnant and either sounds appealing).
Saute both.
Add several whole tomatoes (if in season), or a large can of diced, or a bag of frozen (if you are a late summer storage nut).
Add a can (or some cooked from dry that you have in the fridge) of any kind of light/white beans.
Add some shredded chicken (I like to keep some frozen in ice cubes after I boil a whole chicken) or tuna (opt.).
Add a little wine or broth if you like.
Salt and season to taste.
This part should really take 30 min. or less--real time, not cooking show time.

Polenta Part:
Slice up a Trader Joe's tube of polenta into thin slices (no more than 1/2" thick).
Fry first side (about 4 min.) until bottom is golden.
Flip, then put a little mozzarella type cheese on the top sides that are already fried.
Fry second side, cheese should melt somewhat.
This part should take real time 10 min.

Serve topping on the polenta.  Yum.