Follow Your Passion!

I love Eco-Amie!  This is a true passion of mine: our Earth, our impact on her and how we can do our part to exist gently on her so she is preserved for our children and generations to come as well as just plain being healthy.  Whether it be eating healthy, exercising, cooking, baking, you get the drift!  I have so many ideas in my head, I am constantly living blog posts and it has been a little overwhelming!  Good. And overwhelming. 

Last night, I opened a book I having been taking my time reading, Off The Mat: Confessions of A Yogini, Book 7: The Crown Chakra by Dana Layon.  Dana owns a yoga studio in the area I live in and also writes Weekly Oms.  I have subscribed to Dana's Oms for almost a year, and every Friday I read words that inspire me and make me think on levels that are usually unchallenged.  Dana recently had her Om's published and they became a series of seven books, one for each chakra. 

So tonight I put my feet up against the wall and started reading my book feeling like I needed direction with Eco-Amie.  I started reading words that described my life and how I am feeling at the moment...good, overwhelmed, and a sense of knowing that I am going the right direction.  Dana says, "Take the seed you just planted within you and cultivate it slowly...Plant the seeds.  Watch them grow.  Do it for you and then see what kind of garden you get out of it." 


I will continue to water, tend to my garden and watch it blossom into whatever it will be. 

Peace.

A trip to Butcher Boys!

I went to my local butcher this morning.  Butcher Boys is the name of the shop we go to.  They have been around since 1969 and live up to their reputation daily!  Butcher Boys was recommended to us by a dear friend who knew we were looking for local meat two years ago. 

After watching the movie, Food Inc. by Michael Moore, Mr. Eco and I decided we would NEVER buy meat from the grocery/warehouse store again!  If you have not watched Food Inc. yet, I highly encourage you to do so!  The movie makes you think about where our food comes from…something the average American probably doesn’t think about too much!  I know I didn’t!  You have to know as a friend and blog-follower that Food Inc. changed the way I feed my family and think about the food in the grocery store aisles. 

I am so thankful my friend told us about Butcher Boys.  We have been going there for meat ever since and have grown to know the staff – who gives my kids a pepperoni stick or hotdog to eat while I place my order!  SCORE!  They know what it takes for a mom to be able to place her order in peace! 

The chicken they sell comes from Draper Valley Farms.  They are local to my area and do not use hormones, antibiotics, or preservatives.  The chickens are fed a 100% vegetarian diet with no animal fats or by-products.  The chickens live in a stress-free environment, are humanly raised and housed with natural light and ventilation.  Natural light and ventilation – you think to yourself, aren’t Tyson and Foster Farms chickens raised the same way?  NO THEY ARE NOT!!!!!  Again, if you haven’t watched the movie, Food Inc., please do yourself a favor and watch it. 

Another thing I like about the chicken I get is that the chicken breasts I buy come together, yes, I mean two breasts connected together, just as nature intended!  That was and still is something I think about when I walk through the meat section at the grocery store where the breasts are cut apart and sold individually.  I never thought anything about that until we started going to the butcher shop for meat.  At first it was weird, now I think it is weird to sell chicken breasts individually! 

The pork and some of the beef comes from Carlton Farms.  Again, local to my area, antibiotic-free, grown by a team of farmers who respect their animals and the environment.  The hogs are fed a grain-based vegetarian diet with no animal by-products.  They even brought in Dr. Temple Grandin (an amazing woman who happens to have autism and found her passion in animal welfare and autism advocacy) to train their staff and design farm equipment for them. 

In a prior blog post, I talk about starting to introduce grass-fed beef to my family.  That is my goal in the near future.  I would love nothing more to get even healthier meat for me and my family!  Once I get us off grain-fed beef and onto grass-fed beef, I will continue to purchase chicken and pork at Butcher Boys. 

              

Homemade Brownies Recipe & Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

So funny.  I posted on how I needed to find a homemade brownie recipe and what came up on my computer screen?  A Homemade Brownie Recipe!  I was perusing one of my favorite blogs, New Nostalgia and found this recipe.  I haven't tried it yet, but I am going to and get back to you!  If you try it before me, let me know what you think about it?  I like how Heavenly Homemakers also has a recipe for homemade chocolate chips too!  Someday....for now, I will buy mine already made. 

I made whole wheat bread today in my mom's breadmaker!  It was the first time I have ever made bread and it turned out great!  It was very simple really and the cost of the ingredents was minimal.  The kids loved watching the bread maker knead the dough and watching it rise through the little window up top of the machine. 

Raw Milk, Grass-Fed Beef, Brownies made with Applesauce

I continue to study the basic components of the food we put in our body from Nourishing Traditions.  It is very interesting actually! I have always loved the sciences of Home Economics and Nutrition. 

Some items I am pondering are:

1. Introducing raw milk to my home. I am studying the FDA and USDA's warnings against the unpasteurized milk and their motivations behind their opposition of the milk. I have also been researching the truth about raw milk from the proponents of it. 

2. I have one pound of grass-fed ground beef in my refrigerator! I intend on making a family dish passed down two generations called Pate Chinois with it. I have the opportunity to buy an eighth of a cow with my dear neighbor (who is so tickled to teach me all she knows, which is a ton!). But Mr. Eco and I want to taste it first. I have read it tastes different than the hamburger meat from the store or butcher.

An interesting side note about grass fed beef is that I subscribe to bon appetit magazine and they recently wrote an article about this book (pictured).  I had only heard of grass fed beef from, once again, my dear neighbor.  We've had conversations about how the meat we buy at the grocery store is irradiated.  I was floored when I Googled what that even meant!  Go ahead, Google it, then come back :)  Ever since, we have been purchasing our meat from a butcher that gets their meat from a local farm; however, the cows are corn fed.  We thought, at the time (about two years ago), it was better than the alternative.  It is now time to give grass fed a try! 

ELECTRIC RECYCLING:
- Need to recycle an electronic device?  Visit this website for a location near you. 

BROWNIES:
- I made boxed brownies (I know, I need to find an easy, homemade recipe) tonight and used 1/4 cup canola oil and 1/4 cup applesauce. You would never know I used applesauce! It makes the brownies healthier and is an easy substitute for oil.  I also don't have to grease the muffin pan since I use Demarle products to bake in!

Demarle at Home is the best to bake in and found here.  My favorite Representative is Gina Anderson, although ALL the representatives are outstanding!  It is naturally non-stick because it is made from food grade silicone which, when broken down is essentially made from sand.  Because it is flexible and non-stick, it makes getting your baked goods out easy and clean-up a snap! 

Studying, Cooking, and Feeding the chickens!

I am reading a book called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.  My neighbor let me borrow it as we always chat about eating well for our health and the health of those we love.  I am learning so much about the American diet and how our society is guided to ideas about the food we put in our bodies that are false and down-right unhealthy!   I am learning about the types of fatty acids and how they contribute to the health of our body and it's systems.  It's like taking a biology class!  Oh, the memories... 
Bottom line:

• Choose butter over margarine,
• Red meat and eggs (including egg yolks) are good for us to eat! 
• Tropical oils are very good for us (palm and coconut oils).  I always thought canola oil was good, but I learned these oils are better.

My poor Roma Tomatoes!  The have what is called "Blossom-End Rot."  That's what is causing the brown circle at the bottom.  I am hopeful the damage won't be great as many of the tomatoes are fine...crossing my fingers!  I can't wait until they are ready to be picked!

This is the solution to my kids not liking the really-cool peanut butter Winco has in it's bulk section!  It is healthy for them as it is all natural, naturally sweetened with no hydrogenated oil or trans fat and we all like it!

I had the kids run over this bag to the neighbor who has chickens...scraps from the soup I made!  Sometimes I have the kids dig holes in the yard and bury the vegetable scraps...that is what composting currently looks like in this house!  Something to work on, I know :)  Anyway, if Eco-Amie does not want the kids a diggin', I feed the chickens!  The best gift?  When she has extra eggs and gives us some!  So grateful for her bounty! 

Trader Joe's Face Lotion

I recently bought this face lotion at Trader Joe's and I am very proud to say, I love it!  It is so moisturizing and does not break my skin out.  I went home and looked it up on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep page and there was not an exact match for this product.  I compared the ingredents with other Trader Joe's beauty products and it appears to fit in the Moderate risk section (by my untrained observation and reading).  I would prefer it got a Low risk rating; however, I am happy with the product and intend on using it.  It was reasonably priced and feels very good on my skin...not too greasy, not too smelly, and it leaves my face and neck feeling very moisturized!  The label states it was produced without any animal testing or animal by-products.  That makes me feel good about the product as well. 

I have always paid attention to see if products and their by-products were tested on animals since I complied a speech about animal testing at the junior college I attended.  It was then I was introduced to the organization PETA.  The research I completed for the speech was very eye opening and made me feel horrible for the animals.  I know, I know, better animals than humans, but it still made me sad to read what the animals endure for the health and beauty products that line the shelves in our stores. 

Do you have a favorite beauty product that is eco-friendly as well as animal-friendly?