Yoga = My Heart

Take me now, I"m happy. Okay, don't, really.
I practice yoga 2-4 times a week now. It is linen' up my back,
helping me to breathe and relax, and generally keeping me sane.
I work as a speech therapist. It's hard work.

Yoga makes me happy. Bliss.
U can achieve the same affect watching your cat, minus the body feel good.

Ice Cream Makin Fun

So, Last night, after a wildly successful dinner
of pesto, pasta shells, and zucchini with 'fruit sorbet'
for dessert...I was still hungry. I had a craving for ice-cream,
and creativity. I knew we had half-n-half in the fridge, and I wondered:
What can I make? ICE-CREAM, of course.

Don't have an ice-cream maker. Didn't have cream. The ice-cream-it was delicious.
Here's what I did:

Ingredients
2 cups half-n-half
1/4 cup brown sugar (or white)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup salt
4 trays ice cubes
ziploc baggies
1 large freezer/hotorcold bag

To make:
Mix half-n-half, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. I used several small ziploc baggies, cuz that's all i had. Pour mixture into ziploc baggies. Seal tightly. Pour ice and salt into the large freezer bag. Place ziploc baggies into larger bag. Seal large bag tightly. Shake, Shake Shake. Shake some more. Shake shake shake.....BEHOLD....ICE CREAM! Squeeze into bowls and enjoy.

Seriously, if you are a coffee drinker and have basic ingredients on hand--you can make this. I got the idea from the internet because we have no ice cream maker. Lucky for me, we had done this at work, so I knew what to expect. K., he was in awe--and immediately started brainstorming ways to make a BIKE powered ice-cream maker. Even funnier, there is a video on you-tube.

This ice cream made our stay at home saturday into a fun, yummy evening.

Now...stay tuned for the bike powered version!

Random Thoughts

Here is a 'friday' compilation of random things I'm contemplating:

1. Fat-free feta cheese is not good. It tastes like rubber. I don't like it. If i want feta cheese, next time, I'm just going to eat it.

2. Sometimes, even though the 'childish/'scared' track is running in my mind---THE SANE ADULT VOICE COMES OUT!!! It's totally cool....the adult takes over, and just speaks. OK, it sounds like i have different voices in my head, and I don't mean that at all. What I'm talking about is: I'm getting married. I work a full-time, apparently valuable profession. I make serious decisions. So, even though the 'holy moly' tape is sometimes still playing...the ADULT mode is becoming more auto pilot.

3. Turning off the water while brushing your teeth is truly one of the easiest enviro-saving actions you can take.

4. I love my cats, to the point of ridiculous abandon.

5. I truly enjoy my job/profession.

6. Life. Is. A. Blessing. (And i am blessed to have all I've got)


********cat mom************************

what cat mom's up too

WEllllllllllllllllll
these days I am:
- chasing after my constantly entertaining cats. Allegro got really peeved when
I went to a trip to texas and K. blocked off his fav. sleeping spot. he had a
random, but scary, episode of aggressive behavior. Which, if you know my crazy
lovely cat....is not normal


- running like a crazy woman at work

- continuing to plan a wedding

- shopping for bigger livin digs


- LOTS AND LOTS OF YOGA


- making A. queen laugh with lots of deep sayings.

My First Recycling Letter: ACME

Dear Customer Service Rep:

I would like to comment on your policies regarding recycled bags,brown paper bags, and plastic bags. As part of my commitment to Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse, I carry recyclable bags with me for my groceries. As an alternative, I sometimes use brown paper bags.

At your store on City Ave, when I request, "paper only", I am frequently given paper bags with plastic carrying handles around them. This creates twice the waste - two bags.
The first time this happened, I was upset but moved on.

However, during my shopping experience recently, I was troubled by interactions with your cashier.
As he put my groceries in a plastic bag, I handed him my reusable bag and said, "I'd like to put as much as possible in this." He put one item in the bag, and continued to scan. I had to fill the cloth bag myself. When the cloth bag was full, I requested "PAPER ONLY." I specified paper only, and yet he put the items in paper bags with plastic bags around them. He put ONE remaining item, that would not fit, in a separate plastic bag. I took the items out, took the plastic bags off the paper bags, and returned them on the counter.


While I know Acme does support plastic bag recycling, making a difference in waste requires reducing the amount of plastic that enters the stream of waste. Also, I made a troubling observation. While Acme SELLS reusable bags, as do many other stores, they have done nothing to educate their cashiers on this practice.

I fear that selling reusable bags simply encourages more consumerism. Consider the impact of your company. Consider the impact if you were to train your cashiers in accommodating customers who choose to use multi-use bags or make choices to use less plastic. I would also suggest adding paper handles to your paper bags, so that these can be used without plastic bags around them. Finally, training employees about items you sell--such as re-usable bags--could also
encourage internal recycling and conversation among employees.


The inside of your new City Ave remodeling is beautiful, and I would like to continue shopping at your store. However, this will depend on my future experiences with your cashiers as I continue to use my cloth bags and request PAPER ONLY.

Sincerely,
(me)

SUMMER HEAT . . . blastin away . . .

When I moved to Philly, my first day of work was in the snow. Now, in Texas, we close for snow b/c no-one has the equipment or the know-how to cope. I had to learn to always carry gloves, scarves, window scraper (those things have a PURPOSE). OK, so i didn't always carry them in the winter, but i knew i needed them. And, school didn't get canceled for a bit of snow.


WELL, Philly doesn't know how to "DO" heat. It was 96-99 the last two days . . . and the public schools closed at NOON. Let out early for the HEAT. Now, given, those old buildings don't have air conditions, so I do understand. But......

Texans can handle their HOT: Hot weather, hot spices, hot hot hot.

(By the way....i'm in love with the cold weather up here.)

Cat Mom's Not Perfect

Perfectionism

Ummmm yea. Here are my hodge podge thoughts on this subject.
My addiction = striving to be the best at everything i do/attempt.
This isn't a bad thing, in some ways . . . But, when the desire to be phenomenal
in everything overtakes rational thinking. Then you may have a problem.

Today, I realized that even though I have left my school days behind, I still have the desire to 'succeed' and 'achieve.' I've taken on more than my share of projects in my first 1 1/2 years at work.

This is embarrassing to admit, because it's not 'kosher' to admit how important it is for me to be successful and 'perfect.' I know it's ridiculous....but still...Also, I drive myself a wee bit insane at times with the ridiculous standards I set - whether it was grades when I was in school, the level of my semi-vegetarianism/healthy eating, my exercise, or my work. Even though I now STRIVE for balance, am 10 million times more laid back then 5 years prior . . . I still fall into these ruts where nothing is ever good enough.

I threw the word out 3 years ago (perfect), but I have to confess the desire is still there. Yoga teaches me to let go of this desire. Working with kids helps me to be more flexible and fly by the minute. I let go every day, and then the desire to be 'perfect' comes creeping back, under my skin.

Middle Ground, Schmiddle Ground. BLAH LALLALALA.

"I don't want to be perfect. That would be way too much pressure." (A friend)

(JUst throwin out thoughts...)

Peaceful Sunday

Halal
Orthodox
Kosher
Urdu
Yalmuka
Passover
Pashtu
Roman Catholic

(Smiling, laughing, running, playing, crying)

No milk with meat
Kosher food only
No pork
Burqa
Hijab (head scarf)
Communion

(Speaking with concern, faith, respect, impatience)

Family in
Israel
Iraq
Pakistan
Haiti
United States
Puerto Rico

(Will my baby talk, grow, learn?)

This is my preschool work environment. This is my community. This is why i live in a large city, with a beautifully diverse environment. I make peace when I go to mass with my community who may call Puerto Rico, Africa, Vietnam, or the United States (And of course our neighborhood) HOME. I make peace when I speak to parents, children, brothers sister -- Regardless of their language or country of origin.

I cannot change the war in Iraq, the hunger in Haiti. But my choice to live in this city, to work in this preschool, to act with Love and Peace are my personal change.

Oh gee......Are gas prices all I see?

Gas prices bite right now. It's a fact. 3.81 a gallon was the price today. I'm blessed enough to not be too worried about this, although it DOES impact my decisions, my budget, and my overall budget.

SO, here is our family 'plan.' It's partially motivated by gas prices but I think also motivated by desire to 'drive less.' Luckily, we live in a city that makes biking easy and breezy.

I use my car two and from work each day. Necessary. K uses bike or shuttle. Only occasionally car. On the weekend, we use K's car for trips. Also, we use OUR FEET to walk to the local coffee shop, church, CVS or THE BIKE as often as possible.

It's not a perfect plan, but we too are making an effort to reduce overall driving. What about u?

Simple Change . . . It's still change.

1. Reduce.
2. Recycle.
3. Reuse.

In other words:

1. Buy, consume, use less stuff. Make choices that create less stuff.
2. Recycle thru your community collections the stuff you use.
3. Instead of throwing stuff away/recycling: Use it again.

Whole Wheat Flat Bread & Chicken Salad

Recipe for FLAT BREAD from Food Network. (My additions in RED) Homemade Flat Bread Recipe courtesy Kathleen Daelemans Show: Cooking Thin Episode: Southern Sisters

1 package active yeast 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (WHOLE WHEAT) 1 teaspoon coarse salt 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (I used 1/2 tablespoon crushed, dried rosemary) 3/4 cup water (might need more) 1 teaspoon oil In the bowl of a food processor combine the yeast, sugar, flour, salt and thyme. Pulse to combine. (I mixed by hand). Add the water in a steady stream until the dough begins to form a ball, turn it on to a board and knead with the heel of your hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Coat a bowl with oil. Place dough in bowl, and cover with a damp cloth. Put in a warm spot to rise until double in size, about 1 hour. (Mine rose for 2 hours...went on a bike ride.) When the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough, scrape it onto the counter and knead it lightly into a smooth ball. Cut into 20 pieces and with a rolling pin roll out to form very flat 5 to 6-inch circles. Preheat a stove top grill pan over medium high. Do not oil. Place bread on hot grill and cook without touching it until you see bubbles on the surface, about 1 to 2 minutes. Turn and continue to cook 1 to 2 minutes more or until bread has puffed up. Serve immediately. Now, for the chicken salad: 1/3 cup mayo 2 cups shredded chicken (I used pre-cooked bbq. The whole kind you buy at the store.) 1/3 lemon squeezed into mix 5 whole green olives sliced diced onions, to taste Salt, pepper, and chile/texas seasoning to taste Combine in bowl and stir well. Chill in fridge. Serve on flatbread. This was an awesome meal. The flatbread isn't fast, but it was delish. The bubbles when it cooks are fun to watch, if you lead the exciting life I do. Plus, the sweet fiance loved it AND I did too. Yummy.

Basil -n- Pesto Pizza

So, this week I made DELICIOUS pesto for the first time. I got 2 recipes out of the pesto.
Go to this web address for the entire pesto recipe + great pics:
http://www.pickyourown.org/pesto.php

Tomato, Cheese & Pesto Pizza

- 2 ripe vine tomatoes
- 1 bag pre-shredded mozzarella cheese
- basil leaves (enough for 2 cups)
- fresh grated Parmesan cheese (a cheaper sub of Parmesan-Reggiano)
- EXTRA virgin olive oil
- pine nuts
- Fresh garlic cloves (to taste)
- Pizza Crust (pre-made or homemade)

1. If you are making your own pizza crust, look up recipe and prep the dough to rise 1st. Lots of recipes available online, depending on your taste. I used one with honey and whole wheat flour.

2. While dough rises, prepare pesto. Put in fridge to chill. (See website! This one is great.)

3. Rest while dough finishes rising after pesto is prepped.

4. Roll-out dough or prep your pre-made crust.

5. Spread chilled pesto onto pizza crust as base/sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pesto. Place tomatoes on top.

Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and slightly brown/crust is cooked through.

ENJOY~ I didn't include all the specific details of times/amounts because you can really tweak the recipe depending on ingredients/preference. I'm a really flexible 'chef' so I constantly make adaptations. For example, when making this recipe I also took leftover dough and spread spaghetti sauce on top then added cheese. These were lunch the next day. Also, the leftover pesto went on quickly boiled pasta (simple pasta and pesto) the next night. Even though this was an evening of cooking, it resulted in 3 awesome meals.


Your recipes? Thoughts? Ideas? I was surprised at how easy it is to make my own bread, wheat tortillas, crust. It does take several hours of open time to hang out around the house, but money wise---a GREAT deal. Also, even though it takes time, when you think about how much other's pay for access to simple flour and how much CHEAPER it is to make our own bread . . . . Well, that's food for thought.

If we see where our food comes from, does that change our decisions?

Recipes to follow:
- homemade salsa with home grown cilantro
- homemade enchiladas, the easy way

Britney Spears

Ok, seriously...

Really, the girl just can't drive. C'mon.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20199899,00.html


I know, commenting on britney borders on lame. But, it's just proof that money can't
buy you everything...like the sense to use your driver's if you are a bad driver.

Ok...ASAP we will return to our faithful topic of enviro-saving/fun eating/planting 101.


To follow:
Recipes for homemade honey-wheat pizza with pesto.

SPROUTS!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls . . .

I have sprouts, of the basil and cilantro variety. Pics to follow.

It's exciting, esp. since I live in the city, to see 'lil seeds
sprout up into plants that can hopefully be used in my food.

Kinda like when I made homemade wheat tortillas last weekend. You see flour.
You see oil. You mix and stir and press. Cook. Then you see food.

(I know, right? Growin herbs and cooking homemade tortillas....)

Simply Thursday Challenge

Turn down two bags at stores between NOW and next Thursday.
Only two.

Or turn down more, and use cloth bags.

(If everyone says, 'no thank you' 2x per week to plastic/paper bags in the U.S...what would the impact be?)

Cat Mom's Latest

Well...last weekends Lowe's trip was a SUCCESS. Combined with a trip to target, we got EVERYTHING needed to organize our 'storage garage.' Yes...in a 1 bedroom apartment we have a garage/storage area. My lovely has 6 bikes,and I have six tons of grad school/prof. resources. We did a GIANT purge of things we didn't need and it felt FABULOUS. And, it looks SANE now. If you would like tips on small space organizing . . . Lemme know.

I balanced the 'domestic'/'earthy' feel of organizing and buying plants by walking around Lowe's/Target with a PALM PILOT 'to buy' list. When I found what we needed, I deleted it from the list. NO paper wasted in making a list, losing it, and making a second list.

RE: The container planting/where the materials came from.
Watering can = from India. It was metal. Plastic option probably made in USA, but of the 'evil' plastic. Oblong pot for herbs = made in Italy. Material is clay. I'm curious as to what differences I will find, if any, from a more 'crunchy'/local gardening store.

Planting summary:
- 2 pots seeded basil
- 1 pot seeded cilantro
- 1 herb pot w/ already grown Basil, already grown peppermint, and hopefully to grow cilantro
- 1 pot orange flower K. liked.
We currently have everything inside, by windows. Will post pictures soon.

Hugs to Scotland

Hugs to my brother in Scotland. Video is a bit long, but the "hug" campaign in Scotland last year.

Outside of the Box, Inside the Container (Gardening)

Yes yes...i'm going to 'container' garden. I bought a basil plant, an evergreen plant, and a 'nameless red plant'.(At farmer's market.) Trip to Lowe's is in a few minutes to buy pots, soil, and misc. items. May buy a few more herbs and tomato plant paraphernalia. LOL....yes, it's called 'outside the box' because I have no garden. I live in an upper level floor apartment. BUT, there is an upper deck 'garden' area. (Garden in the loosest sense of the word...sadly, it's trashed out.)

SO, i'm going to pot INSIDE containers, and place the containers in one of the nicer corners of the roof. The real question is: If I garden in a container from Lowe's that was made in CHINA....with LOCAL plants, and non-local potting soil......is my food still locally grown?

I know....i know...i should go to a local gardening center rather than Lowe's....but I need to also look for storage. ARGH

I'm breaking the buy nothing challenge, but it is for intentional purposes of sanity and necessity!

Silliness

BUY LESS and SAVE MONEY!

Ok, so we're saving for a wedding. A simple wedding, but a wedding in the Northeast....WHEW. Expensive.

So, Crunchy Chicken's challenge (http://crunchychicken.blogspot.com) to BUY NOTHING IN APRIL gave me an excuse/motivation to take my spending habits to the next level.

Yesterday's GRAND accomplishment was going into Target and buying NOTHING but 2 bottles of vitamins. I even refused a bag. I know....NOTHING ELSE. 2 bottles of vitamins. I was sad. Seriously...this is what 27 years of commercialism has done to me. Think about it...how many times do you go on a MALL SPLURGE/shopping trip and feel BUMMED OUT b/c you didn't buy anything. Now, given...often we NEED to find something for work/school and are sad b/c it's naught to be found.

But, I felt sad b/c I didn't have anything shiny to take home with me. Seriously. Now, our subsequent drive through the city, walk in the park, perusal of a flea market, and trip to the coffee shop HELPED. A Lot. But, I think we might all be Target bbbbbrainwashed. :-)

Also, I have to say that the bag refusing is getting more habitual. But, the area that slaughtered me this week was buying snacks when commuting between work-sites. This week I not only had my usual am/pm commute....>I had mid day commutes thru the city. I just didn't have the time/energy to plan for snacks/drinks.....and WHEW. Me and WAWA were as thick as thieves last week. BLWERJEWLKRJ.

OK.....I know I still need to post about my early exposure to 'Reduce/Recycle/Reuse'...but I'm a procrastinator. !!!

What if i Don't have a cloth bag?

Today I asked for "paper only." (Again, this grocery I was at offers paper, but puts them INSIDE the plastic bags for handles.) DOUBLE the waste. This is the second mainstream chain grocery store I have seen do this.

Learning from my Acme debacle, I specifically said "paper ONLY, please." I watched the guy willingly comply, but b/c he has a setup designed to hold 5 plastic bags at a time....using the paper separately seemed to add an extra step for him.

I certainly felt better about 2 paper bags, as opposed to 2 paper and 2 plastic. Really...just psyche yourself up and turn into a PLASTIC BAG REFUSER!!!

(i did take 1 from the WAWA (aka Philly gas/sundry store to hold trash in my car.) AIGH......plastic trash bag habit......now what do ppl do about that???

**liz**

Saturday Savings

OH no...What will i do today? I can't/won't go shopping for entertainment b/c
I'm taking the "buy nothing in april" challenge.

On the agenda:
- a happy walk
- farmer's market visit
- Boooo hoooo cleaning
- Letting my cats entertain me

Goal:
- TAKE MY 2nd CLOTH BAG TO MY CAR so I have TWO not ONE to fill up at the store. (Old habits die hard.) But, as Dawn said, YIPPEE we are all trying.

Group Project:
Here's a fun question:
- What memories do you have about teachers/parents teaching you about environmentally friendly behavior? Did your parents 'model' or 'harass' you to recycle?

I'll post mine ASAP in the comments section or as another entry!

Happy Saturday, mis amigos.

UPdate in a CLOTH BAG

yes, yes my friends...I'm blogging on here now, instead of myspace. The End.

As for the update: Oh, the hilarity of 2 cats, 1 fiance, and 1 slp/cat mom. In a 1 bedroom apartment in urbania. I say urbania b/c we are not in the suburbs, but on the outskirts of the city. VERY, TRULY< completely, urban...but not in the middle of downtown Philly.

Wedding plans are not finalized or even on paper yet, but we have quite a few general ideas. I'm calling the priest today, and hoping to get all that squared away ASAP. YIPPPEEEE.

And, on to the next thing: My ventures as a HIPPY. Yes, this is nothing new but time + an 'almost husband' + concern/care for my world = Hippy.
I'm in a flexitarian/semi-vegetarian phase, as far as food goes. Almost NO red meat/chicken and if I do, it's only once or twice a week. YUMMY, and so inspired by my sweet friend ALICE.

The main 2 changes for the month of April are 1) cloth bags and 2) BUY NOTHING CHALLENGE. (See the previous entry.) Yes, i'm turning into a plastic bag refuser. This is EASY as pie at CVS, WAWA, when i have a small purchase. Even target isn't too difficult, although I usually fill up 1 big canvas bag and then go plastic for 2-3 bags. I found this impossible though at ACME (think kroger in texas). I asked for paper only one day, and I got paper bags set into plastic bags and ended up wasting TWICE as much. These lower end, super speedy operations REALLY don't handle well canvas bags. SO, I'm still picking and choosing my battles.

I have to say though, Using my big red bag is WAY easier to carry upstairs by the time I park, walk into the lobby, go up the elevator, and eventually to my 11th floor apartment. THe cashier at Target pointed out "OH, it's less bags...that would be easier to carry." Funny the comments/looks ppl don't or do make.

Oh, and my book pic for the month I am just starting: Affluenza

Watch out guys...I may end up moving to Illinois and working on a farm.(Just kidding, although Kevin's fam. does own farm there!!!!!!!!!)

**hugs***
ms. liz.

No buying in APRIL

Ok, here goes.
I'm taking Crunchy Chicken's Buy nothing in April challenge.
Guess this answers my question about whether or not to cut my hair soon....or
buy a new beauty project.

HAHA....We'll see how long I last, b/c post grad school I have gotten quite interested in
lovely non-necessary but happy beauty projects. Guess I"ll be doin lots of YOGA!

Hmmm. . . . waste not, want not.

Ok, so I'm on a big enviro kick. I know I'm not the only one. I'm hooked on www.greenasathistle.com, and her links to other Green blogs are TOTALLY fab. I'm convinced that reading these blogs daily is the best way to MAYBE please cure my insane habits of wastefulness.

You know, myspace just isn't the right venue for this type of bloggin. Also, i'm now officially planning a wedding and OH, the crazy wanting of waste THAT brings.

All right my friends.....welcome to the lizzieblog!