Paper Towel Challenge

In honor of Earth Day last week we decided to go "paper towel-less". I decided to scour Etsy to see if I could find some handmade cloth paper towels that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. BTW, if you're not familiar with Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/), you MUST check it out. It is a wonderful source for anything handmade (most of it very high quality)...and they carry antiques as well. What I really love about Etsy is that everything is sold by individuals, so you are directly supporting artists/seamstresses/collectors with no middle-man...you can even shop locally. Many of the sellers are stay-at-home-moms, and of course I love to support that "cause", since I'm one of them ;-)

Ok, so back to the napkins. I ended up finding a shop/seamstress/mom that sold handmade flannel napkins (8" x 8") for approx. $1 a napkin. She had lots of patterns to choose from. Her recommendation was to have 10 napkins per per person in the family...that was minimum, which would mean I needed at least 40. I ended up buying around 50, I think...in all kinds of patterns (fun patterns for the boys and a cute striped pattern for occasions when we have friends and family over).

She also makes/sells cloth sandwich bags and snack bags, which I also bought a few of. We already use cloth sandwich bags, but they've seen better days, so I thought I'd buy a couple more since hers were so cute and inexpensive. The sandwich bags are wonderful too....bought a few of those as well!

My total bill was around $70, including shipping. I know that sounds like a lot, but considering the money I'm going to be saving on paper towels and plastic baggies in the future, it's totally worth it. I consider it an investment that will help our pocket book AND Mother Earth.

We've been LOVING the napkins and haven't had much an urge to pull out the paper towels. We've also been using them in place of small plates to put toast, sandwich's, fruit, and whatever else on, which we often used paper towels for...because I didn't want to dirty another plate. (For cleaning the counters and stuff, we use cheap wash cloths that I buy at target...$2.99 for 8.)

Here is the website for the "gnomeclothes", where I bought my napkins: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5491749

Here is a picture of a few of the patterns I bought...we keep them in a big bowl on our kitchen table. We all have fun picking out their napkins at meal time.





So here is my challenge to you. If you are not at a point to get rid of the paper towels in your house, then at least try re-using them as much as possible and/or try to incorporate cloth rags/napkins into your lifestyle a little bit at a time. It's a lot easier than you think...and the fabric napkins are SO MUCH more fun than boring white paper towels. Don't we all need a little more cheer in our day? :-)

Love to everyone! Have a wonderful day!

Kombucha Tea

My kitchen is has been temporarily converted into a science lab.

Over the last year or so, I've been hearing/reading a lot about fermented foods and how beneficial they are to our health, but I've always been so intimidated by the whole fermenting process. (I don't follow directions well and have little patients for long drawn out detailed processes.) I had this idea in my head that fermenting something would be just that. So, since I've been in the mad scientist mood, I thought I'd take the plunge and make a fermented tea, called Kombucha tea, that I've been wanting to make for over a year now.

Kombuch tea is a fermented Russian tea. They sell it at Central Market, Whole Foods, and Sprouts in 16 oz bottles for almost $4 a bottle!!!! I love it, but have major guilt every time I buy it...especially in today's economy. The health benefits are fantastic. Like any other fermented food, it introduces good bacteria into your digestive system, which is great for your immune and digestive system. It also has different cancer-fighting acids in it, as well as lot of vitamins and minerals. The GT brand of Kombucha that I normally buy is made by a man who says the tea helped his mom recover from cancer. Pretty cool, huh?

In order to make the tea, you have to start out with a scoby, which is basically a culture of bacteria and yeast that work together to ferment the tea. You can get a scoby from someone who already makes Kombucha tea...they multiply with every batch. A lady in one of my eGroups offered to give me one of hers...thank you Kathy!

Now, once you have the scoby, the rest is actually very easy. After making it for the first time a few weeks ago, I was HOOKED! All you need is a gallon jar, green or black tea bags, sugar, and a scoby. So far, my Kombucha batches have been a combo of fruity herbal tea and green tea. The hardest part is waiting 7-12 days for it to ferment...again, patience is not my strong point. The final product is a slightly carbonated tangy tea that is very refreshing to drink. Right now, I've got two batches going...one plain green tea and one strawberry/green tea. The whole family loves it! The kids even ask for it...Vance asks for "bucha". To learn more, Google "kombucha tea", and you'll find all kinds of info. Here are a couple of sites you can visit as well:

http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/fermenting/kombucha.shtml

http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/kombucha

Here is a picture of the two batches I just started today.



...and in case you're wondering, yes, this is ONE of my ideas of fun! :-p Don't knock it 'til you try it!

Flaxy Banana Muffins

The other day I was at Kroger and they had bags of ORGANIC ripe bananas for $1 a bag. I was so excited! I always miss out on this kind of stuff, so I grabbed 5 bags...yes 5...and froze most of them for our smoothies. I kept a few out to make the banana muffin recipe that was on the front of the banana bags. Of course, since I can't follow a recipe to save my life, I added my own twist to the muffins to make them vegan and more nutritious. (Even though we are not vegans, we try to keep our animal protein [eggs, meat, dairy] intake to a minimum.) The muffins turned out really well. Paired with a fruit smoothie or sliced apple, they are great on-the-go breakfast! Enjoy!

Flaxy Banana Muffins

1/2 cup EVCO (extra virgin coconut oil, organic)
¾ cup honey
2 tbs ground flaxseed + 6 tbs water processed in a blender on high for 30 seconds (or 2 eggs)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup ground flaxseed
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 medium to large bananas, creamed
1 medium to large banana, chopped
½ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Assemble 12 muffin liners in muffin tins.

Cream EVCO, honey flaxseed/water mixture (or 2 eggs), and vanilla in a mixer.

Mix baking soda, baking powder, salt, flaxseed, and ww pastry flour with a fork until well combined. Then add the EVCO cream mixture; mix well.

Fold in creamed and chopped bananas and walnuts.

Pour mixture into muffin liners. Fill each cup about ¾ of the way full.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. Since my last post, I've been working on completing my yoga training, and I'm finally DONE...yay...finally! I taught my first class a couple of weeks ago, and boy that was quite an experience. I've been telling everyone that it was like running a mental marathon. I was so fatigued during the middle of the 90 minute class, I couldn't believe I had the whole last half to still finish. I never realized how much energy and mental focus it took to teach a class. I'm having to focus on every word I say, timing is critical, and then putting a lot of energy out there so that the students are motivated to push themselves in every posture for an hour and a half is really important to me. Needless to say, trying to do all that as a newby can be a bit overwhelming. I taught my fifth class tonight, and it went really well. So, each class seems to be getting better. All in all, I'm loving it! It's a great feeling to absorb all the wonderful energy that is created in a yoga room. Everyone always feels a bit high when they walk out, especially the teacher :-) Come vist me at Sunstone yoga.

Now that I'm not training on the weekends, we, as a family, are all enjoying having our time together on the weekends again. It's been so nice to sleep in a little, get up have a leisurely breakfast and then have the rest of the day to do whatever we want.

We did have a bit of drama last weekend. Ethan had to get stitches under his chin after falling during a gymnastics stunt on the furniture. All is well though...stitches are coming out tomorrow.

So, that's life right now. I've been feeling the desire to do some baking, so maybe the next post will be a healthy baked goods recipe. Stay tuned!

Love and peace to everyone!

Amy