Simple Versatile Quinoa Salad Recipe

Hello, my friends!  I had posted a few photos of Little R eating a quinoa salad on Facebook and got a couple of requests for the recipe, so I thought I'd make a general post for everyone.

If you know me and how I am in the kitchen, you'll know that more than often I do not follow set recipes.  Instead, I see what is available or must be eaten then come up with a dish.  So, here's an attempt of showing you what was in this dish and how it was put together.

Simple Quinoa Salad

Get Organic or homegrown produce if you can

Salad:

• About 5 large organic lettuce leaves, chopped up
• About ten organic grape tomatoes, carefully chopped up
• A handful of raisins (for sweetness; I don't always add this)
• One medium size carrot, grated
• One seedless duke or cucumber seeded and chopped
• About two tablespoons finely minced onion
• 1 cup of quinoa soaked overnight, rinsed, drained, cooked and cooled (this would yield about 2-3 cups of cooked quinoa)
• About two tablespoons of hemp seeds (sometimes called hemp hearts)

Mix all ingredients in large bowl

Set aside.

Dressing:
(this is just one simple dressing that is easy to shake up)

• About half a tablespoon of miso paste
• About 1/2 - 2/3 teaspoon of pink salt
• Black pepper to taste
• One clove of garlic, grated
• About two teaspoons of green onion, minced
• About the size of half your thumb of ginger, grated
• About a tablespoon or two of water
• Three tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
• Six tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or cold pressed flax oil)
• About a tablespoon of maple syrup or sweetener (if you choose) of your choice

In a jar with a lid, combine miso paste (stir with a fork) with water until a mushier consistency.  Add garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, onion and stir until well combined.  Incorporate vinegar and then oil.  Put the lid on and shake, Shake, SHAKE!

When you're ready to eat, just scoop the salad into a bowl and the dressing as well as some sprouts if desired.  Enjoy!

Note: for special diets, you can modify what vegetables you put in as well as what kind of oils.

Have fun!

Sublime Raw Fermented Cashew Dip

Sublime Raw Fermented Cashew Cream Dip Inspired by Milijana

I visited my friend Danielle in Guelph back in July, and brought over some dip that I came up with (it was inspired by my friend Milijana's Labna Love and Dilly Dali raw dips - go on Facebook and search for "Good Food Conspiracy Co.").  It turned out really good, so good that she wanted the recipe.  As my friends know, I'm one who just "throws" things together... Let's see if I can recreate this dip.

Ingredients: 

Plain Fermented cashew dip
1.5 cups raw cashews, soaked and drained
1 pack of kefir starter (you can get this from BodyEcology or your health food store; that's where I got mine)
About one cup of room temperature or tepid water

Soak 1.5 cups of cashews overnight or at least 4 hours.  Drain.
Pour soaked cashews into high speed blender.
In a ceramic or glass bowl, pour in 1 cup of tepid water.  Stir in the packet of kefir starter.  Do not use a metal utensil.  I use a wooden spoon or bamboo chopsticks.
Pour mixture into blender.  Blend until smooth adding a teaspoon of water at a time if mixture is too thick to blend.
Empty contents into a glass or ceramic bowl.  Cover with a plate and let ferment 24 hours.  I put mine in the oven.  Depending on how warm the weather is, you may have to ferment longer that what I did.  Just check every 12 hours or so.  See if there are bubbles.  Smell it to sense if it's ready.

Sublime Fermented cashew dip
Plain fermented cashew mixture
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of one lime
Large Garlic clove (about one teaspoon grated)
One green cayenne chili (or jalapeno)
Two handfuls of dill weed, chopped
About 3/4 cups of minced cucumber
5-7 mints leaves (I used bergamot), chopped
2 green onions, chopped (include the greens)
Some pomegranate seeds for topping
1-2 tsp of good salt (do according to your taste)
Black ground pepper to taste
(reserve a bit of the chopped greens for topping)
Edible flowers for topping (I used day lilies, borage, nasturtiums, and calendula)

Mix in all the ingredients into the plain fermented cashew mixture, pour into desired containers then top of the reserved greens and flowers.  Enjoy!

See pictures below for a better idea of how to make this at home.

Mince the cucumber

All the chopped greens (reserve some for garnish)

Big picture of all the ingredients

Bergamot

This is the opened packet of the kefir starter

check consistency of the fermented cashew cream

see the air bubbles?

It's ready when it looks like this

Mix all the ingredients together

Don't forget the salt!

add pepper (I like a lot)

Add lemon and lime juice

Stir everything together with a WOODEN spoon

Taste

If it doesn't taste quite right...

Keep stirring... something is missing...

Don't forget the garlic!

Grate the garlic

Use a microplane grater

Don't forget the green chili

Pour into desired containers and top with garnish

Voila!

Smile:  you did a great job!

Take a closer look and appreciate

Make sure to scrap the bowl

Enjoy the scrapings :)

It's your turn

Tell me what you think.  Please let me know how I could make this recipe more precise.

Thank you for visiting, and have a deliciously delightful day!

The First Annual Toronto Raw Vegan Festival

I found an ad at our local library about this, so I jumped onto their website to see what's going on. It's definitely sounds exciting and new :) That's where I plan to be June 11th.

what to do about youth these days

Hi, All

Something happened to me after picking up Little R from school. It was around 4:45 pm, I just wanted to turn a corner but there were some male youths bunched off the curb. Since safety comes first, I didn't want to accidentally run into anyone who did not notice that I was there. So I did was I thought was the sensible thing to do: lightly beep my horn to get their attention.

Now, what I expected was that they would notice me wanting to turn and just hop onto the curb and let me turn. I smiled at them (this is just a common greeting) in a gesture of "thanks" but they cursed and threatened me, spat on my car and warned me "go around next time!" Why were they SO angry? Did they not see that I just wanted them to be safe? Was it not courtesy to step out of the way (off the street) when someone is trying to turn?

There were about 5 or 6 of them to my right and a couple more coming from my left. Little R was in the back observing this violent situation, so what was I to do? I just smiled and briefly explained that I didn't want to accidentally run into them (they weren't looking and couldn't see me - that's why I beeped).

As you can imagine, I don't feel good about this. I realise that I know very little about how youth are these days, and even less on HOW to deal with them. DH strongly recommends avoiding them. Seriously, they looked no more than junior high kids - maybe 15 at the most. I just could NOT understand the anger and inappropriate language that employed. Where is respect? Did I actually do something wrong?

PLEASE leave your comments to give some insight and advice on how I could avoid these situations in the future. But this experience also stirs up many questions on our social system and educational system. What is behind their violent behaviour? How do we protect ourselves? We live in a small town - what do you do if you can't avoid them?

sick as sick can be for me

Sorry, I've been out of touch. I don't remember ever having to deal with so much temporary illness: flu, cold, pinkeye, diarrhea, vomiting... Yes, it started off with just caring for the kids with these inconveniences, but now it seems to have spiraled out to me.

It started last week when I took Little S to the Walk-in for her pinkeye (yes, and the previous week before that was for her stomach flu). I felt a bit of a sore throat coming on, finding it a little uncomfortable to breathe deeply, but I expected it to pass within a day or two.

So, Saturday came along. It was a long awaited all-day seminar on autism and anxiety with Kari Dunn. Both DH and I were congested, ears plugged, but we had waited weeks for this, plus Auntie D and my mom had already come over for the day. So, we went and experienced the most awful cafeteria food since university! But the seminar was okay, although most of it occurred in the dark.

And BTW, I've been applying for jobs too at night. Remember, I didn't expect to be sick for so long. It's not supposed to happen to busy parents.

Luckily for me, DH was still on vacation this week so took care of most of the kids' needs. He's great at that. Sunday, Monday and especially Tuesday I was very dizzy, couldn't breathe well, coughed up and blew out a whole lot of yucky stuff... as I'm still doing today.

DH decided that he had to go to Ottawa for Thursday so asked Auntie D to come help out. She helped, and I felt better. I felt well enough to go out to eat lunch and walk back home.

Oh, BTW, I got a call for a job interview Wednesday while I was lying in bed. The interview was for Friday. Yes! Surely within two days, I would be much better. So, as Thursday is ending, I start losing my voice. Friday morning (that's today) I woke up unable to speak!

So, of course I had to email (since I couldn't call without a voice) and reschedule the appointment... pretty bad since it was for a "health" position. I'm really glad that they gave me a second chance to go in next week. Not wanting to leave my health in the hands of chance, I decided to go to the Walk-in to get the stuff that I normally avoid: antibiotics.

The doctor also recommended Advil and Tylenol Cold/Sinus. The antibiotics ended costing almost $60. Now I've taken the first dosage, and my head hurts, my left ear and left side of throat have a sharp pain when I swallow - now get this: I got out of bed with one pink crusty eye! Now there are also other womanly things going on, which I won't even go further about... Anyway, right now after over a week of not feeling well, I have pinkeye, a sore throat, no voice, a horrible wet cough, gross muccus, painful ear, bad taste in my mouth, a horrible headache... let me stop there. I WILL get better. I must think myself better. And if you could all help me, send your good vibes and thoughts my way :) Thanks!

So, now I've sent DH out for some Advil Cold and some over-the-counter drops for pinkeye. I want to get better now! I can't believe how much "unnatural" stuff I've taken... against my usual self, to try to get better. I just hope it works. It's crucial time now to be healthy so that people will want to hire me to be a health consultant!

Okay, thanks for reading my complaint of poor health.
Here's to everyone: hale and hearty health!

Roll up the rim to win?

I recently wrote about those red and yellow coloured Tim Horton's roll-up-to-win cups: www.ecomuse.ca.

I don't want you to think that I don't like Tim's. But I'd like to emphasize that habits (little on-going actions) have a big impact on our environment and our health. I went to Cornwall with my family this past weekend to visit family. And in Cornwall, there is a HUGE Tim Horton's coffee and food culture. Everywhere I went I saw people drinking from landfill cups, or I saw landfill cups and paper bags on the streets, lawns and in public garbage areas. It sounds like people have an addiction to coffee (and their cups) as I did to potato chips (I still do enjoy chips, BTW).

Well, I am openly admitting to you that I bought three bagels and a donut this past weekend from a Tim Horton's. I hadn't had a donut for a very long time, and it was a very nice treat albeit unhealthy. After the first bagel, Little S asked for "more bagel" so I decided that we should go get another since we weren't allowed to eat such things around Little R. I brought the paper bag back, but the worker there just gave me another bag. The next day, I made sure to specifically ask that they reuse the bag I brought.

I felt my conscience on me after eating and participating in the Tim Horton's culture. What were people going to think of my actions??? First, I ate a donut (which I would not recommend to others), then I participated in using the paper bag one time. On top of all that, I was teaching my daughter that in order to eat bagels we have to sneak out to Tim's. In doing so, we were supporting a company that promotes quick waste (single use cups, in particular). What kind of example was I? And on top of that, I enjoyed the sinful donut!

Okay, this goes to show you that I'm far from being perfect (and I never will be). I do enjoy some bad things once in a while, but I have to make sure that my habits are as clean as possible. 100% is very difficult if at all possible to achieve, but I can always strive to be 90%. There's no sense in immobilising myself for little things.

Seeing landfill cups bother me all the time, but I can't control people to not use them. However, I can be disapproving. And people know this when they come over. Anyway, two or more landfill cups had been sitting on my kitchen counter and in my car (not mine!). Finally, DH urged me to take them to a Tim Horton's for recycling. Well, I spent about half and hour walking to one during a lunch hour that I decided to take to go recycle these cups and lids. When I got to the shop, the worker didn't even know that the municipal recycling program did not accept these cups! Alas, their shop and the other Tim's shop that was close by didn't offer the landfill cup recycling program. So, now I have two of these cups in my car just waiting to be "taken care of."

Bye-bye, cats

E and H Cats have a new home now. It's still sad every time I think about them. I miss them a lot, but I believe they have a new owner who has time to dedicate to them. March Break was emotionally draining with all the changes in our household.

According to me, E and H Cats will always be a part of our family. They were our first babies. We were going to keep them until they were old. Alas, if ever their present owner needed to find them a new home, I hope that we would be in the position to welcome them back.

Job seeking in sales

Time to go "back to work" - as if I haven't been working for the last 4 years! But, I think you know what I mean. I need to make an income to support my family now.

Please let me know if you know of any opportunites for working for an eco-conscious company in the areas of sales, admin and customer service. I am seeking a position that is flexible and rewards the worker for his/her performance. I also want to work for a cause such as recuding waste and promoting a healthier lifestyle.

Some of my skills (although rusty) and traits:
-functional with computers, Internet and Windows Office Package
-functional communication skills, good interpersonal skills
-able to adapt and problem solve
-fluent in French, functional in Spanish, functional in Chinese (Cantonese)
-diligent worker

Water saving tips

How to make the most of your water:

1. consider a sponge bath
   
2. use the water from your sponge bath to wash your underwear and socks
   
3. use only as much water as you need to cook (this will also save on the fuel needed to heat the water)
   
4. consider flushing the toilet less
   
5. keep a bowl of water in the sink to rinse your hands while you're prepping instead of running the tap every time
   
6. consider using the water from your dehumidifier to water plants
   
7. use the water from washing veggies to water plants or wash dishes
   
8. consider a tankless water heater (hot water on demand means you don't have to run so much water)

Changing habits and kicking addictions

DH and I talked a little this morning about how much our home life-style has changed in the last two years. I remember how overwhelming the journey seemed. I remember looking up at the mountain that we were to climb. Then I just focused on where we were and the next little step. And with each little step we took, a habit would change. And as habits changed, the journey was not so overwhelming.

Two years ago we still had dairy in the house, shopped at No Frills (we still do, but for different things), ate factory farmed eggs/animal products, used inefficient dryer and washer, lived in a poorly insulated and energy inefficient house, had carpeting through the house, had cable TV, ate potato chips (the flavoured stuff), ate at buffets or all-you-can-eat restaurants albeit maybe once a month or every two months, bought GMO corn, used GMO canola oil, ate GMO soy products... we changed little by little. We still do some of the things we did two years ago but they aren't habits anymore.

None of the things I listed above that we used to do two years ago was bad - until we felt a conviction. Becoming more aware of where things come from and where they're going makes us think and sometimes reprogram our everyday behaviours. For example, I used to eat and buy chips while knowing that it was bad for me and for my children (monkey see monkey do). However, I would still partake in the chip buying and chip eating even though the awareness was in my head. But the awareness grew. I started to analyze it deeper and deeper.

Picture me talking to myself:
"Why do I want to buy chips?"
"Because I want to eat them."
"Why do I want to eat them?"
" Because they are tasty."
"But they are bad for me."
"Just this one bag."
"No, I must not!"
Then my body just propels itself toward the large chip display advertised for $0.99. I pick up a bag, put the bag down, pick up the bag, fight within myself, then pay for the chips. I open the bag up, start eating from it and shake my head in pleasure and defeat at the same time.

I struggled with a chip addiction for several years. For some years, the problem seemed to be under control. The less I thought about it, and the less I ate it, the less I wanted it. BUT, the more I ate it, the more I wanted it. How did I finally kick this addiction?

It was last summer about the same time what I wrote the posting on hidden MSG, that I said "no" to the chip addiction. It was not easy, but through the experiences and past failed attempts to quit (see, I had been practicing) I was equipped with the right frame of mind.

Every time I used to finish a bag of chips, the bag would be left for me to throw away in the residual waste basket. And I would feel horrible that I was sending a chip bag to landfill. So, every time I wanted a bag of chips, I would remind myself that I would be left with a bag for landfill if I did get the chips. Also, I reminded myself of the MSG (and my headaches). I reminded myself of the good example I wanted to set for my children. So the first few days passed. Then the first few weeks. Then months... then I allowed to eat some chips again in social situations, but I haven't allowed myself to be controlled by them, to buy them against my will. Moderate is only possible when there's no addiction.

Habits are not easy to change. And good habits don't really need to be changed. But, habits that impact us negatively can be changed as long as we are aware of their impact on us, on the environment and on our children. Habits are not easy to transform, but I believe the mind can reprogram the brain. Then little by little, the mountain is not that hard to climb. Just focus on the next little step.

Your New Independant EcoAdvisor

I hope that the beginning of 2010 finds you all very well.

I have taken the plunge and started my own home-based business by becoming an Independent EcoAdvisor with OnlyGreen, an eco-friendly Canadian company whose mission is to make people's transition into a greener life-style as seamless as possible. OnlyGreen continually evaluates their products to ensure that the highest and most cost effective alternatives are available. As an EcoAdvisor, I educate consumers through EcoWorkshops so that they can make informed purchasing decisions. Please visit: http://ea.onlygreen.com/kim. Feel free to flip through the catalogue - no pressure to buy anything. If you have any questions regarding any products, please email me. If you see something you wish to purchase you can do it easily right online from the website.

As you may know, we have made many changes in our life-style since the birth of Little R, and even more changes since learning of his diagnosis. Becoming an EcoAdvisor enables me to work around my children's lives while still getting out and promoting a happier and healthier ecologically-friendly way of life. I appreciate your support in my endeavour.

I had been searching for an opportunity like this for a couple of years before I found it - if you are interested in hosting or attending an EcoWorkshop or becoming an Independent EcoAdvisor, please let me know.

Thank you for taking the time to read this email. I wish you all a bright promising green new year!

Green reflections of 2009

Gluten-free vegan Christmas dinner never tasted as good as this

Here's the spread!

The best raw apple pie for dessert

Unwrapping the flyer

What a year 2009 has been (and since I don't have a clock, it may well be 2010 as I type).

What we did in 2009:

• grew our first family vegetable garden
• ate from our vegetable garden
• started composting in our backyard
• continued to support local farmers at the Farmers' Market and avoid grocery stores if possible during the growing season
• used the water from the dehumidifier to water plants
• purchased a dehydrator
• started making raw crackers and other raw treats
• entered into a gluten-free and casein-free diet
• attempted a low phenol diet, but let it go
• entered into a rotation diet
• got a shower water filtration system
• wrote a few times in this blog
• moved the office closer to home so that the car wouldn't have to be used every day

Goals for 2010:

• find a way to install solar panels
• insulate the house better
• get smart devices to conserve energy
• start green business(es)/initiatives
• write better blog entries

A big thank you to those of you who read and accepted some of my suggestions in the gift-giving post. I really appreciate the flyers wrapping paper for the kids' gifts! ;)

All the best to you in 2010!

Season's Greetings... Unwrapped

Happy holiday season, dear friends and family! I hope that you are all enjoying the new change in weather; we have only 29 more days of 2009.

I went to the grocery store last week, and there were already big red and white signs up encouraging people to buy, buy, buy! There were "gift" ideas displayed almost aggressively, and wrapping paper and gift bags had their own display. As you know, we started sending out electronic Xmas greetings last year to decrease the amount of waste that we traditionally
accumulate at Christmas time.

Today someone asked me if I celebrated Christmas. My response was that we do celebrate but perhaps not in the traditional sense that we would have a big decorated tree and a turkey (or any meat, for that matter). The other person commented that she just wanted to spend time with people; she didn't want any gifts that were not needed. That's what I find most important too, is enjoying quality time with the people we love - and I hope to be able to pass this very important message on to my children.

Of course people want to give, and sometimes people really do need things so there's nothing wrong in giving gifts. I do have some gift-giving suggestions that aren't the traditionally advertised.

1. Give the gift of time or service
If you have time to spare, you could offer to babysit, dog walk, cook, do some housework for someone who has no time for herself. This really is invaluable! And this sweet gift has no wrapping paper to throw away ;) (more on wrapping later)

2. Give home-made food
I find it really special that someone would spend the time and care to prepare preserves, bread, soup, etc... then give some to me! This is really thoughtful, and it makes you feel special too.

3. Give home-made crafts
How long do you think it takes to knit a pair of mittens, or sew an apron? How much sweeter is it to receive a hand-made card than a commercial one? These are gifts from the heart made especially for the person.

4. Give something a new home
I know that many people have made it clear to me that giving a "used" gift is just not right, that it's not the tradition. Well, did you know that real candles used to be used on real pine trees? Most of them are artificial now (trees and lights) - still carrying on tradition, just altered a bit to make it a little safer. What's the advantage of giving something previously enjoyed: there's probably no packaging and you're making use of something that might just be someone else's clutter or landfill. Of course you should probably give something used to someone like me who really dislikes excess and irresponsible packaging - and not to someone who thinks you're being rude or cheap.

5. Plain money (not gift cards - do they recycle those?) is very liquid, very useful. I've also been told that this is not a good gift idea, that it shows no thought. Well, really, I think it's the most practical - or just ask the person what they want, and get that. But if people are far, you can send money, and your recipient can get what he wants with that money. I find that this creates less waste: no receipts, no time waiting in line to exchange/refund.

6. Donate to the food bank or other charity in the person's name.

7. Just a phone call would be nice - especially long distance. I get really excited to know about friends far away.

A few suggestions for gift wrapping:
1. reuse children's artwork (that you don't intend to keep or hang up), flyers, old big calendars, newspapers - and decorate a bit
2. reuse a gift bag, or even make a reusable gift bag (it's a gift in itself)
3. wrap the gift with a part of another gift (example: use kitchen towels to wrap up a toaster)
4. no gift wrap at all - hide the gift, and make the person find it ;) - I love games!
5. if you have collected too many gift bags, boxes, wrapping (I am notorious for unwrapping gifts neatly and slowly to reuse the paper), consider giving it away to someone else like Value Village

Happy Holidays!

Comment Scents

As you know from reading this blog that our family has been transitioning to a friendlier life-style for our Earth. In addition, we have also embarked on a biomedical journey toward recovery for Little R. As a part of transition, we have been cutting down and eliminating scents from our home.

Why are we avoiding synthetic and strong scents? A few months ago I took Little S to the Ajax hospital, and was pleased to see signs up everywhere that the hospital was a scent-free environment. As well, Little R's doctor's office (because of all the scent sensitive patients) was also scent-free (if visitors did not wear scents). Personally, certain strong smells irritate my sinuses and cause me headaches, stingy eyes and other physical discomforts. If these scents bother me this much, I can only imagine how my children, who are not able to verbally express their discomforts, feel with every inhalation. What bother me most are cleaning detergents (such as Mr. Clean-like solvents) and air fresheners. Potpourri and incense also bother me. These are most troublesome because they are put specifically into the air so every time you breathe in the room, the scent is impossible to escape. However, personal scents (please read the article that I have linked) are also diffcult to escape especially if you do not wish to escape the people who are wearing them ;)

Of course, just the personal dislike of most fragrances (synthetic and natural - yes, I also dislike many smells from flowers), would not be enough for an elimination of them from our home. However, there are more factors to consider: our environment, our health and our dollars. Here's a link to an article about the harmful effects of synthetic fragrances: http://www.emagazine.com/view/?91

For your convenience, here are a couple of paragraphs from the article:

Human health risks aren't the only problem. Fragrances that are washed down the drain from laundry, shower and household cleaning activities may not be removed in waste treatment plants, and so they can stick around to contaminate animals and ecosystems. Synthetic musk chemicals in particular may be ecologically harmful "due to their high bio-accumulation potential in animals and in the aquatic environment, their general persistence, dermal permeability and insufficiently assessed toxicity," says Dr. Gerhard Rimkus of the Food and Veterinary Institute in Neumunster, Germany.

Next time you reach for that bottle of perfume or cologne, remember that you're using powerful chemicals regulated solely by the industry that sells them. Remember that just because they don't affect you now doesn't mean they won't affect someone in line next to you, or that you'll always be immune to their effects. Think about where they might end up once they've disappeared down the drain. If you do have a reaction to scented products, take action. Complain not only to the producer of the product, but also to the FDA (for cosmetics) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (for other fragranced products).

Here are some more links of interest:
http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/fragrance_in_perfumes_and_cosmetics/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hCQOO-cM9g
http://www.nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/ecoholic.cfm?content=159984

If you don't feel like reading, the above youtube link is quite helpful and simple to watch.

About Phthalates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICaUTRXn9P4&feature=related

There are, of course, still scents in our house. I cook and prepare food all the time, so there are always those kinds of odors floating around. Some things, although they may be organic and natural, still contain scents: shampoos (we do not use conditioner), hand creams/lotions, soap, dish soap and sometimes detergents. And, I find that even though I buy "unscented" products, that they will still contain a certain smell to them.

In order to assist us in our pursuit of a friendlier environment for Little R (and everyone else), please be mindful to avoid wearing any strong scents when visiting us. These include but not limited to: baby powder, hand lotion, face lotion/cream, make-up, hair-spray, hair gel, hair mousse, strong scented shampoo or conditioner, hand soap, fabric softener, detergents, deodorants, aftershave, perfume/cologne, cigarette smoke and air freshener.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter. And, please do email me any comments you may have, or if you have suggestions for good products (such as shampoos) that do have contain fragrance. Thanks!

Leaving on an airplane

To Maternal Grandmother:

You're leaving on an airplane
Don't know when I'll see you again
Twenty years have come and gone
All this time was not that long
Can't believe it was already yesterday
that we said "good-bye"

Over the Pacific you will fly
Fighting nausea, fighting tears
Fighting thoughts of yesteryears
You will return again to a home,
To a home that is always yours

Twenty years, was just like a dream
shorter than what it may seem
Yet many memories and stories to tell and retell
So tell them so you may remember us well

Drive to the airport, wait for the flight
Depend on Gravol, wave until we're out of sight
Though physical distance makes us far apart,
We will always be there close at heart.

-Neigenuage

My maternal grandmother came to Canada with my maternal grandfather twenty years ago to seek out a new life, to find a job so that she could send money back to her children and grandchildren back in China.

Ten days after landing in Canada, Grandmother landed a job at a Chinese bakery/coffee shop about an hour away. Although Grandmother did not speak any English or read (she's illiterate), she managed to take a bus, subway train and another bus every working day. She had courage as strong as steel! At 65, she just started working in a new country for very little money. She still had the energy and resilience of a 30 year old to prove that she could work.

Although most of her twenty years have been good, Grandmother did suffer a mugging (a couple of young people knocked her unconscious and snatched her purse one evening while she was coming home from the bakery) and a broken arm. These events were difficult, but I hope that it will be the fond memories that will be travelling back to China with her. I think what she looked forward to least was saying good-bye to Little R and Little S. Luckily, one of my cousins had twins last year just 40 days after the birth of Little S. I told Grandmother to spend lots of time with them so that she can be happy. She said that they will make her think of Little R.

We can just hope and make effort to live a long, happy and healthy life.

Eat, drink and be merry with all your loving family, Grandmother. I hope that we eat with you again soon. And seeing that twenty years was just a blink of an eye, then soon should be sooner than that.

Buffet World

I've just come home from eating at Chinese buffet in town. As I was eating and looking around in the quiet restaurant, thoughts scurried in my head about the "buffet effect."

DH's father has been visiting us since last week. Since he was going to be returning to far away Quebec City (but such a beautiful place!) tomorrow, we wanted to do something that he enjoyed: eating all you can eat.

Since the implementation of our vegetarian diet and Little R's special gluten-free and casein-free diet, we've really kept our eating at home. Eating out is tricky, especially at a Chinese restaurant since they have soy sauce in most of their dishes if not all. Chinese restaurant food also contains too much salt and MSG (mono sodium glutamate); these are not good for one's health, so it's been better to avoid these places. But since we wanted to just enjoy time with the kids' grandfather, we thought that it would be all right to go and see what our experience would be.

The most convenient attribute of an all-you-can-eat buffet is that you don't have to wait for your food. As soon as we found our table, I went into the buffet area to get some food that Little R would be able to eat: plain steamed white rice, boiled eggs (thank goodness for the salad bar), watermelon, orange wedges, honeydew, canned peaches and mango salad. I asked the manager what things did not contain soy sauce, and the response was not very many. Little R did very well at eating all he could eat, though. I think he ended up eating 3 or 4 eggs (just the white part after two whole eggs), 3 helpings of rice and lots of fruit.

Little S stuffed herself as well as wore much of the food. DH and his dad had several platefuls without me even knowing what was on there. I definitely ate too much as well. During our feast of salty food (the taste was actually okay), the waitresses refilled our glasses, brought us more napkins (for Little S) and took away dirtied dishes. So thoughts entered my mind: buffets are very wasteful.

Personally, I would eat everything (that's why I take small portions at a time) that I take onto my plate or bowl including sauce. However, my observation of bussed buffet plates tell me that much food is wasted. Some people just take more than they can eat, so the excess is toss into a garbage bag. Paper napkins are mindless "used" and tossed. I bet if we had to pay for our paper napkins that we would be more conscientious about how much and how we used them. Personally, I prefer a reusable and washable wet cloth or napkin. Aside from material waste, there is also the unnecessary washing of used dirtied plates. I don't understand why everyone doesn't just use the same plate (I've always done this, and people keep telling me to take a clean plate) for their subsequent helpings. This would greatly reduce the amount of bussing, water, detergent and electricity for washing the dishes before the sitting is complete.

So what is this "buffet effect" that I'm talking about? Just from today's experience and previous buffet experiences, the effect is wasted food, water, paper napkins, overly full bellies, tummy aches and a general bloated feeling afterward. I think that if done responsibly, an all-you-can-eat buffet is a good idea. If people can learn to responsibly decide how much they should eat, eat slowly and sip water (guzzling water or any liquid while eating actually hinders digestion), reuse their plates, use reusable clothes instead of paper napkins, a buffet can be a very pleasant outing; you can choose what you want to try by looking at the prepared food, take more of it later, and you don't have to wait to order.

We did have a pretty good time out despite the overflowing bellies. Little S was in cookie heaven! Unfortunately for Little R, he couldn't have any because they all contained gluten. The manager felt bad that Little R couldn't eat the fortune cookie after it was presented to him. DH and I should be more on top of that. Then again, we really don't go out much so we didn't expect that someone would hand our child a cookie... poor guy, he really wanted it watching Little S eat hers and his.

Enfin, mon jardin a moi

I truly do not recall the last time the house was this quiet with the baby (yes, I know she's a toddler now, but she'll be the baby for quite some time) sleeping and Little R away with his dad and grand papa. Perhaps this is the first time ever! I'd better hurry up and type before Little S wakes up.

In the last two months I've been virtually absent from the Internet and away from the screen of a computer. Logistically it's been difficult to be able to come online and then write because of the location of the computer(s), what the computer(s) is/are doing, my lack of time and fatigue. However, I have been able to spend time outside in the fenced off yard digging up sod (literally tonnes - a tonne is a thousand pounds, I believe), turning it, amending it, double digging it, sowing and planting in it. Now that most of the hard work is done, I just go out to water, pull out weeds, harvest (snow peas and greens), stake plants, and just spend time adoring the fruits and flowers of the plants.

How wonderful it is to be in touch with nature albeit in "civilized" nature not wild nature. So far the experience has been very rewarding and enjoyable. But, I do seem to have a bit of a problem with slugs mostly in my front yard where I planted most of the herbs and flowers in a bed where a cedar once ruled. I feel bad about spraying 1/2 and 1/2 water and vinegar and causing the slugs to shrivel up, but I'm not sure how else to save my plants. The fenced off area where all the tomatoes, melons and squash, peas, Chinese leeks, onions, lettuce, chards, cilantro, etcetera are does not seem to be so infested by the slugs. I would just like to find a way to make sure they don't go there.

In sprouting news, the organic avocado pit I poked three toothpicks into and submerged into a baby food jar of water has finally set down a couple of roots! I started this project back in November 2008. I actually had two pits sitting on water held by toothpicks, but I accidentally split the other one open and destroyed the embryo :( I wanted two avocado plants to see if I could actually grow avocado fruit in Canada. Well, I did give one pit to Dana, and she put hers in her worm bin; perhaps if our pits do grow into nice plants we could bring them together to see if any fruit would grow.

I am trying to upload a few pictures, but so far it seems that I've exceeded my daily upload alotment. I'll have to upload the pictures next time... when in the world will I have this much time (which is just enough to write one blog) and quietness again???

Take out the take-out!

What does our garbage chez-nous consist of these days? The bathroom's garbage is mostly from disposable diapers (boo on us for this one :<). Our kitchen's is mostly of pieces of packaging that can't be recycled or composted. I think that since doing take-out (DH decided that we had to do this in order for me to have a break from cooking with a crying crawler attached to my leg and a noisy preschooler howling and running around, slamming the fridge and freezer doors and drinking from mylk and juice cartons). Unfortunately, there really aren't any good places to take out from!

If I'm thinking coherently while ordering some Chinese food on the phone, I would ask them to leave out celery and any extra packaged sauces (do people actually add extra soy sauce and chili sauce to whatever is already too salty???) as well as not give us a menu. Our take out experience hasn't improved since beginning this weekly routine. The pros of taking in: no stress in preparing dinner so that I can play with the children and wait for dinner to arrive home with DH; not too many dishes to wash afterward. Cons: poor quality food, cost, waste and guilt of putting unhealthful food into our bodies. We usually order from an Asian place (Chinese or Thai). It's hit and miss whether they will put your food in a styrofoam container or an aluminum one with a cardboard lid line with foil. The Thai place in Oshawa (yes, there's also the mileage that you have to pay for picking it up and bringing it home) uses plastic reusable containers. I used to love them because I could pack food in them without having to buy proper Tupperware. Well, we're trying to reduce pastic containers for liquidy or hot foods, so I tried recycling the containers. The recycling guys didn't take them. The only things I reuse are the brown paper bags. I'm able to recycle the aluminum containers but not the lids, styrofoam and the plastic. That's a lot of waste for one week. It's annoying bulky waste!

There must be a way to by pass this unhealthy take-out routine. If I had a dream restaurant to order from, it'd be like this:
This restaurant would be accessible to walking as well as driving customers. It's a place that welcomes their customers to bring their own containers for the food that they will bring home. For customers who do not have their own containers, the restaurant provides reusable containers that can be returned later. For customers who are from out of town, they can either choose to purchase reusable containers (mostly stainless or glass) or a compostable ones. Customers can bring their own bag or choose from compostable/reusable paper bag or a reusable cloth bag from the restaurant.
The food is made fresh daily. Choices range from organic salads, soups, noodles, stews and casseroles consisting of seasonal local ingredients. This food is so delicious that there is no need to add extra sauces.
Maybe I should open this restaurant... for now I'll just keep dreaming. But I am going to figure out how to prepare meals without stress so that we can drop the garbage that take out brings in. We'll be healthier, and we won't spend so much money.

Little R and Little S developments - a new blog

It's been difficult keeping up with green concentration because something else of great urgency is consuming my energy right now: autism and how to treat it effectively. Please see my new blog: neigenuagers.blogspot.com. I plan to update it more regularly than this one so that I can track the developments of Little R and Little S.

An "eggs"-hausting day

Little S still cries to get me out of bed about 3 times a night. Since we've been sick (it all started with Little R) all last week, I couldn't just let her cry in her crib. I made sure to get out of bed to give her some breast milk. Well, not sleeping enough is making me very tired during the day now, but particularly today for some reason.

I kept yawning all morning while making breakfast, feeding breakfast, cleaning up and playing with the children. Unfortunately, what we ate probably didn't help with the low energy I was experiencing. I made white rice congee that we ate with some deep fried brioche that my mom had brought over yesterday. We also had some frozen vegetarian steamed buns (yes, I did steam them before eating) from No Frills. They weren't very good, but the kids ate the white bun part. It was basically a very low nutrition breakfast. Don't worry, I usually put together adequate breakfasts to start off our days; today was just a very exhausting one right from getting out of bed.

Luckily after lunch Little S decided to fall asleep on her own in her crib during some silent reading time. Lately, since being sick with cold, she has been only falling asleep while I carry her on my back. While she slept, I took Little R downstairs to literally run from wall to wall using the stuffed animals to chase him. He loved it! We were able to warm up and get out lots of pent up energy. Since it's been so cold we haven't been able to go out much for the needed exercise. But as soon as I sat down, I was tired again. I lay down while Little R played with some cars. I rested... until he jumped on me!

While Little S napped, I was even able to chat on the phone with a friend. After chatting I felt a bit more energized to prepare supper. I needed to make something very easy but good to give me back some energy. Potatoes, it was. DH loves potatoes; and the kids seems to like them too. I also decided to make a quinoa salad. All I had to do was prepare the sauce, cook the quinoa and chop up the veggies... and I also let Little R help with putting the chopped veggies into the big bowl.

Things were going well. Then Little S started to cry; she wanted to get out of her crib. I picked her up and changed her diaper. But before I could finish dressing her Little R ran into the room biting on an egg with the shell on. Eeks! I quickly took the raw egg from him, picked up the baby from the change table and followed Little R into his bedroom. There was no sign of eggs there. Then I hurried to the kitchen. Little R had slid the door closed. What was behind the door? I opened it to reveal the cracked eggs on the floor that DH has just mopped yesterday. I put Little S back into her crib, and went back to the kitchen to take a picture for evidence.

How would I clean this mess up? Of course I thought about how much money was just wasted, how much salt and paper towel was I going to use to clean up the mess. I do not like using paper towels unless it's for something like this. I was also worried about salmonella poisoning since Little R was actually trying to bite into the raw egg that hadn't cracked. As I was trying to pick up the eggshells to put back into the carton (this is how we compost them here), Little R came to the kitchen with his pant crotch all wet.

Sigh.

I took him to the bathroom to change him. Little S was crying more now because she did not want to be in the crib. I called DH to ask where the paper towels were. When I finally got them the cat was sniffing at the egg mess. Luckily he didn't get any on his paws to muck up more of the house. I poured some salt on to absorb some of the gooey eggs, spooned what I could into the carton then used the paper towels to soak up the rest. Of course washing with soap and water then spraying with vinegar came after.

Finally, "eggs"hausted, I took the kids downstairs to watch Diego, and waited for DH to come home before doing anything else. Luckily, DH came home early. We went upstairs, put together some salvaged eggs, peas and bean burgers with the potatoes. It was rather satisfying, and I wasn't exhausted anymore.