Eco Tip Tuesday: I Heart Baking Soda

After posting the first edition of Eco Tip Tuesday, a good friend of mine commented that she had swapped her bathroom cleaning agents for baking soda and vinegar thanks to me and my incessant rambling about "going green." Upon hearing this, I decided that baking soda would be the perfect subject for Eco Tip Tuesday, Round Two.

Let me just put this out there: I love baking soda. Like, if I too were a chemical salt, I would totally marry it. Yes, baking soda leavens my baked goods like no other, but let me tell you, her talents go far beyond the oven. Inexpensive, free of toxic chemicals, versatile, and effective, baking soda is the perfect go-to gal for many of your personal care, cleaning, and deodorizing needs.

When I had children, I started to think more about the products I was using in my house. The old stand-by cleaning products that I had come to rely on suddenly started to smell somewhat toxic to me. The long lists of chemical ingredients that I couldn't even pronounce, let alone recognize, began to trouble me. What kind of environment was I creating for my newborn baby in using these products? I was using these things to clean my home, which seems like a healthy endeavor, but was I going about it the wrong way? Was I actually doing more harm than good?

I started doing some research and that research only served to confirm my fears: typical household cleaning agents, such as chlorine bleach, have been linked to cancer and endocrine disorders, as well as immune system, blood, and heart health problems. By using them in my home, I was not only creating toxins on the surfaces we touch and the air we breath, but I was polluting our water and our earth every time I washed it down the drain. This was a burden far heavier than I was willing to bear.

Enter baking soda - hallelujah! I mean, could it get any cheaper? Plus, it's so easy. Literally, all I do is sprinkle the stuff in my bathtub and sink, scrub it a little, and voila! Clean bathroom, no nasty smell, no nasty chemicals, no bathroom cabinet overflowing with crazy ass potions. Turns out, it's got loads of other uses as well. Among them:

1. To polish silver: wash items, then place on aluminum foil in the bottom of a pot. Add a baking soda solution (1/4 cup soda, a few teaspoons salt, 1 quart boiling water) and cover for a few seconds. The result? Magic.
2. To unclog your shower drain: pour 1/2 cup soda, then 1/2 cup vinegar down a clogged drain. Cover it with a wet cloth, wait 5 minutes, uncover, and flush with steaming-hot water. Say goodbye to Drain-o. PLEASE.
3. Toothpaste: if you find you can't squeeze out another dollop, and it's too damn late to go to the store, make do with baking soda and water. Yeah, it might taste like shit, but it'll get the job done.
4. To remove stale odors from carpet, scatter soda on it, wait a few hours, then vacuum up the powder.
5. Place an open box of baking soda in your linen closet to stave off mustiness. Nothing ruins a good shower like a musty towel, am I right?
6. Freshen your dishwasher and coffee maker by running an empty cycle with a splash of baking soda.
7. Heartburn? Make your own antacid by mixing 1/2 teaspoon baking soda with 1/2 cup water.
8. Homemade facial exfoliator: mix 3 parts baking soda with one part water. Apply gently with your fingertips in a circular motion, then rinse.

There are many, many other uses for my beloved baking soda, all of which are at your fingertips with this here crazy new-fangled thang called the internets. So, come on people, ditch the nasty chemicals! Give your health, and your wallet, AND the Earth a break. Go green! See you next week!

*Eco Tip Tuesday General Disclaimer: I am not perfect. Nor do I claim to have all the answers. I'm simply a human being who happens to think this planet we call home is pretty special, worthy of our love and protection. As such, I've made it a personal mission to reduce my negative impact and increase my positive impact on the world. Eco Tip Tuesday is a space for me to share what I've learned. And I am WAY open to feedback. So if you've got something to say, let's talk!

Sunday Morning Ponderables

Buddha told a parable in a sutra:

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away at the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other.

How sweet it tasted!

(Excerpt from Sayings and Tales of Zen Buddhism: Reflections for Every Day by William Wray)

Eco Tip Tuesday: BYOB!

In an attempt to add a little more focus and structure to my blog (because I like to pretend I'm a real writer with lots of important things to say, kind of like a grown up version of playing office), I've decided to start posting a weekly eco tip. I can't promise that I'll have a tip every single week, but gosh darnit, I'm gonna try! So....

Hello! And welcome to Eco Tip Tuesday*! Today we'll be discussing reusable shopping bags. Most of you, like me, probably already have a supply of reusable grocery bags that you've been using for years. (If not, please get some! I don't think there's a single grocery store in the country that doesn't sell them, and they're usually only a couple bucks per bag.) So, I've got these bags and, like I said, I've been using them for years. And I'm really good about remembering to bring 'em too! Still, every time I go to the grocery store, I end up bringing home a whole mess of plastic bags because I buy a lot of produce and bulk items. I was starting to feel really bad about this (in case you haven't heard, plastic is causing big problems for this lovely planet we call home) and decided to look into other options.

A quick search for "reusable produce bags" on Amazon led me to a plethora of other options. I ended up settling on Bring It's Valencia Reusable Produce Bags, for a few reasons:

1. A set of ten large (12" x 14") bags cost $10.10. This seemed like a pretty good deal to me.
2. They are made from 60% polyethelyne terephthalate, a polyester-based material made primarily of reclaimed plastic bottles. So, by using them, I am not only reducing my plastic consumption, but also supporting the reuse of existing waste.
3. They are see-through, allowing the store clerk to ring up my veggies without having to remove them from the bag. This would not be possible had I purchased the (much more expensive) cotton canvas bags.

I used them for the first time the other day and, you guys, I totally love them! My apples, broccoli, celery and kale love them too.

They're super light-weight, roomy enough for everything I buy, and they've got handy little drawstrings to keep everything contained. They also seem to be pretty durable, although only time will tell that for sure. I have discovered a few negatives: 

1. Because they are mesh, if the produce you're buying is at all wet, any surface you set the bags on will be too.
2. These are not ideal for most bulk items. I suppose they could work for some things, such as nuts or dried fruit, which I would transfer to a glass canister at home anyway. But flour? Nutritional yeast? Quinoa? Mesh simply isn't gonna work with items like that. For now, I'm trying to reuse the plastic bags I've gotten in the past for such items, but I'd love to find something more durable. Thoughts?
3. They are also not ideal for storing produce in the refrigerator. Again, to solve this problem, I am currently reusing old plastic bags, but if anyone out there has any other ideas, I'm all ears.

Okay, so I guess that's it for our first edition of Eco Tip Tuesday! Come back next week when we'll be talking about...er, something eco related? Yeah, I should get on that. In the meantime, if you're going to the store, remember to BYOB! We wouldn't want this to happen to you...

*Eco Tip Tuesday General Disclaimer: I am not perfect. Nor do I claim to have all the answers. I'm simply a human being who happens to think this planet we call home is pretty special, worthy of our love and protection. As such, I've made it a personal mission to reduce my negative impact and increase my positive impact on the world. Eco Tip Tuesday is a space for me to share what I've learned. And I am WAY open to feedback. So if you've got something to say, let's talk!

We Have the Power to Effect Change! (But First, Let's Eat.)

One of my greatest pleasures since switching to a plant-based diet (precisely two years ago, today) is to serve homemade vegan food to an omni and have it well-received. When I find a recipe (or, occasionally, just whip something up off the top of my head) that gets good reviews from both the herbies and the omnis in my life, I feel the need to share it. While many people may never have the desire to switch to a completely vegetarian or vegan diet, the evidence is mounting that movement towards eating more plant-based meals overall is in our best interest, for many reasons.* If each and every one of us committed to eating more plant based meals - even if it's just cutting out animal products one day a week - we could effect some serious change! Together, we have the power. Let's use it!

You can start by trying out this recipe for a meatless Curry Salad Sandwich. The recipe is from the book Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food by Alicia C. Simpson, but I adapted it a little to suit my own tastes. I find it to be a great substitute for chicken or tuna salad and it pairs well with some leafy greens and sweet potato fries.

Ingredients

One 8-ounce package tempeh, any variety

2 cups vegetable stock

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise (I use Vegenaise)

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sweet relish

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/2 teaspoon kelp granules (if you don't have this on hand, you could substitute with salt)

1/2 teaspoon stone-ground mustard (I omitted this ingredient because I didn't have any)

1/4 cup diced celery

8 slices whole-grain or sprouted bread

Directions

Simmer the tempeh in stock for 25 minutes. Discard any excess stock and set the tempeh aside to cool.

Grate the cooled tempeh into a medium bowl. (I discovered that I don't even own a grater, so I just broke the tempeh apart with my (freshly-washed) hands. I suppose you could also use a food processor.) Add the mayonnaise, relish, onion, kelp powder, mustard, and celery, and stir to combine. Spoon onto the bread and close the sandwiches.

This recipe is delicious as is, but I prefer to add dried cranberries, chopped cashews, and about a teaspoon of curry powder to the mix. (Hence the name Curry Salad Sandwich. In the book, the recipe is titled Tuno Tempeh Sandwich.) Alternate add-in options: golden raisins, gala apples, red grapes, walnuts, almonds, sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Also, feel free to add any toppings that please you - lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, shredded carrots - the more veggies the better! I wish I had a photo to share, but this meal is typically devoured before I even think of picking up my camera.

Happy eating!

*The UN issued a report stating that lesser consumption of animal products is necessary to save the world from the worst impacts of climate change. (Source) Going further into detail, they stated, "Current patterns of production and consumption of both fossil fuels and food are draining freshwater supplies; triggering losses of economically-important ecosystems such as forests; intensifying disease and death rates and raising levels of pollution to unsustainable levels." (Source) "Agriculture, particularly meat and dairy products, accounts for 70% of global freshwater consumption, 38% of the total land use and 19% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions," the report stated. (Source) Meat and dairy consumption have also been strongly linked to heart disease, diabetes and cancer, and plant-based diets have been shown to reduce or even reverse the risk or effects of these deadly diseases. (Source)

My Love/Hate Relationship With Sac Natural Foods Co-op

LOVE:
1) Most of their shit is organic, and clearly marked so.
2) A whole lot, if not most, of their shit is local, and clearly marked so.
3) They have a huge selection of bulk products - anything you can think of - cereal, nuts, dried fruits, quinoa, rice, beans, nutritional yeast, flour, tea, coffee...the list goes on and on.
4) They recycle wine corks. Save 'em up, bring 'em in, feel a little better about your drinking problem.
5) Speaking of bulk products, they also sell bath and beauty products in bulk - shampoo, conditioner, body wash, laundry detergent, and my personal favorite: lotion! I am hopelessly addicted to body lotion - have been for years - and have been feeling increasingly guilty about the number of plastic tubes I go through during the course of a year. (I've also grown tired of scissoring off the bottom and washing the tube out in order to recycle it - ugh, SUCH a hassle!) Now, all I have to do is take my reusable bottle into the co-op, fill it up with Alba Botanica Very Emollient Body Lotion and I'm good to go. Moisturized skin + no waste = happy Alison.
6) I'm sure there are a lot more things I love about the co-op, but I'm starting to feel a little lazy and kinda' want to finish what I've started here and go park my butt in front of the TV. Hey, I'm just being honest.

HATE (Such a strong word. Let's try DISLIKE):
1) Somehow, the co-op makes me think I want to buy things that I really don't. Wasabi flavored seaweed crisps? Sounds like a healthy snack, right? Also tastes like ass. Don't buy it. Trust me.
2) Every time I go there, I manage to spend approximately $242.53. On four bags of groceries. When, tell me WHEN will it be more affordable to buy local, organic, healthy food than it is to buy a Happy Meal? America, get it together.

That is all, good night.

Merry Christmas From the Silacks!

Some holiday art, from our family to yours. 
Merry Christmas, Everyone!

By Elinor Rose Silack (Almost 3)

By Evan Samuel Silack (Age 5)

By Stephen Michael Silack

By Alison May Silack

On Love and Fear (A Letter to Self)

They, the pretty sparkly ones with the plump hearts, let them love you. More importantly, love them. Love them the way you want to be loved, and let that love fill you up, make your heart plump, too.

They, whose passion and wonder far exceed their tiny forms, be with them. Be like them. Allow their passion and wonder to fill your soul and color your perception. Hold them close, then let them fly. Perhaps doing so will help you to find your own wings as well.

He, who loves you with all his heart, let him. Believe in that love, know that you are worthy of it, and return it, despite his flaws. Goodness knows you too have flaws.

She, whose form you inhabit, please forgive her. She is human, and as such, imperfect. That is okay; let her be. Let her smile; let her shine. The heavy is never so heavy that it cannot be lifted. There are hands (and hearts) here to help. Fear not.

October & November, Instagram Style

Stephen and I finally gave in and bought iPhones last month. Since then, I've been having a bit o' fun with a little app called Instagram. It's silly and fun and doesn't require that I lug a big heavy camera with me everywhere I go. (Don't worry, Dad, I am still taking photos with my DSLR.) Here's what I captured over the past month and a half...

cheese 1

meow

scrub-a-dub

naptime 1

naptime 2

big as saucers

motion v. stillness

charmed

my girl

my favorite people

cheese 2 (photo by nori)

angel 1

angel 2

sunny & minnie

will climb someday

shades & undies

shopping with daddy (photo by stephen)

being sick gets you extra ipod time

my boy

napping...again

morning snuggles 1

morning snuggles 2

tea party

sick day snuggles (photo by nori)

mustache 1

mustache 2

date night

rainy day at devere's

three musketeers

that time of year again

olympic village inn, squaw valley

winter wonderland

tiny artist 1

tiny artist 2

old school watercolor paints

Destination: Giant Gap Family Campground

My recent month-long hiatus from blogging, while certainly well-needed, resulted in me getting a wee bit behind in my posts. Because of this, I will be traveling back in time now and then, starting right now, with a photographic journal of this past summer's Silack Family Camping Trip.

Halfway to the campground, our truck overheated, forcing us to pull over and call a tow truck. Not exactly how we planned on starting our trip...

There wasn't enough room in the tow truck for all of us. So Stephen and Nori left while Evan and I waited for my mom to come pick us up (Thanks, Mom!). Since we were at Denny's, Evan scored a plate of fries and a vanilla milkshake.

We weren't about to let a little car trouble ruin our trip. Once we were all home, we repacked all our gear into the Volvo  and hit the road for the second time. The kids were such troupers throughout the entire ordeal. Look at 'em, still smiling! :)

Finally made it to the campground (Giant Gap Family Campground in the Sugar Pine Recreation Area, Tahoe National Forest) a little after 7 pm. There was just enough daylight left to set up our tent and make dinner.

Chillin' by the fire our first night. This was Elinor's very first camping trip (Evan had been three times before his sister was born).

Our first morning at camp.

Elinor helping Daddy start the morning fire.

Playing with fire. (Photo by SS)

What's for breakfast? Pancakes and veggie bacon, yum!

Photo by SS

Even when camping, I can't escape my dish washing duties. Lame. (Photo by SS)

Our campsite, overlooking the reservoir. Beauteous, no?

Taking a walk about the campground.

Elinor found a tree chair!

I had to take a pic of this sign because it is so weird. I mean, honestly, what child looks like that?

We made sure to pack some pens and paper for Evan. He couldn't possibly go without for more than a day, little artist that he is.

Look how dirty she is! There was not a lot of ground cover in the way of leaves and twigs and the dirt was extremely fine and dusty. The kids were basically coated in the stuff for the entire trip. And don't even bother changing Elinor's clothes. If you do, you can pretty much guarantee she'll fall face first into the dirt within five minutes. And then roll around in it a bit while whining, just for good measure.

In her own little world.

These weird, thick web-nest thingies were all over the campground. At first, I thought they were made by some sort of creepy spider, but upon closer inspection...

...I discovered they were filled with tiny caterpillars! (My mom later informed me that they are called tent caterpillars. Guess that explains why they're at a campground! Har har.)

Heading to the reservoir for a swim. Evan insisted on riding in the trunk. Don't call CPS! We're really good parents, I swear!

Warming herself in the sun.

The water here was shallow enough that even the kids could walk through it to the island (although, Elinor preferred to be held, since walking resulted in her being neck-deep).

Evan exploring the waters on his own.

Photo by SS

Photo by SS

Photo by SS - I LOVE this one!

Elinor wanted in on the trunk action for the drive back to camp. (Photo by SS)

Photo by SS

Naptime

Stephen built a little zoo for the kids' animal figures using sticks, twigs, and grass.

Firestarters.

Photo by SS

Photo by SS

Posing with our s'mores.

Photo by SS

Left to their own devices, my children would start a forest fire. (Photo by SS)

Photo by SS

Photo by SS

Just waking up, our last morning at camp.

I seriously want to crawl into this picture. Love that boy, my little snuggle buggle.

Good morning, Nori!

Taking one last stroll around the reservoir.

Before heading home, we made sure to leave our mark.

Camping with young children is hard, dirty, tiring work. It also happens to be absolutely delightful. I can hardly wait to go again next year!