Green cleaning is all the rage these days and for good reason; it doesn’t endanger you or the environment. However it may seem daunting to make the switch when you already have a cabinet full of commercial cleaning products and you don’t want to spend the money for special pricey green cleaners. The good news is you don’t need to buy special green cleaners. You can get rid of the harsh chemicals and fumes and get started on green cleaning by making your own cleaning products. It’s easy! In fact, you probably already have most of the ingredients you will need to make your own natural cleaners.

Why clean naturally?
It’s safer and healthier for you, your children and your pets! No more worrying about opening windows to air out toxic fumes, locking your kids out of the bathroom while you scrub the tub, or freaking out if your toddler starts gnawing on the freshly cleaned coffee table or licking the sliding glass door. When you make your own cleaners, you also cut down on waste produced from commercial cleaning products/bottles and you will save yourself money.

Things you’ll need to get started:

• Empty spray bottle
• Bowls with lids
• Baking soda
• Distilled white vinegar
• Olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Essential oils (for disinfecting and fragrance) - Lemon, clove, cinnamon, and lavender oils disinfect, clean and help eliminate odors. Tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic, germicide, antibacterial, and fungicide.
• Newspaper (crumpled), soft cloths, sponge
• A marker for labeling your cleaning products*

Simple cleaning product recipes

All-purpose cleaner for countertops and floors

• Add ¼ cup of vinegar and 5 drops each of lemon, clove, and cinnamon oils to a gallon of water. Add some baking soda if you have an area that needs scrubbing.

All-purpose scrub

• Mix together a cup of baking soda, a tablespoon of liquid soap, and a few drops of an essential oil like tea tree oil. Dab a wet sponge into the scrub. Add water to make into a paste if needed. Great for bathrooms.

Window and glass cleaner

• Mix equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle. Dry using newspaper (and then recycle it) or a soft cloth.

Wood furniture polish

• Mix two parts olive oil with one part lemon juice. Rub on furniture with an old cloth. Use a soft, dry cloth to buff it. Note: This polish should be made fresh each time you use it.

Toilet bowl cleaner

• Sprinkle baking soda into the bowl, then drizzle with vinegar and scour with a toilet brush. This combination both cleans and deodorizes.
• For toilet bowl rings, sprinkle baking soda around the rim and scrub with a toilet brush.

This is green cleaning you can feel good about. It’s effective, inexpensive and safe for your family and the environment.

*Be sure to label all of your cleaning products and keep them out of reach of children. While these cleaners are much safer than commercial chemical-laden cleaners, essential oils should not be ingested.Treat the oils like medicines that are poison in unknowing hands.

View all of Crunchy Domestic Goddess’ Green Tips.

Have any green tips you’ve recently learned? Please email them to me and I may include your tip with a link to your site or blog in a future post. :)

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I’ve been reading a few more crunchy blogs lately and have been inspired to expand upon my own crunchiness by making my own butter. Crunchy Chicken made it sound easy peasy on her other blog Crunchy Chicken Cooks, and my friend Julie also tried it with much success, so I decided we should have a go at it ourselves.

All you need to make your own butter is:

1. A pint of heavy whipping cream
2. A Mason jar with a lid

Then shake, shake, shake your way to delicious fresh butter.

Before:

The helpers shake it up:

After:

And on some homemade blueberry bread (made with the buttermilk that is leftover from making the butter):

I’d never had fresh butter before, but it really is delicious! :)

We speculate that the cream we got from our local dairy was not heavy whipping cream because it actually took us longer than 20 minutes to make the butter. The first time I thought it was because we let the kids help, but the second time I did most of the shaking myself and it still took a lot longer than 20 minutes. I think the next time I’m just going to pick up a pint of organic heavy whipping cream at the store.

You can read the full step by step instructions with pictures on Crunchy Chicken’s cooking blog. The last step that is optional (and that she did not include) is to add some salt to it if you prefer salted butter.

Next up for the Crunchy Domestic Goddess is making yogurt! I just need to get myself a candy thermometer and then I’m all over it. :)

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Also, just want to add that I’m writing for Blissfully Domestic now as the “Eco Diva.” My first post all about recycling is up today!

And while you are blog hopping, check out AllTop.com, a new project by Guy Kawasaki “that provides ‘all the top’ stories for 40 of the most popular topics on the Web. The headlines and first paragraph of the five most recent stories from 40 to 80 sources for each topic are displayed.”

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For everyone drooling over my Best Shot Monday post, here’s the recipe. It’s quick and easy and both of my kids love it. :)

It’s reportedly one of Rachel Ray’s recipes and I think my friend Nicole gave it to me. (Thanks, Nicole!) My comments/changes are in parenthesis.

Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup
4-6 servings; Cook 20 min, 5 min prep

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (1 turn of the pan)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cups canned vegetable stock, found on soup aisle (I use a few cups of water and a few teaspoons of vegetarian chicken base here)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (I blend it first so that it’s not chunky, since a few family members don’t like tomatoes)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin puree (avoid buying Libby - it’s owned by Nestle)
1 cup corn, frozen or canned (drain and rinse if canned)
1 cup heavy cream (I use 1% milk, but you can use soy milk as well)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I don’t add this since my kids don’t do spicy foods)
coarse salt
20 sprigs fresh chives, chopped or snipped, for garnish

1. Heat a soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add oil.
3. When oil is hot, add onion.
4. Saute onions 5 minutes.
5. Add broth, tomatoes or tomato sauce, black beans, pumpkin puree and corn.
6. Stir to combine ingredients and bring soup to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in cream, curry, cumin, cayenne and salt, to taste.
8. Simmer 5 minutes, adjust seasonings and serve garnished with chopped chives.
9. For Vegan option use Soy Cream or Soy milk.

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NaBloPoMo - Day 17

Green tip of the week:

If you can’t afford to buy organic produce, you can still clean up your conventional produce and remove dirt, pesticides, chemicals, and insect residue with your own fruit and veggie wash spray. All you need for this recipe is natural soap, vinegar and water.

Not sure how contaminated your produce is? Check out the dirty dozen list to see which fruits and veggies have the most/least amount of pesticides.

Have any green tips you’ve recently learned? Please email them to me and I may include your tip with a link to your site or blog in a future post. :)

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Ever since Jessica Seinfeld appeared on Oprah touting her new book “Deceptively Delicious,” there’s been lot of talk around the internet about sneaking veggies into kids’ food. Some are for it, some are against it. I tend to take a somewhat moderate approach. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with mixing vegetables into other foods, but I don’t believe in intentionally trying to deceive your kids. Seinfeld says she will set a box of store-bought mac & cheese out on the counter so the kids assume that’s what she is making, while in the meantime she is whipping up her own healthy homemade mac, cheese & veggie blend. That feels dishonest to me and rubs me the wrong way. It seems like a quick and temporary fix to me and I don’t think that will establish good eating habits for later in life either. However, just because I don’t agree with it doesn’t mean it won’t work for some parents and their kids. Bottom line is we all gotta do what’s best for our family.

Anyway, in the spirit of sneaking veggies, I wanted to tell you about a new delicious smoothie recipe that I got from Julie at Rarely Home Mom. Here’s the kicker - it’s got spinach in it! The smoothie is called Groovy Green Goodness and green it is. I’m a fan of spinach, but I admit to being skeptical about drinking it, so I put off making the smoothie for a week. But with a name like Groovy Green Goddess, I couldn’t resist it for long. Yesterday after picking up some organic grapes, I decided to give it a go, and low and behold it was delicious! It seriously does not taste like spinach.

Here’s the recipe:
Groovy Green Goddess
1 banana, cut in chunks
1 cup grapes
1 (6 ounce) tub vanilla yogurt (I just used a few scoops of vanilla yogurt out of my 32 oz. container)
1/2 apple, cored and chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves
optional - ice

Place the banana, grapes, yogurt, apple and spinach into a blender. Cover, and blend until smooth, stopping frequently to push down anything stuck to the sides. Pour into glasses and serve. Serves 2

I also added some wheat germ to mine and you could substitute other flavors of yogurt if you like, as well as other fruits, though you may not end up with it being a groovy green color if you add berries and such.

I know, the real question is - what did the kids think about it? They loved it too! Ava was particularly impressed by the green color - which is her favorite. She gulped her’s down (and yes, I showed her that there was spinach in the blender before I made it), then started in on the one I was sharing with Julian (who drank it right up too). Pretty soon Ava had commanded control of my cup and was doling out sips to me and Julian while she intermittently took sips herself. I never would’ve thought the three of us would be doing battle over a spinach smoothie. ;)

Give it a try and see what your kids think. In the spirit of involving them in the process (something Michelle at What’s Cooking is very fond of and I think is a great idea as well), I encourage you to let them help you put the ingredients in the blender (using safety precautions like not having the blender on the base, of course). :)

I’m now wondering if it would taste as good with frozen spinach since I don’t often have fresh spinach on hand. Hmm. Guess I will be conducting my own experiment to find out.

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Today, Oct. 15, 2007, is Blog Action Day where I join over 15,000 other bloggers to write about the environment. I have chosen to write about ways to go green without breaking the bank.

The decision to go green is a wonderful one - both for you and your family and for the environment. However, it can be overwhelming at first, especially if you are living on a budget as most families are. Today I’m going to make some suggestions for ways you can become more environmentally-friendly without breaking the bank.

Something important to keep in mind is that going green is a work in progress. You don’t have to do everything today to make a difference. You can start by selecting one or two things and add onto it every week or month. Every little bit helps. By the end of a year, you’ll be amazed at all of the changes you’ve been able to make.
Here are just a few things to get you started to go green without spending a lot of money.

1. Make your own household cleaners. Vinegar and baking soda are two important ingredients for homemade cleaners. They are inexpensive and, chances are you already have both in the house! I found some great recipes here and here. Imagine how nice it will be to clean your bathroom with your kids nearby or in the same room without the fear of toxic fumes in the air. And you can breathe a sigh of relief when your teething toddler chomps down on your coffee table because you don’t have to guess what chemicals are on the table (and in her mouth) when you know it was cleaned naturally with olive oil and lemon juice. Not convinced that homemade products can cut the mustard? Here’s an interesting science project that compared the efficiency of both commercial and homemade cleaning products.
2. Unfortunately, along with better health for you, organic foods also tend to come with a heftier price tag than their conventional counterparts. However, the good news is that not all foods are horribly pesticide-laden. Get yourself a copy of the Organic Dirty Dozen, keep it in your purse or wallet and shop for organic foods accordingly. Here are the 12 most contaminated that you should buy organic if you can: • Apples • Bell Peppers • Celery • Cherries • Imported Grapes (from Chili) • Nectarines • Peaches • Pears • Potatoes • Red Raspberries • Spinach • Strawberries. On the flip side, here are the 12 least contaminated where buying organic isn’t as critical, especially if money is an issue: • Asparagus • Avocados • Bananas • Broccoli • Cauliflower • Corn (sweet) • Kiwi • Mangos • Onions • Papaya • Pineapples • Peas (sweet). Even better and cheaper than buying organic is to grow your own organic produce. Here’s more about which organic foods are worth the extra money.
3. Use reusable bags instead of plastic or paper bags at the grocery store and ALL stores. Stores like Vitamin Cottage, Whole Foods, Wild Oats, IKEA, Trader Joe’s and even Safeway are now selling reusable bags - some places for only $0.99 each. You can buy 6 for under $6 which should accommodate your groceries for the week. The bags are sturdy and hold a lot more than plastic bags do. You can also buy reusable bags at Reusablebags.com and 1 Bag at a Time. Unsure why plastic bags are so bad for the environment? Here’s a 10-minute film to enlighten you on the curse of plastic bags.
4. Unplug your appliances when you aren’t using them. Even if items are in the off position, they are still using energy. Unplugging doesn’t cost you a cent to do and will save you money!
5. RECYCLE your plastic, glass, aluminum and paper! Go to Earth911 and enter your zip code to find out what is recyclable in your area.
6. Shop at second-hand stores for clothing, etc., and donate, give or sell your old clothes, shoes, etc. to others. It is especially easy to buy gently used clothing and items for babies and toddlers. I just bought the kids some “new” (to them) clothes this weekend. They are cute, in good shape and very affordable. Again, this tip will save you money.
7. Change the light bulbs in your house to energy-efficient Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) - CFLs are four times more efficient and last up to 10 times longer than incandescents. They cost more upfront, but will save you money on your electricity bill almost immediately and they last from 8 to 10 years!

For even more tips on going green, please visit my Earth Day 2007 post.

While today is a special day to blog about the environment, you can be sure this is not my last post on the topic. There will be more from me in the months ahead as I learn more ways that I can do my part to help save the planet. :)

Lastly, I want to say congratulations to Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope this honor helps bring more immediate attention to the serious matter of global warming.

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Did you participate in Blog Action Day? Please sign Mr. Linky below with the link of your Blog Action Day post so that others can go read what you had to say about the environment. :)

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World Vegetarian Day is being held on Oct. 1, which is also the kickoff of vegetarian awareness month.

Some of you may know that I’m an on-again/off-again vegetarian. I’ve had a couple of vegetarian stints in my life. I haven’t eaten red meat for about 9 years, but I do currently eat poultry and fish on occasion. For the most part, I try to make a variety of vegetarian meals, but meat is sometimes a part of our diet.

Wondering what the big deal is and why vegetarianism so important?
Some of the Benefits of Vegetarianism are:
• reducing the risk of major killers like heart disease, stroke and cancers while cutting exposure to food borne pathogens;
• offering a viable answer to feeding the world’s hungry, through more efficient use of grains and other crops;
• saving animals from suffering in factory farm conditions and from painful slaughter;
• conserving vital, but limited freshwater, fertile topsoil and other precious resources;
• preserving irreplaceable ecosystems, such as rainforests and other wildlife habitats;
• mitigating the ever-expanding environmental pollution of animal agriculture; and the list goes on.

Eating vegetarian doesn’t just mean salads and veggie burgers (though it certainly can). There’s a whole world of tasty, meatless meals out there. :) To help you commit to going meat-free on Oct. 1, I’m listing some of my favorite vegetarian recipes that I’ve blogged about in the past:

• Grilled Panini with provolone and basil
• Oat Nut scones
• Six Vegetarian recipes includes: Vegetarian Minestrone Soup, Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup, Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta, Tortilla Lasagna with Swiss Chard, Banana-Cornmeal Pancakes, and Rotelle Primavera
• Granola Bars sans Allergies
• Avocado Hummus
• Carrot Ginger Soup
• Chickpe Lunch and Kentucky Fried (Baked) Tofu
• Peanut butter Tofu stirfry
• Vegetarian Chili
• Pseudo Indian dinner and Chocolate-covered peanut butter balls
• For more vegetarian recipes, click on over to Vegetarian Times (which is a great magazine whether you are vegetarian or not)
• Looking for something even easier? How about cheese pizza and salad, or using veggie crumbles instead of ground beef/turkey in your tacos, spaghetti or otherwise generally meaty meal? You could do grilled cheese sandwiches and vegetable soup. Breakfast for dinner (eggs, quiche and/or pancakes) is always fun too.

Are your taste buds tantalized? Feeling hungry? Feeling motivated? If you want join me in pledging to have a meat-free day on Oct. 1, please sign Mr. Linky below. (Already vegetarian or vegan? Awesome! Please sign up and join in too!) I’m personally going to try my best to make the whole month of October as meat-free as possible for me and my family. I’ve been on a roll already this week making only vegetarian meals (some of which I need to post on here and add to the list).

If you feel so inclined, please feel free to snag my button (above) and blog about this too - linking back to this post if you like. We don’t have much time before Oct. 1, so I hope some of you will spread the word. Feel free to share any vegetarian recipes you have on your blog. The more people we can have join in, the merrier! :)

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Yes, I said oatmeal burgers. While that isn’t the technical name for them, that’s the name I dubbed them since they have 3 cups of oats in them. :)

I recently gave this recipe out of Vegetarian Times a try and thought it was quite tasty. There’s a fair amount of prep work involved so it’s a weekend recipe for me (so I have help watching the kids). They are a great alternative to boxed veggie burgers and especially nice on the grill in the summer. (I meant to post this recipe weeks ago but just never found the time.)

Chicago Diner (AKA Oatmeal) Burgers
Serves 8 - Vegan if you don’t add real cheese (though I did)

Ingredients:
3 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
12 oz. mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1. Bring 4 cups water, celery, onion, soy sauce, onion powder, garlic powder and pepper to boil in pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in oats, mushrooms and flour and cook 5 minutes more. Transfer to bowl, and chill.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Shape mixture into patties, and bake on prepared baking sheet 15 minutes. Flip, and bake 10 minutes more. Cool.

3. Heat grill to medium-high. Place foil on grill and coat with cooking spray. Grill burgers on foil 7 minutes per side.

Enjoy!

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I’ve fallen in love with a recipe for vegan oat-nut scones out of my The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook. I’m not currently vegetarian and I’ve never been vegan, but these are some kick ass scones. I seem to make them about once a week lately. They are fast and super easy. Ava loves to help make them, as well as gobble them up. I’m sharing the recipe (and a pic to boot!), so everybody can get sconed. ;)

Oat-Nut Scones

These vegan treats take just seconds to whip up. For breakfast or tea, try them with fruit-sweetened jam. They’re also delicious with soup or salad.

2 1/2 C rolled oats
1 C whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground cardamom
1/4 t powdered ginger
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 C chopped walnuts or almonds (Since I’m allergic to walnuts, I use almonds)
1/4 C oil
3/4 C apple juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Flour a medium-size baking sheet. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add oil and juice. Mix until combined. Form dough into a ball and place on floured baking sheet. Press into a circle about 1/2-inch thick. Cut dough into 8 wedges but don’t separate them. Bake about 35 minutes.

Makes 8.

Approximate nutritional info for 1 scone:
Calories: 268 cal; Protein: 7 g; Carbohydrates: 32 g; Fat: 14 g; Fiber: 5 g; Sodium: 110 mg.

Key nutrients:
Thiamine: .28 mg; Niacin: 1.3 mg; Pantothenic Acid: .51 mg; Vitamin B6: .12 mg; Iron: 1.86 mg; Magnesium: 70.01 mg; Zinc: 1.45 mg.

There’s a note that they freeze well, but I wouldn’t know about that. We always eat them within a couple of days. ;) Ava likes to eat hers plain. I think they are OK plain, but I prefer mine with strawberry jam. Actually, I love them with jam. Mmmmm. Jody has tried peanut butter on his and likes them that way or plain or with jam (he’s easy). I’ve thought about putting chocolate chips in a batch to see how they turn out (just because I love chocolate), but I haven’t tried it yet (and then, of course, they’d no longer be vegan).

If you try the recipe, please let me know how you like them. :)

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Ever have a day where it seems everything is going your way? Where you are almost afraid to stop and take notice of what a great day it is for fear of jinxing yourself? Today was that kind of day for me.

It didn’t start off perfectly though. I woke up with the same migraine that I’d gone to bed with last night. But after drinking a cola drink (the caffeine helps), I started feeling better. From then on, it was an awesome day, complete with sunshine and temps in the 70s.

Ava watched a bit of TV (Sesame Street) in the morning while I got a little me/computer time in. Julian took a nice long nap which allowed me and Ava to read some books together, eat lunch and bake cookies. I also got a load of laundry done - even folded and put away (which is the hardest part for me).

This afternoon I took the kids to the library for a bit. They have a big puppet playhouse there that Ava loves, complete with tons of puppets. Today, however, she noticed that there were only a few puppets in there. She asked me where they all were and I suggested that maybe some of them had to be washed, but we could ask one of the women who worked in the library if she knew. So we went up to the desk together to ask and the woman told us Ava was the first child to ask about the puppets. Turns out they had to “retire” a bunch of the old ones, but had a whole bag of new ones to replace them - they just hadn’t put them out yet. But since Ava asked so nicely she brought out the new puppets and, Ava and a new friend she made today had a great time playing with them.

She and her new friend also “read” some books together. Ava “read”: “Bears All Around*” (the title she made up) “by Eric Carle” (it wasn’t really by Eric Carle, but I was enjoying her “reading” too much to point that out). Then she went through the book and “read” it to her friend, while they both giggled at just about everything that came out of Ava’s mouth. It was pretty darn sweet.

After the library, we stopped at Vitamin Cottage to pick up a few things we needed. Ava’s favorite VC employee Aruna was working and Ava greeted her with a big hug. The shopping trip went off without a hitch, I got to use my new cloth grocery bag (a freebie from Wild Oats) and we were soon back in the car driving home.

I read Ava one of her library books, then she went outside to play while I started on dinner with Julian in the Ergo. I decided to try a new recipe - Spring Pea Tarts - from this month’s “Vegetarian Times.” (What luck that it’s also the featured recipe of the week on their website, so I can share it without having to type it out myself!) I modified it a bit since I didn’t have a pastry puff, and used a spelt pie crust that I picked up at VC instead. And I didn’t have time to let it chill for 2 hours, but it was delicious anyway, and I’ll definitely make it again. :)

Jody got home in the middle of my dinner prep and took Julian off my hands. Then we had a couple contractors come by to give us more estimates on fixing our bathroom, since the guy we thought we were going to have do the repairs never returned emails or phone calls.

Ava was a joy to be around pretty much all day. Not that she’s normally a pain, but she is almost 3 and she does have a way of pushing my buttons from time to time. Not today. There was no whining, no discipline issues, no time outs (for Ava or mommy), nothing bad at all to speak of. And Julian was his usual happy-go-lucky self. It truly seems that everyone got their needs met today. Amazing.

The night has ended well. Both kids are sleeping. The crickets are chirping outside my open window. I’m taping LOST (my guilty pleasure) and Leno to watch them both later. I’m going to head downstairs now to enjoy one of those cookies we made and talk with Jody for a bit.

These kind of perfect kind of days don’t happen often so I’m basking in the glow of it right now. Life is good. :)

*The title she came up with (”Bears All Around”) cracked me up because she was recently looking at “The Baby Book” by Dr. Sears at our house and when I asked her what she was reading and she said “Babies All Around.” Apparently that’s a theme now.

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