Happy Earth Day!

On Monday, our family sat around the dinner table discussing things that we could each do this week to help the earth. With a 9, 5 and 3 year old, we have lots of willing helpers and eager reminders. Here's the list of things we decided we could do this week.

Dad -- drive his scooter to work, instead of the car. Uses much less gas. Good for the planet and the wallet.

Mom -- remember to actually use all the reusable bags at the grocery store, buy an "eco" dish-soap, walk to school & back 1 time instead of driving, and turn off the temperature control in the house. (Confessions: the walk back and forth to school is a little under 2 miles each way, and there is a really big hill on the way. If it was just me, I might do it more often, but with a stroller and 2 grumpy kids, it's a LONG walk. AND, I turned the heat on this morning. It was snowing and really cold inside. So sue me.)

9 -- be in charge of making sure all the lights are off in rooms that are unoccupied.

5 -- be "The Recycler." (Must be said in "super-hero" voice.) He's been learning about all the things that can be recycled, and even helped Dad take out the big blue recycling can last night.

3 -- make sure the water is turned off after brushing teeth. Can't tell you how many times I find the water running after she brushes her teeth. But not this week.

Tonight, we are going to watch The Story of Stuff and eat leftovers in celebration of Earth Day.

Peace out from Nadia, aka green hippie-chick.

Another post about food

I have loved Jamie Oliver, the Naked Chef, for years. How can you not love a guy who calls himself the naked chef, seriously?



Anyway, a few months ago, my husband told me about how Jamie Oliver won the TED prize this year. (My husband is a TED addict, strange but true.) We sat in front of the laptop and watched Jamie's passionate plea for the health of America's children. It was mesmerizing. That's when I first heard about Jamie's new show here in the US, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," and signed his petition supporting getting better food into schools and keeping cooking skills alive. How could I object? You could sign it too...

I've really been enjoying my Friday nights over the past few weeks, watching Jamie's show with my kids. It's made them think a little differently about food, and the importance of eating "stuff that's good for you." It's even made them a little more adventurous. (Baby steps.)

So, if you're like me and don't have much to do on a Friday night, head on over to ABC and watch a little Jamie Oliver. If nothing else, his accent is awesome and he has great phrases that you can substitute for your typical American cuss words.

Spring Cleaning

There is always something about Spring that makes me want to clean up, clear out and start fresh. It doesn't last long, but while the feeling is in the air, I plan to take advantage of it.

I'll admit that I'm not much of a homemaker. I don't glory in clean toilets, or feel the need to be able to eat off my kitchen floor. I have to give myself small, focused tasks, and hopefully the sum of those tasks will equal a home that is more orderly, organized and pleasant to be in.

My current mini-task is one kitchen drawer. It's the draw that holds all of our kitchen tools. Not the utensils or small appliances, but all the other stuff; peelers, spoons, spatulas, garlic presses, zesters and so forth. Over our marriage, we have amassed quite a collection. My husband and I always end up getting strange little kitchen do-dads for each other's Christmas stockings each year. The drawer had gotten so full that getting it to close was nearly impossible. But, getting rid of anything seems almost impossible too. I need this stuff.

So, here's how I am tackling my over-abundance of kitchen gadgetry. I emptied the entire drawer into a box. Then, I panicked and put the measuring cups and spoons, can opener, peeler, pizza slicer and ice cream scooper back in the drawer.

Everything else remains in the box. Anything that is taken out of the box to be used during the month of April will go back in the drawer. On May 1st, the box and any of it's remaining items will be taken to DI.

Now, off I go to make a meal plan that will require me to use all my stuff.