Veggie Burger Recipe

As someone who has tried being a vegetarian and loved it (first week back at it), I know its important to get my protein in! I also know for myself that I do not want to eat tofu or bowls and bowls of spinach salad. I found a recipe online for the ultimate veggie burger and one recipe so far has approximately 50g of protein, so split into a few burgers, not bad. Here is the link to the blog:

http://www.foodiefiasco.com/the-ultimate-veggie-burger-vegangluten-freegrain-freelow-carb/

She has some super great recipes and I look forward to trying more out!

As for the burgers, well so far they are more like pancakes and went green due to my added zucchini, spinach and leek. I also added frozen corn.

Not gonna lie, they were pretty bland so I added some salsa to them as well as a bit of cheese and that made them a lot better. I am going to have to experiment with these a bit more! In the meantime tho, they do the trick!

UPDATE ON WASHER SMELL: The tea tree oil did temporarily fix the problem but I noticed the smell came back SO  I find that if every time I use the washer I wipe out the excess water that sits in the rubber seal and keep the door open it has no small whatsoever. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

anyone else have a stinky washing machine???

who knew that washing machines can stink?!? like of all places, where things are constantly being washed with soap and hot water. yet despite all of this our machine has been seriously stinking for like months and our clothes have been taking in the smell too. i have tried different homemade remedies to solve this problem, doing just water and vinegar cycles for example, but nothing worked. that is until yesterday when i went into all things being eco, which by the way is a super cool store, pricey, but the woman who owns it is very nice. she instructed me that more than likely my front loader was growing mold in the rubber seal. so i went home and low and behold, there was mold. i didnt even know that part could be cleaned. like, why would you make a product that always has water in it to have crevices like this that can grow mold?!? doesn't make sense to me....here's a pic of the nastiness:

and that was allllllll on the inside. so this woman at all things being eco suggested i try tea tree oil. it has disinfectant properties and is organic and won't kill you if you drink some, which i always prefer. this is what it looks like:

so i wiped this all over and cleaned my machine and than ran a hot cycle with some borax and vinegar and caster soap. the tea tree oil is quite a strong smell so my washer smells like it now but hey, that's better than mold!

in the end, i like that i avoided pulling out the bleach or harsh chemicals. i like that it took me five minutes. and i like that there are people in chilliwack who are more intelligent than me on the ways of a washing machine. me and my clothes thank you.

cheers to being green:>

cheers to a new and greener year, in July.

For the last 5 years of my life I have been in university. University, as much as it is rewarding, tends to suck your life away. So whenever I had a break, whether it be Christmas or reading break, I would think about all the things I wished I had time to do and would try to cram them into 2 weeks and think that I could continue to do them even when uni started up again. One of those things was blogging. And low and behold, I did not have time and my green impact got put to the side. Now that I am finished, and currently unemployed (yes, sad day) I have time to think and ponder about how I can better live my life to positively impact my earth. 

I will admit, I have not been the most conscientious person lately. Don't get me wrong, I compost and recycle and have a garden. I try my best to not use chemicals and make my own cleaning products. However, I know I can do better. So here is to my start, July 16 2013.

For my first endeavor, something I have consistently battled with is consumerism. I have a love hate relationship with it. I love it, my budget does not. When I think back on the last few years, some of my happiest moments were those when I decided to try to not spend money, be economical and use what we have, thus forcing me to be creative. I didn't think, woe is me I cant spend money, but saw it as an opportunity to use a part of my brain that a shopping cart and credit card do not permit me to use. 

So here it goes. One month (to start) of not spending frivolously and being creative with the things I do own, enjoying what God has already blessed me with and choosing to not support consumerism. Wish me luck, I am definitely going to go through withdrawl....

PS: I am sure I have posted this video before, but I will do it again. Take the time to watch it, it is very rewarding!

http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/

Some Natural Recipes

Awhile ago we bought a book full of natural recipes for health ailments, house cleaners, beauty products, and more. Here are a few:

Cough Relief:
1 Cup boiling water
2 tbsp dried thyme
1/2 Cup honey

PMS/Cramps
Avoid Caffeine and sugar. the end.
There are these awesome herbal pills called Dong Quai that work great. You can get them from any health food store. You take them 5 days before and everyday leading up to your period.

Facial Sauna
2.5 liters boiling water
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh peppermint- we used a peppermint t-bag cut open
1/2 lemon, sliced

Steep altogether for 5 minutes after water has boiled. Set bowl on table, put head into bowl and cover bowl and head with towel as to create a sauna. Stay under towel for 10 minutes. Feels awesome!

Wood furniture cleaner
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Mix together in a jar and shake well. Apply with cloth.


Those are just some of the ones we have tried and really enjoy. Hope you like them too!

Cheers to being green

green grocery shopping 101

there are many ways to be green when grocery shopping and the first one that i love is using re-usable grocery bags. you can buy them almost anywhere since being 'organic' is kind of trendy right now...we use them for lunch's, school bags, almost anything that would normally require a plastic bag. i keep a couple extra ones in the back of my car in case i go shopping and forget them.

another cool thing that they came out with last year at superstore is little white cloth bags for your vegetables and fruit rather than using plastic bags. genius!! you get 5 bags for $3.99 i believe...

another green idea is when getting your deli meat, well for starters, make sure the meat looks like it was cooked that way and not a bunch of little pieces glued together-gross. secondly, you can ask them to wrap your meat in brown paper WHICH is compostable AND can be recycled with all your other paper items.

there is also the idea of only shopping around the outskirts of the store as to make sure you are eating clean or mostly natural foods- most of the unhealthy products are in the inside of the store in case you didn't know...thats my plug for EATING CLEAN...ahem ahem...blog 1, ahem

lastly, a big and obvious green idea is to buy organic. now, buying organic does not mean the package or label has to say organic. organic simply means that it came from the earth-not modified in any way. the end. the label of organic is simply a selling feature and often a gimic so as long as you can read the ingredients you will be fine!

last but not at all least is the concept and practice of shopping at local grocery stores. this supports their business and your local economy. so for example, i would much rather shop at Hofstede's grocery than Superstore or Walmart because they try their hardest to supply local products. this cuts down on gas emissions and contributes to ending global warming. one decision at a time people!

i know this is a hard and more expensive transition but, like i said in early posts, you invest your money in things you think are a priority and for us shopping green AND local is a priority so therefore that is where we choose to spend our money. this is something that takes time to make a habit and believe me, i often still find myself in the isles of superstore... it is something that i am aiming to change this year. a green goal. you with me?

cheers to being green

a solution to urban composting

so before you read this, disclaimer: you will hate yourself and others everytime you see things that could be composted put into a normal garbage can. it makes me cringe on the inside, honestly.

so last summer my husband and i decided to build our own compost- it is very easy, inexpensive, and gives back to you. here are some of the supplies you will need:

2 or 3 rubbermaid tubs with lids
drill
1 lb of worms - go to this website and email them about getting some. it was 25$ for one lb. http://www.transformcompostsystems.com/vermicomposting-worm-bins.php
some coffee grounds, shredded newspaper for insulation

here is the link we used that shows you how to create it step by step:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcv69QL_Ers

things that you can put in your compost is almost limitless such as: fruits, veggies, bread, nail clippings, hair-gross but really you can, egg shells-make sure these are ground up...i would suggest printing a list offline and keep it on your fridge so you know. nothing cooked can go into a compost, so no leftovers or boiled egg shells.

it helps if you can blend the items you will be putting into your compost that way your worms can eat it faster. like for example, if you throw in a head of broccoli without cutting it up it will take a while for the worms to eat it. in other words, when the food rots the worms eat the rot and when food is smaller it will rot faster = faster composting.

another key is having some kind of bucket or garbage can in your house that you can keep your compostable foods in that way your not running out to put them in the bigger bin all the time. what we do is keep a stainless steel can next to our normal garbage can and we let it fill up over the week- than at the end of the week we throw it all into the bigger bin that has the worms. you will want to get a can that has a lid that closes tightly so it traps the smell. you can actually buy special ones that have filters in them as to trap the smell.

for the most part the compost tubs can stay outside all year. when it got cold we put ours into the shed. a garage would work too- that way the worms do not freeze.

if you find that the ratio of worms to compost is off (more compost, not enough worms), what you can do it build a second compost, steal worms from compost 1, and go from there- this is what we did. worms are a-sexual so they are constantly reproducing so this should work for you. and yes, you will have to get your hands dirty-or use gloves-and pick out the worms for compost 2. not the end of the world...

what are the benefits of composting you may ask?? LET ME TELL YOU!! first, it creates the most beautiful dirt. second, all the juices will fall into the bottom bin thus creating awesome fertilizer aka compost juice. thirdly it will honestly cut down on your garbage. we have definitely noticed a difference. instead of  two bags a week we are down to one. lastly and most important, you will feel so GOOD about yourself and the impact you are making. maybe we are geeks but we love composting and are so excited to use the dirt we created last year for this years garden.

so did i sell it to you? i hope so. it is easy, cuts down on waste and is cost-efficient as it gives back to you in the long run. it is also nice for those of you who do not have backyards but still want to compost.

if you have any questions about starting your own compost, dont hesitate to message me and i can help you get started...

cheers to being green

whole foods market

if i could go on date anywhere with my hubby it would be to whole foods in vancouver. there are only two in BC and vancouver is the closest. whole foods is one big organic grocery store. they have everything a normal store has but it is all organic, hormone-free, nothing is genetically modified, and they have a huge gluten-free section-my favorite. it is pricey- i will not lie -but it is cheaper than buying organic in the one isle at superstore because they obviously bring in more product = less money. i wanted to go there today but we were in langely and didnt want to make the drive. that is when we discovered nature's farm. almost identical as whole foods but not as cool esthetically-it is a lot closer and had pretty much the same stuff. HOWEVER (and here is my rant) i had to ask for a paperbag because by default they gave plastic ones which totally surprised me. anyways.

so while we were there i got myself a eco-friendly window cleaner cloth. i have seen these at norwex parties- which by the way norwex is awesome, chemical free, and lasts a loooong time...so this one is not norwex but it works amazingly. i just ran out of windex and was waiting to get one.

this is the other thing about going green that i think is misleading: you do not have to throw away everything in your pantry or closet and start fresh with green items. i think that is why a lot of people never do it. its simple. use what you have and when it runs out buy something that is green, like the window cloth cleaner. it was 10$ but will last me a long time and what, windex cleaner is like, 5$? it works out to save you money for sure.

a friend of mine gave me her recipe for cleaning household products that have no harmful chemicals in them and are way cheaper, here are a couple:

all purpose cleaner- mix in the order listed:
-mix 2tbsp of vinegar with 1tsp of borax
-add 3/4 bottle hot water and dissolve borax
-add 1/4 cup castile soap or 1/8 cup regular dish soap
-top up with hot water
-add essential oil of your choice to make it nice smelling
-all all these together in the bottle you will keep it in
done, easy!

floor cleaner
-fill bottle with equal amounts vinegar and water
-add 15-20 drops of essential oil of your choice
-you can spray/squirt it directly on the floor

see its not so bad. make sure to keep the empty cleaner bottles though that way you don't have to buy new ones. if you do need bottles, you can get them at the dollar store.

i will give you some more recipes in future blogs but i think it is good to start one small change at a time so it sticks.

so folks, if you have an opportunity to check out whole foods or nature's farm, do it. my theory is, since i am being more wise about what i spend money on, and not being a senseless consumer, i should have more money to spend on food right? so why not spend it on good food that is not modified in any way. did you know that since genetically modified (gm'd) foods were introduced 15-20 years ago, disorders such as: reproductive, autism, and digestive issues and allergies have risen 10%?

since i struggle with food allergies of my own, this just makes eating clean that much more worth it.

is it worth it to you?

cheers to being green