Mindful Momma

Vacation Observations

As someone who tries to live as practically green as possible, I attempt to take that philosophy on the road with me when I travel. We just got back from a 9 day family vacation. Most of it was spent at a rustic cabin on a private lake in the woods of Wisconsin. Then we road-tripped to the sand dunes of Indiana on Lake Michigan. Here are some observations:

• It's possible to travel relatively waste-free if you bring your own water bottles and snacks and eat at sit-down restaurants instead of fast-food places. We had surprisingly little trash - but then again, we weren't driving across the country like we did last year.
• Shopping at a rural grocery store can be a challenge, but if you stick to the perimeter and avoid too much junk food, you'll be OK. (we usually give in to a little bit of junk on vacation anyway!)
• I'm not sure there's a big environmental advantage to using an outhouse - but we did it for 6 days and survived!
• The worst part about hotel breakfast buffets is not the food, it's the styrofoam. We suffered through it one morning but chose to eat at a different place (with real plates!) the next morning.
• When you are in the water all day, every day - you go through a ton of sunscreen. I'm a fan of Marie Veronique KidSafe sunscreen and Purple Prairie Botanicals Sun Stuff but I can't always afford to buy the pricey sunscreen. I ended up using Water Babies Pure & Simple sunscreen on this trip. It's the safest mass-market sunscreen product that I have found (it scores a 3 on Skin Deep). What is your favorite affordable sunscreen?
• Safer sunscreens have their drawbacks. My kids are begging me for the spray kind that "everyone else uses" because they hate how long it takes to rub the sunscreen in. How do your kids handle this?
• I desperately need to find a non-toxic bug spray that actually works. We were in the woods with some mean bugs and I gave in to the Deet a couple times. Advice, anyone?
• You can survive a heat wave without air conditioning....if you are at the lake! The temp was in the mid-90's but we were in the water 2-3 times per day - even me - the one who is a total wimp about cold water. :)

Do you have any green, travel tips to share?

(Full disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. If you purchase something through a link, a teeny, tiny percentage will come back to me. Thank you very much if you do!)

Recharged and Ready for BlogHer!

Unplugged. That's where I've been for the past 10 days or so. Also known as at the cabin, in the lake, in the car....anywhere but in front of a screen. Sure, I did an update or two from my cell phone along the way but for the most part I stayed away from the computer and my online life. Instead, I focused on family, let my mind wander and my body relax.

And now I feel great! My battery is recharged and I'm ready to rock my social media world once again! I find that my creativity and enthusiasm skyrockets after I've been unplugged for awhile. Do you take a media break when you go on vacation?  Have you noticed a surge in creativity when you return?

Now that I'm back, my first order of business is a fun announcement: 

Next week, I'm headed to the BlogHer '11 conference in San Diego and for the first time ever, I have a sponsor: Juice Beauty! I'm so in love with this organic beauty brand. Not only do they have fabulous products that really work; they are made with up to 98% certified organic content and the business is women owned and operated. What's not to love?

If you're at the conference, come find me and I'll give you my business card with a generous Juice Beauty coupon code on the back! And even if you're not attending BlogHer, stay tuned for a big giveaway that will go live during the conference. I've got four delicious Juice Beauty prizes to give away. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky winners!

Will you be at BlogHer? Let me know - I would love to meet you! :)

Clean Floors, Happy Mom

Clean freak will never be my middle name but I have to admit to being a bit obsessed with keeping the house clean during our big remodel. Knowing that environmental toxins like lead and flame retardants accumulate in dust around the house, I'm trying hard to clean it up before it settles in.

To that end, I recently bought a new vacuum with a HEPA filter but my research also tells me that wet mopping and dusting is key to really busting that toxic dust. Plus it's summer and that means boys with dirty feet!

 

I knew I needed serious help to clean my hardwood floors but the last thing I want to do is use toxic household cleaners to do the job. Conventional floor cleaners usually contain toxic solvents and fragrances that off-gas into your home as you spread them all over your floor. Was I ever happy to have Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner come to the rescue!

Bona makes hardwood floor cleaning products are non-toxic and environmentally responsible (GREENGUARD certified) but that still work effectively. The company sent me a bottle of their new Free & Simple floor cleaner to see if it could stand up to my remodeling/dirty feet challenge!  Here's how it fared:

• Floors - Bona is different from many floor cleaners in that it comes in a spray bottle.  You spray it on the floor and then mop it up - preferably with a microfiber mop - which I don't have. I used it with my regular sponge mop but what I really need is the Bona Hardwood Floor Mop system with a refillable floor cleaner cartridge and washable microfiber pad. Now that would be the perfect way to clean my floors!
• Stairs - I sprayed Bona on my dusty hardwood stairs and was very happy with the way it cleaned and left my wood looking rich and shiny!
• Windowsills - According to Bona, it's just fine to use the product on unpainted wood windowsills. We have beautiful windowsills in our old house and Bona brings out the best in them.
• Ingredients -  I love that this product is unscented, dye-free and hypo-allergenic. According the the Material Safety Data Sheet (MDS) posted on the website, there are no hazardous ingredients in the formula. Bona does not currently provide a full ingredient list but apparently is working to add that to their website in August.
• Environment - Bona is GREENGUARD Children & Schools certified, meaning it meets stringent safety and product emissions standards. Bona spray bottles and cartridges are also refillable using the large 160 oz size.

Overall, I'm very pleased with Bona Floor Cleaner. It gets the job done, while being safe for my family and the environment. Knowing that gives me peace of mind so I can survive the remodeling/dirty feet blues!

What do you use on your hardwood floors?

(Full disclosure: Bona sent me a free sample of floor cleaner in exchange for my honest opinion. This promotion was done in partnership with Healthy Child, Healthy World.)

{dirty feet image by mislav-m via flickr}

Kefir Madness

If this isn't a red letter day, I don't know what is. My husband, John finally wrote a guest post for my blog!  John is an excellent cook and has been a huge influence on my own passion for good, healthy food. Read on to learn about his latest culinary adventure....

I am already feeling guilty that I have never written a guest post on my wife’s blog and if that is not bad enough, I decided to write about how we got hooked on a fermented dairy product named kefir. 

I had been making our own yogurt for a while which includes warming up milk to 185 degrees, adding a few tablespoons of yogurt and then swaddling the pot in a heating pad over night. Once I got the hang of it, all went well and most importantly the kids ate it.  It helps that I have a brother who makes maple syrup, which we often add on top.  Although I came up with a number of tricks, I have found the process of heating the milk a little bit of a pain. 

When I read that the probiotic benefits of kefir were better than yogurt, I purchased a commercial kefir starter from Yogourmet at our local coop to make my first batch.  The slope got steeper and slipperier when I read that I could make kefir by buying a living yeast/bacteria organism called kefir grains.  Kefir grains look like cauliflower and they are somewhat analogous to a sour dough starter for bread.  The greatest benefit is that they can be added right to the milk without any preheating and by the next morning the little buggers have turned your milk into a mild but tangy kefir (right on your kitchen shelf- no refrigeration needed.)  It took a while for me to get accustomed to leaving the milk out of the refrigerator and trusting that it would not spoil until I learned that this living culture of 30 microflora actually keeps the bad bacteria in check.  Each morning we simply strain out the grains, pop them into a clean jar, top it up with fresh milk and put the jar back on the shelf.  For more detailed information on ordering your own kefir grains check out Kefirlady and for background check out Dom the Kefir Guru.

With this constant supply we have been making fruit smoothies, pouring it on granola and using it in recipes that call for buttermilk which included a delicious apple-oat muffin recipe and a super light waffle batter.  I made a very nice strawberry kefir ice cream, have added it to bread dough and have recently started making kefir cheese using goat milk and cow's milk. 

The challenge is that the kefir grains always want their fresh daily dose of milk and they keep growing. Although I had plenty of warning that things would quickly get out of hand, I am experiencing the kefir madness firsthand. The benefit is that this very simple process creates a fun and interesting dimension to preparing a broad range of foods.  Of all the things that I have read and experienced, I am most impressed with the fact that while store-bought milk invariably loses nutritional benefits when processed, it is possible to improve that milk and your health by using the kefir grains to transform it into a lovely, tangy yogurt.  So now the hook: I am willing to do a kefir grain giveaway for someone who wants to try it out. Just leave a comment on this post and we will randomly pick a winner or two. The giveaway will be open through the end of July, 2011. (you must have a U.S. mailing address to enter)

Have you made your own kefir? Let us know how it works for you!

(This is my post for the Green Mom's Carnival on the topic of food preservation. Abbie of  Farmer's Daughter is hosting this month and the carnival will go live on Monday, July 18th, 2011.)

FruitShare is 100% Delicious!

Imagine a big box of organic fruit arriving on your doorstep one day...with a flyer inside talking about the farmers that grew the fruit and a handwritten thank you from the owner of the company. This happened to me and let me tell you, it was quite a treat! It didn't take long for me to break into those juicy blueberries!

The box came from FruitShare, a Minnesota based company that delivers certified organic fruit to lucky customers all year long. The mission behind FruitShare is to connect organic family farms to consumers who want great tasting, in season, pesticide free fruit. FruitShare works with organic growers all over the country, with an emphasis on local, then regional, then national. The fruit is shipped direct from farm to FruitShare and does not spend time hanging out in a warehouse like most conventional fruit. They make it easy by delivering direct to your home, workplace or school.

Wouldn't this make a fantastic birthday, new baby, housewarming, thank you or teacher gift? They even have a fundraiser program - I'd much rather sell organic fruit than wrapping paper or chocolate bars!

We loved our FruitShare fruit! I bet you would too! To entice you to try them out, I can offer you a 5% discount on your first order. Just use the code MINDFULMOMMA at checkout. Trust me, it's 100% delicious!!

Have you ever bought a fruit share or fruit CSA?

{Full disclosure: FruitShare sent me a free box of fruit in exchange for my honest opinion}

Blast Off!

How many times have you heard "I'm bored!" so far this summer? When you're desperate for a quick project with the kiddos - try making something out of nothing!

The other day Liam and I made a rocket out of a shoe box and a mesh onion bag:

and a T-Rex out of a cardboard box and some duct tape:

Have you made any junk sculptures lately?

Dumpster Dining

We may be in the middle of a huge remodeling project, but we're not going to let a gigantic dumpster and a trashed back yard get in the way of a nice dinner on the deck!

Our patio furniture is in storage so John made a table out of an old door. Pretty resourceful, huh?

 

 What have you repurposed lately?