While many US families had wild Super Bowl weekends we had a laid back weekend without much special going on. Hubby and I both read books, the kids played outside with their new snow-ballers and bricker, and we generally just enjoyed being snowed in. Instead of the Super Bowl we watched The Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet and chowed down on egg salad sandwiches. I also made an evening meal from one of my new favorite cookbooks… A Spoonful of Ginger – Irresistible, health-giving, recipes from Asian kitchens. I made a variation of the sweet and sour soup and OMG, it was heaven!!! I cannot wait to make some more of these recipes! I bought it a few weeks ago because someone recommended the vegetarian egg drop soup and I am loving it. It has lots of meat meals in it  but also plenty of veggie ones and ones that can be adapted into veggie meals.

The sweet and sour soup had vegetable broth (called for chicken in the book), green onions, Sake, cremini – oyster – portabella mushrooms (I didn't have dried wood ears), snow peas, and lots of fresh ginger, and various seasonings. I tripled the amount of mushrooms cause we love them so much. It filled me up for hours and I felt all warm and cozy from the ginger. My husband said he will not mind in the least if I want to make this soup quite often, LOL. The kids enjoyed it too.. they love snow peas and mushrooms though. This may be the perfect Sunday lunch or dinner meal for cold winter days.

Welcome back! Remember to subscribe to my RSS feed. You can also subscribe via RSS reader or email (right). Thanks for visiting!

Instead of reading The Lovely Bones this weekend as I planned, I decided to read the classic You Don't Need Meat. The movie was not very good in my opinion and a comment left here last week about how going veggie was bad for health gave me new direction. I knew the book by Peter Cox was jam packed with studies and scientific evidence that meatless diets are not unhealthy but I still hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. The meat industry and the media likened this guy to Hitler when his book was first published… that is how damaging it is to the meat industry.

Cox has been a vegetarian since he was 2 years old. He grew up thinking he was some sort of freak and his parents and doctors spoke of his imminent demise because he refused to eat meat. Except he didn't die and he was in fact very healthy and active. Later on he found out that he was simply a vegetarian, a term he is not keen on because it makes his diet sound alternative when in reality it is not. From the dawn of our existence their have been meatless folks. When asked to write a book about the subject he dove into the research and was pleasantly surprised that there were numerous studies going back to the 70s that compared vegetarians and meat eaters. And these weren't little anecdotal studies either. These were comparisons of LARGE groups of people, as in 25,000 plus done over time periods that spanned decades. The data showed conclusively that vegetarians were 50-60% less likely to die of heart disease or cancer than those who ate meat. The more meat that was consumed, the higher the risk. The book is full of graphs and charts that analyzes each part of these studies and breaks it down for us. And it has rebuttals to all the common straw man arguments.

After throughly slaying the concept that eating meat is required for good health he goes on to tell us why this information isn't common knowledge and he really demonizes the PR industry. It all boils down to money. No one gets very rich when everyone eats veggies and no one gets rich when everyone is healthy and fit. Most individuals would rather they eat whatever it is that gives them the most pleasure and hope that a magic bullet will be found in the form of a pill or a cure so they don't have to take responsibility for what they eat.

There are also numerous chapters on horrors found in meat packing plants and slaughterhouses and the diseases found in these animals that can be transferred to us. It goes through many atrocities committed by these companies and it names names.

It is a good book but the info I liked the best was the chapters that discussed various diseases and what the risks are for veggie eaters and meat eaters. I found the info on colon cancer interesting since that is what I had. Also it had a chapter that discusses all the common arguments against vegetarianism and veganism. I tried a meatless existence in my late teen years and my health suffered so I always assumed that this meant that vegetarianism and veganism were unhealthy. But when I started to eat raw last year I quickly saw what the real problem had been. I was a junk food vegetarian! I wasn't eating lots of veggies and greens.. I was eating iceberg lettuce salads, processed crap, sugary baked stuffed, white flour and rice, and saying it was healthy because it didn't have meat. I was a vegetarian without the veggies and duh.. it didn't work out so well. Other vegetarians and vegans put too much emphasis on not eating fat and they get themselves in trouble there cause we NEED dietary fat. Plus eating the majority of my food cooked is no good because cooking foods kills off half the vitamins. My raw experiences have really helped me to see that if you are unhealthy eating veggie… you are doing it wrong, period.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the tendency to sometimes dip into extremes. Even I was rolling my eyes when one gal in the book was relating how mean her family is because they won't stop eating meat when she is around and how she won't even go to family events anymore because she knows "murdered animals" will be on the table. Maybe I haven't been meat free long enough but I am relatively certain I will always be able to get through Thanksgiving dinners without bawling and accusing my family and friends of being heartless meanies.

On the home front if you remember my post about getting my husband on board with vegetarianism it has been a smashing success. For 2 months now we have been totally meat free in this house and no one is complaining. My hubby even cooked tonight and made veggie burritos. They were so good I told him he must be the designated burrito maker from now on. He has also made scrumptious stuffed mushrooms and a killer mushroom soup. Now he just accepts that we eat veggie at home and that if he wants meat he has to cook it or get it when he eats out. He started out buying meat to cook himself but after he spent the better part of a day cooking expensive sausages only to have my son discover them and promptly throw them away, he stopped buying meat, LOL.

I think he likes the challenge of coming up with new ways to cook old favorites and finding new dishes that are just as good as meaty ones. His eyes roll back in his head when I make a vegetarian version of Chicken Scallopine. And the best part is that digestive issues are miraculously a thing of the past.

Soon I want to read The China Study. It was referred to several times in this book and is considered the "Grand Prix of epidemiology" since it is a study that examines more than 350 variables of health and nutrition with surveys from 6,500 adults in more than 2,500 counties across China and Taiwan, and conclusively demonstrates the link between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. I just haven't been able to find it for $1 at my local thrift store like I did this book.

I think both books lay to bed the the myth that going veggie is somehow bad for you. The data, the science, the epidemiology… does not support it. I doubt I will ever be on board with telling other people they can't eat a modest amount of meat and be healthy. But I hope more people come to realize that meat is in no way, shape, or form something we NEED.

Over the weekend I dived into a book I have been meaning to read for the past few weeks. I guess with all the holiday activity recently it didn't seem like the best time to read it, just in case I decided to act on any of the action plans contained in the book. I am glad I waited until I could give it my full attention because it is a rare gem.

The book is Simplicity Parenting – Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids. I assumed it was a book about voluntary simplicity but focused on kids and it is that but also so much more. The author, Kim John Payne is a therapist and he worked for many years in war torn areas of the third world helping kids with post traumatic stress issues. Ironically when his career changed directions and he came to practice in the US he noticed something strange about the children he was now treating. The children in this New England town that he was hired to help also showed the classic signs of post traumatic stress. But how could that be? These kids didn't live in a war ravaged country or have to fight for their very survival. What did they have to be so stressed about?

Basically he found that all the stuff going in on their lives was taking away from their childhoods and that they were becoming stressed. Many of the quirks that all kids have were becoming full blown disorders because of the stressful lives they were living… ADD, ADHD, OCD, ODD, etc. Some kids dealt with this stress and overabundance of activities and things in their lives by regressing into their own world (ADD, ADHD) and some would struggle to get control (OCD, ODD) but usually it all stemmed from the same problem, stress brought on by the life and lifestyle of the family. This particular therapist created a very successful practice and became Internationally renowned by helping parents to change the way they lived and parented by getting back to simplicity. These families and kids had too much stuff, too many choices, and too little time.

The book has basic action plans for simplifying the family dynamic.. decluttering the environment, establishing comforting rituals and routines, scheduling breaks, and scaling back on media and parental "hovering".

I especially liked that the chapters on decluttering the home had lists of things to look for in toys and entertainment to either qualify or disqualify them as something we should have in the home. It brought up many things I hadn't considered and yet many were things that I have considered already in my drive to parent "naturally". It compliments natural parenting very well in fact. One statistic that was horrifying to read is that the average American child has around 150 toys. Even more horrifying is that before I adopted a more natural and green lifestyle I am positive my kids had double that number. How can a single child possibly play with 150 toys and be responsible for keeping them tidy? That is overload. One area that I hadn't considered is book overload and I think my kids are nearing or past that point. The book made a lot of great points about why we should not have more than half a dozen books in our kids rooms and wow it REALLY made sense. It made a case for how we might actually be impeding their love of reading by giving them access to that many books and several real life examples were shown.

With toys and books it is recommended that we store the majority of the "keepers" in a place out of their reach and use these collections as sort of a lending library. The book has motivated some BIG time decluttering in this house, specifically in the kids rooms. In my daughter's room for instance all her toys now fit in two small baskets under her bed. My oldest son's are in a chest in his closet and it is not even a 1/4 full. Just as promised by the author… they never even noticed the change. I also loved the idea of creating a small art center in each child's room… just a table, chair, and art supplies.

Another suggestion I loved in the book had to with routines. I like to keep the mornings peaceful and unhurried so I loved the idea of one the author's clients to light a candle at the breakfast table instead of turning lights on. Awhile back the light over our kitchen table malfunctioned and not wanting to deal with expense of an electrician we opted to eat by candlelight and I really miss that so I am inspired to bring that back (even though our light works). I have to have 3 candles, one for each child to blow out, so there is no fighting over this honor, LOL.

It had great information about the importance of family dinners and simplyfing that whole routine as well. The author's family does a moment of silence to set the mood for the meal and that didn't interest me so much but I loved the alternative suggestion to spend a moment giving thanks even for secular families like mine. Aka thanks to the farmers who grew these vegetables, thanks to Nana who who passed on this delicious recipe to us, and allowing the kids to express what they are thankful for. I like rituals like this that have no religious overtones.

Also good was the chapter on TV and media. I read it after reading a blog post on a mom blog about the benefits and joys of TV and how parents who try and restrict TV are being fear mongers. The week before I had visited a blog that is dedicated to helping parents avoid "hovering" and let heir kids have more meaningful and freeing experiences while learning self reliance. I was dissapointed to learn (after a recent post) that these concepts were not so much the result of the author's dedication to child development but rather the desire to have her kids out of her hair and not bothering her, so the electronic babysitter was a big hit in their house. It seemed almost the exact opposite of what her blog represented so I felt kinda tricked and thus discouraged about TV and media.

Simplicity Parenting was refreshing and helped to reinforce that lots of TV exposure over all can be very damaging. Kids don't have meaningful experiences in front of the TV and they don't learn self reliance from it either. More often than not they learn to sit and be entertained instead of creating exciting real life experiences. More often than not they learn to be consumers and feel that they don't have enough and that their lives are not enough. TV is designed to impart those messages… otherwise why would 16 billion be invested annually in using the TV to market to children??? If it wasn't working EXACTLY as they intended than they wouldn't be spending that much money. Think about it.

I do believe that the TV can be a window to exciting possibilities. I love the show Man Versus Wild for example and various Discovery Channel programs are wonderful. BUT the TV can also be a window into adult content and ideas that kids are not mature enough for and it can easily replace real life adventures and that is truly sad. This book has confirmed for me that we need to do even more in regards to discouraging TV viewing.

Other areas addressed in the book are parental hovering and also overscheduling our kids. Particular attention is paid to sports and it has much to say in regards to the argument you hear from many parents that sports have all these important life lessons to teach and that they help keeps kids out of trouble. It is not anti-sports, rather pro sports with some much needed perspective.

Overall, a great book with really helpful ideas for addressing one of the biggest issues we are facing… the fast paced, highly stressed, materialistic, overwhelming nature of today's childhood and what we can do to help create change. The advice stop notch and the real life stories of how families and children applied this advice and benefited was very heart warming.

Some other reference books mentioned by the author include: The Hurried Child, The Power of Play,The Over-Scheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap

Right before Christmas a reader (thanks Erin!) emailed me about a book she thought I would like. I was looking for a book for my nearly 6 year old daughter as a gift and thought this would be perfect. On Christmas Day my daughter ended up getting The Apple Pip Princess by Jane Ray and we read it this week. It is a very lovely story, one that my daughter listened to in eager anticipation and it is one I am sure I will be asked to read many times over.

The story is about a sad King whose land and heart have been barren ever since the death of his beloved wife. Concerned about the future of his kingdom he challenges his three daughters to do something important to make their mark and after 7 days the King will see what they have accomplished and decide who the next ruler will be.

The two older sisters decide to build tall towers as monuments to their own beauty and accomplishment. One tower is made of wood and one is made of metal. They both command their subjects to bring them raw materials even if doing so poses a hardship for them. The youngest daughter, Serenity, chooses to utilizes her mother's box of nature's treasures including a tiny Apple Pip (seed). She plants it in the ground and every day she plants more trees, cherry, olive, plum, orange, etc. Seeing what she is doing, the villagers volunteer to help her with the planting and share their wisdom and knowledge about farming. With the help of the other items in the box the land becomes a lush and fertile paradise again and Serenity shows that she is the one worthy to be the new leader.

The story was beautiful and so is are the illustrations. My daughter was oohing and aahing quite a bit. I also loved that the princesses were not the sterotypical blonde, cookie cutter princesses either, even if the older two sisters were on the vain side and slightly scary with their tendencies to throw people in the dungeon! But if they were as empathetic as their younger sister we wouldn't have as dramatic a story. The main character is kind of shy and unsure of herself but willing to follow her heart.

I think any little girls will love this story but if you like underlying eco themes than this book is perfect… a good story, great characters, and no gloom and doom. An eco fairy tale… A++

Just before Christmas I got a gift certificate to Borders from my brother. Instead of waiting until after Christmas to use it I braved the crowds and bought a couple books to read over the holiday. One of those purchases was The Daily Coyote – A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming. The cover and title called to me from across the store.

This book is a fantastic true story that hooked me from page one. It makes you examine things that you long thought you had your mind made up about and it made me feel rather tiny in the presence of such bravery and bravado. Shreve Stockton is a woman after my own heart.. a kindred soul that I recognize on some deep level. She is a New Yorker turned cowgirl who literally runs with coyotes (or a coyote – singular I should say).

The story is told by Shreve about how she traveled from San Francisco back to her beloved New York City … alone… on a Vespa. Her journey took her through Wyoming where she felt her heart being called home. Thinking she would get over it as soon as she got to NYC she continued along but after a week she knew she had to move to Wyoming and she did. A few weeks later she was renting a ranch home with acreage and helping a local cowboy feed his cattle. The way she described the people and pace of life is very alluring. Also very familiar to what I experienced when I moved from Phoenix, AZ to an 80 acre farm in rural Ohio. I often think about those days.. walks down country lanes, tending to livestock, the way people drop by to visit with you, strangers waving to you from their cars….

Anyway, Shreve adopts a coyote pup whose parents were shot for killing sheep. And so her amazing journey begins, living in a 12×12 log home with a tin roof with no indoor plumbing and only  a wood burning stove to stay warm in the harsh winters, with her cat Eli and her coyote Charlie. In a world where coyotes are seen as menaces to be killed on site she chooses to raise one. In a world where cats and coyotes are prey and predator Eli and Charlie become friends. Not everything goes smoothly which makes the journey even more remarkable and touching. I also loved that she is a blogger and photographer.

If you are looking for a great story this one is a winner. I would not be surprised if this gets made into a movie in the future. It is like White Fang except with a woman and a coyote and its true a story. Enjoy!