Fall-ifying

We've been doing lots of fall-ifying around our nest lately with fun seasonal decor and treats!

First up were some delicious soaked pumpkin pancakes! I was so excited when a store near us started to carry organic pumpkins so I could make homemade puree - so easy! I used this recipe but soaked the flour and water overnight with a bit more ACV than called for, and used coconut milk instead of soy. They were really good and cooked better than any other pancakes I've ever done. I topped mine off with some raw coconut butter, banana, and a bit of drizzled raw coconut nectar. YUM!


This beautiful leaf branch Lovebug and I took from a friend's backyard was our first piece of nature to bring in for the season and it inspired much of our fall decor. I love the heart shape and pretty brown color of the leaves.


Next up with our homemade pumpkin puree we made soaked pumpkin cupcakes for a family get together, which we topped with a delicious cashew and hazelnut frosting.


Inspired by the above leaf branch I made some leaves out of brown packaging paper I had saved and hung them on thread. Lovebug loved doing this alongside me and made some darling little leaves herself:). I really enjoy lighting candles this time of year and have lots of soy ones leftover from my sister's wedding everywhere along with some pillar ones I recently made.


I think pinecones are so unique and beautiful. These ones we collected during a recent family photo shoot and the large acorns were given to me by a dear friend.


I adore soups, especially this time of the year. There is nothing better than warm soup on a cool day! This sweet potato, squash, and apple soup which my Love adapted a bit by adding carrot too was delicious and such a lovely fall color.


This is sitting in our dining room and is just a little vignette of dead branches from our backyard, a few leaves, and pinecones. Simple. I like it.


I really love our fall decor this year! It very much looks like fall around our parts as we don't see a ton of reds, oranges, and your typical "fall colors" but I still appreciate the colors we do see :). I think it's beautiful.

Have you been fall-ifying too?

TGIT!!!

Thank goodness it's Tuesday!!! I'm not really Monday's biggest fan. I like the fresh start to a new week but Mondays are often just harder for us. We miss my Love like crazy after being spoiled by his presence for two days! :) But it's Tuesday now, so yeah!!!

Lovebug and I started our day off with a bowl of raw yumminess - sprouted oatmeal with blueberries! I haven't talked too much about it lately but the raw journey we started at the beginning of the year is going wonderfully. We eat raw for breakfast, lunch, and snacks...so about 80% or so raw.

What I've really been loving is exploring the raw breakfast world. Sprouted buckwheat groats, coconut cereals, chia cereal, sprouted wheat berry cereal, homemade nut milks, even raw pancakes, and of course the raw oatmeal - YUM!!!! I SO look forward to breakfast!

We also make a daily fresh juice (LOVE!!) using our Vitamix and nut bag so we get lots of goodness in that. And we also tend to make a green smoothie later in the afternoon as well. So to say we create alot of compost in one day is a big understatement :) and our incredible Vitamix gets quite the workout being used 2-3 times every day.

SO raw snacks come pretty easily as well (juice, green smoothie, sprouted seeds, sprouted nut butters, dried fruit, and of course fresh fruit, etc.) but we've had some issues with raw lunches. We typically just have big salads but I'm tiring of those. We've made many raw soups and other types of "salads" but raw lunch recipes tend to be very nut heavy (raw organic nuts = expensive) and overall don't go a long ways. So we're working on expanding/improving that. If you're raw and have some good lunch ideas/recipes, please send them my way!

I also wish I could do more raw lunches here and there that weren't too time-consuming. After making fresh juice, most likely a smoothie, and whatever snacks, I often wish I could just pull out something raw and delicious from the fridge for lunch instead of having to chop/prep much. Of course you can do that with raw soups pre-made beforehand, but like I said, the ones we have made require LOTS of organic produce and nuts but don't last too many lunches for us.

We also got a dehydrator back in May so that's been fun. We've made raw flax chips, wheat berry bread, kale chips, corn tortillas, almond cookies, and much more. Of course the dehydrator is most used when drying our nuts, seeds, and fruit. We've done alot of solar drying of our fruit as well which sure doesn't take too long with this Texas heat. The deyhdrator was a wonderful addition to our raw food journey though.

So although I've been LOVING our raw eating during the day at our nest, I do REALLY look forward to our cooked dinners! It's a good balance I think. Plus we often treat ourselves to cooked breakfasts on the weekend with sprouted wheat waffles, tempeh, sprouted English muffins, and so forth. I must say that my Love has really been cooking up some incredible cooked dinners recently too. He constantly amazes me with what he creates!

Anyway, that's where things our at with meals around our green nest...mostly raw and loving it (despite our lunch rut)!

Hope you're glad it's Tuesday too...

Feeding the world organically

A recent bounty from our organic garden...

There was an article in Organic Gardening I read awhile back that was a conversation with Michael Pollan (who's great of course). I found it really interesting, but especially this paragraph:

"But 'can organic feed the world?' is a question really up for grabs." He pauses. "The honest answer is, we don't know. I've seen research that suggests with really smart rotations and cover cropping, there is enough nitrogen to do it. I also think that if we changed our relationship to meat, we probably could. Half of all the grain that we're growing now is fed to livestock. If we were eating more food directly as plants, then we could feed the world organically. It really is the world's appetite for meat that forces us down that fossil-fuel path."

Very interesting, right? Most of you know we eat a 100% organic vegan diet at our nest so it's something we're very passionate about! I so wish all people around the world would have easy access to organic food.

So if meat is one of the biggest barriers to this, which I do believe, what needs to be done? Well first, you could go veg :). Or if you just really really love meat and/or truly feel like your body needs it, then why not treat it as just that - a TREAT. Have it once a week or a couple times instead of every day or at every meal. Many people have sausage for breakfast, turkey at lunch, and then chicken/beef for dinner. That's ALOT of meat people....way way way too much. Even daily intake of meat is too much in my opinion. The environmental effect of that is phenomenal but it can also be very detrimental to your health. People often question vegans/vegetarians about where they get their protein. When a healthy vegan/vegetarian gets a great amount of it, more than adequate actually. Whereas, the typical meat eater gets WAY too much and their bodies can't do anything with it. Instead, their livers have to try to excrete all of the excess which can cause damage. So just something to think about and research further...

Of course if you go with the second option and just minimize your meat intake, then for sure go ORGANIC and local if possible. Do a search for local farms where you can go tour and get a glimpse of how the animals are treated. You won't see everything obviously, but at least you'll hopefully get an honest look. No matter what the company advertises, you will never know how big farms treat their animals or what conditons they live in and I promise you that more than likely, you would be horrified.

Or even better than buying meat, go out and get your own meat, fish, etc. from out in some true wilderness somewhere! It takes some skills obviously, but this is a much more humane and healthier option in my opinion with much less of an environmental impact. IF you're going to eat animals, eating what you yourself catch, shoot, etc. is the way to do it!

OH and I really do think this whole theory also applies to other animal products as well - butter, eggs, animal's milk, etc. etc....if you really love them, treat them as treats and get the best/healthiest there is (local, organic, etc.)! If you don't really love those things, then why not take them out of your diet completely? I promise there are much healthier (and very delicous) alternatives out there! Many people say that organic is "too expensive". Well, if you cut out or even greatly lessen the amount of animal products you buy, I promise it makes an organic diet much more affordable!

So could we really feed the world organically if we changed our relationship to meat? I think it's truly a powerful idea...

We are busy getting things ready for a combo 4th of July/family birthday party. We're so excited to host a fun-filled day! I wish all of you a wonderful weekend and Independence Day with your loved ones!

Food, Inc.

Here is the trailer for a new documentary out called Food, Inc., which is about the farming and food industry in our country...



Doesn't it look good? I cannot wait to see it! I found the following clip particularly interesting...



Personally, just the thought of fast food grosses me out, but it was interesting seeing this struggling family's perspective on what they choose to spend their money on. I know it was just a clip, but it didn't seem to make a proper comparison though. If you're weighing 3 pears vs. 3 hamburgers...well yeah, that pear isn't going to fill you up or satisfy you initially like the hamburger would, so you would spend your money on the hamburger. A more proper comparison would be something like beans and rice, which is very nutritionally dense and filling, as well as very very cheap. But anyway, I digress...

The way our country thinks about food really does have to change! People have to realize the importance of what they put in their bodies. We have to stop thinking "faster, bigger, cheaper, available year-round," etc. and start thinking "wholesome, nutritionally dense, organic, local, seasonal," and so forth! We have to. There are alot of people coming around and realizing the impact their food has on them (and the environment), but we have such a long long long way to go.

Alot of people still have a vision of their food coming from some small idyllic farm, which is so far from the truth in most instances. People don't realize the conditions, treatment, and often disgusting things used to grow/raise their food. More and more people are educating themselves though and truly purchasing with intent, purpose, and a conscience. This is especially important because, as mentioned in the documentary, when we buy something we truly are voting/supporting what we believe in.

Hopefully, Food, Inc. will help reach and inspire lots of people to make and demand changes, as well as serve as extra encouragement for the ones that are already aware and acting on it...

If anyone has actually seen it, I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

Happy Friday my friends! This weekend we are doing some organizing and moving things around...Hopefully it will be both productive and relaxing! Have a good one.

Vegetable gardens at the White House

We just got back yesterday from spring Antique Weekend and had so much fun! More on that later though :). Today, I wanted to share this video I saw on Heather Jane's blog last week that I just loved. It's very interesting to see the history of vegtable gardens at the White House, isn't it? I'm excited and hopeful for the impact the Obama's organic garden will have on the country! Be back soon to share what we found...

How our nest does it...

So I've talked about WHY our nest does 100% organic, but HOW do we do it exactly?

Well, first of all, let's talk about our budget. For 2 adults and 1 breastfeeding/solid eating toddler, we spend an average of $100 a week on 100% organic groceries. Probably about $50 of that is spent on fresh vegetables and fruit. Lately, Lovebug has been eating alot more vegetables, so sometimes it's $125, but most of the time it's right at or around $100.

This amount does not include supplements or personal care products, as we get those from other sources. It also does not include any cleaning or laundry products since we make all of them with supplies mostly from Mountain Rose Herbs. Since we cloth diaper/wipe, this amount also does not include those, which saves us quite a bit of money. Further, that amount does not include any cooking/baking oils, herbs, spices, salt, pepper, and so forth, because we also get them all from Mountain Rose Herbs in bulk.

We do our weekly shopping at Central Market but make a monthly trip or so to Whole Foods as well. From April - November, we go to the local farmer's market every Saturday morning where we stand in the long line at the ONE organic stand. At any of these places, if they don't have it organic, we don't buy it. It's really that simple. Even if that means changing things up that we had intended on doing, we go in another direction or find an organic substitute that will work.

Things that help us buy 100% organic 100% of the time:

-My Love keeps great track of what we are spending. As he is the "top chef" around our nest, he also does our grocery shopping. Sometimes Lovebug and I tag along especially when it's farmer's market season, but alot of times, it's just my Love heading to the store early Saturday morning with the list we carefully made together. He has his ipod and listens to music while he tallys up things as they go into the basket. Somtimes he put things back if we're going to go over what we had intended and sometimes he calls me to say "do we want this or that this week?"...And we make that decision based upon what we really need. We never ever take anything away that is for Lovebug though as her health is our top priority!

-Simply, we don't overbuy. Probably most anyone that would come over to our nest and look in our refrigerator or pantry would probably think both are pretty bare, but to us, they're completely full. We just don't overbuy and keep to our list, which helps tremendously. Actually, come Saturday our refrigerator does look pretty empty! :)

-We buy in bulk. As mentioned above, about every month we load up on organic agave, maple syrup, and other things from Whole Foods. Also every month, I generally take a trip to another grocery store, Market Street, to load up on organic nuts and chocolate chips because they have the best prices on those. Then, every couple of months, we load up on LOTS of beans, lentils and such from Whole Foods. Buying in bulk truly helps! Plus, you're using less packaging (especially if you re-use your own bags).

-We keep our paper products to an absolute minimum at our nest and this helps our budget a great deal. So that means no TP (except for guests), no paper towels, no napkins, no paper plates, no diapers, and so forth. These things can quickly add up...

-As mentioned above, from April to November we go to the local farmer's market every Saturday morning to load up on organic vegetables. This helps our budget a TON because we can go and spend $35 on veggies with the same amount normally costing us $50 at Central Market! Find your local farmer's market here.

-Since we eat by far mostly vegan (with the very rare local eggs and fish we catch), our organic protein sources are much cheaper than meat-eaters. Organic beans cost a great deal less per pound than organic chicken or beef, so that's something to consider. Even if you can't go vegan, vegetarian, or pescetarian, then consider at least making more of your meals meat/chicken free per week than not. You'll end up saving money for sure!

-We drink a ton of water and don't buy bottled beverages hardly ever. We don't buy soda and I know this is kind of crazy to most people, but we just don't drink the stuff. We also don't buy bottled water, but instead have our reusable bottles that we re-fill. This saves us quite a bit! We do buy a carton of orange juice every week that we partake of a little bit every day, but a treat is when we can get an organic beer for my Love and a GT's Kombucha for me! :)

-We don't buy packaged foods - no cookies, crackers, cake mixes, boxed dinners, and so forth. That stuff can easily add up in more ways than one, so we just don't buy them. Plus, fresh is just best...

-This may seem minute, but we compost and recycle like crazy. Thus we don't buy trash bags but once a year. We only put out trash maybe once a month if that, so this is something little but a small money saver.

-We are still breastfeeding and practice baby-led eating/weaning. This also might seem minute, but it has saved us money for sure. However, financial savings is by far NOT the reason we have done either of these things, but rather, an added benefit. We have never done baby food, cereal, formula, bottle-feeding, and so forth, but instead have only breastfed and started to offer cut up fresh vegetables to Lovebug around 10 months once she started to show interest. She has always fed herself and decides how much/little she wants to eat. Her vegetable intake continues to increase although her breastfeeding really hasn't decreased much :), but we have definitely noticed a small difference ($15-25) here and there certain weeks in our grocery bill due to this and know it will only increase from here.

SO these are some things that came to mind in how we save and are able to keep to the 100% organic diet. However, we also have to do away with other things (like cable, etc.) to maintain it. There are certainly ways that we can improve though:

-We would love to get where we always make all of our breads. I make them here and there and always make our pizza dough and baked goods, but would love to make all of our tortillas, and sandwich and pita bread as well. Currently for these things, we buy Ezekial 4:9 which is sprouted and very delicious.

-Currently we buy a big thing of purified water every week, but really hope in the near future to install a whole house water filtration system so we don't have to do this. We had Eco Water Texas come out not long ago and test our water - eewwwww! Disgusting what's in it!! Really. I highly recommend getting your water tested and not drinking tap water!

So, maybe some of this will help a few of you. It IS really hard, especially with today's economy to stay within budget and make things work...but I truly believe if it's a priority, everyone's diet can be 100% or at least mainly organic.

The above is what currently works for our nest, but I would love to hear any tips of how you make it work for you and your families as well, so please share!

Oh and the photo is a little box I've been working on by making use of all of the organic produce stickers we go through :)...

The importance of eating organic

In my last post I talked a bit about organic and local food. Everyone probably knows by now the importance of eating organic, but I thought it might be helpful to be a tad more specific. Not only is your food going to be better for you as organic fruits and vegetables retain more nutrients, but it's healthier because you're NOT ingesting all the pesticides and nasties that non-organic food is sprayed, grown, or produced with. PLUS, you're helping the environment as you're supporting organic farming methods that do not pollute the soil and wildlife. Further, you're NOT supporting or contributing to the negative health effects that farmers, their families, and workers can experience by breathing in all of the pesticides and chemicals that conventional farms use.


So, the benefits of eating organic go beyond you and your family's health, which is something really important to remember! It's especially important for anything babies and children eat to be organic because they are more sensitive to pesticides and their developing organs are less able to get rid of the toxins and chemicals. This very much applies to pregnant women or anyone with a decreased immune system as well, but we strongly believe it's best for everyone! Plus, it just tastes better! :)

Now in regard to local, I LOVE grocery stores like Central Market and Whole Foods that list where the produce is from as it's something very important to also consider. Do your local stores do this? There are alot of opinions out there about organic vs. locally grown in regards to the environment. Many say, and I would have to agree, that locally grown is better for the EARTH than organic produce shipped to the U.S. all the way from South America, because your carbon footprint is MUCH less. BUT, organic is better for YOU and your health, so it's a toss-up. Organic AND locally-grown would be IDEAL, but that's not always available, but certainly check places like your local farmer's market for this perfect combination.


Ok and obviously, if you can just walk out your door and pick your organic vegetables from your own garden then that is the absolute healthiest and most green option! We do this with herbs and arugula currently and it's such a joy. We have plans for some more vegetables this season and then big plans for the future, which we'll share with you along the way whenever we're able to make it happen. With the pictured arugula gathered recently from our yard my Love made a delicious pesto - YUM!

Also, keep in mind, it is ideal for all of this to apply to non-produce food as well...it's always best to buy organic beans, meat, dairy, nuts, grains, breads, oils, condiments, and so on and on. By buying organic everything, you're ensuring to the best of your ability that you and your family's bodies are not ingesting chemicals, hormones, preservatives, dyes, and so forth, not to mention the positive environmental effects.


If you're not able to make your diet 100% organic just yet, then I would urge you to try to buy at least all of these things organic, which is a great list I ran across awhile back. These are especially important to buy organic because they retain more of the pesticides and whatnot than other food. If you can't buy them organic, I would suggest not buying them at all and getting something else. I felt it was going to be too long and overwhelming to include HOW we do 100% organic within this post as well, so I'll save that for next time...Until then! Have a great Monday.

UPDATE: Michelle Obama broke ground last Friday on a White House kitchen garden!!!! YEA!!! What a dream. The garden is going to have greens, vegetables, fruit, and herbs...and two beehives as well! Pretty cool. Mrs. Obama talks about how her family has had plans for such a garden since they first moved in and notes that her girls are more likely to try something if they have been involved in the planting, caring, and picking of it. Alice Waters is quoted a little bit at the end of the article and I'm sure she is just ecstatic...as am I!! According to this article, the organic seedlings to be planted are from the Executive Mansion greenhouses and the raised beds will be fertilized with White House compost, crab meal, lime, and green sand! The total cost of the seeds, mulch, and everything was just $200. I really look forward to seeing more on this, the impact it has, and the importance of organic and local food from the Obama's. Thank you Heather Jane for sharing the first article!

The mother of slow food

I personally love Alice Waters and think she is amazing. She truly is a visionary and has done incredible things for this country! Thankfully, she isn't done yet and has many more things planned, such as the vegetable gardens at schools across the country and at the White House, which are both genius ideas. It would be so significant for the Obama's to decide to do away with the rose garden in lieu of a vegetable one and see their cute girls out there learning about compost and organic gardening. It would set quite a precedence, wouldn't it?

Some of my favorite parts of the interview are when they are at the incredible Slow Food Festival and they show the beautiful vegetable garden in front of city hall. How amazing! Then, this response from Alice when the interviewer talks about the high price of organics:

"We make decisions every day, about what we want to eat. Some people buy Nike shoes…2 pairs! And other people eat Brock's grapes and nourish themselves. I pay a little extra, but this is what I wanna do."

That is so very true. When we talk to people about organics, many of them say "it's too expensive" or "we can't afford them", but it really does come down to choices with what you choose to buy and what you don't, and within the vast majority of situations it's ALL about priorities. One of our top priorities is our health and the health of the environment. Thus, we do without other things so we can buy 100% organic all the time because we know it's worth it! Next post I think I'll share some things we do to maintain our 100% organic diet within a set budget...

The other part of the interview I enjoyed was when the interviewer was shocked that Alice didn't have a microwave in her kitchen. Well, we have one sitting unplugged in our laundry room but never use it (except as a resting place for rising dough:), so yes, it can be done! OH and the farmer's market footage had me so excited for ours to open here in the next month...I can hardly wait! What about you?

Anyway, I found the video inpiring and wanted to share it! I sure would love to someday eat at Chez Panisse that's for sure, and what an amazing thing it would be to sit down and chat with Alice. She's on my list...as is Jane Goodall. Alice truly is the mother of the slow local organic food movement and I cannot wait to see the further impact she has on this country!

Thank you Tiny Morsels for sharing the video.

Get Well!

My youngest sister had surgery yesterday, but thank God everything went really well and she is recovering at home. Today is also her birthday so I whipped up a little card and some fun poppies to help brighten her day (aren't poppies beautiful?). I added in some of our Super Soup my Love made to help nourish her healing body and some chocolate chip cookies for her to enjoy. Lovebug and I just got back from delivering this little get well basket, so for any concerned family members out there, the birthday girl is in pain but is resting and doing pretty good.


OH and a BIG thank you again to Joslyn...Lovebug's party was on Party Perfect yesterday thanks to her!! I always love the parties Sara chooses to post so I am deeply honored by that. It made my week for sure! Big thanks to all of the other love as well from new visitors. Welcome and hope you come back often! :)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Our Heart Day

Hope your Valentine's was as perfect as ours! Wasn't it so much fun that it fell on a Saturday? It was a slow day at home with the three of us just hanging out and enjoying each other. We ate some delicious food (and desserts:), crafted a bit, and caught up on some of our favorite shows online. I thought I'd share some hearts and such from our weekend...


Yummy whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes made for me by my sweet Love...


Lovely patch I made from recycled shirts, then embroidered and sewed onto one of my Love's undershirts as his little gift from me. He loves it as he has always wanted a tattoo of my name, so this was something in that direction :)...


Delicious and simple homemade pizza made by my Love for dinner...


Adorable new leg warmers on Lovebug as her little gift...


Precious little conversation people customized for us by these Etsy gals that inspired my Valentine's look this year...


Fun little banners and mobiles I made from newspaper, acrylic paint, and cotton yarn...


Hope the rest of your week is full of yummy, lovely, delicious, adorable, precious, and fun things! OH and thank you so much for all of the sweet comments on Lovebug's party, especially to Joslyn for putting it on Kirtsy. I felt so honored and am super glad I finally posted it! :)

The 1st Birthday Party

Right off, I'm forewarning you that this post is long, so if you don't want to hear LOTS of food and decor details from Lovebug's birthday party, DON'T read on! You could just scroll down through the pictures...It's ok, I promise I won't be offended :)!

Alright my friends, THIS is the long-awaited (and long) 1st birthday post...yes, it's been 2 months since the event took place but whatever. I have had this thing in my draft folder for forever and darn it, I'm posting it regardless of how long it has been!

The party was so lovely and turned out so well and our little birthday girl enjoyed herself immensely! I certainly feel for those with December birthdays (and their parents) now though as it truly is harder to put something together during the holidays. Sometimes it seems the children get the shorter end of the stick because of it, don't they? I want to ensure that never happens to Lovebug though, so I tried to make it as un-touched from the holidays as possible.


First off, Lovebug LOVES animals and always has. In fact, she has this beloved wooden puzzle that her grandparents gave her of farm animals when she was a tiny baby. SO we decided to go with a farm animal "theme" of sorts. We emailed Pingg invitations with this photo...


The next thing I tend to decide after the invitation is the ensemble to go with the theme/design of course! I searched for quite some time but finally found the right Eliza Gran dress. I loved the vintage-y almost farm-ish look to it, and the colors and adorable ric rac were perfect! I had the hardest time though tracking it down and never could find it in Lovebug's size despite many calls and emails. I ended up scoring it on sale, but the catch was that it was 1 size too big. It all worked out though because it fit her pretty well except in the shoulders, so just a few temporary stitches here and there and VOILA, Lovebug's party dress! It was a little long too but I thought it looked cute that way actually and it didn't seem to bother or hinder her.


I normally make Lovebug's hair clips but I sourced the felt cow out to Two Punky Peas who makes adorable ones. She had a great holiday deal going on and I had never attempted an animal clip before, so I left it to an expert. I made the satin ribbon headband and Gracious May made her cute shoes that we already had. I highly recommend both of those gals and their Etsy shops.


I really like to incorporate presents, if there are any, into the party decor, so one of Lovebug's birthday presents was the vintage Fisher Price farm we got at Antique Weekend this last fall. She won't be playing with it for awhile though since it is plastic, which in general, we don't allow. We will make exceptions however for well-made vintage toys, but only if it's something Lovebug won't be sucking on. Anyway, it became the centerpiece of the table...


The table was accented with some mini hay bales that I bought from this truly lovely Etsy seller. She makes them herself at their farm up in New York and they're very reasonably priced. They will work for future events or seasonal decor too which is great. Isn't Etsy the BEST? Nearly all of the decor came from wonderful Etsy sellers! The vintage white cloth napkins with red, blue, and yellow trim were all bought from different vintage Etsy sellers SO reasonably priced and will get lots of future use. I don't think you can ever have too many cloth napkins! The little vintage metal plates have cute farm animals in the center and were also an inexpensive Etsy find from Happy Day Vintage and Lovebug now loves to play with them :). You truly can find amazing stuff if you do a little searching.


I tried to incorporate mini red ric rac here and there to compliment her dress so I sewed some onto the table linens and made an entry banner outside with some. I made a little garland of it with a "1" in the middle made from cardboard, some Eco Glue, and some leftover raffia I've had lying around forever that I simply cut up to look like hay. Then I accented it with some felt farm animal puppets from Mahar that I know Lovebug will love to play with when she's a tad bit older.


The ric rac accents worked really well because I incorporated it into our Christmas decor too which I ended up loving! For the party though, I made a little "happy birthday" banner with it that hung over the table. I used mini clothespins, leftover red and white cardstock we had lying around, and vintage crossword letter cards from Boston Bag Lady. She went through all of her cards to fish out the exact letters for "Happy Birthday" and "Merry Christmas" because I turned around and switched the cards out for the holidays which worked out perfect! Again, isn't Etsy the best?


The birthday crown was inspired by Ruby Ellen's beautiful ones but we used Amanda's instructions in her book. My Love actually made it all himself which I think is super special. We kept it simple using white 100% wool felt with some red ric rac lightly sewn on in a few places and a mini cow button that we got from yet another Etsy seller (SHOCKER I know). Our plan is to add another little button or adornment that fits with the "theme" of each birthday party every year. You can take the elastic easily out if desired (we tried it) so hopefully she'll enjoy the special crown her Daddy made her for many birthdays to come!


Lovebug's other little present was this beautiful set of wooden farm animals...aren't they adorable? I searched and searched for the right ones and finally decided on these because I love their colors and modern design. In case you're interested, Cheekeyes is the brand and they have some other cool animal lines that I cannot wait to get in the future. Anyway, these went on the coffee table in the family room, so again the present became part of the decor...


Let's talk some food, because a party isn't much without it, is it? We kept it super simple since it was in the middle of the day between lunch and dinner. I made some of my "treehugger bark" and some mint chocolate chip cookies in lieu of cake.


My favorites were the popcorn balls and the below mini apple bites, which were both on a stick. They were super fun and the paper sticks got composted post-party so no worries about the waste. I got the general idea for the apple bites here, but we just did vegan chocolate chips and some chopped up almonds. They are really easy once you get the hang of the melon baller in the apple.


The popcorn ball recipe we got here but used coconut oil in lieu of vegetable and added sunflower seeds and raisins. Personally, I really appreciate when food is labeled so I always try to let people know what they're eating. For this party, we used a mini chalkboard we found at Antique Weekend a few years back and just had it simply sitting on the table with the menu listed on it.


For beverages, it was spiced apple cider, coffee, or water, and the drinks had labels of course which is a must at our nest parties seen here and here :). As also is customary around our nest, it was a waste-free event with cloth napkins, and real plates and glasses. In addition to the obvious green aspect of this, it just takes the party up a notch in my opinion.


I know most everyone goes to a first birthday party waiting to see the little ones either tear into their presents or dive into their cakes. Well, we did neither of these :). I searched forever for a vegan nut and wheat free cupcake or mini cake option that I could bake. We don't want Lovebug to have wheat, nuts, or grains for another year and had a couple failed attempts with coconut flour unfortunately. Thus, we decided to just go with something easy that she loves without the stress or worries - SO chopped up banana it was! It's one of her favorites already so we knew she would love it. We added some strawberries (which she didn't love) and for fun, we added some vegan coconut cream icing. This recipe is yummy and I highly recommend it! A much healthier option to powdered sugar icings and can be used on coffee cakes, bundt cakes, cupcakes, or whatever!


In lieu of any games, we had a little slideshow of Lovebug's 1st year that was constantly playing on our TV as the entertainment. It was nearly 40 minutes long :) so people got bits here and there but it's a great keepsake for her box and I think we'll do one every birthday now to re-cap the year for her in pictures. The children mostly played outside...poor Lovebug wanted to go out there with the older kids so badly.


I love coming up with ideas for party favors as I think it's a fun little tradition to send the guests home with something. However, especially with the holidays, we decided that in lieu of any favors, we would make a donation to Heifer International, which is one of our favorite causes we like to support. Plus, it went with the whole "theme" of farm animals :). Anyway, please check out Heifer's online catalog as they are a wonderful organization with such an incredible mission! We also requested that in lieu of any presents, guests make a donation to them as well because our nest is already super blessed.


Well thank you for reading the birthday post...yes yes yes, lots of details with heavy emphasis on the decor, but you must remember I am an event designer by trade so my little personal parties are my outlet! :) It was definitely a successful party in my eyes as I think the guests enjoyed themselves and, most importantly, Lovebug had tons of fun. Here she is rolling around in the leaves after we finally let her outside...she might have enjoyed this more than anything else from the party!


So THERE, it's DONE...I feel SO much better now that I have posted this and can finally scratch it off my list! :) Thank you to anyone that actually read the whole thing. I highly recommend you check out the above Etsy sellers when you have a chance. Happy Friday!!!

More CPSIA...

Brrrr...it's cold outside! My lunch warmed me up though...it was Dal Soup that my beautiful Love made this last weekend and a warm piece of sprouted grain toast. Quite yummy! We've been on kind of an Indian kick here with our meals and this soup is my favorite thus far. It has soaked red lentils in it and just the right amount of everything else.


I've been doing a little more reading and researching into all of this with the CPSIA that I talked about here. I'm so concerned for the many many many Etsy sellers whom sell baby/children's products and small toy companies who this is going to affect negatively. Yesterday I was just at a loss for what needs to be done, but I found this sample letter from the Handmade Toy Alliance that has these suggested alterations:

I urge you to quickly rewrite the CPSIA so that toys made in batches of less than 5,000 units per year or manufactured within the USA and trusted countries with established toy safety regimes such as Canada and the European Union be held exempt from third party testing requirements. Such toys could still be subject to random auditing by the CPSC.

If you feel that testing should still be required, then the CPSC should be made to offer free testing services for USA toymakers and importers from Europe or Canada with revenues less than one million dollars.

These changes could save SO many small businesses and artisans! So many of us within the blog world constantly pledge to buy handmade and support small companies...well, HERE's a time that really needs to happen! We need to show our support for the artisans and small toy makers, both for them and the sake of our little ones. Just go to this page and find your Senator/Congresspeople and then copy/paste the sample letter adding anything you so desire to customize it (or not)! You can also sign the petition here. Let's all do what we can! Alright, please let me know if anyone hears anything else and stay warm...

Thanksgiving Stew

So alot of people probably wonder what vegetarians/vegans eat for Thanksgiving...NO, we don't eat Tofurkey! In fact, we have never once cooked tofu, but that seems to be what alot of people think :). Actually we usually take a yummy quinoa squash pie as the vegetarian entree, but this year we're changing things up and taking a stew. Not any old stew mind you - it's called "Three Sisters" stew and it's delicious! We love this dish as it contains some of our faves- beans, corn, and squash, which makes it very hearty and nutritious. Plus, in Native American mythology, squash, beans, and corn are known as the "three sisters", which makes it perfect for Thanksgiving. Click on the above link because they have other great recipes too!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend - ours was mainly spent cleaning out our garage :). However, here are some pics from a walk (see, we DO have some red and orangish leaves here in Texas:) and Lovebug having a good laugh and blowing you all kisses! Have a fabulous week getting ready for your Thanksgiving festivities!

What's Cooking

As many of you know, I love breakfast. Awhile back we were doing whole wheat waffles every morning. We would make them in bulk on the weekend and then pop them in the oven come morning time. I still adore them, but a couple months ago I needed a change. I had seen this idea of quinoa for breakfast at Tiny Morsels and wanted to give it a try. Our nest LOVES quinoa - loves it. It has sort of a nutty taste we really enjoy and use it in place of brown rice in dishes quite often. We initially tried it as a "breakfast for dinner" one night - aren't those fun? :) Anyway, we both loved it, so it became my daily breakfast, and wanted to share.

We add a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter (yum!), a handful or two of raisins, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a tablespoon or so of ground flax seed, and a drizzle of maple syrup - and VOILA - a yummy healthy breakfast that will fill you up and provide the right start to your day. It's delicious! Same idea as oatmeal, but healthier and yummier (to my taste buds at least). We've also added fresh fruit and some nuts, but the above is my go-to combination because we always have all of that on hand.


I've talked about the health benefits of quinoa before, but it is extremely high in protein AND is a complete protein with all 9 of the essential amino acids. Quinoa is also high in magnesium, iron, copper, and riboflavin (B2). It's generally considered a "grain" but is actually the seed of plant in the same family as beets, chard, and spinach. Another huge plus to bulk quinoa is how fast it cooks as it only takes 15 minutes compared to the 50 or so our bulk rice takes. We buy our organic quinoa in bulk from Central Market but I am sure most grocery stores have it these days.

Give quinoa a try for breakfast and let me know what you think! OH and it's pronounced "KEEN-wah" :). Have a wonderful weekend!

I love trees

I do, I really do. I know that's pretty cliche...because yes, I am a "treehugger" or an environmentalist rather. I think more and more people are considering them to be ones actually (YEA for the Earth!).


But back to trees - they have such beauty to them, no? They provide us with shade, cool our homes and cities (thus naturally conserving energy), are habitats to birds, squirrels, and other creatures, absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the air, clean the air, provide food to both animals and humans, provide wood (hopefully selectively and sustainably harvested with other options gone to first), provide places for kids to play, and they mark the seasons so gorgeously! Here are some other reasons why trees are an amazing creation!


Sometimes I like to think about trees being "alive" - I know they're alive, but "alive" as in Lord of the Rings "alive" when the trees fight back against the evils of the land. I like that...:), but really, that's kind of the way we should think of them and treat them as such because they do such incredible things for our planet and thus deserve respect and stewardship. The Arbor Day Foundation is a wonderful organization with such an incredible mission - a membership would be such a great Christmas gift wouldn't it?! It is really important to plant the correct type of tree for your particular area though, so you don't plant an invasive tree that kills all the natives (hello cedar trees here in Texas!...poor poor beautiful majestic native oaks!).


There is this small park about a two minute walk from my house - it's really just a public greenspace with trees, a couple benches and water fountains, but it's pretty, and Lovebug and I have been going over there every day for short bouts of time recently. We love getting fresh air and seeing all the green that will soon be replaced with fall colors. Lately I've been drawn to studying the bark of the trees and looking at the differences. It's quite fascinating as they all vary so so much - each with a different texture, shape, and thickness. It's their "skin" protecting them from the elements, as ours does, which I find so intriguing. Next time you're around a good amount of trees, maybe check out their bark and see what you think.


This is my favorite tree there. It curves pretty severely and then all of its branches fan down to the ground as well as over far to the other side. It's beautiful. I brought one of the leaves home to ask my Love what kind of tree it was (because he knows stuff like that:) and he's pretty sure it's a river birch. So pretty.


Oh by the way, the dinner for him went well - thank you for the well wishes. I made this Kale & Apple pasta dish (w/o the cheese) from CuisineNie's blog (you've probably heard of what happened to her and her husband - so sad) and it was super easy and very nutritious with all the calcium from the kale and whatnot...I would however definitely add more kale next time and some Italian herbs or other spices, as it was lacking a bit in that area.


Well anyway, YEA it's Friday, which means it's baking and bathroom cleaning day (amongst other things) so I better hop to it. Let's see, some things on the weekend's agenda: some birthday present sewing, hemming (never attempted this before - wish me luck), and lots of quality time with my two Loves! Have a wonderful wonderful weekend my friends! OH, and check out that bark...and OH, maybe think about planting a tree! :)