June 11, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

DIY Lemon/Rosemary Cleaner!

Ever since I had Cedar I have wanted to make my own cleaners, Before I would cut a lemon in half, squirt it on whatever I was cleaning and then wipe the area with a wet cloth….well having a very active almost 11 month old I need to be a bit quicker about my cleaning these days! So I played around with different recipes, until I found one that worked best for me. I use a lot of lemons, especially in the summer, I love to squeeze them on fresh fish, add to tea or love to use some in homemade salad dressings. With all my lemon usage I end up with a lot of leftover lemon peel. So I decided to put them to good use!

This can be safely made while holding your baby… You could even have your kiddo help you!

You can play around with different citrus by saving peels from oranges or limes instead of lemons or adding lavender! Lavender and Rosemary are both antibacterial. I am using a lemon/rosemary spray and love it! I have seen some recipes where you fill the mason jar with vinegar but for me the vinegar smell was so strong. With doing only half vinegar it really lets the lemon smell come through and who doesn’t love a lemon smell in their kitchen!

Lemon/Rosemary Cleaner Recipe:

Lemon peel (enough to fill a pint size mason jar)
3 dried rosemary sprigs (you could use fresh too, whatever you have)
8 oz. white vinegar
8 oz. water

Once you have enough lemon peel saved up put in rosemary, vinegar and water. Leave on counter for at least 2 weeks, shaking every day or so. You will know when the mixture is ready because the liquid in the jar will turn a lovely yellow. Once done, strain out lemon peels and rosemary and compost. Pour your liquid into a spray bottle then add water to fill the rest. You will end up with a lovely smelly and 100% safe cleaner!

May 17, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

“Throw away your Television”

“Throw away your Television, Take the noose of your ambition, Reinvent your intuition now.” Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Paul and I had wanted to get rid of our Television for a few years before we actually took the step to say goodbye to our beloved TV. We loved the idea of not being a slave to the TV. Every night there seemed to be some hit show that we just couldn’t miss. The commercials always bothered us, mind controlling you to buy the newest electronic or to taste this or vacation here. Images of negative things happening around the world are on the news every morning, somethings blown out of proportion and some things just too hard to see.

When I was about 8 or 9 years old my Dad decided to get rid of our television. My mom, siblings and I were wondering what we would do at night or when it was raining! But my Dad opened up a whole new world for us. I became more creative, I remember sitting and writing a whole story with illustrations. We also played games every-night. My favorite game was animal dominoes. I have such fond memories of this time with my family as well as with myself. I was engaged with my family and with what I wanted to do, not what the TV was telling me to do.

English: A child watching TV. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Paul and I have never had more than one TV in our home. We feel it is important to keep TV’s out of bedrooms. Bedrooms are a place for rest, even though you may feel rested, it is keeping you awake and you are not interacting with your partner and/or your child is not interacting with you by watching TV in his/her room. Here are some reasons why not having a TV in your room will benefit you;

Better Sleep, Try talking with your spouse/partner or children before bed, read a book or do some gentle yoga
Engage in your life; not by watching others live there’s. Who knows what adventures you are missing while the TV is on!
If you are engaged with your partner who knows where that will lead (if ya know what I mean, wink, wink!)
Less clutter
Kids with Televisions in their rooms are said to score lower on school tests!

One kick in the butt for me to finally get rid of our TV was having my newborn baby staring at it , even when it was turned off. The thing that really broke the straw was seeing a commercial for school clothing and to sum it up it basically said you could only be cool if you dressed cool, so yeah great message! So a month after he was born we passed our TV on; don’t really just throw it away

Now I say all this but Paul and I do love watching TV. What we do now is usually just watch one show on Netflix, now we are into Fringe. When Cedar is fast asleep on me we will turn on one episode before we head upstairs to read. We watch no more than an hour of Television a night. We also do not intend on keeping shows and movies away from Cedar. When he is older we will do a Friday movie night with all of us making a homemade pizza together and a cartoon morning where we eat homemade granola/cereal. He will not be getting anymore than that but we feel that is the perfect amount and this way we can share some of our favorite childhood movies and cartoons with him.

Do yourself and your children a favor and turn off the TV during the day. Try some music instead! Have a dance party with your child! Cedar and I love to get down in the living room and Family dance party’s are the best. Let me ask you this, do you think your child will remember a family dance party or the latest episode of whatever hit kids show is on today? Whatever interaction you have with your child is far more important and better than any time they are spending in front of the TV.

Here are some facts on how Television is harmful for your developing child.

http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_and_watching_tv

http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html

Here are some questions/comments I have gotten surround the TV issue;

“But how will you know what is going on in the world?”

We read what we want to learn about, and Facebook will pretty much tell you everything you need to know through news feed

“What do you do to distract your child when you are busy?”

Cedar plays so well because we have engaged with him in playing… at only 6 months he was pushing a car and making car noises. At 8 months he was making the moo sound when he looked at his toy cow. When I am cooking I will either wear him in the ergo, let him play , or have him help me…he is great at stirring! (more on this in a future blog post)

“Baby Einstein is a life saver and it will help your child develop”..

Baby Einstein is a distraction for your baby. It appeals to their age but If you look at the baby while they are watching it they almost looked drugged out! Sorry this was a big no no for us! Again the interactions you have with your child are the best!

I want to challenge you to go without TV for one week. Only one week! You can do it! See what kind of fun things you and your family can do for down time instead of zoning out…maybe a camp fire in the backyard? Game night? Take pictures of your adventures and share them here or on our facebook page! Would love to see what you and your family came up with instead of watching television Who knows maybe it will result in a great memory like the one I have from when my family gave up TV

May 11, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

Happy Mothers Day to all Momma’s and someday Momma’s <3

I wanted to take a moment and say Happy Mothers Day to all you beautiful Momma’s out there! This is my first year being a mother and this day of celebration brought back memories of how I was unsure at one time if I would ever be a mother. I want to recognize all those women out there suffering with infertility . I want to celebrate you and your strength. Whenever and however you do become a mother you will be fantastic at it. There is nothing that prepares you for parenting than going through something that is trying to prevent you from holding your baby and that little sunshine will be so worth the wait! Don’t give up hope <3 Your baby is coming to you.

I realized the other day that I have never been this happy; Cedar is an amazing little combination of both Paul and I and watching him develop has been by far the greatest gift in the world. I am exactly where I am suppose to be and he came to me at exactly the right time. He is everything I ever wished for and more.

I wanted to share a song with you that reminds me of my infertility struggles and my road to finally becoming a mother. This song makes me cry every-time I hear it, when I was pregnant I couldn’t even listen to it because I would start balling. The moment I held Cedar for the first time I was singing this in my head, “I have died everyday waiting for you, darling don’t be afraid, I have loved you for a 1000 years..” Today it is on repeat and I wanted to share it with you …

Love to all and a Happy Mothers Day <3

May 1, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice “Cream”

I don’t know about you but when the weather gets hot I crave ice cream! Getting a treat every now and then is not a huge deal but what are those ingredients you are ingesting? Could there be gluten? Where did the milk come from and where the cows treated humanly? Did the cows get growth hormones or antibiotics? Too much to worry about so I like to make my own!

It is a banana based ice “cream” that is creamy and delicious! I knew I had got the recipe right when I found Paul with a spoon getting all the leftovers on the sides of the food processor. I am hoping to get an ice cream maker soon so that I can try making ice cream with raw cream but for now banana ice “cream” does the trick!

bananas (Photo credit: Fernando Stankuns)

For this recipe you will need:

*A Food processor or good blender (mine is in need of an upgrading!)

*Frozen Banana’s (I take the banana’s that are starting to turn spotted and freeze them or buy the older banana’s at the grocery store and freeze them right away.) Alright enough jibber jabber you want the recipe!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice “Cream”

3 Frozen banana’s and 1 ripe banana

1 1/2 heaping tbsp. Organic Peanut Butter

1 1/2 tbsp. Raw Cacao Powder

cut up a couple tbsp. dark chocolate (65%-70% or higher!)

Blend everything but the dark chocolate pieces in a food processor. May take a few minute to be well blended. You want a creamy texture. Scoop out into jars or dishes, sprinkle dark chocolate on top and either enjoy immediately or put in freezer to have later. If having later it may need to thaw for a few minutes before eating.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

April 23, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

Simple Ways to Green your Home

When Paul and I got our first apartment we didn’t pay much attention to recycling. In fact I am sad to say we didn’t recycle at all. We were in college and just starting to get into a more natural lifestyle but it wasn’t until after we graduated and I read a book called The Green Book. This book is filled with great information on ways to reduce, reuse and recycle! In honor of Earth Day yesterday I thought I would share some things we have done to make our lives a little more green.

Here are some easy ways to green your home;

Switch from paper napkins and paper towels to cloth napkins and towels; you can usually buy these on sale or even from thrift shops or make your own! Etsy has some great cloth napkins to choose from!
Replace your throwaway sponge with a cloth towel that can be thrown in the washing machine instead of the trash.
Recycle your cardboard, newspaper, glass, metal and plastics.
Buy in bulk and buy less packaged foods. Take it one step further and create your own bags to put bulk food in!
Bring reusable bags with you to the grocery store, we trained ourselves to remember this by always keeping bags in the trunk of the car and if we forgot to bring them in we would just have the cashier put all the groceries in the cart and then bag them ourselves once we got to the car, you quickly learn not to forget them! (I always keep one in my purse)
Use cloth diapers and wipes for your baby, saving you a ton of money and a ton of waste!
Hang your laundry outside when you can to save electricity
Switch from chemical laden cleaning products to either creating your own or buying brands like seventh generation.
Instead of using Brillo pads use baking soda, works just as well without any waste or killing your hands!
Pack up your lunches or leftovers in glass containers instead of plastic
compost
grow your own food
buy locally and get to know your farmers
If you are in need of new furniture or any items for your home check a thrift store, Craigslist, yard-sales, free-cycle first and see what you can get and re-purpose.
Get rid of all air fresheners, they are toxic to your health! Create your own natural air fresheners!

We got this armour from a friend in college and used it as a entertainment center it has now been repurposed into a dresser for Cedar!

Armoire re-purposed for Cedar’s Dresser!

Armour we got from a friend that we used as an entertainment system.

Armoire we got from a friend that we used as an entertainment system.

There are many more ways to green your home but these are some basic ways that can get you and your family on the road to greener living. Are you thinking about trying to be more green in your home? How have you greened your home?

April 14, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

No flour No fuss Pancakes!

I love pancakes! or maybe it is just the maple syrup, hmmm still trying to figure that one out! Anyway… with all the talk about GMO’s it is nice to have a homemade recipe that is simple, quick, healthy and cheap! I had been seeing different people online post recipes for three ingredient pancakes, Banana, almond butter and 1 egg, that’s it! I decided to try it and mix up the ingredients a little bit to add a bit more boost to the recipe, here is what I came up with.

2 banana’s

1 egg (pasture-raised)

1 tbsp organic peanut butter

1/4 heaping tsp maca powder

1/2 tsp flax-seed meal

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Put everything into a blender and blend. Heat up a skillet to medium/low and melt butter. Once hot pour in desired amount of mix. Once top starts to bubble flip and cook other side. This makes approximately 6-8 small pancakes. Plate up and serve with desired fruit! That’s it! Guilt free and won’t leave you feeling shaking and hungry in an hour. They’re surprising very filling! This recipe is also great for little ones with few teeth Cedar eats these right down with some fruit.

Play around with these by adding goji berries or any berries hanging out in your freezer! Makes a delicious and healthy breakfast for you and/or your little ones without the fuss!

March 29, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

Homemade Lavender and Vanilla Laundry Soap!

I get a lot of questions about what kind of products we use. Over the past year I have wanted to step it up a notch from buying organic/all natural products to making my own! There is something so satisfying about making your own products, especially when the usual products I buy are not exactly kind to the wallet!

Today I want to share my homemade detergent with you! There are a bunch of different recipes out there, I have watched videos and read other blogs and have tried many different kinds. The first one I made was a liquid laundry soap. It worked nicely but was so thick and had to be shaken vigorously to even get it out of the bottle. So I thought I would try a dry laundry soap and see how I liked it. It was super easy to make and the process was fun. Here is what I came up with!

Ingredients:

1 bar of Lavender Dr. Bronners bar soap

20 drops of Vanilla essential oil

2 cups of Borax

2 cups of washing soda

I used the food processor to grate the soap, make sure the soap is grated extra fine, you can also hand grate. Then add the vanilla essential oil and mix up inside the food processor. Pour out grated soap into a container. Add the 2 cups of Borax and the 2 cups of washing soda and stir or cover and shake up! That’s it! I have a HE front loading washer and it worked beautifully. There is no overwhelming smell just a slight touch of lavender and vanilla which is perfect for me. Both Lavender and Vanilla are calming scents and Lavender is antibacterial and anti-fungal which is great for some of those real messy washings! *Note: the smell of the laundry mix will seem heavy on lavender but it will not be after clothing is washed.

This is easy, economical (can use without the vanilla to save on cost), and handmade! It literally took me about 10 minutes! All items were purchased at the grocery store, the only thing I will need to buy again is the bar soap, I have plenty of borax and washing soda left, which will help on cost. I use about 1/4 of a cup per load for large loads, for smaller loads I would use 1/8 of a cup.

Note: I have done a lot of research on the safety of borax and have gotten a lot of questions about the safety of borax. From my finding it is about as toxic as table salt, which can be toxic if taken in a large dose. If you would like to learn more about Borax check out this blog post or visit toxnet for more information.

Happy washing!

March 26, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

Healthy Version of an old time Favorite!

I have craved Chicken Parmigiano since the weekend. Not sure why, it is not something I typically go for but I really, really, wanted it! I was excited to get into the kitchen and try out my own healthy version of this old-time favorite! Here’s what I came up with!

Chicken Parmigiano

Makes 2 servings

1-2 Free range organic chicken breast (depending on size)

1/2 cup Stone-ground Cornmeal

1 tbsp. Mediterranean Seasoning Salt or any Italian seasonings

1 tsp. Parmigiano cheese

1 Egg That comes from a happy free range chicken

1 tbsp Coconut oil

In two separate bowls have the egg (beaten) and the dry ingredients including cheese in the other. Heat a cast iron skillet (or whatever frying pan you use) to medium heat and melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil. Turn oven to 350 degrees. While pan is heating dunk chicken in the egg making sure it is all covered and do the same thing with your dry ingredients. Brown both sides of the breaded chicken in your warmed skillet. Once both sides are browned put the entire skillet in the oven for 10 minutes. That’s it! The chicken comes out crunchy, moist and delicious!

I served this alongside some Organic Rice Pasta with onions and spinach topped with sauce I made myself. (still using up last years tomato harvest!)

What did you have for dinner tonight?

March 24, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

Easy hand-made Easter Basket!

When I am in the kitchen I have a bunch of different things for Cedar to play with so that he can be near me but not get into any shenanigans! One of those things is a cardboard coffee can. After writing a post on green Easter crafts for Living Green with Baby I got a sudden burst of inspiration to make Cedar his first Easter basket! Paul cut the can in half for me and cut out a handle.

Using a nail Paul punched four holes on each side of the can and on the handle. I used yarn to attach the two together, tying the yarn together in the back to create a good hold.

To create a fun handle, I continued using the yarn, tying it in the back and wrapped it all the way around the entire handle until all the cardboard was covered. For added fun I tied on and wrapped a multicolored yarn around as well.

Poking another hole on the bottom of the can I tied a knot of yarn to hold it in place and wrapped the entire can in the same color yarn as the handle.

Once I finished wrapping the can in yarn Paul used the lid to create a nice lip for the basket. He cut out the middle of the lid and then attached the last string of yarn to the side of the can with superglue. The lid was also attached with superglue.

Using an exacto knife I finished off the edges of the lid so that they were even and made sure there were no sharp parts.

Voila! the finished Basket! Perfect size for our little Cedar!

I stuffed the bottom of the can with some brown paper and cut long strips of green yarn (which I will reuse later) to put on top of the paper. I added the bunny teether we got him and later in the week I am going to make him a hard-boiled egg, dyed yellow with turmeric powder that he can crack on Easter morning!

The only cost was the Bunny teether! He can later use the basket to put little toys in or to collect flowers, fruit or veggies with me in the yard this summer. Have you ever made your child an Easter basket? What did you use?

March 15, 2013 by Knights of the Green Table

Playing Green

It is shocking at the number of baby toys out there containing harmful chemicals! You might be saying; well how many chemicals can actually be in the toy? Unfortunately it all depends on the toy and when you put them all together it adds up! Babies put everything in their mouths, making it easy for the nasty chemicals to be welcomed right into their little developing bodies. Paul and I feel that it is not OK to put any chemicals in baby/children’s toys, Toys need chemicals as much as food needs hydrogenated oils! Some of the chemicals found in the plastic, fabric, wood and paint of baby toys include, BPA, formaldehyde, lead, cadmium, among others. This greatly upsets us! There are harmful chemicals everywhere; from the air we breath to the couch we sit on and the carpets we play on. To me the easiest thing to do was to just go in search of green toys.

We strongly feel that less is more when it comes to buying toys for Cedar, we want him to value what he has and not be so focused on possessions. When we do buy him toys we get high quality wood toys or organic plush toys that have no bells and whistles they simply are what they are, allowing him to develop his little imagination. Paul and I play with him, showing him different ways to use the toys and already he started making car noises while pushing a car at 7 months! He loves to copy what we are doing and watch us play.

Around Christmas time I called a few toy companies to ask them about how they make their products; unfortunately they could not answer me. All they would say is “we follow US toy regulations” well that means nothing to me and is no help. You might be surprised to know that this was a wooden toy company that claims to be environmentally friendly! So when a company is not upfront about how they make their product and they do not have any information on their packaging it is a no go for us. We have been told that it is difficult to find toys for Cedar because most toys now are mass-produced plastics; some might wish we would lighten up a bit, but honestly I couldn’t be happier with our choice. Our favorite toy company is Smiling Tree Toys! They are a small family run business Justin, Kathleen and their daughter Amana. All products are hand-made even right down to their homegrown organic oil they make called camelina oil. The wood they use is even sustainably harvested! It really doesn’t get any better than that! With a tag line like “organic fun for little ones!” what else can an environmentally all natural mama and papa ask for! Check out this video to learn more about them! http://www.kstp.com/article/12303/?vid=3506739&v=1

We love this company and want to support their amazing business. Today and for the next two weeks Justin and Kathleen have offered YOU a 10 % discount code! (code is available at the end of the article!) We have so much fun with Cedar’s toys and the great thing about buying from companies like Smiling Tree Toys is that they can be passed down for generations, because they are made so well! To top it all off we are also helping the environment by not supporting more plastic and chemical making.

Here are some things we look for when buying toys;

-No chemicals

-Organic

-Water or soy based paints

-Wood or recycled plastic (with no chemicals)

Here are some companies that we support, love and trust to give us quality toys for our baby;

http://www.miyim.com/

http://www.anamalz.com/

http://www.plantoys.com/

http://www.camdenrose.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SmilingTreeToys

Now are you ready to go shop for some Environmentally friendly toys?! Simply enter GreenKnights10 at checkout! They also have free shipping on selected items right now! Thank you Kathleen and Justin! This offer is Valid until March 29, 2013. You can also connect with Smiling Tree toys through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and their Blog!

Show your support for companies like this one that work hard to provide you and your family with safe, high quality toys!

I see an Easter teething bunny in Cedar’s near future

Cedar at 2 mo. with his personalized Smiling Tree Toys teething rattle!

Knights of the Green Table

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