Moving!

So, life has gotten away on me... things have been SO busy. SO many changes and new things going on!

I promise to blog it, with pictures, but you'll have to visit my new blog: lisajones.ca

I am heading over there right now to blog the past 8 months (a very very abbreviated version)... so come check it out!

L.

Starting indoors.

Last year I gave in to my spring fever and started indoors in early March. You green thumbs know that is FAR too early for some plants and many of mine ended up spindly.

So far this year I've maintained control...but it is time. I will be starting seeds today!

Here's what I am planting:

Mini cukes











Tricolour Swiss Chard















Alpine Strawberries

Thumbelina Carrots












AND Strawberry Spinach. If you haven't heard of Strawberry spinach before, you aren't alone. This is the first year I have seen it in the seed store. It looks so lovely that I have to try it. Here's a blurb about it:

Strawberry Spinach
Description Chenopodium capitatum
50 days.
Unusual and doubly enjoyable first as an edible green and later, the berries. Triangular, pleasantly textured, green leaves have spiky edges and grow in attractive, open rosettes. Mature plants produce berry-like, 1/2 inch, enjoyably nutty, ruby-colored fruit. Plants are heat loving for an excellent addition to summer salads This is a very rare ancient vegetable dating back 400 years! It was rediscovered at old monasteries in Europe.

It is similar to Lamb's Quarters in habit, although smaller. Grows 1 1/2 Feet high. Triangular, toothed leaves are thinner than spinach, very nutritious and high in vitamins. The tender shoots are used in salads or cooked like spinach. But the real surprise is that at each leaf axle there is an abundance of sweet, strawberry-like fruits which some say resemble mulberries. Will reseed vigorously.

We are getting all geared up to build our raised beds. Still not 100% sure what they will look like, or even what we are doing, but we're having fun and growing our own food. More seeds to come!

What did YOU plant this year?

Old Country Buffet - no longer a "Family" Restaurant

I just read an article on 'Woman, Unsensored' about a Minnesota "family" restaurant who kicked a woman out for breastfeeding her baby.

http://womanuncensored.blogspot.com/2010/04/old-country-buffet-calls-police-on.html

I encourage you to read the article and if you were offended by the violation of this woman and child's human rights, to write a letter to Old Country Buffet.

Also, if you were a breastfeeding mother, did you experience any type of "resistance"?

I remember breastfeeding my son, in the foyer, very discretely (completely covered with a large blanket) at our former church while the nursing room was being renovated. Another MOTHER came up to me and told me I was inappropriate and instruced me to go breastfeed in the handicapped washroom (even though there were several wheelchair-bound and/or elderly people in the building).

I refused and she left in a huff saying I was making people uncomfortable!

While I understand that not everyone is comfortable with breastfeeding, many women wear clothing more revealing than the amount of breast exposed when I breastfed. Nobody would dream of asking them to cover up, so who do some people think it is their right to ask a woman to leave the room to feed her baby?

Comments?

Paraben health alert

So, I just went through my bodycare products and chucked half of them.

I read an article (which turned into a quite a few articles, then studies) on parabens. Parabens are preservatives in many on the shelf body care products.

Chances are, you have parabens in your bathroom, whether in the lovely body lotion you smooth on after a shower or the conditioner you use in your hair. The problem with parabens is that they are xenoestrogens.

Xenoestrogens mimic estrogen in the body. Consuming/applying xenoestrogens can lead to toxicity. Some forms of cancer, especially women's cancers are fed by estrogens, so having something circulating in your body that mimics estrogen is not safe and can effect your health without you even knowing it.

Here is an interesting article on how to eliminate xenoestrogens in your home: www.ehow.com/how_4515846_avoid-exposure-xenoestrogens.html

There are a few brands of products that do not contain xenoestrogens. My favourite is Kiss my Face.

If you know of other paraben-free products, I would be interested in hearing about them!

Hemp Hearts

So, believe it or not, I just stumbled onto this superfood a few weeks ago. My MOM introduced me to hemp heart.

5 tablespoons of shelled hemp seed has over 2g of GLA (gamma linoleic acid - Omega 3), 16 grams of protein and it will keep you full for HOURS. I sprinkle it on my fruit & yogurt in the morning and I am not hungry until well past 2pm. Plus it has a mild nutty taste and can be stirred or blended into just about anything.

I'd heard about hemp seed, but thought it was just for hippies (lo and behold)... have you ever tried it?

In the past 2 weeks, I have lost over 5lbs and my skin has cleared up (I had the lovely, post-children breakouts that never go away) so I'd say they are working!

Lurk Much??

So, do you lurk? Do you read people's blogs without publicly following them? Are there people from your past who you cyber-stalk without their knowledge? Someone you're curious about?

Be honest, we all have people we wonder what happened to.

The thing is, there is no such thing as anonymity on the internet...right S? De-lurk, lady and let me know how J & S are doing...;)

Last week.

Here's the Birthday Boy...5 years old on Sunday!