Simple Sensational Spinach Soup

I large onion, chopped (can even use a Spanish onion)

1 T ghee (clarified) butter or olive oil

1 sweet potato, washed and diced, skin on

½ t dried thyme

¼ t freshly grated nutmeg

Salt

2 cups vegetable stock (recipe in "Tips" on this website)

1 bunch fresh spinach, washed, stems removed

Dice the onion, put in a saucepan with the butter over a medium heat. Stir, cover with a saucepan lid. Cook the onions for about 10 minutes, until they are translucent and soft. The lid will keep in moisture, reducing the need for extra fats to cook the onion. Once the onion is cooked add the diced sweet potato, herb and spice. Stir around for a moment, then add the vegetable stock and a large pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and simmer covered until the potato is completely cooked. Remove from the heat.

Add the prepared spinach to the pot in bunches, returning the lid to let the spinach steam, and turning it in amongst the cooked vegetables and stock. Once all of the spinach has been added and has shrunk then puree the soup in a blender. A glass blender is preferable when pureeing a hot item.

Return the puree to the saucepan, adjust the seasoning and add more water or stock to reach desired consistency.

The quantities given are rough estimates. Each onion, sweet potato and bunch of spinach will be somewhat different, making each soup its own unique creation.

This soup is best eaten right away. Food loses nutrients and vitality with time, and refrigeration.

This quantity serves 4.

Enjoy!

T=Tablespoon

t=teaspoon

Namaste,

Sydney

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

¼ cup shredded coconut

½ cup unsalted butter

½ cup sucanat

2 T turbinado sugar

Egg replacement - mashed banana or applesauce equivalent (¼ cup)

½ t vanilla

1/3 cup rolled oats

½ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup white flour

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 scant cup chocolate chipits

½ t baking soda

¼ t salt

Cream butter with the sugars until it is soft. Add the egg replacer and the vanilla. Cream together again. Add all remaining ingredients at one time. Mix on low only until the flour disappears.

Drop by spoonful onto baking sheets. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking tray for a couple of moments before moving to wire racks. Cool completely before eating, if you can wait that long!

Makes 24 cookies

Plastics are Forever

It is supposed to make our lives easier. It's sturdy. It's pliable. It's portable. It's an electrical insulator. It's disposable...? Plastic has been a popular material in the mainstream for over 50 years. The first plastic sandwich bags were introduced in 1957, while department stores began distributing them in the late 70s. And finally, in the early 1980s, supermarkets began asking that dreaded question- paper or plastic?

Undoubtedly, plastic has been a major part of our lives as consumers. We have used and produced more plastic in the last 10 years than we did in the previous 40 years since the birth of plastic. But, its convenience is also its downfall. It may seem easy to simply throw away or recycle your plastic- out of sight, out of mind. However, once the bottles, bags, Tupperware, utensils, and cups are in the landfill, they may be gone from our lives, but they are far from gone. Plastic does not decompose like organic matter, or even fibrous material. Plastic simply breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces over time. It lasts in the landfill and the ocean forever and is never completely gone.

There has been great changes in mainstream culture, where bringing reusable bags like cotton to haul groceries is trendy and even a fashion statement. This is a great shift for society to go for, but people need to think about transferring this trend into other aspects of consumer life. Understanding the reasoning behind why cotton bags are beneficial is important in getting people to phase plastic out. Take plastic water bottles, for instance. The idea seems almost preposterous. Let's take something that most of the western world has at the turn of a tap and use mass amounts of energy to bottle, package, and distribute it. According to the Pacific Institute, it's estimated that in 2006 bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, the leading contributer to global warming.  Also, producing bottles for just American consumption alone required the equivalent of over 17 million barrels of oil, and that's not even taking into consideration energy for transportation. Finally, by distributing one of the world's most precious resources, it takes three times as much water to create the bottled water than is actually contained in the bottle itself- 3 liters for every 1 liter bottled. While finding plastic alternatives should be the ultimate goal for consumers, there are people that are looking for ways to quickly break down the existing plastic in landfills. A Waterloo high school student discovered a way to get plastic bags to degrade in as little as three months. Winning the Canada-Wide Science Fair, Daniel Burd had the idea to put plastic eating microorganisms in an optimal environment and then watched them eat it away. Ultimately, plastic plays too large of a role in our industrialized, fast-paced society. People need to be aware of the harm it does when it builds up in landfills and in the oceans. It's harmful to wildlife and manufacturing it takes up great amounts of energy. mothering Mother offers creative ways to transition away from plastic to more reusable and biodegradable materials. Please take a couple minutes to view this trailer for a documentary that offers necessary information in regards to the horrors of plastic. Bag It Movie

Air Quality in the Home

We are not all fortunate enough to have a career where we get to work outside. With 90% of our time spent indoors, it is important to get some fresh air. It can be difficult if your 9 to 5 only allows you an hour lunch break, but there certain plants that can help bring fresher oxygen to your work place, bedroom, or entire household! It's extraordinary how many chemicals are in the air we breathe on a daily basis. A study conducted in homes in Arizona revealed that there are an astounding 500 different chemicals in household air. Remnants of the now banned pesticide DDT were detected in over 90% of homes. Moreover, there were at least 120 different chemicals that could not even be identified by chemists! Most of these had molecular structures similar to those of artificial fragrances. Additional contaminants that are prominent in households are biological contaminants like mold and pollen, along with volatile organic compounds. These VOCs are emitted as gases from certain liquids and solids. Household cleaners, paints, varnishes, pesticides, aerosol sprays, air fresheners, and even conventionally dry-cleaned clothing can contain these harmful chemicals. Some health risks caused by VOCs include headaches, nausea, as well as eye, nose and throat irritation. There are a number of different air purifiers on the market, but those contribute to the electricity bill when they have to be plugged in all the time. Alternatively, there are certain houseplants that can be used to purify your indoor air by producing oodles of oxygen. This is not to say that these plants will rid your home of the aforementioned chemicals, but they will certainly improve the air quality. - Areca Palm: This plant produces lots of oxygen during the day and is great to put in the living room. 4 shoulder-high plants per person is optimal -Mother-In-Law's Tongue or Snake Plant: Great for the bedroom! This plant produces its oxygen at night and 6-8 waist high plants are recommended per person. - "Money Plant": This plant acts as a filter that removes formaldehyde and other VOCs from the air. Now, if the quantity of these plants is turning you off, fear not. Even if you don't want to house a small jungle so that your family of 5 can breathe comfortably in your living room, any number of these plants will improve the quality of your air somewhat. For more information about chemicals in the home and how you can lower their presence, visit the mothering Mother at Home section of our website.

For a Greener Holiday: Just Do Less!

The most wonderful time of the year is also the worst time of the year when it comes to landfills. During the December holiday period there is a reported 25% increase in waste. That's an additional million tons of trash in U.S. landfills! This year it's time to add some green to your holiday, more than just that tree in your living room. Just do less! Think about the quality time spent over the holidays with your loved ones, rather than the quantity of things you have to do to get into the "holiday spirit"  First off, who doesn't love the multitude of holiday feast that seem to occupy every weekend after Thanksgiving? But, a lot of that food goes to waste. If you are hosting your own gathering, trim 20% of the groceries off your list or just one dish off of your menu. Your guests won't notice, and you will be contributing less to the wastefulness. If you are bringing a dish to another party, stick to locally grown produce that's in season. Squash, brussel sprouts, turnips, and beets are great options for hearty vegetarian dishes that are sure to bring about the holiday cheer! Try this hearty and wholesome spinach soup, sure to warm the heart and the belly. Then there is the age-old virgin wrapping paper dilemma. If you insist upon using new wrapping paper, go for the paper that's made from 100% recycled waste. Also, make an effort not to rip the wrapping upon opening gifts, so that the paper can be saved and used for wrapping next year! Try something ne w this year by wrapping presents in used paper bags, old maps, newspaper, crossword puzzles, comics, or scraps of holiday cloth. Add your own artistic touch if you desire. If you need to mail gifts, use recycled package material and stay away from Styrofoam packing peanuts! In terms of gift giving, purchasing services or experiences, rather than actual material goods, eliminates the energy needed to construct, package, and ship the gifts. Experiences are more memorable and require fewer natural resources in most cases. Massages, wine tastings, music lessons, gym memberships, tickets to a concert or sporting events, or even a garden plot in a community garden are great gifts. And, above all, they show that you took the time to think about something that would really bring joy to the recipient. When it comes to decorations, there's certainly no need to cause rolling blackouts in order to siphon enough electricity to light up your Griswold-family-Christmas display of lights. New LED lights use 10% less energy than the older incandescent lights, so opt for those. They can be used inside as well as outdoors, bringing bright holiday cheer to passersby without using as an excessive amount of energy. These lights will also keep your electric bill at bay. Cards during the holiday season are always a nice way to send your loved ones joy and warmth. While you may not think the few cards you send out have an impact, multiply that by everyone else sending cards and the number of envelopes they require, and the amount of paper used is enormous. E-mail greetings require no paper at all, and those can be personalized quite easily nowadays. Otherwise, opt for cards made from recycled materials, or cards that don't require envelopes to be mailed.     These tips are sure to make your holidays greener and to give you the invaluable gift of protecting our planet. Namaste, Sydney