Holistic Degree and Certification Classes

Now that the twins are older and Drew is in high school I have been thinking about finishing my degree. During my research I found lots of schools that offer holistic and wellness degrees and certificates. To see the complete list visit our main site www.holisticmama.com or go directly to the article:
Holistic Practitioner Schools

Organic Food Coupons & Homemade Bagels

Very excited to announce that we launched our new website this week, OrganicFoodCoupons.com.

It is a work in progress but already has come fantastic recipes, photos and listing of companies, farms, co-ops, and grocery stores that offer free organic food coupons.

A lot of the coupons that I have found are available on the manufacture/farm site that you can just print and bring to the grocery store.

Talk about saving time and money- I love it! Would much rather be sewing that hanging out at the grocery store looking for deals.

We made yummy bagels today too- will have the recipe up very soon for those.

Top 7 Eco Friendly Ways To Buy and Cook Food

1. Become a locovore- Buy food that is locally grown or raised. This is beneficial for many reasons. You are eating seasonal fresh foods, lessens the carbon foot print of the food (time it travels from grower to your store, and best of all it supports your local economy.

2. Eat Seasonal Foods- It helps to minimize the environmental impact caused by foods being shipped in and it lessens the chances that you will be consuming "damaged" from the shipping process. The great news is that after you complete a season, you can can or jar food to eat when it is not in season. A few great resources for further reading on eating seasonal are:

Sustanabletable.org

Wonderful resource to help you eat and shop locally. The website offers the local/seasonal advise based on your state.

Natural Resources Defense Council

Has a fantastic online tool to calculate the "food miles" to help you determine what is freshest to you.

3. Be Frugal

Use up all of what you purchase and shop from a list so you will not be tempted by what the store/market wants you to buy. At the end of the week, consider making a refrigerator soup by cleaning out all the extra veggies you did not consume, you could even make the broth from a chicken or ham bone if you had one that week.

4. Eat Less Meat and More Plant Foods

Cooking Green:Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen New Green Basics Way by Kate Heyhoe

5. Compost food waste

compost the food scraps that you could not use up in frugal recipes. Use the compost to grow fresh fruits and veggies to feed your family.

6. Research Seafood before purchasing

Visit the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for a list of fisheries that meet the criteria for sustainability. You also want to consider only purchasing sustainable species of fish.

The Monteray Bay Aquarium provides a seafood watch fact sheet.

7. Take the first step and start today.

You do not have to do it all right 100% of the time, but if you can make small changes in your eating and shopping habits it will really add up.

Top 10 Foods that you should buy organic

We try to buy all organic food when possible. I know it can be expensive, so some foods are higher on the list than others because of the likely hood that they will have been treated with pesticides.

Top 10 foods that are more likely than others to have been in contact with pesticides.

1. Apples

2. Potatoes

3. Lettuce

4. Bell Peppers

5. Strawberries

6. Celery

7. Spinach

8. Peaches

9. Carrots

10. Nectarines

Top 10 foods that are least likely to contain pesticides

1. Pineapples

2. Egg Plant

3. Asparagus

4. Onions

5. Broccoli

6. Mangos

7. Kiwi Fruit

8. Bananas

9. Avocados

10. Cabbage

10 Farmers Market Shopping Tips

1. Arrive early to get the best of the best before it is picked over.

2. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes. The markets are usually outside so dress for the weather. If it is a sunny day- bring a hat.

3. Bring tote bags or your recycled bags to carry home your food.

4. Come with a list of seasonal items that you want to purchase.

5. Eat before you go to the farmers market to avoid over spending. Shopping while you are hungry is a sure fire way to buy extras since EVERYTHING looks so yummy!

6. Get to know the farmers-establish a relationship.

7. If you want to try something new but are hesitant, ask for a sample. Many of the growers have some of their fresh fruit or veggies cut up so you can try them.

8. See if you can get a group of people together to "order" at the same time. For example if you have 4 families and you need 20lbs of carrots you may be able to negotiate a better price than someone purchasing only 1 lb of carrots.

9. Talk to the grower if you are not sure how to prepare a particular food, they can usually help.

10. Have fun, relax and enjoy the day.

5 Kitchen Composting Ideas

Eco Friendly Ideas for Your Kitchen-Composting

In addition to being a frugal cook, by not wasting food you buy, you can compost the food "scraps" When you compost the food scraps it breaks down into a nutrient-rich mixture you can use in your home garden. Even if you do not have a lot of space to compost in your back yard, you can still compost in your kitchen.

1. Use your spent coffee grounds to fertilize strawberries, tomatoes, ferns, and azaleas.

2. If you do not drink coffee, our local Starbucks packages up their old grounds and has them available for free to any gardener who wants them for free.

3. Save the used coffee grounds for use later-Use a Bamboo Compost Pail to save your coffee grounds. The composting pails are small and look like a wooden ice bucket, they cost around $40.00. You can order one at http://www.cleanairgardening.com/. Clean Air Gardening, 2266 Monitor Street, Dallas, TX 75207, Tel: 214-819-9500 (mail order only-ask me how I know that...I live in Dallas and tried to stop by)

4. Use in indoor Kitchen Composter-compost paper towels, tea bags, coffee filters, egg shells, veggies. Costs about $200.00 http://www.naturemill.com/. It is a small trash can sized machine that can fit under your kitchen sink (in the cabinet). You add your food scraps (even meat, dairy and fish) and in less then three weeks you will have rich mixture for your gardening. This particular machine can compost up to 120 lbs per month (less to take up the landfills).

5. Compost on your porch or back yard-If you have the space in your back yard, you can build a nice compost pile and layer it with the food scraps, leaves and water. If you do not have a yard to compost, consider using a back Porch Tumbler they are about $200.00. The tumbler is about the size of a medium trash can turned on its side. You open the lid on the top to add compost materials then turn the crank on the side to aerate it.

Free Hobo Bag Crochet Pattern

MATERIALS:

approximately 10-12 oz 100% cotton worsted weight yarn
(i'm a bit prejudiced in favor of cotton yarn--it's all i use! You may wish to try another type of yarn. )

optional: small amount of contrasting color cotton worsted weight yarn for trim

crochet hooks size G and H
(If you tend to crochet rather loosely, you may want to drop down to an F and G.




NOTE: sling is worked with dc worked into the space between two dc sts, rather than in each dc st.

SLING: using larger hook, ch 4, join with sl st to form a circle.
row 1: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work 11 more dc into circle, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 2: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *work 2 dc in space bet the next 2 sts; rep from * around; 24 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 3: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in the next space bet 2 sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 36 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 4: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 2 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 48 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 5: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 3 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 60 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 6: work even by dc-ing in each space around, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 7: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 4 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 72 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 8: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 7 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 81 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 9: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 8 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 90 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 10: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 9 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 99 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 11: rep row 6.
row 12: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 10 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 108 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 13: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 17 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 114 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
row 14: ch 3 (counts as first dc), work another dc in same space bet beg ch and dc, *dc in each of the next 18 spaces bet sts, work 2 dc in the next space bet 2 sts; rep from * around; 120 dc, sl st into SPACE bet beg ch and next dc to join, turn.
rows 15-28: rep row 6.
row 29: work as established and dec every 9th and 10th st tog around; 108 dc, join and turn. [to work dec: insert hook in st, draw up a lp, insert hook in next st, draw up a lp, yo and draw through 3 lps on hook, yo and draw through rem 2 lps on hook]
row 30: rep row 6.
row 31: work as established and dec every 5th and 6th st tog around; 90 dc, join and turn. [to work dec, see row 29]
row 32: rep row 6.



SEPARATE FOR SHOULDER SHAPING: continue to work bet sts at all times.
FIRST SIDE:
row 33: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 29 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space (33 sts), turn without working remaining sts.
row 34: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 27 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space, turn.
row 35: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 25 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space, turn.
row 36: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 23 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space, turn.
row 37: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 21 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space, turn.
row 38: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 19 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space, turn.
row 39: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 17 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space, turn.
row 40: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 15 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space, turn.
row 41: ch 3, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in each of next 13 spaces, dec next 2 sts tog, dc in next space, turn.
row 42: ch 3, dc in each space across; 16 dc, turn.
rows 43-86: rep row 42. fasten and end off.

SECOND SIDE:
skip 12 spaces from the last st worked on row 33, join yarn in next space, ch 3 and work same as rows 33-51 for first side. fasten and end off. [you may wish to add or subtract rows after row 42 in order to adjust sizing but remember the stretch of the yarn.]



FINISHING: from wrong sides, sl st both ends of shoulder tog.

TRIM: with right side facing, either with same yarn or contrasting color and smaller hook, sc evenly around both openings, fasten and end off. [author's note: for me, "sc evenly" turned out to equal one sc in each dc st, one sc in the end of each plain dc row--which i think prevents stretching some--and two sc in the end of each dec row (bet 33 and 42 on each side). i worked the second sc in the end of each dec row into the dec st in order to prevent a big gap in the work.]

©copyright 1999 m.l., revised 2005

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