DivaCup winner!

Congratulations Jess! You are the winner of the DivaCup Challenge! Great job sticking with it!

Well, of the 18 people who originally signed up, only a few responded to my last DivaCup posting, so I only had a handful of people that are still with it (as far as I know). Along the way, it looks like we picked up a few "non-official" users, which is great!

Anyway, Jess, send me an email at crunchychickenblog@gmail.com and let me know which one of the following you would like as your prize:

1. Backup DivaCup (to use as a spare or give to your daughter)
2. DivaWash (2) - Natural body gel and cleanser for the DivaCup
3. Crunchy Chicken tote bag - I have one of these (not too surprisingly) and it's my favorite plastic bag replacement
4. Real Women Wear a Cup T-shirt - embarrass your kids!

I'd offer the DivaCup Inside logo on something, but Cafe Press slapped me for uploading the graphic. Oops!

Anyway, congratulations again and thanks to everyone who tried it out.

Oh, by the way, Happy Birthday to me!

Eating seasonally

I know we've been discussing a lot lately about eating locally and little of seasonal eating from our reading of The Omnivore's Dilemma. It's been a bit of a cheat having Local Food Month during July when, for many places, that's when the selection and bounty of fruits and vegetables are available.

But I wanted to discuss a little more about eating seasonally (an extension of eating locally, really) and find out what your favorite eating season is.



Don't forget that The Perfect Meal is coming up soon!

Winners week

Holy crap, I just realized that there are a whole bunch of contest winners that will be announced next week.

For those of you not in the know, here's the wrap-up:

July 31st - announcement of the DivaCup Challenge drawing winners

August 1st - announcement of The Omnivore's Dilemma book giveaway winner

August 2nd - announcement of the Interview Eg Begley, Jr. drawing winners

I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh, Lord, what will we do with ourselves without a contest going on? The Local Food Month challenge will be over and the next book club doesn't start until September.

Is the Perfect Meal enough to get people out of bed in the morning?

Hmmm. I know! How 'bout a one week quicky challenge? Are you up for it? Say, mid-August?

The Omnivore's Dilemma book giveaway!

Now that the book club for The Omnivore's Dilemma is at an end, I want to pass along my hardbound copy of the book to some lucky reader.

Nothing special is needed, just add a comment to this post and you'll be entered in the drawing for the book. I'll draw one lucky winner on August 1st.

On August 1st, I will also announce which book we will be reading for the next book club (that starts in September) so get your votes in now!

Power to schmooze

Activist Mommy has awarded me The Power to Schmooze award.

Apparently, this award is to "recognize those people that are exceptionally adept at creating relationships with other bloggers by making an effort to be part of a conversation, as opposed to a monologue".

Well, I do like me a bit of schmoozin'.

So, on to 5 fellow schmoozles:

1. No Impact Man - he definitely is a conversation starter
2. A Homesteading Neophyte - from the homesteading side o' things

4. Little Blog in the Big Woods - slightly opinionated, but Greenpa forces us to think
5. Live Lightly Tour - Traveling the U.S. in an RV powered by straight vegetable oil

Now, go forth and spread the love.

Omnivore's Dilemma book discussion - Section III (chapters 18-20)

This is it! The final installment of The Omnivore's Dilemma book club.

Chapter 18: Hunting - The Meat I found it interesting the description that Michael Pollan gave of the adrenaline rush of hunting an animal. Having never hunted before I can't quite relate. I think the closest I can get to it is fond memories of playing hide and seek, where your senses are heightened and the anticipation is unbearable. Do you believe that humans still hold an evolutionary throwback to this hunting physiology? If you have hunted before, have you experienced this as well?

Chapter 19: Gathering - The Fungi I live in the land of the fungi, yet few people I know are proficient in hunting mushrooms. It's something that we have wanted to do for a while, but just never got around to it. The closest I've gotten to mushroom hunting was when I was wrapping our Dogwood with Christmas tree lights last December and spied this giant fella. I still, to this day, don't really know what the heck it is. Anyone have any ideas? And, no, I didn't eat it. Although it smelled wonderful and I was tempted.

Chapter 20: The Perfect Meal In the spirit of Local Food Month, I'd like to propose a meal similar to the one Michael Pollan enjoyed in this final chapter. The rules are a little looser than his, but the concept is the same - get to know intimately where all the food comes from that makes up one meal. Think of it as an über-local meal.

Here are the rules for "The Perfect Meal":

1. Everything on the menu must have been hunted/fished, gathered (including U-Pick), or grown by you
2. Everything must be made from scratch (this includes pasta, bread, etc.)
3. The menu should feature at least one representative of each edible kingdom: animal (vegetarians can skip this one), vegetable and fungus (only if still available and, since I don't want to kill anyone, just use local mushrooms)
4. Everything served must be in season and fresh
5. You have to cook the meal yourself
6. You have to invite at least a few guests to share this meal with you, preferably those that have helped you in acquiring the foods

You have a couple weeks to plan and work on this one. I'll have you post pictures and a report of this "Perfect Meal" by August 20th. I'll do a follow-up post in the intervening time.

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Also, just as a head's up, I will doing a book giveaway of my relatively pristine hardbound copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma. So, if you don't already own a copy and would like one, stay tuned for this Friday (7/27) when I commence the giveaway.

DivaCup wrap-up

Well, folks, we are nearing the end of the DivaCup Challenge and I wanted to check in with the peeps that originally signed up to see if they are still going strong three months later.

The drawing for the prizes will be at the end of the month and I need to know who is still sticking with it. I'd also like to get your impressions even if you quit using it. I'll be doing a poll next Sunday, too.

I think I've posted enough about my feelings about the DivaCup, but for those of you who didn't see them or don't want to read the back postings, here it is: I love it. Every time I use it I fall in love with it again - I can't believe how much easier it has made my life. Granted, getting it in and out can require a bit of circus antics, but I only change it twice a day so it's not a big deal.

And, lastly, I wanted to thank everyone that has joined in the Challenge as well as the tons of people who have also written in about their experiences with The Cup.

Bookclub follow-up poll

Based on the book club poll from two weeks ago, it looks like the two front-runners are Garbage Land, by Elizabeth Royte, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

So, now I am posing to you which of these two you want to read (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is ahead but it's not over 50%).

By the way, I'm thinking of starting the next book club in September. That should give us all enough time to purchase whatever book we decide on and start a little reading.

Super Short Saturday Question

Who is your biggest environmental inspiration?

Skirtin' the action

Well, here it is. My first sewing project is complete. I managed to put together an A-line skirt complete with zipper, hook and eye, and trim. Surprisingly enough, it actually fits okay. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though because, based on the instructions in the book I was using as a reference, you don't use a pattern but use your measurements as a guide.

The book I used for this is Sew What! Skirts. The skirt I sewed is an amalgam of a couple different "samples" they have in there.

Anyway, it survived the washing and drying and appears to be fairly solid, although since I don't yet trust my sewing skills, the first time I wear it I'll make sure I have some sort of backup in case a seam decides to loosen itself.

For those of you interested in using recycled materials, here is a great toddler dress that uses a man's shirt as the base fabric. I really want to make this for Emma and I have a shirt that will do nicely.

For those Jane Austen fans, or those just enamored with the dresses from the Regency Era, this site sells patterns (as well as through Simplicity) that will hook you up.

I'm getting so cocky with this whole sewing business that I'm thinking of making one of these while I'm at it.

Aromatherapy run

This morning's run at 5:30 a.m. was met with light showers after raining fairly solid for a while. It was a nice break from the steamy humidity of the last few days and the best part was all the scents that came alive as the plants got watered.

On my way back I ran by a huge rosemary bush and made sure to run my left hand through it to pick up some of the oils. The smell reminded me of Thanksgiving with rosemary and sage stuffed turkey. Quite a difference from our recent summertime meals.

Closer to home were several clusters of lavender. This time I ran my right hand through the purple blossoms, capturing the scent of Provence, my favorite soap and some of my favorite lavender-laced foods.

I can't say that this aroma-faire helped me run any faster, but it did at least transport me away for a moment, invoking some part of the pleasure center of my brain.

Food waste recycling

From the Seattle Times:

Food-trash recycling at homes to be required by Seattle in '09

The good news:
"All single-family homes in Seattle must sign up for table-scrap recycling in 2009, the City Council decided Monday."

The bad news:
"While residents will have to pay for the service, the city will not check whether they are actually dumping food in the new separate bin.... Recycling food waste will be voluntary for apartments, as well as for businesses, which produce twice as much food waste as residents."

Hmmph.

Right now, food waste pickup is every other week so we can't put in dairy or meat scraps because it supposedly attracts animals. The argument lately has been to move toward weekly pickup so we can include these items.

I would much rather see weekly pickup for those people who will actually employ food waste recycling instead of charging people and then not following up or encouraging them to do so. It seems like an empty gesture. Perhaps this is just a baby-step to policing and enforcing compliance (kind of like what happened with our recycling program).

Sew what?

I don't know what's got into me, but I've decided to take up sewing. I've been wanting to do this for years now. I have such a hard time finding clothes that fit me since I'm so tall, so it seems like a good idea.

I have yet to actually sew anything -- I'm in the planning, cutting and pinning stages and, frankly, I'm a wee bit overwhelmed by even threading up my shiny new sewing machine (Happy Birthday to me!).

I have a 35" inseam, so most above-knee-length skirts designed for the "average" woman turns into a super mini-skirt on me where I can't bend over without exposing myself to God and country. And I'm too modest for that. So, my first project will be a skirt. Granted, most likely it will turn out to be a lumpy skirt similar to most of my knitting projects but, perhaps, with practice they'll become less lumpy over time.

Of course, I have grandiose dreams of designing all manner of custom made clothing that actually fits me. Dreams of sleeves that actually hit at the wrist instead of turning into 3/4 sleeves after a wash or two. Dreams of enough width across my back so that I can actually stretch my arms forward without risk of ripping something.

And, ultimately, I can't get over how damn cheap it all is. Even with buying really nice fabric, I think that a skirt will average around $15 in materials. And I can't wait until I'm skilled enough to make stuff for the kids - Emma already wants a matching skirt and I'm sure there will be plenty of Halloween costumes in my future.

Anyone else out there sew their own clothes either for themselves or for their children? Just like growing your own food and half the other things I've taken on lately, sewing seems to be a lost art.

Interview Ed Begley, Jr.!

Okay, peeps. It's the day you've been waiting for! Today begins the day wherein you get to start submitting your interview questions for Ed Begley, Jr. He has been kind enough to agree to answer some of our questions.

For those of you who want some background, Ed Begley, Jr. is a star of TV and film and most recently has had his own show on HGTV, Living with Ed. He is a long-time environmentalist and lives according to those values. The next season of Living with Ed will begin next month.

For everyone who submits a question, you'll be entered in a drawing to win merchandise from the Living with Ed store. So, feel free to submit questions regarding his show and/or the upcoming season as well as your interests about his environmentalism.

Rules:
You can enter in more than one question, but you'll only get one chance in the drawing. There will be 2 winners in the drawing, each allowed to select 1 or more items from the Living with Ed site, as long as the total does not exceed $30.

You have until July 31, 2007 to submit your questions. Once all questions have been submitted, I will cull them down and submit a subset of them to Ed.

Now, go forth and good luck! (And for other bloggers out there who think their readers would be interested in the interview and contest, feel free to direct them here.)

Cloth instead of TP poll

Sunday is poll day! Here we go...

I've had a poll regarding toilet paper usage in the past and wanted to see how willing people are to going the next step -- using washable cloth instead of toilet paper.



Don't worry, tomorrow is the Ask Ed Begley, Jr. Interview and Contest announcement!

Super Short Saturday Question

Since a lot of readers are off playing on Saturdays because, well, it's the summer, I'm introducing the Super Short Saturday Question. For today:

What's your biggest global or environmental concern?

Local Food Month update

Well, I'll be the first to admit that things aren't going so well this week for Local Food Month. Between the near 100 degree temperatures (yes, I know, it's 20 degrees above normal around here) and my husband's tooth woes, we are sorely lacking in the dinner making department.

Case in point - Wednesday night's dinner consisted of Life cereal with the kid's milk and a banana. It was just too hot to eat or cook. And, as you can see, it wasn't exactly local. None of it. I had great hopes of grilling some local chicken teats and roasting the turnips and beets that are begging to be eaten before they get so big they get up and wander out of the garden. But the thought of turning on the oven and standing in front of the grill just didn't do it for me.

Last night was a bit of an improvement with garlic and herbs from the garden. I hope you all are faring better than I...

Miss Positively

Well, I've been tagged not once, not twice, but thrice as a Blogger for Positive Global Change so I figured I should probably get around to responding :)

My thanks to Christa from Calendula & Concrete, Crazy Mumma from Towards Sustainability, and Michelle Verges from Conserve Plastic Bags.

So, I'm passing the torch to 5 of the bloggers out there who I think are making a Positive Global Change:

1. Casaubon's Book - Some might find Sharon's approach too extreme, but if we really are looking at a 90% reduction in emissions and peak oil, she's the woman to read.

2. Simple Living - Along with the writer for Casaubon's Book above, Miranda is leading many folks to a 90% reduction in emissions. This "project" is well organized and has a ton of supporters.

3. Green as a Thistle - Vanessa's one-a-day approach to reducing her impact on the environment has an addictive quality to it and (excluding the no car, no fridge) many of her new habits are easily done by the rest of us.

4. Pocket Farm - The brains behind One Local Summer (now in it's second year) and all things local food related.

5. Walk Slowly, Live Wildly - If you don't mind a Christian bent to greening the earth, this blogger has a lot of interesting things to say and has a fairly large readership with which to influence.

Biofuel quandary

I wanted to get y'all's opinion on something that I was thinking about as I was driving home. I was sitting at a stoplight next to a car running (quite proudly given the number of bumper-stickers) biodiesel. This is rather common in Seattle as there are several biofueling stations in the area. In fact, we were considering buying a diesel vehicle to replace one of our Honda's a few years back.

What I was thinking was about what we were reading in Omnivore's Dilemma regarding how much oil was involved in growing the corn (or soy) and the manufacturing of biodiesel. At least one person commented on how the amount of oil required to produce one gallon of biodiesel was so high that we might as well just burn the gasoline directly.

This led me to ruminate about how the local biofueling stations acquire their biodiesel. I don't know if they go through the trouble of getting spent oil from restaurants or how they get it. I know that the local Safeway is installing a biofueling station and I suspect that maybe they are getting the biofuel from processing the spent oil from the Safeway bakeries and delis in the areas, but I'm just making it up at this point.

So, I'm thinking that a biodiesel car isn't such a hot idea and that a hybrid car in the future would be better or, if they ever get off the ground and are more available, an electric car since we can charge the batteries using our wind/hydro energy.

I know you all can argue that I should just get rid of the cars altogether and, for the most part, I could agree with you there. We really could easily eliminate one vehicle as we don't really use it, but it's paid off, has low miles and it's nice to have around just in case we need it. My husband takes the bus to work as I did before we had kids. Once both kids are in elementary school (within walking distance) it's quite plausible we could easily live without cars, but more likely we'll pare down to one car.

And here comes the more imminent quandary - while I was digesting all of this (the stoplight wasn't really that long, it's just that my mind tends to race), I thought of the BioHeat that we buy for our oil furnace. It's a blend of traditional oil fuel and biodiesel. I have no idea what the source of the biofuel for that is and I suspect if I called and asked they may not know either. But if it takes more oil to produce the same burning "amount" of BioHeat, isn't it just better to buy the oil directly? Am I spending extra money on BioHeat and doing more harm than good? I know it burns cleaner, but somewhere along the way, I'm sure other pollution was produced in the manufacturing.

Help! What do you think?

Soy - the good, the bad and the ugly

A couple people have mentioned how they have either stopped eating soy or were concerned about eating soy after reading some of the reports that have come out over the last few years.

These reports claim that there were several health hazards associated with eating non-fermented soy products. Examples of non-fermented soy products are soy milk and tofu while examples of fermented soy products are soy sauce and tempeh.

In addition to the increased breast cancer claims, I have also seen information (see above article) of the dangers of feeding too many soy-based products to children due to the amount of estrogen in these foods. This is a particular concern for growing boys and I'm sure, according to the claims, there are issues for girls as well (pre-pubescence being one).

I did a little poking around at some of these reports. It seems that one of the most quoted articles and books was written by a woman who is a huge proponent of raw milk products. Her PhD is from a distance learning program and is non-nutritionally related. Now, that's not to say that her claims do not have merit. Many of the other articles point out how non-fermented products contain "anti-nutrients". I haven't found any good sources about what this actually means, but it is always considered with a nefarious tone.

Now, I am no research scientist, nor have I spent a great deal of time analyzing the different reports and have yet to find anything concrete in a medical journal, but I do think there is some merit in the issues with soy processing. For example, the chemicals used to process soy into soymilk sound like bad customers. There is also the issue with genetically modified soy or non-organically grown soy products. Not to mention the fact that soy, in some format or other, shows up in a considerable number of processed foods (snack foods, protein products and the like).

So, suffice it to say, I think that if you consume reasonable (read: small) amounts of soy milk and tofu that is either made yourself or without the massive processing you are probably safe. This is more in accordance with traditional Chinese and Japanese diets. In other words, the diets that generally get all the high marks for health and longevity -- the ones that include fermented soy products like tempeh and soy sauce with some modest amounts of tofu and soy milk and lots of green tea.

If you are truly concerned with the health risks raised by soy, then I would encourage you to do some of your own research. If what you find bothers you but you are not ready or willing to give up soy products, then perhaps switch to an organic soy product and/or think about making it yourself.

As for me, I don't consume a tremendous amount of soy - maybe a couple cups of soymilk a week and tofu or okara on occasion and I make it all from organic soybeans. My kids still drink organic cow's milk. I'm sure we still ingest more soy by-products than we know and it's something I may be more cautious of, but it's not something at this point that I'm going to avoid. Who knows, non-fermented soy products may turn out to be the next witch hunt like trans-fats.

In the meantime, keep an eye open for new studies and results. As we all know, health food claims or warnings can change with the tides as new research is done.

DivaCup inside

You can thank Leigh for her comment on my last DivaCup post for this graphic.

For those of you out there that are curious about the stay-ability of the DivaCup whilst exercising, well I took it for a spin out running today and didn't have any problems with slippage. I was half-expecting that I'd feel it, but it was okay.

Also, several people have asked about camping or backpacking with a DivaCup and I wanted to bring it up in a post so that it's more visible. The concern was mostly due to the logistics of changing the cup when you don't have access to running water. I believe that others have just rinsed the DivaCup with clean water and then washed it when it was more convenient. If you have any more input, please let us know!

Future bookclub poll

Always one to think ahead, I wanted to get your feedback on the next book for the bookclub.

We only have a few chapters left of The Omnivore's Dilemma, which I'll be posting questions for in two weeks. After that, we'll be done with the discussion for this book.

Let me know in the comments if this online book club has been worthwhile even if you haven't been participating in the reading or comments of the book - I know there are some of you out there that must be just reading the posts. I want to know if this is at all useful. I like doing it, but it is time consuming...

Live Earth

Is Riot for Austerity too much for you? Did you miss out on Little Blog in the Big Wood's Planet Party and are forlorn about it? Did you do Low Impact Week and are looking for some community sponsored event?

Well, check out Live Earth on 7/7/07. Live Earth will use the global reach of music to engage people on a mass scale to combat our climate crisis.

And if, you live anywhere near Grand Prairie Texas, I encourage you to check out Anita's (aka oldnovice) party she's organized at Move On's site.

Are any of you already planning on participating?

Omnivore's Dilemma book discussion - Section III (chapters 15 -17)

Like last month, I'm splitting up this final section into two chapter chunks (the next one will be posted in two Tuesdays). Not only to give those still behind on the reading a chance to catch up, but for me to pace myself too [it's been a little crazy around here].

Anyway, here are the questions for the first part of the third, and final, section: Personal - The Forest.

Chapter 15: The Forager Hunting is still very much a popular past time (at least here in the U.S.) but foraging seems to be a totally lost art. There's a great stand at our local farmer's market called Foraged & Found Edibles. This time of year they offer morels, sea beans and other delights. The owner, Jeremy Faber, a forestry major turned chef, manages to find and offer something year round. Do you or do you know of anyone that regularly forages - mushrooms, wild berries?

Chapter 16: The Omnivore's Dilemma First off, I thought the whole idea of "reducing the tension of indigestion" was interesting. That eating corn with lime, corn and beans, raw fish with wasabi, etc. either provided protection from food-borne illness and/or made nutrients more bio-available. Another point made in this chapter is regarding the fad diets in America, rotating through fat is bad - carbs are good, protein and fat is good - carbs are bad, blood type diets and more.

Why is it Americans are always in need of some quick fix or diet gimmick instead of eating until sated and slowing down and just enjoying food? I love the whole concept of the Slow Food Movement and the French culture of food which allows one to enjoy food without ruining their health - it's a mixture of culture and neophilia. Are Americans even able to slow down our eating habits and get back to a more "meal"-centric culture that is still enjoyed by Europeans? Or is everything else we do, rushing around like maniacs, driving our kids to far too many over scheduled activities anathema to Slow Food?

Chapter 17: The Ethics of Eating Animals There are two quotes that stood out for me in reading this chapter. The first: "The disappearance of animals from our lives has opened a space in which there's no reality check on the sentiment or the brutality." I've mentioned this in previous posts, but the fact that meat purchased from the supermarket is completely devoid of any semblance of the animal it came from removes (or helps remove) any guilt or thought towards the ethics of eating that animal.

The second quote: "... domestication took place when a handful of especially opportunistic species discovered... that they were more likely to survive and prosper in an alliance with humans than on their own." I remember reading an article many years ago about how fortuitous it was of wolves (which became the domesticated dog) to have, essentially, foisted themselves on humans. They provide humans some protection and companionship and, in turn, they get food and shelter. Clearly (at least for many cultures), dogs are not kept around for food. In this case, it's a pretty amiable relationship. No food ethics involved. But, what about the domesticated critter kept as "food crops"? This definitely gets down to a philosophical argument. Do animals have the same rights to freedom as humans? Even if they are taking "advantage" of us?

Local Food Month begins

Welcome to Local Food Month!

For those of you just checking in you can find out more about the guidelines here.

The gist of it is that for the month of July participating readers will try to increase their intake of locally grown, sustainable foods, while reducing the amount of processed and fast foods they eat. Kinda like the 100 Mile Diet meets the Slow Food Movement, but with a whole bunch of choices and variety.

To start the month off, we made a cherry pie, using local Bing cherries (homemade crust of course). I also tried my hand at making tofu from soymilk that I made at home. Between the food growing in the garden and local farmer's markets, this week we're set. Here's the dinner menu for this week:

Monday: veggie burgers made from okara left over from making soymilk/tofu and turnips from garden; locally made buns; salad from the garden
Tuesday: quesadillas with grilled tofu (handmade); roasted veggies from the garden; handmade tortillas
Wednesday: homemade pasta with greens from the garden;
Thursday: handmade pizza with not-so-local cheese, local tomatoes; salad from garden
Friday: (we usually eat out on Fridays) - restaurant that serves locally grown food

Also, there have been a lot of questions popping up in the comments regarding soy. I'm not ignoring them -- I'll address the soy issue (good vs. bad) in a post this month.

And, remember, it's not too late to join in on the fun!

Low Impact Week follow-up

You didn't think I forgot about you, huh? Of course not!

For all those people who participated in Low Impact Week, let us know how you are doing.



Today starts Local Food Month! Look for a post tomorrow...