Happy Pluckin' Father's Day

Choosing the perfect Father's Day gift was easy peasy this year! The girls and I knew that my husband would love a ukulele, -even before he started dropping obvious hints every day for the past week or so. It's hard to imagine him without an acoustic guitar in his hands, but after we surprised Starly with a soprano uke for her birthday in April he's been sneaking turns strumming on it after we've all gone to bed. 

The ukulele's small size makes them totally portable, so you can take them just about anywhere! I know this is one of the reasons that he finds them so appealing, but their sweet sound is equally charming.

We've been very impressed with quality, sound and build of the Lanikai brand, but to avoid having two identical ukuleles in the house we decided to choose a tenor size (26") uke this time around. This will allow a little more room on the frets for his larger, adult-sized fingers and will perhaps make him look less like a giant while playing it.

The Lanikai LU-21T Tenor Ukulele is awesome. It's just as pretty as our daughter's little LU-21 Soprano Ukulele and the few extra inches in size make it the perfect fit. It's still about half the size of his acoustic guitar, so I'm sure it will be traveling with us a lot this summer, but I think what I'm most looking forward to is the daddy daughter duets!

Happy Father's Day, honey! Love you the most.

Be The Change You Want To See In The World

It's easy to sound preachy when talking about things that you are passionate about because you truly want others to understand and see the world as you see it. Lately I've become guilty of this whenever the topic of conversation is food or living green. I try to stop myself, but then feel pangs of guilt for not warning friends, family and complete strangers about the toxicity of the things they're eating, applying to their bodies or tossing into the landfill is just too much to bear and my mouth spills over in a sewage of information and facts that must sound like I've gone completely mad. I mean really, we live in America afterall, a country that would never give biotech companies the go ahead to control our entire food chain or let unsafe chemicals fill our store shelves disguised as products that will make us more beautiful or our homes sparkly clean.

It wasn't so long ago that I was comforted by the idea that we live in a country that has government agencies in place to protect us from these sorts of things. Unfortunately, I was wrong. We live in a world that is powered by profit. When money matters most we lose sight of what is truly important and become careless, thoughtless and blind to the harm we are causing.

I have faith that the world will come together and realize that errors of our ways, but I fear that it will be too late. If we don't start making changes in the way we live, we might not have a place to live that isn't contaminated with all the toxic stuff that was supposed to make our lives so much better, easier, happier.

So, what's the answer? Shouting from the rooftops and on crowded street corners seems like the obvious choice, but getting people to listen isn't easy. Sometimes I think people don't want to know the truths because change is hard and they are just getting by as it is.

I've been thinking about the reasons that our family started taking steps to live a greener lifestyle and my daughter's face flooded most every memory. Starly has always been a tree huggin', nature lovin', girly gnome kinda girl and although she's still a little shy, she's become quite an activist on her own. Her enthusiasm has inspired us to learn more and do more, for ourselves and the planet, but she's also inspired changes in other unexpected ways that make me feel a little giddy inside when I think about it.

After starting our waste-free lunches last year, we began to think about our use of disposables in a whole new way. Instead of seeing just one plastic fork getting thrown into the trash can, we started imagining a pile of forks in a landfill and wondering how big our own pile would be after a lifetime of disposable habits. If we're just one person, one family with a pile of forks, there must be others and they probably have a pile of spoons to match... and plates... oh, my! That's a lot of piles. How silly it seems to waste so much. We don't see them, but those piles are real and they don't go away. They just sit. They just are. Those piles made my daughter stand up and make a choice to say "no". She said no to people she respected most. She said no at family gatherings, picnics and parties. She refused to use paper plates, disposable silverware and plastic cups everywhere she went. She even packed a little plate from home when she went to birthday celebrations at friend's houses. This was a bit frustrating (and probably a bit embarrassing) for her hosts, but a surprising thing happened. Those very same people started washing dishes instead of using disposables whenever we came to visit!

I think the answer is actually pretty simple. Live by example. Be the change the want to see in the world. Make healthy choices. Waste less. Walk softly on the earth and others will follow your footsteps.

Starly

I'm happy to report that as I close this post, I've also just finished sewing a pile of cloth napkins and a handy bag that is now filled with a very simple litterless meal kit that our family can take along everywhere we go! More on that project to be revealed soon.

Peace and love.

-Briton

Homemade Popsicle Recipes For Kids & Grown-Ups

I've been searching for a kick-ass popsicle recipe book for a while now, so I am pretty darn excited to tell you about Perfect Pops, a brand new cookbook by Charity Ferreira.

After purchasing my shiny new popsicle molds last month, I really wanted to find some exciting (but not over the top) recipes to help us make the most of the summer with fruity flavor combinations that would tickle our tastebuds without the addition of artificial dyes and corn syrup.

When I discovered Perfect Pops - The 50 Best Classic & Cool Treats on Amazon, I immediately pre-ordered a copy in hopes that it would satisfy my craving for popsicles filled with fresh, seasonal fruits and healthy ingredients. It arrived earlier than I expected and I just couldn't wait to share it here with you!

Cherry Pops (pg. 30)

Let me start by saying that every inch of this book is just as lovely as the cover. Honestly, I was tempted to lick the pages! The photos are amazing and inspiring! It's small size (7 x 8 inches) and hardcover make it a charming giftable book for summer birthdays and wedding showers when paired with a set of fun-shaped popsicle molds.

The 94 page book is divided into four sections; Fruity Pops, Creamy Pops, Fancy Pops and Grown-Up Pops. The variety of recipes will knock your socks off. Seriously, there is something for everyone in this book! It has a perfect balance of classic favorites and modern inventions with flavors that range the globe. Many of the recipes like the Triple-Layered Rocket Pops have a totally kid-friendly, ice cream truck appeal to them while others are are spiked with alcohol and include savory, grown-up twists on popsicles that are impressive enough to serve at dinner parties, weddings and fancy events.

Strawberry Cheeseckae Pops (pg. 46)

What I love most about the recipes is that while the popsicles look exotic, most of the ingredients are actually quite simple and readily available. I was also impressed by the inclusion of vegetables, edible flower petals and spices in several of the recipes. These are all things that I want my girls (ages 11 and 15) to appreciate and learn to cook with, so I am excited to bring this book along to the farmers market and grocery store with us and let them choose recipes to make on their own.

I should also add that our family is vegetarian/vegan and the creamy popsicle recipes are easy to veganize by substituting the ingredients with non-dairy milks, yogurts, ice cream, etc.

Mango Lassi Pops (pg. 48)

We made the Mango Lassi Pops last night and they were superb! We used organic frozen mango chunks instead of fresh mangos because we had stash in freezer that needed to be eaten. YUM!

We've already made a shopping list of the popsicle-making ingredients that we don't already have on hand. I think we'll spend the summer working our way through every recipe. I personally can't wait for fresh peaches to try the Bourbon-Peach Pops... Next up, Pineapple Pops with Chile & Lime, Balsalmic Strawberry Pops and Blackberry-Iced Tea Pops!

The retro-chic vibe in this book will definitely bring back fond memories of summers from your own childhood, but it will also inspire you to create fresh, flavorful treats to share with your children, friends and family for many years to come.

An Eco-Friendly Drain Cleaner That Works On Tough Hair Clogs

As much as dislike the idea of buying anything made of plastic, I have to admit that I caved when I found this nifty little invention with a price tag so small that it made decide it was worth a last ditch effort to avoid paying a plumber or do what I was really dreading, pouring toxic chemicals down our shower drain.

With two daughters with long hair that occupy the bathroom in distress there wasn't much question to what was causing the water to rise above their ankles while showering, creating a swampy, soapy, slimey buildup in the tub that lingered even after the water FINALLY went down.

I knew I had to find something to clear the drain, but I also knew that I wasn't going to pour harsh chemicals down the pipes. Anything that had a chance at eating away a soap-laced hairball would have to be pretty toxic and I had my doubts that it would do the job anyway, so I went in search of a eco-friendly option. Unfortunately, upon reading reviews of some of the more awesome green drain cleaners, I learned that they weren't up to the task at hand, disolving hair. Luckily, somewhere along the way in my online search efforts I found a gadget that got rave reviews on Amazon and it was CHEAP!

The Zip-It drain cleaning tool made by Cobra is nothing more than a long zip tie with sharp teeth, but for less than 5 dollars it took just minutes to rangle the hamster-sized hairball free from the drain! It was easy to insert the tool down the pipe even with the seemingly permanently attached pop-up stopper. It was kind of like fishing, -just a slight tug on the line and then voila! (Sorry I didn't take pictures to share here, but it was kind of awful, -like roadkill that you swerve to spare yourself the sight of.) I was so impressed that I immediately rinsed the nastiness off the tool and headed straight for the sink. Wow, who knew what was hiding down there? Eww! Gross! Goodbye gunk! Now our drains run quick and the sound of the water gurgling downward is pretty awesome.

Of course, I ignored the manufacturers warnings and carefully washed (err, had my husband clean) the disposable, one-time-use tool to save for future use. If you give this baby a try I highly recommend having a pair of thick dishwashing gloves and a garbage can handy. The teeth on this thing are extremely sharp and you'll have to pull the hair off if you want to use again.

If, like me, you're looking for an environmentally safe drain cleaner that works on tough hair clogs, the Zip-It totally rocks! (It also makes a great addition to your Amazon shopping cart when you're just a few buck short to qualify for free shipping.)