~This past Sat March 31st, at 8:30pm local time, was Earth Hour. During Earth Hour communities across the globe turned off the lights from 8:30-9:30 pm. Did you? Think Global, Act Local. Together we can make a difference.
~ World Water Day was on Mar 22nd. Water is a precious resource, possibly our most precious resource. Don’t wait for a shortage to become water aware and water mindful. Take a household challenge to reduce your consumption. The Earth will thank you, the bank balance will thank you!
~April 22nd is Earth Day! Is there a theme here?! Spring is a time of renewal and awakening and blossoming. Allow the messages of these special worldwide days to awaken us to the value and beauty of a relationship with Mother Nature!
The mothering Mother newsletter seeks to address how integral food and its connection with the Earth is to our everyday lives. Eating healthy foods is easy if you buy healthy and natural ingredients. Get familiar with your produce and bulk bags. You do so much for others, now do something for yourself. Buy fresh produce, fresh seeds and nuts, and follow the recipe below to good and natural eating.
Can we eat our way out of the environmental challenges? One thoughtful meal at a time. See the continued “Eating Our Way Out” article at the bottom of this newsletter. Share your joy for the world by using cotton mothering Mother bags and sharing your home cooked foods with others.
Namaste Sydney
An Earth Day Event!
April 24
Come see a screening of the movie Bag It brought to you by mothering Mother. If you live in the Greater New York Area this is a great opportunity to see just why the switch from plastic bags are some important. Visit the mothering Mother website for more details.
Reduce. Reuse.
Reuse Again.
Joanna Falcone
mothering Mother
McGill University
Spring is about renewal and rebirth. The vibrant life of the Earth begins to emerge once again, released from the clutch of winter’s harsh grasp. Even your home renews itself with the help of a little Spring cleaning and some freshly cut flowers. Why not renew some of the items you would have otherwise thrown away? Instead of recycling some of the glass items you come across during cleaning, “upcycle”? Upcycling takes old, “waste” materials, and gives them new uses. This term is based upon the ideas of Michael Braungart and William McDonough (Cradle to Cradle). They propose, instead of the cradle-to-grave model that most of us abide by (this includes recycling), why not convert to the cradle-to-cradle model? This encourages things to be constantly reused in new and different ways rather than simply tossed. The process of recycling, although better than filling up landfills, still requires energy and most recyclable products do not even make it to recycling bins. Let us instead shift to this paradigm of reuse. There are plenty of ways that we can reuse things in our own home. Here are a few ideas, but the only limit is your creativity!
Mason/Jelly Jars:
Soap Dispenser: Use both the jar and the lid. Drill a hole in the top of the lid that is wide enough to fit a soap pump in. Fill with your favorite soap, insert pump, and voila! This is also good because it encourages buying soap (hand or dish) in bulk rather than buying a new bottle every time.
Drinking Glasses: Pretty self explanatory. Pretty much any jar you buy can be used again as a drinking vessel. Works for hot liquids too!
Wine Bottles:
Flower Vases: Fill with fragrant flowers from your garden. You can even mount them on your wall with a simple wall attachment that fits around the neck of the bottle.
Mosquito Tiki Torches: Fill bottles with citronella oil*. Make a hole in the cork to feed a piece of rope through. Place the torches around your outside patio or deck. Once the rope is soaked with the oil, light and enjoy the warm nights mosquito free.
**Lemon and eucalyptus oils are good natural mosquito repellent alternatives
If you have piles and piles of old magazines, there are a few crafty ways to reuse them. Everything from picture frames to hot pads to a rack to hold other magazines! Check out this DIY website for directions. These project require a bit more effort, but the results are impressive!
Jewelry Turn old brooches or earrings into refrigerator magnets. Simply glue a magnet to the back after removing the pin hardware (needle nose pliers make this an easy task)
A Recipe for Less Waste
Recently there was an article discussing the amount of food that is thrown out each year. Sadly fresh produce is at the top of the list! Often vegetables and fruit are purchased with the greatest of intentions, and then “life” gets away on us, and the food rots.
The thought of eating the same meal 2 days in a row is unappealing. This may be our natural nutritional instinct advising us! Food loses vitality after it has been subjected to heat (cooking), oils and vinegars (dressings and marinades) that alter it. Leftover food loses vitality in the first 24 hours following the meal. This makes leftovers great for lunch the following day, with fresh vegetables to add vitality and variety.
Prepare meals with the intention of eating most of the food at that meal. This is not meant to encourage overeating. With practice learn how much food is eaten at a meal in your home.
Try the Sea Vegetable Kale Salad, and the Simple Spinach Soup, both listed on the blog. In conjunction with the Eating Our Way Out article, the recent blog posting offers way to make a meal of fresh food at lunch!
Sydney MacInnis Founder mothering Mother Holistic Nutritionist and Yoga Instructor
This month I feel compelled to focus on the “eating” aspect of the title for these articles. After the darker winter months it is not uncommon to emerge into the spring with a few extra pounds on the body. When the body is cold there is a natural desire to feel the need to eat more, and to provide the body with more calories and extra protection. According to Raw Earth Living “In response to cold weather, the body constricts the skin pores and superficial connective tissue to prevent heat loss, which directs the heat away from the peripheral tissues and into the body’s core, including the stomach. Agni [digestive fire] (and, therefore, your appetite) becomes stronger in winter.” So it isn’t just your imagination! We really are hungrier.
Transitioning from the cold to the heat of spring is an adjustment for the body. Although the freshness and newness of spring is exciting, I feel myself lugging around the physical and mental weight from the winter, and the shift leaves me with confused eating habits during the changes. The hardest part of these changes can be the mind. Clinging to the feelings of satiation from the winter months holds me where I am now, and then frustration sets in as the weight remains and the layers of clothing start to come off!
Begin by planning and preparing for each meal, especially the meal where overeating takes hold. Don’t leave your food decisions to your appetite in the moment of hunger! Way too dangerous! All good intentions for change will be sidelined to satisfy the roar of hunger from within. Leave minimal work for mealtime to help you stay on track and focused on whole foods eating.
There are so many many food temptations around us. Stay the course by making some personal commitments and boundaries. These will help to control the senses, which are constantly stimulated. Smell, sight, taste! When we eat for the senses alone there is a “sense” of guilt and disappointment that often follows. Eating for all of your being – your cells, your digestion, your elimination, your peace of mind – will give you riches far beyond immediate pleasure.
Here are some General Guidelines that I follow:
Make lunch the biggest meal of the day, and the meal NOT to skip
Eat 2-3 meals a day, with 4 – 6 hours between meals. This allows the body to thoroughly digest the previous meal, and to become hungry.
Eat fruit between meals. Nothing else. For digestive reasons, fruit is best eaten on its own.
Go to bed feeling slightly, or even very, hungry. The overnight fast of 12 – 14 hours encourages internal detoxification during the night when the organs are not busy digesting food.
Complete eating by 6pm. This encourages healthy digestion and deep sleeping. Food eaten during the evening is stored in the body.
