Pots and Pans

I asked Santa for some new pans this year for Christmas, I guess he does check his list twice.  As I did not get any new copper pans.  I wanted something shiny to spruce up the kitchen what better to do that than some functional ruffoni cookware.  For me, I love the look of the copper, it becomes functional art when you display your ruffoni copper around the room.  The sun catches and makes fun reflections on the walls and ceiling.
The ruffoni not only looks good, but heats evenly on low heats for great ease of cooking.  They have the perfect pan for everything you could ever want to cook.  From sauce pans (which I love) to the jello molds that dear husband loves.
Maybe I will be getting the cookware for Valentines, one can only hope!

Let me count the ways

Cloth diapering seemed like a great place to start to be more eco-friendly with a new baby around.  In our first weeks we used disposables and they worked fine, but the massive amounts of trash leaving our house was just gross.  I felt like I was changing the trash bag as often as I was a dirty diaper.  Prior to the arrival of our little boy we had purchased and prepared (washed several times) a variety of cloth diapers.  Here is the break down.
6 Little Gpants with 6 cloth inserts
3 organic bum genius all in one
3 bum genius pocket diapers
3 gro-baby diapers
Our baby is 6 weeks and 10 lbs.

I will start with the gdiapers.  I love them.  We started using the biodegradable inserts, and have moved to the cloth inserts, which I find to be so absorbent.  At the changing station we have the gpants loaded with their plastic liner, and the cloth insert in that.  Changing time could not go any smoother.  Once baby is changed and happily secured in his bouncer, I rinse and throw the cloth insert into the waterproof laundry bag.  Easy as a disposable, better for the environment and baby's bum!  We only had one leak with the gdiapers with the cloth insert.  The outside shell of the gpant can be used several times before being laundered.

The BumGenius diapers are great too.  I like the all in one organic.  It is super soft, and with that diaper you just rinse and throw the entire apparatus into the bag for laundering.  We have not had any leaks with the BumGenius organics.  I really like the snaps, as they don't get tangled up and stuck to all the other diapers in the wash.  They have an excellent fit on our 10lb baby.

BumGenius pocket diapers are also good.  I have found that they are very resistant to staining.  It has been very rainy out so I have not been able to sun dry any of the diapers.  But so far these have no discoloration.  The pocket diapers are a little harder to use, because you have to stuff them prior to diapering (no big deal, I have a stack ready to go) and you have to unstuff after changing before you throw it into the bag.  Again, it is not a big deal, but compared to the all in one organic, there is a little more work.  That being said, we have had no leaks with this style either.

The last one we tried is the Gro-Baby.  I love the look, and the velcro that they have (very sticky), but our baby doesn't have the chunky legs required.  The outer shell always gets dirty, though you are suppose to be able to use it for several changes.  We have had several leaks with this diaper.  I hope that once he plumps up a bit they will fit better, and the leaking problem will be solved.  For now, these are at the bottom of my list.

There are so many reasons why people choose cloth diapers, and for those of you who think it is difficult, I am here to tell you it is not!  It is easy! I chose to cloth diaper for the environment, but now, cloth diapers how I love you, let me count the ways.

Ease of use
Less trash
No chemicals on baby's bum
Soft, soft, soft
Believe it or not less stink
Easier to clean bum with wipes!
No midnight trips to the store because we ran out of diapers
Lastly they are so cute!

If you use cloth dipes and have any input, I would love to hear it!  If you are considering cloth diapers and would like more info let me know.

Gardening resolution

Another one of my New Year plans is to grow a large bounty of heirloom tomatoes. Several different varieties that I can share with my neighbors. I learned today that the neighbor across the street shares the love of tomatoes with me. He too plants tomatoes each year, so that he can finally have flavorful tomatoes that the grocery stores are lacking. Today I told him of my goal, and he shared a few tips with me. He has to grow his tomatoes in pots due to a diseased soil in his yard. I am very excited to share that I just purchased my seeds for this growing season. These are the plants I will be trying to grow. I stress the word trying since my thumb is far from green.

Black Cherry-Tomato Seeds
Cherokee Purple-Tomato Seeds
Marvel Stripe
Blondkopfchen-Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Vintage Wine
Hillbilly (I just had to get this one for the name)
Mortgage Lifter, Red

If I have success with the seeds, I should not only have a nice bounty of tomatoes, but a colorful harvest as well.  I purchased my seeds at TomatoFest.com today, and I can't wait to get them.   Time will tell if my goal of a tomato garden will come to fruition.

Curious about Lincoln?

Check out his blog to find out how we are doing with our new addition. From the daily activites, fun outings and cloth diapers. The last 5 weeks have flown by.
Lincoln's blog

New Duds for a new Year

I am starting a new workout routine for the new year.  You may have seen it in a previous post.  I think I will treat myself to new workout apparel.  It is important to feel confident when starting a new workout routine.  I think it is one way to keep you motivated.  That is the reason for new clothes.  I will check out a pair of new asics sneakers, for maximum comfort for my feet.  Keeping my feet comfortable is a top priority for me.  I don't mind a little muscle discomfort, but I don't like my feet to hurt.  I also think I will pick up a Patagonia fleece.  Since the temperatures are a bit chilly here, and I don't want to have the heat cranked before my workout, this fleece will keep me warm while I do my warmup!  What is my warmup routine you may ask, well, before each workout I like to warm up with my reebok exercise ball.  I find that it is a good way to get my muscles stretched a bit before I start the intense workout.  For all of you out there that are "resolving" to get in shape this year, I would love to hear how you stay motivated.

Environmentally friendly?

I never thought anyone would link online gambling to being environmentally friendly.  I am going to do it though!  I started thinking that casinos are just big buildings using a ton of energy to run 24 hours a day, and they are filled with smoke and other things that increase your carbon footprint.  So why not say that the online casinos are better for the environment.  You don't need the large brick and mortar building where the smokers congregate, they can stay at home and gamble until their hearts content online.  They don't have to drive cars to get to the casino, the electricity used at home should be far less than that of a thousand slot machines  spinning and clanking spitting out tokens.  There are no neon lights at the online casino, and no air conditioning used.  There needs to be no air purification system in place, and well the online gambler can play in the dark.  So if there is any link between online casinos and the environment I will find it.  All we need to do is get the online gambling sites to use green energy to power their servers and we will be all set.  I think it is a new niche of the online market, any one want to take the bull by the horns?

Workout with Results

It seems to be all the rage now. Everywhere I look I see articles about Power 90 workouts! I am looking to get back in shape for the new year so I thought I would check out what all the chatter was about. I like the idea of doing a work out that can only be described as an insanity workout. One that will get the results I am looking for in a short amount of time. We all know that when we see the results we are more likely to stick with a program. For me, seeing the results in 90 days is a great motivator! Not only to be in better shape today, but for the rest of my life. I think one of the ways to improve your life on a daily basis is to do exercise. Whether you have an hour to devote to your daily workout or if you are more into a 10 minute trainer, exercise can improve your health. It has been said a thousand times in a thousand different ways, but getting your body moving is the only way to stay in shape.  Make this year all about you and your health.  Give it a try you have nothing but pounds to lose!

Traveling Time

Now that we are a family of three, we have places to go and people to visit. Now that we have more things to spend our money on we are really looking for cheap flights to the places we want to go. One of the trips we plan to make is to Pennsylvania in the fall. Not only to see the leaves change again, but to visit our friends. They told us to check out lonleyplanet.com and find a few things we would like to do while we are visiting. First things first, we have to find affordable airline tickets to and from Pennsylvania.  There are places on the web were you can compare all the airlines schedules to your destination of choice.  Choose your departure city and your destination and you can get search results almost instantly and find cheap flights around the world!  Once we make it to our destination, one of the things on the list of to-do's is get a Philly Cheese steak. The original cheese steak. I think it will be a great trip. We can't wait to see our friends and their new family member!

Grapefruit bounty

Yesterday my neighbor brought we 14 grapfruit from her tree. She did
not want the fruit to be damaged by the freezing temps. What is one
to do with so many grapefruit. I used the epicurious app on my iPhone
last night to find a few suitable recipes. I can't wait to try.
Inculding a recipe for halibut, a pasta cream sauce and of course
grapefruit bars! As I try them I will let you know if the recipe is a
keeper or not. Stay tuned for the details.

You thought you were having a bad day!

Check out this poor little turtle. His day went from bad to worse. First if you can see in the picture this poor thing has no eyes! What a turtle without eyes, I think that is the way he was born. I can't think of a single animal that would have such precision to just pluck out his eyes and leave the rest of him to hobble along. Then if things could not get any worse, he was stuck upside down! Poor, poor turtle. So if you think you were having a bad day, things could always be worse!

A bright New Year

Once the holidays are over and we are getting back to our routine, I like to make sure we are stocked up on the all important light bulbs. Here we like to use eco-friendly lighting such as the compact fluorescent bulbs. I know you are saying that they are filled with mercury and not as eco safe as I think they are. Well, they might indeed have some toxic chemicals, but I sure have to replace them less often, creating less waste in the form of light bulbs, and all the packaging that they come in. I recently helped my parents change the fluorescent bulbs that still illuminate their garage, and found out that we could take them to our local hardware store for recycling, or proper disposal. I thought that was a great way to get rid of the boxes of fluorescent lights that they have collected over the years. Whatever lighting you choose, I hope that you are using energy-saving bulbs in one form or another. It is just one more small step we can all take to better (or at least maintain) the environment.