Most of the responses here seem to be about going organic with food. Have any of you tried organic cosmetics or personal care products? I have been learning a lot about toxins in cosmetics and it is a little scary. I would be interested in hearing feedback about organic or green cosmetic and personal care products that you have tried.
kk, guys, here are the bhaji recipes, so yummy! Enjoy!
Spinach Bhaji
10 oz Spinach, frozen
2 cloves garlic
2T chopped onion
1/4t cumin
sea salt
pinch cayenne
1T lemon juice
Saute garlic, onion & cumin in a little broth. When browned, add spinach & cook a few minutes. Add cayenne & salt. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon. Serve with rice or whole wheat flatbread & dahl.
Cauliflower Bhaji
1C stock
2t cumin
2t coriander
2t paprika
1t ground mustard seed
1/2t tumeric
3 cloves garlic
1/2" fresh grated ginger root
fresh chopped hot Chiles to taste
1 lg onion, chopped
1t black pepper
1/2t sea salt
cauliflower
1 can diced or pureed tomatoes
2T tomato paste
Bring stock to boil, add cumin, coriander, paprika, mustard & tumeric. Boil ferociously 5 minutes, adding more water if it dries out. Add garlic, ginger, Chiles, onions & a bit more water. Add cauliflower & baste in spices. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper & simmer 15 minutes. Serve with rice.
-- Edited by Host_DonnaA at 11/01/2008 8:08 AM PDT
--
Edited by Host_DonnaA at 11/01/2008 8:08 AM PDT
Donna I would also love the recipe, wouldlike to try some indian foods at home. My sister and BIL took me to a great resturant and we had a great meal... my BIL is quite knowledgable about ther food. U never would have been brave enough on my own, so glad I did though.
do you know whats more important than what you put IN your body? What you put ON your body... at least when you eat something, you have your kidneys to filter it out... not on your skin.... look at www.cosmeticdatabase.com to find out how unsafe your skin products are......
We eat a lot of vegan meals. I love the uncheese, my kids can get a lilttle snarky with it once in a while, lol. And sometimes when I ask my husband what he wants for dinner, I get the one word answer, "meat". But it is so much more healthful, and there is such a bountiful diversity. I have fallen in love with Indian food, which I always hated because my first experience was a really bad curry. But one of my favorites is Spinach Bhaji, so very good! Light, lemony and delicious, perfect with brown basmati rice, a great light lunch by itself, or teamed up with another bhaji or two and a dahl. I also love this recipe I found for a bright beautiful cauliflower curry. YUM!
WTG Lori! A friend of mine decided to go vegan about 6months ago. She said a lot of her health problems disappeared and she lots about 45pounds! Is it as hard as it sounds??
I'm on my 10th day of going vegan/ organic, and my acne is just about gone. It's pretty impressive what your body can do once you take out all the bad influences!
Has anyone tried community gardening, I have heard of it but not local to me. One thing we did a few years back is plant a row for hunger. You can donate your extra garden bounty to the local food bank. I know I wandered a bit of topic but reading about organic made me think of it.
--
Edited by Host_Toni at 10/08/2008 8:43 AM PDT
Two books I would recommend for those who are seeking inspiration for eating locally are Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and Doug Fine's "Farewell, My Subaru."
Neither sugar coats the effort it takes, and Doug Fine will keep you in stitches.
Fortunately, our community's farmer's market restricts sellers to products grown in a four county radius. The trade off is you know it is local, but the produce available is dependent on the time of year.
The subject of organic farming reminded me of a commercail I saw recently. After watching this commercia l I was at a complete loss for words; my friends and family would say that is a huge feat! It is a commercial that is pro high fructose corn syrup and paid for by some farming group. I guess many people are shying away from products that contain it and they had to jump on the advertising band wagon. They are saying that in moderate amounts corn products are not a health hazard. I am wondering what you all think about it, is HFCS something to be worried about?
I buy organic as much as I can. Things that are a MUST for us to be organic are milk, produce and meats. All the hormones in meat kinda make me nervous. I wish I could afford to go ALL organic, but it's just too expensive.
Good point on the local thing - incidentally, if you have allergies, eating locally gorwn produce and honey will actually help reduce your symptoms and suffering.
There is an organization called Local Harvest that you can join (it's free). you put in your zipcode and they hook you up with a network of farmers in your area and list their products. They have a weekly newslettter of events or specials, new farms, crops, etc. You can also subscribe to a farm or farms, and they will deliver a basket to your home weekly of fresh produce at various levels of cost. It's pretty neat.
Well you have some good points, LChoice. We do live in a world that loves a good catch phrase don't we? Like it's a trend to be organic or to go green. Seems to be going around alot these days!
I do agree that buying locally is a better choice, not just on the product but also on your pocketbook. The price of gas has driven prices up across the board, and it's obviously more expensive to ship just about everything nowadays. I can barely afford buying fresh fruit anymore - the price for a 5lb bag of apples is outrageous. Seasonal fruit that I always buy is out of the question if it isn't on sale. We didn't have watermelon this past 4th of July because I couldn't afford it.
Ok, call me a misguided liberal, but going organic like a lot of things can become a catch phrase, that is not always a true reflection of the product or the production. Get me off my soapbox, now!
It certainly is more expensive to produce food without chemicals, and even more expensive for organic meats. And mostly going organic is a better alternative, but the world would be a lot better off if we thought of the process as living locally. If you buy vegetables from a local farmer or farmer's market, they will be better for you, organic or not, than organic foods shipped 3000 miles.
Sorry for the rant, but this whole issue gets me going.
--
Edited by Host_Toni at 10/08/2008 8:43 AM PDT
