I am so confused and frustrated.  I am trying to eat better and healthier and the more I learn the harder it is to easily find food that is healthy, economical and won't turn me into a sea slug or something.  I am talking food additives, fillers, processing and, of course the biggie, GMOs.

I have to go into the grocery store armed w/ lists of ingredients to avoid in order to find food that is good for me.  Isn't this the food service's job?  Why do I have to spend so much time searching in a food store to find REAL FOOD?

Until someone tells me to the contrary, food supplier's care only about their profit, and anything that will put them into a lawsuit...reputation and money.  With so many of them spending millions on keeping us in the dark about some of these foods and additives... Seriously, is there anyone out there I can trust?

Here is where the organic foods area comes in.  They are REGULATED to keep to a STRICT guideline to label them organic.  Organic means no chemical pesticides, fertilizers, frankenseeds, etc.  Sounds awesome right?  REAL FOOD....at a price.  As far as I know the organics area is small, takes a lil longer, and more importantly organic farmers don't get as many government grants, insurances, etc as Big AG does.

So in the short, I have to pay a lot more in order to keep myself from eating creepy things.  I am a student... I have no money.  I want to lose weight, feel better and get rid of this damn depression I've had for 13 years.    Had I known that I have to do everything... maybe I'll just go live in the woods... cause the companies I should trust to help seem to care for nothing but their bottom line.

Like I said, I am incredibly frustrated, and don't know what to do and where to turn.

I think that I shall never see 

a billboard lovely as a tree. 

Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,

I'll never see a tree at all.

Ogden Nash

There are usually waaaay too many good articles too post (and not enough readers) to post all the awesome articles I find at Treehugger.  This one I made an exception cause one of the commenters had this quote.

Cleveland, Ohio cut down a tree in order to see the billboard better.  The consensus is that it was stupid and unnecessary. I understand that you spend quite a bit of money on a large garish sign you'd like people to see it...(damn trees).  Joking aside you could have trimmed it up.  Idiots.

I personally find billboards distracting.  They are nice when they help me find things but there are too many of them.  It's UGLY!

Here is a cool article by Forbes magazine on what happens when all visual pollution is taken out.

Business in Sao Paulo, Brazil is actually flourishing!

Perhaps we should start lobbying this in our cities.

Bernie vs Monsanto

Thank you Mr Sanders.  You have made me feel like there are senators out there that still care. :)

BENTO!!!

Today, I am obsessed w/bento boxes!  For those of you who do not know of bento boxes, they are similar to our brown paper bag lunches, but usually brighter, cuter, and more eco-conscious. They are also a good start for dieters since it's more or less portion control.

Many parents have found out that creating cute, quirky, colourful lunches to be a bit more time-consuming, but rewarding when their children eat alll of it.  Who could blame them?  Look at some of the boxes below...Who wouldn't want to eat these?

I extract my statement, I would never be able to eat the Sailor Moon one...that is just too pretty.  Maybe my fiance would eat his w/Beethoven(or is it Mozart?)

Of course these are sometimes more artwork than food.  There are many simpler ones out there which will take a LOT less time.  This one on the left just added some cute flower cutouts.  Doesn't it make a serious difference?!  Who needs an embarrassing love letter in their lunch when this SCREAMS LAOVE!  A bad day would be cheered up by a teddy bear in my lunch...just saying.

TOOLS!  These silly little cutouts and forms make your bento box much faster to create.  These are for bento specifically, but you can always use cookie cutters, and candy molds.  I personally have a dinosaur sandwich cutter and a hello kitty sandwich maker,(which makes awesome pancakes btw).

I also found that you can jazz up a potluck w/these.  I made 10 pbj and pb banana choc chip sandwiches w/the dino cutters and people loved them!  Cheap AND fun!


This is one of the things I want to incorporate into my lifestyle.  I need to eat healthier, lose some weight, and stave off depression.  I would love to buy the books, but seriously there are sooo many websites out there that teach and showcase their bentos, so for more information check out:

Just Bento: Probably the best site I have found so far.  It helps w/diet, proportions and has a book. 
 If you want to try some serious cuteness go for Adventures in Bentomaking:  There's some major cuteness factor here.  She co-wrote a book called Yum Yum Bento Box.  For anime fans you might like the The Manga Cookbook.  Having crazy cartoons making cartoon food is always better!
OOP!  Almost forgot that there was an article in Parent Map, 20 Lunch Box Ideas for Kids. This is for parents who just want to jazz up regular food for kids.

Who wouldn't want to eat eat a pirate made out of taco?

Om nomnomnomnom

I absolutely LOVE this picture!  Gives me a bad case of the giggles.

Landscape Fabric Blues

I am hereby convinced that landscape fabric is too much of a hassle to even bother with.  It works only until there is enough humus (hew-mus, not hum-es.  The latter is a delicious chickpea dip!)on top of it and then weeds start sprouting and their roots go into the fabric and it's all a mess.  I learned this while trying to weed a garden bed that was left unattended for, who knows how long.  The hardest part was trying to pierce this fabric to allow a few annuals to grow.  PAIN  IN ASS!

Landscape fabric is more or less intended to give certain plants room to grow, and then they would take up the mantle of weed fighting.  Upon reading Lasagna Gardening (got it for .99..sooooo worth it anyway) I learned about using newspaper!  Sweet!  A cheap, biodegradable weed barrier that will break down and feed the soil! It works too!

Simply start saving newspapers.  Place them around the bed in layers 5 pages thick.  TADAA!!  It's a bit trickier to work with until you get either mulch or water to hold it down, and it doesnt come in nice big sheets like other fabrics do.  If you were doing this for a large bed you could purchase the end rolls of newspaper from a newspaper printer, and just put down 5 layers of it.


Look it up!  Check it out!

Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!

For this:	Try this:
Air freshener	Simmer cinnamon and cloves
Aluminum spot remover	2 tablespoons cream of tartar + 1 quart hot water
Ants	Red chili powder at point of entry
Bleach	Borax
Brass polish	Worcestershire sauce
Car battery corrosion	Baking soda + water
Chrome polish	Apple cider vinegar; then polish with baby oil
Cleaners (general household)	Baking soda
Coffee cup stain remover	Moist salt
Coffee pot stain	Vinegar
Copper cleaner	Lemon juice + salt
Decal remover	Soak in white vinegar
Dish detergent - grease cutter	1/2 cup baking soda + usual amount of liquid detergent
Drain cleaner	Plunger followed by 1/2 cup baking soda + 1/2 cup of vinegar + 2 quarts boiling water
Fertilizer	Compost and vermicompost
Fiberglass stain remover	Baking soda paste
Flea & tick repellent	Scatter pine needles, fennel, rye or rosemary on pet's bed
Fleas (on pets)	Feed pet brewer's yeast, vitamin B or garlic tablets
Flies (insects)	Well watered pot of basil
Floor cleaner	1 cup vinegar + 2 gallons water
Furniture polish	1 tablespoon lemon oil in 1 pint of mineral oil
Garbage disposal deodorizers	Used lemons
Grease fire	Douse with baking soda
Grease removal	Borax on damp cloth
Handcleaner for paint/grease	Baby oil
Ink spot remover	Cold water + 1 tablespoon cream of tartar + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Insects on plants	Soapy water on leaves, then rinse
Laundry detergent	Basic soap
Laundry pre-soak	Make paste of washing soda & water; apply to spots
Linoleum floor cleaner	1 cup white vinegar + 2 gallons water
Mildew remover	Equal parts of vinegar and salt
Mosquito repellent	Burn citronella candles
Moth repellent	Cedar chips or dried lavendar enclosed in cotton sachets
Multi-Purpose Cleaner	Mix 1/2 cup ammonia, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup baking soda in 1 gallon of warm water
Nematode (parasitic worm) repellent	Plant marigolds
Oil stain remover	White chalk rubbed into stain before laundering
Oven cleaner	2 tablespoons liquid soap + 2 teaspoons borax + warm water
Paint; oil based/stain/spray	Water-based, non-aerosol paints
Paint brush softener	Hot vinegar
Perspiration spot remover	Baking soda
Pet odor remover	Cider vinegar
Porcelain cleaner	Make paste from baking soda & water; let set, rub clean and rinse
Refrigerator deodorizer	Open box baking soda
Roach repellent	Chopped bay leaves and cucumber skins
Rug/carpet cleaner	Club soda
Rust removal (clothing)	Lemon juice + salt + sunlight
Rusty bolt/nut removal	Carbonated beverage
Scorch mark removal	Grated onion
Scouring powder	Baking Soda
Shaving cream	Brush and shaving soap
Shoe polish	Banana peel
Silver polish	1 quart warm water + 1 tablespoon baking soda + piece of aluminum foil + 1 tablespoon salt
Slug and snail repellent	Onion and marigold plants
Spot remover	Club soda, lemon juice, or salt
Stainless steel polish	Mineral oil
Toilet bowl cleaner	Paste of borax + lemon juice
Tub and tile cleaner	1/4 cup baking soda + 1/2 cup white vinegar + warm water
Upholstery spot removal	Club soda
Water mark removal	Toothpaste
Water softener	1/4 cup vinegar
Wine stain removal	Salt
Window cleaner	Use 1/2 cup of vinegar in 1 gallon of warm water
Wood polish	3 parts olive oil + 1 part white vinegar; almond or olive oil (interior unvarnished wood only)