Category Archives: Organic Mama Cafe

May 04
0

Hey Sexy, Leave the Gloves ON…

By | Organic Gardening | One Comment

So, you thought this was going to be a post about sex, huh? You should know me well enough by now to know I don’t kiss and tell! But, don’t be too disappointed yet. The habits I’m suggesting might just help you in that department – if in a roundabout way. Haha!!

This IS kind of a dirty post about something I think everyone should be doing – outdoors. And it’s actually about sticking your hands – in the dirt – and trying to pull forth food or beauty. I have a few reasons for feeling this way. Here they are.

Gardening will relax you and bring life into perspective.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from parenting preschoolers, it’s that they behave best when they spend lots of time out of doors daily. Not only does this get them away from the TV and produce a happier playing experience, they eat whatever I serve without complaint (’cause, as my oldest claims, they’re “starving”) and they sleep restfully.

Guess what? This goes for adults too! There is something magical about sticking bare toes in the dirt and taking deep breaths of that fresh outdoor scent as you gently tuck dirt around a new plant or pull weeds so another can grow. Suddenly, whatever is stressing you out won’t seem so bad. When you come inside, you’ll feel relaxed, re-focused and tired in the best way. If you have such a brown thumb that you kill everything you touch, just get a shovel and dig in the dirt like a kid. If you listen hard, you just might hear a plant calling your name and promising to grow for you.

Gardening can save you money and reduce garbage waste if you do it right. Veggie scraps from kitchen cuttings, dead leaves and branches, egg shells and banana peels make free compost/natural fertilizer and minimize garbage waste. All that yucky decaying matter turns into rich, fertile soil capable of creating the best veggies you’ve ever tasted. When you find success at gardening – even if it’s just one crop – you can save the money you would have spent on buying that product in the store. And, you can produce it organically! My grandmother and other moms I know will affirm they wouldn’t have been able to feed their families nearly so healthily without gardening.

Gardening will allow you to eat organically on a budget and help your kids to like strong food. Growing your own food will allow you to avoid all those nasty chemicals on conventionally grown foods without breaking the bank. And, I can guarantee your kid will be a lot more interested in eating her vegetables if she grew them herself!

Gardening will help YOU love real food! Instead of produce that wasn’t picked ripe, was transported in cold (almost frozen) storage and therefore lacks the flavor it’s supposed to have, you’ll eat the tastiest version of whatever you grow!. No wonder it’s so hard to love veggies when we’re eating tomatoes that taste flat and flavorless or strawberries that don’t smell sweet or strawberry-ish! Eating fresh stuff from your own garden will turn you into a true foodie.

Gardening will bring your family together over the dinner table. Although you can make a very quick meal from the garden, it’s one that will require a little chopping and thought. Enjoy a refreshing drink and conversation with your lover or kids while you’re chopping away! You’ll be surprised at the conversations you’ve been missing.

Gardening can help you get into shape. Fresh air, aerobic exercise and real food is a recipe for a strong body! Unhealthy processed foods lose their appeal once you’ve tasted real food flavored with fresh herbs.

And the point we’ve all been waiting for…Gardening just might get you some. Ever heard the phrase, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?” It goes both ways, baby! Who doesn’t think a strong and relaxed urban farmer with a slightly sweaty, rosy glow is sexy? What man doesn’t think the aroma of good food is the best perfume? Duh.

To your newly fresh, confident demeanor, add the sensually delicious aroma of a fresh tomato and basil salad straight from the garden and you may find you’ve discovered an irresistible aphrodisiac!

Here’s to love and gardening!

Apr 19
0

Greedy Capitalism? – A Little Econ Discussion in the OM Cafe

By | Money, Natural Health | No Comments

Capitalism has taken a bad rap lately. The idea that competitive conditions will create the best product in the end has suffered a bit of a blow because of what I call “mutual-market-player greed”. Let’s be honest. Greed isn’t a character trait solely exhibited by the “big bad corporations”. Corporations aren’t some giant brain that makes decisions like a big “Borg”. People who work for corporations must make individual choices daily about whether they’ll use integrity in their approach to business. And these employees respond to customers who choose either to buy or not to buy their products.

A perfect example of supply and demand capitalism is the real estate market fiasco of recent years. While there was definitely some red tape involved that might have fooled less educated consumers, nearly everyone in the loan process was complicit in the resulting disaster. The employees of those loan companies, Wall Street and the consumers involved exercised greed resulting in a huge bubble and then the monstrous POP!

What if consumers had just exercised restraint? The same greed that drove corporate employees to offer bad products to consumers might have driven them to offer good product had consumers demanded it.

The best guide of good capitalism is the dictate of a wise consumer conscience.

Far more powerfully than government regulation, consumers have the ability to send a mass message about purchasing values by refusing to financially support companies who fail to deliver according to demand. This is where the breakdown occurs between idealism and reality. When Rob and I shopped for a house loan, banks offered us significantly more than we could realistically afford monthly. We could have chosen to buy a product we couldn’t really afford. Instead, we used two magic words some of us have forgotten along the line.

“No, thanks.”

As consumers, we often fail to send that message simply because we don’t want to change our habits. We won’t stop shopping that big box store even if they use questionable labor practices. We don’t say no because we’d rather have more “stuff” even if it’s cheap and will just end up in a landfill at the end of the summer. We don’t really want to know what’s in that sunblock we’re smearing all over our kids. We confuse needs with wants. Sometimes, we think we just cannot afford to shop elsewhere.

That little voice in our head that justifies our decision to keep buying without regard for consequences by saying, “It doesn’t really matter. One person’s not buying it doesn’t make a difference.”

But is that true?

I don’t believe it is.

Demand can change or destroy a business model. Take for instance the failure of American car manufacturers to move toward the cost-effective, gas-conserving manufacturing standards of companies like Toyota. Americans who cared about their pocketbooks stopped spending money on gigantic cars still manufactured to guzzle gas like water even as the price of oil soared. U.S. car makers’ sluggish response to market demand would have caused failure if they’d not been saved by a government bailout.

So why is this a subject I’m even discussing at the OM Cafe?

Supply and demand applies to every part of our world, including the food we eat and the products we slather all over our bodies. I am passionate about leaving to my children a world where plants aren’t all genetically modified and animal products aren’t altered by hormones. For years, my family and I have spent the extra tine and money to seek out local producers and buy organic food. For a long time, friends and family members thought we were crazy hippies for doing it. That’s never really bothered me.

The funny thing is that after all these years, many of those friends are starting to realize that what they put into and on their bodies really does make a difference in their overall health. They are now choosing to purchase organically and/or locally grown or raised food. And, those foods are far more available than they were ten years ago when Rob and I first made the switch. The market is slowly changing in response to demand as consumers are becoming more educated.

Recognizing their bottom lines will suffer till business practices truly change is a powerful motivator for most companies. Money talks when you choose whether or not to spend it.

We need to recognize our power to make the change for safer food practices in the U.S. widespread. But the price to pay for changing the way we do food business in the good ole U.S.A. is a sacrifice of time and the death of old habits.

We as consumers need to take a little time to think about our food and what’s in it. It’s not hard. Here’s how I choose mine. How close is it to it’s original form? Fresh fruits and veggies – grown without pesticides? Check. Organic milk unsullied by growth hormones? Check. Meat raised and finished on grass. Check. The easiest way to confirm that this is really the way my food was produced and raised? Knowing my supplier personally.

Is it possible? Of course!

But isn’t it hard? Not really. The options for buying either organic or local are far more available now than they ever were. And, every person who chooses to make that change will send yet another message to companies who supply food to the U.S. market. The same companies that provide junk to us offer different options in other parts of the world because those markets demand it. We need to create the same demand here.

Are you willing to help drive that change?

Can we afford not to?

Mar 09
0

Best Brownies Ever, A Respectful Variation on the Malgieri Brownie

By | Recipes | One Comment

Last week was my husband’s 35th birthday and instead of a cake, he requested a chocolate brownie sundae that oozed chocolate. I had a sneaking suspicion he might be supporting my recent need to indulge in chocolate-y goodness every few days as exhibited by the fact that the only recipes I’ve posted lately have been chocolate. But I resolutely pushed aside my conspiracy theorist tendencies and got to work. A brownie sundae begins with the perfect brownie and I intended to find it.

But first – I have a confession to make. Please, don’t judge me too harshly.

I have never been a big brownie fan. They have never done it for me. While I love dark chocolate, I prefer it in creamy desserts like mousse or a chocolate creme brulee. So, I knew the brownie would have to be the perfect texture and flavor to tempt me. And, I figured if I could find a recipe to tempt a non-brownie lover like me, my intended audience would be happy too.

I started with a brownie from the Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite sites. See it here. I liked the description of the recipe she posted because it was so easy, used only cocoa powder and didn’t require my tempering any chocolate. But, when I tasted the finished product, the cocoa powder bitterness stood out to me. I didn’t do the brownie any flavors by leaving it in the oven just a minute or two too long (classic brownie error!). It was still chewy fudge-y but I could tell I’d overdone it. It was not a bad brownie by any means – just not the one I was looking for. By the way, if you haven’t visited the Smitten Kitchen yet, you should. She’s a really funny writer, the pictures are great and the food is phenomenal. You’ll love me for it!

Next, I tried the Best Brownie EVA recipe over at the feeding time blog. And, in classic “Monna” style, I altered it by adding just a little cocoa powder since I wanted it to be SUPER chocolate-y. And, it was. But, the cocoa powder definitely gave the brownies a bitter flavor. More importantly, when those brownies came out, I realized the real problem.

I thought I wanted a fudge-y brownie. But, both those fudge brownie recipes seemed heavy, flat muddled. I wanted a taller, chewier brownie with a with a crispy top that would showcase the flavor of chocolate and finish with chocolate chunks melting into my mouth. I’m serious about chocolate.

Know how they say third time’s the charm? Well, it was. In my insane perusal of hundreds of brownie recipes to find the perfect one (maybe that’s an exaggeration but barely. I spent way too many hours on this project!), I stumbled across several forums frequented by people much closer to “nuts” about brownies than me. We’re talking some seriously passionate, brownie-pated individuals! Several of them referred to a recipe for Supernatural Brownies by a guy named Nick Malgieri as the ultimate brownie. I had to find it.

Sure enough, I discovered the recipe in another of my favorite places. The website for the American Public Media radio show called The Splendid Table, hosted by Lynne Rosetto Kasper had the recipe posted here.

By now I’d learned a few things about brownies, so I tweaked it just a leeeee-tle. I just can’t help myself. I have a chronic tendency to change recipes.

And, this one nailed it. I can’t tell you what your taste in brownies should be. But, if you want the best brownie you’ve ever tasted, try this one. Despite the fact that it requires tempering, it’s pretty darn easy. By the way, no cocoa powder. 

Notes: The pan you use in a brownie recipe makes a big difference. I used a metal Nordicware quarter sheet. That’s smaller than Mr. Malgieri’s recipe calls for but the smaller size lets the brownie puff up to the height I wanted while still allowing it to remain chewy. If you use a bigger pan, shorten your cooking time. If you use glass, lower the temp 25 degrees to prevent burnt and squishy brownies. Yuck.
For the record, I’ve been having problems with my oven, thus the wide variance in baking times. But, I’d rather have a slightly underdone brownie than an overcooked one.
Finally, for those of you who would argue this is NOT a brownie with baking powder in it, I have only to say – I don’t care. It tastes DELICIOUS!

Best Brownies Ever, A Respectful Variation on the Malgieri Brownie
Ingredients
16 tablespoons butter (I used salted and decreased the salt in the recipe)
10.5 oz bittersweet chocolate pieces (I used TJ’s 85% bars. Reasonably priced with a smooth flavor)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour with 3/4 t. baking powder carefully stirred in (nothing worse than a bite of leavening)
1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Quarter sheet (12x9x1) baking pan with parchment paper and let a little hang over the sides
1. Preheat oven to 350F and set oven rack in the middle
2. Bring a saucepan of water to boil and turn down to med-low. Set a heat proof bowl over the pan and combine butter and chocolate until melted. Whisk thoroughly.
3. Remove the chocolate mixture from heat and add sugar. Whisk until sugar is nearly dissolved. 
4. Let mixture cool to just warm (as in, not enough to cook eggs!) and add eggs one at a time and whisk. .
5. Add salt and vanilla and whisk. 
6. Add flour and baking powder to chocolate mixture and whisk until the batter takes on a sheen, about 1 minute. 
7. Add chocolate chips and stir in briefly.
8. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. 
9. Bake between 25-40 minutes. I started checking around 20 minutes. Having over-cooked a batch already, I didn’t want to ruin this one. You really must do the toothpick test on a brownie. When it’s done, it should have just a few damp-ish crumbs on the toothpick and spring back when you touch it with your finger. If your toothpick comes out dry, it’s over-baked. Don’t worry. Just eat that batch with ice cream and try again.
Mar 02
0

Garden update, March 2011

By | Organic Gardening | No Comments

Can you believe it’s already MARCH?!! I’m not sure where the last three months have gone but it’s time to get moving on the garden. Thankfully, we can grow food all year long here in AZ, but there are a few things I really want to get in this month.

We started with my front flower bed this weekend. I worked on it before Christmas but left it in lasagna mode. I added lots of layers of dirt/straw/manure etc. to build up the dirt into something that would feed my plants! Check out how that process works here.  It hasn’t been very pretty because I’ve been a little busy lately. Here’s how it looked.

Little flower seedlings were popping up despite my neglecting it.

But – when my girls and I went out and turned over a few handfuls of dirt, look what we found!

Wormies! As my youngest would say.

My girls were very excited by this development. Not only did we find the few in my hand, we found over 30 worms in only 2 or 3 shovels full of dirt. (Thank you crazy rainy season!) The girls know that worms in the dirt are a sign of living soil because worms aerate the soil and leave special “fertilizer” that provide nutrients for our little garden. My oldest, who is super girlie, consented to touch one.  My two year old has no fear of “wormies” and wanted to hold one. She did pretty well and was very gentle.

She only smushed one.

It was an accident.

She was deeply concerned about it.

– For a two year old. –

We gently placed it back in the dirt and covered it.

Oops.

We also put a few plants in the dirt. Of course, we choose to do it right before the rain started and the temps dropped. So, we’ll see if these guys survive. Thankfully, nature is forgiving…

The front plants are Calendula and the back one is Borage.

Stay tuned! Updates on my other garden and plants to go in this time of year – to come soon