For most green families, plastic is one of those items that is on its way “out”. We are constantly examining how we can choose products that involve bringing less plastic into lives. Why? Because plastic lasts forever! It doesn’t biodegrade so at best we can only hope to recycle it into something else useful but with the staggering amount that makes its way into the modern home, we know much of it ends up in the landfill instead. Much of that plastic is unnecessary too. Do we really need that plastic film to cover magazines that come in the mail? Do we really need plastic drink straws when we could just drink out of the cup? NO.

Of course this week my family has been trying a straw alternative, which has been very nice. We still have some plastic straws that came with various reusable bottles but haven’t bought plastic straws in a store for a very long time and kids loves straws. I find they make drinking green smoothies just a bit more fun when you use a straw… So we gave some glass straws a try. We got these from an awesome company called Strawsome. They have beautiful glass straws that make you feel like you are drinking out of a sculpture rather a straw but a straw they are and the kids really liked them.

We wanted to use glass as opposed to stainless steel because being able to see through the straw and make sure it is clean is VERY important to me. My kids aren’t good at making sure their cups/straws are rinsed out. Oh an please ignore that Ziploc baggie in the pic below, LOL. I still haven’t found a good solution to replace those and I have been freezing local produce quite a bit lately.

We made a green smoothie with 2 big leaves of Swiss Chard, a couple handfuls of frozen strawberries, some frozen peaches, and a frozen banana. I also added some Vita-Mineral Green.

My son made the smoothie for us… something he LOVES to do and it was pretty tasty.

After blending everything together I poured my two boys some smoothie. The youngest was kind of baffled by this straw thingy in his glass. But he caught on fast and the lure of the nifty straw kept him there until it was all gone. Usually he will make his smoothie last for a couple hours while he plays. He liked the decorations on the straw and well, he is three… he just plain likes drinking out of a straw.

My youngest used the regular size straw and it worked very well for his thick smoothie. My oldest used the bigger “smoothie” size straw.

He too was fascinated with the decorations on the straw. The size and the unique decorations will help them to identify their own straws.

I found they were not hard to clean but I cleaned them right away. Strawesome does have special cleaning brushes for the straws though. They also have bent straws that look pretty cool, but IMO maybe slightly harder to clean.

Many of you may wonder about breakage and I can tell you I haven’t been very “careful” with them on purpose. I needed to see of looking at them crossly would result in breakage. Who the heck wants to imagine broken glass in their kids mouth? Not me that’s for sure! I have used the straws myself and crunched down on them with my teeth. I suppose I could break them but it be deliberate pressure, not accidental. If you have a kid who likes to chew on straws then maybe these wouldn’t be for you. But I have a chewer in my oldest and he doesn’t chew on these. Even so I have been watchful. These are for use at the kitchen table in our house… not for use in the bedroom while playing video games. I also store these with all our glass cups and tumblers and no breakage so far. They are pretty sturdy.

Guest post by Lisa Cain, co-founder, Babyfood101.com

One thing that new parents need is time. It is a rare commodity when you are working, parenting, and getting very little sleep. If you are parenting a 6 month old or older, you now have the added responsibility to feed actual food to your baby. We suggest making some baby food from the dinner you will make for yourself.

It is probably time to put the take-out menus back in the drawer and use your kitchen again.  You know which room I am talking about, the one with the large cold box and the other box that heats things up in seconds.  There should be something called a stove in there and (hopefully) some pots and pans.  Your mission is to start to eat the way you would like to see your child eat when he/she grows up.

Why start cooking now?  Well, many research studies have shown that the biggest factor determining the eating habits of children is the eating habits of their parents.  You eat fast food, your child will eat fast food.  You eat brown rice and tofu, your child will eat brown rice and tofu.

The problem is, at the end of the day when we are all wiped out, the last thing we want to do is cook.  Usually at 5:30 or 6:00 PM, your child is really cranky.  It take self discipline and planning to cook.  But you can do it!  Not only that but you can have your “perfect” parenting moment where you feed your homemade baby food to your baby.

Cooking homemade baby food is actually really easy.  The key is to just plan meals for yourself that will incorporate some of the foods that your baby can eat, and then feed some to your baby.  You do have to go shopping and cook, but, with some planning, it should take you less time than waiting for the pizza delivery.  Cooking a meal will be less expensive and more satisfying.

Below is an example of cooking for yourself and baby.  This recipe includes a super easy pasta recipe for adults, a kind of grown up macaroni and cheese.  It also includes 2 foods that you could serve to an 8 month old baby: spinach and ricotta cheese.

Shopping List:
1 pound penne pasta
1 10 ounce package frozen spinach
15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

For Baby:
Serve ricotta cheese right out of container.  For spinach, thaw and mash to baby’s current favorite consistency.

For Parent:
Cook pasta and spinach to package directions.   Squeeze water out of spinach.   In a large bowl, mix pasta, spinach, 1 cup ricotta cheese, and parmesan.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Check out more recipes like this at http://www.babyfood101.com

It has been one of those soul searching weeks for me. Okay actually more like a soul searching month. Why you ask? Well, I guess I can sum it up in one sentence. I am not very happy with how my life is panning out. I admit that I am not as happy in our new house but after a couple months of settling in I am sure that will go away. The issue is deeper I think. I feel like we are just going through the motions. We work, we play, we eat, we sleep. I work inside the home and my husband works outside the home but all of that is to maintain a lifestyle we aren’t all that jazzed about. What is the point of doing that?

We have no aspirations to have a bigger, nicer house. We have no aspirations to have nicer, newer cars. We have no aspirations to put our kids in fancy schools or accumulate more possessions. We already feel we have too much stuff. But yet to maintain what we do have, we have to spend so much time working… secularly, maintaining our house, cleaning, etc. And when we are not satisfied that this is what we want our lives to be, it makes us wonder what we are doing. We are “living” to work and keep doing the same thing day in and day out. How many families are in this position? They give up so much of themselves and their families so they can maintain a life that does not make them truly happy?

Last week I sat down and thought about what it is I would be doing if I could have a life makeover. It was pretty simple actually. I want to be traveling and experiencing new things with my family. THAT is what I really want. We would like to go some place tropical where we can surf every day and be beach bums for awhile. I would keep working to provide the money because I love what I do. But of course we don’t want to be tied down in case we want to move on to another adventure so we wouldn’t buy property or commit ourselves. I guess what we really dream of is being vagabonds. The kids would be unschooled by necessity and we would all travel and learn together. It would be awesome if we had a sailboat eventually too. But getting a loan on one, and maintaining one, sounds like a ball and chain we don’t need.

Just thinking about how possible this would be I decided to search for an apartment in Costa Rica and found several options that we could afford NOW. If we did not have a rental agreement we could technically sell everything we own except for our beds, clothes, and car (which we would put in storage) and go to Costa Rica for a couple months or a couple years, right now. Actually my hubby pointed out that selling our car would give us a nice chunk of play money for buying bicycles and surf boards. ;) We have zero debt and no obligations other than the rental agreement on our house. I have been day dreaming about just taking off for the tropics for awhile and find that if we are willing to just make the leap… we actually can!! Costa Rica even has a government sponsored healthcare plan that foreigners can get for $50- $100 a month. Food costs are way lower and since fruits and veggies would abundant and the cheapest, we could finally make that leap to being 100% raw vegan. We could do this…

I decided to see if I could find other families living the vagabond, nomadic lifestyle and found some. I have been reading their blogs/sites with abandon:

Zack Aboard – Okay not exactly vagabonds but they are live aboards… they live exclusively on a boat.

Toast Floats – Another boating family and this one travels all over in their boat.

The Wide Wide World – This family just spent 10 months traveling the world.

Extended World Travel– A family of 5 that has been traveling all over the world together for a few years. This site has a free ebook that talks about how they are able to live this way.

So now that I know it doesn’t have to be a just a dream I think it is actually time to start planning. Increase my income even more, get a little nest egg going, and research our options more. Realizing we can do this is giving me butterflies in my stomach… really BIG butterflies. Selling almost all our belongings and heading for a foreign country with no plans to return sounds kinda nutty and while I am certainly unconventional I am not nutty. ;) BUT I know that the daily grind we are currently living is not what we want. Are we brave enough to really go after what we DO want???

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.” – Leo F. Buscaglia

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide

Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever.” – Philip Andrew Adams

That last quote is a doozey… so TRUE! I guess I just need to start preparing for the day I can live my dreams instead of just dream them and then hope I can summon the courage to make the final leap when the time comes.

So what do YOU think? You all are like family right? Does this sound nutty or courageous? Is it practical or reckless?

What I am reading in the meantime:

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel

The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World

The sky is filled with fantasy and wonder that can stir the imagination.  You can look up at those amazing stars for hours and contemplate the universe. Why not share this stargazing experience with your children? 

Benefits of Stargazing with Children

Inspiring curiosity. Looking up at a night sky full of stars fills your child with wonder and delight.  It sparks their imagination and their curiosity.  So many questions pop into their fertile minds. 

* What are the stars?
* How did they get there?
* How far away are they?
* Who put them there?
* What are they made of?
* Do you think we are the only intelligent life that can see them?

This gives you not only great insight into the mind of your children; it also gives you a valuable teaching moment.  You can teach not only about science and astronomy but looking up to the sky also lends itself to wonderful religious and spiritual teaching moments. 

One of my favorite movies ever is Contact with Jodi Foster. The reason I love it, beyond the facts that is it is an awesome movie and it based on the work of Carl Sagan… is because I identified with the little girl in it. When I was 8-10 years old I wanted to be an astronomer or an astronaut more than anything. Unfortunately a math teacher killed my dream by telling me I was not good enough at math to go into those fields. Once I heard that, I stopped looking at the stars so much AND carried around a stigma about math. :( But in Contact the little girl gets support and encouragement in her dreams and she ends up working for SETI and making first contact with an alien race. Even if your child envisions a future that has nothing to do with actual stars, the vast expanse of space and stars represent a world full of possibilities.

Creating memories.  What is your fondest childhood memory?  For many, it’s that special one on one time with their parent(s).  Stargazing provides you with that opportunity to connect with your children. 

Calming.  Children are so busy today they barely have time to think.  If they’re not in school, they’re doing homework, playing sports, going to scouts and other after school activities, and hanging out with friends then they’re watching television, surfing the net or playing computer games.  There’s very little time made for quiet. 

Yet quiet time is exactly what children and adults need.  Studies have shown that spending time simply looking at the sky or taking a walk in nature improves concentration, boost mood and generate feelings of well-being. 

Getting Started Stargazing with Children

In order to create a memorable stargazing experience you’ll need to take a few steps.  To begin with, you’ll need a comfortable place to lie down – grab a blanket and locate a place to stargaze. 

If your children are younger, you may want to grab a few snacks.  Decide in advance if you’re going to look at constellations. If you are, you may want to find a few pictures of the constellations show your children know what they’re looking for.  Create a list of things to look find in the sky, like the North Star, Venus, the Milky Way and so on.  Having a list seems to get the ball rolling and once you get them searching the night sky, they’ll take the ball and run with it.

If you have a telescope, then you can really focus on a few astronomical features, like exploring the craters on the moon. 

Stargazing with your children is more than a learning opportunity, though it certainly is that, it also provides you a wonderful opportunity to connect with your children, to help them grow and foster a sense of well-being.  Grab that blanket and get out there tonight!

Recommended Reading: Stargazing Basics: Getting Started in Recreational Astronomy

How often does your family have dinner together? Every night? A few times a week? For many families nowadays, the answer might be, “Not very often.”

It’s understandable. Modern families are busy. Both parents may work and get home at different times. In my family, we have had to get creative because my husband works at night, during the traditional dinner hour. Children have activities to go to, and Mom’s got to drive them all over the place. Really, who’s got the time and energy to prepare a meal every single night?

You, that’s who! Eating together is good for you and your family. So you need to make time and summon the energy to make home-cooked meals and sit down and eat together more often.

Researchers have found many benefits to home-cooked meals. Watch this video to learn about some of them. In my own experience, though, there are many more. Here are 24 reasons I have found to share family meals more often:

1. Families who eat together eat healthier, because homemade meals are healthier than fast food.

2. Family meals allow busy families to catch up with each other.

3. Young children learn a lot of verbal skills just by eating with their family members. Since parents model the behavior their children will learn, use this time to model those verbal skills and TALK!

4. It gives everyone a chance to unwind after a busy day. Even kids need to take a time out and decompress. Make the dinner hour a stress free place to be.

5. Having family meals more often forces you to end your working day and other obligations in time for dinner. This is a biggie for me since I work from home and could work through dinner if I didn’t have 3 little faces to look forward to each night at the dinner table.

6. Home cooked meals are cheaper than takeout food or eating out.

7. Eating together encourages everybody to tell stories.

8. Cooking at home motivates you to be creative with your meal planning and cooking.

9. Children can get involved in cooking meals. This provides them with necessary skills and it helps mom.

10. Preparing food and eating together creates happy childhood memories.

11. Eating together is an opportunity to explore different cuisines and different cultures.

12. Eating with your family is more fun than eating in front of the television (or the computer).

13. Eating together gives parents a chance to talk about current events from their point of view, injecting their personal values without giving a lecture.

14. Eating together helps family members bond and get to know each other better.

15. You’ll be surprised what your kids reveal when you’re in a relaxed environment, such as a family meal.

16. Kids are less likely to roll their eyes when you reminisce and tell stories from your childhood while eating a meal together.

17. Family meals can be good teaching moments, even for small children.

18. Eating together is a good opportunity to model good manners.

19. Family meals give a good transition from work or school to home life.

20. Family meals are also good times to share music together!! We LOVE to incorporate music and food in our house. If you are eating Italian then let your kids choose a couple Italian songs from iTunes and create your own mood music.

21. Family meals teach everyone valuable life skills, such as how to interact with other people in social situations.

22. Stopping and sitting down to a meal gives everyone a chance to quiet down and regroup. It can also be a starting point for even more meaningful family time if you pull a board game to play afterwards.

23. If you are religious, family meals provide an additional occasion for family members to pray together and discuss your faith. I am agnostic but we often discuss religion at the dinner table too.

24. Eating home is more eco-friendly than eating out or ordering food – less waste!

If you think having family meals is too much work, don’t despair. You can get help for everything from meal planning to putting your weekly grocery shopping list together. Check out Dine Without Whine for kid-tested, quick recipes that will help you put together family meals with less effort. Dine Without Whine’s weekly shopping lists will also help you get food shopping done much faster, and even save money on groceries.

As you can see from the list above, the extra time and effort you spend to have family meals more often are worthwhile.