Oompa Loompa!

"Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous!" ~Willy Wonka

I heard it. I knew something was happening. The crinkle of paper gave it away, but I thought my 18-month old was just ripping up something trifling.  I didn't mind-- it's heavenly when she's occupied for more than 3 minutes at a time.

Momentarily I walk into the kitchen to investigate. I find Natalia has unwrapped 6 bars of my most expensive, organic dark chocolate and is chowing down for dear life. She looks like the little fat boy from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, covered head to toe in $18 worth of chocolate goo. Oompa loompa!

Maybe it's my just reward for being greedy and buying so much chocolate?  (But it was on sale!)

Smart dude

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." 

~William Shakespeare

Oh Happy Day, Earth!

 I am thrilled to see how mainstream Earth Day has become in the last few years. I imagine some of the first Earth Day events and their dedication and passion to take on such an enormous topic 40 years ago. (These are a few photos I found of the first Earth Day, courtesy of National Geographic.)

How proud am I that my company's flagship green cleaner was one of the first official Earth Day product way back in 1970! Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee was a man ahead of his time. His philosophy was that since we take from Nature to support our health, we should always give back to Nature in equal or greater measure.

We had our own adventures this weekend at the Durham Earth Day Festival. Our green cleaning table ended up being on the back end of nowhere down a street where no one was walking. We were jumping around trying to flag people down.Yes, those of us participating got grumpy and irritated with our lack of success. I asked the organizers if we could move our table, and was told no.

Grrrr. What to do? We'd paid a tidy little sum to have our space at Earth Day. I texted my coach and mentor, who wasn't the least bit sympathetic. Her advice? Something I'll never forget:

"Ok, so it's not working. Leadership, baby! Shift your circumstances to match your vision. Period."

Well, alright then. Ask forgiveness, not permission. I was chasing down my 4-year old when my teammates picked that table right up and plopped it down on a street corner where there was much more foot traffic. And we generated twice as many leads in that last hour as we had in the previous three.

Sure, we were there to grow our businesses. But more importantly,  we were there to get the word out about what a privilege it is to preserve our beautiful planet and protect our families by shifting our buying power and  purchasing safe, non-toxic, all natural cleaners.

Happy Earth Day....every day!

Earth Day photos: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/photogalleries/first-earth-day-1970-pictures/#teach-in-office_4471_600x450.jpg

About those cookies...

Best Ever Peanut Butter Cookies
by Baking Blonde

1 cup + 2 TBS peanut butter (Mary here: I used Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter. Oh yes, I did. Dark chocolate peanut butter...drool.)
1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 TBS milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Peanut Butter chips

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (I added more...I think Reeses Pieces would be good here too)

3/4 cup Sugar (for rolling dough balls, may need more or less)

Preheat oven to 350.Line baking sheets with parchment paper.In a large mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter. Once combined beat in the white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla.In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently add to creamed mixture and mix until almost combined. Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes.

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Gently roll the dough balls into sugar and place dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. Carefully press each ball with fork tines to create a criss-cross pattern. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5-10 minutes until sturdy enough to be transferred to a wire rack to cool completely. *These are delicate cookies but so moist.

***chill dough at least 20 minutes before baking & keep extra dough chilled while other cookies are baking! 

(re-blogged from The Girl Who Ate Everything http://thegirlwhoateeverything.blogspot.com)

Simple...I dig that.

Last week I went to see the film "Fresh." I've been wanting to see it for a while, and I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to view their food in a new light.

I like what Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Food Rules and several others) has to say about "diet." In seven words:

Eat food. Not a lot. Mostly plants. 

I like to add one word to this creed: I say , "Eat good food."

As Pollan points out, most of the stuff marketed as "food" today is what he calls "edible foodlike substances."

Don't eat a lot of that.

Real food. That's the stuff you read and recognize the name. If it has more than five ingredients, Pollan says, bag it. Shop for food your grandmother would recognize. No 19-letter ingredients that sound like chemicals of modern warfare.

Oh yeah, and eat junk food.

Yes, I just said that...

But only if you make it at home!

I dig it!

I love blue cheese dressing, but I don't buy it from the supermarket. It's my homemade junk food.

Organic mayo (oil, egg, and vinegar), natural sour cream, chopped fresh garlic, Amish blue cheese, a touch of red wine vinegar, a dash of salt and pepper.

Served over rosemary oven-roasted potatoes...

That is mmm-mmm good!

Peanut butter chocolate-chip cookies? Yep, had those last week too. Homemade. Natural p-nut butter, organic butter, organic brown sugar, eggs, baking soda, salt, organic flour, organic chocolate chunks.

Heaven. More than five ingredients, but all ones that my grandma would recognize.

It's not hard to remember:

Eat good food. Not a lot. Mostly plants. 

http://www.michaelpollan.com/http://www.michaelpollan.com/

http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=87

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Michael-Pollan-On-How-To-Eat-Better-Avoid-Industrial-Diet.aspx

Photos from http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/fresh-the-movie.php

I'm Baaaack!

Hello all,
Yes, I've been MIA for the last couple months and here I am again.

I'm still feeling a bit behind when it comes to blogging; I'm learning the ropes and of course I want my blog to be fun and cool, so my perfectionist tendencies come roaring out in full force!

So bear with me, because I'm going to be posting more regularly and really getting in the swing of things...please let me know what you like and don't like, what is helpful for you and what you'd like to see more of!