Dangers of Canned Foods

It seems like there is always something dangerous, when it comes to foods.
I was just reading about canned foods and how they are finding dangerously high levels of toxic BPA. Here is an article that explains it further.
Although, it does seem like dangers are lurking around every corner, and we can't prevent everything...the simple solution is using non-packaged, non-processed foods and getting back to simple eating.
That is what we are trying to do around here.
Now I am going to start buying bags of dried beans and make home-made soups.
I think we are also going to can our own tomatoes this year, and maybe some fruits.
Here is a helpful list I found on this website
In the meantime, there are steps that we can take immediately to lessen our exposure to BPA:

Use a metal or glass water bottle

Limit your use of canned goods or choose canned foods from makers who don't use it, such as Eden Foods

Learn how to cook your own foods that you typically buy in cans -- like beans or chickpeas

Choose soups, milk and soy milk packaged in cardboard "brick" cartons, by Tetra Pak and SIG Combibloc, with safer layers of aluminum and polyethylene (#2) that can also be recycled

Use glass food storage containers instead of plastic

Use glass baby bottles or plastic bag inserts made of polyethyelene, or switch to non-clear polypropylene bottles that are labeled #5. Don't buy canned infant formula.

Eat fresh foods in season to reduce your consumption of canned goods

Buy or can your own foods in safe glass jars

Stop using plastic wrap and plastic containers to heat food in microwaves. Ceramic and glass are better.

Throw out any old and scratched plastic bottles or plastic containers

Buy organic wine since many commercial wines can have up to six times the amount of BPA than canned goods

Let your grocer store know you want BPA free cans and are boycotting those products with BPA in them.

and more helpful tips here

scenes from Family Movie Night

she is madly in love with her bubbie and often gives him kisses and hugs
she likes her skin as the canvas, vs the paper
yummy, mommy's water
getting ready to watch "Hers, Mine and Ours".

Lemonade-get it here, warm and sugary...

Today started off slowly. We all slept in till 10 am, this NEVER happens. CJ was bummed we had missed church but pollywog is obviously needing sleep to get her over this cold.
After breakfast CJ went off with his neighborhood friends, and pollywog and I stuck around the house being grumpy together. She has been a big time snuggle bunny as of late. I love it, but with the sunburn I'm sporting, it can be a bit painful. She really is such a sweet baby. Always giving me kisses, rubbing my hair and hugging. She has also been enjoying trying out her new words (some old)...she regularly takes attendance of the living room, "bubbie, dada, mama", and when she sees dirt or a bug, she says, "eeeewww" super cute face to accompany. She asks for "wawa" (water) and says, "mmmoorr" (more). (and makes doggy and kitty sounds)The afternoon was full of buzz. CJ and his two pals decided to ride their bikes to the dollar store and purchase items for lemonade, to set up a stand in the driveway. (CJ loves to sell lemonade, and is good at it, as I will explain later)- Pollywog and I watch them outside the window and see that our neighbors (a colorful and entertaining bunch) are, gettin' em some lemonade. Their child, (we'll call Sandy) is in the driveway in a diaper downing lemonade and the parents buy 3 cups for $4 (score) I see the boys do a happy dance. These are the same neighbors who my I hear often ask their little son, "Saaaandee, do you wanna spankin'?", I always whisper, "why, yes pa, I do."
Later another woman from the house (I don't know how many people live there) asks to buy a gallon on lemonade (maybe for a chaser later...?) they pour some in empty 2 liters and she pays $6. In total they made $15 in 20 minutes all from the neighbors.
rewind now to almost 2 summers ago....
CJ and his best friend (since age 2) decide to set up a lemonade stand at grandma's house. I am only half paying attention but later go to check out the scene. They have a wonderful lemonade sign and are yelling, "lemonade, lemonade, get it here"- people are coming up in droves (well not droves, but a lot) to drink their lemonade. Only thing is, they couldn't find lemonade mix so they used jello powder and water. They also didn't have disposable cups so they had gathered grandma's plastic cups. That meant that people were having to sit in the driveway to down their "drink" and then hand the cup back. People were actually doing this. One car of "gangsters" drove up in their hooptie with bass thumping, and sat in their car, quickly drinking down the mix. I could not believe my eyes. To top it off, they were not washing the cups in between, so I became the dishwasher. They sold their concoction, closed up shop and spent their moola at the garage sale down the street.
My son, the business man...

Verde- Week One

Before I get to the reason for the title (verde)...I thought I better acknowledge the fact that, yes, I have indeed changed my layout a handful of times, and the name of my blog 3 times.
I decided to go with "Fish Dreams" b/c, for one I often compare my personality to a fish, (wow that makes me sound dull.)- I mean in terms of swimming this way and that...I am always "swimming" opposite directions, as my astrological sign shows, (yep, I'm a Pisces). Secondly, I dream a lot...day dream, night dream...you could say I'm a dreamer (but I'm not the only one...sorry).
Also, I am very visual and the color and lay-outs I tend to obsess over. I have been known to paint a room 3-4 times before feeling satisfied. I cannot promise that I won't change things around here again, but for now, I am good.


Let the Green Smoothie Challenge begin.
The plan is:
Week One: green smoothies for breakfast, healthy eating, no eating after 7, and exercise.
Week Two: same as above, only add a raw meal for lunch too
Week Three: raw food only, no eating after 7, exercise
Week Four: same as week 3
Wrapping up our first week. We have enjoyed the green smoothies (recipes are on Happy Foody blog) with the exception of ones containing parsley. Maybe we got a bad bunch, or have a crappy blender, but in our experience it gave it a bitter taste, and had a yucky consistency. They have given us a jolt of energy in the morning, literally. They make us feel clean, and clear and ready to start our day.
Come lunch time we are ready to eat and for both lunch and dinner we have chosen nutritious foods. Examples of meals this week: smoked salmon and crackers, black beans and rice with veggie toppings, tuna fish, lentil soup, and last night Falafel wrapped in lettuce and topped with mung sprouts, avocado, cucumbers, red and orange bell peppers, tomato and plain yogurt. (yummy) -the left over veggies we added to our smoothies this morning.
We are ready for week 2. I am writing down recipes for raw lunch ideas.

Spring Cleaning

As you might have noticed, I've been doing a little clutter control. Both on my blog, and especially in my home. I am more and more aware of the "things" we accumulate, purchase, and want. This "stuff" can weigh you down and letting go and de-cluttering can provide clarity ~and~ support living a more simple life~ which is exactly what we are working towards.
I have gone through each room in our house with the exception of my son's bedroom and bathroom and the our school room/art room.
I first started by gathering my daughters plastic toys. I have read so much about the ill effects of plastic (here is one link) and of course the dangers of lead in toys from China. This coupled with the desire to, not just have toys laying around that are hardly even played with. My goal is to collect a few wooden, toys (and make some dolls), and let her continue to play with regular household items. (her favorites at the moment are: metal lids from canning jars, she likes to sort items in the dishwasher's utensil holder, boxes (of course) , and spoons and pots).
Second, I gathered up the plastics in my kitchen. It helped that we have been recycling all our glasswares (jam, pickle,olive...jars) so that they could be used to store bulk items vs, plastic storage. I also purchased some glass storage containers, for leftovers, and replaced any utensil we needed.
The kitchen is now plastic free, for the most part. This was easier than I thought it would be.
Then I began to slowly get rid of our liquid, antibacterial soaps and gels and cleaning products. (This is big for me. Last year I became obsessed with anti-bacterial products.) I have always believed in the power of using natural items to clean and disinfect. Having a little baby around made me paranoid about germs- but my views have changed. Here is an interesting article.
I could rant about the affects of indoor pollution caused by all the chemical cleaners and fragrances, and the importance of building your immune system from the inside out, but I will save that for another time. Back to the original topic...

I replaced all of our liquid soaps with natural, bar soaps. The ones in our showers are olive oil soaps (good for the skin- replinish moisture) ,and for the baby, Dr. Bronners baby unscented bar. In the kitchen, Dr. Bronners lemon bar soap (I love lemon in the kitchen.)
I am going to be on the look out for local soap makers, and purchase from them next.
To continue our quest for simply living, I de-cluttered under my kitchen sink.
This is what I was left with: Seventh Generation all purpose, Method unscented dish soap, Ecover rinse aid (for dishwasher), Seventh Generation powder dishwashing soap, Fruit and Vegetable wash, Dr. Bronners (glass jar) that we use for floors, and a vinegar and water spray. I hope to have even less soon. Once we run out I will make my own veggie wash, all-purpose, and find a different dish soap, or use Dr. Bronners. These items are all we use in the house for cleaning. I like to add essentials oils to the cleaners. Right now I have eucalyptus in my vinegar spray. Also, lemons to clean cutting boards. I plan to experiment with some other cleaners from my book: The Naturally Clean Home
Lastly I got rid of items in my bathroom and kept only essentials. I am using olive oil as my face moisturizer now, and love it!!! We all use the Dr. Bronners for shampoo, olive oil bar for body, I use a conditioner but I plan to start buying one in bulk, and olive oil for moisturizer. Pollywog has her own soap as mentioned and California Baby moisturizer) thats it!


The before's and the after










-and organized our hallway closet by the foyer. Now we can grab what we need and go. We have a container for the gym and swimming, jackets, shoes, and pollywog's shoes are with-in her reach. Also, her socks and hats are stored in the pockets.
It feels nice not to be drowning in things. Now I just need to donate and sale all the clothes, toys, and "things" I got rid of, that are sitting in the garage!