Weekend Proofreading

Thankfully it's a long weekend since, in my madness, I managed to agree to proofread not one but two books. Plus a handful of articles.

What was I thinking?

Needless to say, you might not see much of me. Or, if you do, expect to see more planting and puppy posts, as those are the other two "p" words that will rule my life for the next couple of days.

After that though, stay tuned. You're going to see some bull-riding pictures (really!), a few more green moves (since after week one I totally slacked off), and the scoop on why you should love Michael Pollan even half as much as I do.

Dispatches from Montana (Part II)

Now, day two in good ol' Lewistown, Montana was a busy one. But it finished in Montana style—with a trip down Main Street to check out a few of the highlights. Among them: Montana Tavern.

There isn't anything particularly exciting about Montana Tavern—it's just your average Montana bar. Wood paneling, fish on the walls, classic artwork of the Old West.

Or is it just your average Montana bar? If so, then what the heck is this crowd looking at?

Something you won't find anywhere else in Central Montana–it's a box that allows you to gaze down at what's below the bar: Spring Creek. Yep, that's right. You can see fish swimming around in the creek while your drink your Coors Original (that is what you're drinking here, right?).


Another little-known fact? Lewistown produces some pretty fabulous drinking water, bottled straight from the spring. In case you were wondering.

I made sure to fill up my water bottle with that delicious water before I left town. And then, once it was time to leave, I sat back and said goodbye to Lewistown.

Dispatches from Montana

I spent the weekend in Montana, one of my (many) favorite places in the world. So, while I was there, I thought I'd take a few snapshots. Without further ado:

Driving across the range from Billings (where I flew into) to Lewistown (my mom's hometown)

A stop for coffee in Roundup. How can you not stop at a coffee hut that looks like this?

Once you arrive in Lewistown, you'll probably want to eat. (I know I always do.) That's why you stop here:

The Dash Inn. As you can see by the line, everyone stops here for lunch on Friday. Seriously, everyone. (Side note: The Dash Inn has been a hangout since my mom was in school. It's that cool.)


While you're at the Dash Inn, you'd be remiss not to try a wagon wheel. If you don't, you won't see another one for a whopping 26,000 miles. No joke.

If you order a wagon wheel, here's what you get. It's basically a burger stuck in a pocket o' grilled bread. Descriptive today, aren't I? This was my mom's wagon wheel. I opted for fried chicken, cole slaw, fries, and a mini sundae for $3.95 (or maybe $4.95–regardless, it was cheap).

At this point, I was full and happy. So I forgot to take pictures for the rest of the day. So you'll have to wait until later to see day two of my dispatches from Montana.

Tilapia with Mango Salsa

On the menu last night: tilapia with mango salsa. It was Conservative Boy's request—he's always joking about wanting roast duck with mango salsa ... or tilapia with mango salsa ... or basically anything with mango salsa. So when he requested it the other night I said OK. Let's make it.

The result? It earned a "delicious" rating from Conservative Boy, and that's saying something. He's not exactly effusive with the praise. So will I make this one again? In a second. (Not just because he liked it—I thought it was delish too.)

Here's how to make it, adapted from this Mango-licious Tilapia recipe.

Tilapia filets
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper flakes

For salsa:
1 mango - peeled, seeded, diced
1 small red onion - finely chopped
1 avocado - peeled, pitted, diced
2 roma tomatoes - peeled, seeded, chopped
1 lime - zested, juiced
1 jalapeno pepper - seeded, finely chopped
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger root
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a shallow baking dish, combine olive oil, orange zest, orange juice, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Rinse the filets, pat them dry, and place them in the baking dish. Turn to coat them with seasonings.

3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until fish can be flaked with a fork.

4. Combine the mango, onion, avocado, tomatoes, lime zest and juice, jalapeno, ginger, cilantro and 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a glass bowl.


Stir to blend.


Once fillets are finished, spoon the salsa over them to serve.

And enjoy. (Trust me, you will.)

Pupusas

Oh pupusas. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways ...

OK. I'm not really going to be that dramatic. But I will say this: If you're moseying around the Des Moines Farmer's Market or spot an El Salvadoran restaurant anytime soon, you better stop for a pupusa.

This is what they look like at the farmer's market:

(Photo: macmacmac)

Yum.

According to my quick research, pupusas were created by the Pipil tribes from what is now El Salvador. Basically, a pupusa is a thick, handmade corn tortilla stuffed with ingredients such as cheese, pork, squash, or refried beans. My favorite—called the mixed pupusa at the farmer's market—combines cheese and meat. Just make sure you get pickled cabbage relish and hot sauce on top.

The Des Moines Farmers Market

I spent less than 24 hours in Des Moines this weekend for a bridal shower but still managed to make it to the first farmer's market of the year. (Exciting, since it's one of the things I'll miss most about Des Moines this summer.)

It was a dreary, drizzly day but there was still quite a crowd. The Des Moines Farmer's Market is quite an event, even when the weather isn't too great.

It's a bit early in the season for much produce, but there were quite a few stands selling asparagus, a few green onions, even a bit of rhubarb. Of course, there were also a few vendors selling every type of produce from peaches to giant red and green peppers—but if people buying all that produce think it was Iowa-grown this time of year, they're crazy.

There were plenty of vendors selling ethnic food and baked goods. More handmade items too—yard decorations, jewelry, art, you name it. Of course there were plenty of great Iowa wineries there offering samples. Cheese, coffee, gourmet dog treats. It's all there.

Even though you couldn't get much fresh produce yet, there were more vendors selling plants and flowers than I remember from past years. Big blooms, herbs, veggies just waiting to be planted—you name it. I decided it probably wasn't in my best interest to haul a bunch of plants four and a half hours back home though, so I passed on buying any.

What I did buy, however, was a snack. It was a tough choice—you can get fabulous breakfast burritos and breakfast pizza. But this week I opted for one of my absolute favorites—a papusa.

You know what? I was going to write about papusas right here. But I've decided they deserve an ode all their own. So stay tuned ...

Planting Herbs (and more)

Because of my lack of time this week, you're getting yet another plant post.

We don't have a good place to put in a garden (not enough sun in the backyard), so this year I'm growing a few herbs and veggies in containers in the front instead.

I started things out last night by potting some herbs. The big one in the middle—basil—came from the farmer's market. The other two (both parsley—I meant to buy an oregano but flaked out) were from the greenhouse.


I also bought this Big Boy tomato plant at the farmer's market.

It's going to make for some delicious BLTs later this summer.

What else should I plant in containers? Any ideas? I'm up for suggestions!

Planting Flowers

Sunny Sundays are made for planting flowers. So that's exactly what I did. I'm on a mission to see if there's any green in these thumbs of mine and decided a beautiful May day presented the perfect time to start. So here's what I did (with Butter supervising from our big front window, of course).

First I filled the big planter that runs along the front of our house with miscellaneous flowers and plants that drew my eye at the greenhouse (right).

As I just alluded to, I'm a gardening rookie. So I have no idea whether I planted the right plants or whether they're in the right soil or whether I can keep them alive (cross your fingers!). This spring, I'm just giving things a try. Then, if I have any knack for this at all, I'll actually try to plan out what I'm going to plant, maybe get to the point where I fill containers with hardy perennials and native plants as opposed to random flowers that I fancy.

But until then, bear with me and don't laugh at my amateur gardener's faux pas. Please and thank you.

In addition to digging into the soil in the planter, I also created this nifty little container. The dahlias were so darn pretty, I couldn't help buying them. Guess I'm a sucker for color:


(There's a great fern in there but somehow it doesn't really show up in this picture. So just take my word for it—it's there.)

I'm trying not to spend a fortune (gardening can be expensive!), so I took advantage of some pots left in the garage from the previous owner. Now that I look at the picture, they aren't exactly lovely. So don't look at them. Just focus on the pretty pink petunias:


Wait a second. You're looking at the pots, aren't you? I thought I told you not to! (Maybe I'll paint them soon. Then again, maybe not. That's character, people.)

I also had to plant this lovely lavender I bought from the farmer's market on Saturday. I'm a sucker for anything lavender and couldn't resist (plus, I had to replace the plant I had from the Des Moines farmer's market that didn't survive the move).


This guy will have some buddies after Wednesday's farmer's market, when I'm going to buy a tomato plant and some herbs to grow in containers out front. (If only I had a big, sunny backyard for growing all sorts of vegetables ... she says wistfully.)

Letting Butter Talk (Part II)

Guys? Guys? Why won't you let me in? Didn't you get the memo that I need to be right beside you at all times? And what the heck is going on here? I can stick my head through the screen door and I'm just sure I couldn't do that before. Is this some kind of a joke?

Seriously, guys. I haven't been petted in at least three minutes. Please let me in.

Green Move of the Week: Laundry Detergent

It's exciting to hear from readers who are starting to make small "green" changes in their lives—some as a result of what I've posted here, others as a result of their growing awareness of why it makes sense to adopt a greener lifestyle for our health, pocketbooks, and the environment. (I'm particularly excited to hear that Conservative Grandmom is on the green bandwagon in Florida!)

As such, I've decided to begin posting a Green Move of the Week. The first reason is, of course, that this reminds me to keep making changes in my own life. The other reason is that this (hopefully) gives you a small dose of motivation to make a change—I'll keep them easy, promise!—each week along with me.

The first change this week is greening your laundry detergent.

How easy is it? Just buy a different kind of detergent when your current bottle runs out.

Why should you do it? Many detergents are loaded with fragrances, which can cause skin irritation and irritate allergies in some people. Plus chemicals called phthalates that are common in fragrance formulas have been shown to harm hormonal systems and reproductive organs (no thanks). Although most manufacturers now offer fragrance-free options (and have eliminated the phosphates, which damaged waterways by causing algae blooms), there are still reasons to opt for green detergents. For one, you can be confident that you're wearing clothing washed in fewer chemicals. And you're purchasing a product that isn't petroleum-based (we're supposed to be reducing on reliance on petroleum, people). Plus, typically green detergents come in recycled packaging that can also be recycled once you're finished with it.

My story. When I did laundry in the dingy basement of my first post-college apartment building, I switched to Seventh Generation Free & Clear laundry detergent. But once I started doing Conservative Boy's laundry too in exchange for the use of the machines in the house he lived in, the "green" laundry detergent fell by the wayside because C.B. (of course) requested that I use the same laundry detergent his mom did so his clothes smelled the same. (You all better be rolling your eyes here—I know I am at the thought that I actually gave in to that request!)

When we moved here, I wanted to switch back to Seventh Generation, but as luck would have it I couldn't find it in L-Town. So I settled for this:

It's Tide Coldwater, which is marketed as a way to save energy and money because it's formulated for use with cold-water washing (which you're doing now, right?). Mostly I bought it because it's concentrated and comes in a smaller bottle than most Tide products, and I figured I might as well buy detergent formulated for my cold-water washing, even though I'm pretty sure you can use any detergent you want when you wash clothes in cold water and it will work just fine. (Yep, I'm still a sucker for a bit of greenwashing every now and then.)

Anyhow. Miracle of all miracles, one of the grocery stores in town is remodeling—and in the process it has added a shelf of Seventh Generation products. So I decided it was time to go back. Previously, I was using the detergent free of all dyes and fragrances. But because C.B. likes his laundry-fresh scent, I decided to give this a try:

It's Seventh Generation's "blue eucalyptus and lavender" detergent. (I'm a sucker for anything lavender.)

This product is ultra concentrated (the cap you pour the detergent into is at least half the size of those used on traditional bottles). According to Seventh Generation, if every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of petroleum-based liquid laundry detergent with the bottle I have here, we could save 233,000 barrels of oil. (That's enough to heat and cool 13,400 U.S. homes for a year.) Beyond the fact this detergent is plant-based rather than petroleum-based, it's also nontoxic, biodegradable, free of dyes and phosphates, and not tested on animals. And you can even use your clothes washer water on your plants if you use this detergent and have a graywater system (more about these someday soon). Oh, and those fragrances come from plant essences, rather than artificial fragrances concocted in a lab.

Go a step further. Buying powder laundry detergent is better still—liquid detergents are made mostly of water and require more energy to produce and package than powder detergents. I, however, haven't switched to powder yet. I tried it once and had a few bad experiences with powder-covered clothes after the fact, so I haven't been brave enough to go back yet. If you use it now or are making the switch to it, let me know (and remind me why I should switch too).

Not sure which green detergents to try? Check out Grist's reviews of some of the most popular options. And stay tuned next week for another green move of the week!

Clorox Green Works Cleaner (Part II)

So, funny thing happened the day after I posted about trying Clorox Green Works bathroom cleaner. I got an email from the Sierra Club (as did all other members, I'm sure) about the Sierra Club endorsement. Why didn't it come yesterday so I could include it in my post?!

Anyhow, here's the lowdown. Looks like my guesses about the benefits—accessible, affordable, as good as conventional products—were right. Still no word about any ... ahem ... donations to Sierra Club on Clorox's part though.

The letter points out that "Providing people with resources, tools and solutions that will help them live clean, green lives is core to the Sierra Club's mission, and when we have a chance to promote a solution that will reach and help millions, we must seize it."

Hopefully they're right.

Clorox Green Works Cleaner

When I first read about the new line of natural cleaning supplies produced by Clorox, I scoffed. I couldn’t help it. Clorox going green? It was enough of a stretch for me to accept that the company bought Burt's Bees (yes, sorry to break it to you if you didn't know already, but Clorox owns Burt!).

Why was it such a shock? Let's just say the terms "bleach," "giant corporation," and "green" aren't exactly synonymous (or even distantly related).

The fact that Sierra Club stands behind the line of Clorox Green Works cleaning products—and on the label—made me reconsider my initial guffaws. But still I hesitate.

Sierra Club says it approved the use of its logo on the Green Works packaging after volunteer committees reviewed the cleaners and their environmental claims. But what does Sierra Club stand to gain from it? If Sierra Club is genuinely endorsing a natural cleaning product, it could have picked one that wasn't owned by a giant corporation like The Clorox Company. Makes you wonder how big a chunk of change Clorox is donating to fund other Sierra Club causes ...

And I'm not alone in my thoughts. The Sierra Club decision has raised more than a few eyebrows and certainly isn't without controversy.

Although the Clorox name is being downplayed in recent advertising, the company's logo is still prominent on the bottles along with the Sierra Club logo. Depending on who you ask, one thing Clorox does or doesn’t have going for it is name recognition.

Me? I’m cynical of the Green Works line and how environmentally friendly it really is precisely because it has the Clorox logo on it. Conservative Boy, on the other hand, and likely countless other Americans who otherwise wouldn’t even consider green cleaners because they think they are ineffective or for the hippies, may be willing to give this line of “green” cleaners a try precisely because of the Clorox logo—it’s a cleaning brand that they’ve trusted for years, so it must work.

Another bonus is that Green Works products are easy to find in about any store—right in the cleaning aisle with the rest of the products, unlike other natural cleaners that are often tucked out of sight in organic sections (where not every shopper is willing to tread yet). And it's affordable for the masses—expect to pay about what you would for other conventional cleaning supplies, rather than forking over a couple of extra bucks per bottle as is the case with some natural cleaners.

For these reasons, I decided to test a bottle of the Green Works bathroom cleaner for myself.

Conservative Boy doesn't believe that natural cleaners are effective. But he also recently experienced first-hand the hazards of using toxic cleaning chemicals. So Green Works is the perfect solution for him—he buys its effectiveness much more so than that of my Seventh Generation cleaning products because of the Clorox name, but is excited about the fact that he doesn't go through an intense, chemical-filled experience when he cleans the shower.

My initial reaction? The bathroom cleaner worked well. I liked the "foam" spray option, it got everything clean, and it didn't have a chemical-y scent or make my eyes burn. (Although it did have a bit more of a scent than some of my other natural cleaning supplies.)

I'm still a bit cynical though. Is it really as environmentally friendly as my other cleaning options? According to Clorox, Green Works lists all of its ingredients on the label—something companies aren't required to do (and don't do) with conventional cleaners. And the company says that each of the five cleaners is 99 percent "natural." Of course, the term natural isn't regulated in any way, but according to Treehugger all but two ingredients listed on the Green Works labels can be naturally derived.

Overall, I'd say Green Works cleaners do the trick. Will I continue to buy Green Works cleaners rather than my other natural cleaning supplies? Probably not. But anything that helps the average, budget-conscious consumer clean her home with something healthier than bleach earns points from me.

The Story of Stuff

Got 20 minutes? (I know you're just itching for an excuse to procrastinate!) Check out The Story of Stuff. Then tell me what you think.

Composting (Part III)

I'm on a mission to compost. I intended to create my compost bin this weekend. Really I did. But first, I decided to cheat.

Rather than making my own compost bin like this, which I originally planned to do, I stumbled upon the handy metal container at left when I went to buy a plastic garbage can. Eureka! I said. I was buying the plastic garbage can in order to poke holes in the bottom and sides and use it to stash my compost, but this can had holes already in place.

Is it ideal? Probably not. A big pile on the ground or in a purchased compost tumbler might be better. But this option was relatively cheap and exceptionally easy. And remember, my goal is to compost without (a) disgusting Conservative Boy and (b) disgusting the neighbors (who are quite close on all sides and very friendly, so I don't want to irk them).

Aside from cheating, I also managed to put off getting the compost bin ready to go until tonight—even though it only took about five minutes once I did. But once my handy compost crock was full after this morning's additions (eggshells from Conservative Boy and coffee grounds from me), it was time to do something.

I began by breaking up sticks into small pieces and tossing those in, along with crushed up leaves. These are called the "brown" ingredients. Next I threw in the "green" part, which was all the stuff from the compost crock (this week, in addition to the coffee grounds and egg shells it was mostly potato peelings and banana peels). Then I tossed more brown stuff on top, stuck the lid back on, and called it a day. (At right, you'll see mostly brown stuff. All the green stuff is under there, promise!)

Soon, I'll add some newspapers, maybe an empty egg carton, and definitely some grass clippings along with more kitchen scraps. Hopefully this compost will be cookin' in no time!

Oh, and if you're one of those crazy people who doesn't yet think composting is cool, maybe this will convince you—even Julia Roberts does it.

Enjoying Spring Flowers

Look at our front yard.


Really! This is our front yard, as of today. Hard to believe, isn't it?

I wish I could take credit for all these flowers, but the truth of the matter is I haven't done a darn thing in our yard yet except rake up some old leaves and pick up sticks (lots of 'em). All of these flowers just started springing up, all on their own accord, in the past couple of weeks.

And let me tell you, I was surprised. Because when we bought the house this summer, there wasn't a flower anywhere to be seen. But the woman who lived here before us sure was busy one fall not too long ago (or, rather, from what I hear, her grandkids were busy), and so once the weather warmed up and we got some rain all the spring bulbs started to show their stuff.


It's been exciting taking Butter out for walks throughout the day and watching as the flowers have grown and bloomed. It has me itching to plant my own sometime soon—but I've been told it's a good idea to hold off until after Mother's Day, so that's the plan.

Until then, I'll just have to enjoy the jackpot in our front yard.

Especially the tulips, which just opened today.