Water.

[On bottled water] Whereas, if we invested all the money in keeping our lakes and streams clean, then we wouldn't need to have bottled water. - Dori Tunstall, Associate Professor of Design Anthropology, Faculty of Design, Swinburne University of Technology; Organizer, U.S. National Design Policy Initiative; Former Managing Director, Design for Democracy. From the book Brand Thinking

Revolights.

Have you seen these bike lights? No really. Have you?
Do you bike? Don't wait.
Watch the video.
Fall in love.
I want these to be in the market.
You should too.


revolights. join the revolution. from revolights on Vimeo.


Check these guys out on kickstarter.
Give them something.
Give them nothing.
But whatever you do, spread the word.

Ride on.

Mottainai.

Pay attention.

photos via:
bread
reread
fence
bananas (me. taken in fremont.)
picnic (me. taken on the hill while basking in the sun and enjoying the company of three lovely ladies.)
beets
maltby street
barn art
pay attention

Mottainai.

Baked oatmeal.

I've been in love with 101 Cookbooks for quite some time.
Beautiful photography.
Delicious vegetarian options.

For Mother's Day weekend, I recommend that we make the Baked Oatmeal recipe from Heidi Swanson's new book, Super Natural Every Day. The recipe was floating around the interweb. As the weekend started and much to my surprise, this gal and this guy gave me the book for my birthday [Thank you, Duluth t.baugh contingent!].

The recipe was easy and delicious. Give it a try. FYI...it goes great with scrambled eggs.

Baked Oatmeal [originally found at Lottie + Doof; from Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen by Heidi Swanson]

• 2 c rolled oats
• 1/2 c walnut pieces, toasted and chopped
• 1/3 c natural cane sugar or maple syrup, plus more for serving [we used real maple syrup, but didn't add any once served]
• 1 t aluminum-free baking powder [we didn't have aluminum-free. oops.]
• 1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• Scant 1/2 t fine-grain sea salt
• 2 c milk
• 1 lg egg
• 3 tb unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly [cool it until completely cool - ours did a bit of coagulating, not that it mattered]
• 2 t pure vanilla extract
• 2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 c huckleberries, blueberries, or mixed berries [we used frozen mixed berries]

+Preheat the oven to 375F with a rack in the top third of the oven. Generously butter the inside of an 8-inch square baking dish [we used an oval shaped baking dish...see the picture].

+In a bowl, mix together the oats, half the walnuts, the sugar, if using, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

+In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, if using, the milk, egg, half of the butter, and the vanilla.

+Arrange the bananas in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle two-thirds of the berries over the top. Cover the fruit with the oat mixture. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over the oats. Gently give the baking dish a couple thwacks on the countertop to make sure the milk moves through the oats. Scatter the remaining berries and remaining walnuts across the top.

+Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is nicely golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Drizzle the remaining melted butter on the top and serve. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar or drizzle with maple syrup if you want it a bit sweeter [no need to add anything].

Serves 6 generously, or 12 as part of a larger brunch spread [ours fed 7 adults, some had 2 servings + 1 kiddo]

Mottainai.

Think outside the box.

Once upon a time, I was just a box. Now I am a...

[photo credits: here, here, here, here, here, here, here]

Mottainai.

Pinterest.

 

I have fallen in love.
Imagine a bulletin board filled with inspiring words, dreamy locations, colorful wardrobes, beautiful food.
Imagine it being endless.
I am addicted.
Bookmarks in a browser are a thing of the past - give me an image and you will have me forever.
Go on.
Check it out.
Give me a follow and I will give you a follow back.
Kiss your free time good-bye and say hello to Pinterest.

Mottainai.

Mostly plants.

So, you already know that you should eat food and not too much. MP's final food rule (#3 for those of you counting along) is...what to eat: mostly plants.

Without any further ado...

+Eat mostly plants, especially leaves. They are full of great things like vitamin C, omega-3s and fiber. Nothing pumped into these babies. You aren't going to see "this bag of spinach now contains more fiber than ever before" - that'd be weird.

+You are what what you eat eats too. Did that cow, pig, chicken or turkey you are eating eat grains pumped with antibiotics? Yep. Well, so did you. The proof is in the yolk of an egg. 

+If you have the space, buy a freezer. Buy a part of a steer, if that's your thing, from a local farmer - fill up your freezer. Freeze your copious amounts of CSA veggies in the summer for the winter.

+Eat like an omnivore. The greater diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases.

+Eat well-grown food from healthy soils. This doesn't always mean just buying organic. It means knowing where your food is coming from.

+Eat wild foods when you can. Wild greens and wild animals. Be careful on the wild animal front, they can be endangered species.

+Be the kind of person who takes supplements. People who take supplements are typically more health conscious, better educated and more affluent. Supplements don't always work, so save your money and spend it on buying mostly plants.

+Eat more like the French. Or the Italians. Or the Japanese. Or the Indians. Or the Greeks.There are two dimensions to a traditional diet - the foods a culture eats and how they eat them - and both may be equally important to our health.

+Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism. ie. soy protein isolate, soy isoflavones, etc, etc.

+Don't look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet. It isn't just ONE thing.

+Have a glass of wine with dinner. Twist my arm.

That wasn't so bad.

Today as I wandered outside in the snow, I decided that lent is going to be my kickoff to truly focusing on these three food rules. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. I'm already well on my way.

Mottainai.

Info credit: This guy.

Photo credits: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 

Not too much.

And...I'm back.

Early this month, I gave you the details on Pollan's first "rule" on how to be healthy - eat food. Simple, right?

Rule #2: Not too much. (Again, we are human. We are normal. We slip up from time-to-time and have those moments when we grasp our stomachs and say "Why? Why did I eat so much? Never again." Bullshit. It happens and I'd be foolish to say that it'll never happen again.)

So what does Mr. Pollan have to say about "not too much"?

+Pay more. Eat less. The better the food, the less you need to eat in order to feel satisfied. Choose quality over quantity, food experience over mere calories.

+Eat meals. Shared meals are about much more than fueling bodies; they are uniquely human institutions where our species developed language and this thing we call culture.

+Do all your eating at a table.

+Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.

+Try not to eat alone. The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from mere animal biology to an act of culture.

+Consult your gut. (Ask yourself if you are really hungry or if you just think you are hungry. Could you be thirsty or just need to get up and stretch for a moment?)

+Eat slowly. To eat slowly, is to eat with a fuller knowledge of all that is involved in bringing food out of the earth and to the table. To eat slowly, also means to eat deliberately.

+Cook and, if you can, plant a garden.

At some point, I'll give you the details on #3 - Mostly plants.

Mottainai.

Info credit: This guy.

Photo credits: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 

Eat food.

An obvious statement.
Something we do several times a day.
Something we look forward to doing.
It may be alone in front of a computer.
It may be with others gathered around a table.

Are you eating right now?
Do you know what you are eating?
Not just the name...do you truly know what you are eating?

I just wrapped up reading In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan.
It is a quick read. Much quicker than The Omnivore's Dilemma.
You will learn new things.
You will be reminded of things.
It will make you upset.
It will make you think.

He lays out three answers to the question of what humans should eat to be healthy: (Before we get too far, I just want to add - everything in moderation. Sometimes an Oreo Blizzard or a bag of Fritos is a must.)

1. Eat food
2. Not too much
3. Mostly plants

What does he mean when he says "eat food"?

+Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize. (Yogurt from a tube? Probably not. Sponge-like cake with white fluffy filling? Umm...nope. BK stuffed steakhouse? Come on! I don't even recognize that.)
+Avoid food products containing ingredients that:
    a. are unfamiliar
    b. are unpronounceable
    c. are more than five in number
    d. include high-fructose corn syrup
+Avoid food products that make health claims. (What? This water filled with vitamins won't make me swim faster. What a joke!)
+Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. (Bonus: The aisles tend to be wider on the outside or is it that there are fewer people...)
+Get out of the supermarket whenever possible (Farmers' markets and CSAs!)

That's it.
Start small.
Pick one and stick with it for awhile. Add on.

I'll fill you in on "not too much" a different day.

Info credit: This guy.
Photo credits: 1. 2. 3. 4. (These are all delicious.)

Mottainai.

They said it. I like it.

photos via: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Mottainai.