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25th June, 2009 |
 Earth Day, April 22, inspired my anti-Round-up saga. This rant was aimed at keeping your yard safe by keeping Round-up out of your shopping cart. Chucking Round-up in your trash can would also suffice. Looking back, I realize my glass may have been half-empty and I didn’t offer up many alternatives, other than getting your hands dirty and digging up your weeds. While this is still an option, it’s not always a realistic one. Afterall, people have families, duties, responsibilities, and other essentials, ranking ahead of weeds.
Behold my generously filled glass tonight. And a little wisdom from my cousin-in-law, Tim. Thank you, Tim. And a little further investigation into organic weed control. If you aren’t privvy to this organic weed killer yet, you’re likely to find yourself raiding your pantry and heading outside to that annoying dandelion patch, momentarily. Brace yourself, more
16th June, 2009 |
 I’m talking about fake baking in the kitchen – the kind that happens in your oven, not so much under ultraviolet lights. I don’t know much about fake baking in a tanning bed, in fact, other than you should not engage. Alright, besides some past instances, we’ll call them *momentary lapses in judgment* – in which I actually did partake in fake baking my skin – I am not in the know on the subject. All I can say is I wish I could take back each lapse. Those errors in judgment will haunt me forevermore. Fake baking in a tanning bed is BAD, ok? Ahh, youth, wedding parties, tan bandwagons, and the unknown. The rest is history. And filled with regret. ‘Nough said.
Back to kitchen baking – baking. Making and baking from scratch isn’t necessarily as innocent or natural as I first assumed. It can be. Trust me, I’m all for just about anything baked from scratch, with real ingredients. I want the baking innards in my baked goods to be natural. Laissez-faire, if you will: leave my baking innards alone! For instance, I’ve recently discovered that the light corn syrup in my pantry contains high fructose corn syrup and (thanks to a local foodie moms forum) the baking powder contains ALUMINUM, the heavy metal. Yep, confirm for yourself, and go check your own baking innards. If you feel even half as ambushed I did, read on. more
6th June, 2009 |
 It’s time. The kitchen needs a change, the baby’s on the way, or maybe you just can’t take the pink dining room any longer. It’s time to paint. We’ve all been there, and either do it ourselves, call on friends or family for help, or hire it out. I like to do the painting myself. I prefer interior, but don’t entirely mind exterior, especially if the weather is beautiful. Painting is the easiest, cheapest way I know to change the dynamics of a room.
Your commitment journey begins at the paint store down the street or a warehouse like Home Depot. The array of color choices makes the idea of painting even glamorous, imagining the transformation your home is about to undergo. You were thinking a nice caramel khaki at home, but in person the gold family begins to look like the winner. Now, do you go with the gold, goldcoast, golden autumn, summer of gold, or beachside raffia? At first they looked so similar, it didn’t seem to matter which you chose. Further studying, some start appearing blue, tan and green. If you’re like me at this point, you take your pile of color swatches home to examine for a week or so, holding them against the floor and other rooms to compare. Once you’ve made this heavily weighed decision, you need to order. Almost. more
29th May, 2009 |
 A birthday party run to Super Target yesterday led me down the cleaner aisle. Our floors see a lot of Murphy’s wood oil soap, thanks to our backyard loving wheaten. We are about to have a bunch of floor dwellers crawling around at the party, and now’s not a good time to be low on Murphy’s. The cleaner aisle at my ST has been relocated and swapped with the paper plate aisle. (You memorize these things when your baby is a fair-weather shopper with strong vocals.) While discovering this, I spotted more
13th May, 2009 |
 Phosphates in automatic dishwasher detergent have been banned in Spokane, WA. Some devotees are smuggling their beloved phosphates across state lines in spite of the ban. In your face, Spokane River. The fact that these phosphates end up in the river, and suffocate life there, does pale in comparison to the fact that 20 seconds pre-rinsing a soup pot may be spared. A quote from a Season 1 episode of 30 Rock keeps replaying in my head, ‘It’s after 6. What am I, a farmer?’ more
11th May, 2009 |
 My lastest quest is a birthday cake. My daughter turns one year old very soon and we need a cake to ring in her very first year. I’ve enjoyed many a cake, many, many a cake. It’s hard to find one that I don’t like, in fact. So I don’t mind this mission. My quest is to find a delicious cake: one that is fresh, decently moist and not excessively sweet. Oh, and maybe contains a little chocolate. It would be cute to have an edible photo topping said cake, but we don’t, er my daughter doesn’t, do well with food dye. I’ll forego a cake before feeding her artificial food coloring. I prefer to have my baby not completely agitated and sleepless for a day. Especially on her birthday.more
8th May, 2009 |
A commercial for canned organic baby food just aired, twice, claiming to be ‘as healthy as fresh fruits and vegetables’. While I am grateful that this company is now selling organic baby foods in their jars, I have to believe that our fruit bowl clementines are a better option than canned mandarin oranges. Fresh is not the same as canned. Canned is a terrific option for us, especially when I want a black bean burrito – without the prep time for the black beans, or when I’m looking for a quick sauce to top my pasta with. We buy plenty of canned foods. This website is about ingredients, and when feesible, I prefer to go with Mother Nature’s, rather than the can’s… more
22nd April, 2009 |
Splurge on the organic carrots. Don’t worry so much about the tomatoes… more
22nd April, 2009 |
I planned to name and detail only ingredients on this site. But, it’s Earth Day and I’m throwing that plan down the garbage disposal today, alongside my green onion roots from last night’s wontons.
EVERY parent should know the facts about a product you may have stored in your garage or backyard. Roundup, a popular weed killer, is available everywhere in the spring. It’s widely advertised on television, in magazines, on the internet, and in stores. As I sit here and type, a “Roundup Extended Control” commerical is airing on television. The marketing for this product is strong. Pick up a bottle, pull the trigger on an attached sprayer, and worry about that annoying weed in your yard no more. If only it was that simple and carefree… more
21st April, 2009 |
How safe is the aluminum in antiperspirant?
A few years back, I read that aluminum was a dangerous element to absorb. I read that it was linked to loss of memory and possibly some diseases affecting the brain. While in my local Whole Foods Market shortly after, I purchased my first ever aluminum-free deodorant. I can’t remember the brand, but I hadn’t heard of it before, and the scent was lemon based. When I got home, I tucked my “clinical strength” clicky deodorant/antiperspirant away in the linen closet. I tried out my new deodorant for a little over a week, and was confident that, had I been in a library in San Luis Obispo County, California, that I’d be kicked out. Afterall, it’s prohibited in the code of conduct to infringe on others’ rights to use the libray with offensive B.O. (body odor). more
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Bottles have BPA, gum has aspartame, snacks and drinks have artificial color, and everything else contains MSG and trans fat, it seems. Where do you start? Cheers, my name is Niki Ahrens and I just want the best for my family, and for the rest of us too.
It's our choice, as parents, whether OUR kids eat real food and whether we use First-Do-No-Harm products on and around them. The decision is always ours. Here you’ll find favorite safe recipes, links to research and data, and alternatives that give us super powers instead of harm us.
How the Food Industry is Deceiving You
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