Organic Soul

Eating Healthy on a Busy Schedule: A How-To

Organic Soul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:01:29 +0000

People often ask me how I find the time to eat right and stay healthy. I’ll be honest. It’s not always easy. But it’s also never that difficult. With a little effort, you can have a variety of home-cooked and healthy meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Be creative with your time

If I have a little extra time, I’ll spend it looking up recipes online or cooking a second meal for later in the week. If you have a free moment in the morning, spend it washing or chopping some of the ingredients you’ll need for dinner later on. On the weekends, prepare veggies or cook some chicken for salads during the week. And when shopping, make sure to bring a list of the items you’ll need. This will keep you from wasting time and buying things you don’t need. And remember: stay out of the snack isles! Peruse the perimeter!

Be inventive with your meals

Before I reach for the take-out menu, I always take a look at what I’ve got on hand. Sometimes I make my best recipes with whatever I have left in the refrigerator. A couple stalks of celery, a green pepper, and the last few drops of raspberry vinaigrette sautéed with some cut-up pork, and viola! You’ve got a quick and easy stir-fry.

Be savvy with your appliances

My crock pot and I are best buds. There are so many great set-it-and-forget-it cookbooks out there that the possibilities are endless. And what better way to come home from a long day at work then to the smell of chicken and tomatoes stewing in the kitchen. My rice cooker is another one great appliance. Cook rice on the bottom while you steam veggies on the top and you’ve got myself a meal in 15 minutes.

Be Ready for Tomorrow

I’m always making extra. Leftovers are a great way to ensure that lunch tomorrow is just as healthy as dinner tonight. Whenever I have a busy work week, I make soup. It’s also easy to freeze and to re-heat. Making extra ensures that I’ve got healthy, great-tasting food ready and waiting. This article was contributed by Laura Metzdorff, L.Ac., a California State licensed Acupuncturist and practitioner at Earth and Air Wellness Center in Walnut Creek, CA, and health and wellness blogger at Cultivate Your Wellness.

Take the Work out of Gardening: 3 Secrets to Simplicity

Jesse Richardson — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:01:27 +0000

When choosing a more sustainable lifestyle, many people assume that it will be laden with hard work, sweat, and even tears. When it comes to gardening, the worry of time and effort becomes even greater, causing many people to not even attempt the venture. We're here to tell you gardening does not have to be tough. In fact, it can be quite simple once the preliminary work has been done. Here are a few tips for taking the work out of gardening!

Number 1. Don't Dig

The first thing to do is not dig. That's right - a garden with zero start-up digging! You will, of course, still have to harvest the vegetables from time to time, but that's the fun part. So how do we avoid digging? Use a raised bed planter! Rather than digging and tilling, raised bed planters allow you to layer healthy, organic material on top of each other. Not only does this help protect the chemistry of the nutrient-rich soil, but it makes it easy to tend to. Simply add your compost or other natural fertilizers (see below) to the top of the mix and let nature pull it down to the root level through watering and microorganisms.

Number 2. Keep the Garden Healthy, Naturally

Next up, use nature to keep your garden healthy. There are a lot of theories concerning tilling methods, composting, mulching, and so on and so forth. The main thing to remember when employing any of these techniques is to stay natural! Here are a few simple ideas to avoid getting your hands dirty: [arrowlist]

Compost: Start a compost heap from your food waste generated at home. Keep in mind the compost system you're using as certain food shouldn't be added in open piles - meat and dairy, for example. Bokashi is a notable exception to this rule. Once you've got your compost, layer it around your plants!
Mulch: Want to avoid weeding so often? Layer a nice bed of mulch over that compost and you'll be amazed at how much easier it will be to maintain your plants. Mulch helps restore nutrients, too. Here's a great list of mulch types and when to use them!
Cover crops: In between seasons, be sure to use cover crops to keep the soil healthy and full bodied. Many people consider these a form of "green manure" with more than one purpose: it works as both a fertilizer and pesticide. These cover the space weeds might otherwise occupy (pesticide, in a sense) while enriching the soil and reducing the need for what we might consider to be "conventional" fertilizers. Awesome!

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Number 3. Use the Right Tools

Finally, one of the best ways you can make sure you're minimizing work is that you are using the right tools. Of course, as Charles Dudley Warner noted in My Summer in a Garden, 1871, "What a man [or woman] needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it." By far, this is the best tool, but what else can we do?

Watering

For watering, get yourself a soaker hose. With a timer, these make getting water to the roots easy. Plus, you can sneak them around hedges and under mulch to avoid exposing the hose to the elements or human eye!

Planting

When it comes to planting, if you're using this no-till, no-digging method, one of the best tools you can get is simply a good chair or stool. Granted this sounds a bit silly, supporting your back and posture is a tool with some serious investment importance. With these tool and tips, you should find gardening to be a lot easier!

Baked Apples Stuffed with Dried Cranberries, Cinnamon and Toasted Nuts

Sharee Morris — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:49:41 +0000

Baked apples are an easy and satisfying dessert that isn’t loaded with processed sugars or fats. They are delicious served with yogurt or alongside your morning pancakes or oatmeal. They also make a great side dish for pork and chicken. And, an added benefit, when baking, they fill your home with the most delicious aroma!

Ingredients:

4 apples such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Rome Beauty or Gala
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, soften
¼ cup organic dried cranberries, chopped
2 tablespoons organic raisins
2 tablespoons chopped nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons organic brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup organic apple juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Core apples with apple corer or you can use a paring knife, be sure not to cut all the way through.
Place apples in a glass pie plate or baking dish, brush the inside of apples with lemon juice to prevent browning.
Mix together the soften butter, cranberries, raisins, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Pack the center of each apple with the mixture.
Pour the apple juice and vanilla extract around the apples.
Bake for about 40 minutes until just tender, you don’t want them mushy.
Baste once or twice during baking time with the apple juice/vanilla mixture.
Remove from oven, baste one more time.
Serve with yogurt, ice cream or organic homemade whipped cream!

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Jesse Richardson — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:01:31 +0000

We've made a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We support freedom, innocence before guilt, education, family, privacy, and peace. Do you? Thanks to Seth Brau for creating this amazing info graphic!

The Turtle and the Butterfly

Jesse Richardson — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:01:20 +0000

In this short, yet touching video, cinematographer Ryan Bolton captures yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtles in Peru. What make this video special, though, is the relationship one turtle seems to have with a butterfly. uoguelph.ca/~boltonr

Making Snow Removal Green: Tips, Tricks, and Secrets

Organic Soul — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:01:56 +0000

It’s a little bit funny to associate the word ‘green’ with snow removal, but because of annual pollution levels from chemicals used for melting and de-icing, it’s important to add some color to the situation. Substances like sodium chloride, rock salt (halite), magnesium chloride and others have been dropped on roadways for decades affecting people, plants, and animals. While low doses may be excusable, higher amounts kill organisms in our soil, affect wildlife up to hundreds of feet from roads, leach into aquifers contaminating drinking water, and flow into rivers and streams harming aquatic life. This problem is multiplied when regions receive harsh winters and municipalities use more chemicals. Furthermore, the plows delivering salts, sands and chemicals for melting and improving traction also have an adverse impact on the environment. Rarely fuel efficient, they leave a stinging carbon footprint despite trying to assure safe streets and highways. In the end, chemically melted snow swishes together in a slushy soup with noxious fluids and exhaust residue left from passing vehicles. What results is a muddy picture of what’s happening when snow removal isn’t green. States are definitely making strides towards a more ecological approach to harsh weather on the roads, but as with so many other things ‘environmental,’ greater change is needed to make a real difference. Still, every bit counts, including how we as individuals manage precipitation in and around our homes. It’s our personal responsibility to prevent the effects of public snow removal and de-icing from tainting our communities. Walkways, sidewalks, and yards need to be zones devoid of chemicals as much as possible. After all, aside from the fact that we’ll track it back into our homes, our children play in it, roll around in it, and may even eat from it! To help keep the snow around our humble abodes purer and its removal safer, here are a few eco-friendly tips to take into consideration in stormy weather:

When Clearing:

Shovel: Only use gas or electric powered snow blowers when absolutely necessary, as both leave carbon footprints and pollute. Shoveling may not be fun, but it’s the environmentally friendly way and, providing you shovel correctly, safer. If lifting is difficult, hiring help is another option. Also, when clearing snow from sidewalks, especially after a plow pushes it there from the street, don’t shovel it into your yard. Pack it on the edge of the sidewalk so chemicals and other harmful particles are away from your property. Salt: If you need to salt, only a small amount is necessary for effectiveness and concrete contractors in any cold weather state will tell you too much will damage your cement and masonry. The same goes for deicers. Eco-friendly products: Some products like calcium chloride are better choices when it comes to the environment. The down side is they are more expensive and require larger quantities to take effect, but if you can afford them, it’s the better choice. Heat: Utilize anything warm to melt away snow. This doesn’t mean starting a fire, but using ashes from the chimney, boiled water you no longer need, or hot water collected from a shower are some examples.

For Traction

Sand: Spread sand, but not near gutters or water ways where it can clog them up. Litter: Kitty litter is a good substitute for sand, but make sure it’s an eco-friendly brand. Sawdust: This is another worthwhile choice for better traction. Planks: Have a few boards or planks handy to place on the ground. Position them well so they don’t slip. Footwear: Yes! Wearing well-made shoes can sometimes make a world of difference on slippery and wet surfaces. It may be an investment, but it's one that usually lasts for years. Jakob Barry is a home improvement journalist for Networx.com. He blogs for Concrete contractors across the U.S.

The Shock of Peak Oil

Jesse Richardson — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:01:45 +0000

Hear about the impact of peak oil. As supply decreases and demand grows, consumers and businesses will have to wrestle with the fallout. Even coal, with recent and revised estimates, looks to be peaking sooner than once thought. All in all, this makes for a rude awakening. Text from the video: —Animated Sequence for 'Ideas@MaRS' Doc Series— In discussion with Professor L. D. Danny Harvey, who describes the coming consequences of the peak in our ability extract and supply oil. This is clip 2 of 4, part of a graphics package created by ON THE CHASE! for a new documentary series produced by MaRS. Producers: Jeff Beardall, Charles Plant Voiceover: Professor L. D. Danny Harvey - University of Toronto Department of Geography & Planning

Build that Core! The Exercise Ball and Bicycle Crunch

Jesse Richardson — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:01:28 +0000

Building core strength is important. These muscles, centered around the abs, lower back, pelvic floor, and hips, are crucial. Though they are related to the abs, core strength isn't necessarily about getting that epic six-pack. Instead, core strength is about stabilization, supporting posture, improving balance, among other things. Many people find it difficult to really get "at" the core muscles as they beneath other muscles, so how do we tone and train these? Here are a few simple exercises that will help you strengthen and maintain your core!

Use an Exercise Ball!

One of the best exercises for building core strength isn't much of an exercise at all. As Dr. Berka recently discussed in our Q+A Section, exercise balls are an excellent replacement for standard desk chairs. If you're suffering from poor posture, these make a great fix-it tool. Just be sure you're sitting on them correctly! Here's what Dr. Berka had to say:

To take it up to the next level of stability, you may consider trying an inflatable rubber ball that is size appropriate for your height. Proper positioning of the legs should be at an angle of less than 90° when seated on your sits-bones with the spine straight. From here, orient your desk/keyboard/mouse ergonomically to suit your posture. In most cases, an under desk pull-out drawer for the keyboard and mouse is preferred as it positions the elbows at angles of less than 90° and allows the muscles of the cervical spine to relax. Finally, position your screen/monitor so that you are looking straight ahead of you. If this is not possible, be sure that your head/neck is orientated vertically (chin not tipped forward) and use your eyes to gaze downward toward the screen.

You can read the rest of Dr. Berka's suggestions at the original article, Is there an easy way to correct posture?

Bicycle Crunch

Another great exercise is the bicycle crunch, which works great at exercising the rectus abdominus and obliques. In the crunch position, with your lower back against the ground, place your hands behind your head. They should rest easily on the neck, not working to pull your body forward. Next, you want to bring your knees forward. Make a 45-degree angle, and follow up by engaging in a bicycle motion. For reference, with each pedal, touch your knee with the opposite elbow - first, your right knee to your left elbow then your right elbow to your left knee. Shoot for 15-25 reps of this or until you feel a nice burn coming.

Get to the Core of the Core

By switching out your old office chair and working the bicycle crunch into your daily routine, you'll be on your way to improved core strength and all the benefits that come with it. Best yet, there are several other exercises that you can engage in to get other target core muscles groups. That said, be a bit adventurous and try them out!

tvZermatt

Jesse Richardson — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:01:38 +0000

Capturing both majestic peaks and deep valleys, this intro for tvZermatt provides a window into the natural beauty of Switzerland.

Outer Space – A Photographer’s Journey

Jesse Richardson — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:01:28 +0000

Start with passion, add a bit of dedication, a 1000g helium weather balloon, and a willingness to test the strength of your camera, and you've got the perfect recipe to go to space. Kudos on your (camera's) journey, Evan!