Off Topic Thursday - What's in your smoothies?

I make smoothies for me & my son almost every afternoon. It's a good pick me up (they perk me up better than coffee!), they are filling for a beverage, so they keep us going until dinner, and they are good for you. The best part is that my son asks for them! I mix it up, depending on what we have on hand, but our smoothies almost always have a fiber (ground flax seed or raw oatmeal), a cup or 2 of raw spinach (you can't taste it, and depending on what else is in there, can give it a really cool color!), frozen fruit &/or frozen milk cubes (to give it a fun milkshake texture), plain yogurt, juice, and a sweet fruit (banana, very ripe pear, grapes), since I don't use sweeteners. That sounded like a lot didn't it? It only takes me a minute to throw it all together, though, and it's all stuff I usually have on hand.

What do you put in your smoothies? I'm always looking for new ideas!

Off topic Thurday - wool penguin sweaters!

I am posting this out of sheer cuteness! I know I have a lot of readers that knit, so i'm sure you can appreciate this. In January 2000, there was an oil spill in Australia that threatened Little penguins, or Fairy Penguins, lives. The oil reduced their natural insulation, and when they tried to preen they were poisoning themselves by ingesting the oil. Then came Penguin Jumpers Project, and 15,000 tiny sweaters were hand knit, by knitters around the world, for the penguins! You can read more about that here and here, but now for more cute pictures!



Oh, and they required that all the penguin sweaters be wool, because they needed to be insulated. Sigh... don't you just love wool? ;)

ETA: Another interesting wool fact in this story, is that salt water causes wool to break down faster. As these penguins were recovering and getting better, their sweaters were breaking down and falling off of them, in perfect timing. Now I don't know if acrylic yarn would have fallen off of them in the same timing or not, but I do know that the ocean is better off with bits of biodegradable natural wool, than acrylic!

Off Topic Thursday - Bored kids can play with garbage!

Looking for some extra fun this summer? Go look in your recycling bin!

I don't know what the weather is like around where you are, but animals are about to start walking 2 by 2 around here! We were having yet another rainy afternoon, and Jack said he wanted to play bowling with me. I asked him how we were going to do that, and he raced away. I followed him to the recycling bin, where he was digging around, and he triumphantly held up 3 empty water bottles. He set them up in the hallway & got some balls, and we had a grand time playing bowling!

We also have a local spray park that we frequent a lot, and the kids love to play with water toys while they are there. I love to share the toys, but when it's time to go, gathering up the toys can be a heart wrenching (have you ever tried to explain to a one year old that they have to give the toy back?). We now take empty yogurt contains (buckets), and any other plastic containers we have lying around in the recycling bin. Now we can share, and if someone is still playing with one, we leave it behind. Luckily, our parks now have recycling bins, so they will end up where they should be, after the fun is over.

Off Topic Thursday - thinking outside the box

I have learned that being frugal & green sometimes means thinking outside the box at resale locations. I often substitute things for things that I need. I go to oodles of garage sales & thrift stores for my sweatering, so to keep my house from getting cluttered, I have to have a specific purpose for each thing I buy. That is my rule for myself, so if I really want to buy something, I have to get my creative thinking cap on!

This cute laundry basket was a great 25 cent find at a garage sale, and came along right when I needed more truck storage.


When we adopted our dog Spots, we needed a dog dish and a dog bed. A 25 cent garage sale Corningware dish became her dish...

... and a 30 cent thrift store king size pillow sham (with a couple of cheap garage sale throw pillows inside) became a bed for her. I might even sew an old baby bumper along the edge to make it cozier. I think she'd really like that.

When my son had a play kitchen, I found this vintage teak wood fruit in a bowl at a garage sale. He loved to play with them, and they looked so much nicer than the plastic stuff! Also just taping an empty box (mac & cheese, cereal, crackers) closed is instant "play food". If they get bored, just take new boxes out of the recycling and put the old ones back in!


Did you know that if you unscrew a Swiffer, and remove the middle piece, it will be the perfect size for a toddler? They are under a dollar at every other garage sale. Jack LOVED to swiffer as a toddler (and still does!) and was very proud to have his own. I just used a cleaning rag instead of the disposable refills.

Off Topic Thursday - a green tip!

We just recently celebrated Earth Day, and we all hear the same stuff over & over... use reusable bags, use florescent light bulbs, and use cloth instead of paper products. Here's a huge tip that I never have seen or heard anywhere, but will keep huge amounts of plastic out of our landfills, reduce mosquitoes around your home, make your yard look better, and save you money....

Put away the yard toys when the kids are done playing with them!

- How does this save huge amounts of plastic from the landfill?

Sunlight & weather destroys toys over time, and they end up in the landfill instead of another home... or 20! A sturdy plastic toy should be able to last for decades, but some don't last through one family when they are left out in the elements for years. It is also earth friendly, because the more toys that are able to be passed on, the less new toys are being manufactured. It's all about less waste!

- How does this reduce mosquitoes?

Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water. Toys left in the rain hold water.

- How does this save me money?

If you keep those toys put away in between uses, they will stay in great condition and hold their resale value. There's always someone willing to pay good money for a gently used brightly colored Cozy Coupe car with all it's decals, but the faded cracked water filled ones? Not so much.

See the crab pool in the picture above? I took this from the curbside on garbage day about 15 years ago, and it looks the same now as it did then because I keep it in the shed when we aren't using it. I am hoping that it will go on to many more families after we are done with it.

At first, when my son was tiny, it was a little annoying to put away the toys after every use, but now at 4, he automatically puts them away out of habit. For ease & convenience, we have a small shed in the backyard, where we keep all the toys and gardening supplies.

Off Topic Thursday - getting rid of smoke smell part 2

If you read last week's Off Topic Thursday, you know that I bought some Star Wars toys from someone and they reeked of smoke. I took my blog reader's suggestions, and have experimented with a number of methods. Ready for the results?

1. Baking soda. I put a few figures in a bag of baking soda for a week. The results? After washing off the baking soda there is still a faint smell of smoke :(

2. Ivory soap. I put a few figures in a bag with a bar of Ivory soap for a week. The results? After washing off the baking soda there is still a faint smell of smoke :(

3. Anti-Icky-Poo. I squirted some Anti-Icky-Poo (pet odor eliminator) and let it dry. This worked! :)

4. Outdoor air. I left some figures outside for 2 days. I didn't want to leave them out any more than that, because I didn't want them to fade or get ruined. It didn't work :( . Honestly though, I didn't give it a week, like the other methods, so I will call this one inconclusive.

5. Kitty litter. I put a few figures in a bag of kitty litter (thanks for the kitty litter, Nata-Leigh!) for a week. The results? After washing off the dust there is no smell of smoke. It worked! :) The only down side is that they smell like kitty litter now.


I will be using the Anti-Icky-Poo on the rest for convenience.

Off Topic Thursday - Help!

I need your help, readers, for this way off topic dilemma! My son has a new love... Star Wars. I found someone selling a lot of Star Wars toys, and bought them yesterday, but it never occurred to ask if they smoked. The toys all smell like smoke. I have tried spraying them with vinegar, and that helped slightly, but is there anything that will get rid of the smoke smell?

Help me you will?

Off Topic Thursday - World Food Programme Feed Bag

Want to end world hunger? Buy a cute tote bag! I did! The bag you see above (the one I ordered) is available on Amazon for only $35. Your purchase of this World Food Programme FEED bag feeds one child in school for one school year. Isn't that amazing? They have more bags available in different styles, that each do something different and wonderful.

This simple tote, at only $25, includes a donation to provide 3 school meals and 3 local language books to children in the developing world.


Were you planning to send more to Haiti? For every FEED Haiti bag purchased, 50 school meals will be donated to the UN World Food Program's School Feeding initiative.

For more ways to give, make sure to check out FEED's website!

Off topic Thursday - kid snacks

I have Sweater Sunday, and Tutorial Tuesday, so how about one more? Off Topic Thursday! If you guys would rather me stick to recycled wool for every post, just let me know.

Let's talk snacks for kids. My son is a grazer, no way around it! He eats very healthy, but he is constantly moving from one thing to the next. This created a ton of dishes! I use an energy efficient dishwasher, which is said to use less water & energy than hand washing, but we were filling & running it every day. There's just 3 of us! I started using unbleached coffee filters for dry snacks, and it cut down on the dish use significantly. Since we compost, he can just drop the filter in the compost container when he is done.

I was starting to feel like a short order cook, because every 5 minutes i'd hear "Mama, may I have a ....". Since he couldn't reach/make whatever he would ask for, I would always get it for him, but it would interrupt whatever I was doing. It finally occurred to me to put everything at his level & let him help himself. Little glass custard dishes with lids are the perfect size for kiddo snacks, so a couple of times a week, I divide some snacks into them. He has a shelf in a lower cabinet for dry snacks, and a shelf in the fridge for his snacks. The "junky" snacks (not terrible stuff, but not the most healthy) are still in the upper cabinets (he he he), but he can help himself to all the healthy ones. He is 4, and if you know 4 year olds they like to make their own choices. He feels empowered by choosing what he wants, and I don't care because they are all nutritious. Here's what currently in the fridge for him to select: organic plain yogurt with a spoonful of organic all fruit jelly mixed in, organic baby carrots, organic raisins, and red/orange pepper slices.

Money is another factor, when it comes to healthy snacks too, at least in my household. I love to buy organic when I can, but it can be expensive. Some stuff is very affordable though, especially when you divide it up into 4 year old sized portions. Organic baby carrots are $1.69/bag, and has many kid sized servings. The organic raisins are are around $3/bag, and those are divided up into about 10 servings. The organic yogurt ($3), and organic all fruit jelly ($2.50), may sound expensive, but it comes out way cheaper in the end than the non organic sugary yogurts in individual cups. A bag of organic apples is always in my fridge as well. At $3-4 a bag with about 10 apples in it, it's an affordable healthy snack.

Alright, now it's time for comments. I want to hear all of YOUR tricks & tips! What do your kids like to snack on?

ETA: Boy, am I messed up this week! I posted Off Topic Thursday on Wednesday! Talk about off topic! Lol... sorry everyone. I will try harder to remember the days of the week from now on ;)