Happy 2nd Annual Save the Frogs Day

I just read this morning that today is Save the Frogs Day. I didn't know if I should post this Here since its environmental or on Cats and Dogs Turtles and Frogs, since it's about Frogs... so I'm compromising and posting it on both.

Frogs are one of the best indicators of whether or not an environment is healthy since they are the first affected by changes. If there are no frogs then you know something is wrong!

According to the ENN (Environmental News Network) There will be activities in 15 counties around the world. Including protests against restaurants that sell frogs legs. Apparently over 100 million wild frogs are captured and killed for their legs. YUCK!

Another thing they are trying to bring to light is the use of the herbicide Atrazine. which is linked to the chemical castration of male frogs. If you want to read the whole story check out ENN.

Things are Kind of Slow

Things have been slow around here and I'm sorry there haven't been as many posts as I want to make. I've been wanting to do a make over of my blog and have been trying to decide on what to do. Here are a few updates from older posts I made

I didn't make it a month before needing to go shopping. Since my Hubby decided to do the Atkins diet I kept having to go back for things like eggs, more meat and salad stuff. I still think in the long run this is the best shopping plan for us but I'm going to wait until he is off the induction phase to go back to it. Until then I'm going to practice matching ads to the coupons I have. I've very lucky to have several grocery stores within one mile of the house so I can hit all of them for their sales without wasting gas.
Wait loss... I've lost 17 lbs so far. I'm hoping to get under 200 ..... yes unfortunately I'm over that ... by June. They have a spring ball at the Merchant Marine Academy where my Hubby works and I don't want sore feet at the end of the night from the damn high heels. My second goal in that respect is to lose enough weight to trim these ample hips enough to fit into a Kayak. My Hubby has agreed that if I lose the wait then that would be my prize!

Well That's about I have to head off to work. For the most part I like working at Petco. It's alot of fun working with the animals and helping people pick out just the right pet. The best part is my whole pay check is going straight into the bank for a down payment on a house when we move.

Make It Yourself Monday

I love places like Buffalo Wild Wings and Wings Stop but lets face it your paying a lot of money for those little tid bits of chicken. Well the Hubby has been craving some wings and we cant really go to a wings place because we can't really tell what's in there that might not be so Atkins friendly for his diet. So Here are a couple of tasty wings recipes to make at home whether your on Atkins of just love wings as much as I do. Enjoy!

Lemon Pepper Wings

2 lbs. chicken wings
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 whole garlic clove (4 slices chopped) 1 tbsp. pepper
2 tbsp. salt
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Place wings in bowl; pour on Sprinkle on the salt and pepper then pour on the lemon juice, and oil; stir.
Marinate for 2 hours at room temperature, stirring occasionally to keep coated.

Wings may be barbecued or baked 20 to 30 minutes, basting occasionally.

Hot Wings

We bake our wings so this recipe is based on that
Bake thawed wings for 25 to 30 minutes (for a little extra crispy spray with cooking spray). While they are baking mix together Hot sauce below. After wings are done toss them into the sauce and coat thoroughly. We always bake ours for an extra five more minutes but if you want to do this be careful because hot sauce vapors can clear the house lol.

Hot Sauce for Hot Wings: ¼ c butter
¼ c hot sauce 1 dash black pepper
1 dash garlic powder

Mix the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat.

Bikes For Africa

I will be the first to admit that a lot of times people let me down. If you watch the news you see every type of inhumanity that a person can commit. On the roads people ignore the laws designed to keep up safe so they can get one car ahead, one second closer to the "important" place they just have to be.

Then there are the teens at Wheatley High School. I met them today as they spent their Saturday collecting bikes for people in Africa. I recycled two of our bicycles with them today. The kids had outgrown them and they have been sitting in our garage since we got to New York. They will be sent with the other bikes collected to help people in Africa get around. Whether to work, get to school, collect firewood or water they will have a way to get it done faster and safer.

Can you think of a better recycling program then this?

Want to learn more here is a quicky link to their website: Bikes For Africa

UPDATE: The site used by the Wheatley School Teens is www.ghanabikes.org . Thanks Melissa!

Spring is such a busy time

As you can see I've started some seeds. I figured I would try to use up some of the seeds from last year and had a little success. Most don't seem to be doing much. The one in the corner I'll be transplanting today into one of the yogurt containers I saved from last year. It's running out of growing room in the little seedling green house.
I started some romaine lettuce too but it's looking a little scraggly since I forgot to water it. Hopefully it will bounce back.

Earth Day Photo Collage

ENJOY

HAPPY EARTH DAY

Today is the day lets all sing:

HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU!
HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU!
HAPPY EARTH DAY DEAR EARTH!
HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU!

Time to celebrate what will you do today (and every day) to show your love of the planet that keeps us alive.

Here are 10 Easy ways to show the Earth some love:

1. Walk... Where ever you need to go today leave the car behind and hoof it.

2. Plant an organic garden... whether flower, veggie, or cactus... a garden with no chemicals dumped on it will help every living thing.

3. Set up a bird bath. Our feathered friends do more then sing for us in the spring. They also help control the bug population so give them a place to drink and bath.

4. Check your plumbing.. leaks are the biggest waste of water there is.... next to having grass in the desert :P ... REALLY PEOPLE YOU HAVE TO TRY AND GROW GRASS IN THE DESERT?

5. Help ban the spraying of mosquitoes. I truly believe this practice will kill us all. They spray this poison in the air to kill mosquitoes and kill every other insect as well. Nature has her own way of controlling them. If you want to help ma nature along then get together with your community and place bat houses and purple martin houses around your neighbor hood. These are hunger predators that just love mosquitoes. Then make sure you are emptying any container that holds water to prevent them from breeding around your home. Even that bird bath I suggested in number 3 should be cleaned every day!

6. If you are still drinking bottled water then take a walk to the nearest store and buy a reusable container... what are you waiting for they have already done studies to show that most bottled water is only tap water in a bottle . So save money and the environment and skip the plastic.

7. Replace your light-bulbs.... ok I know you have been procrastinating but today is the day to finally get around and put in those money saving compact fluorescent bulbs.

8. Write your congress person. Lets face it there are a lot of things that need fixing in our government when it comes to the environment and the only way they will listen to us instead of the big business that are padding their re-election funds is if everyone is united on the need to fix the problems.

9. If you haven't started yet the get that compost pile started. This is natures own recycling system and it saves you money ....Think FREE Fertilizer.

10. Stop junk mail -- To help stop junk mail, write to: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, 11 West 42nd St., PO Box 3861, New York, NY 10163-3861. By writing to them, you can help reduce junk mail by up to 75%. the recycle the rest.

Make It Yourself Monday

I love baking mix it makes cooking so much easier. I even have the Bisquick cook book. I didn't like the ingredients in Bisquick so I started surfing the web to find a home made substitute. I found this one on a site called Bisquick Recipes (not actually sponsored by Bisquick). But along with how to make your own Baking mix they have plenty of ways to use it. When I get off my diet I"m going to have to try the chocolate cobbler.


Baking Mix:


Ingredients

8 c. Flour

1 1/4 c Nonfat Dry Milk Powder

1/4 c Baking Powder

1 Tbls Salt

2 c Shortening

Take baking powder, milk, flour and salt in a large pan and mix well. Cut the shortenings in it till it resembles the coarse corn meal. Store in tightly closed containers in dried cool place.

Being green and cheap doesn't mean sacrificing comfort it just means finding a better way to do it! Now its time to cut those energy costs while still staying cool this summer.

• Try whole-house fans help cool your home by pulling cool air through the house and exhausting warm air through the attic. They are effective when operated at night and when the outside air is cooler than the inside.
• Set your thermostat as high as comfortably possible in the summer. The less difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be.
• Use a programmable thermostat. it will allow you to set the A/C to a warmer temp when you are not at home to save electricity.
  
• Don't set your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you turn on your A/C. It will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling and, therefore, unnecessary expense.
• Consider using an interior fan in conjunction with your window A/C to spread the cooled air more effectively through your home without greatly increasing your power use.
• Don't place lamps or TV sets near your A/C thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the A/C to run longer than necessary.
• Plant trees or shrubs to shade A/C units but not to block the airflow. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun.
  
• Consider planting a large deciduous tree on the southern side of your home. The leaves will shade your home in the summer and when the leaves fall will allow the sun to warm it in the winter

Make It Your Self Monday

Just in case you this is your first visit to my blog. My Children are on the Feingold Diet. This Diet removes Artificial Flavors and Colors and certain preservatives from you diet. We started this diet when my daughter was in 1st grade because her teacher wanted to have her diagnosed with ADD. We decided to try everything else before even considering Drugs. For us this diet has worked wonders with about a 95% improvement in her behavior. That being said we had to give up alot of premade items that you get from the store and start making things by hand. Well I've decided to share some of those recipes with you. I have found that homemade is not only cheaper but it taste better too. Today I'm going to share a few of our simple favorites just to get things started and as I go along I will try to include pictures of the finished dishes..... now where did I put that camera???

My friend M. gave me this recipe.
Hot Chocolate Mix:

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 cup baking cocoa
* 2 cup granulated sugar
* 5 1/3 cups powdered milk
* A dash of salt
Mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight container. (recycle an old jelly or peanut butter jar.)

To Use:

Put three or four teaspoons of mix into a cup, add hot water and a drop of vanilla. Stir well.

Now you will notice that once you've made it, it is just as easy to use as the store bought stuff.


My son is a lover of Taco's he would eat them for every meal if he could and this next recipe is great to have on hand when making any thing take on a Mexican flare. I found this recipe in a cook book I got from the library... Unfortunately I didn't write down the name of the book just the recipe so I can't give credit where credit is due...

Mexican Seasoning Mix

1/4 cup flour
2 T. chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
4tsp salt
4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano

Place all ingredients in a blender and cover. Blend for 5 seconds or less until powdery (don't over do it) Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months. (Save up those old spice containers to use for your new found mixes.)

3 Tablespoons = 1 package of taco mix.

And the last recipe for the day is another easy to use seasoning mix. I got this from the same book as the last one..... I think I will have to go back to the library to see if I can find it. I might even add it to my permanent collection.

Italian Seasoning Mix

1/4 cup dried basil
2t. dried sage
1/4 cup dried thyme
1/4 cup dried rosemary
1/4 cup dried oregano

Once again place all ingredients in a blender and cover. Blend for 5 seconds or less until powdery (don't over do it) Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Enjoy

10 Ways To Promote Covservation in Your Daily Life

I received this list from the World Wildlife fund when I donated to them and though it was a pretty good list to share with everyone.

1. Don't buy furniture or decking made of tropical hardwood (like mahogany) unless it has a Forest Stewardship Council label. The FSC label guarantees that the manufacturer abides by established environmental standards for sustainable and well-managed forests.

2. When possible, choose and electric company that does not produce power from polluting sources such as fossil fuels and nuclear fission.

3. Replace standard light bulbs with energy- efficient fluorescent. (This reduces emissions by 500 lbs per year per light bulb.)

4. Install low-flow shower heads that use less water (This reduces emissions by up to 300 lbs per year.)

5. Plant local species of trees.

6. Buy only those seafood products that have the Marine Stewardship council label. The MSC label guarantees that the manufacturer standards for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.

7. Avoid air fresheners and other perfumed products. Freshen your air by opening windows or using baking soda, cedar blocks or dried flowers.

8. Buy organic cotton clothing, fruits and vegetables and other goods to reduce the use of toxic chemicals.

9. Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket. (This reduces emissions by up to 1000 lbs per year.)

10. Buy a car that gets at least 30 miles per gallon. (This reduces carbon dioxide by 2500 lbs per year, compared to a car that gets 10 mpg less.)

DON'T FORGET EARTH DAY IS APRIL 22.