EcoWednesday – Energy Vampires
October 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment
While I don’t celebrate Halloween, I couldn’t help borrowing the theme to talk about the environment today.
Are you guilty of housing energy vampires in your home?
I’ll give you an example. Just the other day my 9 year old son asked me where the cell phone was. He wanted to make a long distance call to his cousin in N.C. I told him it was in the office, and he said:
”Oh let me guess, it’s plugged into the charger where it’s been ALL DAY sucking up energy.”
OUCH - Indicted by a 9 year old! I had begun keeping it plugged in because often forget to charge it. But, that wastes a lot of energy. So I vowed to only plug the phone in when the battery was dying. Here are some more examples:
- Turn off the computer when you’re done with it. Many of us remember the olden days when we were told that turning our computers off shortened its life. That’s not true! Read these results, not the survey: Do you turn your computer off at night?
- Unplug the TV/VCR/DVD player when you turn it off. I already do this because it’s a deterrent to the kids. I don’t like them watching TV without permission, and the simple act of unplugged it after their permitted TV keeps it off. Go figure.
- Unplug your coffee maker after your coffee is gone. I could be better at this one.
- More energy vampires - let’s work on this together, ok? Tell me what you’re doing to avoid wasting energy.
Natural Moms Podcast #66
October 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This week we introduce our new guest bloggers: Marcie Macari is the author of SheBirths and owner of Bloomin’ Belly Soaps and Elizabeth Ashe is owner of Bath and Body Organics and AllNaturalWahm
Please join me in welcoming them!
Tuesday Tidbits: Kindred
October 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Tuesday Tidbits is for little bits of news and info that don’t really make a whole blog post or fit in anywhere else. Want to play along? Grab the html from the right sidebar 
The November issue of Kindred magazine is now online. If you haven’t read it, it’s like an Australian Mothering. Enjoy!
More Chats With Nell
October 30, 2007 | 1 Comment
The latest in the conversation with Nell is that I asked her where she saw her life in ten years. You know, the reason I asked that is because it’s such a hard question for me to answer! So she turned the tables on me and asked me the same question. Meanie 
I’m a very goal oriented person and always have goals, both short and long term, written down. Just recently I reached my goal of getting out of debt (no unsecured debt that is, I still have to pay off my car) and I’m very pleased with myself. I realize that things can change so much in ten years and I’ve hesitated to think that far out.
On the one hand, as far as my family is concerned, that’s a little easier. I see myself traveling, taking the kids with me so they can experience different cultures and people. That’s a big part of my vision. Ireland and Italy are at the top of the list. Both of those cultures run in my blood. I also see us living intown. Right now we’re very close to my kid’s one set of Grandparents and that’s helpful to me and the kids love it, but I would love to live intown.
The harder thing to answer is what my business will look like in ten years. I don’t really have a strong vision of that! I know that I’ll continue with internet marketing, because I love it and because of the passive income it provides me. Perhaps I’ll add a little more consulting. I enjoy helping people and I like public speaking, so I can definitely see myself doing some more group coaching, on and offline.
The ladies who are buying Atlanta Networking Girls from me have big plans for future growth, and hosting workshops is part of that. I love helping women, especially moms, start an online business. I’m not sure what the future of my show will be, because when my kids are teens I probably won’t be interested in talking about issues that affect younger moms anymore and there’s already a parenting teens podcast. I can definitely see myself passing the natural moms radio torch onto a young, passionate mom with babies.
In ten years my boys will be young men, and I feel strongly about them not taking entry level jobs outside the home. I’ll be assisting them in some way to set up their own businesses. The girls will be finishing up their schooling but I’ll have a lot more freedom to have a social life, which will be nice! I miss going out to shows, and seeing live bands with grown ups and with the kids will be a lot of fun. It would also be nice to have more time to pursue hobbies. I used to play piano and guitar and would love to take those up again when I don’t have such young ones.
This has been fun Nell! Let’s keep it going with another question from me to you.
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do as a Mom?
I’m trying to win a pink Dyson
October 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment
My trusty Oreck vacuum is on its last legs. It’s been good to me for several years now, but the cord is starting to show the wires inside and it’s probably an electrical accident waiting to happen! This pink Dyson would be niiiiiiice.
The Win a Dyson “Pink” Vaccuum in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month” target=”_blank”>Domestic Diva is giving one away. Send winny thoughts my way!
Anniversary Dinner
October 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I cooked dinner for my parents Sunday in celebration of their 34th anniversary. Thought I would share some pics with my spankin’ new digital camera. Yes, I’m the last mom in America to buy a digital camera. LOL! 
For starters, Vegetable Samosas (I cheated and bought these premade at Whole Foods. They’re a TON of work to make from scratch. And the picture was too blurry so I’m not posting it here.) and Poddadoms.
I did fry these up myself. They were a huge hit. Served them with tomato chutney, mango chutney and cucumber raita with fresh cilantro (right).
For the main course: Gosht Pasanda (lamb cooked in a spiced yogurt mixture) with fresh cilantro. I got the lamb 
from Whole Foods and it was sooooo good.
On the side there was Saffron Basmati Rice and homemade Naan bread.
For dessert, coconut rice custard (pic didn’t turn out) with Chai tea.
Then we enjoyed live entertainment. My 4 year old daughter dressed up in a dress she bought from an Indian woman at a yard sale and my 9 year old couldn’t help dancing with her.
Fall Bloggy Giveaway – Start a natural business
October 29, 2007 | 27 Comments
I’m participating in this Fall Y’all Bloggy Giveaway. The prize up for grabs is a free copy of the Natural Mom Business Guide. It’s valued at $47.
This product is an ebook, audio and video tutorial that will teach you how to make money online with your love of natural family living. If you don’t currently have an online business, this will teach you how to launch one and market it. And even if you DO have a blog or business, you will learn new ways of marketing yourself and increasing your earnings.
The contest officially ends at midnight Eastern time Sunday, November 4th.
You don’t have to have a blog or website to win. Just leave a comment below and I’ll randomly choose one name.
Frugal Friday: Rice Cooker
October 26, 2007 | 7 Comments
Typically, Frugal Friday is going to be about what I DIDN’T spend, or what I got for dirt cheap at a yard sale. But this week I’m going to talk about something I actually splurged on that will save me money, in the long run.
I bought this rice cooker: Rival Rice Cooker in Red
You see, I love to cook rice. It’s cheap (especially when you buy those 10 pound bags at Whole Foods). It’s nutritious. It’s versatile. You can put it in almost anything and eat it hot or cold. It goes with ethnic foods of all kinds. Like for instance, tomorrow I’m cooking Basmati rice with my Gosht Pasanda for my parent’s anniversary dinner. Go me!
You can eat rice for breakfast (one of my favorites is hot rice cooked with milk instead of water. Add a little butter and maple syrup, and it’s heavenly. Don’t even get me started on what you can do with coconut milk.) This morning I had hot rice with a scrambled egg cooked with peas, and a dash of soy sauce. (Later as I was eating it I wished I had added onions.) It.was.so.good.
You can eat it for lunch. It goes so nicely hot with beans, or cold with beans and corn and tomatoes, or with stir fried something or other. You can put it in soup to stretch it out. You can eat it for dinner – add a little meat, veggies, cheese whatever.
Eat is as a “side” with anything just as-is, or put other stuff in it, add an egg and bake a casserole. Enjoy it as a beverage (horchata - I died and gone to heaven!) or snack (rice balls).
Goodness, you can even eat it for dessert! Rice pudding, rice custard, etc.
What isn’t frugal is burned rice. And I don’t care too much for the soaking/scrubbing routine that happens when I scorch rice in a saucepan because I got distracted with the baby. Yuck.
While ideally I could have probably found a rice cooker at a yard sale or something, yard sale season is over, and I didn’t want to take the risk of buying an appliance that might not work at a thrift store. So, I splurged. A little.
It works great and cooks just enough – 6 cups of cooked rice. That’s enough for everyone in my brood plus a little left over. And the Warm feature is nice. It keeps the rice warm all day. I hate trying to reheat rice, as it ends up getting crispy on top or if you add water, it gets too wet. This is perfect.
Help a Mom
October 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I’ll keep this short and sweet. (First of all, sorry about my WW yesterday. I fought with my computer for 30 minutes and could not get this picture to show up! Maybe I’ll figure it out in time for next week.)
Fellow work at home Mom Tishia Lee could use some help. I’ll let Kelly tell you the story.
I admire Tishia and did what I could. Unlike a lot of women in her situation that would just give up (and maybe expect the government to take care of them), Tishia is fighting to change things for herself and her son. She’s determined to turn her financial life around. Tishia is a co-host on Mom’s Money and a full time Virtual Assistant. She does great work and works hard.
But life keeps throwing her curve balls.
Please do what you can. We’ve all been there and we’ve all needed a little help. Tishia is the real deal so please do what your heart tells you to.
Wordless Wednesday: Guitar Lesson
October 24, 2007 | 2 Comments
