Be my Healthy Valentine

Happy Valentine's day to one and all (all 2 of you)!

Let's talk about making this traditionally pink and red holiday a GREEN one!

Why buy cards, nick nacks and stuffed animals that will soon only serve as space takers, dust collecters and landfill-fillers? Don't tell me you can't be more creative! We passed the same guy selling those on the corner that you did - so why would we be impressed that you stopped? As for those giant hearts filled with chocolate? Sure, we gals love them in theory, but if your special someone is watching their sugar, salt or pounds (even if you love them just the way they are) it can lead to a worse reaction than an honest answer to "Do I look fat in this?" Here's my top 5 list for green Valentines gifts that mean oh so much more than the latest magnetic or animated stuffed animal Hallmark is pushing this year.

1) Do something that they would normally have to do. This year, I'm broke as a joke as I don't have a job. (Yea, still - more on that later.) But the one thing I do have is time. So, after my interview today (woo hoo!) I'm cleaning the bathroom. She normally cleans it, though I know she has no special love for it. Is it romantic? Well, it can be if after cleaning it you light a few special candles around the tub and prepare some options for a lovely bath that night. What you do after that is ALLLL up to you.....

2) Cook something. Sure, a romantic dinner or something sweet is the standard here. Both are generally appreciated of course unless you screw up the recipe, so plan a back up just in case. There are so many other options though. What about this option - make up one of his/her favorite dishes in a huge portion, divide it up into individual serving plastic containers and freeze them. Instead of just one romantc dinner for 2 you're saving them from drive through or boring Lean Cuisine. Those re-usable containers have saved some waste and with your carefully watched home cooking it could also save his/her waist. And every day they take it to work - who will they be thinking of? You of course! Ka-ching!

3) Create something. Sure, if you're they poetry kinda person, you know that nothing drops pants (or panties) faster than a beautiful personally written love poem. A bad love poem will make them laugh, then drop them - so even that isn't usually a bad idea. But say you're more of a "work with your hands" kind of person? The sky is still the limit. Make a desk organizer so she doesn't keep forgetting where she puts her keys (cough, "The Girlfriend", cough, cough...). Make a special frame for a picture of the two of you. Or if you want to get really creative, draw or paint a picture - but special note here, unless your are a formally recognized artistic genius and he/she has loved everything you've ever created, keep it under 11x18, so if he/she loves the thought but the picture is as ugly as sin, it will hide nicely behind her bathroom door. And please - no nudes. Ick.

4) Fix something. Here's where you work with your hands types have a distinct advantage. We all have stuff. And stuff often breaks. If you can fix stuff, you are worth your weight in gold. Or cupcakes or truffles, or whatever else one values at this time of year. New brakes on the car to show how much you care about the saftey of the one you love. A new waist and hem on those pants because all this healthy living means the old clothes were just too darned baggy. Installing a new software program that he/she has always wanted, but could never understand without your big brainy self. You gots skills. We loves skills. But again, a warning, don't try to do something you shouldn't really be doing. 20 years later it might be a funny memory that you burnt down the kitchen on Valentines day when you were trying to re-wire the Mr. Coffee, but you would have to be a lucky, lucky person to make it to the next Valentimes day - much less 20 more...

5) Give something. Ah, giving of yourself is always what people want the most. It means you cared enough to take time to think about the other person's wants and needs when they weren't actively in the room. Everything listed above means you've given something - your time, your talents. This is all about giving that something special that only someone so intimate with their life would know that they really wanted - perhaps before they did themselves. And isn't that what it's really all about? That museum that you hate, but they adore? Take them, act interested (even if you are thinking about something else most of the time), and care about what they have to say. Give some time to a cause they love - give blankets to the homeless, play board games with teens at the after school program, sign up for a walk benefiting their charity, bring flowers to church that week in his/her name. Investing time and interest in something that they love is a gift that will go on far longer than those $9.99 corner roses. Healthier relationship - healthier planet.

Here's wishing you a happy and all-around-healthy Valentine's day!

The other white drink

When I was about 6 years old, I had a book called "All about me". It's a 1/2 written book with blanks and open spaces for you to tell all about who you are at the time. You trace your hand. You draw an imaginary city. You say things you've learned about the world. And of course the basics - favorite color, favorite food, favorite songs. My favorite food? Cheese.

That's never really changed. As a snack? Sure - string or slice? As an appetizer? Bring it on - fancy in wedges or fried up in a basket while watching the game. Breakfast? Cottage cheese with fruit. Lunch - the reason for eating most sandwiches, or in the simple purity of an insanely grilled cheese sandwich. Dinner? Roll cheese in corn tortillas, add cheese to the top and I'm good to go. Dessert? How about paired with pears and wine? [And yes, these were all just off the top of my head in less than 30 seconds. Imagine what I could do if given time...]

I've always felt that way about the whole darn dairy section. But as the healthier-me cut back on fat and calories, I saw less and less of my friend cheese. I miss it, but I appreciate those few moments when a bit of feta takes a salad to a new level. Or that one slice of real Swiss helps me forget that I'm eating diet bread and counting the calories of every piece of shredded carrot on the sandwich. I don't think I'll ever completely let it go.

But, healthier-world me has been getting a bit concerned. How many of our natural resources go into creating a gallon of milk? And while I may be keeping mine organic and non-fat, is there something else I could do to make an even better choice? To put less pressure on our farmers to make cow food and encourage them to make more people food?

It was a hard decision, but I decided to buy Soy Milk. I'm not saying it's the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship or anything. I will be trying a few brands to decide which one is the right one for me. I may slide back a bit but I really think I might make this one stick. Some reasons why?

- A cow needs to drink 2 gallons of water for every gallon of milk she'll make that day. Add to that the water used to raise the crops just so she could eat them and you have a TON of water going into dairy production. Sure, soy has to be grown, just like the cow's food, but that still means I can save 2 gallons of water for every gallon of soy milk produced.
- A dairy cow creates 120 pounds of "waste" each day. Ick. Now sure, some of this will get turned around into good things. I watch dirty jobs. I know. BUT - according to a Senate report on animal waste, a small farm of just 200 cows will create as much nitrogen in the sewage as a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people.
- Finally, let's look at the numbers:
- Organic Skim Milk, 1 Cup - 90 Calories, 0 Fat, 130g Sodium, 13g Carbs (0 Fiber, 12g Sugar), 9g Protien, 10% Vit A, 2% Vit C, 30% Calcium. (From my common brand)
- 8th Continent Light Soy Milk, 1 Cup - 50 Calories, 2g Fat, 115g Sodium, 2g Carbs (0 Fiber, 2g Sugar), 6g Protein, 10% Vit A, 30% Calcium, 6% Iron, 25% Vit D, 25% B2, 15% B12
- So, less calories, less sodium and less sugar in Soy milk. Skim milk has less fat and more protein.

Is there a trade off? Sure. But for now, I'm going to give it a shot. I'm hoping that both healthier-me and healthier-earth are better for it.

The carrot is mine!

Well, sort of.

Today is my first day of working at home. While I know that I'm expected to use today to "get some of the bugs out" I have to say I'm shocked how many bugs there are. Email auto forwarding. VOIP Phone disconnecting and reconnecting every 20 minutes. I have hope. We'll see how it all works. Hopefully the carrot won't be yanked away due to technical issues. Oh well, it's only been 11 months...

That said, the last week has been a bit of a paper whirlwind. I decided to take advantage of working from home to re-do my office. New desk. New organizer thingies. And a going through ALL the paperwork I have ever had in the office. Wow. I must have filled a standard kitchen sized trash container (which we use for recycle stuff) at least 3 times - most likely 4. Biggest offenders were junk mail (which I've officially opted out on) and envelopes. Before I kept the whole thing - now I'm keeping just the "meat" of the issue. Certainly helped to save space. But MAN was that recycle container full!

So, just because I'm keeping mental track...
Working from home - check.
Reducing my waste/recycling what I have - check.

Not a bad week all in all. The plan is to start hitting the gym next week. If we can do that I'll feel totally back on track!