Monthly Archives: March 2008

Product of the Week: Seeking Green Wanna-Be's

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It’s the very last day of March, and my last opportunity to speak to green in honor of St Patrick’s Day, this months theme.

It’s at this time of the year, when April turns into MORE spring showers, that I wear an additional hat of advocacy and start talking about being green.

I marvel at how the green awareness level has spiraled to an ultimate high. Green is SO in. Green is SO trend and yet to some, green is still weird.

When I was detoxing my household and laundry products within my home I was not the norm, as a matter of  fact I was the odd woman out. So many people told me to “let it go”, it’s not a big deal. Yet to me it wasn’t only a big deal, it meant everything to me.

I saw these companies producing products that caused harm, caused harm to me, my kids and to the environment.  My ideals were going against giant manufaturers, going against generations of Tide, Clorox and Cascade users – how could those products be bad people would say, how could and would any of these companies produce toxic and non-biodegradable cleaning products?  Yet they did and they still do.  Where are the authorities in the matter people would say? I would agree and shrug my shoulders. EXACTLY! How is it that these companies still pollute and still provide harmful toxic ingrediants?  I guess in the world of business commerce rules.  Green might be in – but’s it’s not enough to halt the production of these terrible substances.  

Some countries and some states have now banned plastic bags. The choice for toting your groceries now isn’t paper or plastic. It’s now paper or buy a cute re-usable tote with our groovy name on it. It might be green to purchase or consume something more, but for those of us who have been re-using our paper bags until they are worn almost to a pulp – we were thought to be a tad weird. I am glad to see the action being taken – please don’t misunderstand me, action and change is a very good thing.

Long ago when these evil never to bio-degrade plastic bags were thought to be the best things since sliced bread, perhaps the harm they were causing to the environment was not understood. Did I think of that when I saved them to use for capturing dirty cat litter?  They were an indescribable convenience. Whhhhooooo plastic !!It’s not a hardship to the stores that are banning them, they will produce and sell something else in it’s place.  Commerce still strides on. Money is being made even if it’s to be green!!

AND the companies that manufacture those lovely plastic bags? They still have a zillion other stores that haven’t banned the use of plastic bags to make them for. Noone is slapping their hands and saying shame on you for your contribution to the landfills, noone is making them be responsible to clean up their mess, where are the steep fines or best yet who would have the audacity to shut the manufactures down all together ? It’s just not that simple is it??

How does any of this make a difference?

I feel at some level all changes collectively will add up to monumental changes. I feel striving for solutions rather than further aggravation will also help.  I of course have always felt that changing household cleaning brands will make a difference and best yet have been knocking on doors one house at a time ever since 1993 sharing that message. The founder of our company touted that very same philosophy – one house at a time we can make a difference.

I am very proud to be the steward of his vision and his pioneering- he and our company have been green since 1956 – WAY ahead of anyone else. Way ahead of his time. 

I am looking for those of you who want to make solid choices about cleaning green.

Choices that include: 

Products that don’t have something sneaky in them like 1,4-dioxane ( found in your ever so popular Method and Seventh Generations brand, but OOPS not mentioned on their labels )

Cleaning products that actually work – like they actually clean stuff the way they are supposed to.

Products that by design are so highly concentrated that the turn around time for you to re-purchase them is anywhere from 2-4 YEARS!!!
 
Products that actually biodegrade, in the world of green that would seemingly be an important detail!  

Wanted: Green wanna – be’s!!  Allow me to be of green service to you! 


here you are waiting and wanting to be really green flickr image credit

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Author
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition Weight Loss, and Green Clean as seen on Oprah

How do you celebrate Earth Day?
If your not cleaning green – what’s stopping you?

Chicago's Earth Hour Rocks

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It’s pretty darn cool that our fair city took on the earth hour challenge and historically shut it off. Had I followed my Plan B and parked myself in the lounge on top of the Hancock I could have witnessed it all.  Novelty even found it’s way into the churn and one of the downtown hotels had a candlelight wedding.  To me, I can’t think of a better way to express romance than to light a lot of candles. 

Myself, 11 miles west of Earth Hours flagship city, I felt a bit like a fool. Perhaps I voiced my thoughts here on my blog a few times, perhaps I got the word out to others and maybe that had impact. I did twinkle my home with candlelight, including those commemorating Baby Jack whose homecoming was yesterday. Yet all around me, home to home, most had all of their lights on, street lights were all blaring, nothing really shifted here in whitebread suburbia. How positively disappointing. I can’t say noone didn’t participate that wouldn’t be fair, but out my windows and on my block the earth did not move – it just cried a little louder. 

I may have been sitting on my mother earthy throne writing about all that you in the blogosphere can do to be a part of it, but the queen of green didn’t write to her local newspaper and say hey our town can participate too! I didn’t knock on doors nearby or contact the local business association, or chamber or any of the things that in hindsight could have perhaps gotten the word out more in a local way, and I feel rather lousy about that. Truth be told I didn’t think to do that.

I feel that the connection and hum of our fair city and the suburbs is nill. What goes on there really doesn’t trickle down to the greater Chicago land area. At least that is my experience.

Couldn’t our city feel more like a hug?   

Did a worldy kumbaya occur? If it did, I think I missed it.

I feel complainy. 

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Author
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition Weight Loss, and Green Clean as seen on Oprah

Member of BNI – West Suburban BNI: “Chapter Mentor”
Member, Board Member and Programming Chair of West Suburban Women Entrepreneurs 

 

Your Earth Needs You. Turn it Off Tonight. It's Earth Hour!

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One hour of your time and energy is needed this evening from 8 – 9 PM for Earth Hour.

Turn off your non-essential electricity.

Join World WildLife Fund and make a personal and global statement.

My Plans? 

Plan A – dinner with some great lady friends, via candlelight – didn’t pan out

Plan B - treck by train to the hancock, watch the sun go down in the lounge, watch the city lights come up and then observe the flagship city shut it down for Earth Hour. My Mother Earthly budget hestitated, at $$$ for a beverage, I had to really think if this was in my best interest and decided no. I thought it was a fun idea though!

Plan C – light the baby blue baby Jack is here candles and what ever other twinkle I can muster and enjoy the peace and pondering that often comes with lights out and quiet.
 
Thus my efforts will be homespun. 

What about you ?  What are you doing tonight at 8 PM 


tis the hour of eight, flickr image credit

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Author
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition Weight Loss, and Green Clean as seen on Oprah

Member of BNI – West Suburban BNI: “Chapter Mentor”
Member, Board Member and Programming Chair of West Suburban Women Entrepreneurs 

 

Baby Jack is Here!

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The babysitter of my kids – the only one I ever trusted ever, the one I met 16 yrs ago through the newspaper, the one who married the man of her dreams one year ago ( and he is indeed dreamy ) and whom my kids stood up in their wedding -  had their first child yesterday - Baby Jack is here!!

To back track….it’s 1991, my daughter is one, my son is four. My husband at the time started his own business, in addition to working a full time job.  I was not supportive of this additional business opportunity and found myself pulling my hair out with his lack of availabilty for his family.  I decided the additional income ( what additional income? ) could provide me with a babysitter on Saturday’s. All I knew is I needed a break.  Not being networked like the way we seemingly are in current times,  I reached out the old fashioned way and put an ad in the newspaper.

Note:  my son was four and we hadn’t used a babysitter yet.

I received 43 calls in response to this newspaper ad. ( 43!!!!! ) 16 were asked to stop by, 3 of them horrified me.
 
I found I could not hire a single one.

Of the 3 that horrified me, one had no teeth, one smelled as if she had completely dipped herself in rosewater
(do you know what that smells like?), and one carried an album 4 inches thick of all the kids she babysat and would not leave. When I say she wouldn’t leave I seriously mean that I had to ask her to take her album and go, she kept trying to hug my son.

Can you say stranger danger, can you say no way will I let ANY of you near my kids, can you say wow this really creeped me out.  

I thought to myself … I know that I am particular, but does everyone go through this to find a sitter?

I resigned to being babysitter-less, or at least babysitter-less from the weirdo’s who answer ads in the newspaper, until I could think how I’d go about finding someone I could trust.   

A week later the phone rang and a young girl said “I am calling about the ad in the paper” and I somehow knew in that moment – even on the telephone,  that she was the one.

I was really looking for someone who would be an extension of me. I admit my ideas were so adamant  that whoever that might be I’d know it in my gut.

Since this is ions ago now, I can’t actually recall all the details, yet my Michelle can – it’s one of the things I love about her, she remembers everything.

I personally trained her, I wanted her to know what snacks I approved of ( I listed them on an index card which years later she gave back to me!) how to bathe my kids, what books were their favorite, how we do the bedtime routine. It never occurred to me over the years that she would ever strain from my determined parenting, and yet later on I found out how much fun they had along the way – in their very own way – things they did while mommy was away.

Once she wrote a poem titled “things only the babysitter knows”  To this day that poem warms my heart, if there was ever a fly on the wall looking from the outside in on my world – she was it. 

Fast forward to 2 years ago, Michelle was going to be turning 30 soon, of all the younger folks I know I never knew anyone who dated as much as she. Dated in the way that said I want to get married and have kids kindof way and yet somehow she wasn’t finding her mate. When she re-connected with Steve, they had actually worked retail together,  thanks to match.com ( I love these stories ) I had this feeling she had met someone very special. My daughter and I once went out with them at the restraunt my son worked at and what I remember most is he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Next thing we all know they are engaged to be married. The entire thing happened VERY fast!

If you can’t tell Michelle became an extension of our family. While I am not the mother of the bride, I had maternal feelings for her and when the wedding was behind all of us I felt like when all was said and done I really didn’t know who Steve was. I knew that they got married and that both of them found what they were looking for in each other, yet I didn’t KNOW them as a couple.

We were invited to dinner, and ended up playing some board game, either scrabble or pictionary and looking at all the wedding cards. I was struck by how endearing they were with each other, lots of “hand me this babe” or “sure thing sweetheart”, but even more so I was struck by the sheer pleasure both of them had in each other’s company. I hadn’t been a part of that before. Sometimes the two of them were so on the exact same page it was positively uncanny, but most of all I was struck by joy – my michelle was really really happy.  Her Steve made her world complete.

With Jack here now I feel as if Michelle has a new understanding of all that I have strived for as a mom. She and I talked about childbirth and she of course now could relate to my fierce determination to deliver naturally.  One  can tell that to someone, but until they experience childbirth themselves it really doesn’t mean much. The same with things like nursing, cloth vs disposable and all the endless things that come up when you are new to parenting. Steve hugged us harder than he’s ever hugged us before and all of us cried with great joy. Steve was so awe struck by the courage and the utter miracle of childbirth, his beautiful bride just blew him away.  I am deeply touched by this expression from a new father.

Their baby Jack Gregory is just BEAUTIFUL. At a glance he’s got her mouth, his nose and cheeks, his face is  round, lovely and sweet.  Nothing beats baby hands and feet. Nothing. The softness of the hair on a newborn’s ir head.  It’s Indescribable.

Jack we are sooo happy to know you.

The circle completes as my Kate will now get to be their babysitter – she can hardly wait!!

Isn’t the universe grand?


vrmmmmmm vrmmmmm tonka wooden truck flickr image credit

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Author
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition Weight Loss, and Green Clean as seen on Oprah

Member of BNI – West Suburban BNI: “Chapter Mentor”
Member, Board Member and Programming Chair of West Suburban Women Entrepreneurs 

Eggs Benedict

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We sometimes have breakfast for dinner. Do you ever do that? My daughter made this request awhile back and I have been thinking about it ever since. With all things eggy this time of year it seemed to be an especially good time to make it.

I was first introduced to this delectable dish while working at a restraunt north of Lincoln Park called the Medici on Surf. I worked dinners at the time, as a restraunt they were well known for their brunch, but I never worked that shift. I was not a very good morning person back then, and I never understood the need for coffee, so I was one of those breakfast servers that would forget to swing back with the pot. Not good if your trying to earn your living from tips. Once ( and only once ) did I do a fellow server a favor and work brunch.  I had a guy send his eggs benedict back 3 times because the hollandaise sauce wasn’t right. I had no idea what the big deal was since I had never eaten eggs benedict, but that customer was a real pain.

I was actually an awesome server and worked that industry for some time, just not in the morning! That restraunt in particular was where I worked while pregnant with my son. Gosh 21 yrs ago.

I started making eggs benedict as a special eggy deal during the holiday some years back. 

Glad to say I have personally perfected making hollandaise ( mine is wonderfully lemony with a strong dash of cayenne)  

This dish does take a bit of choreography. However it ‘s worth the effort!!

I think the secret is careful prep and fresh ingredients.

For the Hollandaise: prepare a double boiler, seperate 4 yolks from the whites, bring a stick of butter to room temperature and squeeze a 1/4 cup of lemon juice, have the cayenne and fresh ground white pepper mill on hand ( this makes a cup of hollandaise)

I have one pan set up with melted butter for making the basted/poached eggs. I made us each 2 eggs

I have another pan set up to heat the canadian bacon

I have the plates out

I have the english muffins set in the toaster oven,  ready to toast
 
In the double boiler melt the butter, wisk in the egg yolks and then add the lemon – wisk some more and add cayenne and white pepper – remove from heat, but keep the water boiling

Add eggs to melted butter, when the whites of the egg turn, add water and cover, simmer gently until the yolks pink

toast english muffins 

heat bacon 

Assemble: english muffin, a sliver of butter, canadian bacon, poached egg, topped with hollandaise 

I add one tablespoon of boiling water to the hollandaise to get it really hot again, and to thin it slightly – this works beautifully every time

I can understand why the guy at the restraunt would send his dish back – if the whole thing isn’t piping hot, and if the hollandaise is globby – it’s not pleasant!! 


mmmmm flickr image credit

Karen Hanrahan ~ Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant/Blog Author
708.482.0678 ~ Websites: Nutrition Weight Loss, and Green Clean as seen on Oprah

Member of BNI – West Suburban BNI: “Chapter Mentor”
Member, Board Member and Programming Chair of West Suburban Women Entrepreneurs