Articles to share, and a giveaway ending!

I just wanted to write a quick post to highlight some good articles and blog posts I've found.



And, to remind everyone to make sure you enter the giveaway for the a personalized onesie, tutu, or set of headbands from Evyn at Sweetpeacentral before it ends tonight! I have one of her personalized "funsies" and I love it. As soon as I think up something creative to say I will have to order another one.  Any suggestions?

I've recently joined Twitter (yes I'm a dinosaur!) and I am amazed at the amount of information that gets passed so quickly.  These are some of my random favorite posts and articles that have been shared recently.  Of course, keep in mind that some of them are blogs written by individuals and I haven't personally researched or confirmed the information there, so your mileage may vary.  Are you on twitter?  Let me know!  If you want to follow my posts, just go to @missionofmama.

• Stop wasting bits and pieces of food...how to put those scraps of food to use: Value Guru Capitalizes on Bits & Pieces
  

•  Save 30% at Gap, Old Navy, or Banana Republic and have 5% of your purchase donated to charity (your choice of three).  Coupon here at Baby Cheapskate
  

• Babies' Foreskins Used to Make Cosmetics - Is This Ethical?
  

• Breastfeeding Picture Gets Couple Charged with Child Porn, Children Taken
  

• Big Target Toy Clearance - up to 75% off starting now!
  

• 5 Greenwashed Myths of the Beauty Industry (And How Not to Fall For Them) since I was just talking about greenwashing. 
  

• "BPA-free" bottles still leach chemical 
  

• Nanotechnology: More Hazardous Than GMOs and Toxic Chemicals? 
  

• USA Today:  Medical group calls for reducing use of BPA

Confessions of an Eco Mommy

I must admit to having a little guilt after my "It's Not Easy Being Green" post. I try, try, try to be green and make good choices, but it isn't always easy! I'm certainly not always a poster child for green living.

Then I read Mom Confessions: Eco Edition at Eco Child's Play and I thought I would join in with a few confessions of my own. You know, assuage my non-green guilt a little. So here goes...

1) I love taking long, hot showers. The kind that turn your skin red and puckery. And I have even been known to take a quick shower, and THEN fill up the bathtub for a little soak. Not often, but sometimes. When it's been one of those days. Ahhhh...

2) I like things. Buying things. Having things. And I like sparkly, shiny, clean new things. I'm not a label diva or brand name goddess, but I do like shopping. And buying. And having. Especially now that I have munchkin and there are so many stinkin' cute baby things. Despite my best efforts to contain it, sometimes the shopping beast rears its ugly head.

3) I do the drive-thru more often than I want to admit. Like tonight, when the fridge is literally bursting with green, organic CSA produce freshly harvested from a local farm, already paid for and sitting at its peak of flavor. So what did Mr. T and I eat? Taco Bell. Sigh. Because it was one of those nights.

4) I often once in a while throw glass into the trashcan. Because our curbside recycler won't accept it. And the nearest drop-off place is about 45 minutes away. And sometimes that 45 minute drive just doesn't get done.

5) I secretly envy my neighbor's plush, green, chemical-laden lawns. As I spend hours on my butt in our dandelion-dense yard, pulling weeds by hand and realizing that the weeds are much faster that I will ever be, I secretly consider going to Lowe's and picking up a bag of weed-and-feed. Because sometimes that corn gluten stuff is for the birds. And maybe if the birds didn't eat it all, it would actually work better on the weeds.

Ok, I feel a little better already. I know, you're judging me, right? But surely, deep down, you have a few confessions of your own. Dare to add them below?

A child of a different nature

Before we were blessed to be the parents of our Munchkin, we were the "parents" of several furry creatures, big and small. And when I say big, I mean, well, big.

Meet Jasmine, our "petite" great dane that we adopted five years ago from the Great Dane Rescue, Inc. She was six years old at the time, still young and spritely! As many childless couples do, we spoiled her and loved her like our own child.

Of course, time goes by and life changes. Our happy-go-lucky Jas is now an elder at the ripe old age of almost twelve. And showing her age as only big dogs can. As our vet said at her last visit, "She's not even supposed to be alive!" She's made it through cancer, lupus, a broken back, and severe allergies and dermatitis. She's stiff, and she groans, and she snores in her sleep all day long, and yet she still greets us with a happy wag of her tail stump-where-her-tail-was-once-before-cancer.

Of course, like most parents-to-be with a dog, we were concerned about how to make the transition from a childless home to a home filled with the piercing cries of a wriggly foreign creature that suddenly was the center of all attention. We read tips from the Humane Society, Baby Center, the Dog Whisperer. We planned and read, read and planned, and we worried. Our Jas had always been a gentle giant, but with her unknown past and a few quirks along the way, what would happen when the munchkin arrived? When you have a 125-lb dog with a head as big as your own, filled with a jaw of sharp teeth, you have to be a little concerned.

Finally the day arrived when we brought our munchkin home from the hospital, feeling that crazy mix of anticipation, fear, excitement, bliss, and disbelief that all new parents share. We followed all of the tips to introduce them slowly, over time, until finally it was time for Jas to meet the Munchkin face to face. Rather, face to toe. Mr. T carefully held Munchkin in his arms, while I held Jas's lead very, very cautiously. Jas looked at her, sniffed her sock, sniffed Mr. T's hand, and less than 15 seconds later, unceremoniously went to her bed and with a "hrump", curled up for a nap. A little anti-climatic after our months of worry.

Fast forward to now, nine months later. Munchkin is delighted by Jas, and she perks up her head to find her every time Jas snorts, sniffs, or farts yawns. And Jas? She is the same happy-go-lucky dog she always was before.

In fact, it would appear that nothing has changed in Jas's life. This huge, momentous occasion that changed Mr.T and I forever...the arrival of our baby...seemed just another ho-hum event in Jas's daily routine of naps, poops, and feeds.

Except for one thing. Jas has always slept in the living room of our house since the day we moved in three years ago. Lately, though, I've noticed that her favorite pillow tends to migrate, little by little, down the hallway. Until it stops here:

Right outside our Munchkin's door.

Good night, dear Munchkin. Good night, sweet Jasmine.

Couponing 101, Again

Some of you might remember this post that I wrote called Couponing 101. It has been a pretty popular post, so if you haven't read it you might want to check it out. Hopefully it has saved you some money!

I just came across another "Couponing 101" series from the Grocery Price Blog, who also features a big price comparison database for several large grocery chains! I found some good coupon tips there and thought I would share:

Coupons Part 1 - Where and When

Coupons Part 2 - How to Accumulate Coupons

Coupons Part 3 - Tips of the Trade

Of course, if you have any good coupon suggestions, please add a comment below. I would love to read them!

A work in progress

As many of you know, I'm fairly new to the blogging world. There is so much to learn! It seems like I could spend hours a day just researching all of the widgets and gadgets and whatnots that are out there. Not to mention actually coming up with posts to write about! I feel like I have so many interests and different things to write about that it is hard to narrow it down. Which leaves me afraid that I'm creating a rambling mess. You would let me know if that was the case, right? Right???

It is fun to experiment with the different features, too, like my signature at the bottom of the posts. Cool, right? At least I thought so :) One of my other newest additions on the right lets me share some of my favorite posts from other blogs with you. There is so much good information out there in the blogosphere. I try to feature some of the best information in my own posts, but this way it will be easier to share a lot more with you regularly, from hot deals and freebies to good green tips. Feel free to check it out!

So, please feel free to leave me some comments and let me know what you like, what you don't like, and what new things you would like to see. I love your comments!

It's not easy being green!

It seems like it should be easier than ever to go green, right? Everywhere you turn, there are new products joining the green team. Even big name companies are joining in the movement, like the Nature's Source products from S.C. Johnson that I featured in two giveaways.

Normally this would be a good thing. Several years ago, when I first started my attempts to be more green, it was so difficult to find good products that were readily available and affordable. Today it is much easier, and the growing awareness means that more and more families are thinking about how they can choose products that are safer for their families and our planet.

Unfortunately, a lot of companies still have a different type of "green" in mind when they think about the growing trend of eco-consciousness. Green as in money, of course. Buzzwords like "natural", "organic", and "earth-friendly" are now plastered across television ads and product labels. It seems like every industry, from computers to cars to cookware, has a new product or campaign that is targeted to be eco-friendly.

But what does it mean? There are some trustworthy seals and certifications out there, but for the most part a company can take any old product and slap a nice-sounding green label on it, when in fact the product is really no different than the conventional version. Hence, the greenwashing that we encounter daily, on the television, in the grocery store, in our news papers and magazine articles.

Parents are no exception to the targeted deception. Think about the average new parent that is suddenly and entirely responsible for such a tiny, vulnerable creature. Many people realize that taking steps to go green is important for the health of our environment and ultimately their own little one. But for someone who is new to the whole thing, it can be intimidating and overwhelming enough to evaluate all of the baby products out there, without even considering the green factor. So many of us see a label that touts "organic" or "natural" and we think, "Ok, great! I'll pick this one so that my little munchkin will be safe and healthy!" Yet the product that we've just spent our money on (often more than we would have spent on a "regular" product)...is in fact filled with all of the same unhealthy junk that we thought we were avoiding.

For example:
- The Serta Perfect Balance Organic Crib mattress is made with "organic cotton layers". Sounds good, right? Especially since crib mattresses are a big source of concern for the scary toxins that they can contain. But although this mattress might contain some organic cotton inside and has a pthalate-free cover, the rest of the mattress contains many of the same concerning ingredients as their conventional mattresses, including their chemical-laden fire-retardants, anti-microbials, and a vinyl cover. So why are we spending more money for that word "organic"?

-Huggies Pure and Natural Diapers "include" organic cotton and recycled fibers. But all in all, are they really that different than standard Huggies? Are they worth the premium price? Should they really offer new moms the peace of mind of a "pure" diaper? No, at least according to Safe Mama who says that in many ways they are identical to their conventional (and cheaper) Huggies counterparts, including potentially nasty ingredients.

- Aveeno Baby Products are "formulated with Aveeno Naturals", like the Soothing Relief Moisture cream that is "enriched with natural colloidal oatmeal". Sounds fabulous, yes? Except they don't broadcast that it also contains methylparaben, ceteareth-6, bezalkonium choloride, and a host of other things that you probably don't want rubbed on your little one's skin. In fact, the Environmental Working Group rates it as a 6/10 (a moderate hazard) on their cosmetics scale.

- Disney Baby "Gentle Naturals" have created a soft, gentle image, and they are proud that they offer "nurturing treatments that are as gentle as a hug from Baby Pooh." For example, their Baby Eczema Wash "is enriched with natural calendula and jojoba". But again, they don't brag about the other ingredients that are certainly not natural, like sodium laureth sulfate, triethanolamine , and several parabens, which have been linked to breast cancer and can mimic estrogen in the human body. Yet how many parents have seen this on the shelf and decided to purchase it as a "natural" alternative for their child?

Unfortunately, until our labeling laws in the US are changed to offer more stringent guidelines, it is up to all of us to spend the time and research to decide if our "green" and "natural" products really deserve that name. And what parent has time to do that? It is sad that it takes this much effort to select products that are natural and safe for the earth and your baby.

If you're interested, here are some more links for information and help in navigating the green labels:
-Safe Mama
-Stop Greenwash.org
-Healthy Child, Healthy World
-Saf Baby
-The Green Parent
- Z Recs' Guide to Safe Children's Products
- Soft Landing Baby

Honey-Roasted Pork Chops - A favorite recipe for the MckLinky Blog Hop

I decided to jump in and try the new(ish) MckLinky Blog Hop!  This week's theme is to post your favorite recipe or dish.  I have a lot of favorite recipes, so I narrowed it down to one that we've been using pretty often lately, thanks to our freezer full of fresh pork.  It really is an autumn dish, a perfect warming meal for crisp nights, but we just discovered it and have made it several times recently.  It is definitely one of our newest favorites, and our friends and relatives who have eaten it have agreed!

The recipe is from The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook by Shannon Hayes, one of our favorite cookbooks for cooking farm-fresh, pastured meats, although this recipe would be great for any pork chops.  We usually double the recipe and have the leftovers for lunch. I hope you enjoy it, and maybe join in the mcklinky fun yourself!

Honey Roasted Pork Chops with Apples and Onions
2 servings

1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tsp rubbed sage
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 pork chops (rib, shoulder, loin, or country ribs)[we use bone-in for more flavor and nutrition]
1/3 c apple cider or juice
1 tart, firm apple, cored and cut into thick slices (not peeled)
1 small onion, thinly sliced into rings (we use sweet onion)
1/4 cup raisins
2 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine the salt, pepper, and sage, and rub mix into meat.  Pour the olive oil into a heated overproof skillet, and sear the chops over medium heat about 1 min per side or until browned [we do a little longer on ours].  Remove from heat, add the cider, sliced apple, onion, and raisins.  Drizzle with honey, cover, and roast for 1 1/2 hrs or until fork-tender.

Yum!