Mamava Pods

 What a wonderful idea, breastfeeding mother's should have clean places that give them the privacy they need/want.

As a mother who breastfeed all five of her children---many moons ago, I was limited to using a bathroom stall to pump my breast milk whenever I was at work. Fortunately, I was able to stay home after the birth of my second child, so issues about where to pump weren't an issue for me anymore.

However, there are still many women who don't have a nice clean private place to pump and Mamava is trying to help change this, and I want us to help bring Mamava pods to places where mothers want and need them.

If you would like to vote you can go to www.seventhgeration.com/mamava-voting. You have until September 2nd to vote in the Seventh Generation poll, and it has already been narrowed down to four locations, however, you can also vote at www.mamava.com/where-do-you-want-your-mamava to keep adding more locations for future placements.

No nursing mother should be limited to breastfeeding/pumping in a bathroom stall. Mothers are trying to give their children the best and we as a public should provide better options to nursing mothers.

P.S. Anyone who votes can enter their email  into a drawing for ten packs of diapers. I entered the drawing for the free diapers even though I have no kids in diapers...I'll just give them to someone else who needs them, so don't bypass the drawing.

Quote of the Week

The Tale of Two Pumpkin Plants

Last week, I wrote a post about powdery mildew being in my garden, and what remedy I was using to stop the spread of mildew on a few of my plants. I also briefly spoke about how one out of three of my pumpkin plants had powdery mildew on it, and I was really concerned I might lose that plant, but at the same time, I had hope that I might be able to save the plant because this wasn't  my first time dealing with powdery mildew.

In last week's  post I promised to upload some pictures showing the difference between a  healthy pumpkin plant and one that has powdery mildew.

I planted the pumpkin seeds on July 15th and the difference between the two plants is amazing.

Tasty Tuesday

Spaghetti Noodles and Vegetables  with Peanut Sauce.

 This recipe right here is one that I love to play around with. In the picture above I sautéed some carrots, onions, and mushrooms (in that order too,lol) in a oiled pan with about 1 tablespoon each of garlic and ginger.

 

The showstopper of this dish is the peanut sauce and because I'm a cook that completely wings this dish, I decided to post this simple peanut sauce recipe. The recipe makes about 1cup of sauce and is quite tasty.

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup of peanut butter

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 teaspoon white sugar

2 drops hot pepper sauce

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 cup of water

 

Put peanut butter in a small bowl and then add water.

Stir until peanut butter is smooth and creamy.

Mix in all the other ingredients and there you have it....your peanut sauce.

 

Because the sauce is so simple and basic, I love adding ginger and red pepper flakes to the sauce too. I also switch out water from time to time with chicken or vegetable broth. Actually, the next time I make this dish, I'm really considering adding some lemon/lime juice to this sauce.    

That's a nice looking bowl of sauce, of course my bowl is more than 1 cup, and this sauce is so good you wouldn't want just one cup. You'll want it as a dipping sauce for chicken or shrimp or you might want to use it as a sauce for vegetables. 

Peanut Sauce

Broccoli, Kale and Carrots with Noodles and Peanut Sauce


Now, get in your kitchen and play around with different variations of this dish.
Add chicken to this noodle dish if you like, or whatever your taste buds desire.

Quote of the Week

This quote is absolutely how I feel about stepping out and trying this blogging thing again....so, much has changed with blogging, and sometimes I feel out of my league after reading other people's blogs, but hey, it takes many types of people to make the world go around. I really enjoy sharing pictures from my garden with you and I enjoy sharing things that I like and things that are on my mind.  So, yeah, this quote is for all the people who might be feeling inadequate about something, but their heart and soul is telling them to push forward.

UGH, Powdery Mildew !!!

UGH!!! One of my pumpkin plants has been touched by some powdery mildew. It was just a few weeks ago where I marveled at how fast the pumpkins sprouted and how well they seemed to be doing.....and now this!


Oh well, at least it isn't all of my pumpkin plants, you guys all know I'm a newbie to growing pumpkins, and this would have been a really big disappointment, if  this was my first time dealing with powdery mildew. Fortunately, I already knew one way to stop the fungus from spreading, and the other day, I learned another way, to stop "the dew" from spreading too.


I'll share the technique I'm using and I'll also share the new technique that I recently learned about, but first....let's find out what  powdery mildew is, if you already didn't know.

Powdery mildew is a fungus that rears its nasty effects in very humid places that have experienced lots of rain and then very humid conditions.

Powdery mildew can affect a variety of plants, and if a gardener can't get it under control this fungus can kill your plants, by taking nutrients away from your plants. Some of my cucumber plants were   taken out by this fungus, and now one of my pumpkin plants has the fungus.

Lucky for me, this isn't my first time dealing with this fungus, and before the damage gets out of control where you might have to just pull up your plant/s: you can use a solution of 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 1tablespoon of  olive oil or vegetable oil, a gallon of water and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid soap. Stir the mixture very well, put in a spray bottle or whatever kind of container you want to store it in. This mixture is meant to be sprayed on the plants leaves and when you're ready to use....make sure you don't spray plants with the mixture in the heat of the day. Try to use mixture early in the morning because some people have said the combination of the sunlight( heat) and the mixture together at certain times of the day can cause the leaves to burn.

Also, remember to cut off any infected leaves that seem not to be getting any better, and throw those leaves away.....DO NOT COMPOST!!! You don't want to spread the fungus even more into your garden.

Now, the other remedy that I've just learned about for powdery mildew is, believe it or not......Milk.
Yesssss!!!! Regular old milk, like I said, I've never tried it, but a lot of other gardeners say it's The Truth!!! I would like to try this option out for myself, but with five kids and these high milk prices--remember that guy, the rent is to damn high---well, the Milk is too damn high and goes way to fast in our household for me to even think about trying!

I'll keep you posted about my pumpkin plants and I'll post some pictures to show the difference between the plant with the powdery mildew and the other pumpkin plants.

Until next time.....keep growing!!!!

Clemson Spineless Okra

The okra flower is so beautiful. I almost captured a shot of a bumble bee inside the flower, but this is just as beautiful too.

Tasty Tuesday

Baked Chicken from Publix. My husband shared this photo with me. He really wanted to be a part of Tasty Tuesday's, so I decided to share this photo.

Oh, quick question. My husband is living/working in Miami right now and he can't seem to find any lemon pepper wings in the city or Mardi Gras Wings at his local Publix. Where can he find lemon pepper wings in Miami and is there a Publix that sells lemon pepper or Mardi Gras wings anywhere in the city? 

Well, there you go...baked chicken from Publix....looks tasty. I would like to thank my husband for contributing to Tasty Tuesday's and here's to him finding some lemon pepper wings in Miami!

Quote of the Week

The Difference A Week Makes

Last weekend I cleared out this little area in my garden and put down a couple layers of compost, so I could make a little area for mixed  greens.

I love this spot!!! I planted a mixture of turnips, mustard greens and kale.

 

A week later and here are the little sproutlings.

 

A Small Basil Harvest

Went outside this morning and decided to clip some basil to keep the plant from going to seed, and I really don't  have any dried basil put away in my cupboards yet. The basil plants have produced very well this year...I've had so much delicious pesto over the season--isnt that funny, I measured how great of a basil season I'm having by how often I can make pesto.

 

 

 Speaking of pesto, I really need to store some away for the winter, but right now I really need some dried basil because this jar is practically empty.Are you drying any herbs to put away for winter? If so, what? 

 

 Happy Gardening and remember to keep growing.

 

 

Tasty Tuesdays: Hoagie Rolls

Today is my first official Tasty Tuesday's post, and I hope to have many more to come. My hopes for Tasty Tuesdays are: to share pictures and posts of food that I've made, and to share some recipes from other bloggers too.

So, let's get to it!!!


Today's Recipe : Homemade Hoagie Rolls

I got this recipe from saminacooks.com way back in 2011. I've been making loaf bread for over 8 years now, and I usually make Italian bread more often than loaf bread simply because it's not as time consuming,  but for all my many years of baking bread, I could never find a really good hoagie roll recipe, until I stumbled upon saminacooks.com. Her recipe produced a really soft hoagie roll that could also stand up to loads of fillings and sauce. 

In the pictures below I used my hoagie rolls for sloppy joes.



If you've never made hoagie rolls then, I highly recommend  Samina's recipe, and I hope you try your hand at making some real soon.


Ingredients

1 1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 teaspoon of yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 1/2 teaspoon of sugar

Directions

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Then add just enough water to make a soft dough.
Cover dough and allow to rest for at least 1 hour (double its size).
Divide the dough into six pieces.
On a floured surface, roll out one piece into a rectangle.
Roll dough (from the long side) into a log and press the seam closed.
Fold the ends under the log and place roll on a greased baking sheet(you want the rolls to be at least 2 inches a part)
Repeat with remaining 5 pieces of dough.
Allow dough to rise for 1 hour
With a sharp knife, cut 2 or 3 diagonal slashes in each roll and allow dough to rest for 15 minutes (try not to touch the rolls)
Preheat oven to 450 F and make sure you have two racks in the oven. On the lower rack place, place a baking pan.
Set a small pot of water to boil.
When the oven is hot and the water is boiling, place tray or trays  inside the oven on top rack. Before closing the door, pour the hot water into baking pans beneath the rolls.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until you smell bread.

Hope you enjoy!!!!

How Ugly, Unloved Food Can Change the World | Dana Cowin | TEDxManhattan

 I know for a fact, I don't have a problem eating or buying not so perfect looking fruits and vegetables. What's it to me if a carrot has forked, or the apples aren't the perfect size and shape. As long as, the food doesn't have any obvious signs of spoilage, I don't see anything wrong with buying fruits and vegetables that look less than aesthetically pleasing, after all isn't the goal to eat the food? After a food has been cooked and prepared no one would have know what that misshapen fruit or veggie looked like in the first place. 

The quality of food is what matters and this TEDx video did a wonderful job talking about food waste, and how not to contribute to being wasteful by expanding our minds and our palates with cooking.

I support the movement, do you?     6a0d3dcf0733346d484e1f613f864511df3a917c2baf2d938b

#Iloveuglyfood

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Natural ATL | Health Food Store in SW Atlanta - Fruits, Veggies & Herbs ...

Yesterday, my sister, my nephew and my three girls finally got a chance to shop at Fruits, Veggies &Herbs health food store. This is a small community store(and family owned) that I've been eyeing for several years now. For some reason, I only think about this place when I decide to take the bus home and when the bus passes by---I always say, oh yeah, I need to check them out.....unfortunately I always forget and the cycle just repeats itself.

Well, that cycle ended yesterday, and I was really impressed with the size of the produce and most of all, the price of the produce. They had lemons, grapefruits, potatoes twice the size of anything you would find at a chain grocery store, and they also had these gigantic carrots, that were so big I can't even begin to describe them.

You know,sometimes I wish I could be a little like my teenage daughters' when it comes to snapping pictures with my cell phone because  the size of a lot of the fruit and vegetables was really insane! I should've had my girls on camera duty, but like always, I was living in the moment and that's alright with me--just not the best when you're a blogger and want to share an experience.

My sister noticed that they had a really good deal on the Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar when most stores sell there's over $10, she noticed Fruits, Veggies & Herbs was selling their vinegar for $8. See that's an awesome deal for that particular product.

All in all we had a great experience shopping there, and if we had a little more money to splurge--we're shopping for school supplies that must be replaced because it is torn or broken, so the kids can be back to school ready, then we would've probably bought a little more.

Here's the breakdown of what I bought: 4 lemons, 8 kiwis, 2 grapefruits, and a bag of baking potatoes. I spent a little over $9. I think that's a great price considering the size of the items that I bought too.


Here's a little video clip I found of the store on Youtube.   Thanks to www.naturalatl.com for sharing this video.

If you live on the south side of the city, or ever visiting the southern end of the city, then  I highly recommend you checking them out. It's a small family run business with great customer service.   Oh yeah, don't forget to checkout the smoothie bar they have too!

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