I am so impressed with the folks at Kee-Ka! They sell adorable organic cotton clothing and accessories for babies/toddlers/pets with simple graphics (sweet pea, pumpkin and lion are my personal favorites). All metal closures are nickel free and they utilize fair trade manufacturing standards.
But what makes this company truly stand out is the packaging! See, when you purchase a Kee-Ka item it comes housed in this nifty little brown box crafted of recycled paper that is ready to be mailed in three simple steps. No digging for wrapping paper, no searching for tape, no “This looks like my kid wrapped it” thoughts. Nada.
[read the full article...]
For my daughter’s first birthday (and first taste of sweetness), we decided a carrot cake would be the healthiest choice. This weekend for an impromptu Memorial Day potluck, we revisited our carrot cake recipe, and this time my daughter got to help make it! Our organic carrot cake was the hit of the party, and it is a great way to use up those funky looking carrots from the garden.
Organic Carrot Cake
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Use butter or oil to grease and flour the bottom of a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ glass pan. Beat with an electric mixer for one minute:
- 1 1/2 cups organic sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs (or egg replacer)
Add and beat for another minute:
- 2 cups organic flour (can use a mixture of whole wheat and unbleached white)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg [read the full article...]
Okay, I am starting to feel like a personal gas station for my daughter. Breastfeeding has its rewards but it can also be all consuming. One of the reasons I might have hesitated about breastfeeding was the fear that my baby would be attached to me 24/7. As a person who enjoys her freedom; this was a big issue for me. However health benefits of breastfeeding won out. (by a margin, homerun.) As a compromise, I use a breastpump to express some milk for times you just need to get away. Then the co-parent, otherwise known as the guy with no boobs but hairy chest, gets to take over. Extra perk, bonding time with daddy. [read the full article...]
With the continuing onslaught of Chinese toy recalls, it is no wonder that parents are searching for toys made in the USA. Down to Earth Toys makes this search easy, considering over 90% of their natural and wooden toys are made in the United States! The company states:
We feel that protecting your child, while also supporting America’s economy, are of utmost importance.We know that toys made in America are constructed with safe materials and built by fair labor practices.
One of our family’s favorite toys from Down to Earth Toys is the Lunastix Enchanted Juggling Sticks. If you have ever been to an outdoor concert, you have probably seen someone playing with Lunastix. The kid size version of the juggling sticks is fun for children to play with and master, and they are great for hand-eye coordination. Children’s (and parents’) dexterity, balance, focus, and perseverance improve as they learn to do tricks with the sticks. Let me tell you, it is not as easy as it appears. [read the full article...]
The bad news about toxic children’s products never ceases. Recently, I learned that food packaging, such as used for candy and pizza, contains toxic perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), specifically perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA). As a general rule of thumb, if I can’t pronounce, I don’t want my kids exposed to it! Thankfully, neither does the California legislature.
What are PFCs?
PFCs are man made chemicals used for decades to make products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water. They are commonly used in nonstick cookware, stain-resistant carpets and fabrics, and food packaging. PFCs are found in packaging for fast-food sandwiches, french fries, pizza, baked goods, beverages, and candy to prevent staining and grease spots. There is evidence that these dangerous chemicals migrate to food from the packaging, especially when heated. According to the Environmental Working Group, PFCs are found in over 98% of American’s blood! [read the full article...]
As summer approaches we’re digging out our goggles, inner tubes and various pool toys in expectation of lazy days spent at our local swimming pool. So when I learned that 20% of Olympic swimmers have asthma and the possible culprit is exposure to chlorine, it gave me pause.
The problem isn’t the chlorine, but what chlorine turns into when combined with organics. The organics are contributed by bathers in the pool in the form of sweat, dander, urine and other organics. The chlorine reacts with the organics and produces nitrogen trichloride, aldehydes, halogenated hydrocarbons, chloroform, trihalomethanes and chloramines. If these sound like dangerous chemicals, they are. During the Olympic Games held in Australia, it was reported that more than one-quarter of the American swim team suffered from some degree of asthma.
Since we live in an area that already has high rates of pediatric asthma, due to our proximity to a major worldwide port, I began to worry. My son, who suffered from asthma as a toddler, either outgrew it or ….stopped suffering from it when we moved 15 miles further from the port.
But, could a summer by the pool bring it back? [read the full article...]
I’ve had my child cooking with me since she was two, and even before then she was hanging out in a backpack watching over my shoulder as I prepared meals. The Kiddo even asks to watch me cook, pushing over a dining chair to stand on herself. At the tender age of three, she even does some of the cooking. Surprisingly, there are many kitchen tasks that a child this young can help with.
If you are in need of advice on when and how to get your kid cooking, this book, Salad People and More Real Recipes, may be a perfect fit. The author has also written Moosewood Cookbook, a top vegetarian title. [read the full article...]
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/rLrx_QSd44E" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Surfwise is the story of legendary surfer Dr. Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, his wife Juliette, and their nine children. Doc is a Stanford educated doctor who left his successful medical practice to chase the waves, towing along his 9 children (8 boys, 1 girl) in a 24 foot camper. The children slept like “puppies”, were raised on a strict natural diet of seven grain cereal, and surfed almost every day. As one of the children described, their life was like being on vacation all the time. Most children’s parents felt it was dangerous to swim with sharks and safer to go to school, but Doc felt the opposite about education. He felt that school was dangerous, and the sharks safe.
It all sounds rather idyllic, other than the crowded camper; however, Doc is a dictator jerk. He insisted on having sex every night in the camper with his children present, he beat his son for not surfing, and he demanded his wife breastfeed each child until they were two years old. I agree with long term breastfeeding, but instead of supporting his wife’s decision, Doc insisted this was how his children would be raised if that was how primates did it. There are some redeeming qualities about Doc, such as going to towns that hadn’t had a doctor in years for a job when money was needed and starting a surf school, but he left his children unprepared for the world and resentful of his domination. [read the full article...]
