MiniMonos Friday Featured Friend -- Smiling Green Mom!

Today we’re really happy (I’m smiling as I’m writing this!) to introduce you to Lynn from Smiling Green Mom!  We met Lynn a few months ago on Twitter and her enthusiastic tweets always make us smile!

When we first had a look at her website, we gasped.  It’s soooo beautiful!

 
 
Smiling Green Mom has awesome green product reviews, healthy meals and recipes, articles about raising green kids,  and tips about health and wellness  -- and what makes Lynn smile!

Check out Lynn’s blog: The 12 Green Days Of Christmas.  Typically, it’s beautiful, thoughtful, green and bound to put a grin on your face!

The mother of all vegetarian pita pockets

 
  
Tonight, for this week's MiniMonos meatless meal, I used a grain called quinoa (pronounced keen-wha).  I hadn’t heard of quinoa until last week and was amazed to read about its incredible history as an ancient Incan crop, as well as its super-nutritional status.  The Incas worshipped quinoa and called it the "mother grain" and it is nutty and yummy, super-easy to cook and packed full of protein. I'm told you can use it in dishes where you would usually cook with rice. I found the quinoa in the gluten-free section of our supermarket.

A couple of days ago I used it in a salad I made for friends and family and despite the fact that we were eating a 5000 year-old sacred super-food that packed a huge punch of good vitamins, protein and fiber, it just tasted like a good ol' barbeque salad. So I’m using leftovers tonight in pita bread pockets, with home-made hummus from a recipe Melissa gave me.

The building materials:

Toasted pita bread pockets, tomato, lettuce, quinoa salad and hummus.  My friend's lovely greek salad from the other night also made a guest appearance.

Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa (boil for 12-15 minutes as per packet instructions. I used vegetable stock instead of water)
Once the quinoa is cooked, you can pretty-much add whatever takes your fancy. I diced finely and added: 

1 red bell pepper, grilled
1 yellow bell pepper, grilled 
1 avocado
1 tomato
2 scallions
½ cup cooked spinach

I also threw in a handful of toasted pine nuts, some crunchy bean sprouts and a nice dressing (lemon and herb piri piri)

Hummus

1 can of chick peas (garbanzo beans)
Splash of olive oil (or 1 tbsp tahini)
Garlic (optional - I did!)
Paprika, chili, sundried tomato, sesame seeds - any of these, all optional. (I used the first 3)
Lemon juice from 1-2 lemons, to taste
Salt & pepper
Water if it is too thick (add last)

Put into a bowl and mush with a hand blender or put into food processor and whoosh. Taste, add lemon juice and water until it is the consistency you like.

The construction:

Toast the pita pockets and fill at the table! 

The verdict:

My husband wisely went out for the night. I thought it tasted good, but overstuffed my pita bread and paid for it dearly -- well my blouse, jeans and the floor did.

I thought it would be a bit salady for the 7-year old son but he said he liked it, after picking out the cucumber, adding masses of grated cheese from the fridge and a huge squirt of barbeque sauce. Well. Ok. At least he didn't add a left-over pork chop.  

An American and New Zealand Thanksgiving

I can’t be home in New Jersey with my family for Thanksgiving this year (got to keep those air miles down!).  They are gathering and I send loving thoughts to them. I also thought it was a good time to stop and give thanks.

Growing up between New Zealand and the US, I sometimes felt funny about the whole Thanksgiving story – especially the role of  the Native American (Indians) – you know, how they saved the settlers by teaching them how to eat corn and turkey and live off the abundant new world they had come to.  Then, some few hundred years later how those Native Americans have seen their land and culture stretched to breaking point. 

One of my favorite courses in University (at Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ) was Location Conflict with Bill Lake.  I did a special project on the Lakota Sioux, and American Constitutional, Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health legislation. What I learnt back then (1989/90) shocked me into taking a stronger interest in both women’s health and the way we manage industry and land.  Back then, Lakota women had 500 times the US average or fetal death (ie miscarriage and stillbirth) and their neonatal stats were also awful. 

I do not believe these statistics can be separated from the way Uranium tailings were managed (or mismanaged) on their land.  I learnt about WARN (women of All Red Nations) and was inspired by their work  -- read this article about in-situ leach mining contamination on Indian lands, and weep  -- then take action. For anyone who thinks Nuclear is a solution to the climate crisis, I beg you to understand where Uranium comes from, and how it is extracted.

There is no word in the Sioux language which can convey the meaning “to own the earth”.  You can find out more about the History of the American Indian Movement (AIM), here.  When I was 12 years old I read “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown and this classic book still makes compelling reading.  Kiwi-American Anna Paquin was in the movie.  I haven’t seen it, but plan to track it down! 

Hegel  The philosopher said: “What experience and history teach is this -- that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.”  Lets prove him wrong!

On my return to NZ, I went to work for Maruwhenua, the Maori (Indigenous NZ People) Secretariat of the Ministry for the Environment.  I worked on contaminated and sacred sites, visited Marae (tribal meeting houses and communities) and talked with engineers about protecting the Mauri (life giving force) of rivers.  I love living in a land where we strive to be bicultural – even if we have a long way to go.

So this Thanksgiving I have much to be grateful for.  I am grateful for the beautiful planet we call earth (but maybe should be called “water” – I’ll blog on that another day!).  I am grateful for the blossoming of many cultures and traditions – amongst my family, friends and the world around us.  I am grateful for life itself.  I am grateful for my family and the love of friends.  I am grateful for the wonderful team I have around me here at MiniMonos, and I am grateful for the work.  And for the privilege of being part of The Climate Project, the learning I have had, and the relationships I am building. 

What are you grateful for?

A breakfast exercise in gratitude

My mother's friend Dorothy Baker composed this the other day -- when you read it, you'll understand why I had to share it with you. Happy Thanksgiving! Photo of happy dog by enchante on Stock Exchange -Kaila

I’m grateful for
Water, friends, smiles
Color, body, snow, ice
And telescopes
And all the other scopes out scoping about.

I’m grateful for
The Internet, healers, and pianos
And for the people who play them.

Radio, paperbacks and sunlight
What is light anyway?

I don’t want to forget animals, puddles, and paint.
What an amazing invention paint is.

I like words, imagination and fire.
What is fire? Where and how does it occur naturally?
Does it have to have something to burn?

I’m grateful for my home, my family, this coming feast,
My parents, my teachers, endless ideas,
The sciences, the arts and you my dears.

With love,
Dorothy

 

MiniMonos Friday Featured Friend: Buy1Give1

Every Friday we will be featuring an awesome, inspirational friend of ours who is doing something wonderful in the world.   So many of you are awesome that we’re sure you’d want to meet each other – so we’re going to start introducing you!

This week’s Friday Featured Friend is Buy1Give1 (B1G1).   This truly wonderful organisation is committed to making a big difference to people around the world, enabling  businesses to give back to their favorite cause through their every day transactions.  

In their words:  Someone buys a book, a tree gets planted. People dine out, hungry children get fed. Someone buys a cup of coffee, people in Africa get access to pure, clean water as a direct result. 

In February, MiniMonos saw the amazing work B1G1 were doing, loved their transparent and ethical model of giving, and in particular, LOVED the people!  Since then we have formed a close relationship with the B1G1 team, including the wonderful Paul Dunn.  Paul is an incredible example of a very successful businessperson who had an epiphany and complete shift of life to follow his dream to make the world a better place. And he’s doing it!  

We’re very proud to be involved with B1G1, giving clean water to school children in India, and we look forward to many more inspirational moments – and laughs! – with Paul and the B1G1 team.

  You can also follow Paul Dunn and B1G1 on Twitter.

Meatless Supper Club week 8: Corn fritter hamburgers

The last week of EnviroMom’s Meatless Supper Club has come around so fast!  It’s been wonderful to be part of something which so closely reflects our values at MiniMonos -- demonstrating our care for the environment, swapping ideas with like-minded parents and involving kids in a way that’s fun!  A big thanks again to Renee and Heather from EnviroMom for inviting us to be involved.

Tonight I was supposed to make tofu burgers.  Except that half an hour before I made them I realised the tofu was supposed to have marinated overnight in some yummy concoction. Oops. So my  husband (bless him) decided to experiment with corn fritter hamburgers instead.

I don’t want to make my fellow Meatless Supper Clubbers jealous…but I’m going to.  It’s nearly summer here, down-under. So although we didn’t slap a prawn on the barbie, we did cook the onions, eggs, and fritters on the barbeque. It was lovely cooking outside. Sorry.

The building materials:
Corn fritters:
¾ cup plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp sugar or runny honey
1 large or 2 small eggs
1 tin creamed corn
salt/pepper

Put all dry ingredients into bowl. Add the corn and eggs and mix. If using honey, add it now -- the mixture should be quite thick.  Heat oil and add spoonfuls of mixture into a pan or on the grill, frying until bubbles form or until golden, then flip.

In addition to the corn fritters, we used spinach and cashew pesto (yum), avocado, fried onion, lettuce, tomato and fried eggs (free range, with lovely, runny yolks). 

The construction:
Assemble the burgers the way you like them! 

Here's the 7-year old version:

The verdict:
It was fast, fun and involved the whole family. I actually preferred this vegetarian version to ground beef hamburgers and it got the “Yep, we’ll have that again” from the boys.

We've decided that we enjoyed the Meatless Supper Club so much that we’re going to continue constructing veggie meals each week! I’ll also keep blogging about the outcome, which means that Heather and Renee’s mission was accomplished in at least this household: One meatless meal a week, one family at a time. Yep, we’ll have that again.

YUM! Look what we had for lunch today at MiniMonos!

We were super-lucky to be treated to a gorgeous lunch made by Earthwise Gourmet, who specialize in traditional, organic, small batch crafting of health-promoting foods.  In their words: “Using ancient wisdom and philosophies of cooking and preparation from the world over, our food and drink are teeming with natural, nutritive value”.

  And we were impressed!  It was a luxury experience that we felt virtuous about eating.  The Five Alive Raw Seed Crackers were crunchily tasty, the dips were creamy and rich and the quinoa salad I could eat all day!  We just didn’t feel like we were eating food that was “unlocking and releasing predigested amino acids that increased nutritional value exponentially”.   It was just, simply, scrummy.  Earthwise Gourmet’s home-made Kombucha, fermented from Yunnan full leaf black tea was a deliciously refreshing drink to accompany the meal, full of complex flavors.  And the simple, organic Devine Goddess Fudge was to-die-for-heavenly. 

 

PLUS they personally delivered this gorgeous food to our office! After laying out the table using reusable and recyclable containers, Sharon and Warren described the organic ingredients of each dish and how it was made, before leaving us to dig in.  Bliss!

 

You can also find Earthwise Gourmet on Twitter.

MiniMonos has been nominated!

We're privileged and thrilled to be in the running for two awesome competitions!  Check them out -- we'd really appreciate your vote!  It just takes just a click for each one.
  
1. YouTopia Grant from Freerange Studios 

YouTopia are the very talented designers behind 'The Story of Stuff'.  They love to support a good cause and the winner receives a fabulous design grant from these rock star guys.  At the time of writing this, we're ranked first in their Environment and Conservation section!  Hooray!

We'd love to keep our lead -- you can vote (three times!) for MiniMonos to receive a YouTopia grant here

2. The Crunchies Awards

The Crunchies Awards in San Francisco celebrate the best worldwide tech accomplishments of 2009.  In their words: "The Crunchies are to technology what the Oscars are to Hollywood".

We're so excited that MiniMonos has been nominated for Best New Startup launched to the public in 2009!

You can vote for us here.

Yippee!!  Thanks SO MUCH for all the support from our wonderful community of parents, kids and friends who have helped us get here so far.  We'll keep you posted!

 

Making a Pho without beetlejuice

Tonight, for EnviroMom's Meatless Supper Club,  I tackled a vegetarian version of Pho (roughly pronounced "phua"), a classic Vietnamese soup.

Researching it threw up some interesting facts:

• Apparently it's ridiculous that I could even think of making a vegetarian pho.  One food writer sniffily said that at the very least, it should be made with beef stock.
• Another traditionalist insisted that one can only make a decent pho by sweetening it with the correct species of peanut worm and adding an extract of water beetle pheremone. True.
• The Vietnamese don't mince words when it comes to descibing their meat. Their words for pork and beef literally mean: "kill-pig" and "kill-cow". 

Luckily my family are not sniffy so I gave the tofu version a shot and skipped the worms, beetles and kill-cow.

The building materials:

For the broth...
1 small unpeeled onion, quartered
2 unpeeled shallots, halved
8 garlic cloves, halved
a 1-inch piece of ginger, coarsely sliced
two 3-inch cinnamon sticks
2 pods of star anise
4 cloves
8 cups clear vegetable stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
salt

For the soup ...
1 pound rice noodles
8 ounces seitan or fried tofu, sliced
6 scallions, thinly sliced (both green and white parts)
about 1-1/2 cups bean sprouts
a good handful of basil, mint or cilantro leaves, left whole
1 lime, cut into wedges
hoisin sauce
sriracha chili paste

To make the broth, heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, shallots, garlic, ginger, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves and dry-roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to char. Add the stock and soy sauce and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and discard the solids. Taste the broth and add salt if necessary. Keep warm over low heat.

While the broth is simmering, prepare the rice noodles. Place the noodles in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles to cover and soak as per the instructions.

The construction:

Ladle the hot broth into bowls. Let everyone help themselves to the noodles, fried tofu, scallions, bean sprouts, herbs, lime wedges, hoisin sauce and chili and season their own soup as they wish. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

The verdict:

I thought my husband would be really keen on the Pho and I'd end up making peanut butter sandwiches for our son.  However, despite mega-compliments from hubby as he was constructing his bowl, at the end of the meal he declared it just "alright".  Our son, on the other hand, went back for seconds.  I ate the sandwiches myself, trying hard not to think about peanut worms.

Don't give up

(Photo via FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

For Climate Campaigners who are tired, or feeling alone, or finding themselves lacking;

We do make a difference.

It is a privilege to work on the most important issue of our generation.

If we win, the future won’t know.  Like the CFC issue, young people will know nothing about the struggle but they will live with the result.

There are millions of us.

In The Climate Project alone, there are over three thousand of us trained by Al Gore, presenting The Inconvenient Truth.  Two years ago when I trained, it took five months to find my first audience -- now I present at least weekly.  Two years ago there were two presenters in my country -- now there are seventeen.

We make a difference in our own arenas:  Our public campaigning, our private conversations, the way we live our lives, the writing of policy, the advising of governments and CEOs, and the planning for emergencies. We may make coffee and cake for those who are out front, or perform simple acts of service in the garden. We may nurture and raise our children to understand that we are part of nature.

There are thousands of organizations across the planet working on this issue.

There are a handful of Government Officials who we need to influence. 

We are business people, musicians, authors, scientists, farmers, mothers, fathers and children. 

We can do this.  We do make a difference.