Quick Tip #15: Outdoor exercise

Now that is warm outside you can do your workouts outside instead of a gym. Save yourself the boring news shows and job, walk, or bike outside. If you are more into resistance training go to a park and do some bodyweight exercises on the monkey bars. Drink plenty of water and don’t overdo it.

Green furniture with Gaiam

Green Links For The Week Of 7.28.13

Here are some green stories I came across this week:

Carbon Dioxide Power Plants: Could The Greenhouse Gas Be Used To Generate Electricity?

Poop-powered sewage treatment system fits in a shipping container

Biking at night: How to avoid hidden dangers and arrive in style

Rare zebra-donkey 'zonkey' born in Italy, cuteness ensues

Poll: Young Voters Call Climate Deniers "Ignorant," "Out of Touch," "Crazy"

Homemade Bug Trap

Every summer we have tiny little flies flying around our kitchen sink being a nuisance. No matter how much we clean they seem to hang around. We could go to the store and buy some bug spray but that is poison we have to breath in as well, not to mention it can be pricey.

An alternative option is this:

Take some dishwashing soap and put a few drops in a shallow plastic container:

Next get some apple cider vinegar and add it to the container about ¾ inch deep:

Set the container out and watch it catch some bugs:

It is important to make sure there is no other source of food for them while you are getting rid of them. If you have food particles in your sink or your trash this won’t work very well.

Green Links For The Week Of 7.21.13

Here are some stories I've come across this week:

Details emerge on all-new 2015 Honda Fit Hybrid

Western Bumble Bee Seen Near Seattle After Years-Long Absence, Stirs Scientific Community

Monsanto virtually gives up on growing GMO crops in Europe

Could Photosynthesis Be Our Best Defense Against Climate Change?

Elon Musk: Hyperloop would transport people across country at 4,000 miles per hour

Homemade Pomade

I admit it, I’m vain enough to use pomade to fix my hair. I keep my hair really short so I don’t use much but I do use it. As far as natural options go there aren’t many. I was using Giovanni. It can run up to $5/ounce or higher and it still has a few weird things in it that probably aren’t good for my skin or health. So after some scouring the net I’ve come up with a plan of making my own.

Here’s what you need:

A double boiler (or a bowl in a pot like I used)

5/8 oz. of beeswax

4 tsp of coconut oil

I’ve had a block of beeswax for a long time not really knowing what I was going to do with it:

I shredded off 5/8 oz. :

I measured out 4 teaspoons of coconut oil:

I mixed them both in my “double boiler”:

Once it was finished I poured it in a wide mouth glass jar:

The results:

It works well though it is a little hard. I am probably going to add some more cocnut oil next time or less wax.

The cost:

I can get beeswax for $7.20/lbs. at my local art store so 5/8 oz. costs 28¢

The coconut oil ran us about 30¢

So the whole thing can be made for less than a dollar.

Homemade Clif Bars (First Attempt)

We do love Clif Bars. They taste great. They’re not terrible for you. And they are natural(ish).  There are a couple of drawbacks. They’re not the cheapest things in the world and there are a few oddball ingredients that I’d like to avoid. So I decided to try and make my own. Spoiler alert, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted but here is what I did:

I gathered all of my ingredients together, the main ones being oats, rice crisps, and brown rice syrup:

In a mixing bowel, I took 1 and ¼ cups of rice crisp cereal:

I love the markings in all-clad measuring cups

Added 1 cup of oats:

I added 2 tablespoons of flaxseeds:

I attempted to grind them down, first in a food processor and then with a spoon:

It didn't work

It would probably be better with flax meal instead of the seeds.

Here is the first step:

While I was doing that I took 1/3 cup of brown rice syrup:

And put it in a small pot on medium heat with ½ cup of fresh ground peanut butter:

(Here is where I think the main problem lies: I think I should have used more rice syrup and probably not used the fresh ground type of peanut butter)

Once the mixture became a liquid paste:

Fresh ground wasn't the best idea

I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract:

I mixed the dry goods up by hand:

And then added the liquid, again mixing by hand:

Careful! It is hot!

Here I added in ½ teaspoon of cinnamon (just a little because it is strong):

After mixing it by hand until it cooled some I added ¼ cup of organic chocolate chips:

I lined a 8 X 8 pan with wax paper and poured the mix into it:

I then took another piece of wax paper and worked it into the pan:

I let it chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes and then I tried to cut it into 12 pieces. It was so dry that it kind of exploded when I went to cut it. But it did taste really good.

Chop and Boom!

So I’ll try it again with some more liquid next time. In the meantime I’ll eat these “bars” with a spoon and enjoy them.

The nutritional facts:

Though I'm not positive of the cost it was no more than $4.00 for 12 which is quite a bit cheaper than cliff bars (12 bars would be $12 at our Kroger).