Category Archives: Green

Fairy Pool Surprise

Posted on April 24, 2013 | 2 comments
Fairy Pool at Bryan Park

Fairy Pool at Bryan Park

The first of the Five Vital Graces of Cabal Fang is Wonder.

A powerful sense of wonder inoculates against cynicism, encourages empathy and peace, and generally makes the colors of the world around seem brighter.

On a whim, with a few minutes to spare, I pulled the truck into the park and took a walk.  I saw may wondrous things, amazing things really.

Can I prove that, when I’m not around, fairies play in splash in this pool?  Of course not.  But I can imagine that they do.  I can hope that they do.  Because a world with fairy pools in it is a much more interesting world than a world without them.

And then I can go get back in the truck, and I run my errands.  I go and practice martial arts and think about self defense, and all the dangers and horrors that the world around me threatens.

But through it all I know that for every evil in the world there are a thousand beauties, and miracles, and wonders seen and unseen.

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Easy Meal: Fiesta Stew

Posted on April 19, 2013 | Leave a comment

Another delicious and cheap 4HB-compliant slow-carb meal with four ingredients or less. Cook it on Sunday and take it to work for lunch all week.

Fiesta Stew

* 1 to 1.5 lbs ground free range beef or venison
* 2 cans diced tomatoes including all juice
* 1 package Fiesta blend veggies 12 or 16 oz. (beans, carrots, peppers, onions, green beans, etc.)
* Chili Seasoning (I use one packet of either Sauers, a local favorite, or an organic mix. Watch the carb content. Check labels!)

Brown meat and drain.  Add to crockpot with the other ingredients and cook on low 4 hours. Because of the increased contents, this doesn’t come out as chili. Its milder and soupier. My teenager says “it’s to die for.”  Enjoy.

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Spring Container Gardening

Posted on April 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

Here’s what I got done on Sunday in the gardening department.  I don’t know why people think this kind of thing is so complicated.  It’s really simple.  Why don’t more people put in little container gardens?

First I went out and took stock of the situation.  As you can see, the pots were a danged mess.

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Overgrown with weeds, these pots were cleared out and lettuces were planted in them.

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These were just as bad. Move over weeds, make room for my crops!

I was happy to see that the lavender survived the winter, and so did the Alyssum.  Here are a of shots of those.

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My Surviving Lavender

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The Alyssum that made it through the winter

I cleared out all of the weeds and old roots leftover from last year’s crop.  While I do this, I’m always on the lookout for interesting wild, native plants that I can rescue or save and transplant to the herb garden.   Didn’t find anything cool today.

When I had them cleared out, I topped off the pots with fresh soil.  Due to the failure of the composting project (which will be rekindled for next year) I had to buy commercial dirt (he swore silently).

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Some of the stuff I planted

I put in lettuce, collards, bush beans, and cabbage.  Below are some pics of the finished product.

You will note that there are lots of rubber snakes all over the place.  This keeps the birds, chipmunks, and suburban rabbit population from eating everything.

Next time I’ll post on the herb garden.  Please try to contain your excitement until then.

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Give Thanks for (ethical) Meat

Posted on April 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

I was a vegetarian for almost 15 years (1986 through 2000).  I thought it was a great idea for all of the reasons that people usually cite.  Eventually though, I just didn’t feel well.  I began to lack energy, didn’t recover well after workouts, became less and less able to add lean muscle, etc.

One night, as an experiment, I ate a piece of fish at a restaurant.  It tasted good and I might have enjoyed it, except that I felt like some kind of traitor.  I half-way expected to get violently ill.  The next morning I woke up feeling as if I had eaten a glowing chunk of the golden Sun.  Problem solved.

I know there are elite athletes are who are vegans and vegetarians, so it must be possible to get adequate nutrition without taking in meat.  For some reason I just couldn’t.  Either I’m not smart or careful enough and/or I didn’t read the right books, or I’m some kind of freak who just needs meat (or thinks he does).  I don’t know.

But if you are like me, and you make an effort to be a responsible meat eater, here’s an article for your edification and enjoyment on the ethics — and sustainability — of eating meat:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/the-ethicist-contest-winner-give-thanks-for-meat.html?_r=0

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The Moon Right Before Sunrise

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Posted on April 3, 2013 in Green

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More Simple Lunch Ideas

Posted on March 29, 2013 | Leave a comment

For those of you doing the low carb thing (or some variant such as the 4HB slow carb diet, the paleo diet, etc.) here are a couple of lunch suggestions:

Try the Wholly Guacamole single serving packs.  They’re affordable, delish, and a nice balance of convenience and nutrition.  You get 6 for about $4.00.  Throw one in your lunch bag with some some snow pea pods and carrots.  A great alternative to ranch dressing or some other empty calorie dip.

Here’s another healthy main course you can make with 5 ingredients or less:

Broccoli Bacon Chicken Salad

3 cups diced free range chicken
3 cups thinly sliced broccoli
1/4 cup real bacon bits (not imitation!)
Olive oil mayo to desired consistency

Bake chicken at 375 for about an hour and fifteen minutes or until it reads 190 on your meat thermometer.  Allow to cool, skin, and dice.  Wash and slice broccoli very thin.  Combine with chicken, add olive oil mayo and bacon, and stir.

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What’s a ‘Cheat Day?’

Posted on March 25, 2013 | 1 comment

One day I’m talking about the struggles of buying local and eating healthy, ranting about GMO foods, and posting healthy recipes.  The next day I’m posting about my ridiculous junk food fests and posting pictures of potato chip bags.

Allow me to head off any accusations of food hypocrisy and/or schizophrenia.   I only eat junk food on Saturday “cheat days.”  What’s a cheat day?  It comes from Tim Ferriss’ book The Four Hour Body.  Under his slow-carb plan, you can eat whatever you want one day a week.  I like the idea for two primary reasons.

First, cheat day allows me to eat whatever my friends and family are eating one day per week.  If the guys are having nachos and beer, or the wife and kids want Chinese, I don’t have to the alien from Planet X.

Second, cheat day encourages me to be much more strict during the week.  Before I began allowing one cheat day per week, junky foods started creeping in everywhere.  Now, if a food item seems remotely junky, I put off eating it until Saturday.  You can only eat so much junk in one day.  In short, my net junk food consumption is lower with the addition of one cheat day per week.

In my opinion, cheat days are fun and beneficial to anyone trying to stick to a very rigid diet plan (mine is meat, eggs, veggies, and nuts only.)  If you’re having trouble sticking to a diet plan, you might find that giving yourself the safety valve of a weekly cheat day actually increases your overall long term success rate.

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A Quote from David Lakota

Posted on March 3, 2013 | 2 comments

David Lakota, Shaman Jedi Instructor, Captain of New Earth Army

So I was watching Doomsday Preppers the other day and there was a segment on David Lakota, an amazing guy with serious skills.

Although I can’t get behind everything he said on the show (like trusting only his relationship with the Creator when determining the edibility of wild plants or the safety of potable water) and some of the stuff on his blog seems way, way out there (like his New Earth Army Shaman and Jedi training program) he’s clearly a courageous fellow who’s not shy about his beliefs.  Just check out some of the far flung subjects he’s written about — bootcamp training, survivalism, shamanism, several expedition logs, and the list goes on!

But what I really liked was the quote he closed his segment with:

“The beaten path is for the beaten man.  In wildness is the preservation of the world.”

Anybody who can barefoot climb one of the highest peaks in the Hawaiian islands, look straight into the camera, and speak words like that is okay in my book.  Keep doing your thing David.

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Curry Chicken Salad Collard Wraps

Posted on February 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

IMG_20130203_170854If you follow me regularly you know that on Sundays I cook all by breakfasts and lunches for the coming week.  If you’re looking for a healthy, low-carb lunch meal that will keep for five days, here’s one I’ve had some success with.

Curry Chicken Salad Collard Wraps

Put a whole free range chicken in the crock-pot and cook it 6 hours (I got mine from Root Force Collective Farm, which, sadly, is no more — but you can get yours at Ellwood Thompson’s or another fine local retailer in your area).  One cooked and cooled to room temperature, pull the meat off the bones, put it in a bowl, and shred it between two forks.  Add a cup and half of pecan halves, several hefty celery stalks chopped finely, enough olive-oil mayo to choke a pony, a teaspoon of curry powder, and salt and pepper to taste.

Wash about ten organic Collard leaves (a.k.a. Swiss Chard) and dry them completely.  Now for the toughest part: you have to slice down the veins or the leaves won’t wrap — they’ll crack and split. IMG_20130203_170712

Put a leaf on the cutting board, and with a sharp knife, slice as shown so that the vein is the same thickness as the surrounding leaf.

Put a dollop of the chicken salad in the leaf and roll as shown.

IMG_20130203_170756 Very simple.  Two wraps make a nice lunch.  Keep them in the fridge and they’ll stay crisp and fresh the whole week.IMG_20130203_170814

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More Climate Drama

Posted on February 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

I had planned to take my teenager and attend the Forward on Climate Rally yesterday, but on Friday when I saw that the weather forecast at that time was for rain and snow, I decided to scrap them.  It turned out to be sunny, and by noon yesterday I was kicking myself for not joining in.

Since I was home I watched UP with Chris Hayes.  Members of the panel said they thought that Americans are starting to wake up and realize that they are being lied to — by the happy fracking ads, the gulf-is-all-clean-now propaganda, and the Koch-funded KXL-is-good-for-America hogwash.  I disagree.

I think that the people who really care about the environment are just getting more and more frustrated and pissed off.  While it is true that politicians in Washington are starting to mention climate change, and as Chris pointed out, fifty years from now nobody is going to care how big the deficit is, I think most people are still bored by the climate change discussion.

Mindy McCready, the Pope, Oscar Pistorius, and the Russian metor are topping the news charts, not climate.

I guess the destruction of the planet isn’t the kind of drama that most people can really sink their teeth into.

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