Homeschooling Cartoon

Will you buy fewer products made in China?

We all know about the:

-bad pet food

-poisoned toothpaste

-millions of toys with lead

-lead tainted baby bibs…

But have you started to worry about what is in all that fabric that comes from China?

Apparently if we hope to voice any real concern about the business practices in China, lowering our purchases of food and toys won’t make that much of a dent.  (Now it might keep you much healthier, so I am still all for it.)  We will need to cut down on our textile purchases from China if we want it to make any difference.

This is hard, very hard.  When you start looking at where clothing is made, you can get a bit overwhelmed with the amount from China (and then throw in a few other Asian countries that might still have iffy manufacturing practices…)

I needed new sheets.  I bought some from Target.  I took them back.

I still need new sheets, but finding some that I am now comfortable buying is a little tougher.  And then I started reading about the processes cotton goes through and if I had $200-300 to spend on sheets I would get organic USA grown cotton sheets.  But I am poor, so I am just going to find some sheets that I think have a lesser chance of being poisoned.

Best Ebay Listing Ever

You’ve got to check out this great listing!  She is getting hundreds of hits on this one.

 Best Ebay Listing

I am drowning in lesson plans

Thus, there are no new posts…

I am working on the lesson plans for 3 history classes, 7 English classes and 1 logic class.  Anyone what to join me?

Chicken Kebobs and Chickpea Salad

Tonight’s dinner is my own variation on a dinner from the magazine Real Simple.

I liked the basic idea of this dinner, but I knew it was going to need some major flavor work.

So for a quick dinner-

Chicken Kebobs

Cube up some chicken breasts (I used about 8 )

Marinate these in – (amounts are rough as I didn’t measure)

about 1 cup of yogurt

about 5-8 cloves of minced garlic

about 1 Tb or more…ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Allow this to marinate for at least 1 hour or more.  Then skewer and grill.

Chickpea Salad

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed

1 large tomato, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 cucumber, chopped

1/4 red onion, chopped

feta cheese, crumbled

fresh basil, chopped

Toss all of this together in a bowl and then whisk together-

1 part vinegar

2 parts oil

salt and pepper

Drizzle this over the salad and enjoy!

I decided to serve this over brown rice for some extra fiber goodness, and I served tomato mozzarella salad just because I really, really wanted it.

Unexpectedly, More Martha

After writing about my somewhat secret love of Martha’s empire, I got some very bad news…

I opened an email this morning that went to one of my lesser used accounts and my face fell.  Martha Stewart was in Sunnyvale at a wonderful historic cherry stand just blocks away from where I grew up.  She was going to Olson Cherry’s on Sunday morning for a quick visit and I missed it!

I was crushed to say the least.   I kept thinking about it all day.

Then I got this follow up message: here.  Relief-it seems that almost everyone missed Martha, not just little old me.  But I do hold to the fact that I personally know the lady who baked the cobblers that Martha bought that morning.  In fact, the lady who baked the cobblers that Martha bought once borrowed my industrial mixer-we are tight, so my connection with Martha is getting better and better.

 (And just to make sure all you link shy friends don’t miss something important-if you click on the link above you’ll get all the juicy details and a picture of the Omnimedia queen’s signature…)

The Big Bad Federal Gov and Poor Martha

I have been thinking again about how much I wish the US Government would spend their time pursuing dangerous criminals instead of putting Martha Stewart in jail.

 I know she is out now, but Martha Stewart’s Omnimedia still hasn’t recovered from the big blow.

I know that I should be happy with a government that punishes wrong-doers…But really, wouldn’t a big fine have been enough?  Did they have to make such a show about being so tough on white-collar crime with Martha?!?  Did the government not take into account the suffering this would bring many law-abiding citizens?

What I am really whining about is the loss of Martha Stewart’s catalogue after her time in the slammer.  The show is back on, the magazine is pulling through (but is is smaller and missing the hilarious calendar of Martha’s life each month), but the catalogue has not recovered.

I miss the collection of ready to do craft projects, the heavy duty cake pans, the fun glassware, and of course the mixers, bowls and more in the Martha colors.

There is a light on the horizon with the introduction of things like this from William-Sonoma.  This one pan is an indoor smoker, deep-fryer, broiler, roaster, and grill pan.

Quick Weeknight Dinner-Shrimp and Quinoa

I like shrimp, but I don’t really love it.  I did love this salad! (Bacon makes almost everything better )

Bacon and Shrimp Salad

Ingredients:

Bacon

Shrimp, peeled and deveined

Mixed salad greens

Tomatoes, chopped

Dressing-

2Tb plain low fat yogurt

2Tb balsamic vinegar

2 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Cook the bacon, remove from pan and save about 1Tb of the drippings in the pan.  Saute the shrimp in the bacon drippings.

Toss all salad ingredients together-shrimp, crumbled bacon, greens and tomatoes.  Whisk together the dressing ingredients and toss with the salad. 

(For a much better presentation, plate the salads individually and drizzle the dressing over the greens.  The yogurt makes a thick dressing, so the drizzle is more attractive. )

Quinoa Pilaf

Saute some chopped onions and garlic in olive oil in a saucepan.  Add 1 1/2 cups dry quinoa and saute for a minute or two.  Stir in 3 cups chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes.  All of the liquid should be absorbed.  Remove from the heat, fluff with a fork and fold in some chopped green onions and toasted almonds.