CityMama™

Are you changing the world? According to Al Gore you are.

I had the opportunity to hear Al Gore speak over the weekend, and I left feeling like all the small lifestyle changes I've been making to try to live a more eco-conscious life are really making a difference. (Actually I left wanting to ditch my car and to move to the country, but that's another post.) They are making a difference because when my contributions are added to the contributions everyone else (you?) have already been making we are, as Gore says, creating a "psychological shift" in the way we live our lives. And it's this shift—this "green revolution"—that will tackle the environmental crisis head on.

If you are interested in hearing more of my thoughts about Al Gore, click here to read my Normal Green column on the Tonic News Network, but I'll share an excerpt with you:

Seventeen years ago, when I graduated from college, I was a young, idealistic Green Party member intent on changing the world. I got involved in city government, I volunteered on behalf on political candidates I supported, and I vowed to make a difference. At that time, however, I didn’t really know what I wanted to change about the world, I just knew I had to do something. Fast forward to now. Since then, I’ve made two major career shifts, had two children, am now a progressive Democrat, and in the last eight years—the years my children know as the first years of their lives—I’ve watched in horror as our country faced one moral, ecological, and economic disaster after another. I feel the fierce urgency of now, and so do lots of other people. So how do we work together to change the world? Gore points out that we’re undergoing a powerful psychological shift, and when I think about it, that is what the “Normal Green” movement is all about.

We know we can never go back to how it was "before" when we didn't recycle or didn't try to plant gardens (even surprisingly productive patio ones) or didn't try to bike more.  We can never go back to not thinking about how our purchases from food to clothes will impact the earth. Together, because we are using our "moral imaginations" (another Gore-ism), we are seeing the future we want to create.

So keep doing what you are doing, and I'll keep doing what I'm doing, and together we're going change the world.

Meal Planning Monday for 9/29/08

I haven't really made it to the store this week, but I didn't end up cooking some things last week, so I've got the first half of the week planned and am setting some intentions for the rest of the week.

• Monday—Shakshouka over cous cous
• Tuesday—Pasta e fagioli (Italian white bean/pasta/veggie soup; the beans are soaking now)
• Wednesday— Fusilli with guanciale, peas, and caramelized onions, green salad
• Thursday—help?!
• Friday Family Movie Night— any DIY dinner ideas for me?
• Saturday—Date night
• Sunday— something panko-crusted (sole? organic pork chops?) since the Progresso folks sent me two boxes of their new panko breadcrumbs and I want to try them.

Note to my Bay Area Peeps: a bunch of us local mom bloggers will be signing copies of Sleep Is For The Weak in Menlo Park at Kepler's on Thursday night at 7.30pm (the night of the VP debates) and on Saturday night at Swig in San Francisco. Let me know if you'd like to attend and I'll put you on the Evite list!

What are you cooking up this week?  And now that it's fall (though hard to tell with it being in the 80's around here) what are you most looking forward to cooking?

My unique Hawaiian view of the presidential debate

If you care to know what someone who was born in Hawaii thought of last Friday's debate, click on over to MOMocrats.

Time out

This morning Bunny asked me if I could fill her water bottle with orange juice. I said no. (The water bottle gets gunky and stinky and it's hard to clean and plus she knows only water goes in water bottles.) She then went to J. and asked him to fill up her water bottle with orange juice, which, of course, he did.  When I found out about it, Bunny got a time out in her room where she had to compose a letter of apology. That letter said:

I know I did something wrong and I'll never do it again. Boy, some parents know how to make some kids angry.

The letter was signed with a picture of a grumpy girl with an arrow pointing to her reading "Bunny."

Bin Dae Tok [Korean Mung Bean Pancakes]

These pancakes (or fritters if you make them smaller for appetizers) are one of the dishes that my mom makes that I don't ever even attempt because they won't turn out the same. (Apparently I'm not alone.) When I was in college and home on a vacation or break, bin dae tok, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, and pasta alla carbonara (my mom is a fabulous cook) were three dishes I would request as soon as I returned home.

Now that she lives in Silicon Valley for part of the year, I can have her make mung bean pancakes anytime. Tonight, as she was preparing them, I finally wrote down the recipe for posterity (something I've been trying to do more of) and can share it with you. I forgot my camera so please note that the camera phone photos do not do these justice. They are much yummier-looking in person. And they smell amazing as they are cooking.

The mung beans you need for this look like yellow split peas. They are also sold whole and are green, but avoid those. They are available at any Korean market and at Indian markets where they are known as moong dal. These pancakes are very forgiving and as long as you have the base of the pureed mung beans, you can pretty much add anything to it making them vegan or not.  Koreans like to make their pancakes "pretty" so there is an art to skillfully arranging sliced carrot flowers and chives atop the "raw" side of the pancake before flipping them over, but you don't have to bother.  Just chop up your veggies (leftovers are great in these) and huck them into the batter, then pan fry away!

Blog World Expo 08: My very brief take plus some thoughts that I didn't get to share on my panel (for the PR people)

At the beginning of the summer, I had definite plans to be at Blog World Expo on a panel with some kick-ass muthabloggas. As the summer progressed, those plans mutated, changed, folded in upon themselves, and fell apart.

Which brings me to exactly one week ago when Sheila called to ask if I wanted to be on a panel with her at BWE08 and I said, "No."

"I'm leaning towards no."

"I really have no desire to go to Vegas."

But Sheila is persistent (and she offered to let me snug up with her and Mr. XiaolinMama) and that's how I found myself on a plane to Vegas four days later to participate in a panel discussion on "How to Pitch to (Mom) Bloggers." Moderating the panel was the always fabulous and righteously smaht Susan Getgood.

photo courtesy: Sheila Bernus Dowd

Here are my thoughts on BWE08, but please, take them with a grain of salt since I didn't attend the entire conference. Why? Mamma doesn't like being away from her babies.

Meal Planning Monday (now with lunchbox and snack ideas and a budget!)

As our economy heads into a tailspin, I've been thinking a lot about what this means for our family. Ever since I had Bunny in 2002, we've learned to basically live on one income. My work as a freelancer isn't always steady so we view anything above and beyond my husband's salary as icing on the cake. We've been living on a budget for six years now, so as people around me tighten their belts yet again, I thought I'd add a little twist to my weekly meal plans: I'll share how much I spent (roughly) on groceries for the week, and I'll also share some lunchbox and snack ideas. Of course I share these ideas (the weekly meal plans, lunchbox, and snack ideas) hoping that you will do the same since I get so much inspiration from all of you. If it takes a village to raise a child, maybe we can pull together to share some economical tips on how to continue to feed our families healthfully, locally, organically...without breaking the bank.

Lately, I've been doing lots of our grocery shopping at a small, local market in Silicon Valley called Milk Pail Market, pictured above. (For me eating locally also means supporting local grocery stores as much as possible.) It's the kind of market that carries an abundance of local produce including an absolutely dizzying selection of fruit (maybe a little banged up or bruised) and hundreds of different kinds of imported cheeses and a plethora of dairy items. It caters to an ethnic population (lots of items appeal to Asians or the growing Russian population in our area) so prices are reasonable. It also has quite a following among people who love to bake so their freezers are chock-full of bread dough, unbaked croissants and pizza crusts, and bulk items like cream cheese, farmer's cheese, butter, and heavy whipping cream sold by the quart.

Talking about the election with young kids [three simple tips]

It's no secret that for about a year, I—along with about 22 other progressive moms—have been trying in our own little corner of the internet to influence the outcome of this election.  We are consumed by politics in our household.  We've been riding the campaign roller-coaster through all of its ups and downs, and it's not surprising that our kids have taken notice.

When we started this process, they were five and three, still pretty little, still very impressionable. A year ago, J. and I could have hushed conversations and not worry too much about being overheard. But about a month ago, my six-year-old overheard me say that a friend's husband was a Republican and she couldn't stop exclaiming, "But that's the other team!" Because my girls are savvier and pick up on everything we say, we've had to set up some parameters around how we discuss politics, especially now that we are in the home stretch.

Here's how I've been talking to Bunny and Wallie about politics.

Use the sports analogy. Democrats are "The Blue Team," Republicans are "The Red Team." During the primaries we cheered on specific candidates, but we always stressed the team aspect—even if our chosen candidate didn't win a primary, it was A-OK, there was someone on "our team" ready to step in and take her or his place. The sports analogy is something that even Wallie readily grasps.

Wallie is (gasp) 4!

Recently we celebrated Wallie's 4th birthday with a pink princess-palooza party at home. She wanted to dress up in something meringue-esque, wear sparkly shoes, and have Cinderella visit, and, really, who am I to say no to such cuteness?

She requested pink cupcakes and I obliged:

It's been a momentous year for Wallie.  She, like her sister was at this age, is on the very cusp of reading. She's picking out beginning and ending letter sounds, loves "writing" words, and because she's always been in such command of her fine motor skills, has better penmanship than everyone in our family.

She's a very thoughtful and detailed artist.

She went from padding around the shallow end in floaties last summer to swimming the entire length of an Olympic-sized pool this summer all by herself.

She learned to skip. The day after she turned four.

She went into a bouncy house and jumped! And had fun! Instead of crumpling into a heap and crying.

She decided that she likes zucchini, plums, and shrimp after all. She was even willing to try chicken feet when offered to her. She still doesn't eat jam, milk with her cereal, or cake with her frosting.

She has a best friend whom she loves fiercely.

But the most unexpected surprise Wallie's had since turning four?

Link Love

You can find me elsewhere on the internet...

At Blogs.com where I am sharing 10 Blogs Against Sarah Palin

At Tonic News Network where I am having a good, old-fashioned bitch session about being "green."

At CityMama's Stuff People Send Me where I am hosting a fab holiday card give-away and reviewing booze.

*****

And in case you haven't read the best case against Sarah Palin for VP, may I present my BFF Bad Kitty's brrrrilliant and searing indictment against her.

*****

I'll be at Blog World Expo tomorrow night through Saturday afternoon participating in a panel on pitching to (mom) bloggers.  If you're going, come find me! My alllll-grrrrrrl session is from 12:15-1:15 and apparently we're head-to-head with a similar session where the panel is nuthin' but stinky boys.