Eco Cleaning

In our house, we've tried as hard as we could to start using "safe" products. I tell you....it hasn't been easy. Right now, the series of products by Method are our favorites.

There's always been a debate about how well these thing actually clean. Recently, I've come across some reviews of some of these cleaners. Did you know that most of them do not disinfect? I kind of assumed this because the harsh ugly chemicals are the disinfecting properties of the product most of the time. But, yeah. There have been studies and such that have proved this.

So what is one supposed to do? The only thing I've thought of is to clean the really gross areas in our house, with a harsh cleaner and eco-friendly things everywhere else. I'm always open to hear how others solve this problem.

Green Groceries

Since this whole 'green' movement has taken place, I thought I'd try to find canvas bags for grocery shopping. This proved not to be an easy task. I guess I'm too picky about the type of bag I would like to use. Being a short person, it's harder for me to carry one of those freebie tote bags with the long handles if it's fulled with tons of heavy things. Still searching for that.

But in the meantime, I found out about ecobags. They have tons of different bags made of all kinds of materials. The produce bags really caught my eye. I didn't know what to use except for re-using my old plastic ones. They have these great breathable, draw string canvas bags in various sizes, weights, and colors. I had to share about this! They're washable too.

Yea! It's Time for the Olympics!

(Image courtesy of lovejanine.blogspot.com)

I love the Olympics! I feel like I'm waiting forever for the years to pass. Anyway, now is as good a time as any to share a fantastic dessert recipe with you. I've been eating almond jello (or float) ever since I can remember. Whenever I make it, I have to have 2 batches ready before I can eat it or everyone in the house gets it before me. LOL! It's not your typical jello. The jello is prepared to have a slightly softer consistency and being not too sweet because you serve it in the juices from the fruit you serve with it. The mandarin juice adds a slight tang evening out the lychee juice, which is a bit sweeter. Oh, I'm getting hungry...I knew this would happen. lol You've got to try it...it's the lightest most refreshing dessert!

Almond Jello/Float

3 packages Unflavored Gelatin
1 3/4 c Water
6 T Sugar
2 c Milk
1 1/2 T Almond Extract
1 6oz can Mandarin Oranges
1 16oz can Lycee Fruit
1 12oz can Fruit Cocktail

Preparation: Dissolve the gelatin in 3/4 cup cold water with the sugar. Stirring well to mix. Bring the rest of the water (1 cup) of water to a boil. Pour over the gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin is dissolved and clear. Add milk and almond extract. Pour into a 7x12 inch pan (or something similar...ice cube trays, plain or decorative work well too!) so that the liquid is about an inch deep. Refrigerate until set or overnight. Chill the fruit while the jello is in the fridge.

Assembly: Cut jello into 3/4-1 inch squares. Place in large bowl. Cut the lychees in half or quarters. Add the fruits, reserving the liquids. Pour the mandarin orange and lychee liquids over the fruit and jello. Mix and serve.

Will last around a week in the fridge (if it lasts that long).

NOTE: Before I pour in the gelatin mixture, I will line the pan with a sheet of plastic wrap. This makes pulling the jello out a ton easier since you can just lift out the whole sheet...being careful not to spill anything. You can also leave out the lychees if you don't care for them and use the juice from the cocktail instead.

An Ono Treat

picture courtesy of Oso-Ono

Since we don't have enough money to visit the islands every year, we take a family outing to the Annual Aloha Festival hosted by the PICA at San Francisco's Presidio. This year was the 14th year! We love this and are there every year. The food is always 'ono' (where else could you get a fresh malasada?), the music is fantastic, and the shopping is choice. We always love watching the local and not-so-local halaus doing what they do best. The weather, as usual, was foggy since we were by the beach but it was warm enough that it didn't drizzle like last year.

Yes-Yes got to visit his favorite vendor, a man that carves and sells beautiful pendants and other things out of wood and bone including mammoth tusk! I, as usual, bought my share of Kelly's Kookies and said hello to Gwen, of Classic Hawaiian Designs, where I buy all of my jewelry. No money this year though.

Keeping with the theme of the day, I thought I'd share a quick and easy trick I found a while back. If you like malasadas, or just any kind of doughnut, try this one. Don't forget...you can fill these with anything you'd like too. Mmmmm

Easy Malasadas

Cooking Oil
Sugar
Pillsburry Buttermilk Biscuit Dough

Cooking Instructions:

Heat oil in a small sauce pan, medium heat, for about 8 minutes. Put a wooden chopstick in the pot. When the tip starts to bubble when inserted it's hot enough! Pop the Pillsbury roll, and put in the individual pieces (it's pre cut) into the hot oil. Cook on each side for a few minutes (light brown) and when it's done place them on a paper towel to drain the oil. Roll the warm malasadas in sugar (and fill if you want to), and serve!

Presto Pesto!

My basil finally started to flower last week. This is the only time I prune it down because you have to clip off the flowers before they fully bloom, or the plant will stop growing, and I want to make sure there is enough for the next batch to be cut. It smells so good! I bring it into the house and everyone gets hungry. LOL!

So, needless to say, DS was right on me asking if I was going to make pesto. It's his favorite. Pesto must be one of the world's easiest things to make. I love it. You know you're eating rather healthily and it's great warm or cold. What's better than that? Here's what I do; I toast some nuts lightly (this time I had pecans on hand but I normally would use pine nuts), and put the basil (a ton of it), nuts, Parmesan cheese (fresh is perfect but Kraft will do in a pinch), a little vinegar (I'm not such a huge fan of the lemon juice, it adds too much flavor sometimes to keep the green color), a little salt, and a little pepper into the food processor and blend while drizzling the olive oil. And you're done! EZ!

Not only do we have it on pasta, I've mixed a tiny bit of mayo with the pesto to make a kind of ailoli and had it on warm sandwiches. It's also a dip, salad dressing (with a little more olive oil and vinegar), and marinade. It's the best. Just make sure to check your teeth after eating it!