Today in protest of his regular afternoon nap Mack decided to tear apart one of his absolute favorite books.  After listening to him chat and whine and sing and yell for nearly an hour, I went up to his room and saw the destruction.  Shreds of paper littered the floor, and little Mack couldn’t have [...]

My 18 month old son is officially no longer a baby. He had his first haircut the other day. Sniff, sniff. Prior to the cut, he had long, wispy, baby curls circling the base of his head. In the sun, his hair – so blond its practically white – glowed like a holy halo. The [...]

We love love love roast chicken.  Especially on a Sunday evening when the house has been calm all day and I’m happy to unwind with a cozy meal.  I buy delicious free-range chickens from our wonderful co-op, and every roast chicken comes out of the oven juicy and flavorful even when I season with nothing [...]

No matter how hard I try to avoid plastic bags, they always seem to creep into my home.  Considering that nearly 1 trillion crappy plastic bags are produced worldwide every year, its no surprise that avoiding them is tough, even for an eco-freak like me who keeps a stash of re-useable bags in the car [...]

I am always tinkering with homemade ways to clean my home.  I don’t like the expense and chemical overload associated with conventional cleaners, so more often than not I turn to old-fashioned staples like white vinegar and baking soda to get a job done. For a while now I’ve wanted to make a homemade cleaner [...]

I grew up without a microwave in our house.  It wasn’t until recently that I realized this was odd.  When I asked my mom why she never installed one in our kitchen, she said quite frankly, “They kinda freaked me out.” Good enough reason for me! Although I now have a microwave in my small [...]

Although we live on a tight budget, we also want to live healthfully and thoughtfully.  When my husband decided to start his own business, we made plenty of sacrifices like fewer meals at fun restaurants and no more new clothes.  But the one area I refused to compromise on was our food.  Just because we [...]

I recently saw an advertisement for a premium vanilla extract in the Sunday newspaper. The ad pointed out that many popular brands of “pure” vanilla extract actually contain high fructose corn syrup, a highly processed food additive that I don’t let in my house or in my body.  Certain that the brand of vanilla extract [...]

Chicago has enjoyed a very pleasant and mild October. Today was no exception. With sunny skies and the temperature in the 70s, it was a perfect day for a lunchtime picnic with my family. Evelyn packed her pink soccer ball and Mack packed his smile. I packed sandwiches, fruit, and a jar of sort-of homemade [...]

I recently conquered one of my fears. For years I have been interested in jarring and canning to preserve foods, but the process always intimidated me. All that boiling water…and fears of botulism contamination if the process wasn’t done exactly right…and what a waste of time and money if the jars didn’t seal…I was getting [...]