What a Green Mom Looks Like, at Least this One

What does being green look like? I'm sure some of you read that and think dirty hippy. Some might think it means that I only do and eat Eco friendly, natural, and/or organic things. And others may think that it means going out of my way to be earth friendly.

You would be both wrong and right about some of those things. There are also some things that may surprise you as far as what I do and don't do.

For starters, I want to say that my going green has been an ebb and flow kind of process. The pendulum of my greenness has swung wide and varied. I was the kid lecturing my parents on the necessity of recycling, the teenager who ate tons of fast food, the passionate 20 something who dabbled in vegetarianism (a whole month), gave up pork and beef for 5 years, and used nothing but green body and house products, the pregnant lady who wanted nothing to do with green vegetables, and finally the mother who is trying to balance greenness with sensibility and enjoyment of life. In some ways I'm greener than I've been and in other ways I'm probably not. Now, a peek into my current life.

A little thing called writer's block...

I'm trying to write more posts here, but it's just not happening at the moment. I seem to have a little bit of writer's block. Which has led me to a new revelation about the dilemma. I'm finding that writer's block isn't always a problem of perfection or lack of ideas. It seems that sometimes it is about too MANY ideas. Well, maybe I'll finally pin some down this weekend...

Cheesy Apple Scrambled Eggs

This morning I was attempting to make eggs in a basket with a leftover Kaiser roll.  Unfortunately, the circles fell apart long before eggs got into them.  Fortunately, this problem led to some yummy inspiration.  Below is the recipe.  This is mostly an eyeball recipe since I was just using what I had lying around.

You'll need the following:

• 1 Kaiser roll cut in half and then into cubes
• 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• about 1/2 cup of chopped apples (I used granny and gala)
• 4 eggs
• pinch of sea salt
• about 2 tablespoons of milk
• about a 1/3 of a bag of shredded cheese.

Start by melting half of the coconut oil on a skillet or in a pan.  Put the roll chunks on to start browning them.  Once they start to get crispy, add the apples and the rest of the coconut oil.

Bread and apples browning.

As the bread and apples continue to brown, crack the eggs into a large bowl.  Add pinch of salt and milk.

Eggs, milk, and salt.

Whisk eggs, salt, and milk until well mixed.

Whisked eggs.

Now add cheese.

Adding cheese to eggs.

Mix cheese until well blended.

Egg and cheese mixture.

Pour mixture over apples and bread.  Stir around to make sure all bread is well coated.

Adding eggs to skillet with apples and bread.

Continue to scramble until eggs are well cooked.

Fully cooked eggs, cheese, apples, and bread.

Serve warm and enjoy!  It was a hit with my husband, son, and mother-in-law.

Meanings in Names

I want to spend a little time talking about the meaning behind the name of my blog. I ended up deciding that I wanted something that describes me and a little bit about what my blog would be about but not lock me in too much. Something that I could be flexible with and didn't have to write about only one part of my life. With all that in mind Green Mama Katie was born.

I'll break down each part of the name and explain the meaning behind it.

The easiest part to start with is the Katie part of the blog. It is simply my nickname. It is not my legal name but it is the name my mother gave me. It has always been my name since she decided that that was what my nickname would be. If you know me, you call me Katie.

The next easiest part to explain is Mama. I chose it because I am now a mother. It is what I often refer to myself as to my son. It was his first name for me. I also like the sound of it.

The last part I'm going to explain is probably the most complicated, the most detailed, and tells the most about me. If you were to guess that it had something to do with being Earth friendly you would be correct, but that is only part of it. I do care about the environment and I do care about making a difference. However, Green is also my favorite color. The color means a lot to me. Some of my favorite things are also green. Vegetables, frogs, snakes, emeralds, and many other things. Green means a lot of things to me as well. I'm part Irish. My husband's birthstone is the emerald. Green also represents new life and growth for me. It represents nature and a sense of peace.

Emerald earring in my ear.

All combined, these names represent who I am and what I want this blog to be about. I hope you enjoyed finding out a little more about me. If you have any questions, let me know. I'll be happy to answer them.

Pinterest is Responsible for this Inspiration of Evil

I am working on and fleshing out some really deep and hopefully inspiring posts, but Pinterest is responsible for sparking all kinds of creativity in me and sidelining more meaningful projects. The below recipe is inspired by all the things with Oreos shoved in them.

You'll need the following:

• 1-2 boxes of Funfetti Cake Mix
• The ingredients to make the cake according to the directions (water, oil, eggs)
• 24 regular Oreos
• 24 Golden Oreos
• peanut butter
• Nutella

Mix the cake mix according to the box.  I only used one box in this recipe, but two may have been better.

Spread a layer on the bottom if using one box, half if doing the whole box.

Start spreading peanut butter on the regular Oreos.

Arrange them in the pan on top of the first layer of batter until you have used all 24.

Start spreading Nutella on the Golden Oreos.

Arrange them on top of the regular Oreos until you have used all 24.

Pour the remaining batter on top.  Spread around if necessary.

Bake for at least 10 minutes more than the directions on the box.  Check the cake with a toothpick.  It is done when the toothpick comes out clean of batter.  You may also need to rotate the cake half way though if you oven sometimes bakes a little unevenly.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes.  Once cooled, cut and enjoy.  It's great if it's still a little warm.  MMMMMmmmmm