sarah's sustainable life

a few weeks ago, a couple of guys came to my coffee bar and ordered tea. being a tea enthusiast myself, i am always thrilled to chat with people who go out of their way not to order coffee, and so a conversation began. these two gentlemen are in business together, and i wanted to tell you about their grand opening so that you can support a local business. the pho sure vietnamese restaurant and saatea lounge is located at 741 w. ashby st near downtown san antonio. the vietnamese restaurant has been open for some time, but they are expanding the space to include a tea lounge (the grand opening of which will be this weekend, october 3rd). as part of the opening, there will be live music, free organic snacks, and free kambucha tea. if you are available this saturday, stop by for a little while and enjoy! i hope to see you there.

what is in a pound? 3500 calories, actually. meaning you must cut out or burn 3500 calories to lose one pound on the scale. here is our basic formula for today: eat your calories instead of drinking them; your body does not register liquid calories the same way that it does solid. (have you ever tried to drink one of those diet shakes and found yourself hungry again in the next hour?) if you are drinking a large soda with your meal, you are taking in enough extra calories to account for another cheeseburger. soda itself is quite bad for you, both regular and diet, but we will discuss that another time. try drinking water, unsweetened tea, or black coffee for the next week and see if it makes a difference.

did anyone else try not eating late at night? i have to say, i’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well it seems to be working!

keeping my promise, this week’s recipe is a tasty and different way to use up some of that half ton of zucchini that comes in at the end of the summer. this week’s recipe: tropical zucchini bread! delicious as a breakfast, dessert, or tea accompaniment. sorry this one has so many ingredients! i usually try to keep my recipes on here fairly simple, but this one is totally worth it!
3cups whole wheat pastry flour
2tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
1/2tsp baking powder
1 1/2cups shredded unsweetened coconut
3eggs
2cups sugar
1cup canola oil
1tsp vanilla
2cups shredded zucchini
8oz can crushed pineapple, drained

combine flour through coconut; mix well and set aside. beat eggs lightly in a large bowl, then add sugar, oil, and vanilla; fold in zucchini & pineapple. combine wet and dry ingredients until just mixed, then pour into two greased loaf pans. bake in a preheated 350degree oven for about an hour, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

apparently, FEMA has had blueprints for a machine that turns biomass into fuel for first responders in an emergency for some time, but the machine is huge and expensive, so a 31-year old welder from washington state spent several months condensing the “gasifier” into something more practical. the plans are that every family will own one in the future and our garbage will be turned into fuel for our vehicles. pretty cool! if this were available tomorrow for several hundred or even a thousand dollars, would your family spring for one? it sounds like a great investment, knowing you’ll never have to buy gas again. i’d like to think we would buy one pretty quickly.

it’s that time of year again, folks! no, not christmas (though i’m looking forward to those recipes, too). it’s time for that wonderful end of summer harvest with lots of squash, zucchini, strawberries, and tomatoes. the next few weeks, i’ll be sharing recipes that help use up the abundance of this seasonal produce you can easily find at the farmer’s market. today’s recipe: squash casserole! no explanation needed; this stuff is delicious!

3medium yellow squash
1large onion
3eggs
8oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1stack butter crackers (like ritz), crushed
1/4cup + 2Tmelted butter or margarine
salt & pepper to taste

melt the 2T butter in a skillet. trim, halve, and slice the squash & onion very thin. saute the veggies in the melted butter until soft but not brown. in a casserole dish, stir together the eggs, cheese, sauteed veg, seasoning to taste, and 3/4 of the stack of crackers. crush the remaining crackers over top and pour over with 1/4cup melted butter. bake in a preheated 350degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

like the idea of organic & fair trade coffees, but not the price tag? well, if you live in the san antonio area, you are in luck this week! central market on broadway is introducing a line of coffees called bean tree. they are organic, fair trade, and delicious! formerly only available online, these coffees can be enjoyed fresh-brewed at the coffee bar of any central market. and to acquiesce the inevitable uproar that comes with any change, this week only a large cup of this coffee is only $.99! if your one of those “coffee drinkers” who that thinks starbucks brews a decent cup, expect to be changed when you taste this stuff! stop by sometime this week to try it for cheap. i’ll most likely be there!

when i taught nutrition, my curriculum swore that weight management was a simple formula: calories in vs. calories out. i have since then been through many events in my life (being pregnant, the stress of a newborn, very little sleep the first year, etc.) that made me realize “there must be more to it!” a recent study has proven me right (for once).
along the guidelines of my earlier post about yoga’s self-awareness techniques influencing healthy weight maintenance, it appears that the body’s natural circadian rhythms play a great part in the weight game. a recent northwestern study has found that eating at night causes unnatural weight gain. your body has an internal clock that tells you daytime is for eating and activity, and nighttime is for sleeping. when you go against the advice of this natural clock, your body rebels and holds more calories as fat. keep in mind, this study compared two groups who ate whatever they wanted, as much as they wanted with little difference in the amount of activity. the only discernible difference between the two was the time of day they ate. try cutting out eating after 7 or 8 at night for a week; see if you can feel the difference.
keep posted for more easy ways to lose weight without dieting in the future – i’m going to keep the tips coming!

every mother’s worst moment: this morning i woke up with pinkeye. that means i can’t touch anything, including my son, and i can’t see to drive to the doctor’s office. my husband had a wonderful idea. he remembered that our insurance company covers home visits! i never thought i would need this service, but i have to give it a big thumbs up! i didn’t have to leave my home, the nurse practitioner was courteous and knowledgeable, and i got free saltines and ginger ale (which is worth the whole price to me!). for $35, i experienced what medicinal care used to be about, and it was wonderful! think of all the gas saved for one nurse practitioner visiting homes rather than 40people driving to the doctor’s office and back! not to mention what it could mean to a mother with no car, an elderly person who can’t drive. i encourage you to look into home health care in your area. try it and let me know if you think it’s great too (or if it’s just me being an incurable romantic for all things old-fashioned).

today’s recipe: jenan’s spinach salad!
this salad is SOOO delicious, i practically lived off of it my first trimester. the recipe was given to me by my good buddy jenan. this is apparently a pretty typical way of preparing salad in the middle east, although they don’t use recipes, so i had to watch her make it and write down what she did. in that same spirit, i give you the method for preparing this amazing salad with very little measurement. everyone who has tried this loves it, even people who “don’t like salad”. veggie haters, you are doomed!

1tub fresh spinach leaves
1lemon
1/2small sweet onion
good quality olive oil
salt

wash and chop the spinach. slice the onion into thin half-moons and toss with the spinach. squeeze half the lemon over the veg and drizzle over with plenty of olive oil. toss to coat, then season with salt to taste. if you used a large amount of spinach, you may need to use the other half lemon and more olive oil.

you’ll just need to read the actual article to believe it. apparently a teenager from nepal has invented a new solar panel that uses human hair in place of silicon, which makes the panels much cheaper to produce and much more disgusting to look at. oh well, i guess green isn’t always pretty (compost heaps – i rest my case). check it out. it’s always good to hear some progressive news!