Here we go!

It's February 1st.

It's the beginning of Black History Month (USA).

It's Hula in the Cool-a Day.

It's Clark Gable's birthday.

It's the first day of Spring in Ireland, Imbolic Day.

It's the day to celebrate San Cecilio, the patron of Granada, in Spain.

It's also a Feast Day for many other Catholic saints; but with over 10,000 of them, that actually happens everyday.

The weather is beautiful.

Most importantly (not really), it's the first day of Challenge 1: No Artificial Ingredients.  I'm actually really excited.  I figured I'd start by posting what I'm eating.  I grabbed a banana before the gym, but that's entirely uninteresting.

For an early lunch post gym and pre-errands I stole a recipe from Mipa.

Pumpkin oats.  I have left over pumpkin puree in my freezer (canned, but only one ingredient) and I've been craving good oatmeal.  I've never been  someone who likes fruit, nuts, or really anything but sugar, sugar and more sugar (okay, maybe a little salt) in their hot cereal.  That really started to change while we were in Korea.  Our selection had a lot to do with it, but I also started reading a lot of food blogs.  I got braver.  Significantly so.

This bowl of cold weather sustenance is super easy to accomplish:

1/2 cup dry oats (steel cut or rolled)

3/4 cup water

salt to taste

3-4 tbsp pumpkin puree

~1 tbsp natural brown sugar (or other natural sweetener)

cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc. to taste

1/4 cup organic soymilk

2 tbsp raisins

Cook the oats on the stovetop to your desired texture.  I like mine pretty dry. When they're almost there, add pumpkin puree and sugar.  Finish cooking and pour into a bowl.  Top with soymilk, raisins and spices.  Mix until frothy and consume readily.

If you have a microwave, I might recommend you warm the soymilk before adding it.  I don't have one, but I didn't want to cook the milk in, so it cooled down my oats a little too much.

30 Day Challenges

Time to get down to business.

The point of this blog is to exhibit how average folks can live healthy, conscious lives by making small adjustments to their lifestyle.  It's feasible to be sustainable; not everyone has to go all No Impact Man about it.

So, I've decided to do a set of 30 day (roughly, we'll do it by calendar month) challenges to get us rolling.  This is partially inspired by Mipa over at Alien's Day Out. She gives herself lists of challenges/goals/resolutions for the year.  

We're halfway through January, so I'll use these weeks to gear up.  Here are the 11 challenges that I will commit to for the rest of the year.  Ian has also agreed to come along on the adventures.

February

No artificial ingredients.  No aspartame (or other chemical sweeteners), high-fructose corn syrup, chemical flavorings or colors, preservatives, or other processed nonsense.  This is something we're already working on, so it's a good first choice to get our asses in gear.

March

Chemical free household.  Spring cleaning will be a little different this year.  This also includes parabens in body products, as I don't want cancer.

April

Seasonal food only.  We're lucky because our position allows us to make use of both Washington and Oregon's growing seasons.  Time to take advantage of it.  This month will hold a whole lot of asparagus and pear inspired salads.

May

Focus locally.  Portland is awesome.  We'll use this 30 day period to support the local economy and stay away from chains.

June

80 miles/week.  Between the two of us, Ian and I will drive no more than 80 miles in a given week.  My commute to work is 18.6 miles.  It's going to be an interesting month.

July

Anti-consumerism.  30 days of no purchases other than fuel and whole foods (no prepared foods).  I hope our friends still like us after this one.  We'll end up buying flats of beer in the last week of June...

August

No refined sugar.  I have a feeling we're going to learn a lot about excess sugar showing up in foods you wouldn't expect.

September

Cut utility expenses by 25%.  Water/Electricity/Natural Gas/Food/Fuel/Etc.  Should be an easy month for this lofty goal.

October

DIY.  We'll eat food we've canned/prepared ourselves, use homemade soaps and products and solve all household issues with our own hands.

November

Waste management.  We take our garbage (nonrecycling) out twice a week.  For thirty days we'll manage our trash output by composting and using recyclable material.

December

Sustainable holidays.  Handmade gifts, ornaments and goodies.  No excess waste. Anything purchased will come from a local, sustainable source.

So, there it is.  Of course, a lot of the blog will be focused on these challenges.  I'll bring you updates (including any failure for the sake of honest reporting) and fill you in on anything rad that we've learned or discovered.  Not every post will be centered on this theme, however, because variety is the spice of life; is it not?

Stay tuned.