Friday, May 31, 2013

I'm a Closet Hippie

Ok, I have another confession to make. Not the one about stashing Swiss Cake Rolls in the basement or eating all of the Drumsticks. No, this one is different. Maybe even worse.

Secretly, I'm a hippie.

I don't think you'd know this from passing me on the street. I don't wear hemp. My hair is not in dreadlocks. I wear makeup. And khakis. But on the inside, I hide strong hippie tendencies.

I came to this conclusion today as I was hanging out laundry to dry on my new dry rack. The one BestestHusband got me after I talked endlessly about wanting to hang laundry outside. Our condo rules disallow "clotheslines". But they don't disallow umbrella-style clothes racks that fit securely into our patio table umbrella base and can dry multiple loads of laundry simultaneously. And then be hidden away in the basement again. I was deriving great joy from hanging out this laundry. Sure it was a tedious task. You can fit the girls' laundry for a whole week in one load of the washer. But it takes forever to hang it all up on the rack. Yet I was so happy...

I think the hippie tendencies come from a combination of factors:

  1. I'm a cheapskate (at times)
  2. I like to help the environment (if it's not too inconvenient or expensive)
  3. I like finding less-toxic ways to manage my household (again, if not too expensive or inconvenient)
  4. I have a lifetime of love and admiration for our pioneer foremothers (thanks to owning the entire collection of Little House on the Prairie books)


So as a result, I love the idea of making my own yogurt, and occasionally bread. (I think I've made bread once since I've been pregnant, but have been doing ok with the yogurt). 
I love air-drying clothes. 
I love hand-me-downs and buying things used from local families. 
I love making cleaning products out of vinegar and scented oils. 
I love using a small amount of hemp soap to create a full dispenser of foamy hand soap. 
I love smearing myself with my own home-blended mix of coconut oil and scents instead of using store-bought lotion.
I love making my own granola. 
I love that we're eating spinach we grew in our own garden. 
We have a lot of glass canning jars that I store stuff in. 
I just bought two new types of baby-wearing devices for our upcoming arrival.

I must be a closet hippie.

I'm coming to terms with this. 

Last night I used up our over-ripe cherries to make yogurt smoothies that were put in re-useable squeezie pouches and made into popsicles. I have plans to walk to the season opening of the local farmer's market in the morning with the girls. These things make me happy. And they're healthy, good things to do. And I have a LONG way to go before achieving true hippiedom. I mean, I have no plans to stop shaving my armpits any time soon. And we're buying a minivan (I know, GASP!), not a family-style tricycle that allows me to bike my kids around town. And commune life definitely doesn't jive well with our particular natures. (Sharing our property with one other condo is hard enough for us.) So never fear, I won't be changing my name to Moonbeam any time soon.

But making my own squeezie pouch snacks for the girls? Oh yeah, I'm all over that!

Monster Pops are the best. Freeze them in their bases, then turn them over to eat the popsicle out of its handled base. You can even set them down in their bases to take breaks without spilling. And they make substantial popsicles. Every closet hippie needs these.


I just ordered these YummiPouches. You can get decorative stickers to go on them. The girls are excited about that part. These contain yogurt smoothies and went into the freezer right after this picture. Homemade yogurt + real fruit + re-useable container = hippie's dream.


The ziplock closure is at the top, and the spout on the side. I saw some versions from other companies that had the spout on the top, but a ziplocked bottom. That made me a bit nervous. The girls LOVED these today at the playground. A semi-frozen smoothie was a perfect summer snack.

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