I thought baby Audrey would be very grateful that I’m lovingly homemaking her organic baby food. False. She’s a tough crowd. If she doesn’t like what’s coming at her (which is everything but sweet potatoes), she swiftly turns her chin 90 degrees to the right. But worry not! We’ve finally landed on a green fave - zucchini. My mommy friend Liz asked me how I did it the other day… so here goes:
1. Wash, chop, and steam for 10 mins.
2. Puree in the Cuisinart and put in trays.
3. Cover and freeze overnight.
4. Pop them out and store them in the freezer. Zucchini for weeks!
The ladies at the baby shower I threw last weekend, were all a twitter about how delicious my new famous quiche is. An easy, yummy, and naughty recipe below. It’s a combination of a recipe from my mom and this one at the Food Network.
Delicious, Easy Quiche Recipe
4 eggs
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup real mayonnaise
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
8 ounce chunk of high quality Swiss cheese, grated
1 bunch of fresh spinach
1 (9-inch) unbaked whole wheat flour deep pie shell
Preheat oven to 350. Cook onions in olive oil until just soft. Whisk together eggs, half and half, mayo, flour, salt, garlic powder. Stir in onions to that mixture. Layer spinach (this makes it pretty, see above) and then cheese into the pie shell. Pour egg mixture on top. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is a light golden brown like the photo. Allow 1 hour to cool and serve, or refrigerate and serve cold.
It’s easy to double or quadruple the recipe, but know that a little quiche goes a long way (hello mayo & cheese!).
Check out this post from Anne Alexander, a fellow Green America Business Network member. All about the entrepreneurial spirit within. It reminded me of my two first start ups:
1) A donut reselling business in middle school.
2) An ongoing and very persistent door-to-door non-profit environmental education program. Which wholly consisted of me harassing my neighbors about the perils of plastic bags and the importance of water conservation.
For all of you start-up-aholics out there, Anne’s message is certainly inspiring: “No matter how awkward, lame or inexpert our first attempts may be, the brilliance is in starting, and then learning, tweaking and trying some more. Not every venture will pan out, but as countless real life success stories have shown, quantity eventually leads to quality.”
1) Excitement: “Cool! I bought this book, and I’m going to make some baby food and it’s going to be so cute and fun and 70’s!”
2) Shock/Disbelief: “Is this author bat-shit crazy? Sprinkling a dash of kelp onto homemade rice porridge?”
3) Overwhelming Frustration with a side of tears: “I’m never going to find the time to make my own baby food, and my kid is going to grow up obese eating overprocessed jarred crap that’s not eco-friendly. I’m a horrible mother and a horrible person. Boo hoo.”
4) Self motivating mental slap in the face: “Pull yourself together woman! Stop whining, finish this huge book, and try it.”
5) Smug satisfaction: “My freezer is full of homemade organic food that my baby loves and I made my own whole grain millet porridge this morning. I’m awesome.”
It feels damn good to make healthy food for your child. The same feeling you get after having a good weight work out, or perfectly painting a room, or turning in a well written thesis.
I’m grateful to have found this book and read it. And if I met the author on the street I would bow down low and kiss her practical shoes. But would I recommend it? Not to the faint of heart.
Every Sunday I get an organic produce delivery from the awesome people at Paradise O. I end up making a bunch of stuff that I would never otherwise go for, like Summer Borscht and Banana Bread. This week’s kitchen shenanigans turned out pretty delicious…
Adapted from this recipe, I had to scramble to make it fit what was in my cupboard, but I stumbled upon a recipe that I’m tucking into my repertoire.
4 ripe pears with the bottoms cut off
1 Cup of St-Germain elderflower liqueur
2 Tablespoons of honey
1 Teaspoon of crushed bay leaves
1 Teaspoon of orange zest
Couple shakes of cinnamon powder
Place pears in a bread baking dish. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over pears. Bake for an hour at 400 degrees. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
They say that babies take on the temperament of their mamas. Guess, they’re right. I don’t like Big Oil, and neither does little Audrey. In fact, she’ll protest loudly every time I try to put her in a car.
So when we went out to Fred Segal with my buddy Siel to check out a new organic haircare line, we skipped the car and hopped on the bus. A success! Audrey loved sitting on my lap and checking out all the other passengers. The bus was cheap, quick, eco-friendly, and (most importantly) no crying - the perfect alternative to the dumb ole’ car.
And public transportation makes adults happy too….
Hannah and I headed downtown to LA fashion week on Sunday to check out the Spring ‘10 styles. But as a mompreneur I had to make the choice whether to 1) hire a sitter, pump out a few meals, and say goodbye to the little one, or 2) bring her along.
The fashion world can be a cold, hard place, and I had visions of eyes rolling fashionistas looking down at their nails as we walked by. But instead of Audrey being socially unacceptable… it was just the opposite. We were hounded as we perused down the aisles of D&A. Everyone wanted to take a peak at Audrey and tell me about their own little ones.
The ticket was to go minimal. Instead of trying to muscle my way through with a stroller filled to the brim with toys, I threw Audrey in the sling and packed a few of the necessary supplies in my regular black handbag. Little Audrey was cozy and quiet while I walked. She had a great time snuggled up next to me, with plenty to look at.
Oh, and as for the fashions… Arena rock chic is still in full effect. So hang on to your shimmery shirts and skinny pants. We saw a lot of sexy low backed pieces (yay!), plenty of two toned tie dye (blech), short jackets, thinner belts and some flowy batwing t-shirt dresses that can be dressed up or down. It’s going to be a fabulous season with plenty of eco-fashionable items to choose from.
My mom’s preferred method of communication is text messaging. The learning curve was steep but I knew once I received “c u after yoda” and actually comprehended it that we were on the path to a long and steadfast texting relationship.
About a week after I told mom I was expecting a baby, I got this out-of-the-blue text: “Your life will never be the same.”
Now that I’m typing while 4-month-old Audrey is sleeping on me, I finally get the weight of her message: I gave birth to a baby, but also a new self. There is no such thing as “when life gets back to normal”, or “once I get some sleep.”
What does that mean for me? As an entrepreneur? A blogger? A wife? A sister?
With my new title as mom, it means taking a machete to my priorities so I can raise this child the best way I’m able… while holding strong to as much of my former identity as possible.
Overwhelming? Yes, but I’m hoping to figure it all out as I go… and when the baby girl actually takes a nap, I’ll be recording my successes and failures here.
Summer Bowen is the Founder of eco-fashion shop BTC Elements. When not running her business, she can be found tending to her organic porch garden, politicking with girlfriends, or pounding away at her laptop in a local café.
Summer lives in Santa Monica, CA with her sweet-hearted musician husband and new baby girl.
Every Sunday I get an organic produce delivery from the awesome people at Paradise O. I end up making a bunch of stuff that I would never otherwise go for, like Summer Borscht and 
They say that babies take on the temperament of their mamas. Guess, they’re right. I don’t like Big Oil, and neither does little Audrey. In fact, she’ll protest loudly every time I try to put her in a car.
Hannah and I headed downtown to LA fashion week on Sunday to check out the Spring ‘10 styles. But as a mompreneur I had to make the choice whether to 1) hire a sitter, pump out a few meals, and say goodbye to the little one, or 2) bring her along.
My mom’s preferred method of communication is text messaging. The learning curve was steep but I knew once I received “c u after yoda” and actually comprehended it that we were on the path to a long and steadfast texting relationship.
