Pumpkin Spice Muffin Recipe

Here is the recipe for the muffins that I brought to class today:

Whisk together thoroughly:
2 1/3 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 

Stir in: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Whisk together in a large mixing bowl:
3 large fresh eggs
1 14 ounce canned pumpkin or fresh
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin pan or line muffin pan with paper baking cups.

Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and fold until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not overmix! The batter will not be smooth but should be lumpy. 

Carefully spoon the batter into the muffin pan filling each muffin 2/3 full. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of several muffins comes out clean. Your baking time will vary depending upon your oven. Let cool 2-3 minutes before removing from pan. Serve at once.

Advocacy Project: Healthy People/ THOMAS

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2020:

Objective:   EH-22 Increase the number of States, Territories, Tribes, and the District of Columbia that monitor             diseases or conditions that can be caused by exposure to environmental hazards
Sub-Objective:
     EH-22.2 Pesticide poisoning
Baseline:   28 States monitored pesticide poisoning in 2009
Target:     56 States, Territories, and the District of Columbia

Target-Setting Method:  Total Coverage

Data Source:   Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) State Reportable Conditions Data Inventory

THOMAS:

H.R.3323.IH
Title: Freeing Agriculture to Reap More Act (Introduced by the House)
Sponsor:  Representative Bob, Gibbs
CoSponsor: 137
Latest Major Action: 6/21/2011 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 78.
 Recommendations: Vote for No Freeing Agriculture to Reap More Act
My Political Representatives:
    Representative John Kline
    Representative Collin Peterson
    Representative Timothy Walz

Share & Voice: Environmental Justice

I was looking at this Environmental Justice website and I think that it's really neat. It contains a lot of information on what is being done to help the environment. I really like how they talk about the need for everyone to get involved. There are a whole bunch of links that you can visit on the website that talk about all the various things that they are doing and have done to help the environment. This website just has a ton of information on it that you can look at. You can even look at what is being done in our area. Like in how Minnesota is communicating with Environmental Justice issues on a regular basis. This website has numerous links on it which all contain lots of information on them

One of the links that I looked at on this website was "Plan EJ 2014" which is all about how environmental justice is going to be integrated in the EPA's programs, policies, and activities. This will hopefully advance environmental justice in the EPA and also the federal government as well. I think this is a really good idea to get some of the major companies and people involved in helping out.

I think that this would be a good website for the class to check out because not only does it contain information on what we are doing on a national level to help in the environment but there are also links so that you can see what is going on in your state and your area.

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

I don't pay much attention to politics so this activity was a good one for me to do. While looking for the information needed for this post I read a little extra just for fun.

Political Leaders:







President: Barrack Obama
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama










Governor:
    Name- Mark Dayton
    Political Affiliation- Democrat Farm Labor
    Contact Info-
         Address:    Office of the Governor 
                          130 State Capitol 
                          75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 
                          St. Paul, MN 55155

       
         Phone:       651-201-3400


         Fax:          651-797-1850 








Senators:


        Name- Al Franken
        Political Affiliation- Democrat farm labor
        Contact Info-
              Address:   60 East Plato Blvd
                               Suite 220
                               St. Paul, MN
                               55107

             Phone:     651- 221-1016

Name- Amy Klobuchar
Political Affiliation- Democrat farm labor
Contact Info-
     Address: 1200 Washington Avenue South
                    Room 250
                    Minneapolis, MN
                    55415

     Phone:     612-727-5220

     Fax:         612-727-5223














House of Representatives:




Name- Thomas Huntley
Political Affiliation-Democrat farm labor
Contact Info-
      Address:
             351 State Office Building
             100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
             Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
      Phone:
             651-296-2228


      Email:
            rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn





Name- Roger Reinert
Political Affiliation- Democrat Farm Labor
Contact Info-
       Address:

100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.               State Office Building, Room 149               St. Paul, MN 55155-1206

       Phone:
           651.296.4188
       Email:
           sen.roger.reinert@senate.mn





Name- Chip Cravaak
Political Affiliation- Republican
Contact Info-
      Address:
           Cravaack for Congress Campaign Committee
           P.O. Box 951
           North Branch, MN 55056-0951
     Phone:
           651.317.9245

Reflections: week 1-7

I wasn't very excited about this class coming into to it but I have to say that I have changed my mind about how I feel about this class. I'm finding that I am learning a lot of new things and I am really enjoying myself in this class. One of my favorite parts about this class is the discussions we have. We  really get into it when we have discussions and that's what I love most about them. No one is holding back or afraid to share their opinion.

The first two weeks were kinda slow just getting into what the class was about and starting to learn what the topic of Environmental Health was all about.

Weeks 3-7 was when I started to read my book called Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet.
I really enjoyed this book and it showed me a lot about what was going on in our world.

The Movies that we have been watching in class have also been really informative for me. It's kind of sad to learn about all the issues going on in our environment. Not only that but all the big corporations with all the problems are choosing to do nothing about it.

This class is one that I am starting to look forward to now. I love our class discussions and the work we have to do outside is not very difficult which I love considering all the other work I am doing

Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

Antiques: Any work of art, piece of furniture, decorative object, or anything similar, created or produced in a former period, or around 100 years before date of purchase.

Junk/Junking: Any old discarded material.

Flea Market: A market that is usually outdoors, consisting of a number of individual stalls selling old or used items such as antiques and other merchandise.

Thrift Shop: A retail store that sells secondhand goods at reduced rates.

Upcycling: Component of sustainability in which the use of waste materials to provide  new products. Taking something disposable and making it into something of greater use and value.

1. All these terms relate to environmental health. They all have to do with reusing teh materials and goods that we already have and putting them to good use as something else instead of just trashing them.
2. Antiques- Father Time Antiques, 395 S Lake Ave #1, Duluth, MN, 55802-2311. (218) 625-2379. I was not able to find a website for this store.                                                                                     Junk- Jadco Special Haulers Inc, 4011 Rehbein Road, Duluth, MN, 55803-9274. (218)724-5538. I was unable to find a website for this place as well.                                                                             Flea Market- Wabasha Flea Market, Highway 61 and Industrial Court Box 230, Wabasha Minnesota. 55981, 651-565-4767. I could not find a website for this place.                                                                                                                                    Thrift Store- Goodwill, 700 Garfield Avenue, Duluth, MN, 55802                                      Upcycling- Ingvald's Custom Builds, 25 West Redwing Street, Duluth, MN 55803. 701-361-8827.
3. Towel Bar- I like this idea of a towel bar. I live with 5 other people and some of them are always just using the hand towel, bunching it up and tossing it aside so that it never drys. I think a smaller version of this would be perfect for our bathroom!                                                                                  Sign- I have always thought that plaques and posters with cute sayings on them were always nice to look at. I love that idea of writing what you want on a sign for everyone to see and read. It tells a little about the kind of person you are.                                                                                               Table Art- I thought this was a really cool idea. Using a card table as wall art, I never would have thought of it and when I looked at the picture it looks completely natural. It doesn't even look like a table at all even. I really like it because it looks really nice and simple and I like simple things the best. 

Read 'n' Seed 5: Fourth Quarter and Final Review of Hope's Edge, The Next Diet for a Small Planet

In this section I read Chapters 10 and 11.

In chapter ten the author and her daughter traveled to their last destination, Wisconsin. During their stay in Wisconsin they stopped at many farmer's markets and found out that Wisconsin is home to one of the country's largest farmers market. I found this to be a good surprise when I read about it. I wouldn't assume that anywhere in this area would have a farmers market so large mostly due to the fact that the growing season isn't that long in this area. Although I was glad to read this, I was also disturbed by the fact that on average Wisconsin loses three family farms a day. This is mostly due to the fact that they are not efficient enough to compete against the corporate farms in the area. They are closing down these farms everywhere and replacing them with fast food chains like McDonalds. There are now over 26,000 McDonalds in over 119 countries. Local farmers in the Wisconsin area are working together and selling their crops to those in the community. These farmers offer better and more diverse crops to those in the community.By selling them straight to the community they are eliminating the middleman which is allowing the farmers to actually make money. This is starting what is being known as the slow food movement, to try to move away from fast foods. Not only are they getting people away from fast foods but they are also encouraging them to grow organically which is better for the consumer and the environment. The organic market is growing by 20% each year and is continuing to grow with the slow food movement. I think this movement is something that we need in America because we are way to dependent on fast food and using chemicals to grow our food. We can all help get this movement going by making an attempt to by more organic food. Remember what was said in class, we vote with our dollar.

In Chapter 11 the author goes home and begins to work on the book. One important thing that the author learned on her trip was that we need to learn to take action. We can just sit around waiting for someone to start changing problems for us. We need to actively participate in making change ourselves. She also came up with 5 liberating ideas:

1. Scrap scarcity scare, realize abundance. We need to start seeing that we have an abundance of food and that there is no scarcity of food. Instead in some areas of the world there is so much extra produce that they are just throwing it away. We need to start wasting and use our resources the right way.
2. Laugh at caricature. We see ourselves as selfish and materialistic people. Studies have shown that we human beings need connections in our lives We can't just survive on our own because there is a need to connect with other people. We need to let go of the notion that we are selfish and embrace the need for connection with others
3. Put tools in their place. We have come up with all this new technology so why don't we use it in a way that would benefit us. We have the market and technology and we need to turn them into tools that we can use.
4. Discard dissection, solve for pattern. We have the tools to best get what we need now we just need to use them.
5. Bust free from "isms". We need to reestablish value into our markets

It's not easy to change and most people fear change but change can be an important thing. Each dollar we spend is a vote for the world that we want. 

This entire book was about the author and her traveling to look into the food crisis around the world. She learned a lot about what people were doing to help the environment and themselves to better survive.

I learned a lot of interesting things while I was reading through this book. I learned that we need to change even when we don't want to. If we all work together to each do one small thing to change for the better of the environment and ourselves we can make a real big impact. The second thing that I learned was about the amount of chemicals we were using to grow our crops. I knew that chemicals were being used to help with the growing process but I was not aware that we were using that much to help grow our crops. It's almost sickening to know that we are using that much. The third thing I learned was about the Green Belt Movement. Learning that one woman struggled to put it together and wouldn't stop no matter how bad it got for her was really motivating for me. Because of what she did, Kenya is now a better place to live.

I really do recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about the food shortage. Not only that but to hear about other people's stories and their efforts to improve their lives and their own environment should be reason enough to read this. I really enjoyed reading this book and I got a lot of information from it as well.