Little jars

You should try it. The next time you bring home a jam jar, or someone gifts an edible to you, keep the jar and the lid and give it a go when you need a certain sized container. If you have herb drying from your garden and need a place to put them that is air tight… use a jar!

Jar of Curry

Like I said, I might need help. Jar Lovers Anonymous? Rick might come, he loves them too. He’s great.

Mason Jar

Mason jars are the ones that are often used for canning. Though I’ve still yet to can anything, I have acquired many mason jars, some accidentally from my mom (I should probably return them), and some from step-mother-in-law whom was getting rid of a bunch. That was an exciting day!

So a great idea to be more “green”, to reuse and recycle, is to make good use of the jars in your life!

     I was reading just a little while ago about not using shampoo. A friend of mine rarely shampoos her hair. Earlier this week she was pretty sure that it had been a month and a half since she shampooed her hair. The amazing thing is her hair isn’t gross. It’s just fine. It does awesome things. It’s short and super cute and all she really has to do is sleep on damp hair and she’ll have this awesome chic shaggy do. I’ve been wanting to do something like that. Besides it probably being better for my hair, I love the idea of not having to buy shampoo. I’m fairly happy with my hippy shampoo. And I don’t shampoo every day. In fact, I was down to every four days. Until this last week or so. But it is still really appealing to never have to spend $9 on a little bottle of shampoo.
     Our road trip turned into an accidental experiment. There was only one day we could use a real shower. The rest of the time it was just sponge bathes. Old fashion bathing. Cold water and a little castile soap with lots of shrieking. Well, not that much, but when the wind kicked up in the middle of two of my “bathes” I did squeal a little. It was cold. Well, colder than the 85 degrees I was used to. I acclimate to dry heat super fast.

     The two days that we had sponge bathes all I did was run a little water through my hair and try to distribute my natural oils all the way to the tips of my hair. It felt amazing. Not much oil at all. My hair was light yet malleable like there was a high quality product in my hair. The two days that I couldn’t shower due to much cooler weather, less time and mosquitoes, my hair didn’t get oily. It continued to shine and do awesome things. It didn’t tangle, or stick to my scalp. It was so well behaved! The crazy thing was, the bottle of premixed essential oils and witch hazel that I used every day for the last few months to prevent oily scalp had broken and spilled all over a bag. I should have turned into a horrible greasy creature(this had happened before). But I didn’t! In fact it seemed to be better without it.
     Once we got home I did wash my hair – after I had passed the four day mark. Even then it didn’t seem horribly oily. I used shampoo and rinsed with apple cider vinegar to help get out the smokey smell so I didn’t have to wash my hair more than about once – maybe twice. I could still feel a little natural oil when I was done, but nothing nasty. Then for the next week I only rinsed my hair in the water. Massaging my scalp and gently pulling the oil throughout my hair. I went a whole week without washing! It didn’t feel or look oily once. When I finally decided that it was time for a cleansing, I decided it was time to experiment with No ‘Poo.
     No ‘Poo is using baking soda and apple cider to cleanse one’s hair naturally and chemical free. I think I’ve mentioned before that what goes on your skin gets into your body and your body has to process it out. In today’s world it’s fairly easy for your body to overwhelmed with toxins from makeup, cleansing products, feminine products, pesticides in food and air pollution just to name a few. Toxins that aren’t supposed to be harmful or even get into your body are showing up in tests. It’s why I switched away from them. It was hurting my body, in some cases burning my skin. But why switch away from hippy, natural shampoo? Well, it’s not a natural thing to have your body oils rinsed completely away once or more a day. Your body makes oil for a purpose, to clean and protect you from the outside world. As wonderful and luxurious as it is to have thick soap suds running through your fingers and hair, it’s just not what your body knows how to deal with. Of course I understand if you don’t want to, or feel you can’t give it up. It’s a personal choice. For me though, the idea of No ‘Pooing seemed to offer a freedom.
     I’ve always felt like my super oily skin/scalp was restricting. Camping without showers wasn’t pleasant. I didn’t want to feel nasty and uncomfortable, my greasy hair sticking to my greasy face or back. I want an out. I want to feel less greasy. I want to feel a healthy natural something. There is a very strong drive to continually improve myself, how I feel and think. And changing my beauty habits is a huge step in what feels like the right direction for me.
     So, before I get side tracked again. Let me explain No ‘Pooing. You are supposed to use baking soda and water to make a paste, which you apply only to your scalp. Leave it in for about a minute. From what I’ve read, you are supposed to massage your scalp as usual with the baking soda mix still in. Then rinse after you have thoroughly massaged. Then pour a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water over your hair and let it sit for a minute and then rinse again.
     I’ve tried this once so far. In a few days when I feel like I need to cleanse again I’ll try again. But somethings I’ve noticed were: it’s hard to keep the baking soda paste on just your scalp if you have shorter hair. It just seems to naturally end up in the ends of my bob. Baking soda is also a very, very good, almost too good, exfoliant. It seems like it might be too hard on my fingers and perhaps my scalp to massage too much. I’ve actually got tiny cuts in my fingers when using it to clean. (It’s a wonderful scrubbing agent, but you should wear gloves.) Massage in general is great for scalp health, but what if the baking soda creates tiny little cuts all over? That’s not a good thing.
     Rinsing it out is fairly easy. The next step of apple cider vinegar is fine. The only thing is, there is chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar because one is alkaline and one acidic. I don’t feel like that is a beneficial thing to happen on your head. In my opinion, be careful to rinse out all the baking soda before adding the vinegar rinse. It might be perfectly safe, but until I understand it fully, I’m going to exercise and suggest caution.
For more information on this check out these two posts:
The No Shampoo Alternative – No Poo
No ‘Poo for Dreadlockshttp://theorganicsister.com/2009/08/no-poo-for-dreadlocks/

Hair experiments
Hair experiments: Part 2

     So how the hell does one figure out if the company or product of interest is actually eco-friendly? Since the eco-friendly craze started, there has been the expected bastardization of said term. It’s called “greenwashing”. For a long winded description, please read it’s Wiki page. Basically, it’s a deceptive marketing technique to make a product appear eco-friendly, without actually taking the steps to achieve it.

     Unfortunately, a company’s eco-friendly status can change at any given time. For instance, Tom’s of Maine and Burt’s Bees were sold and are now owned by Colgate and Clorox respectively. Back in the day, Tom’s and Burt’s both had wonderful reputations, and still do, sort of. The owning companies do not however. Neither of these companies seems to care much for the environment or animal rights and welfare. So buying those brands that are “eco-friendly” or “hippy” is really making two huge conglomerate company that don’t benefit the environment, more rich. Plus, who is to say that the practices of the smaller companies remained the same after the ownership change?
     For more information check out this post on AlterNet. It’s shocking what companies we’ve believed are good small family owned businesses with ethical practices in mind are owned by huge companies that care more about making money that what they are doing to farmers, the environment, animals or consumers.

     I actually have a post about Tom’s of Maine, which I’m going to have to revise. I learned about the ownership after I wrote the post. Like I said, you never know, things can change whenever. Bleh.

     So, are these companies “greenwashed”. I’m not sure. I don’t know if their practices have been tainted by the parent company. Or even if being owned by a huge, non-eco-friendly company makes the first smaller company “greenwashed”. I’m too unsure of it to recommend either of them to anyone.
     Aside from that I want to address another company that has actually been making commercials about how they are becoming more eco-friendly. SC Johnson has been changing labeling on some products, so you know which ones are more “safe”. And they have been telling us through commercials etc, that they are using green power, the methane from landfills to power their plants or wind power. While I’m glad they are using it, I don’t think they are using it to be good. It’s cheap as far as I know. And it’s a great thing to do for advertising. Greenwashing anyone? Also, let’s remember that many of SC Johnson’s products for skin or baby contain mineral oil and/or parabens, all of which have no place in healthy, eco-friendly body products. Is the picture becoming more clear?

     This really makes my life difficult, not know whom to trust, whom not to trust. In the end all I can do is research or rely on journalists research.
     My suggestions to you would be make what you can, i.e. lotions, butters, soaps. Try to choose the lesser of the evils out there if you don’t have a huge selection from which to pick. Pay attention to see if anyone has bought out anyone else. Whatever you do, follow your ethics or principles.

Fresh Water Works Filter

     For the last few months we’ve been contemplating a water filter. The original reason was to filter out fluoride. Then I learned that Bellingham does not have fluoride added to the water. Yay! Excellent! So I felt less pressured to get a filter, I still wanted one, but wanted to buy one that I felt was high quality, though not super expensive. I did a little research and found that one brand had several good reviews, New Wave Enviro. Our co-ops and Terra Organica, another local healthy grocery store, both carried one of their filters. But the one I was looking at was listed at about $115, which for us, is kind of a large amount of money. I agonized over it. I could buy it, but could I afford it? Then a friend mentioned that Terra Organica carried a much less expensive one by the same company, priced around $32. Interesting. I wanted to know the difference between the two, so I put off buying it until I figured it out. And true to form, I forgot and didn’t pursue it further. Procrastinating and forgetting is what I do, very well.

     Recently, I volunteered to become a “practice client” for someone I know whom has been going through nutritional therapy training. I answered a few questions, gave a thorough health history and discussed the things I wanted resolved. One of the things that I might be having trouble with is my liver, it may be over taxed. It fits with my increasing sensitivity to artificial scents, cleaners, cigarette smoke, alcohol, and much more. I’m not really surprised, I’ve been wondering if there was something up with it. Anyway, she recommended that I stop drinking tap water. In fact she was very surprised that I did, considering I eat fairly healthy and avoid all sorts of other nasty things. If nothing else I should use a Brita filter, she said. At least that will take out the chlorine, which is a poison and no one should ever ingest. Haha, yup, that’s right. It’s used to clean water and no one should ingest it. Oh the crazy things we’ve done while “progressing”.

     I told Rick about it once I got home and he urged me to get that $32 filter and not “settle” for the Brita(nothing wrong with the Brita, it just doesn’t take as much out). Plus having the little spout that hooks up to the faucet that doesn’t have to be refiled like a Brita was going to make my life of cooking, kombuchaing, etc. much easier.

     Well, I have it now. Rick and I noticed the change in the taste of the water right away. It tastes cleaner. The funny thing is, I thought our water tasted clean before. Now it’s pristine. Yup, I’m very happy with it. I’m making plans as to what needs filtered water, the kombucha, the humidifier, tea pot, drinking water of course, the animals drinking water, soaking grains and legumes, soups when I decide to make some, rinsing any foods – I wish I had one for the shower. Perhaps we’ll get that in the future. For now, I’m very pleased with my nifty cool “Fresh Water Works Filter”.

     If you don’t feel like going to their site and reading the unpronounceable names and where they come from I’ll condense it for you. Organic mercury(sounds like an oxymoron right?), which we know is very bad for us, can cause kidney damage and I think brain damage in those very young kiddos. Some crazy things such as acrylamide that are added to water for sewage treatment. Apparently, we have to use nasties to clean out the other nasties. Things like dioxin, which run off of chemical plants – can cause reproductive problems and make you more likely to get a cancer. There are many more that end in “ide”, “zine”, and “chlor” that come from pesticides, herbicides, chemical plants, refineries and much more. The last one I will mention is organic arsenic. People used to kill each other with in back in the day – very bad, increases your cancer risk. And all these nasty things your liver has to filter out, while filtering through the residues in your food, the shower steam you inhale, the alcohol drank on weekends, the exhaust from cars, anything else artificial or organic that isn’t actually safe to breathe or ingest. Give you liver a break, because it works hard enough before you even drink a glass of water. Getting a water filter is a good first step to take if you are planning a detox in the near future.

     As far as installation it’s very easy. It is a counter top unit with a hose, it’s own little “faucet” coming off the filter. It has an attachment that connects to your faucet. It will work for any faucet (unless it’s really old and doesn’t have threading) whether your faucet has inward or outward threads. It comes with an adapter in case your faucet has an “innie”, so that it will fit onto the connector which requires an “outie”. I know that is overly technical. Kidding of course, just at the moment I can’t remember the official name of the types of threading etc. Anyway, all you do is screw everything together and turn it on! Let it run for about five minutes to help clear out any sediment. Ours ran grey – it was the charcoal – for a few minutes. It is recommends that you don’t use hot water because it will wear out the filter sooner. So in the morning, I fill the kettle with filtered water and wait for it to start steaming, so I can have warm lemon water(it’s good for you, keeps you regular).

     One last thing, there is a slight difference in the $32 filter and the more expensive one. It appears to be that it filters out lead, cysts(?), and something called cryptosporidium. Eventually, we’ll upgrade to take out those things, until then I’m hoping there isn’t a lot of lead in our water. It the little steps that count. My liver will be much happier for now. When I do a detox later in the year it will be more thorough because all the water I’ll be drinking will be less toxic.

Fresh Water Works Filter Faucet Adapter

     Here’s what I got in my custom order from Moon Pads!

Reusable Menstrual Pads

     I love opening her packages. They come with a short handwritten note, directions for the pads and a business card. Everything is just so neat and tidy. Oh and the directions are printed on recycled paper! What else can I say? They are so pretty and colorful. I had so much fun “posing” the pads. A little bit more experience with photoshop and these might look even more lovely!

Moon Pads

     And it was just so much fun that the sun was coming through the windows just right. Or fairly well anyway. These sat in their mailing envelope for a week or more, while I waited for just the right time, just the right day with enough light so I didn’t need a flash.

Pantyliner and mini-pad

I’ll let you know if these turned out to be enough to finish my supply! So far I’m loving it!

Moon Pads - Reusable Menstrual Pads

For other posts on this subject, feel free to check out the following links:

Moon Time meet Aunt Flow
Moon Time Again – Taking back control of your period and your life
Aunt Flow Part 2 – Feminine Products
Raspberry Leaf Tea – A Woman’s Tonic
Raspberry Leaf Tea Made in My New Tea Pot!
Aunt Flow Part 1

     Several months ago when I started to experiment with different, more natural feminine products, I had no idea where I would end up. I definitely had no idea I would end up using cloth. When I started doing research my thought was, “What did women use when there wasn’t disposable cotton/rayon/whatever feminine products?” The only clue I had was a fiction book I read, one of the Outlander Series books. The main character was having her period while they were at a Scottish gathering and mentioned tearing part of her petticoats and using that. Beyond that I had no idea.
     After doing a lot of research I discovered that you can find some nice, even dare I say – cute, cloth feminine pads. Besides being healthier for ones nether regions, it’s a much better idea for the environment. Way less waste. In fact, with proper care, your pads can last for years! Imagine all the pads you don’t have to throw away! And the money you will save!

     I bought a sample pack from epicerma, an etsy shop that makes what she calls Moon Pads. There are plenty of other shops on Etsy that have similar items. Being a thorough person, I did research, read through a million etsy shop profiles and policies. Annie Rose, the owner, had all the things I considered important, organic cotton grown in the US, milled by union workers, dyed by her with gentle dye, not horribly expensive, and cute! I hated the idea of having white or cream colored pads that might end up looking dingy after a few months.
     After a few months of using the sample pack I bought, I’m still singing her praises! I love them! In fact, I just ordered more, which should give me enough to last an entire period without worry about running out and using disposables – though I do still use organic cotton disposables. I’m excited. Though they won’t get here in time for my current period, I’m happy they’ll be there for the next one!

     So if you aren’t happy with your current type of feminine products consider cloth, either paired with tampons (which I do sometimes) or all alone. They are, in my humble opinion(haha), a better option than the Moon Cup (though I haven’t tried it, something about it bothers me. Aunt Flow shouldn’t be held back so severly), tampons(though for the heavy days when I work, I use them – organic of course), and anything non-organic.

     Before I go I want to say a little about non-organic tampons, pads, and toilet paper. Often times, especially if they are cheap, tampons and pads aren’t entirely cotton. They can contain rayon or nylon which are less safe for your lady parts. They are treated with bleach. If you read the label of a bleach bottle, it will warn you to not get on your skin, in any body opening such as eyes, mouth, or a cut, so why in the world is it being used on items that go where the sun don’t shine? Up against such delicate and permeable skin? How is that safe? Your body will absorb the toxin. Bleach, or specifically chlorine, is a poison, a disinfectant that kills just about everything. Your lady parts deserve something less toxic. They definitely don’t need to be disinfected. There are options that use organic cotton, not treated with chlorine. Just google it and you’ll see, or check out your local health food store. On that note, most toilet paper is treated with bleach to give it that nice fresh clean white color. This tissue paper, is used daily by almost everyone in the developed world – even men (unless they have chosen to use cloth there as well), on some of the most delicate skin in the human body. Seems like a bad idea to douse it with chlorine.
     Rick and I switched to recycled toilet paper that isn’t treated with chlorine. There are a few options out there for this as well. The most well known is Seventh Generation recycled toilet paper, which in our area runs about $10 for 12 or so roles. It is surprisingly soft. Nothing like the cheap-paper-towel-rough stuff you find in public bathrooms across the US. Rick and I use Trader Joes toilet paper, which is about $4 for 12 rolls, much less expensive, and just as soft.
     Really, is it too much to ask to be gentle to your bum and your lady parts? They are after all, supposed to last a life time. Make it easier for them to live healthy.

     For more of my research and humble opinions(haha right) about periods and the necessary accessories check out my other posts.
Accessories for Aunt Flow
Moon Time Again – Taking back control of your period and your life
Aunt Flow Part 2 – Feminine Products
Raspberry Leaf Tea – A Woman’s Tonic
Raspberry Leaf Tea Made in My New Tea Pot!
Aunt Flow Part 1

     I’ve done some shopping on Etsy, at the craft store, at the thrift stores and our co-op. This year, so far things seem to be less stressful. The nice thing about doing things like this is it’s more eco-friendly. If you get something that is actually useful then it’s less likely to get thrown in the garbage after it’s sat amoungst clutter for several months or years. Of course shopping locally is important because it’s those local shops and companies that keep a local economy afloat, NOT Walmart. In fact, though I do still visit Jo-Ann Fabrics, it’s those huge chains that can hurt a local economy and the local people, perhaps even including you and me. On top of all that is the clutter consideration. I’ve been dealing with a lot of clutter because I’ve acquired many things I thought I needed in the last few years. Living in too much clutter isn’t good for anyone, so by getting something useful that will actually be appreciated and used you aren’t causing a challenge for anyone else.
     Some other ideas for Christmas(brought up by a friend of mine whom has done this herself), if you aren’t sure what to get someone or even what you want for a gift why not donate or have someone else donate to your favorite charity? In King County(think Seattle) most of the city run animal shelters are being shut down because of a lack of funds. This is going to be challenging for the remaining privately run shelters as they will be dealing with even more animals. Why not find a local shelter and find out what they need, buy it and bring it, or just right a check? Or if you can become a foster home for a dog or cat? There are also a lot of people whom may need help. Find a family in need or donate to a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
     There are so many things you can do to make your holiday special in a different way; to take it out of the mainstream crazy rush. It’s limited only by time and imagination. And of course, like myself, I’m sure there are many people out there willing to share their ideas. So ask away! Happy Holidays!

     I’m about 6 days into my experiment. It’s easy to comb through my hair now! I love that! I’m on an every other day regime. The no wash days have been interesting. I’ve felt gross, but perhaps it’s just my obsessiveness, not actually being gross. The days I don’t wash I rinse and massage my scalp. Rinsing my hair helps to distribute the oil through my hair. I do use some conditioner as an extra guarantee that tangles will come out. Yesterday was my first glimpse into what sort of hair I may get at the end of this. It was so healthy looking that Rick noticed it. My hair isn’t tangling at all now. It’s so exciting!
Aside from not using shampoo every day I’ve tried not to use any hair spray. I did one day, a no wash day – that was the disaster day that I used too much conditioner. The fly-aways are tolerable. I’m rediscovering things to do with my hair that don’t require spray or that won’t show how greasy I feel my hair can get. Braids, pigtails and little messy buns help to control my long hair now.
Stay tuned for an update on my hair experiment. I want to try to give it thorough cleaning using oil! Haha, sounds crazy huh? Well, we’ll find out!

     Current:
     It’s in November, I’ve been doing my hair experiment so long that is it no longer an experiment but habit. I’m washing my hair every two days now. I feel pretty good about it. My scalp is producing less oil. Sometimes the second day I don’t wash I feel a little funky but if I remember to work my natural oils through the whole length of my hair it’s fine. (I have super long hair, so when I’m lazy, it’s challenging to make sure I got my whole head massaged and natural oils distributed.)
     I recently did the “oil cleaning oil” experiment. Several placed mentioned that using something like jojoba or coconut oil can help to further clean the scalp in a safe, non-drying way. Since jojoba isn’t actually an oil but a liquid wax resembling our own natural sebum (oil) I thought it might be the better choice. So I took a really long shower. First, I applied the oil to wet hair and worked it all over my scalp, taking care to make sure everything was even and massaging it in. (Massage helps with desquamation of the skin. Got to get those dead skin cells off so new healthy stuff can surface. It also increases circulation which is paramount for healthy tissue and thus scalp and hair.)
     Then I just went along with my shower normally. At the end, I massage my scalp, worked it all through my hair and then used shampoo to remove. After a few shampoos, perhaps four, all of it was out and I applied conditioner to the ends of my hair just in case.
     The result: If there was any build up from product, it felt gone. In fact, my head felt naked. All the washing got rid of the jojoba and my oil, which may my hair feel very strange, almost dry. As far as I remember there was no problem with over production of oil the next day due to the washing or jojoba. In about a month I think another oil treatment might be a good idea, this time with essential oils.

     Other things: I’ve almost completely stopped using product. Perhaps, I may replenish my stock with more healthy alternatives, but I don’t need them now. As weird as this sounds, the natural oils in my hair seem to act as “gel” allowing my part to stay where it should. But I have to make sure that I spread the oils all throughout my hair and not forget, or my scalp will look oily.
     For the last two days I’ve been using an essential oil blend I made awhile ago. Though it is a little old, there should be some benefits. Once it’s gone I’ll make new, probably in a spritzer. The blend contains rosemary, ylang ylang, cedarwood or cypress( I can’t remember which), maybe some rose? It’s supposed to be good for oily skin, and hair growth. Not that I am actually loosing my hair but so much of it falls out that it can’t hurt to try.
     I also recently read a “blog post” from a friend of a friend whom mentioned that she uses apple cider vinegar on her hair. Doing my own research, I’ve found it fairly common. Apple cider vinegar is supposed to balance the pH in one’s scalp. Tomorrow, I’ll give it a try. The blog post I read said not to use it more than say once a week because it can dry it out a little. Also dilute because straight vinegar can be irritating. Also, making an herbal infusion/apple cider vinegar rinse is on the agenda. Being the herbal junky I am, my shelves are packed with home grown herbs, though adding a few more to my arsenal would be fun and beneficial.
     This journey on a more healthful road has been exciting and frustrating. Overall, my body is healthier and happier than it’s been since I was a child. All of my failed or forgotten experiments have been worth it. I’m cultivating my independence from – dare I reference the over-used term – “the Man”. I don’t need to run to a doc every time I sneeze (I’m sick at the moment, but getting better really fast). I don’t need to spend $100 on skin care products that contain ingredients that probably would show up stored in my fat and may or may not cause cancer. It’s exciting to be “rediscovering” things that maybe were common knowledge 50 or 100 years ago, that we forgot about, because we stopped trusting our instincts and started trusting narrow minded science or medicine. Don’t think I’m crazy enough to not believe science (I love science), but it’s a fact that it’s always evolving to include “new” things that we didn’t know about before, or forgot about. Until the next post about more modern hippy adventures.

My Hair Experiments – The Modern Hippy Way Part 2

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread Loaf

     This summer my parents have a zucchini plant. It was so cute when I planted it. And now, all that “hard” work paid off! It has produces so many zucchinis I’ve lost count. Not wanting to waste them and having fond memories of zucchini bread, I decided to make gluten-free zucchini bread. Four or more tries later, it is still the best zucchini bread ever! It just gets better with each loaf! Even people whom are not gluten-free nuts say it’s good!

     After searching for a few minutes online, I found one recipe that seemed to be the easiest to modify. This is the end result.

     Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread Recipe:

     Set oven to 350 degrees.
o 2 eggs
o 1 cup sugar, unbleached
o .5 cup of oil, safflower
o 2 tsp. of vanilla, fair trade
o .5 tsp. of baking soda
o .5 tsp. of cinnamon
o .5 tsp of salt
o 1.5 cups of gluten-free flour (I use Red Mills Gluten-Free All-purpose Baking Flour.)
o Pinch of Xanthan Gum, optional
o 1.5 cups of shredded zucchini, organic if you can
o 1 cup of chopped walnuts

     Mix the first four ingredients, then add the baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Carefully, (slowly if you can) add the gluten-free baking flour and xanthan gum. Then mix in the zucchini and walnuts.
     Grease and flour a loaf pan. Pour, taste if you want and bake for up to 75 minutes, or until a knife comes clean. (I’d say tooth pick but that would be promoting disposable items which I would like to avoid.)

     Notes: Xanthan gum is optional because we don’t like the way it tastes. I’ve tried it with .5 a tsp, 2 pinches, 1 pinch, and a dusting that was so small it couldn’t be considered a pinch. People will tell you that it doesn’t have a taste. However, it does have a specific texture that it adds to whatever it mixes with – slippery, almost greasy. We don’t like it. The eggs in this recipe hold the bread loaf together well enough. It only becomes slightly more crumbly without it. So in my opinion, xanthan gum is only to be used if you don’t want to use eggs.
     Other notes: I have also substituted walnuts with almonds. It’s still good, but I prefer the walnuts. Oh and please excuse the odd bulletting, I don’t know what’s wrong with my word, it’s temperamental.