 I recently tried Sea Salt Goodness flavored plantain snacks from www.grabemsnacks.com. It was a bit too salty for my taste, but the overall texture and crispiness was a great hit with my kids. www.grabemsnacks.com offers a number of different flavored plantain snacks. We tried the Cinful Cinnamon plantain snacks. Once we overcame our own personal bias of eating cinnamon flavored plantains, we actually admit that we enjoyed eating it and finished the bag in a single setting. Their plantain snacks are gluten free and all natural. For more information about their products, please visit www.grabemsnacks.com.
If you are concerned with the lack of nutritional school lunches for children, please visit the following website. This website provides updates on food related policies and also provides quick links for you to contact your respective congressmen regarding such policies. Did you know that politicians track the number of complaints and letters related to each issue that they receive and it therefore impacts their legislative decisions. Therefore, it's crucial that you spend a few minutes to contact them so they receive numerous emails regarding this topic and will show their support in providing healthy nutritional school lunches to children. The current school lunch nutritional and health standards are so outdated that our government has updated our agricultural policies (how we feed our cattle, chicken, and other livestock) even more recently than the outdated school meal policies. This is unacceptable. Please voice your concerns today. Please visit the following website: www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch
 Another dreary rainy day. Can't wait until winter is over and spring is finally here. There is so much to look forward to in spring. We are getting ready to celebrate Easter. In addition to the annual Easter egg dyeing and egg hunts (yes, my kids are still young enough to enjoy the plastic egg hunts, hooray!), I love the various Easter treats available. This year, we are going to celebrate Easter by eating organic peanut butter bonbon (chocolate) eggs from www.vosgeschocolate.com. I love the rich peanut butter and chocolate combination (for those of you with peanut allergies, they offer organic milk chocolate eggs as well). Their chocolate is produced using 100% renewable energy and packaged using 100% recycled packaging. It's a small luxurious indulgence. For more product information, please visit www.vosgeschocolate.com. If you order your chocolates now, you will definitely receive them in time for your Easter / spring celebration.
We all have the best intentions when we start out our day, but somehow between traffic, kids, work, weather and daily living, our healthy eating goals sometimes get derailed. Do you sometimes wish you had the convenience of microwave/prepared meals but also want to ensure that the meals are healthy and organic? Well, www.healthychefcreations.com makes this a reality. They offer wonderfully prepared organic meals delivered right to your doorstep. You can customize whatever you would like to eat and order it online. The convenience and freshness of the organic meals are wonderful. I tried the Wild Cherry Parfait breakfast (meal). It is filled with strawberries, blueberries, cherries, granola, almond nuts, and yogurt with coconut shavings. The buttery taste of the yogurt with the fruit is unbelieveable. Such a treat and indulgence! For more product information, please visit www.healthychefcreations.com. A gift certificate will be randomly given away to one of the email program members by April 30th, so join the free Eco-friendlyliving.com Email program today by submitting your contact information in the "Join Free Email Program" section of this website. Please note that your complete mailing address will need to be provided in order to receive samples. Your contact information is not sold or shared to any third parties. Random giveaways are sent by the end of each month.
My kids do not like drinking plain milk. They love getting their dairy intake from cheese, yogurt and ice cream. For some reason, I am always adamant about them getting enough milk in their systems. I've come across Cacao Power Chocolate Nibs from www.navitasnaturals.com. By adding a few of these nibs into their milk, they are transformed into milk lovers!Navitas Naturals cacao beans are hand selected for quality, partially fermented to alleviate bitterness, and processed at low temperatures for maximum nutrient retention. Navitas Naturals Sweet Cacao Nibs contain 100% organic ingredients that are kosher, gluten-free, vegan, and raw. In addition to cacao products, Navita Naturals offer superfood products which include gogi berries, cacao, flax, acai and many more.www.navitasnaturals.com is a green business, supporting fair-trade policies and sustainable agriculture. Their foods are certified organic, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, raw, and certified kosher.
For over 40 years, Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical that has been present in many hard plastic bottles and metal-based food and beverage cans. These food product containers range from infant bottles to canned vegetables.
Current studies show that there may be harmful long term effects on children and adults from BPA exposure. The extent of these effects are not definitive. Infants and young children may be more vulnerable to BPA exposure due to their development stages. Therefore, the FDA supports reasonable steps to reduce exposure of infants to BPA in the food supply.
The FDA supports the industry’s actions to stop producing BPA-containing bottles and infant feeding cups for the U.S. market. The FDA is facilitating the development of alternatives to BPA for the linings of infant formula cans. The FDA supports efforts to develop alternatives for other can lining applications similar to those which are already being tested for liquid infant formula packaging.
What can you do to minimize BPA exposure? For infants, minimize BPA exposure by breastfeeding infants or using only BPA free infant bottles. For everyone, minimize BPA exposure by buying fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible. If not available, buy frozen bags of fruits and vegetables. Minimize purchase of canned foods. Use stainless steel water bottles for drinks or BPA free plastic bottles. When storing food at home, use glass storage containers instead of plastic storage containers. Ways you can help enforce changes: The FDA is awaiting additional public feedback and results from additional studies, therefore, learn how to voice your concerns to the FDA by visiting the website at www.fda.gov.
Contact your local Congressional representative and support healthier school food choices for your children. Studies have shown that children eat the majority of their meals at school and afterschool programs. Therefore, it’s important to advocate and support the incorporate of more fresh fruits and vegetables in school menu options.
 "I love it, I love it... Mommy buy more." This usually gets me to stock up on whatever favorite food fad my kids are having at the moment. However, once I stock up on whatever item it is, they soon become tired of eating it. So, I've learned to exercise restraint in stockpiling supposedly favorite foods and encourage them to try new nutritional snacks and foods.
Today, we tried Edward and Sons Exotic Rice Toast (Thai Red Rice and Flaxseeds) Grain Squares. It is gluten free with 0g trans fat. We loved the thin crispy taste of the slightly toasted and salted grain squares (aka crackers). We finished the box in less than ten minutes (which is okay since there is only 240 calories in a box). Flaxseed embedded in snacks are great because I always forget to add flaxseed in foods that I'm preparing for meals. Edward and Sons offer gluten free organic vegetarian foods (everything from snacks to vegetables). The company started in 1978, so they are pioneers in offering healthy foods.
For more information about their products, visit www.edwardandsons.com. Their products are available at a number of specialty health food stores and you can also purchase their products online as well.
Samples of Edward and Sons Exotic Rice Toast and other products will be randomly given away to email program members by March 31st, so join the free Eco-friendlyliving.com Email program today by submitting your contact information in the "Join Free Email Program" section of this website. Please note that your complete mailing address will need to be provided in order to receive samples. Your contact information is not sold or shared to any third parties. Random giveaways are sent by the end of each month.
I spent over a decade of my professional career in marketing so I have formal training and professional experience in this area, but even with this knowledge, I couldn't resist passing up on a coupon for a free McChicken sandwich from a local McDonald's this morning. It was that kind of morning (cloudy, gloomy and rainy). I justified it because it's free and well, I haven't really indulge in fast food for almost a month (part of my 2010 goals). So, now that I devoured the sandwich. I feel guilty but am glad I got my fast food bug over with. Oh well, here's hoping that the rest of my meals this week stay healthy and on track.
My mantra this week is "Just because you can, does not mean you should," and "Just because it's free does not mean it's good."
Hope you keep this in mind as you go about your week as well.
 Yes, Valentine's Day is coming up. Besides the usual flowers, cards and chocolate (which I love by the way), another great gift idea is sending organic fruit baskets to your loved ones. I found a great website www.goldenstatefruit.com that offers organic fruit gift baskets. I love their organic milk chocolate cherries. What a great nutritional treat.
For more information about their products, visit their website at www.goldenstatefruit.com.
They are offering free shipping with no minimum purchase required. If you have any great organic gift ideas, please feel free to share with the rest of us.
With the recession and uncertainty in the economy, how can anyone offer to eat organic food? Well, here is how I try and incorporate organic food into my family meals. For me, it's all about trade offs and opportunity costs.
First, we only eat at restaurants on a monthly basis (not even fast food chains) because the cost for the cheapest meal is at least $5 when you include tax. This does not include the cost of driving to/from the restaurant. When we do eat at restaurants, we do not order any drinks (we drink the tap water that they give us) and most restaurants let you bring in your own drinks for your kids (especially when you have them in cute sippy cups or reusable bottles). We skip dessert as well most of the time (if we do order dessert, we order one and share among ourselves).
Second, we have a designated left over meal day (e.g. when you cook meals in bulk, it's usually cheaper and more convenient). I also limit the amount of meat we eat. If you think about it, the cheapest non-organic chicken will cost you at least $3.99/lb when the per pound cost of organic strawberries will run you the same price or less. In general, I've done quite a bit of research on this, organic fruits and vegetables will cost you much less than non-organic meat. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense of reduce your meat intake while increasing your organic fruits and vegetables intake (with a net cash savings for yourself). If you don't believe me, try gradually reducing your meat intake while increasing your organic fruits and vegetables purchase and track how much you wind up spending on groceries. You'll be happy with the results.
Third, buy organic fruits and vegetables on sale. However, do not over purchase, unless you remember to put the extra ones in the freezer.
Fourth, grow your own organic food. This takes quite a bit of time, but the hassle factor is almost completely gone once you've planted the plants and initially tended your garden.
Fifth, limit or reduce purchase of small gadgets or toys. I know a lot of parents who are fond of the local dollar stores and use it to treat their kids for good behavior, etc. I am totally supportive of rewarding and recognizing good efforts from my kids. I just don't purchase things from the dollar stores. Instead, I scribble a star on a board and keep track of their behavior, then, when they reach the pre-agreed upon number of stars, I bring them to the zoo or museum. This way, I eliminate the collection of extra stuff at home (thereby, reducing the "where is my_____ , mommy?" conversations) and we get to go on a cool family outing.
Finally, I would rather save money from movie rentals (I borrow what we want to watch from the local library) and use the savings towards organic food. Yes, that is how much I believe in consuming organic food.
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