Bright and Beautiful

The Cleanse

2011-02-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

So I didn't get all my cleanse days food written down, but I'm done and it was good!!! I highly recommend this to everyone. After day 3 my skin was so smooth! After day 4 my stomach was the flattest its been since I had children. I learned a lot of new healthy alternatives to eat and I want to do the cleanse again. As soon as I started eating regular foods again, I immediately broke out. Next time I want to slowly go back on dairy and gluten so I can see exactly what the culprit is. I did lose a few pounds which was nice.

Cleanse: Day 2

2011-02-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

Breakfast: banana slices with peanut butter, vitamins, glass of water

Lunch: black bean tacos

Snack: Hummus and carrots, 5 almonds, water

Dinner: rice, green beans, and corn, water

Dessert: peach slices

How I'm feeling today: Definitely more cravings today, but I'm feeling lighter.

Fresh Mango Summer Rolls

2011-02-03T06:57:00.001-08:00

This recipe came from the "Vegan with a Vengeance" cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I won't post the recipe, but you can find it here.

It was very light and fresh, and it looks pretty too. I love food that makes you fell happy when you eat it, no sick-full feeling here. The peanuts and peanut sauce really compliment the rolls. My 2 year old son actually ate one, but my daughter wouldn't try it. We ate the rolls with coconut rice.

Coconut Rice
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 can unsweetened coconut milk
mango slices

Combine.

I will definitely be making this in the future!

5 ways to reuse plastic containers

2011-02-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

We have a lot of yogurt and sour cream containers at our house and I just hate knowing they are perfectly good for something but I'm still throwing them out - even though I'm recycling. So I thought I'd share a few ways that I reuse my plastic containers.

1. seed starters - if you have a garden, or even if you want to keep an herb garden on your kitchen window sill, these are great! I'll be starting my seeds soon!

2. kids stuff - my daughter loves to make little "collections". She has beads, coins, barbie pieces, little paper projects, necklaces. These are perfect for all her little things.

3. Sending meals in them. My mom always saved containers and took meals to people in them, the best are the salad tubs they are wide and clear. It's nice because then you don't have to worry about getting your dish back.

4. In the garage - I think most garages have plenty of uses for these containers, my husband has asked me to save a bunch to put his nails, bolts, and stuff in. You can label the outside so you know exactly what is in each of them.

5. Leftovers - instead of buying plastic containers to put your left overs in, save your money and reuse!

I hope this just starts your thinking of reasons why you can and should reuse, maybe you can find even more ways!

Cleanse: Day 1

2011-02-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Breakfast: Half a grapefruit, vitamins, glass of water

Lunch: Left over corn chowder, peanut butter on celery, water

Snack: Hummus and carrots, 5 almonds, water

Dinner: Mango Spring Rolls with coconut mango rice, water

Dessert: Salted popcorn, water, crystal light lemonade

How I'm feeling today: Surprisingly no cravings! Day one wasn't so bad, but I need to make sure I plan ahead. I talked to a friend of mine about ways to keep up my protein. I shouldn't have had the crystal light, it doesn't have sugar but it is still off limits during the cleanse - woops :)

7 day Cleanse

2011-02-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

I have been reading Kathy Freston's book "Quantum Wellness". I remember hearing about this book on Oprah a while back and that Oprah did a 21 day cleanse. She suggests between 7 and 21 days to cleanse the body in order to allow the body to detoxify and give the digestive system a break. It made perfect sense to me so I thought I would try it. Kathy is Vegan and I really admire how consciously she eats and I would love to get to that point, I would also like to look as great as she does! Here is the cleanse:

No sugar - bless my soul, what am I going to do??
No animal or animal byproducts
No alcohol - I don't partake already :)
No caffeine - I don't (usually) partake :)
No gluten

I think gluten will be the hardest thing to stay away from, it seems like it's in everything! Sugar will be hard in the afternoon and after dinner. I'll have to make sure I keep myself busy at those times. So I am starting today and will try to make it to next wednesday. On saturday/sunday I plan on completely fasting since it's fast sunday and I am going to try to go to the temple on saturday. She talks about how we need to detoxify not only for our body's health, but for our spiritual health. I really believe that there is something fundamental about fasting that helps us come closer to Christ and I'm excited to see if I notice any differences, especially during my temple attendance.

Look for daily posts about what I'm eating and how it's going. Wish me luck - I'm going to need it!!

Corn Chowder

2011-02-01T11:01:00.001-08:00

I have touted my love for Tal Ronnen the Vegan chef, but I have fallen even more in love with this recipe I found in his cookbook "The Conscious Cook". It's basically a creamy soup, but get this NO ANIMAL BY PRODUCTS!! The recipe I had always used was my mother's recipe for Cream of California soup it is so good, but has milk, butter, and chicken stock in it. Tal's recipe uses a cashew cream. It is SO yummy! I can't hold back my excitement about this wonderful substitute! There are vegan substitutes out there for just about everything, but this is homemade, a great price, and easy to make. I bought a pound of cashews pieces at Winco's bulk section for $3.34 per pound. I only used 2/3 of a pound for the recipe. The recipe calls for whole raw cashews, but they were a bit more per pound and honestly I can't imagine the soup turning out any better, so I'm fine with the cashew pieces. Throw them in the blender with some water and there you go. What's even better, cashew cream will freeze for up to 6 months! I just had leftovers today for lunch, and it was delish!

Update: Bountiful Basket

2011-02-01T10:49:00.001-08:00

We used just about everything up and loved just about all of it. I really think it's something that we will be doing in the future. Maybe once a month? We love love love the bread and will probably be getting that every two weeks. You definitely get more for your money, but you really can't plan a lot of your meals until you know what you've got which is the biggest problem for me, but I think the pros outweigh the cons in this instance!

Bountiful Baskets

2011-01-17T14:39:00.000-08:00

I heard about Bountiful baskets coop when they first came to Idaho. I was dragging my feet because I tend to plan my meals pretty specifically and I didn't want to be overloaded with fruits and veggies that I wouldn't have room for in my menu or fridge! Last Saturday I picked up my first basket at the hardware store down the street. I was pretty surprised at just how much produce there was! They give you a small basket of vegetables and a small basket of fruits for $15. I'd say it was worth the money, HOWEVER I shall wait to see if I can actually get through all of it. I still ended having to get quite a few different produce items at the grocery store and went over my budget. I really wanted to try it for the experience, and also because they sell more local, in season produce and because they also have an organic basket for $25. Next time I am going to get the organic basket and see how it compares in size to the regular basket, I've heard you do get LESS produce.

We also got five loaves of bread for $10 and my family loves it. It's whole wheat with lots of yummy grains in it as well.

If you haven't..

2009-07-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

Check out Moneysavingmom.com. Her blog has got some great deals on organic products right now. Some are even free after rebate. Worth the look.

Save..

2009-07-01T16:55:00.001-07:00

on milk, coupons.com has a 75cent off coupon for any brand milk or yogurt, great time to stock up on organic when you combine it with one of Albertson's double coupons.

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-20T05:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm posting this a little early because I wanted to let you know that because of Earth day, stores like Target, Home Depot and others are having sales on all of their eco-friendly stuff. Check out your Sunday paper ads. Home depot is even handing out free eco-friendly lightbulbs and offering free classes on how to be green. Hope this gets you excited to do a little!

Organic Makeup

2009-03-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

This month at Walgreen's there's a mail in rebate for $10 worth of the Organic Physician's Formula makeup. I tried the bronzer/blush, it's pretty good. There are no parabens, and it is the first line of certified organic makeup in the U.S. They have quite a few different things to choose from that you can get for just about free.

It's that time of year...

2009-03-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

So if you haven't already, it's a great time to start planting your veggies for this summer's garden. This is the best and cheapest way to eat organic! I can't explain it, but I get a lot of pride and fulfillment out of my garden - not to mention the fact that it saves me lots of money. So much fun too, my daughter loves to help me weed and pick the plants, and she even helped plant her own tomato plant this year!

EatBetterAmerica

2009-03-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'll probably post this on my slicksaver blog too, but it looks like a great site to help you live healthier, and if you sign up for their newsletter they'll send you a coupon book for lots of healthy food products, even some organic product coupons, I'm told. Check it out here.

Mailer Envelopes

2009-02-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

I found mail envelopes made out of recycled paper at Wal-mart, they're the same price as the regular, may as well right??

Winner!

2009-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Tess!

Just email me your address and I'll send off your new waterbottle!!

snedaker13649@yahoo.com

Recycled Glass

2009-01-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

I just noticed at Target they've got lots of different things that are made out of recycled glass. Soap dishes, decor, glassware. Cute!

PS - It's on Sale!!

GIVEAWAY !!

2009-01-08T14:46:00.001-08:00

Okay to get a little traffic, I thought I would do GREENGOERS very first giveaway! So remember that stainless steel water bottle I posted about? It could be yours! All you have to do is leave a comment on the blog. If you mention my giveaway on YOUR blog I'll give you two entries - isn't that great? PLUS, if your friend happens to win and he/she saw it on YOUR blog you'll get one too! So hurry up and get entered and tell all your friends. I will draw on January 31st so make sure you look back to see if you won.

Gazelle.com

2009-01-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my brother I found an awesome website that will help you recycle your old electronics for cash. If they can't offer you any money they will at least send you a box with postage to ensure your item gets recycled properly. Now that's a green conscious website. My brother said it took him 10 minutes to set up. No excuses now!
You can even donate the money to charity.

Stainless Steel Water Bottle

2009-01-06T08:27:00.000-08:00

I just saw on Slickdeals that AMAZON has got a stainless steel water bottle on sale for about $5 before shipping. It's eco-friendly and there's no BPA (see my previous post about BPA) in it! Check it out here.

Bleach

2009-01-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

So I guess I never realized that bleach was harmful. I mean I knew it was harmful if you swallowed it or got it in your eyes, but I didn't really know the effect it has on the enviroment. Doing a little research I found out that Chlorine bleach is a toxin and linked to carcinogens which we KNOW aren't healthy for us, and it hurts the ozone layer.

For an easy alternative that actually keeps your whites looking white - White Vinegar or hydrogen peroxide.
Easy enough, oh and vinegar is actually better on your fabrics too!

Cookie Magazine

2009-01-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

Being a mom I like a little advise now and again about running a household. I found a great new magazine that also includes quite a bit of green solutions as well for the "everyday" mom like myself. They have lots of great ideas for easy solutions to your green problems.

Envirokidz

2009-01-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to buy organic food for my family when I can find it on sale or when the price difference isn't too bad. Yesterday while I was doing my grocery shopping I found an organic kids cereal - Envirokidz Organic that was a really great price, about $2/box. That's definitely doable! It's USDA certified organic and they have lots of different kinds to choose from with cute animal pics on the front. I bought a box to try out and after reading through the material on the box I was really impressed. There are no preservatives, it's gluten free, and has low sodium. They also donate 1% of there sales to endangered species, which just feels good, and to top it all off, they reduce their packaging size by 10% which is not only good for the environment (saves 1.3 mil gallons of water, 940,000 KWh of energy, and 144 tons of paperboard) but there isn't that wasted space in the box like most cereals so you actually know what you are paying for.
The big test: Does it taste good? ---- My three year old daughter loved it!
Go Envirokidz!

I read somewhere that organic food prices are based on supply and demand. If we buy it more, the prices will go down, so do what you can to buy Organic. Sometimes you can even find coupons which will make the prices equivalent if not cheaper than its non-organic competitor.

BPA

2009-01-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

Bisphenol-A is a chemical used in the plastic and epoxy of formula cans and is also present in some baby bottles. There have been concerns that BPA could cause health risks to infants, though the FDA has assured us that the levels are not high enough to do so. However, Gerber along with other companies have started making BPA-free products which now can be found in most stores. The first kind I saw were the drop-ins by playtex, but now you can buy the cheap gerber bottles, BPA-free for about a dollar. Though there may not be any apparent health risks, I tend to wonder why Gerber has decided to make all of their products BPA-free, whatever the reason, It's good to know that there are cheap alternatives for going BPA-free.

Just for information, BPA is present in much of our food packaging NOT just baby bottles and some researchers say high amounts have been linked to causing cancers, obesity, autism and other hormonal and developmental problems.

For some really great information on the issue go to this reputable sight.

Cradle to grave

2008-12-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

My father created a prototype for a label that would go on our foods to show the environmental impacts of each food. I think it's a great idea and it really shows you just how much energy it takes to get something like a piece of steak from the cow to the plate. Take a look at it and if you like it, tell your friends. I think this should be something we NEED to be seeing when we go to pour ourselves a bowl of cereal.

Corn-based giftcards

2008-12-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

So I got a new gift card in the mail from Target. On the back it says it's made from a corn based material that is completely bio-degradable! If I can find these in the stores I will be getting these from now on!
I think it's the same material they've been using to replace the plastic for plastic plates and cups. Hope to see these things in the store.

Juice and Soda bottles

2008-10-30T08:15:00.001-07:00

Besides recycling your large plastic juice and soda bottles I decided to reuse them. I fill them with water and put them in my food storage. It's always a good idea to have bottled water available in case something happens and you are without running water.

Household batteries

2008-10-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

My camera takes up a ton of batteries and I have never recycled them before. After doing a bit of research on it I realized it's not as difficult as it seems. I looked into rechargeable batteries to see if they were better for the environment and it turns out they have more heavy metals in them than regular batteries, BUT if you recycle them then it is worth it and does help the environment, if you don't, you aren't being as environmentally conscious as you thought. I found a great website that tells you where you can recycle your rechargeable batteries, you just enter your zip code. The places you can take them to be recycled are actually stores you already shop at like Best Buy, Target, or Sears! How easy is that? Click here to check it out.

Milk jugs

2008-10-23T10:42:00.001-07:00

When I lived in New York, our elementary school sold milk in little bags. It's a great idea! (Although someone needs to at least explain to you that when you stab your straw into the bag to keep the other end covered by your finger or you'll shoot milk a few feet :))

Did you know if we switched our jugs to plastic bags like several countries we could reduce our waste by up to 75%!

Although the U.S. is probably not ready for the milk "bags", we WILL start to see a new design for milk jugs that are more cost efficient (meaning cheaper prices for us) and better for the environment. Click here to read about them and see a picture. So when buying milk, shop at stores that sell the new design.

Do you know..

2008-10-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

...your carbon footprint? It's said that each of us would need to plant 4 trees every month to compensate for the amount of carbon dioxide we generate.

Green Dimes

2008-10-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

For $20 you can sign up for green dimes, which will help you reduce your amount of junk mail, they will also plant 5 trees in your name with part of the one time fee. If you're too cheap to spend the twenty dollars, (like me) they have a free version. It's a little more work but still can drastically reduce all of that junk mail and possibly help reduce the amount of garbage you throw out and trees being cut down in waste. I definitely plan on getting the premium version in the future. What a great idea! Click here to look into it.

Plastic Bags

2008-10-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

This might seem a little bit silly, but I always felt guilty for all of the garbage bags our family uses. I couldn't afford to buy the environmentally friendly bags so I realized I could get a smaller garbage and use my plastic grocery bags as garbage bags and hopefully be more particular about what I was putting in the garbage. Then I could use any extras I still had to recycle, or better yet, use the new reusable/biodegradable bags that most stores are carrying and only get the bags I need for garbage, then I don't have to buy plastic garbage bags at all, which saves me money too! I also like to shop at the "bag your own" type places that way I make sure I'm putting to good use the bags that I'm taking and not taking more than I need.

As a side note, the debate over that all too familiar question "paper or plastic?" comes the answer, either, or better yet, neither! They both leave just about the same footprint.

Composting

2008-10-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

So it seems like this would be something way beyond the average persons feasibility, but I realized last winter I created a compost pile without even knowing it. We had a big cardboard box that was sitting up against the back of our shed, after the wind had blown leaves back there, it created a nice area for compost! So since I have a garden spot that is in need of some rich aerated soil I figured I would create a compost from the stuff I had lying around. Now, I'm not so crazy about it that I'm willing to go out and buy worms, I'll just let what's out there do what it wants. So I'm going to cover my garden with the rotten apples that have fallen from my apple tree, plus the leaves we've raked from our huge tree out front, and some shredded portions of the Sunday paper. After the paper and leaves get packed down, it will create a prime spot for compost. You can add pretty much any organic garbage (produce, etc.), leaves, grass clippings, Newspaper (black and white only) and cardboard. The cool thing is you can continue to add stuff all year long! This saves on garbage output and gives you nice lush soil. If you really want to get into it you can create your own composter that can even stay in your home, but you have to buy worms, which I personally don't want to have to deal with.

Parabens, just a thought

2008-10-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

Do you know what's in your daily moisturizer? A lot of people haven't heard of these and I was shocked when I heard about them. They are chemicals (nature based) that can be found in MANY shampoos, cosmetics, lotions, deodorants, etc. There are very FEW studies that show they are bad for your health, BUT, they have been linked to BREAST CANCER. Click here for an interesting article on the effects of parabens. If anything they are skin irritants. Growing up I had extremely sensitive skin. Though for most things I buy what's cheapest, for my skin I try to buy daily moisturizers that are paraben-free. Once you start looking, it's interesting to see who uses them and who doesn't (most do even the ones you think wouldn't, I won't name names, you can look for yourself). Choosing companies that are interested in preserving the environment and who choose environmentally friendly products also are likely to create products that are healthier for us and vice versa. Just a thought.

Plastic Water Bottles

2008-10-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Okay this has got to be one of the biggest things you can do to help the environment. Now I'm not saying you should never buy another plastic water bottle again, because that just isn't realistic. They are very handy and it's nice to just toss when it's served its purpose. But, you can drastically REDUCE your out take of bottles which will in turn drastically reduce your garbage. Unfortunately that leaves the problem of purified drinking water. I instead use a water filtration pitcher. You invest about $20 or so for the pitcher and replace the filter about every month. The filters can get kind of pricey, but I figure it's just about the same as I would be spending on buying bottled water. But after doing it for a while now I've figured out that the GENERIC filters do just as good of a job and you can get them for much cheaper and most of them work with the basic BRITA or PUR filter pitchers. On top of that, if you shop WALGREENS you can get their brand of filter FREE AFTER REBATE. See my other blog SLICKSAVER to find out the details on that. So you could actually end up saving quite a bit of money in the end. Now I just use bottled water every so often when I'm going on a trip or something, where I know I won't have access to drinks.

If you still feel like you can't give up your bottled water, you can switch to a different brand that understands the plight of plastic on our landfills like NESTLE, who has created a new bottle that has reduced the amount of plastic in each bottle by 30%.
Just remember that these bottles are for a one time use and really shouldn't be used more than that because if they are exposed to heat they can emit toxins into your water.
If you have any other ideas in this area feel free to leave a comment!

Green Goers Everywhere!

2008-10-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

Have you been desiring to change the way you affect the world? As a young stay at home mom of two, I have watched one-by-one the switch to GREEN. I have wanted to be a part of it, but have struggled with knowing the really practical things that I can do that don't cost any money, cuz lets face it - I can't afford to go put solar panels on my roof. So I hope my posts inspire you to do the little things in your life to help our ENVIRONMENT. Because it's true,(whether you like it or not) if we all did a little, we could do a lot.