1 ripe medium banana
1 cup vanilla low-fat or nonfat yogurt
¼ cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup wheat germ
1 cup ice
1 cup sliced fresh peaches or banana slices
Put banana and yogurt in a blender with peaches, orange juice and wheat germ. Add ice and blend until smooth. Garnish with peach or banana slices and sprinkle 2 tsp. wheat germ on top.
Go a little crazy! Put 1 cup of yogurt, ½ cup of milk, and 2 cups of ice in a blender and add any fruit from your basket that’s getting a little too ripe. It’s hard to find a combo that doesn’t taste good together!
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If you’re looking to eliminate plastics, you need to check out this post from The Nourishing Gourmet.
Honestly, I never thought of using anything but plastic straws. I didn’t even know there were alternatives.
Thanks to Leah at Abundant Life for pointing out this post.
Now I want some pretty glass straws to slurp down my fruit smoothies!
Image credit: GlassDharma
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Written on
October 28, 2010 by
Amber
Halloween is almost here, and I am going to come right out and admit that I am way behind on my preparations. I’m sewing my kids’ costumes, and so far I have … wait for it … cut the fabric for one half of one kid’s outfit. I’m pretty sure I know what I’ll be doing on October 30.
Whether you’re organized (go you!), or you’re procrastinating like me, there are a few things that you can do to make your Halloween a little friendlier on the planet. And you don’t have to sacrifice any fun in the process. Because who wants to do that?
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I love to make and freeze french bread pizzas for a quick dinner or lunch. Around here most food is made from scratch and these are no different, but while it may take awhile to make these they are worth it!
First make your bread. I make an Italian loaf because I like it a bit better than French bread but if you have recipe you like you can use it in place of this recipe.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (105° – 115° F)
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions:
1.
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Written on
August 30, 2010 by
Amber
I am going to confess something. When my first child, Hannah, was a baby we used disposable diapers. We clad her little bottom cheap throwaway diapers that we bought in bulk, then we turned them into little sausages using our Diaper Genie. It was fast and easy – I’ll say that much. But I was not entirely happy with the choice. There was a lot of diaper garbage each week – diaper garbage that is still sitting in a landfill today, 5 1/2 years later. Diaper garbage that will likely still be sitting in that landfill 1000 years from now.
I did some research when I was pregnant with my second child, Jacob.
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Written on
August 9, 2010 by
Amber
I’ve recently had the chance to visit two very different dairy farms in my area. And thinking about the two farms has made me consider my views on agriculture and dairy cows.
The first farm that I visited was Little Qualicum Cheeseworks. It’s a small farm that produces cheese on-site, using the milk from its own herd of cows. The cows spend most of their time outdoors, grazing in the pasture. Their diet is supplemented in the winter with hay and silage, during the time they can’t be outdoors. The farm has an SPCA certification that means its animals are well cared for.
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Written on
July 23, 2010 by
DianaP
In less than two weeks more than one-thousand bloggers of all ages, races and yes, sexes will descend on New York City. Ushered in on a cloud of anticipation, excitement and social media they will spend two days learning, connecting and yes, partying.
This year, as in years past, BlogHer is working to implement important green initiatives conference wide — an exciting development in and of itself — and paired with the cooperation of individual attendees and the coordinated efforts of every blogger who travels to the conference we can have an even greater impact on the environment for the better!
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Cloth diapering is one of my favorite ways to be green. For as many fears as people have about getting started with cloth, it is honestly much easier than you think it is. I always tell everyone that even my husband is a huge fan of them. (Seriously, isn’t it always the guys who are the most squeamish?!)
Well, for those of you who are ready to get going, or have a few and want to stock up on a few more, my favorite site has a huge clearance sale going on right now! Swaddlebees puts items in their clearance store a few times a year and I almost always grab up a good pile.
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Written on
July 13, 2010 by
DianaP
You know that old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”? It’s inspiring in theory, but let’s be honest here; sometimes, when the going gets tough, even the tough get overwhelmed, frustrated and feel at least a little bit guilty when their actions fall short of their ideals. Summer is one of those tough times for me. It’s a season that has been full to the brim with commitments from work to recreation since… well, since humans have had leisure time anyway.
In fact, I don’t know who coined the phrase “the lazy days of summer” but around here when the sun gets hot and the days long, they’re anything but lazy.
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Written on
July 12, 2010 by
Amber
As you no doubt know, unless you have been living under a rock for the past several months, an oil rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20. The explosion destroyed the rig, causing oil to spill from the wellhead into the Gulf. At this point oil has been spilling out for more than 2 months, defying all efforts at containment. The current plan is to drill two relief wells and then permanently close the existing well. The relief wells are expected to be completed in August.
Meanwhile, the largest offshore oil spill in US history continues.
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