The Quest for a Healthy, Green & Frugal Easter

Easter is here, and again I am facing that persistent old dilemma - how do I remain healthy, green and frugal without depriving my children of simple holiday pleasures?  Here are a few ideas I've gathered over the past few years. I'd love to hear your ideas - please share!

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I rarely buy any holiday materials. Rather than buy new baskets each year, I just pull from my mother's extensive basket collection. I use the same paper grass and plastic eggs year after year. If I don't have it already, I probably don't need it anyway.

• Candy: Quality versus Quantity. Rather than getting loads of "value" candy, I take the same amount of money and buy just a few pieces of high quality candy. When shopping for candy and treats, I avoid high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Organic is always a plus. When shopping for chocolate, I look for high cocoa content (or at least make sure sugar is not the first ingredient). Some of my favorite brands are Yummy Earth organic candy, Green & Black Organic Chocolate, Lindt chocolate, Newman's, Own chocolate, and Annie's bunny cookies and crackers (these are great for putting inside the plastic eggs). 

• Fresh Food Treats. Why not? There are plenty of healthy delicacies that might be just as exciting to receive as candy and sweets, if presented the right way.  
• Carrots. I have a vision of a beautiful Easter basket full of fresh carrots with the green cascading from the tops, as if they had just been picked from the garden by the Easter bunny.
• Fruit. My children love raspberries and mangoes, but we don't get them too often because they are expensive. What a lovely (and nutritious) treat for them!
• Hard-Boiled Eggs. Rather than candy eggs or plastic eggs filled with candy, why not the real thing!

• A Basket Full of Junky Toys? Although it's tempting to fill the Easter basket with all those cute little trinkets from the dollar isle, it might be more economical (and green) in the end to actually buy a select few higher-quality toys. When I'm feeling especially tempted by shiny trinkets, I just imagine the flimsy piece of plastic in a landfill a month after Easter is over. That usually does the trick.

Here are some of my favorite Easter basket toys:

• Seed Packets. Planting flowers or vegetables with your children - what a fun spring project!
• Matchbox Cars. You can get pastel colors to keep with the Easter theme.
• Sidewalk Chalk. Get the best value by shopping in the non-holiday isle.
• Books. There are tons of great Easter-themed kid's books.
• Audubon Plush Birds. They offer a full line of stuffed animals modeled after specific species of birds. The birds even make the correct call when you squeeze them! We got the Pileated Woodpecker for our son's first Easter because we have them in our backyard. It's a great way to engage children in birdwatching. It's certainly more educational than the run-of-the mill stuffed bunny. 
• Schleich Animals. We have quite a collection of these toy animals, and our children love them. It's a great non-electronic, durable toy that inspires imagination. The animals are very realistic, which makes them great learning tools for students of all ages.

 Of course, the best gift we can give our children is time. If you are looking for ideas for Easter-related crafts, activities, songs, and literature, visit Earth's Kids. One of the more interesting projects on the site is the live grass Easter Basket shown above.

Have a Happy Easter!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

I just watched a sneak preview of the first episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution online for FREE on HULU.  The show debuts on Friday March 26 at 9PM EST on ABC.

Only one episode, and I'm already hooked.

Jamie Oliver became a hero of mine when I heard what he did for school lunches in England. To see him taking on American schools brought him up a few additional notches in my book.

Plus, it's just good TV. I can't wait to see what he does to get the "lunch ladies" on board with his new scheme.

Sweetwater: Return & Investment

Today's Sweetwater pickup was robust, a welcome change after a few weeks of harvests made scant by the unusually cold weather. Today's share included: carrot bunches, joi choi, kohlrabi, broccoli, magenta lettuce, green romaine, ermosa butterhead, cilantro, radish, scallions, and arugula.














I have enjoyed many weeks of bountiful returns. Today, for the first time, I put in a little investment of time. All CSA members are required to volunteer at least four hours of time per season. Today I spend about an hour in the greenhouse thinning seedlings.

I was a pleasure to get my hands into the soil and spend time with the friendly and capable Sweetwater interns. Most of all, I enjoyed the feeling of being invested in the process of producing my own food. This just doesn't happen when you shop at the grocery store. Maybe next time the weather will be better and I can get out into the fields, and maybe even bring my four-year-old son with me. What a learning experience that will be!

Registration for Sweetwater's 2010-11 season (November to May) is currently underway for current members. New members can register starting April 1. Click HERE for more information.

If you don't live near Tampa/St. Petersburg, click HERE to find a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program near you.

Bob's Red Mill High Fiber Cereal $2.58 on Amazon

You can get Bob's Red Mill Organic High Fiber Cereal for only $2.58 per bag if you buy it as a 4-pack on Amazon, using the Subscribe & Save program (see my blog post, Amazon's Subscribe & Save = Cheaper Groceries).

Compare that to $3.19 at Nutrition S'Mart and $3.35 on the Bob's Red Mill website. Since I rarely see sales or coupons for this brand, I'll take the discounts where I can get them!

This is the cereal I mentioned in The Perfect Breakfast. I have been enjoying it so much, I decided I would be willing to buy this in bulk. The bag says to store in the freezer, so I'm hoping I can use it all before it expires.

Don't forget to use your Swagbucks for even deeper discounts at Amazon. See my blog post, Are You Using Swagbucks?

Grass Root: Organic, Vegan & Raw Cuisine in Central Tampa

Grass Root is an oasis for healthy eaters right in the heart of Central Tampa. The menu is full of delicious organic, vegetarian, vegan and raw creations. We enjoyed a dinner there last night with our two boys and had a wonderful meal.

I had a sprout wrap with a delicious dipping sauce. My husband enjoyed his vegetable wrap with a different, but equally good basil dipping sauce. The boys shared the most fabulous PB&J I've ever tasted on some kind of sprouted raisin bread.

The ice teas are exceptionally great (sweetened with organic cane juice). I've also heard the smoothies there are good. The one made from cocoa looked intriguing, for sure.

My only disappointment was the "cheesecake" made from cashews, especially since it was a splurge at $8. It didn't quite live up to the raw sweet potato pie we had there several years ago. Oh, well. Not every dish can be tip top, I guess.

Overall, it's an outstanding restaurant with ideals and practices I'm happy to support. The prices are reasonable, but keep in mind that you are getting quality, not quantity. While the furniture, building, and surrounding neighborhood are quite modest, it has a vibrant and inviting ambiance. The staff are very friendly and welcoming.

Grass Root has a restaurant in Lakeland, as well. They also offer catering and all kinds of classes and workshops related to health and nutrition.

Amazon's Subscribe & Save = Cheaper Groceries

I recently got turned on to Amazon's Subscribe and Save program as a way to get great prices on certain grocery items without having to chase down sales and coupons. Even better, the products are delivered to your door with no shipping costs as often as you need them!

Here's how it works.

1. Some products on Amazon (mostly the type of products you'd buy at the grocery store) have a box on the right-hand column that says "Save 15% with Subscribe and Save".
2. In that box, you choose how often you'd like to receive this product (every 1, 2, 3 or 6 months). You can easily cancel or edit this later.
   
3. Then hit "Subscribe Now".
4. You will then go on to confirm your shipping address, payment method, etc.
5. At the end, you will see your order total (notice the no shipping and 15% discount) and you will then select "Subscribe Now" to complete the order.
   
6. Once your order has been processed, you can go back and edit your subscription, or even cancel it with no problem. However, you still get the benefit of the free shipping and 15% discount! Awesome!
7. However, if you find a good price on a product that you use regularly, it might pay to use the subscription service because you've locked in that 15% discounted price and free shipping for all future deliveries under that subscription. Plus, it could be convenient to get certain staples in the mail on a regular basis without having to think about it.
   

I've been dipping my toe in the water with Subscribe & Save the past several months, and I'm now starting to really get into it. There are some money saving opportunities, especially if you buy discounted items or multi-packs. You have to be careful to compare prices to make sure you really are getting the best deal.

One example of when it pays to use Amazon's Subscribe & Save is Bob's Red Mill Organic High Fiber Cereal. This is the cereal I use in The Perfect Breakfast.

If you buy it as a 4-pack on Amazon, using the Subscribe & Save program, it comes out to $2.58 per bag. Compare that to $3.19 at Nutrition S'Mart and $3.35 on the Bob's Red Mill website. Since I rarely see sales or coupons for this brand, I'll take the discounts where I can get them!

For even more discounts, be sure to use your Swagbucks. I always buy $5 Amazon gift cards with my Swagbucks, which helps me save even more on groceries when I shop on Amazon. If you aren't familiar with Swagbucks, check out my blog post, Do You Use Swagbucks?

Do You Use Swagbucks?

Are you using Swagbucks? If not, it's really worth checking into it. It's FREE and doesn't take much time to register and install the toolbar.

In a nutshell, you use the search engine on the Swagbucks toolbar (instead of other search engines like Google) to earn points called Swagbucks. You can redeem the Swagbucks for wide variety of prizes and gift cards. For me, the $5 Amazon gift card is the most practical prize they offer.

Since I joined in September, I've racked up enough points to buy 6 or 7 Amazon $5 gift cards through my normal internet searching activity. Yes, there are lots of other games and activities that will earn more Swagbucks, but I don't participate in any of that and I still earn lots of points.

Occasionally, Swagbucks will put a code worth points in your inbox on your toolbar. I try to notify my readers when this happens via Facebook so they can catch it before it expires. Click HERE to become a fan of Healthy, Green and Frugal on Facebook.

I will admit that every now and then the internet searches aren't the best, and I have to use Google to find what I need. However, on balance, I have found it to be a completely hassle-free way to earn some extra cash. It's also kind of fun to watch your point count go up. You can see how many Swagbucks I have by looking at the bottom of my page. It stays pretty low because I'm always cashing in my points.

I'd love to hear about your experience with Swagbucks. The Thrifty Mama earned enough Swagbucks in just a few months to buy a Wii Fit. What a great score!

Cheap Groceries on Amazon

• Bob's Red Mill Organic High Fiber Cereal, 20-Ounce Units (Pack of 4)

For even more discounts, be sure to use your Swagbucks. I always buy $5 Amazon gift cards with my Swagbucks, which helps me save even more on groceries when I shop on Amazon. If you aren't familiar with Swagbucks, check out my blog post, Do You Use Swagbucks?

Earthbox: Spring Planting

It is with a hopeful heart and an attitude of sheer determination that I replanted my Earthbox. Back in the fall, I crammed in 6 plants (see my blog post, Earthbox: Idiot-Proof Gardening). I had very modest success - a few eggplants and a couple small heads of broccoli, but no tomatoes. Perhaps its not entirely idiot proof after all.












I was disappointed, but I will not give up. This time I called for reinforcements. I spoke with Patti, the owner of a lovely nursery near my house called Annie's Garden Shed. She was very generous with her time and expertise. Here are some tips she gave me that I hope will result in a more abundant spring season. If you have any additional advice, please bring it on!

• Don't overcrowd. I only planted 3 (instead of 6) tomato plants. Also, putting plants too close together tends to give pests more opportunities to move from plant to plant.
  
• Plant deep. Pick off any stray leaves toward the bottom of the stem and get it far down into the soil. This give the roots more places to grow.
• Water every 2 to 3 days. Since it's impossible to over-water an Earthbox, don't hold back. If it's not an Earthbox, get the soil nice and most without over saturating.
  
• Green pepper plants are easy. I planted my pepper plant alone in a very large pot to give the roots plenty of room to grow (per Patti's advice). I also learned that green peppers will eventually turn red if you leave them on the vine long enough. Before they turn red, they will look black for a while.
• Use gardening resources that are specific to your geographic area. Apparently, even the state of Florida has regions that are varied enough to require different techniques. Patti recommended these books for central Florida:
  
  Herbs and Spices for Florida Gardens: How to Grow and Enjoy Florida Plants with Special Uses
  by Monica Moran Brandies
  
  The Edible Landscape
  by Tom MacCubbin
  
  

Patti also gave me these simple words of encouragement
that helped a lot...

You can do this!

A Proper Irish Meal

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tonight we are having a hearty Irish-inspired soup, homemade whole-grain beer bread, and a Guinness, of course.

The soup is made from the following ingredients. I just simmered it all day, and it turned out great!

• cabbage (on sale for 20 cents a pound at Publix through today)
• 3 lbs of red potatoes (on sale for $1.99 at Publix through today)
• chick peas
• vegetable stock
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
  

The bread (which is so soft and delicious) was made in a bread maker. All you have to do is put all these ingredients in the bread maker and select the cycle for whole wheat bread. Even though our bread maker will bake the bread, I like to take the dough out just before it starts baking (after 3 hours and 20 minutes) and put it in a larger loaf pan to bake in the oven. I find that the bread turns out less dense, and more fluffy and soft.

• 1 bottle of beer
• 1.5 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of maple syrup
• 1 tbsp of molasses
• 3.5 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tbsp of vital wheat gluten
• 2 tsp of active dry yeast
  

Have a great day!