Free Family Film Festival

See movies for FREE this summer at Regal Entertainment Group theaters as part of the Free Family Film Festival. The festival runs on select weekdays at 10AM from June 15 to August 12. There is a choice of a G and a PG movie on each show date. Click HERE to find a participating theater near you.

If you live in Tampa, the theater at Citrus Park Mall is an option. The showings are on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10AM. Click HERE for the details and show schedule. Also, if you join the Westfield WFamily club (membership is FREE), you can get special discounts for food after the show.

Get a Refund for Recalled Tylenol & Motrin

You've probably heard about the recall on certain medication for children including Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, and Benadryl. Click HERE to get a refund or a coupon on any McNeil products you might have on hand.

Kids Eat Free at IKEA this Weekend

 




They are having the kids-eat-free deal at IKEA again this weekend. Kids 12 and younger eat free Friday, May 14 to Sunday, May 16. No adult purchase required. This is a $2.99 value. You pick three child items to make a meal.

In case your kids aren't hungry while you're at the store, just pick some of the pre-packaged items (i.e., yogurt, applesauce, carrot sticks, milk, or juice) and save it for later! They even have some organic choices.

Great Price on Sprig Toys at Tuesday Morning

I was so excited to find Sprig toys at Tuesday Morning. The prices were great. The blue car above was only $7.99 (retails for $24.99) and the larger orange truck was only $19.99 (retails for $59.99). I've had my eye on these toys for ages, but I've always found them to be too expensive.

These eco-friendly toys are made from recycled material. They do all sorts of neat things, but they don't require batteries! That's green and frugal!

Excellent Prices on Organic Baby Clothes from Happy Green Bee

Happy Green Bee has some outstanding prices in the clearance section right now. These pants are only $5. There are also onesies, hats, blankets, and some adorable dresses at equally low prices. And it's all organic!

Shipping is FREE for orders of $35 or more, and $5.95 for orders less than $35.

I love the clothes from Happy Green Bee! These were my favorite pants to put on my boys when they were babies. They are so soft and comfy and look great with a white onesie.

This is a great time to stock up on baby gifts. Be aware that the pants run big. 

Happy Green Bee is a wonderful company to support. Click HERE to read more about the owner's amazing story.

Thanks Thrify Mama for the heads up on this.

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.