Diva Guide: Greener Holiday Giving

By Tania Reuben

Time is counting down for the holidays and if you are looking for way to green your gifting this year, check out some of these ideas.

We’ve compiled some of our favorite finds to make gift giving a little easier!

Don’t miss our current giveaways!

TOYS

Plan Toys

Plan Toys is an industry leader in making fantastic eco friendly toys for children. These toys are non toxic, durable and will allow the child in your life to play creatively for hours.

Purchase PLAN TOYS through amazon.

Green Toys

Green Toys Made in the USA from recycled Milk Jugs! These toys are non toxic and instead of plastic being wasted, they are turning it into great toys. Look for Trucks, sand toys, garden kits & this cute tea set that is food safe! Win a Dish Set from PND – CLICK HERE.

CLOTHING

Hessnatur

Hessnatur  offers a great selection of well priced classic menswear and children’s clothing. Organic whenever possible, Natural, Non Toxic and Fair trade from concept through execution.  I’ve never met a woman who wasn’t happy to receive the gift of Cashmere!  Save 25% for the holidays.

Sub Urban Riot

Sub Urban Riot makes super hip, yet still relaxed t-shirt that have been seen on Entourage and It’s always Sunny In Philadelphia.  Note – there line is slimmer cut, so if you are looking for an ‘American Cut’ T-Shirt Choose from these styles; horse tee, RIOT, tee, hell yeah, and majestic panther.

ACCESORIES

Baubles

I love Etsy – it’s an online site for artisans to showcase their handmade and crafted wares.  You can spend hours getting lost in the sites of all the vendors.

Here are a few of my current favorites!

Allison Mooney Designs

Allison designs are stunning and have broad appeal – I would love to receive any one of her designs as a gift!  Her etsy store is full of necklaces, bracelets and my favorite – earrings.  CLICK HERE for the PND Review & Giveaway.

JewLyrie

This mother of two designs simple, unique treasures from her studio in the Garden State.  With an Etsy shop full of earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets you are sure to cross someone off your list with a visit to her shop.

Beads For Blanche

I love all the fantastic color choices this etsier employs in their line.  A great etsy shop to check out, full of colorful necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

 

Intimates

 

Couture Cotton

If lingerie is on the list, go organic where pure really counts!  Couture Cottons makes organic underwear and cozy organic pajamas.  Yet another example of design breaking down the barrier of what “organic” looks like.  Check out our Review and Giveaway CLICK HERE.

Shoes

NeuAura

Who Doesn’t love a fabulous new heels for all the great parties!  NeuAura makes fabulously stylish vegan and eco friendly designs to step out for the holidays in style.  They make styles to walk you through your entire year. Don’t forget to check out their fantastic Thames boots!

Handbags

Urth Handbags

The ultimate Eco Asscecories!  Made from recycled juice boxes, magazines and newspapers and stylish too!  Check out the Diva Giveaway and Review – CLICK HERE.

Yellow Wallpaper

Based in Los Angeles – This Etsier makes a nice selection of gorgeous handbags that have a slightly retro feel to their design.  In a day and age when most handbags are made in China Yellow Wallpaper is handmade.  What a stylish way to buy Made In the USA.

Skin Care

Juice Beauty

Juice Beauty has some lovely sets that are perfect the holidays.  CLICK HERE to read our review of their Green Apple Moisturizer and Juice Beauty.

Make Up

Everyday Minerals

We reviewed Everyday Minerals earlier this year and love the quality of their products. Check out the review and be sure to enter their ENCORE giveaway!

House & Home

Glass Dharma

Looking for a unique gift for the hostess that has it all, the glass straw is a great solution! Prices start at $6 and gift sets of 4 start at $23.

EnviroVoque

PND has been encouraging readers to bring their own bags while shopping, you can encourage your friends to do the same, with style use an EnviroVoque Reusable Bags as a fun stocking stuffer or in place of wrapping paper.  They offer some great designs that will make you want to remember to use them! Retail for $7.95-9.95.

GIVE THE GIFT OF TIME

SPUD Organic Delivery

Buy the harried Mother’s and Father’s in your life a gift certificate to SPUD organic delivery if they are in your area.  If not check out Local Harvest for options that will work for your recipient.  We use SPUD and I have to say that not much is better than having trips to the grocery eliminated from your to do list and fresh organic products delivered to your door!

Use the code PURENATURALDIVA to save $25 over 4 orders.

IT’S A WRAP

I wish we could have covered even more ground this year!  There are so many great people and companies that with a little effort you can get into the swing of greener giving.

Don’t forget to wrap greener too! Use paper made with 100% post consumer waste, reusable gift bags, or try the Diva Solutions and make your own gift bags!

Welcome back to PND. It's good to see you again!Diva Guide: Greener Holiday Giving

Diva Guide: Let’s Talk Turkey

By Tania Reuben

Thanksgiving is around the corner and plans are in the works for your holiday meal. A meal that will most likely center around a turkey.

Do you always wonder how big the turkey needs to be?   CLICK HERE to use this convenient tool to calculate the amount of Turkey, Stuffing and Gravy you need to make for your gathering. It allows you to specify adults, children, and eating style!

Many supermarkets offer free turkeys as a holiday promotion. we typically buy a free range turkey for our Thanksgiving Meal.   It’s a couple of times a year so I feel it’s worth spending a little extra to know how it grew and what it ate – although as of yet I haven’t been able to justify the bump up to the price of the Certified Organic Turkey.

Like most areas of grocery shopping these day, consumers have many choices. Within each type of turkey – you may want to learn about the individual farm that raised your turkey.  Each farm has their own set of standards.

Kosher – Kosher Turkeys are blessed by a Rabbi, they will be rinsed and salted, cleaned with fresh water.  The Kosher process tends to be a more time consuming way of processing meat and the process will typically produce a higher quality product.

Brined – Brined Turkey is prepared in a salted solution.  I’ve never purchased a brined turkey, but I’ve had good results brining a turkey and it was delicious.

Free Range – Free range is a bit of a nebulous term due to the fact that the USDA only requires the animal have access to the outdoors, due to this it can pay to learn a little bit more about the actual farm raising the turkey to ensure the turkey you are buying has actually roamed the range free.

Certified Organic – Certified Oraganic Turkeys should be truly free range, humanely raised with plenty of room to roam, with access to fresh water.  They should be fed an all vegetarian organic diet without GMO.  They should be raised free of antibiotics, growth stimulants, or chemical fertilizers.

Conventional – Convential Turkeys are raised in a confined space, about 1/4 of that of a free range turkey, will be given growth stimulants that will cause them to mature significantly faster than it would on it’s own.

What’s It Going To Cost Me:

We did a little shopping around to find out what prices are in the marketplace, this should give you an idea of what you can expect to pay.

Whole Foods:

Organic Free Range – Certified Organic – ate an organic diet $3.99 per pound.
Mary’s Natural Free Range $2.29 per pound.

Delivered:

Check out Local Harvest to find local Turkey Farms. Prices range from $59 – $150+.

Spud Delivery also offers Turkeys with their organic grocery delivery service. They have Free Range Turkey’s for $2.33 per pound (Delivered!).

Spud has an offer for PND readers – use code PureNaturalDiva in the promo code field to get $25 off your first  4 orders with Spud ($6.25 will be taken off each order).  Delivery with Spud is free with a minimum order (in LA $32 – a big improvement over the $150 minimum with Vons Delivery).

Spud delivers to: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, & in Western Canada, Vancouver, Vancouver Island & Calgary.

Spud will also have an offer posting before November 19 on www.Groupon.com and the offers can be combined!

Hopefully this gives you more information for your turkey shopping this Thanksgiving.

Check out the Diva Thanksgiving Menue – for all the recipes that we’ll be serving up for our Thanksgiving dinner.  We keep it pretty traditional around here.

On an unrelated note:

Love PND please support our work and take a minute to visit our sponsor hessnatur – a world leader in the natural clothing industry.  They are offering 25% off, plus free shipping and returns through Dec 29, 2009!

The offer a great selection of organic and natural fashions for the whole family.

Diva Guide: Let’s Talk Turkey

Diva Giveaway & Review: Green Toys

By Tania Reuben

Green Toys makes a line of toys made in the USA from recycled milk jugs! Very few toys are Made in the USA and even fewer are made from primarily reclaimed ingredients!

Most PND readers know that I’m not a big fan of plastic.  Green Toys are part of the solution. They use recycled plastic milk jugs, turning waste into fun, high quality, safe toys.  The milk jugs are high-density polyethylene (or HDPE), the safest plastic option in the marketplace today.

Green Toys has some great basics in their line-up.  Everything from jump ropes & eco saucer (think frisbee) to a 15 piece tool set, 4 piece Sand Set and a 27 piece Cookware & Dining Set.

Green Toys recently sent me a couple of their toys to check out:

The Tea Set – 17 pieces of food safe tea fun!

Their Tea Set is great, and I’m not the only one who think so.  At the time of writing this post this set had 78 reviews on Amazon and a 5 star rating!

The set is sturdy, the colors are pale pastel and the size of the cups and plates are just right.  Not too big, not too small.

One of the best things about this set is that it IS food safe.  Now this might seem like a basic criteria for a children’s tea set, but surprisingly it’s not.  Most of the tea sets in the marketplace for children are not food safe.  Yet I bet everyone of them is used to hold many a thimbleful of water that that will be refilled and consumed throughout every tea party.

Recycle Truck – Boys (and girls) loves trucks and choosing a recycling truck gives another tool for eco teaching the child in your life

The Truck is a good size, similar to those you’ll see in a sandbox or playground.  It has a door that opens on the back so it can be filled with treasures – important in the Diva home.  We also liked that the side of the truck had small openings that the children use to stash coins or rocks.

It’s worth noting that the doors to the cabin of the truck don’t open and close and which is fine with me, one less thing to break off and fall apart. 

A Special Not About Packaging! Have you ever had to spend more time wresting to get your toys out of their excessive packaging?  You won’t have that experience with green toys.  They don’t use any cellophane, plastic, or twist ties!  They also use all 100% recyclable corrugated cardboard to package their toys.  Open the box and play!  Just like it should be!

We loved the Green Toys so much that I added a few of their items to the children’s wishlist for their grandparents!  I added the cookware set and the tool box.

WINNER:  Samantha C Check your inbox!

Are Green Toys on your wishlist? 
You’re in luck.  One lucky PND reader will win The Green Toys Dish Set!

HOW TO ENTER:

There are a few ways you can enter, leave separate comments for each entry.

Mandatory:

Become an Email Subscriber to PND using the form in the sidebar.
– Subscription must be confirmed. You will receive and email that you must reply to for your entry to be valid.
– Already a confirmed Subscriber. Complete any one of the additional entries options – Leave a comment letting Diva know you’re subscriber name and the entry option you selected.

Additional Entries:

1. Share your favorite Toy from Green Toys!

2. Stumble, Digg, Kirsty, or Technorati favorite this post. Leave a comment with your name and the link.

3. Follow @purenaturaldiva (use link on the sidebar) & @greentoyspr on twitter. Leave your twittername in a separate comment.

4. Become a Fan of Pure Natural Diva & Green Toys on Facebook. Post this giveaway as an update, leave your FB Name or Name with a copy of your update in a separate comment. One entry for each.

5. Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste “GREEN TOYS Diva Giveaway – Win a Children’s Play Dish Set http://bit.ly/4KRHql@purenaturaldiva”. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.

6. Write a post on your blog linking to my blog and to the – Good for two entries. Leave this comment twice so you get both entries!

7. Add the PND Button to your site.  Leave a comment with the link.

This giveaway will run through midnight on Dec 19, 2009 PDT, with winner being announced December 21, 2009. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 24 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen.

Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S!

Can’t wait to win:

Click here to see the entire Blog Hop List….

Diva Giveaway & Review: Green Toys

Diva Holiday Solution: Gift Bags

By Tania Reuben

Every year we spend hours, wrapping countless gifts in preparation for the holidays. In a few minutes the excitement is over and we’re left with a big bag of trash.

Last year I made eco-friendly reusable gift bags.   You don’t need to be a great seamstress, just the  ability to sew a straight-ish line. They are fast and easy.

Quick and easy doesn’t mean, wait until Dec 19th to start sewing, or you’ll wonder what ever made you think this was a good idea.

The good news is, you only have to make them once. Then they are done. This year I only have to pull them out and wrapping will be a breeze!

Supplies

7-10 yards of lightweight muslin.
Large Spool of matching thread
Sewing Machine
Iron & Ironing Board

Instructions:

This isn’t an exact science, I approximated my measurements and worked it out. You’re essentially making a pillow case for each gift.

Grab a few of the gifts you need to wrap. Haven’t done your shopping, collect an assortment of toys and books. Look in the birthday gift stash for sample sizes too.

Each bag is made with one piece of muslin, fold over, pin down. Sew a seam along each side.

NOTE – If you are worried about fraying you’ll want to sew all the rough edges with a zig-zag stich before sewing your seems and hem.

Lay out your fabric to determine the “envelope size” you’ll need. Place the gifts on the fabric, allow an inch or two for wiggle room. Add 2″ extra inches for seams on the side and 1 1/2 for the top. Remember you will be using these again, so precision isn’t the goal.

TIP – Cut multiple bags of each size all at one time.

Next, determine how much room you need to allow for the length of your “envelope”. Guesstimate how much fabric it will take to cover your desired gift, then add a few inches. It’s nice to have extra on top for a prettier presentation.

Iron the bag. Fold the top edge over one time, then fold again (for a cleaner finish) and pin.

Sew the top seam.

Iron and your bag is done.

All that’s left to do is insert the gift, label and embellish (if desired).

For the greenest option (you’ll need to select a slightly heavier muslin so it’s not too sheer), insert the gift and tie with raffia.

I wrap the gift with a couple of sheets of tissue paper, and tie with raffia or satin ribbon (which I reuse).  The picture shows some ribbon from the past that I’m trying to use up.

What’s nice is the sheerness of the muslin allows the color of the tissue paper to show through. You still have a nice festive look and if you love to pay attention to detail (aka anal like me) you can color coordinate.

Diva Holiday Solution: Gift Bags

Diva Guide: Fabulous Eco Sweaters for Fall & Winter

By Tania Reuben

 

With winter moving through most of the country there is nothing like a great sweater.

Living in Los Angeles it doesn’t get too cold, I probably wear sweaters daily. We are cold in the morning (if you call 48 degrees cold and I do) and often in a t-shirt by midday – cardigans offer warmth with flexibility. Dodging to avoid the snowballs being flung my way by mid-west and east coast readers.

Recently I’ve been on a hunt to find great eco sweaters.  I thought if I was looking, maybe my readers were too.  It didn’t hurt that  as an added bonus I’d be able to feature some fabulous woolens from my sponsor, hessnatur.  I searched through pages on Google, hunting and found nothing  I loved.  The sweaters from my sponsor, were better than anything I was finding.

My plan had been to feature one or two styles from hessnatur. After my search, I couldn’t find anything I wanted to add.  I did make an honest attempt.  From the style of their offerings, the ethical manufacturing, the number of organic selections, to their pricing. They have some of the best eco friendly sweaters I could find. Did I mention the variety of styles they offer?  They hands down had more styles, color and variety than any site I visited preparing this piece.

Sweaters make a great gift because they tend to be more forgiving fit wise, but if it’s not right, it’s nice to know that you don’t have to pay more money to return an item.  hessnatur is currently offers free shipping and returns, for worry free online shopping.

Links to some of the other items I found researching for this piece:  Gaiam & Fair Indigo

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Diva Guide: Fabulous Eco Sweaters for Fall & Winter

Diva Recipes: Pumpkin Pie & Apple Crumble

By Tania Reuben

 

While Dude won’t touch pumpkin pie, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it!

With something in the range of 90% of all pumpkins grown used for decoration then trashed, I like to use our Halloween Sugar Pumpkins for the pie.

We bake our pumpkins.  Start by cutting the pumpkins in half, scrape the seeds and stringy bits, then bake upside down in a cookie sheet for about 45 minutes at 350 Degrees.

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

2/3 Cup of Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon of Nutmeg Pinch of Ground Cloves
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups of Pumpkin
1 1/2 Cups of Evaporated Milk (Non Fat)
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup of Brandy

1 ready made whole wheat pie crust (a worthwhile shortcut in my books).

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 Degrees.

Take the baked pumpkin and scoop the pulp, puree using a mixer or food processor, place it in a sieve lined with cheesecloth to remove the excess water, allow to sit in the fridge at least 4 hours.

In a large bowl combine sugar and spices. Add pumpkin and mix well. I do this in the Kitchen Aid Mixer. Add Vanilla, evaporated milk and egg. Mix until smooth. Fold in brandy.

I like to pre bake the pie crust, line the crust with parchment paper and fill the crust with beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes.

Pour the pumpkin into the par baked crust and bake for 10 minutes at 450, then reduce the temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Keep your eyes on the crust, you will likely need to cover the edge with thin strips of foil to prevent over browning.

The pie is done if you can insert and remove a toothpick or knife and it comes out clean.

Apple Crumble

Another favorite in our family. We love apple pie and I figure it’s worth saving the calories, skipping the crust and making a crumble.

We love more topping than many crumble recipes, so if you prefer less cut the topping in half.

Filling
5 Cups chopped peeled apples
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
3/4 Cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)

3/4 Cup sugar or 2/3 Cup of agave
2 Tablespoons of whole wheat flour, add 1 extra Tablespoon if using agave.

Topping
2 cup oats (1/2 old-fashioned & 1/2 quick-cooking although either will work)
2 Tablespoons of Flax Meal
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon of Nutmeg


1 1/2 Cup packed brown sugar


2/3 Cup whole wheat flour

3/4 Cup melted butter (I’ll often use 1/2 Earth Balance)

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre Heat oven to 350 Degrees

Filling
Peel and chop the apples.
Combine all ingredients, use most, but not all of the sugar. Then test the filling for sweetness, depending on the tartness of apples you may want to increase or decrease the amount of sugar.

Topping
Combine all the dry ingredients and mix in melted butter until crumbly. If it’s not crumbly enough add additional butter up to 1/4 cup.

I prepare this in advance and store the topping and filling in separate Zip-Loc bags for up to 4 days. Before the turkey comes out of the oven pour the filling in the bottom of a 4 quart casserole dish, add topping.

Before you sit down to eat, pop the crumble in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes, almost the exact amount of time it takes to eat your dinner!

Serve with Vanilla Ice Cream or we like Haagen Daz Frozen Vanilla Yogurt.

Love PND? Please support our work and take a minute to visit our sponsor hessnatur – a world leader in the natural clothing industry. They are offering 25% off, plus free shipping and returns through Dec 29, 2009!

The offer a great selection of organic and natural fashions for the whole family.

Diva Recipes: Pumpkin Pie & Apple Crumble

Diva Recipes: Thanksgiving Menu

By Tania Reuben

Last year I spent hours choosing the recipes I would use for Thanksgiving.  Everything turned out  well.  Being a creature of habit.  We’ll have the same menu this year.

Take advantage of my time investment and relax instead of planning your holiday menu.  It’s all here, the recipes (or links) and the shopping list for linked recipes.

Brined Turkey

I was nervous so I decided to follow Martha on this one.  I’m glad I did, it turned out great. CLICK HERE for full instructions.

What I love about Martha’s instructions is how complete they are – they’ll make you look good!

Read the Diva Guide – Let’s talk Turkey for information on selecting the perfect turkey for your holiday meal.

Shopping List:

Brine:
1-3/4 cups coarse salt
1 cup sugar
3 medium onions
3 leeks
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
bay leaves
thyme
flat-leaf parsley
whole black peppercorns

To Prep the Turkey:
1 fresh whole turkey
2 sticks unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups dry
white wine
salt
pepper

Stuffing

I like the stuffing I grew up with, which has no chestnuts, so I don’t go with Martha on the stuffing front. I do use whole wheat bread cubes to make it a little better for you. This one is modified from Betty Crocker.

Note: If stuffing will cook in your turkey (ours will), prepare the stuffing immediately before you are going to put the turkey in the oven.

12 Cups of Whole Wheat Bread – Cubed (Mom makes her own sometimes)
3/4 Cup unsalted butter
3/4 Cup minced onion
1 1/2 Cups chopped celery, stalks and leaves
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
1 Teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon ground sage
Organic chicken broth – Enough to moisten to your taste.

In a cast iron pan or other pan over medium heat melt the butter, then sauté the onion and celery until the onion is soft, stirring occasionally. Stir in the salt, pepper, and sage and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Place the bread cubes into a large, deep bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of the butter/celery mixture over the cubes – toss well.

Repeat steps until all of the butter mixture is used. Toss the cubes thoroughly to coat.

Add Chicken Broth a little at a time until you reach your desired moistness. Stuff turkey immediately before roasting.

Don’t place warm stuffing into a turkey that is going to sit out – it needs to go immediately into the oven.

Gravy

I go with Martha Stewart on the gravy front too! Classic, step by step easy to follow instructions. CLICK HERE.

Shopping List:
Reserved giblets and neck from turkey
unsalted butter
2 celery stalks
1 carrot
1 leek
1 medium onion
thyme
flat-leaf parsley
rosemary
bay leaf
whole black peppercorns
3/4 cup dry white wine
all-purpose flour
salt
pepper

Cranberry Sauce

This recipe from RecipeZaar CLICK HERE couldn’t be any easier.  It calls for 1 cup of sugar, I always start with less and add more to taste. This is a dish that is easy to prepare a few days in advance.

Shopping List:
I bag of Cranberries
Sugar

Candied Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is modified from a recipe that I found on the wholefoods site.  I cut back the butter and sugar, omitted the ginger and don’t use any toppings – Don’t call me a kill joy, I figure my kids already love, love sweet potatoes so why add even more sugar.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup golden brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place potatoes in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.

Combine butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Pour mixture over sweet potatoes and toss to coat. Cover dish well with foil.

Bake 50 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until potatoes are tender and syrup thickens a bit (basting occasionally) about 20 minutes.

Serves 8

Mashed Potatoes

I prepare a pretty basic mashed potato.

2 lbs of Potatoes
2 Tablespoons of Butter
1/4 Milk
1 Teaspoon of Salt (to taste)
1/2 Teaspoon of White Pepper (to taste)

Peel and Cut Potatoes – Do this a up to 4 days in advance. Cover and store until showtime.

About an hour before the turkey is done, boil potatoes until cooked – don’t overcook or they’ll be mushy. Drain and rinse.

Place in a mixing bowl, add butter, milk, salt and white pepper. Mash. I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer, on slow – until just mashed – does a great job.

Corn

Organic Frozen Corn – I medium bag.
1 tablespoon of Butter
1/2 Cup of Water

Throw the corn with the water and butter together and roast for about 1/2 hour towards the end of your turkey cooking.

Salad

With so much going on a simple salad is nice.

Mixed Washed Organic Spring Greens
1/2 Cup of Dried Cranberries
1/2 Cup of Shredded Carrots
1/2 Cup of Feta Cheese

Serve with Raspberry Vinaigrette – I don’t make my own.

Whole Wheat Rolls

Frozen – Whole Foods sells a whole wheat roll in the freezer section that is par cooked. You finish them in the oven. I love the fresh baked rolls without having to make them from scratch.

DESSERT RECIPES -  CLICK HERE

Apple Crumble a la mode
Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream

Dessert Shopping List:
Mix of Apples
Oatmeal
Flour
Brown Sugar
Lemon Juice
Butter
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
All Spice
Ground Ginger
Ground Cloves
Vanilla
Brandy
Pumpkin – I use whole sugar pumpkins If using canned you’ll need enough for 3 cups.
2 Eggs
2 Cans of Evaporated (non fat) Milk
Whipping Cream
Whole Wheat Frozen Pie Crust – Not willing to take on pastry yet!

Final Notes

Make the holiday meal preparation easy on yourself, prepare as much as possible in advance. Peel and cut the potatoes & sweet potatoes in advance cover them with water and store chilled till needed, prepare the filling and topping for apple crumble the day before, shred the carrots for the salad in advance. This way on Thanksgiving you’ll be working on the things that can’t be done in advance.

Love PND? Please support our work and take a minute to visit our sponsor hessnatur – a world leader in the natural clothing industry. They are offering 25% off, plus free shipping and returns through Dec 29, 2009!

The offer a great selection of organic and natural fashions for the whole family.

Diva Recipes: Thanksgiving Menu

Plan Toys: A Different Kind of Toy Company

By Tania Reuben

Plan Toys is one of a handful of green companies in the toy business.  They make high quality toys that will inspire creativity in your child from birth through to about six years of age.  As a parent, when your child plays with Plan Toys you can have confidence the toys are safe in all the ways that matter.

Last year we wanted to buy a Parking Garage for Lil’ Dude, after great deliberation we settled on the Plan Toys Parking Garage.  This was a more expensive choice, but all the other brands seemed poorly made, and most were made of plastic.

The Plan Toys Garage is classic.  It has a working elevator and in the past year it’s survived the wear and tear of my two children and it still looks as good as new.  It’s nice to know this toy will have a life in the future with another family.

One of the pegs that holds the ramp in place on fell off, a quick email to customer service and they were on it – no questions asked – just where can we send the part.

Plan toys are made from recycled wood.  Rubber wood is planted to produce latex, typically when it’s finished producing latex the wood is burned. Not if it’s going to become a Plan Toy!

The Rubber Wood destined to become a Plan Toy isn’t fertilized for the last 3 years of growth to ensure that it’s toxin free. Then the wood is kiln dried without the use of chemicals.

The toys are assembled using E-Zero glue this replaces traditionally toxic wood glue.  Then Plan Toys are decorated using Non Toxic Water based dyes.

You probably still won’t want your children chewing on their toys, but at least when they do gnaw a little, you’ll have peace of mind.

As you make toy purchasing decisions for your family, consider the merits of spending a little more, buying a little less, and taking care of what you have so it can be passed along to friends and family for years to come.  Plan Toys makes that kind of toy.

CLICK HERE – to the best prices for Plan Toys from Amazon.

Plan Toys: A Different Kind of Toy Company