Birthday Wish: Strawberry Themed Party Menu

Birthday Wish:  Healthier Party Food

Just because you’re serving up cake doesn’t mean you can’t treat your guests to healthier choices next time you throw a party.  For inspiration – check out this menu from Lil Diva’s recent Water Celebration 6th Birthday Party!

Birthday Wish: Summer Inspired Strawberry Theme

Strawberries are Lil Diva’s favorite fruit. They are also gorgeous and the perfect fruit to feature for the fete. We placed heaping bowls everywhere. They made a stunning edible focal point and the perfect healthy summertime snack option for our guests. We kept the strawberries chilled & fresh all day by placing a cup full of ice in each vase – the glass was then hidden by the berries.

Birthday Wish:  Healthier Menu

Healthier Snacks,

• Featuring Strawberries… everywhere.
• Watermelon and Grapes.
• Veggie Platter with Baby Carrots, Snap Peas, Mushrooms & Baby Tomatoes
• Whole Grain Pita Chips, Organic Tortilla Chips and Veggies Straws
• Dips; Hummus, Guacamole, and Salsa.

Dinner

• Hamburgers made with Grass Fed Beef, and micro Diced Veggies on Whole Wheat Buns – Recipe Posting Sept 22, 2011!
• Hot Dogs made with all natural uncured beef hot dogs on Whole Wheat Buns.
• Tossed Salad with Dressing
• Spinach Salad with Feta Cheese & Fresh Strawberry, served with a raspberry vinaigrette.
• Macaroni and Cheese made with 100% whole grain pasta, and real sharp cheddar.
• Onion Rings, Sweet Potato Fries and Sweet Potato Waffle Fries from Alexia Natural Foods.
• Vanilla Cake with Custard Filling and Butter Cream Frosting.

Beverages

We borrowed 2 – 3 Gallon Drink Dispensers from a neighbor and filled them with:

• Strawberry Lemonade
• Water

Chef Philip Baer Helps Feed Hungry Guests!

 

Strawberry Spinach Salad

 

Birthday Wish: Edible Centerpieces

Because we were raising funds for Charity Water.  The California Strawberry Commission sent gorgeous strawberries.  They truly inspired the theme and became a gorgeous focal point for the event!

 

This event was made more successful due to the participation of our brand partners.

• Episencial donated $125, and sent bubble bath for everyone – if you need a super pure baby skincare products be sure to check them out!
• Mabel’s Labels sent the cutest individually named loot bag label packs
• The California Strawberry Commission sent 42 pounds of strawberries
• Alexia Foods sent some sweet potato fries & onion rings
• Rudi’s Bakery sent bread products for the Barbecue!

What is your Birthday Wish?

Green

Green: More than a Color

Green – is a color, but these days for most people it invokes so much.  One little 5 letter word,  interpreted many ways.

What Does Green Mean To You?

Personally for many years… being green wasn’t positive in my mind , nor was it anything I endeavored to incorporate into my life.  It was something that my mom did.  If you  asked me what I thought the word green meant, I would have said it’s for other people,, but not me.  Those people I might have considered  activist, treehugger’s – extremist who were convinced the sky is falling because a kernel of corn dropped on their head. I’ve come a long way.

Now, as the editor of a healthy living eco savvy lifestyle website, suffice it to say my perception has changed – just a little.

Is Green:

• a lifestyle
• a movement
• a trend

Does being green make you:

• Hip
• Crazy
• An Activist
• An Environmentalist
• Savvy

I asked  friends, What Does Green Mean to you?

“Making the best choices I can with the knowledge I have while trying to learn more every day.”

Amy Lupold Blair

“Chemical free, hormone free, as mother nature and God intended it to be.”

Lisa Morris Frame

“Being as earth friendly as possible – no chemicals, eating healthy foods”

Erin Carnahan Lane

“Green to me means that you make choices that contribute to the well being of the Earth and environment.”

Kadi Cobb Prescott

“Leaving the earth a better place than I found it. Cleaning up after myself like my mama taught me.”

Robin Elton

“Thinking about the environmental impact of purchases, research, and saving money by keeping it simple (IE less boxed food=less waste/recycling).”

Kelly Gehrmann Whalen

“Green means everything in it’s purest form. Whether that being food, products or a person.”

Shana Dieli

“Green means caring about your carbon footprint and doing what you can to reduce your negative impact on Earth.”

Stacie Haight Connerty

“To me green is  like the old camp saying, “Leave no trace.” I want to leave my little part of the world a little better and a little cleaner than it was when I arrived. Being green is not just about recycling or using less energy, eating organic foods or walking instead of driving. It’s a state of mind.”

Lolli Franklin

“Green means back to basics – back to our roots – feeding and thriving off natural products, natural foods, baking from scratch instead of processed, using nature instead of artificial, cheaper products and harmful toxins.”

Lisa Douglas

On Facebook and Twitter we  heard

Money, Lifestyle, Booger (someone’s son had a cold!), conscious, Sustainable, healthy and Safe for our kids.

One Fan went on to say “I think that people used to associate the word “green” with having to sacrifice something they did not want to or be inconvenienced in some way, but slowly I think more people understand that going green is not near as difficult to incorporate in their life as they originally thought.”

Isn’t it fascinating!  One word can bring so many meanings.

 

So…you may be wondering.  What does green mean to me?  I think it’s all about action.  What do we do with the information we take in on a daily basis.  Attempting to live in a mindful and conscious manner.

What Green Commitment Can You Make Today?

Let’s Talk Turkey: Choosing Your Holiday Bird

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!

Image Courtesy of Tuchodi

Many supermarkets offer free turkeys as a holiday promotion.  I now splurge and  buy a free range organic 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.

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:

Mary’s Certified Organic – ate an organic diet $3.69 per pound.
Mary’s Natural Free Range $2.29 per pound.
Diestel Free Range $2.69 per pound.
Heidi’s Organic $3.99 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.
Organic Turkey’s $4.49 per pound.
Free Range Turkey’s for $3.22 per pound (Delivered to your door!).

Spud has extended the following offer to 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).

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

The Farmer’s Market!

If you are lucky enough to have a farmer’s market with a poultry vendor, chances are good that they will offer turkeys. Our local vendor was pre-ordering for $3.99 per pound.

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 typically serve for Thanksgiving & Christmas Dinner.

Thanksgiving Menu: Recipes for the Whole Menu

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.

Turkey Dinner

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.

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

10 Americans

This is a great presentation by the President of the EWG, Ken Cook.
The risk of Cancer in the United States is higher than any other country in the world. Invest a few minutes to watch this video. For the health and safety of your family – it’s eye opening.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

A Guide to Safe Suncreen

Summer is coming – which sunscreen will you slather on your skin?

Sunscreen is a product that we are encouraged to use to protect ourselves from harmful UV rays while enjoying the outdoors. If you’re a parent, it’s likely you are even more concerned about protecting your children’s sensitive skin and making the safest choice possible.

But what to do we really know about the safety of the products we are choosing – in my research – it seems clear that we don’t know enough.

Note – be prepared when switching to safer sunscreens you are going to move into products that are going to be thicker, whiter and slower to absorb that other sunscreen choices.  This is because they rely on a high concentration of zinc oxide or titanium dioxide to block the suns rays.

Look for:
At least 7% zinc oxide or titanium dioxide for UVA & UVB protection.

What to Avoid:
Spray and Powder Sunscreen
Sunscreen insect repellent combo – pesticides absorbing into your body
Ingredients; Oxybenzone or benzophenone-3, skin absorption, allergies, hormone problems
Brands; Coppertone, Banana Boat and Most Neutrogena

From the EWG:
No one understands the health implications of our exposures to complex mixtures of industrial compounds and pollutants: remarkably, federal health standards do not require companies to test most products for safety before they are sold, including nearly all chemicals in sunscreen and other personal care products. Little is known about the safety of most industrial chemicals. In the absence of data the federal government approves new chemicals for the market using computer models to predict if they are toxic to humans.

After 30 years of debate,the government has failed to set mandatory sunscreen safety standards. Companies are free to make their own decisions on everything from advertising claims to product quality. FDA now stands in direct violation of a Congressional mandate requiring the agency to finalize sunscreen safety standards by May 2006, flouting not only Congress but also consumers, who are reliant on sunscreen to protect their health.

EWG’s Top Ten List:

Blue Lizard
California Baby (SPF 30 or Higher)
CVS (with zinc oxide
Jason Natural Cosmetics – Sunbrellas Mineral Based Sunblock
Kiss My Face – Paraben Free series
Neutrogena – Sensative Skin Sunblock
Olay Defense Daily UV Moisturizer with zinc
SkinCeuticals Physical UV Defense
Solar Sense Clear Zinc for Face
Walgreens Zinc Oxide for Face, Nose, & Ears

My Picks:

After studying the EWG’s extensive list the following products have an EWG score of 0-3 for toxicity. My selections are for individual products, not the brands in general, as brand scores can vary widely.

Natural:
Jason Natural Cosmetics Sunbrellas: Mineral Based Physical Sunblock SPF 30+
Kiss My Face Sunscreen Spf#30 + With Oat Protein 100% Paraben Free
Nature’s Gate Organics Be Solective Sunscreen for Face, SPF 30
All California Baby Sunscreens

Luxury
Dermalogica Super Sensitive Face Block, SPF 30
Mustela Sun Cream for Sensitive Areas, SPF 50
Kiehl’s All-Sport ‘non-Freeze’ Face Protector, SPF 30
DDF Organic Sunblock, SPF 30

Value:
CVS Sunscreen with Zinc Oxide, SPF 45+
Walgreens Sunblock with Zinc Oxide for Face, Nose & Ears, SPF 45+
Olay Complete Defense Daily UV Moisturizer, SPF 30 – Available at my Target
No-Ad Ultra Sunblock Lotion, SPF 60

If you must use a spray – these are your best bets:
Almay Sun Protector for Body Spray, SPF 30
Dermalogica Waterblock Solar Spray, SPF 30
Banana Boat Ultra Mist Kid’s Tear Free Continuous Spray Sunblock Lotion, SPF 30 – Only SPF 30 the SPF 50 is rated 9!

Shopping at Target:
I was recently at target, they had walls of sunscreen. I could only find one of the above products – After an hour of research using my telephone I was able to find 2 sunscreens that were an EWG 3 and the lowest score for a spray was a 5.
Coppertone WaterBabies Pure & Simple – SPF 50 – oil, fragrance & dye free
Neutrogena Sensitive Skin Sunblock Lotion – SPF 60+
Banana Boat Kids Continuous Spray Sunscreen – SPF 50

To learn more:
www.ewg.org/cosmetics/report/sunscreen09

I don’t like “Organic”

The Quest to Find the Perfect Organic – Isn’t Always A Smooth One

Did you ever taste a cookie you didn’t like?  Probably.

What about ice cream, do you enjoy EVERY flavor? Probably Not.

We all have our own unique tastes and preferences.  Many Australian children grow up loving Vegemite a dark viscous yeast spread that would make the average American child run screaming from the kitchen.  These same Aussie youngsters may find peanut butter peculiar.

It’s all a matter of what you grow up with, what you are accustomed, tastes,  and preferences.

"I don't like it"

I’ve noticed  a tendency for people to dismiss a whole entire category of foods & products strictly because the have had a bad experience with one item in the category.

• They will eat one Organic Cookie that isn’t to their taste and swear off ALL Organic Cookies.
• They will try an Organic Moisturizer that causes a breakout and swear off all Organic Moisturizers.

My simplistic definition of Organic is something grown without the use of pesticides.

• Don’t like a particular Organic Cookie?  It’s the recipe!  It has nothing to do with lack of pesticides on the oatmeal used in the recipe!
• If a moisturizer makes you breakout – it likely wasn’t the right formulation for your skin and had nothing to do with the lack of pesticides used for one of the ingredients.

Once you’ve decided to make the transition to organic and natural products – expect it to take time to find the perfect formulation for your skin, the right recipe for your taste buds.  Don’t give up because you don’t connect on your first attempt.

Additionally – when you are trying something new take advantage of retailers with excellent return policies, such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes.  Keep the receipt and they are more than happy to take a return on a product that wasn’t right for you.  So you can try it and take it back if it doesn’t work out.

Share Your Organic Journey with Us!

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