Mindful Momma

New Sponsor: Pure Play Kids (+ a Giveaway!)

Got kids in your life?  Then you'll want to know about my fabulous new sponsor, Pure Play Kids. 

Pure Play Kids sells kid-powered products designed to encourage and enrich imagination and creativity.  That means no batteries, electronic sounds or flashing lights.  No licensed characters, TV tie-ins or cheap, plastic crap.  Instead they offer durable toys made in the United States and Europe out of high-quality, sustainable, non-toxic materials - all with pure play value for kids!

From dress ups

to kitchen tools

to garden, craft and other activity kits

and much, much more....Pure Play Kids offers an impressive assortment of toys and gifts for kids from infant on up!! 

Like what you see?  Tania and Mike, the owners of Pure Play Kids have offered up a $50 gift certificate to one lucky Mindful Momma reader!  Wow - wouldn't it be fun to browse through their online catalog and pick out a few things? 

Leave a comment letting me know which products you love most and you'll be automatically registered to win.  Additional entries for subscribing to Mindful Momma via RSS feed or email, subscribing to the Pure Play Kids newsletter (in the upper left hand corner of the website home page) and following Mindful Momma and Pure Play Kids on Twitter.  That's 5 chances per person if you do everything (please leave a separate comment for each - it makes tracking so much easier!)  The contest will run through midnight central time on Monday, March 7th.

Even if you don't win be sure to bookmark Pure Play Kids as a go-to site for kids gifts of all shapes and sizes.  Here's a little extra incentive:  a 15% discount through March 30th.  Just use the code MM15 at checkout!

The winner is Sarah from sarahpinneo.com who especially loves the beeswax crayons.

Creamy Soups and Other Things

Hello friends!  Perhaps you've noticed that I haven't posted for awhile.  Maybe you wondered if I was on a fabulous vacation to Mexico or decided to take an extended blogging break.  Not true - but I'd like to explain. You see my world has been turned a bit upside down lately.  My father is really, really sick.  We don't know how much time he has left so I've been spending as much time as possible with him and my Mom in Wisconsin.  Blogging and other social media and many other things have been put on the back burner.

Meanwhile, I have been making creamy soups.  My Dad really enjoys them.  On a recent visit I made a creamy potato and leek soup from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything cookbook.  It was very good.  Especially with a little bacon crumbled over the top!  I also made something similar to this Creamy White Bean and Chorizo Soup recipe I found on Epicurious.   I used leeks instead of onions and sweet Italian sausage instead of chorizo because my Dad is not fond of spicy foods. 

But the real secret to creamy soups is an immersion blender.  My Mom has one and I have fallen in love with this amazing little gadget. It whips up a puree in no time - right in the cooking pot!  I know what I want for Christmas! (wink*wink)

Anyway, now you know why I might not be online as much as usual.  Give a kiss to everyone special in your life - life is precious!

{image from peta.org}

(there are Amazon affiliate links in this post)

A Greener Dry Cleaning and Laundry Service Experience

Long before we got hitched, my husband knew that I wasn't going to be the type of wife who would iron his dress shirts.  Thank goodness, he married me anyway.  So about once a week, my husband hauls his shirts in to be laundered. That plus the occasional dry cleaning, means that we are pretty regular customers at our local environmentally-friendly dry cleaning & laundry business. 

How do we make the whole experience greener?  Here are a few tips:

• Avoid PERC - Traditional dry-cleaning services use a scary sounding chemical called perchloroethylene (commonly known as PERC) to do the job. It's a volatile organic compound (VOC) and a "probable human carcinogen".  Fumes are harmful to inhale and it's an environmental toxin as well.
• Go Green - Opt for a "greener" dry cleaner that uses non-traditional methods such as carbon dioxide (C02), professional wet cleaning or liquid silicone.  For more info, see this helpful chart comparing various dry cleaning methods.
• Skip the Plastic - Invest in a Green Garmento or similar reusable laundry bag.  Use it in duffle-bag mode to carry your clothes to the store.  Then the cleaner will use the Green Garmento as a hanging garment bag to protect your clothes - eliminating the need for plastic!  Most dry cleaners are happy to accept them.  My husband is a convert!
• Recycle hangers - Most dry cleaners take back hangers - so just do it! 
• Hand wash - Even when the label says dry clean, you may be able to carefully wash the item by hand.  Read Annie Bond's excellent tutorial for how to wet-clean silk, wool and rayon.

{Full Disclosure:  We received a free Green Garmento bag for review.  After trying it out, we promptly headed to the store and bought another!}

A Passion for Blogging

My assignment for the Green Moms Carnival this month was to explain why I love to blog in 250 words or less.  Instead of attempting to wax poetic about the wonderful world of blogging or try to explain why on earth I spend so much time on something that barely brings in enough money to cover the hosting fees, I figured I'd try something different.  I created a Wordle using all the words that come to mind when I think about why I blog.  I think it tells my story pretty well!

Have you ever made a Wordle?  They are addicting! 

The Green Moms Carnival will be hosted this month by Karen at Best of Mother Earth starting on Monday, February 14th - Valentine's Day!!

Green & Healthy Roundup: All About Food!

This week's roundup of green & healthy news and information from around the web is all on the subject of food...

Gina at the Feed Our Families blog wrote about food dyes in a couple of posts this week.  She discusses the negative health effects of food dyes, gives some examples from Robin O'Brien's book The Unhealthy Truth and provides some tips for avoiding artificial colors in children's snacks and drinks.

Speaking of children's snacks - have you heard of Funky Monkey?  It's a dehydrated fruit snack that crunches!  We were sent some free samples to try and they are really good.  No artificial colors or flavors - just 100% fruit with some natural flavors like cinnamon or lime.  The Jivealime (pineapple with lime) is my favorite!

News of fake blueberries in cereal and baked goods has been spreading around the web like wildfire.  Apparently blueberry-like "crunchlets", made using dyes, oils and gums are a cheap stand-in for the real fruit.  Surprised?  I'm not.  Upon reading about this I immediately checked my box of Kashi cereal with blueberry clusters.  I'm happy to report that it DOES contain real blueberries although they are clearly mashed and mixed with oats to make the clusters - there are no whole blueberries to be found!

Would you like your child to grow up to be a foodie?  Get your kids up to speed on important food words like locovore, quinoa and dragon fruit with this adorable board book, My Foodie ABC.  I'm getting a stash of these to save for gifts!

Finally, It's hard not to feel jealous when I watch video clips from the Lunch Love Community - a project documenting the Berkeley School Lunch Initiative.  I wish my kids could eat like this at school!

 

Also - don't miss their flamin' hot Cheeto video - you'll never want to eat a Cheeto again!

(disclosure:  this post contains affiliate links)

Valentine's Day is Coming - Have You Bought Your Chocolate Yet? (Win Some!)

Last year I wrote a ton about sustainable chocolate for Valentine's Day - in three different posts. This year I'm going to keep it simple. 

First of all I want to make sure you know about the two new Equal Exchange chocolate bars on the market: Dark Chocolate from Ecuador (65% cocoa content) and Chocolate Caramel Crunch with Sea Salt (55% cocoa content).  Both are Fair Trade and Organic and both live up to the super high standards that I've always found Equal Exchange to uphold (delicious is an understatement!)  Also the Ecuador bar is vegan - if that's something that matters to you. 

Second, I want to pass on a coupon code for $5 off a case of Equal Exchange chocolate.  Use the code chocolate5 at checkout anytime now through February 28th, 2011.  Perfect for a Valentine's Day gift or just to stock up the pantry!

Third, I am excited to offer a giveaway of an Equal Exchange Mixed Chocolate Box.  The lucky winner will get 6 assorted chocolate bars wrapped up in a paper box with a raffia tie - ready to give to your special someone!!  The winner will be chosen randomly from the comments.  For a chance to win let me know why Fair Trade and Organic matter to you. Extra entries for subscribing to Mindful Momma by RSS feed or email and following me on Twitter (three chances total per person - leave a separate comment for each).  The giveaway will run through midnight, central time on Sunday, February 6th, 2011.  If all goes well, the winner will receive their prize just in time for Valentine's Day!

{Full disclosure:  I received 2 free bars of Equal Exchange chocolate for review.  Also, I just joined the Equal Exchange affiliate program. If you purchase product through the links in this post or through the ad in the right sidebar, you will be helping me support my blogging habit....and for that I thank you!}

And the winner is....Michelle who said "Fair Trade and organic matter to me, because it's not only good for me, it's also good for someone else and it almost always tastes better too."