Mindful Momma

Green Discoveries

Do you have big plans for the weekend? My just-turned 7 year old is having a "hatchday" party at our local Raptor Center. I love that he is into animals and nature! Instead of goodie bags filled with cheap, plastic junk we bought each child a wooden build-it-yourself animal kit. They are inexpensive at the craft stores.

Here are a few things for your weekend reading pleasure...

Toxins in the News

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but now there's even more reason to avoid toxic BPA in products and food. BPA exposure during pregnancy has been linked to anxious, depressive and hyperactive behaviors in girls.  

Halloween Craft

Avoid PVC-laden face paints by whipping up your own non-toxic face paint using this handy tutorial by Jennie from Sweet Greens - posted on Inhabitots.

New Blog Discovery

If you like to craft (or just drool over cool crafts), I think you'll love The Crafty Nest. She's got some fun Halloween craft ideas and a weekly Do Something Crafty Friday link-up. I just linked my felted sweater coasters craft up there!

Post on the Clear Conscience Blog

I've got a new post up on the Clear Conscience blog published by J.R. Watkins Naturals. It's all about ways for reducing waste at home. Try some of the tips and see how low your garbage can go!

Giveaway!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a free Lifefactory glass bottle. It's an awesome gift from my new blog sponsor - Essential Safe Products!

Hope you have a green & healthy weekend!

{image credit: Pampered Delights via flickr using Creative Commons}

Eat Non-Toxic: A New eBook by Katy Farber of Non-Toxic Kids

If you have kids in your life, I'm sure you will agree that nothing is more important than the health of those special little humans! And what impacts health more than the food they eat every day? Yet so many of the food choices we are faced with are less than healthy. Cheetos anyone?

Fortunately for us, Katy Farber, author of the popular blog Non-Toxic Kids has whipped up a delicious little eBook that's all about feeding kids a greener, healthier, non-toxic diet. It's called Eat Non-Toxic: A Manual for Busy Parents.

This handy eBook covers the gamut - from breastfeeding to school lunches and everything in between. Here's a sneak peek at what you will find inside:

• Learn why it's important to avoid toxic chemicals in food and products used to cook, store and carry food.
• Find out where unwanted chemicals lurk - they hide in some surprising places - and how to avoid them.
• Discover how to get more healthy, organic, real foods into your family's diet.
• Tips for better, safer products for feeding your family.
• Tired Parent Cliff Notes - for the quick scoop on best practices for non-toxic eating.

Katy was even kind enough to mention my book as a good resource for healthy, homemade snacks. Thank you Katy!!

BUY IT!

Eat Non-Toxic is on sale for 25% off of the $9.99 price through Friday of this week (October 28th). Download a copy today!

(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of Eat Non-Toxic in exchange for my honest opinion. There are affiliate links in this post. If you make a purchase, I will get a small percentage of the proceeds. Thank you!)

New Sponsor: Essential Safe Products {+ Lifefactory Glass Bottle Giveaway!}

Please join me in welcoming my newest sponsor: Essential Safe Products!

Started by a mother of 6 who transformed her own kitchen into a safe and healthy place to cook and eat, Essential Safe Products (ESP for short!) is a one-stop shopping place for non-toxic kitchenware and food storage products. Let me give you a little peek into what this cool little company has to offer:

• Stainless steel and cast iron cookware and bakeware by quality brands like American Kitchen and Lodge.
• Bamboo cutting boards and tableware including this beautiful bamboo salad or serving bowl.
• Glass bakeware and food storage containers in many shapes and sizes.
• Various types of high quality cook's tools and mixing bowls - I especially like the WMF stainless steel cooking utensils.
• Both glass and stainless steel BPA-free drinking bottles from a variety of reputable manufacturers.

Plus the ESP website has a bunch of helpful info on chemicals to avoid in the kitchen and tips for making your kitchen as safe as possible. Check out their blog - A Cup of ESP for even more valuable information.

The nice folks at ESP sent me a cookie sheet from the American Kitchen collection and after testing it with a batch of peanut butter cookies, everyone in my house gives it two thumbs up! It cleans up easily and is not coated with a toxic non-stick coating like so many cookie sheets are these days. I've also used American Kitchen cookware - my mother has a few pieces and they are wonderful!

See something you like? Use the code ESP2 for 20% off your entire purchase!

WIN IT!!

Essential Safe Products has a little welcome gift for one Mindful Momma reader! They are giving away a Lifefactory glass bottle in the color and size of the winner's choice! For a chance to win, leave me a comment with your favorite product from the ESP website.

Additional entries for:

• Sharing the giveaway on Facebook
• Tweeting about the giveaway using @MindfulMomma and @acupofESP in the tweet. (sample tweet: Win a glass Lifefactory bottle from @acupofESP on the @MindfulMomma blog! http://ht.ly/78sw4 Pls RT!
• Subscribing to Mindful Momma via RSS feed or email
• Liking my Mindful Momma Facebook Page
• Liking Essential Safe Products on Facebook

That's 6 entries per person (please leave a separate comment for each thing you do). Winners must have a U.S. shipping address. The giveaway will be open through midnight CST on Tuesday, November 1st.

(Full Disclosure: Essential Safe Products is an advertising client of Mindful Momma. They also sent me a free cookie sheet in exchange for my honest opinion.)

Congratulations to Christine - who chose a 16-oz Lifefactory bottle in turquoise!! If you didn't win, don't forget you can get a 20% discount on an order from ESP using the code ESP2 at checkout!

Easy Eco-Tip: Buy Meat from the Butcher

Every time I come home with something in styrofoam I just cringe. Styrofoam (or polystyrene) is one of the worst plastics around. Not only does styrene, the building block of styrofoam, cause brain and nervous system disorders, but the icky material does not biodegrade and is rarely recycled.

One place where styrofoam sometimes creeps into my life is when I buy meat at the grocery store. Ready-to-buy packages of chicken breasts, pork chops or other meats almost always have a styrofoam tray on the bottom.

What can you do to avoid styrofoam in meat packages? Buy meat at your local butcher or the meat counter at your grocery store or food co-op. They will wrap it up in butcher paper instead. Not only do you skip the styro but I'm betting that the meat's fresher too. Win-Win!

I'm trying harder to avoid styrofoam and buy meat packaged in butcher paper - how about you?

(Image credit: cafemom via flickr)

An Historic Trip to J.R. Watkins Naturals

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the headquarters of the J.R. Watkins Naturals Company in Winona, Minnesota. They invited me and four other bloggers to spend a couple days getting to know the products and the history of the company. Believe me, there was a lot to learn because this company has been around for over 140 years!

With my first step into the historic company administration building, I knew this was going to be a memorable trip. Built in 1912 by Prairie School architect George Washington Maher, the building is beyond gorgeous.


Even more amazing is that the company's original factory buildings are connected to the office building and are still in use to this day! The factory tour was a special treat for me because I am a total factory geek - I LOVE seeing how things are made!

The Watkins factory is unique because it is on multiple levels rather than all one level as most modern factories. This allows them to use sustainable, gravity-fed filling processes. Products get mixed on one level, then fed downstairs through big pipes and into the fill machines. We happened to be there when the Tub & Tile Cleaner was being filled.

After the tour, we sat down with company president, Mark Jacobs and other Watkins executives to chat products. We asked some tough questions about ingredients and the use of the term natural in personal care and home products. I was happy to learn that the company is truly dedicated to living up to the natural designation on their famous apothecary-style labels. In the last couple years many products have been reformulated and they have been working to get the Natural Products Association Certified seal on the majority of their personal care and home care products. (I'll be writing more about this topic soon - there is a lot to know!)

We also got to hang out in the company test kitchen and sample new products, like this brand new baby line that will be hitting stores in December:

No blogger trip would be complete without some wining and dining (or so I am told - this was my first blogger trip!) and the J.R. Watkins team did a fabulous job of making that happen. We stayed in the historic Alexander Mansion where we were treated to a bag of Watkins goodies and chocolate & Bailey's at bedtime.

Last but not least - what a treat to spend time with these wonderful bloggers: (from left to right) - Jodi from Mom's Favorite Stuff, Kiersten from The Type A Housewife, Jennifer from Savoring the Thyme and Lori from Groovy Green Livin (I'm the tall one, second from the right). 

I'm looking forward to sharing more about J.R. Watkins Naturals - it's a really cool company and there is a lot to share!

Have you ever tried J.R. Watkins Naturals products? What's your favorite?

Image credit for top photo of Watkins building - Jodi Grundig of Mom's Favorite Stuff.

(Full Disclosure: The J.R. Watkins company paid for this trip in exchange for my honest opinion.  I was not compensated in any other way.)

Easy Eco-Craft: Felted Coasters

This easy eco-craft is perfect for a child's birthday party or for a child to give as holiday gifts to friends or relatives. All you need are some felted sweaters (find directions for felting wool sweaters in this post from a few years back), some embroidery thread, a pin or two and a large sewing needle.  Then follow these simple directions:

1. Cut squares out of felted sweater material for coaster base.
2. Cut shapes out of felted material in contrasting colors. I use cookie cutters to create a cardboard template for the shapes - hearts, stars or whatever you like!
3. Have your child choose a coaster base, a decorative shape and some embroidery thread.
4. Pin the shape on the square.
5. Help them thread the needle and get them started sewing.
6. Tie the thread in a knot on the bottom when they are finished.

Voila! A pretty, easy, eco-friendly, handmade gift! My almost 7 year old son whipped up a few of these the other day in a jiffy. Frankly, I was surprised at how much he enjoyed sewing - he kept wanting to make more! I did this for an event at the boy's school as well and it was big fun!

Do you ever make eco-crafts with your kids? What's your favorite idea?

Looking for more DIY ideas? My Make It Green page lists all of my DIY crafts and recipes in one place!

(This post is linked up to Do Something Crafty Friday on The Crafty Nest and Your Green Resource at The Greenbacks Gal and the DIY round-up on Healthy Child Healthy World)

A Maple Syrup Tasting

When it comes to pancakes, my boys are kind of spoiled. Rarely, has artificially flavored syrup ever passed through their lips. Real maple syrup is a staple in our kitchen, largely because my husband's brother Bill and his wife make their own maple syrup just over the border in Wisconsin. We buy large canning jars full and keep it in the pantry for whenever the need strikes...which is pretty often!

We recently had a chance to do a taste-testing of maple syrup from Crown Maple Syrup and our boys were super excited! Crown Maple Syrup is created and certified organic in the Hudson River Valley in New York State. They make three varieties or grades: Light Amber, Medium Amber and Dark Amber. We sampled all three with Uncle Bill's syrup in the mix as well.

We tasted each type separately on spoons - except John (a former wine buyer) who tasted in a wine glass. They boys tried it on vanilla ice cream too. Here's what we thought:

Crown Light Amber: Had the greatest complexity. Carmelly. Notes of wood and sharpened pencil (wine guy). Everyone's favorite!

Crown Medium Amber: A more uniform flavor. Smokier, coffee overtones, gingerbread.

Crown Dark Amber: Thicker like corn syrup. Molasses, vanilla and coffee flavors. "Smells like pancakes" (6 year old)

Uncle Bill's syrup: Smokier than the others. Tastes like it was cooked in the woods (and it was!)

Bottom line, we wouldn't turn down a bottle of any of them - they were all delicious! Pure maple syrup may seem like a splurge but it is so much better and healthier than the fake stuff it's not even funny. If you need more convincing, check out this article on Mother Nature Network about the benefits of buying real maple syrup - it has essential minerals, calcium and may event help prevent type-2 diabetes.

Interested in doing your own maple syrup sampling? Try the Crown Maple Trio - one bottle of each of the three types.

Do you use pure maple syrup at home? What's your favorite type? Is it hard to justify the cost or completely worth it?

(Full Disclosure: I received sample sizes of Crown Maple Syrup in exchange for my honest opinion.)

Click for Fair Trade with the New Fair Trade Finder App {Giveaway!}

In honor of Fair Trade Month, Fair Trade USA has introduced a new crowd-sourced social media tool to help people like you and me find and share Fair Trade Certified™ products. It's called the Fair Trade Finder and it is available as a mobile app for iPhone and Android as well as on Facebook.

Apparently the ability to find Fair Trade products is a major barrier to purchase and a recent Omnibus survey found that  2/3 of consumers would buy more Fair Trade products if they could only find them. The Fair Trade Finder is attempting to bridge that gap but the crowd-sourced database means that they are counting on us to help put products on the map.

So if you are looking to find Fair Trade products in your area, just jump on the app, plug in your zip code and start searching. Then, add your favorite products to the app yourself - to make finding Fair Trade easier for others. I just added Green & Black's chocolate at my local co-op, The Wedge! You can even include a photo if you want (I did)!

Fair Trade month wouldn't be a celebration without a little giveaway, now would it? Fair Trade USA is offering this Fair Trade goodie bag to one lucky Mindful Momma reader.

 
Would you like to win? Just plug in your zip code on the Fair Trade Finder and let me know one Fair Trade product you found in your neighborhood (or what you would like to find, if nothing is listed yet)!

Additional entries for:

• Subscribing to Mindful Momma via RSS feed or email
• Liking my Mindful Momma Facebook Page
• Following @MindfulMomma on Twitter

That's 4 entries per person (please leave a separate comment for each thing you do). Winners must have a U.S. shipping address. The giveaway will be open through midnight CST on Thursday, October 20th.

For the Fair Trade Finder to be a success, they need all of us to add products. Will you help add Fair Trade Certified™ products to the Fair Trade Finder?

(Full Disclosure: I received a free Fair Trade goodie bag in exchange for my honest opinion.)

The winner is Alicia from Green Lifestyle Consulting. Congratulations Alicia - enjoy your Fair Trade treats! Thanks to everyone who entered!

How to Survive a Home Renovation Project Safely and Sanely

It was a strange summer. As you probably know if you stop by this blog regularly, we've been undergoing an extensive renovation of the exterior and the third floor of our house. It's not a full-on green remodel by any means but we're doing what we can to keep things eco-friendly and safe for our family. While the project has been fun and exciting in many ways, there were also some known challenges (lead paint) as well as some negative impacts that I did not count on.

Challenge #1:  We had no yard for our kids to play in. Luckily we live close to a park but it still curbed those spontaneous games in the backyard and general time outside. It also meant that we didn't eat meals outside like we usually do in the summer. Except for a couple instances of dumpster dining, we ate indoors to lessen our exposure to construction dust and debris.

Challenge #2:  We had to keep our windows closed most of the time. This was primarily to keep out dangerous dust from lead paint and general construction. You see, the original siding on our house was painted with lead paint (see photo above). It had been covered up by metal siding for years but was exposed when they took the metal off last summer. This summer the lead painted wood was completely removed - using appropriate lead abatement techniques of course. I had my 6 year old tested for lead poisoning last summer and he was fine. I'm planning to get him tested again now that all of the lead paint is gone. It's a bummer because it is a blood draw (not a finger prick), which is very traumatic. I hate to make him go through it again, but I think it's important. (For more info on lead poisoning - a huge issue with old houses - visit LeadFreeKids.org.)

Are you planning a home renovation or remodeling project? Here are a few tips to keep things safe and sane for your family:

• Find out if you have lead paint in your house. Test kits are available at most hardware stores and online.
• If you do have lead paint, make sure your contractor is certified in lead paint abatement procedures.
• Keep dust out of living areas as much as possible. That might mean opening or closing windows depending on where the work is happening. Use fans to move dust out of the house.
• Vacuum regularly using a vacuum with a HEPA filter to capture tiny particles of lead dust and other toxins.
• Wet-wipe and mop frequently (dry dusting just moves the dust around).
• Invest in high-quality filters for your furnace or air conditioning and change them frequently.
• Have a shoes-on policy in all construction areas (no bare feet!)
• Plan on being out of the house as much as possible. (This was tough for us because we do not have any relatives in town but we took trips and even had a staycation at a hotel when our spray foam insulation was being blown in.)
• If you are concerned about lead paint exposure, get your kids tested. The biggest threat is to babies and kids under 6 years old.

At this point the major construction is over but there are still TONS of finishing details left. Here's what our house looks like as of today. The outside is scheduled to be painted later this week and the inside is being dry-walled as I type. After that, tiling the shower and installing fixtures in our new 3rd floor bathroom will begin!

Next summer, I am looking forward to fresh breezes throughout the house and lots of outdoor play time all season long!

Do you have any remodeling stories to share? How did you handle the dust, debris and disruption?

Mumi & Bubi Solids Starter Kit Makes Homemade Baby Food Easy

Back when I was in baby food making mode, I put my concoctions in any old container I could find, from ice cube trays to reused commercial baby food jars. That worked for me but I have to admit it would have been nice to have a smoother system for storing my precious purees.

Enter the Mumi & Bubi Solids Starter Kit™. The Solids Starter Kit™ is a simple but smart system for freezing homemade baby food that makes the whole process just a little bit easier - exactly what what a sleep deprived parent needs!

Each kit includes 2 high-quality freezing trays with lids and a link to a step-by-step eguide with 27 baby food recipes. Here's what makes the Mumi & Bubi's Solids Starter Kit™ better than traditional ice cube trays or random jars:

• Made from non-toxic polypropylene - certified free of BPA, phthalates and PVC. (FYI - lids on conventional baby food jars are often coated with plastic containing BPA)
• Trays have lids to keep food fresh and free of freezer burn - unlike ice cube trays.
• Grooves in top of lid makes trays easy to stack on top of one another.
• Trays are top-rack dishwasher safe.
• Cubes pop out easily without twisting and digging.
• Each tray makes 21 (1-oz) cubes - the perfect serving size for baby!
• When baby food stage is over, use for freezing homemade pesto, soup stocks or smoothie treats!

I'm thinking this would make a perfect baby shower gift for a new parent. The Mumi & Bubi Solids Starter Kit™ is available online for a special price of $25.

Did you make homemade baby food for your child? Do you have any tips or tricks to share?

(Full Disclosure: I received a free Mumi & Bubi Solids Starter Kit in exchange for my honest opinion.)