Mindful Momma

A Partnership with Better Life Cleaning Products

One of my favorite parts of my job as a green lifestyle writer is to introduce my readers - that's YOU! - to products and companies that help you live the green and healthy lives you want to live. As you know, it can be hard to tease out the greenwashing from the truly green. My goal is to dig into the details (so you don't have to) and share the products that are best for you, your family and the environment.

Partnering with Better Life

Given that, I'm thrilled to announce that I am partnering with a fantastic company called Better Life. In my estimation, they are doing a great job of selling safe, effective and sustainable cleaning products for your home. The company was started by two friends - Tim (the biz guy) and Kevin Tibbs (the chemist) who were driven to create cleaning products that were truly safe for their young kids, their pets and the planet. They worked hard to develop safe formulas that kicked butt; created witty names for their products (Oak-Y-Dokey!); and sha-bam Better Life was born!

Healthier Snack Foods on my Radar

We're big snackers around here. While there is always a big bowl of fruit on the countertop for a quick and easy snack, when we are craving something salty, crunchy, sweet or creamy, fruit doesn't always cut it. So I'm always on the lookout for satisfying snacks that rate well on the health spectrum. Here are a few that have come into our home lately....

Kind Bars - If I could have only one snack with me on a deserted island this would be it. Kind Bars are made with whole nuts and fruits and just a few other wholesome ingredients to bind them together. My hands down favorite is the Cashew & Ginger Spice although the Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt is quite a treat.

Rickland Orchards Greek Yogurt Bars - I discovered these all natural bars made with granola, dried fruit and a greek yogurt coating at BlogHer this past summer. They do contain soy protein, which some people prefer avoid but we only eat such things occasionally so I'm not concerned. Fav flavor? A tossup between Toasted Coconut and Cherry Almond.

34 Degrees - If you've ever tried 34 Degrees Crisps, you know they make darn good crackers. Now they have 4 new sweet varieties - Chocolate, Cinnamon, Caramel and Graham. My kids like to eat them right out of the box but you can also use them to create mini ice cream sandwiches, S'mores and more!

Bitsy's Brainfood - If this brand of smart snacks had been around when my boys were toddlers, I would have been a heavy user. These alphabet-shaped snacks are much healthier than conventional animal crackers and come in unique flavor combos like Lemon Broccoli and Orange Chocolate Beet. Most importantly, they contain important brain nutrients like Omega 3' fatty acids!

Stonyfield Greek Yogurt - We've been Stonyfield fans for years but now there's even more reason to love them - an expanded Greek yogurt line! New favors include Chocolate and Caramel in the nonfat line and a brand new line of 1.5% fat Greek yogurt in plain, strawberry, raspberry, and my favorite: pineapple!

Unreal Candy - My boys love their "sweet snacks". We hardly ever buy candy but when we do I prefer it to be free of artificial ingredients, preservatives, corn syrup and GMOs. Unreal Candy fits the bill plus it tastes great. Just in time for Halloween, Unreal Candy now comes in mini sizes too! Find it at CVS, Walgreens, Target (coming in Oct. 2012!)  and many other stores around the country.

What healthier snacks have you discovered lately?

(Disclosure: I received free samples of these items in exchange for my honest opinion. There are affiliate links in this post. Any purchase you make helps me keep this blog in business. Thank you!)

Top Ways to Get Your Omega 3's

For awhile now I've been trying to get my head around this business of taking Omega-3's. I know that these essential fatty acids are good for us - for brain health, heart health, joint pain, depression, immune support and even for better looking skin and hair - but I haven't been sure which type to take and why. So I decided to go "fishing" for some answers.

I discovered that there are 3 main ways to get your Omega 3's: through oils (typically taken as a supplement), from seeds (added to or sprinkled on foods) or by eating whole foods that naturally contain Omega 3's. If you dig deep there is a LOT more to know about Omega 3's but if you're looking for a basic primer on where to find them, here you go...

Review: Repair the World Apparel

Even the most green people I know are often at a loss for buying affordable, eco-friendly clothing. Most conventional clothing retailers just haven't jumped on the eco-bandwagon yet. I see the occasional organic cotton t-shirt around but other than that, I have to seek out sustainable duds in specialty stores or online.

So I figured you would want to know about this new-to-me brand of people and earth friendly apparel from a company called Repair the World. Their clothing line is made from a specially manufactured fabric called Reparel that is a blend of recycled polyester and recycled cotton. They sell a lot of basics like t-shirts (including kid sizes) but also some really stylish tops and dresses like this lovely pullover...

Eco Strengths

• Polyester comes from post-consumer (a fancy word for used) plastic bottles.
• Cotton is recycled from cutting room scraps and textile waste.
• Since the cotton scraps are pre-colored, no other dyes are needed.
• Company partners with Friendship Bridge to support women-owned businesses in Guatemala.

A Very Special Cucumber Plant

My youngest son came home from school one day last spring clutching a tiny cucumber plant in a Dixie cup. His only words were "Don't let this die Mom. It's very special. I grew it."

No pressure! I transferred the plant to a larger pot and watered it diligently for a couple weeks. I knew that I needed to get that poor little plant outside pronto for it to really thrive, but our yard was still a giant mud pit after our big remodeling project last summer.

So I hurriedly created a little bed in a spot that gets some good sun and I tucked that little cucumber plant into the ground. I threw in a couple tomato plants and some basil and called it a garden.

Now that tiny plant is possibly the most productive cucumber plant on the planet! My son has harvested at least a dozen cucumbers already with many more to come.

I'm looking forward to a more elaborate vegetable garden next year but I love that this very special cucumber plant was the catalyst for our tiny garden in a year that we otherwise wouldn't have had one.

Do you have a vegetable garden? Do your kids help harvest what you grow?

Staying Fit on the Fly

 

That's me laying sod in 90+ degree weather!

It's hard to believe it's been 12 weeks since I set out to participate in the Go Green Get Fit Challenge with a bunch of other green and health focused bloggers. Summer always flys by but this time I swear someone stole away some of the days...where did they go?

My fitness challenge didn't quite go as planned but I did get exercise in some unusual ways - like lifting 100 pound blocks of stone and heavy rolls of sod! Here's how it all played out...

The Goals

My goals for the Go Green Get Fit Challenge were fairly simple:

• Push my running farther than usual
• Return to the fitness yoga class I love
• Start up strength training again

How To Bring Green & Healthy Values Back-to-School

 

(image by Henrik Nordstrom)

My boys hopped on the yellow school bus this morning, ready for a new year with new teachers, new classes and new friends. They carried bags of school supplies with them (can you believe how long those lists are?) and a healthy lunch packed in a reusable lunch bag. Have your kids gone back to school yet or are you still enjoying those last precious days of summer?

Of course this means it's time for the annual Green Moms back-to-school blog carnival! This is our 5th year in a row of curating posts from around the blogosphere about how to do the whole back-to-school thing the green, clean & healthy way! Big shout out to Lynn of Organic Mania and 4GreenPs who started this group many years ago!

Read on for tips, tricks and deep thoughts about everything from healthy treats to greener school gear to cleaner air:

Eco Friendly Adventures in Colorado

Have you ever been to the Rocky Mountains? If not, I highly recommend you add it to your bucket list! We just spent a week in Grand Lake, Colorado, a cute little town at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park and it was spectacular! The perfect setting for our family reunion.

We saw lots of wildlife - including moose right near our cabin!

On Vacation

As I type I am in a seedy hotel in the middle of Timbuktu, South Dakota - on my way to a family vacation in the mountains of Colorado. Only four days ago I was in the heart of Manhattan, dining on fine food in a place bustling with people. Now I am in a tiny, rural food desert. What a contrast!

Tomorrow we will head up, up, up into the mountains. Looking forward to hiking, relaxing and taking a little blogging break. See you in about 10 days!

 

 

(Image credit: flowercat via flickr)

Talking Green at BlogHer '12

 

(Chandra, Carrie & Kristina from Stonyfield, Lori from Groovy Green Livin and me!)

I'm a big believer in face time. That might sound ironic considering that I write for a living and spend most of my days alone in my home office. I'm constantly using email and social media to "chat" with my green friends and co-workers and we even pick up the phone now and then for a real conversation. But there is nothing like seeing each other in IRL!! We got that chance at the BlogHer conference in New York City last weekend. And boy did we talk, and talk and talk.....