Category — Green Cuisine

If you’re new to green living, here’s an idea to help you get started in purchasing green cleaning products and recycled household products. It’s a green cleaning starter kit filled with a variety of non- toxic cleaners and recycled paper goods. Here’s what the green cleaning kit includes:

Phosphate Free Household Cleaner: An every day non toxic cleaning spray for cleaning the bathroom sink, kitchen appliances, and counter tops.

Biodegradable Dish Washing Soap: Plant-based soap for dishes and cooking pans.

Recycled Paper Towels: 80% post consumer waste.

Recycled Facial Tissues: 100% recycled, 20% post consumer waste.

All Natural Hand Soap: Biodegradable hand soap made with essential oils.

I think the Starter Green-kit available at Green-kit looks like a convenient way to take some of the initial confusion out of selecting green products, and choosing the ones you like the most.

With all the recent publicity surrounding CFL light bulbs, it’s easy to forget about LED lighting as a green choice for environmentally friendly homes. Thanks to advancements in technology, LED lighting is becoming more affordable and used in more household light fixtures. Here are just a few of the benefits of LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes).

Longer-Lasting: LED lights blast the competition when it comes to longevity. According to some reports, LEDs last 10 times longer than CFLs, and last more than a hundred times longer than incandescent light bulbs. In addition, LED light fixtures can help you save money by conserving energy in your green home.

Cool to the Touch: LED lights, including LED flashlights and LED Christmas lights, operate on very little power, allowing them to burn cool and reduce the risks of children being burned and accidental fire.

Compatible with Solar Panels: If you’re making the green energy switch to a solar-powered home, you may want to consider LED lighting. Because they use such little electricity, LEDs are a great option for use with solar panels.

See more information about LED lighting.

What comes to mind when you think of solar powered cooking? A caveman frying bacon on a hot rock maybe? Well, there is a modern day way of getting heat from the sun. If you are looking to live the green life, then you definitely want to learn about ways to cook with less fuel burning products.

This is a solar box cooker that can be made at home! You just need plywood or cardboard, which need to be placed inside of another wooden box. Fiberglass is used to insulate the materials within the box and there is a mirror on the lid directing the sunlight to the contents in the box under the glass. This can reach temperatures as high as 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

This sun oven gets even hotter than the box cooker because it is more concentrated (check out the extra reflectors). You can cook all types of items from cookies to pasta.

Of course there is a downfall when it comes to getting free energy – you can only cook during daylight hours (between 11 am and 5 pm) and those hours have to be sunny. So cloudy days and nighttime hours are when the kitchen closes.

But there is good news. If you don’t mind spending more money to really live green, you can purchase solar panels to energize your home, including your kitchen and conventional stove.

One of the best ways to live green is to eat locally grown foods. Here’s why:

Transportation: Have you ever thought about the amount of energy it requires to transport food (or anything else) across oceans? It’s estimated that the average food item travels more than 1,500 miles before it reaches your table. Transporting fresh produce or other items grown or packaged overseas contributes to the growing environmental problems of air pollution, carbon emissions and fossil fuel consumption.

Health: By choosing local, organic foods you’ll be eliminating a host of toxins,preservatives, and pesticides from your dinner plate, and that’s a recipe for a long and healthy life!

So, do yourself and the environment a favor- reduce carbon emissions, save energy and eat healthier by choosing locally grown foods.

Yesterday, we discussed how to pack for a green vacation. But how do you go green while on the road and staying in a hotel? According to the EPA, being away from the comforts of home comes with a brand new “to do” list for green living.

First, pack any food or snacks to take along in reusable containers. This is a great way to save a little cash on your green vacation and it will eliminate the waste that comes with individually wrapped snacks. Water and other drinks can be stored in stainless steel water bottles or other insulated containers.

Next, consider the ways you can implement green living ideas while at a hotel. Leave a note for housekeeping to let them know you don’t have to have your sheets changed every day. You can even hang your towels to dry and ask the housekeeper to leave them for the next day. By implementing just these two ideas, you’ll be saving water and conserving energy as part of your green vacation.

For more information about green hotels and green vacations, visit the Green Hotels Association.

If you’re looking for a delicious and nutritious treat made by an environmentally responsible company, check out these tasty delights. As I type this early morning post, these all natural, wheat free cookies are looking absolutely delicious.  Made by Montana Monster Munchies, the original recipe all natural cookie (there’s also an all natural raisin variety) contains whole grain rolled oats, sugar, all-natural peanut butter, semi-sweet chocholate chips, sweet cream butter, egg, water and baking soda.  These all natural cookies contain no preservatives, no additives and no wheat products.  Montana Monster Munchies wheat free cookies are available in several gift packs, including a combination pack that contains 2 dozen cookies for $40.  Shipping is included.  Pass the milk, please!

The impact of plastic water bottles on the environment has recently been covered at length in the news and on daytime talk shows including Oprah. According to Earth 911, a website dedicated to green living, Americans purchase 28 billion plastic water bottles each and every year, and only a mere 13 percent of them are recycled. These stainless steel water bottles made by New Wave Enviro are a classy alternative to plastic. They’re available in 3 colors, hold a ½ liter of water each, and include a carabineer for attaching to your belt or backpack. You’ll find them at Nubius Organics. A few more words on the woes of plastic water bottles: In addition to the mounting piles of plastic water bottles in landfills everywhere, the use of plastic water bottles is criticized for the amount of petroleum it takes to produce them—a whopping 17 million barrels of oil per year! And, plastic water bottles have recently been suspected of leeching chemical residue into their contents. Stainless steel water bottles work great in conjunction with your own water filtration pitcher…see tomorrow’s post for a suggestion!

Usually, when at a BBQ, we expect our potato to be on our plate rather than in it. But, that’s not the case with the disposable plates and bowls made by Potatopak, a New Zealand based company which specializes in environmentally friendly disposable plates, trays and bowls made entirely of potato starch. Not only do potato plates bio-degrade quickly, they’re made without producing the toxic waste associated with foam disposable plates. According to Potatopak’s website,  all waste produced from manufacturing their products is completely organic and is fed to livestock, fish, and even worms. In fact, animals such as pigs and other livestock will eat the plates whole! So, for your next summertime picnic or BBQ, consider using disposable plates made of potato starch rather than foam. They’re even available in assorted colors. You’ll be doing the environment a favor and they’ll be a great conversation starter. If you want to send a letter to your local supermarket requesting that they carry potato starch disposable plates and bowls, Potatopak provides templates for doing so.

Those of us who are into green living are always looking for household items made from bamboo, a plentiful natural resource. I found this one at Williams-Sonoma. Bamboo absorbs excess moisture, so your asparagus spears or cabbage rolls won’t be soggy. And, this steamer has a great energy efficient bonus: two layers for steaming two foods at once. Simply line the bamboo steamer with parchment or reusable cheesecloth, fill with veggies, chicken or both and place in your wok. Having guests for a summertime barbecue? Here’s an idea for a yummy organic appetizer in a bamboo steamer. These organic frozen pot stickers are available at Central Market. Put out a spread of dipping sauces and your guests will love you!

Wow, who would’ve known? A pure coincidence! Although “Green Vaccine” is completely unrelated to “Green Our Vaccines” march, I do whole-heartedly support the cause, and all of the people who were out in Washington D.C. last week rallying for it. Among them were Jenny McCarthy, her son Evan and Jim Carrey. Jenny and Jim have been active spokesmen for the cause since Evan was diagnosed with autism. According to the Jim Carrey Online Forum, Jenny calls Jim “the Autism Whisperer” because he is so great with Evan and has been able to cure him of his fear of dogs, water and thunderstorms. Evan’s condition inspired Jenny to write a book, Louder Than Words, about her experience with fighting for her son’s treatment. The vaccine controversy is disturbing to say the least, and I am glad that people are raising awareness about harmful toxins in vaccines and vaccine scheduling for kids. “Too Many Too Soon” statement on the back of the “Green Our Vaccines” t-shirts says it all.

CNN article - by Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey for ‘World Autism Awareness Month’

TACA (Talk About Curing Autism) - official site

Autism rally 4/6/08 - More news about the event

Generation Rescue - Organization dedicated to cleaning up vaccines