Salad Saturday!
May 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Each Saturday I’ll post a free salad recipe from my new salad cookbook. It ha
s over 365 recipes, so you can either buy it now or just hang around here for the next 6 years. LOL!
BLACK & WHITE BEAN SALAD
2 cups Red onions — finely chopped
2 tablespoons Olive or Vegetable Oil
1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup Chopped Red Pepper
2 tablespoons Minced Parsley
2 tsp. Garlic — Minced
2 tablespoons Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 cup 15 oz. Great Northern Beans — Rinsed and Drained
1 cup 15 oz, Black Beans — Rinsed and Drained
Sauté onions in oil until crisp-tender in a medium skillet; Remove from heat and cool until warm. Stir in vinegar, red pepper, parsley, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.
In a serving bowl put the beans, (both types) and pour the onion mixture over them. Mix well and serve.
Makes 8 servings
High 5 for Mommy Fest
May 5, 2008 | 1 Comment
I had to show a picture of 5 things to enter the Mommy Fest contest for free chocolate. 5 toes are things, right? (I’m just terrible with pictures.) This is my right foot two weeks after surgery. Note the attractive bruises and orange stain from Betadine.
By the way, Marie interviewed me and we talked about breastfeeding. She also has a lineup of other interesting topics and guests - all kinds of fun stuff of interest to us Moms. Go over there and see what she’s up to!
Salad Saturday!
May 3, 2008 | 2 Comments
Each Saturday I’ll post a free salad recipe from my new salad cookbook. It has over 365 recipes, so you can either buy it now or just hang around here for the next 6 years. LOL!
Berried Avocado Grapefruit Salad
Bibb lettuce
Watercress
2 avocados — seed, peel, slice
2 cups grapefruit sections
1 cup fresh raspberries
Prepared sweet vinegar and oil dressing
Line serving platter or individual salad plates with lettuce and watercress. Arrange avocado, grapefruit and raspberries over and sprinkle with dressing.
Salad Saturday!
April 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Each Saturday I’ll post a free salad recipe from my new salad cookbook. It has over 365 recipes, so you can either buy it now or just hang around here for the next 6 years. LOL!
Bean and Tuna Salad
3 cups Water
2 cans Cannellini beans
1/3 cup Olive oil
3 teaspoons Red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
Fresh pepper to taste
1 medium Red onion
12 ounces Tuna — drained
Directions: Mix together oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over beans and onion in a shallow bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Transfer bean mixture to serving platter with slotted spoon. Break tuna into chunks and arrange on bean mixture.
This Time I Prepared
April 23, 2008 | 3 Comments
Last month I blogged about having surgery on my foot, and how my efforts to blog something intelligible were interesting to say the least.
Unlike that picture, this actually IS my real foot, about two weeks post-op, minus the bunion.
Notice the lovely bruises - my toes were black and blue and green for weeks.
But now my right foot is almost back to normal. A tiny bit of stiffness and swelling, but nothing bad. And a fetching scar to boot!
Well tomorrow morning I’m having the other (left) foot done, so I’ll be out of commission and off the laptop for a few days, but this time I prepared. Gotta love Wordpress with its ability to schedule posts!
I have a guest blogger, Alice from Schmoozins , whose article will be posting tomorrow.
Plus I gave you all two great freebies so you would have something fun and informative to read while I’m spending 3 whole days in bed. Don’t you feel sorry for me? 
Enjoy your weekend!
Here It Is - Natural Mom Guide to Blogging
April 23, 2008 | 2 Comments
Here it is, as promised: Natural Moms Blogging Guide
This nifty free report will answer the 10 biggest questions moms have about blogging. Whether you’re blogging for personal or for business, it will help you:
- Discover what makes a blog different from a website
- Why Moms everywhere are blogging for fun and money
- How a blog can help your existing business
- How to get readers, comments and traffic
- How to earn money from your blog
- What to write about and what to do if you get writer’s block
Just right click on the link above to download the report. Enjoy!
Earth Day Activities - For a Month
April 22, 2008 | 2 Comments
Today is Earth Day of course! Are you doing anything special?
We’re going to read some lessons from my oldest son’s Science book on the subject of the environment. I plan on taking my little ones to the local recycling center tomorrow to show them how the stuff we use (and what we do with it after we’re done with it) impacts the planet.
1. Use motion sensor attachments on your outside lights to make sure they are off when not in use.
2. Start a compost bin for kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaves, and paper. Here are some instructions on how to start a compost pile.
3. Take showers instead of baths. Put an egg timer next to your shower and limit your time to only 4-5 minutes.
4. Hang out a load of laundry today instead of using your dryer. Did you know that your dryer uses more energy than any other appliance after your refrigerator? If you stopped using the dryer altogether you would make a huge difference on your electric bill.
5. Use vinegar and baking soda to clean your house.
6. Make sure your next appliance purchase is Energy Star approved to conserve energy.
7. Use a natural liquid soap like Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds to wash your car.
8. Wash your car on the lawn in the summer to water the grass.
9. Politely refuse flyers that are being handed out on the street. Do the same for receipts you don’t need to save and money envelopes at the bank.
10. Send online greeting cards and invitations to save paper.
11. When hosting a party with gift giving, request donations to a charity close to your heart, or in the case of a child, to their savings or college fund.
12. Collect rainwater to water indoor plants.
13. Collect and use gray water from your shower and washing machine too.
14. Buy rechargeable batteries and dispose of non-rechargeable batteries appropriately.
15. Save paper and do not print emails. If you need to save an email take a screen shot and save it to your computer as a picture file.
16. Reconsider having the newspaper delivered to your home everyday. Read it online instead.
17. Subscribe to magazines that offer digital subscriptions and read your favorite magazines online. If you have magazines lying around, donate them to your library or a nursing home.
18. Ditch the neurotoxin dryer sheets and use homemade pouches of dried lavender. Or nothing at all. Who says everything has to be smelly to be clean? 
19. Check the air pressure in your car tires frequently to make sure your car is running as efficiently as possible.
20. Fill an empty plastic milk jug (the half gallon size) with water and put them in your toilet’s reservoir to save water. And if it’s yellow, let it mellow. Save water by selectively flushing.
21. Use glass jars, food storage containers, baby bottles, and beverage containers to reduce the amount of plastic in your home.
22. When looking for new clothes try hosting a swap with friends and neighbors to see if you can exchange clothing instead of buying new. If this is too much trouble, look online for local consignment sales. And thrift stores of course!
23. Color your hair with natural colorants such as coffee grounds, lemons, beets, cinnamon, and tea.
24. Make your own toothpaste. Toothpaste containers can’t be recycled. An easy recipe: Mix equal parts sea salt and baking soda, and add a few drops of peppermint essential oil.
25. When making your grocery list use a piece of scrap paper, the back of a junk mail flyer, or the back of a used envelope. I keep a container of scratch paper on a bookshelf that my kids can reach. Whenever I have paper that only has writing on one side, I throw it in the box. My little artists stay happy.
26. Grow your own garden and enjoy healthier, free food.
27. Invest in sturdy canvas or nylon reusable shopping bags.
28. Wear T-shirts with environmental slogans and promote social consciousness.
29. Make your own baby food. This saves money and eliminates packaging waste.
30. Ride a bike or walk to do errands if you can. At the very least, park your car and walk to stores that are close together. This counts as exercise.
Every little bit counts!
Check out Chrysanthemums
April 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Periodically I like to mention a cool mom blog that I enjoy reading. This one is owned by a fellow Mom Masterminds member, Chrys (get it - Chrys and the moms?). This is a multi authored blog and they talk about mom and business related topics.
Some of the posts I enjoyed recently:
Eco Friendly Kids Parties - These great tips apply to all sorts of parties.
Moms Going Too Far With their Daughter’s Beauty Treatments - What are these women thinking? Microdermabrasion for 9 year olds? Bikini waxes too?
Go check out Chrysanthemums. They’re even looking for new bloggers if you’re interested.
Please Answer This Blogging Survey
April 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I promised a couple of weeks ago that I was going to release an ebook on blogging - just for the natural mom.
Then I kind of forgot about it! Oops! Sorry about that.
But first, I put together a quickie survey to gather your questions about blogging. Go here to fill out the survey please! Pretty please!
If there’s anything else you want to say or ask about blogging, whether for personal or for business, ask it here in the comments. Thanks
Frugal Friday: Nature Made Free Samples
April 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
NatureMade has a neat online rewards system. Have you joined yet?
NatureMade got my attention because breastfeeding expert Dr. Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, who was on the show several months ago, mentioned them by name. She recommended NatureMade fish oil capsules for breastfeeding women experiencing postpartum depression.
Well, I’m not suffering from PPD, but I do have some inflammation-type stuff going on, and fish oil is just good for anyone, period. I take it for my aches and pains. Dr. Kathleen said that NatureMade fish oil caps were one of the cheapest brands on the market (you can get a ginormous bottle for around $5), yet they were among the safest brands tested in terms of their safety - meaning low or no mercury content.
When you buy NatureMade products, you enter a code from the bottle into your member’s area of the website and can earn freebies, coupons and discounts. I only get an email from them about once a month so it was totally worth my time to register.
I got an email today from them since I’m a member (I love their Fish Oil) and my free 14 day sample of their new liquid capsules women’s multi is on its way to me. Sign up for free here: Nature Made.
You can choose from several of their new products as a freebie.
Also, the GAIAM coupon is still good for $10 - $20 off your order. This one expires April 17th.