Better than Popcorn!

I love this time of year! Last night Aaron and I carved the pumpkins we got from our local pumpkin patch. Great fun that always takes me back to my childhood...especially when Hocus Pocus with Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker is on tv. That and ET. It was a perfect night. What I want to share is certainly not news to many of you, but I know that there are those who don't think to do this when carving pumpkins: roast your pumpkin seeds! Make sure the pumpkin is good quality and grown without pesticides and/or certified organic first before deciding to eat the seeds. Since ours were, I gathered as many seeds as I could from the pile of mush that was left over after cleaning our pumpkins.

Cruelty-Free is Easy

Ok so I am a total animal lover. I am. Since I was a young child, I have had such a soft spot for animals. And I do mean all animals. We were the family who rushed injured birds and squirrels to the vet. I think moles  are adorable even though they destroy our grass; I pick up snakes when I see them. We had every kind of pet growing up. You name it: mice, snakes, ferrets, chinchillas, rabbits, horses, goats, and the usual dogs, birds, and cats, etc. At age 7, after driving an hour from my aunt's house in WA to hike the Cascades, I found an injured monarch butterfly at the trail head and, bless them, my patient uncle and young brother obliged me and drove an hour back home so I could place the butterfly in a shoe box and feed it water from a bottle cap. I was devastated when it passed. It's true--I am a bonafied friend to all creatures great and small :)

So I wanted to take today's post to bring some awareness to animal exploitation for the manufacturing of popular cosmetics and hair/body products. No idea whether your favorite companies do test on animals? Check it out here.

My Wellness Bag of Tricks

Hello all you stylish, conscious ladies! As the cold and flu season is upon us, I want to take this opportunity to share what I use to keep me and my family healthy. Everything we use and recommend serves one primary function: strengthening and supporting our bodies, particularly our immune systems. Remember one basic fact: healthy immune systems = healthy people! All year long, my family and I work to maintain a level of health by eating well and supplementing with good quality vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and certain herbs and essential oils. Much of what I know was passed on to me by my mom.

Who Doesn't Want to Label GMOs?

Today a family member sent me this list showing which food companies are boycotting Proposition 37, also known as the California Right to Know Act (GMO labeling). And I had to share with my readers. For those of you who know a little--or perhaps nothing at all--about what genetically modified really means, I urge you to do your due diligence as a consumer and a voter in our democracy. Genetically-modified crops and the companies developing and promoting them are just plain bad for the food system. They are creating resistant super-bugs, making livestock sick, contaminating non-GMO crops, and suing those farmers who end up with contaminated fields, etc. And there are countless studies showing serious adverse affects on the body. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine stated after their conclusive study, "GM foods pose a serious health risk...by causing damage to the various organ systems of the body." How much damage?

Ahh Banana Bread with...Chia Seeds?

I decided to blog about this today because I just pulled one out of the oven! And the whole house smells amazing. It's a Sunday ritual for us, making banana bread (see my last post ;) after picking up weekly groceries including "Eat Me Tonight" over-ripe bananas from the Yelm Food Co-op. A childhood favorite of mine, banana bread is warm, comforting and absolutely delicious. My husband Aaron loves it just as much--if not more--and he seems to have a little extra pep in his step when it's baking.

A Lesson Learned and Lavender Used

Two nights ago, while making some coconut banana bread (my husband's favorite), I stuck my finger into an immersion blender to free up butter that, as it turned out, was still too cold to fully blend (you're not really supposed to use an immersion blender for baking, my chef-aunt told me yesterday). The blades are extremely sharp, but I always take great care when reaching in. Well...my right hand didn't exert the same caution, or it had a vendetta against the left. For whatever reason, it hit the ON button!