There is nothing more traditional than baking your own holiday’s cookies. There is certain nostalgia to mixing the dough, decorating, baking and sliding them onto a cooling rack. Oh and the house smells so good!

Baking your own cookies also is an eco-thing to do. You are eliminating the expensive, wasteful packaging that come with the store bought kind. The ingredients are all fresh and you can use all the natural ingredients you want.  You can give them as gifts which is an affordable and always useful gift. Everyone loves homemade cookies and you can bake different kinds to make a nice looking array of treats. Along with baking cookies, you can make your own peanut brittle or toffee and put it on a decorative tray for a popular addition to your holiday yummies. It is a fun activity that the whole family can get involved in.

Cooking on Thanksgiving is a challenge, making sure everything comes out of the oven at the right time; everything is hot and not overdone. You are an eco-friendly person and want to do your part during this time but still have traditions that you like to uphold. A great idea for the Thanksgiving holiday is to order a fresh organic turkey from a local butcher or poultry farm. Cooking with a fresh turkey is so rewarding, giving you peace of mind that your family is eating the best, natural and sustainable bird without forfeiting taste. No preservatives, no additives, nothing but the best for you and your family.

In addition to your culinary endeavors, do not forget to use your turkey for delicious leftovers like turkey ala king, turkey sandwiches, turkey vegetable soup, turkey pot-pie and many, many more recipes.

There is nothing like carving a fresh pumpkin for Halloween. Scooping out the insides and sculpting a scary face to haunt your neighborhood trick or treaters. But if you would like to recycle your pumpkin and make delicious pie or pumpkin soup, paint your pumpkin and use it later for a culinary delight. You can buy paints at a local craft store, use acrylic paint as it is non-toxic. You can use a permanent magic marker to outline the face and features. Try drawing a funny face on a piece of paper or photo copy an existing image to transfer to your pumpkin. You can use a pencil or something dull pointed to transfer your image to the pumpkin. Use a small paintbrush to paint the detail and fill in larger areas with a larger brush. Spray with clear coat if you like sheen and a finished appearance. This is a project that is fun and kids will love it too! A painted pumpkin can last a long time, so not to worry about Thanksgiving.  I found this website that is all about pumpkins and gives instructions on painting and carving pumpkins. http://bit.ly/blF95g

After Halloween is over, you can use your pumpkin to make great recipes like pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin cheesecake, spiced pumpkin bread, muffins, cookies and much more. Maybe you better paint more than one!

If you haven’t started, it’s about thyme.

Herb gardening is a nice way to bring your summer garden indoors for the winter and is a healthful delicious way to enhance your cooking. It is easy and inexpensive. You can grow so many different herbs inside; all you need is some plastic containers, fertile soil, seed packs and a window that preferably faces south. You only need to water them once every 16 days. Overwatering is the most common mistake when herb gardening doesn’t work out. Fertilize your plants with organic fertilizer, nothing with chemicals; remember you are ingesting these plants. Basil – Oregano – Parsley – Chives – Rosemary –Thyme – Sage – Spearmint – Peppermint – Savory – Curry – Cilantro – Sweet Marjoram – Mustard – Dill – Coriander, these are just a few herbs that you can plant and grow indoors. This is a nice hobby and something that can keep you busy over the upcoming long winter months.

I found this recipe on Simply Recipes to make homemade Vanilla Extract. Just in time for the holidays!

Commercial vanilla extract usually has simple syrup (sugar water) added to the extract to give it a sweet aftertaste. You can do this if you want, but if you are using the vanilla for baking, there really is no need.

Ingredients

•          3 vanilla beans
•          1 cup vodka
•          glass jar with tight fitting lid

Method 

1. Use kitchen scissors or a sharp paring knife to cut lengthwise down each vanilla bean, splitting them in half, leaving an inch at the end connected.
2. Put vanilla beans in a glass jar or bottle with a tight fitting lid (mason jars work well). Cover completely with the vodka.
3. Give the bottle a good shake every once in a while. Store in a dark, cool place for 2 months or longer.

Lasts for years. You can keep topping it off with vodka once in a while as you use it, just remember to give it a good shake.

You can also make vanilla sugar by putting a split vanilla bean into a jar of white, granulated sugar. Great way to infuse the sugar with vanilla flavor for baking.

The holidays are approaching and you must prepare early if you are hosting friends and family. You wonder how you can put a green spin on the way you put it all together. Well, nothing is more eco friendly than preparing your own foods with no preservatives and taking pride in the good flavors that come from your hard work. This year, I would like to attempt baking my own bread. I may even get brave and bake several loaves to give as gifts. Now, I am not talking about using all those fancy machines, I am talking about doing it the way my grandmother did, with the yeast, hand kneading, big bowls, baking pans and all the natural ingredients that make the best tasting bread you will ever eat! Think you can’t do it? Well, you can, and so can I, let’s try it together. I found a good recipe from allrecipes.com that reminds me of the kind I had from my childhood.  Simple ingredients, but not a simple loaf of bread. There is nothing like homemade bread sliced, toasted with a pat of butter melted and topped with some homemade jam. Hmmmmm. No preservatives, all natural, no chemical additives. It tastes much better than store bought bread and is better for you. Good luck!

If you were one of the industrious and planted a garden (or just a few tomato plants) you may want to entertain the idea of preserving your summer vegetables for a winter bounty. Putting up fresh produce for the winter is age-old, but becoming more and more popular. The economy plays a part in this, needing to save money, but green awareness and wholesome food preparation is top-of-mind with many. There are different ways to preserve your fruits and vegetables. Canning, freezing and drying are the most popular.

When canning you must use clean jars with good seals, the ball home canning basics kit is an excellent place to start. The kinds of produce that can be preserved in this manner are tomatoes, green beans, peas, beets, carrots, sweet or white potatoes, etc…

Freezing is an easier process for putting up food. Using gallon freezer zip lock bags work very well as well as plastic containers with snap lids. Almost all vegetables are suitable for freezing but there are some that do not do well like cabbage, celery, cucumbers or potatoes.

Drying is popular with certain kinds of foods. Food dehydrators are easy, it is a small appliance with an electric element for heat, a fan and vents for circulation. Foods that can be processed in this way include herbs, beans, seeds, fruits, meats and nuts.

World’s first 100% Compostable Chip Package

Yes, you read correctly. Sun Chips by Frito Lay now manufactures a bag that is 100% compostable! Does that seem impossible? Well I am holding the bag in my hand right now and although noisy it is made from more than 90% renewable, plant-based materials and it breaks down completely into compost in a hot, active home or industrial compost pile. It is designed to break down in 14 weeks and Frito Lay takes their claims seriously. They put together a comprehensive research plan and conducted studies in several different environments including laboratory, home compost and industrial compost.

Over the past 5 years, Frito Lay has reduced their packaging materials by more than 5 million pounds. They have changed their materials. While traditional packaging includes petroleum based material, which is more efficient, they challenged themselves to create a better package. The new packaging is made with plants that grow annually instead of petroleum that takes millions of years to form. Check out their website and learn how Sun Chips uses solar power to help produce 145,000 bags of snack chips a year. You get a snack that is better for you and better for the environment.

• Water Efficiency
• Waste Reduction and Recycling
• Sustainable Furnishings and Building Materials
• Sustainable Food
• Energy
• Disposables
• Chemical and Pollution Reduction

The GRA also rates on new builds and renovation projects and events with required minimum points to earn a certificate. The GRA website gives you several ways that you, as a consumer, can green your dining experience. You can also sign up for their newsletter to get updated information on all Green Restaurant Association news.

By Dena Fritz

Buy your products in bulk and you can help save our earth! The landfills are being loaded up with consumer packaging and we can do something to put a stop to it. Wasteful packaging, for products like toilet paper, paper towels, napkins… buy a product in bulk and it is wrapped one time compared to buying it every week and in the end, you have thrown away several wrappers. You may even pay higher prices by buying food and produce in fancy excessive packaging. They look nice but when unwrapped, the quality is not better, just prettier. Buy your meat in larger quantities and break up, place in reusable containers to freeze. That means less Styrofoam, which NEVER breaks down in a landfill.

The same goes with many products that are boxed needlessly. Deodorant now comes without fancy boxes, who needs them? They go in the trash and kill trees anyway. Look at these things when shopping and try to buy things that go package free. Many manufacturers are looking at ways to display their products without all the needless dump fillers. You can do your part by shopping smart and avoiding all the over-done packaging that are most times just marketing ploys.