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.

By Dena Fritz

I don’t know if you are like me, every once in a while, I enjoy a cold glass of beer. It is a pet peeve of mine that the cans and bottles are disposable and not refundable. I seem to remember when I was a kid, you could turn your soda and beer bottles in for real money. Society was green before they were thinking about saving the earth. I know there are some states that you can get cash for your recyclable cans and bottles, I saw a few coin operated machines in Massachusetts. If you do not live in a state that gives you money for your returnables, at least there are alternatives to all the waste.

Drinking draught beer is far better for the environment than drinking bottled or canned beer. When you buy beer by the keg or order it at the bar, you save the environment significantly; no cardboard cases, no bottles, packaging, labels, no caps, no cans and no recycling processes.

A beer maker called New Belgium Brewing is taking the green initiative several steps further. New Belgium is an employee owned company that is using alternative fuels to power their beer making process. By minimizing their impact on the earth they are a socially responsible contributor to their community. Utilizing methane from a waste water treatment process, they fuel a co-gen (combined heat and power engine), creating on-site electricity and heat for brewing. They are also the largest private consumer of wind-power electricity and the first wind-powered brewery. This is not all they do to reduce their carbon footprint and they have a plan to do more. So the next time you are ready to drink a tall cold one, remember the environment and do your little part!

Wine into Water

 CellarThief offers a unique proposition. For every bottle of wine sold, a 100 days of water is furnished to those who need it. Unclean drinking water leads to disease, bacteria and even death. Ninety percent are children 5 years and younger. CellarThief is trying to make a difference to overcome this situation, and it is working. So far, 579,900 days of clean water has been donated by CellarThief.

One in eight people struggle without enough water to keep themselves healthy. As Cellarthief sells more, they donate more, if they run out of a particular wine, they donate even more! Follow them on FaceBook at CellarThief and on Twitter @CellarThief where they tweet their special deals. CellarThief is making a difference with their efforts and you can do your part by ordering their wine. Save money by buying more, mix-and-match 3 bottles and shipping on entire order is only $5.  So, please tell your friends about CellarThief so they can keep offering great wines at great prices and make an impact in the process.   

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!

By Dena Fritz

We produce more than 15oo lbs. of trash a year. Much of our trash is plastic. A chemical called Bisphenol A which is found in plastic is leaching into water sources and is getting into animals. Bizarre developmental problems in animals sparked a national effort to find the cause. Bisphenol A breaks out of plastic and leaches into water, it can act as a dose of female sex hormone, estrogen. Too much estrogen can disrupt the endocrine system in animals and can be linked to many health impacts. This chemical is in baby bottles, but the plastics industry disputes the effects on humans. In cooperation with the National Toxicology Program, FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research is carrying out in-depth studies to answer key questions and clarify uncertainties about the risks of BPA. FDA is seeking the public’s input and input from other expert agencies.

To protect your baby, use BPA free bottles. Using glass bottles also avoids your baby’s exposure to these potentially harmful chemicals. Born Free specializes in developing and manufacturing baby feeding products that combine the safest materials with the smartest innovations.

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.