Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) is used to force cows to make more milk. It is, in essence, a genetically-engineered synthetic hormone. Most of the industrialized countries in the world have banned rBGH but here in the United States, we’re giving it to our most vulnerable citizens—our children! It is estimated that at least 84 million gallons of milk from artificial hormone-treated cows were distributed through the school nutrition programs in fiscal year 2005-2006. That’s about 20% of the milk offered in school cafeterias nationwide. I don’t give my kids rBGH-derived milk at home—why would I be okay with them having it at school??? The good news is that we have a great chance to bring milk free from artificial, genetically engineered hormones into our schools as Congress takes up legislation on the National School Lunch Program. Make your voice heard on this important issue by signing the True Food Network’s petition to ask Congress to state that schools can specifically seek out and purchase artificial hormone-free milk and organic milk.

My husband just sent me this link to a short article on Current about how there is no “local vs. organic.” I was glad to read it because when I hear people say that buying local is better than organic and vice versa, it made no sense to me. They’re two completely separate things. Buy organic AND local, if you can, or choose the one that’s most important to you but don’t feel like you’re choosing between two equal options. One is specifically better for Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve featured amazing blenders that help you puree homemade baby food. We’ve featured little BPA-free containers in which to freeze your homemade baby food. And now? We’re featuring an e-book series to help you really kick ass at making that homemade baby food. You may not need help with the basics because cooking and pureeing squash? Not so hard—but how about advice on when and how to start your baby on solids? How about nutrition information? How about advice for dealing with feeding problems? Tips for spotting and avoiding allergies and/or digestive problems? Feeding your baby while traveling? Recipes for homemade finger foods? Recipes for special occasions? And of course, tons of recipes for baby food that doesn’t taste like the flavorless, vacuum-sealed, months old gunk from a jar? Christine Albury, mother of five and the author of Tempting Tiny Tastebuds pretty much covers it all and because we know a lot of our readers are DIY types who like to make their own baby food, we’ve partnered with Christine Albury to give away FIVE sets of her three e-books—Tempting Tiny Tastebuds, The Homemade Baby Food Recipes Annual - 2009 (More In Depth Nutrition Information, Tips and Recipes) and Best of Blog (The best articles and recipes from Christine Albury’s blog).

Find It Here: Homemade Baby Food Recipes

Win It: We’re giving away five sets of Christine Albury’s three e-books. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter BF6 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What are three types of recipes found on Christine’s web site? Enter by 6/30/09. $17 value for each set of e-books. Open to residents worldwide. Winner will be notified by email.

Try as I might to control it, I have a terrible sweet tooth that frankly makes me wonder why haven’t developed Type 2 diabetes yet. In hopes of sparing my children from this curse, I’ve always tried to steer them away from junky, sugar-laden sweets in favor of healthier stuff. Yes, I’m a total hypocrite. Unfortunately, it’s gotten a lot harder since they’ve started school. Every birthday party and holiday is an excuse to sugar the kids up with cupcakes (covered with that nasty bakery icing) and then send them home with a buttload of candy. Suddenly the healthy stuff I’d always given them was more like a punishment than a treat *sigh* Since they’re now fully aware of the appeal of candy, I’ve tried not to make it out to be some forbidden fruit because I know that will backfire. Instead, I let them have it in moderation and only after they’ve eaten something healthy. Searching for not-totally-unhealthy candy, however, has been a bit of a challenge (particularly because it has to peanut-free) but I recently picked up a bag of YummyEarth organic lollipops and it’s the smartest thing I ever did. They taste awesome because they’re sweetened with organic fruit extracts, they’re colored with cool things like organic carrots and pumpkin instead of chemicals, they’re peanut-safe (also gluten, wheat, soy and tree nut-free) and the ones I got have 75% of the daily recommendation of vitamin C. So to recap…I can bribe my kids with give my kids these little YummyEarth lollipops and they’re totally psyched, getting a lot of vitamin C and best of all, NO high fructose corn syrup. Oh, and as a total bonus? They satisfy mommy’s sweet tooth, as well. WIN.

Find It Here: YummyEarth

Every day I pack my kids’ lunches (yep…even in the summer) and every day they need a spoon. Well, I learned a long time ago that sending them with silverware was a bit of a crap shoot. It might make it home. It might not. And that right there? Is why I love Pop!CornWare utensils. It’s like the plastic stuff in that it’s disposable but it’s NOT plastic. Nope. It’s actually made from corn and it’s totally biodegradable, non-toxic and petroleum free. You can just use it and pitch it (or lose it) and not feel one iota of plastic guilt. But this is where Pop!CornWare gets even better. We DON’T just use it and pitch it. We use it, wash it in the dishwasher, and use it again. And again. And again. It’s true. I got my package of Pop!CornWare probably 4-6 months ago and I took 4 spoons out to use and have been using them ever since in my kids lunchboxes. Now how they can lose silverware but manage to hang onto a Pop!CornWare spoon is one of life’s great mysteries but whatever… They’re green. They last. They rule!

Find It Here: 3 Green Moms

Sometimes the ugliest* fruit is the sweetest. Sometimes the simplest preparation of meals are the most delicious.

Like roasting, for example… It is the easiest, simplest, quickest (and quite tasty) way to prepare vegetables. The method can be used on almost anything and it’s pretty much the same:

• Cut up veggie into equal sizes.
• Drizzle on oil and toss to coat.
• Sprinkle on grey salt or sea salt.
• Lay it flat on a cookie sheet so they are not crowded.
• Roast at 375F for 10 - 30 minutes until done, usually until they begin to brown.

Variations have to do with what vegetable, oil, and temperature.

• You can roast at a higher heat, 425F, for less time. I usually choose that method.
• You can toss in olive, coconut , walnut, macadamia nut, or sunflower oils. Don’t use corn or soybean oil or another GMO oil.
• The big secret is not to overcrowd the pan, otherwise they will steam instead of roast.
• Choice of vegetable or mix of vegetables is the biggest change.

Roasting enriches the flavor and deepens the color. It offers variety into our weekly menu and can be done for any seasonal vegetable. It is quick and easy, nutritious and delicious, and comprises of 3 ingredients and some heat.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve been reading the news for the past couple years, you probably already know that research has proven that plastics are a problem, particularly when it comes to food/drink storage and cooking. Many companies are now starting to phase out certain chemicals in their plastic products that have been proven unsafe for humans and for especially children but, at the same time, many companies are doing business as usual and that’s a problem. Since we don’t always know what’s in the plastics we use or which companies are doing right by consumers, we’re of the opinion that it’s best to just avoid them whenever possible. Fortunately, there are companies like Noplastic.ca that have amassed all kinds of great products to fill many of your non-plastic needs and we’ve partnered with them to give away to one lucky randomly selected winner a 12 oz stainless steel bottle with a sippy adapter and Avent sippy spout.

Find It Here: Noplastic.ca

Win It: We’re giving away a 12 oz stainless steel bottle with a sippy adapter and Avent sippy spout. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter NPL5 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What are the six categories of non-plastic items carried by Noplastic.ca? Enter by 6/2/09. $19 value. Open to residents of US and Canada. Winner will be notified by email. Contest closed. Congrats to Monica!

Happy Earth Day! Are you feeling creative? Feeling extra green? We hope so because now through May 15, Kroger (*and other stores under the Kroger umbrella) is inviting customers to visit to enter the Kroger Reusable Shopping Bag Contest. You can design your own reusable grocery bag with Kroger.com’s easy-to-use design tool. Then? Get your friends, family, random strangers etc. to vote for your design. Prizes will be awarded to the top 10 bag designs, with one lucky designer winning a $1,000 Kroger gift card and the chance for their bag design to be sold in stores. Judges will also select four finalists who will receive $250 Kroger gift cards and five runners-up who will receive $100 Kroger gift cards. Plus? Kroger has also partnered with Café Press so you can purchase a reusable bag with your design on it. This would be a really fun project to do with your kids and how totally psyched would they be to see their art on a reusable bag?! And finally, just to sweeten the deal a bit, we’re also giving away Kroger’s gift cards that can be used at any of their *stores to two lucky readers!

*Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Dillons, Smith’s Food and Drug, King Soopers, Fry’s Food, Quality Food Centers, City Market, Owen’s Market, Jay C Foods, Food 4 Less

Find It Here: Kroger Reusable Shopping Bag Contest

Win It: We’re giving away two $25 Kroger gift cards. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter KR4 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What are one of the energy-saving measures being taken by Kroger in their stores? Enter by 5/15/09. $25 value per card.

I can’t speak for anyone else but I find fish oil to be, well, kind of gross. I mean it tastes how fish smell and I think we can all agree, that’s not good. But because I know that fish oil is really good for you, I force myself to take it regardless of how cringeworthy I find it. However, getting my kids to tolerate the stinky fish oil is another matter altogether. Simply put…they won’t. Well, they didn’t until just recently when I started giving them Nordic Naturals Tangerine Omega-3 Gummies, which they love. They’re like little gumdrops with the most awesome tangerine flavor and my kids and I would eat them like candy if we could. They’re that good and that unfishy (and are purified to the degree that environmental toxins are undetectable when tested). Yes, they contain a wee bit of sugar but in my opinion, it’s well worth feeding my kids a little organic sucrose/organic evaporated cane juice to be able to get the fish oil down their gullets with nary a complaint. Why do I say this?  Because the omega-3 essential fatty acids (DHA and EPA) found in fish oil support development of the brain, eyes, and nervous and immune systems in young children (and adults, too). If you’d asked me a year ago if I’d take a fish oil supplement that tasted like a juicy tangerine, I would have said YES! and then laughed at you for suggesting something so impossible but it’s no joke—fish oil CAN taste good. Oh, and just in case great taste doesn’t impress you, Nordic Naturals is also a socially and environmentally responsible company.

Find It Here: Nordic Naturals

Looking for kid-friendly snacks made from real food instead of multi-syllabic chemicals you can’t even pronounce? Well, there is nothing fake about this first snack! With a ½ cup of 100% fruit and no added sugar in each bar, Dakota Gourmet’s Real Fruit Jerky are the real deal and they’ll have you  happily waving goodbye to those artificial fruit roll-ups things. But even better, they are 100% tree nut, peanut, dairy, wheat and gluten-free, making them a tasty, healthy AND safe treat for kids with those types of allergies.

Find It Here: Peanut-Free Planet

Looking for the perfect companion for your morning coffee or your kid’s yogurt cup?  Made from 100% whole wheat flour, pumpkin puree, applesauce, blueberries and flaxseed meal, PistachiOats Blueberry cookies are wholesome, tasty and heart-healthy!

Find It Here: PistachiOats Blueberry Cookies

Please join The Green Mom Review and The Motherhood for a live, online conversation on healthy, green living with an expert from Whole Foods at noon ET on Tuesday.

We’ll be talking about how we can eat better, save money and make healthier, greener choices for our families.

Live Chat Details

Guest Expert:  Mara Fleishman of Whole Foods Market.

Your Host: Janet, editor and co-founder of The Green Mom Review

The Time:  Tuesday, March 10th at noon ET

The Place: The Motherhood in the Healthy Moms, Healthy Families circle.

The Fab Giveaway:  Two lucky chat participants will each receive a “Whole Baby Bag” full of great products.

Put Tuesday, March 10th at noon ET on your calendar. See you there!!!

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Edited to add: With nearly 500 guests sitting in on our chat with Mara Fleishman of Whole Foods, it was a big success. Thanks to everyone who dropped by to join us!

When heading to the park, a walk, or long car ride a snack becomes a necessity in my world. Sometimes, I even share them with my 3 yr old (ha!) which is why I like to make sure, if I am not packing homemade treats, that I buy quality organic and natural snacks.  Thank goodness companies are hearing the cry for wholesome snacks that are not loaded with high fructose corn syrup and other artificial additives I can hardly pronounce. Here is a rundown of a few sure-to-satisfy goodies.

If you prefer a little crunch and salt in your snack, then Happy Herbert’s offers over 30 fun-to-eat snacks. Happy Herbert’s Organic Spelt Mini Pretzels are a crunchy and tasty alternative to conventional modern wheat pretzels.

Find It Here: Happy Herbert’s

Or maybe you are the fruit and veggie type person? That’s cool and lucky you, Sensible Foods offers a line of Crunch Dried snacks. Each bag is fat free, 100% natural, gluten and GMO free and nothing but fruit or veggie. Choose from flavors such as 100% Organic Sweet Corn, Cherry Berry, or Apple Harvest. Don’t be surprised if your kids mistake them for candy instead of something healthy. We won’t tell if you wont!

Find It Here: Sensible Foods

Finally, I know there are parents out there saying, “Hey, my kid is allergic to peanuts. What about us?”  Well, a mother in 2005 started a company for that very reason.  Nonuttin’ Foods is a family-run business producing 100% peanut-free snacks, including granola bars. Nonuttin’ Foods maintains very high standards for making sure their products do not come in contact with anything nut-related which means parents of peanut-allergic kids can dole them out, worry free!  As an added bonus, all three of the aforementioned companies are involved with giving back to the community and providing an environmentally-friendly workplace. Happy snacking!

Find It Here: Nonuttin’ Foods