Give Thanks!

I love Thanksgiving. There's just something about the turkey and all the fixins...and the tryptophan! Gratitude is so good for our hearts, our souls, and yes, our bodies. There is compelling research about attitudes and health. We are all struggling right now, but we still have oh so much to be thankful for. We have our freedom. We have one another. We have love and joy and faith. So give thanks!

This year we will celebrate Thanksgiving with some friends in our neighborhood. They are preparing quite a feast. I am bringing a simple salad that has become a favorite around here. It's not my original recipe. I guess it's kind of a classic. Here is a quick and easy salad that is sure to be a hit.

Blue Cheese & Granny Smith Salad

organic mixed baby greens
Granny Smith apple
crumbled blue cheese
candied pecans
balsamic vinegar
olive oil

Use desired amount of ingredients listed. We like our salads hearty, and I often say that we added a little lettuce to our salad :) Make it how you like!

1. Cut desired amount of apple into small chuncks
2. Add blue cheese and pecans
3. Toss all ingredients with baby greens, balsamic, and olive oil
4. Add just a bit of black pepper and cinnamon for extra flare (optional)

I often make this salad with raw pecans, or with Trader Joe's lightly sweetened pecans. (I stock up on these when we visit the mainland). But if you want to make them yourself, here is a nice recipe for candied pecans from my favorite gluten-free blog, Elana's Pantry. I made them tonight. I was out of yacon syrup so I used agave nectar. These nuts offer just a hint of sweetness to your salad or enjoy them all by themselves.

Candied Pecans

2 cups pecans
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons yacon syrup
½ tsp celtic sea salt

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl
Place in a pyrex baking dish
Bake at 350° for 15 minutes
Cool and serve

Here's to great food. Here's to gratitude. Here's to your health!

God bless you this Thanksgiving!

WINNER!!

And the winner of the EnviroBLOX giveaway is:

Jennifer, who follows To Your Health via Google Connect.

Congratulations Jennifer!! Unfortunately, you did not leave an email address, so please contact me by leaving a comment for this post with your email address included. If I do not hear from you within 72 hours, I will have to choose another winner.

A big thank you to all who entered. I would like to also offer special thanks to Cadaco for sponsoring this very generous giveaway!

Just Another Every Day Toxin

We should all be outraged at even the thought of toxic waste being called "organic fertilizer". Sadly, the reality is that this is happening all over the country. This is no doubt, a problem that will trickle down and effect us all. Here is an excerpt from the Organic Consumers Association concerning this every day toxin.

With toxic municipal sewage sludge being spread over tens of thousands of non-organic farms and ranches across the U.S., and sold in garden supply stores - often falsely labeled as "organic" fertilizer - OCA is about to launch a major campaign against the sewage sludge industry. But before we launch this campaign we need to respond to the current outrage in the so-called "Green City" of San Francisco, where the city is giving away toxic sewage sludge to backyard gardeners, farmers, and schools, under the guise of it being "organic fertilizer."

LEARN MORE

Use the following Action Alert and tell San Francisco to stop endangering schoolchildren and backyard gardeners!

TAKE ACTION NOW

GIVEAWAY!!

Only two more days left to enter the Enviro BLOX giveaway! Click here to find out how to enter.

Have a great and healthy day!

Tune in Tuesday!!

Most of you have heard of Dr. Oz. And if you haven't, now is the time to check out his show. Tomorrow, Tuesday the 17th of November, Dr. Oz investigates the link between cell phones and brain cancer. This is a show you do not want to miss! Check your local listings for the Dr. Oz show and tell your friends to watch this important show as well. To find out more about how cell phone use is linked to cancer, and how you can protect yourself, visit www.mybiopro.com/protectednoggin.

Here's to your health!

Have a Happy Tiffin!

I am glad to know there are so many great new food storage options. I just learned about a product line from a reader who commented on my post, More Reusable Options. If you are looking for style and function, Happy Tiffin is a fabulous, chic way to go! Their three-layer stainless steel containers and gorgeous, insulated bags would make a great gift for anyone on your list.

Check out all of their items at www.happytiffin.com. A big thank you to the reader who posted this comment, and to all my readers who share their latest tips.

Have a great and healthy day!

It's Okay to Fib!

Okay, how cute are these? Want a great novelty gift option for a friend who has a baby? Or for your little cutie? I read about these adorable costume bibs on a friend's blog and just had to share them here. These fun little bibs are handmade by moms and sold on Etsy. They are double-sided, so you can flip the costume side over and use the other side for feeding time. To check out more, go to http://www.fibbibs.com/.

Massive Maclaren Recall!

Attention Parents! If you own Maclaren stroller, you need to read this. Several children have been seriously hurt. If you own a Maclaren umbrella stroller, stop using it immediately. That’s the advice of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after it announced a voluntary recall Monday of an estimated 1 million strollers made by Maclaren.

Stop using any single- or double-umbrella stroller with Maclaren written on it, says the CPSC. The problem: Maclaren received reports that 12 children had their fingertips amputated after they placed their fingers in the hinge where the stroller folds. "This is a very serious hazard," says Scott Wilson, spokesman for the CPSC. "We know child behavior, we know kids like to explore and sometimes put their fingers in places where they shouldn't be. But finger amputations that result from using a product that parents expect to be safe is unacceptable."

Read more here

More Reusable Options!

With the overwhelming number of reports about BPA leaching, I am making an extra effort to have a plastic-free kitchen. Of course, many food items we buy come in plastic packaging. It is impossible to avoid it completely.

I prefer glass for drinking and for food storage. But we are a busy family on the go and glass is not always the most practical option. I have previously shared some of my favorite reusables. Here are a few more.

I bought some stainless steel containers that are quite handy for packing lunch items or snacks. They are lightweight, reusable, and provide natural insulation, which helps keep food cool longer. We have been using Lunch Bots for sandwiches and other snacks. My husband takes them to work in his lunch bag, and we also use them for food storage in the fridge. Lunch Bots have a rectangular shape, and a tight seal lid. I got a great price for these on Amazon.

We also really like Kids Konserve Nesting Trio. These three round containers are great for veggie slices, crackers, hummus, whatever. They "nest" inside one another for easy storage, and have rubber, leak-proof lids that seal tight and keep food contained, so there is no need to worry about spills. You can find these on The Soft Landing.

We have traded our Sigg Bottles, due to possible BPA leaching, for great new stainless steel sippers. I ordered three different brands to try out. For my husband, I got Nathan's 240z with a flip straw. My daughter now has a pretty CamelBak butterfly bottle with a flip straw. And I love my gorgeous new bottle by Thermos. It has a one-touch button release for a straw, which makes it super convenient and easy to sip from during workouts or when driving. I really like how liquids stay a consistent temperature for hours in these stainless steel bottles.

All of these choices are stainless steel, but remember, there are also many safe BPA-free plastic choices as well. It may not seem cost-effective to switch out your containers, but it actually is. These are durable, safe containers that do not leach harmful chemicals. They are not microwaveable...sorry. But they are reusable and will last a long, long time. Resuable containers conserve resources, reduce waste, and ultimately, keep more money in your pocket. Now that, I like.

Here' s to your health!

Get Creative With Clementine Art!

I've always got my eye out for the safest products for kids. As promised, here is another great option for the kiddos on your Christmas list. Today we received a highly-anticipated package of products to review from Clementine Art. I first noticed Clementine Art products in Whole Foods. I checked out the website and was so impressed with the company's products and the story behind them. What a fabulous company!

Clementine Art is a natural children's art company. The products are all natural, truly non-toxic, free of synthetic preservatives, animal by-products, and petroleum. They are the first art product company to list all ingredients on its packages. The company uses renewable resources, even down to the beautiful packaging, which is made from mostly recycled materials and is printed with soy-based inks in a wind-powered facility. AND the products are made in the USA.

We received a pack of natural soy crayons and natural modeling dough to review. Of course, my little one wanted to dive right in, ripping the package open and getting down to some serious art business. It is always amazing to see a child's creativity and imagination at work-it's magical. And that is what Clementine Art is all about.

Clementine Art was started by Diana Mercer, a former teacher with over 20 years experience in education, arts education, and child development. She wanted to "create products that not only engaged children in an open-ended creative process, but that could also become an everyday part of healthy and creative lifestyle."

So what did we think of the products? Well, I had a hard time getting my little one to put them away and wash up for dinner. First, we opened the modeling dough, which comes in three colors-yellow, green, and red. This all natural dough is soft and pliable, tons of fun, and smells delicious.

When I opened the box of crayons, I wasn't sure what my daughter would think, but she really liked them. These soy crayons have a totally unique shape, that I absolutely love. My daughter tends to push hard when writing or drawing and she often breaks her crayons, even the larger triangular-shaped ones. These crayons are thick and durable, and are just the right shape to encourage writing. They don't have that "crayon" smell, and they don't come with paper wrapping, so you need not fuss about your kids peeling it away and leaving little pieces all over the house! Also, my daughter accidentally wrote on the carpet, so I got the opportunity to test and see that they wash fairly easily as well.

I would definitely recommend Clementine Art products. What I really love about Clementine Art is that the products are high quality and absolutely safe. We can't wait to try the other items in their line. I only wish that they had been available sooner.

I would love to see Clementine Art expands their product line to include a larger variety of colors. That would be the only slight downside for me right now. Still, we are looking forward to lots of safe playtime with Clementine Art. Kids love to explore, and often that means their little hands AND mouths coming into contact with paint, glue, crayons, whatever they are creating with. Why not choose the safest products available?

Be sure to check out www.clementineart.com to read more about all of their naturally fabulous products!

Here's to happy, healthy, budding little artists!

Btw Cleliac friends, these products are not all gluten-free, but I plan to blog about wheat-free products soon :)

Pretty Little Piggy!

It's that time of year. Christmas decorations are popping up everywhere, stores are stocking up their toy supplies, and parents will soon begin to scramble! So I thought I would post a few more of my favorite safe picks for kids. I'll start with this great stocking stuffer for girls!

Since we have a little princess in our midst, we have lots of fun with all the girly stuff. Like most little girls, our daughter loves to paint her nails, just like her mommy. Oh what fun! We have been using the more natural polishes for years now, but our newest find is the Best. We love Piggy Paint!

I first discovered Piggy Paint in a magazine, and have since read review after review from fellow mommy bloggers. So I decided to order some a while back to see if it was truly as wonderful as I had heard...AND it is!

So what is so great about Piggy Paint? Well, for starters, my little one loves anything "piggy". But in addition to that, this awesome nail polish is made from a water-based formula, and is totally free of all the harsh chemicals found in most other brands. The Piggy Paint site boasts that "Piggy Paint is specially formulated from God’s natural ingredients and dries to a hard, durable finish. There are no toxic chemicals; it’s free of formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, biphenyl A, ethyl acetate and acetone."

Piggy Paint truly is as natural as mud. It doesn't even have a hint of harsh odor...it actually smells a little like dirt. I was also surprised at how well the special polish remover works. And I am quite impressed with the beautiful colors Piggy Paint comes in. I liked them so much that I decided to give myself a piggy pedicure. I have been searching for the perfect red for some time, and now I've finally found it in "Sometimes Sweet"!

Now Piggy Paint is offering To Your Health readers 15% off! Just use the coupon code at checkout and you'll receive 15% off anything at www.piggypaint.com , including sales items. They ship worldwide.

COUPON CODE: HEALTH15L
EXPIRATION DATE: Feb 28, 2010
Spend over $25 and domestic shipping is FREE!

Here's to being a girl!