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In the Kitchen with Natalia – Chocolate Cherry Truffles

Natalia KW — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:00:24 +0000

Cherries are one of my favorite summer fruits. I can eat them non-stop! Chocolate and cherries are a classic combo, but at first glance, there’s no way to tell there’s a sweet, fresh cherry wrapped up inside these little bites. I love surprises! The truffle base is so simple, you can play around with your favorite fruits, nuts and spices to create your own masterpiece. Have fun!

Makes one dozen

Ingredients:

3/4 cup raw cacao powder
seeds of one vanilla bean
pinch of salt
1/2 cup pitted medjool dates
1/4 cup raw honey
1 tablespoon coconut oil
12 pitted cherries
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder

Instructions:
Place the cacao powder, vanilla bean and salt in a food processor. Pulse gently to combine. Add the dates, honey and coconut oil and process until sticky and smooth. To make each truffle, roll about one tablespoon of chocolate into a 1″ ball with your hands. Flatten into a circle and wrap around the cherry. Roll again to make a smooth, round ball. Place the 2 tablespoons of cacao powder on a plate. Roll the cherry filled truffle in the cacao powder and give it one last roll with your hands for an even coating. Set in the refrigerator for one hour to firm. Consume within 2 days since you’re using fresh cherries, or freeze for longer storage.

Natalia

Natalia is the chef/owner of Glowing Temple, a raw and living foods inspiration, creation and education service based in Sarasota, Florida. She strives to create recipes focusing on local and seasonal ingredients and never compromises when it comes to organics. Natalia wishes to share the joy she has discovered through a clean, green diet. Recently, she created an organic live & vegan menu for Mi Pueblo’s University location. Find her on Twitter @NataliaKW and Facebook.

In the Kitchen with Natalia – Chocolate Cherry Truffles is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

Sow Your Own

Steve McAllister — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:00:05 +0000

Cafe Direct is the United Kingdom’s largest 100% Fairtrade hot drinks company. By following their mission of changing lives and building communities through inspirational, sustainable business, they focus their social and economic impact in the developing world, by investing 50% of their profit back into the growers, positively impacting the lives of over 1.6 million people in 14 different countries. Through their new Sow Your Own project, they are affecting even more.

The project was started ” to inspire even the most garden-starved urbanites to grow their own great-tasting food.” Although Cafe direct is not available in the United States, I recently spoke with Jacquie Bance about the impact Cafe Direct has on so many people and how the Sow Your Own project is inspiring the United Kingdom to start thinking more sustainably.

Steve

In addition to serving as Managing Editor and contributor to Modern Hippie Mag, Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available as an e-book at www.themcallistercode.com. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Sow Your Own is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

Help the Environment and Save Money with ecofreek

Guest Contributor — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:00:39 +0000

ecofreek is a new company dedicated to advancing the recycling movement by providing a simple method to find free and swap items online.

Many peoples understanding of recycling is limited to just bottles, cans and paper; however, it’s not just trash that can be recycled, perfectly good items like clothing, furniture and electronics can be recycled as well. ecofreek’s mission is to encourage users to reuse pre-owned items, as well as give away items they no longer want, in order to reduce landfill waste.

ecofreek feels that newer is not necessarily better- but that free is better, especially considering the current issue of over-consumption and wastefulness. Also, with the uncertain economic climate, many people are looking for more ways to save money.

ecofreek (founded January 2010) is a search engine that locates free and swap items from over 45 websites; such as, Craigslist, Pennysaver, and public Freecycle sites, making ecofreek the most extensive way to find free items on the web. With ecofreek, users can easily find a free sofa, kitchen table, books or kitten in their area OR trade material or services with someone; for example, trading yard labor for a pool table.

Users can search by a keyword, city, or region (state/country), allowing results to easily be narrowed down. In addition, results can be sorted by how old the listing is, listings with images first, and more. Once the user has found an item they like, they only need to click the listing to be taken to the original posting to contact the the owner.

Unlike many classifieds, ecofreek uses a filter for spam and false listings, and also has an easy way to mark listings to be taken down.

ecofreek’s service is easy to use and full of extra features, such as driving directions so you can see how far away an item is from you. Plus, if you can’t find what you’re looking for at first, you can easily sign up for free email alerts and cell phone text alerts to be notified when a new item is listed that fits your keyword.

Soon, the company will be offering merchandise, such as t-shirts and re-usable grocery bags, to give away when users donate (at this stage the company is supported only by donation) .

Craig J. Stadler, co-founder said- “ecofreek encourages people to ask the question: Why buy a new piano, moving boxes or a desk when you can pick up a free one nearby, save money and feel good about helping the environment all at once?”

Nicole Boivin, nicole@ecofreek.com, (510) 768-7952.

Help the Environment and Save Money with ecofreek is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

How to recycle plastic sandwich bags and wrap

EarthTalk — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:00:36 +0000

EarthTalk®
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Where do you recycle plastic stuff like sandwich bags, Saran wrap and plastic grocery store wrappers? Can they just go in with other plastics in the recycling bin? There never seems to be any information available about this. – Renee La-Fountaine, Lake Hughes, CA

The reason you don’t hear much about recycling these types of plastic films is that most municipalities don’t take back items intended to wrap food. One exception may be sandwich bags, which are made from easy-to-recycle polyethylene, as long as any hard (i.e. “Ziploc”) components are removed and they are rinsed free of any food debris or stains.

For that matter, if you are going to the trouble to wash them, you may as well dry and reuse them at home a few times before relegating them to the recycling bin. There are even small countertop racks available for hanging plastic bags to dry before reusing them.

Clinging plastic like Saran wrap is problematic for recyclers because the resin that it contains (to give it wrapping power) cannot be re-extracted without massive amounts of energy—more than it takes to make it new from scratch. And given that it’s usually soiled with some kind of food, used plastic wrap should always just go right into the trash.

Other non-recyclable plastic films include dark-colored plastic bags, bags with handles or drawstrings, and anything else designed to be wrapped around food. Since you can’t even rinse or recycle these kinds of plastics, it’s better to avoid them altogether and invest in some reusable containers to store leftovers.

Another option is to use plastic grocery store shopping bags (though they are increasingly being phased out) to wrap your food leftovers in. Many municipalities and most stores that provide such bags accept them for recycling, so once you’re done with them they can be recycled or returned to the store, after which they can be melted down and incorporated into weather- and rot-resistant window and door frames, decking (such as Trex), palettes, pipes and other long-lasting hard goods. Like with sandwich and other bags you intend to recycle, make sure plastic grocery bags are clean before you turn them in for recycling.

If you are a Ziploc bag or plastic wrap fanatic but want to do the right thing by the environment, look for plastic food storage film or bags made from biodegradable polymers. Some popular brand names to keep an eye out for at Whole Foods and elsewhere are Eco Wrap, EcoFlex and BioBag. These plastics—some of which are made from agricultural scraps left over from corn crops—can go right in with yard waste or other compostables and will break down over time accordingly just like cardboard or food scraps. With time major brands will undoubtedly be offering similar products.

But even though there may in fact be “greener” plastic out there, reducing our reliance on disposable bags altogether should be the ultimate goal. Luckily many grocery chains are hip to greening their own operations and image, and are giving away or selling for a nominal amount reusable canvas shopping bags so customers don’t have to choose between wasting plastic and paper at the checkout line.

CONTACTS: PlasticBagRecycling.org, www.plasticbagrecycling.org; Trex, www.trex.com; BioBag, www.biobagusa.com.

SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk®, c/o E – The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. E is a nonprofit publication. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe; Request a Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

How to recycle plastic sandwich bags and wrap is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

Best bags for your veggies!

Jaszy McAllister — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:00:51 +0000

We’ve all heard the alarming stats about plastic, and even though I felt I was doing my part by reusing my produce bags to discard kitty poop, truth is whether or not you recycle plastic bags, the energy and expense of making them still takes a toll on our environment. So I started scanning the web for reusable produce bags for my veggies, and though I found several different ones, most of them were made of canvas…who can see through canvas? Which meant that the grocery teller would have to open the bags and possibly put their grubby little hands on my veggies (yes, I know it’s illogical, especially given that several hundred people probably put their grubby little hands on my veggies before I even know it!). But I digress. So just imagine my excitement when I found reusable produce bags that are virtually see-through!!

Flip & Tumble

I am so loving my Flip & Tumble Reusable Produce Bags (set of 5/$10.95) from ReusableBags.com! The Flip & Tumble bags are made from breathable, durable polyester, are compact and lightweight with drawstring closure, and resist staining and shrinking better than natural fiber bags. Plus, the fine mesh allows you to use them for smaller bulk items. Keeping them clean is a cinch – simply machine wash and line dry. And let me tell you, I turned some heads at the farmer’s market recently, everyone wanted to know where I got them! They are definitely a smarter and cooler alternative to plastic produce bags!

Reusablebags.com specialize in providing a huge selection of reusable shopping bags and related accessories. And check it out, they’re having a fab Summer Sale! Take advantage of some serious savings on some of their other popular high-quality items:

Reusable shopping bags (starting at under $4)
Stylish, durable water bottles (starting at under $7)
Lunch bags (starting at under $4)
Food containers (starting at under $8)
Items for kitchen & home (starting at under $4)

They also have great deals on reusables from brands like Klean Kanteen, SIGG, ACME, Thermos and countless others!

So do your part, ditch the plastic, buy your own Flip & Tumble Reusable Produce Bags, and be the talk of your farmer’s market!

Jaszy

Jaszy McAllister is the woman behind the curtain of Modern Hippie Mag. She is also the host for ModernHippieMag.com video and podcast interview profiles and a Green Guru for TheGreenGirls.com. Find her on Twitter, @msjaszy. Read more articles by Jaszy.

Best bags for your veggies! is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

The Very Best of Dining Etiquette – Fabkins

Jeanne Blaisdell — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:00:58 +0000

“Hey Mom, I’m eco-friendly!” my 10 year old says to me as he wipes his mouth off on his sleeve. “Very funny, now use your napkin!”, I retort.

Beach Bound

Though we haven’t used paper napkins in a while, my boys sometimes just seem to find their clothes an easier option. So now that I’ve discovered Fabkins, using a cloth napkin is a little more fun. These adorable, 100% certified organic cotton napkins come in bright colors with upbeat embroidered designs reflecting kids interests, making mealtime manners a possibility and of course, reducing unnecessary waste at the same time. Each of mine have their own Fabkin with a unique design from the Beach Bound and Extreme Sports collection and wouldn’t think of letting the other brother use it. Other styles include Prima Ballerina, Garden Friends and African Safari.

What I like most about Fabkins is the size – trimmed down a bit and perfect for smaller hands, mouths and laps. It’s also great for the lunchbox, traveling and for a place-setting-to-go. It can even double as a place mat and the tag has a line to write the child’s name. By simply adding a Fabkin to a waste-free school lunch, you can save around $250 and eliminate 67 pounds of waste every year. Now that’s something to smile about…so now…Use your Fabkin!

Jeanne

Jeanne Blaisdell publishes TheGreenSamaritan.com, her personal blog highlighting green living tips and information in order to help herself and others on their journey towards greater environmental awareness. She has also launched EcoAvenueLtd.com, an online shopping site featuring the latest deals and promotions from a collection of earth-friendly merchants. Jeanne lives in Greensboro, North Carolina with her husband Tom and two boys, Jack (10) and Ben (7). Find The Green Samaritan on Facebook, follow on Twitter @GreenSamaritan and @EcoAvenueltd.

The Very Best of Dining Etiquette – Fabkins is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

5 Ways to a Greener Lawn, and I Do Mean Green.

Guest Contributor — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:00:31 +0000

Okay, so I may not always smile. In fact, sometimes I think my kids actually fear that I might be distantly related to The Wicked Witch of the West…or East…or any ol’ direction for that matter. And it really might be true except that I have not ridden a bicycle with a basket in several years. Or ever. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just sayin’.

Most of the time, I have to say that I am an optimist with good manners and a polite disposition. It takes a lot for a total stranger to irk me and turn me into a loco greenie. Greenie is a fine persona – loco greenie, not so much. This might have been a little bit (and by a little bit, I actually mean a lot) of what happened today.

Those chemical lawn people are relentless and it was not my fault really. They continue to come to my front door with their disapproval of my lawn. Now granted, we do have clover. Not a ton, but noticeable and VERY noticeable (evidently) to many non-greenies.

We do not spray our lawn. We do not necessarily love the clover mostly because of the bees that linger in it. But to the naked eye, it’s just not something that sends us over the edge. Our son has eczema and allergies and his skin is incredibly sensitive to chemicals so we just don’t go there. Besides, we live inside of a home that is ever-increasingly green and natural to the best of our ability. So why then, should our outside be any different?

There are numerous health effects associated with one particular chemical known as 2, 4-D, which is a commonly used herbicide used for spraying weeds on golf courses and in residential landscape maintenance. “2,4-D has been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, endocrine disruption, reproductive and developmental effects, as well as water contamination and toxicity to aquatic organisms. As the most commonly used “home and garden” chemical, millions of U.S. households especially vulnerable children and pets, are exposed to this toxic chemical. This means that children playing on lawns and fields continue to be exposed to a chemical that has known and uncertain toxicological effects from which they are not adequately protected” (beyondpesticides.org).

Scary, right? I know.

So what do we do? Well, I for one see nothing wrong with some clover, and our kids wear their sandals when they are playing to escape any bee stings. Organic lawns just require a different perspective, It involves giving our lawn the things it needs in order to grow to it’s best potential (kind of like our family) and when given what it needs, the junk just might not thrive. Clover has several advantages including staying green all summer without watering, it never needs fertilized, it out-competes other weeds, and it grows well in poor soil to name a few!

For a healthy lawn that keeps you healthy too – here are some tips!

Leave your grass clippings on the lawn, they are full of nutrients
For a natural fertilizer, apply grass clippings and compost regularly through the growing season
Aerate you turf! Renting an aerator can help control thatch and involves removing small soil plugs in your lawn to prevent soil compaction. “Compaction greatly reduces the pore space within the soil that would normally hold air. Roots require oxygen to grow and absorb nutrients and water. Compaction reduces total pore space and the amount of air within the soil. It has a negative impact on nutrient uptake and water infiltration, in addition to being a physical barrier to root growth. This results in poor top growth and lawn deterioration” (mastergardenproducts).
Throw down some seeds! By sprinkling some grass seed over your lawn, you can encourage new growth while “choking out” the weeds (another advantage of clover!)
Wear your shoes to avoid the bees and then “build a bridge and get over it” -when chemical guy comes knocking….be on with your merry green way!

I am not sure I made a friend this afternoon when our chemical guy came around (Sorry chemical guy if I seemed annoyed), but sometimes it can be a challenge to give explanations of why and how I am green when on the spot. So even if I seemed like I should be on a bike with a basket (a’hem), it’s all in the name of green. I can deal with the occasional (or frequent if you are really counting) knocks at my door, and next time I am going to be smiling and proud!

Be Green, Be Proud. Love your weeds!

Lynn

Lynn Stone is the founder of the go-to green living blog for parents, SmilingGreenMom.com. Lynn’s goal is to help others “be the best green they can be” through her affordable tips and encouraging posts. A contributing writer for multiple blogs and websites, Lynn enjoys cooking, garage sale shopping, traveling, relaxing with her family and dreams of owning an eco-friendly log cabin one day! As a former competitive swimmer, she values wellness and living an active lifestyle and hopes to one day participate in a triathlon. Follow her on Twitter, @SmilingGreenMom and Facebook.

5 Ways to a Greener Lawn, and I Do Mean Green. is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

The Florida House Goes Solar

Jaszy McAllister — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:00:30 +0000

Florida Learning House

Built as a testament to sustainable living, the Florida House opened in 1994 to showcase to the public alternative energy options featuring the latest technologies in water and energy conservation, environmental landscaping, and to support local economic development.

Lennox SunSource

Last week, we were on hand for the Florida House’s newest addition, a state-of-the-art Lennox SunSource Home Energy System, a solar powered air conditioning system that will be the first of its kind in Florida. Because air conditioning can account for nearly 56 percent of an average household’s electricity consumption, the Florida House hopes to show homeowners that installing a solar powered air conditioning system can not only contribute to lowering electric bills but can also offset other utility demands because the solar system stores energy for when the sun isn’t shining and can produce electricity for other household demands.

The system was donated by Tri-County Air Conditioning and Heating, Inc., one of the largest air conditioning service and replacement companies in Florida.

Check out our video to learn more about the Florida House and its solar powered air conditioning unit debut.

Jaszy McAllister

Want to have your company, product or service featured in a video or podcast? Contact us! Watch our video profiles and listen to our podcast interviews.

The Florida House Goes Solar is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

Revisiting Vincent’s Vertigro Rooftop Garden

Jaszy McAllister — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:00:01 +0000

A few months ago we featured Vincent Dessberg’s rooftop garden using the Vertigro System. Obviously a revisit was in order and boy oh boy were we excited to learn about his progress and see first hand the awesome growth he’s enjoyed since then.

If you live in Sarsota, FL and want to experience fresh organic veggies visit www.igrowmyownveggies.com for more details.

Revisiting Vincent’s Vertigro Rooftop Garden is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

The Urban Homestead

Steve McAllister — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:00:25 +0000

Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen started a blog called Homegrown Evolution to keep an account of how they took their life in Los Angeles back to simpler times. From gardening to beekeeping, they adapted practices used by earlier generations to create a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle. That blog turned into the book The Urban Homestead, which has recently been re-released in a revised and updated edition.

Nestled in the hills of Silver Lake, their “homestead” and the blogs and book that derived from it are based on vegetables, hooch, chickens, bicycles and cultural alchemy. Along with some of their neighbors, they offer stories and tips on using greywater, solar power, solar ovens, and several more innovative ideas that have been around for generations, but forgotten about by today’s society.

I spoke with Kelly and Erik recently about living simply yet abundantly. Give a listen to our podcast interview.

The Urban Homestead

Modern Hippie Mag Podcast

Steve McAllister

In addition to serving as Managing Editor and contributor to Modern Hippie Mag, Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author and filmmaker. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available as an e-book at www.themcallistercode.com. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

The Urban Homestead is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.