Modern Hippie Mag

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.

Podcast Movers and Shakers!

Steve McAllister — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:00:46 +0000

We are so pleased to announce that Podomatic, our podcast host, has named Modern Hippie Mag one of their Movers and Shakers! This means our show was among 50 podcasts in the top 500 that climbed the most number spots overall on Jul 23, 2010. We are now ranked number 398 overall and number 10 in our category! Thank you all so much for listening in and supporting us.

Of course, we also want to thank our guests, without whom we wouldn’t have nearly as much to talk about. In case you missed any of them, these are some of the most recent interviews…

Rock Meets Soul – Nice & Rough with Sheila Hardy

Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom with Dr. Rick Hanson

Source4Style.com – Connecting Designers with Sustainable Fabrics with Summer Rayne Oakes

Urthbags.com, Eco-chic Handbags with Monica Ralli

Working for Good with Jeff Klein

Possum Living – How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money with Dolly Freed

and, of course, our own Jaszy McAllister gave us our first video podcast with What Shade of Green Are You?

If you haven’t heard these already, you’re really missing out on some very enlightening talks. And if that’s not enough, just wait to see who we’ve got coming up next.

Podcast Movers and Shakers! is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

The Good, the Bad and the Not So Pretty

Jaszy McAllister — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:00:07 +0000

Well eco-peeps we have some news for ya. The good news is that tomorrow is ‘Food’ day and as you’ve come to expect, we have a super yummy raw food dessert from Natalia in our video series In the Kitchen with Natalia of Glowing Temple. I won’t spoil it, but it’s really easy to make and very chocolate-y!

The bad news is that next week Modern Hippie Mag will be offline for a few days, but for a very good reason. We’re going green, people!! We are making the transition to iPage, a Green Certified Hosting Company. iPage reduces its carbon footprint by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) generated by wind power. That means that their servers, offices and data centers are powered by 100% wind energy. iPage’s energy efficiency is equivalent to planting 2,390 acres of trees or removing 510 cars from the road! We’re pretty excited about it!

But that brings me to the “Not So Pretty”.

Although I have complete confidence in the folks over at iPage, I’m gonna be freakin’ out just a tad as we get it all sorted out. Your patience and words of soothing comfort would be greatly appreciated.

I hope that you will still connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Also, be sure to catch up on our videos on YouTube and our podcast interviews while we make the transition.

Thanks so much for continuing to support Modern Hippie Mag and for being a part of our community of eco-peeps!!

The Good, the Bad and the Not So Pretty is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

Tips to Eco-Style Your Life this Summer

Julie Urlaub — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:00:39 +0000

Summer is here! Spice it up eco style to add the eco sizzle in your summer activities. Individuals aiming to become more sustainable in their own personal life have a variety of eco actions at their disposal. As mentioned in our eco friendly consulting, start with the sustainability concepts are you most familiar. Areas of energy efficiency, waste management, or local and fair trade are familiar topics. You may want to apply sustainability concepts more specific to the summer months. Looking for ideas? Try these on!

Photo by Christa Richert

Organic garden – Organic gardening leads to better health in three main ways:

When you garden organically, you greatly reduce your exposure to pesticides, which have been linked to many severe health problems.
Organically-grown food is more nutritious than food grown using conventional methods.
Organic gardeners tend to use “muscle-power” rather than “machine-power” for gardening tasks.

Green Home Makeover – Transform your home into an eco haven. Express your unique style and with eco awareness. Following are resources offered in our eco friendly consulting classes to help you on your way:

Eco friendly car washing – wash your car the eco friendly way:

Consider switching to a waterless car wash.
Wash on gravel, grass, or another permeable surface.
Use a water-saving hose nozzle. Select a nozzle with an automatic shut-off valve so that water is not continuing to flow as you wash.
Select the right soap. Choose a biodegradable soap that is chlorine- and phosphate-free. Phosphates encourage algae bloom when they enter water and reduce oxygen levels for other aquatic species.
Opt for reusable towels. Swap paper towels for re-usable microfiber towels.

Happy eco summer to you!

Tips to Eco-Style Your Life this Summer by Julie Urlaub originally appeared in the Taiga Company blog.

Julie

Julie Urlaub is Founder & Managing Partner of Taiga Company, a sustainability consulting firm located in Houston, Texas dedicated to accelerating the integration of sustainability concepts in business. Today, Julie speaks, writes, and advises clients on a variety of issues related to the intersection between environmental stewardship, and sustainable business practices. Her writing has been featured in SocialYell’s Corporate Advice, the GreenEcomonyPost, the Business Exchange and, the ThinkGreenAlliance. Connect with Taiga Company on Facebook and Twitter. Also Find Julie on LinkedIn.

Tips to Eco-Style Your Life this Summer is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

Your Daily Groove – Beyond Objections

Steve McAllister — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:00:48 +0000

“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” – Samuel Johnson

In the realm of all things possible, the characteristics of everything that has ever been achieved vary from endeavor to endeavor. Some were easy; some were difficult. Some were simple; some were complex. Some were once thought to be impossible; others were a no-brainers. Nevertheless, everything that has ever been achieved has one thing in common – it was attempted.

Whether the tasks ahead of us seem easy, complex, or even impossible, the very attempt at them brings us closer to achievement. It may be that from this vantage point the objections over our endeavors loom too large. However, with each new attempt at achievement, we gain a new perspective and often find the answers to our objections in our attempts to maneuver around them.

We each have great possibilities of what we can do with our time in this world. Let us not waste them by cowering in the face of adversity, fear, and cynicism. For all that we envision, there are paths to manifestation if we only continue moving forward.

Steve McAllister

Your Daily Groove – Beyond Objections is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

The Game of Life

Allyson Spellman — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:00:16 +0000

I am currently in Las Vegas and naturally surrounded by casinos. And with casinos come gamblers: lots and lots of gamblers. Now you may not be a gambler in the sense of black jack, poker, slots, etc. But are you a gambler on life? The definition of a gambler is someone who “plays games of chance whose outcome is uncertain.”

“Life is like a hand of cards. You have to play the hand you’re dealt, you can’t win by folding, and sometimes you must take chances in order to win.” -Mike Conner

There is a difference between playing with chance and taking a chance in order to win. Taking a chance gets you out of your comfort zone in order to take your game to a new level. So in the game of life, are you playing strictly by chance or are you playing with certainty?

If you are playing strictly by chance, you could be settling for less simply because you think there aren’t any options, or that you don’t have the power to do more, be more, and experience more. Circumstances can dictate your outcome because that is “just the cards you were dealt.” It just always seems the odds are against you. The stakes seem too high for you to try a different strategy. Someone else is always holding the aces you desire. The game just isn’t fun anymore.

Are you tired of life just being a toss-up?

But if you are playing with certainty, you’re going to make your own rules, live life on your own terms, and create the circumstances that you want in your life. If you were dealt a “bad hand,” are you going to just fold and give up? Or are you going to keep playing and developing strategies?

How are you looking at your cards? Are you angry at the hand you were deal? Has the indecisiveness of your next move halted the game? Or can you see how you can still win? Can you take those cards and turn them into a winning hand?

If you play your cards right, you can do it. You are a part of the game of life- whether you like it or not. The outcome all depends on how you play.

The cards are in your hands. Only you can decide what to do with them.

I’m betting you can turn those cards into a winning hand.

Originally published as The Game of Life

Allyson

Allyson Spellman is a master goals and success coach and co-founder of HeartCore BootCamp- Empowering Women to Stop Settling. Along with her partner Shanda Sumpter, Allyson continues to help thousands of women all over the globe reach their goals and make lasting heart connections through HeartCore. She is also the co-host of HeartCore Radio on Contact Radio and the host of The Breakthrough Muse Radio Show with Allyson Spellman on Blog Talk Radio. Find her at www.heartcorebootcamp.com to receive 8 weeks of FREE empowerment coaching. Pick up a free HeartCore Jump Start Program at www.2DayJump.com. Follow her on Twitter, @HeartCoreGirls and @Breakthru_Muse.

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

Rock Meets Soul – Nice & Rough

Jaszy McAllister — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:00:57 +0000

Love rock ‘n roll? Yeah, me too. But did you know there are a number of women bellowing out rock and soul as good, if not better than some of the greats that have been in the limelight for ages? With influences from legends like Jimi Hendrix, Tina Turner, The Rolling Stones, and Sly & the Family Stone, there are women of color who are epitomizing the spirit of rock ‘n roll in ways that are more than worthy of recognition.

Shelia J. Hardy

Filmmaker and producer Sheila J. Hardy endeavors to do just that in her documentary film Nice and Rough – Black Women in Rock.

Nice and Rough, an Eve’s Lime Production, is a film that seeks to “honor the true spirit of the American dream: the freedom to pursue our goals and not be limited by race or gender.” Featuring the stories and talents of Joyce Kennedy, Siedahh Garrett, Cindy Blackman, Star Cullers (the first and only female to play in the 18-piece P-Funk All-Stars band until she left to start her own rock group) and others, Nice and Rough gives voice to some amazingly talented ladies in a world typically not open to women, let alone African-American women.

Listen to my interview with Sheila Harding to learn more about the film, her production company Eve’s Lime, and her other documentary and commercial projects.

Watch the trailer for Nice and Rough and be sure to stay updated with the production.

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 or connect with her on LinkedIn. Read more articles by Jaszy.

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.

Rock Meets Soul – Nice & Rough is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

Buddha’s Brain

Steve McAllister — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:00:58 +0000

Regardless of your religious or cultural background, the image of the Buddha inspires visions of peace, tranquility, and well-being. Through the practice of meditation and the idea of being at one with the world, this mindset transcends religion and helps millions of people gain peace of mind in the midst of tumultuous times. Dr. Rick Hanson explores this phenomenon in his latest book, Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom.

Rick Hanson

“With the new breakthroughs in neuroscience, combined with insights from thousands of years of contemplative practice, you, too, can shape your own brain for greater happiness, love, and wisdom.”

I recently had the chance to speak with Rick about his inspiration for the book and some practical ways that we can calm our minds to find clarity, happiness, and greater productivity in our daily lives.

Steve

Buddha’s Brain is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.

Your Daily Groove – The Spirit of the Sixties

Steve McAllister — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:00:35 +0000

“For me, the lame part of the Sixties was the political part, the social part. The real part was the spiritual part.” – Jerry Garcia

It may very well be that the attempt to control forces outside of themselves led to the downfall of the first Hippie movement. As noble as their intentions may have been, the fight against the war and the political powers that pushed it forth may have played a big part in diverting their energies from the inner journeys which guided them toward the ideals of peace, hope, and community in the first place.

All these years later, wars are still being mounted and political powers are still pushing them forth for personal gain. And yet there is also a renaissance of those ideals of peace, hope, and community burning in the hearts of people all over the world. As we see the same mistakes being made by the political powers, trading only jungle for desert, let us not fall into the same routine and make the same mistakes, but realize the magnitude of the inner journey. For the changes we long to see in our society and our world will not be made by the force of brutes, but by the power of the spirit.

This is not to say that we should not be against war, pollution, and political corruptness, but that we should be all the more so for peace, natural living, and integrity. For these are not political aspects, and trying to force them to be so will only end in disillusionment, as we have already seen. The fight we must wage is for our independence from the folly they engage in, seeking a revolution of spirit and a solidarity of purpose which will guide us toward the future we envision.

Steve McAllister begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Your Daily Groove – The Spirit of the Sixties is a post from Modern Hippie Mag your online resource dedicated to hip, healthy conscious living & environmental sustainability.