Homemade Fruit Roll-ups

 

 

Store bought fruit roll-ups are made from concentrate, corn syrup, ascorbic acid and other less than natural ingredients.  Home-made fruit roll-ups are easy to make, way healthier and surely satisfy any sweet tooth. 

The recipe is easy and flexible, you can chose any fruit you like or you can mix fruits.  You can use fresh, dried or frozen fruit. They are easy to prepare but they do take about 3-4 hours to set so keep that in mind. Make a few batches at a time.

1. Select any fruit of your choice and purée it in a blender or food processor. If desired add a tablespoon or two of sugar.

2. On low warm the fruit in a pot on the stove, stir periodically, in about 10-15 minutes it will start to look jammy.

3. Thinly spread (or spray) oil onto parchment paper placed on a baking sheet, then spread out your fruit purée. It will become thinner as it bakes.

4. Bake in the oven on 170°F. They are done when the puree isn’t sticky anymore which is about 3-4 hours depending on the oven and your fruit choices.

5. Use a sharp knife to cut them and roll them with wax or parchment paper when they are still warm. 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Make Your Own Fabric Softener

I have been making my own fabric softener for years, it is easy, cost effective and works great!

6 Cups of water
2 Cups of hair conditioner (Suave is inexpensive and works great!)
3 Cups of white vinegar
20 +/- Drops of essential oil

Simply combine and stir (I use a whisk) ingredients together.  I have a milk jug I reuse to store my homemade mixture. 

Your homemade fabric softener also makes a great welcome to the neighborhood or house warming gift.  Make sure you include a recipe card so your new neighbor can enjoy making their own homemade fabric softener! 

 

 

Be Happy by Consuming Less

    America has a trash problem, why? Because Americans have a buying problem. Since 2007 one of America’s largest exports to China has been trash.   We live in an age that keeping up with the Jones’ is a necessity and upgrading is "required" to be happy.

    Cutting back on consumption and better understanding the difference between need and want are great psychological tools to have.  However, this is not necessarily easy  when where ever we look we see ads designed to make us think we need what they are selling, then in some cases, we buy the product use it once or twice and then it gets lost in the piles of other “must haves”.  A team at San Francisco University has developed a great survey website beyondthepurchase.org that is designed to explore how our buying patterns effect our happiness and quality of life. These short surveys are great tools to better understand your own buying habits and can assist you in transforming how you consume for the better. 

    Becoming a conscience consumer will help you and your family create a more fulfilling lifestyle, purchasing less material things and more memorable experiences. To learn more read, Study: Experiences make us happier than possessions. We live in a product based society but the next time you are swiping that plastic card ask yourself, "do I really need this, or do they just want me to think I do".

freecycle.org

 

 

Help keep stuff out of landfills! Freecycle.org is a great non-profit movement that allows people in your area to post ads for things such as furniture, kitchen supplies, gardening stuff, etc. they have that they no longer have a need for. I found a great small evergreen tree some one bought too many and had an extra one.  I also found some great strawberry plants and a lemon tree.  These all made spectacular additions to my yard!

 

I love this site because it is a great way to help out your community (and our earth) by recycling your old belongings to someone in need. The site also allows you to post wanted ads, so if there is something particular you are looking for, post an ad before you buy new. You may be surprised what you can find recycled! Happy hunting :)

The Five Rs

Respect
Just like Aretha Franklin said, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”!  The first step to a green heart is respect, respect for the planet, respect for yourself and your body and respect for fellow humans.  Respect gives way for less destructive habits and a happier and healthier heart. 

Rethink
Rethink your lifestyles and buying patterns can really make a difference. Before the devastating collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh in May of this year I sadly admit I never gave much thought to where my clothes were made.  But after researching the retched working conditions, constant fires, unsafe buildings, and poorly paid workers I made an effort to learn just where the clothes and products I was purchasing were being manufactured. American Apparel located in Los Angeles, CA is proudly sweat-shop free and offers great fashions for competitive prices.  By choosing to only support companies that treat all their laborers with respect we can motivate more companies to rethink their working conditions. Click here to watch a short documentary about the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse.

Reuse

If 25% of American families used just 10 fewer plastic bags each month, an estimated 2.5 billion bags could be saved from landfills each year. When I was younger my mum would tell us to bring home our plastic sandwich bags from lunch. She would rinse them out and let them air dry to reuse them again the next day. I now do the same thing.  It is the small things that make a huge difference!

Reduce

Less is more! We live in a shop till you drop society that creates unnecessary waste and debt. Try visiting garage sales, consignment shops and goodwill stores for gently used clothing and other items.  Get creative with old furniture like desks and coffee tables. Never under estimate a good do-it-yourself project. Gather friends for a repurposing party and get creative!   

Recycle

Recycling is one of the easiest ways to respect the earth.  Too many items that could have been recycled end up in landfills each year, like paper, yard clippings, cans and milk jugs.  If your community has a recycle program use it! If you do not have a recycle bin go to your local city hall and ask for one. I paid $5.00 for mine. When I was in college I lived in an apartment complex that did not recycle, so each week I would drive five minutes down the street to my uncle and aunt's house to do my recycling in their bin. It was great, they always made me stay for dinner!

A greener heart yields respect, and respect is good for us all!

You Are What You Eat

   One way to a greener heart is to eat greener! The westerners diet includes lots of processed foods and meat, lots of added sugar and refined grains.  This is because our lives are fast moving, and fast food (and frozen food) is how we eat.  But one of the keys to a greener lifestyle is getting back to the basics when it comes to what we eat.  Food Rules – An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan is a great book that hones in on the fundamentals to a greener and healthier diet.  To achieve a greener heart try to incorporate some or all of these rules into your family's diet. 

 

1. Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
This just makes sense. Think to yourself the next time you are at the super-market, "would great-grandma know what this is?" This is a great trick when picking out yogurt not Go-Gurt, for example. 

 

2. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
If you would not cook with it yourself why would you let others use these ingredients to cook for you? Ask yourself, "do I cook with monosodium glutamate (MSG)?" if not, leave it on the shelf.

 

3. Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.
Not because it is worse for you than sugar, but because, like many unfamiliar food ingredients in packaged foods, it is a strong indication that the product has been highly processed. In addition, we should not be eating as much sugar as we do!

 

4. Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients. 
Check the label, some foods, like Honey Nut Cheerios may surprise you. Leave these foods for special occasions.

 

5. Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients…. Or at least to ingredients that can be easily pronounced. 

Think grocery store products, not when baking. When you are making food yourself you can often pronounce the ingredients you are using. This is a good trick to keep it simple and a way to consume less processed foods.

 

6. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. 
Why you ask?  Because processed foods generally dominate the center isles.

 

7. Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
The more processed a food product is the longer shelf life it has, and the less nutritious it typically is. Keep in mind exceptions, such as honey.

 

8. Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
This will help you to keep chemicals and foodlike substances out of your diet. Try it, pick up a box of Pop Tarts and try to picture all those ingredients in their raw state… Tricky, tricky.

 

9. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can.
Buy fruits, veggies and eggs from your local farmer’s market. If you live in a rural area, keep your eyes peeled for homemade signs by the roadside advertising fresh eggs and other fresh products. Or try your own green thumb out.  If you are a beginner, start small with herbs.

 

10. It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.

Enough said!

 

11. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
Follow the old Chinese Proverb, “eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, and pigs].

 

12. Drink the spinach water.
Or at least save it for soup or sauces. This is because the water that veggies are cooked in is rich in vitamins and makes yummy stock.

 

13. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.
This should be self-evident but is highly over looked by the industrial food industry that feed animals unhealthy grains and sometimes even coco to make cattle plump up faster and ready for market sooner.  Try looking for all grass-fed cattle at your local butcher or supermarket.

 

14. If you have the space, buy a freezer.
Freezing fresh food from the farmer’s market, garden or butcher is a great way to ensure fresh eating on a budget and all year round.

 

15. It’s okay to salt and sweeten your food.
Just do it yourself.  The amount of salt you put on your natural food is far less than what is put into processed foods.  Everything in moderation.

 

16. Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.

This is because they are likely high in sugar and dyes.

 

17. Eat junk food as long as you cook it yourself.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying sweets in moderation, but food manufactures have made treats so inexpensive and readily available that we consume them far too often. 

 

18. Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper.

Eat a big, healthy breakfast and keep dinner as the smallest meal of your day.  You are more active after breakfast then after dinner!

 

19. Limit your snacks to unprocessed foods
Snack foods are often laden with fat, sugar and salt.  If you find yourself hungry between meals go for plant foods or unsalted nuts to tie you over.

 

20. Cook!
If you do not have the time to cook each day cook a larger portion when you can and freeze it for later.

 

   It may seem overwhelming at first, but in time eating greener is achievable!  Try to pick a few rules to start off with and master them one by one.  After that, incorporate another rule until you are satisfied with your eating transition. Good luck!  

The New E.T. - Energy Technology

    Generally, when one thinks of E.T. they think of the 1982 Steven Spielberg film, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. But in the 21st century there is a new E.T. in town-energy technology. Energy technology is a growing industry around the world. It is the development of products, services and processes that harness renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, in turn reducing the use of non-renewable natural resources, like oil to cut or eliminate emissions and waste.

    America is in the midst of an energy revolution, relying more on renewable energy than ever before. During these years of war and unrest in the Middle East the idea of America doing more to become energy sufficient has made a dramatic comeback. Not long after the oil crisis in the 1970’s President Jimmy Carter gave a speech urging the public to educate themselves on renewable energy solutions, however most of President Carter’s recommendation fell on deaf ears and yet again America sees itself vulnerable to oil and its ever increasing prices.

“…We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren … By acting now, we can control our future instead of letting our future control us … future delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation … I know that some of you may doubt that we face real energy shortages. The 1973 gasoline lines are gone, and our homes are warm again. But our energy problem is worse tonight than it was in 1973 … [because] more time has passed by without our planning for the future. And it will get worse everyday until we act."

      President Carter tried to lead by example, placing solar panels on the roof of the White House in 1979. He has a dream that solar energy would make up 20% of the country’s power by 2000, however by 2004 all sources of renewable energy made up less than 3% of the county’s power. Stunningly, by 2012 renewable energy accounted for 13.2% of America’s power! This significant leap in such a short time is partly due to renewable portfolio standards (RPS). These regulatory mandates, which fluctuate state-by-state, were designed to increase production of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass and other alternatives to fossil fuels that are often coupled with federal production tax credits.

 

    For example, Michigan’s RPS requires the state’s utility companies generate 10% of their retail electricity sales from renewable energy resources by 2015. Michigan is doing its part to meet these requirements using mostly wind energy this is because the Great Lakes makes Michigan a wind energy sweet spot. Currently Michigan has fourteen onshore wind farms in operation and six more in development. The state is also home to 121 companies that supply wind components, employing 4,000 workers. According to the Great Lakes Commission,

"Wind energy offers the opportunity to generate electricity in a way that has environmental and economic advantages over conventional power generation sources. These include providing local and regional jobs and revenue, increased energy independence, price stability, potential cost savings, as well as significant water use savings and reductions in air pollution emissions. The opportunity to reap these benefits in the Great Lakes region is particularly good due to the region’s outstanding wind resources, both on land and over the Great Lakes."

 

     Clean technology has many benefits for American citizens and businesses. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar power are strong options for reducing toxic emissions, saving money on utilities, and creating a more energy sufficient nation. America cannot change our energy system overnight, but we can work together to provoke conversations, ideas and solutions to help free ourselves from the tyranny of fossil fuels. We can all do our part to work towards a cleaner and energy independent future. Just as President Carter said, “we can not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren”.