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Monday, February 22, 2010

Week of Eating In - Day One



This week we are participating in Huffington Post's "Week of Eating In" challenge, which I have outlined in my Monday post at the Green Phone Booth. The rules are simple, basically stay home and cook all your own food for a week. HuffPost encourages using basic, whole ingredients to prepare food, avoiding pre-packaged, pre-made food, like frozen dinners and ready-to-eat canned goods, but there are no strict rules.

For day one of our "Week of Eating In" and Meatless Monday we dined on leftovers. Nothing fancy nor exciting, but within the rules of the challenge. To sweeten the notion of eating leftovers I whipped up a batch of brownies for dessert. Keeping in line with the challenge, homemade brownies. I have always been a cake, brownie, basically-any-kind-of-dessert-from-a-box girl. Except cookies, they have always been homemade. Homemade brownies are awesome and super-easy to make! The day I thought those words would pass my lips, is the day I would eat my words. Now, this is our go to dessert when we want something satisfying, quick, easy, and with minimal mess.

(Reason #39 to stay home and cook your own food: The hair you find is your own!)


Aunt Rose's Brownies

Melt together (microwave) in a large bowl:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 stick butter
10 tablespoons cocoa

Add:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
Beat well.

Add:
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
Beat well.

At this point you can make any other additions you see fit. We are partial to chocolate chips and nuts, but to each his own. I suggest leaving out the hair. In regards to beat well, we just use a wooden spoon. Everything goes into one bowl and gets mixed with one spoon. Less dishes!

Pour into a 9x13 pan (we use glass), greased or not. (I always forget which it is and have done both.) Bake at 350 about 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Don't over-bake! (Aunt Rose's words)

Now eat! (My words)

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Kid-Safe Chemical Act



The other day I received an email from Environmental Working Group (EWG) containing some disturbing information. EWG tested the umbilical cord blood of ten newborns and found nearly 300 chemicals! Shouldn't a newborn be pristine? They just entered this world! Unfortunately babies are exposed to toxic chemicals before ever leaving the womb. EWG found BPA, fire retardants, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and even pesticides that were banned over 30 years ago! What? Are babies are not even safe from something banned possibly before their mothers were born? Yikes! That speaks volumes about the consequences of allowing chemicals to be sold before being proven safe. That is right, right now chemicals are approved first and tested later. Crazy, huh? EWG wants to stop that. As do I and hopefully you. EWG is collecting signatures for the Kid-Safe Chemical Act. The Kids-Safe Chemical Act would require that all chemicals be proven safe for children before they can be sold.

Please take a moment (30 seconds) to sign the petition. EWG is shooting for 75,000 signatures. Just click the button above, it is super-easy. Then if you would be so kind to spread the word, use the links below to notify your friends.


I signed the petition. Have you?

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Sunday, February 14, 2010

An Organic Love Story



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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Take Your Canvas Bags




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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A Wake-Up Story


A Wake-Up Story from Healthy Child Healthy World on Vimeo.


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