Backyard Organic Gardening

here is an awesome video by an older couple who started organic gardening when they first got married and they are still doing it. you could learn some things by watching this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N8FIVWeMqo&feature=share

Clean Your Air At Home With Houseplants

from the Gerson Institute

Houseplants are an inexpensive, natural way to clean the air in your home. They remove carcinogens and other chemicals from your living environment. Check out this article to learn about the best types of plants for air purification!

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/types-of-houseplants.html

Want to Live To Be 110?

copy and paste this link into your browser to read how a man who is going on 111 years of age does it!

http://www.naturalnews.com/034666_longevity_aging_prevention.html

Teenage Bee Keeper

check it out a teenage boy wants keep honey bees from disappearing

http://www.naturalnews.com/034644_bee_keeper_colony_collapse_disorder_teenager.html

Taking Care of Fevers The Green Living Way

when you or someone in your family has a fever from being exposed to germs and viruses, at that time the best thing to do sometimes is nothing.

in my opinion, a fever is by God's design the body's way of fighting the bad stuff invading one's body. when my children were younger, i would give them a sponge bath in tepid water, keep them dehydrated by giving them ice chips to suck on, which will most likely quickly melt due to the fever; water with a straw, popsicles, a wet rag placed upon the lips or to suck on, anything to keep liquid going in because one will get dehydrated quickly.

in addition, have on light weight clothing in order to keep the child or oneself cooled rather than hot
keeping one covered lightly with like a sheet or light weight blanket; is what i always did because too many covers make the fever want to linger, in my opinion.  by using a light cover it keeps one from shivering so much.
the only time i gave Motrin was at night when i knew they needed some sleep to help the healing process.

here is a posting by another green living person who gives other ideas on how to heal naturally with a fever
http://heal-thyself.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2814160%3ABlogPost%3A7354

Natural Pest Control For Backyard Gardening

when i had my organic garden with seedlings and vegetable seeds that i ordered from Seeds of Change, i ordered some natural pest control items from the company Pharm Solutions. they are the best and they use essential oils to make their pest control items.
when you organic garden you need to care what you use for pest control.
check them out and you will be glad you did!


Pharm Solutions
Worlds First USDA / National Organic Program Certified Organic Pesticides
Non Toxic Weed and Grass Killer Organic Horticultural Oil Organic Deer Repellant & Organic Fungicide.
http://pharmsolutions.com

Gardening Anyone?

new look for seed packets with organic Seeds of Change business, i luv this seed company because i know i can trust them and they are organic
i have also had the best organic garden by getting my seedlings and seeds from Seeds of Change

http://www.seedsofchange.com/

Foods That Help to Heal

this link takes you to a list of foods that help combat inflammations the green living way

www.naturalantiinflammatory.org

Have You Had Your B Today?

my mother was right, we do need take our B vitamins. she always said we need a good  B-complex vitamin and take it everyday

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/the-connection-between-good-nutrition-and-good-cognition/251227/

What's For Dinner/Supper?

where i grew up, supper was your evening meal but others call the evening meal dinner
so what's the plan for your family's evening meal today?

we are having brown bean chowder and here's the recipe:

Brown Bean Chowder
4 cups brown/pinto beans + 4-8 cups water
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (optional)
1 pound ground meat
1 diced onion
1 tsp garlic or 1 clove garlic minced
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 cup bread crumbs

In a large pot combine the 4-8 cups water (your preference on how thick you want your chowder), beans, and 2 tablespoons chili powder. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down to medium. 
Brown ground meat, garlic, and onions. When meat is browned then add tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon chili powder, salt, and breadcrumbs. Simmer this mixture 15 minutes.
Add the meat mixture to the beans and stir thoroughly until everything is combined and hot.
Enjoy!

sad :(

ck it out, major organic markets sell out to stop battling Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops


http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/did-whole-foods-sells-out-monsanto

Soup Swap

invite a family or a single friend over and have a soup swap meal
you make your favorite soup and ask them to bring their favorite soup
have a soup meal together and swap recipes, ideas, and even soups if there is any left over
by the way January is national soup month :)

Pantry Essentials

i entered a contest the other day and in the entry form you had to name some of your pantry essentials.
i have been thinking about that and trying to confirm what exactly are some of my pantry essentials.

diced tomatoes, Sucanat and KAL brand Stevia, raw and unfiltered honey, steel cut oatmeal, peanut butter-100% natural with no hydrogenated fat, dried cranberries, ACV, Larabars, bow tie pasta and spaghetti, pinto beans, molasses, Wild Planet brand tuna,  boxed organic broth like chicken, beef, and vegetable, brown rice, Basmati rice, King Arthur flour for homemade bread,
red-skin potatoes, onions, garlic....

we always keep a ton of organic herbs and spices in our cabinets to flavor whatever we are making
we rarely buy canned spaghetti sauce; we almost always make it from scratch
our family eats peanut butter in our oatmeal and hubby eats his with molasses, and you can't have homemade ginger snaps without molasses :) hubby drinks ACV and raw unfiltered honey together with HOT water as a medicinal tea every day, felicity and i luv pinto beans and we all luv our homemade bean dip

what are some essentials you keep in your pantry?

eat, drink, and be green

my daughter Felicity got me a beautiful green china tea cup and saucer set, two of them so we could have tea together. i got tired of drinking tea out of a coffee cup and on my wish list asked for a china tea cup to drink tea with. let me tell you there is a difference and its amazing and so delectable.             i love it and so appreciate it. therefore i must say i love drinking various hot teas.

a few of my favorite drinks are: Green tea with lemon, Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane, Earl Gray with Stevia and organic half and half......, water with lemon, Wisdom of The Ancients Green Tea with Organic SweetLeaf Stevia, a great lil wine i found at Thanksgiving called Stella Rosa Rosso; it has wee bit of carbonation in it and i really like it,  and i also luv Ocean Spray 100% Cranberry juice that is a blend of 4 juices with no added sugar in it. i'm sure i have more but for now that is a few of my favorite drinks.

how do you like your drinks?

Cold/Flu Helper

  Eucalyptus- mostly used for chest and nose congestion. It clears up even the most stubborn mucus associated with colds. Dab a bit on a warm wet wash cloth and inhale the vapors by holding it a few inches from your stuffy nose. It will open up your bronchial tubes and grant you the relief you need. You can also fill a bowl with warm water and add a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil to it. Breathe the healing vapors. It’s much better than most cough and cold medicines. We also put Eucalyptus in our diffuser and run it when we are feeling stuffed up in our noses from colds. Wonderful help and smells good too. We get our Eucalyptus from Mountain Rose Herbs.

   Essential oils can also be used as a great rub.  Mix the desired oil with lighter oil like olive or sweet almond oil to make the essential oil go farther and be easier to rub on your skin. Rub the oils on your neck, chest, and the bottoms of your feet for antibiotic effect to help fight viruses. It is much better for you to use essential oils than to use commercial medicines that may cause many different side effects. Be sure to use the oils correctly to maximize the effect that your looking for.

Dried Cranberries

7 Secrets to Dehydrating Cranberries the Green Living Way

Buying dried cranberries can be expensive.

You should try making your own dried cranberries.

#1 clean them with water that has white vinegar and lemon juice in it

#2 drop them in very HOT water 15-30 seconds til their skin-pops

#3 after the skin-pops take them out of the HOT water and put them in ice water

#4 take the cranberries out of the ice water and drain

#5 preheat oven to 350 degrees

#6 put the cranberries on a baking pan, put them in the oven, turn the oven off, and allow them to be in there 12-24 hours; they should then be either sticky to touch or dry

#7 now you have dehydrated cranberries the green living way and can be kept in refrigerator for up to 24 months or in freezer up to 8 years.

i luv dried cranberries! i make my own trail mix and put dried cranberries in it because Felicity despises raisins :)

Felicity's Better Than McDonald's Chicken Nuggets

Felicity's Chicken Nuggets

3 small cloves garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pkg of Panko bread crumbs

½ cup Parmesan cheese

1-teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

buttermilk

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

First take 3 skinless boneless chicken breasts and cut them into 1 inch cubes put them in a bowl and cover them with buttermilk and let them marinate for at least an hour

Meanwhile mince the garlic; then mix it with the Panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper all together

Take the chicken that has been marinating in the milk for at least an hour and drain the buttermilk then toss them to cover in the breadcrumb mixture

Put the nuggets on an ovenproof pan that has parchment paper on it and put the crumb covered nuggets on it.  

Bake it in a 400-degree oven for 15-20 minutes until crisp

Check chicken nuggets to make sure they are fully cooked 

Easy and delicious!

thewomaningreen's favorite essential oil

    Peppermint- a great pick me up.  It stimulates the brain, improves focus, and builds mental alertness.  It cools the skin and helps relieve itchiness. It helps with headaches, sinus, and chest congestion, and the pain affiliated with them. It basically works on all pain.  Dabbing it on your skin will help you stay focused on even the most undesirable task. Drink a drop or so with water to help aid indigestion and nausea.

You must be careful to thoroughly wash your hands after using peppermint essential oil though because ti is powerful strong and will burn your eyes or nose if you still have a smidgen of it on your hands when touching your face. 

When i have a headache i will put a dab on the back of one of my hands and sniff it as that helps clear the fog from head when it hurts. 

i am going through menopause and i will spray peppermint essential oil all over myself (with one of those lil dollar spray bottles you can get at Wal-Mart) as it really helps with hot flashes.

my favorite essential oil how to book:

The Complete Book Of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood

Stress Busters

Make sure you get enough sleep and if needed take a power nap of at least 15 minutes
Divide your large tasks into smaller tasks and do them when your energy is at its highest level
Give up on perfection, pray like a child, and laugh a lot!

Scavanger Hunt in a Bottle

This is not my recipe personally, so i am not taking credit for it, and i cannot for the life of me remember where i got it. This is a neat non-edible recipe for anyone to make and use themselves or give as a gift. i think it would make a great time user while traveling by car or to keep our brains going. 

Last year (or maybe 2 years ago) we bought a case of Gatorade singles.  Hubby drank them all and I took the empties and peeled and cleaned them.  Then I filled them with bird seed mix (the more variety and the smaller the better).  Then I filled them with about 20 very small items.  Then I made a list and rubber cemented the list on the bottom of the bottle and rubber cemented the lid on and gave one to every family.  Make sure you leave about an inch above the bird seed or more or there's no room to move the seed around to look for the items.

The list was

Push Pin, pin, b*b, nail, bell, ring, dime, staple, button, penny, match, eyeball, pop tab, red bead, toothpick, paperclip, safety pin, oval pearl, gemstone, red thread, white cube, round pearl, green bead, Christmas Card, Name Tag

For the pearls, the gemstone, and the white cube I just broke apart some old costume jewelry I had laying around.

The red and green beads were the kind that you make key chains and stuff out of (about 1/4 inch and plastic).

The eyeballs were the flat kind with the little black dots in them that move around.  I got them in the craft section at Walmart.

I also purchased buttons, pins, pushpins, paperclips and safety pins and the plastic rings (also from sewing dept) and I don't think with everything includedwe spent more than $20 and we made 24 of these.

These were a huge success.  I got the idea from someone else (no credit here), but we were entranced by one we saw in the doc's office and decided "we can make these too".

Christmas Card & Name Tag (for these, I made a spread sheet and made the lines visible to print.  They were about 1/2 inch long and 1/4 inch tall.  For each name tag I typed the last name of the family on both sides of the card and for the Christmas Card, I just wrote Christmas on one side and the year on the other.  For a two sided card I just typed Christmas in one cell and typed the year in the cell directly under it (or the name in both cells).  Then I cut the cells out and folded them.  Then I used some clear mailing tape and laminated these tiny cards with about 3 layers on each side and then trimmed with some edge remaining and threw these in the mix.  Once completed the cards were just a hair smaller than a paper clip and the name tags were a hit because it personalized the gifts.  I did make a few extras without the names so I good give them to people I "forgot" or didn't plan for.)

I found my labels and cards (completely formated with cutout lines and such) but wasn't able to attach them, but if you're interested, send me an email and I'll email them to you.

thewomaningreen's natural health tip of the day

A runny nose is an indication that your immune system is actively working to clear your

body of unknown things that aren’t supposed to be there anyway.

When you feel a cold coming on, here is a procedure that works for me.

I either use a Q-tip and dipped into hydrogen peroxide and stick the Q-tip into my ears one at a time and wait for the bubbling to cease or I drop 1-2 drops of the hydrogen peroxide into my ears, one ear at a time and wait for about 5 minutes. I usually lay my head down on a firm surface and do one ear at a time. It keeps me from getting sick.

If my ears start to itch, for me, that is a sure sign I am starting to get a virus.

And when I use the peroxide method it keeps me from getting becoming ill.

When I have muscles aches in my shoulders I use peppermint essential oil. I rub it on the sore muscle and it acts as a pain reliever. If my stomach is upset or nauseous, I drop a few drops of peppermint essential oil in my belly button, and it soothes away the indigestion or nauseousness.

I can't wait to try this

http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/silky-smooth-bean-fudge/

Come to the green side

I am creating this blog to be able to share my green living and healthy tips from myself and others who have gone before me. I will also be sharing recipes from our family to yours and from others, Please feel free to share yours too. My kids refer to me as a hippy, just because I choose to live green and natural as much as possible. I have been raising our family like this for over 10 years and we only have 1 left in the nest and she is soon to be 18, omg where has time gone?

So lets get to sharing our green living :)