These are photos from Sosnicki Certified Organic Family Farm!

They are worth AT LEAST five thousand words! Check out their Organic Farming board on Pinterest, their website at SosnickiOrganics.com, and their blog…more beautiful photos at all three places! I wish I lived closer to these wonderful farmers who are growing food the right way, with respect for our health and the health of our planet! I told Jesse, when asking if I could share these photos, that I felt a STRONG urge to dive into that field of Kale!

Our food system failure explained thoroughly in a less than 4 minute cartoon video.

Thank you FoodandWaterWatch.org!

Square Foot Gardening

How to Get Started for $50

Thanks to Frugal Dad!

Source: http://FrugalDad.com

ORGANIC KALE CHIPS
Here’s another incredibly delicious and nutritious snack that is so very easy to make! I’m sure many of you have heard of these or have already tried them…if not, you might be wondering if I’m crazy! Please give these a try, and you’ll see that I haven’t lost my mind (at least not when it comes to yummy snacks)! I am definitely a snacker, as are other members of the family, so I try to keep healthy snacks on hand all of the time. These and the Organic Roasted Chickpeas that I posted a while back are two staples in this house!
Kale is an incredibly nutritious vegetable, and we eat it often in salads, soups, and many other dishes, as well as juicing it frequently. This is one of our favorite ways to use it! The kids LOVE it, and I have to force myself to slow down and leave some for them!
I’ve made these with two varieties of kale, Curly and Winter Red (which I PROUDLY grew in my garden this year!). They were both delicious and had the same flavor, however I will say that the Winter Red seemed a bit easier to work with, simply because all of the pieces seemed to cook more evenly. It is flatter than the curly, and I’m pretty sure that I just didn’t let the curly kale dry well enough after washing. So if you’re using a curly variety, be sure to let the leaves dry thoroughly, so that it can cook evenly. Read More→

Regrowing Celery…I tried it, and it works! I shared a pic on the Facebook page and got a lot of questions, so I decided to do a quick post on it to share. Mine is already growing happily out in the raised bed, and I’m starting a couple more this week!

First of all, make sure to use Organic Celery. Celery is #2 on the Dirty Dozen List, which means it holds on to all of the nasty pesticides used in conventional farming. Organic is the only way to go with this veggie! Read More→

Fair Food by Oran B. Hesterman, PhD Growing A Healthy, Sustainable Food System For All 

This is not going to be an actual book review…just a little about the book and why I think EVERYONE should read it. I actually won this book through a contest I wasn’t aware I’d entered…seriously! I was on Twitter one day and saw a tweet from @SlowFoodUSA asking how people intended to eat better and help fix our food system. I just replied back that I was simply going to grow my own organic veggies, support organic companies & sustainable agriculture and share as much information about all of this as possible with ANYONE who would listen.  A few days later they sent me a message saying I’d won a free copy of Fair Food, and I graciously accepted! If you ask me, this is the only way to win…I’m not big on entering giveaways and such, too much work, lol! Rest assured that if I ever start giving things away on the blog, I won’t make you jump through hoops…I’ll just employ the old “draw a name from the hat” method!

On with the non book review! Read More→

ANOTHER unbelievably simple answer to avoiding chemical laden personal products! I’ve seen “recipes” for making your own deodorant all over the web, but I can credit this post at crunchybetty.com for somehow shoving my rear into gear and finally DOING IT! She also gives a review on how it has worked for her a few months after she started using it, which was very informative, as well as humorous! It will take you mere minutes and 4 ingredients to make your own and feel better about what you’re putting on your body! Read More→

I am in LOVE with these things! They are so easy to make, feel wonderful on my skin, and smell heavenly…like dark chocolate and coconut to be exact! They are made of these TWO ingredients, that is all! Let’s get to it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

*Raw or Unrefined, Organic Coconut Oil

*Raw or Unrefined, Organic Cacao Butter

*A couple of glass jars to melt down the butters and a small pot that both jars can fit inside with a little water

*A mini muffin tin or any shape mold you’d like the bars to turn out…get creative…or not, like me

*A glass measuring cup is easiest but others will definitely do

I get my Cacao Butter and Coconut Oil from Sunfood, because they never heat either above 120 degrees, if that, but I’m sure it will work just fine with whichever brand you choose…just make sure to get unrefined and organic! Afterall, these are all about putting nothing but pure ingredients on your face, body, and lips…don’t want to muck that up by using unpure oils! Read More→