Archive | HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Eat in Season with Eco Guest Sara Morris @ Sprouted Kitchen

I love to meet other green minded individuals and to hear what they are doing to help our planet. Since there are so many lovely greenies out there, I want to start sharing some of them with, lovely readers. Sweet Greens has had the pleasure to work with Rikkianne from Chakra Pennywhistle, who taught us about the wonderful group, Team Eco Etsy. And today, I want to introduce you to Sara from Sprouted Kitchen. Sound familiar? I featured a fabulous Peach Creme with Gingersnap Crust from Sprouted Kitchen here. You may also remember that Sprouted Kitchen is a collaboration between Sara who cooks the most amazing recipes using only local and organic foods and her love, Hugh who does all of the fab photography. Now, Sara will tell us a little more about herself and Sprouted Kitchen.

Growing up, our family ate all types of produce all year long. I had no idea that tomatoes tasted better in the late summer months, or that the reason the greens were so much ‘greener’ in the early winter, was because that was their season. As I began to cook for myself, and took classes at my college that was agriculturally focused, I learned what a huge difference it makes to cook with foods that are in season. It is like eating happy vegetables, and who doesn’t like a happy vegetable? Winter does not exactly bring us a bounty of produce, but there are always options. Broccoli for example, can be made into a salad, baked in a creamy gratin, steamed and served with whole grain
 it is quite versatile. The color is just gorgeous, and I love making enough leftovers so I have something healthy to snack on throughout the week. I highly suggest and love this Emerald Salad which is perfect for fresh winter produce. The goal with Sprouted Kitchen is to keep things seasonal and encourage readers to eat at home with fairly simple, and healthy recipes.

After working on a farm, I now shop at farmers markets because their produce is as fresh as you can get it. They sell what is in season, so you are reminded what will have optimum taste for your cooking. By no means can one exclusively do their shopping there, but those steps make a difference and support small farmers as opposed to big corporate grocers. We can’t be perfect (I like my big brand ice creams as much as the next guy), but small changes from all of us, are what contribute to a larger shift in how our food is produced. Bring your reusable bags, cook at home, stop buying water bottles and get a Brita filter
baby steps.

Fantastic, Sara. Thank you so much for sharing and for being this month’s Eco blogger. If you eat healthy, whole foods that are in season and have been looking for an array of fabulous recipes, Sprouted Kitchen is your place. You will also love Sprouted Kitchen if crisp, clean and fresh photography is your thing. Whose thing isn’t it? If you are vegetarian, then you will find several lovely recipes that you will want to try right now. Fabulous.

I definitely want to bake these lovely Multi-grain Mini Muffins because they look delicious, but also because we love, love, love muffins at Casa de Sweet Greens. They are the perfect size for Eben’s mid morning snack. Also, on our last trip to Costco, we bought the world’s largest bag of Organic Quinoa that Mr. Sweet Greens has been experimenting with. I think that he would love the Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl. How can you go wrong, it has feta cheese!

How about you lovely readers, have you visited Sprouted Kitchen?
What recipes are you drooling to try?
What do you think of the photography?

XO.

Have A Lovely Green Weekend.


Hello Dear Readers, how was your week? Was it chilly, like mine? I am very much ready for summer, can you tell? Winter is lovely but I am ready for the heat.

What are your weekend plans? Tonight Eben and I are on our own, until Mr. Sweet Greens gets off work @ 7:30 pm. After dinner, we are going to catch the bus and go to ‘The Chocolate Cafe’. Shhhh…Eben doesn’t know this, its a surprise. The Chocolate Cafe is a lovely little place in our old town. It has been voted as Fort Collins Best Place for Dessert and Eben has been dying to go there. Eben loves, loves, loves chocolate so I thought this would be a lovely little surprise. Who wouldn’t love to hang out at a place called ‘The Chocolate Cafe’, no?

After our dessert date, we are meeting Mr. Sweet Greens at the theatre to see the 2009 Grammy nominated Brady Rymer and the Little Band that could. Think American roots-rock with a feel good R&B foundation. We love music and the theatre so this should be fun, right?

The rest of the weekend should be pretty laid back and relaxing. I am thinking of plenty of time next to the fire, family reading time, a visit to our lovely library and maybe a stop by my favorite fancy grocery store.

How about you lovely readers, what are your lovely green weekend plans?
Do you go to the theatre? Do you love it?
Would you visit a place called The Chocolate Cafe?
What is new in your life, I would love to hear about it.

XO.

Have a Lovely Green Weekend.

Hello all my lovely readers. How was your week? Have you made your green New Year resolutions? If not, you still can. If you have, are you sticking to them? What action plan are you taking to reach your goals? So far, we are meeting our green goals and I am really excited about it.

Isn’t it lovely that today is Friday? What are your plans? My weekend starts tonight at 5pm, when I leave to go on a six hour scrap-booking night with my lovely friend Clair. We always have so much fun catching up on our scrap-booking, drinking wine, chatting and enjoying dinner together. So fun, right? Saturday night, I am having a Super Mario Brothers marathon {Wii} and sleepover with Eben. {We camp out in our family room} Finally, on Sunday Mr. Sweet Greens, Eben and I are going to spend the day on a winter hike, complete with hot tea and cocoa. I can’t wait, I love to be bundled up outside in the snow. After our hike, I plan on coming home, snuggling under a big cozy blanket with my boys and watching a movie. If you don’t have plans for the weekend you can always watch ‘SharkWater‘, it is a fantastic film.

What are your lovely weekend plans?

photo credit

Green Community:: Organixx {Good Eats, Naturally}

Last weekend we wanted to go to LoDo {Lower Denver} area to visit Tattered Cover Bookstore, do some window shopping and have lunch at Organixx. We had picked Organixx to have lunch at before we even left for the day. The reason that we picked it was because it was featured in ‘Sunset Magazine’ and after checking out their website, sounded perfect for the day.

Organixx, simply put is real food that tastes fantastic. Their tag line is good eats, naturally. Who can argue with that? The best part is this is healthy food that actually tastes delicious. When you visit their website, their mission statement says everything that you need to know::

“Sustainable, Eco-friendly, reusable, recyclable, fair trade, natural, energy efficient, organic, local, green, low-impact, fresh.”

Organixx is the perfect place to grab a fabulous and quick organic lunch for under $10. In fact they currently have a sandwich and salad special for $7.95. Believe me, your $10 will go far, you will feel completely satisfied when you leave. Your tummy and the environment will thank you.

As you enter Organixx you will be immediately charmed by it’s retro cafeteria style. My favorite parts are the tables with orange chairs {my favorite color} and beautiful yet sustainable art on the walls. The atmosphere is very casual and comfortable and Mr. Sweet Greens especially enjoyed the music that was playing overhead. A little RadioHead anyone?

Mr. Sweet Greens ordered the Cesar plus with Salmon, I had the Mediterranean Spinach with a fabulous roll and Eben had a grilled cheese on whole wheat with a bowl of Beer Cheese Soup. {Eben’s favorite part of the meal was the homemade croutons that came with his soup and the fresh fruit that came with his sandwich. Yes, fresh fruit.} He also wanted the roll that came with my salad, very, very, very badly. Hee Hee.

Mr. Sweet Greens and I found both of the salads to be large, fresh, full of great veggies with dressings that really complimented the dish. We finished all of our meals completely and felt satisfied and happy. We thought Organixx offered high quality food for a quick stop lunch spot.

The gentlemen who were working at Organixx that day were super friendly and helpful. They checked with us several times to make sure that we were enjoying everything. They were able to accommodate every request that we made cheerfully.

We will definitely visit Organixx again, I only wish that there was one closer to our home. If you are ever in LoDo or live nearby, I highly recommend the food and the service. Stop by 1520 Blake street, Denver and check it out.

Have you ever visited Organixx?
What are your favorite local fresh food joints?

XO.

On The 12th Day of Etsy… Bike Burrito Giveaway

♫ my true love gave to me one bike burrito, ♫ a fantastic recycled baby bib, ♫ a lovely pair of recycled earrings, ♫ a beautiful pair of handmade shoes, ♫ a couple of sweet little cases, ♫ fabulous natural skin care, ♫ a beautiful organic double v shirt, ♫ a fab alphabet pillow made from recycled suits, ♫ a handful of sweet upcycled heart felts, ♫ three lovely reclaimed wooden handcrafts, ♫ two calling handmade upcycled bird ornaments, ♫ and a fantastic stocking made from men’s recycled suits. ♫

Giveaway number 12 is a fabulous, fabulous Bike Burrito. Are you familiar with Bike Burritos? Do you ride your bike? Mr. Sweet Greens and I do quite often and I think I see Bike Burritos in our future. Are you asking, “What is a Bike Burrito?” In Jayme’s (the designer) words, ‘The Bike Burrito is a funky twist on the classic bike tool roll. It is designed to carry your bike essentials in style!’ Isn’t that great?

Jayme Bassett collaborated with her friend Russ Roca in December 2008 and came up with the Bike Burrito. Their main goal was to provide cyclists with a classy and functional alternative to carry their bicycle accessories in style. The Bike Burritos come in tweeds, plaids, quirky patterns and are all lined with a long lasting canvas interior. Lovely, no? Wouldn’t these make fantastic gifts?

Jayme lives in Long Beach, California with her boyfriend and their three cats. They are both car free individuals and do everything by bicycle and/or public transit. Fabulous! The first trip that really defined their relationship was a two week bicycle tour down the Oregon Coast. How fitting. I love it, I want to go on a two week bicycle tour with the mister.

The winner of this giveaway will receive a regular Bike Burrito that contains 3 pockets perfect for a spare tube, multi-tool and some spare wrenches. I think this is something that everyone who rides their bike should have and the best part, it looks fantastic.

A huge thank you to Bike Burrito for hosting this lovely giveaway.

How to Enter

  • Visit Bike Burrito and leave me a comment telling me which bike burrito matches your personality.
Additional Entries

**** Please help me spread the word about Sweet Greens’ 12 Days of Etsy by sharing it Twitter, Facebook, Kirtsy, your blog or any other social website that you use. I would greatly appreciate it! (Please leave a separate comment for each thing that you do.)


Are you wondering what the 12 Days of Etsy are, read about it here.
You have until December 30th @ 12 am EST to enter this giveaway.

*UPDATE: WINNER:: #14 BetsabĂš Congratulations and thank you to everyone who entered.