Have you carved your pumpkins yet? We carved ours last night. Eben’s favorite part was scooping out the pumpkin goop with his bare hands. We saved all of the pumpkin seeds, washed and dried them, then baked them in the oven with a little bit of olive oil and sea salt. Yum. Do you roast the seeds from your pumpkins?
If not, you should give it a try. Here are our 6 easy steps:
1- Scoop the pumpkin goop.
2- Rinse and dry the pumpkin seeds.
3- Mix the pumpkin seeds with a generous amount of olive oil and sea salt.
4- Spread the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet.
5- Bake at 300° for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6- Enjoy while you catch up on your favorite fall sitcom.
Eben and I are a little obsessed with pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. It’s only September 9th and we have already baked a huge batch. They are delicious. We have been baking these together since he was a toddler and now that he is a teenager, we have the recipe memorized. They make our house spell like pumpkin heaven. You should definitely make a batch – here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups organic flour
1 tsp organic baking powder
1 tsp organic baking soda
1 tsp organic cinnamon
1/2 tsp organic nutmeg
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup organic butter
1 1/2 cups organic sugar
1 tsp organic vanilla
1 egg or egg replacer
1 cup organic pumpkin
2 cups organic chocolate chips or vegan chocolate chips
Preparation: 1. Combine organic whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl and mix together.
2. Add butter and sugar in a stand mixer, mix well. Add vanilla, egg and pumpkin and mix well. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix well on medium speed. Add organic chocolate chips and stir together.
3. Bake in traditional oven at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.
4. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes and enjoy.
Can you believe that October begins tomorrow? October is one of my favorite months – not only does it mark the beginning of fall, but Halloween is right around the corner. I have been making a list of all of the fun, eco-friendly activities that I want to do with Eben and the mister this month. We decorated our home last night and tonight, we will start the month off right by reading our spooky stories by candlelight and since the hurricane shutters are still on – it will be super spooky! I can’t wait! Read on for 30 more eco-friendly ways that we will be spending October – and share your favorite fall family traditions and links in the comments – I would love to hear what you have planned.
I am going to check off each fun thing we do this year!
NOTE FROM SWEET GREENS: Thank you supporting the companies that keep Sweet Greens in business.
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A paperless office is often seen as something of a gimmick, but the less paper we use, the better it is for the environment – a point discussed in this article by GoCanvas.com. You can’t create a paperless office overnight, even if you are setting up a business from scratch. Clients may still need hard copies of documents and there could be regulatory requirements to store some documents on-site. However, thanks to technology, it is possible to do away with more paper than you might think.
#1: Request Online Billing
Most suppliers offer online billing these days. It saves them – and you – money. However, you will probably have to opt-in to this. Otherwise, paper bills will continue to arrive. You don’t need to print off a copy of your bill. The Inland Revenue Service will accept soft-copies of bills for accounts purposes. Download your bills and store them in a folder so you can access them for accounts purposes.
#2: Print to PDF
Why print to paper when you can print to PDF and share via email or the cloud? PDF documents are far easier to deal with thanks to online sharing tools. There are free PDF print tools available online, but if you need extra functionality, subscribe to Adobe or similar.
#3: File Sharing
Long gone are the days when reports had to be printed out and posted. These days, we can print to PDF and email it to multiple recipients. This is less time-consuming and you don’t need to run the gauntlet of expensive courier or postal services.
File sharing is now a thousand times easier thanks to Google Docs, Microsoft 360, and tools such as Dropbox. You can share vast reams of data, in all formats, on any device. File sharing makes it much easier for employees to work remotely, which saves everyone time and money.
#4: Make it Harder to Print
If your office has a printer on every desk, is it any wonder that people are happy to print off anything and everything? To discourage people from printing unnecessary files, make it harder for them. Remove old desktop printers and install a network printer out of the way, so if they do need to print a file, they must make an effort to retrieve it. You will soon notice a reduction in print costs.
#5: Use Apps for Notetaking
Notepads are useful tools for making memos to yourself, scribbling down ideas, or taking notes during a telephone conversation. You can do away with notebooks if you download an app like Evernote. Evernote works across multiple devices and will sync with a smartphone, so you can access notes and memos from anywhere.
#6: Electronic Signatures
It’s a misconception that electronic signatures are not legally binding. Thanks to the ESIGN Act of 2000, electronic signatures are now legally valid, so you can do away with the physical signing, even on legal documents such as contracts.
You won’t be able to discard all paper in the office, but paper usage can be mitigated if you recycle it as much as possible. Use discarded paper for making notes and print on both sides of the sheet if you absolutely must print out a document.
Have you checked out the price of organic apple cider at your local grocer? Wow! $7.99 a gallon. Instead, of breaking the bank, make your own! It’s perfect for filling up reusable mugs and snuggling up with your family this fall!
Ingredients:
2 quarts organic apple juice
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
Place all whole spices in a tea infuser, these will be removed before serving
1 tsp organic whole allspice
1 tsp organic whole cloves
3 organic cinnamon sticks (broken up)
1/8 tsp organic ground nutmeg
Preparation:
Stir everything together in a saucepan over medium heat until it simmers. Let it steep for 20 minutes. Remove the tea infuser and serve in mugs.
Serves: 8
Enjoy a hot cup of apple cider by the fire with a good book or your family. You could also enjoy a yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie to go with it.
