Have A Lovely Weekend + A Few Green Things

Hello, Friends. How are you? I am really looking forward to this weekend. We are getting ready to leave for Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys. I am looking forward to a weekend of nothing but sunshine, water, and my boys! The R.V. is packed, the paddle boards are loaded and the only thing I need to do is grab my swimsuit and flip flops – then we are off! If you are staying home for the weekend, stay cozy and here are a few green links to enjoy:

– If I ever encounter one of these while scuba diving, I think I would cry. 
– It’s a chair! No, it’s a table! No, It’s both, a chair and a table!
Belkin’s Mini Surge Protector is 1/2 price!
Ancient popcorn found in Peru! 
– Tree turn-table plays wood rings like records. Cool.
– I look forward to a long weekend of paddle boarding

Have a lovely weekend – bundle up and stay warm!

xo,
Sweet Greens

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7 Green Living Apps for Healthy Eco-Conscious Families

Did you get an iPhone or iPad as a holiday gift? Mr. Sweet Greens surprised me with an iPad – and I spent an insane amount of time looking for healthy and green living apps. Here are the seven that I found to be the best bang for your buck.

1. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian 
With over 2,000 recipes and tons of how-to illustrations, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is packed full of delicious vegetarian and vegan recipes. My favorite features are the easy-to-use search, the ability to add recipes to your calendar and organizing your shopping lists.

+ How to Cook Everything Vegetarian $4.99

2. Harvest
Harvest features the pesticide residue levels for each produce item. If you are selectively purchasing organics to save money, you can eliminate the items with the highest levels of pesticides first. Other features include how to select and store over 126 fruits and vegetables, how to know which items will continue to ripen at home and which are as ripe as they are going to get.

+ Harvest $1.99 

3. Seafood Watch
Living in South Florida, Seafood Watch has become our go-to app when buying seafood at our favorite restaurants and stores. You can search for ocean friendly seafood – this app gives you three choices; best choice, good alternative and avoid. Enter your location and Seafood Watch will pull up a list of local restaurants and the ocean friendly seafood that they carry. You can also add the ocean friendly seafood options that you find at local restaurants and stores.


+ Seafood Watch $1.99 

4. Locavore
Locavore makes searching for in-season, local food simple, by using the GPS to direct you to the closest farms and farmer’s markets. It also has great recipe suggestions and teaches you about your food and who is producing it. 

+ Locavore $FREE

5. MapMyHike
If you love to hike like I do, then you need MapMyHike. MapMyHike tracks and logs your hikes and allows you to build an online hike journal. It uses the built-in GPS to track your hikes and helps you focus on your health and fitness goals. Other versions that I have tried are MapMyRun and MapMyFitness. 

+ MapMyHike $FREE

6. Pocket Yoga
I love Yoga and Pocket Yoga has been the perfect companion to my workout routine. Pocket Yoga allows you to build custom Yoga routines and then practice the poses by following along with the guided instruction. 

+ Pocket Yoga $4.99

7. Fooducate
Fooducate makes finding and choosing healthy groceries super easy. You can scan product bar codes to see the products highlights (both good and bad) and then compare it to other products and select healthier alternatives. If you are a label reader (like me) this app just makes picking the best foods easier. 

+ Fooducate $FREE

What are your favorite healthy and green living apps? 


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5 Educational And Artsy Apps For Creative Kids

Most likely your family has at least one smart phone or tablet in your household. This means that your child most likely has used many different apps for entertainment. Many apps that are marketed towards children do not infuse education into the fun. However, there are many great apps for children that are educational, artsy and creative. Check out Eben’s 5 favorites – all of which have a focus on the arts.

Which creative apps do your children enjoy? 

photo credit via Inhabitots

Camping At Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys

Friday morning we are heading to the Florida Keys for a long weekend. We will be camping, paddle boarding and snorkeling at Bahia Honda State Park. I can not wait – it seems like forever since we went camping and Bahia Honda is one of my favorite camping destinations. The last time that we stayed at Bahia Honda was during hurricane season so the visibility in the water was very low. We have high hopes for great weather this trip!

Bahia Honda State Park encompasses over 500 acres including an offshore island. It is the perfect destination for beachcombing, paddle boarding, snorkeling, and is usually very quiet. The best part, 12 miles offshore is Looe Key, a beautiful coral reef were we will be spending a lot of snorkeling. Fantastic.

What are your weekend plans?

7 Thrifty Ways for Families to Save Money and the Planet


You will most likely find both saving money and saving the environment at the top of your 2012 New Year’s intentions list. In fact, these are at the top of my families own list. When it comes to saving the environment, it comes almost naturally when your family is focused on saving money and getting out of debt. And since there are many ways that you save a little green while saving the planet at the same time, it’s a win-win for your family and the environment. Read my seven favorite ways to save money while helping the planet at the same time.