I am so excited to find out that Sweet Greens has been nominated for a BlogLuxe Award in the Blog You Learned the Most From category. {blush} I am absolutely flattered to be nominated and the fact that some of you feel that you are learning something from Sweet Greens is an award in itself.
If you would like, I would love to have your vote. My nominee button will be at the left side of the page, so if you feel so inclined, you can vote for Sweet Greens once a day. I really appreciate how sweet, smart and interactive all of my readers are. Thank you so much for the love you have shown me.
I love messenger bags, I love how they look and that you can just sling it over your neck and you are off. Messenger bags also hold a ton and are great for guys and gals. Eben has recently taken up my love of the messenger bag and chose one this year to use as his back pack. Once again his love for Indiana Jones has a lot to do with this choice. Nothing is cuter than a child with their own very grown up looking messenger bag, it looks as though they are on a mission. Now what would be cuter than a preschooler with their own messenger bag? Nothing, Right? As a preschooler you definitely need your own bag to carry all of your foraging finds and collections in. Right? Absolutely.
This week’s Earth Friendly Etsy Shop is Sewn Natural. Sewn Natural is a collection of Eco baby and toddler blankets, quilts, toys, dresses, kids’ messenger and sleep bags and much, much more. All of Sewn Naturals collection is made with all natural, organic and rescued upcycled fibers. The collection pairs sustainable Eco design with mod offbeat style. The designer, long time textile artist and mother & grandmother Jen creates the most wonderful children’s products that I have seen. Her use of simple modern lines and fabulous colors will make you and your little ones smile. Sewn Natural would be the perfect place to purchase a one of a kind baby shower gift or a lovely holiday gift for the little ones in your life.
Jen @ Sewn Natural has been a dear to offer ONE of my lovely readers a hand embroidered modern baby bird messenger bag, handcrafted from green organic cotton canvas and lined with white organic cotton duck. $46 value
How to Enter
1. Subscribe to Sweet Greens (if you haven’t already) and confirm the subscription in the email from FeedBurner.
2. Visit Sewn Natural and leave me a comment telling me another item that you love, love, love.
Additional Entries
please leave a separate comment for each thing that you do.
* Share Sewn Natural on Twitter and follow @SweetGreens.
You can tweet daily, just leave me a separate comment for each tweet.
* Please leave a way for me to contact you if you win. You do not need to leave your email address if don’t wish to share it. Just make sure to check back at the bottom of this post after the contest ends to see if you won.
* Contest ends September 9th @ 12am EST. Winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator and will be announced the following day. (I will announce the winner, if I do not hear from you within 72 business hours, I will pick another winner.)
* You must leave a comment telling me which item you love in order to qualify.
Good Luck and Enjoy
* UPDATE: WINNER:: #52 Kitty. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who entered. Have a lovely day.
Eben has always wanted to take his lunch to school. I have asked him before if you would like to eat school lunch and he looks at me as if I am a tad crazy and says, “I am a take my lunch kid.” So, that is that, he takes his lunch to school. I am glad that he wants to because the mister and I can influence what he has for lunch and since he leaves everything in the lunch box that he doesn’t eat, I can keep track of that too. However, the tricky part is making lunches that are delicious, nutritious and hot. It is cold here in Colorado! Another challenge we faced was finding a lunch box that is easy to use, will accommodate a thermos and is good on the environment.
We checked out several lunch boxes and decided on a laptop lunch box system. First, we love the design and that the lunch box is Earth friendly. It is a large lunch box with five smaller containers inside (1 large with a lid, 1 large without a lid, 2 medium without lids and 1 smaller one with lid). It also comes with a fork, spoon and a bottle for a drink. You can also purchase an insulted bag to hold the laptop lunch, I would highly recommend purchasing this. It is insulted and has a pocket for a napkin and another zipper pouch that is perfect to hold an ice pack. It also has an adjustable strap so it can be worn like a messenger bag. (Which Eben loves because any chance he has to be like Indiana Jones is a bonus.)
The best part of the system is everything is BPA free and easy to use and clean. It however does not have anyway to hold hot foods and is not big enough to accommodate a thermos. Our solution was to purchase a stainless steel thermos. Then, we found a local artisan who creates handmade thermos cozies that we were able to attach to Eben’s lunchbox with a clip. It has worked out really well and has allowed Eben to have a combination of hot and cold items for lunch everyday.
Now comes the really tricky part, how to pack a healthy lunch that your kids will actually eat. When packing Eben’s lunch each morning, the mister and I always choose at least one item from the following categories: protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, calcium, and a healthy fat. This way he has a good selection and will have a well balanced meal that will gives him the energy that he needs to stay focused through the latter part of the school day. Try to choose at least one item from each category, read on to get started. 1. Protein:
organic almond, soy or peanut butter
organic cheese
organic hummus
organic beans
organic edamame
organic tofu
organic nuts
organic seeds
organic hard boiled egg (not vegetarian)
organic wild caught tuna or salmon (not vegetarian)
organic whole grain sandwich bread, pita, crackers or tortilla
organic whole grain pasta, couscous, quinoa or brown rice
organic granola
organic corn
3. Vegetables:
organiccarrots
organic olives
organic celery
organic green beans
organic peas
irganic cucumber
organic eggplant
organic potato
organic sweet potato
organic cabbage
organic tomato
organic squash
organic coleslaw
4. Fruits:
organic apple
organic banana
organic strawberries
organic peach
organic plum
organic grapes
organic watermelon
organic cantaloupe
organic apricot
organic orange
organic mango
organci kiwi
organic nectarine
organic raspberries
5. Calcium:
organic cheese
organic yogurt
organci tofu
organic almonds or almond butter
organic beans
organic hummus
organic milk or fortified soy, rice or almond milk
organic fortified orange juice
6. Healthy Fats:
organicalmonds or almond butter
organic avocado
organic extra virgin oil olive
organic flax seed or oil
orghanic olives
Here is a week’s worth of meal plans that Eben really enjoys, these may help you get started or you can add them to your already great kids lunch box meal plans. Day 1
6 organic homemade vegetable nuggets
1/2 cup organic homemade coleclaw
1/2 organic plum
1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt
100% organic homemade vegetable juice
Day 2
organic bean, cheese and hot sauce burrito
organic carrots with hummus
organic cherries and grapes
1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt
organic milk or 100% organic homemade vegetable juice
Day 3
organic homemade cheese raviolis
3 organic whole grain crackers
organic carrots with hummus
1/2 cup organic strawberries
100% organic homemade vegetable juice
Day 4
organic homemade minestrone soup
3 organic whole grain crackers
1/2 cup organic olives
1 organic fresh peach
organic cucumbers with organic strawberry vinegrette
There are many other meal plans available, you can make sandwiches such as almond or peanut butter with 100% fruit spread. Another huge hit at our house is pizza, the mister will make a few homemade organic whole grain vegetarian pizzas from scratch on the weekends and then freeze them for later in the week.
What are your children’s favorite lunch box meals?
How was your week? Are you enjoying Autumn. Are you planning on taking a trip to the apple orchard this weekend? We plan to spend Saturday morning at our Green Market. I am excited to browse the farm fresh fruits and veggies, flowers, plants and other goodies – all while enjoying the waterfront. How lovely to have a farmer’s market that is waterfront, no? My lovely friend Cameron told me that the farmer’s market is better than ever – and the best part – she will be there with her family as well.
After school today, Cameron and her fantastic son (Eben’s bestie) are coming over for Wii and Tea. This has been the best idea ever! Eben gets to play Wii and build Lego’s with a good friend and I get to have great conversation with another lovely woman for a few hours. Deal.
Tonight, Mr. Sweet Greens and I are finally celebrating our 11th Anniversary – since I was at Cascadian Farm during our actual anniversary. Mr. Sweet Greens has a fabulous dinner planned – really, what could be better than a homemade dinner by candlelight?
The remainder of the weekend will be spent..you guessed it – at the beach. We haven’t been in almost two weeks – this is so out of character for us. {wink} We are also going to finish making Eben’s Halloween costume, build a Haunted Gingerbread House and of course – carve the pumpkins.
While I get ready for a busy weekend, here are a few green things that I have wanted to share with you:
We wash our hands a lot in our household. We have found that the best way to keep our family healthy is by washing our hands on a regular basis. To get a good hand cleansing run your hand under the water, turn off the water, scrub your hands and forearms with soap and then scrap your fingernails inside the palm of each hand. To get a good clean you should scrub for at least a minute. A great idea for kids is to sing the ABC song at a normal pace while scrubbing, then rinse and dry. What makes hand washing even more fun is when you have a lovely soap that smells fantastic. This is why I love LuSa Organics and their fab line of handcrafted soaps. LuSa Organics also has amazing sugar scrubs, bath salts, lip balms and lotion bars for the entire family.
LuSa Organics is a lovely organic bath and body line owned and operated by Rachel and Pete Wolf in the lovely small town of Viroqua, Wisconsin. Rachel and Pete along with their adorable children Lupine and Sage {The namesakes of LuSa} have created a beautiful line of bath and body products that will have you swooning. LuSa is a local business that uses local people, suppliers and growers for all of the ingredients and material used in their products. LuSa Organics donates 10% of their profits to the organizations generating positive global change.
I received the cedar and sage handcrafted soap and the lavender sugar scrub. Both items are a huge hit in my house. We have received several different handcrafted soaps in the mail, but the cedar and sage handcrafted soap from LuSa Organics is by far our favorite. We have it in our main level guest bathroom and anytime a guest uses the bathroom, the question is always the same. ” I love the soap you have in there, where did you get it?” It has a fresh sage smell that is amazing and it really creates a lovely smell throughout the main level of our home. I also love that all of LuSaOrganic’s soap can be purchased “naked” or without the packaging and stickers. The lavender sugar scrub is also fabulous. I leave it in our shower and whenever I want to beautify my feet, I simply rub onto my feet and it exfoliates with moisturizes. You could use this all over your body, but I prefer my feet. {lol}
Do you need a little exfoliation? Now through September 15th when you order a large sugar scrub from LuSa Organics you will receive a FREE baked bar of soap with your large sugar scrub purchase, simply use coupon code “sweet” at checkout.
What are your favorite Organic Bath & Body products?
How to Enter
