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5 Eco-Friendly Ways to Plan for Thanksgiving Dinner

November 15, 2024 2

Hello, Friends! I am pretty excited, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. To get you started, there are many eco-friendly ways to green your Thanksgiving dinner – all of which are easier to implement if you plan ahead. Many of these ideas will save you money and time while cutting down on the amount of waste that can accumulate from a big family dinner. Read on to learn my 5 favorite eco-friendly ways to plan your Thanksgiving dinner and start planning today!

1. Decorating 101
You don’t have to spend any money when decorating for Thanksgiving, instead use items that you already have or consider bringing natural items indoors. We always have a handful of pumpkins leftover from Halloween that we use as Thanksgiving decorations. And Eben and I like to take a nature walk to collect natural elements (pine-cones, acorns, branches, and leaves) to display as our Thanksgiving table centerpiece.

2. How Much is Enough?
It is really easy to go overboard when planning the Thanksgiving menu. Consider the dishes that you will be serving and ask yourself if you are making more than is necessary. Choose a few dishes that you are sure your guests will love and skip the rest. Also, consider which parts of Thanksgiving dinner you want to or can afford to purchase organic and whenever possible, avoid pre-packaged items.

3. Consider the Table
Do you have enough dinnerware for everyone at your dinner party? If not, consider borrowing place settings from close friends or family members instead of purchasing new. If you aren’t a china and tablecloth kind of family and choose to go with disposable place settings, choose a great compostable version that is made from 100% recycled materials.

4. Think Seasonal
When choosing fruits and vegetables for your Thanksgiving menu, think seasonal. You want to avoid purchasing produce that is imported from far away. You may consider joining a local CSA for the holiday season – not only will you have delicious, local foods to serve this Thanksgiving, but you will be supporting a local farm too.

5. Plan for Leftovers
What do you plan to do with the Thanksgiving dinner leftovers? If you are planning on sending goodies home with your guests, have glass reusable storage containers ready to go. If you made more than your family can consume, you could donate some of the leftovers to a local food bank, freeze them for later or have a menu plan for the days after Thanksgiving so all of the leftovers will be used.

How do you green your Thanksgiving dinner? I would love to hear – please share your thoughts in the comments!

How to Make Simple Upcycled Halloween Lanterns

October 3, 2024 12

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One of my favorite areas to decorate for Halloween is our front porch. It’s the perfect spot to share your Halloween decorations with visitors and neighbors! These painted glass lanterns are one of my favorite projects to pull out of storage every year. They are just so delightful!

What you will need:

What to do:

1. Spray the glass containers inside and outside.
2. Once dry, paint on the design or face that you would like.
3. Place a rechargeable or solar powered tea light inside.
4. Watch the delight on the faces of your neighbors as they walk by.

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What do you think of my Halloween lanterns?

How to Make Organic Instant Oatmeal for Cool Fall Mornings

September 30, 2024 0
I love oatmeal on cool, crisp fall mornings! Am I the only one? You can make your own organic instant oatmeal packed with flavor in a few simple steps taking your regular oatmeal from ho-hum to yum-yum. Read on to learn how you can make organic instant oatmeal and wake up to a better tomorrow.
 
Step 1: Bake It!
Preheat the oven to 350°, spread 4 cups of organic old-fashioned rolled oats on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted, about 15 minutes. Let cool.
 
Step 2: Pulse It!
Pulse in a food processor until coarsely chopped.
 
Step 3: Mix It!
Mix in a cup of your favorite oatmeal add-ins such as; almonds, walnuts, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, brown sugar, and coconut.
 
Step 4: Store It!
Store in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks.
 
Step 5: Boil It!
Stir boiling water into a cup of your organic instant oatmeal until you reach your desired consistency.
 
Step 6: Enjoy It!
Oatmeal is my favorite on a cool, crisp fall morning – top with honey too!

7 Sustainable Ways to Welcome Fall with Your Family

September 20, 2024 0

 

Fall is my favorite time of year. It seems like we start to slow down as a family and spend more time reconnecting with each other. (This seems especially important now that Eben is off to graduate school and only comes home occasionally!)

Since the days get shorter and it gets dark outside so much earlier, Jayson and I have been using this time to reconnect as empty nesters! Our dining room table used to be filled with card games and brain teasers, but now we’ve been finding ourselves doing puzzles (are we old or what??) and playing Scrabble. The nightly dinners are still full of long conversations and hot, steamy beverages for dessert! (Which is my favorite!)

To get you in the autumn mood and excited about sustainability, check out my 7 favorite eco-friendly ways to welcome fall.

1. Make it Family Dinner Night
One of my favorite fall family traditions is having make-your-own organic pizza night a few times a month. I bought Jayson a Gozney last year as a holiday gift, so our pizza game has been ELEVATED!

There is something fun about kneading the dough, cutting up vegetables, and pulling hot pizzas from the oven. When Eben was little, we’d create sweet, smiling faces, and it always ended in a night of laughter and fun! 

2. Green Your Overall Health
Fall is the perfect time to amp up your healthy lifestyle before winter hits – because with winter comes sniffles, colds, and the flu. You can start by boosting your immunity, packing healthy, organic school lunches, adding some superfoods to your marketing list, and doing a whole-body cleanse. You want to stay healthy through the fun fall and winter holidays.

3. With Fall comes Leaves, Lots of Them
When it comes to the leaves that fall in your yard, how you dispose of them can significantly impact the environment. The best option would be to mulch them and use them as ground cover for your garden. The worst option would be to blow them around with a noisy, emission-polluting leaf blower. If you want to have fun with leaves, consider making leaf prints for your family room, or you can always jump in piles of them.

4. Enjoy Your Natural Environment
A bike ride is one of my favorite ways to enjoy a lovely fall day with my family. We tend to bike a lot more when fall hits! Another fun thing to do this time of year is to visit your local botanical garden – you could try one of these surprising ways to make it a day full of fall fun.

5. Prepare for Winter
Before you know it, winter will be here – and fall is the perfect time to prepare. Now that we live in North Carolina (on top of a mountain), I liked to stock up on non-perishable organic goods, so we didn’t have to go marketing as often. It is also a great time to weather-proof your doors and windows and prepare your garden for the cold winter. I also like to think of fun ways to cozy up our home – this usually means bringing out stacks of books, blankets, and pillows and sipping hot organic tea, coffee, and cocoa.

6. Green Your Halloween
Whether you plan to make your own Halloween costumes and decorations or turn your home into the ultimate eco-friendly haunted house, now is the time to get started. We like to scour our local thrift stores and tag sales for fantastic Halloween decor well before the holiday. It always gets us in the mood for Halloween, and when the holiday comes, we are completely ready!

7. Go Local 
The farmer’s market season in North Carolina is now popping – the perfect time to stock up on those yummy fall vegetables. I love it when the mister whips up a batch of one of his fantastic soups or seasonal salads in the fall using local vegetables from the farmer’s market. And pumpkins from the farmer’s market, oh my, they are my favorite. 

How do you welcome fall with your family?

4 Fall Inspired Eco-Friendly Art Projects for Green Kids

November 2, 2022 0

I love fall – it is my favorite season. Have I mentioned that before? Ha! I love the colors, textures, and find myself crafting with Eben more during the autumn season. With that being said, the artwork really piles up around here. Many pieces get photographed and recycled, however there are pieces that we love so much we want to keep and display. Here are 4 fall inspired art projects that we have enjoyed over the year and thought they might inspire you this autumn:

1. Baker’s Twine Apple
Whenever I work with baker’s twine, it seems like I am left with a few scraps that I keep for craft projects. I recently came across an amazing baker’s twine apple project that would be perfect for those leftovers. I adore it!

+ Baker’s Twine Art
+ Domestically Speaking

2. Button Art
If you have a large button collection – this is the project for you! I love the different colors and sizes – I think it would be fun to do a set of four, one for each season, arranged on a wall together. This would be a perfect project for children of all ages too!

+ Button Art
+ Diane Payne

3. Leaf Prints
Eben loved this project because it incorporated a nature walk and pigment paints. This is a project that we tend to make over and over again each fall. It’s easy, a fun way to get our hands dirty and the perfect excuse for working together after school.

+ Leaf Prints

4. Alphabet Leaf Animals
Again, this is the perfect fall project for kids! It gets their creative juices flowing as they arrange the leaves into different animal shapes. I have to admit, Eben is much better at this than me – he is fantastic as seeing things that I never would. Are your kids like this?

+ Leaf Animal Prints

What fall inspired art project are you and your children working on?

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