A tasty vegan dish!

One large Eggplant
Breadcrumbs with Italian Seasoning
Olive oil
Tofu Mozzerella Cheese
Your favorite tomato sauce

Prepare your favorite tomato sauce and simmer in a sauce pan for 30 mintues to bring out full flavor. Cut Eggplant into 1/2 inch slices. Smear each side with olive oil, and place in a large baking pan, in a single layer. Top each eggplant slice with a generous layer of bread crumbs.

Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. Cover every slice with tofu mozzerella cheese, and stack the eggplant into double layers. Prepare pasta if you are including a side dish of pasta with the dish. Bake eggplant for another 5-8 minutes, and remove from oven. Cover the entire dish with tomato sauce.

We have found a fun new way to help support the environment and protect the rainforests. It is something you can do for yourself just to help support conservation efforts or perhaps you can use it as a gift and give someone in your life a gift that truly makes a difference.

For the first time ever, Rainforest Forever is offering Amazon Rainforest Trees for sale to the general public. When you purchase a tree from Rainforest Forever, that tree will NEVER be destroyed or commercially exploited, forever. Each tree is GPS located, and includes personalized ownership documents. Enjoy the satisfaction and peace of mind of knowing that you are a direct participant in making this world a better place.

So why buy a tree? The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the “Lungs of our Planet” because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. More than half of the world’s estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests.

The rainforest is necessary for a healthy and livable planet. You can protect and save this important source of life. A Rainforest Tree is not only a special gift to yourself or a loved one . . . a Rainforest Tree is a special gift to the entire world.

Give a Rainforest Tree to yourself, a friend, or a loved one today, click on the banner below.

Awesome Breakfast (or anytime) Cookies

Preheat oven to 350

1/2 CUP OATMEAL
1/2 CUP OAT BRAN
1/2 CUP RAISINS (or Craisins, or blueberries)
1 CUP Hodgson Mills Whole Wheat Insta-Bake
1/2 CUP BROWN SUGAR
1/1 CUP UNSWEETENED APPLESAUCE
1/2 TEASPOON CINNAMON
1/2 CUP WATER OR ENOUGH TO FORM COOKIE CONSISTENCY

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir with a fork until well mixes. Drop by tablespoonfuls on a nonstick cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with the tines of a fork. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Breast-feeding debate heats up in Massachusetts

BOSTON (Reuters) – When it comes to breast-feeding, do mothers really
know best?

Officials are facing that question in Massachusetts, which is debating whether to become the first U.S. state to ban hospitals from handing out free samples of infant formula, provided by formula companies, to new mothers.

Republican Gov. Mitt Romney says he believes mothers should decide how to feed their infants and has asked the state’s Public Health Council to repeal the ban that it announced in December and set to take effect in July.

The council, which is part of the state’s health agency, voted on Tuesday to suspend the ban and study the issue for three months. They will decide in May whether or not to go ahead with the ban.

Medical studies show breast-feeding lowers the risk and severity of ear infections, diarrhea and bacterial meningitis in babies, and may help to protect against crib death, diabetes, obesity and asthma.

Women who nurse are also found to have lower rates of breast and ovarian cancer.

Backers of the ban say the formula gift bags discourage new mothers from breast-feeding. Formula manufacturers call the ban unnecessary and doubt ending the decades-old custom would lead to a rise in the
number of mothers who breast-feed.

Romney, who is weighing a bid for the White House in 2008, said mothers know what’s best for their babies, not lawmakers, and women can decide whether to use the gifts.

“I’m not enthusiastic about the heavy arm of government coming in and saying: ‘We think we know better than mothers, and we are going to decide for you,”‘ he told reporters.

Typically, a new mother receives the brand-name formula with coupons for more before leaving the hospital.

About 70 percent of U.S. women breast-fed at least once after bearing a child in 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of those breast-feeding exclusively is about 62
percent seven days after birth, but fell to 14 percent at six months.

“We don’t feel it is a good public health policy to give them out,” said Anne Merewood, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. “New mothers are a vulnerable group and this is pure marketing.

“These are brand name products from the hospital. It looks like the hospital is endorsing it. It’s like putting Pepsi-Cola machines in the schools,” she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060222/hl_nm/mothers_massachusetts_dc

So you do your best to lead a natural life for yourself and for your family. Great! Have you ever thought about turning your passion for natural living into a business?!

It seems only natural that if you love the all natural lifestyle and perhaps even make natural products for your family, you would love to turn that passion into profit. Many natural minded moms and dads are doing it by starting cloth diapering, baby wearing, attachment parenting, and natural products type businesses. So why not you?

Nature Moms recommends you check out the Natural Moms Business Guide. This amazing program gives you all the information, resources, and tutorials you could need to get your business off the ground. The program was developed by a Carrie Lauth, a natural minded mama and a successful business woman who has turned her passion for natural living into a an opportunity to stay home with her children. Check it out!

We give this amazing program a two thumbs up :)