A few weeks back I was reading a raw foods blog (sorry can’t remember which) and I read a review of Amazing Grass products. At the time I mentally filed it away as a reminder to try them sometime. Then a few days later I walked by a display in Whole Foods and they were handing out samples of the original flavor. It was YUM! I bought a couple canisters right then including the berry flavor and the Kidz Chocolate flavor. Quite simply we are in LOVE with Amazing Grass…

They are raw vegan, certified organic, totally delicious products. They are a tasty blend of alkalizing greens, antioxidant rich whole food fruits and vegetables, immune boosting support herbs, and friendly pre & probiotics in powder form. You add it to water, nut milks, juice, smoothies, etc. The one I tried at Whole Foods was just water. Just look at this list of benefits from their web site:

• Contains our blend of Amazing Grass Organic cereal grasses and organic alfalfa.
• Loaded with a complete spectrum of the three major Green SuperFoods; Cereal Grasses, Alfalfa and Micro-Algae.
• More organic whole-leaf greens per gram than any other Green SuperFood – Not from Juice!
• Contains no Soy Lecithin fillers
• Naturally balanced powerhouse of Anti-oxidants, B-Vitamins, Beta Carotene, Bioflavonoids, Lycopene, Folic Acid, Dietary Fiber, Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD), and Omega 3, 6 & 9 Essential Fatty Acids.
• Complete “Live Food” with beneficial enzymes, carotenoids and phytonutrients (plant pigments) that help fight free-radical damage, aging and tumor causing mutations.
• Contains probiotics- the friendly microorganisms that promote healthier digestion and regular elimination.
• Contains prebiotics- selectively promotes the growth of healthy intestinal bacteria.
• Alkaline green plant foods balance acidic pH levels.
• Naturally detoxifies and boosts your immune system.
• Contains essential fatty acids (EFA’s) that help keep skin soft, elastic, and youthful.
• No Synthetic, Isolated or Fractionated Vitamins & Minerals.

This is some amazing stuff right? So you would rightly expect it to taste like crap right? Well, sorry to disappoint but this stuff is beyond delicious. I ate a spoonful of pure powder and it was GOOD. It tastes even better in a drink. I just love the fact that it is sourced from whole foods too. It is the next best thing to eating all those fruits and veggies in tact.

After a few days of drinking a couple servings a day I have noticed a huge difference in my energy levels. My kids are always energetic so who knows if they are feeling it as well but Amazing Grass DOES pass the kidlet taste test. See below for irrefutable, scientific, lab approved PROOF!! Video below:

Obviously that was the chocolate flavor designed especially for kids. But they also like the berry flavor. As shown in the picture above we added a cup of frozen strawberries, a ripe banana, a cup of spinach, a handful of ice, a cup of fresh OJ, and a cup of water to our indispensable Vita-Mix blender. Then I blended all of that with two scoops of Amazing Grass Berry Green Superfood.

Doesn’t it look oddly delicious?! Well it ended up being a rust colored smoothie that was BIG on taste. Every sip was accompanied by a full bodied groan of pleasure. Don’t even think about drinking it in front of other people, lest your enthusiasm embarrass you. Or you could just tell them you are impersonating Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally.

Ready to get your kids eating 33 different fruits and veggies in their juice, milk, or water each day??

Amazon has them for 23% less than retail price right now. That is a smokin deal! You can also get them at Whole Foods.

Amazing Grass Green Superfood Powder (Original)

Amazing Grass Chocolate Green Superfood Powder

Amazing Grass Kidz Superfood Powder (also chocolate)

Amazing Grass Green SuperFood, Berry Flavor

Well, it is official. I am now a Credo Mobile customer. I signed up for a 30 day trial a few weeks back.. you may remember me mentioning it.

During my trial I heard that my current cell company, Verizon, was funding an anti-environment rally and I knew I had to make this switch permanent. On Labor Day, thousands of people will be gathering for the coal-powered “Friends of America Rally” in Holden, WV. Don’t you love the name? Obviously if you support clean energy you must NOT be a friend of America… puhlease. They plan to rail against clean energy legislation and talk about how clean and green energy is a job killer.

The sponsors of this ridiculous event are oil, gas, and coal companies… AND Verizon. My NEW cell company, CREDO, launched a campaign calling on Verizon to drop its sponsorship.

It all boils down to this being yet another choice to send my money to a place where it will do the most good. It is an easy decision really. So far I really like the service, their online account interface is awesome, they have paperless billing, and EASY online bill pay, and since 1985 they have donated over $60 million to groups working for progressive change. Every time I pay my bill a percentage goes toward causes I believe in and certainly NOT to anti-environment rallies!

For anyone else thinking of switching… I think they are only offering to buy out your existing cell contract if you sign up by September 4th… just so you know.

If anything can get me riled up and hotter than a brushfire in Texas it is the idea of vaccinations being required or forced on us. We are a non vaccinating family so I like to keep up to date with what is going on in the vaccine world and this issue came up on the radar recently. According to Mike Adams at Natural News:

A new bill, the “Pandemic Response Bill,” S. 2028, has passed the Massachusetts state Senate and is now awaiting approval in the House. This bill suspends virtually all Constitutional rights of Massachusetts citizens and forces anyone “suspected” of being infected to submit to interrogations, “decontaminations” and vaccines.

It also sets fines up to $1,000 per day for anyone who refuses to submit to quarantines, vaccinations, decontamination efforts or to follow any other verbal order by virtually any state-licensed law enforcement or medical personnel. You can read the text yourself here.

It is outrageous that the government can force anyone to inject themselves with any substance but especially a potentially dangerous one.

According to the Organic Consumers Association, a leaked memo revealed that the swine flu vaccine has been linked to paralysis. It also contains contains novel adjuvants, including dangerous squalene which was in all probability responsible for Gulf War syndrome.

Visit the OCA web site to send a message to legislators that this NOT acceptable. They have a letter for MA residents and those in other states.

Back at the beginning of the year we were first introduced to Green Sugar Press and their wonderful books for green kids. I wrote about their book N is for Nature back in January and I have been really late in mentioning some of their other really awesome books.

Now that my toddler and I are alone together for a couple days a week we have been busy reading books, doing puzzles, and working on the speech issue. He is doing better with his talking but is still not where he should be. Or perhaps he just thinks those pesky words are for mere humans, whereas HE is a robot. ;)

The N is for Nature book is better for teaching him the ABCs than a new one we read recently called An Environmental Guide from A to Z by Tim Magner with illustrations by Aubri Vincent-Barwood. It is definitely more appropriate for my older kids but my toddler still loves to look at the pictures while I read it. For example.. B is for Bees which is perfectly toddler friendly but D is for Darwin, so this book is best suited for kids 5 and up I would say. But it is full of great information about the environment and the world around us. It also a great buffer for more complex studies like Darwin’s Law of Natural Selection and how that comes into play within the species we see around us. J is for Jacques Cousteau and K is for Kilimanjaro… I LOVE it! The pictures are very grand as well. I find it is an excellent introductory picture book for the younger kidlets and a very engaging book about our journey to a greener planet for the older kids.

Also during story time a new favorite is being requested quite often and that is Earl the Earthworm Digs for His Life.

My little boy LOVES worms so of course he loves this book devoted to the wiggly guys. It is an earthworm coming of age story. Earl takes us on a journey deep into his world and together we explore his surroundings and learn about his connections to nature. It has gorgeous colorful illustrations of bees and other insects, grasses and trees, flowers, and the journey of Earl the Earthworm. The message behind the message is also good too since it shows how we all have different strengths and abilities. Earl is frustrated that he’s not like a bee, the grass, ants or even a tree,  but Earl discovers the job he does, i.e. digging and eating, helps all the rest of them.

It also has footnote facts that I usually skip over my for my toddler but read for the older two. The worm is so small in many of the pictures that my son loves to “find” him… like a wormy Where’s Waldo. Any book that highlights worms and bugs is a hit in this house but this one is especially well done. It is written once again by Tim Magner. It is illustrated by Lindsay Knapp.

I would recommend adding both books to your personal library or picking them up at the library whenever possible. Happy reading!

In my mind one of the least “green” things about public school is the massive amount of driving involved… cars, buses, daycare vans, etc. Add to that the fact that MANY parents “idle” while waiting for their kids every day and you have massive amounts of pollution being released in school areas each day with much of it coming from parents. Last year I had no option but to drive my kids to school but this year we decided to house hunt for a place within walking or biking distance to school. We ended up being only a third of a mile from their school… perfect!

So far my son has been riding his bike to school everyday and my daughter and I walk together. We get exercise each morning and afternoon, we get to explore our neighborhood, enjoy the outdoors, we save gas, we avoid the traffic snarl of parents picking up kids, and using our feet is the eco friendlier option. When the winter comes and brings frigid temps and snow I may be singing a different tune but for now I am really enjoying these moments.

I like seeing how other people landscape their yards.. or not. ;) I like admiring my neighbor’s red, white, and blue Adirondack chairs and her beautiful mums. How could I have passed them in my car a hundred times and not seen them before??? When Halloween gets closer (my fave holiday ever!) and Christmas, I will love seeing how people decorate for the season. I like walking past perfect strangers and taking a second to say hello and chat. I like stopping at a yard sale or a toddler’s lemonade stand on the way home. Ditching the car and walking makes your community seem all that more real and valuable.

The best part though is that I get to slow the pace of life for 40-60 minutes each day and concern myself with nothing but breathing in and out and putting one foot in front of the other. I think walking my daughter to school every day is just as good for me in the long run…