Eggs!Eggs! Beautiful Eggs!

| | Posted in Cooking | Tagged ,

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Oh boy, was I at the right place at the right time today!  While checking in with my friends at ROMA Paint (who are participating in tomorrow’s  The Next Cool Event with me), their social media manager Kristin came in with fresh eggs from her chicken coop!  How gorgeous are these??? She said she knows exactly who laid what, based on each egg’s color and size.  Does anyone else remember Martha Stewart’s very first paint line created for Fine Paints of Europe, inspired by the muted blue and green shells from her Americauna hens?  One look at these beauties and you can see why she was so moved!  I hadn’t a clue what was for dinner before Kristin was so kind to share her bounty- but now some nice slow-cooked scrambled eggs were on the menu.  The Kitchn blog has a great recipe for scrambled eggs, if you like them soft and buttery.  My hubby actually hates when I make these custard-style eggs (preferring the hard, rubbery variety) but to each his own, I guess!  Anyway, I’m keeping this post short today since I am CRAZY busy preparing for this design event tomorrow.  I shouldn’t even be writing now, for that matter!  But I really wanted to share my pretty eggs and good fortune with y’all!

 

Fun With the Sun!

| | Posted in Energy, Laundry, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , ,

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Just got home from a fun and inspiring Earth Day celebration at High Meadows, an environmentally-conscious elementary/middle school near my home.   Earth Day is like Christmas at this place, and boy, do they make a wonderful to-do about it!  The big focus of the festivities is on visiting “empowerment booths.”  Through these booths, each class gets the opportunity to share their passion and knowledge on an environmental subject with their fellow students.  They come up with the theme for the exhibit and then- here’s the neat twist- teach their parents all about their subject so they can man the booths!  Pretty cool concept, huh? Each booth also has an “expert” attached to it, which is where I came in.  Mr. Denning’s kids were one of the 4th and 5th grade classes who visited my solar-powered home during their solar energy studies earlier this year. They chose that subject for their empowerment booth, and I was asked to “empower” the children and parents who visited us with clever ways to utilize the sun for saving and harnessing energy.  So how to do this, I wondered? Continue reading →

Mooning over Moon Rabbit!

| | Posted in Baking, Eating, Kids, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , ,

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O…M…G!!!!  I have died and gone to gluten-free baked goods heaven!  First, a disclaimer: Moon Rabbit Foods, the brainchild of North Carolina-based pastry chef Mark Hetzel, supplied me with the baking mixes I am about to wax all poetic about.  I actually found out about Mark and his tasty GF goodies through our mutual friend Scott, who knew I was trying to cut back on gluten.  ”You’ve never had gluten-free like this,” he promised as he wrote down the name of the company for me to Google.  Since I’ve tried a lot of mixes and even dabbled in from-scratch GF baking using Elana’s Pantry recipes over the last few years, this supposedly superior newcomer had me intrigued.  So I reached out to Mark, who sent over a few samplings of his favorite mixes.  And as I said, O…M…G!!!! Continue reading →

Ms. Silke’s EcoSkirts

| | Posted in Crafts, Creativity, Kids, Re-Use, Uncategorized | Tagged ,

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My girls and I got such a treat last week!  A lovely lady named Silke Cliatt reached out after seeing the AJC article about our house and family in the Sunday paper.  She is an artist and retired art teacher who makes the most lovely skirts- and she wanted to give one to each of my little girls!  Hand sewn using upcycled, recycled, repurposed materials, each EcoSkirt (www.ecoskirt.com site coming soon) is a one of a kind piece of art.  And yet these are not fancy, special occasion garments, but rather the “wear every day no matter what the weather because you love it so much” variety!

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Wheat Belly!

| | Posted in Baking, Eating, Holistic care, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , ,

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My father-in-law Dr. Vail sent me a copy of Wheat Belly last week, a popular book out right now appealing for us all to eschew those amber waves of grain.   Not just the celiac sufferers and the gluten intolerants- but everybody!   Dr. Vail had been trying different diets to lose weight and had stumbled upon this book. He has been wheat-free for several weeks now and experiencing amazing results! He says he’s lost weight, feels energetic, and is experiencing significant reduction of his arthritis pain.  He’s even weaning himself off the pain meds he relied on so heavily to get through the day, all thanks to eliminating wheat products from his diet.  Wow! With such a glowing review, I figured I should give this book a gander.

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Yoga to Go!

| | Posted in Exercise, Holistic care, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , ,

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This is my favorite local yoga teacher Kim Saunders, showing off an awesome balancing pose.  Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, to be exact.  Try saying that five times!  Man, I wish I was that flexible.  Someday, someday…   Anyways, I love Kim’s classes (which I take on Wednesdays at PlumTree in case any of y’all locals ever want to join me!), particularly when she shares practical ways to incorporate yoga concepts into our daily lives.  I’ve been trying to pay extra close attention recently so I can pass on some good tips to you guys!  Here’s some goodies I’ve picked up so far, which are helpful for non-yoga folks as well. Continue reading →

Juicing Inspiration

| | Posted in Eating, Juicing | Tagged , ,

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Morning, y’all!  I was just getting ready to throw all these fruits and veggies into my juicer and had a powerful realization.  I’m going to consume so many good foods before noon!  I would not have the willpower to eat anywhere near this much produce, even in a day.  Sad, but true!  I was a vegetarian through most of my 20′s and yet I rarely ate vegetables- perhaps “carbohydratian” or “chemicaltarian” would be a better suited title for my eating habits.  I’ve just never been a hungry veggie eater!  This is why I love juicing.  Drink it all down and be done with it!  So hopefully I’ve inspired some of you guys to give it a try.  There’s several posts on juicing here on Eco-Awesome to help get you started!

The Skies the Limit!

| | Posted in Exercise, Fun Activities, Health, Kids | Tagged , , , , , ,

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My friend Stacey told me about a killer workout she got at this new indoor trampoline facility called Sky Zone here in my hometown. “It will kick your a**!” she warned.  Sounded good to me, as I was (and still am) on an exercise kick as part of my New Year’s Resolutions.  Not knowing what to expect, I picked the kids up from school and headed on over.  It turned out that SkyZone doesn’t actually open to the general public until 3pm BUT we just happened to show up with a homeschooling group that was getting their own private hour at 2pm.  Score- especially because they went ahead and gave us the homeschool discount price!  Now, that was still $9.50 per person per hour.  Pretty pricey, by my pocketbook!  Nevertheless, we had a blast and I did indeed get my a** kicked jumping on those tramps! Continue reading →