Wholesome Home Cooked Goodness

For warm, easy breezy ambiance and healthy and delicious macrobiotic meals in Israel, check out Carpathian Mountain House. Located in hippy Nachlaot in Jerusalem by a wonderful open-air market (shuk), it's walking distance from what's happening around town.

Drop by Carpathian Mountain House during the week:

Monday:
10 Item Plate
12:45 - 3:45 pm
15 shekels - Regular/12 shekels - Student

Tuesday:
Dinner Lecture
6:45 - 8:30 pm
25 shekels

Wednesday:
Advice Day - Macrobiotic Health Consultations
30 shekels for 30 minutes

Thursday:
Rice, curry, seaweed, salad, beans for 1 shekel
or 10 item plate 12/15 shekels

All food is Macrobiotic, Strictly Kosher and Mostly Vegan

38 Ha Gilboa, Nachlaot
Jerusalem, Israel
#02-624-7796

Call for updated schedule and prices.

Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats

Rice Crispy Treats by Jessica Porter
Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:

• 4 cups crispy brown rice cereal
• 1 cup brown rice syrup
• 2/3 cup peanut butter (or try almond, cashew, even hazelnut)
• dash of umeboshi vinegar
• dash of vanilla
• optional: chocolate chips, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, roasted almonds, peanuts or cashews

Preparation:
1. Over medium flame, heat up brown rice syrup and peanut butter, vinegar and vanilla, stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth, thinned out and bubbling a little.
2. Pour onto crispy rice cereal in a large bowl and blend well with a wooden spoon.
3. Pour into a pyrex dish (or other pan) and flatten with a wet spatula.
4. Let cool. Slice and serve.

Serves 8

For more easy and awesome healthy recipes and a fun read check out "The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics" by Jessica Porter, which you can find on the sidebar of my blog under "Books I Love."

Healthy Food for Our Children

I just signed this petition to support healthy food choices in our schools. Check it out!

http://www.foodincmovie.com/sign-the-petition.php

Must-See Movie: Food, Inc.

This truly is an important movie. I saw this movie last night and was inspired. Go see this movie with friends and family and find out more about where your food comes from. Make a conscious decision about who and what you vote for everyday by eating foods that support your health, the environment and your values.

The movie website is awesome:
http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Also, check out what Monsanto has to say about the movie:
http://www.monsanto.com/foodinc/

Pasta With Savory Sesame Sauce

Pasta With Savory Sesame Sauce
by Sandy Coggins & Fumie Yoshikawa

• 4 Cups Crimini mushrooms - cleaned and cut into bulky slices
• 3 Cups sesame seeds - roasted and milled
• 2-3 Cloves garlic - chopped coarse
• 3 Leek leaves - cut into ¼" diagonal pieces
• 4 Carrots - ribbon cut
• 6 Cups spiral brown rice pasta
• 1 Bunch scallions - Marvin cut (thin diagonal slices)
• Ume vinegar
• Toasted sesame oil
• Basil - fresh, chopped fine

1. Cook rice pasta (al dente), rinse in cold water and set aside
2. Sauté garlic
3. Add Crimini mushrooms and sauté a few minutes
4. Add carrots and sauté a few minutes
5. Add leeks and sauté a few minutes (You want the veggies to still be crisp and colorful – a little al dente.)
6. Add milled sesame seeds
7. Add pasta and stir, and heat for 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated
8. Add ume vinegar to taste – you can add some soy sauce if you like
9. Add scallions and stir, and heat another few minutes
10. Add Fresh Basil
11. Remove from flame and place in serving dish
12. May need to add a little liquid – vegetable stock or dashi is good

Tempeh Vegetable Skewers With Ginger Sauce

Tempeh Vegetable Skewers With Ginger Sauce
by Sandy Coggins & Fumie Yoshikawa

Tempeh

1. Cut into large cubes for skewers
2. Deep fry in safflower oil
3. Set aside & drain
4. ***For better flavor, deep fry and marinate overnight in sauce. Then cooked an additional 15 to 20 minutes on stove top.

Ginger Marinade/Sauce

• 1 Grated ginger root
• 2 Fresh squeezed oranges or tangerine (reserve zest)
• 4 Cups apple juice
• Soy sauce to taste
• 1 Cup brown rice syrup (season to taste)
• ¼ to ½ Cup kuzu

1. Mix Marinade/Sauce ingredients together.
2. Heat a large skillet, add deep fried tempeh and pour marinade/sauce over the tempeh. Reserve at least 1 cup of the marinade to make the sauce for the skewers.
3. Simmer the tempeh in the sauce for approximately 20 minutes.
4. Remove the tempeh and set aside.
5. Add remaining sauce to a pan and bring to a high simmer.
6. Add a small amount of cold water to the kuzu and mix until it dissolves.
7. Add kuzu – (necessary amount) to sauce and cook until you get a saucy consistency you like.
8. Strain sauce to remove any lumps or tempeh residue.
9. Add orange/tangerine zest to taste.

Vegetables for Skewers:

• 3 Yams cut into large cubes - steamed until just tender - al dente
• 1 Bunch broccoli cut into large florets - quickly blanched - al dente
• 4 Summer squashes cut in thick ½ moons - quickly blanched - al dente

1. Pre heat oven to broil or grill outdoors
2. Prepare skewers by placing skewers in a restaurant pan and brushing lightly with toasted sesame oil.
3. Place in the oven and broil until seared or grill outdoors.
4. Remove from oven and place skewers onto serving tray
5. Lightly sauce the skewers and serve.

Style Studio: Luxury-Eco Jeans with Linda Loudermilk

See how luxury eco-denim is made in this exclusive factory tour with fabulous eco-designer Linda Loudermilk.

http://www.style.com/video/fashion-moments/fashion-moments/1896809784/linda-loudermilk/1898342302

Fire and Light

For beautiful eco-glass dinnerware and giftware, check out Fire & Light. They have a beautiful and colorful array of hand poured colored glass pieces that are made with over 91% recycled glass.


I have one of their cobalt blue soap dishes at my kitchen sink and I love it!
Check them out at:

http://www.fireandlight.com/movie/
http://www.fireandlight.com/

All Natural Cosmetics

AllNaturalCosmetics.com is a fabulous resource for finding great all natural products you can trust. Their site provides a nice variety of products and even provides an exact ingredients list for each product, so you know what you are putting on your skin. You can try out their products by purchasing sample sizes.

I personally love the Fruit & Herb Shampoo by CWS. It gives generous lather and leaves my hair smelling fresh and clean.

Check them out:
http://allnaturalcosmetics.com/

Home Decor with Unique Eco-Cushions

Add style and flair to your home with this lovely succulent hand dyed merino wool cushion or the free form felt rock cushions below. These unique 'creative products with a conscience' from Be Sweet are fair trade and help support community development around the world. Find out more info at:

http://besweetproducts.com/index.php

An Easy Way to Shop Green

For an easy way to shop green, you don't have to travel further than your local Target store, or better yet, further that your own home, since you can shop online at:

http://www.target.com/b/sr=1-2/qid=1245882124/ref=sr_ilm_2/186-7739637-9022561?ie=UTF8&node=357202011

Check out the great selection of affordable eco-friendly home, kitchen and apparel goods.

Homemade Hair Wash

Homemade Hair Wash

For clean, fresh hair full of body, try this recipe. I like to do this once a week so my hair does not become dull from using the same shampoos and conditioners.

Step 1:

Combine

1/2 cup baking soda

3/4 cup warm/hot water

Optional: Add 1/4 cup of sea salt
for extra cleansing and for dandruff prone scalp

Pour over hair and massage into scalp.

Step 2:

Deep Condition or Regular Condition

For deep conditioning, mix:

1/4 part honey

1/4 part aloe vera

If possible, warm mixture. Ring out wet hair and coat hair with mixture. Leave on hair for a few minutes to an hour, depending on how much conditioning you want. Rinse out.

For regular conditioning:

Put an all natural store bought conditioner in hair. Massage for a minute and rinse out.

Step 3:

Rinse

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 cups water

Mix together, tilt head back, and pour mixture over hair. Massage into hair. Rinse out with cool water.

Perfect for Preening: Greenridge Herbals

Greenridge Herbals, which was created by Colleen Miller, a Holistic Certified Herbalist and Aromatherapist, has a wonderful selection of all natural, organic and vegan body care products. Greenrigde Herbals body care products are made fresh in small batches from herbs and flowers grown in their organic garden.

Check out their Shea Butter Moisturizing Lotion which is a fabulous all over moisturizer for the body and leaves your skin feeling soft and not greasy. The CocoNilla Body Mousse is as luxurious as it sounds, and it smells delicious too! They also carry a variety of facial care, bar soaps, baby care and soy candles. Check out their website to see their entire selection.

http://greenridgeherbals.com

Fantastic Film: FUEL

Check out this fantastic eco-movie, FUEL. Gary Goldstein says, "'Fuel' is a vital, superbly assembled documentary that presents an insightful overview of America's troubled relationship with oil and how alternative and sustainable energies can reduce our country's -- and the world's -- addictive dependence on fossil fuels.

The film's structure is built around director-narrator Josh Tickell's personal journey of enlightenment, which started in childhood after moving with his family from idyllic Australia to murkier Louisiana, where he came to realize the oil-rich environment was being ravaged by the omnipotent petrochemical industry. Later, as a young adult, he spent 11 years crossing the country in his vegetable oil-powered "Veggie Van," promoting biofuels and compiling footage for what would become this impressively comprehensive film..."

I saw this fantastic movie last year at Go Green Expo in NYC and I highly recommend it!

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsP5EmMrTqk&feature=related

Website:
http://thefuelfilm.com/

Get Clean and Do Good with Dr. Bronner's

Want to get great soap AND to help the planet? Dr. Bronner's castile soaps come in liquid and bar form and will get you feeling fresh in no time. This soap is affordable and great quality.
This soap is:

Completely Biodegradable and Vegetable-Based Made with Certified Fair Trade and Organic Oils Multi-Purpose: 18-in-1 Uses No Synthetic Foaming Agents, Thickeners or Preservatives 100% Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) Cylinder Bottles and Paper Labels Simple, Ecological Formulations Based on Old-World Quality and Expertise #1-Selling Natural Brand of Soaps in North America

INGREDIENTS: Water, Saponified Organic Coconut*, Organic Palm* and Organic Olive* Oils (w/Retained Glycerin), Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Essential Oils**, Citric Acid, Vitamin E * FAIR TRADE Ingredients

** Available in Peppermint, Lavender, Almond, Tea Tree, Eucalyptus, Unscented Baby-Mild, Rose and Citrus Orange


Check out their monthly special of 15% off Lavender soaps and lotions:
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/SPECIALS.htm

Dr. Bronner's soap and other great products:
http://www.drbronner.com/

Sweet N' Spicy Popcorn Crunch

Check out this recipe for a delicious and nutritious treat, a healthy version of Cracker Jacks! These popcorn snacks will satisfy your sweet tooth, are made without refined sugars and are vegan. Try to get organic ingredients as much as possible, since organic is better for you and the planet.

• 2 tablespoons safflower oil
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 1 cup salted and roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Earth Balance Natural Shortening
• 1 cup brown rice syrup powder
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add 3 popcorn kernels and cover until they pop. Add remaining popcorn kernels, cover, and shake pot continuously over burner until popcorn is completely popped, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer popcorn to large bowl, add peanuts and set aside.
3. Combine Earth Balance, brown rice syrup powder, and brown rice syrup in a medium pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until brown rice syrup powder has dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high, and cook, without stirring, until golden brown, about 5 minutes, swirling pot occasionally.
4. Remove mixture from heat and quickly stir in sea salt and cayenne with a heatproof spatula or spoon. Immediately pour over popcorn mixture and stir to incorporate. Divide popcorn mixture evenly between baking sheets. Transfer to oven and bake, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Let cool on sheet pans before breaking apart into clusters. Store popcorn in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Enjoy!

Share the Love with Heart Tarts

There is nothing better (and more eco) than homemade goodies! Try this Linzer Heart Tart recipe, created by holistic health counselor, Carol Anne Wasserman.

These are great to make for a friend to show your appreciation or for someone you love. They are made with whole grain flour and naturally sweetened with agave nectar. Agave is really sweet - so you only need a little bit. Use a little almond flour - almonds are super healthy - and they also lend the cookies a nice rich and tender quality. If you can't find almond meal or almond flour, you can just grind up some almonds in your blender or food processor to a fine meal.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup almond flour
½ teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or unrefined cold pressed sunflower, safflower, or sesame oil)
¼ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

• In a bowl combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients. Stir the wet into the dry. Do not overmix.

• Roll out the dough, 1/8 inch thick or less, between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Sprinkle flour onto of the bottom piece of parchment only, to keep the dough from sticking.

• Cut out heart shapes, any size is fine, I use 2 inch.

• In half of the hearts, cut out a smaller heart, I use 1 inch.

• Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake 7 – 10 minutes, depending on the size and thickness. Cookie are done when bottom edges just begin to turn slightly brown. Do not over-bake.

• When cool, put a teaspoon or 2 of jam in the center of each solid heart. Top with the cut out heart.

Optional: Instead of using jam, melt grain sweetened chocolate chips, or a 70% cacao dark chocolate bar. Use this filling instead of the jam.

For more FREE healthy recipes from Carol, check out:

http://www.gethealthywithcarol.com/index.html

http://www.gethealthywithcarol.blogspot.com/

http://www.ncctv.org/index.php?option=com_jvideo&view=watch&id=230 

Always Stylish, Matt & Nat Bags

Looking for a new fab bag? Check out Matt and Nat bags, high quality, stylish, vegan AND environmentally conscious. These bags are so great, even Ellen DeGeneres gave them away last year on her show during 12 days of giveaways!

Check out the latest arrivals at:
www.mattandnat.com

Get Inspired at Green Festivals

Green Festival is a fun and exciting weekend festival featuring 125 renowned authors, leader and educators, 350 eco-businesses (offering giveaways, discounts and free samples), workshops, kid's activities, entertainment, and an organic, vegetarian food court.

It is now being held in 4 different places in the United States every year and is the largest sustainability event in the world. It is the only green event that screens all exhibitors for their commitment to sustainability, ecological balance and social justice using Green America’s green business standards. It also offsets 100% of its electricity emissions with clean, renewable energy and each year, gets closer and closer to being a zero-waste event.

This is definitely one eco-event I never miss!

Check it out online:
http://www.greenfestivals.org/

Get Glowing Skin, Naturally

For naturally beautiful, healthy and glowing skin try doing the macrobiotic body scrub. Scrubbing your body is a great way to relieve stress and tension, energize yourself, promote circulation, soften hard fat deposits below the skin and open your pores.

Start with a clean wash cloth, some hot water and a sink or bowl. Fill the sink or bowl with hot water and dip the entire washcloth in the water. Wring out the washcloth, and while it is still hot and filled with steam, fold the cloth into quarters and begin to scrub your body. Scrub one section of the body at a time.

Start with the face, ears and neck. Then move to the fingers, hands, arms and shoulders. Then go down the chest (avoiding the breast area), to the abdomen (avoiding the private area), armpits and sides. Then to the back, lower back and buttocks. Last do the legs, feet and toes. Scrub each section of the skin until it becomes slightly red. As the wash cloth cools off, reheat it by dipping it into the hot water and wringing it out.

Rinse off the body to eliminate dead skin cells and towel off. The body scrub can be done once in the morning and/or once in the evening.

The skin might begin to detoxify once the scrub has been done. It is completely natural for skin to initially become dry, flaky, bumpy, etc. Keep up the scrub and the skin will start to be naturally soft, smooth and glowing.

This scrub is better than any scrub you might apply to your skin or any moisturizer you could use because it actually supports your health from the outside in.

Lovely Organic Cotton Towels

These beautiful and soft towels from Gaiam are are 100% organic cotton and the colors are created from low impact dyes. Chlorine and softener-free finishing keeps the cotton soft, perfect for for your eco-home! These towels come in a set with a bath towel, hand towel and wash cloth, or can be purchased individually. I have a few sets in my bathroom and use the washcloths for my body scrub.

You can find these towels at:
http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/bathroom/view+all/organic+cotton+towels.do

Green Drinks for Social Networking

Wanna meet interesting people who are passionate about eco-ness, find a green job, or tell people about your green business? If so, then check out Green Drinks! Green Drinks is a fun way to network and connect with others who work or would like to work in environmentally respectful jobs. See their websites to get more info, attend an event, or set up a Green Drinks in your area.

http://www.greendrinks.org/
http://greendrinks.ning.com/

Awesome All Natural Body Care

Finding all natural body care that works well and is fun to use can be a bit of a challenge. Over the past 8 years I have been compiling information of products that I have tried and what works really well, so that I can keep track of what I love and give other people recommendations. Here are a short list of some really fantastic products and companies. All products listed are all natural, have no synthetic chemicals or preservatives, work really well and smell great. Enjoy this list!

Aubrey Organics
GPB Conditioner- This hair conditioner is a thick and heavy conditioner that is good for deep moisturizing conditioning. It is lightly and pleasantly fragranced. It conditions and detangles my hair and leaves it soft and smooth.

Burt's Bees
Lip Balm- This lip balm smells and feels pepperminty when applied to my lips. It moisturizes and has a moderate consistency- not too hard and not too soft. I think it is perfect!

Desert Essence
Thoroughly Clean Face Wash- This face wash is a gentle foaming liquid face wash that easily removes dirt, oil, and makeup from the skin. It has the consistency of water and only one pump is needed to wash the entire face and neck. It contains some organic ingredients and antiseptic essential oils like tea tree. The best thing about this cleanser is that it removes makeup gently. Note: In dry weather, it can be drying for the skin because of the tea tree oil. In humid weather, it works very well and is not too drying for the skin.

Dr. Bronner's
Pure Castile Liquid Soap- This liquid soap is similar to the bar soap. The scents are the same, all great. I have tried Peppermint, Lavender, Tea Tree, and Baby Mild. I like them all, but my personal favorite is Lavender. This liquid soap is multi-purpose and can be used to clean just about anything. It is my favorite liquid hand soap. I think that the ph of this soap is a little on the dry side (in dry weather), but I also think that makes it better for cutting through grease, oil, and dirt on the hands. When I wash my hands, I like them to be squeaky clean, and this liquid soap does just that. This soap can also be diluted and will last a lot longer but still give you the cleaning power you want.

Grateful Body
Facial Cleanser- This is a cleansing milk that has a nice, sweet smell and leaves my skin feeling very soft. It lightly cleans without stripping my skin of its natural oils. I like this product, ingredients wise and performance wise. It is a cleansing lotion, so it does not foam. It moisturizes and does not contain soap. It is not meant to remove makeup.

Home Health
Herbal Magic Roll-On Deodorant- This deodorant is a roll-on that smells clean and has a light herbal scent. It works well and keeps my underarms fresh.

Pangea Organics
Bar Soaps- These bar soaps contain organic ingredients and hemp seed oil, have great packaging in terms of design and are eco-friendly, are cruelty-free, and smell and work wonderfully. The soaps lather generously and moisturize while they clean the skin. This is one of my favorites, if not my favorite bar soap. All of the scents smell great. The bars have a fragrant scent that fills my shower. I have tried many of the different scents and enjoyed them.