Green Valentine’s Day Ideas

Love is in the air, and Valentine’s Day is just days away! Make this Valentine’s Day extra sweet by sharing a little love for our planet as well as the humans in your life.  

Chocolate

While the Swiss have Americans beat in terms of chocolate consumption (the Swiss eat 22 pounds of chocolate a year to our 12 pounds), Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity for us to try to catch up!

When buying chocolate, keep the planet’s well-being in mind by buying organic and free trade chocolate. One of my favorite places to buy good quality, rich, luxurious, delightful, and environmentally responsible chocolate is World Market. There you can find delicious brands like Dagoba and Green & Black’s.

 

      Flowers

Save your money!  Valentine’s Day floral arrangements might be beautiful,  but  those arrangements are  often triple the cost they will be just a few weeks from now and will be tossed into the compost heap within days.  How about buying some good quality organic seeds or some healthy live plants from your local nursery?  Not only will those choices be more cost effective, they’ll also be a beautiful, long lasting addition to your home and garden.

 

      Cards

While I certainly think that e-cards have their place and are a great way to reduce waste, there is just nothing like getting a special Valentine’s Day card that you can hold on to and keep forever.  How about getting your creative juices flowing and make your own cards this year?  Visit marthastewart.com for some great ideas!

     Homemade Treats

Get into the kitchen to whip up some delightful treats that the whole family can enjoy!  This is a very cost-effective way to show your loved ones how much you care.  As my 8 year old, Timothy,  likes to say, “Everything mom makes has her special ingredient in it.  Love.”  Visit familyfun.com for some great recipes and ideas.

 

 

     Wine

Are you in the market for a special bottle of wine to share with the one you love?  Then shop local and support a local merchant!  Visit the Sanford Wine Company and ask owner Ken Martin to help you pick just the right bottle.  

 

Do you have some other ideas that you can share with our readers?!  Please share your thoughts!

 

 

 

 

 

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Spring Gardening Classes At Orange County Extension Office

I recently got the list of Spring classes at the Orange County Extension Office. I’ve taken several of them before and always enjoy the information. With January closing in, I’m planning on refreshing myself with the organic gardening class and getting my raised beds up to par!

CLASS INFORMATION

You can download the PDF or take a quick peek below:

• Jan 15 Organic Gardening (Auditorium @ 6:30 PM) Successful vegetable gardens are not accidental. They are the results of planning, constant care, and the will to make things grow. Join us and learn more.
• Feb 14 Vegetable Gardening, Warm Season Vegetables (Auditorium @ 9:00 – 10:30 AM) Learn the basics of warm season vegetable gardening including soil preparation, adjusting soil pH, fertilizing, irrigation, pests and diseases.

• Feb 12/19/26 Landscape Design – Spring (7:00-9:00pm, 3 Day workshop in Apopka) Spring is a great time to establish a landscape that fits your lifestyle. A course guide and drawing materials will be provided. Class limited to first 25 families. Cost: $20 per residence made out to – O.C. Extension Fund. Send non-refundable fee with pre-registration, no later than February 5, 2009 to the Orange County Extension address.

  PLEASE NOTE LOCATION:

  Mid-Florida Research & Education Center
  Education Building,
  2725 Binion Road
  Apopka, FL 32703

• Mar 7 Spring Lawn Care Tune-Up (Magnolia Room 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM) As the temperatures begin to rise, it is the perfect time to start repairing the damage to your lawn caused by winter pests (insects and weeds).
• Apr 11 Composting & Rain Barrel Workshop (Magnolia Room 9:00-11:00am ) Learn how to turn your plant waste material into compost by conventional methods for homeowners and vermicomposting for apartment, condo, or trailer residents. Conserve water usage in your yard with the use of rain barrels. FREE rain barrel per residence – 50 allocated.
• Coming Up! Conserve Water ~ Save Money! Know your Irrigation Clock. Classes will be held throughout the County. More information coming. Check our website: http://ocextension.ufl.edu or call 407.254.9200 in mid February.

REGISTRATION

To register for any of them you can contact:

Horticulture Classes & Workshops
Orange County Extension Education Center
6021 S. Conway Road
Orlando, FL 32812
407.254.9200

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Orlando Organics

I’m a big fan of fresh produce. That’s why I grow some in my garden! But I can’t always grow everything I want!

ORLANDO ORGANICS

For a few years, I was getting my produce delivered from Orlando Organics. They have a big range for delivery. Unfortunately the driving routes changed and my house is no longer on it.

It is particularly good for those who prefer to just “eat through the basket” and plan the menu around what they got and just want to use it up. I especially liked that because I’m not very good at thinking ahead to what I want to eat. I find it easier to go from the “I have a mess of onions to use up. What can I make out of it?” side of things.

Website

Established in 2002. The website is clean, crisp, and easy to navigate. The member login area is pretty self-explanatory and you can make the changes you need without too much difficulty. If you lose your password you can request it at the website.

Membership Fee

One time $15 registration fee.

Ordering

You select the size “basket” you want from the website and can leave it permanently set to get that size weekly or every other week. This is useful for those who want regular delivery. You get it set up for the size you want and then don’t worry about it any more.

You can also log in to change basket sizes before the next delivery date if you need to, but I found the basket method especially good for people who don’t want to be logging on to websites a lot.

The front page of the website tells you what this week’s Harvest Blend Regular basket contains along with a link to the other basket options. I found the harvest blend regular basket adequate for my family of 2 adults and one baby/toddler for 1-2 weeks if supplemented with other produce bought elsewhere — usually fruit.

You can list your likes and dislikes in your membership preferences and they will try to exchange things in your basket so it suits your tastes.

Payment Method

Credit Card on file automatically billed for your order, though you have to call it in when first setting up your account.

Food

The food is fresh, nice, and best of all — delivered right to you! Here’s one Harvest Regular Basket order:

Everything is inside your cooler bag. At the next order you return the cooler bag and in really hot weather, they suggest you leave out a cooler with ice so they can put the food in that so it will keep til you get home. If you lose your bag, you do have to replace it or pay a replacement fee.

Customer Care

The website is set up to deal with most of my needs. On the rare occassion where I had to call in by phone, both Dave and Heather have been very attentive any time I ever had a question. They care about their business and promptly get back to you.

Notes

Your home may be outside the area of delivery. If you like to make your menu ahead of time and then get the groceries to fit it, the “basket” approach may not work for you. The newsletter archives with recipes are still available. The best thing I liked about it was the ease of use, and not having to think about my menus or produce selections so my family got variety. I just ate my way through the basket!

I would and do reccommend Orlando Organics to friends who seem to want the “basket” approach.

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Spring Fling

Dr. Lynne Whitson-Rosemellia of Hands On Family Chiropractic is hosting a Spring Fling to benefit the Orlando Area Chapter of the Holistic Moms Network. The event will take place from 11-2 on Saturday, May 10th at 2876 S. Alafaya Trail in Orlando.

There will be plantings and paintings for the kids, a photographer to get pictures of Mom with the kids since she always seems to be behind the camera, Our Vital Earth with their worms, music, storytellers, organic snow cones, vendors, and more!

For more information please call Dr. Lynne’s office at 407.340.1293. To learn more about the Holistic Moms Network, please visit their website at http://www.holisticmoms.org.

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Seven Sisters Coffee appearing at Evening Entertainment Escape!

If you liked the Behind the Beans preview of Seven Sisters Coffee house, you can catch another taste of the yummy organic, fair trade joe at the May 17th “Evening Entertainment Escape!”

Alisha Kearns is taking Seven Sisters Coffeehouse over to be one of the tables at the crazy celebration of “creative spirit” held at First Unitarian Church of Orlando.

First Unitarian is “keeping it local” by putting on the event as a community service project to offer artists, musicians, small businesses and groups a platform to broadcast and promote themselves to Greater Orlando. They don’t even charge a booth fee — so if you are interested in participating, email audioteam@orlandouu.org for more info.

The audience shows it’s support of the local talent, local groups, and helps to celebrate “creative spirit” by coming to watch!

Billed as a sort of “wacky music and arts” festival, the Evening Entertainment Escape is shaping up to feature a lot of cool performers:

• The Forefathers
• Black Ship Sky
  
• Lost Soul Tribe
• Tuesday Nite Band
• Doug Halper, dulcimer player
• Old Guys on the Porch
• Dances of Universal Peace, Orlando group

…and more!

There will also be various info tables, concessions, kirigami crafts, thrift store shopping, movie shorts, and “whatever other crazy creative thing we can squeeze in!”

And of course, our favorite Black Bear dark roast!

WHEN:

May 17, 2008

Doors open at 6 PM

Concert starts at 7 PM and runs through 10 or 11 PM!

WHERE:

First Unitarian Church of Orlando

1901 E. Robinsons St

Orlando, FL 32803

COST:

You may purchase advance tickets in advance on Sundays from Noon to 1 PM at the church or just at the door.

• $10 in advance/$15 at door for adults
• $5 in advance / $8 at door for kids 12 and under

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“This is the best cupcake I have ever had!”

That is a direct quote from my husband when he tried Cupcake Coutoure’s “Cupcake Noir” (dark chocolate cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting). Cupcake Coutoure is a new bakery located at 2795 Old Winter Garden Road, Ocoee and they specialize in organic… yep, you guessed it, CUPCAKES! Tony and Rachel Mariotto, and Tony’s sister, Gena Baker, opened the 11,050-sq foot bakery in the Maguire Crossing Plaza in January and use only organic ingredients and real eggs, butter and sugar.

Every day they serve a variety of 8 flavors, which are made up of 4 core flavors and 4 additional flavors.  So far they have come up with about 23 flavors that are rotated every day.  The core flavors are:

• Cupcake Noir (dark chocolate cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting)
• Off the Rack (yellow cake with rich chocolate frosting)
• Strawberry Fields (strawberry scented cake with fresh strawberry frosting)
• Vanilla Bean (vanilla infused cake with vanilla bean frosting)

A sample of their “additional” flavors are:

• Brown Velvet (red velvet without the dye!  Light cocoa cake with cream cheese frosting)
• Caramel Apple (cinnamon apple cake with caramel frosting)
• Lemon Drop (lemon scented cake with lemon frosting)
• Peanut Butter Cookie (dense peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting)
• The Beach (rich pineapple cake with pineapple coconut frosting)

You can buy them as a single, 1/2 dozen or dozen… even as mini cupcakes, if you pre-order.  There is limited seating available and you can purchase coffee, tea, water and milk to go along with your cupcake.

You won’t find cupcake “cakes” here.  According to their brochure, “because we don’t use any dyes or chemicals in our products, it would be difficult to create a themed pull away cupcake cake that many of the commercial grocery store bakeries offer.”  Instead, they offer disposable cupcake towers that can be decorated to “capture any theme imaginable.”

Best of all, they do offer deliveries in their area for a fee and/or minimum requirement.

Why do I love Cupcake Coutoure? 

• I love that everything is organic!
• I love that there are no artificial dyes or chemicals!
• I love that it is a family-owned business!
• I love that their cupcakes are amazing tasting!

So, if you are out in the Ocoee area, be sure to stop by and grab a delicious snack!  They don’t have a website yet, but you can contact them at 407-656-8338 (fax: 407-654-3583).

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Tropical Heat’s Organic Market in Lake Mary

I am very pleased to announce that there is new organic food store / deli in town! My husband and I stumbled upon this quaint little shop while driving around looking for somewhere new to have lunch.

Tropical Heat is owned by a mother and daughter team that you may recognize from both the Sanford and Lake Mary Farmers Markets. Laverne and Danielle opened shop about 5 weeks ago and are conveniently located on the corner of Country Club Rd. and Crystal Lake Ave. in the heart of Lake Mary.

The store is very clean and well organized. There is a nice selection of fresh, all natural and organic products including local produce, breads and dairy. Bonus: if there is a product that they do not have in stock, just ask and they will order it for you!

There are a few tables outside the front of the shop to sit and enjoy one of their delicious sandwiches or homemade soup. They also offer home-style meals to “grab and go”.

I am thrilled to have found them and couldn’t wait to spread the word!

Tropical Heat’s Organic Market

109 E. Crystal Lake Ave. Suite 109

Lake Mary, FL 32746

(407) 323-2128

http://www.tropicalheatsorganics.com/

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Drink Honest Kids drinks and get a free tree!

Since my children have started school, about two or three times a week I put an Honest Kids juice drink in their lunchboxes as a treat. I feel good when I give them this juice drink because it is organic and has less than half the sugar of regular juice pouches. My kids think they taste great! It comes in three flavors: Tropical Tango Punch, Berry Berry Good Lemonade, and Goodness Grapeness. I purchase an 8-pack at SuperTarget for only $3.99. That’s about $0.50 a pouch.

I always recycle the empty carton that the 8 pouches come in, but as I was reading over the back of it, I came across a pleasant surprise! Honest Kids and National Arbor Day Foundation are partnering to provide free trees.

To qualify for a free tree, you send in 5 UPCs from the box carton and $2 (to cover shipping and handling) and you will receive a seedling tree! How cool is that?

My kids are excited about collecting the UPCs so that they can start planting their free trees. Thank goodness we have a large yard!

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Central Florida’s First Fully Vegan Restaurant Set to Open Soon!

The following was submitted by guest author, Heather Strauss.

Ethos Vegan Kitchen be having a soft “preview” opening on Wednesday, December 26th, 2007.  They will be starting out at five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, for lunch and dinner.  This soft opening is to help the kitchen staff master the timing and execution of the dishes.

Check out the website to view a picture and bio of the owners, husband and wife team of Kelly and Laina Shockley.  It also has an FAQ about what it means to be vegan and what to expect when you dine there, and special events such as their Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, January 12th, 2008.  At the Opening they will be featuring music, art, and a flurry of vegan culinary skills! Sign up for their mailing list to get special coupons and updates.

According to their website, they will feature a small menu that will change often depending on what is in season.  I love the idea that the menu will change!  It will be an adventure whenever I frequent the restaurant!

I will definitely be there for their preview on December 26th!

Heather co-owns Orlando Organics, Central Florida’s oldest organic produce home delivery company. Heather is married Dave and mom to absolutely amazing kids, Mira and Xander.  She has been living in Florida for over 12 years and finally began eating and living a healthier life once she became responsible for someone other than herself (thanks Mira and Xander!)

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Target Organic Grocery and Cafe Options

Target at Waterford Lakes continues to amaze me with their organic offerings. The Archer Farms brand they sell has a great variety of options. They have everything from crackers to chips to pancake mix! Just make sure to read the label, some of it is natural and some organic.

It seems that every time I shop there they have more and more organic produce, frozen foods, and meats. On a recent trip I was able to get all my food shopping done without a side trip to Whole Foods. We even bought fresh baked multi grain bread. And it was cheaper!

Target also carries some natural baby care lines. I have seen California Baby and Jason products on their shelves.

The cafe in Target offers organic kids meals. It is pretty heavy on the dairy, actually it is all dairy but they will swap items for you. The meal consists of organic mac n cheese, organic yogurt, and an organic milk. Also the Starbucks there offers organic milk.

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