You know the best part of the weekend is how the additional costs of getting “her nails done” was “free”.. Part of the money made from the garage sale paid for the “nails”. Way cool, right?
So what does this tell us? Plan a garage a garage/yard sale when you need the “extras”.
I do not know what prices are for other areas of the US but for this High School Homecoming in South Florida the ticket alone was $85. OUTRAGEOUS, I think. What are some of you paying for a Homecoming event?? Now add the cost of a dress, shoes, etc and it is too expensive. I believe this is the reason some just do not attend.
Well we now have a plan for future school events and a special plan/budget for them!
Besides the expense I know the memories created will be cherished for years to come!

Several local dentists have a trick up their sleeve, buying Halloween candy from children in order to treat soldiers overseas to the sweet loot.

More than 1,000 dentists nationwide are offering kids $1 per pound for the goodies, which will be included in care packages sent to troops courtesy of California-based Operation Gratitude.

“It seemed like a good opportunity to accomplish a couple different things: to encourage the kids to not consume as much candy and support the troops,” said Dr. Scott Bankhead of Accent Dentistry in Bellingham, who is participating in the 4-year-old national campaign for the first time.

Buyback founder Chris Kammer, a Wisconsin dentist, said he had heard of other dentists holding candy buybacks, and a public-relations firm suggested shipping the goodies to soldiers.

Kammer was surprised to learn that the candy was more than a morale booster. Some troops are able to trade candy for information.

“(The children in Iraq and Afghanistan) tell them where insurgents are hanging out, where there are land mines,” Kammer said. “You would never guess that candy saves lives.”

Last year, dentists collected 70,000 pounds of candy. Kammer said the goal is 100,000 pounds this year.

“Instead of having them eat the candy, they have a chance to do something good for the troops,” said Dr. Michael Thomas of Abington Family Dental, who is trading cash for candy for the first time.

Thomas, who for years has handed out toothbrushes along with candy on Halloween, will open his office today to collect sweets, while Bankhead and his staff will host a buyback Thursday. At least 12 offices across the state will hold buyback events this week.

“Kids do not need to eat a shopping bag full of candy, but we do understand that Halloween is supposed to be fun,” Kammer said. “We’re not Grinch dentists by any means.”
To find a buyback location, go to halloweencandybuyback.org.

I must say I am not for the H1N1 vaccine. I just feel it is too new and I don’t like the thoughts of the virus being put in side my body!
I know many do not feel the same and that is okay, but think about the concept. Injecting a body with a virus, YUCKKKKKKKK.

To learn about the Melaleuca company you can visit GPGY ( Green Planet Green You)

Make it a healthy happy day!
Linda

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 6 cups chicken stock
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 4 cups pumpkin puree
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
* 1 cup chopped onion
* 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
* 5 whole black peppercorns

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
2. Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender.
3. Return to pan, and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir in heavy cream. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.
Yum Yum , join in my tradition.

GreenMindedTeam

ScienceDaily (July 24, 2008) — A University of Washington study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found the products emitted dozens of different chemicals. All six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but none of those chemicals was listed on the product labels.
Chemicals included acetone, the active ingredient in paint thinner and nail-polish remover; limonene, a molecule with a citrus scent; and acetaldehyde, chloromethane and 1,4-dioxane.

“Nearly 100 volatile organic compounds were emitted from these six products, and none were listed on any product label. Plus, five of the six products emitted one or more carcinogenic ‘hazardous air pollutants,’ which are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to have no safe exposure level,” Steinemann said.
Her study was published online July23 by the journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review. Steinemann chose not to disclose the brand names of the six products she tested. In a larger study of 25 cleaners, personal care products, air fresheners and laundry products, now submitted for publication, she found that many other brands contained similar chemicals.

Because manufacturers of consumer products are not required to disclose the ingredients, Steinemann analyzed the products to discover their contents. She studied three common air fresheners (a solid deodorizer disk, a liquid spray and a plug-in oil) and three laundry products (a dryer sheet, fabric softener and a detergent), selecting a top seller in each category. She bought household items at a grocery store and asked companies for samples of industrial products.

In the laboratory, each product was placed in an isolated space at room temperature and the surrounding air was analyzed for volatile organic compounds, small molecules that evaporate from the product’s surface into the air.

Results showed 58 different volatile organic compounds above a concentration of 300 micrograms per cubic meter, many of which were present in more than one of the six products. For instance, a plug-in air freshener contained more than 20 different volatile organic compounds. Of these, seven are regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws. The product label lists no ingredients, and information on the Material Safety Data Sheet, required for workplace handling of chemicals, lists the contents as “mixture of perfume oils.”

This study does not address links between exposure to chemicals and health effects. However, two national surveys published by Steinemann and a colleague in 2004 and 2005 found that about 20 percent of the population reported adverse health effects from air fresheners, and about 10 percent complained of adverse effects from laundry products vented to the outdoors. Among asthmatics such complaints were roughly twice as common.

Manufacturers are not required to list the ingredients used in laundry products and air fresheners. Personal-care products and cleaners often contain similar fragrance chemicals, Steinemann said. And although cosmetics are required by the Food and Drug Administration to list ingredients, no law requires products of any kind to list chemicals used in fragrances.

“Fragrance chemicals are of particular interest because of the potential for involuntary exposure, or second-hand scents,” Steinemann said.

“Be careful if you buy products with fragrance, because you really don’t know what’s in them,” she added. “I’d like to see better labeling. In the meantime, I’d recommend that instead of air fresheners people use ventilation, and with laundry products, choose fragrance-free versions.”

The European Union recently enacted legislation requiring products to list 26 fragrance chemicals when they are present above a certain concentration in cosmetic products and detergents. No similar laws exist in the United States.

“I hope this study will raise public awareness, and reduce exposures to potentially hazardous chemicals,” said Steinemann.

Have a wonderful “fall” day! Why not look into GreenMindedTeam

Every day at every meal we all make choices that don’t just influence but actually create our food system. Our power to effect change and make our food system safer, healthier and more sustainable is incredible. By learning more about where our food comes from, what’s in it, and how it’s produced – and then putting our money where our mouths are – we make it happen. It’s exciting really.

Below is a list of 10 simple things you can do to initiate that change. It was adapted from the list at www.foodincmovie.com Learn more about these issues and how you can get involved at Takepart.com Also, see the movie Food, Inc. if you get the chance. It will change the way you look at dinner for sure.

Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
You could lose 25 pounds in a year by replacing one 20-ounce soda a day with a no-calorie beverage (preferably tap water).

Eat at home more often instead of eating out.
Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home. When you do eat out, choose restaurants that source local and sustainably produced food.

Grow some of your own food.
Keep a garden – even a small one – so you can enjoy a direct connection to your food. Share the joy by getting together with neighbors through www.neighborhoodfruit.com or the free yard sharing program at hyperlocavore.ning.com .

Tell your local schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.
Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.

Go without meat one day a week.
Reduce the use – and your intake – of antibiotics. An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals. You will also reduce your carbon footprint simply by reducing the amount of meat you eat – especially beef.

Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.
According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S. Learn which fruits and vegetables come to market with the most pesticides — and which have the least so you can spend your food dollars wisely. (see: Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides )

Support family farms; visit your local farmer’s market.
Farmer’s markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer. A diverse supply of food from more, rather than few, producers makes for a safer and more balanced food system — and benefits local economies.

Make a point to know where your food comes from. Read labels.
The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate, and just a few corporations produce the majority of food products sold in American grocery stores. You can learn more about the ingredients in processed at packaged foods from the Environmental Working Group’s website.

Make sure your representatives know that food safety is important to you.
Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.

Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.
Poverty among farm workers is more than twice that of all wage and salary employees. You can make an impact by choosing to buy from companies that pay fair wages to workers and fair prices to suppliers.
For more info:
www.foodincmovie.com/get-involved
Takepart.com

Consumers are expected to spend $3.12 billion on candy, costumes and other Halloween goodies this year, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation. That’s a big pile of candy corn. It’s also a lot of crumpled candy wrappers, paper party props and plastic political masks in the trash the very next day. So this Halloween, why not think green?

Putting together a green Halloween is as easy as an orange and black one. Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. E-mail party invites rather than snail-mail them. Free e-mail greetings abound online. “Talking” and/or “dancing” ghosts, ghouls, mummies and more are there for the taking at cyber card shops postcards.org/postcards, greetingsdepot.com and e-cards.com. The best pumpkin card patch this year has to be castlemountains.com, which features 96 animated cards, some with short plots or story lines. Witches on brooms warn revelers not to drink and drive. Party invites come with electronic pumpkin piñata games.

For retro-themed parties, consider vintage postcards at Penny Postcards or Antique Halloween postcards. There’s no flash but the illustrations are spectacular.

Kids also can carve out their own party invites at BillyBear4Kids.com.

2. Serve healthy and seasonal foods. The options are endless. Remember pumpkins are not just decorative items. The tender meat of the seasonal gourd can be pureed for soups, mashed for pies or spiced up for a main entrée, such as an Indian curry. Healthy recipes for all things pumpkin are posted at Vegweb, from vegetarian pumpkin chili to “Stroke of Midnight” pumpkin bread. Recipes for the sweet squash are also plentiful at epicurious.com/recipes. Serious home chefs might consider whipping up some pumpkin pesto or pumpkin flan with pumpkin seed praline.

Apples also are at their best this time of year. So make use of the crunchy fruit. Fill party bowls with several varieties of fresh apples, from tart Pippins to sweet Spartans. Serve cider hot or cold. Bake a few apples for healthy, tasty dessert.

3. Buy pumpkins, apples and other seasonal items from a farmer’s market. Produce bought at farmers’ market will not only taste better but saves energy. “Most foods in the United States travel an average of 1,300 miles before reaching us, burning large amounts of fossil fuels,” according to the Web site for the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America held in Detroit in 1999. Buying produce directly from the farmer also cuts out the “middleman” and increases the farmers cut or share of the profits.

Think what you can do and share the ideas with us!