Greener Giant?

I love to support other companies that make sustainability a priority. Green Giant is a brand we are all familiar with. I recently learned their initiative to be more eco-friendly for the next 50 years. Read about those efforts here. By making changes to their packaging and a large donation to the Nature Conservancy to encourage greener farming practices, they are setting an example for other corporations. I am not being compensated in any way to mention Green Giant. I'm sure this company doesn't know I exist. But if they ever discover this blog and want to send me some free veggies or coupons, I wouldn't turn it down :-)

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Easy Toddler Snacks & Meals

***REPOST with additional info*** I'm a self-proclaimed "foodie". I like to try new things and switch it up so my taste buds don't get bored. I remembered hating vegetables as a child and grew up on mostly meat and starches. I vowed to introduce my child to a variety of foods when she had a blank palette as a youngster. Pre-packaged toddler meals are high in sodium so I wanted easy, healthy snacks for my daughter that she could practice self-feeding and try new foods.

• Mini-pizzas: toast an English muffin (cut in half), spread marinara sauce, top with shredded (low-fat) mozzarella and microwave 30 sec or as long as it takes to melt the cheese (its better if you have the time to put in a toaster oven or brown under the broiler but with a hungry toddler the microwave will do). I defrost frozen chopped spinach and sprinkle on before the cheese to sneak in a veggie. 
• Green peas will keep a toddler busy for a long time! You can microwave a handful of frozen peas with a tablespoon of water for 30sec-1min.
• Cut a wheat pita in half and put a half slice of cheese in each half. These fit nicely in your toaster and lightly toast to melt the cheese. Let cool of course and then cut into smaller triangles for tiny hands. 
• mandarin oranges are affordable in a can or jar and don't have the tough skin like navel oranges. They are bite size and a perfect toddler meal. 
• I also buy the fruit snack cups (in water or light syrup) and rinse the syrup or drain the water. They are nice, small chunks already. I re-use the plastic cups they come in for other snacks and craft projects to hold supplies
• frozen mini-ravioli or cheese tortellinis are good and only take a few minutes to boil
• my daughter loves tomatoes so I chop them up small and stir in a little Italian dressing
• shredded carrots are tender and crunchy, I serve with chicken nuggets as a side item 
• TIP: buy wheat germ in a jar and stir into yogurt or applesauce. Great source of fiber and doesn't have a taste! 

FOR OLDER CHILDREN:

• (once you've determined there are no peanut allergies) apple wedges with peanut butter
• Easy pizza using Naan bread or whole pita as crust. Add marinara, your fave toppings and cheese, bake in the oven at 400 until cheese bubbles

What's your child's favorite food?

TerraCycle partners with Target for a Special Promotion

Special 2 Week Reward Promotion

 

Are you part of TerraCycle yet? Why not? It's free and easy to join and you can earn cash for your favorite charity or to support your child's school.  From now until May 8th, for every 5 Target plastic bags you (or anyone who is part of your collection team) send to TerraCycle, you will receive a coupon for $1.00 off any Target reusable bag. For program details, click here(PDF).

 

TerraCycle has teamed up with Target to help save our resources and continue TerraCycle's commitment to the environment by converting plastic shopping bags into reusable bags.

 

Happy Earth Month!

TerraCycle Brigades Team

 *Limit one coupon per household. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Customer Support at customersupport@terracycle.net or call 1.866.967.6776.

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Happy Earth Day!

Earth is our home. We grow our food here. Build dwellings and have families. I thank God for our planet. I was bothered by the amount of waste us earthlings produce. I started GumdropSwap as my contribution to conserving and reusing resources. I saw a need and created a solution. You would be amazed at the amount of children's clothing, shoes, books and "stuff" that ends up in our landfills. Just sitting there wasting when someone could be using it. That broke my heart. It wasn't easy to launch a new business. It's such a new way of living, I find myself explaining it over and over. People just aren't used to something "green" and good for you to save you money too. It sounds to good to be true I guess. But it took me over a year to try to solve the problems I saw with existing consignment/resale options. I approached my business model as a customer. People aren't used to that either. Big business tends to forget about customer satisfaction and focus on the bottom line in their financial report. I urge you to make small changes. Recycling more, reusing  more and encouraging your children to see value in things by using them in a new way (making a change jar or barrette holder out of an empty food container for instance). My boutique in Bridgeport, CT also serves as a collection point for empty CapriSun juice pouches. TerraCycle turns these and other product waste into new items for sale. Visit their site to see if they collect the wrappers or containers for the snacks your children love. They pay $0.02 for every recycled pouch which gets donated to the charity of your choice. I chose an Elementary School in my home state of Georgia.

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