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Here is a recipe that I made this morning. Not only are these muffins perfect for breakfast but they are sooo yummy and good for you too. They are a great source of whole grains and high fiber, and the flaxseed provides Omega-3 oils. They were a big hit with my small children.

Fiberlicious Muffins

1 cup Multigrain cereal with Flaxseed and Soy ( I use Hodgson Mills brand)
1 cup organic, unbleached flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup organic sugar
1 cup shredded organic carrots
1 cup peeled and chopped organic apples
1/2 cup organic milk
2 organic eggs (free range)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix dry ingredients first and then add the others. Mix well. Spoon the thick mixture into a muffin pan and bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.

From: Natural Family Recipes

I stumbled across a great product for kids who have severe food allergies…T-shirts that playfully warn others about their allergy. This is such a good idea! I am sure that many parents worry every time they send their allergic children off to school, never knowing if they will accidentally ingest something they shouldn’t.

Many people are still oblivious to how serious- or even lethal- peanut and other food allergies can be. When young children are out of their parents’ sight, well-intentioned people may give them unsafe food. AllerGators clothing warns others about a child’s food allergies, to help avoid accidental exposure to dangerous foods. All AllerGators items feature an adorable cartoon “AllerGator” and large text stating, “I Have Food Allergies!” or “I’m Allergic To NUTS!”. Children and adults both love the fun characters, cute clothing and brightly colored designs.

I was taking care of my bills and finances this morning and this got me to thinking about ways in which you can be environmentally responsible while doing something as mundane as paying your bills or magaing your finances. Here are three things I do to keep this process “green”.

1. Use online banking and bill pay. I pay all of my bills electronically or have them automatically debited from my account so that I do not have to write and send checks. If I am working with a company that does not have this capability I pay them over the phone with my debit card. It is no cost (usually) and paper free. I do this with both personal and business accounts and bills.

2. Stop receiving paper statements. I have contacted all companies that send me paper statements like my banks and my phone service providers. If I need to see the statements I access them online.

3. Electronically file tax returns and accept refunds via direct deposit. Using a program like Tax Cut to do this yourself saves money too.

What are some of your green finance tips? Leave me a comment!

Yesterday I was delayed in my travels by a train. There are lots of trains that pass through my area so this is no big surprise but I was a little surprised by what I saw when the train went by.

I have gotten in the habit of reading the graffiti on the trains, often wondering how I will distract my kids in the future as trains go by, when they learn how to read. Yesterday though I concentrated on the actual print on the train cars. One of the first cars I saw go by had a food company brand name and said “Vegetable Oils”. Three cars down from that there was a car that holds liquid (not sure what those are called) but it said “liquified petrolium”. Two cars after that was another liquid carrying car that said “Molten Sulphur”. Gross! I certainly hope that consumable vegetable oils are not traveling to the consumer along side Molten Sulphur!

Here is a recipe for a cool summer treat that is tasty and good for you! The kids are sure to love them.

Tropical Smoothie Popsicles:

2 cups loose Spinach
Juice of an Orange or Tangerine
1 Kiwi (peeled)
Pineapple (fresh or frozen chunks)

Blend all ingredients and then add 6 ounces of distilled water and blend again. Pour in popsicle molds and freeze. Enjoy!

Don’t forget to try different fruits and greens to find your favorite combination.

I just wanted to pass on this great offer from Frey Wines. Right now they have a special going on. For a limited time, Frey is making a special, online-only offer for two delectable bottles of wine at a discount. One bottle is the exceptional Syrah 2002 - a library wine aged for three years in French oak barrels. This red wine is available only at their tasting room and over the Internet - not in any stores. The other bottle is your choice of either our Zinfandel 2004 or Chardonnay 2005.

To top it off, each two-bottle order comes with an Organza gift bag of ten pieces of Global Exchange Fair Trade, organic dark chocolate. Your purchase supports the work of Global Exchange, a human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world.

Get two bottles of exceptional organic wine and the chocolate gift bag for just $29. Get one for yourself and give one as a gift!

I have a rhubarb thief in my area. I was out in my yard yesterday and noticed that someone had helped themselves to all of my rhubarb, which had been pretty impressive. Now I am a little bummed that it is gone but I guess I am also happy that if someone had to steal from me…they only took some food. How can I blame someone for wanting to steal delicious rhubarb?

If you are not familiar with rhubarb let me tell you a little about it. It is a stalk vegetable that is usually eaten as a fruit. In appearance, rhubarb closely resembles celery and ranges in color from a light pinkish green to a deep, brilliant fuchsia. The plant is actually a member of the buckwheat family and only the stalks are edible, since the leaves contain a fairly high amount of oxalic acid, a compound which can be lethal. Nutritionally, rhubarb is very low in calories and is a reasonably good source of fiber and vitamins C and K.

Raw rhubarb has a fresh, tart flavor, similar to that of a lemon, but it is almost never eaten raw. Generally, it is combined with other fruits, flavors and sugar. I love strawberry and rhubarb pie myself.

Here is a recipe for Blink of and Eye Rhubarb Cobbler.

Well, I hope that rhubarb thief makes something delicious with it!

I don’t think anyone is overly worried about having to toss out their chewing gum when they are done with it since I am sure that most gum is completely biodegradable, but we came across a web site that shows how and artist uses chewed up gum for his artwork and thought you might get a kick out of it.

The artist is Jason Kronenwald of Gum Blondes and artwork is made from 100% chewing gum on a plywood backing. The color mixing takes place in the mouth when his “team” chews up gum from a variety of companies in many different flavors. His favorite gum to work with is Trident…although he doesn’t do the chewing himself. His work is really quite amazing, even if it is a little too focused on Brittney Spears.

So I wonder if he takes gum donations from those who would want to recycle their gum for the benefit of art.