Monday A La Mode: September 23, 2013

I hand pick the news, products, websites and more that I believe will interest MMC readers most and compile it all into one easy to read weekly post.

Go to work on Monday morning with something to talk about!

Subscribe to this blog by email in the right sidebar and you'll receive each new post in your inbox. 

This week on Monday A La Mode...

I love stats...

• WhatsYourHealthy.com is a site sponsored by Aetna. While I am in no way promoting Aetna, you'll find some great info here and even some interesting stats, like the survey results below. I've given up fast food and sweets except for the rare treat. Where would you fall on this survey?

Cool new product...

• Chick Beer is a exactly what the name implies. According to their site, 25% of beer drinkers are women, so these "chicks" designed a beer with women in mind and they donate 5% of profits to women's charities.See more of their story and find out where you can buy it at http://chickbeer.com.

Farm fresh...

• 'Tis the season for apples and pears. If you don't have your own fruit trees, don't be afraid to ask neighbors for a bag. Often the fruit falls to the ground and rots because families can't possibly eat it all. You're bound to find plenty of fresh ripe apples and pears at farmer's markets right now, too. Ask your grocer for local and know that you can get it elsewhere if they don't carry local. If you wonder where to find local produce in your area, check out www.localharvest.org.

How can you argue with this...

• Global warming continues to sneak up on us. This surprise is scary but a little cool at the same time. An ancient forest has been exposed by melting ice. Check it out by clicking here to see the full article, complete with pics, on yahoo news. 

Coming soon...

• Breast Cancer Awareness Month is in October. You are likely to be inundated with pink. But, hey, it's just another excuse to flaunt pink, right? Next week's Monday A La Mode will include a list of great ways to support Breast Cancer Awareness online, as well as helpful links for more information on prevention and early warning signs.

I'd love to hear your comments or questions on any of these issues. Share your opinion below. 

And if you love Monday a la Mode, please share this post using the buttons below. Have a wonderful week!

Subscribe to this blog by email in the right sidebar and you'll receive each new post in your inbox. Find a list of links to all current and past Monday A La Mode posts by clicking the Monday A La Mode tab at the top of the page.

Monday A La Mode: September 16, 2013

I hand pick the news, products, websites and more that I believe will interest MMC readers most and compile it all into one easy to read weekly post.

Subscribe to this blog by email in the right sidebar and you'll receive each new post in your inbox. 

This week on Monday A La Mode...

Before You Check Out These Great Links:

• Think twice about which browser you are using. The Better World Shopping Guide gives Firefox an A for their overall rating.  And Google gets an A- for being a leader in the fight against global warming and for being one of the most ethical companies in the world. Internet Explorer received an F, as did Bing and MSN. 

Did You Know:

photo courtesy of
freedigitalphotos.net

• Pouring salt onto a runny spill in the kitchen, like cooking oil or raw egg, will make it easier to clean up. Let the salt sit for about 15 minutes and it will absorb most of the mess! This also works on carpet!
• Cotton balls soaked in salt water (1 tsp salt per pint of water) make a great compress for puffy eyes. Lie with eyes closed and cotton balls on eyelids for 15 minutes and puffiness will go away!
• Learn more tricks like these in Salt by Betsy Rossen Elliot or by clicking here to go to MortonSalt.com.

Green Companies I'm Loving this Week:

• Patagonia's clothing is all organic and has been for years. They completely gave up non-organic cotton in 1996. They use humanely harvested down gathered from abandoned nests. And they helped form the Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP) to encourage more farmers to grown organic cotton. And The Better World Shopping Guide gave Patagonia their coveted and hard to get A+ rating. Click here to visit their website where you can do more than just shop.
• Rawganique carries a large array of organic cotton linen clothing and a full line of hemp clothing, as well as hemp rope and yarn. You can also by hemp fabric by the yard. Click here to visit their site and while you are there, read about why they are not using bamboo.

If You've Ever Considered Organic Gardening:

• Check out the amazing variety of organic gardening supplies at GardensAlive.com by clicking here, including organic fertilizer and live ladybugs. Right now, if you sign up for their email newsletter you will receive a $25 gift certificate!
• Look for heirloom seeds. One site that offers a large variety is Seed Savers Exchange. Heirloom varieties are non-GMO and many could be lost to the world without organizations like Seed Savers. Click here to order seeds or find out more about this organization's mission.

That's it for this week. Enjoy your week. Remember, you can subscribe by email in the right sidebar of this page to be notified of all new posts. 

To see previous Monday A La Mode posts, just click here for a complete list of links. 

Please leave comments or questions below. I love to hear what you have to say!

CrockPot Heaven

I love walking in the door to the smell of a pot roast in the crockpot. So what if I had to cook an entire meal and start another one last night. It's all worth it tonight! 

Start with the right ingredients for a guilt free home cooked meal to die for! Local organic beef and butter from grass fed cows and organic veggies. 

I like to coat the roast in black pepper, melt butter in a cast iron frying pan, and sear the roast on all sides. The entire process takes about 3 or 4 minutes. Then I drop it in the pot, cover halfway with water, turn on low, and go to bed. 

Next morning, wash carrots and cut into thirds before adding to the pot. Halve some yellow or red onions, remove the skin, and set them on top of everything in the pot. 

In the afternoon, my daughter adds the peas when she gets home from school. 

After a long day at work, all I had to do was cook the quinoa (we don't do grains anymore) and put everything in the bowls. 

Yes, my roast cooked for about 24 hours. Seem like a long time? Not only is slow cooking great for tenderizing any roast, but grass fed beef is very low in fat and needs to be cooked low and slow.

How do you cook your pot roast? Do you use a slow cooker or do you use the oven? I hope one day to own a cast iron dutch oven and cook roast in that! 

Giveaways Galore

Today I discovered a great Linky List of Giveaways that updates every Tuesday! With more than 200 giveaways listed so far today, this list promises endless opportunities for you giveaway fanatics! Both of our current giveaways are on the list, but you can also enter them by clicking here for the Blue Steel $50 Giftcard Giveaway or clicking here for the Earth Ball Giveaway. To visit the full list of links that I discovered, just click on the button below.

Citrus Zinger Review

I was really pleased to be allowed to review the Citrus Zinger from Zing Anything. At www.zinganything.com one can find the Citrus Zinger, Aqua Zinger, Vodka Zinger, and Salad Zinger. The Citrus Zinger retails on their site for $16.99. 

I received the bottle in minimal packaging, which got us off to a great start. A plastic sleeve over the bottle and a fitted cardboard box were all that was used to package the Citrus Zinger. There was a tag hanging from the neck and an instruction sheet inside the bottle. Unfortunately, I found it quite difficult to remove the instruction sheet and had to piece it back together to read it. I couldn't find any way to remove it except through the mouth of the bottle. After I finally succeeded, I read the simple directions aloud while my daughter followed them. 

First, you unscrew the base. While holding the bottle upside down, press and twist a halved citrus fruit firmly onto the juicer. Then put the base back onto the bottle. Holding upright, remove the lid and add water. That's it! The base filters the seeds so they don't get into your water, but it allows pulp to come through. 

We found the resulting drink tastier chilled, so I recommend adding a few pieces of ice. 

After the water was finished, we refilled the bottle without changing the lemon. I was pleased to find that the lemon flavored another bottle of water without changing the fruit out. 

To wash the Citrus Zinger, simply remove the base and lid and rinse thoroughly. I wish the juicing piece was removable because I would feel better if I could dissemble the bottle further when washing. However, their method did seem to work fine. 

I found the Citrus Zinger easy and fun to use. It made quick work of lemon water without lots of slicing, squeezing, and mess. I look forward to trying it with a lime next and maybe I'll get creative after that. And I'd love to try the other Zingers at ZingAnything.com. 

The bad news is, I may never get to use the Citrus Zinger myself. My daughter loves it! Her exact words were "This is mine!" 

Share the Planet w/ Your Kids Giveaway: Win One for Your Home and One for Your School

Prize:

16" Earth Ball (A.L.L. Review)
+
Winner School of Choice will receive a
1 Meter Earth Ball

ARV $143 Total

Hosted by:

A Lucky Ladybug
and 

 "EarthBalls are used daily for educating students from preschools to universities. As a tactile and visual classroom aid, EarthBalls enhance the teaching of both natural and social sciences.  Featuring the latest generation of NASA satellite imagery, EarthBalls are the most visually authentic world globes available anywhere."

**If you are a company and would like to see your brand advertised in a M.O.O.N. event similar to this please contact MakeOurOwnNetwork@gmail.com
This giveaway is open to the Continental US only (because of shipping costs) and will end on September 19th, 2013
a Rafflecopter giveaway
"Make Our Own Network" solely organized this event and I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are 100% my own and may differ from your own or even those stated in this post. MAMA MAKING CHANGES is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment.

We're On the Fence!

Okay, I know I'm a little behind the times, but I am finally "on the fence"! 

Just click the button below to vote for Mama Making Changes at Picket Fence Blogs and see other popular blogs while you are there! 

Thanks to all the amazing MMC fans who vote! You rock!

Blue Steel $50 Giftcard Giveaway

Mama Making Changes is happy to be co-hosting this great giveway!

If you aren't familiar with Blue Steel, click the link below to see their beautiful steel jewelry. You'll love it!

Sponsored by:

 Blue Steel

Hosted by:

 NYSavingSpecials

Co-Hosted by:

Sober Rants & Raves, Barbara's Beat, Simply Sherryl, Mama Making Changes and My Devotional Thoughts

One lucky winner will win

Blue Steel $50 GC

Details

Dates:  September 4 to September 23

US resident only

We appreciate the support of our sponsor, please show your support by following them on their social medias pages.

All entries are optional

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer:  MAMA MAKING CHANGES  is not responsible for the awarding of the prize.  Sponsor is responsible for prize fulfillment.  If you have any question about this giveaway, please email the host at nysavingspecials@gmail.com

Best of Luck!!!

Task 3

All entries are optional

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!!

Mama Making Changes Fans

All entries are optional

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday A La Mode: September 1, 2013

Visit MMC each Monday to see what's new and happening! I hand pick the news, products, websites and more that I believe will interest MMC readers most and compile it all into one easy to read weekly post.

This week the focus is on today's holiday...

Happy Labor Day!

• On June 28, 1894, an act of Congress made the 1st Monday in September a national holiday in honor and recognition of the contributions that workers have made to the growth and development of a strong and prosperous America.
• The first Labor Day was held more than a decade earlier in New York City in 1882. Other cities followed and later states declared the day a holiday before the federal government finally got on board.
• In recent years, Labor Day celebrations and recognition by employers have both declined. Be sure to say thank you to at least one hard-working American today for his or her contribution to our economy, our freedom, our way of life! 
• Buy American-made products. Don't forget that somebody made that bed you sleep in, that coffee mug in your hand, that computer under your fingertips; and hopefully it was an American who made it!
• See a variety of videos that pay tribute to specific important contributions of American workers at History.com by clicking here. Short video clips focus on subjects like the history of Labor Day, the fight to end child labor, the GM sit-down in the 1930s, and more. See one of these videos below. 

If You Wonder Who Did Make That Stuff...

• Read Confessions of an Eco-Sinner by Fred Pearce and get an eye-opening reminder that everything we use comes from somewhere, is made by someone, is enjoyed by us often at the expense of another. Pearce actually tracks the items we take for granted all the way from his hand to it's ultimate origin. Super enlightening! Click here to find it on Amazon.com in pirnt or for your Kindle or Nook. 
• Don't have an e-reader? Think about getting one to save trees and only buy print copies of books that you would keep indefinitely. Get a Kindle on Amazon, too, by clicking here. Or try the Nook, which is what I use, from Barnes & Noble, by clicking here.
• When you are ready for another reading suggestion, check out GoodReads.com by clicking here. I discovered Good Reads this week and love it! I rate books I've read on a scale of 1 to 5 stars and the site suggests books that I might enjoy based on those ratings. I'm finding it easy and fun to use. My reading list just got a lot longer!

If You Aren't at Work Today...

• Please be safe. Labor Day weekend is unfortunately known for it's high number of fatalities. It has been estimated that more than 400 traffic-related deaths will occur before the holiday is through, and that doesn't include accidents on the water. Don't drink and drive - on the road or on the water - and be aware of other drivers who may be less responsible. See more stats from the National Safety Council by clicking here.
• Think about the ecological consequences of your actions. As you head out to whatever festivities you have on the agenda, remember the basics like keeping trash off the ground and out of the water, taking care with grills and fireworks so that wildfires aren't started, keeping recyclables out of the garbage, using fewer disposable items, and cooking only what you will eat to avoid waste.
•  Skip the fast food! Not sure why? Watch this trailer for the upcoming movie from www.foodmyths.org and visit their website to sign up to be one of the first to see the full length movie later this month. 
• Check out some amazing blogs while you are sunning it in that beach chair! Click the Top Mommy Blogs button below to be redirected to their list of the best mom blogs on the web. You are sure to find some you love! 

Enjoy your holiday and be sure to share Monday A La Mode with friends using the Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Email buttons below!

Subscribe to this blog by email in the right sidebar and you'll receive each new post in your inbox. Find a list of links to all current and past Monday A La Mode posts by clicking the Monday A La Mode tab at the top of the page.