Soup that is healthy and simple

Soup is about comfort, warmth of soul, and the feeling of home.  And in the chill of winter, with Valentine’s Day just around the bend, soup can be about love:  love of friends and family and the care that you put into the meals that you create for them.  Let’s face it though, as busy moms, sometimes its about an easy dinner that fills the bellies fast and warms the heart!

Simple Tortellini Soup Recipe

Recipe submitted by Wenonah Michallet, mom of two from Tucson, AZ, whose recipes also appear in the book, Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family

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Blogger Laurali Star can be found on The Damsel in the Attic.

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

Family Fun magazine’s ideas for {healthy} Halloween fare are sure to be a hit with little ghouls and boys.

These dishes also double as edible dECOr, saving resources and money.

Invite kids to get crafty during your Halloween party – and you’ve just added an edible “activity” as well.

Meow! Use veggies and bean dip to make Black Bean Cat Crudités.

Ghastly grins! Apples and almonds are all that’s required for these “Apple Bites.” You could also fill “mouths” with nut butter and make the “teeth” out of all-natural white chocolate chips.

Finger food! “Carrot Fingers” reach out of veggie dip. Ew… Yum.

Eat your eyeballs – er, veggies! With “Edible Eyeballs” you can do both (and of course, munching on carrots is good for your kids’ peepers!)

Marvelous monsters! “Swamp Creatures” are made with scoops of mac & cheese, but you can also make with potato salad, quinoa salad or any other “salad” that holds together well. Swamp sludge can be made with spinach, kale, collards or a combo sauteed greens. A great dish to serve to filler-er-up before trick-or-treating.

Stick our your tongue! Simple but fun, these “Goblin Grins” are sure to cause smiles all around.

Yummy Mummies! These cute little “Pizza Mummies” Are a great main dish. Use English muffins or bagels (also available in gluten free!)

TIP: Always choose local & organic ingredients, whenever possible. However, if you want to know which foods carry the heaviest pesticide loads (many are on this list) and which are safer to buy conventionally grown, click to find “The Dirty Dozen” and “The Clean Fifteen.”

For more even more healthy Halloween food ideas, click here. And for Family Fun’s top craft ideas, click here and here.

Last year, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released a report stating that 10 of 10 face paints tested contained lead (a powerful neurotoxin) and other heavy metals. These findings fuel mounting concerns over the safety of numerous chemical fragrances, artificial colors, preservatives and other ingredients in body products (for children and adults).

But kids wear face paint, they don’t eat it, right?

Wrong. What’s applied to the skin is absorbed into the body. Think of body products (face paint, included) as skin food.

So what’s a parent to do?

Make you own, as we did today with New Day Northwests host, Margaret Larson. It’s super easy (and FUN!) and can be made with ingredients you likely already own and trust.

(Not sure if you do trust the products you own like diaper rash cream, or lotion, the base ingredient in our face paint recipe? Be sure to check out www.CosmeticDataBase.com).

Not the DIY type?

Purchase mineral-based makeup from EcoMom.com or TerraFirmaCosmetics.com.

Segment links:

Non-toxic nail polish:

www.hopscotchkids.com

Safe Face Paints (pre-made):

www.ecomom.com

www.terrafirmacosmetics.com

All-natural food coloring:

www.wholefoods.com

Non-toxic diaper rash cream:

www.weleda.com

Get the {eco} Look: Corey’s dress from Issaquah-based sustainable-designer, Lizzie Parker. Lynn’s artisan-designed, reclaimed felt necklace from Digs.com.

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Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

Give little ghouls a fun night without food worries

Halloween candy is downright scary for the nearly 25 million Americans avoiding gluten.

Gluten-free expert and author Carol Fenster details practical ways to maintain Halloween’s spooky-fun spirit without fear of hidden gluten.

Ideas include: Learn to read labels (looking for wheat, rye, barley, spelt, and oats); contact manufacturers to verify candy content; ask your natural market to create a dedicated gluten-free Halloween section; organize a home party that shifts the focus away from food and onto games, prizes, and costumes; and serve a gluten-free supper (try Applegate Farms’ new gluten-free chicken nuggets and Amy’s line of gluten- and dairy-free pizzas).

Gluten-free natural candies for Halloween include Candy Tree, Crispy Cat, Ian’s, GoNaturally, Let’s Do…Organic, Newman’s Own Organics, PureFun, St.Claire’s, Stretch Island, Tropical Source, and YummyEarth. Sidebar on GF mixes and products from Bob’s Red Mill, Pamela’s Products, Glutino, and EnjoyLife.

For the full story, click here.

Reposted with permission from Delicious Living Insights. Do you have tips and tricks for celebrating a gluten free Halloween? Add your ideas below.

Why should Christmas have the all fun?

Build a (yummy) family tradition your kids will scream for (in a good way, of course). It’s an activity, decor and dessert – all rolled into one!

Just use a traditional gingerbread recipe (swapping conventional ingredients for local and/or organic, when possible) OR organic graham crackers as the “house.” Decorate with edibles and organic/all natural confections that conjure the Halloween spirit.

Colors to consider: orange, black, purple and of course, GREEN! For a list of Halloween foods colored naturally by Mother Earth, visit out food page. (Who says you can’t use kale grass?)

Don’t have time to cook, but want to create the tradition? Buy the kit (photo above) online from Magic Cabin.