It all started on a hike in the Rocky Mountains. “How can I combine taste, healthiness, and convenience in one snack?” Lara Merriken wondered. Upon her return, Lara (pictured below) began experimenting and creating snack bars in her own kitchen, using her friends and family as a focus group to determine what tasted best. Lara would successfully answer her question and go on to create LÄRABAR, a full line of simply made snack bars that are good for you and good for the planet, available across the country.

The key to LÄRABAR’s success is its simplicity. They are committed to the idea that food doesn’t have to be packed with all sorts of complex ingredients, just wholesome, natural ones. Each LÄRABAR, ALT Bar (a protein packed snack), über Bar (just nuts and fruits for a big crunch), and JOCALAT Bar (a sweet chocolate bar) contains no more than nine ingredients, of which all are certified organic and GMO-free. LÄRABAR also caters to a range of special diets like gluten-free, vegan, kosher, raw, low-carb, and nut or soy allergy diets, because no one should be exempt from eating tasty and healthy snacks. LÄRABAR isn’t just focused on offering natural and healthy treats though.

The environment is equally important as the customer to LÄRABAR. Every LÄRABAR wrapper is made from 31% bio-material and are recyclable through the TerraCycle Program. All you have to is send in your used wrappers and they’ll be used to create various products like benches, chairs, or bike racks! LÄRABAR is also a proud member of the Non-GMO Project, fighting to expose the harmful aspects of GMO’s. LÄRABAR has a strong donations program as well, offering their bars to events like The Detroit Marathon and The Boston Ski and Snowboard Expo.

LÄRABAR is a brand based on passion for natural and healthy snacks along with a commitment to the environment. They understand that complexity isn’t necessarily best, by offering simple and wholesome snacks that rival many others in taste. If your’e craving a delicious snack that is healthy while also keeping the planet in mind, LÄRABAR is perfect for you!

For more information on LÄRABAR, check out their website at www.Larabar.com, Facebook page www.facebook.com/Larabar, or on Twitter @Larabar.

Happy Saturday!

Hopefully you and your little rascals have room for some playtime today (and you have time to do some errands). Here’s a great weekend afternoon activity – a milk carton haunted house!  The great thing about this project is that your structure can be any style you desire. Architecture nerds, go crazy! I am hoping to make a Hogwarts inspired castle. You can also incorporate toy cars, LEGOs, or other figurines.

You’ll need:

- Empty cardboard milk cartons
- Newspaper, origami paper, or pages from a novel
- Card stock or watercolor paper
- Pens and paint of your choice
- Glue stick
- Craft glue
- Candy

Directions:

- Thoroughly rinse and dry milk cartons.
- Completely cover cartons in paper.
- Draw windows and doors onto card stock and paint. Cut them out and attach to the front of the milk cartons.
- Fill cartons with candy.
- Use craft glue to seal containers closed.

Send us pictures of your haunted mansion! We would love to see these rad pads. Get in touch at greenhalloween@veritey.com

For more craft ideas follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/greenhalloween or Twitter @greenhalloween

This activity comes from the blog Little Lovely. Thanks for the idea!

What’s bright orange and rich in Vitamin A?

A pumpkin!

Pumpkins are a fall favorite, and of course, a staple of any Halloween event. Here’s a a new way to sample your favorite gourd. It’s a perfect addition to a great Halloween soirée. Give this orange-rageous recipe a whirl. Let us know if you have any recipe alterations. We would love to hear them!

PUMPKIN SMOOTHIE

2 c. Canned organic pumpkin Organic agave nectar or honey, to taste

1/2 c. Organic rice milk, raw or organic (preferably raw) milk

Dash vanilla extract

1/2 c. Vanilla yogurt 1 1/2 c. crushed ice or ice cubes

1 T. Pumpkin pie spice Organic whipped cream

1/2 Lemon, juiced Cinnamon sticks (optional)

In a blender, combine pumpkin, milk, yogurt, pumpkin spice, juice of half a lemon, agave nectar or honey to taste, and vanilla extract. Blend together until smooth, and begin adding the ice while continuing to blend. When mixture is thick and creamy, stop and hold in refrigerator at least 30 minutes. Top with whip cream chargers wholesale and garnish with cinnamon sticks.

Serve.

Note: Make sure you add enough sweetener or it will be bitter! Use organic ingredients whenever possible.

Hello Green Halloween fans!

Can you smell fall in the air? We can! Here at Green Halloween we are so excited for all the delicious treats and Halloween festivities that are in store.

This year, Green Halloween is being powered by Veritey, a website and community that helps families get to the root of healthy living. At Veritey we research and analyze beauty products, clothing, food, toys, and home goods that are not only eco-friendly and healthy, but also effective. Veritey comes from the Latin word veritas, or truth, and is combined with the sound of “tey” in tailored and the “y” in you meaning a site comprised of truths tailored for your life. Adrienne Peres and Amy Ziff are the co-founders and lead Capidealists*™ at Veritey.

The pair created Veritey when they realized there were very few resources to truly help them distinguish which products were the best for their families. Both Peres and Ziff know how overwhelming it is to sift through the massive amounts of information out there and want to use Veritey as a tool for healthy living education. Amy Ziff is an experienced journalist and business leader. Ziff has done thousands of interviews appearing on many programs including the Today Show, Good Morning America, and CNN. Her work has been quoted in publications like The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post and more. Adrienne Peres is a marketing and management expert specializing in start-ups and small businesses. Veritey is near and dear to Peres’ heart as her family has a history of illness. Veritey is a way for Peres to manage her own health as well as help others find natural and preventative healthcare solutions. Peres is an avid runner and competes in marathons and triathlons. The pair met on their first day of work at the travel website Site59 and preceded to work together at Travelocity for over a decade. They are also both Moms and they love Halloween!

This season Green Halloween is excited to feature classic recipes and costume ideas, as well as some new surprises. Look out for our blogger carnival and twitter party where we will have a variety of lifestyle bloggers teach you how to have the best Halloween imaginable.

Together, let’s make Halloween a more sustainable and enriching holiday for everyone.

For more information on Green Halloween follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/greenhalloween or Twitter @greenhalloween

After nearly three years of campaigning on cocoa issues, it was very exciting to see real cocoa pods in person. Because cocoa can only grow in tropical climates, roughly 15 degrees north and south of the equator, it’s not a crop that will flourish in the United States. The cocoa pod is denser than I expected, and very much shaped like a football. (though smaller). The beans don’t seem too remarkable for being the basis of a multibillion dollar industry, and one of the most important exports of many West African nations. The butter is quite malleable, and can be used as a moisturizer, especially If you want to smell just like chocolate.

Here is cocoa in its various phases of production:

Cocoa Pods. The cocoa bean is in the center, surrounded by pulp.

Fermented and dried cocoa beans.

Cocoa mass or cocoa paste, made from drying, roasting and grinding the cocoa beans.

Cocoa butter, derived from the cocoa mass.

Cocoa powder, also derived from cocoa mass.

I can’t wait to go to actual farms next week!

**

This post is a part of a series of posts from Elizabeth O’Connell, the Fair Trade Campaigns Director for Green America. Elizabeth is currently in West Africa, representing Green America, the Raise the Bar Campaign, and thousands of conscientious American consumers at the World Cocoa Conference 2012. 

To keep up with what is happening with this important opportunity, please check out the Green America Blog, which has additional posts, and will be updated more frequently by our Fair Trade Campaigns Director.