Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 168

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Part of living a kind lifestyle is carefully choosing where and how you spend your money. With so many eco-friendly temptations springing up in food fashion and travel it's easier than ever to be kind to the planet… but not-so-kind to your wallet.
 
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giveaway goodies!

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Hi Kind Lifers! We've changed things around a little to ensure that giveaway winners can claim their prizes as soon as possible so here's an update on how giveaways will now work on The Kind Life.

Giveaways are open for 24 hours or for the amount of time specified in the post after they are posted on the site. During this time you Kind Lifers are free to enter the giveaway and eligible to win!
After the giveaway closes winners are chosen and notified within 24 hours.
Winners are notified via the email address you provide on your profile on The Kind Life so if you've entered a giveaway check your email the next day!
Winners will need to respond with their full name and mailing address within 24 hours of being notified you won otherwise we choose another winner.

That's it! Be sure to check your email anytime you enter a giveaway on The Kind Life and stay tuned cause we've got lots of good ones coming up!

Please share your questions or suggestions in the comments below! What would you like to see us giveaway here on The Kind Life?

Happy Memorial Day! Enjoy the rest of your three-day weekend!

easy healthy kale chips!

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I found this recipe on Kind Lifer Sammi's blog Vegan Pandamonium and I thought I'd share. I haven't tried this but they look so easy and yummy - such a good alternative to potato chips!
 
Crispy Kale Chips

Ingredients

1 bushel of kale fresh not pre-cut
1 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt

Steps

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Rinse and dry the kale well
Rip up the kale into bite-size pieces
In a large bowl massage the olive oil and salt into the kale - you may want to add or use less salt depending on your taste
Spread the kale on a baking sheet so that none of the pieces are on top of each other
Bake for about 18 minutes until really crispy

 Now snack and share!

alton brown says no thanks to factory farmed eggs

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PETA recently reported that Food Network host Alton Brown "Good Eats" "Iron Chef" plans to avoid supporting factory farmed eggs. He cites concerns about both the chickens' welfare and his own health remember that recent egg recall?. I'm glad he's taking a step in the right direction but I wonder what eggs he will purchase? Will they really be more kind? He looks so friendly! It seems like his heart is in the right place - but the sad truth is that even eggs that seem kind involve cruelty.

You can read about why eating eggs is bad for you and cruel to the chickens on page 31 of my book. I also talked to PETA to get the lowdown on two of the types of eggs that are a little kinder than factory farmed eggs - but are far from cruelty-free. Here's what they had to say:

Certified Humane Raised and Handled

"These eggs come from farms where hens are uncaged typically in warehouses or barns and have at least 1.5 square feet per hen. These facilities have to keep their ammonia levels below a certain amount can't keep their hens continuously confined to cages must provide litter perches and nest boxes don't force molt clip their toes or 'severely' debeak the birds – which are all improvements however minimal on standard practices. However the birds don't have to have access to the outdoors; they can be beak-trimmed a small portion of the upper beak is trimmed off without pain relief as long as they are younger than eleven days old. There is no protection for the males so they may be ground up at birth and the hens will eventually be sent off to a violent slaughter when their egg production drops."

Certified Organic

"These eggs come from farms where birds are uncaged inside warehouses or barns. They have to be allowed outdoor access but the amount and duration isn't stated and different certifiers may consider different things to be acceptable. Beak cutting is permitted. Organic farmers aren't allowed to give the animals preventative antibiotics but if the animal gets sick they are required to give her medicine - but then are not allowed to sell her flesh as 'organic.' Consequently sick hens are often sent over to the 'conventional' arm of the operation where none of these standards will apply. As with all eggs purchasing organic certified eggs means supporting not only the egg farmer but whoever hatched the hens and whoever eventually slaughters them. It also means supporting the maceration of male chicks and the violent slaughter that the hens themselves will eventually endure."

So as you can see there is really no such thing as cruelty-free eggs.

Now if Alton Brown were to raise his own chickens and care for them for their entire lives even after their egg production drops – he'd be about as close to cruelty-free eggs as you can get. If he doesn't plan to do that at least he is taking baby steps in the right direction.

While it may be far from ideal it's exciting that so many people are waking up in big and small ways. What do you think? Is Alton Brown's effort to avoid factory farmed eggs a step in the right direction?

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a peek inside life at an animal sanctuary

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Catskill Animal Sanctuary founder Kathy Stevens has written a new book called Animal Camp about her daily life at the sanctuary. Her book includes stories of just-in-the-nick-of-time rescues incredible recoveries from animal cruelty cases and heart-melting instances of animals showing love compassion and friendship.
 
This book looks like a great read for any animal lover or anyone curious about how animal sanctuaries operate I haven't read it yet.
 
You can buy a copy of Animal Camp here – and if you live in New York I highly recommend visiting Catskill Animal Sanctuary. You can read my blog about it here - it's a very special place!
 
Do you have a great animal sanctuary near you?

no more migraines!

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Kind Lifer Kylea recently wrote to me to share the success her family has experienced adopting a kinder diet! Check it out:
 
"I wanted to share the incredible success our family has had with eating a vegan diet. In an attempt to improve our health and more specifically to try and eliminate my husband's relentless migraines we started eating a vegan diet about six months ago. My husband is nearly migraine-free now. It has been an incredible transformation!"

I'm so happy for you and your family! If you'd like to read more about Kylea's success check out her blog here. If anyone else has a great success story to share send me a private message or post your story to your profile and "like" it. I may feature you on The Kind Life!

a fun day in coldwater canyon park!

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To kick off the summer TreePeople a groovy non-profit in LA is hosting their first ever Green City Fair! TreePeople's mission is to create sustainable landscapes within the urban environment and to educate the public about environmental issues. They also help communities to plant and care for trees. Their Green City Fair is a free day of eco fun food and activities hosted by Ed Begley Jr.! Here's the info:
 
Green City Fair
12601 Mulholland Drive
Saturday June 4
10am – 4pm
Details here!
 
It looks like a great family-oriented event where you can learn a lot and have fun with your kids. There will be food live music face painting eco vendors and lessons about how to green your lifestyle – all in gorgeous Coldwater Canyon Park. It sounds like so much fun and not to be missed! Plus Ed Begley is sooo cool and cute!

If you live in LA try to make it and tell me how you like it!

enter for a chance to win a glass flask from love this planet!

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Lisa Leija's Love This Planet is a brand of eco-friendly accessories including an assortment of enviro bags glass bottles and jewelry. Her latest creation is this Love This Planet flask pictured above.
 
Lisa's giving away a flask to five lucky Kind Lifers! To win one of your own just comment below saying where you'd take your flask if you win!
 
A portion of the proceeds from all Love This Planet sales benefits Green Ambassadors an environmental leadership and education program for youth. Check out Lisa's other items here!

lea micheles guilty pleasure

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Our insanely talented super sweet vegan goddess Lea Michele sent me this for your pleasure. Check it out:

  Lea's "Guilty Pleasure" Meal

By Lea Michele

This is my guilty pleasure right now...it's cheap and easy to make!

2 slices of Ezekiel bread
1 avocado 1 half mashed on bread other half on a dish with a little salt on top
1 Amy's Vegan veggie burger
2 slices pepperjack rice cheese
A few tomato slices

For extra flavor add hot sauce or salsa!
 
Also my favorite organic wine is called Our Daily Red available at Whole Foods…soooo good!
 
Thank you Lea!! I want to hear from all you Kind Lifers too! What are your simple pleasures?