Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 188

have a kind christmas this year

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Hi everyone! Last year I blogged about how to make your Christmas more green and I think a lot of these ideas could come in handy this year too - so I'm reposting for you! Check it out:

Your Christmas Tree

First check out my previous post about adopting a tree and see if tree "rental" is available in your area. If you don't have an adopt-a-tree service in your area it might seem like an artificial tree is the more eco way to go since they are reused but really it's not. Surprising right? People usually only use them 4 times or so and them toss them out where they will sit in a landfill forever. They also use lots of energy to produce package and ship them....not to mention that they are made with really gross toxic materials.

If you are going to get a cut-tree search for an eco-friendly tree farmer near you. Check out LocalHarvest.org or GreenPromise.com. Your most green option is to find a sustainable grower from a certified organic farm. You will also be supporting your local farmers. If you go this route be sure to recycle your tree after Christmas by chipping it into mulch or composting it. You can also visit Earth911.com to find tree recycling.

You can also always decorate a live tree you have in your home or in your yard my favorite!. And in some areas live potted trees can be rented. Ask your local nursery about this or go to LivingChristmasTrees.org...or just plain google it.

Tree Lights

The lights you've been using for years are probably not the most super crazy eco-friendly ones but don't toss them.  The most green thing to do is to keep using them until you want to either pass them on to a friend or until they just stop working altogether. HolidayLEDs.com offers free Christmas light recycling and will give you a discount on new LED lights if you do this.  Follow this link. Their recycling program ends in February. You can also look into your local eWaste program.

If you are replacing your lights less lighting is the way to go and always use a timer with them. LED lights are also a good choice because they use 80-90 less energy than regular lights.

Tree Ornaments & Decorating

Just a few notes on this....try using things you have found or made to decorate. This will also save you instead of buying them all new from the store. You can use a baby shoe or an old children's toy as an ornament and add a little one's name and date. Hang cookie cutters from ribbon use memorabilia like concert tickets airlines tickets...any tickets! You can use craft supplies to adhere them to wood patches too. Make ornaments from nature!! Pinecones and twigs and pebbles. Go crazy....buttons silverware things in your sewing kit....glue photos onto wood scraps or lids. Use cutouts from old holiday cards and magazines.

If you do buy ornaments try to find groovy used ones on eBay Craigslist or from your local thrift store. If buying new ones choose the most eco ones you can get your hands on. This usually means lead-free Fair Trade or ethically sourced options. You can visit CelebrateGreen.net for ideas.

Stockings!

They don't have to be something super fancy in fact the more you use them generally the more you start to love them and enjoy pulling it out each year. You can look for used stockings and big socks or even big oven-mitts from your local thrift shops garage sales Craigslist or eBay. If you buys a new stocking for the holidays look for ones made from recycled or organic animal-friendly materials that means no wool too.

Holiday Cards

I save the fronts of holiday cards and reuse them. I keep them in a little box and pull them out when I need them. Try to reuse old cards or make them out of stuff you have at home...magazines old wrapping paper etc.

But if you will be purchasing new ones definitely try to go for 100 recycled cards....made from 100 post-consumer waste. And if they are printed with soy-based ink that's even better! GreenFieldPaper.com sells recycled cards and hemp cards too! And BorealisPress.net is another great green card resource. You can also send seed embedded cards....card that you soak and then plant.

Gifts & Gift Wrapping

Visit my gift-giving blog for some tips then check back for the gift-wrapping blog I'll be posting later in the week!

Holiday Meals & Parties

I've chosen my favorite recipes so far in the past recipe blogs. These would all be great  for your holiday gatherings! I will also be posting some holiday recipes in the coming days so keep checking back for those.

Try to make your party a little or no-waste event. Go for your own plates cloth napkins glasses and silverware but if you will be buy disposable try for recycled or compostable/biodegradable dishware and utensils.

At my house we don't do the tree or lights. We just enjoy the rain and cold and we don't really do presents either. Am I a scroodge?

I love giving... I'm just not great about rules of when to give.  I will of course give some gifts this year but I'm always late and end up giving gifts for the new year. I'm also a big believer in giving people you love the things they need or that move you to share with them... like treating them to meals or if you discover something that you know would be perfect for them.  I used to love writing out gift lists and shopping when I was little but I just don't seem to be as into it these days.  Maybe it's because of all of the consumerism and the time is takes and how it feels like an obligation.  I prefer giving spontaneous loving gifts.

We just really don't get excited about that stuff. We love the weather food and cozy vacation. It's also my husband's birthday on Christmas Day so I always make a bigger deal of that and try to create a special event for him - which is very easy! This year is his 40th!

How will you make your Christmas green? Do you have any other ideas to add to those above?

adopt a christmas tree!!

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Last year I blogged about this amazing adopt-a-christmas-tree service in San Diego that Kind Lifer Emily told me about. This year I did some research about eco-tree options in different cities around the country – so if you haven't gotten your tree yet check it out!

San Diego is offering the same program they did last year but they are 98 sold out! This adopt-a-tree service sends dancing elves to deliver the tree to your door then you get to decorate it and keep it for the holidays. Afterward the elves come back to pick up the tree and plant it in a good location.

In Los Angeles you can rent a potted Christmas tree from Living Christmas Trees. They drop off your tree before the holidays then pick it up afterward.

San Francisco offered a similar tree "rental" service but they are sold out! If you live in the Bay Area check back next year.

Portland Oregon offers a potted tree rental for the holidays from Living Christmas Trees different company than the one in Los Angeles. They will drop off your tree and pick it up after the holidays.

What tips do you have for caring for a potted tree?

Do you have any adopt-a-tree programs in your hometown?

It's Cake Week on Made Just Right - Sponsored Post

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I hope you all had fun last week baking cookies and submitting your recipes to Earth Balance's Made Just Right™ Holiday Bake-off sponsored by Whole Foods Market. This week Earth Balance is asking for your best cake recipes! That means you can submit recipes for any dessert that comes includes cake – cupcakes pound cake fruitcake – let your imagination go wild!

Are you working on a cake recipe to serve after your Christmas dinner? You can submit your cake recipe at Made Just Right™ today through 11:59pm EST on December 26 so get baking! Winners will receive a 400 Whole Foods Market gift card and a year's supply of Earth Balance® products!

Here is one of my favorite cake recipes from my book p. 188. 

Lemon-Poppy Seed Poundcake

Ingredients

Cake:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup maple sugar
2 t egg replacer I like Ener-G
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t sea salt
½ cup Earth Balance® soy milk
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup safflower oil
½ cup maple syrup
1 t lemon extract
2 T poppy seeds

Lemon Maple Glaze:

½ cup maple syrup
½ cup lemon juice
2 t kuzu diluted in a little bit of cold water

Berry Glaze:

1 bag frozen berries thawed
Maple syrup to taste
Vanilla extract to taste

Steps

Preheat the oven to 350.
Oil the pans you can use 3 mini loaf pans a muffin tin or 4 mini Bundt pans
Combine the flours sugar egg replacer baking powder baking soda and salt
In a separate bowl combine the milk with the lemon juice and set aside for a few minutes; it will look curdled
Whisk in the oil syrup and lemon etract
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined
Fold in the poppy seeds
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 15-25 minutes mini loafs and muffins take about 15-18 minutes; loaf and Bundt pans take 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
Cool the cake completely in the pans on a baking rack
If using the Lemon Maple Glaze combine the syrup and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat
Stir in the diluted kuzu and continue stirring until the glaze comes to a boil
Simmer for 1 minute
Drizzle over the cake and serve
If using the Berry Glaze whiz the berries in a blender with the syrup and vanilla extract to taste
Drizzle over the cake and serve

Have fun making your cakes and remember to submit your recipes at Made Just Right™! Remember it will be way cooler if your cake is vegan!

thanksgiving at my house & some of what im thankful for

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A little over a year after the launch of The Kind Life I'm incredibly grateful for each person on this site and for all of you who have shared the site and my book with your friends and family. I'm especially thankful for those of you who are trying a kinder way of life out for the first time. I must give a special shout out to the flirts! I'm so glad you're here!!!

I would love to hear from more of you flirts so I can answer your questions and help you along as you experiment with this new way of life! How are you feeling? Do you feel like you're getting the support you need on The Kind Life? If not how can I help? I want to make sure you all feel welcome and comfy here. I appreciate each and every one of you and I love that people who never thought about a plant-based diet are discovering it and asking lots of questions as they journey toward greater health and well-being. I want to make sure you know how thankful I am that you are here!

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Our Thanksgiving
 
I had a really lovely Thanksgiving at my house this year with my husband and both of our families! Both Christopher's sets of parents and mine plus uncles brothers and a few friends came to celebrate with us. Everyone seemed to love the food which of course is sooo important to me! My cider went over very well and all of the moms were so helpful in preparing everything!

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Christopher's step mom Carol helped a ton and so did his mom Candy and my mom too – it was very sweet and special to have 3 moms and me in the kitchen together. Never happened before! My dad came too which was wonderful because he hasn't been to my house in years - the stairs are too much for him. Christopher's dad was super cute – Christopher's dad and his step dad all got along really well. Basically it couldn't have gone better!

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How was your Thanksgiving?

my quick smoothie breakfast

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This past Saturday I was working... So I was running out the door in the morning and the cereal that I had when I first woke up wasn't enough. So I grabbed some peaches from the freezer.... I had these peaches that I had bought during peach season from a farmer at the farmer's market who grows them wild in the mountains. They're delicious and I couldn't bear not to buy them. But since I don't eat fruit very often... for superhero powers' sake... I froze about 8 of them in a large bag.

So on Saturday I pulled out a cup of peaches or so. I added some Rice Soy Blend from Eden and also put 3-4 dates in there along with a little bit of apple juice. It was delicious!

I can't say it will make me feed as good as whole grains greens and miso would have... But today I didn't have time so I went for the smoothie cause it sounded yummie and it was! I had to share as this combo was really nice.

ny times shoutout to veg cuisine!

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Some of you may have noticed that the New York Times posted a gorgeous interactive feature of vegetarian recipes this past Thanksgiving. While not all of the recipes are dairy-free there are some yummy vegan recipes in the mix. The Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts look very tasty as does the Tempeh and Wild Mushroom Fricasse.

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I love that a publication as gourmet as the NY Times gave such a great nod to delicious veg food at a time like Thanksgiving. I think it says a lot about eating trends and the times we live in. So many people are checking out this whole plant-based world - we've almost gone mainstream! At least we've been there for a minute or so - I mean Bill Clinton is vegan now! It's all very exciting. Here's hoping the NY Times will keep it up!

Have any of you tried any of these recipes? How are they?

exciting news about nasa monkeys!

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Great news! Thanks to the efforts of kind individuals here on The Kind Life at PETA PCRM in Congress and all over the country NASA is halting its proposed radiation experiments on monkeys. You can read details about how inhumane this experiment would have been here and here.

Animal testing is awful no matter what but this proposed experiment was especially shocking because a similar one had already been done - and was halted because of how badly it harmed the monkeys involved. Monkeys' DNA is very close to ours and subjecting them to high levels of radiation is cruel and unconscionable.

I'm glad we Kind Lifers were able to lend our voices to this important issue! Many people fought hard to win this battle proving that perseverance with a healthy dose of smarts pays off. Thanks for all your support!

 What issues are most important to you right now?

Get Your Omega-3 with Ascenta's NutraVege - Sponsored Post

As you may know I feel I get the nutrients I need from food but I know that is not always possible for everyone. Getting enough omega-3 is important for so many reasons– cardiovascular health reducing inflammation emotional well-being immune system function and glowing skin to name a few.

If you aren't getting enough omega-3 in your diet I recommend you take a high-quality vegan supplement like Ascenta's NutraVege.

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NutraVege is the highest potency and most complete vegan omega-3 available as it provides your body with adequate amounts of EPA and DHA the active forms of omega-3 that give you actual benefits and also GLA a beneficial omega-6. NutraVege has a delicious citrus flavor and it is ultra pure. Every bottle is tested by an independent third party lab before it's shipped to verify that the amount of omega-3 listed is accurate the oil hasn't degraded and it's free from detectable heavy metal contamination. You can even read your bottle's exact report online no other omega-3 company provides this level of transparency. NutraVege utilizes echium– a source of SDA which readily converts to EPA in the body– and algal oil– which is the original source of DHA found in fish as most DHA originates from fishes' consumption of algae. Many of you likely take flax which you may not know contains a non-active form of omega-3 called ALA that only converts minimally to DHA and EPA within the body hence providing you minimal omega-3 health benefits. NutraVege contains 400mg of DHA 420mg of GLA and 550mg of SDA per serving.
 
Here's some additional info from Ascenta about the health benefits NutraVege provides.

NutraVege can be purchased at high-quality health food stores Whole Foods Vitamin Shoppe and online at VitaminShoppe.com.

Ascenta has offered to give away one bottle of NutraVege to five lucky Kind Lifers in the U.S. and Canada! All that you have to do to enter is write a comment below telling everyone why you would like to try NutraVege.

Good luck and thank you Ascenta!

animals in entertainment

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In general I'm absolutely not a fan of animals in entertainment. I always turn to PETA for help when I'm reading a script if I feel weird about the message or the animals in it. They are very helpful especially Lisa Lange! She is my trusty advisor and she helps me to weigh all the pros and cons of the situation.

PETA is not all-or-nothing when it comes to the question of animals in entertainment. I have found Lisa to be very intelligent and reasonable about what films make sense with animals and which do not. I feel good about my choice with Vamps and the rats. Lisa was behind the message and thought it was nice that rats and other animals like pigeons were being discussed with such seriousness.
 
So believe me I didn't like that the rats I showed you in the blog a while back had to be there. I didn't like that the people who raise them and take care of them use them for films at all. The whole thing feels weird to me. But I will say that some good was done that day. Some people who may have thought nasty things about rats that day were playing with them and finding them cuter than they expected.

While I think it sucks to have animals act in movies I really don't think those rats were harmed or treated badly. Do I wish they didn't have to do that at all and lived happily ever after in the wild? Yes - but that wasn't my decision to make. So I guess I'm saying it's all a bit tricky.

one kind lifers journey from flirt to vegan!

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Kind Lifer Liza recently shared her experience of temporarily transitioning to a vegan diet - and liking it so much that she decided never to go back!
 
"When I started this adventure into veganism my plan was to do it for a few months to lose some weight but after only a month or so I committed to it for good. I felt so good from the beginning and knew that I'd want to stick with it for the long run. I have been vegan for three months now and I have never felt better. I have lost about 15 lbs and have more energy than ever! Your book is amazing and I couldn't have done this without you guidance and tips! I also just bought The Conscious Cook and made the Chick'n Scallopini dish for a few girlfriends two of which were meat-eaters and couldn't believe it wasn't real chicken! For dessert I made your peanut butter cups which of course where a hit! So thank you again for changing my life for the better and all your inspiration!"
 
Liza recently updated me on her new way of life!
 
"I have to say now more than ever I'm loving being vegan and just starting to explore an even cleaner diet. Now that some time has passed and I'm seeing the full benefits of a clean diet I'm so thankful that I started and stuck to this diet. I've rid myself entirely of all the painful stomach problems I was having and I have so much more energy when working on set I'm a photographer and often at times spend many long hours in the studio without many breaks. I'm also so glad that I'm venturing down this path with my sister. I decided to go vegan just after she did and together we try and create new vegan recipes to replace the things we once loved though didn't love us.
 
Desserts have always been a must for me and I've posted many dessert recipes on my sister's blog. But recently I decided to post on the wonders of fruit for dessert. I'm just starting incorporate more macrobiotic elements into my diet and I'm trying to follow a more Superhero diet. Already I'm feeling even better than before and can't wait to see how this new element brings me to the next level of health and clarity!"
 
Yay Liza! If you need support as you explore the superhero diet be sure to post your thoughts and questions in the forum! You are amazing and wonderful and inspire me and make me so happy! Thank you for this truly from the bottom of my heart!