Artterro, “art of the earth,” is a company that makes beautiful, eco-friendly arts and crafts kits for kids (and they’re very alluring to grownups, too).
Artterro is made up of 4 women who LOVE Mothering. I puffy heart them back and I think you will, too.
They’re giving away….
a Bookmaking Kit
A Wire & Bead Kit
and an Art Dolls Kit.
To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment below with your preference. I’ll be selecting 3 winners, one for each art kit.
Thanks! “Arty” on, mamas!
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Glad Rags, the wonderful reusable menstrual cloth pad company, is giving the following assortment of fab treats to one lucky A la Mama reader:
1 Day Pad:
1 Night/Postpartum Pad:
1 Pantyliner:
and 1 pair organic cotton nursing pads:
Isn’t that excellent?
Here’s how you enter to win:
1. Leave a comment below with your fabric choice preference. You can find out the options by clicking on any of the cloth menstrual pads and viewing the fabric choice pull-down menu.
2. For a second chance to win, click here to go to the Glad Rads Facebook page, and Like it. Then come back and leave a comment telling me that you did.
3. For a third chance to win, click here to go to their Twitter page, follow them on Twitter, and leave a third comment letting me know that you did.
They also have a great blog; here’s the link. http://blog.gladrags.com/
I also want to recommend some other products they carry: Sea Pearl sponges (a nice alternative to tampons), the medical grade silicon Moon Cup, and Queen Bee carry bags.
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This just in: use the coupon code GHOST to receive 15% off your Goblin Gorp order.
MyMixedNuts.com has created Goblin Gorp, a trail mix made up of delicious dry roasted salted almonds, raw pumpkin seeds, Sundrops (an all-natural alternative to m&m’s), dried mango bites and raisins.
If you order today, barring unforeseen snafus, you should definitely the order by the end of the week. Expedited shipping is also available.
Goblin Gorp comes as 30 1-oz packets for $33.99. That would be an incredibly magnanimous shell-out for the door-to-door trick-or-treaters, but a great treat for your child’s classmates, a seasonal party favor, or a nice incentive for your kids to trade their haul–food-coloring-laden candy, gum, and cheap, non-fair trade chocolate–for something truly delicious…and kinder to their bodies.
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Oregon’s Wild Harvest has organized a wonderfully abundant giveaway for A la Mama readers.
The first place winner will receive the Oregon’s Wild Harvest Herbal Stork Basket. That includes…
• Maternal Sereni-Tea (1)
• Fenugreek capsules-90 ct. (2)
• St John’s Wort-Alcohol Free (1)
• Entire children’s line (1 of each of the following: Ear Drops, Echinacea-Orange Flavor, Echinacea-Raspberry Flavor, Echinacea Goldenseal-Orange Flavor, Tranquil Child, and Tummy Aid). These alcohol-free herbal products have been formulated especially for children using modified doses appropriate for the child. The 100% naturally flavored remedies are formulated to appeal to kids’ palates.
• Red Raspberry-.25lb (1)
• Lavender Oil (1)
• Happi-Tea (1)
• Kids, Herbs, Health Book
• Tea Accessories: Tea for Two gift set and Tea Steeper
Three additional individuals will win Oregon Wild Harvest’s Special-Tea collection:
• Maternal Sereni-Tea
• Happi-Tea
• Digestivi-Tea
• Menopositivi-Tea
• Immuni-Tea
Here’s how you enter to win:
• Please leave a comment below with an answer to the following question: What is the most important factor to you when deciding to purchase one brand of herbal supplements, bulk herbs, herbal teas and/or spices over another brand and why?
• Click HERE to visit the Oregon’s Wild Harvest website.
• For a second chance to win, click HERE to go to the Oregon’s Wild Harvest Facebook page and become a fan; then come back and leave a second comment to tell me that you did.
And here’s a discount coupon code:
• For a limited time, Oregon’s Wild Harvest is offering a 20% discount for items purchased through their online store, so visit soon while discount applies. The coupon code is “Mothering.”
Information from Oregon’s Wild Harvest:
“Nestled in the foothills of Oregon’s majestic Mount Hood, our independently owned and operated farm is 100% certified organic and Biodynamic. Pursuing these certifications grew out of a passion for naturally healing the body and the earth. This holistic and sustainable approach delivers optimal levels of health for our soil, seeds, plants and you. This philosophy also extends to all our partnerships, ensuring that every ingredient we use comes from the best sources available. And because we responsibly process and package all the herbs right on our farm, we can guarantee that our products are the safest you can buy. The highest standards equal the best results!”
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My daughter’s 3rd grade class has a garden. Friday, we were able to buy swiss chard from their harvest. Big, bright green leaves. I came home with a bag and thought, “What can I make with this?” I know how to do the basic sauteed chard thing, but wanted it to be a little more gussied up. We had come over the summer to water and weed, and I felt protective of it–I did not want that bag of swiss chard to become forlorn and fuzzy in the veggie drawer.
First I peeled the leaves from the stalks, washed them and then chiffonaded them. Then I washed the stalks and chopped them. I had a bag of big, beautiful shallots from the farmer’s market, and chopped about 6 of them too (3/4 cup). And I grabbed an apple, peeled it, and diced it. I noticed that after it was going for a while, it could use a little bit of culinary jazz hands. That’s when I added the sherry wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and later, the maple syrup. Hello!
Recipe
1 bunch chard, stalks chopped and leaves chiffonaded. Keep stalks separate from leaves during prep.
1/2 cup shallots or a mild onion, sliced and then chopped
1 tart apple, peeled and diced
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp. sherry wine vinegar
Maple syrup to taste
1 cup broth and/or water
Heat up broth in a saute pan. Once it’s bubbling, add chopped chard stalks (say that 3 times fast) and shallots. Stir, coat. Keep an eye on it, periodically stirring and adding liquid to prevent sticking for 5 minutes. Then add apples and chard leaves, stirring to combine everything. Add 1 tbsp. of sherry wine vinegar, 1 tbsp. of toasted sesame oil and mix them in.
NOTE: You might wonder why the sherry wine vinegar. Why bother with it when you have red wine vinegar? Because…there’s just something so sublime about the sherry, sesame and maple syrup combination. You can make do with another vinegar but it won’t have the particular mellowly complex, golden, virtuosic flavor that I love about this dish.
Once the leaves are wilted, cover the pan, lower the heat to simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. When you do lift the cover, the hash should be soft but also have a little crunch. Drizzle some maple syrup on the mixture, give it a stir, and then serve. It’s so colorful–and even moreso if you use rainbow chard.
We had it alongside a roasted chicken, with gravy and mashed potatoes.
I’m on this kick with roasting chickens in a big cast-iron covered pot. I got the idea from the latest Canal House Cookbook.
I put a whole chicken, rubbed with olive oil, salted and peppered, into my pot, add 2 cups of water, and then a sprig of any herbs I have on hand. I bake it at 375 for 45 minutes, covered, then remove the cover, baste it, and bake it for another half hour.
The chicken comes out incredibly moist (especially the white meat, which has a tendency to dry out otherwise). It basically steams for the first 45 minutes, and then gets a chance to crisp up and brown during the second step. I put the chicken on a cutting board to rest, then get going on the gravy. Luckily, since the juices are in a pot already, I put it on a burner and get it up to a rolling boil. Like my mama taught me, I whisk a few tablespoons of flour into a cup of water, then add it, stir it in to the rolling broth, and soon it’s thickened into wonderful spoon-coating gravy. Depending on the proportions, sometimes I have to add a second round of floury water, but I do so sparingly, since I don’t want to dilute the gravy too much.
And a little word on the potatoes: I finally got a potato ricer, after years of hearing that it makes the most divine potatoes in the world. I boiled them, riced them, put them in Baby’s mixing bowl (Baby is our pale blue KitchenAid mixer), with hot skim milk, and about 1.5 tablespoons of Earth Balance. I let the mixer do its magic. Then I sprinkled 2 tablespoons parmesan on top, covered the mixing bowl, and put it in the oven to stay warm while everything else finished up. That little bit of cheese got melty and gooey…adding a ton of decadent impact with only a tad bit of fat.
I am so glad that little bag of swiss chard inspired me to make such a unilaterally well-received meal. I practically got carried out of the room on everyone’s shoulders.
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I’m giving away 3 cute diaper covers from gDiapers’ new fall color line:
Grubby Knees Gray: Medium
Goddess Pink: Large
Gooseberry Purple: Large
To enter to win, please leave a comment below with your preference (med. gray, large pink, or large purple)
Thanks!
Candace
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Vapour Organic Beauty (based in Taos, New Mexico) would like to give away the following:
The winner gets to pick the colors, mais oui.
To enter to win, please leave a comment below with your favorite Vapour product.
For a second chance to win, Like their facebook page by clicking HERE, and then come back and leave me a second comment letting me know that you did.
Thanks, beauties!
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My delightful cousin-in-law (is that the right term?) Cassidy André Barbeau, is a mompreneur living in beautiful Costa Rica with her cutie husband Paul and two darling children, Paisley and Satori.
She is the creator of Pura Vida Pantry, located on facebook, which provides delicious daily recipes for people who want to add more vegetarian and vegan meals to their lives. Many of her recipes are also made from raw, living foods.
She makes it look easy! And…she makes it easy, too. I have a big detector for needlessly complicated recipes–I won’t use them–and hers are simple, yet deliciously compelling.
I hit her up to be a part of an A la Mama giveaway, and she graciously agreed to give away one copy of her print cookbook and one digital copy of it two two lucky A la Mama readers. She is also going to sell her cookbooks for a 15% off for the next 24 hours, to give A la Mama readers a nice price break if they’re ready to get some Pura Vida goin’ on.
Print version: usually $25, now $21.25
E-version: $20, now $17
If you buy the book, but then end up being the winner, she will refund your money. So just know that. : )
You can order a cookbook by clicking HERE.
Here’s how you enter to win:
1) leave a comment below with your preference of print or e-version of the cookbook
2) for a second chance to win, click here to go to the Pura Vida Pantry facebook page, “like” it, and then come back and let me know that you did.
Pura vida! (as defined by Cassidy: “a common saying in Costa Rica, where I live. It literally translates to “Pure Life”, although it is a lot more encompassing of a phrase, meaning to live kindly, be happy, have no worries, and take time to ‘chillax.’ It is also a perfect way to think about the ideal lifestyle….PURE LIFE. Meaning keep it as close to the way nature intended as possible.”)
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Renew, reuse, repurpose…yes! But forget about it feeling dutiful…one more thing to fret about. Cuter&Cuter brings luxe craftsmanship and couture details to the table.
This Swiss company founded by designers Malin Wallenberg and Adrian Coville, transforms dad’s or grandpa’s old button-down shirt into a beautiful dress for his little girl. The finished product is French seamed, fully lined with soft silk and embellished with different combinations of surface decorations.
“As a little girl I used my father’s shirt as a security blanket and a reminder of him. Nearly forty years later I can still feel his presence when I think of that shirt. The white one with tiny blue bicycles on it. The comfort of my father’s shirt is still in my heart,” says Malin.
One lucky A la Mama reader will win a handmade dress…you’ll send the shirt in the mail with size details, and then receive its beautifully metamorphosed version: an heirloom keepsake for now and for future generations.
Cuter&Cuter is also offering Mothering readers a 30% discount through the end of November (mention Mothering in your order form). Don’t be shy; give it a try!
How to enter: leave a comment below. I’m so excited…I can’t wait to find out who wins…and you’ll have to send me a photo of the finished piece so I can post it right here on A la Mama.
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Good morning, mamas.
Teatulia is offering two wonderful prize packs to you tea drinkers out there–and I happen to be one, so high five. (I also like to drink coffee–I love hot beverages, especially in the fall). One prize pack has teas with caffeine; the other is made up of herbal infusions.
I’ve been drinking Teatulia for a year now; I love their tea’s clean, delicious flavors. I also love their packaging: wonderful, green, reusable eco canisters.
1. For the caffeinated mamas:
a 3-canister pack of Teatulia’s “Classics”: Black tea, Bengal Breakfast tea, and Earl of Bengal tea.
2. For the herbal mamas:
a 2-canister pack of Lemongrass herbal infusion and Ginger herbal infusion.
Here’s how you enter to win:
1. Click here to sign up for their newsletter, and get 20% off any order you’d like to place. The newsletter sign-up box is at the bottom right corner of the homepage. It’s not a fussy procedure–you just pop in your email address and that’s it.
2. Then, leave a comment below letting me know that you signed up. And tell me whether you’d like prize pack 1 (caffeinated tea) or prize pack 2 (herbal).
3. For another chance to win, click here to “like” them on facebook and let me know that you did so in a second comment below.
You can also follow them on twitter: www.twitter.com/teatulia.
Good luck and happy sippings.
More about Teatulia:
Teatulia has implemented “natural farming” practices that result in a “closed loop” eco and social system. No pesticides, machinery or unnatural irrigation are used in the cultivation. Consequently, ten years since its inception, their “virgin” garden, developed on fallow land, is now a thriving ecosystem teeming with once endangered flora and fauna.
SINGLE-GARDEN-DIRECT
Teatulia’s teas and herbal infusions come directly from the first USDA-Certified Organic garden in Bangladesh. There are no middlemen. No long term warehousing. They do not wait around to be bulk-blended by a third party trader. It’s directly from their garden to you.
SOCIALLY-RESPONSIBLE
The Teatulia Cooperative creates sustainable prosperity for Bangladeshi women, men and children through education, entrepreneurship, health and cattle-lending programs.
Specific examples of Teatulia’s social programs include:
• Poverty alleviation through cattle rearing
• Health and hygiene programs
• Farm sharing
• Adult literary education
• Distribution of herbal and medicinal plants
• Recreation for the youth
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