Greeneroo

This ice cream is great, tasty, creamy, fresh! I got to taste it during a demo at Costco, and was so impressed. Laloo’s green commitment is phenomenal. The location of the happy goats and HQ is Petaluma. It naturally has less fat and lactose than cows milk and all the essential amino acids. Slow food is a priority, and they compost too, considering each step of production. They have invited us to all come and visit them at the Wednesday night Petaluma Farmer’s Market or other events.  Try Cajeta de Leche, froyo with a caramel swirl and Texas toffee bits, it will make you cry with happiness. Laloos is easy to find at the Bay Area stores (and throughout the US) below:

• Whole Food’s Market
• Mollie Stone’s
• Piazza’s Market (Palo Alto, San Mateo)
• Draeger’s Market
• Andronicos
• There is a store locator on the site, just plug in your zip code to find a store next to you

City of Palo Alto Utilites puts together a great resource guide, Earth Matters, it is informative and will help you get started on a green cleaning path. The guide has more information on amonia, carpet cleaners, glass cleaners, bleach, oven cleaners and drain cleaners.  Most people don’t consider the full ramification of using these products (do you always wear gloves?), storing these products (they will fall during an earthquake and mix in your garage!) or disposing of these products (not down the drain, take them to Toxic Waste Disposal sites in your community):

• The summary includes common cleaners and their harmful components
• VOCs in cleaners
• Green alternatives

It is easy to make a switch, my favorite easy green product is BAKING SODA, it gets dark stains off quickly, even tea stains on cups. Choosing wisely helps your environment, the air quality in your home, avoiding toxic mixtures of products/chemical spills and saves you money.

The slow food movement changed my life. I started paying attention to what I ate, and how I prepared it. It was no longer enough to eat organic, healthy food. If I was eating while driving, eating while distracted or jamming stuff in my mouth, I wasn’t meeting my goal to reach a new state of mind about FOOD.
So many years of slow food, helped me focus.
NOW… Enter Phase II.
I now have a pair of knives that I love, they help me complete the process, I know how to sharpen them, I take care of them. I can prepare my vegetables with ease and grace. Yes, this is “mind-blowing” to me. I never realized that the proper equipment is so essential.
Now, I am astonished at how I feel about my meals – the care and consideration of my food starts well before cooking. It starts at selecting, picking and cutting. I am using Japanese knives that are strong, beautiful and balanced and deadly sharp.

And here is the thrill, they are great tools because I SHARPEN THEM and because I KNOW HOW to use them. Cutting food is now a meditation, I am focused and really thinking about what I am doing.  (btw – I have the Ashi Home Set in case you want to know.)  Jonathan taught me and I’m learning a new way to cut, cook and eat.
For more information or to take the knife skills class I took, contact:
Jonathan D Broida
Japanese Knife Imports
310-570-2566
9154 Wilshire Blvd. Ste 550
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/
jon@japaneseknifeimports.com

100% Pure, I love them. They are based in Oakland, CA. They have a great online store, and you can always go there, however, there is nothing better than checking out the fragrances and look and feel of a product. Their knowledgeable staff can help you select something that is “just right” for YOU.
I selected two things:

Carrot Facial Scrub
Fruit Pigmented Ultra Lengthening 100% Natural Mascara

Both products are GREAT. The mascara really works, doesn’t clump and doesn’t stink like the traditional brands. I love knowing that the product can go next to my eyes – such a sensitive area – without problems.
The Carrot Scrub in wonderful, made with with juice and oils, it is rich and hydrating. It has anti-aging ingredients, it made a really a great facial.

Here is the store information on Santana Row:

378 Santana Row
San Jose, CA 95128
Phone: (408) 244-PURE (7873)

Store Hours
Mon-Sat 11 pm to 9 pm
Sun 11 am to 8 pm

Mark your Calendars – this is one of the nicest events. Sign up for the 26th annual Palo Alto Weekly Moonlight Run & Walk! The popular event will be held Sept. 24, 2010, at the Baylands Athletic Center off Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto. Sign up for the 5K run or walk, or go all out and try the 10K run. The evening also features music, refreshments, prize giveaways, a climbing wall for kids and much more. Register now.

More Information:

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/moonlight_run/

I get postings from Yahoo Green on Facebook and really enjoy them. You can “friend” them and get the same. Here is an example about personal care products: http://green.yahoo.com/blog/care2/22/easy-recipes-for-making-your-own-personal-care-products.html  I like this article because it is succint and has multiple options so I’ll share it with you.

They have combined several recipes and suggestions for

• Toothpaste
• Perfume
• Deodorant
• Facial Scrub
• Shampoo and Conditioner

The Angry Chicken blog post on homemade deodorant still has me laughing. Amy has a great sense of humor and really watches out for her kids.

This stuff is so expensive at the “organic stores” and why not make it yourself, for less, and fresher?  

Skin Care Products – Simple Ingredients

One other hint: baking soda is the best cleanser… don’t buy the bleach based stuff, use baking soda for cleaning sinks, hot tub rings around the water line and much more.

Calafia is a GREAT local place, located in the Town and Country Shopping Center, near Trader Joes. Don’t think for one single second this is a “mall restaurant” or fast food…. YOU ARE IN FOR A TREAT. Calafia has healthy, tasty, innovative food with ambiance.

The menu includes the best ingredients and products around. Every effort is made to provide the freshest, tastiest food, Chef Charlie Ayers is committed to this.

I have had several meals at Calafia, they really make every effort to tell you how things are prepared and encourage questions. Of course, you can’t eat everything …. but each choice will be a good one. If it isn’t right, they want to know — so customer service is a big part of this restaurant.

Last time, I had the best Ahi Tuna I have ever eaten, tender, delicate flavor, light citrus sauce, fresh corn niblets, beautiful presentation. Many flavors in each bite, it was food to savor. I also wanted to try the pork (I don’t normally eat pork, but it is so popular, I need to find out for myself  since several pork dinners went past while I was eating.)

Next time, I’ll try:

Fiery Bottom BBQ Pork Bowl (GF) (DF)

Shredded pork shoulder, spicy BBQ sauce, sautéed spinach, yam sunnyside up quail egg, green onion, brown rice or quinoa pilaf: 12 

BEST OF PALO ALTO

the competition is stiff and Calafia really deserves this honor. Submit your ballot by July 11, 2010.

Location: El Camino / Embarcadero Rd, in Town and Country Shopping Center
855 El Camino Real # 130
Palo Alto, CA 94301-2335
(650) 322-9200

Cafe Hours:
On Weekdays: Lunch 11 am 4:30 pm M-F  |  Dinner 4:30 pm 9:00 pm M-F

On Weekends: Brunch 9:00 am 3:00 pm |  Dinner 3:00 pm 9:00 pm

Summer hours: Dinner extended to 9:30 pm fri & sat

Market Hours:
9 am – 8:30 pm 7 days a week

Enjoying great art, can help sustain us. Art can help us remember the beautiful pathways and gardens and peaceful settings. Make time to visit a museum and fill your eyes with beauty.

 The Impressionists are here in the SF Bay Area. Get to the exhibit at the Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919) Path in a Wood, 1910 – Musee Renoir, Les Collettes, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France.

This follows the basic rule of EAT LESS PROCESSED FOOD!  Try SLOW FOOD!

Harvard researchers have more information in their latest study on brown rice and Type 2 Diabetes.

And Tara Parker-Pope writes in the NY Times:

Brown rice is a whole grain — white rice before it has been refined and polished and stripped of the bran covering, which is high in fiber and nutrients. Brown rice also has a lower glycemic index than white rice, which means it doesn’t cause blood glucose levels to rise as rapidly.

Now a new study from researchers at Harvard reports that Americans who eat two or more servings of brown rice a week reduce their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by about 10 percent compared to people who eat it less than once a month. And those who eat white rice on a regular basis — five or more times a week — are almost 20 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who eat it less than once a month.

Just replacing a third of a serving of white rice with brown each day could reduce one’s risk of Type 2 diabetes by 16 percent, a statistical analysis showed. A serving is a cup of cooked rice.

Note: For a great book on whole grains and eating, you must read the classic, Diet for a Small Planet by Francis Moore Lappe – it changed our way of looking at food.  If you are trying to change your food habits, this book will get you on the right track, recipes are plentiful as well as detailed explanations about “WHY?”. She runs the Small Planet Institue with her daughter, Anna,  and speaks around the country. 

More information on brown rice, don’t you just love wikis?

Are you ready to make a change, but need help fast? You’ll LOVE this healthy fast brown rice recipe – 10 minutes that is all it takes.

Reducing Paper Waste, a great place to focus at the Bear’s Lair Camp which continues this summer with the introduction of GreenSpec-Listed and LEED-Qualifying high-speed hand dryers! These dryers will have a dry time of just 12 seconds while using half the energy of other hand dryers AND perhaps most importantly, the Blue and Gold pool kids will be using significantly less paper towels this season. This will be the first step in evaluating the functionality of this concept at camp – it is hoped that we will integrate more hand dryers throughout all the camps to continue to reduce the Lair’s overall paper consumption.