Monthly Archives: August 2011
Product Review: Applegate Farms
| August 19, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Review |
Applegate Farms is one of the few bigger named meats I will buy. For most of our meat, I buy local food so that I know how it was raised. See I’m very picky about my meat, I want it to be raised organically and humanely. Here is what they say is they promise their customers-
- Our animals are never given antibiotics. Healthy animals don’t need medicine. Instead, we give them space, fresh air, and a healthy diet, which we’re certain beats the alternative.
- Our livestock eat a completely vegetarian diet with no animal by-products. Cattle in our organic program are grass-fed. Hogs and poultry in our organic program are fed a grain diet that includes corn, soy, barley, and flax that are free from GMOs.
- Our animals are never given hormones or artificial growth promotants. They grow at their natural rate.
- All of our products are made with natural and organic ingredients. If you aren’t familiar with a particular ingredient, email us and we’ll tell you what it is.
- Our products are all minimally processed, allowing for a wholesome texture and taste.
- Our products never contain artificial nitrates or nitrites. Instead, we use celery juice and sea salt to preserve our products the natural and old fashioned way.
- Our deli meat, hot dogs, burgers, and bacon are gluten and casein free.
- Our products are made from natural and organic whole muscle meat. Yes, even our hot dogs! No mystery here.
You can even track your products by using the code on the back and entering it in to the site. And to make all of this even better, their food tastes great as well.
I have tried the follow products; The Greatest Little Organic Smokey Pork Cocktail Franks, The Great Organic Hot Dogs, Organic Beef Hots, Organic Sunday Bacon, Organic Roasted Chicken cold cuts, Organic Roasted Turkey Breast cold cuts, Organic Uncured Ham cold cuts, Natural Pepperoni, Organic Beef Burgers, Organic Turkey Burgers, Organic Chicken Strips, Natural Chicken and Apple Breakfast Sausage, Natural Savory Turkey Breakfast Sausage, Natural Classic Pork Breakfast Sausage, Organic Provolone Cheese, and Organic Muenster Kase Cheese.
I have yet to find one of their products that I don’t like. Some of my favorites though are the Great Organic Hot Dogs, Organic Sunday Bacon, Organic Roasted Chicken cold cuts, Natural Pepperoni, and the Natural Chicken and Apple Breakfast Sausage. These are products I buy pretty often. I even have some of the hot dogs and sausage in my freezer right now. And we ate some of the sausage just the other day with some pancakes and even my husband that doesn’t like sausage that much really enjoyed them.
Applegate Farms products can be found at natural grocery stores all over as well as Whole Foods and even some big name conventional grocery stores. And you can order online. Be sure to check out their products, they are one company that is showing how meat should be raised and sold!
Disclaimer: I was giving some of these items to review by Applegate Farms. However, I was not paid for the review and these are my honest views. For more info please read my full disclaimer.
Amazing News!
| August 16, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
This is will just be a quick post as it’s 1 a.m. and I should be in bed. It also will have lots of typos and not be at all well written, but I’m excited and don’t care, I’m not even proof reading this haha. Tonight was my town’s city council meeting and one of the things they were talking about contracting out our trash pick-up because our landfill is about five years away from being full. I knew curbside recycling was being talked about because I serve on the local recycling coalition. Several of our members went to push for curbside.
In the meeting it was clear some of the council members didn’t seem for curbside. I even texted my husband saying “we may be in for a fight.” The mayor even commented that he thought it would be to much of a change for people and we should wait awhile. My mom and I looked at each other saying, if we wait it won’t happen. So a couple of the coalition members spoke and the mayor said he could be convinced either way so I got up to speak as well. I had a few notes with some recycling facts but mostly spoke from the heart. Recycling and the environment are my passions so I was nervous and excited all at once. After I talked the mayor said “well you convinced me.” (or something to that effect) I was shocked and so happy when he said that. I thought they would argue with what I had to say but they didn’t and it made a real difference! The other members talked about more details but the mayor seemed to already know his vote and finally he got everyone else to vote and they voted 5-0 in favor of curbside recycling! The room burst out in applause and the recycling coalition members were smiling from ear to ear and went to the parking lot and cheered. It just goes to show, if you are active and speak up you can make change, even in a small rural town in Oklahoma!
Oklahoma is Burning Up
| August 13, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
And I mean that literally! We have been having record high temps, even had the hottest July on record in Oklahoma. The whole state is under a burn ban because we are also having the worst drought since 1921. We have had a few cooler days and some rain the past few days but we are still in a major drought and will be back up to triple digits next week.
Last week my dad, a volunteer fire, fought a fire in a near by town that was over 600 acres. He then shortly after had to fight one near my town that burned around 740 acres. That fire went on for about 18 hours and he was out there for about 12 or so of those hours. They didn’t leave the fire until around 4 a.m. There were even bigger fires around the state last week as well.
My town was under a water emergency for awhile, after the rain they lifted it but I don’t think it should have been. We got maybe 1-2 inches of rain in the last 78 days, that’s not enough to fill the aquifer and springs. We are still under watering restrictions but we need more, IMO.
I have never seen it so dry. Everything is dying. To give you an idea how bad it is, here are some pictures.
Near by fire
Same fire
This was one of my flower barrels in July, they are all dead now.
Dead 2 year old lily and marigolds. This is with almost daily watering.
This was mid-July, it's much worse now.
This was mid-July, cracks are bigger, deeper and there are more of them.
This tree is around 15 or more years old. We have even been watering it.
Oklahoma has a lot of farms and ranches but many are having to sell because of the weather. Hay prices are quite high and it’s also hard to find. Normally right now people would be cutting hay for the second time this year but instead they are already feeding livestock hay due to the lack of grass. We also had a terrible winter. We had record snow fall, were in a drought (snow doesn’t add much moisture), and had a freeze in May which is almost unheard of around here. So Oklahoma is really hurting. We are under a state of emergency and have been for awhile now.
If you would like to help the firefighters (97% of our firefighters are volunteers) and Oklahoman’s please donate to the Central Oklahoma branch of the American Red Cross. They take food and water to the firefighters, have set up cooling stations, and are helping families that have lost homes due to the fires.
Photo Credits: Fire photos are property of Pontotoc County Emergency Management. Other photos are my personal photos.
Reuseit Giveaway and Coupon Code *Closed*
| August 11, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Back to School, Giveaway |
Need to do some back to school shopping? Reuseit is the place to get all your waste-free lunch supplies. They carry everything from lunch bags to cloth napkins. Here are a few of my favorites. (click on the images for more info)
Kids Konserve Waste-Free Lunch Kit
Graze Organic Reusable Snack Bags
LunchBots, which are currently 20% off!
Klean Kanteen Reusable Bottles
To help you with your back to school shopping, Reuseit is offer a $50 e-certificate for one lucky reader. And also offering a coupon for everyone! Details below.
$10 off your order of $50 or more
-enter RETRO at check out
-subtotal must be at least $50
-one coupon per customer
-cannot be combined with other coupons
-expires 8/19/11, midnight CST
And now for the rules-
1. Post your e-mail!!!!! Every time people forget, you can’t win if you don’t leave an e-mail address.
2. Go to Reuseit.com and have a look around, come back and tell me what you would buy if you won. This is the mandatory entry.
3. Enter by August 19th at 11:59 p.m.
Extra Entries (post separate comment for each):
1. Blog about the giveaway, post link.
2. Post on Twitter, post link.
3. Add me on Twitter @retrohousewife5, leave username in comment.
4. Follow me, let me know which way you are following. (Google, NetworkedBlog, E-mail, other)
5. Add my button to your site. (the button and code are on the right side of the page) Be sure to leave a link for where you put the button.
6. Subscribe to the Retro Housewife Goes Green newsletter. (Find the link on the top of the page)
7. Like Retro Housewife Goes Green on Facebook.
8. Like Reuseit on Facebook.
9. Follow @Reuseit_store on Twitter.
Remember post a separate comment for each of the above ways to enter! They will only count if they are separate.
*This giveaway is sponsored by Reuseit. The prizes comes from them. I was not paid for this post. I am an affiliate with Reuseit and earn small percent if you buy from a link on my page. These are my honest opinions.
Eco Back to School Twitter Party Recap
| August 10, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Back to School, Twitter Party |
Sunday night was the #ecoback2school Twitter Party and it went really well. It was sponsored by The Ultimate Green Store. A lot of people attended and dozens of ideas were shared. You can still search the hash tag on Twitter to read some of the posts. Here are some highlights.
@DeannaPiercy I save bags from cereal boxes instead of buying baggies. Very sturdy and easy to wash. #ecoback2school
@SchoolBagMom Getting your child involved and invested in being eco friendly and green is the key to success! #ecoback2school
@UltGreenStore #ecoback2school Laptop Lunchboxes come as whole systems w/carrying cases but on a budget u can just buy the bento boxes and containers
@retrohousewife5 It’s estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch, generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. #ecoback2school
@PeopleTowels Be creative. Make or use what you have. Also look at reusables as an investment that saves money long term #ecoback2school
@DeannaPiercy Remember: Progress, not perfection. Start with just one thing if finances are tight. #ecoback2school
@UltGreenStore #ecoback2school Packaging reps 65% of household trash.
@HuppieMama I was thinking about the cost of packaging while grocery shopping today, esp. plastic bags! Glad I do reusable bags! #ecoback2school
The Ultimate Green Store also had some great prizes for the party goers, here are the winners.
@seaweedgirle- Terracycle Pencil Case
@xstitchschool- Green Apple Highlighters
@ReneeJ68- Prang Soy Blend Crayons
@martiferg- $25 gift certificate to The Ultimate Green Store
This is just a tiny sampling of what happened at the Twitter Party. If you couldn’t make it keep an eye out, I hope to host more soon. And thanks to everyone that did join it, it was a blast!
Disclaimer: I was giving these items to review by The Ultimate Green Store and also was hired to host a Twitter Party. However, I was not paid for the review and these are my honest views. I’m also an affiliate for The Ultimate Green Store and earn a small amount if you buy from the links in this post. For more info please read my full disclaimer.
Eco-Friendly School Supplies
| August 6, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Back to School |
School supplies can contain all kinds of toxins like PVC, lead and phthalates. We already talked about waste-free lunches but now it’s time to talk about other supplies you may need. (click on the images for more information)
Backpacks
EcoGear Backpack
EcoZoo Backpacks
Pencils, Markers, Etc…
Prang Soy Blend Crayons
Recycled & Non-Toxic Markers
Eco-Friendly Highlighters
Recycled Pencils
Notebooks, Paper, & Binders
Rebinder Eco-Friendly Binders
Recycled Paper
Banana Leaf Paper Notebooks
Be sure to check out the waste-free lunch ideas. You can find more school supplies at The Ultimate Green Store. If you have favorite eco-friendly school supplies please post in the comments below. And don’t forget to join me and The Ultimate Green Store at the Eco Back to School Twitter Party this Sunday.
*Disclaimer: I was not paid for this post, this is my honest opinion. I was given some review products in the post from a few companies listed. I am a Rebinder and The Ultimate Green Store affiliate. I earn a small percent of products bought from Rebinder or The Ultimate Green Store.
Giveaway: Greenalicious Bags
| August 5, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Back to School, Giveaway |
There are a lot of great reusable sandwich and snack bags out there but these Greenalicious Bags are unique because they are lined with 100% certified organic cotton and the exterior is made using repurposed fabrics. They are mom made in Canada and super cute. The bags are also machine washable so easy to care for.
Greenalicious Bags has been kind enough to 2 bags each to 2 different winners. These are a must-have for this school year so be sure to enter.
And now for the rules-
1. Post your e-mail!!!!! Every time people forget, you can’t win if you don’t leave an e-mail address.
2. Go to Greenalicious Bags and have a look around, come back and tell me what two bags you would pick if you won. This is the mandatory entry.
3. Enter by August 13th at 11:59 p.m.
The giveaway is open to US and Canada.
Extra Entries (post separate comment for each):
1. Blog about the giveaway, post link.
2. Post on Twitter, post link.
3. Add me on Twitter @retrohousewife5, leave username in comment.
4. Follow me, let me know which way you are following. (Google, NetworkedBlog, E-mail, other)
5. Add my button to your site. (the button and code are on the right side of the page) Be sure to leave a link for where you put the button.
6. Subscribe to the Retro Housewife Goes Green newsletter. (Find the link on the top of the page)
7. Like Retro Housewife Goes Green on Facebook.
8. Like Greenalicious Bags on Facebook.
Remember post a separate comment for each of the above ways to enter! They will only count if they are separate.
*This giveaway is sponsored by Greenalicious Bags. The prizes comes from them. I was not paid for this post. These are my honest opinions.
Waste-Free Lunches
| August 3, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Back to School |
Disposable school lunches can create a lot of waste, around 67 pounds per year, per child. You can reduce waste and save money by making your child’s lunch waste-free. Here are some great products that can be used for waste-free lunches. (click on the images for more info)
Lunch Boxes
EcoZoo Lunch Boxes
Reuseit Recycled Cotton Bag
BlueAvocado Insulated Bag
Reusable Containers
Graze Organic Reusable Sandwich and Snack Bags
Kids Konserve Containers
LunchBot Containers
Reusable Bottles
Klean Kanteen
EarthLust
Extras
People Towels
To-Go Ware
Ice Pack
Full Kits
Citizenpip Soup to Nuts Kit
Kids Konserve Kit
Laptop Lunch Kit
Don’t forget to come to the Eco Back 2 School Twitter Party this Sunday to win great prizes and learn more about going green this school year.
*Disclaimer: I was not paid for this post, this is my honest opinion. I was given some review products in the post from a few companies listed. I am a Reuseit.com and The Ultimate Green Store affiliate. I earn a small percent of products bought from Reuseit.com or The Ultimate Green Store. For more info please read my full disclaimer.*
Ultimate Green Store Review
| August 2, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Back to School, Review |
The Ultimate Green Store is just what it’s name suggests, the ultimate store for all things green. They have a large range of back to school products and many other products. Currently they are running a back to school sale where you can get free shipping if you spend $75. Just use the coupon code: TUGSFREESHIP
The Ultimate Green Store sent me some great products to review, a Laptop Lunch Kit, Green Apple Eco-friendly Highlighter Pencils, Terracycle Drink Pouch Pencil Case, and Prang Soybean Blend Biodegradable Crayons. Here are my thoughts on the products.
Laptop Lunch Kit- The kit comes with everything you need, an insulated lunch tote, five food containers and stainless steel utensils. The kit is BPA, PVC, phthalate, and lead free. It seems like a very easy to use system. It’s easy to open so kids shouldn’t have trouble.
Terracycle Drink Pouch Pencil Case- Terracycle products are fun because they are made using upcycled products, like in this case, drink pouches. My husband has given away a few Terracycle products to his students- he is a public school teacher- and the kids love them.
Really with all of these products my only con is with the lunch kit. I found it had a bit of an odor before washing it, not sure what it comes from. Also I would rather food not touch plastic. However, many of my greenie friends love these kits and they work well for them. If you feel plastic is the better way to go for your family this kit is much safer than other plastics.
I feel The Ultimate Green Store is a wonderful store to find many wonderful products, including the ones listed above. The prices are reasonable and the selection is great. It’s worth a look, especially for back to school shopping.
As a bonus I’m giving away these same products (all but the lunch kit) and a gift certificate to The Ultimate Green Store this Sunday (August 7th) at a back to school Twitter Party! You don’t want to miss it so go RSVP so you can win these wonderful prizes. Also be sure to follow The Ultimate Green Store on Facebook and Twitter.
Disclaimer: I was giving these items to review by The Ultimate Green Store and also was hired to host a Twitter Party. However, I was not paid for the review and these are my honest views. I’m also an affiliate for The Ultimate Green Store and earn a small amount if you buy from the links in this post. For more info please read my full disclaimer.
Green Back to School Blog Carnival
| August 1, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Back to School |
Summer is coming to an end and it’s time to start thinking about the upcoming school year. The school year can be very wasteful but it doesn’t have to be. There are many great products out there and ways to reduce waste, while at school. Here are a few posts from bloggers on ways to have a greener school year.
Robbie at Going Green Mama talks about school uniforms and saving money and resources by creating a school uniform exchange.
Tiffany at Nature Moms Blog gives great ideas for greener school supplies.
Lisa at Granola Catholic also gives her suggestions for greener school supplies.
The women over at Eco Women: Protectors of the Planet! have several blogs about having a greener school year. Here are the ones they have posted so far.
Make Your PTO/PTA a Greener Organization
Saving money on kids’ clothes
Lunch Time!
Notebooks, paper, pencils, and more
Eco-Friendly Backpacks
Daisy at Compost Happens is a teacher and talks about greening her own wardrobe for back to school.
Sandy at Modern Simplicity has a couple of posts on greening the school year.
Back-to-School Tips for the Elementary Crowd
Packing Lunch for Schoolers
BTS LunchBox: High Fructose Corn Syrup
And finally one of my older posts about greening your homeschool year.
Don’t forget to come back all this week for more ways to green the school year and be sure to join us August 7th for a back to school Twitter Party. The sponsor is Ultimate Green Store and they have donated some great prizes!
Didn’t get your post sent in, in time? Post it in the Linky below. Just put the title of the blog for the name and a direct link to the post in the spot for a URL.
