We Love You Amylu

Being a green mom sometimes has it's challenges. Sure, I could easily slap some lunch meat between two slices of over processed bread with processed cheese and call it a day for my kids' meals, but I am really trying to make a difference in their health and well being. When their friends are constantly getting sick, my kids are continually taking their probiotic and fish oil supplements and staying healthy. I'm no better than any other mom, but I do try to take advice from everyone I can (who makes sense and has experience in the area of interest) and realize that I don't know it all and there's always room for improvement.

Sometimes it can get tricky feeding my sons healthy food, without them complaining that it tastes, "healthy". Years ago, I came across a brand of poultry, gluten-free products that taste amazing!Sausages by Amylu are a line of intensely flavored, lean and nutritious gourmet chicken sausages. High in protein, low in fat and carbs, they make delicious entrees. I sometimes use as them as ingredients to enhance appetizers, salads, soups or pastas.

What I love about the variety of Sausages by Amylu is that they are conveniently fully-cooked, making them quick and easy to prepare. Because they are GLUTEN-FREE, 100% ALL-NATURAL, made with 100% FRESH, boneless, skinless chicken breast and thigh meat, I know my kids will scarf them down without a "food fight". As a Green Mom, I'm glad that that there are no nitrates, preservatives, added MSG or anything artificial in the any of their products.

My favorite mid-day mom snack: Amylu's Apple & Maple Chicken Sausage sliced lengthwise and heated up (for a fast healthy snack) in the toaster oven, served with a small slice of local Wisconsin cheddar cheese and sliced apples! Power mom lunch including, protein, healthy fat and a touch of sweetness and salt.


A little bit about the founder of Amylu sausages:

Owner and CEO, Amylu Kurzawski is no stranger to the sausage business. Established in 1924 as Leon’s Sausage Company by her grandfather Leon Tiahnybik, ATK Foods is a third-generation family-owned and operated food products company. In 1922, Slotkowski Sausage, famous in Chicago for its history of producing high quality sausage products in the old-world tradition, was added to the company’s portfolio of brands. After two years of R&D, Sausages by Amylu gourmet all-natural chicken sausages was launched in 1994 offering consumers delicious on-trend flavors and healthy alternative to pork/beef sausages. “We try to keep us with the latest food and lifestyle trends – and apply them to our products”, says Amylu. “That’s why my sausages are flavorful, lean, convenient and versatile – exactly what today’s consumers are looking for in sausage products.”

I'd love to meet Amylu sometime and thank her!

For you Chicagoland moms, you can find Sausages by Amylu at Jewel-Osco, Whole Foods, Dominick’s, Treasure Island, Sunset Foods, Grand Food Centers, Olivia’s Market and Peapod.

To find out more, find locations near you or to SHOP ONLINE click here.

Soy it Isn't So!

Thanks to one of the most revealing newsletters I read today, www.healthfreedomalliance.org:
It is no secret that at Health Freedom Alliance in the choice between regular and organic food, they prefer organic! They take great strides to provide their members with as much scientific research as they can on the harmful effects of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics that are used in the food industry today. They know they are not alone and that many of their members go out of their way to shop for organic foods and maybe even pay a little more to keep themselves and their families as healthy as possible. Which is why it is so disturbing to find out that the food company giant Dean Foods has recently been caught trying to fool customers into thinking the Silk brand soy milk they produced was organic.

At one point, up until early 2009, the milk was made with organic soybeans. But then Dean Foods switched to conventional soybeans, which most of the time are grown with pesticides. Somehow they forgot to mention this to anyone. They kept the same bar codes on the milk cartons and kept the label the same, while only quietly switching the word "organic" with "natural." And of course they kept the price the same. Because the bar codes were kept the same even some retail grocery stores were just as fooled as the consumer. Said one store owner. "We don't want to be part of customer deception." It appears that consumers need to be more careful then ever in distinguishing between organic and natural labels.

*Rule of thumb, read labels!!

Born Free

I am 7 years gone from having an infant and often miss that time in my children's lives. There are so many wonderful new products for infants, nowadays. Here's one I wish were around when I needed it.

BornFree, an all-natural, Bisphenol-A (BPA), Phthalates and PVC free line of bottles, cups, pacifiers, teethers and accessories for babies and kids.

BornFree was the first brand to provide a completely safe line to consumers, even before health concerns over plastic bottles and chemicals made the headlines. The products also have unique venting systems that minimize vacuum pressure as well as orthodontic silicone nipples and pacifiers, safe for kids’ developing teeth (developed under the guidelines of biological dentistry).

A-List celebrities like Nicole Richie, Halle Berry, Ashlee Simpson Wentz, Heidi Klum and Tori Spelling are all huge fans of the brand and use the products with their kids. BornFree products are sold at Target, Babies R Us, CVS, Whole Foods, Buy Buy Baby and more. Check it out!

New Parents Eco Tips

New parents want what’s best for their baby; parenting is a full time job without sick days or paid vacation, which leaves little room for your other concerns - like being mindful of the environment. Life is overwhelming enough, so while you’re managing your home and budget and raising your family, keep it simple when it comes to living eco friendly. By taking small steps everyday and making green a part of your every day, you are creating a profound positive impact on the planet: a gift for your child’s future. 

Each of these simple suggestions below will bring you and your family one step closer to living an eco-friendly life, and it’s well worth the effort. 

The most important eco-friendly thing a new parent can do is to accept that they are one person and they can only do so much. It’s o.k. to take easy small steps towards living a greener life because in the long run, the small steps really add up to big benefits. By keeping the Three R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) in mind every day, parents can ensure that they are maintaining a green household. 

When you recycle or repurpose household items such as paper, you give back to the planet in a big way. Then, by using earth-friendly recycled tissue paper products, such as Marcal Small Steps, you save countless trees because companies like Marcal use only 100% recycled paper for their products not trees. (http://www.marcalsmallsteps.com). Marcal has been using paper instead of trees to make their products for over 50 years, showing a long-term commitment and integrity to the planet-to save 1 million trees. Marcal’s personal pledge is the perfect for new parents to consider when going green, http://www.marcalsmallsteps.com/pledge.html, now at this milestone in their lives. 

One of the most exciting things for new parents to do is to prepare the nursery for their baby. The main thing to keep in mind is that you want your baby’s room to be healthy and clean. A great way to start is by using non-toxic paint for the beautifully painted nursery walls. Indoor air can be three times more polluted than outdoor air, and according to the EPA, is considered one of the top 5 hazards to human health. Paints and finishes are among the leading causes. Mythic non-toxic paint is a clean, low odor paint alternative that provides the durability and coverage you expect from a premium paint without the off-gassing VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) and toxins that emit years after drying with most paints.  

Once you’ve gotten the room painted, install a high quality air filter to clean and purify the air from airborne cleaning products, and product off-gassing to dust. Because there is such a wide range of options available, a great resource for parents is Consumer Reports online (http://www.consumersearch.com/air-purifiers/review), where they rate and explain about the variety of filters on the market. 

The room is decorated and ready to fill with lots of goodies, including some eco-friendly toys made from natural, safe materials, preserving the environment. Keeping in mind that babies put everything in their mouth, you want to be aware of VOC’s and other harmful chemicals that may come in contact with your baby. Plant Happy Toys, whose mission is to connect people and planet through play, offers a wide variety of “playful” options. 

Your baby will be crawling, toddling and grabbing on to many surfaces in the nursery and beyond before you know it, so take some time to think about the cleaning products you use in your home and on your baby. Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (study: http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/sls-JACT-report.html)is just one of several commonly used toiletry chemicals associated with a variety of diseases. Water is adequate for washing babies, and if lather is irresistible, use eco-friendly, organic toiletries occasionally and sparingly. If eco-friendly cleaning products are too expensive, use distilled white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, Epsom salts, or lemon juice. Unless your favorite cleaner is eco-friendly, you're sending VOCs, petrochemicals, pesticides, and chlorides into the air, and that isn't good. These airborne pollutants used in a number of conventional cleaning agents to, among other things, help speed the drying process. They can irritate mucus membranes and cause other short- and long-term physical damage. 

* Use gentle Castile soap and water - these have been shown to keep surfaces as free of bacteria as antibacterial soaps do.

* Look for safer ingredients - products labeled nontoxic, bio-based, chlorine free, organic, phosphate-free, natural fragrance, and/or biodegradable.

* Avoid using products that say POISON, DANGER, WARNING, or CAUTION.

* Reduce the need for anti-bacterial soaps by frequently requiring hand washing.