Are you ready for a green Thanksgiving celebration? If you are struggling to come up with ways to be eco-friendly and still celebrate in style then just follow the three L’s for a truly green Thanksgiving;

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Green Thanksgiving - Follow Our Three L's

Buy produce with LESS packaging… Reduce waste before the food even hits the table!

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Buying bulk foods uses LESS packaging

Photo by: Momster

Its almost Halloween and along with the season comes the carving of the pumpkin.  The pumpkin carving ritual isn’t complete until you have cleaned out all those seeds. Here is a great idea, recycle and reuse them, by roasting them in the oven. Roasted pumpkin seeds are packed with nutrition and low in carbs. For 1/4 cup, it is about 5 grams of carbs and 2 grams of fiber. They have a nutty flavor and are packed with protein. You can salt them or better yet flavor them with your favorite sweet or savory spice. The smell and crunch of roasted pumpkin seeds will add  new dimensions to the carving experience!! Of course when possible, by an organically grown pumpkin for organic roasted seeds!

Here are the directions to roast those seeds!

Ingredients:

Photo by: kzimmer

• Pumpkin or squash seeds
• If you want to add salt or seasonings, you’ll need a bit of oil so it will stick

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1) Clean the pulp off the pumpkin seeds, and dry with paper towels.

2) If desired, toss with a little olive or other oil. You only need enough to barely coat, otherwise, they will be greasy. Add salt and any kind of seasoning you want – garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, dried chili powder, or whatever sounds good to you!

3) Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the seeds out in one layer.

Bake for 3-5 minutes, until seeds just start to color and are fragrant. Sometimes I use a longer but safer method of using a lower temperature. If you roast the seeds at 250 degrees F., you don’t have to watch them as carefully. It takes about 45 -60 minutes.

By the way, did you know the origin of carving pumpkins? The story of the Jack o’Lantern comes from Irish folklore. Jack was a crafty farmer who tricked the Devil into climbing a tall tree. When the Devil reached the highest branch, Jack carved a large cross in the trunk, making it impossible for the Devil to climb down. In exchange for help getting out of the tree, the Devil promised never to tempt Jack with evil again. When Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven for his sins and turned away from Hell because of his trickery. Condemned to wander the Earth without rest, Jack carved out one of his turnips, took an ember from the devil, and used it for a lantern to light his way. He became known as “Jack of the Lantern.”

Do you enjoy recipes with beans but wish their was a “no gas bean” alternative? We wanted to share our no gas bean cooking secrets and a new “super bean” which is now being grown for all bean lovers!

Our Guide to No Gas Beans...

Let me start this post by explaining that our household is 50% vegetarian, my wife loves to eat lots of veggies and that means when I’m at home my diet is mainly fruit and vegetables. One of our favorite dishes is slow cooked Lima Beans and it’s definitely our favorite on a cool Sunday afternoon. Many people get discouraged from eating beans due to their unfortunate gassy side effects. Yes, lets come right out and say it, beans give you gas! The main reason that beans cause flatulence comes from the gases that they produce once inside the stomach.

Before we share the news of the new “super bean’ here are some useful hints and tips for reducing the gassy effects of beans in your recipes;

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Tomorrow is the beginning of National Mushroom Month, so in honor of this auspicious occasion I thought I would do a followup on my mushrooms blog a couple of weeks back.  Did you know that Mushrooms have a approximately 90 percent water content, this makes them low in calories and ideal for anyone interested in a lighter lifestyle. One half cup of button mushrooms only has twenty calories, but it also has potassium, selenium, 2 grams each of fiber and protein, niacin, iron, riboflavin and zinc. Selenium is a powerful antioxidant, and potassium helps reduce blood pressure and prevent heart disease. Mushrooms also contain copper, an important mineral for your heart. Portobello mushrooms have more potassium than a banana. There are over 38,000 mushroom varieties, some are toxic and shouldn’t be eaten. Experts say the best method to determine whether a mushroom is safe to eat is by utilizing a method of sprinkling salt on the spongy part, or the gills. If they turn yellow, they are poisonous, if they turn black they are safe.  Personally, I’ll just buy mine at the grocery store or farmers market, a lot less chance of getting the wrong kind of mushroom. Mushrooms do contain some natural toxins., so it is best not to eat too many raw ones; cooking tends to kill the toxins. Here is a great recipe I found for organic stuffed mushrooms:

Ingredients

8 large button or open-cap organic mushrooms
4 tablespoons wholemeal organic breadcrumbs
4 organic spring onions
1 small red chili
1 large organic tomato
1 clove of fresh organic garlic
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
4 tablespoons of grated mozzarella cheese
2 strips streaky organic bacon
1 sprig of fresh coriander

Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe

image by formalfallacy @ Dublin (Victor)

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While out grocery shopping this past weekend, I came across a great product. I bought a bag of Stahlbush Island Farms diced butternut squash. The brown paper packaging caught my eye with 100% Natural, Certified Sustainable Farming, Grown in the USA across the top. That was enough to make me buy and try the product. I have to say, it was wonderful. It tasted as good as fresh, excellent flavor.

Stahlbush Island Farms is a Real Family Farm.  they were founded by Bill and Karla Chambers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley in 1985, planting and harvesting just 2 crops. In 1998, Stahlbush Island Farms launched the sustainably grown frozen fruits and vegetables in the distinctive brown paper package that I purchased and in 2003, they begin selling a brand of organic pumpkin products called Farmer’s Market.

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