Dear Farmer's Market, I love you!

New Packaging?

Sweet Orange Tazo Tea is one of my faves, especially in the hot Texas Summer. On a recent grocery adventure to replenish my tea stash I noticed that they have re-branded. This made me so sad. Their previous packaging with the bold black bar at the top with the pretty window pane background. Although their new packaging is clean and easy to read, it seems like it lost a little bit of its' charming personality.

Brands go through lots of changes over time -- little tweeks, additions and adjustments. This seems like a major overhaul. I still love their tea but it will take some time to get used to their new package look.

Being a visual person, sometimes when these rebrands happen, it makes it virtually impossible to find what I'm looking for. If the package has always been orange and now it isn't, well it'll take me a while to figure that out and find it. Old habits die hard!

Have any of your fave brands fallen victim to the rebrand?

Tax Holiday Announced

Mark your calendar for this year's Tax Holiday. It was announced this week.

The Sales Tax Holiday gives Texas shoppers a break from state and local sales taxes on most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks priced under $100. Shoppers can save up to $8.25 for every $100 they spend.

Read all the nitty gritty here.

Texture Tuesday

Texture Tuesday

Texture Tuesday: Van Gogh Inspired Car

June? Already?

Wow, this year is really flying by! :)

What green changes have you made so far this year? This month is the mid-point of the year. A great time to assess your green progress and make plans for more green growth for the remainder of the year.

I've been steadily adding to my 3 good things for the earth a day. I'm now up to 5 per day. Some of my faves are;

• working from home at least two days a week
• shopping at the farmer's market every weekend (now that it's open every weekend)
• always using my reusable bags no matter where I shop
• combining car trips and carpooling
• using both sides of the paper
• reusing my secret shredded documents for packaging when mailing goods
• swapping unused art supplies with other artists or donating them
• recycling everything I can
• purchasing products with reduced packaging or buying in bulk

What are your fave green changes you've made this year?

Gems From The Farmer's Market

These tomatoes have inspired me to make a Caprese Salad. Here's how I make it;

4 tomatoes, sliced thin (golf ball size)
2 oz of fresh mozarella sliced thin
4 big basil leaves sliced into thin ribbons
A drizzle of extra virgen olive oil
salt and pepper

Toss it all in a dish and let it marinate together for about 15 minutes before eating. For a prettier presenation, stack up the tomatoes and cheese alternating them like poker chips. Spread them out in a fan like cards and top with basil, oil and salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

If you're wondering what to do with these lovelies, try this recipe for Oven Roasted Green Beans.

Or if you have a recipe for Green Beans Almondine, please share in the comments!

What are you loving at the Farmer's Market these days?

Texture Tuesday

I Love Meeting Other Eco Peeps!

I did a private corporate Earth Day show last month and met Lachelle of Chaming Ink

and Misty of MistyAmber Art. Feel free to check out their works by click on the pictures.

Please Take Action

Carageenan does not belong in organic products.  This synthetic (not organic) ingredient has been shown to cause digestive problems and cancer. Ewwww!

Please educate yourself by popping over to the Organic Consumers Association to read more about it.

There's also a prewritten letter here to send electronically to organic brands to tell them to stop using carageenan. All our voices together can send a message and change what organic companies are doing.

Texture Tuesday

Sneak Peek of a Future Paper Lab's Upcoming Funness :)

Green Eats: Oven Roasted Green Beans

 

Oven Roasted Green Beans

Preheat oven to 350.

1 pound of fresh green beans (frozen work ok too)

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Wash and clean the beans, cutting off the ends. Dry them.

2.  Spread the beans out in a single layer on a sheet pan.

3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes to roast.

5. Pull them out and sprinkle evenly with parmesan cheese.

6. Roast for 10 more minutes to get thet cheese melted and toasty brown.

Enjoy!

These are a delish side dish -- I like to think of them as green cheese fries! :)

NEW! Origami Stationery and a Mother's Day Concert

So with some experimentation and fun conversations, I have started making origami stationery.

Here's a sneak peak of a set that I am donating to the Women's Chorus of Dallas fundraiser silent auction. I met one of their members at an Earth Day event and we got to talking and voila!

They are focused on butterflies and pink.

Their next event is on Mother's Day at Fair Park and all the details are available here.

The idea of stationery has been floating around for a while but after my conversation with Frida,  I had to take action! Available in my Etsy shop later this month!

Earth Day Event in Fort Worth

At a recent corporate Earth Day event, I made some fun discoveries - vendors, ways to serve up flatware and some new friends.

 

The event getting set up.

 

Ranchman's Soapery table.

I was really lucky to have Ranchman's Soapery as my vendor-neighbor. They were really nice and added a delish fragrance to the event. I think people were naturally drawn to their yummy smelling table of soaps. You can check out all their goodies for yourself here.

 

The product that seemed to get the most comments was a soap bar called "Stinky Dog". It can be used to wash dogs or humans. It got lots of giggles and was really popular. I chose a soap -- cucumber. It's a very mild fragrance and very rich and creamy -- and a gorgeous color. Can't wait to try some of their other fragrances too!

 

Flatware dispensery.

This facility had some really cool green accessories. I love their very "Sheldon Cooper friendly" flat wear dispenser - one of my faves. It keeps things clean, tidy and recyclable. You just press the handle on the right and one piece of flatware at a time is dispensed. Clever! 

Still Celebratng Earth Day: water

Spring Time Fun and Cute Creatures

Some lucky person will be receiving these cuties in the mail this next week! (I'll keep the person's identity a secret for now -- I love planning sneaky fun surprises.)

These hedgehog nail brushes melted my heart when I saw them. So cute, so useful and colorful too! Can't wait to put them in the mail as a little Springtime surprise package!

Texture Tuesday

It's finally here! YAY!

Green Eats for a Green Month

I was recently generously given an over abundance of green beans by a friend and this recipe. Try it out! You won't be sorry! The beans get a little crispy on the outside and the cheese makes them a little salty -- ooh yummy! I wish I got a picture but they were devoured before I had a chance!!

Preheat oven to 350

1 lb fresh green beans
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, a sprinkling
1/3 c shredded parmesan

1. Put everything, but the cheese, in a bowl and coat the beans.
2. Spread on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 10 minutes.
3. Use a wooden spoon to move around the beans and then sprinkle on the cheese.
4. Cook for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Texture Tuesday

Texture Tuesday

Count Down To Earth Day: water

Texture Tuesday

Count Down to Earth Day: dispose safely

An Early Spring Visit to the Trinity River Audubon Ctr

Check out their upcoming fun and events here.

Texture Tuesday

Count Down to Earth Day: water