Eco-Smoothies: Not-So-Mellow-Yellow Recipe

This week on the Green Life, we're highlighting refreshing smoothie recipes and daily action tips to help you feel fit and energized.

Recipe #3: Not-So-Mellow-Yellow Smoothie

 Looking for something to satiate that sweet tooth? This refreshing smoothie is sure to do the trick. It also has some key ingredients, like apples and bananas that will give you an all-natural energy boost.

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Eco-Smoothies: Berry Bliss Recipe

This week, we're pairing healthy eco-smoothie recipes with easy exercises to help you kick off a healthier, greener 2013.

Recipe #2: Berry Bliss Smoothie

Just can’t wrap your mind around spinach in your smoothie? Well there are some great alternatives that will still provide you with plenty of fiber, vitamin C and antioxidants. The measurements of raspberries and blackberries in this Go Green Smoothie offer you 60 percent of your daily value of fiber and up to 88 percent of you daily value of manganese. Opt for local and organic ingredients whenever possible.

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4 Eco-Smoothies to Boost Your Metabolism

Still carrying around a few extra pounds from those sinful holiday food splurges? Don't worry, we'll help you get back on track. This week, pair our four eco-smoothie recipes with our daily Healthy Action Tips to kick those post-holiday pounds to the curb and jump-start a healthier, greener 2013. Best of all, you only need eight ingredients, all of which you can find at your local grocery store for under $15!

Recipe #1: Go Green or Go Home Smoothie

With powerhouse vegetable spinach as the leading ingredient, it is hard to go wrong with this flavorful smoothie. Packed with iron, fiber, antioxidants, vitamin A & C and potassium, this low-fat, vegan drink will give you the energy boost you need to start your day while kicking your metabolism into high gear. Pair it with our Healthy Action Tip of the Day below to burn a few extra calories while barely breaking a sweat.

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3 Free New Apps for the New Year

It's time for another tech update! Whether you want to eat healthier, accomplish new goals, or be the most informed of all your friends, these awesome apps will keep you up-to-date and feeling great. Oh, and the best part? They won't cost you a dime. 

Everest

 Sticking to those New Year's resolutions can be tough, especially once you head back to work and back to your busy lifestyle. With the Everest app you can keep your goals in sight and keep a tally of your accomplishments along the way. The app lists various challenges in categories such as adventure, causes, health, self-improvement, and more. Within each of these categories are specific goals. For example, in self-improvement you could choose to do anything from being radically honest for one week, to conquering a fear. Everest lets you choose the time limits, whether it be a year, a month, or a day, and it gives optional reminders to keep you on track. The app also helps you reach your goal by suggesting steps that help you to achieve it. Not only can you subscribe to challenges currently listed by the app itself or its various users, you can take matters into your own hands and create your own challenges as well. 

 

10 Ways to Kick the Cold

Ooh baby it's cold outside! But what to do to fight off that icy weather that's got you shivering and shaking? Whether you love to be outdoors or long to hibernate during the wintery months, we've got some suggestions to help you keep that chill out of your bones. 

Go on a hike: The best way to warm up is to get your blood pumping, and going for a hike is the best way to do that if you’re looking for a cheap and invigorating form of entertainment. Hike the JMT or the Appalachian Trail for a bigger challenge, or head to the closest trail near you for an impromptu adventure.

Go to a movie: After a couple days of lounging around the house, sometimes you just have to get out, no matter how cold it is outside. Movies are a great way to escape from the cold and get rid of that cabin fever. You could check out the latest blockbusters, but why not take the opportunity to educate yourself. We recommend Chasing Ice for a profound look at the effects of climate change.

15 Resolutions You Can Cross Off Your List Today

The New Year is here, and what better way to celebrate than by doing some good! Whether you made resolutions or not, the start of a new year is a clean slate. You may not know what the next 12 months have in store, but you can guarantee that you jump-started 2013 on a positive note by accomplishing any (or all!) of the following eco-actions.

1. Keep the TV off. It's the first week of the New Year, do you really want to waste it sitting in front of the television? We thought not. You could get so much done today if you spend less time watching reruns — and you could cut down electricity usage too. 

2. Make dinner tonight. Why waste the gas and money to go out for dinner, when you can make a nice, hot meal right at home? Go with local, organic ingredients to step it up a notch. Not only will you be saving money, and help out the local economy, you'll have leftovers for later. 

3. Take a shorter shower. In general, it'd be good to cut back on excess water usage. You can install low-flow showerheads and fix leaky faucets for other inexpensive and easy conservation moves, but if you shave a minute or two off of your shower today that's a step in the right direction. Do that for a whole month and you could save 150 gallons of water and be one step closer to being a Water Sentinel. 

Q&A: Rob Newton on Sustainable Southern Cuisine

Rob Newton is not your typical Brooklyn chef. He doesn’t wear ironic glasses, he’s ex-army, and he hales from Mountain Home, Arkansas. But in the two years since he opened his southern-inspired restaurant Seersucker in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, Newton has become a minor celebrity in the area. His philosophy is simple: Use fresh, local ingredients from sustainable farms to make food that pays homage to the South and above all, tastes delicious. --interview by Danielle Pergament

Are you one of those people who had a calling and were pulled into the kitchen by a higher force?

Good God, no. I dropped out of college and joined the Army. I was stationed in Frankfurt Germany for two years and I thought I wanted to do something with international studies. But I’ve never been one to sit at a desk. I actually made a list, this was about 1993, and in one column, I wrote, Things I Like To Do and in the other column, I wrote, How I Can Make Money At It. It was a short list. I basically came up with architect and chef.

How did you go from the list to professional chef-fing?

At that time, the stereotype was a big, fat chef, swigging brandy and wearing a dirty apron—and that had no appeal for me. I got a job for a few months working in a restaurant in Jonesboro, Arkansas and the chef there had trained at the Culinary Institute of America. I had never heard of it, but I knew I wanted to go. I also had no idea how I would pay for it. In January 1995, I moved to Vermont for two years, went to culinary school and worked. I was very driven and inspired to actually become a chef. My parents thought I was crazy. But once I got to school, I was introduced to all new flavors. I got an internship at Le Cirque. I trained with French chefs. It was an amazing experience.

How was Seersucker born?

Green Your Holiday Spread

Now that you’ve got the decorations and partyware green themed, the food is the next essential ingredient to an eco-friendly party. Whether you decide to make the food yourself, have a potluck, or go with a caterer here are some tips for a spread that will keep your impact to a minimum.

Tip: Buy local, organic food for your holiday party.

Organic

Organic food isn’t just about putting the cleanest food into your own body; it’s about the entire process it went through before getting to you. By using organic food at your festivities, you’re helping to keep chemicals out of your body, but in the process you are keeping the environment and the workers who harvest your food chemical-free as well. While you may not be able to afford to make your whole spread organic, buying organic fruits and veggies is a great place to start.

Local

Not only is it helpful to your own community to buy local, it is also helpful to the environment in general. By buying local in the winter, your food will generally be fresher because it was harvested more recently before making it to your dinner table. This also cuts back on climate-change impacts on the environment because your food isn’t traveling thousands of miles before reaching the table. The best places to look for local foods would be at a farmers' market or even through local CSA’s (community supported agriculture), so make sure you do your research before the party.

Compost

Don't forget to use those recycling and compost bins that you've set out for the party. By composting what you don't eat, you are helping that next batch of holiday food to be grown. This way instead of your leftovers going to a landfill, they will go back into the soil to aid new crops to grow or livestock to eat well themselves. 

--Jess Krager

--Photos courtesy of iStock/manleyaudio

Read More:

Worth a Shot: Eco-Liquors

Sierra Club: Food and Drink Tips

4 Reasons Organic Foods are Healthier

 

Recipes: Festive Cocktails

With the weather getting colder and holiday parties in full swing, sometimes the best way to warm up is to fix yourself a cocktail. Now you can always go to the tried-and-true eggnog or brandy, but maybe you’re feeling like something a bit more creative this year. While cocktail recipes can get a little complex sometimes, here are a couple of drinks that can be made with your favorite eco-spirits and some common ingredients out of the cupboard.

Merry Margarita 

• 6 shots tequila

• 1 medium sized lemon

• 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg

• vanilla

• Ice

Combine the tequila and maple syrup in a blender with a tray full of ice (add more later if this is not enough) and mix. Add two dashes of nutmeg and a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla then pulse. Set aside. Combine a tablespoon of sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a saucer. Wet the rim of your margarita glasses with a little water or vanilla, then dip and swirl each glass in the mixture until the rim are coated. Pour your margaritas in the each glass and enjoy! 

If tequila isn’t necessarily your drink of choice, or if you’re looking for something hot to warm your hands and belly, try the following recipe using some of the same ingredients in a whole new way.

Nice and Naughty Toddy

Green Your Holiday Table

Holiday parties can easily end up leaving a carbon footprint. Between paper cups, napkins, plates and cutlery, there can be a lot left over that ends up in the trash when it shouldn't.  We've got some tips that will make your shindig both fun and sustainable when it comes to the party supplies.

Tip: Use compostable or reusable partyware.

First of all, if you're throwing an office party take stock of all the supplies you may already have. If you have party supplies left over from the last event, utilize that or bring in things from around your own home. It's also important to note that if you are going to buy supplies, make sure you have more than just a trash can for the night's discards. Set up recycle and compost bins around the party aside those trash bins and you'll be one step closer to an eco-friendly gathering.  

Drinkware