I also like that they plant a tree for EVERY bottle of natural shaving oil they sell!  Just reading the ingredients: Bergamot Fruit Oil, Avocado Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Cucumber Fruit Extract, Organic Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Kukui Nut Oil, Tocopherol (vitamin E), Tangerine Peel Oil, Grapefruit Peel Oil, Menthol makes me want to invent a reason to shave! (Um — note to self…menthol on the nether-regions does not work well!)  I might even try the shaving cream on my legs!  And the Nick Stick is definitely going into the doggie medicine kit (Sheeba, I’m talkin’ to you little girl dog!)
Soooooooooooooooo — if you’re looking for a good stocking stuffer, here’s a good starter!

But — I’m really loving their new JUMBO Thompson Seedless Raisins.  They are huge!!  Unlike most raisins that are two chomp worthy and then they’re done, these raisins are super chewy and moist.  I’ve got a million ideas racing through

Pre Order NOW!

my head about how to cook with these, but I have the feeling the canister will be empty before I can get them to the kitchen.  Here’s the raisin recipes from Earthbound’s web site and I think their new cookbook is going to the front of the line on my bookshelf next to their first one!

Dr. Andrew asked his own doctor, “What else is out there?” and the silence was deafening.  Now how can we expect the human body to repair itself during such a crucial time when the only “food” you can try to give it is total junk?!

Well, thankfully Dr. Andrew is back and healthy as ever.  He still maintains his practice, but he’s also spent his time creating a healthy meal replacement drink that tastes good and is incredibly good for you.  Remember too, it’s not only those in dire health straits that often turn to Boost and Ensure, many older people and silly people (like me) who forget to eat often look for something easy to sustain ourselves with.

Orgain is the result of years of work, lots of taste testing and valuable help from Dr. Andrew’s wife who is a nutritionist.  What’s more — Orgain is an organic meal replacement drink that supplies 10 servings of fruits and vegetables, 24 vitamins and minerals, 16 grams of protein, no caffeine, no artificial sweeteners, and organic complex carbs.  I don’t know how he managed to mush it all into just 11 ounces!

So far, Dr. Andrew has introduced Sweet Vanilla Bean and Creamy Chocolate Fudge.  Each 11 ounces is 255 calories so you can even use it for weight loss and portion control.  You can buy directly from www.drinkorgain.com or at Whole Foods, Mother’s Markets, Wegman’s, and Fairway.  I’m voting for strawberry…or maybe HUCKLEBERRY next!!

Women are typically the producers of clothing in countries that care little for working conditions.  Because they are paid by the piece, women often get stuck in factories for hours upon hours with no breaks and no hope of ever moving off the line.  Maggie’s has teamed up with some innovative companies to help improve the working conditions of the contractors they use. One group was Jubilee House, a community development organization.  Companies pledge their contracts to Jubilee House which can then create Fair Trade Zones.  Maggie’s pledge and contract helped to create a 100% worker-owned Sewing Co-Operative in Nueva Vida, Nicaragua. The co-op became the first worker-owned cooperative in the world to gain Free Trade Zone status!

My kinda look!

I love the casual clothing line Bena has brought out this year.  Here’s an example: soft, drapey – totally my kind of relaxed fashion!

Answer: FIRE LILY

And for all my friends on a journey to smaller clothing sizes, the line even has 2x pieces.

So back to our trivia question:  What’s the first flower to come back after a brush fire?  The Fire Lily.

Maggie’s has a beautiful scarf with Firelilies water-based screenprinted on it.  The design was created by Carla Wilson who Bena found on Etsy.com.  In addition, Bena chose the fire lily because it symbolizes resiliency and the ability to recover quickly from devastation; it’s a symbol of hope for women undergoing chemo and radiation for cancer.  Pretty nifty eh?

This is a great line and their socks are a hoot.  Happy shopping and gift-giving with this company full of integrity.  Use your power for good!

PS — don’t miss the Penguins and Sock Monkeys!

Well now to add to my love of the word, I’ve actually tried some huckleberry products and they’re awesome!  Huckleberry Tea, Huckleberry Coffee, and Huckleberry Margarita mix.  Marla, Al, Ellisa, Clancy, and Larch Hedman have Larchwood Farms in Trout Creek Montana.  I met Larch and Marla – they’re adorable and totally committed to bringing Huckleberries and Chokeberries (I didn’t try them) from the wilds of Montana to you.  Huckleberries have a nice big berry flavor; and when you mix them with tea or coffee, it’s a delightful taste that stays on your palette for a nice finish.  I can only imagine that the syrup and jam are uber-berrilicious.

Not only are huckleberries really great tasting, they’re also good for you.  Check out the 411 I found about them:

Huckleberries For Your Health

Huckleberries are one of the most potent sources of antioxidants, and probably one of the tastiest to incorporate into the diet to stay healthy.

Huckleberries are antioxidant powerhouses because of a phytonutrient called anthocyanidin, which gives them their blue/red color. The huckleberry is quite possibly the healthiest fruit there is.   They are rich in vitamins C and E, manganese and dietary fiber.

Huckleberries are similar to blueberries as they are a wild cousin, but the huckleberry has a more unique and tart taste all of its own.  As huckleberries are not grown commercially, you have to find them in the wild, which makes them much more desirable.

Recent USDA studies show blueberries and their cousin huckleberries #1 in antioxidant activity compared with 40 other fruits and vegetables.  That means a serving of wild huckleberries may have more of the antioxidant power you need to fight aging, cancer, and health disease.

And the American Institute for Cancer Research has this to say: “We now know that these berries are one of the best sources of antioxidants, substances that can slow the aging process and reduce cell damage that can lead to cancer.”

Aside from protecting the brain and fighting cancer, huckleberries have been associated with lower cholesterol, protection against heart disease, macular degeneration, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, and healthier elimination.

Pretty cool!  I especially like that they can only be found wild, that there are no commercial growers.  Makes the Hedman family’s hard work all that more valuable.

Marla the Huckleberry Lady

Now here’s a hot tip for you from Marla:  Take one bottle of the Margarita mix (8 ounces) and a 32 ounce bottle of organic lemonade from someone like R.W. Knudsen.  Mix them together in a punch bowl or big pitcher.  Serve with ice.  HEAVEN!!!  You can also add some alcohol if you’re feeling frisky; or if you like some sparkle, a bit of SanPelligrino.

I’m looking forward to trying more of “Montana’s Purple Gold”, but what I’ve sampled so far has had me walking around mumbling “I’ll be your huckleberry” over and over.  Thank goodness the dogs have a sense of humor and Dave finds my “entertainment value” worth keeping around.

Sorry to have been away and now I’m back to all those awesome new products I’ve been testing!

If you’re thinking about a new computer — check this out.  It’s totally portable for our DogGone world.

My friend Jen does have gluten problems and one of the things we were talking about is that when one person in the family has issues either there’s double the cooking in the kitchen at each meal or everyone has eat at the lowest common culinary denominator — mmm, cardboard for all!  It’s doubly worse if you’re kid — I mean talk about no bargaining power on the playground.  Well Udi’s products are so tasty, moist, and light that even us non-glutes will like ‘em.  If you have a mixed family and the kids are complaining about the stuff they have to eat – they will have think they’ve hit the secret stash.

I tried the sandwich bread, the lemon muffin, the blueberry muffin, the double chocolate muffin, the bagel, the pizza crust (use it for flatbread too), and the granola.  They also have a cinnamon roll I didn’t get to try — but seriously, a cinnamon roll!!!  Gluten-free girls are dancing in the street!!!

Thankfully Etai, the owner of Udi’s, understood that I just needed a little sample to know if it was good.  (Me and food is kind of like dating over 40 — you know in under a minute if they’re worthy.)  There wasn’t a single baked good that wasn’t worthy of the title — good!

I have lots of other gluten-free products to tell you about — but this one couldn’t wait.  If you snuck me a sandwich or a bagel from Udi’s I wouldn’t know they were gluten-free!  Order online here until you convince your local market or health food store to get Udi’s in the door.  Don’t forget, you can keep ‘em in the freezer until you’re ready to chow.

Well I met a craft little minx named Heather Harvey (she’s a crack up) and she’s created a brilliant solution to help with portion control.  Her Measure Up bowls are discreetly ridged on the inside with 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup measure lines for the snacking size and 1/2 cup, 1 cup, 1 and 1/2 cup and 2 cup lines for the eatin’.  Put the proper portion in the bowls and you won’t have to worry about overdoing it.  Heather actually lost 83 lbs and has kept it off using her bowls.  I’m a fan because I can use them to keep myself from absent-minded overeating.

Another thing I like about these is that they’re unobtrusive.  Use ‘em like you would anything else and no one realizes you’re monitoring your intake.  These would be great for the office!  They are also microwave and dishwasher safe.  Check them out online here and hopefully at a Whole Foods and Target near you sometime this year.  Ask your local store manager for ‘em by name

Chocolatl from flowfoodschocolatl.com is great chocolate to start with, but its the things they add that make it really unique and almost like medicine.  This line has a raw cacao and cordyceps mushroom chunks, raw cacao and wild blue-green algae chunks, raw cacao and maca chunks, raw cacao and mesquite chunks, and raw cacao…. — notice a trend there?  Raw chocolate and added natural superfoods!  Now some of those might sound a little questionable, but trust me — they all taste great.  And the chocolate maca sauce is like being enveloped in a big soft blanket — mmmm.  Just eat it off the spoon, you know you want to!  All the other shenanigans are just delaying the moment of bliss.  Get down to business and enjoy the sauce straight.

If you don’t know about these superfoods, do a little googling.  Mary Shomon, the thyroid expert at About.com, recommends maca for people with low thyroid.  Blue green and mushrooms have long histories as healing foods.  Combining these with raw chocolate is sheer genius — what a great way to get your “meds”

Buy these direct from their online store at  www.straightfromthegarden.com

Here’s some handy chocolate trivia from Chocolatl’s web site:

‘Food of the Gods’ is the literal translation of the name given to everyone’s favorite food, Chocolate! An abundant source of antioxidants, beta~carotene, zinc, chromium, magnesium and uplifting neurotransmitters, raw chocolate is a treat for the senses and food for the mind.

• Raw cacao provides 5 times more antioxidants than dark chocolate.
• Cacao is the number 1 food source of magnesium. 80% of Americans are magnesium deficient. Magnesium is vital for a healthy heart, and it plays a key role in producing energy for the brain, which helps the mind work with clarity and focus.
• Raw cacao stimulates four neurotransmitters that elevate feelings of well~being: Serotonin, Endorphins, PEA which is released by the brain when we’re in love, and Anandamide – the “bliss chemical”.