WANT NATURALLY FLAVORED WATER? TRY THESE EASY RECIPES

Summer arrived in full fury this week, along with the heat and humidity.  Trying to keep cool and hydrated can seem like a career in itself.  For most of us, particularly if we spend a lot of time outdoors, staying hydrated means drinking plenty of plain water.  But what if you're just not a water drinker (like me?)  It usually means sugary juices or drinks instead.

What if there was convenient, healthy alternative?

There is.  It's called fruit infused water.  The concept is simple - use the flavor and sugars of fruit or other foods to give your water a flavorful kick.  And it doesn't stop there.  Recipes abound for infusing water with vegetables, herbs and even spices like cinnamon and ginger.  So what are the benefits of infused water?

• It's SO simple to do and it makes your water taste great! 

  

  Wherever Water Bottle

  It's your choice of fruit, vegetables or herbs either placed in an infuser or reamed into your water.
• It's less expensive than purchasing bottled juices or soft drinks. Need an example?  Today I purchased 10 lemons for $2.49.  If I want to enjoy lemon infused water, I'll simply ream 1/2 of a lemon into my 20 ounce Wherever Water Bottle and enjoy a freshly squeezed lemon water (with ice) for about $0.12.  Compare this to the cost of any 20 ounce bottled beverage.
• You can enjoy the vitamins and minerals that infusing adds to your water.  Did you know lemons, strawberries and watermelon are ALL are rich in vitamin C?  Infusing your water with one or more of these flavorful fruits is a natural way to add a healthy kick to your water.

Ready for our favorite fruit infusion recipes? Try these from Full Circle Home.

• Lemon water - ream 1/2 of a fresh lemon into your bottle, add water and ice for a crisp and refreshing drink.
• Lime or lemon/lime water - same as above, except when using a combination of lemon and lime, use a quarter of each fruit.
• Raspberry and lime - we use a quarter of the lime and five to ten raspberries, depending on the size.

Ready for more?  Try some of these from AdNArt:

• Lemon and lavender water - put thin slices of lemon and some fresh lavender in the infuser, add water, chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours and enjoy.
• Frozen fruit water - add 1/4 cup frozen apple chunks, grapes or berries to the infuser, pour water over the fruit and let set for 30 minutes.  Shake and serve.

Pure Flavour To Go Water Bottle with Fruit Infuser

We recommend starting with fruits you already enjoy, and then find a recipe that appeals to you.  Infusion water bottles make it very convenient to infuse water right in your bottle.  One last tip - make sure you thoroughly clean your fruit before infusing.

Enjoy this article?  Please forward it through email or our social media links below.  Have any tips you'd like to share?  If so, we'd love to hear from you!

SUPER EASY TIPS TO KEEP YOUR LETTUCE FRESH LONGER

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You purchased that yummy looking bag of spring greens salad mix at the grocery, and dutifully toss it in the fridge as soon as you get home.  Several days later, with a fresh crisp salad for lunch on your mind, you open the bag only to find out that half of the salad has already wilted.

HAS THIS HAPPENED TO YOU?

Whether you buy your lettuce prewashed in ready to eat bags or pick full bunches straight from the garden, keeping salad greens fresh and crisp can seem daunting. Why?  Lettuce, unlike other produce such as carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, is very tender.  But keeping your lettuce fresh and crisp longer can not only save you time and money, it can ensure you have healthy food options at your fingertips and help reduce food waste, a major contributor to greenhouse gases.

NEED SOME EASY TO USE TIPS?

• When buying lettuce or other salad greens, look for and select for the freshest bag or bunch.  Lettuce leaves should consistently be firm and bright, without browning or wilting.  Bagged salad is usually has a 'best by' date that can be used to determine freshness, but be sure to inspect bagged lettuce contents as well for freshness.
• Once home, lettuce should be placed in the refrigerator as soon as possible, and if possible in a 'crisper' drawer until you are ready to clean it. 
• To keep lettuce at its peak nutritional value and freshness longer, try storing it either in a container designed to store lettuce (lettuce keeper) or in a produce bag.  Make sure the container or bag will seal securely to minimize risk of contamination by other foods. 
• After cleaning your lettuce, remove any excess water before placing it in the refrigerator.  A salad spinner works wonders with this, but lettuce can also be easily drained in a colander.
• Making your own salad blend? Try storing your lettuce varieties in separate containers or bags until ready to mix.  If one type of lettuce appears to be going bad, it won't affect the rest of your greens.
• Do not store other produce in the same bag as your lettuce.  Different produce can release gases, which may cause lettuce to wilt faster.
• If you are taking a salad for a lunch, keep foods like salad dressing, meats, cheeses, croutons and nuts separated from the lettuce as these can cause lettuce to wilt rapidly.  If you're a regular salad eater, invest in a salad to go container - it'll easily pay for itself by keeping your salad crisp and delicious.

Hopefully you've found these tips useful.  If so, please share them!  Do you have any tips you'd like to share about keeping your lettuce fresh and crisp?  Please feel free to add to our list - we'd love to hear from you!

KEEP CEREAL FRESH WITH THESE EASY TIPS

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There is a lot to love about cereal.  First, there are endless varieties to suit anyone's taste.  And convenience? What could be easier than open the box, pour cereal into the bowl, get milk, pour milk into the bowl?  Eating cereal is also a great way to add healthy foods to your diet like dairy products, whole grains and fruit.  And with summer's heat and humidity, it's a great way to start the day!    Unfortunately, open boxes of cereal can go stale very quickly if not stored properly, costing you money and potentially creating food waste.  

WHAT CAUSES CEREAL TO GO STALE?

There are a number of factors such as the packaging, how it's stored and the weather.  Most cereal you buy is probably sealed in a bag which should protect it from humidity, the primary cause of stale cereal.  Ideally, try storing your cereal in a cool, dry location to maximize shelf life.  Unopened packages of cereal can be stored for months if stored optimally.  Once opened though, open cereal bags can go stale within days in the heat and humidity of summer if not stored properly. What can you do?

TRY THESE TIPS FOR KEEPING CEREAL FRESH:

• Try an airtight food safe cereal container, preferably with a pour spout or flip lid - airtight containers not only keep cereal crisp by protecting it from humidity, they also deter pests like ants which can be attracted to the sugar.  Containers can also solve the problem of the cereal bag torn too badly to seal.  A flip top lid makes it easy for small hands to pour just the amount of cereal they want.  We also recommend cereal containers where contents are visible for added convenience - it takes the guess work as to what's inside!
• A food grade food bag clip is another option - bag clips are perfect for storing foods in bags and they are invaluable where space is critical.  A quality bag clip will easily pay for itself by keeping bagged foods like cereal fresh longer.  Twixits are great because of their durability, variety of colors the offer and they can be labeled over and over again with an erasable marker.
• Another tip - once a cereal package is opened, seal it as quickly as possible to minimize exposure to humid air.
• Ever have this problem?  Someone opens a second box of the same kind of cereal because they didn't realize one was already opened?  To solve this, try organizing your cereal so that open boxes are the first options in the cupboard or pantry.
• So you have stale cereal, now what?  Try crisping it in the oven!  Spread the stale cereal on a pan and heat it at 375 to 400 degrees for about 5 minutes.  How long can vary by type of cereal and your oven so you might have to adjust cooking times accordingly.  Remove the cereal from the oven, let it cool and store in an airtight container.

Ever tried having a go at making your own cereal?  It's some of the freshest cereal you'll eat, it's quicker and easier to make than you think and a great way to customize your cereal to your family's tastes and dietary needs.  There are a number of good recipes on the internet to try.  Our favorite?  A granola with dried fruit and nuts!

How about you?  Have any comments?  We'd love to hear from you!  And if you like this article, please share it!

TRY THESE TIPS TO GREEN YOUR SUMMER

Summer is a favorite time of year for most of us, but it can also be hectic with work, the kids at home, yard chores and endless activities.    'Going green' can seem a little daunting when you already have a lot on your plate but getting started is not as hard as you may think, especially with the tips we've listed below.  In fact, these tips not only provide environmental benefits, but can add convenience to your home and save you money.

Want to know more?

• No time to cook after work?  Too hot?  Hearty summer salads made with pasta, beans

  

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  or similar ingredients can be made ahead when it's cooler and will be ready anytime to serve as a main dish, regardless of your schedule.    In addition, leftover salad today can be served as a side dish or lunch tomorrow.  An added bonus?  By not cooking when it's hot, you keep your home cooler and conserve electricity.
• Love fresh veggies but no time or space to garden?  Try growing a few summer favorites in containers on a porch or in a sunny area of your yard.  Container gardens require little maintenance or investment, and it's a great way to enjoy flavorful produce varieties you may not be able to find at your local grocer, such as meaty tomatoes, pickling cucumbers and organic herbs.  Home gardens not only provide the freshest produce and save you money, they can help reduce the resources needed for growing and shipping commercial crops.
• Decluttering your home simplifies organization and cleaning.  Try donating or recycling items you no longer use.  Not sure which items can be recycled and where to recycle them at? Try the iRecycle app from Earth911.com.  This handy app lets you easily find local recycling or safe disposal locations for everything from antifreeze to plastics.  It's free and super easy to use!
• Been to a local farmers market lately?  These markets allow local farmers to bring the freshest foods right to you.  Fresh foods are less likely to spoil as quickly or contribute to food waste, and farmers markets a great way to learn more about the foods you buy and how it's produced.   Many of these markets not only offer fresh fruits and vegetables, but an assortment of breads, cheeses, eggs, honey, meats, herbs and many other local foods.
• Summer is made for snacking, but open bags of cereal, chips, crackers and cookies can quickly go stale in the summer heat and humidity.  An easy solution is to have a ready supply of bag clips so you're prepared regardless of how many bags have been opened.
• If you don't use one already, purchase a reusable water bottle and use that in place of disposable ones.  Drinking water keeps you hydrated, especially during the hot summer months.  Reusable water bottles reduce the amount of solid waste we send to our landfills.  Prefer a soda or flavored beverage?  Try infusing your water with lemons, limes or other fruit for a refreshing taste and added health benefits.
• Make your own earth friendly cleaners!  Many earth friendly cleaning ingredients are very effective, safe to use and cost a lot less than commercial cleaners.  Since they are made with ingredients you already have in your home, you can always have fresh cleaning products at your fingertips.  We use lemons or essential oils to add a clean fresh scent and purchase everything else we need in bulk containers to reduce packaging.

Not sure where to start?  We suggest starting small.  Try one or two tips off our list, or perhaps one of your own.  And let us know how it goes - we'd love to hear from you!

NATURAL CLEANERS FOR YOUR HOME: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Your family spends hours in that sanctuary called home.  You want it to be safe, including free from harmful bacteria and other microorganisms. You and others in your home invest time, energy and money to keep it clean.  Now here's the question - what products are you using to clean it?  For most of us, its name brand cleaners from the store.  Now here's a question I'll bet you don't know the answer to - what's in them? 

Try this exercise for an experiment:  visit the EPA's Learn About Chemicals Around Your House Site, take the tour and be prepared to get your eye's opened about every day cleaning products most of us buy and use in our homes.  It also provides information on possible dangers associated with many household cleaners, especially where children are concerned.

So what can you do?  Try making and using your own green cleaning products.  Many natural cleaning products are just as effective as name brand cleaners and you can easily make them with non-toxic ingredients. Need some additional reasons?

• They're extremely simple to make and customizable - most green cleaners revolve around a few common household ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, liquid castile soap, lemon juice, essential oils and so on. 
• You can make them for a fraction of the expense of store bought cleaners.
• You can reduce the bottles, cans and containers of various cleaning products to just a few, and reduce the worry of how to safely store them and dispose of them.
• It's convenient - no need to worry about running out of a cleaner.  Most green cleaning ingredients can be purchased in bulk and stored right in your pantry.
• Thanks to Pinterest and the many good blogs on the subject, there's a plethora of good cleaning recipes for just about everything.

 Here are some tips when making and using your own cleaners:

Copied with permission of Full Circle Home

1. Add essential oils or lemon for fresh scent.  Did you know that tea tree and lavender oil are naturally antibacterial?  Many people cringe at the thought of using vinegar for disinfecting because of the smell, but adding freshly squeezed lemon to your vinegar solution really helps.
2. Label your cleaners!  If your house is anything like ours, we have family in and out at all hours and not everyone is current on all of the cleaners and their uses. 
3. Have your cleaners prepared and keep them handy.   We like to use a stylish spray bottle for our kitchen surface spray and we display it on the counter, where it's conveniently at our fingertips.

Need an easy way to start making your own cleaners?  Try the Come Clean Natural Cleaning Set from
Full Circle.  It comes with just about everything you need to get started, including a recipe guide, microfiber cleaning cloth, mixing container, two juicers, labels and two clear spray bottles with graded measurements. The guide has over forty easy to follow recipes including surface sprays, disinfecting sprays, abrasive cleaners, floor cleaners, bath scrubs, laundry soaps, polishes and even recipes for dog shampoo and car washing soap! Try one of these two recipes from page 9 of their recipe book.

We think the green cleaning trend is here to stay, and we expect their use to increase.  We enjoy the convenience and cost savings of using these cleaners, but most importantly we know we are creating a safer environment for our family and pets.  How about you?  Try one of these recipes and let us know what you think!

FIVE EASY TIPS FOR AN EARTH FRIENDLY HOME

With Earth Day just around the corner, it's a good time to take stock of your impact on the environment and make some changes to your lifestyle.  While there's no shortage of sustainability tips in print or on the internet, sometimes it can be difficult to figure out what will work for you and your family.  And if your days are anything like ours, we're busy from the time we get up until we go to bed, which means we need eco-friendly solutions that are easy to implement and maintain.

Here's our shortlist of five easy changes we've made in our home, and their eco-impact:

• Recycling - hands down, we think we made the biggest

  

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  impact by recycling.  Why?  It reduces solid waste going into landfills, uses fewer natural resources to create new products and helps to reduce greenhouse gases.  What can be recycled?   While municipal waste recyclers can vary somewhat, the EPA has a comprehensive list of recyclables, including cans, glass, plastic bottles, drink boxes and paper.  Our results? For our little family alone, we calculated that recycling saved over 200 bags of trash going into our landfill annually.
• Minimizing food waste - up to a third of our solid waste in the US is from food, and most of us aren't aware of the valuable natural resources that go into producing that waste, which according to the NRDC includes 25% of all fresh water and 4% of the oil we consume.  We've been able to eliminate almost all food waste from our trash.  How?  We don't buy more food than we know we can eat, we've simplified our meals with more basic foods (which is healthier anyhow), we're careful about storing food properly and we eat leftovers and all other foods before they go bad.    Some added benefits we've noticed?  We are spending less money on groceries and on trash bags.
• Reducing packaging waste, our way of precycling to minimize waste - our favorite ways to do this?
• Reusable drinking bottles - disposable plastic water bottles are recyclable but valuable resources are needed to manufacture them, and the same issue applies to bottles and cans for many beverages.  We keep several types of reusable bottles on hand, including filtering and fruit infusing water bottles.  The benefit?  Not only do we reduce our consumption of bottled water, but sugary soft drinks and juices as well.
• Reusable lunch containers and flatware - what could be more convenient than having your favorite meal at your fingertips?  There are many good quality, food safe lunch containers available, and many are designed just for specific foods like salad, soup or sandwiches.  We keep a variety of these containers on hand for to-go meals and healthy, home prepared breakfasts, lunches and snacks.  No need for prepackaged meals or fast food!
• Buying food in bulk - we buy in bulk and store where it makes sense for us, such as with olive oil, flour and rice.  We keep smaller amounts of these staples in refillable containers in our kitchen, where they are conveniently available.
• Being water wise - droughts, inefficient use and increased demand are stretching our limited fresh water resources, and the EPA reports that homes use more than half of all publicly supplied water in the US.  We wash full loads only when using the washing machine or dish washer.  We also make sure that leaky, dripping faucets and running toilets are repaired promptly.  This was not only environmentally responsible, it helped us save on our water bill!
• Lastly, we donate or sell what we don't need - it's amazing how clutter can sneak up on you. When you decide to clean or organize, the temptation is then 'when it doubt, throw it out.'  That usually means it ends up in a landfill though.  There are many fine charities who will accept donations, and some will even pick them up from you.  These donations may even be tax deductible! 

What was our time commitment to make these simple changes?  There was a little time involved, especially with getting everyone in the house on the same page, but that investment was well worth it!  We have the satisfaction of knowing we are taking steps to minimize our impact on the environment and we have been able to save some money as well.  Have any easy eco-friendly tips you'd like to share?  We'd love to hear from you!

SWEET TIPS FOR KEEPING SUGAR FRESH

Sugar.  There was a time when our sugar world was either powdered, brown and granulated.  That was then.  Now?  Try adding raw, turbinado, sanding, coconut, palm and date (to name a few) to the standard varieties.  And if your house is anything like ours, we will buy and use more sugar at certain times of the year, like baking cookies during the holidays.   It may then be a few months before we use all the leftover sugar, but when we need it again we need it to be soft and free of clumps.  Sound familiar?   Whatever your sugar of choice, keeping your sugar fresh adds convenience to your kitchen, saves you money and can help reduce food waste.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

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Many sources will tell you that sugar can be stored indefinitely.  We've yet to try 'indefinitely', but can tell you that sugar stores well if stored properly.   What are some tips?

• Use quality air-tight food safe kitchen storage containers.  Make sure the containers are BPA free.
• Minimize your sugar's exposure to air by using a container that allows you to view contents without opening it.
• Use containers that are easy to open and close, yet allow access for measuring sugar.

TRY THESE OTHER TIPS FOR USING GRANULATED SUGAR:

• Not enough powdered sugar to make your favorite recipe, or just prefer to make your own when you need it?  No problem, try this easy to make powdered sugar recipe from NoshOnIt (while you're at it, check out their many mouthwatering recipes.)
• Want to make some unique gifts, or simply add more flavor to your coffee, tea or pastries?  Trying infusing granulated sugar with flavors like vanilla, lavender and lemon with this easy tutorial from My Own Labels.  Need labels for your creations?  No problem!  My Own Labels has an amazing selection of labels for any occasion or craft.

 Any other ideas for keeping sugar fresh?  Feel free to share!