When it comes to me and meat, the truth is that I love a good steak. I think steak is yummy. I admit it. However, as I’ve learned more about the abhorrent practices occurring in factory farms across the U.S., I have been much, much more reluctant to eat meat. Add to that the fact that reducing one’s consumption of meat is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, and I think you can call me a vegetarian or, quite possibly, a vegan in the making. If there are other aspiring vegans out there, you’ve gotta check out the new book Vegan Lunch Box by Jennifer McCann. Author of the blog by the same name, Jennifer is a stay-at-home mom who has perfected the art of packing waste-free, vegan lunches for her kids and hubby, as evidenced here at her blog. But now, she’s put 130 of her yummy vegan recipes into one book. From appetizers to desserts, from the simple to the adventurous, her recipes and menu plans are sure to appeal to anyone. The gourmet will appreciate learning how to fix up sushi, Greek phyllo triangles, Ethiopian flatbread and other tasty foods from around the world, while the busy mom will love her simple, easy lunch plans. And for those with allergies in the family, she includes a great allergen-free indexes identifying wheat-free, gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free recipes. In the end, you might just find that adding some vegan meals to your week might bring more spice and variety into your diet than you ever thought possible. And now you have a great resource to get started!

Find It Here: Vegan Lunch Box

Win It! We’re giving away a copy of Vegan Lunch Box. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter “VG21” as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What would going vegan mean to you? U.S. residents eligible. Enter by 8/18/08. Contest closed. Congrats, Stefanie S.!

Eco Fact: According to a new study published last year in New Scientist magazine, eating a 2.2lb piece of beef creates more CO2 emissions than driving for three hours after leaving all the lights on at home. -Treehugger

By Cristina, August 11, 2008  
Filed under: Read, Vegan, Win

It’s been widely reported that allergies are on the rise and even my own daughter seems to have an abundance of food sensitivities. To address them, we began to consider some alternative ways of eating and thus have read Sher and Doherty’s book, You Won’t Believe It’s Vegan! With over 200 recipes in this book, variety abounds with everything from warm gooey cinnamon buns and tofu scramble for breakfast to baked samosas for dinner and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Additionally, you’ll find tips for converting your favorite recipes to vegan dishes, a chapter devoted to kid-friendly foods, essentials for basic kitchen equipment, a list of pantry items and their definitions (what’s Umeboshi paste again?) and conversion ideas such as using soy milk mixed with lemon juice in place of buttermilk. If you ever thought eating a vegan diet would be dull and uninteresting or just too hard, this is the book that will change your mind!

Find It Here: You Won’t Believe it’s Vegan!

By Kris, July 19, 2008  
Filed under: Eat, Read, Resources, Vegan

Moisturizing daily is important for skin health — or so says my very astute and trustworthy esthetician friend. However, I find it disconcerting that so many moisturizers have synthetic ingredients that are downright toxic. Ugh! Who wants to put chemicals on their face every day? If you’re looking for a safer facial moisturizer, then check out Grateful Body’s Daily Facial Therapy. Available for dry, oily and normal skin types, it’s my all-time favorite facial lotion. Produced locally in California, the moisturizer gets a very low hazard score (a good thing!) from the Environmental Workging Group’s Cosmetic Safety Database. They are also a signer of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics and they do not test their products on animals. All of their products are vegetarian or vegan and they use recycled packaging and soy based inks. Oh and? Their moisturizer is really effective. I should know, I’ve been using it for over a year and I love it. At the risk of sounding a little un-green, I guess you could say, I’m sold.

Find It Here: Grateful Body

Congratulations to Meghan B., winner of a bottle of Grateful Body’s Daily Facial Therapy!

Deal: Receive 20% off your purchase at Grateful Body with code greenmom20. Valid through July 31, 2008.

By Cristina, June 5, 2008  
Filed under: Bodycare, Cosmetics, Mama, Organic, Sustainable, Vegan, Win

Check out this bad-ass wallet — made from old truck tires and tractor inner tubes, there’s definitely nothing wimpy about it. Additionally, for those who forego animal products or don’t dig the highly toxic process used to tan leather, it’s leather-free and thankfully, 100% free of nasty plastic leather (AKA “pleather”), too. It would make a great gift for the vegan guy in your life or for a teenager who’s going through that “I hate everything conventional” phase that completely rules out shopping at any mall or department store. Best of all, though, is that it’s made of recycled materials and keeping stuff out of landfills. That alone is reason for me to buy one for my son, who will be able to use it in about, ohhhh, twelve years.

Find It Here: BTCElements

By Izzy, May 20, 2008  
Filed under: Dads, Him, Recycle, Teen, Vegan

After running after my kids all day, the only thing I usually feel like doing when I finally get to bed is sleeping! However, I can often be persuaded to stay up just a bit longer for a nice back rub, especially when accompanied by a little Midnight Oil, my favorite new body oil. Developed by GratefulBody, a family-owned, green skin care company out of Berkeley, California, this oil is great for men and women, especially for those who need a little help de-stressing at the end of a long day. You might also like to know that Midnight Oil is a vegan product and gets a great safety rating from the Cosmetic Safety Database. Try it out and I can almost guarantee you that your body will be grateful.

(P.S. It works wonderfully as a baby massage oil as well!)

Find It Here: GratefulBody

Deal: Save 20% off your order from Grateful Body with code “GREENMOM20″. Expires 5/31/08.

Congratulations Stacey M., winner of a bottle of Midnight Oil!

By Cristina, April 2, 2008  
Filed under: Baby, Bodycare, Indulge, Mama, Organic, Vegan, Win

Is Crispy Cat an energy bar? Nope. Some kind of fruit roll-up thing? Nyet. Crispy Cat is actually the world’s first organic candy bar, developed by a guy named Joel in his kitchen. A former rock guitarist, Joel found his real groove making a new type of candy bar which was deemed an awesome tree huggin’ treat and became a local sensation. Crispy Cat is now available nationally and comes in three flavors: roasted peanut, mint coconut and toasted almond. Joel says that his organic, dairy free, gluten free, vegan, kosher and non-GMO creations came from a love of being healthy and a love of candy. We dig them because of our love of yummy organic stuff that rocks!

Find It Here: Crispy Cat Candy Bar

By Sarah, March 23, 2008  
Filed under: Eat, Organic, Vegan