GREEN EATS: Power Berry Purple Smoothie

1 1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries
1 cup frozen organic strawberries
1 ripe organic bannana
2 cups of soy or rice milk (you can also use juice or almond milk)
2 tbs of flavored soy powder (such as Spirutein or Source of Life)
1 tsp of powdered nutmeg
1/2 to 1 cup (to taste) of raw honey or raw agave nectar

Makes 4 - 6 servings

I love this drink! This drink is smooth, velvety, packed with vitamins and nutrients and it's sweet! This smoothie can give you extra energy and stave off cravings in between meals. It is a great drink in the morning or after dinner.

For this recipe you will need a blender as well as the above ingredients. If you would rather use ice and fresh fruit instead of frozen fruit, that is fine. I prefer not to have the extra water content of the ice. The fruit and soy or rice milk adds enough liquid and the frozen fruit adds flavor and the desired consistency. Squeeze or spoon your honey or agave into the blender. I like to put the sweetener on the bottom of the blender first, because it is close to the blade and the blade will evenly distribute it through the rest of the ingredients for an even taste.

Add all of the ingredients into the blender. You may have to stir it once or twice to prevent the fruit from clumping. Blend until smooth and creamy. If it's too thick for you, you can always add a little more soy or rice milk. When finished, pour into glasses - garnish with a lime wedge, mint leaves, or a strawberry.


Yours in a sea of green,


DuEwa Frazier

GREEN ENERGY: Go out, save energy in your home

Here are the top 10 places you can go to, during the summer heat, and save the energy in your home. When you're at home during the day, you have to use your fans, your air conditioner, your computer, etc. This one is for those of you who work at home, or are off of work during the summer.

I'm going to do this David Letterman style (LOL)!

10. Bake or buy a lovely batch of brownies or muffins and take them over to a friend or your sweet grandmother. You can relax at their house, enjoy the brownies with muffins or herb tea and save energy at your house! This is not to be confused with freeloading, for the simple fact that you are bringing an edible offering with you!

9. Volunteer at a local youth or senior center. Participate in or lead fun activities such as: games, creative writing, visual art/crafts making and movie screening.

8. Drive to a nearby town or the next state over and go sight seeing. Pack a lunch so that you don't have to spend any money!

7. Check out new exhibits at local museums.

6. Go for a walk and a picnic lunch in the park. Take a friend, books and magazines, and a frisbee to make a day of outdoor fun.

5. You may have to spend a little money, but if you love the spa for manicures, pedicures, facials, etc. you can spend some hours there pampering your body and easing your mind. Maybe plan to spend $50 or less, at least less than what it would take to cool your home for the 8-10 hours that you may normally be up using power.

4. Barnes & Noble, Borders and other bookstores stay open all day and much of the evening. Read your favorite books and enjoy coffee or teat in their cafe.

3. The library is always free and kept very cool and quiet! You can read, write, and check your email on the computers. Quiet as it's kept some people have been known to find a cushy corner of the library and take a nap!

2. Go to your gym and work out, try some laps in the pool to strengthen and cool off!

DRUMROLL...And, the number #1 place to go when it's hot and you want to save energy in your home: THE BEACH! You might as well enjoy the sun and sand. Remember to drink plenty of fluids AND wear your sunscreen!

Remember, when you're away from home, you are not using power in your home. The whole idea is saving power = saving energy=saving the strain on the environment=saving $ and resources!

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier

GREEN EATS: Brown bag it baby!

Wanna know how to shed some pounds (or at least maintain), save money and time while at work? Go green and take a bag lunch. I can remember the times when I wasn't "brown bagging it" for lunch. During those times I spent $25-$30 per week on lunch and I probably wasn't eating as healthy as I should. First you buy the sandwich, or soup and a roll, then you want something sweet so now you're buying a muffin or a cookie or a candy bar (adding on fat and calories you don't need) and before you know it, your money is spent!

Preparing your lunch at home, either the night before or the morning of, saves calories and materials. Just think: when you make your own lunch you control the ingredients you are putting into your mouth. You can reuse sandwich bags, containers, and tin foil to wrap your food in. My favorite brown bag lunches to make include: veggies with pasta and an apple, hummus with pita bread and a bannana, Amy's organic meals with a piece of fruit, salad greens with avocado and a piece of fruit, and tuna/veggie sandwich with eggless/dairy free mayonnaise or mustard. I also like to add snacks such as almonds, raisins, baby carrots, rice cakes, organic fig bars, organic crackers and an assortment of fruits like pears, tangerines and mango. When I take my lunch and put thought into it, I know I'm on track with my health and saving money. Make your lunch colorful and fun! Add your favorite healthy snacks, jazz up your sandwiches and soups with seasonings and fresh produce, take some herb tea in a thermos, bring your water or juice in a reusable bottle.

Taking a brown bag lunch saves money and time. When lunch time comes you can take your full 30 minutes or 1 hour, instead of rushing to the deli or fast food joint, only to realize your time to eat has been cut short! Maybe you can actually get some reading done from your favorite book or magazine while you eat! You'll find over a period of time that you are saving more money, which will free you to invest in other things. We've heard about how people who start making their own coffee at home instead of going to the neighborhood cafe each morning, save tons of money per week and per month.

Go ahead and take your beautiful brown bag lunch, you just may inspire someone else to eat green as well.

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier

GREEN CLEAN: Washing fruits and veggies

Have you ever noticed that some of the organic produce you buy, comes with special guests? There's a few cobwebs in your kale, a snail hanging off of your broccoli and a crab like creature on your organic apple (LOL)! Sometimes water is just not enough to ensure that your produce is free of dirt and insects before you consume it. You can purchase a solution of veggie cleaner from the health food store, but here's a more simple and cost effective way to clean your produce:

• Soak and wash your produce in apple cider vinegar and water





• Soak and wash your produce in organic lemon juice

Both apple cider vinegar and lemon juice have the extra acidity needed to wash away dirt, residue and insect parts from your produce. You can use them separately or mix them together as a solution for both organic and conventional produce.

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier

GREEN BEAUTY: Zoya Nail Polish

You can totally GO GREEN with Zoya this summer! Zoya Nail Polish, a professional nail lacquer is my favorite nail color right now. Zoya Nail Polish is formaldehyde, toluene and camphor and DBP free. I recently ordered a pack of Zoya polish, which I received when I exchanged (and mailed to Art of Beauty, their parent company) my old, mostly chemical ridden nail polish to receive the same amount of Zoya polish. Zoya comes in delicious shades of red, orange, browns, greens, and even blue, silver and gold! What am I wearing on my toes right now? ZOYA "Trixie" a fabulous metallic silver shade!

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier

GREEN BEAUTY: Natural, alternative nail color!

If you read my last post on giving yourself a natural manicure and pedicure at home, well check out this latest post on some of the natural nail color!

PeaceKeeper Nail Paint is a vegan line of nail polishes for which all profits, after taxes, are used to support women's health advocacy and human rights issues. All PeaceKeeper beauty products fund projects such as breast and reproductive cancer research, osteoporosis research, clinical depression research, domestic violence prevention, gender equality advocacy, infanticide prevention, and rape prevention.

My favorite PeaceKeeper Nail Paint, (which I purchased at Whole Foods and I paint my toes with it) is "Paint Me Grateful". It is a rich purple color, one I liken to the hue of grapes, and it's absolutely divine. I enjoy supporting PeaceKeeper because their proceeds go toward health and human rights issues that are truly important in our world. Visit their website for more information.

No Miss Nail Polish does NOT contain: Formaldehyde * Toluene * Dibutyl-Pthalate or Camphor. Cosmetic Colors, come from earth. No Miss Nail Polish NEW and IMPROVED ingredients are: Nitrocellulose-a fiber used for viscosity. Ethylacetate, N. Butyl Acetate, Isopropyl Alcohol-solvents used to dissolve Nitrocellulose. also may contain: Mica, made from sand, cosmetic titanium dioxide, (white),cosmetic iron oxide blue, (indian paint pot grey/blue), iron oxides, earth born colors made from rocks, zinc oxide, from the earth, used to promote drying and to deflect harmful UV rays from the sun.

No Miss Nail Polish colors are absolutely beautiful. I first started using their nail color back in 1998. My first bottle (which I totally used up, it was my favorite) was a bluish silver nail color and I wore it with everything! I bought my first bottle at Wild Oats in St. Louis (my hometown). Most recently, I've been sporting the sassy hot pink No Miss Nail Polish "Wakulla Watermelon" which I purchased from Whole Foods. This is a great summer color for your toes, it really pops with sandals! Visit their website for more information.

HONEYBEE GARDENS , Honeybee Garden Waterbased Nail Color is an alternative to solvent-based nail enamel. The water-based polish is odor-free, and:

· Non-toxic: no toluene, xylene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate
· No FD&C colors; only natural mineral pigments
· Water-based, not solvent-based like traditional polish

I have not personally tried Honeybee Gardens Nail Color, but I see that the colors are beautiful and this product does not contact many of the harmful chemicals we have come to know in other mainstream nail color brands. I will certainly order one of their nail color products in the near future and see how I like it! Visit their website for more information.

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier

GREEN BEAUTY: Give yourself a natural at home manicure and pedicure!

I'm a gal who loves to make sure my hands and feet are pampered, naturally pampered that is. I occasionally go for a professional mani/pedi, but I also know how to take great care of my hands and feet on my own. And I buy the tools and beauty products that serve me in this way. Pampering your hands and feet shows you care about yourself and when you choose not pay someone else to do it, you save money! Beautifying your hands and feet is also an ancient ritual practiced by women of many cultures. From drugstores to specialty boutiques and healthfood stores, you can find many of the tools you need, to give yourself a fresh manicure and pedicure right at home. And if you're striving to give your hand and footcare a "green makeover", well that's even better!

Natural Pedicure

I live in New York City and sometimes walking the long, city streets can be hard on your feet, especially if you're not wearing the most comfortable shoes each day. Most women want to show off their beautiful toes and wear the most fashionable sandals during the summer, and for this, your feet must be prepared! So let's start off with a natural at home pedicure to wake up those tired feet and put that "pep in your step"! Here's what you need to get started:

Tools:

Gather a small/medium size pan, a loofah, a pumic stone, a towel, bath and body gel, lotion/cream or body oil, a facial or body scrub, a nail file, toe nail clippers, nail polish remover, flip flops, cotton balls, and favorite nail polish. NOTE: Top and base coat polish is optional.

Step 1
Using cotton balls, take off your old nail polish, using natural nail polish remover or other nail polish remover.

Step 2

Use a small/medium size plastic pan, like a washpan that you can fill up with warm water. Fill the pan with warm water and a natural, scented bath and body gel like Avalon Organics Lavendar Bath and Body Gel. Use enough soap to create suds. You can also add your favorite essential oil to the warm water, such as: rose, geranium, peppermint, ylang ylang, or orange.

Step 3

As you soak your feet, use a strong, scented scrub such as Queen Helene Mint Scrub and a loofah to slough off the dead skin on the top and bottom of your feet. Rub vigorously for a few minutes. The rubbing and the water will clean your feet well and remove the dead skin. Also take your pumice stone to rub any hardened dead skin on your toes and any scaly, dead skin on your heels. This is the removal of all of those unsightly layers of skin on your feet. Rub vigorously and continuously until every part of your feet feel smooth and soft. Clip any hangnails, and even out your toenails using a toenail clipper. When your feet look just about "shiny and new", take them out of the pain.

Step 4

Dry your feet with a towel. Lovingly massage your feet with a refreshing lotion/cream such as Burt's Bees Peppermint Lotion. Or if you love scented body oil, try massaging your feet and conditioning them with Aura Glow oil in Coconut or another favorite scent. Once your feet have been moisturized, now it's time to file.

Step 5

Use a nail file to shape your toe nails in a round or square shape, whichever is most flattering to you.

Step 6

Slip into your favorite flip flops and prepare to paint your toes.

Step 7

Paint your toes in a fabulous, eye popping color. Some nail color lines I suggest are: (a few of which have less harmful ingredients than most mainstream nail color lines) No Miss Nail Polish, Peace - Keeper Nail Paint, and Sinful Nail Color. Put on two coats for more lasting color.

Step 8

Rest and let air dry!

Natural Manicure
Writing, washing dishes, cleaning your home and all of the other duties that require strong and capable hands, can leave your hands and nails dry and lackluster. Why not give yourself a manicure, at home to pamper yourself. Of course, it's quite similar to the process for a pedicure, but here are the tools you will need:

Tools
A small bowl, a towel, nail polish remover, bath/body gel, nail file, nail buffer, nail clipper, nail cuticle stick and remover, antiseptic, lotion/cream or oil, favorite nail polish. Note: Top coat and base coat are optional.

Step 1

Use natural or other nail polish remover to take off your last coat of polish

Step 2

Fill up your small bowl with warm water. Add a bath/body gel soap such as Avalon Organics Lemon Bath and Body Gel to the water, enough to suds.

Step 3

Soak hands for a few minutes. In between soaking, use your cuticle stick to push back the skin from around your nail cuticle. Use your cuticle remover to take off any hangnails or other jagged skin from around your nails.

Step 4

Rinse your hands with wam water at your kitchen or bathroom soon. Dry your hands.

Step 5

Apply Carol's Daughter Lemon Cuticle Oil or other oil, lotion/cream to your hands and massage each hand.

Step 6

Use your nail file and nail clipper to shape the nails and even out any nail edges. Use your nail buffer to smooth out the surface of the nails.

Step 7

Now that your nails are just almost "so fresh and so clean", polish them using your favorite color.

Step 8

Relax and let air dry!

For more information on healthy nails, visit dermatologist, Dr. Susan Taylor's website!

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier