Green Giveaway Friday Linky 7/29

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some giveaway hoppin! Be sure to include the expiration date. Thanks!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays.

Crunchy Beach Mama
Cottonfield Organic baby Onesie 8/10

Fabulous Won
Green & Black's Organic Chocolate 8/1

Family Focus Blog
Shop to be Green $30 GC 8/4
Starbucks $10 GC 8/5
$75 GC Heirloom Toys 8/17

Following in My Shoes
SwimWays Swim Steps 7/29

The Mom Buzz
$10 iTunes Gift Card 7/31
Bobble Lunchbox 8/20

Mommies 2 Cents
The Original Baby Bullet 8/12

Penelope's Oasis
NOOK Color 7/31

Simply Stacie
Earthbound Farm Organic Foods 8/4

Small Steps On Our Journey
Lightly Toasted Custom Handmade Necklace 7/29
Shaklee Basic H2 Organic Cleaner 8/8

Smart Girl Reviews
reusit.com Produce & Snack Bags 7/31

Thanks Mail Carrier
Zoe b Organic Biodegradable Beach Toys 8/15

Your Happy Hearts
Scent Natural Organic Perfume 7/31

How Do You Like Your Eggs?

We are an egg loving family. My husband likes traditional scrambled eggs, I like my eggs over easy and the boys like fried eggs and hard boiled eggs. Eggs are packed with protein, antioxidants and Omega fats and really are a great way to start your day. Eggs tend to get a bad rap so I encourage you to read about why eggs are actually healthy.

While passing time with StumbleUpon the other night I came across this eggs in a basket recipe that just looks so delicious. It got me to thinking that we only eat our eggs in the same old boring ways and trying something a little different one weekend would be fun. Here are some really good looking breakfast egg recipes I have found.

Eggs in a Basket by The Paupered Chef

Eggs Benedict by The Pioneer Woman

Baked Eggs w/ Bacon & Spinach by The Bon Apppetit Test Kitchen

Bacon Wrapped Eggs by Unfinished Man

Baked Eggs in Bread Bowls by Noble Pig

So what is your favorite way to cook eggs for breakfast? Do you cook them in the more traditional ways like myself or do you go all out and do something more "fancy" like the above recipes?

Wordless Wednesday: Misguided Woodpecker

The other morning I was sitting at the kitchen table, with the slider to the deck open for fresh air, when I started hearing a knocking noise. I turned around and looked through the door to see this female woodpecker pecking at our deck umbrella. I guess she must have thought it was a tree but unfortunately for her there were no tasty bugs inside.

If you are up for a quick video, you can see her in action.

Moby: Free Family Locator Mobile App

At the moment, my children are still way to young to have their own cell phones. But as they get older and enter the tween/teen years a cell phone will most likely be a necessity. As a mom, part of my job is to worry. And four kids can result in a whole lot of worrying. I will want to know where they are at all times. It would be nice if I could check in with them to see where they are without having to call them every time.

The free Moby app by Contigo will let me do just that. This app will allow you to privately share your location with your family and friends so they can see where you are on a map. If your child is headed over to a friend's house, they can quickly check-in once they arrive there. If you are on a family vacation at Disney, you can easily see where everyone is in the park and pick a location for everyone to meet up. Or if there is an emergency, you can use Moby to alert your family and get help.

Mapview.

The mapview screen will function as your main screen. Along the top you have your sharing location option, check in option and send alert. Along the bottom is where you will see any notifications of messages, where you can add contacts and manage your account. Of course in the middle is the map where you will see the location of yourself and any of your contacts. There are two ways to share where you are. The first is to turn on your Share Location feature. You can set it for up to 24 hours and indicate which contacts you want to share it with. If you enable this, then whomever you are sharing this with will be able to see where you are in real time. The second way to share your location is with the check in feature. Instead of sharing your location in real time, you can just check in when you reach your destination to let your family know you are there and safe.

Notifications list.

When someone checks in with you or sends you an alert, they will appear in your notifications list. Tap on the individual notification to expand it for more details.

Check-in screen.

When you check in at your location you can type in a short message to let the other party know details you to share with them. When they see your check in it will include the address, date, time and your message.

My husband and I both downloaded this app on to our iPhones and I already can see that this is going to be useful. I was able to install it on both our phones quickly and it is pretty easy to use. My only concern with it is that it does appear to drain your battery but Moby reports that there is an update coming in August 2011 to help with that.

As our kids grow older and finally hit the cellphone age, I will definitely want them each to have the Moby app on their phones so I can check on them at any time.

The Moby app is currently available for the iPhone and Blackberry and is coming soon for the Android.

Connect with Moby
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MyMoby
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mymoby
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/MyMobyApp






I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Moby and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Maybe I Just Have Fat Fingers

I know I have mentioned a number of times how much I adore my iPhone. It allows me to be productive when I am away from home or outside with the kids and well it is just a lot of fun! But one thing I still have a difficult time with is the touchscreen keyboard and typing. The first day I got my phone I cursed it every time I typed because I would hit 3 keys at once. Sure over the past few months I have improved quite a bit but between my fat fingers and AutoCorrect, my typing can be quite amusing.

I know other bloggers can relate to the fact that we seem to always have a lot of online forms to fill out. Want to apply for an awesome review or sponsorship opportunity? Then just fill out this three page form. Or sometimes we will be sent a product to try out and then we have to fill out form after the fact with our thoughts. This is something I had really hoped that I could do from phone but let me tell you it is quite a pain in the neck! I think it is also in part to the small screen on a phone, it would probably be much easier on an iPad. (If someone wants to send me one to test my theory, that would be fabulous!) But those darn touch keys slow me down so much that it probably takes me double the time it should to complete web forms. Even in landscape doesn't help me. I end up resorting to the good ole single finger point and touch typing and yeah, totally not efficient. And slightly pathetic.

So I don't know if it is my fingers or what that gives me such a hard time. I honestly don't think they are fat, but compared to those tiny keys I suppose they might be. Or maybe I am just trying to type too fast. Do you find typing on your phone, whether its a touchscreen or keys, to be a challenge?

Green Giveaway Friday Linky 7/22

We are in the midst of a crazy heat wave with suffocating humidity here in Connecticut. I hate this kind of weather! Thursday I refused to leave my house and I'm not sure what will be on the agenda for today. Maybe a trip to Target just to get the kids out of the house while I get to use some gift cards. I hope you all stay cool today and this weekend.

Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some giveaway hoppin! Be sure to include the expiration date. Thanks!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays.

Family Focus Blog
Green School Supplies 7/25
Organic Lip Balms Prize Pack 7/26
Shop to be Green $30 GC 8/4
Starbucks $10 GC 8/5

Following in My Shoes
SwimWays Swim Steps 7/29

The Little Kitchen
Pomi Chopped Tomatoes 7/26

The Mom Buzz
Bobble Lunchbox 8/20

Mommies 2 Cents
The Original Baby Bullet 8/12

Penelope's Oasis
NOOK Color 7/31

Small Steps On Our Journey
Lightly Toasted Custom Handmade Necklace 7/29

Smart Girl Reviews
reusit.com Produce & Snack Bags 7/31

Lots of Goodies from Our CSA

I am a few weeks behind on sharing my CSA pickups. I could have jut let it go, but the veggies are just so darn fresh and pretty that I MUST share them. Every week we seem to get a little more as more crop come to harvest. I am usually amazed with how much I leave with.

CSA Pickup 2

First week being able to pick fresh herbs. They give us some scissors and send us out to snip them ourselves. It smells so good here.

Then I was able to pick a huge bag of sugar snap peas. These are delicious and make for a sweet and healthy snack. I keep them in a bag in my fridge and just reach in and grab some whenever I need a quick bite. I just wish my kids would eat them.

First harvest of garlic scapes. This is the top half of the garlic plant and so funky looking. Have you checked out my Garlic Scape & Basil Recipe yet? Delicious!

The full stash! Romaine lettuce, kale, salad mix, basil, garlic scapes, tomato, strawberries, zucchini, summer squash, cilantro, parsley, radishes, sugar snap peas and broccoli.


CSA Pickup 3

More fresh herbs this week! I decided to get some close ups in the field. I was happy to be able to cut some dill this week. I love to break off some into a fresh salad. Yum!

The first fresh flowers to cut were Dahlia.

They look so beautiful sitting on my counter!

More garlic scapes. I just love taking pictures of these.

Biggest load yet. Salad mix, romaine lettuce, dahlia flowers, broccoli, broccoli rabe, cucumbers, basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, garlic scapes, white turnips, beats, tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers.


This upcoming weekend will be my 4th pickup. It looks like carrots, sweet corn, garlic, eggplants and cauliflower will be available. Can't wait!

Have you visited a CSA, farmer's market or farm stand recently? What delicious fresh foods did you pick up?

Take a Relaxing Day and Pamper Yourself

Finding a health and beauty deals on your doorstep can be difficult, especially when you are not a seasoned spa goer. But a relaxing spa day can be one of the most rejuvenating and invigorating experiences of all. There are so many treatments to choose from and so many different venues, so why miss out? But how do you track down your perfect beautician and treatment?

First you should decide what you would like to have done. Do you have an all-important party coming up? If so then you might want to think about waxing and maybe a facial to get your skin picture perfect. If you are jetting off to warmer climes then you might want to have a massage to relax you before the long flight.

There are just so many beauty and spa treatments to pick and there will also be many spa deals on your doorstep, so make sure you keep an eye out. When booking a spa day, there are several things that you need to keep in mind. First of all you should research the spa and the treatment. Make sure that they are good; you don’t want to have your eyebrows threaded and end up looking like they have disappeared. You should also make sure that you trust the beautician; this will help avoid any painful or unexpected experiences. Make sure you explain exactly what you want, especially if you are having a beauty treatment like eyelash tinting.

Some treatments, such as colonic irrigation, require the practitioners to be insured. Make sure that they have the relevant qualifications or insurance to carry out the treatment. That is definitely something that you don’t want to go wrong.

If you are looking for holistic treatments such as massage, hot stone treatments, reflexology and Indian head massage, you should have a look at online reviews and sites. They can offer the most up-to-date spa, beauty, fitness and holistic deals. They also allow customers to review their experiences, to help you decide on a perfect treatment or businesses. You will be able to find a practitioner near you who will be able to give you that every special post pampering glow.

Energizer Teams Up with Jordin Sparks to Help Save The Music plus an iTunes Giveaway

Music and all of the arts are such an important part of our children's education and growth. Sadly when budgets are tight, the art's are usually the first things to get cut in our public schools. We saw it first hand last year in our Connecticut town when the music program at our intermediate school was significantly cut. The VH1 Save the Music Foundation is dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in America's public schools, while also raising awareness about the importance of music as part of a complete education. The Foundation has provided more than $47 million in new musical instruments to 1,750 public schools in over 100 cities around the United States.

This summer Energizer is teaming up with VH1 Save the Music Ambassador Jordin Sparks. On July 28, Grammy®-nominated platinum-recording artist Jordin Sparks will perform at a surprise location in New York City to raise awareness for Energizer’s partnership with the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. The venue will be announced July 28 and it is free and open to the public. Sparks’ “pop-up” performance will kick off the series of grants Energizer and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation will make to schools around the country in need of musical instruments.

You do not have to wait till then to get involved. Now through August 12, 2011 for every new “LIKE” on the Energizer Bunny® Facebook page Energizer will donate $1 to help restore instrumental music education through the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

In addition to powering music education in America’s public schools, Energizer is also powering Americans’ playlists. Right now in stores, specially-marked Energizer products contain a special code so when someone buys three participating products, he or she can go online to www.nowthatspositivenergy.com/music and redeem the codes for a $10 iTunes Gift Card.

For more information on Energizer’s partnership with VH1 Save The Music, visit www.nowthatspositivenergy.com/music or www.facebook.com/energizerbunny and click on the VH1 Save The Music tab. You can also follow @EnergizerBunny or #EnergizerSTM on Twitter for the latest news and hints about Jordin's secret location.

Giveaway
One (1) winner will receive a $10 iTunes Gift Card

Mandatory Entry
Leave a comment telling me why you feel it important to keep music in our public schools.

Extra Entries
- "Like the Energizer Bunny® on Facebook and tell them I sent you. Please leave me your first name and last name initial to validate.
- "Like" Green Mama's Pad on Facebook. Please leave me your first name and last name initial to validate.
- Follow Green Mama's Pad publicly on Google Friend Connect.
- Subscribe to my RSS feed in a reader or subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count.
- Add my Green Mama's Pad button to your sidebar or add Green Mama's Pad to your blogroll. Leave your blog link.
- Follow @GreenMamasPad and @EnergizerBunny on Twitter and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet once daily. Leave link to tweet in comment. You must have at least 50 followers. Please use the following when tweeting:
#Win a $10 iTunes gift card & help Save The Music via @EnergizerBunny & @GreenMamasPad. #Giveaway ends 8/3 http://bit.ly/oYh7In
- Worth 20 entries! You may not use this entry method if you already used it on another one of my giveaways. Sign up and verify your free account at Zumbox through my referral link (https://www.zumbox.com/giveaway/23922wf). Once you sign up they will snail mail you a verification code within a few days that you must enter into the website to verify. Once you do that, you will then be given your own referral link. Come back here and leave me your referral link in 20 comments to get all of your entries.


This giveaway is open to legal US Residents 18+ only and will end on Wednesday, August 3 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement Page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. Please leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

I received a gift card for hosting this giveaway

Wordless Wednesday: Day Lily

I guess I am on a little flower kick these past few Wednesdays. In the nearly 8 years we have lived here, this is the first year this plant has ever bloomed. Every year the leaves grow and I just assumed it was a Daffodil. I was very surprised to wake up to these beautiful Day Lilies the other morning.

Just Call Me the Cell Phone Police

For Christmas I got an iPhone 4 and I love the the thing so much. I really do not know how I survived without it. Then in March we got my husband the iPhone 3. He doesn't love his nearly as much as I love mine, I think he is nuts. Now unfortunately AT&T no longer has unlimited data plans so we have to be careful about our usage away from home. This isn't a problem for me since I am home on our WiFi the majority of the time.

A few weeks ago I received an email from AT&T stating that my husband's line was close to going over his data limit. I was surprised since he never uses much of his data. I logged into my AT&T Wireless app to check our usage and sure enough he had used 140 of 200 MB with 15 days still left in the billing cycle. So I sent him a message letting him know and to watch his usage the rest of the month. I may have thrown in some choice words, I can't remember.

My husband is part of a fraternal organization in town and it turns out that a few of them were emailing photos from their fundraiser event back and forth to each other. Each photo was about 5 MB so if you add up a dozen or more photos, there is where all of his data went. After we figured that out, now he knows that he cannot send large files back and forth from his phone. Or he just has to wait till he is home on WiFi to download them. Though I think it would be better for their organization to set up some type of online file sharing to that they all have one place to upload their documents and images to share with one another.

Sine we went through that I now monitor our data and minutes usage more closely. I email him updates weekly or as needed to let him know what he has left or if I see a sudden spike. I think he appreciates it - or at least he should because I am saving us money in overage charges. I don't care if my new nickname is the cell phone police.

Do you keep an eye on your cellphone usage for yourself, spouse and/or kids? I have to imagine you really need to watch it if your kids have phones. How do you make sure no one goes over their limit?

Garlic Scape & Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe

Last year when we started with our CSA, I was introduced to a new plant called the garlic scape. The garlic WHAT? Exactly. Apparently, the garlic scape is the top part of the garlic plant. The garlic cloves themselves are bulbs that grow under ground and the scape is the green part the grows above the ground. The scape is cut off before the garlic is harvested to focus the plants energy on growing the bulb larger. These things are pretty interesting to look at as well.

Up until this point I had never heard of them and who'd have thought you can eat them too. After I got my first bunch I didn't know what to do with them. So my friend sent me a recipes that she found for Garlic Scape & Basil Pesto. If you like traditional pesto sauce then you will enjoy this as well. It is pretty similar, just with an extra kick to it.

Garlic Scape & Basil Pesto

adapted from Fort Hill Farm recipe

Ingredients
2 to 2.5 pounds of garlic scapes
2 cups basil leaves
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parmesan)
3 tablespoon pine nuts
spoonful of pasta water

Directions

Remove "whips" from garlic scapes and discard (the whip is the thinner end after the blossom). Chop remaining into 1 inch pieces till you have 2 cups. Dump into food processor.

Add 2 cups of fresh basil leaves to the chopped garlic scapes.

Pour in 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil.

Cover and pulse until well blended, stopping to mix in what gets stuck on the sides.

Add 3 tablespoons of pine nuts to the mixture.

Side note: pine nuts or pignoli nuts taste very nice in your favorite salad! OK, back to the recipe...

Then add in 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese. At this point my mother told me that her traditional pesto recipe calls for some pasta water. So I poured in a small ladleful.

Pulse again until blended. This is what your finished mixture will look like. You can now add it to your favorite pasta or or even spread it on some grilled chicken.
 

I love pesto on cheese filled pasta like ravioli and tortellini. Delicious!