As some of you may know, we recently lost our beloved dog and friend, Reiley this past month. She passed away with Matt and I by her side on October 30th, just a week after her 9th birthday. We miss her so very much and love her with all of our hearts. She lived a wonderful life and brought so much joy to everyone that got to see her smiling face and her wagging tail.

She contracted a liver infection as a result of cirrhosis of the liver, a very rare and mostly unknown disease in dogs.

As I was researching her condition, I found little to no information on canine liver disease and even fewer veterinarians that could help us. After she passed away I decided to try to reach out to other owners in similar circumstances to be able to provide them with information and educate them about diagnoses & treatment options. I also hope to educate the general public about the warning signs of liver disease to prevent what happened to Reiley from happening to other dogs.

In Reiley’s memory I am launching the Canine Liver Disease Foundation to educate dog owners about this serious but silent disease. I am working with canine liver specialists, naturopathic veterinarians and other leaders in the field to provide THE premier non-profit informational website on canine liver disease.

Our website will be launching in early 2009 & in order to raise money to promote the website, participate in local animal events and print materials for distribution to vets, groomers, pet stores, etc. Regionz Kidz will be giving away any of our in stock tees for the price of shipping and a donation to the Canine Liver Disease Foundation.

If you are interested, please email me at:

lisa@regionzkidz.com

and I will send you a list of in-stock tees in the size you need. All payments will be handled through paypal.

Please help me in spreading the word about this fundraiser and visit the Canine Liver Disease Foundation site frequently to see our progress and learn more about how you can prevent canine liver disease.

With your help, Reiley’s passing away will not be in vain.

I love you so very much my baby girl and will miss you always.

Keep the kids busy when they are home from school for the Thanksgiving holiday with these eco-friendly projects. They will enjoy getting creative with you while also gaining a deeper appreciation for Mother Earth. As an added bonus, your earth-friendly holiday gift wrapping paper, cards and gift tags will be ready in plenty of time.

Gift Wrapping Paper
Brown grocery bags make appealing gift wrapping when creatively decorated. Simply cut the bags into squares and tape together as needed to wrap the present. The kids can get imaginative with different ways to embellish the paper. Here are some ideas to get them started:

-Crayons
-Stickers
-Glitter
-Pictures from old magazines, catalogs and cards.
-Pressed Leaf or Flower Stamps
-Sponge Stamps (Cut sponges into shapes.)
-Potato Stamps (Cut a potato in half and carve a simple shape or use a metal cookie cutter and then cut away the potato surrounding the shape.)

Ornament Gift Toppers
These shiny little ornaments are the perfect finishing touch to that special present and the children will have a blast making them. Even better, they can be altered and made into pins or magnets.

Supplies
½ cup salt
1 cup flour
½ cup water
Rolling pin
Cookie sheet
Toothpick
Miniature holiday cookie cutters
Acrylic paints
Glitter glue or glitter paint
Ribbon

Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
2) Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.
3) Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. Add more flour if the dough is too
sticky. Do not add too much flour or the dough may dry out and crack before you bake it.
4) Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.
5) Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
6) Use a toothpick or small straw to make 1 or 2 holes at the top of the shape, depending on size.
7) Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven for 2 hours.
Remove from oven and allow them to cool completely before painting.
9) When the paint is dry, use glitter glue or glitter paint to put a sparkling cover coat on your ornaments.
10) When dry, thread ribbon through hole and tie in a knot in the back.

Recycled Paper for Cards & Tags
Your little ones will learn about the importance of recycling with this craft and see how easy it is to make beautiful recycled paper. They can use the paper to create holiday cards or gift tags to go along with the wrapping.

Supplies:
Used paper
Blender
Glitter
Food Coloring
Pressed leaves and/or flowers
Wire mesh screen
Rolling pin
Cornstarch

Instructions:
1) Cut paper into small shreds.
2) Soak shredded paper in warm water for about 2 hours.
3) Put soaked paper into blender.
4) Add glitter and a few drops of food coloring.
5) Blend until mush.
6) Pour into a bowl and add small quantities of pressed leaves and/or flowers.
7) Spread it out on a flat, fine-holed, wire-mesh screen and use a rolling pin to flatten it.
Smear a tablespoon of cornstarch over the paper to increase its strength.
9) Allow to dry – in the sun if possible.

Michele Dupper is Mom to her 2 year old son and the owner of Truly Organic Beauty. She lives in sunny FL and has been transitioning to a green lifestyle since starting a family. Michele enjoys educating others about living a more natural lifestyle that is beneficial for the health of our bodies as well as our planet. She can be reached via email at mdupper@trulyorganicbeauty.com  

Thailand is in south-east Asia and has a tropical climate with sunshine all year round. It has white beaches fringed with palm trees, lush rainforests, rivers and waterfalls. Thai food is colorful, fresh and spicy. Thai cooks use blends of spices, particularly chilies, lemon grass, coriander and a salty fish paste, called “nam pla”.

*Coconut adds a creamy taste to this typical Thai dish. You can also taste the blend of garlic, chili powder and ground ginger.

2 medium onions
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon chili powder
a pinch of salt and of black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon
2 oz. creamed coconut
1 cup hot water

1. Peel and chop the onions, and peel and crush the garlic. Mix the ginger, chili powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the chicken breasts and cook them gently for five minutes on each side.
3. Lift the chicken breasts onto a paper towel. Pat them with another paper towel to remove any extra oil.
4. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze it. Sprinkle the chicken with the spice mixture an some lemon juice.
5. Grate the creamed coconut finely. Put it in a bowl with the hot water and whisk it until it looks like milk.
6. Heat the oil in the frying pan again. Cook the onions and garlic over a low heat until they are soft.
7. Put the chicken back in the frying pan and pour the coconut mixture over it. Stir everything together.
8. Cook the chicken for about 20 minutes, until it is cooked all the way through.

* Serve the chicken with boiled or spiced rice. You could sprinkle freshly chopped coriander leaves on top.

To reflect this struggle, there is “Soy Andina”, a documentary film about how art and cultural heritage brings together two women in Peru. The documentary is fantastic for both adults and children since it not only shows diverse and colorful dances full of energy, it also shows how different the cities and villages are that our parents and ancestors come from; how in spite of the chaos surrounding developing world cities there is this warmth and closeness to the earth so hard to find in big cities.

The film contributes to better understanding and appreciate the cultural roots of many immigrants in the USA, not only Latinos, and serves as entertainment as well as an educational tool that will sure spark a conversation during dinner time!

Thanks for reading,

Gigi
www.IncaKids.org

But thanks to Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), friendly skeletons are just as welcome. The Mexican holiday, Nov. 1 and 2, celebrates the wondrous cycle of life by recognizing - but not fearing - death.

It is a day to reflect on the warm and fuzzy memories and share happy stories, rather than mourning the absence of the dearly departed.

It’s believed that the spirits of our loved ones return on these special days to be with family and friends.

We welcome them by dedicating a variety of festive, colorful activities in their honor, such as building an ofrenda that includes that individual’s favorite foods, hobbies, music, pictures and more.

CRAFT IDEA - DIA DE LOS MUERTOS PIN

Supplies:
Gumball-size chunk of Sculpey clay
Liner brush
Craft knife
Black and white acrylic paints
2 jump rings
Miniscissors
Snippets of fuchsia, teal, green, purple and yellow party streamers
Glue gun
Colored seed beads
Small pin back
Milagro
Water-based varnish

Directions: Flatten the ball of clay into the shape of a quarter.

Use the opposite end of the liner brush to make indented eyeholes and cheekbones. Make a blunt cut for the chin with the craft knife.

Bake in oven according to directions to harden clay.

Paint base coat in white, then add thin black facial accents. Turn over so backside is up and glue one jump ring to the bottom.

Use miniscissors to cut 2-inch by half-inch of party streamers. Take one piece at a time and scrunch it, then apply it around the outside edge of the pin. Continue lining until the paper goes all the way around the pin.

Glue one seed bead in each eyehole for color. Attach pin back. Loop the milagro onto the jump ring and connect to the other jump ring. Add a layer of water-based varnish to the skull.

Tip: Milagros (a k a “little miracles,” tiny silver prayer charms) can be found at local Mexican import shops.

Craft Idea courtesy of by Kathy Cano-Murillo
The Arizona Republic

After three months of roasting triple digit temperatures, we are finally in the early stages of fall here in Arizona or wherever you might live (except for those people who reside south of the equator.) Now is the time of year when we can go outdoors without wearing oven mitts to touch the interiors of our automobiles and can really utilize all that the great outdoors has to offer. HOWEVER, now is the time of year we allow ourselves to partake in the consumption of unhealthy treats while simultaneously decreasing the amount of time we usually spend exercising.

What I am going to discuss with you today is how we can make smarter food choices during a time where that task seems daunting. This will become more evident especially with Halloween coming up at the end of the month. In addition to giving you nutritional guidance, I will also be giving you tips on how to stay active throughout the remaining months of this year.

During Halloween night, in a matter of a few hours, kids can accumulate more candy for themselves than they know what to do with. In that same time span, some children can eat enough candy to fulfill their caloric intake for several days (Americans consumed nearly 8 billion pounds of sugar last year with the youth demographic being responsible for that number being so high). Whatever they can’t eat that night is then distributed in high quantities for days and weeks.

With that said, I am not going to tell you not to go out trick or treating this Halloween. However, I can tell you which types of candy are not so bad, which ones are bad and which should be avoided at all cost. So parents, this will require you to be proactive when it comes to going through all the candy your kids accumulate while trick or treating. Even though they may be unhappy with you when you confiscate half of their loot, I promise you they will get over it shortly. Also, knowing what candy to avoid will hopefully inspire you to purchase healthier items to hand out to the kids in your neighborhood.

Here are some of the candy items that make it onto the “Not So Bad” list. One small box of Wonka Nerds, Jolly Rancher candies, Sweet Tarts, Smarties, Dum Dum Suckers, Now and Laters, Tootsie Pops, Neccos, Blow Pops, Candy Canes, Peeps, Salt Water Taffy, 3 Musketeer Bars, Candy Corns and Welch’s Fruit Snacks.

I was really shocked to see which candies made it onto the “Bad List.” Here they are in no particular order; Tootsie Rolls, Dots, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Jawbreakers, Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates, Milky Way Bars, Snickers, Starbursts, Skittles and Butterfingers. By no means are these the worst kinds of candy out there. If you must consume something on this list, then do so in moderation. Don’t buy the King Sized Snickers Bar anymore. Buy either a regular size Snickers or purchase a small bag of the Snickers Miniatures.

Nothing is totally off limits unless you happen to be one of the candies on the “Worst List.” Brach’s Milk Maid Caramels, Peanut Brittle, Airheads, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey Bars, Cadbury Milk Chocolate Mini Eggs, Cadbury Cream Eggs, Hershey Kisses, Twizzlers, Twix and Russel Stover Chocolate Bunnies are some of the items nutritionists have deemed as the worst kids of candy we all have access to. These items were higher in sugar, calories and fat than their competitors, which is why they are on this particular list.

Now that you have a basic idea of what is acceptable in moderation and should be avoided almost completely, you can make healthier choices for the kids in your area without them knowing the difference. That’s the good news. The bad news is, the majority of Halloween candy has one or more of the “Bad” or “Worst” items in variety packs sold almost everywhere. For example, Tootsie Pops aren’t too bad for you, but Tootsie Rolls are. Chances are they will be sold in the same bag together making it nearly impossible to get one without the other. I recommend going to your neighborhood .99 cent or discount store and looking for the bags of candy that aren’t variety packs. If you just want to hand out Blow Pops, you can buy bags and bags that contain only Blow Pops. Variety packs are often times more convenient and more affordable than buying individual bags of each kind of candy. If that is the case, still avoid buying the variety packs and instead buy fewer bags of the individual items. This will help you be more mindful of the amount of candy you are giving to each child. If you have a good relationship with your neighbors, let them know what you are trying to accomplish. They may want to do the same thing.

Another way to reduce the amount of candy your child gets trick or treating is to reduce the size of the bag they are carrying. The bigger the bag, the more candy is needed to make it look full. Get your child smaller trick or treating pails, and don’t allow your kid to use a pillowcase as a goody bag. Grab novelty gift bags in the party planning section of your local party supply store or discount retailers. The bags will seem more full giving your child the impression they made out like bandits when in actuality they have less candy than previous years. The excitement of getting to trick or treat will deflect attention away from the smaller bag and put it back on enjoying being outside with friends and family.

That brings me to my next tip. Make trick or treating and Halloween festivities about the experience and not about the candy. Get the entire family involved in the trick or treating process. Not only does it give you all quality time to bond, it gets you moving and will help keep your kids safer having you around. Don’t underestimate your child’s ability to look past the candy benefit that Halloween provides them once a year. Kids are more excited about strutting around in costumes that show off how much they admire their favorite childhood icons. If you look at it that way and help emphasize that with your child, you will find their attention to the candy has waned allowing them to focus on how cool they look all dressed up and how much fun they are having with you.

People underestimate how much walking you do in one night of trick or treating. If you want to know approximately how far you will walk, plan out the route you intend to take when trick or treating. Drive the route in your vehicle and you can get a better estimate of how much ground you will actually cover. Try to make the route a least a mile long and a minimum of 30 minutes. Feel free to go farther or longer if you feel up to it. Sometimes it helps to go to a new part of your neighborhood so you have to walk a bit farther. It helps you become more familiar with the area your child is growing up in and increases the number of calories you burn throughout the night.

I hope you find these tips both informative and easy to follow. In reality, I am not asking you to make monumental changes to your Halloween plans. The small, seemingly insignificant changes are the ones that add up over time and help create healthier, more lasting habits. Next month we will talk more in depth about how to have a healthier Thanksgiving so you avoid gaining those unwanted holiday pounds. As always I would love to hear your feedback or answer any of your questions.

Christopher Hillery has been a Certified Personal Trainer for 9 years and is the owner of Transformer Fitness in Phoenix, Arizona. He was once an overweight child and knows first- hand how the effects of being overweight can be damaging. It is his goal to help overweight children and adults develop lasting healthy habits and a positive body image. Chris can design a full workout program for parents and children which can include a nutrition program, along with equipment to use at home. He can be reached via email at: christopher_hillery@yahoo.com

Are you wondering how to make your Halloween greener this year? You might also be cringing at the thought of your kids eating all of those sugar filled treats and wondering what you can offer as a healthier option. A mom in Seattle also thought about these things a couple of years ago and that was the start of a grassroots initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, beginning with Halloween. Now known as Green Halloween, the movement officially began in 2007 and is backed by companies like Whole Foods Market. It was a huge success in Seattle last year so the group is working to make this a nation-wide initiative for 2008. Visit them online and get all the info you need to make your holiday greener.

If you are thinking about handing out treats that are healthier for our children and our planet this year, the Green Halloween website has a long list of items that sound delicious. They include treats like certified organic fruit leather by a company called Fruitabu that contain only natural sugars and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. There is even an all natural chewing gum called Glee Gum. It is made with sustainably harvested rainforest chicle and is available in six flavors. They also list some simple solutions that you may not have thought about like organic applesauce snack packs, organic juice boxes and organic granola bars. Additionally they offer some wonderfully creative suggestions for non-food treat items that you can give instead of sweet treats that will still delight the little ones. They will love getting treasures like spinning tops, soy or beeswax crayons, stickers and whistles.

Maybe you prefer to stick with tradition and still want to hand out candy. If you look for organic, all-natural, dye-free ingredients you can offer a healthier sweet treat. The Green Halloween site also includes a number of companies that provide all natural candy, such as, Endangered Species Chocolate. Their chocolate is certified organic and ethically traded with 52% cocoa content. The company also donates 10% of their net profits to help support species, habitat and humanity. Another company topping the list is Pure Fun. They make a variety of individually wrapped organic, fair trade, vegan and dye-free hard candies. They only use organic sugar cane and never use pesticides, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), synthetic flavors or artificial FD&C colorants.

Of course it is going to be almost impossible to keep your children from all of the sugary sweets that are handed out on this holiday, but if you think outside of the box, there are some ways to limit the amount that they actually eat. The folks at Green Halloween have come up with some great ideas like the Halloween fairy. Tell your child a story about the Halloween fairy that turns candy into magic fairy dust. Explain that she needs as much candy as she can get her hands on so if a child leaves candy outside on the porch, the fairy will come to take the candy and leave a special gift of thanks. Another of their suggestions is to have a candy trade. Kids receive a “pumpkin point” for each piece of candy they collect and then trade the points for a toy or special activity. Use these ideas to start some new holiday traditions for your family. Instead of throwing the un-eaten candy in the garbage, save it for special treats or check with your city to see if they will use it for compost.

In addition to offering healthier treat options, Green Halloween also suggests many other ways that you can make this holiday more eco-friendly. Consider the bag your children are using to collect their treats. Are you purchasing something that will just be thrown away when the candy is all gone? As an alternative, let your children make their own bag from things around the house. You can use pillow cases, shopping bags, purses, or sew them out of fabric. They will love getting creative with their bags and making them their own. If you or your children are not the crafty type, there are some cute reusable bags on the market such as the Chico Halloween bag that was designed by kids.

The Green Halloween site also includes some great tips for greening your costumes. Instead of buying a new one, borrow from a friend, rent one or make one from reusable materials. They give some very original green-themed costume ideas that you can create from things around the house. For example, make a Mother Earth costume by painting yourself blue, brown and green (with non-toxic body paint of course) and wearing wispy clothing in the same colors. Attach paper or stuffed animals to your body and weave flowers and plants throughout your clothing and hair. Give your children a chance to use their imaginations, ask them what they would like to be and their answers will probably surprise you. They will enjoy coming up with ways to create their costume and you will both have Halloween memories to last a lifetime.

Volunteers across the country are helping to spread the word about Green Halloween in their communities this year. If you want to get involved you can become a volunteer simply by sending them an email. You can help by doing things such as talking to your local schools and community business about celebrating a Green Halloween, handing out informational post cards or even by hosting a Green Halloween party or neighborhood bash. Every participating community also has the opportunity to raise funds for a chosen local beneficiary. There are events planned across the country this year so be sure to check out the online map to see if there is one near you.

Michele Dupper is Mom to her 1 ½ year old son and the owner of Truly Organic Beauty. She lives in sunny FL and has been transitioning to a green lifestyle since starting a family. Michele enjoys educating others about living a more natural lifestyle that is beneficial for the health of our bodies as well as our planet. She can be reached via email at mdupper@trulyorganicbeauty.com

This famous chocolate cake is very rich. Known as ‘Sacher’s cake’, it was first made by a cook named Franz Sacher, who baked it for an Austrian prince.

6 eggs
½ cup softened butter
½ cup sugar
8oz. semi-sweet chocolate squares
½ cup flour

For the icing:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Two 8in sandwich cake pans, greased and lined with a circle of wax paper

Oven temperature: 325F

1. Separate the eggs. Put the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Beat the yolks until smooth.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until creamy. Stir in the egg yolks gradually.
3. Break half the chocolate into pieces in a small heat-proof bowl. Heat a saucepan of water over a low heat.
4. Stand the bowl over the pan and stir the chocolate until it has melted. Stir it into the creamy mixture.
5. Put the egg whites into a large bowl. Whisk them until they are firm and form soft peaks when you lift the whisk.
6. Mix the flour into the cake mixture, then gently fold in the egg whites with a metal spoon. Fold in one spoonful at a time.
7. Pour the mixture into cake tins. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Bake the cakes for 35 minutes.
8. Run a knife around the edge of the cakes to loosen them. Turn them out onto a wire rack and leave them to cool.
9. To make a thick icing, melt the rest of the chocolate in a bowl. Mix in a tablespoon of powdered sugar and the butter.
10. Use a knife to spread the chocolate icing onto one half of the cake. Then, put the other cake on top.
11. Melt the preserves in a pan over a low heat. Spread it over the top and sides of the cake with a blunt knife.
12. Sift the cocoa powder and the rest of the powdered sugar into a bowl. Add water a little at a time. Spread it all over the cake.

We’re not asking you to add another item to the To Do List or even to change the world. We’re just asking you to rethink the things you already do. So take one step, or take all ten. Just know your actions are part of a global movement. You matter.

The EcoMom™ Challenge
10 first steps for a sustainable future
——————————————————————————–
1. Change a light. We have plenty of environmental issues to address. Let’s start with energy efficiency. If every household in America changed out just five incandescent light bulbs to energy-efficient CFLs or LEDs, it would be equivalent to taking approximately eight million cars off the road. Opt for the GE® EnergySmart™ CFL 8-pack – it will last more than five years, saving you money and saving our planet’s natural resources.

——————————————————————————–

2. Drive more efficiently. Going green can start in your vehicle. Carpool whenever possible, don’t idle during drop-off and pick-up, drive a hybrid if you can and drive less. If we each drove just 10 miles fewer per week, it would save 20 billion pounds of CO2 – plus, the time, gas and money saved opens opportunities for more enjoyable pursuits.

——————————————————————————–

3. Shop Fair Trade™ and organic. By choosing to buy from local, Fair Trade-certified and organic food suppliers, you vote for a sustainable future and help support the burgeoning ‘green’ economy. It’s good for you, good for your family and good for our planet.

——————————————————————————–

4. Use nontoxic products. There are so many fabulous eco-friendly products now available to us that it is becoming easier and easier to make choices that are healthier for us and our planet. By choosing organic, nontoxic products, you’ll protect our environment and also reduce the risk of disease for you and your family.

——————————————————————————–

5. Reduce, reuse, recycle and rot. Cutting down on garbage by just 10 percent can save 1,200 pounds of CO2 per household. Buying in bulk saves time, money, energy and packaging. With more than one-third of all household waste coming from food scraps, invest in a Composter and reduce your impact on our waste stream.

——————————————————————————–

6. Turn off and unplug electronic devices. You’ll reduce your exposure to electromagnetic radiation and save on energy and CO2 emissions. We also encourage you to save natural resources and create quality family time by joining the EcoMom One Night Off Campaign – choose one night per week to switch everything off, light candles, play games and relax, all while supporting sustainability.

——————————————————————————–

7. Rethink your laundry plan. Doing fewer washes, using cold water and line drying when possible can save more than $600 a year and more than 500 pounds of CO2 emissions.

——————————————————————————–

8. Plant a tree (or any plant). This is a great activity to do with your kids or to mark a special occasion. Over the course of its lifetime, a single tree can absorb one ton of carbon dioxide, and seedlings make excellent party favors.

——————————————————————————–

9. Reduce mom guilt with carbon offsets, renewable energy credits or green tags. Supporting renewable energy development to balance out your worst “eco-sins” is kind of like eating too many brownies one day and jogging extra the next. It’s not the answer, but it is a step in the right direction. If you go for offsets, make sure it is with a reputable company.

——————————————————————————–

10. Play more. This will be your child’s favorite, and hopefully yours, too. In today’s world, it is easy to get so busy that you forget to take time to connect and play with the people you love – and do the things that feed your mind, body and spirit.

——————————————————————————–

To learn more about the eco-mom challenge, visit the Eco-Mom Alliance