Goo Goo Gaia Give-Aways -- Earth Mama Angel Baby Gift Pack

This give-away is for all the mamas (and non-mamas, too). Because women usually take care of themselves last, we're going to take care of you. Enter for a chance to win an Earth Mama Angel Baby gift pack, including:

• Happy Feet Organic Herbal Foot Soak
• Earth Mama Body Butter
• Peaceful Mama Tea

This is a $40 gift pack and we're giving it away for FREE!

We're conducting this give-away on Facebook. Here's how to enter:

• First, become a fan of Goo Goo Gaia on Facebook (kudos to you if you already are!)
• Second, make this blurb your status message: I'm a @Goo Goo Gaia HOT MAMA! Now, don't copy-and-paste it. You have have to type it out exactly like it is. Why, you ask? Because when you start typing the "@" sign followed by "Goo Goo Gaia", you'll see a drop-down menu show up with our page listed. Be sure to click the Goo Goo Gaia page from this drop-down list (this is called "tagging"). Remember, the "@" sign must be typed in front of "Goo Goo Gaia" with no spaces. Once you've tagged us, come back to our page and let us know you've entered. If the tag isn't created on your page, however, we can't enter you in the contest :-(
• Bloggers -You have more chances to win! Just create an entry in your blog about our give-away and include a link to our blog. We'll enter you in the contest! Make sure you come back to our blog and tell us you've entered in the comments section so we can properly credit you for your entry.
• Contest ends March 6th. We'll select the winner randomly from those who've participated. You can enter multiple times throughout the week, but only once a day. The more times you enter, the greater your chances!

Good luck, and take care of yourselves!

You mean I can get paid for using reusable bags?

My baby girl has been sick lately. She’s had some nasty stomach bug that’s been giving her problems for about a week now, which has made changing her diaper *sarcasm alert* an absolute joy! The BRAT diet only worked marginally, and she’s about sick to death of eating rice at this point anyway. So it was time to visit to our beloved pediatrician. The doctor gave her a prescription which we filled at the CVS across the street. While we were there I decided to pick up a few toiletries and brought them to the check-out counter, where I saw something that interested me. CVS is now giving shoppers an incentive to bring their own reusable bags. It’s called the Green Bag Tag™ and you use it in conjunction with your CVS ExtraCare card. You buy the tag for 99 cents and attach it to your reusable bag (which can be any bag, even a reused plastic shopping bag). When you shop, the cashier scans your bag tag as well as your ExtraCare card and with every fourth visit you earn $1 in Extra Bucks. Adding to the environmental friendliness of it all, the tag is made of renewable corn-based material. Apparently they've been doing this for a few months now, but the store near our house either isn't doing it or hasn't introduced it yet, so I never knew about it until yesterday.

You might question whether this is just another form of “greenwashing” – you know, another company playing on the environmental sensibilities of its customers in order to make more money. Well, yes, I’m sure this new effort will bring in a lot of extra cash to the business since they’re charging a small fee for the tags and they’ll presumably save money on the cost of single-use plastic bags. But personally, I’m all for it. For people like me who frequent CVS (we go at least twice a week) it works because the tag will pay for itself pretty quickly. And after that, any amount of money I can save – however small that is – is helpful to my family’s budget. Those dollars add up over time! Plus the promotion will likely get more people to use reusable bags and possibly reduce the amount of litter caused by plastic ones.

For a while now, stores have given small discounts to their customers for bringing their own bags. Most grocery stores in our area do this, as does my favorite store, Tar-jhay (Target). Washington, DC recently started imposing a tax on single-use plastic and paper shopping bags. The tax funds city efforts to clean up the Anacostia River, for which the number 1 pollutant is plastic shopping bags. While I appreciate the effort on the part of the city of Washington, I’m not crazy about the tax because it makes the health of the river dependent on the very thing that’s hurting it the most. And does the government have to tax everything? Eh, I guess that’s a conversation best reserved for another blog.

At any rate, I’m happy that CVS has instituted this campaign. I most appreciate when businesses adopt holistically green practices such as powering their stores with renewable energy sources, stocking fair-trade merchandise, etc. But I commend CVS for doing something, anything, to help its customers live and shop more responsibly. Hopefully I won't have to use my Green Bag Tag™ to pick up any more prescriptions for sick babies in the near future.

Baby, It's COLD Outside!

For the second time in less than a week, the DC area has been hit with a major snow storm. Scratch that... there is a full-blown BLIZZARD going on outside! We've barely left the house since Friday evening and everything is shut down. Thankfully, we stocked up on food and our electricity hasn't gone out.

The blizzard combined with a financial fast my family has embarked upon for the month of February (we can only spend money on essentials and have to give up luxuries like eating out) means that we have to cook, whether we like it or not. Sadly, I can't remember when we last cooked this often, which I know is bad because it's so much healthier to prepare your food at home. But when you're a busy family, it gets a little difficult sometimes. The fast and the storm have been helping us get back to basics.

In the spirit of keeping warm and cozying up with food and family, I'd like to share a recipe for my favorite cold-weather comfort food: Vegetarian Chili!

3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, diced
1 package of Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Grillers® Recipe Crumbles™
2 cups of cooked kidney beans
4 cups of crushed tomatoes
1 small can of green chilies or 2 fresh serrano peppers (with or without the seeds), chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 cup of water
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

In a dutch oven or deep skillet, heat the oil and sauté the onions until they're translucent. Add the recipe crumbles and sauté until they're thawed, seasoning with salt and pepper if desired. Add the beans, crushed tomatoes, chilies, and garlic. Stir in the chili powder, and add the cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper to your liking. Add the water and bring to a boil. Let it boil for about a minute. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about an hour. You can sneak in a few tastes along the way and season as you desire.

This chili goes great with cornbread or rice. Even though it's a little bit spicy my 17-month-old daughter loves it, which surprises me because she NEVER let me eat anything spicy when I was pregnant! I hope you enjoy it as much as our family does. Stay warm!

Rebirth

Wow, it feels like forever since I’ve stepped into the blogosphere! Initially, it started out as a case of really bad blogger’s block, but eventually a wonderful idea came to me. Because raising an earth-conscious child had become such a passion of mine, I decided to open my own cloth diaper and natural parenting boutique.  When I found that many of my friends were coming to me for advice on cloth diapering and eco-friendly living, I figured it was a logical step. So, I proudly introduce you to…

Goo Goo Gaia – Cloth Diapers and Natural Parenting
www.googoo-gaia.com

INER-G will still be my own blog chronicling my attempts at living and parenting “green.” But it will also serve as the companion blog for Goo Goo Gaia, and it will be here that I announce promotions, new products, giveaways, and other things of interest to our customers. I invite everyone to visit our store and sign up for an account. In fact, if you do I will send you a coupon code for 10% off your next order! See, you’re saving money and the planet already!

Thank you in advance for supporting us. We’re family-run and still growing, so we appreciate your business and your prayers. Be blessed!