Avalon Dairy is re-formulating their chocolate milk, so no chocolate milk will be available for approximately three months. We have removed it from the website, and we will be removing them from standing orders as they come up. As soon as the chocolate milk is available again, we will put it back on the website and add it back to standing orders.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns!
Green Earth Organics Inc. is a home and office certified organic grocery and natural product delivery service. We have a wide selection of 100% Certified Organic fruit, vegetables, and other grocery products. We also carry a growing list of environmentally friendly products that make it easier for our customers to tread lighter on our planet. This blog offers exiting information on organic food and healthy eating habits.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Grapefruit and Avocado Salad
INGREDIENTS
1 medium red onion
2 ripe grapefruits
2 ripe avocados
extra virgin olive oil
DIRECTIONS
Dice the onion. Remove the peel of the grapefruit, section it, and then take the skins off each section. If you are going to arrange this recipe beautifully on a plate, try not to break the sections. Otherwise, don't worry about it.
Slice the avocado into thin, long slices. Now you can either throw all the diced, sectioned, and sliced ingredients into a bowl and douse it with a high quality olive oil or arrange them beautifully on a plate and douse each individual plate with olive oil.
When you store it all together, the avocado won't get brown because of the acidic grapefruit juices.
1 medium red onion
2 ripe grapefruits
2 ripe avocados
extra virgin olive oil
DIRECTIONS
Dice the onion. Remove the peel of the grapefruit, section it, and then take the skins off each section. If you are going to arrange this recipe beautifully on a plate, try not to break the sections. Otherwise, don't worry about it.
Slice the avocado into thin, long slices. Now you can either throw all the diced, sectioned, and sliced ingredients into a bowl and douse it with a high quality olive oil or arrange them beautifully on a plate and douse each individual plate with olive oil.
When you store it all together, the avocado won't get brown because of the acidic grapefruit juices.
Avoid the Office Bug
Every year you watch as colds and the flu pass from co-worker to co-worker, hoping you're not next on the office's hit list — and then you end up getting sick anyway.
A weak immune system or plain bad luck might be to blame. But it's more likely that you and your colleagues unknowingly have a few bad habits that make it easy for a virus and its accompanying misery to spread in your office.
If you want to avoid falling victim this year, infectious disease specialists say extra vigilance about hand hygiene, among other precautions, might do the trick.
"We know that some years [viruses] are more severe than others," says Dr. Neil Fishman, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and director of the Department of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Control for the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
"But it's not impossible to totally avoid getting sick."
In order to understand how to avoid the office bug you first need to know what you're up against when cold and flu season strikes. While cold viruses are present year round, the number rises as the weather cools. Cold, dry air drains the normal amount of mucus we carry in our nasal passages, making it easier for viruses to attach to the tissues in your nose, Fishman says.
We also tend to spend more time indoors during the winter months-ordering in lunch instead of going out, for instance — increasing our chances of contact with someone who is sick.
There's a good chance you'll run into infected people in your office, in particular, because taking a sick day isn't considered a possibility by some people. In a 2007 CCH survey of more than 300 human resource executives in U.S. organizations, 38 per cent said presenteeism, when sick employees show up for work, was a problem in their organizations.
In addition, 87 per cent said those employees usually have illnesses like colds or the flu, according to CCH, a provider of tax and business law information and software solutions. Past research led by Walter "Buzz" Stewart, director of the Geisinger Center for Health Research, has estimated that presenteeism costs U.S. businesses $150 billion US per year in productivity.
Just how easily can a cold spread? If you're one of those types who desperately tries to avoid sitting next to a sniffling, sneezing and wheezing colleague during a meeting, you've got good reason.
"If you had X-ray vision," says Dr. William Schaffner, professor and chair of the Vanderbilt Department of Preventive Medicine and vice president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, "you would see a cloud of viruses around them. Every time they exhale, respiratory viruses come out, extending about three feet, creating a cloud around them."
But that's not the only way you could fall ill. Research out of the University of Virginia Health System in 2006 showed that people infected with rhinovirus, the cause of half of all colds, can contaminate common objects, such as light switches, which can infect others. To make matters worse, the day before you actually come down with a cold you're already excreting virus. In other words, the co-worker who hovered over your desk the other day or borrowed your ID badge could be sick but not have symptoms yet.
Handy Advice
Ask an infectious disease specialist how not to get sick, no matter where you are, and they'll tell you one thing over and over: wash your hands thoroughly and frequently. Most organisms are more easily transmitted through hand contact than sneezes, says Dr. Bill Sutker, medical director of infectious diseases at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. Once we come into contact with a virus, all we have to do is rub our noses, scratch the area around our eyes or touch our mouths and we're in trouble.
You should also try to avoid touching your face with unwashed hands, but that can be harder than it sounds. If you have an itch on your face, you tend to scratch it without stopping to think about whether your hands are clean.
If you've got a lot of door handles in between your office's bathroom sink and your desk, consider trying the old method of using a paper towel as a protective barrier for your hand or keep a bottle of hand sanitizer on your desk. Since not everyone spends the recommended 15 seconds scrubbing, an alcohol-based gel is a good back-up method, Sutker says.
Unfortunately, your best bet for boosting your immunity also does not come in pill or powder form. Most doctors agree there's not enough evidence to recommend people take products packed with vitamin C or Echinacea to ward off the office bug. You'd be much better off regularly taking a multivitamin and focusing on some of the cornerstones of good health, such as regular exercise, proper nutrition and a good night's sleep, says Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
While some genetics are involved, your immunity is basically a function of how healthy you are overall. Of course, no matter how strong your immune system is or how many precautions you take you may not be able to avoid every cold that passes through the halls of your office. But it's always worth a shot.
~Source: www.cbc.ca
A weak immune system or plain bad luck might be to blame. But it's more likely that you and your colleagues unknowingly have a few bad habits that make it easy for a virus and its accompanying misery to spread in your office.
If you want to avoid falling victim this year, infectious disease specialists say extra vigilance about hand hygiene, among other precautions, might do the trick.
"We know that some years [viruses] are more severe than others," says Dr. Neil Fishman, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and director of the Department of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Control for the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
"But it's not impossible to totally avoid getting sick."
In order to understand how to avoid the office bug you first need to know what you're up against when cold and flu season strikes. While cold viruses are present year round, the number rises as the weather cools. Cold, dry air drains the normal amount of mucus we carry in our nasal passages, making it easier for viruses to attach to the tissues in your nose, Fishman says.
We also tend to spend more time indoors during the winter months-ordering in lunch instead of going out, for instance — increasing our chances of contact with someone who is sick.
There's a good chance you'll run into infected people in your office, in particular, because taking a sick day isn't considered a possibility by some people. In a 2007 CCH survey of more than 300 human resource executives in U.S. organizations, 38 per cent said presenteeism, when sick employees show up for work, was a problem in their organizations.
In addition, 87 per cent said those employees usually have illnesses like colds or the flu, according to CCH, a provider of tax and business law information and software solutions. Past research led by Walter "Buzz" Stewart, director of the Geisinger Center for Health Research, has estimated that presenteeism costs U.S. businesses $150 billion US per year in productivity.
Just how easily can a cold spread? If you're one of those types who desperately tries to avoid sitting next to a sniffling, sneezing and wheezing colleague during a meeting, you've got good reason.
"If you had X-ray vision," says Dr. William Schaffner, professor and chair of the Vanderbilt Department of Preventive Medicine and vice president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, "you would see a cloud of viruses around them. Every time they exhale, respiratory viruses come out, extending about three feet, creating a cloud around them."
But that's not the only way you could fall ill. Research out of the University of Virginia Health System in 2006 showed that people infected with rhinovirus, the cause of half of all colds, can contaminate common objects, such as light switches, which can infect others. To make matters worse, the day before you actually come down with a cold you're already excreting virus. In other words, the co-worker who hovered over your desk the other day or borrowed your ID badge could be sick but not have symptoms yet.
Handy Advice
Ask an infectious disease specialist how not to get sick, no matter where you are, and they'll tell you one thing over and over: wash your hands thoroughly and frequently. Most organisms are more easily transmitted through hand contact than sneezes, says Dr. Bill Sutker, medical director of infectious diseases at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. Once we come into contact with a virus, all we have to do is rub our noses, scratch the area around our eyes or touch our mouths and we're in trouble.
You should also try to avoid touching your face with unwashed hands, but that can be harder than it sounds. If you have an itch on your face, you tend to scratch it without stopping to think about whether your hands are clean.
If you've got a lot of door handles in between your office's bathroom sink and your desk, consider trying the old method of using a paper towel as a protective barrier for your hand or keep a bottle of hand sanitizer on your desk. Since not everyone spends the recommended 15 seconds scrubbing, an alcohol-based gel is a good back-up method, Sutker says.
Unfortunately, your best bet for boosting your immunity also does not come in pill or powder form. Most doctors agree there's not enough evidence to recommend people take products packed with vitamin C or Echinacea to ward off the office bug. You'd be much better off regularly taking a multivitamin and focusing on some of the cornerstones of good health, such as regular exercise, proper nutrition and a good night's sleep, says Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
While some genetics are involved, your immunity is basically a function of how healthy you are overall. Of course, no matter how strong your immune system is or how many precautions you take you may not be able to avoid every cold that passes through the halls of your office. But it's always worth a shot.
~Source: www.cbc.ca
Friday, September 12, 2008
Doctors add voice to energy drink worries
The P.E.I. Medical Society will vote Saturday on a proposal to ask the province to ban the sale of energy drinks to young people.
The vote follows concerns expressed by some school officials about the effects of the drinks on students.
Energy drinks, only recently available on the Island following the lifting of the ban on flavoured, carbonated beverages in cans, have varying amounts of caffeine: from less than the level found in a cup of coffee to much, much more. Some Island doctors are concerned about the effect of the drinks, especially on children.
"We have reports of young students showing up to class after the noon break in a highly jittery, agitated state. And some of them have to be sent home," Dr. Jerry O'Hanley chair of the health care and promotions committee of the Medical Society, told CBC News on Thursday.
O'Hanley admits it's difficult to prove the drinks are bad for children's health, and assistant chief health officer Dr. Lamont Sweet agrees the scientific evidence isn't there.
Sweet said it could be difficult to enforce a ban on the drinks for kids, but noted some European countries have banned certain high-energy drinks. He said the potential side effects of the drinks — such as hyperactivity, nausea and vomiting in some cases, outweigh any benefits for children.
"I wish there were a situation where we could just say we can't have them at all and that's really going to solve the problem of the younger children as well," said Sweet.
"Not that they wouldn't be brought in by other means, but my preference would be let's not have them at all."
Sweet said the health department is talking about the drinks, but no decision has been made yet.
O'Hanley said his committee believes P.E.I. needs more health inspectors. There are currently six environmental health officers to cover the Island, and O'Hanley said there should be twice that number.
"It seems from our information that we're probably stretched a little too thin on the health inspector side at the moment," he said.
"We probably should look to increasing the numbers and resources at their disposal."
The health officers police tobacco sales, smoke-free places, inspect nursing homes and child-care facilities, issue boil-water advisories and inspect all restaurants at least once a year.
Other recommendations the doctors will vote on include making snow tires mandatory, tougher penalties for street racing, and adopting the national building code outside Charlottetown and Summerside. The resolutions will be passed along to the provincial government.
Source www.cbc.ca
The vote follows concerns expressed by some school officials about the effects of the drinks on students.
Energy drinks, only recently available on the Island following the lifting of the ban on flavoured, carbonated beverages in cans, have varying amounts of caffeine: from less than the level found in a cup of coffee to much, much more. Some Island doctors are concerned about the effect of the drinks, especially on children.
"We have reports of young students showing up to class after the noon break in a highly jittery, agitated state. And some of them have to be sent home," Dr. Jerry O'Hanley chair of the health care and promotions committee of the Medical Society, told CBC News on Thursday.
O'Hanley admits it's difficult to prove the drinks are bad for children's health, and assistant chief health officer Dr. Lamont Sweet agrees the scientific evidence isn't there.
Sweet said it could be difficult to enforce a ban on the drinks for kids, but noted some European countries have banned certain high-energy drinks. He said the potential side effects of the drinks — such as hyperactivity, nausea and vomiting in some cases, outweigh any benefits for children.
"I wish there were a situation where we could just say we can't have them at all and that's really going to solve the problem of the younger children as well," said Sweet.
"Not that they wouldn't be brought in by other means, but my preference would be let's not have them at all."
Sweet said the health department is talking about the drinks, but no decision has been made yet.
Health officers, street racing also on agenda
Doctors will be voting on a number of other public policy issues on Saturday.O'Hanley said his committee believes P.E.I. needs more health inspectors. There are currently six environmental health officers to cover the Island, and O'Hanley said there should be twice that number.
"It seems from our information that we're probably stretched a little too thin on the health inspector side at the moment," he said.
"We probably should look to increasing the numbers and resources at their disposal."
The health officers police tobacco sales, smoke-free places, inspect nursing homes and child-care facilities, issue boil-water advisories and inspect all restaurants at least once a year.
Other recommendations the doctors will vote on include making snow tires mandatory, tougher penalties for street racing, and adopting the national building code outside Charlottetown and Summerside. The resolutions will be passed along to the provincial government.
Source www.cbc.ca
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Spicy Mango Salsa
INGREDIENTS
2 cups diced mango
2 cups pitted and chopped peaches (or nectarines)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or basil)
2 serrano chili peppers, diced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, mix together the mangoes, peaches, garlic, ginger, and cilantro. Add the chilies and lime juice to taste; mix well. Allow to chill for 2 hours before serving.
2 cups diced mango
2 cups pitted and chopped peaches (or nectarines)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or basil)
2 serrano chili peppers, diced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, mix together the mangoes, peaches, garlic, ginger, and cilantro. Add the chilies and lime juice to taste; mix well. Allow to chill for 2 hours before serving.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Fresh Corn Patties
INGREDIENTS
1 large egg, separated
1 cup corn cut from cob and drained (about 2 ears)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash black pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
powdered sugar (optional)
sour cream and chopped fresh dill or chili powder (optional)
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, beat egg white until stiff; set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat egg yolk. Add corn, flour, salt, baking powder, and pepper. Stir until blended (mixture will be thick). Fold in egg white.
In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Drop corn mixture into skillet by heaping tablespoonfuls, forming patties. Cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes on each side, turning once. Drain on paper towels; keep warm.
Serve immediately with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or a mixture of sour cream and dill or chili powder to taste.
1 large egg, separated
1 cup corn cut from cob and drained (about 2 ears)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash black pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
powdered sugar (optional)
sour cream and chopped fresh dill or chili powder (optional)
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, beat egg white until stiff; set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat egg yolk. Add corn, flour, salt, baking powder, and pepper. Stir until blended (mixture will be thick). Fold in egg white.
In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Drop corn mixture into skillet by heaping tablespoonfuls, forming patties. Cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes on each side, turning once. Drain on paper towels; keep warm.
Serve immediately with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or a mixture of sour cream and dill or chili powder to taste.
Weekday Breakfasts
There is no doubt that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and the healthiest way to start the day. Many years of research confirm the benefits of eating breakfast. Along with refuelling our body to jump-start the day, eating breakfast helps children and teenagers to learn better and helps adults to perform better. Eating breakfast has even been shown to assist with weight management.
Although there are no limits on what constitutes a breakfast food, it is best to follow Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating and try to include something from at least two food groups. Breakfast foods can range from cereal and toast to non-conventional items like leftover soup, rice, or pasta dishes reheated in the microwave. Variety rules where breakfast is concerned!
For those who may not feel hungry first thing in the morning, breakfast can be delayed for an hour or two. Or try having something light, like 100% juice, fruit or toast, and then complete your breakfast mid-morning when feeling hungry.
Breakfast doesn’t have to involve a lot of preparation and clean-up time. Suggestions for quick and easy breakfasts for adults and children alike include:
* Toasted English muffin or whole wheat bread topped with a slice of low-fat cheese or lean ham, and a glass of orange juice.
* Smoothie made from 1% milk or low fat yogurt and fruit (frozen fruit makes is very easy) or 100% fruit juice.
* Low-fat cottage cheese and fruit.
* Low-fat yogurt and a breakfast bar (always check the nutritional information, though - some breakfast bars are very high in sugar).
* Whole grain pita bread stuffed with peanut butter or hummus.
* Apple or pear slices topped with peanut butter or low fat cheese.
* Trail mix, made ahead from cereal, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds.
* Microwave potato topped with low-fat yogurt or grated low-fat cheese.
* Breakfast burrito or quesadilla made with a hard boiled egg and low-fat cheese.
* .Waffles or French toast, made ahead and heated in a toaster.
Although there are no limits on what constitutes a breakfast food, it is best to follow Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating and try to include something from at least two food groups. Breakfast foods can range from cereal and toast to non-conventional items like leftover soup, rice, or pasta dishes reheated in the microwave. Variety rules where breakfast is concerned!
For those who may not feel hungry first thing in the morning, breakfast can be delayed for an hour or two. Or try having something light, like 100% juice, fruit or toast, and then complete your breakfast mid-morning when feeling hungry.
Breakfast doesn’t have to involve a lot of preparation and clean-up time. Suggestions for quick and easy breakfasts for adults and children alike include:
* Toasted English muffin or whole wheat bread topped with a slice of low-fat cheese or lean ham, and a glass of orange juice.
* Smoothie made from 1% milk or low fat yogurt and fruit (frozen fruit makes is very easy) or 100% fruit juice.
* Low-fat cottage cheese and fruit.
* Low-fat yogurt and a breakfast bar (always check the nutritional information, though - some breakfast bars are very high in sugar).
* Whole grain pita bread stuffed with peanut butter or hummus.
* Apple or pear slices topped with peanut butter or low fat cheese.
* Trail mix, made ahead from cereal, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds.
* Microwave potato topped with low-fat yogurt or grated low-fat cheese.
* Breakfast burrito or quesadilla made with a hard boiled egg and low-fat cheese.
* .Waffles or French toast, made ahead and heated in a toaster.
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