The Union’s 28th Annnual Spring Home and Garden Show was a huge success this past weekend. Vendors from all over displayed Home and Garden tips and provided resourceful information for home owners as well as giving ideas to those who are thinking of buying a home. Visitors were able to purchase flowers and plants from the local nurseries, and lots of hand-made garden decor.  Feed Store Vendors provided a lot of information and displays on how you can raise your own chickens and what different typs of coops you can make for them. Certainly gave me some ideas on how to make ours even better.

It was a fun, family community event. The kids were able to stop by the Hardware and Lumbar booth and make bird houses. They not only got to take the birdhouse home but were taught how to build something.

Our Kitchen Booth was in the crafters section.  We displayed all of the new Spring/Summer Kitchen Products that gave visitors a chance to learn about how they can make cooking a FUN experience in the kitchen. We passed out affordable meal recipes, catalogs and informed people how they can utilize our kitchen products and make their meals in less than 29 minutes.

It was a fun event and a chance for me to meet new people looking for ways they can improve their methods in the kitchen and offer some affordable meal solutions.

If you’ve ever thought about having your children take a cooking class, I’m offering those classes to children of all ages. Research shown by the National Network for Child Care shows that children learn by touching, tasting, feeling, smelling, and listening. There is absolutely nothing better than sharing the experience of cooking with your children than right there next to you. There are lots of cooking programs out there for children, however it is imperative that you make sure that those classes also teach your children about eating healthy.

Noel’s Kitchen Tips for the Mini Chefs, offers your children the most unforgettable program in which your little ones learn next to you, enjoy the experience of eating healthy and are able to use kids friendly kitchen tools which they will be able to keep. There is nothing better, than helping them learn techniques in the kitchen to select healthier meals while making it a fun experience.

I am very passionate about educating children and their families about family mealtime together and what a crucial part it plays in our children’s lives. Come join me for EXCITING kids cooking classes where your kids will not only learn good eating habits, but also whip up their own delicious masterpieces!  

I offer a whole lot more than what a typical school of cooking classes for kids can offer you and your little ones. Feel free to check my website and request more information on Cooking Classes for Children,  Adult Themed Cooking Classes, Specialty Desserts and Birthday Party Extravaganzas!

In celebrating Earth Day, I thought I would make a recipe for dinner that didn’t require using the oven and I could use my Bamboo kitchenware. I made this sweet and tangy Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing.  Quick and Easy to prepare. Serve with chilled Sutter Home Moscato California 2008 Wine and dinner is ready.

Ingredients:

1 head Iceberg Lettuce

2 cups breaded Chicken breasts chopped (can use store bought breaded chicken strips, kids seem to love)

3 chopped Green Onions

1  seedless Cucumber

1  15 ounce can Mandarin Oranges

1/2 cup sliced Almonds

1 cup  Chow Mein Noodles

1/2 cup Maple Grove Farms Sesame Ginger Dressing

Toss and Serve.

 Be Earth Friendly: It’s Easy Being Green

I’m always looking fo ways to educate myself on isssues going on around me. One of them is Earth Day. Yes we all know some things, but do we know everything? I woke up this morning thinking what could I do today, on Earth Day. Well thanks to a commercial from Oprah, I found things I could do today and thought I would share with you.  There are a few things I already knew about and you may too but a friendly reminder to us all could help keep our plant Earth Friendly.

• A Mug of Your Own
  Every year Americans throw away 25 billion polystyrene cups and 25 billion individual water bottles, most of which end up in landfills. Instead buy a reusable to-go mug and a bottle that you can refill with filtered tap water. Bring your own (to a coffee shop, a meeting), and you cut down on Styrofoam
• Want a Lick?
  A cone beats a cup. Why? “You’re eating your silverware instead of using plastic,” says Matthew Modine, a passionate promoter of earth-friendly policies. “It’s all about consuming less, using fewer of the resources needed to make products and packaging.”

• Clean Without Chemicals
  Natural cleansers like vinegar and baking soda do a great job without harming the planet. “And,” Matthew says, “a little vegetable oil and lemon juice makes a great wood polish.”
• Bag It
  Get reusable cloth bags for the grocery store and the dry cleaner. More than 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away every year.
• Stop Junk Mail
  Every year 100 million trees are chopped down for junk mail sent to American homes. Contact the direct marketing association at dmachoice.org/mps to remove our name from mailing lists of their members.
• A Better TP
  Recycled toilet paper is scratchier than three-ply, but it’s much softer for our environment.
• How Many People Does It Take To…
  Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) use four times less energy than incandescent ones. If every American family substituted five CFL bulbs for incandescent, it would be equivalent to taking eight million cars off the road for a year. Ball says “They cost a little more up front, but they last up to 15 times longer.”
• De-Lint the Dryer
  Lint builds up after every dryer cycle, reducing the machine’s efficiency. Removing it does a lot to decrease its usually massive energy use. (Now this is a new one for me. Only de-linted the dryer when I absolutely had too).
• Shorten Your Showers
  Low-flow showerheads would be a big improvement. “If they’re well designed, the pressure should still feel good,” says Laurie David, another prominent activist in Hollywood. “For every two minutes you shave off your shower, you save 10 gallons of water.” (Have you every waited for your teenage kid to get out of the shower? Mine will be practicing this tip more).
• Shut Down
  The average computer left on all day uses nearly 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, producing more than a ton of carbon emissions. So turn off your computer anytime you’re not on it, and eliminate the screen saver function, which uses more energy than the sleep mode.
• Pick Safe Paints
  According to the Environmental Protection Agency, architectural coatings such as paints and varnishes are the second-largest source of fumes from volatile organic compounds, substances that evaporate at room temperature and react in sunlight to form photochemical smog. Look for cans with “No VOC.” We’ll all breathe easier.

My Earth Friendly Tip To You

Use Bamboo kitchenware. Bamboo is actually a grass. This sustainable and renewable resource naturally replaces itself by constantly sending up new shoots from it’s root system, so there’s no need for replanting. To find out how you can go green and be earth friendly in your kicthen, visit www.noelskitchen.com, and look for Bamboo. 

Teach Your Kids About The Environment

Looking for a book to help get your children aware of our environmental problems, and help you teach them in a fun and exciting way! THIS IS IT! Easy workbook style. Easy Read, Fun projects that can be adapted to children of different ages! If you are teacher of young children, this book is a must! Help the young learn now and they will grow up into the next generation that will protect our earth! This book will definitely show children how they can start solving environmental problems right now! Earth Day For Kids: Activities To Help Heal The Environment by Linda Schwartz.

Have an Earth Friendly tip? Please share and let us know what you are doing today to be Earth Friendly.

 Be Earth Friendly: It’s Easy Being Green

I’m always looking fo ways to educate myself on isssues going on around me. One of them is Earth Day. Yes we all know some things, but do we know everything? I woke up this morning thinking what could I do today, on Earth Day. Well thanks to a commercial from Oprah, I found things I could do today and thought I would share with you.  There are a few things I already knew about and you may too but a friendly reminder to us all could help keep our plant Earth Friendly.

• A Mug of Your Own
  Every year Americans throw away 25 billion polystyrene cups and 25 billion individual water bottles, most of which end up in landfills. Instead buy a reusable to-go mug and a bottle that you can refill with filtered tap water. Bring your own (to a coffee shop, a meeting), and you cut down on Styrofoam
• Want a Lick?
  A cone beats a cup. Why? “You’re eating your silverware instead of using plastic,” says Matthew Modine, a passionate promoter of earth-friendly policies. “It’s all about consuming less, using fewer of the resources needed to make products and packaging.”

• Clean Without Chemicals
  Natural cleansers like vinegar and baking soda do a great job without harming the planet. “And,” Matthew says, “a little vegetable oil and lemon juice makes a great wood polish.”
• Bag It
  Get reusable cloth bags for the grocery store and the dry cleaner. More than 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away every year.
• Stop Junk Mail
  Every year 100 million trees are chopped down for junk mail sent to American homes. Contact the direct marketing association at dmachoice.org/mps to remove our name from mailing lists of their members.
• A Better TP
  Recycled toilet paper is scratchier than three-ply, but it’s much softer for our environment.
• How Many People Does It Take To…
  Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) use four times less energy than incandescent ones. If every American family substituted five CFL bulbs for incandescent, it would be equivalent to taking eight million cars off the road for a year. Ball says “They cost a little more up front, but they last up to 15 times longer.”
• De-Lint the Dryer
  Lint builds up after every dryer cycle, reducing the machine’s efficiency. Removing it does a lot to decrease its usually massive energy use. (Now this is a new one for me. Only de-linted the dryer when I absolutely had too).
• Shorten Your Showers
  Low-flow showerheads would be a big improvement. “If they’re well designed, the pressure should still feel good,” says Laurie David, another prominent activist in Hollywood. “For every two minutes you shave off your shower, you save 10 gallons of water.” (Have you every waited for your teenage kid to get out of the shower? Mine will be practicing this tip more).
• Shut Down
  The average computer left on all day uses nearly 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, producing more than a ton of carbon emissions. So turn off your computer anytime you’re not on it, and eliminate the screen saver function, which uses more energy than the sleep mode.
• Pick Safe Paints
  According to the Environmental Protection Agency, architectural coatings such as paints and varnishes are the second-largest source of fumes from volatile organic compounds, substances that evaporate at room temperature and react in sunlight to form photochemical smog. Look for cans with “No VOC.” We’ll all breathe easier.

My Earth Friendly Tip To You

Use Bamboo kitchenware. Bamboo is actually a grass. This sustainable and renewable resource naturally replaces itself by constantly sending up new shoots from it’s root system, so there’s no need for replanting. To find out how you can go green and be earth friendly in your kicthen, visit www.noelskitchen.com, and look for Bamboo. 

Teach Your Kids About The Environment

Looking for a book to help get your children aware of our environmental problems, and help you teach them in a fun and exciting way! THIS IS IT! Easy workbook style. Easy Read, Fun projects that can be adapted to children of different ages! If you are teacher of young children, this book is a must! Help the young learn now and they will grow up into the next generation that will protect our earth! This book will definitely show children how they can start solving environmental problems right now! Earth Day For Kids: Activities To Help Heal The Environment by Linda Schwartz.

Have an Earth Friendly tip? Please share and let us know what you are doing today to be Earth Friendly.