What is Bisphenol A (BPA) and what can you do to protect your family and kid’s health and minimize exposure to it? According to a recent Enviroblog, BPA is a toxics plastic chemical which may be have negative health effects for pregnant women and children.

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The Mambo Sprouts Marketing Earth Day poll shows consumers will enjoy nature and outdoors and take personal action to be green in celebration of Earth Day. A recent Mambo Trackâ„¢ market research survey of natural and organic consumers conducted by Mambo Sprouts Marketing, showed that the majority of respondents (58%) indicated a plan to simply enjoy nature/outdoors in celebration of Earth Day. One in two (48%) planned to be more environmentally responsible and reduce their carbon footprint (reduce, reuse, recycle) to help the earth such as saving energy or bringing a reusable grocery bag. One in five (22%) planned to prepare a local, seasonal, organic meal for Earth Day. Only 1 in 5 or fewer had definite plans to take part in an organized earth day event or activity such as a festival or concert (17%), Earth Day awareness event (15%) or perform community service (13%).

The Earth Day poll was conducted between April 15 and April 17, 2008 and completed by over 1,000 online natural and organic consumers

Mambo Sprouts would like to thank all of the MamboTrack consumers who participated in this Earth Day poll! Happy Earth Day from your friends at Mambo Sprouts!

Be a healthy fool this week. You won’t believe these delicious recipes are so good for you.

Healthy recipe makeovers include some of your favorite fare such as Hearty Whole Wheat Pizza with whole wheat crust for extra fiber to Stuffed Soy Shells, a healthy vegetarian entrée which “sneaks” in tofu in place of ricotta cheese. Prepare Cinnamon Apples with sustainably grown or organic apples, low fat yogurt and cinnamon for a quick nutrition packed snack which is good for you and the planet.

Be a healthy fool and try these healthy recipe makeovers courtesy of www.meatlessmonday.com

Go grass! Look for meat, eggs and dairy products that come from grass-fed animals. Grass-fed products are known to be higher in important nutrients and lower in fat than grain-fed products.

Resources:
www.healthymonday.org healthy living tips

www.eatwild.com health benefits of grass-fed foods

Rustle the Leaf is an online outreach that uses syndication-quality, weekly comic strips and other creative tools to communicate essential environmental themes and truths. Our goals are to encourage environmentalists, to facilitate the sharing of environmental views in an engaging, non-confrontational manner and to introduce and reinforce environmental education with people ages 6 to 106.

Rustle the Leaf hopes you’ll enjoy the comics, their website and hopes that–because of Rustle–you’ll become more interested in helping to preserve, protect and heal this world that has been placed in our care.

Rustle The Leaf- environmental humor comic strip.

Click here for more earth-friendly ‘fun stuff from Rustle the Leaf‘- e-cards, computer wallpaper and printable kid’s coloring pages.

Nourish Interactive launches a website that offers free nutrition oriented tools and games for kids. This site is designed to help parents and children learn about the importance of nutrition and exercise in a fun and engaging way. Kids will learn how to make healthy food choices by playing the online animated games. Chef Solus is your guide as you explore and learn about health and fitness in this animated and interactive adventure.
nutrition games for kids, free online nutrition education games!

“Offering free games and new ideas every month to teach children and parents nutritious habits for healthy living,” said Michelle Mirizzi, MS, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant. “By playing these interactive games like Pyramid Puzzles, Matching Meals or Whack a Snack, children will definitely have fun learning how to create a healthy lifestyle.”

This is a quality ‘edutainment’ that uses online tools, games, and animation to teach kids to make healthy lifestyle and food choices, which benefit both kids and parents alike.

Parent interaction is built into Nourish Interactive, as kids and parents sign up together making for an opportunity to have fun and learn together. When children learn that health and nutrition can be fun, it makes it easier on parents when they are trying to get their children to make wiser food choices. Parents can sign up for a free newsletter, easy nutrition tips, and log in to track their child’s progress through the games. Games available in English and Spanish.

Click below to take ‘a tour’ and learn more about the fun and benefits of nutrition games for kids:
nutrition games for kids, interactive educational tools, kids health and nutrition games…. plus great kid’s health, nutrition and fitness tools and resources for parents by www.nourishinteractive.com!

Avoid buying “convenience” foods like frozen dinners if you can. They’re usually way too high in salt and fat. If you’re short on time, make fresh salads and healthy sandwiches instead.

Resources:
Health Tips From Healthy Monday

Healthy Sandwich Recipes From Mambo Sprouts

Harvest Eating cooking videos, local healthy recipes and more!

Share your favorite healthy sandwich recipes, leave a comment!

The many benefits of organic gardening are discussed on this NPR podcast. Organic gardening is safer for you and better for the earth! There are many ways to grow healthy and organic vegetables, plants, herbs and flowers. Listen to learn about natural fertilizers such as alfalfa meal, soft phosphate, and beneficial nematodes to easy tips like composting your grass clipping.

Organic Gardening Podcast: Listen Here Bay Area, KQED National Public Radio Affiliate.

Click here for more organic home and garden tips from Mambo Sprouts Health E-News

Check out these books written by authors interviewed in the organic gardening podcast:

Gardening At The Dragons Gate: At Work In The Wild and Cultivated World by Wendy Johnson

Golden Gate Gardening: Year- Round Food Gardening by Pam Pierce

Meal planning and shopping lists can help you to eat healthier, save time and save money.
Packing nutrition into your day and cooking delicious new meals is easy with the tips provided by Food Blogger.
Check out these simple, yet effective tips for buying fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, dairy/cheese, eggs, fish, shellfish, meat and grains. You’ll find you can simplify your grocery store trips, eat healthy and save money! Read Healthy Eating Shopping List

Organic & Natural Food and Product Coupons!
Discover great organic food and natural products and save money with Mambo Sprouts coupons. Featuring coupons from today’s leading natural and organic companies such as: Organic Valley, Back to Nature, Ian’s Natural Foods, Boca, Silk, Thai Kitchen, San-J, Balance Bar, Clif Bar & Company, Kashi, Kiss My Face and many more….

Organic Coupons click here to see if you are in one of our free mailing regions to receive natural and organic coupons by mail. You’ll receive over $25 in coupon savings 3 times a year - start saving money on great natural and organic food and products!

Print at home online coupons from Mambo Sprouts: organic printable grocery coupons

Hold the corned beef, but bring on the cabbage! Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with more of the green. Cabbage is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. It’s a good source of vitamin C, potassium and fiber and cancer-fighting compounds, too. More Healthy Monday Tips

Watch Chef Keith Snow’s cooking video and try this easy St Patrick’s Day cabbage recipe at home.

Click here for more Harvest Eating cooking videos, local healthy recipes and more!

THE GREENS is a cool kids’ site about looking after the planet. MeetTheGreens.org is produced by the award-winning kid’s team at WGBH Interactive in Boston.

Kids can watch THE GREENS’ cartoon adventures and discover related green games, news, downloads, blog, action tips, links and much more. This innovative web-only project comes from WGBH in Boston, the producer of shows like ZOOM, ARTHUR and Frontline & NOVA.

Watch Meet The Greens Intro:

Click Here To Meet The Greens

Shopping for healthy and organic food can get confusing with the variety of certifications and labels. Recognizing that it can be difficult to clearly know what labels mean, Stacy Delo hosts this video that demystifies the labels so you can make your food purchases wisely.
Watch as two experts explain the certifications and labels for all natural, organic, certified organic, humane and free range products.

Want to improve your brain? Exercise your body. That’s right. Aerobic exercise isn’t just good for your heart, it’s good for your brain, too.

So why not start your own Monday Mile club? Grab some neighbors and circle the block a few times in the morning – or gather your buddies at work and do a few laps around the parking lot at break time.

Resources:
Healthy Monday: Health Tips

Mayo Clinic: How to start a walking group.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s 11th Hour Action Groups are a way to network in your local community to take action together for sustainability.
The 11th Hour Movie is now available on DVD, Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary about the environmental crisis shows how the planet is in danger but also offers ideas and solutions for making sustainable steps that can help the planet.

Featuring interviews with leading scientists and thinkers — including Stephen Hawking and Mikhail Gorbachev, this movie brings a message of hope: “Our planet may be in crisis, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late change.”

Watch the 11th Hour Video Clip Here

Click Here To Visit the 11th Hour Action Website To Find A Local Group Near You.…Or Start Your Own Local Group!

Whole Foods Market Is Banning Plastic Bags Starting On Earth Day

The latest success in the Green War now seems to be plastic bags. Whole Foods, a leading natural food chain store, is banning disposable plastic grocery bags making it easier to shop for natural and organic food products and help the environment. Forever ending the ‘paper vs. plastic’ bag question, Whole Foods is encouraging customers to bring their own reusable bags. Whole Foods is also selling reusable grocery bags made from recycled plastic bottles for only 99 cents or providing paper bags made of 100% recycled (and recyclable) materials.

Whole Foods is committed to eliminating disposable plastic grocery bags in their stores by April 22nd which coincidentally is Earth Day! So, on your next trip to Whole Foods, remember to ‘Bring Your Own Bags!’

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Read more here:
Whole Food Market Ban On Plastic Bags…

Visit Reuse This Bag For Great Reusable Bags, quick facts on the environmental hazards of plastic bags, photos and video clips.

ProjectGreenify Blog ‘Just Say No to Plastic Bags’

Mambo Green Living Note:
A recent Survey of the MamboTrack natural and organic panel revealed that Mambo consumers are doing your part to be more green and earth friendly this year!. About two in three plan to increase their use of environmentally friendly grocery bags and decrease their use of disposable plastic bags in 2008. Four in ten or more plan to not bag items at all or re-use store paper/plastic bags more this year.

Sign up today to join the MamboTrack survey panel and receive FREE valuable natural and organic product samples and healthy give-a-ways just for sharing your opinion!
Click here to learn more and sign up to a part of MamboTrack Survey panel.

Fruit is a sweet treat! Calm your sweet tooth with a delicious fruit salad, or top your whole-grain cereal with bananas or berries. A little bit of fruit will add a whole lot of vitamins - and sweetness - to your diet.

More Healthy Monday Tips Here!

Great news for health and eco-conscious dining! More restaurants are choosing to be eco-friendly. The Green Restaurant Association provides standards and certification for dining establishments who are following sustainable business practices. Strategies to ‘go green’ include; green roofs, solar energy, natural cleaning supplies, increased recycling practices, biodegradable take-out containers and energy efficient lighting. Owners who meet the standards are given the Green Restaurant Seal.

Restaurant Owners are also responding to the demand for greener and healthier dining options. Consumers are essentially ‘driving the new menus’ and as a result it’s getting easier to find restaurants serving organic, locally grown or vegetarian meals.

Visit The Green Life Sierra Club Blog for more info: sustainable restaurants and the green restaurant seal

Visit Mambo Sprouts Natural Marketplace: To Find Healthy, Organic Restaurants- Sustainable Dining Locator Links.

Exciting news for those of us taking steps to live a more sustainable lifestyle- Ed Begley Jr., actor and environmentalist, has just released his book ‘Living Like Ed’, this great book provides practical tips for living green.

Book Description:
Ed Begley Jr., presents a do-it-yourself guide to green living that explains how to incorporate eco-friendly products and practices into one’s everyday life. The book is covering areas such as the home, transportation, recycling, energy, food, gardening, clothing and furnishing. Begley shares his experiences on what works, what doesn’t and what will save you money!

“…. From recycling more materials than you ever thought possible to composting without raising a stink to buying an electric car, Living Like Ed is packed with ideas - from obvious to ingenious–that will help you live green, live responsibly and live well-Like Ed.”
Click here to find out more about the new green living book “Living Like Ed”

Green Living Video with Ed Begley Jr.

For More Green Tips: Living With Ed TV Show Info

Play games with yourself! Crosswords, suduko, any puzzles that use language or math skills to stimulate the brain are not just fun – they’re good for you. Just 15 minutes a day can keep you sharp.
Try it and have a healthy Monday!

Discover great organic food and natural products plus save money with Mambo Sprouts coupons! Featuring coupons from today’s leading natural and organic companies such as: Organic Valley, Back to Nature, Ian’s Natural Foods, Boca, Silk, Thai Kitchen, San-J, Balance Bar, Clif Bar & Company, Kashi, Kiss My Face and many more….

Mambo Sprouts ‘Winter Coupons’ are in stores now! Our coupon booklets are found in grocery stores throughout the country.

Here are other great ways to get Mambo Sprouts coupons:
Click here to sign up for organic food coupons, natural product coupons by mail.
Each coupon mailer is worth over $25 in coupon savings.
(just type in first 3 digits of zip code) If you are in one of our FREE mailing regions you can start saving money on great natural and organic food and products! You’ll receive our coupon booklet, latest healthy news, product information and recipes every winter, spring and fall.

Or sign up for online e-coupons from Mambo Sprouts:
CLICK here for printable organic food and natural grocery coupons.

There are many reasons to include fish in your weekly meal plan. The health benefits of fish are many including: low in carbs, high in protein and high in omega 3’s.

Learn more about how the nutrition of fish can prevent illness and benefit your health: click here for the Healthy Fish PDF Fact Card provided by aboutseafood.com.

The Organic Test Kitchen shares great tips for buying fresh fish and healthy fish recipes. Easy fish tips to learn about the best places to shop for fish and signs to tell if the fish you are buying is fresh.

Cook a variety of fish for nutritional benefits and new tastes. Eat fish at least twice a week to reap the health benefits!
Visit Mambo Sprouts Organic Recipes for printable healthy fish entree recipes

Additional Resources:
Fish Nutrition Facts, Fish Variety Tips- Free Printable PDF

About Seafood Fish Videos

Do you have a favorite fish recipe? Share it here by leaving a comment!

Get out and enjoy winter sports! But make sure to get warmed up first. Cold temperatures can make your muscles tight and leave you more prone to injuries.
Click here for more tips from HealthyMonday.org!

Star Wars At The Supermarket –see the ”Organic Rebellion” against non-sustainable farming and the dangers of pesticide use in this video that promotes sustainable farming and organic consumer food choices.

This clever and entertaining video uses vegetable characters (yes… in costume) with Star Wars inspired produce character names to show us all ‘the power in living in harmony with the way of the farm’.

Enjoy the video and live in harmony with the ‘way of the farm’ by choosing to buy sustainable and organic products!

Share your favorite green and organic living videos with the Mambo Sprouts Community.

Click here to receive Mambo Sprouts Organic and Natural Food and Product Coupons by mail.

Or sign up for ‘click to print’ savings offers Mambo Sprouts printable organic and natural food coupons.
We make it easy to live green, eat healthy and save money!

This quick video, set the music of Brian Wilson’s Beach Boy’s song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, is a fun entertaining way of spreading the message about healthy food choices to kids (and parents!)

Visit Mambo Sprouts Recipes for delicious healthy recipes your kids will love!
Mambo Sprouts organic and natural printable recipes

Click here to receive the free Mambo Sprouts organic and natural coupon mailer - save money on great organic and natural food and products.

Fish isn’t just for Fridays! Try to get a few servings of fish every week to improve your nutrient intake. Fix a yummy fish taco or toss some seafood into a rice or pasta salad.

More healthy living resources:

Health tips provided by Healthy Monday.org

Printable Healthy and Organic Recipes from Mambo Sprouts. you’ll find healthy fish recipes; appetizers, main entrees and more.

* healthy cooking tip: experiment with recipes try substituting fish or plant based proteins in place of high fat and calorie proteins.

Share your favorite fish recipes on the Mambo Sprouts blog or add your comments on easy ways to boost nutrition!