Goodbye Ziploc!

Most of you know, I'm not too big of a fan of plastic and I'm also not a fan of single-time use products...put those two together and you have one of my least-favorite products...Ziploc bags. Oh Ziploc, I know you mean well, but you make my food taste like plastic, you increase my trash, and I can't recycle you. So, what's a greenie to do to still transport things like sandwiches, chips, snacks, etc. to and from different places? Use plastic storage containers? No thanks, I'm not a fan of BPA. How about glass containers? Well, I already use those for the rest of my food items, so to add snack foods to glass containers means my load will go from about 10 lbs to 20 lbs as I trek to and from school, again, no thanks. So what can I do???!!!

Enter Reusable Bags! What? You mean I can use them again and again? Sweet! I found a great place online to buy these: Mels Sells shop on Etsy.com!

You get 3 bags for $13-14, which is a great price! Here's what you get:

-1 Large Bag: 7 x 7"

-1 Medium Bag: 7 x 5" (seen to the right, which I use for organic rice or corn chips) I love this bag too because it helps me portion out my chips that way I only eat what I can fit into this bag... boy do I love my chips!

-1 Small Bag: 5 x 5" (sometimes I like to eat fresh dates as a dessert after a meal and this little bag fits about 2-3 of them perfectly!)

According to her Esty shop, the exterior is made from 100% cotton, the interior is made of 100% grey nylon that's stain and water resistant, and the bags easily open and close with Velcro that lines the top of the bag.

Know someone that may need a little help transitioning away from Ziploc bags (aka my husband), surprise them with these fun, reusable bags! Lol...check out these cool bags I was able to get him from the Mels Sells shop on etsy! So cool right? He says he likes them better than Ziploc bags because the tops are so much easier to close and they work just as good! Bonus!

So if you're ready to say goodbye to your Ziploc bags and trade in for a more environmentally-friendly option, consider trying out these fun and affordable reusable bags! Just a note, it looks like the fabrics on her shop have changed since I purchased mine a few months ago, but it seems like she might be open to requests if you have a particular style you might like. Also, for those of you who live near Kansas City, you might like knowing that the creator of these bags is from around here too!

Namaste Yoga

For about 3-4 years now I have become quite a yoga fan. Okay, okay, I'm not a hard-core yogi that goes to all the hip classes and has all the fancy yoga clothes. I do my yoga in my basement to a DVD, but I love it! (Here I am on the left...notice the nice dim lights...ahhh, so relaxing!) Several years ago I stumbled upon a yoga series on FitTV called, "Namaste Yoga". It's comprised of a 25 minute workout with a 5 minute warm up, 12 minute "workout", and a 5 minute cool down/relaxation. Sounds like your typical yoga show right? Wrong! Namaste Yoga is so much more! The narrator is Kate Potter, a renowned yoga teacher who has the most relaxing voice, she guides you through the yoga exercises. Aside from this, one of my favorite things about this series is the scenery the yoga takes place in, which are a variety of landscapes from Canada (where the series was filmed). Some scenes are in the mountains and some are on beaches; they are breathtaking and relaxing.

I pretty much always do my Namaste Yoga sessions after a long day at school before I eat dinner. Doing yoga at this time helps me unwind, relax, and stretch. I try to do it every day to stay flexible, at peace, and sane...but it doesn't always happen, so I get to it when I can. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a way to relax, improve their stretching or flexibility, decrease tension, or enhance their overall health. Here is a preview of a yoga segment:



Want to know more? Click here.

Are you sold on it and want to buy it? Click here. It's about $50 per season, there are two seasons and there are 13 episodes per season. Season 1 is my favorite. It might even be on your cable package, mine was on the FitTv channel. You can click here to see when it's playing.

Now if only they had a "Prenatal Namaste Yoga" for when I'm pregnant, that would be awesome! Anyone know of any other good yoga DVDs? I'm always looking for a great yoga workout!