Good eat:Lemon spice baked fish recipe

Lemon Spice Baked Fish (or Chicken Breast or Salmon or meat of your choice)

w/Green Beans

The recipe and pictures are from a young naturalista by the chosen name of Apple. To read more about her and her healthy choices check my previous post: http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/08/good-health.html

Now here's the recipe in her own words! Enjoy!

"You will come to see that you can come to achieve this healthy delectable in about 45 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 Lemon

Whiting Fish (up to 4)

Green Beans (if canned drain before using)

Butter or Margarine or Marinade

Worsctershire Sauce

Cayenne Pepper (spice)

Salt (can use seasoning salt)

Black Pepper

Paprika (spice)

Curry (spice)

Parsley (spice)

Onion salt (not necessary I use it sparingly)

You will also need:

Baking pan

Aluminum Foil

Oven (you can also make this on a grill if it’s too hot for an oven or you just want a slight variation)

Something to flip fish (sturdy spatula)

I also like to use a timer (as to I am very forgetful and don’t want my meal under o over cooked)

Directions:

You can use the ingredients in a way that is most accommodating to your taste buds. I like spiciness and lemoniness (I know that isn’t a real word lol but I likes what I likes) and prepare it so.

                First I make sure my fish is thawed and that my pan has been foiled and that that foil does not have any holes in it because I want my fish to be able to marinate and remain tender amidst  all of the seasonings, lemon, butter and sauce. I then put the fish into the foil, preheat the oven at 350®F and begin to season.

                I like to add the cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt first because I like a certain amount, I don’t want either to drown out the other flavors(and they will, I don’t want it TOO spicy or TOO salty). However, I want to be able to taste the cayenne as my main spice. Therefore, if I put too much I can rinse and reapply. Everything else I use quite sparingly.

I then lightly sprinkle (and I do mean lightly) with the onion salt (again this spice is not necessary) paprika and curry, roughly the same amount. I then generously add parsley flakes (this can either be dry from a spice bottle or freshly cut yourself). Flip the fish over add thin slices of butter (I cannot say an amount because it depends on the amount and size of your fish- use I little more than I did if you are using chicken breast as they are typically thicker than fish) and repeat the seasoning process.

I then cut my lemon (a 65:35 ratio cut) and squeeze lemon juice onto my fish generously (or to your own liking). I then go back to my lemon cut a thin slice and cut that slice in half (using one half of that slice per piece of fish) and lay it directly on top of my fish. Then I cut three thin slices of butter and lay one piece at the top end of my fish and at the bottom end of my fish and then the third directly on top of my lemon slice.

I add my green beans(with chicken breast I prefer spinach) to either side of my fish (not on top) and then add enough Worshctershire sauce (also not on top of fish) so that it lightly coats the bottom (but not so much to where I can’t clearly see the bottom- remember you have already added butter).

Baked fish with green beans

I then close my foil by taking either side, bringing them together and rolling them down so that most of the steam will be locked in (this will also help to seal in the flavor). I let it bake at 350 degrees for about 15 – 20 minutes pull it out, open my foil, flip my fish, squeeze a bit more lemon juice onto it, close it back up and then let it bake for another 15 minutes (about 20-25mns for thicker meats like chicken breast). Take it out, let it cool and EAT!

(One last tip: taste your fish after you have removed it from the pan and before you toss the “marinade” so that if you think you want to, which I do, you can pour a little over your fish and beans :D Happy Eating)

And here are some picks of when I baked Chicken Breasts and Spinach:

(My quick tip for the chicken and spinach) Eat the spinach and the chicken in one bite. The moistness of the spinach really helped to combat that dryness of the chicken and just make those seasons pop and the chicken melt in your mouth!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that was Apple's recipe all in her own words! No editing of my own I just stayed true to my cook of the day! To learn more about Apple please read my previous post: http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/08/good-health.html

My own feedbacks here, the picture of the chicken looked good and based on the plate with the chicken I would have guessed that the meat looked a little dry! Thankfully she suggested eating the quicken and spinach in one bite. For someone like me there would be 2 issues! I can't stand spinach and I like food moisted! So the spinach would be a a deal breaker for me and I would come up with a nice sauce to eat my baked chichen with. My side dish of choice would have been some " pomme de terre sautee" Sauteed potatoes!

The fish and lemons look yummy right? It's hard to go wrong with butter and lemon and you can easily fix a lemon butter sauce to be a great addition on the other sides  that might accompany your fish/meat.

So what do you think? What's your favorite baked fish recipe?

N'na

Good health and choices from a natural's perspective

Eating healthy is becoming more an more important to some people and it doesn't matter what age we are or what culture we belong too, it's just smart to eat healthy and make other healthy choices. Today I wanted to share a recipe by a friend who goes by the name of Apple! She's a natural and one of her favorite thing to cook/eat is a baked fish dish that she concocted the first time she decided to bake some fish! Below are a  few pictures of her fave homemade "Lemon spice baked fish" and more about her. In my next post I share more about her recipe: http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/08/good-eatlemon-spice-baked-fish-recipe.html

Apple's Bio in her own words:
"I am a 21 year old undergrad student who is currently working on a bachelor in psychology and associates in biology and sociology. I love to play piano, create artwork, being generally creative and then seeing how they turn out, and then organizing cultural events and dance routines with my roommate/school sistahs.

I have, since I was in middle school, always been interested in healthy living and like to eat healthy and exercise, and my taste buds actually quite like healthy foods. I am not a chef I am simply observant and willing to be my own test dummy when it comes to food. I often start with a bunch of guessing what might taste nice with what and then try to take notes JUST IN CASE it actually turns out tasty lol.

I have, since I was in middle school, always been interested in healthy living and like to eat healthy and exercise, and my taste buds actually quite like healthy foods. I am not a chef I am simply observant and willing to be my own test dummy when it comes to food. I often start with a bunch of guessing what might taste nice with what and then try to take notes JUST IN CASE it actually turns out tasty lol.

I like this recipe because I really like fish, and seafood in general. I also really like citrus and to be able to taste the seasonings working with the fish and the lemon juice. However, being that I am black the people around me don’t often bake their meats but I really like to figure out ways to eat meat without having to fry it. I also really like to taste seasoning because I have a sensitive palate so that is another reason I prefer for my meat to not be smothered in grease. Now mind you I do like my fried chicken haha but I just prefer to not fry (not to mention I have always been cautious of grease popping because it gets me every time).

I don’t have a special diet, just try to be healthy and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables  because I like a lot of junk type foods haha, mainly potato chips and ice cream, every here and there I get a special craving for something more pastry like. However I am blessed to be a mesomorph, which is a body type. A person with a mesomorph body type can easily gain muscle but can also easily gain fat so I generally weigh about the same weight, within 15lbs, since I was a freshman in high school. I usually either am gaining muscle and loosing fat or losing muscle and gaining fat, I may also be a bit of ectomorph because I usually only gain a certain amount of fat.

Although I prefer to exercise regularly college and work get busy and life gets you distracted, hence the weight fluctuation, but in general I am a healthy person who tries to appreciate my body and treat it right so that it will treat me right. Other than that I like all types of exercise, although I rarely if ever weight train. My favorite forms of exercising are yoga, Pilates, and dancing.

I recommend the same thing everybody recommends which is to try to maintain a high fiber but balanced diet, because even too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, for instance oil.

Good luck to everyone on their Healthy Habits Journey !"

Like Apple, I too love fish and seafood and I love dancing. I do not pratice yoga per say but do enjoy stretching daily. The recipe to Apple's favorite creation will be shared in my next post! http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/08/good-eatlemon-spice-baked-fish-recipe.html Stay tuned and have a great week-end!

N'na

Natural hair: Let's talk Products for healthy hair: Vatika

My personal experience with Vatika
I started using vatika since my college days at Purdue University! I was introduced to Vatika and to Amla oil by an Indian woman who used to work at the Cafeteria in the Union Market (On Purdue's West Lafayette campus)! I was always complimenting her long, healthy and shiny hair when she introduced me to these two products she called the 'secret to beautiful Indian hair'!
At the time I was not natural and already had healthy hair but I was curious about trying something new and loved the idea of treating my hair with authentic Indian products! Vatika is not a product just for naturals, it's a great product for any type of hair.

Ways to use Vatika
There are many ways to use Vatika, it's all a matter of personal preference but I have enjoyed the product

• as an ingredient to homemade deep conditioners,
• as a styling aid
• as a leave in conditioner
• and recently in my prepoo

Vatika get challenging to squeeze out through the little hole so I always do without it and use ample amount! Since the oil tend to harden during colder months I just put some in a small ramekin and place it in one containing hot water. I also run the whole bottle under hot water at times...Whatever works and fit my fancy to make it more fluid!

Why is Vatika so good for your hair? The Ingredients!

What make Vatika so enriching for (natural) hair are the amazing natural ingredients. Please note that as I list below the ingredients present in Vatika, I will share some interesting facts about some of those ingredients because it's great to know that the benefits of these ingredients is not just limited to hair care and I want you to be more informed about their other benefits.
The ingredients in Vatika are the following:

• Coconut oil.  The phenomenal health benefits of coconut oil will require a post of its own on the subject. The least that can be said is that in hair care coconut oil nourish and promote hair growth. It's health benefits include weigth loss and natural healing of certain conditions. 
• Neem benefits hair by preventing hair loss and promoteing hair growth. Neem is anti-microbial!  For gardening, neem oil provides a great natual alternative to insecticides! ( I used it on my plants)
• Brahmi which is used as an hair revitalizer is an herb grown in marshy areas of India, Nepal, Viet nam, China, Shri Lanka and areas in Southern American States like Florida. It's also grown in Hawaii. Brahimi is grown in damp conditions! The herb has many medicinal used thanks to its antioxidants and other health properties!
• Fruits extract of Amla. According to my Indian friend amla keeps the hair dark therefore delaying graying. It also nourish the hair and prevent from breakages
• Henna mostly known as a hair colorant also provides nourishment to our hair! In Guinea henna was used as a beauty product for enhancing the soles of women's feet! In India henna seems to be mainly used to beautify women's hands especially for special occasionssuch as weddings. I grew up in Africa and many Moroccan friends also used henna to create beautiful designs in the palms of their hands!
• Bahera and harar. Bahera has many health proterties. As far as hair care is concerned it's known to rejuvenate hair. In terms of overall health benefits, Bahera can be used to fight many physical ailments, it's a sedative and it also helps with vision.
• Kapur kachri. This herb is actually an antiseptic used to treat a wide range of conditions such as nausea, hiccup, local inflammations, bronchitis, asthma etc. The rhizome of the plant is a tonic and stimulant! I am not personaly sure about how it benefits our hair but can't argue with Indian wisdom! If it's in it there got to be a great reason!
• Cow's Milk provides nourishment.
• Rosemary oil promotes hair growth, prevent hair loss, treat lice.
• Lemon oil is a hair tonic, it helps get rid dandruff, promotes strong healthy and shiny hair. It's health benefits extend from weight loss to asthma treatments, skin care, stress relief etc.  Lemon oil has just too many benefits to name here...

Benefits of Vatika Oil
I can attest to the following benefits of Vatika

• Strenghten the hair
• Prevent breakage
• Good stylying aid
• Stimulate hair growth
• You DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE NATURAL HAIR TO ENJOY the benefits of Vatika

Have you use Vatika before? What do you like about it?

Natural hair: Let's talk What's prepoo?

Hello friends.

It's been a while since we talked hair, natural that's it! Well today briefly wanted to talk about hair!

If you are a new natural or juts becoming more acquainted with the world and lingo of naturalistas, you have probably heard the term prepoo and wonder what in the world that was!

The first time I heard the term prepoo I almost thought it was a mixed dog breed. You know like shipoo,maltipoo....but no! Here prepoo is not about a cute dog breed it's about a hair treatment that many naturalistas adopt to maintain healthy hair and protect their hair from the stripping effects of shampoo.

So prepoo is simply what they do to their hair before shampooing! It's applying oil and/or conditioners to your hair for a given period of time before shampooing!

How long do you prepoo?
The amount of time is subjective! Some people do it for at least 20mns to half an hour, others for a couple of hours and some might go longer! It's just a matter of choice and convenience.

What to use?
There seems to be no set rule or no set ingredients to prepooing as most people use products they like best on their hair. A lot of time it's through trial and errors that they get to make final conclusions on the products that are best for them.

The most common product is coconut oil as many natural will testify to its benefits on their hair!
Some go with the kind you get from the grocery store others would select a brand such as Vatika because it's a blend of fantastic natural oils and ingredients.

Here is what a few people report using on their hair:

Honey + olive oil
Aloe juice+jojoba oil covered with coconut oil and left for a couple of hours before shampooing
Mayo + olive oil
Coconut oil
Castor Oil
EVOO
Grapeseed Oil

Many people mix any of the oils above, adding other ingredients as well or use them as the sole ingredient for their prepoo.

I have used coconut oil and EVOO on mine and I am pretty content with this mixture!

Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

 However, my favorite natural product has been Vatika! Which I have used for 13 years now, well before ever knowing about natural hair, prepoo etc. Before getting into prepoo I used Vatika for deep conditioning and for styling my hair.

Vatika Coconut Indian oil

Do you prepoo on wet or dry hair?
This is another subjective questions. Each time I ask naturalistas if they prepoo on wet or dry hair I realize that half would say dry and the other half would say wet. So I don't think that there's a right answer to this question. It's all a matter of preference, after all that's what hair styling comes down to!Isn't it? Just a matter of preference!


How often do you prepoo?
Most people prefer to prepoo each time they shampoo their hair! I fall into this category unless I shampoo my hair at the gym right after swimming!
So...have you prepooed your hair  before? What did you like about it? What's your favorite prepoo ingredients. Do you do it or wet or dry hair? How long do you keep it on?


Update: Wednesday July 27
I have been thinking about a comment made earlier this week about prepoo not being necessary in one's opinion and I have concluded that prepoo is beneficial and worth it especially if someone has dry hair. A friend of mine explained that she actually prepoo for hours and DC after her shampoo as prepoo is a must for her due to her having very dry hair.

I think prepoo is like marinating meat or fish! It might not be mandatory but when you cook that meat or fish it's so infused with flavor and so tender that there's just no comparison. I also view prepoo as something my mom used to do when my twin and I were kids. She would apply shea butter on our skins before we shower even though we  would washed away most of the shea butter it would still leave our skin smooth and babylike.

So prepoo is a matter of opinion and necessity to some, at the end of the day we have to listen to our hair. The way I see it having rich ingredients penetrating our hair before shampoing or cowashing can only be good for our hair!

So what about you? Do you prepoo? Why or why not? If yes what do you use and how long do you prepoo? How do you think prepoo benefits your hair?

N'na

Natural pregnancy week by week : listening to your body~week 14

Hello dear,

I hope you all had a pleasant week, it's Friday but I have a busy week-end ahead of me...I hope to have the chance to relax tomorrow evening by watching a Movie in the park with some friends I haven't seen in a while.

Anyway, I just wanted to "chat with you" and share briefly how my pregnancy is going.
Today is week 14. If you read my previous article with the same title " Natural pregnancy week by week" I explained how my first doctor's visit went last week!  http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/07/natural-pregancy-second-trimester.html

I had a pleasant and easy going week but Wednesday was a boring and slow day. I spent the majority of my day in bed. I felt so tired it was insane. I am not used to staying still but I am learning to LISTEN TO MY BODY. Thursday I was once again full of energy and got out of bed with a mind made up for productivity! By bedtime I was happy to have accomplished all that I had set to do.Today I am dragging again! I am doing better than I did on Wednesday but I am far from being as active as I want.

I am learning to rest because I have a lot of caring friends who are making sure that I take good care of myself and the baby! Talk about holding me accountable!
I don't like to be sick so I better learn to rest than exhaust myself and regret it. So... if you are pregnant and reading this, from one pregnant woman to another: take heed to sound advices, ask for help when you need help and 'obey' your body!

So I have been like a switch: one day on (full of energy) one day off (moderate-slow energy)!

Pregancy and exercising
I haven't been able to exercise much this week and haven't gone on any walk the whole week.  My left ankle has been hurting me and it's annoying! I had a foot injury last summer that totally slowed my activity level as far as running and exercising was concerned. My ankle was not fully healed when I resumed exercising (running and walking).  I did not run as intensely as I did before my ankle's injury but I managed to maintain a routine that helped me loose some of the weight gained during my injury.

The only form of exercise I have done this week is stretching and lifting some light weights. I also walked a little around some parking lots on days I was out and about!

Little update: 10:45pm I finally went on a walk, just 20 minutes. It was 9:45pm with my hubby by my side! It was so hot, not even a breeze, no breezy summer night (pouting face)...oh well!

Pregnancy and Supplements
I made a change in my supplements. I was doing some reading online 3 days ago and learned that Cod liver oil is not good during pregnancy because of the high dose of Vitamin A. So even though fish supplements can be beneficial, Cod liver oil is not good for pregnant women...livers actually have high level of vitamin A, I think that we are not even supposed to eat liver during pregnancy!

So that you know, I will post next week an article on seafood consumption during pregnancy and talk more about Vitamin A, mercury and other contaminants to be concerned about!

Eating right and weird pregnancy's dreams about food!
As far as my diet has been this week, most of my meals have been vegetarian meals. I actually had a dream on Monday about meat. I shared the dream with some friends/neighbors. We were meeting at the park one morning and talking about what we would get for lunch once we all get home. I had the tact of sharing the dream with them and one said that the dream was making her lose her appetite!  Ha ha ha!  I rarely eat meat but the dream just sealed the deal!
 I have been told that it happens to have crazy dreams about food when we are pregnant. Have you had crazy dreams about food?

Pregnancy's food cravings and aversions
Aside from my stronger aversion for meat at the moment, I don't have any particular aversion. I don't have any weird craving either! I do crave for tropical fruit juices like mango juice or ginger-pineapple juice so it's common to find me laboring in the kitchen on any given evening just making a batch of juice for the next days!

I have noticed that I enjoy cooking more and that my body craves more for vegetarian meals and for natural juices! I enjoyed them before but I seem to want more! So listening to my body as far as eating right is a blessing! I am just glad I don't crave for weird things or for sweets!

Occasional unhealthy food
Wednesday night I splurged on 2 honey buns. My hubby and I spent a little bit of time having a "late snack date" eating honey buns and drinking milk while chatting around 11pm. I haven't had any honey buns in over a year so I figured it would be fun to enjoy some that night.! I was breaking my "no late eating" rule but I figured it was worth it! When we are very disciplined about our diet it's okay to enjoy a 'forbidden' snack once in a while!Don't you think?

Pregnancy's morning sickness, nausea and vomittingI get asked a lot if I have any morning sickness or nausea. No! I have never had morning sickness, nausea or vomitting during any of my pregnancies. So week 14 of pregnancy #4, so far so good! No morking sickness, no nausea, no vomitting!Thank You God!


Learning to listen to my body is forcing me to take it easy, honestly the time resting is driving me nut! I spend that time going through some magazines, reading a bunch of health articles online, listening to some songs, writing some posts for next week ...yeah, I might be resting but that doesn't mean that I am doing 'nothing'!  My daughter has been playing some funny movies in my room (she enjoys her time doing things away from her brothers) and it was good to get some good laughs! I have also spent a lot of time mentally designing the future nursery and my new craft room! (See http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/07/breaking-newshun-i-got-some-news-for.html to know what I am talking about!)

Oh...today I had time to research some old songs. I 'found' a song I looooved during my childhood! 'Grovin' by UB 40. I was crazy about their voice when I was younger so I added some of their songs on the main music playlist on this blog! I did add a few other songs on the playlist today, hope you will enjoy them...

That's about it for the updates on week 14! Thanks for stopping by!
~Whether you are pregnant or not please keep in mind that listening to your body is very important! So take care of yourself!~

 Stay tuned for more updates, please share your own stories and talk to you soon!
 I added this song to my playlist today and I pray that life is wonderful to you...

Thanks to you all for your love and your support, to the pregnant women reading this: Happy pregnancy!





N'na

Good eat: Homemade quick dinner : A vegetarian dish with mushroom and herb pasta dish

Hello dear!

Today I wanted to talk food! If you are a regular around here you already know that tasty food and meaningful eating is one of my passions (smiles)! So I simply wanted to end this week by sharing a simple dish that I find myself making quite often lately, and for good reasons!
1) My husband and children love it!
2) The ingredients can easily be "prepped" ahead of time!
3) Most of the ingredients can be precooked and refrigerated or even frozen!
4) Either I cook it from scratch or precook some ingredients, the dish is simple and quick to make!
5) The dish is versatile and can include any meat/seafood of your choice or nothing but herbs.
6) This dish is an excuse for me to use my fresh herbs and fill the house with the natural and wonderful aroma of nature's best culinary herbs!






The dish I am sharing was made with:
oil
precooked pasta
1/2 pack of mushrooms
1/2 tomato
1/2 green pepper
some fresh and dried herbs such as basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley,oregano,cilantro
garlic
salt


Off to a great start: Culinary herbs from my kitchen garden!
I selected the following from my herb garden: Basil,thyme,rosemary,oregano. It always smells good when I chop them...

 I am getting things set up by having sort of a " Mise en place"! I have already washed my tomato and green pepper with a mixture of water and white vinegar. I actually rinsed my herbs with the same solution even though my herbs are from my own kitchen garden I still rinse everything! No E-coli in this kitchen because I am a stickler on rinsing everything I use! Even if what you purchase is prepackaged you should still rinse before cooking/eating because you don't know how well it was rinsed! Better safe than sorry!

I put a little bit of oil in the wok, once it's hot it's time for my mushrooms...

Mushrooms

Oh...dear... it already smells so good around here....

Mushrooms and fresh herbs

 Under normal circumstances I would have added some fresh garlic, everything taste greater with garlic, if you ask me. I held off on the fresh garlic because I am pregnant and I am taking it easy on the strong flavors!

Mushrooms with herbs, green peppers, and tomatoes.

 I throw in the pasta, spice them with some more herbs and add a little bit of salt. I mix it all up and work it really good!
The herbs I selected are dried herbs from my spice cabinet that I also call my natural medicine cabinet. They are : dried parsley, Italian seasoning, dried oregano and dried basil, humm...the food looks so colorful and will taste pretty flavorful.

The pasta were precooked a few days before and refrigerated! Thankfully I saved time that night.
A few evenings prior to fixing this dish I actually fix the same dish with just a minor difference. Days before I used some precooked onions,mushrooms and green peppers.

 I did not add tomato to the dish on that night so I added some oil to the pasta as I was mixing my dried herbs. This time around, by having some tomato in it, it created some 'juice' to my dish and kept me from adding olive oil when mixing the dried herbs in.
Here, even though I saved time on the pasta, I still had to make everything else from scratch!

 Spicing things a little with a touch of chili pepper from my kitchen garden!

Chili pepper

Voila! Ready to chow! Like we say in French ..." Bon appetit"!

Mushrooms and pasta

Scrapping the wok for some leftovers....I want to cry...there's no more!

" C'etait trop bon" ( It was too good)

Try it and tell me what you think! There's nothing like some fresh herbs to take a simple dish to the next level!
Like I mentionned earlier, I fix some variations of that dish quite often for my husband and oldest son who love the fresh herbs in the pasta. Some days I add meat, or shrimp ,most days it's just herbs alone in the pasta. We rarely eat meat so we are cool with a pescetarian or vegetarian version! With the right seasonings the dish is still very tasty! I just use whatever ingredients I have and adapt my dish to what's available! I can do without any meat or seafood as long as I have the fresh and dried herbs! Thanks to my kitchen garden I no longer lack fresh herbs!

There was a time, years ago, when I would easily get  frustrated for not having any herbs while cooking. I would be cooking something and need some herbs for a dish but lacked the time to run to the store or would have to spend a lot to buy a bunch when all I need was a few leaves! Having a herb garden for the past 4 years have made cooking more fun and delightful! During the winter I cut most of my plants and freeze some herbs to make sure that I still have some to enjoy during the cold weather.

Do you have a simple mushroom and pasta recipe you would recommend? What's your favorite culinary herb?
Happy and healthy eating!

N'na

Eco-friendly living & Green decor~Ideas for natural decorating with baskets

Hello dear!

I hope all is well with you as you read this today! In a recent article I talked about simple ways to an eco-friendly lifestyle http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/07/simple-ways-to-eco-friendly-and-green.html. Today I want to talk about Green decor and share a gallery of pictures of some of my favorite items.

With all the interest nowadays in living an eco-friendly life and implementing Green concepts even in our decor I find that there's one element that make our decorating lives very simple and versatile. I am talking about...

Bolga Baskets

Yessss! Baskets!

I have noticed that no matter what our decorating skills are or no matter what our decor style is, baskets are the one thing that are always incorporated in our decor. We seem attracted to them, if not for their styles, for their purpose as superb organizing/storage items.

The Bolga baskets, (the first picture above), are nice for shopping but I can see them storing items in a guest bedroom, keep a few magazines tidy, host some children toys or hold some beach items etc. Well, there's no rules for using baskets! What I love about them is that they can so easily change functions.

One day they serve one purpose, another day the same basket can be used for something else! Not too many items can boast such versatility don't you think?

 ~Green fruit basket~

Having a fruit basket on a kitchen counter is not just pretty it's also a great reminder to eat healthy!

Fruit basket

 ~Green bathroom basket~
This basket below keep some bathroom items and my homemade bathroom cleaner (in the green spray bottle).  My Green bathroom cleaner has for ingredients water and white vinegar! Now that's truly eco-friendly!

Bathroom basket

 ~Green kitchen basket~
This tiny basket was hard for me to use until my middle son cleverly started using it to harvest some herbs each time I will send him to collect some  for cooking or for making teas!

Small basket!

I use baskets in my pantry to store cookies' packs, onions, potatoes, plantains bananas etc...

~Green treasure chest~

Storage basket a.k.a my treasure chest!

Baskets in form of trunks are probably one of my favorite type of baskets! I call them my treasure chests because I always keep very sentimental items in them, my favorite books and my jounals! Yeah that might not sound sentimental to you but I love books and there are some that I like going through very frequently so I keep them very accessible! I also love journaling in cute journals!I tend to buy them and just store them for future occasions or even as gifts! When you have a lot of books and/or journals, they can easily turn to clutter! I like to keep mine neatly organized...

Storage basket for journals!

Storage baskets a.k.a my treasure chests!

The baskets below are on my wishlist! They are sold at the World Market! I love the colors!

Below is a short video showing how versatile they are and how they fit in my personal life!

 Enjoy!

As you can see baskets are beautiful and resourceful and there's not just one way to use them!

~ Green gift baskets~

Baskets are not just great for storage and decorating, they are also awesome for giving!

We all love to receive a nice gift basket! I for one love to make them as well! It's great to make something special for others! Isn't it?

 I made the basket below on Valentine day for a customer! The wife was so excited! She said it was the best gift basket she ever received! Most items were secented with lavender and eucalyptus which are great for inducing relaxation. There were also little touches that make my giving meaningful!

The basket was truly loaded!!! Now here's a basket that's sure to remind you to just "Enjoy life and Chilllax as much as possible"! Please read this article for more pampering ideas http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/01/pampering-yourself-is-good-for-your.html ....

Pampering  basket "Just for you"!

That's it for today dear! Thanks for staying around and hope you enjoyed this post! If you are new here please join the circle of friends! It would be a pleasure to see you here and hear from you often!

So that was my spin on baskets! What about you? How do you use baskets in your daily life and in your decor? Happy Green decorating!

 

N'na