It may be an oxymoron, but I am planning a healthier Super Bowl party. I won’t serve tofu, broccoli or any other healthful yet plain foods, but I don’t want to compromise my healthy habits.

Here are some of the things I am banning, and substituting, for the party:

Processed meats: Foods such as commercial bratwursts, hot dogs and cocktail sausages, are full of synthetic preservatives that I am not comfortable eating. Instead, my husband will spend the morning slow-cooking ribs…and if I can convince him, making his own BBQ sauce, as most commercial ones have high fructose corn syrup.

Buffalo wings: This party staple is deep-fried and full of trans fats. It is a shame that most people don’t know how easy it is to make buffalo chicken wings without the added fats. You can coat the wings with a little bit of flour, and pan fry them with butter or olive oil. Once they are cooked through, you can add hot sauce to taste, (the all-natural kind, please) and a little butter. Coat well. Serve with celery, and buy 100 percent natural blue cheese dressing.

Chips and Dip: So many calories are consumed just by dunking your fried tortilla chips into creamy, processed cheese dips.

Instead of chips, buy whole wheat pita bread. Cut it into triangles and toast under the broiler until browned. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil for flavor before serving. If you can’t live without chips, many companies sell organic, 100 percent natural chips.

Instead of spinach dip, serve salsa and guacamole. You can choose from many 100 percent natural salsas, and guacamole is easy to make: Mash avocados, mix with diced tomatoes, chopped onions, cilantro, salt and drizzle with lime juice for flavor (and to prevent it from browning). You can also follow this recipe.

Popcorn is a great snack, but unfortunately most people buy the microwavable kind, which doesn’t taste very good and has preservatives and artificial flavorings. To pop healthier corn, you only need a big pot with a lid, vegetable oil and organic popping corn.

Pour about a tablespoon of oil into the pot, and put it over medium-high heat. Pour corn kernels to cover the bottom in one layer. Cover and shake every couple of minutes. The kernels will start popping slowly, then faster and then slow again. This is your cue to know that the popcorn is ready. Top with olive oil, salt and grated parmesan for a healthy gourmet version, or melt butter and pour it over the corn with some salt for a traditional flavor. 

Most people love brownies, and making them from scratch is quick and easy. Brownies are not healthy, but if you make them yourself you’ll skip preservatives, colors and other unnecessary ingredients.

You can prepare the ribs, brownies, pita chips and popcorn ahead of time. You can cook the chicken ahead and then coat them with the hot sauce while you reheat it in a sauté pan so you can serve it warm. Guacamole is best served fresh.

These simple changes won’t make your party diet-friendly, but you will eat some healthy foods and skip all of the preservatives, sodium and fats that go into boxed, processed and fast foods.

Have a wonderful Super Bowl—for me it is all about the food.

Olivia Blanco Mullins is a journalist and has been eating healthy most of her life, as her parents have owned health food stores for more than 20 years. Currently she lives in Manhattan, Kansas, where her husband owns an  Italian restaurant . 

I love green.

They say geniuses pick green (and even though I don’t know who “they” are, I can certainly get on board with that). But beyond that, green just has a bright, likeable quality that fits very well into my life. Which is convenient because, not only does it adorn about 90 percent of my belongings, but now, as a brand spanking new intern for Natural Home magazine, it’s also my job. That is, it’s my job to bring to the public sensible tips on how to green your life in bite-size bits that are easy to incorporate into every day life.

In honor of my new job, I’d like to start with tips about how to make commuting a little greener. I live in Lawrence, Kansas, but my internship is in Topeka, so I commute about 120 miles a week (60 miles round trip, twice a week.) I don’t own a hybrid or electric car, but I’ve found plenty of ways to make commuting a bit less burdensome on the planet.

     -Whenever possible, walk or bike to work. Neither of these modes of transportation uses fuel, thus they emit no pollution. Plus, they’re good for the body, and both allow you to take in the scenery around you. There are even some programs that work with companies to encourage employees to walk or carpool to work. Check out CommuterChoice for more info.

     -If your work is too far away to walk or bike to, you can look into getting a scooter or electric bike. Here is a blog post from Scientific American explaining their benefits.

No matter how green you might want to be, though, reality sets in at some point, often making it too difficult and inconvenient to follow the above advice. I feel you, people. I have two jobs, and neither one is within walking or biking distance. However, there are still ways to commute that you can feel good about.

     -Use public transportation as often as possible. If no buses run a route you need, try setting up a carpool with some fellow employees. This will help cut down on the number of cars heading in the same direction, and will save everyone a little gas money (as long as everyone pitches in).

     -Driving the speed limit (say, 65 mph) will help keep your tailpipe pollution to a minimum. The faster you go, the less efficiently your car runs. Plus, burning rubber on the highway only saves you a few minutes, when some careful planning could eliminate your need to speed.

     -Instead of immediately running your A/C while driving around town, try using your car's air vents or rolling down the windows and enjoying the breeze. It’s a free, fresh and pollutant-free way to cool down on the go. While rolling down the windows works well for driving short distances, there is a bit of disagreement about whether or not it is as efficient for longer trips or highway driving. Articles from the California Energy Commission and Mother Earth News both offer good info about it, so you can make an informed decision.

For the latest car ratings and to view more green driving tips, visit www.greenercars.org.

I spent this past weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado, where coincidentally, the 2009 Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championships took place. Although I didn’t intend on an afternoon spent looking and studying 20-ton snow blocks, the sculptures were graceful and a creative feat that was difficult to leave.

For the 19th year Breckenridge Ski Resort made the snow, and the Town of Breckenridge Public Works Department transported it to the site at Riverwalk Center, the heart of the mountain town. The snow was manmade in order to retain consistency throughout the block. When the dump trucks dropped off the snow, a large snow blower, volunteers and workers compressed the snow into blocks. Despite that the crew used a snow blower, these works qualify as eco-sculptures as the medium had no impact on the earth and the tools required no power.

The teams were only allowed hand tools such as scrapers, shovels and handsaws, and 65 hours to carve their 3-d designs. With these basic guidelines, it was incredible to see how each team personalized the 10 feet wide, 10 feet long and 12 feet high blocks. A few teams chose a modern and contemporary design that addressed themes of space and balance, while others catered their whimsical masterpieces to the viewers’ imaginations. The range of style, detailed work and subject matter was so vast that every viewer could connect to a piece.

I was captivated by these delicate sculptures; however, as I was walking from one piece to the next, I was amazed at how each artist envisioned and executed the subject matter in a previously untouched block of manmade snow. I was intrigued by Team China’s “The March of Spring” as it defied gravity with large, yet delicate ribbon like loops. Throughout the sculpting period, there was steady snowfall, which made lines soft and muddied detail work. However, the dancing fairies from Team China retained its shape and displayed beautiful craftsmanship.

From nine countries, 16 teams were invited to participate. The four artists teams were selected based on their extensive portfolios and applications. The range of designs paralleled the diversity of the teams. Spanning the globe the selected teams were: Team Bulgaria, Team Canada-Ontario, Team Canada-Yukon, Team Canada-United States, Team China, Team Germany, Team Mexico, Team Netherlands, Team Spain, Team Switzerland, Team Untied States-Alaska, Team United States- Breckenridge, Colorado, Team United States-Loveland, Colorado, Team Vermont and Team Wyoming.

The winners were announced on Sunday afternoon. Team Canada-Yukon took first place with their “Family Reunion;” “The March of Spring” from Team China came in second and “Trunks Optional” by Team Wyoming took third place. The planning of the 2010 International Snow Sculpture Championships is well on its way.
 

Artists like La Chanh Nguyen are changing the art scene in addition to shaping the green movement. With a bachelor’s degree in industrial design, the Switzerland design student has enhanced the meaning of bringing outdoor elements inside.

Nguyen’s portfolio consists of traditional household items that have an eco-friendly spin. Her process is simple; she deconstructs an object and recreates it with a green purpose and function. She has redesigned objects from cutting boards and spatulas to a bath mat, and made them not only user-friendly but also environmentally appealing.

One of my favorite designs is the moss carpet, a bath mat that greens your bathroom—literally. The moss sits in a tray similar to an egg carton, and it is constructed out of plastazote, a decay-free foam. Nguyen’s material choice is ideal as the foam is stiff, long lasting and able to withstand a wide range of temperature changes. Inside the cup-like shapes are three types of moss: ball, island and forest. The types of moss output a range of greens, from a dark hunter green to a pale, almost beige green. The rich green colors give the bath mat a playful pattern and depth.

Out of all of her pieces, I am most drawn to the moss carpet.  It is a clean, straightforward, practical and eco-friendly design. The moss is a natural fit for the bathroom because of the humidity. Unlike conventional bath mats, it requires no washing and will not get moldy. The offbeat design brings nature indoors through a unique form.

Another fantastic eco-design by Nguyen is the kitchen garden. A simple kitchen tool holder flourishes with vertical cooking herbs. The holder is about eight inches high and has a diameter around four to five inches. The porous material and the size make for the perfect growing surface.

Nguyen’s eco-friendly work redefines domestic objects in a fun and playful manner. Today, the artist is busy at the drawing boards; to see her latest work, visit her online portfolio.

I am constantly looking for a vegetable side dish that is healthy, good and easy to make. I like most vegetables, but my husband almost always wants green beans or peas. He’ll eat cabbage, kale and other great veggies, but I always feel like he eats them just to please me.

Last week we were having a quick lunch together, and I had no idea what I could make that would be more original than the leftover frozen green beans in the freezer. I had cabbage and cilantro. I didn’t want to sauté the cabbage, my usual way of preparing it, so I decided to try to prepare a salad of raw cabbage I vaguely remembered from a cooking show.

I cut the cabbage in ½ -inch thick strips, placed it in a bowl, mixed it with rock sea salt, and I let it rest for 15 minutes. I then added white wine vinegar, minced garlic and cilantro, gave it a good toss and left it at room temperature for about 30 more minutes.

The result was a delicious and super healthy side dish, or salad. The salt and vinegar had wilted the cabbage a little bit, so it wasn’t so crisp, as in its raw state, or soggy, like when it is cooked. The cilantro and garlic added a slightly pungent Latin American personality.

It was very light and refreshing, but had so much flavor that was extremely satisfying.  As an added bonus, after being at room temperature for 45 minutes, it wasn’t cold, which is something I dislike about salads and other raw foods, especially in the winter.

When my husband came home, he looked at it with suspicion, proclaimed that he was so hungry that he didn’t care what it was, and tried it straight out of the bowl. “This is good!” he said convincingly. He is thinking of adding it to his restaurant’s menu.

Ingredients:

-5 cups of cabbage (about a quarter of a medium-sized head)
-2 teaspoons of rock sea salt.
-1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar. (You can probably use another good quality kind, if that is they only thing you have. Balsamic vinegar will give it a very different flavor.)
-2 small garlic cloves (preferably minced with a garlic press)
-2 tablespoons of fresh minced cilantro 

Workout Update:

I haven't started yoga yet, but I am still planning on joining the studio once I move to my new apartment later this week. Last week I exercised twice, and have been more active in general.

Olivia Blanco Mullins is a journalist and has been eating healthy most of her life, as her parents have owned health food stores for more than 20 years. Currently she lives in Manhattan, Kansas, where her husband owns an  Italian restaurant . 

International eco-artist David Trubridge believes that we are at a critical turning point in our planet’s history. The New Zealand-based artist designs furniture, lighting and home accessories that are not only aesthetically beautiful, but also environmentally mindful. Although Trubridge minimizes his designs by using less material, the overall appearance is greater and his commitment to the environment is evident.

For about 35 years, Trubridge has lived on three continents and seen the impact of human waste on the environment. Trubridge’s artistic and personal philosophy is “step lightly with a delicate footprint.” He sticks to classic and organic shapes that have a long design life rather than trendy objects that will ultimately end up in landfills. Trubridge works primarily with wood, which originates from sustainable plantations in New Zealand and Australia.

I am drawn to Trubridge’s lighting sculptures as they redefine the surrounding space, the function and the purpose of indoor lighting. The green features of the lamps range from the nontoxic organic oil finishes to the flat packing design that reduces excess space and packing materials.

A few of my favorite lamps are Kina and Koura. The hanging Kina lamp is a round wooden structure composed of many “x” shapes that range in sizes. Trubridge uses pine plywood and aluminum rivets. The curved lamp feels natural and earthy while still emitting lots of light.

The Koura hanging lamp evokes a feeling of water and movement through the use of strong curved vertical lines. The same materials are used in the Koura lamp as in the Kina lamp, and both include electrical fittings. In addition, the wood pieces can be stained to match the surrounding furniture.

Trubridge’s passion for sustainability and environmentalism grew in 2004 when he traveled to Antarctica with the Antarctica New Zealand Arts Fellows. Today, Trubridge exhibits around the world, specifically Milan, Australia and New York.

When I was younger and lived in Spain, I helped at my parents’ health food store almost every Saturday morning. In the beginning years of their business, dozens of people came into the store, with their own container in hand, to buy honey in bulk.

People brought plastic containers and glass jars of all sizes. We would fill and weigh them (and deduct the weight of the empty jars beforehand). This allowed us to sell the honey at a cheaper price, which our customers appreciated.

At that time my only thought was that some of these containers where very sticky and needed a good cleaning. But what I didn’t think of was that by reusing their jars, these people where being more respectful towards the environment and their budget.

I haven’t taken my own jars to the supermarket yet (just my shopping bags for now), but last month I decided I would store my bulk dry goods that usually sit in plastic or paper bags, in used clean glass jars.

The jars are from marinara sauce, salsa, and other used food items that I have saved, or forgotten to recycle, over the last couple of months. Some are nicer than others; for example, I have a Mason jar from salsa that looks great with lentils inside.

The advantage of reusing glass jars is that your food will be better preserved in an air tight container than in a bag loosely tied with a rubber band. You’ll also have a better idea of how much food you have.

Certain home stores sell glass or porcelain containers for this purpose. The large ones are great for flour, sugar or dry pasta. You can also buy traditional Mason jars in small quantities. In Kansas, they are sold at the grocery store, but I am not sure about other areas.

There is a charming quality to having jars of all shapes and forms in your cabinet. You are also helping the environment by reusing. Just make sure that the jars are clean and have no residual odors. Peel the labels off completely before storing your food, too.

I wash the jars twice in the dishwasher to eliminate odors, but for persistent smells, soak the jars in a water and vinegar solution. The best way to peel off labels is to do it before washing the jars. If they are stubborn you can try vinegar as well.

Since I have transferred my bulk items to these jars, I like opening my newly organized kitchen cabinet. The best part, though, is that doing this makes me think of my parents and their business; reusing has always been a part of my life.

Olivia Blanco Mullins is a journalist and has been eating healthy most of her life, as her parents have owned health food stores for more than 20 years. Currently she lives in Manhattan, Kansas, where her husband owns an  Italian restaurant . 

New Year’s resolutions have never been a big part of my life. On occasion I have been determined to lose weight, exercise more or be more organized in the New Year, but I must admit, I never stick with it.

This year may be different, however. My age is starting to get to me. I am turning 30 this year, which I know is young in the big scheme of things, and many people say I look younger, but I am very aware that this July I will no longer be in my 20s.

Yesterday I ran into the Real Age website, which I know is nothing new, as it has been featured virtually in every major media outlet, but I had never paid attention to it before. I decided it could be a good place to start figuring out if I am healthy and young or not. It turns out my “Real Age” is 2.4 years younger than my actual age—what a relief!—mainly because of my healthy diet, which includes lots of vegetables, legumes and whole grains, and no red meat.

The one thing I do need to improve is my amount of exercise, which apparently makes me less young. While I am not completely sedentary, I know I am not active either. I have never played organized sports and jogging bores me.

One of my main problems is that I have no sense of competition when it comes to sports, so nothing really motivates me. I give up too easy. From time to time I have enjoyed working out. For example, the year after I graduated college I went to the gym four times a week for about an hour each time. Somehow it helped me go through the transition of becoming an adult, but once I moved out of my parents’ house, it was back to working out only when I remembered, which wasn’t often. The year before I got married I went to yoga twice weekly for six months, and I enjoyed it immensely. As my life changed so did my exercise habits, and I am now back to working out irregularly. Between the holidays, work and being sick, the last time I exercised was December 26, when I went for a long, brisk walk with my parents. That was 11 days ago!

I know that I should change this, and by the number of obese and overweight people in this country I am not alone. So with the goal of improving my health and being “Real Age- younger,” I have decided to exercise more, and to keep myself motivated, I will add a note about my performance in each blog entry. Eating healthy is not enough to be healthy, so this is a natural addition.

To start I am going back to yoga, which not only gives me the opportunity to stretch my body and align my back, but it also helps me deal with stress and balance my life in general. I am planning on doing yoga twice a week.

I know yoga is not enough, especially because I won’t be practicing it daily, so I am also adding cardio three times a week and will start doing some strength training two of the days when I do cardio. This leaves me with two days to rest, which I think is fair.

My weight has never really bothered me too much, and so I won’t be worrying about this, but rather, I’d like to observe how I feel physically. I am planning on updating my Real Age test in three months, and see how young I have become through my habits. I am shooting for 23…and I hope I can keep it up for years to come.

Take the quiz and tell me, what do you need to improve to be healthier and what are you doing about it?

The day after Thanksgiving is commonly referred to as “Black Friday.” However, the day after Christmas also adapted the term this year, as Christmas fell on Thursday and stores slashed prices the following Friday. 

On the island of Oahu, Hawaii, Black Friday came again: the entire island of was without power for roughly 12 hours starting shortly after sunset at 6:30 p.m. 

My family and I ate our last dinner together before heading to the airport. On the way there, my cousin, Derek, noticed the lights flicker, and eventually the power went out. We found each other through our fingertips as the whole island fell into darkness. Scrambling for candles, lights, flashlights and batteries, we huddled around cell phones and attempted to call the airlines as a last ditch effort to return to Maui. The systems were flooded with calls. We had to stay another night in the dark with our batteries and hand-operated radios.

Inflatable snowmen and holiday lights fell silent. Game consoles were left untouched. There was no low humming from the microwave reheating holiday leftovers. An uneasy feeling crept over the island as a few hotel generators in Waikiki defined the shoreline. 

I wondered in the darkness and realized how dependent I am on power—from my computer and cell phone to the lights throughout the house. 

The blackout was a refreshing glimpse into life without power, although a bit extreme at times. With my power hungry guilt, there are things that I have changed since that night, such as using more candles and reducing my dependence on the refrigerator by eating different foods. Rather than drying my close in the dryer, I have switched to hang drying them, which will reduce my energy bill by roughly $140 annually. 

Now it is your turn: What energy reduction strategies do you practice in your life?