A healthy Easter basket for kids

March 8, 2018 · 1 Comment

A healthy Easter basket for kids

Easter is here yet again and I thought I would share with you some healthy, ethical and natural ideas for the kids’ Easter baskets.

I know Easter can be one of those occasions that can easily become excessive and overly commercialised. Dealing with family members and outside influences that don’t support your healthy choices can be very stressful. Check out my hints on how to navigate this with humour and grace.

What family traditions do you have for Easter? What are you putting into baskets? Let us know in the comments.

♥ The Basket

Finding a gorgeous basket you can re-use year after year is a great eco-friendly option. You can also have a hunt around the house for some boxes, bags, tins or baskets you could upcyle, decorate and use!

♥ Ethical Woven Seagrass

I love this biodegradable, hand-made, woven seagrass basket for a simple reusable option. You can embellish with ribbons or wind some pom poms around the top to get a different look every year. You can also reuse it for storage around the home and pop it in the compost when it’s getting ratty.

Get it here.

♥ Handmade, personalised baskets

Head over to Etsy to see a huge range of handmade Easter baskets. Many can be personalised making them a gorgeous gift. Check it out here.

♥ Chocolate

I am a huge advocate for fair-trade and ethical chocolate. If you are not buying something you know is fair-trade, then chances are child slavery is involved in the cacao production. You can get a good range and always be assured that the chocolate is fair-trade and ethical here.

♥ Boobook Chocolate Eggs

These Boobook eggs are caramel filled and chocolate coated. Organic, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan, they are new to Loving Earth. A whopping half of the profits will go to The Great Forest National Park campaign. Get them here on sale!

♥ Moo-Free Rosie Rabbit

Rosie is a vegan, organic, dairy free, gluten free, soy free choccy rabbit. Moo Free also do larger chocolate Easter Eggs as well. Find them here.

♥ Gingerbread Rabbits

I am a long time lover of these gingerbreads. Hand-made in the Blue Mountains, Karen and Dom lovingly create great quality food in compostable packing. These bunnies are gluten-free, nut-free, egg-free, palm-oil free, vegan and contain no artificial weird stuff. They also come in chocolate.

Find them here.

♥ Oscar the Orangutan

These cute little Oscar bars are organic, gluten free, dairy free, palm oil free, refined sugar free, vegan and ethically made. Five cents from every bar goes to The Orangutan Project, to help conserve orangutans and their habitat. They also come in white chocolate flavour. Find them here.

♥ Easter toys and gifts

♥ Easter Bilby Book

Any excuse for a new book is a good idea in my book! This Easter Bilby book from Aussies Nette Hilton and Bruce Whatley. is so charming and will make a lovely family tradition. Get it here in hard back or soft cover.♥ Jack ‘n Jill Bunny Toothbrush

Look I am just being practical here! 😀 Good teeth brushing is important after the Easter chocolates, so make it fun with this cute bunny tooth brush from Jack ‘n Jill. It’s also completely bio-degradable and toxin-free. Find it here.

♥ Peter Rabbit money box

We have some of these gorgeous Wedgwood Peter Rabbit pieces. They make a lovely heirloom gift and they also come in bowls and cups too. Check them out here.

You could also add some small things to the Easter baskets like crayons, colouring books, crystals and small wooden toys.

Want some more Easter ideas?

Healthy homemade Easter eggs

Healthy Hot Cross Buns

Healthy Easter ideas

Cool ideas for Easter that aren’t chocolate

Your complete guide to a healthy Easter

Your complete guide to a healthy Easter

March 16, 2016 · 8 Comments

Your complete guide to a healthy Easter

Easter is early this year!

One thing I have noticed you all chatting about is how overwhelming all the chocolate is at Easter time. Well-meaning friends and family love to spoil our kids and it can all get a little crazy. It’s worthwhile establishing some boundaries around this if you feel uncomfortable. One of our gorgeous mums made a cute graphic saying ‘thank you but no gifts for Easter’ and shared it amongst her family and friends. Great idea!

There is also a huge amount of horrible chocolate out there – full of nasty additives, palm oil and fillers and produced in an unethical way. My thoughts are always quality over quantity! Get some really good, quality chocolate and just have a little amount. The same goes for hot cross buns – make them yourself with high quality ingredients and you will be less inclined to eat dozens of yucky supermarket ones.

Here are my top picks for Easter this year…..

♥ Healthier Chocolate

If you are after healthier or allergy friendly Easter Eggs and chocolate, check out the range at Biome.

I always recommend you look out for chocolate that is fair trade and free of palm oil. Unfortunately, chocolate production comes with issues such as deforestation, environmental pollution, child slave labour and unethical payment of workers. It pays to know where your chocolate is coming from and how it is produced.

♥ Cute Ideas for Easter Baskets

♥ I love the chocolate gingerbread bunny biscuits from Gingerbread Folk. They are individually wrapped so perfect for the Easter Egg Hunt too.

♥ Add in a cute bunny toothbrush to help get rid of all that sugar off the teeth! Find them here.

♥ I always used to include a book at Easter time when my kids were small! Check out the beautiful selection of Easter themed books here.

Homemade Chocolate, Buns and Bums.

♥ Special Easter Baking Pack. Cyndi at Changing Habits has put together an Easter baking pack filled with organic, whole foods that you can use to create your own healthy Easter Treats. She has also thrown in some freebies!! Woohoo. Check it out here.

♥ The BEST healthy hot cross bun recipes to suit any diet can be found here.

♥ Dairy Free Chocolate Cream Easter Eggs from Lisa at Happy Tummies.

♥ Paleo Creme Eggs from Hold the Grain.

♥ Bunny Butt Pancakes from Edible Life in YYC. Use a healthy pancake recipe like one of these.

♥ Sugar Free Easter Chocolates from Becomingness.

I would love to know what ideas and recipes you have lined up for a healthy Easter! Share with us!

10 Apps for Natural, New Age Mums

October 18, 2013 · 26 Comments

Apps allow information and entertainment to be at our fingertips 24/7 in a portable, user-friendly way.

But it’s not all for techno-geeks and game players, apps can be used to enhance your everyday. These ten awesome apps will help you lead a healthy, happy, holistic life.

1. Headspace Meditation. Headspace is a project designed to demystify meditation. Using the wonders of science and technology, they make it easy-to-learn, fun-to-do, and relevant to your everyday life. Featuring how to meditate, daily meditation sessions and reminders. Download it here.

2. The Whole Pantry. A very popular health, wellness and lifestyle app with a vision to restore balance and empower. The Whole Pantry is the new go-to place, filled with a continually updating library of resources, empowering information, lifestyle guides and simple, yet beautiful nourishing recipes. Visit the website here.

3. Healthy Home. Is your home making you sick? With the increase in asthma, allergies, chemical sensitivities and other illnesses related to indoor pollutants a healthy home has never been more important. Take a walk through your home and complete the quiz to identify health assets and challenges. Discover tips and resources to help you create a healthy home for your family. Find out more here.

4. GS1 Go Scan. By either browsing the database or scanning products in store, Go Scan gives you information about food to help you make the right choices for your family. It includes information on allergens, ingredients, nutrition, storage and preparation, dietary and basics like country of origin and company website. Check out the website here.

5. EFT Clinic. This free app allows you to tap into (see what I did there) the amazing healing power of EFT (emotional freedom technique) with a combination of text, diagrams and video. Free yourself from difficult emotions wherever you are, be it stress or anxiety, depression, low self esteem, weight loss and much much more. EFT Clinic is presented by Sue Beer, one of the first certified EFT Masters. Check it out here.

6. Safe Runner. Aussie mum, Rebecca has come up with app to not only be a personal tracker for running, walking or pushing the pram, it comes with inbuilt security. Safe Runner will track your distance, calories burnt and if required will automatically notify your emergency contact that assistance is needed as well as your GPS location. For more information go here.

7. Inspire Me Quotes. With quality images and designs, get inspired and uplifted by beautiful quotes. Inspire Me Quotes offers users the chance to browse through a variety of inspirational quotes to reveal wisdom from great minds such as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Mark Twain, Steve Jobs, Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Abraham Lincoln and many, many more. Find out more here.

8. Shop Ethical. A quick and easy way to avoid companies with a negative track record and support those making a positive impact. With 10 years of research as a basis, this app have everything you need to start shopping ethically. With information on animal testing, factory farming, food miles, labour exploitation, GMOs, overfishing, palm oil and more, you can find products that fit with your values. Get it here.

9.Yoga Studio. This app is like your own yoga studio on call. It features detailed info and advice on 280 poses and 16 hours of yoga classes in a clean, easy to see format. Ideal for beginners up to advanced, it’s an affordable way to bring yoga into your life. Check out the website here.

10. The Chemical Maze. The very popular book by Bill Statham is also available in app form. With ten years of research and a huge database, you have access to information about food additives and cosmetic ingredients. Identify the risk level and possible reactions and problems of each. Invaluable in navigating the world of chemicals! Go here for more details.

Want more? My friend Alexx Stuart shares her top apps here.

What is your favourite app? Link us up!