Fun Food for Kids

We couldn't help but add a little Valentine's Day love to our lunchbox today. A cookie cutter, soft sandwich filling plus some red fruit is all it took. We packed it all up in one of our LunchBots reusable steel food containers -- a little waste-free love for the planet too -- and voila, lunchbox love!

Green Valentine's Gift Giveaway - Share the Love! *Closed

Valentine's Day may have passed but we're celebrating all week by sharing the love. In lieu of sending you - our friends - flowers and chocolates, we're spreading green love in our own lavish way, with a great Green Valentine's Gift Giveaway! You could win a fabulous prize package of green Valentine's Gifts ideal for use the whole year long and worth more than $80. The great part is, the winner will be able to have one item from the package sent to a friend who's also entered - and share the love, with our compliments! We believe in paying it forward. Win and so does one of your friends. Simply tell us what green things you LOVE to do and you could win a prize package of eco-friendly gifts that keeps on giving.

WIN and you'll receive one of our hugely popular, Oprah-approved S'well Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottles - the sleekest steel bottle around and in your choice of colour. There's seven to choose from.

Plus, you'd also win these products too:
Kids Konserve Leak Proof Stainless Steel Food Containers 2-Pack - perfect for everything from luscious strawberries to yoghurt and more, choose from pink lids or brown.
Collapsible Recyclable Flower Vase - ideal for those Valentine flowers and five styles to choose from.
O'Bon Strawberry Sugarcane Notebook - write your thoughts, plan your day, make notes of any kind on spiral bound lined paper made from sugarcane pulp fronted by high definition strawberries that look real enough to eat.
Hopscotch Kids Red Rover Nail Polish - paint those little fingers and toes without any nasty chemicals.
If you win, you can choose which of these items is sent to a friend or loved one - free of charge.

*** THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED *** CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER CRYSTAL (BANKIE AS BELOW) ***

WIN IT!
Tell us what green things you LOVE to do and you could win all the green Valentine's gifts detailed above in our random draw.

Leave your answer in a comment below or email it to us at customerservice@lavishandlime.com with 'Share the Love Giveaway' in the subject line. **Please be sure to include your name and email address so we can contact you if you win.**

SHARE IT & WIN TOO!
We really want you to win something! Share this giveaway with your friends -- if they win, so can you. The winner will be able to choose a friend to receive one of their prize items and we'll ship it free of charge. To receive the item, the winner's friend must have entered this giveaway as well. It's a win-win, so pass it on.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
Do any of the following and be sure to tell us you did!
- Like a post about this Giveaway on our Lavish & Lime Facebook Page - the more posts you like, the more chances to win
- Tweet the message: Great Green Valentine Gift #Giveaway! Win @lavishandlime, @swellbottle, @kidskonserve, @obon http://bit.ly/xayoiq
- Sign up to receive our email newsletter
- Like us on Facebook (or tell us you did & that you still like us!)
- Follow us on Twitter (or tell us you did a long time ago & are still doing so!)


Leave a separate comment below for each thing you do. The winner will be chosen in a random draw. Deadline for entries is midnight PST Sunday, February 19th. The winner will be notified by email Monday, February 20th. Open to Canadian residents only. The prize item for the winner's friend will be shipped to a Canadian address only.

5 Best Green Valentine's Gift Ideas

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Valentine's Day may be just around the corner but there's still plenty of time to count the ways you love your Valentine. Here are five green Valentine's gift ideas to show your love - for your Valentine, and the planet too.

1. Give a great big bear hug with this Valentine's e-card from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). A $10 donation to the NRDC will help them fight in court to save the polar bear from global warming, Arctic oil development and trophy hunting in honor of your loved one. A personalized e-card will be sent to your loved one.

2. From board to boardroom, he'll be stylin' at work with these eco-friendly skateboard cufflinks in hip and happening Valentine's pink.

3. Jewelry always hits Cupid's mark this time of year. With so many options available from colourful natural felt necklaces (pictured above) to recycled paper bracelets and silver necklaces even vinyl record cuffs, the question quickly becomes, why wouldn't you choose eco-friendly jewelry?

4. Set the Valentine's mood with a glass of organic wine. For top organic wine picks from one of Canada's leading wine writers, Anthony Gismondi, click here. Alternatively, take the edge off alcohol-free with the latest in locally produced organic soda -- Kombucha. Our fave is Blackberry.

5. Pucker up for that Valentine's kiss au naturale without the nasty chemicals. If there's one makeup item to be chemical free, we vote for lip colour. Not only does it absorb into your system like all the rest but through drinking, eating and yes, kissing -- it's also inevitably ingested. For a hint of luscious, moisturizing colour try Wine Country Organics Tinted Lip Balm and to pump up your pucker Vapour Organic Elixir Plumping Lip Gloss.

The Blue Trees

We've been meaning to share an interesting -- and definitely eye-catching -- local Vancouver find for some time now and decided to wait until Wordless Wednesday to let this image of The Blue Trees speak for itself.

The Blue Trees is environmental performance art by Australian Konstantin Dimopoulos meant to highlight social and environmental issues, specifically global deforestation. The idea of the brightly coloured trunks and limbs, the artist says in a local newspaper article, is to get people to slow down in the “rush through their daily lives” and consider the role trees play on our planet. Dimopoulos hopes to paint one million trees blue in the next decade -
all with a biodegradable, water-based wash.

Soup Container Giveaway: Winner + Easy Recipe Ideas

National Soup Month has come to an end and so has our soul-warming Soup Container Giveaway. Congratulations to Maya Y. who's won a Kids Konserve Insulated Food Jar to keep her favourite Corn Chowder warm. We think there's still many soup-y days to come so we've included below Maya's recipe and a few other extra yummy-looking ones we received via email as well. More easy recipe ideas for soup can be found on our blog. We're always on the hunt for quick and easy meal ideas and thought you too might appreciate these suggestions that are tried, true and loved by real people. Our sincere thanks to everyone who shared their favourite soup with us - and special thanks to those who sent in recipes - this was one of our most successful giveaways yet! For more soup recipes, click here.

Mediterranean Pesto Sausage Soup (recipe below)


Corn Chowder (from Maya Y.)

1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups potatoes, diced
2 cups water
1 can cream style corn
1 cup corn kernels
1 can evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, saute onion and pepper in butter until onion is translucent. Add potatoes and water; simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Stir in creamed corn, corn kernels and evaporated milk. Add 1 cup water (may use empty milk can). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Simmer 15 minutes and remove from heat. May serve warm or cool.


Mediterranean Pesto Sausage Soup (from Cindy H.)

olive oil
1lb smoked pork sausage (I use Italian chicken sausage ~ I squeeze it out of the casing and brown)
1 red onion, finely diced
1T. minced fresh garlic
2 1/3 cups red lentils
28oz can diced tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz pesto

Saute the sausage in the olive oil until broken up and browned. Add the red onion and garlic. Saute until onion is tender.

Add the lentils, tomatoes, and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until lentils are tender and breaking up.

Add salt and pepper and pesto and serve with julienned basil for garnish.


Roasted Red Pepper Soup (From Manal C.)

6 large red and/or yellow peppers
1 medium potato
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup milk
Half cup yogurt
2 cloves garlic
Directions

Grill or roast the peppers until the skin is blackened. Place in an airtight container to “sweat” for half an hour, so that the skins slip off easily.
Cut the peeled, deseeded pepper into strips and place in a pot with a generous swirl of olive oil and a clove of garlic, cut in half. Fry for 5 minutes.
Add the potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes, and the vegetable stock, to cover (no more).
Cook on a medium heat until the potato is tender.
Blend the soup, adding the milk.
Add a finely minced clove of garlic to the cup of yogurt.


Chicken and Rice Soup (from Jennifer T.)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 celery ribs, cut into1/2-inch-thick slices
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup long grain white rice
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey, I like to use leftover
rotisserie chicken or roasted turkey
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place a soup pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the
onion, carrots, and celery. Cook til veggies are soft but not brown.
Add garlic at the end to prevent burning. Add thyme and bay leaf. Pour
in the chicken broth and water- bring the liquid to a boil. Add in the
rice and chicken; season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium-low
until the rice is tender-about 30 minutes. Serve hot.


Creamy Potato Leek Soup (from Shannon)

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 leeks, washed and thinly sliced
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound) peeled and cubed in 1/2" cubes
4 cups vegetable stock
2-3 tsp fresh rosemary leaves

1. Heat a 4-quart pot over medium heat and add the oil.

2. Add the leeks, onions, and sea salt and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion begins to turn translucent.

3. Add the garlic and stir well. Cook for about 1 minutes more.

4. Add the potatoes and vegetable stock, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.

5. Remove the soup from the heat and use a stick blender to blend the soup in the pot. Blend the soup with the rosemary leaves until smooth and free of chucks.

6. Transfer the blended soup back to the original pot and warm over low heat until heated through. Serve hot.

Yield: 7 cups