So today is Earth Day. What does this have to do with natural health? Everything. The purpose of Earth Day is to focus on establishing more sustainable and healthy habits around the globe. Over 1 billion people will celebrate Earth Day today, an event that began in 1970 and has grown to become the largest non-religious holiday in the world.

Earth Day is a time to reflect on our unhealthy habits and focus on change – a New Years of sorts for green living. The various campaigns around the world will focus on greening our schools, providing clean water to everyone around the globe and to reduce the harmful pollutants that contribute to illness and many of our modern “epidemics” – all factors that directly (and dramatically) impact our health.

To celebrate Earth Day at Vintage Remedies, we are giving away a set of two of our most popular books, The Handbook of Vintage Remedies and the (pre-release!) Vintage Remedies Guide to Real Food. Both resources provide numerous tips and ideas for implementing more natural and sustainable habits in your home that can directly impact your family’s health – and that of future generations.

To enter, leave us a comment below this post letting us know what new healthy habits your family is establishing this year.

Details: Contest ends at midnight (central time) April 22, 2010. A winner will be chosen randomly from the comments below. You can also earn additional entries by posting this on facebook, twitter or your blog, by following us on twitter and / or becoming a facebook fan. Be sure to post a comment for each of those additional entries below.

UPDATE: The contest is now over. We LOVE hearing all of the great ways you are establishing healthier habits in your homes! A winner was chosen by asking a friend to give us a number between 1 and 42; she chose #3! So, Kristy, we will be contacting you to ship your new books! Comments have now been closed, but be sure to subscribe for future giveaways! You can also save on the books mentioned on the website, www.VintageRemedies.com (note: post was transferred from old blog; comments were not transferred.)

originally posted March 2010

Taken from The Vintage Remedies Guide to Real Foods
Chapter 10 – Real Foods for Kids

These are fun and easy to make, requiring just a little additional time collecting the materials, and they result in beautiful, natural hues that liven up any spring table.

Natural dyes will appear more vibrant when applied to white eggs. Contrary to popular belief, there is no nutritional difference between white and brown eggs. The color of the egg is determined by the breed of the chicken and the nutritional benefits of an egg are determined by the health of the chicken.

vinegar
distilled water
herbs for colors (see below for a guide)
boiled eggs

For each color, mix 4 cups of water with 4 T of the herb powder or 3/4 cup of the whole herb and 3T vinegar. Bring to a boil and boil for 20 – 25 minutes. Strain and cool. Soak eggs for 10 – 15 minutes in the dye. Dry in egg cups, then store in the fridge.

Color Guide:
Blue – red cabbage or blueberry concentrate
Brown – ground tea or coffee
Burnt Orange – red chili powder
Green – spinach powder or parsley powder
Red – cranberries
Orange – curry powder
Pink – beet powder
Purple – beets, purple onion skin, grape juice
Yellow – calendula petals, turmeric or saffron