Happy Valentine's Day - The Kind Life

Happy Valentine's Day

Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Feb 11, 2010

Valentine’s day ....

Valentine's day history is not set in stone, but Pope Gelasius declared February 14th a day of celebration in honor of Saint Valentine in the year 496. Over time, it evolved into a holiday of love. Now, V-day is a nearly $17 billion industry (crazy, right?). And while it is fun to spend dollars on your significant other, friends, etc. on the 14th, it doesn't have to cost a penny! And those non-material gifts (like a cute and sweet letter, bike ride together, picnic, photos, videos, etc...) are the most green and often most memorable.

I remember the first Valentine's Day that my husband and I spent together! We weren't veg yet. For dessert, I knew he liked pears, so I made him a pear dessert. Check out the new and improved pear dessert in the superhero section of The Kind Diet! It is perfect to make on Valentine's Day!

But back to the gift front...there's no denying that flowers will be given like crazy. And I know I've talked about this before, but I'll say it again, you must go organic...sooooo much better for the world. Regular flowers are laden with tons of chemicals (insecticides, fungicides, growth regulators) to achieve perfect flower status. Most of these things have been banned in the US, but most flowers are imported from other countries where the chemicals are not regulated. The chemicals in these flowers can be over 1000 times greater than in food products...and no, you won't be eating them, and that's a good thing, but they will be in your life and you will be smelling them. Not to mention how bad these toxins are for the workers that grow them! I think you get the point....try for local, organic flowers from your farmer's market, or google away for what is near you and check out localharvest.org/organic-flowers.jsp. In New York, I love Gardenia Organic Flower Shop!

And a few great sites I love are:

Organicbouquet.com
Organicflowers.com
Californiaorganicflowers.com
Diamondorganics.com

And of course, you could always grow your own... try seedsofchange.com.

I also found a couple cute gifts on girliegirlarmy.com. Look how cute this pillow is (pictured above)! It’s from Alexandra Ferguson Pillows. And this nightie (pictured below)! This organic one is from Perfectly Impertfect Venus Lace Nighty @ embodies.com.

And check out my gift blog for these healthy for the world chocolates, candles, and cards. You can also make desserts from The Kind Diet as gifts, and wrap them up all nicely, like I blogged about a couple weeks ago. One of my work partners just had a valentine card-making little gathering with friends... her and her friends are super crafty and they just used all their art supplies they already had like beads and watercolors, and ribbon, and magazines and made their own valentines.

If you're going to be sending treats and chocolates, Allison's Gourmet makes the nicest gifts. I love her peanut butter cups, brownies, and peanut brittle. SO yummy! www.allisonsgourmet.com

Here is a link to greenlagirl.com, and Green LA Girl's super sweet V-day card recommendations: http://greenlagirl.com/eco-friendly-valentines-day-cards/.

Great ways to be eco and Valentine's Day friendly include: showering with your partner... fun AND saves water, bedroom activities with the lights out... saves energy. More on green love at eartherotics.com or treehugger.com (search "how to green your sex life").

Let me know what you are planning for your Valentine’s Day!

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Categories: food , environment , the kind diet , holidays

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39 Responses

Angie M
Feb 14, 2010
32

I made the Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies in heart shapes for Valentine's Day. My husband and I loved them, my husband said they were better than the non vegan sugar cookies that I used to make and I love that they don't have butter or eggs! Soooo good! Thanks!

Kelly Day
Feb 15, 2010
33

I made the chocolate peanut butters cups for Valentine's Day and they are sooo good! The one problem I had is that the peanut butter was very liquid when I poured the chocolate on top and the chocolate sunk into it rather than covering the peanut butter. Do you usually let the peanut butter set-up a little bit before pouring on the chocolate? I also made really beautiful VEGAN heart shaped linzer cookies that were delicious if you want to check them out, the recipe and photos are on my blog. Love your book and your blog! Great job on Oprah, you were informative and also really funny :) Sincerely, Kelly http://realveghousewifeofnj.blogspot.com

jenny newcomer LobotoME
Feb 16, 2010
34

oh my gosh! love that pillow~~~

Mary Beth Moser
Feb 16, 2010
35

I made peanut butter treats on Sunday, too. They are delicious! I am looking forward to trying some superhero foods and learning a different way to cook even though I have been vegan for several years!

Lenore Turner
Feb 23, 2010
36

One of my mahjongg partners told me about http://www.SeasonedLover.com which sells organic lotions and phtalate free intimate products. I never even knew that there was such a thing. When I found out what phthalates were I was aghast. I had no idea that there were so many chemicals in adult products. It was a big learning experience for me and my husband. People just don't think about chemicals in the things they use. They usually only think of food.

Lenore Turner
Feb 23, 2010
37

I also made vegan brownies that I cut into heart shapes once they had baked. They were fabulous! I dusted them with some confectionary sugar and they were a big hit! Great idea!