Articles in the Glass Dharma Category

Hi, y’all! Hope your day was fantabulous! Mine was: I made chocolate avocado pudding today!

I’m going to share the recipe, but first I wanted to play catch-up …

So glad you’re loving my Rainbow Chard + Butter Bean Soup. Let me tell you, it was even more delicious than it looks in the photos!

And I’m excited over all the buzz about my post on the health benefits of flax seeds – and why I love ‘em!

And I love that you’re all so excited over Glass Dharma’s eco-friendly straws. I really enjoyed reviewing them and hosting a giveaway, too!

I know, I know, you want to get to the chocolate avocado pudding!

Last time I made it (read all about it here), I used agave as an ingredient, but as I mentioned before, I’ve cut agave from my diet (I’m almost finished with the explanation post, promise!).

And ended up with this…

A Twitter follower inspired today’s recipe when she asked for a chocolate avocado recipe and I sent her to my version – then had to tell her I don’t use agave anymore. “What would you use now?” She asked.

Enter: Tropical Traditions Canadian, Raw, Wild, Unprocessed Honey!

You’ll be seeing an in-depth review of this SWEET, raw honey in just a day or so – plus something special for y’all!!!

Do you know that avocado is chock-full of nutrition and health benefits?

Check it out:

• vitamin K
• dietary fiber
• potassium
• folate
• vitamin B6
• vitamin C
• copper

Health benefits:

• promotes heart health
• promotes overall health
• increases absorption of carotenoids from vegetables
• combats oral cancer
• and more!

Wow.

And did you know I used to detest avocado? I wouldn’t eat it for YEARS. Never ate it as a kid. Didn’t eat it most of my adult life. I’d say I never tasted an avocado until about 5 or so years ago. Seriously! Can you believe it? And now I could eat ‘em every single day. Yum!

I love how when we start incorporating healthier foods into our diets, our body literally CRAVES them – LOVE it!

Fun Fact!

“The avocado is colloquially known as the Alligator Pear, reflecting its shape and the leather-like appearance of its skin. Avocado is derived from the Aztec word “ahuacatl”.”—WH Foods

Forgot to snap a photo of the frozen nanner that was in the blender but this is what it looks like all blended up…

And it comes out looking like this:

My goodness gracious, it was DELISH!!! I was SO happy with this!

And now, what you’ve wanted since the beginning of this post  – the recipe!

Chocolate Banana Avocado Pudding with Raw Honey

(serves one)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon raw honey, melted (I used Tropical Traditions)
• 1 banana, frozen
• 1/2 avocado (it was a big one)
• 1 tablespoon certified organic cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons almond milk

Directions:

Toss all ingredients in to your blender or food processer and blend all the ingredients together ‘till they’re creamy and smooth. Enjoy immediately!

Your Turn

Have you tried experimenting with avocado chocolate pudding yet? How does your version differ from mine? Does avocado gross you out? Or do you live for its creamy, decadent texture? And can you believe how many nutrients can be packed into chocolate pudding – when you make a healthier version?! What’s your favorite way to eat avocado? What’s your go-to chocolate dessert recipe?

Oh, and be sure to stop back by soon – I also got happy with hemp in the kitchen and whipped up something off the top of my head! And it was GOOD.

OpenSky Alert!

I love freshly ground flax SO much, I’m selling whole flax seeds so you can grind your own. That’s right: You can buy organic flax seed in my OpenSky shop – for only $7.49 per pound!!!

Shipping info:

“We will ship orders anywhere within the United States and Canada. At this time, we do not ship to other locations. When your order ships, you will receive a shipment notification via email that will include your tracking number.” – OpenSky

Reference:

WH Foods: Avocado

Updated to add the winner:

I’m pleased to announce that there were 219 entries for the contest, and Mr. Random (random.org) chose comment #28 as the winner!

The comment belonged to Erica, of Discovering Raw.

28 Erica { 02.21.10 at 7:48 am }

I commented on the review post, too!
Erica´s last blog ..Temporary Eye Candy

Be watching your email… Glass Dharma will email you a coupon code for your gift certificate. Enjoy shopping!

Congratulations, Erica!!!

Dislcaimer: This contest is sponsored by Glass Dharma. I received the Glass Dharma (eco-friendly, reusable) straws mentioned in my recent review (thank you, Glass Dharma!). But I was not paid to write the review – or host this contest – and the links to Glass Dharma’s website are not affiliate links.  My thoughts and opinions are my own.

What You’ll Win

$30 Gift Certificate (!!!)

from…

Glass Dharma will email the $30 Gift Certificate Coupon Code to the winner once the contest has ended.

Contest Rules

There are only TWO required entries for this contest – but if you REALLY want to win, there are several (fun) extra ways you can enter following these required options:

There are 20 ways to enter this contest!!

Required entry #1: Visit Glass Dharma’s FAQ page and come back and leave a comment telling me what you learned.

Required entry #2: Take a quick peek at Glass Dharma’s line of straws and come back and leave a comment telling me which design you love the most.

** You must complete the above two entries before the following ones count.**

AND… If you want to put in a little extra effort….

(and receive a LOT of extra entries – aka chances to win) keep reading…

Numerous ways to get extra entries!

3. Become a fan of Glass Dharma on Facebook. Then, come back here and leave a comment to let me know you did that.

4. Become a fan of Raw Juice Girl on Facebook. Leave a comment on this post saying you did.

5. Share this contest on your blog, linking back to this post. Leave a comment to let me know you did. If you don’t see your pingback, just email me at healingwithjuices at gmail.com and let me know. It may have gone to spam for some reason.

6. Follow Healing with (Raw) Juices on Facebook’s Networked Blogs. Leave a comment on this post saying that you did.

7. Do you use Twitter? Follow @RawJuiceGirl on Twitter. Comment on this post, saying you did.

8. Follow @GlassDharma on Twitter. Leave a comment on this post that you did that.

9. Tweet about this contest and then leave a comment with your Twitter name.

You can swipe this tweet:

@RawJuiceGirl is hosting an #ecofriendly @GlassDharma #giveaway for a $30 Gift Certificate! Enter now: http://tinyurl.com/y88azy7

Then, leave a comment that you did – with your Twitter name or status link.

FOR EVEN MORE ENTRIES:

For tweets, you may tweet about the contest up to 5 times a day, but each tweet must be 1-2 hours or so after the previous one. (Thanks so much for understanding my position of keeping things fair and square, y’all!)

10. Subscribe to Healing with (Raw) Juices via e-mail (sign up here) – be sure to verify your subscription or this entry won’t count. Then comment and let me know you did.

11. Subscribe to Healing with (Raw) Juices via RSS (sign up here). Then leave a comment telling me you did.

12. Subscribe to my brand-new newsletter (sign up here). Then comment here and let me know you did.

13. Do you Plurk? Plurk about this contest and leave a comment with your Plurk URL.

14. Add me as a friend on Wellsphere . Leave a comment saying that you did.

15. Add me as a friend on RawFu. Leave a comment saying that you did.

16. Add me as a friend on Give it to Me Raw. Leave a comment saying that you did.

17. Subscribe to Raw Juice Girl’s YouTube channel. Leave a comment saying that you did.

18. Are you a Stumbler? Stumble and review any post you want to–just leave the link to your SU review in (its own) comment.

19. Do you have a Digg account? Digg this post:  Glass Dharma Review: Eco-Friendly, Reusable Straws. Come back and leave a comment on this post with a link to your Digg post.

20. Leave a comment on the review post: Glass Dharma Review: Eco-Friendly, Reusable Straws. Come back here and leave a comment letting me know you did that.

NOTE: Please leave a comment for each entry (tweet, plurk, etc.) because each comment will be counted as a number when I enter the total number of comments at Random.org once the contest ends.

Oh, and I’ll be using Random.org to choose the winner.

Contest ends Sunday, February 28. I’ll accept comments until midnight. (Central Time). Winner will be posted the next morning.

That gives you ONE WEEK to get your entries in. Hurry and spread the word. The more entries you have, the higher your chances of winning a $30 Glass Dharma Gift Certificate!!!

Let the contest begin!!!

Dislcaimer: I received the Glass Dharma (eco-friendly, reusable) straws mentioned below, to review (thank you, Glass Dharma!). But I was not paid to write this review, and the links to Glass Dharma’s website are not affiliate links.  My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Now, on to the fun stuff:

Drinking today’s lunch smoothie with a Glass Dharma straw!

But first… I know you love to see when the packages arrive!

Here’s what the Glass Dharma straws came in. 

Each packaged separately…

Simple Elegance

Decorative Dots Straw

And I chose to use the 9” Beautiful Bend straw first.

Getting started on my lunch smoothie:

Which I’ve decided to name…

Blueberry-Blackstrap Bomb

Manitoba Hemp Pro 70 Powder 

 ice cubes

tablespoon of freshly ground flax seeds

2 tablespoons of hemp

a banana 

Then I added about half a cup or so of blackstrap molasses water I keep in the fridge (more on this in a future post). But it would be 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses in a cup of water for you.

After I blended that up, I decided to add a handful of frozen blueberries.

And a couple handfuls of baby spinach leaves…

Yum!

Look at the delicious, beautiful layers!!!

All blended together! 

Got too excited, I guess – Oops!

Blueberry Blackstrap Bomb Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

• ice cubes
• 1 tablespoon of freshly ground flax seeds
• 2 tablespoons of hemp powder
• a banana
• handful frozen blueberries
• 2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
• about half a cup or so of blackstrap molasses water I keep in the fridge (more on this in a future post). But it would be 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses in a cup of water for you.

Directions:

Toss everything in to the blender, blend until smoothly combined, pour, and enjoy this blast of energizing deliciousness!

 

Played with the camera… 

Okay, okay. So, I’m not a photographer – but it was fun!

And I realize the ingredients may sound odd to you, but this was one seriously delicious smoothie – and I’ve drank a LOT of smoothies!!! 

About Glass Dharma Straws

“These straws are made from borosilicate tubing and is the strongest glass commercially available,” says the company.

You’ll also find that these straws are made using a specific process that makes them the highest quality glass straw available.

Dharma Glass straws are versatile and can be enjoyed with either hot or cold drinks – and if you’re lucky enough to own a dishwasher, you can pop ‘em right in there for easy cleaning!

Here’s what Glass Dharma’s site has to say:

Plain and simple, here’s how and why they work:

• Glass straws don’t leach toxins into your food as you drink.
• Each time you use your glass straw equals one less plastic straw ending up in your landfill.
• One glass straw replaces thousands of plastic straws. (How many times will you use a straw the rest of your life?)
• Using your glass drinking straw adds a feeling of beauty to your day.

Now, that’s pretty awesome, don’t ya think?!

Glass Dharma straws are only $6-$8 each – and cost even less if you order a few at once. These would make fantabulous gifts or party favors, people!!!

About the Company

You always know it’s a fantabulous company if there’s an awesome person who owns it.

I love that David Leonhardt, the man behind Glass Dharma, is genuinely passionate about spreading the message of glass straws, NOT for the sole purpose of making money, but because he has a true heart for making a positive impact on the environment and it literally hurts his heart that so many plastic straws are destroying our beautiful earth.

Here’s what Mr. Leonhardt says about why he started the company: 

I’ve been a lampworker (glassblower) for over 10 years. My wife, Gail & I recently moved from the Sacramento, CA area, to our dream of living on the Mendocino Coast. 

I started doing some work for a local glass shop in town and noticed that the owner had glass drinking straws for sale. I had never heard of these before and I am always intrigued by something made out of glass that I hadn’t thought of.  I was struck by the unique elegance in such a simple item. 

I immediately recognized that here was a partial solution to our “plastics problem”.  Now, granted, there are a lot more plastics in our world than just drinking straws, but bear with me a minute and let me put things in perspective … As of March 2008, McDonald’s serves an average of 52 million meals PER DAY!  (Per their website) How many of those served do you think were given a plastic straw?  I hope it is becoming obvious just how big of a problem these pesky little plastic straws can be.  Remember, this is just from McDonalds!!  Get the picture??

So …

I created the GlassDharma line of glass drinking straws and this website to contribute one solution to the misuse of plastics in our society.

Everyone that has seen these straws are filled with delight.  Not just because they promote health and are environmentally friendly, but that they do these things with elegance and style.

Yes, I do get the picture! That is total craziness!! 

Great job, Mr. Leonhardt!!

Pros

As you read above Glass Dharma straws don’t leach toxins into your drinks or smoothies. And another HUGE pro for me is that Glass Dharma straws help prevent more plastic straws being tossed into landfills, alleys, rivers, creeks, lakes, oceans, etc. Now, I realize that there are absolutely gazillions of plastic straws being tossed in the garbage daily and little ol’ me sipping from a glass straw won’t knock a dent in that – BUT if a whole bunch of us use glass straws, we WILL knock a dent in the plastic straw situation.

They even sell bamboo hard cases …

and hemp soft sleeves to store and/or transport your straws!

They also sell cleaning brushes if you want to be sure your straw is super duper clean inside.

Cons

Hmmm… Cons… Gosh, this one is difficult! I guess if you wanted to consider it a con that you have to wash your straw after you use it, then that’d be a con to you. I don’t personally see that as a con. It’s not that big of a deal for me.

I normally list price as a con if it’s more expensive than I feel the “average” person would be able to afford, but I feel these straws are within most anyone’s budget.

And there’s a lifetime guarantee, so you don’t even have to worry about it breaking!

Sorry, folks, can’t really think of a con on this one!

Verdict/Grade

Glass Dharma straws are not only eco-friendly, they’re beautiful, too. And I’m really enjoying my experience. Using them is fun, washing them is easy peasy, and I liked feeling “fancy schmancy” while I conveniently sipped slurped my smoothie today.

AND it feels good  to know that I’m not promoting plastic straw waste that harms the environment. Oh, and these straws won’t break your bank – all that adds up to an A+ in my opinion!

Still not sure you want to invest in Glass Dharma straws? Well, they have a “Lifetime Guarantee Against Breakage” policy you might want to check out! (Read all about it here.)

But you can decide for yourself.

What about you? Have you tried Glass Dharma straws? Do you love them? Have you given ‘em as gifts? Would you like to win a gift certificate to Glass Dharma? Oh, yeah! Stay tuned… contest post coming next!

Updated to add:

Contest is posted! Click here to win a $30 Gift Certificate from Glass Dharma!!!