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Fight cancer, anemia and high blood pressure with this delicious hummus recipe. By Brooke Rewa, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Add beets to your farmer's market list this week and pull out your food processor, we're making beet hummus. Not only is this hummus recipe simple and flavorful, it's packed with all the benefits of typical hummus plus the added punch of nutrient loaded beets.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World To B or not to B at the Four Seasons...

By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Editorial Assistant There’s a new trend in hair fashion that’s sexy, earthy, and may actually be easier on your pocket book. It’s called ombre, which in French means shaded or graduated in tone. The look involves darker roots which gradually become lighter as you go down the hair; giving a natural, sun-kissed look.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of HealthyChild Healthy World Santa Ynez California Courtesy of Jeremy Ball A Magical Night! Tales from...

Forrest Gump may have been on to something when he compared life to chocolates. You really never know what you’re gonna get in a box of chocolates, do you? The truth behind chocolate is more bitter than sweet. The Ivory Coast produces 40% of the world's chocolate, and it just so happens to also be notorious for this little thing called child slavery. Children, both local and from other third world countries, are sold to farms in this area where they are physically abused while working in risky and inhumane conditions. Some children are sold into the trade by parents who are tricked into believing their children will have better lives at the farm. Others are trafficked, stolen from their families, lured by the promise of…chocolate. In these farms they are forced to work 60 hour weeks with little or no food (depending on their performance on the field). These children lose their fundamental human rights when they enter these farms and “modern” society turns a blind eye to the atrocities. Every time we buy a box of chocolate that is not fair trade stamped, we (often unknowingly) endorse child slavery.

By Nancy Chuda, Founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEco Living and Founder of Healthy Child Healthy World While amping up for this year's Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, CA and getting the LuxEco team ready for our "Green Light" Initiative in which we search out and highlight the best natural, organic and eco-friendly products that the Green Movement has to offer, I can't help but to reflect on the evolving nature of "GREEN." Jim and I attended the first Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, CA almost two decades ago... and it was far from gluten-free. We were young, energetic, and held an undying faith that our world was unnaturally occurring; wearing Birkenstock and eating jerky we found our tribe. Or did we? back then, fair-trade was a hearty handshake.

By Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of the Resplendent Repurposing series Even wonder what really goes on behind the scenes at your local thrift store? About how your donations are used -- are they really helping people? How the charity decides what to charge? What happens to the stuff that doesn't sell? And just how Green an operation is it, anyhow? I got an inside peek into the operation of what is perhaps the best-stocked, best-run chain of thrift stores in the greater Los Angeles area when I spoke with executives of the National Council of Jewish Women, Los Angeles at the Fairfax Avenue headquarters.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Luxury for Less. The most beautiful authentic jewelry, custom designed, one...

Did you know that Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) can lead to early death?

We were treated to the culinary talents of a genius! We had literally just returned from the land of Alain Ducasse, Provence France, where we had been seated for an array of tasting menus, literally, for days and nights, by his top chefs... our taste buds had been spoiled fresh until we met chef Jeremy Tummel... my oh my!

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Gardening is my therapy " A garden to walk in and immensity to...

She's not a purist. She's a magician. Kit Kemp is one of the most talented designers in the world today.Step into any of her Firmdale properties in the UK or fly "over the pond" and land in the heart of Soho New York at the stellar Crosby and you are in for a life changing experience that takes luxury living and staycations to new heights.

It's no secret that when plants are harvested for their life sustaining and nutritional qualities that every part of the plant that can be used is.......Of the various plants that serve multiple purposes, the nutmeg plant is the only plant that yields not just one, but two spices.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World I lost a very close friend. She was and remains...

By Nancy Chuda founder of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World "There is a fountain of youth; it is your mind, your talents, the creativity...

By Nancy Chuda Founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World Where do we go when we die? How can we find mercy, forgiveness and love? There is no turning back the clock. Time does not wait for those who are waiting to find answers in their lives. But time does stand still for hours in Malick's fifth feature, The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn. It premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Palme d'Or before being released in the United States. "The Tree of Life"A superbly conceived but somewhat stilted family drama rich in Christianity's emotional tapestries and the upheavals and uncertainties of life, reveals Brad Pitt who plays father to three sons, one being Sean Penn, brilliantly portrayed in his youth by Hunter McCracken.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World The Citizen Hotel in Sacramento is a dog friendly,...

Santa Barbara County Los Alamos- Bell Street Farm LuxEcoLiving photo credits Mozy into town... you've arrived in Los Alamos where you will discover a three block...

By Bethany Colson, Managing Editor of LuxEcoLiving.com America today is seeing more people being isolated into a world of junk food and unhealthy foods. The U.S is rapidly turning into an unhealthy America with something called a "food desert". What's a food desert? According to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a food desert is a “place where there is not easy access, affordable access, reasonable access to fresh fruits and vegetables — to a grocery store.” It could be an inner city or a rural town but what they both have in common, besides the low income economy, is their lack of access to fresh produce and to healthy food alternatives. Instead, convenience stores and fast foods with their highly processed foods, packed with refined sugars, trans fats and preservatives are ubiquitous and commonplace. As a result, families are left with few options to serving nutritious foods and their children suffer the consequences. With new generations being fed these types of foods, it is only a matter of time before this growing unhealthy America can see any change whatsoever.

By Kammie Daniels, LuxEco Editorial Assistant When Nancy Chuda, Founder of LuxEcoLiving accepted an invitation to interview Salman Rushdie and review his new children's book, Luca and The Fire Of Life, she asked if I would cover an event celebrating Laurie David's new cookbook, The Family Dinner. It’s not every day I get to dust off my shiny black heels and drive out to lovely Bel-Air to mingle with Los Angeles’ rich and famous. Who knew I would wind up right next to Tom Hanks when I arrived, never mind moments later having the beloved Hollywood actor playfully popping his head into my camera lens. What an amazing start to the night. I felt honored to be in attendance, amidst prominent supporters taking every opportunity to congratulate Laurie David on her debut cookbook, The Family Dinner.

By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Season Cooking with Kerin In a country where childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the last thirty years, it is refreshing to see teachers like Mark Wagner combat that statistical nightmare. As head of the Organic Garden Club at Palmquist Elementary School in Oceanside, Calif., he’s getting kids excited about gardening and eating right. “I really wanted to promote nutrition awareness. That was my main goal,” Wagner says. When he arrived at Palmquist four years ago, the school garden was a fenced-in patch of waist-high weeds. Now it’s filled with ground crops and fruit trees that the students are not just excited to grow, but to eat as well.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World "If you aren't living on the edge, you're taking up...

By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant In a recent interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, former president Bill Clinton announced that his recent 24 pound weight loss was thanks to a vegan diet. The 64 year old Clinton went on an “essentially plant-based diet” living primarily on vegetables, legumes, fruit, and protein supplements mixed in with almond milk in the mornings.

Get rid of hazardous substances in your home and clean house with these great green cleaning products. By Brooke Rewa, Lux Eco Editorial Assistant Household cleaning products are full of hazardous substances that put our loved ones at risk. A clean house can be especially dangerous to children and pets. Toxic chemicals from conventional household products can be found on your floors, counters, carpets and transferred directly into the mouth of your pet or child. Many everyday cleaning products contain petroleum based pesticides and denatured ethanol, a type of ethanol that has one or more substances added to it making it poisonous. While we know little about the long-term health affects and environmental damage these hazardous substances can cause, it is safe to say the outcome cannot be good.

It's a jewel of a hideaway in the confines of one of the wealthiest locations in all the world...   Palm Beach Florida. What The...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant You are terrified and frantic. You cram yourself, with six other women, into a three-foot by four-foot bathroom in...

By Hannah Canvasser LuxEco Editorial Assistant This recipe can be as simple or complex as you would like. Whether you are looking to show off your spring honed barbecue skills and house make your ingredients, or pick up already-made items from your local market, these sliders will leave omnivores confused about their eating-orientation, vegetarians thrilled to be dining at your place, and the neighbors wanting an invite.

By Hannah Canvasser, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Take a break this spring with a refreshing strawberry basil lemonade. With the first strawberries of the season, and a few simple ingredients straight from your farmers market, this extravagant looking beverage will have your friends wondering where you've hidden your bartender. The trick is with the effortless simple syrup, which not only dilutes the fresh squeezed lemon juice, but gives the lemonade its sweetness as well as it's basil background flavor.

By: Molly Rovero LuxEco Editorial Assistant A recent report created for North Carolina’s Waste Awareness & Reduction Network (NC WARN) was titled “ Solar and...

By: Joanna Bateman, Luxeco Editorial Assistant I’m a mid-west girl who recently moved west to California to spread my wings and fly. And if it weren’t for this past August, I’d be one stressed-out-Sally in the big sea of crazy known as Los Angeles. I needed to ground myself so that I didn’t float away in La La land. I needed Yoga camp!

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World National Chocolate Chip Day Today is National Chocolate Chip Day! It's...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World LuxEcoLiving's founders Nancy and James Chuda with Journey   It's...

By: Bethany Colson, Managing Editor of LuxEco Living. In Part I of my interview with Lisa Gautier, Founder of  Matter of Trust, she helped us...

By: Annie Huang, LuxEco Living Marketing Assistant Lighting of the Christmas tree is certainly an event that is embraced in major cities around the world. But what is more inspiring besides being part of these events, is to know that Brisbane Council put in a lot of effort in preserving the energy by adapting solar power to the shindy. Not only that, this tree has earned its name as the World's Largest Solar Powered Christmas Tree! So after learning from Jessica about the importance of having live pine trees at home, it's only another step to explore the implementation of solar energy at your residents. What a party it would be for your family and guests if they could bath in nature from your homes this Christmas!

By Nancy Chuda Founder and Editor-in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World As 2011 comes to an end, I feel a...