Valentine’s Day Recipes – Our Top 5

Top 5 Recipes for Valentine’s Day

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes 1. Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes
Planning Valentine’s Day breakfast in bed for your sweetie? These pancakes from the Minimalist Baker are delicious!

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2. Fair Trade Turtle Cake from our friends at Fair Trade USA 
Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day better than chocolate, at least that’s my opinion – and even better – this cake is made using fair trade, slave-free chocolate!

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3. Chubby Hubby Cupcakes from Annie’s Eats
The name itself deems these Valentine’s Day worthy, and they’ve been deemed “to die for good!” Salty sweet chocolate peanut butter goodness – just like our favorite Chubby Hubby Ice Cream from Ben & Jerry’s!

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4. Buttered Popcorn Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Our favorite cookie recipe of 2013 had to make the list! These offer such a unique twist to your classic chocolate chip cookie recipe…worried about ruining an already good thing? Don’t! These are unbelievably good!

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5. Delicious Dessert
A quick and simple dessert that will steal your man’s heart (or at least his stomach) – it has been a long-time favorite of my Dad’s, and he requests it on several occasions. Make it special by using your sweethearts favorite treats: some of my favorite combos are banana pudding with fresh bananas and crushed vanilla wafers on top, or pistachio pudding with chopped pecans on top. Or to stay on trend with the rest of our Valentine’s Day recipes try chocolate pudding with cocoa powder or shaved chocolate sprinkled on top ;)

For more recipe ideas or inspiration visit our Fair Trade Treats & Eats Board on Pinterest!

How to Have a “Do Good” Dinner Party!

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Well friends,

February is somewhat of a drab month. I don’t think anyone’s denying that at this point. Why not spice it up a bit with a night in with friends? If you’re trying to incorporate more ethically produced goods and products into your everyday life, including fun evenings at home, today is your lucky day. :) It just so happens I’ve rounded up a few big-hearted buds to help us out with a festive winter soiree! It’s been a while since we featured some Friends With a Mission, so here we go!

What elements make up a fab foodie party? Well, the dinner is an obvious place to start. We’re serious about our food around here! And the hostess with the mostess, you can leave all the hard work to Global Grub and concentrate on enjoying your own party!

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Here’s how it works, from their Web Site:

  • Choose a cooking kit, stocked with high quality non-perishable ingredients that are pre-measured for you, and step-by-step instructions
  • Pick up a few fresh/basic items from the included shopping list
  • Begin your cooking adventure 
  • Enjoy your homemade dish with loved ones!

Pretty easy, right? And the best part: for every food kit sold, they donate the cost of a meal (based on the Feeding America Formula) to someone in need through their local food bank. Eat good, do good!

And what dinner party is complete without a little wine? I’m glad you brought that up:

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OneHope Wine makes an impact with every bottle sold by donating HALF of the profits to
charitable partner causes. (And it’s good wine, people … it does come from California, after all!)

From their Web site:

ONEHOPE’s motivation began as a personal mission to help a
friend with her fight against cancer and evolved into a thriving business that
always remains focused on a very basic, but compelling principle: giving back is
good business. Eight founders came together in 2007 and created,
ONEHOPE Wine, with the goal of selling a quality wine that
would enable them to donate to worthy causes all year round.

So your dinner party is off to a great start! The key missing ingredient here, it seems, would be fair trade products to serve your delicious meal and wine in … and Seven Hopes United can definitely take it from here! Serve your yummy global grub on these Asanta reclaimed serving platters, pour the wine into these earthy red clay wine cups, and set the scene with this cheery paisley table runner.

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Enjoy your “do good” dinner party, and don’t forget the fair trade chocolate and coffee for dessert!

XO,

Casey

The Power of FIVE

We are proud to announce our new partnership with Smateria and Five Accessories: a social enterprise connecting people with a passion to help change their world through products that truly make a difference! You’ll find two new products from Smateria in our fair trade handbag line, the Eco-Friendly 3-Way Bag and the Oversized Flower Shoulder Bag.

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Eco-Friendly 3-Way Bag – available in blue, silver, black, and copper

Oversized Flower Shoulder Bag

Oversized Flower Shoulder Bag – available in plum, silver, and black (not shown)

Each bag is handmade from recycled netting originally used in the fishing and construction industries. Our partnership provides fair wages and safe labor conditions to over 150 employees in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The majority of the staff, mostly young mothers, are encouraged to bring their children to work, as the company provides free daycare and education for our artisans’ children.

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With every handbag purchase from our new fair trade partners, you’ll help to provide an average of five meals to children in Cambodia.

Help us to spread the word about these new fair trade products and the good work Smateria is doing in Cambodia by sharing this story on your Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

xoxo, Ashleigh

How Jewelry Is Saving the World

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Well … that’s a rather bold title, isn’t it? Ok, so jewelry may not fly around, red cape-clad, and swoop in on a distressed Lois Lane today. But it has its own world-saving power. Want to see what I mean?

Ladies, we love jewelry. It’s pretty much a proven fact, just like we love potato chips and puppies (and maybe kittens, but I can’t vouch for full-grown cats). And we also like to help people. Women are helpers. We’re care-givers and love-givers. And if we can buy jewelry and in turn spread our love and help across the oceans, who’s going to complain about that?

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At Seven Hopes United, we truly believe that the purchases of gorgeous, unique jewelry and other ethically made products are helping to save lives and give hope to the nations. When you buy a piece like this beautiful Cascade necklace, you ensure fair wages are being paid to the woman in Ecuador who hand crafted it. You then open up her access to nonprofit services, such as scholarships and training programs. These programs will in turn keep her and her children clothed, fed and educated, which unleashes their God-given potential into the world. This tidal wave of events began with your purchase of a simple necklace.

And what about this stunning 31BITS Raffia Twist Bracelet? Yes, it’s perfect for Spring and as pretty as sunshine. But it also accomplishes this:

31 Bits Designs is a socially minded business designed to give internally displaced women in Northern Uganda an opportunity to counter poverty. By giving our beneficiaries access to the international market, they are able to earn an instant income, providing homes, food, and education for their families. Our program equips women by providing literacy education, financial and vocational training, holistic care, and strong support systems, empowering individuals to further their careers and attain social equity.

Whoa, pretty little bracelet! I’m impressed.

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This dainty pair of lime tagua chip earrings has a lot to offer too:

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The artisans handcraft the jewelry designs from natural materials that have been sustainably harvested from the rainforests and lowlands of South America. Some materials are gathered from the rainforest floor while others require a skilled farmer to climb high into the tropical canopy to harvest ripe pods. In both cases, trees are not harmed and the commercialization of these seeds helps to ensure the survival of the world’s rainforests by providing an alternative income for its inhabitants in place of logging or selling their land to destructive industries.

Pretty cool, right? If you want to help us change the world one piece of jewelry at a time, would you consider sharing this post on your Pinterest, Twitter, FB or Instagram page? Oh and obviously, you’d better buy yourself a piece of  jewelry while you’re at it. :)

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Seven Hopes United loves you!

XO,

Casey

What Inspires You?

Have you ever sat and thought about what really inspires you? What makes you tick; what you’re passionate about?  We at Seven Hopes United put that thought into what we do all the time.  The story of fair trade is an inspiring one by itself and we are grateful to be a part of making this world a little better for all of us.

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There are so many things that inspire us from what items we sell to the stories of the women and men who produce those items. Here is a list of things that inspires us!

Uniqueness

Quality

Beauty

A Joy for Life

Style

Our Producers!

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Have a great day – Dawn