Whether you’re a seasoned snowboarder or a bunny-slope warrior, the ski slopes have something to offer us all (even if it is only hot chocolate in the lodge cafeteria).  Surprisingly though, considering I kiss the snow every 5 feet, skiing isn’t always the most environmentally friendly activity. Between the lifts and the plows and the resort hot tubs running all night long, skiing can leave quite a mark on Mother Earth. But it doesn’t have to.

If you’ve got plans to hit the slopes this season, keep nature and a few of these things in mind:

Are the slopes graded or cleared?
This one’s tricky because it’s a little hard to tell whether you’re skiing on a graded or cleared slope.  A cleared slope is created by cutting down trees and shrubs to make a smooth downhill run.  A graded slope is like a cleared slope on steroids.  Bulldozers are brought in to scrape off the top layers of the soil to make the run unnaturally smooth and hence, boring.  This leaves that particular ecosystem in ruins, causing erosion and decreasing plant biodiversity.  Plus, it takes a lot more resources to maintain because the natural infrastructure isn’t in place to maintain itself.  When you have the choice, ski on a cleared slope to challenge yourself and save the environment.

Ski on real snow.
Early on in the season, many resorts bring in huge snow making machines that guzzle water and energy just to attract the early birds.  The best way to decrease this practice is to wait until it’s actually snowing to hit the slopes.  Moreover, many resorts use graded ski slopes just to open the runs a week early, so give ‘em a double whammy by waiting until it’s actually ski season to make your trek to the mountains.

Ski cross country or choose chair lifts wisely.
Cross country skiing is one of the most energy intensive exercises, burning up to 500 calories per hour depending on weight.  What’s more, that energy you burn translates into energy you save by not using a chair lift.  If you’re a pansy like me and can’t handle cross-country, don’t fret, just try to find lifts powered by renewable resources.  Aspen in Colorado, Crystal Mountain in Wisconsin, and Heavenly Ski Resort in California all have made efforts to find cleaner ways to power their ski lifts.

Rent your equipment.
This one’s pretty much a no-brainer.  Sharing equipment with other people means that you buy less and thus, fewer resources are needed to manufacture ski and snowboard gear.  If you have to buy your own skis or snowboard,  be sure that you sell it or give it away when you’re finished so somebody else can have some fun!

Check your resort before you go.
The Ski Area Citizens Coalition has an amazing website that gives every resort a grade based on its efforts to be environmentally friendly.  If you don’t have a regular ski spot, find your new favorite by checking out the Top Ten on the SACC homepage.  Otherwise, check your local resorts by selecting your state and ski area.

Happy skiing and snowboarding!

2. You are easy, easy, EASY to use, and you hold your shape no matter what I put inside you.

3. The delectables that you hold pop right out. Just a tap, and that’s it. No wiggling, no digging, no knifing, no sticking… this is the way cooking should be.

4. I don’t even need to grease you up with cooking spray or butter or shortening. Now that’s quality.

5. You are so easy to clean that it’s criminal.

6. I could look at you all day and still be astounded by your beauty.

7. I can touch you right out of the oven and not burn myself.

8. You have no discernible taste that rubs off, and I appreciate that.

9. I can freeze you, and you will still work for me, even weeks later.

10. I can lick you and get every last crumb of what I baked, unlike those stingy cupcake wrappers.

Oh, I think I’m in love.

There are some things you can live with and others you can live without. Seasoned travelers learn to live without, and when they do they often find hospitable people that let them live with. Travelers have the burden of deciding what to take with them and what to leave behind. They carry their lives in bags big and small. Big bags may mean better quality, but also result in a heavier burden. Small bags may mean lesser quality, but more freedom.

There are, of course, activities that require equipment — often heavy or bulky. Fishermen want to bring their own tackle and poles. Surfers want to bring their own boards. Scuba divers want to bring their own regulators. Horseback riders want to bring their own… saddles. Before you try to squeeze your heavy, bulky gear into that small bag of yours, there are just three things you need to consider:

Purpose

What kind of trip are you planning, and how frequently do you expect to use your equipment? The burden of bringing your gear is multiplied by the number of places you will lug it around to. On the other hand, if your primary reason for travel is to participate in the activity that requires the gear, then you have a greater purpose to justify bringing it.

Utility

What kind of use can you get out of bringing your own gear? Are you willing to risk travel damage or wear-and-tear to your equipment? Keep in mind that more and more places offer reasonable rentals for equipment, consider whether you would be willing to rent the gear to get what you need out of it. Some oversized or heavy baggage could also require that you pay extra, so consider this as well.

Necessity

What this dilemma really comes down to is just how much you really need your gear. If your happiness and satisfaction depends on bringing your stuff, then by all means, bring it — but be aware you are sacrificing the ease of traveling by doing so.

I once brought a big photo album to Europe so I could show my new photos to my sister. I never considered bringing just the photos. Sometimes, leaving something behind doesn’t mean you can’t bring what you want with you. Traveling requires creativity: You could always body surf instead of surf — or, even better, you could body surf without those heavy fins. You can still do what you love without sacrificing the fun.

You might think a blender is essential for successful smoothie making, but I’ve used my food processor on countless occasions and been just fine. Until recently, I believed that the Perfect Smoothie was strawberry-banana, with a thick (though not lumpy) texture and a little yogurt and milk thrown in for good measure.

Two days ago, though, I discovered a new Perfect Smoothie, and I am now convinced that nothing can beat it. It is criminal that I should keep this new recipe to myself, so I am sharing it with CC’s readership so that every one of you can also make yourselves delirious with enjoyment over this particular smoothie.

It’s easy: you just need one banana, half a mango (peeled and roughly chopped), a little over half a cup of milk, a tablespoon of heavy cream, half a teaspoon of sugar, and one ice cube.

You might need to crush the ice cube before you throw it in the blender/food processor, because a full cube of ice can sometimes make the blades in those devices go haywire. Once you have smaller pieces of ice, though, throw them in the blender along with everything else, and go crazy. I like to puree the smoothie until it’s really smooth, but you can leave it a little chunkier if you want.

Pure bliss, I swear. Pick up a mango next time you go to the store, and you can thank me later.

If you think sweet potatoes are just for Thanksgiving, think again.

I know, I know—the words “sweet potato” don’t exactly conjure up images of delicious little frosted cakes, but they will after you try this recipe.

One small (the size of a small apple) sweet potato will make enough for two one-serving cakes or four sweet potato cupcakes.

For the cakes, you’ll need the sweet potato, about a half a cup of flour, 1/8 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons white sugar, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 3 tablespoons canola (or vegetable) oil, 1 egg yolk, and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract.

And for the icing, you’ll need 3 tablespoons powdered (confectioners’) sugar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 3 tablespoons heavy cream, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, and a few drops of vanilla extract.

This recipe requires some prep, so you’ll need to either make it on a weekend or carve out time in your schedule for the sweet potato to cook. Here’s what you do:

Heat your oven to 375. Prick the sweet potato several times with a fork and place it in the oven to bake in a pan or baking sheet coated with aluminum foil. Let it stay in there for about an hour. When it’s done, take it out and let it cool. Leave the oven on, but turn it down to 350.

Peel the skin off the sweet potato, and use a fork to smash the flesh in a bowl. A couple of small lumps are OK, but you want it to be as smooth as possible.

Add the sugar, canola oil, egg yolk, and vanilla to the mix.

Then mix up your dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt.

Add the flour mix to the sweet potato mix and stir gently until it’s just combined.

Grease and flour your mini cake pans or muffin cups (fill any unused muffin cups with a little water). Divide your batter evenly in the pans/cups, and bake for about 18 minutes.

While the cakes are baking, you can make the icing. Put the powdered sugar in a small bowl, then put all the other icing ingredients in a small pan. Set the pan on low heat on the stove and simmer the ingredients for 2-3 minutes.

After that mixture has thickened, pour it into the powdered sugar and whisk them together (important to use a whisk because a spoon won’t break up lumps).

Let the icing cool for a few minutes, then use a spoon to drizzle it over the little cakes. You might have an excess of icing, but I’m pretty sure you can think of a way to dispose of it (read: lick the spoon often).

And that’s it! You can let your cakes cool, but I prefer them warm. Yum, yum, and YUM!

Save the money and the calories by stocking these five magical ingredients. With them, you can whip up a quick and delicious dinner any night of the week.

1. Cooking wine. Though not really the kind of thing you want to drink straight-up, cooking wine is great for making amazing sauces, putting in some casseroles, or adding major flavor to meat dishes.

As with regular wine, white tends to go better with chicken and red with beef. If you like to drink wine, there’s also something to be said about keeping your cellar stocked with good drinking wines that can double as cooking wines.

2. Chicken broth. Every bit as useful as cooking wine, but for slightly different things. Chicken broth can help make a wonderful pasta sauce, is a fantastic base for soups with a lot of flavor, and will make rice and noodles taste a lot better (if you boil them in the broth instead of water).

3. Pasta. If you have pasta of almost any kind in your kitchen, you’re good to go. Unless there’s absolutely nothing in your fridge besides cans of beer, you should be able to come up with something to put on top of it that will taste OK. Pasta’s very forgiving and versatile, and sometimes I use it three or four nights a week.

4. Canned, diced tomatoes. Talk about a lifesaver. You can use these babies for spaghetti sauce, soups, casseroles, curries, vegetable-based dishes…the possibilities are pretty close to endless. My personal favorite thing about them? No chopping.

5. Cheese. I like to keep a block of cheddar around at all times, because I find that most of the things I regularly make (burritos, macaroni casseroles, meatballs, creamy pastas) take to cheddar pretty well. Asiago and parmigiano-reggiano or romano also work like a charm, though.

So, there they are…the five dinner biggies. Using these, my favorites to make include a long-noodle pasta (like linguini) with a chicken and white wine sauce and a beef macaroni casserole with tomatoes and cheddar.

Anybody else have great dinners they make using these items?

Answer: small-batch cooking and baking.

Equipment and recipes, though generally designed for a crowd, can be scaled down to serve you and a friend (or even just you). Here are a few retailers and manufacturers that make it easy for those of us flying solo:

A 1-quart baking dish, like this one from Cookware.Com, can do wonders in your kitchen. It holds just enough casserole or salad for two, so you can either dig in with a pal or tuck an extra portion in the fridge to munch on later.

If you’d prefer to divide out your portions, try these casserole pans available from Rachael Ray. They’re perfect for oven-baked dishes, and are high-quality for the price. If you need something cheaper to do in a pinch, though, Hefty offers disposable oven-safe single-serving casserole pans as well.

A muffin pan, staple in almost every kitchen, is far more versatile than you think. Fill any extra cups with a little water, spray the ones you’re using with cooking spray, and voila! You have cups for mini quiches, casseroles, or pies.

Finally, girls with a sweet tooth should check out one-serving cake pans, like these beauties from Target. Find yourself a small-batch recipe, and in as little as an hour you could be downing just the perfect amount of angel food cake, cheesecake, or even red velvet cake. Bon appetit!