Going Green and Organic

Several things have made me decided to finally take action and to "Go Green" and organic. The final straw I must say was a show on Oprah last week on being "green". After I saw the show I made several goals and plans for me and my family and I must say I am pretty excited to start. My list isn't anything extraordinary but I want to do as much as I can. Here a few of my goals:

-I want to be a better and healthier cook. (I really want to research, study, and find better recipes and dinner ideas.)
-Switch to brown rice instead of white rice.
-Only organic food for Marisa at home.
-Only organic meat, cheese, and egg at home for Mom and Dad.(Plus other organic food as much as possible.)
-Bring my own bags instead of using plastic bags at the grocery store.
-Recycle

First of all, I come from a family of health freaks so I am pretty used to the idea of never really eating fast food, frozen food, or junk food, and never really drinking soda but instead drinking organic milk/soymilk, eating fresh food, fruit, and vegetables, and literally having everything in the fridge be fat free. Me, my mom, and my sister are big fans of exchanging food ideas and exercise habits we learn from Dr. Oz on Oprah (haha), books, doctors, friends, etc. and implementing them into our lives as much as we can. It is really fun and exciting and I'm pretty happy that I have tried to keep up with it since I left home, but now I am super excited to really get down and serious now that I am a stay at home mom with more time on my hands.
So, a friend of mine who is also a health freak referred me to an organic grocery store called "Trader Joe's" and right after I went shopping there I called Tim excitedly saying, "This is my new favortie store!!" It was so fun to buy things that you know are better and healthier.
Also, with Marisa off the bottle now and eating foods that we are eating, I have become extra worried with what she puts in her body. There is a lot of pressure as a mommy to make sure your child eats right. I was so excited to find at the store great snacks for her plus great lunch and dinner foods for our family.
To my surprise it really isn't that much more expensive than a normal grocery story. Probably since it is only us three there is not much of a difference, but I can see how it would be more expensive for a large family. But I don't fit that mold yet. If any of you have great healthy recipes, not necessarily organic, I would love to hear it! And I'll make sure to post healthy recipes and "green" ideas during my search of becoming better at it. =o)