Eat. Drink. Better.

We cranked up the woodstove for the first time this season last night at Inn Serendipity. The cool, fall nighttime breezes have arrived here in Wisconsin, and that means just one thing: time for hot cocoa. But not just any hot cocoa. When my husband, John Ivanko, and I moved from Chicago apartments to our Wisconsin farm, we traded convenience for countryside. No more quick runs to the mini mart store at the end of the urban block for a missing ingredient. . With civilization now a fifteen-minute drive away, I’ve learned the art of self-sufficiency by creatively making store bought mixes with pantry ingredients.

Hot cocoa serves up a good example of how making your own mixes from pantry staples deliver benefits on multiple fronts: Read the rest of this entry »

Just in case you were thinking about indulging in some sweet treats today, I would like to offer you the option to take the healthier road. Sometimes it can take a visual aid to open your eyes and force you to take a cold hard look at what you are actually putting in your body or feeding to your family. Luckily, Sugar Stacks has put together an array of photos for us.  Unluckily, there are many items on their website that a lot of folks may consume on any given day, slowly causing their body to deteriorate without even realizing it.

Each food item is paired with the actual amount of sugar it contains stacked up in pretty little cubes. Each cube equals a teaspoon of sugar. Since they do not differentiate between different kinds of sugar, its important to know that natural sugars found in fruit and vegetables will be metabolized differently then the sugar found in a can coke or your favorite Frappachino. In my article on Natural Sweeteners, I explain that not all sweeteners are created equal. When it comes to refined sweeteners like white table sugar, high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners like NutraSweet and Splenda, there are many side effects and health risks to take into consideration.

It’s time to face reality. It’s time to ask your self, what have I been putting in my body? Would I ever just eat the nearly 10 cubes of sugar that are the soda I just drank?  Can I make a smarter choice then this? You may have seen these before, but in my opinion, if you are still eating and drinking these items on a regular basis, you can never see them too much. For even more photos go to Sugarstacks.com.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you love milk (from animals or a vegan option) but are tired of drinking it plain or having it with your cereal every morning, you can try to prepare some delicious drinks and frozen desserts from it. Here are a few recipes you can use to enrich your daily diet.
Read the rest of this entry »

There are contrasting approaches to population health in the news this week. Russian officials have more or less ordered Russians to change their diets – the Federal Consumer Protection Service claims Russian adults now weigh two kilos more than they did a decade ago, while children are a kilo heavier. Now that the recession is likely to drive Russians back to cheaper calorie-rich but nutrient-poor foodstuffs such as bread and potatoes, there is a fear that this weight gain, which began in the boom years, will accelerate in the bust ones. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t drink sodas primarily because they contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  Apparently, I am not alone in my concern over HFCS, as cane sugar sweetened Pepsi and Coke from Mexico are desirable in the United States.  I’m not sure I would risk Montezuma’s revenge from Mexican water to drink a sugar cane sweetened soda from south of the border; however, the long term negative effects of HFCS may be far worse.  Unfortunately for natural soda lovers, Mexican Pepsi and Coke are illegal in the US.

PepsiCo has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Clayton Distributing Company in Georgia for violating trademark laws, committing fraud and engaging in deceptive, unfair trade practices by selling sugar cane sweetened, Mexican Pepsi in the United States.

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My roots and love for Wisconsin run deep, ever since we traded the Chicago urban corporate scene for organic farming and sustainable living on our rural acreage a dozen years ago. And at heart, I’m a four-season loving gal. But man, that fourth season of winter can run a bit long here – especially this year with record snowfall and low temperatures this past month.

So you have to develop a sense of humor as a Midwestern farmer to ride out the winter each year, latching on to whatever gets you through the bleak season. Cocktails, anyone? There’s something about frozen, fruity blender drinks – sipped slowly around the glow of the fiery woodstove – that for a brief, granted illusionary moment, transport us farming cheeseheads to another warmer place and time.

If you’re looking for something special to sip on tonight – a drink that reminds you of warm summer breezes and local June flavors gone by – look to your freezer for stockpiled strawberries and whip out the blender for Frozen Strawberry Daiquiris.

June of 2008 gifted our farm with a bumper crop of strawberries. So much so that we eventually maxed out on eating fresh and started freezing those little red gems. We “tray freeze” the berries – lining up clean, hulled berries on a flat cookie sheet, placing the tray in our chest freezer and packing them in freezer bags once hardened. While some strawberries eventually made their way into sauces and jams, the bulk of these frozen babies end up in cocktail glasses this time of year, as the snow piles and wind blows outside.

Here’s our house recipe – but feel free to adapt with ingredients you have around. Think about using some local spirits, when possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Tea is one of those things that unites people.  The experience of sharing a cup with friends, or that momentary feeling of steamy relief with the sip of a chamomile blend when you’re sick or a bedtime ritual that soothingly lulls you into slumber.

It also comes with other healing and beauty benefits that Tracy Stern, founder of Salon Tea, has harnessed in her commitment to making green living fashionable through tea.

As part of our Behind the Burner series, I got the amazing chance to chat with this fabulous lady whose sense of style is instantly captivating from her Vogue-worthy wardrobe to her recyclable tea tins.

  Read the rest of this entry »

A tea company dedicated to saving the world, inspired by none-other than Digg founder Kevin Rose? No kidding. You can even get a discount below.

As an eco-minded foodie, I can often be found touting the benefits of going organic. It’s healthier, better for the environment and you can feel good about doing your small part to help farmers, as well as helping to limit the use of pesticides in produce and antibiotics and growth hormones in animals.

But I recently stumbled upon a new organic tea company whose primary goal is to literally save the world through tea.  Save the world by drinking tea? I was intrigued and determined to find out more.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ethos is indirectly the origin of the modern English word ethics and the definition of ethics (from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary is:

a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values

The New Internationalist Magazine (NI) June 2008 issue brought to light “Bullshit in a Bottle”. Just so happens, Ethos has a new definition. It’s the name of a bottled water company with a slick website and “is a profit-making enterprise disguised as humanitarian relief”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Summer’s fleeting, but we’ll undoubtedly still have a few hot days and men are still selling watermelons off trucks by a gas station near my house.  I love watermelon, and I love agua fresca, the fruity, refreshing beverage sold at taquerias on Cherokee Street in St Louis that are easy to make and easier to drink.  You can use any juicy fruit you like, but as long as watermelons are around, I’ll be using them.

Watermelon Agua Fresca

6 cups cubed, seedless or seeded watermelon (about one medium watermelon)

sugar, honey, or agave nectar, to taste

juice of two small or one large lime

2 cups water, divided

pinch of salt

mint leaves, for garnish

1. Puree half the watermelon with half the water.  Strain juice into a pitcher.
2. Repeat with remaining watermelon and water.
3. Add lime juice, sweetener to taste (a tablespoon or two should do it), and a pinch of salt.  Mix well.
4. Chill.
5. Serve cold, garnished with mint leaves

If you desire, you can turn this into an adult beverage with the spirit of your choice.

Photo courtesy of Steve Evans at Wikimedia Commons

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