Eat. Drink. Better.

Like this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and stay up to date.

FAST TRACK DETOX DIET: A BOOK REVIEW

One of the more challenging genetic attributes I inherited from my beautiful mother was a tendency to gain weight easily – and NOT lose it quite as easily. I watched her struggle constantly with various diets and nutritional fads. There never was ONE thing that really worked or helped her maintain her ideal weight or health.

I swore I would never ‘diet’ and I didn’t until a few years ago. When we were publishing Relevant Times, I had the privilege of interviewing Ann Louise Gittleman about a new book she had coming out at that time – Super Nutrition for Women. I was quite impressed with her, so when she came out with the Fat Flush Plan a few years ago, despite it’s sort of faddish title, I got the book and it made wonderful sense. It seemed like a highly intelligent, nutritional and scientific approach to healthy eating and weight loss and maintenance.

I had also been suffering from fibromyalgia (or so the doctors told me), and I had always noticed that whenever I did anything to support and cleanse my liver, I felt better. Liver health, being one important element of Gittleman’s Fat Flush Plan. So, for the first time in my life, I embarked on a ‘diet’ and was amazed by the results. Not only did I lose weight, but nearly all the fibromyalgia symptoms disappeared. She was on to something. However, it is not the easiest nutritional regimen to maintain. Some principals I have maintained for at least 4 years, but . . .

Read the rest of this entry »

What’s a local foodie to do if you don’t have the right spot for a garden? Maybe you just don’t exude the green thumb karma and enthusiasm for growing your own seasonal fare? Or what if there isn’t a farmers’ market nearby for one-stop local food shopping?

Join Charlene Torchia and be a local food forager, developing connections, routines and routes for regularly traversing your area and buying direct from area family farms and food artisans. “I call it my ‘food run’,” explains Torchia, who runs the eco-friendly bed and breakfast, Journey Inn, in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, about an hour from St. Paul/Minneapolis. “Once a week I make my rounds and stock up on key supplies such as meat from Anderson Farm, goat cheese, organic parmesan from Eau Galle Cheese, apples and cider. Vegetables come from a local CSA – Community Supported Agriculture – and I can even buy bread through them as they grow and grind their own wheat.”

With no dirt under the fingernails required, Torchia exemplifies the spirit that if you’re passionate about the local foods movement and supporting sustainable agriculture, you can find direct sources for bootie in your area. Try plugging your zip code into the Local Harvest database for a starter list of area options. “It’s all about relationships that go beyond shopping transactions,” Torchia adds. “Friendships developed from my food run. I feel part of the community and my B&B guests love hearing the personal story of where each breakfast ingredient came from.”

Here are some starter tips for becoming a local foods forager in your area: Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I wrote about no/low-cal ways to dress up your water, providing you with variety when you need hydration the most.  But what about when the summer heat is so hot, you don’t even feel like a meal?  My husband and I play tennis every morning, and a berry smoothie is perfect before or after a match, or if you need nourishment and energy, but don’t want to eat something heavy.  Even Starbucks is getting into the smoothie game, but why drink their inevitably processed concoctions when you can make your own from fresh, unprocessed ingredients?  Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries are all over the farmer’s markets, or, if they’re available, gooseberries, lingonberries, loganberries, or bilberries make unique additions to a smoothie.  Berries are also full of vitamins and antioxidants; you can’t beat them for a sweet treat that’s good for you as well.  Megan included them in her top ten quick, healthy, sustainable snacks, and the Green Diva mentioned them in her five ways to enjoy berries.

Read the rest of this entry »

Having been inspired by one of my favorite gardening books to leaf through on a regular basis, The Curious Gardner’s Alamanac: Centuries of Practical Garden Wisdom, by Niall Edworthy, I decided to use my 4th of July party guests as guinea pigs. It is kind of fun experimenting on unsuspecting guests . . .

Of course, this was one of the great hits of the party and I did NOT make enough. I had to keep a secret stash so that late comers could at least give it a taste!

Mr. Edworthy offered a very simple recipe for lavender infused lemonade that I couldn’t resist. I put two and two together and realized I had plenty of lavender in the garden just ripe and ready for this sweet, cool, summer drink.

Here’s what I did (pretty much straight from Mr. Edworthy’s book - it worked very well):

Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Note: This post was provided by one of our paid sponsors, Earth Cinema Circle, the only DVD club dedicated to increasing social & environmental awareness through entertaining films. Written by Ariellie Ford.

Behind America’s 99-cent hamburgers and 72-ounce sodas is a key ingredient that silently fuels our fast-food nation — Corn. In KING CORN, we meet two college buddies, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who move from the east coast to the heartland to really learn where their food comes from.  They relocate to northern Iowa, home of their great-grandfathers, with a mission.  They will plant an acre of corn, follow their harvest into the world, and attempt to understand what all of us are really made of — Corn. This entertaining and informative film is now available from Earth Cinema Circle.  The following is from an interview with Curt Ellis, co-producer of the film. Read the rest of this entry »

How exactly does one make a vegetable farm less carnivorous than it already is? The practice of veganic - or “stock-free” - farming is beginning to take hold among some small-scale farmers in the United States and Canada. It has been a common method in Europe for years.

Veganic farmers practice organic farming by eschewing synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, but take it a step further by eliminating animal-derived farming products as well. Most organic farmers use bone meal, blood meal and animal waste fertilizer to make their plants productive, but veganic farmers and their customers see a number of problems with using animal biproducts around the plants. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh say can can you see beyond the jammed big box checkout aisles as Americans rev up for the Fourth of picnic parade this weekend? Let us all remember that the most patriotic food on the party menu won’t be processed, shipped 1,700 miles or stuffed in multiple 100-calorie packs. But that doesn’t mean deprivation. On my menu this weekend you’ll find what I consider the three most patriotic foods: Local beer, fresh greens and a brat from beef cattle raised on grass in a pasture.

Guess I’ve always been an unconventional American patriot. No red, white and blue holiday t-shirts for yours truly. I haven’t seen a parade in years. But I do put a lot of thought into the picnic menu. The Fourth of July reminds me to remember and rekindle Thomas Jefferson’s vision of our democracy as citizens’ everyday participation in the political system – in my case, through conscious food choices.

Make a democratic statement with your food choices this weekend. Here are the criteria that resulted in my patriotic choices: Read the rest of this entry »

Landi Simone the ‘Bee Lady’ of Gooserock Farm in Montville, New Jersey goes all out every year to help raise awareness about honey bees and their importance to our agriculture and eco-systems.

Landi, pictured here in her ‘bee bikini’, got together with fellow, bee buddy, Joe Treimel to show off their live bee apparel and accessories. Joe sported a bee beard. This all took place last weekend at the Essex County Environmental Center.

Read more about Landi and what is happening to honey bees in one of my earlier posts. Here’s a crazy story I saw yesterday morning on CNN.com about 12 MILLION honey bees that swarmed a Canadian highway after a truck carrying them flipped over!

My favorite honey & herb sauce . . . Read the rest of this entry »

Image © Jonathan Souza | Dreamstime.com

I find it hard to identify my favorite Ayurvedic remedy but if I must pinpoint a wonder-drug then honey is probably the first that comes to mind. The health benefits of honey are plenty, it has been used as a medicine for centuries.

Extremely high in antioxidants, honey is a great immune booster and has huge benefits for almost every dosha. Moreover, its soothing quality makes it perfect for healing wounds. Ayurvedically speaking, it has been used for situations related to internal or external bleeding.

There are a few specific substances in Ayurveda that actually increase the efficacy of other herbs or medicines if they are mixed into the compound. Honey is one such example which is why it is commonly mixed with various other herbs in a single dosage. For children the sweetness of honey makes other mostly bitter herbs, more palatable. For adults it simply aids absorption.

More honey remedies after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes designed to showcase produce gathered from local farms or grown in my own garden.  

We’re in full swing with the growing season in the mid-Atlantic region.  I certainly enjoy all the fresh produce spilling out of my garden, but none tickle my taste buds quite so much as Swiss chard and sorrel.  For those of you not familiar with these delightful greens, here’s a little primer that should get you well on your way to enjoying both!

Read the rest of this entry »