Eat Local

Local and regional food equates to fresh food, vibrant communities, and a strong connection between cities and the countryside. We live during a time when we can get exactly what we want, when we want it. With the ability to ship goods throughout the world, most countries have access to fruits and vegetables that they would not otherwise have. Regardless of the time of year, we can get pretty much any fruit or vegetable at the grocery store; this isn't necessarily a good thing. It is usually many days, or maybe even weeks, by the time all of these imported fruits and vegetables have reached the United States. Worse yet, most of these items are picked before they are even ripe--which makes the nutritional content inferior. Fruits and vegetables are most nutritious when picked at the peak of ripeness (of course, this is nearly impossible to do year round.)

The solution? Only eat fruits and vegetables that are in season. Being willing to eat what is locally available is the best way to save money on fruits and vegetables and is the best for you nutritionally. For me eating what is local means different things in the summer and winter. In the summer I can eat fruits and vegetables grown locally or driven within a few hundred miles. However, in the winter this simply isn’t possible (local becomes anything grown in the United States!)

Earth Day!

Celebrate the earth, eat environmentally friendly! What better way to honor Earth Day than to prepare a dish that's easy on the environment? Check out this website chock full of Earth Day recipes, featuring seasonal fruits and vegetables. Look for spring gems like asparagus, blueberries, cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms and peas at your nearest farmer's market. Eating local supports your economy and involves fewer miles traveled - and fewer pollutants emitted - to get dinner on your plate.
 
http://holidays.kaboose.com/earth-day/earth-day-recipes.html

The Liberation Diet

This book is right up my alley! What if you could eat re­al, sat­is­fy­ing, full-​fat foods, and get thin and healthy, for life? We've been pro­grammed by the food, med­i­cal and phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal in­dus­tries with mis­in­for­ma­tion that is de­stroy­ing our health in Amer­i­ca. Au­thors Brown and Pres­ley nav­i­gate the mine­field of mis­con­cep­tions sur­round­ing low–fat high-​carb di­ets, soy foods, and phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal med­i­ca­tions. They chal­lenge com­mon myths about choles­terol, wa­ter con­sump­tion, and ex­er­cise -​-​ and their find­ings will sur­prise you.

Writ­ten by a na­tion­al­ly renowned per­son­al fit­ness train­er from New Jer­sey and a reg­is­tered di­eti­tian from Texas, two health mav­er­icks who in­de­pen­dent­ly came to the same con­clu­sions about the "code-​red" state of health, The Lib­er­a­tion Di­et rep­re­sents their col­lab­o­ra­tion in crack­ing The Mis-​In­for­ma­tion Code. Un­like most di­ets, The Lib­er­a­tion Di­et has many re­al life suc­cess sto­ries.

Get ‘lib­er­at­ed’! Fol­low The Lib­er­a­tion Di­et and get thin and healthy for life!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=57137322

Easy Herb Garden

One of the things I love most about springtime is easy access to fresh, tasty herbs. You can easily grow them in pots on the patio within reach of the grill! Potted herbs are fairly easy to grow, but they are a bit different than most container plants, so you'll want to make a few adjustment. Just a few super easy steps and you’re on your way!

1. Plant herbs with similar light requirements in the same pots (I admittedly don’t have a green thumb, so I tend to stick with herbs that have similar light requirements.)

Herbs which tolerate full sun are basil, sage, rosemary and thyme. Lemon balm, tansy, oregano and parsley like partial shade. Bay, chamomile, coriander, ginger, mint and tarragon tolerate full shade.

2. Use at least 10" pots for single herb plantings and much larger pots if you are going to put multiple herbs in one pot. Herbs have expansive root systems and need the room large pots give them.

3. Amend the soil you use for your herbs. Herbs grow best in an alkaline-based, aerated soil. Create these conditions by mixing 3 parts all-purpose potting mix with 1 part manure and 1 part coarse sand. The sand creates aeration and the manure makes the soil more alkaline.

4. Water herbs in pots by soaking them, letting them dry out slightly over a period of two or three days and then soaking them again. Herbs prefer to dry out slightly in between heavy watering. However, if your herbs are in full sun, watch them to make sure they do not wilt. Herbs must be watered every day if they dry out in the span of one day.

5. Water the herbs more often if you grow them in clay pots because clay pots dry out more quickly than wood or plastic pots. Smaller pots also need water more often.