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Get 55% Off Groceries at Amazon

Wow. This is a pretty good sale going on at Amazon. Get 55% off groceries and use this code to get your discount: CLRNCFTY

Now. Go to Amazon right now!

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Book: In Defense of Food, A MUST-READ!

What’s better for you — whole milk, 2% milk or skim?

Is a chicken labeled “free range” good enough to reassure you of its purity? How about “grass fed” beef?

What form of soy is best for you — soy milk or tofu?

About milk: I’ll bet most of you voted for reduced or non-fat. But if you’ll turn to page 153 of “In Defense of Food,” you’ll read that processors don’t make low-fat dairy products just by removing the fat. To restore the texture — to make the drink “milky” — they must add stuff, usually powdered milk. Did you know powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol, said to be worse for your arteries than plain old cholesterol? And that removing the fat makes it harder for your body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins that make milk a valuable food in the first place?

About chicken and beef: Readers of Pollan’s previous book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma“, know that “free range” refers to the chicken’s access to grass, not whether it actually ventures out of its coop. And all cattle are “grass fed” until they get to the feedlot. The magic words for delightful beef are “grass finished” or “100% grass fed”.

And about soy…but I dare to hope I have your attention by now. And that you don’t want to be among the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight and the third of our citizens who are likely to develop type 2 diabetes before 2050. And maybe, while I have your eyes, you might be mightily agitated to learn that America spends $250 billion — that’s a quarter of the costs of the Iraq war — each year in diet-related health care costs. And that our health care professionals seem far more interested in building an industry to treat diet-related diseases than they do in preventing them. And that the punch line of this story is as sick as it is simple: preventing diet-related disease is easy.

In just 200 pages (and 22 pages of notes and sources), “In Defense of Food” gives you a guided tour of 20th century food science, a history of “nutritionism” in America and a snapshot of the marriage of government and the food industry. And then it steps up to the reason most readers will buy it — and if you care for your health and the health of your loved ones, this is a no-brainer one-click — and presents a commonsense shopping-and-eating guide.

If you are up on your Pollan and your Nina Planck and your Barbara Kingsolver, you know the major points of the “real food” movement. But if you’re new to this information or are disinclined to buy or read this book, let me lay Pollan’s argument out for you:

– High-fructose corn syrup is the devil’s brew. Do yourself a favor and remove it from your diet. (If you have kids, here’s a place to start: Heinz smartly offers an “organic” ketchup, made with sugar.)

– Avoid any food product that makes health claims — they mean it’s probably not really food.

– In a supermarket, don’t shop in the center aisles. Avoid anything that can’t rot, anything with an ingredient you can’t pronounce.

– “Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.”

– “You are what you eat eats too.” Most cows end their days on a diet of corn, unsold candy, their pulverized brothers and sisters — yeah, you read that right — and a pharmacy’s worth of antibiotics. And they bestow that to you. Consider that the next time there’s a sale on sirloin.

– “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” By which Pollan means: Eat natural food, the kind your grandmother served (and not because she was so wise, but because the food industry had not yet learned that the big money was in processing, not harvesting). Use meat sparingly. Eat your greens, the leafier and more varied the better.

In short: Kiss the Western diet as we know it goodbye. Look to the cultures where people eat well and live long. Ignore the faddists and experts. Trust your gut. Literally.

In all this, Pollan insists that you have to save yourself. And he makes a good case why. Our government, he says, is so overwhelmed by the lobbying and marketing power of our processed food industry that the American diet is now 50% sugar in one form or another — calories that provide “virtually nothing but energy.” Our representatives are almost uniformly terrified to take on the food industry. And as for the medical profession, the key moment, Pollan writes, is when “doctors kick the fast-food franchises out of the hospital” — don’t hold your breath.

“You want to live, follow me.” I loved it when Schwarzenegger said that in “Terminator.” It matters much more when, in so many words, Michael Pollan delivers that same message in “In Defense of Food.” [review by J.Kornbluth]

Get it now

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Use The Right Rice to Make Sushi

Don’t be a cheapskate about selecting premium grade Japanese rice when making sushi. Yes, Kokuho Rose is a little bit more expensive than what you can find out there but the result you get with using it just can NOT compare to what you would use if you get something cheap. Spend a little extra and see the amazing difference. You will never go back to that crappy cheap rice ever again. If you’re a true foodie and have experience as someone who really understands quality and taste in food, you will know that I’m telling the truth here.

Get real rice now

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The Quintessential Manual for New Organic Growers

Coleman’s personable work draws together the experience and wisdom of his 25 years as a vegetable gardener in Maine. It includes nearly all the material in the previous edition (LJ 11/1/89), communicating a respect and feeling for “the land” and its processes. Every page is imbued with the wisdom and careful observations he and his associates have gathered; from soil structure to “mobile greenhouses” that expand the growing season, each method is thought through to its ultimate impact on the earth and on economic survival. Well-presented graphics illustrate methods and techniques. This new edition includes sidebar references and notes, new chapters on creating fertile soil (without importing items such as manure from sources that may not use organic methods), and use of existing information channels to learn of new information. Of interest for even the smallest veggie patch grower. The Dirt Doctor’s Guide to Organic Gardening presents many of the same sustainable concepts with the vehemence of its radio talk show host and news columnist author. Garrett gives tips on a broader range of home gardening, including landscaping and wildlife, and spends much effort on the abuses of past and current practice. Basics are presented briefly, with many eco-asides that help break up the dense, information-rich text. Lack of visuals makes the material harder to absorb, yet one is constantly copying out directions as they appear. These tidbits and the coverage of issues concerning Southern gardens make the title of value, though gathering the tips in an appendix or special section would have provided better access. For general collections.

There are 22 chapters, each one dealing with an important element of success such as green manures, tillage, direct seeding, transplanting, weeds, pests, harvest, marketing, season extension. In addition there are three appendices on tools, the major vegetable crops and a one-page schematic outline of biological agriculture. If you plan to buy just one book on organic growing, you will find it difficult to beat this book.

[source: amazon]

Order it now

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A Mixer You Will Fall in Love With

The Professional 600 Series is KitchenAid’s most powerful Stand Mixer. I have one and absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Everything will last a long, long time and there are no plastic attachments. All attachments are metal. I hate plastic!

This excellent mixer is for the serious home baker and features a 575-watt motor with heavy-duty transmission and a 6 quart bowl combined to give you the power and capacity to mix 13 dozen cookies, 8 pounds of mashed potatoes, or over 8 loaves of bread.

I didn’t make my own bread before but now I only make it at home with the Kitchen Aid and it is so incredibly easy. Much better tastewise and healthwise for you too, instead of buying premade, packaged icky bread in the market.

KitchenAid’s unique planetary mixing action provides faster, more thorough blending of ingredients all the way to the edge of the bowl, without ever rotating it. The rugged, all-metal quality construction and Commercial-style motor protection assure a long life of trouble-free, dependable and quiet operation.

Other features include a professional style bowl-lift that makes it easy to lift the bowl into the mixing position, 10-speed slide control ranges from a very fast whip to a very slow stir and a power hub for optional attachments. Included with the Stand Mixer, a burnished aluminum flat beater, PowerKnead spiral dough hook (designed to replicate hand-kneading to handle 20% more dough than previous models), a professional wire whip and pouring shield.

Find out more and get one now

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Raw Food Recipes

Here is a wonderful resource for people looking for very simple, easy alternatives to complex raw recipes that require too much time and expensive equipment to prepare. In Alive in 5, Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes, well-known raw chef, Angela Elliott, shows beginners how to whip up delectable lasagne, spaghetti marinara, stuffed mushrooms, broccoli in cheese sauce, apple pie, decadent whipped cream and strawberries, chocolate shake, and more–all in about five minutes, with easy-to-find ingredients and just a blender or food processor. She shares her personal wellness journey and her playful enthusiasm to make the book an enjoyable and inspiring guide to delicious living.

See samples from the book

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Maca

You might have already heard about the amazing virtues of maca, the special root vegetable that has been grown and harvested in the Andean Mountains in Peru for thousands of years.

For approximately 2000 years maca was (and still is) an important traditional food and medicinal plant in this high altitude growing region. It is seen and considered as a highly nutritious food and as a medicine that enhances strength and endurance. It’s very known purpose, which is why it has become extremely popularly lately is because it’s regarded also as acting as a powerful aphrodisiac.

Maca has traversed the world over and it is not just available in South America anymore, but also it is available practically everywhere.

Some people prefer to take capsules of maca, but other can use the powder form and mix it with drinks or add it to baked goods.

Most people focus on the following qualities maca gives them:

- increased energy levels

- decrease problems associated with PMS, fewer cramps, a gradual decrease in bleeding and fatigue

- increased ability to function under stress

- increased libido

Men have reported increased libido function and stamina. A man’s sexual desire & potency increases with continued use of mac as does a women’s.

Men and women all over the world take Maca on a regularly to enhance their sexual desire and performance as well as to increase their energy levels.

Order organic maca powder now or Order organic maca capsules now

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Grow your own

With all of the contaminated foods coming to you from the supermarket… you know, the tomatoes, spinach jalapeño peppers that were (and are) making everyone ill? What is one to do? Firstly I must ask, what is going on with that? Why on earth is there e-coli and salmonella in vegetables? Secondly, forget wondering, and just avoid that altogether and grow your own veggies. It’s the most healthy way to go and the veggies taste better. You will never go back to store bought tomatoes again unless they are real organic tomatoes and other vegetables.

It’s never too late to start a garden even though we are getting ready for fall. What am I talking about, you ask? Grow food indoors. Why not? If you have a spare room, or better yet a basement, you can grow many things indoors. How?

Get a Turbo Grow Room or a 36 Plant Dual Chamber Hydroponic Grow Cabinet!

These allow you to easily grow vegetables and herbs indoors. The latter looks like a regular cabinet so you can even put it in your living room. No one would even know there are living plants inside the cabinet. Closed, that is!

Posted in Do it yourself - DIY - Home made, books, cosmetics/lotions/makeup, efficient, equipment, family, food and drinks, fun, garden, health, hobbies, hydroponics, kids, parents, safe products, summer | No Comments »

Chocolate is Good for Your Heart

Scientists claim that chocolate is good for your heart. AMEN! I LOVE those scientists. How are they good? They’ve discovered that foods rich in flavanoids (I want to call them FLAVORnoids) are associated with the lowering of cardiovascular disease risk factors such as high blood pressure and have even linked certain foods with specific benefits.

Eating chocolate or cocoa increased a measure called flow-mediated dilation, which is a good indication of blood flow in the veins. It also reduced blood pressure, both systolic (the upper number, reflecting the maximum pressure exerted when the heart contracts) by about 6 points, and diastolic (the bottom number, reflecting the maximum pressure when the heart is at rest), by about 3.3 points. But it didn’t seem to have an effect on so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol.
Soy protein reduced diastolic blood pressure by almost 2 points of mercury and improved bad cholesterol but didn’t improve so-called good HDL cholesterol. But those effects were found just for isolated soy protein, not for other soy products.
A habit of green tea drinking reduced bad cholesterol levels, but drinking black tea boosted both systolic and diastolic pressure — by 5.6 points for systolic and 2.5 for diastolic.

Ok. Calm down. This isn’t license to jump in a chocolate filled pool. No, no. It means stick with foods high in flavanoids and antioxidants: lots of fruit, small amounts of a good dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cocoa), plus the basics like onions and green tea and an occasional glass of red wine. Be reasonable about this. And don’t just eat any ole chocolate. Some are so terrible they could kill you, so stay with high quality and you can’t go wrong, normally.

Here’s a chocolate sugggestion – with mouth-watering photo. Don’t eat it all at once!!!

[via]

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Do You Have Stupid Ugly PLASTIC Patio Furniture?

What are you thinking buying those totally ugly, totally hideous not to mention environmentally UNfriendly patio furniture? That is so embarrassing. It’s like showing up to the market in your undies, and they’re ratty, torn and holy! Holier than the swiss cheese! Ew. Cut it out.

C’mon. Plastic is the cheapest looking crap ever. Get wicker or wood. Make sure you take proper care of those so they last.

This outdoor wood patio set is on sale!

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