Being sick is no fun - it's expensive and most times you can't be out doing what you want to do. Many people have allergies from pollen and hay fever this time of year, however, the air quality in your home could be aggravating them and other health conditions such as asthma.
Over the years, I was shocked to learn that off-gassing from household chemicals and furniture may have contributed to my thyroid disease and fibromyalgia. I have used tests from various sources to determine levels of air and water safety in my home but when Ron and Lisa Beres from Green Nest came out with The Home Detox Green Toolbox (featured on hit show "The Doctors") I had to pass on the good word.
To test your own home's safety levels with the Home Detox Green Toolbox go to the home page of www.GreenNest.com and click on the green button on the upper right corner. Enjoy and please let me know how it goes.
Feeling tired and sluggish? Bad breath a problem? Constipated or easily aggravated? Distracted or depressed? Migraine headaches? Aches and pains? Leftover winter congestion? Whew. If you have any one or all of these, chances are you have to clean out your gut - a.k.a., the "back of the refrigerator" - with a cleanse.
There are as many different ways to cleanse as there are individuals. There's the raw food diet, Master Cleanse (lemonade and cayenne), fasting, powder cleanses, juice cleanses, colonics - you name it. Every year I try something different that will allow me to learn something new about my body - always a new adventure.
This year a friend and I are cleansing "buddies" - and I highly recommend it. Often we are surrounded by temptation and there is comfort in having a friend who is right there with you. This year I went with my friend Roberta Tsang to a Chinese Medicine doctor while visiting NYC. He checked out our eyes, tongue and pulse and asked us a few questions and voila! We were dispersed a week's worth of packets of individually tailored Chinese herbs. Doing that plus eating radically less meat, sugar, caffeine (Roberta loves her morning coffee) and jacking up the veggies feels really good - and you can enjoy that feeling too.
Do you have a friend who you can get clean with? It makes it much easier trying something new when we know we aren't doing it alone.
While in NYC this past weekend I went with my friend Roberta Tsang to try out some authentic-tasting Shanghai cuisine. I'm always up for experiencing new kinds of food so we headed to a restaurant on Bayard Street, called Shanghai Cuisine.
When eating meat out, it's important to ask for the source, but my friend strongly recommended the Shanghai pork soup dumplings, so I made an exception. Well, they were delicious - gravy inside made it a wonderful new experience - and the dough was thin, which is usually hard to achieve.
Also tried the fried rice cakes and "mock duck", thin dried bean curd wrapped around fermented vegetables (i.e., natural probiotics); which was light and tasty. However, the standout for me was the pea shoot green tips - the freshest tasting thing we ordered - which had authentic Asian sesame flavor that will make me want to seek out greens at the local farmers market and cook them at home. Price: about $30 for two people (no drinks).
When the air warms up in Spring, nature gives us more permission to go outside and check it out as it gets ready for sunnier days. Really taking advantage of it is like a bonus mini-vacation!
One of the best ways to locally indulge when the warm weather hits is to grab your bike and head out on Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg. If you go, park at the Lake Sonoma Visitor Center parking lot and cruise through the jaw-dropping scenery on the way to Bella Winery on West Dry Creek Road. On your way back, savor a few tiny tastes of wine at fabulous Preston Vineyards (organic) for $10 (though I usually don't like paying for wine tastings this one was worth it for me). My favorite white is Madam Preston. Though they had some good reds, my favorite red is....
Yes, the best "Secret Find" in a long time: the red jug wine at Preston Vineyards. What I call a "happy wine" that will make you smile when you drink it - not the usual super jammy high-alcohol Zin. Hubby & I agreed that this wine is great for a good-size group of people at a dinner party. (I was already envisioning future dinner parties and picnics here during the summer with friends.) And it has a reasonable 14% alcohol mix of Zinfandel and other local grapes, all for a mere 32 bucks for four bottles worth. Deal! The only thing is you'll have to drive back from your bike ride to pick it up (hey - it's totally worth it!).
No doubt, many people are heading back into the grocery aisles in an attempt to save money from eating out. However, a study reported in the New York Times showed that impulse purchases and dilly-dallying are budget-killers. People typically would forgo healthy food (like fresh fruit) and spend it instead on junk food and other items of lesser nutritional value. Hey, I won't lie. I make impulse purchases - dark chocolate being one of them - from time to time. So....What to do?
1) Bring a list to the supermarket, which saves both time and money (as the article suggests).
2) Eat before you shop.
3) Stay out of the middle aisles as much as possible. Keep it fresh, keep it real.
4) Find inspiration in addition to or outside of the supermarket, (i.e., books, going for a walk, meeting with friends).
However, if you find yourself starving while shopping at the market (hey, it happens!) and your hunger is driving your common sense ability to resist junk, before you head into the express line, mentally add up the cost of all the non-essential items (i.e., boxed or prepared foods). First, you will gain awareness. Second, you have an opportunity to take out at least one thing you don't need and can feel good about that.
Check out my next blog about shopping with grocery lists.
Even allopathic doctors acknowledge the wonderful healing properties of a good bone broth, especially chicken (but also beef). Not only is it comforting when you are sick, when made properly at home it is an excellent source of calcium, magnesium and other vitamins and minerals necessary for bone health and good digestion.
Avoid commercial bouillon cubes, as they have partially hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, MSG (aka "spices"), flavorings and sometimes colorings. Organic boxed chicken broth There is nothing that substitutes the homemade variety. Here is all you need to do:
1) Fill a stock pot halfway full of water and add a whole chicken or chicken carcass.
2) Bring to a soft boil (not violent) and then immediately simmer. Add 1/4 apple cider or other vinegar.
3) Skim impurities. Let it barely simmer (little bubbles sporadically dancing on the water top) for 6-24 hours.
4) Enjoy. Remove chicken. Eat meat or use it for leftovers (pot pies, soups, salads, etc.).
Note: Once cool (overnight), store in plastic containers in the freezer up to six months.
Note: If you start your broth in the morning you have a wonderful result to come home to!
Note: The longer you let it simmer, the more calcium gets leached from the bones into the broth.
When you meet someone who farms food with love, as nature intended, it instinctively feeds the soul. When I went on a tour of Soul Food Farm one windy weekend in March, I didn't have to wonder "is eating pastured chicken, eggs and pork healthy?" I simply looked around at the environment, the labor of love that goes into the farm, the happy, fresh-air faces of those who take care of those animals in their natural environment and I knew instinctively that this is the way nature intended us to be.
Often times we rely on experts to tell us what is healthy. When we get in touch with nature and the ways that our ancestors raised food we don't have to be confused. We can eat real food, feel good about it, and respect our environment at the same time without a lot of fuss.
If you have the chance to visit a farm in your local area
Sometimes it is hard to find an unusual gift that gives a personal touch. Why not a handmade gift that you didn't have to make yourself? Check out http://www.etsy.com. Everything from pillows to maternity wear to sleek tote bags to James Bond bullet earrings, it's kind of like an eBay for cool, unusual handmade gifts. And, by golly, you can even shop locally online!
When you find an amazing bar of dark chocolate it is like falling in love...the world stops.
That is what happened to me one afternoon when I walked into my friend Ceri Smith's fabulous Italian wine shop Biondivino in Russian Hill. She gave me a bar of the most amazing dark chocolate I have had in recent memory.
Solnce Fleur de Sel dark chocolate (62%) is from Slovenia (who knew they made chocolate there?). Not too sweet, the chocolate has a caramel-like rich flavor...and the salt...it just tingles your tongue. (Yep, love at first bite!)
Tip: it actually tastes better when you take just a little piece and let it melt on your tongue. This way the contrast of the salt and the sweet comes out in full amazing force. A spectacular indulgence that won't break the bank.
As the economy gets shaky and people get more concerned about the
environment some may go back to the old way of procuring food: growing
it yourself. Don't know where to start? Here's a cool article to get your inspired with advice from author R.J. Ruppenthal who can show you how to do it.
From personal experience I can tell you it doesn't take a lot of space to grow fantastic veggies that you would swear were sweetened with sugar! I'll be planting tomatoes in the upcoming weeks for some amazing tomato salads and sauces this summer. Mmmm mmm!
While in NYC this past weekend I went with my friend Roberta Tsang to try out some authentic-tasting Shanghai cuisine. I'm always up for experiencing new kinds of food so we headed to a restaurant on Bayard Street, called 
When you find an amazing bar of dark chocolate it is like falling in love...the world stops. 
As the economy gets shaky and people get more concerned about the
environment some may go back to the old way of procuring food: growing
it yourself. Don't know where to start? Here's a 
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