When you walk into a cafe on a hot day to buy a refreshing smoothie the last thing you want to see is a menu with foreign ingredients as optional add-ins. Spirulina, wheatgrass, lucuma, guarana, mesquite, maca root…where’s the translator when you need one? Don’t let these words send you running to the nearest vending machine for familiarity’s sake – they’re really not that scary once you get to know them.
Charlie Barra is the 83-year-old proprietor of Barra of Mendocino, a winery producing organic grapes in Northern California’s Redwood Valley. He purchased the land in 1954, and planted new vines the next year. As a California winemaker for over 60 years, he’d be a legend just for longevity if nothing else. But Barra has also taught other winemakers, people who went on to found classic wineries of their own. And, he grows his grapes organically.
Admit it – you love carbohydrates. The intoxicating smell is impossible to resist: crusty bread rolls, toasted bagels, sugary donuts – mmmmmm. The only thing stopping you from slipping on your shoes and heading out to the bakeshop right now is knowing that those foods will go straight to your thighs and hips as soon as they pass your lips. However, not all carbs are created equally – each works differently in our bodies. Choosing carbs that have a low glycemic index won’t pack on pounds to your weight, and can even reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes.
For those of us without outdoor space, it might seem like having your own garden is an impossible notion. But while it’s true that most vegetable plants can only thrive outside, there are actually a number of veggies that are perfectly happy growing inside – and some of them are pretty surprising.
In light of the latest major egg recall, many people are considering getting their own flock of chickens. Farmers have been raising backyard fowl for over 3,000 years but in the last five years, it’s become accessible for even the beginner farmer like you and me. With 380 million eggs recalled, raising chickens at home never sounded so reassuring. You’ll be able to raise them organically, free of hormones and antibiotics, and let them run around your yard versus being cooped up in a cage. You’ll get around 300 eggs per hen per year but the benefits don’t stop there. Here are 7 more reasons to convince you.
The day has had her way with you: the seemingly endless parade of rubbernecking, power tripping, inconsiderate and needy people to have crossed your path has left you feeling cold, stiff, negative and wound up like a toy soldier. Well, I’ve done the research personally, as have many before me, and nothing soothes the soul like a warm, nurturing bath. Pampering yourself with one of these homemade, DIY bath recipes will remind you; one very important person loves and cares for you, ultimately the only one who matters.
If you’re one of the sundry September weddings whose save the date is engulfing fridge doors everywhere, this invitation sadly just misses you. But if friends and family everywhere can all be expecting you and your fiancé’s smiling faces via snail mail (or paperless perhaps…) for say, come next September, this is THE ultimate event to kick off your engagement. It’s Eco Weddings Los Angeles on October 3rd, and it brings together everyone and everything you could ever need to put on the most gorgeously green wedding in an entire day of pampered planning, or just eco inspiration.
Soda is the unofficial drink of America. While in most other countries they enjoy a tiny bottle of the sweet stuff as an afternoon treat, here in the States we consume bucket-size Big Gulps on a daily basis, sell cans of the sticky syrup out of machines at elementary schools and treat free refills at dinner like a God-given right.
Soda is liquid candy. Actually, soda is a frothy mix of carbonated water, caramel coloring, phosphoric acid, natural flavorings, high fructose corn syrup and caffeine.
That is a pretty potent combination, and one we all know and love. However what you might not know is what those ingredients do to the human body. It’s not pretty, which is why doctors and nutritionists across the board agree that there is almost nothing redeeming health-wise about soda pop.
Drinking soda is just a bad habit, and one that you can break. Need a reason to put down that can? Here are ten.
If you’ve ever sucked the beans out of an edamame pod – after being boiled in a sea salt bath – and enjoyed the nutty, mild flavor, you’ll be pleased to know, the snack decision was well made. Many snack-like foods provide a calorie-laden burst in energy that is soon followed by a drop in insulin, and that crash we all despise. If your energy levels are in serious need of elevation, look no further than this satisfying nosh.
If you’re like us, a meal’s not a meal without a piece of organic, grass-fed meat. Hey, it’s how we were raised. But, in an effort to be more animal and planet friendly, we’re weaning ourselves off of it … slowly.