Articles by Kristen Michaelis CNC

Kristen Michaelis CNC is a published author and teacher. She's created a general nutrition curriculum used by classrooms around the US and written Beautiful Babies -- a book on nutrition for fertility, pregnancy, and breastfeeding that premiered at #1 on Amazon in its category, beating out What to Expect When You're Expecting.

Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad

What do a cucumber, a pile of tomatoes, and cilantro have in common? They all arrived with my weekly box of veggies! One of my favorite ways to eat these summertime vegetables is in a cool, crisp Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad.

Fight Back Friday June 29th

Welcome to another Fight Back Friday! Today we are bringing together another collection of recipes, tips, anecdotes, and testimonies from members of the Real Food Revolution.

Who are they? Why, they’re the Food Renegades. You know who you are — lovers of SOLE (Sustainable, Organic, Local, and Ethical) food, traditional food, primal food, REAL food, the list goes on. I believe that by joining together, our influence can grow, and we can change the way America (and the industrialized world) eats!

So, let’s have some fun.

COUPON: Save $10 On Garden Hose Filter

Here in central Texas, it hasn’t really rained in weeks. My plants are thirsty. My kids won’t go outside in the 108 degree heat to play — unless, that is, we play in the water. Our garden hose? It’s our new best friend. It waters our flowers, trees, herbs, and veggies. It makes mud puddles and rainbows. But my city water supply? It’s chock full of chloramines, VOCs, pesticides and herbicides. Do we really want to play in that? Is that really the water I want nourishing my garden?

Cucumber Mint Water

Cucumber Mint Water delights, cools, and refreshes even the thirstiest among us on hot, summer days. Mint, freshly plucked from my front porch is rinsed and patted dry. Cucumbers from a local farm are washed, then sliced thin. And that’s it. That’s the extent of complicated preparation necessary to make this delicious tonic. I almost feel guilty calling it a recipe. I’d never had a drink like this until a few summers past, when a friend served it to me as I sat in her sun room. She had used mint from a pot on her back porch, along with the leaves from a rose scented geranium that grew right beside it. The resulting rose and mint water was an epiphany. I could do likewise. This Cucumber Mint Water is the result.

Mutated Hybrid Grass Makes Cyanide, Kills Cattle

It’s the stuff of science fiction or horror, the plot of some M. Night Shyamalan flick. But it actually happened! And, it was practically in my own backyard. A field of genetically-modified Bermuda grass that’s been happily feeding a Texas cattle rancher’s small herd for the past 15 years spontaneously started producing cyanide gas, killing 15 of his 18 cattle.

Fight Back Friday June 22nd

Welcome to another Fight Back Friday! Today we are bringing together another collection of recipes, tips, anecdotes, and testimonies from members of the Real Food Revolution.

So, let’s have some fun.

Decoding Labels: Annie’s Organic Cheddar Bunnies

I have to confess, crackers like these Annie’s Homegrown Organic Cheddar Bunnies are tempting. They’re the perfect size for a toddler’s grasp. They pack easily in ziplock baggies and tuck nicely away into a purse or handbag. And they’re certified organic! They even profess to be GMO-free and have 0g of trans fats. Even the cheese used is organic and growth-hormone free.

GIVEAWAY: Garden Hose Filter

There are two things I adore about hot summer days: hammocks and garden hoses. My kids can spend hours inventing new water games to play in the sprinklers or with the hose itself. They aren’t old enough to have forgotten how to play with wild abandon. Making rainbows. Water gun fights. Splashing in muddy puddles. Killing off gut flora due to regular exposure to chlorine, VOCs, and the pesticides and herbicides commonly found in home water supplies. (One of these is not like the other….) That’s why this week I’m excited to be giving away a Garden Hose Filter by Clean Water Fun.

Tulsa Woman Sues City For Destroying Her Garden

Denise Morrison of Tulsa, Oklahoma gardens. Every single plant in her yard was edible. Some were medicinal and used by her to treat her diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis. Others were fruit or nut trees. Some were vegetables. All of them were well-tended. Last year, the city received a complaint against her yard. Knowing that everything in her garden and yard was up to code, she took the citation to court last August. The judge ruled to postpone the case until October. Three days later she came home and found city workers digging up her garden, removing thousands of dollars worth of plants as well has her only source of food at the time. (She was unemployed.)

Fight Back Friday June 15th

Welcome to another Fight Back Friday! Today we are bringing together another collection of recipes, tips, anecdotes, and testimonies from members of the Real Food Revolution.

So, let’s have some fun.