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.

A New Way to Finance Farms?

When their butcher announced his retirement in 2008, the Jeffries family decided to build their own on-site butcher shop, complete with a traditional brine curing room as well as smoker to produce custom artisan cuts and sausages. Rather than mortgaging off a piece of their farm to finance the project, Walter turned to an innovative new online fundraising tool called Kickstarter.

Fight Back Friday May 4th

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.

Decoding Labels: Restaurant Iced Tea

If you are an iced tea drinker, you know that ordering an unsweetened iced tea at a restaurant is rather hit and miss. Some teas taste like dirty laundry while others taste delightful. But regardless of how the tea tastes, I at least can enjoy the fact that I’m not pumping my body full of refined sugars. Or so I thought, until one of my readers emailed me about the tea she serves up in the restaurant business. That led me to this week’s decoding labels post on Restaurant Iced Tea.

GIVEAWAY: Raw Milk Grass-Fed Cheese Sampler

If you’re a cheese lover like me and a fan of authentic, real food made from farm fresh ingredients, then you probably know just how difficult it is to find affordable cheese from grass-fed cows. Finding cheese from grass-fed cows that has also been made from raw milk? Close to impossible. Thankfully, I’ve discovered an online retailer of affordable raw milk grass-fed cheese, and this week I’m giving away a Sampler of their classic cheese selections.

Fight Back Friday April 27th

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.

WINNER: Wilderness Family Naturals Goody Bag

Last week, I hosted a treasure hunt held by Wilderness Family Naturals. The prize? A goody bag that includes a Popcorn making kit (complete with an organic spice mix and THE perfect healthy popcorn popping oil), soaked and dehydrated mixed nuts for snacking, and even a quart of one of my favorite coconut oils! Today, it’s my privilege to announce the winner.

Fight Back Friday April 20th

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: McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract

Imagine my surprise when one of my readers wrote to me asking me to decode a store-brand “100% Pure Vanilla Extract” label that contained [[DRAMATIC PAUSE]] corn syrup as an ingredient. First, I wanted to see how it was legally possible for a so-called “pure” extract to contain corn syrup. Then, I wanted to see which other brands of “pure” extract on my grocery store shelf contained other ingredients like corn syrup or sugar.

GIVEAWAY: Vegetable Starter Culture Fermentation Kit

I’ll let you in on a not-so-secret secret. I don’t like fermenting vegetables with whey as the starter culture. Something about the dairy smell of the whey mixed with the fermenting veggies is simply off putting to me. Rather, when I ferment vegetables, I either do a wild ferment, or I use a vegetable starter culture. This week, Wise Choice Market is generously giving away 2 packages of Caldwell’s vegetable starter culture and two 1/2 pound bags of a fine sea salt to use for fermenting to two of my lucky readers.

Turkish Chopped Salad

This is one of those recipes that makes everyone think you’re a genius because it tastes so good (while inside you know the real secret: lots of chopping). Bright and crunchy, it’s ridiculously healthy—without tasting like it’s ridiculously healthy—and it’s so friendly and eager to please. Cut the recipe in half if you don’t want leftovers or double it up to share at a potluck.