Real Food Nutrition Open For Summer!

If you’re a long-time reader of this site, you’re already familiar with the Real Food Nutrition & Health online class. Geared for teenagers, but accessible to anyone who wants to understand the basics about human nutrition, the class engages students in creative and thought-provoking ways. Students can watch videos, listen to the world’s leading thinkers in sustainable foods via downloadable audio excerpts, read challenging essays, and question their own eating habits. This year, I’m offering a special Summer Home Study Session. Enrollment opens today and will close on June 16th. What makes this summer session unique?

7 Reasons To Garden

Whether you live in the city, the suburbs, or the boondocks, you may be like me — in need of a kick in the pants when it comes to gardening. If so, I’ve compiled 7 reasons to garden to provide said kick.

The Wisdom of the Radish

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to start farming? Not just as an experimental hobby or an idyllic-daydream, but as a down-to-earth lifestyle change where you put your economic future on the line? If you’re at all like Lynda Hopkins was just a few years ago, you’re a suburbanite who knows little, if anything, about growing produce or taking care of farm animals. Yet Lynda and her then boyfriend (now husband) did what many adventurous young couples have done in recent years — they started farming.

The Color of Food: Artificial vs. Natural

In nature, color = nutrient density. We’re hardwired to respond to color. That’s why artificial colors play such a HUGE role in packaged, processed, industrial foods. I’m not just talking about neon-blue and purple breakfast cereals or the orange of Cheetos. Even seemingly benign foods are full of artificial colors to make them look appetizing. (Yes, I’m talking about the yellow-green of your pickles.)

How Are Your Gardening Skillz?

I have a confession to make. I am a novice vegetable gardener. I have had successful herb and flower gardens, but I have never — not once — started a vegetable garden and seen it through to harvest. (I have done both, but never both in the same garden!) Somewhat frequent moves and being heavy with pregnancy have been my excuses. What are yours?

As it stands, I’m actually going to plant a vegetable garden this year. Tomorrow, in fact. And you know what? I have no plans to move out of this home before I actually harvest my happy mini-crops. Will you join me in this adventure?

GIVEAWAY: Ghee, Ghee, Ghee, and More Ghee

This week I’m giving away GHEE. Of course, this isn’t just any old ghee, it’s (to my knowledge) the only commercially available, nationally-marketed ghee in the United States made from grass-fed cows!

Real Food Link Love

I hate this part of the Link Love post — the part where I try to summarize the post in a few handy sentences. Sometimes, it’s just downright impossible. I’ve tried different strategies over the years. Sometimes I’ve simply talked about my own week. Sometimes I’ve teased readers with a few of the post’s highlights. I’ll probably do all of those again. Today, I’m opting for full disclosure.

Summarizing this week’s Link Love post was hard, so hard I opted not to do it!

WINNER and COUPON for Starter Cultures

Last week, I hosted a giveaway for 3 starter cultures from Cultures For Health. Today, I get to announce the lucky winner AND share a coupon with the rest of you!

McDonald’s Serves Up Real Food — NOT!

I’ve often lamented about how impossible it is to find Real Food when out of the house. I often “compromise” and make the best choice available. Maybe you do, too. Maybe, just maybe, you might have found yourself looking at the new McDonald’s menu option of Oatmeal and thinking, “Well, the oats probably weren’t soaked overnight, but how badly can they mess this up?”

You’d be surprised!

Remaking Recipes: Create Healthier Versions of Old Favorites

You know the recipes. You love to eat them, but you can hardly bring yourself to make them anymore. Why? Maybe they’re heavy on the sugar, or use refined vegetable oils or grains. Want to know how to remake those old recipes into something nutrient-dense and actually healthy?