Archive | June, 2010

Ziti Wars, Part 1: Organic vs. Chemical—Which Is Better and Cheaper?

Ziti Wars, Part 1: Organic vs. Chemical—Which Is Better and Cheaper?

A few weeks ago I made ziti for dinner. It’s an Italian staple for many reasons; it’s cheap, it’s easy, and it’s delicious. I made it with organic whole wheat pasta and smoked mozzarella, and my whole family devoured it. But then I had an idea for an experiment. How would my homemade organic ziti […]

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A National Look at School Lunches, Part 1

A National Look at School Lunches, Part 1

By guest blogger Ed Bruske from The Slow Cook One school serves chicken nuggets, frozen in a distant factory and reheated for a few minutes in the oven. Another school prepares chicken on the bone, brined and roasted from its raw state in an eight-day process. One school feeds 5-year-olds up to 15 teaspoons of […]

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How Gardening Teaches Patience

How Gardening Teaches Patience

The other day I was weeding my asparagus patch. Asparagus takes three years to get going enough for you to start eating it. The first year you plant asparagus, it takes its good old time getting going, and you have to fight the weeds and mulch like crazy. The second year, the asparagus gets a […]

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Trout Cooked over a Wood Fire

Trout Cooked over a Wood Fire

Who knows what is going to happen to our seafood-eating habits over the next decades, thanks to the Gusher in the Gulf. Fortunately, trout is a freshwater fish, and according to the excellent sustainable seafood guide put out by the Monterey Aquarium, it is totally good to eat—farmed trout, too. (I know, it’s all so […]

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A Visit to My Kitchen: Author Martha Rose Shulman

A Visit to My Kitchen: Author Martha Rose Shulman

Martha Rose Shulman, author of Mediterranean Harvest: Vegetarian Recipes from the World’s Healthiest Cuisine (Rodale, 2010), is chatting with me in my kitchen today. Find out how this burger-loving girl turned into a vegetable-pasta-cooking queen! Martha is the author of more than 25 books. Her articles have appeared in Bon Appetit and Food & Wine […]

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The Great American Backyard Campout

The Great American Backyard Campout

This Saturday, June 26, is the annual Great American Backyard Campout, organized by the National Wildlife Federation. Camping out in your backyard is a great activity, whether you have kids or not (although, I suppose it depends on your neighborhood). It can be an awesomely powerful way to reconnect with the planet and get over […]

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Sharpen Your Sunscreen Savvy

Sharpen Your Sunscreen Savvy

Guest blog by Laura Klein, publisher of OrganicAuthority.com. There’s so much to say about sunscreen—beyond how essential it is. That’s because the ingredients in countless conventional sunscreen products are astonishingly bad for our health. All you have to do is read Environmental Working Group’s report and guides on sunscreens to uncover the truth. In fact, […]

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How to Discipline a Child

How to Discipline a Child

I’ve tried many methods of disciplining children over the decades (yes, I’ve been a mom of three different 3-year-olds over a period that’s spanned 20 years). And I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. It’s not that complicated or hard; however, it takes patience, and confidence in the importance of being a consistent parent. My […]

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