By Maria

Recipe: It’s Applesauce Season

Recipe: It’s Applesauce Season

Right now is the perfect time to head to a farmer’s market or orchard and buy lots and lots of apples. Sure, you can make pie with them, but applesauce is healthier, easier to freeze, and yummiful. Plus, it’s really easy to make. My kids love it. I love it, too—especially with plain Greek yogurt […]

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A Desperate Need for Nature

A Desperate Need for Nature

I hope that many of you have been able to catch the new Ken Burns documentary on the U.S. National Parks (PBS, Sundays at 8:00, or check your local listings). Aside from offering incredible visuals, all in high definition, it tells the story of the birth of our country as we know it today. It’s […]

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The End of GDP: A New Economic Model Closer to Nature

The End of GDP: A New Economic Model Closer to Nature

I hate it when I have an idea, and then Nobel Prize-winning economists get all the credit for thinking of it first. That’s what happened last week when I read in the New York Times about Joseph E. Stiglitz and Amartya Sen (my all-time favorite economist) recommending that we do away with Gross Domestic Product […]

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Buttery Biscuits in a Snap!

Buttery Biscuits in a Snap!

Did you ever make something good to eat—like a nice pot of soup—and realize that you were out of bread, or even worse, out of good bread? I adapted this superbuttery drop biscuit recipe from The Joy of Cooking, and it never fails to please. The best thing about these biscuits is they are superquick […]

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Recipe: Ham, String Bean, and Potato Soup—a Real Dutch Treat

Recipe: Ham, String Bean, and Potato Soup—a Real Dutch Treat

When I was a kid and I would go to my grandmother’s house (on my mother’s side), we only ever ate two things. If I was there for lunch by myself, she would make grilled cheese sandwiches with a dill pickle on the side, and she’d serve tea in a gold teacup. It always made […]

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In Memory of My Dad, Bob Rodale

In Memory of My Dad, Bob Rodale

Sunday, September 20 was the 19th anniversary of my father’s death. He was killed when he was only 60 years old, in a car accident in Russia. In retrospect, almost 20 years later, the situation seems ridiculous. Russia was still the communist Soviet Union, and the people there were going hungry from the inefficient and, […]

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Red Beans and Rice: Look out Popeyes!

Red Beans and Rice: Look out Popeyes!

As some of you who read my blog regularly may know, I’m a big fan of Popeyes restaurant’s red beans and rice. There is something about the creamy, smoky, spicy flavor that just hits the spot, and makes going into a fast-food place worth it every once in a while. But of course I’m also […]

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Diabetes and Endocrine Disruption: Connecting the Dots

Diabetes and Endocrine Disruption: Connecting the Dots

I consider myself fairly well-read, and educated about health. I’ve researched the endocrine disruption effects of chemicals—that is, the ways that certain chemicals interfere with the production function of various hormones in our bodies. So I was shocked and surprised last week when I had an endocrine disruptor epiphany in the burn center at the […]

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