Earthly Eating

Not all foods are created equal. For example, yogurt is a healthy food, but not if you buy a variety that contains high-fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and/or artificial colorings. Here are some food categories and the best choices under that category for you and your family.

1. Beverages:

• Flavored water: Wateroos
• Soymilk: Silk, Edensoy, Zensoy, Soy Dream.
• Milk: Horizon Organic, Organic Valley, Natural by Nature.
• Juice: Apple & Eve, Kagome (fruit and veggie mix), R.W. Knudsen, Whole Kids, Back to Nature, Honest Tea.
(Most available in single-serve containers.)

2. Snacks:

• Yogurt: Stoneyfield Farm, Horizon, Organic, Lifeway Probugs, Whole Soy, Wallaby.
• Smoothies: Stoneyfield Farm, Bolthouse Farms, Horizon Organic.
• Chips: Stacy’s, Snyder’s of Hanover, Glenny’s, 365 Foods, Good Health, Genisoy, Lundberg, Snack Factory.
• Crackers: Wasa, Kashi, Sesmark
• Cookies: Back to Nature, Mi-Del, Newman’s Own, Immaculate Baking Co., Healthy Handfuls, Annie’s Homegrown.
• Whole Grain or Granola Bars: Odwalla, Cascadian Farm, Kashi, Clif Kid, EnviroKidz, Larabar, Barbara’s Bakery.
• Fruit Snacks: FruitaBu, Clif, Tropicana FruitWise, O Organic Rasins, Amazin’ Rasins
• Cereals: Back to Nature, Nature’s Path, Bare Naked, Kashi, Mother’s
• Applesauce: Santa Cruz, Mott’s Organics, Eden Organic
• Pudding: Lifeway, Zensoy, Kozy Shack
• Allergy-Free: Enjoy Life, Pamela’s

3. Main Dish:

• Deli Slices: Applegate Farms, Hormel Natural Choice, Organic Valley, Lightlife (GMO-Free Soy)
• Tuna: Wild Palney, Henery & Lisa’s Natural Seafood
• Mac N’ Cheese: Back to Nature, Annie’s Homegrown
• Bread: Rudy’s Organic, Wild Oats, Ezekiel
(Source: Kiwi 2007)

**Chessmaster makes its début on the Xbox Live Arcade and Dave Parrack over at 1P Start has the details. Read them here.**
______________________________________________________________
Earthly Eating Recipe:

Cream Cheesy Chili Dip (Just in time for the Super Bowl)
Makes 24 servings

1 tub (8 oz.) cream cheese spread, softened
1 can ( 10.5 oz.) chili (canned or homemade)
1/2 cup shredded cheddat cheese
2 tbs. chopped cilantor (optional)

Spread the cream cheese onto the bottom of a microwave-safe pie plate and top with chili and cheddar cheese.

Microwave on high for 45 seconds to 1 minuteor until the cheddar cheese is melted all the way around the plate. Sprinkle on the silantro and serve. Serve with thick crackers or thick chips.

Happy Eating!

Decoding the labels from conventional to organic to soy milk can be over whelming. To help you choose the healthiest and most delicious milk, here’s some hints in the different categories so you can choose just the right one for your family or yourself.

• Conventional: Cow’s milk is an excellent source of high-quality protein and eight vitamins and minerals: Calcium, niacin, phosphorous, potassium, riboflavin, and vitamins A, B12, and D. It is recommended that every person more than two years old drink skim or one percent milk in order to limit the consumption of artery-clogging saturated fat. An eight-ounce serving of whole milk contains 150 calories and eight grams of fat. Two precent milk contains 120 calories and five grams of fat. One precent milk contains 100 calories and 2.5 grams of fgat. And skim milk contains just 80 calories and 0 grams of fat. Skim milk is also less likely to contain toxins as well. The bottom line: This milk is the cheapest, but the savings may be hard to justify if you are concerned about health issues and the welfare of animals.

• Made Without Artifical Hormones: This means that the cows were not given the synthetic bovine growth hormones rbST to incease production. The bottom line: You may pay a bit more for artifical-hormone-free milk and you won’t taste a difference, but the quality is better. Healthier cows, give healthier milk.

• Organic: Organic milk comes from cows that are not treated with synthetic growth hormones and antibiotics and whose feed is free of animal by-products, prohibited pesticides, and animal waste in their feed product. The bottom line: You will pay up to twice as much per gallon as for conventional milk because most organic dairies are small-scale farms that don’t have the capacity to mass produce. But you will notice a difference in taste and you will get a big nutritional boost.

• Soy: Made with the liquid extracted from soybeans, this milk has a taste that varies from beany and thin to sweet and velvety, depending on the brand and flavor (it’s available in vanilla, mocha, and strawberry, to name a few). The bottom line: Just like soy burgers, soy milk is an appreciated taste. But the nutritional value over cow’s milk is there and will be noticed within the health of your whole body over all. Introducing soy milk into your diet is wise and to start, try adding soy milk flavors to your coffee or even bran cereal in the morning.

**Are you looking for that alternative to the everyday run of the mill, “You Cut” trees? Over at Earthly Garden here at 451 Press, Susan Walsh has some splendid ideas on that very topic. Live trees are beginning to become more popular in homes, and it helps the earth as well. Check out her posting and bring a live tree into your own home this season.**
__________________________________________________
Earthly Eating Recipe:

Confetti Breakfast Burrito
Serves: 4

2 large eggs
4 egg whites
2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1/4 cup diced yellow squash
1/4 cup chopped green onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
4 tbs. soy bacon bits, to taste (optional)
4 whole-wheat tortillas, room temperature or warmed

1. In a medium bowl, beat egg with egg whites. Set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add tomato, peppers, squash, and onion. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Add eggs and scramble with a fork.

4. Add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper, if using.

5. When eggs are cooked, stir in soy bacon bits, if using them.

6. Divide eggs evenly onto tortillas. Roll up tightly, burrito style, and serve immediately.

Happy Eating!

• A small change: A small change can be a big one to your diet. If it’s the right one. If you replace th stnadard iceberg lettuce in hanburgers, tacos, and subd with fresh spinach, you add an awesome amount of vitmain A and C, folic acid, and other nutrients to meals. Honestly you can’t taste the lettuce or the spinach difference at all. So you can try this painless way to sneak more nutrition into your and your family’s favorite foods. Toss fresh spinach into anything. Salad mixes, sandwiches, pizzas and anything else you can think of. There is a restaurant in Arkansas, where I used to live, that served spinach topped pizza and let me tell you it was the best. It gave the cheese on the pizza a richer taste.

• Make a better oatmeal: For a morning calcium boost, cook instant oatmeal with skim (or soy) milk instead of water.

•De-ice your smoothies: Use frozen bananas instead of crushed ice for a nutritious twist to your favorite smoothie.

•Mix your cereals: If you are stuck on a sweet breakfast cerals, try belinging your favorite with a bett-for0you brand. For example: Mix Honey Nut Cheerious® with Grape-Nuts® or Cap’n Crunch® with some type of bran cereal.

•Modify your muffins: Mix high-fiber, nutrient-dense dried fruits like apricots into your batter, half the all-purpose flour with soy flour.

Here is another FYI in the cereal department: Eating more ceral fiber, the kind found in whole wheat breadm ceral, pasta, rice, and oats, may help you avoid one type of stomach cancer. If you consume cereal fiber you have over a 70% lower chance in developing certain types of cancers such as oral cancers, stomach cancer, throat cancers, and cancer of the esophagus.

** Think you are bypassing caffeine by drinking a citrus soda, you maybe getting just as much if not more than a regular cola. Over at Encouraging Health, Brick O’Neil shows a run down of some of the most popular citrus sodas compared to regular colas and shows their caffeine content. Read the whole story here.**
__________________________________________________
Earthly Eating Recipe: Week Of Salmon Recipes, Day 3

Chili-Rubbed Salmon With Gazpacho-Black Bean Salso
Serves: 4

Ingredients for the Chili-Rubbed Salmon:
Olive oil cooking spray
2 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tbs. sugar
3 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. finely ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 (5-ounce) salmon fillets

Gazpacho-Black Bean Salsa:
1 cup tomato juice
2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded, and diced (optional)
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 tbs. chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, and set aside.

3. In a shallow dish, combine lemon juice, sugar, chili powder, lemon zest, cumin, salt, and balck pepper. Mix with a fork, or whisk until blended. Add salmon fillets, and turn to coat. Transfer salmon to prepared baking shett, and roast 15 minutes until fork-tender.

4. Combine all salsa ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

5. Serve salmon with salsa on top and alongside.

Happy Eating!

In pace of sugary cerals, serve whole grains sweetened with fresh fruit, a great way for you to start the day as well as your children. Whole grains, which break down slowly in digestion, helps lower the risk of atherosclerosis and inflammatory conditions. They also help reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. There has a links between lower heart failure to those who eat a whole-grain breakfast as well.

Whole grains help reduce blood pressure and the risk of stroke, benefit people with Type-2 diabetes, and may even enhance learning. Children who eat hot oatmeal preform better on memory test than those who start their day with ready-to-eat cereal. (Source: TFO 2007) Because whole grains are more filling than refined grains, they can also help maintain a healthy weight.

For your knowledge: Making a mealtime staple out of lean chicken breast may protect you and yours from colon cancer. White meat is the form of chicken is important in preventing precancerous polyps of the colon. While a direct line isn’t indentified, chicke is rich in selenium and calcium, both of which have been associatd with some benefits in reducing colorectal cancer risk. (Source: American Journal of Gastroenterology)

**Are you a Kelly Clarkson fan? Would you love to have a signed guitar from her? Well, over at Kelly Clarkson -Fan, Sarah Lee has posted an article on how you can get your hands on one. Read more about it here.**
__________________________________________________
Earthly Eating Recipe:

Carrot Flan
Serves 8

1 pound of carrots, scrubbed and sliced
1/2 teaspoon of honey
1 tsp. Broth powder
Water

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pan, include water until it just covers contents, and cook until the carrots are tender and the water evaporates. To microwave: rince and cut carrots. Place in a covered glass bowl with water clinging to the carrots. Microwave for 12-14 minuts until very tender.

2 tablespoons butter-flavored flakes
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs

2. Combine in blender with cooked carrots, then puree.

3. Pour into custard cups or individual ring molds.

4. Set containers in a pan of hot water and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until custard sets.

5. Serve hot in the custard cups.

Happy Eating!

Variety, speed and ease are all important to a successful breakfast. These quick-menu ideas provide plenty of carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy fats to help you stay fueled through the entire day.

• Multigrain bagel with low-fat cream cheese, sliced melon, a glass of skim milk, and 100 precent fruit juice or sports drinks with low-sugar content.

• One to two cups of ready-to-eat, low-sugar cereal with skim milk, 1/2 cup of berries or one small banana, and juice.

• Fresh fruit salad, two slices of whole-whear toast spread with alond butter, a glass of milk, and furit juice.

• One cup of granola or muesli topped with nofat or low-fat yogurt and berries, and fruit juice.

• One or two whole-grain English muffins spread with whole-fruit jam, a handful of whole alomnds or trail mix without sugary additions (such as M&Ms) and a bottled low-fat smoothies.

**Sandy shares her skeletons in her closet and invites you to share yours as well over at Dating Outlook. Read the whole story here.**
____________________________________________________
Earthly Eating Recipe:

Tropical Dessert Pizza:
Serves: 12 slices

1 package (18 oz.) refrigerated sugar cookie dough rounds
1 package (1.59 oz.) Freezer jam fruit pectin
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups peeled, cored, crushed pineapple (about 1 medium)
1-1/2 cups peeled, seeded, crushed papaya (about 2 medium)
1 cup peeled, finely chopped mango (about 1 large)
1 cup whipped topping
1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-inch pizza pan. Place cookie dough rounds in a circle in middle of greased pan. Press rounds to form a 9-inch circle. 2. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Allow to cool, about 15 minutes. 3. Stir pectin and sugar in a bowl until well blended. Add pineapple, papya and mango. Continue stirring for 3 minutes. reserve 1 cup jam. Set aside. 4. Ladle remaining jam into clean plastic 8 oz. freezer jars to fill line. Twist on lids. Let stand until thickened, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate up to three weeks of freeze up to one year. 5. Spread whipped topping over cooled cookie. refrigerate additional 5 minutes, just to set. Spread reserved tropical jam on top of whipped topping. Sprinkle ith macadamia nuts, white chocolate chips and cocnut. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Happy Eating!

Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices. Add some zip to your next meal with fresh seasoning, without the hassle of rinsing, chopping, and storing a gardenful of herbs. These four-ounce squeezable tubes of chopped fresh herbs and spices have no added flavor or colorings and keep in your fridge for three months.

__________________________________________________
Earthly Eating Recipe:

Banana Carb Crunch
Serves 1

1 bowl of organic granola cereal
Mix in organic Greek Yogurt
Slice banana, and layer on top or mix in with yogurt (whichever is more aesthetically pleasing to you).

Happy Eating!

The Kellogg Company® has agreed to phase out its advertising of foods containing more than 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 12 grams of sugar to children under 12 years of age. Cereal ads such as Froot Loops™ during Saturday morning cartoons.

This coming 6 months after the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and two parents threatened the company and Viacom, which owns Nickelodeon, with legal action. There will be some commercials that stay on the air and the ads still are broadcast to children though. (Source: Taste for Life)

Not only will Frosted Flakes commercials remain on children’s programming, but this cereal and other “acceptable” processed foods contain as much as two and half teaspoons of sugar per serving. Since TV viewing is as important a factor in overweight issues among children as a family history. Parents need to be the main ones that inhibit healthy eating among children.

Keep this in mind when choosing healthy foods: Anything containing mineral oils and high sugars such as, high fructose corn syrup shouldn’t be going into your childs mouth. They maybe cheap and kids like them, but mineral oil is also used in beauty products and is easy to manufacter. Would you let your child sit and eat lotion or baby oil? Then don’t feed them products with mineral oil in them such as most of the character fruit snacks that are on the market.

Parents need to monitor TV screen time and offer kids healthy sweets instead. 100% fruit juice snacks need to be purchased in a health food section of your grocery store or better yet a health food store. But, do you homework, if your child wants you to buy something, read labels, if it sounds unhealthy or you can’t pronounce it DON’T BUY IT! And teach your child what is good for them and what isn’t. Those life lessons last a forever.

Happy Eating!