Earthly Eating

• Coffee: Coffee can contain about 2 calories per cup of just straight black coffee and with cream or sugar or other additions are made to the cup the calories can go up to even 350 calories per serving. Coffee drinking can reduce your risks of type 2 diabetes and even Parkinson’s disease as well. It can help ward off gallstones and some types of cancers even. But, coffee is only good in moderation as with anything else. Slow down when you drink it and watch how your body responds.

• Milk Alternatives: This includes soy milk, almond milk and even rice milk and the calories vary from source to source. With soy milk you can get about 100 calories per servings and with almond milk about 60 calories per serving. As with rice milk you are looking at about 120 calories per serve. Soy milk has been out longer than the other milks as far as media is concerned and soy milk, as well as the other tow milks are easier to digest than cow’s milk. Almond milk contains high amounts of vitamin E and even protein. And when buying milk alternatives look to ones that are fortified with calcium and vitamin D.

• Decaf Coffee: Decaf coffee contains about the same amount of calories as regular coffee, but if doesn’t contain the caffeine, which maybe better for some people’s system. As with regular coffee, decaf coffee has been shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes as well, but the chemical used to remove the caffeine is actually harmful to your health. A better alternative is Swiss water process with is indicated on the packaging.
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Kale and Chevre Soup
Serves: 8

2 cups white beans, rinse and soak overnight
2 tbs. salt
2 tbs, unsalted butter
1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups tomato puree
1 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1 bunch black kale, stemmed and chopped
2 dried bay leaves
1 tbs, dried thyme
1 tsp. red chili flakes
1 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 cups soft goat cheese
1 tsp. black or white pepper
Kosher salt to taste

Place the beans and the water in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and remove film from top. Simmer and add salt and allow to cook for up to 1 hour. Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, melt the butter and cook the carrots, celery, onion and garlic unto they are browned and softened. Stir in tomato puree and black kale and cook for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in vegetable mixture once the beans have cooked fully for an hour. Add the bay leaves, thyme and chili flakes and cook for 20 minutes. Add the heavy cream and goat cheese then salt and pepper to taste. Cook for an additional 20 minutes and serve.

Happy Eating!

The best thing about a good cup of coffee is the taste and the effects it can have on your body. But if the cup of coffee is bad, it can make your whole day stick too. Here are some tips for making a great cup of Joe.

Residue in your coffee maker can make for a bitter tasting coffee and even at times make the coffee taste rancid. Hard water build up is a good culprit and it can even build up so much that it will break you machine. Here’s how to clean that up.

1. Dissolve 1/2 cup baking soak in about 2 gallons of water and soak all the removable parts of your coffee maker overnight.

2. Wash and dry the parts as normal and pour distilled vinegar into the water reservoir to the top.

3. Place everything back together and run the coffee maker as if you were making coffee, without the coffee beans or powder of course. Repeat the steps once more and rinse with clean water and running your machine a few times.

Another great tip for a good cup of coffee is to never grind your beans too fine. This can lead to bitter tasting coffee and can at times cause the water to brew through the machine too fast. An espresso machines gets a find grind, while a drip coffee maker won’t be as fine of a grind.

Make sure you beans are within the use by date as well.
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Old Fashioned Chili
Serves: 8

2 lbs. extra lean ground beef
6 oz. tropical salsa
1 cup ketchup
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
2 cans tomato sauce with chunky vegetables
1 can hot chili beans
1 can light red kidney beans
5 tbs. chili seasoning
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1 can mushrooms
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Toppings for garnish

Brown the ground beef and drain well. In a medium pot on medium heat. Combine the browned meat, tropical seasoning, ketchup, hot pepper sauce, tomato sauce, beans, chili seasoning, rosemary and mushrooms. Cook for about two hours and add red pepper flakes after cook time. Simmer for another hour and remove from head. Cool and refrigerate overnight. Reheat and serve immediately.

Happy Eating!

The majority of all caffeine consumed worldwide comes from coffee. Originating in Ethiopia in the ninth century, coffee soon traveled around the world, becoming popular in the Colonies during the Revolutionary War due to its demand as a replacement for British tea.

Coffee mainly is consumed as a beverage and can be presented in a variety of ways. Drip-brewed, percolated or French-press style can all be served with or without the traditional additions of milk, cream and sugar. Many popular coffee drinks are based on espresso, which is made by forcing very hot, though not boiling, pressurized water through ground coffee, resulting in a stronger flavor and a higher caffeine content. Some variations of this include caffè content. Some variations of this include caffè latte, which combines espresso with steamed milk; cappuccino, which includes equal parts of espresso and milk froth, and caffè macchiato, which is espresso with a dollop of hot, foamed milk on top.

Coffee also is commonly used in desserts, benefiting from the delightful, nutty, butter flavor that is perfectly balanced with sweet tastes such as chocolate and cream.

Chocolate Espresso Cake
Makes 16 servings

4 1/2 ounces cocoa
2 tbs. espresso powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sugar
4 eggs
2 tbs. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup water

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring water to a boil. Add espresso powder and cocoa. Stir to dissolve.

2. In a separate bowl, mix all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking soda and sea salt.

3. In another large bowl, add eggs while whipping, then slowly add hot chocolate mixture to eggs.

4. Next, add flour mixture to the batter and mix until smooth. Batter will be loose, don’t over mix.

5. Pour batter into two lined 9-inch round pans and bake 325°F until firm-about 25 minutes. Let cool completely and top with Chocolate Espresso Glaze.

Chocolate Espresso Glaze:

13 ounces silken tofu
2 ounces Dutch-processed cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbs. espresso powder

In a mixing bowl, add all ingredients for glaze. Mix well until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cake and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Garnish with candied oranges, mixed berries and/or a mint sprig. Refrigerate and left over glaze. (Source: Skin 2007)
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Sweet and Saucy Chicken Drummettes
Serves 4 (each having 4 drummettes each)

16 chicken drummettes (1 1/2 lb.)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup Catalina dressing
1/4 cup apricot jam

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place chicken in foil-lined 15×10x1-inch baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes.

Combine barbecue sauce, dressing and jam in a large bowl. Add chicken; toss to evenly coat. Return chicken to the baking pan. Bake an additional 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

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.**
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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!

• SODA: The average American drinks 55 gallons of sweetned soda each year. That’s nearly one 20-ounce bottle of soda and 250 calories from sugar every day. Simply cutting out soda would drop an average of 1,750 claories and a ahlf pound each week.

• CORN SYRUP: Corn syrup and its eveil twin, hihg-fructose corn syrup, are cheap sweetners used in thousands of products, from colas to condiments to most commercial baked goods, including some whole-wheat breads. Not only is high fructose corn syrup a concentrated source of empty calories, but it also might convert more easily to body fat than other types of simple sugar, such as those derived from cane or beets. During exercise, simple sugars can be quite beneficial to preformance, energy bars and gels are filled with them. But beware of them as an empty calorie source in your regular diet. Check food labels to avoid products with corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup, and instead look for cereal, juices, pasta sauce, salad dressing, and so on that house no added sugar.

• TRANS FAT: Man-made trans fat is a product of the food industry, which, to increase shelf life and reduce cost, takes heart-healthy unsaturated fats and chemically corrupts them into molecules that are more harmful to your health than the saturated fat dripping off the greasy bacon in a back-alley dinner. For years, partially hydrogenated oils, which contain trans fat, have been used in commercial backed goods, chips and fast food. Trans far not only increases LDL cholesterol levels, but also lowers blood levels of beneficial HDL cholesterol, the kind that helps strip plaque off your artery walls, and can also contribute to the stiffening of arteries. The FDA noe requires all manufacturers to list trans fat separately on nutrition labels, and because of bad publicity many food companies have eliminated trans fat from their products. Still, beware, the law allows a label to say zero grams per serving if the food contains0.5 grams or leff of trans fat. Your best bet is to look for “partially hydrogenated” anything in a food’s ingredient list and, if you find it, put the package back on the shelf.

• ALCOHOL: People don’t realize the calorie content of alcohol, seven useless calories lurk in every gram, or about 98 in each 1.5-ounce shot of spirits such as vodka or whiskey. Liqueurs and cocktails have even more calories per shot because of added sugar. And beer and wine aren’t much better. Besides being a source of empty calories, alcoholic beverages are a diuretic and contribute to dehydration, even it you have only one or two. Hangover syptoms, the pounding in your head, lethargy and cottonmouth are all due to dehydration. You don’t have to quite alcohol cold turkey though, but just limit yourself to no more than four drinks per week.

• FANCY COFFEE DRINKS: Caffeine improves physical and mental performance, including short-term memory. Coffee itself has virtually no calories. But in America, having a coffee means it’s possible to drink 700 to 1,000 calories in a single giant cup, thanks to the milk, cream and sugar dumped in. Skip the fancy coffee drinks and get a boost with just plain unaltered coffee like an espresso or a small, fat-fee cappuccino.
(Source: Bicycling 2007)

**Wii has some pretty cool new games out for their console. One being Star Trek: Conquest. Over at Wii Rally, Lynn Little has posted a list of the new games to try for your Wii. Read the list here.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe: Day 3-Week Of Sweets

Granita
Serves: Two

2 ounces espresso or strong coffee
3 ounces low-fat milk
1 ounce half and half
2 cups standard size ice cubes
1 ounce chocolate syrup or cocoa powder (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a blender for 25 seconds or until smooth. Serve immediately.

Iced Coffee
Serves: Makes 12 servings

1/2 pound very coarsely ground medium-dark roast coffee
1 one-foot-square piece of cheesecloth
3 quarts cold water
Optional additions: Simple syrup (1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, bring to a boil and stir till sugar is dissolved. Cool, bottle, and it will keep for three months.); milk; chocolate syrup.

Place coffee in cheesecloth, tied at the end, and submerge in a container filled with the cold water. Let stand overnight in the refrigerator. Remove the coffee frilled cheese cloth and pour the liquid into eight ounce glasses filled with ice. Add any of the optional additions if desired.

Happy Eating!