Eating Organic and cooking Green.

I’ve posted a few times about loving my trips to the grocery store. It feels great to be buying organic and healthy food and green products and that you’re doing your part for the environment and keeping your body healthy. However, buying the right food is only part of it in terms of eating healthy; a lot depends on how and on what you cook it. There was an article on Yahoo News last week that talked about various cooking surfaces and the hidden dangers. I’ve tried and tried, but I cannot find the link. So using the vast resources of the Internet, I found –>this great article about the subject. You can bet that all of our teflon pans are going to disappear quick! I’m even considering replacing our stainless steel. Although this particular article was somewhat approving of stainless steel, the article on Yahoo I referenced earlier was not so complimentary. The doctor that wrote that article expressed concern about the metal eventually leaching into your food even from stainless steel. Both articles highly recommend porcelain and cast iron cookware.

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Here’s a quick tidbit I picked up from Green Living by the E/The Environmental Magazine: Want to know if your buying something that’s been genetically engineered? Just check the bar code. If it’s been genetically engineered, the code will begin with an “8″. If it’s organic, it will begin with a “9″ and if it’s conventionally grown, it will begin with a “4″.

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Whole Foods is debuting its first ever –>online weekly cooking show! Here’s the release:

Whole Foods Debuts Weekly Online Cooking Show
MAY 11, 2007 — Natural and organic grocer Whole Foods Market has launched “Secret Ingredient,” its first-ever weekly online cooking show and resource for home cooks looking for helpful tips and easy recipe ideas, reports Progressive Grocer.

Shoppers can access a new episode of the video podcast every Monday on Whole Foods’ Web site, www.wholefoodsmarket.com/secretingredient, as well as on iTunes and YouTube.

“Secret Ingredient” highlights foods exclusively carried by Whole Foods or that meet the retailer’s strict quality standards. Featured items will include the world’s first nitrate-free prosciutto, award-winning aged Balsamic vinegar, fresh artisan-made goat cheese, and hand-selected Parmigiano Reggiano.

“We hope to deliver inspiration,” said “Secret Ingredient” host Scott Simons, who also works as Whole Foods’ associate marketing director for the Southwest region, in a statement. “Because we focus on only one ingredient per episode, viewers really get to know the featured item and take away practical cooking tips and recipes. Top that off with easy yet tasty meal solutions, and ‘Secret Ingredient’ is a home cook’s treasure.”

The inaugural episode spotlights antibiotic-free farm-raised catfish, which Simons uses to prepare Thai-inspired fish tacos.

The video podcast is filmed in high definition at Whole Foods stores and the retailer’s culinary centers across the United States. All episodes will be archived so consumers can view them anytime.

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Other Blogs

From Crank and Pedal, –>a great post about reducing your carbon footprint by riding your bike. Very appropriate post during Bike to Work week. Cycling is not only good exercise, but part of a green lifestyle.

Speaking of good exercise, came across –>this post about yoga in Jane’s Here’s to Life! blog. According to an article in Yoga Journal, yoga is a pretty complete form of exercise, building not only flexibility, but also strength, cardiovascular fitness and helping with reducing unwanted body weight. Pretty good endorsement for including yoga in your workout regimen.

That’s all I got today. Peace!

Growing up green…

We’re expecting Child #3 within the next two weeks, and it got me thinking about this baby ‘growing up green’ – no it’s not a new reality show (although it could be ). One of our favorite green companies, Seventh Generation, has –>a great line of baby products. Yes, they’re a bit more expensive than the other stuff, but the payoff both for the environment and the little one’s health is worth it. The way I see it, if I don’t do something now, he or she won’t have much of a world to grow up in. By the way, on their site you can sign up for downloadable coupons. One of our other favorite places, Henry’s Farmers Market, our regular grocery store, has a great –>section on their website for expecting mothers and new parents including nutrition and diet tips for baby as they grow up.

From a nutrition/dietary perspective, we’ve got our other two children eating healthy and organic as much as possible. Any of you with little ones knows this isn’t always the easiest thing in the world given all the temptation kids have with candy, cereals, drinks, etc. and weaning them off junk food isn’t easy (that’s why we’re not even going there with our new one). For cereals, the kids love a couple from –>Cascadian Farms and some from –>Nature’s Path. Both of these companies have healthy organic alternatives to the usual sugary cereals. For a great snack try the new kid bars from Clif, their –>organic ZBar. My kids are devouring these; they’re much better than granola or snack bars that are loaded with sugar and additives. Given their popularity with my kids and the relative ease in which they took to them, I highly recommend them.

Based on the tough time we’ve had correcting our two young children’s diets, we’re being very conscious of how we start off the new one. The good thing is that, for at least a year, we won’t have to worry about it because there’s nothing better than mother’s milk – of course, that means Mom has to worry about her diet

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Blog stuff:

Seems like shampoo was on a couple of peoples’ minds, or is it that heads Vanessa ran out of her regular stuff and is trying something new. She gave a great website, –>Skin Deep, to check on your health and beauty products. If yours isn’t listed, you can also check the ingredients (the one I use rated very well).

Juice Bar reviewed the Miessence line of personal care products and gave them an emphatic thumbs up. Always good to hear about products that work well for others. I’m going to keep an eye for these.

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In yesterday’s post, I wrote about riding to work and getting out of the car for a day. Funny thing happened on the ride home…I didn’t go home. Instead I rode to the beach (I’m lucky in that I work 10 minutes from home and 10 from the beach ) and met up with my family. Played with the kids – building sand castles only; the water is still a bit cold, although they didn’t seem to mind – and then watched the sunset over the Pacific. Perfect way to decompress from a bad day at work!

Ride your bike! 

Yoga, bikes, and blogs…

For you yoga fans out there, I found this great site through an ad in Yoga Journal: –>Yoga Today. Everyday the site hosts an hour-long yoga video for FREE! They also have some back episodes for download. I tried one last night and found them to be of excellent quality and you can download in various formats including HD WMV. Free is good!

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May is Bike to Work Month, next week is Bike to Work Week, and Friday, May 18 is Bike to Work Day. I ride my bike everywhere, except to work. Why? Well probably because I only live a few minutes from where I work. But I figure that’s all the more reason I should stay out of my car and make the quick bike ride to work. So today, I rode in for the first time. It takes a little bit of planning; I have to get up earlier, leave earlier, take clothes in the day before, take some toiletries, etc. But the payoff is worth it. I don’t sit in traffic, I get some exercise, I get to ride in the beautiful Southern California sun (sunny and 75 deg at 8am!), and best of all, my car is in the driveway. –>Read up here.

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From around the blogworld:

Panda Dan’s –>blog entry today included a nice little list of –>Top Ten tips for lazy environmentalists. Careful when you click over! Looks like Bert has been a bad influence on the other Muppets…

Green As A Thistle.com’s post today has a great tip, –>the green hangover cure. Some of us can use this information once in while, right?!

Geoff –>posts on his The Way We Live blog about Google’s new eco-search engine Blackle. Apparently viewing Google’s homepage (which gets over 200 million hits a day) with a black background instead of the traditional white background saves a bit energy. Add up all those visits and now you’ve got substantial amount. What’s truly amazing is that Google did this apparently in response to a blog entry – ahh, the power of the written word, or is that the typed word

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Don’t forget: ride your bike to work!