Here's a new cookbook with good recipes and helpful information about healthy eating. Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable Youby Terry Walters is not only a guide to good eating, it's interesting to read. Each recipe is introduced with a chatty, informative paragraph.A section called "What's That?" describes possibly unfamiliar ingredients from agave nectar to lemongrass to wakame. The index is especially helpful... Read Full Story

This time last year I was wrestling with the details of planning my first wheat-free Thanksgiving dinner.The biggest wrench was having to change the stuffing and gravy, my two favorite parts of the meal. Stuffing without wheat bread? Gravy without wheat flour? How could they be satisfying? I found Simply Organic Roasted Turkey Gravy mix at Whole Foods. It's thickened with rice flour. I got a couple of packets of it. I looked at Mom's stuffing recipe. Maybe I could make it with brown ri... Read Full Story

For several years I've been clipping and saving newspaper and magazine articles on being prepared for emergencies. They were neatly stored in a folder in my desk.In the middle of October I began putting the information in that folder to work. We now have some basics in place: food, water, and candles stored at home, and a kit in each of our car trunks with supplies such as food bars, first aid kits, flashlights, and blankets.What spurred me to action at last? I was searching on amazon.com... Read Full Story

For several years I've been clipping and saving newspaper and magazine articles on being prepared for emergencies. They were neatly stored in a folder in my desk.In the middle of October I began putting the information in that folder to work. We now have some basics in place: food, water, and candles stored at home, and a kit in each of our car trunks with supplies such as food bars, first aid kits, flashlights, and blankets.What spurred me to action at last? I was searching on amazon.com... Read Full Story

Today is All Saints Day, when we celebrate inspirational Christians of the past. Tomorrow is All Souls Day, when we remember those who have been dear to us, now gone from this life.All these saintly souls are like the dandelion in the picture: their lives are over but they have left the seeds of their faith, health, happiness, and service, ready to be planted wherever the wind takes them. And the wind has blown many of their seeds in our direction. Several departed family members and friends ... Read Full Story

Today is All Saints Day, when we celebrate inspirational Christians of the past. Tomorrow is All Souls Day, when we remember those who have been dear to us, now gone from this life.All these saintly souls are like the dandelion in the picture: their lives are over but they have left the seeds of their faith, health, happiness, and service, ready to be planted wherever the wind takes them. And the wind has blown many of their seeds in our direction. Several departed family members and frien... Read Full Story

I made Mom's recipe for beef burgundy in the oven a couple of Saturdays ago when beef stew meat was on sale at Whole Foods. We had it for Sunday dinner and I put the rest into the freezer with rice--six dinners I can defrost in the refrigerator overnight and heat up. I take the plastic lid off the defrosted dish, cover it loosely with aluminum foil, and heat it in the toaster oven at 350 degrees for 25 or 30 minutes. This is good for company. It's better the second day, so make it ahe... Read Full Story

I made Mom's recipe for beef burgundy in the oven a couple of Saturdays ago when beef stew meat was on sale at Whole Foods. We had it for Sunday dinner and I put the rest into the freezer with rice--six dinners I can defrost in the refrigerator overnight and heat up. I take the plastic lid off the defrosted dish, cover it loosely with aluminum foil, and heat it in the toaster oven at 350 degrees for 25 or 30 minutes. This is good for company. It's better the second day, so make it ahe... Read Full Story

I made Mom's recipe for beef burgundy in the oven a couple of Saturdays ago when beef stew meat was on sale at Whole Foods. We had it for Sunday dinner and I put the rest into the freezer with rice--six dinners I can defrost in the refrigerator overnight and heat up. I take the plastic lid off the defrosted dish, cover it loosely with aluminum foil, and heat it in the toaster oven at 350 degrees for 25 or 30 minutes. This is good for company. It's better the second day, so make it ahead a... Read Full Story

Here are thoughtful books by two American doctors about reforming our health care system.A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicineby Len Saputo M.D. promotes the concept of integral-health medicine based on serving patients, as opposed to commercially driven "disease care" medicine. Integral health medicine features prevention and noninvasive treatments as the first line of defense. When more care is necessary, the whole person, not just the disease,... Read Full Story