Top 10 Links of the Week 12 11 09 – 12 17 09

Hey folks! I’m fully recovered from the Food Network marathon, so let’s get to the links. This week, it’s a ton of Christmas, the fall of Big Food (maybe), and BANANARCHY!

1) Planet Green: 25 Take-Out Treats You Really Can Make at Home
Would you like to bank money, eat delicious ethnic food, and save the environment at the same time? Make any one of these takeout recipes at home. It’s better for everybody, except maybe the delivery guy.

2) Gizmodo: Using Micro S’mores is Akin to Playing God
This is really real. And "gooeylicious." And for people without hands or muscles, presumably.

3) Washington Post: Sometimes a snack isnt just a snack. Its a slippery slope.
“A two-year study found that kids eat less junk food when their schools dont provide them with junk food.” Yeah, I know: “duh,” but it’s Ezra Klein’s ensuing argument that makes this piece a great read. How far should the government and our own employers go when it comes to keeping us healthy?

4) Consumerist: Study Shows High Fructose Corn Syrup May Cause Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Disease
Yeah, I know: “double duh.” But it’s nice to have science backing it up. SCIENCE!

5) Neatorama: Rich in Dextrose
Old print ads are just about my favorite things in the world. This one, a World War II-era page for Baby Ruth, claims the candy bars are “rich in dextrose and other wholesome ingredients.” Hee! I can’t wait until 50 years from now, when we’re giggling similarly about lycopene and xylitol.

6) New York Times: To Feed the Hungry, Keep the Can, Open a Wallet
You know that three-year-old can of artichokes sitting in the darkest, dustiest corner of your pantry? Don’t donate it to a food bank. Instead, a lovely cash gift would be much appreciated.

7) Boing Boing/AP: Monsanto seed biz role revealed
Monsanto’s in trouuuuuuuble. Make it douuuuuuuuuble.

8) Casual Kitchen: Why “Big Food” Isn’t Quite as Evil as You Think it is
If this doesn’t get you in, nothing will: “Its us. We are behind the curtain … Fattening and unhealthy foods are on our store shelves because we put them there.”

9) Chicago Sun-Times: Govt auditors say food-tracing program flawed
Hey! Have you ever wondered what the government does when there’s a outbreak of food-related illness? Me too. So this is reassuring: “A crucial part of the nations rapid-response plan … is seriously flawed, an independent watchdog agency has found … Nearly half the food manufacturers they surveyed that are supposed to register with the Food and Drug Administration failed to give the agency accurate contact information.” They don’t even have the RIGHT PHONE NUMBERS. My god. I hope the next link is cheerier, because otherwise I’m moving to Canada.

10) Urlesque: Bananarchy Gives D.C. Extra A-‘Peel’
In which two dozen people dressed as bananas bring joy and peace to all the land. Set to “Peanut Butter Jelly Time,” of course. Forget that FDA thing. America wins!

HONORABLE MENTION

Chow: Dinner Party for Beginners
I’m loving this simple tutorial series from Chow.

Culinate: Mixed-diet dinners - A pro offers suggestions for the cook
Supper tips for the veggie/omni family.

Double X: The Rise of the Kitchen Bitch (Ladies, it’s time to reclaim cooking)
I wholly object to Hanna Rosin calling Duff Goldman a “lovable jerk,” but otherwise, this somewhat all-over-the-place, yet still thought-provoking essay is worth a read. Especially if you like being angry before lunch.

Food Network: Sealed & Delivered - Recipes in a Jar
Need some last-minute Christmas gifts for your favorite foodie? These attractive and presumably tasty jarred recipes should fit the bill.

Salon: Cash and gumption - Food nonprofits to support
Excellent rundown of dozens of food philanthropies. Merry Christmas, everybuddy!

And finally, for your holiday pleasure/horror:

Sketchy Santas
Just look. You won’t be sorry.

(Photos from Neatorama [ad] and Sketchy Santas [sketchy Santa].)

Thank you so much for visiting Cheap Healthy Good! (We appreciate it muchly). If you’d like to further support CHG, subscribe to our RSS feed! Or become a Facebook friend! Or check out our Twitter! Or buy something inexpensive, yet fulfilling via that Amazon store (on the left)! Bookmarking sites and links are nice, too. Viva la France!

Top Ten Links of the Week 4 23 10 – 4 29 10

Happy Friday, folks! Quick update on Tuesday’s Ask the Internet question: the broth and new ratio totally worked with the polenta, and the addition of pancetta provided some much-needed depth and textural variation. Howevs, the spinach still needs work. I sautéed it much faster this time, using the oil left over from the meat, but the aftertaste remained. I’m thinking a switch to either kale, chard, or baby spinach is in order. Almost there, though! Look for the final version on Monday.

Meanwhile, BEHOLD! Here’re the links.

1) Oregon Live: Meet some of Portlands radical homemakers
A fantastic piece. Just stellar, and I love the reconceptualizing of domesticity as, “living by four tenets: ecological sustainability, social justice, family and community.” It’s extreme and ideal at the same time. An absolute must-read, though I do wish it brought a few guys into the picture.

2) The Local Cook: Top 10 Things to Do Before CSA Season
Just signed up for your first CSA? Don’t know how you’re going to handle it? No worries, sweet kale lover. This resourceful rundown will steer you in the right direction.

3) Serious Eats: Why Ben & Jerry’s Relationship with Wal-Mart is Actually Good for the Future of Food
Sometimes, the little guy can best change the big guy by working from the inside. If there’s ice cream involved, all the better.

4) The Atlantic Food: Message to Food Editors - What 30-Minute Meals Really Mean
In which Michael Ruhlman makes a decent point – learn to prioritize food – and obscures it in a cloud of unpleasantness. Dude, you want people to listen to your message? Try not to insult them in the process. Enh. Debbie says it better than me

5) Jezebel: Spoon Fed – When Food is About Love, Not Disorder
I like this whole piece on learning to reconcile personal food issues with eating’s social nature, but this statement struck me most: “I find that when we cook together we encourage each other to enjoy food for what it is — a source of nourishment and even excitement, not an enemy.”

6) Slashfood: Cook’s Illustrated vs. food52
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to RUMBLE. In this corner, Cook’s Illustrated, the venerated trial-and-error foodie mag headed up by bowtied culinary lovegod, Christopher Kimball. And in the opposite corner, food52, the new-ish website with the many-people-one-recipe mentality. Who will win next week’s cooking throwdown? Only your hairdresser knows for sure. (Pic from Village Voice.)

7) Chicago Tribune: The 50 Worst Restaurants in the World
In response to San Pellegrino’s recent naming of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, folks at CT came up with this creative list. My favorites:
24. Haggis Hut
21. Actual Panda Express
20. Fraulein Sauerkraut’s Thwap and Serve
9. Le Jirque
3. Friday’s based on the novel Push by Sapphire

8) Wise Bread: 10 Ways to Cut Waste When Feeding Kids
These smart tips might seem pretty intuitive to experienced parents, but I’m babysitting a lot more now, so they’re spectacularly well timed. I have no idea what I’m doing, see. (Just kidding, Mary! Ha?)

9) A Good American Wife: Nutritional Values
Speaking about feeding kids, Anne has some valuable insight.

10) Serious Eats: How to Toast Spices
Toasting spices is an inexpensive, easy way to bring out their flavor. Also, “mellow, toasty complexity” is my new favorite phrase. You know what I like about 30 Rock? It’s mellow, toasty complexity. And nuclear physics? It’s mellow, toasty complexity. And socks? Guess.


HONORABLE MENTION

BoingBoing: Unicorn Meat
Finally!

Consumerist: Baseball Park Food is So Overpriced. Do I Still Have to Tip?
Yes!

Food Politics: The 2010 Dietary Guidelines – Some Hints at What They Might Say
Useful!

The Kitchn: 10 Tasty Dinners to Serve on the Cheap
Tasty!


AND ALSO

The 120 Minutes Archive
Eep! Well, slap me with a moog and call me Matt Pinfield. Someone, somewhere, is cataloguing every episode of MTV’s seminal indie/alternative music show. With video and occasional performance links! (Though, this is undoubtedly the best set in history. Johnette 4-evs. Imma let you finish, but shes the most underrated rock vocalist of all time.)

Thank you so much for visiting Cheap Healthy Good! (We appreciate it muchly). If you’d like to further support CHG, subscribe to our RSS feed! Or become a Facebook friend! Or check out our Twitter! Or buy something inexpensive, yet fulfilling via that Amazon store (on the left)! Bookmarking sites and links are nice, too. Viva la France!

40 Day Challenge – What is Your Goal

Are you struggling to make all the changes you know you should make for your health?

Looking for health answers but don’t know where to start?

Just need some encouragement in your health journey?

Welcome to the Wellness Challenge! 

 I’m so excited for the great information and prizes I get to share in the next 7 weeks!
Yep, you read that right, 7 weeks! Can you do it?
At the request of several of my readers, and to make your transition easier than mine was, I have put together a 40-day challenge to offer you support, recipes and giveaways! If you’ve been waiting for an excuse to try going grain free or ditching the sugar, now is your chance.
Please join me for Lent, or just for 40 days, to try living grain free. Your health will thank you, and if you don’t like it, you can always go back to the old way of eating.  What have you got to lose?
To help make the transition easier and to make sure we address all aspects of health, I’ve broken the challenge into Seven Mini Challenges. Each week, there will be a new challenge with specific goals, support and prizes!

Start A Wellness Journal!

Maybe your goal is to lose weight, maybe to sleep better or make improvements in your families diet. Whatever the goal, keeping a journal will help you both with accountability and support! Consider starting a Wellness Journal .
If you want to lose weight, post your measurements and *gasp* a picture if you want, if you are trying to clear up your skin, take a picture to document your progress. If you’re trying to improve your family’s health, show us their beautiful faces!
This is my favorite part of the Challenge personally, since I feel like I really get to “meet” you all.

And the Week One Mini Challenge Is…

Getting a solid nutritional foundation in place! Anyone surprised? Many of you may already be solid in this area, but I know that this is a huge struggle for many people! 
If you’re diet is already iron-clad, please offer some advice and encouragement for those who are struggling to make the change. This challenge will actually go a little longer than a week so that everyone has time to make the changes, and so we can get on a Monday-Friday schedule…

Nutrition Basics

Nutrition can have a tremendous impact on overall health and will be a large part of the focus of the challenge. If you’ve been a Wellness Mama reader for a while, you know that I’m not a fan of grains, sugars and starches and recommend removing them from your diet. Of course, only if you are making sure to get adequate nutrition from proteins, fats and vegetables.
Some foods, like beans, are of questionable nature, so for the duration of the challenge, I’d suggest removing them too! Others, like vegetable oils, margarine, and other frankenfats are toxic and should be avoided completely, challenge or not!

Mini Challenge #1
Cut out the grains, sugars, potatoes, beans and all processed foods from your diet and focus on getting maximum nutrition from meats, vegetables, healthy fats (coconut, olives, coconut oil, olive oil, tallow, lard, butter, unprocessed cream, etc) and fruits. 

Everyone is entering the challenge for different reasons, but if one of your goals is to lose weight or improve your physique, consider drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake.
If weight loss is a serious goal, this will mean that that morning bowl of oatmeal or potato salad at lunch is out. To keep it simple, just get your carbs from vegetables (minus potatoes) and you’ll be fine! One exception, if you struggle from low-thyroid, don’t drop your carbs too low for too long, as this can stress the thyroid, just make sure to get your carbs from healthy foods like sweet potatoes, winter squash, fruit, and grain-free baked goods!
[Note: Some people experience a "carb flu" as their body adjusts to not having a constantly available stream of glucose. This is temporary, but can be uncomfortable for the first couple of weeks. Check out these two posts by Dr. Michael Eades to help make the transition easier
Tips for Starting Low Carb Part I and Tips for Starting Low Carb Part II ]

We’ll be addressing some specifics that can help with your individual goals in the next few weeks (supplements, what type of exercise, etc) but nutrition is the single most important factor and all the other factor’s can’t fix a poor diet!

Here are a few free printables for quick reference:

• Here’s a full week of my premium Meal Plans (budget friendly!) and a corresponding shopping list!
• Foods to Avoid
• Foods to Eat in Moderation
• Foods to Consume Freely

Cosmetic Dentistry – Fill That Gap!

There are several ways that a cosmetic dentist can fill gaps in the mouth where teeth have had to be extracted or even knocked out!

Teeth Implants
Teeth Implant dentistry is the most advanced therapy available to replace teeth. In addition to looking and feeling like real teeth, teeth implants allow you to:

    * Improve your smile
    * Eat the foods you enjoy
    * Restore your confidence

Dental Bridges
A dental bridge is fixed to the remaining natural teeth by the cosmetic dentist restoring aesthetics and function. There are two types of dental bridge-:

    * Fixed – dental bridges fitted over prepared abutment teeth. A secure and long-lasting option.
    * Adhesive – A sticky dental bridge which is bonded to natural teeth and requires minimal tooth preparation.

Having a fixed bridge can make a fantastic improvement to the quality of your life and the treatment can be completed by the cosmetic dentist in two weeks!

Dentures
There are two types of dentures used in cosmetic dentistry: -

    * Acrylic (or plastic) dentures
    * Cobalt Chromium (or metal based) dentures – only advised when some teeth are present.

The advantages of cosmetic cobalt chromium dentures are: -
    * Better chewing (more stable; less movement of denture)
    * Food more enjoyable (less coverage of the palate)
    * Stronger (metal is very hard, plastic can fracture)
    * Lighter and thinner (plastic is more bulky)
    * More healthy (less gum coverage)

Treatment Planning
The cosmetic dentist at our dental practice strive to diagnose dental problems accurately. Duplicate models of your mouth, x-rays, special gum measurements and the bite pattern are some of the factors we assess during a complete mouth examination. A treatment plan is then made giving you options and good advice as to which treatment best suits your individual needs.

At the Perfect Smile Spa, aim is to offer you exceptional treatment in the nicest possible setting. It is one of the leading companies and specialists in Teeth Implants, , teeth whitening, cosmetic Dentures, Inman Aligners, and Dental Bridges etc.