I wanted to cook some saffron rice but I didn't have saffron on-hand. So, I decided to "get creative" and try with turmeric instead. What resulted was a simple and tasty rice that you may want to try, too. Here's the recipe (yields enough cooked rice for 2 - 3 healthy servings).
Ingredients:
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 t sugar
- 1/4 t turmeric
- 1/4 t ground cloves
- 1 T EVOO
Instructions:
- Wash the basmati rice in warm water and drain. Repeat, until the water is clear.
- Put the basmati rice in a rice-cooker and add two cups water.
- Add the salt, sugar, turmeric and cloves.
- Add the EVOO.
- Cook on the "Quick cook" setting.
After the cooking cycle completes then open, let stand for a few minutes, stir, and serve or save for later. Tasty!
If you eat poultry, then take a little time to check out Cornucopia.org's scorecard on the brands. While the emphasis is on Organic, there's good information here for everyone to be aware of!
Bob Quinn is one of my heroes and he should be one of yours, too! He's an awesome agricultural scientist, organic farmer, and nutritional advocate who's making a major impact on global food production.
Check out his recent book, "Grain by Grain" for his inspiring story and forward-thinking perspectives for U.S. and global organic farming. A totally inspiring discussion; let's DO IT!
Check out the toothpaste ratings from Cornucopia.org. Although most people probably don't care if their toothpaste is certified Organic or Not, the list still gives good guidance on which brands include questionable ingredients like Triclosan (for example, Colgate does 👎; Crest doesn't 👍) and others.
When I was up in Alaska in the 1990s, my very survival depended on liberal applications of DEET-based insect repellent, as it was high-season for mosquitoes and they were BIG, plentiful, and constantly present! However, the stuff is quite gnarly to your body and tough on synthetic fibers, too! There are more natural-based alternatives available, per this article from Sierra Club. Check it out and perhaps you will experience effective results without the DEET nastiness and issues!
Using a neti pot for sinus rinsing has some benefit for people who routinely suffer from allergies or other congestive conditions. However, while rare, there have been fatal infections reported when using even filtered tap water with the neti pot. Therefore, pay attention to the CDC's recommendations and use distilled water - or cooled, boiled water - for proper safety. Most over-the-counter kits advise such precautions as well, so "pay attention".
Here's an interesting article from SF Gate comparing Meat and Legumes. Basically, legumes are "heart healthy" although some amino acids aren't present in legumes alone, so including other vegetable sources such as nuts and grains are important to make up for it.
Stepping back and taking a look at the big picture, it appears that all sweeteners have upsides and downsides. For some time, like many others, I believed that agave syrup was a healthy, low glycemic alternative to sucrose / white table sugar. However, recent discussions indicate that agave has a bothersome issue, because it substitutes glucose / sucrose with high levels of fructose, which aren't digestible by the body and end up being removed by the liver. Therefore, completely replacing sucrose with agave likely isn't a good dietary strategy. And like the Holy Grail, "The Perfect Sweetener" may be unattainable. So, we have to understand the advantages and disadvantages of any sweeteners we use and maintain an intake level and variety that works best for us. 😉
Carrageenan is derived from red seaweed and is often used as a gelling, thickening and stabilizing agent in dairy, liquid, and prepared-food products. It's a controversial additive, since nutritional purists claim it causes intestinal inflammation and isn't well-tolerated by the body, while advocates say it's a natural ingredient and of no undue concern. If you're concerned about carrageenan it's best to read the labels on food products and find out which use it. Here's a useful list from Cornucopia Institute for organic-certified products that add or omit carrageenan. The results are often surprising; with some companies appearing on both sides of the list within the same product category!
Here's a nice pasta product: Barilla ProteinPLUS® Rotini, with all ingredients that you can understand and pronounce and 12% protein, too! 😊
