Spilled Ingredients

For many, many reasons it’s so mmm mmm good. For the Campbell’s corporation. Let’s talk about soup, baby. Let’s talk about you and me. I, for one, grew up on creations which often included Campbell’s, specifically Cream of Mushroom soup. Some of those creations? Chicken noodle *hot dish* (midwest casserole) made a weekly appearance at our dinner table of four. For those unfamiliar with this entrée, there are three ingredients that can bridge you to the land of The Know: egg noodles, canned chicken (yes, this unfortunately exists), and Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup. No more, no less. It was a comfort food that, uh, my parents found comfort in.

Allow me to do you a favor by encouraging you to live a Campbell’s-free life, starting today without looking back. The American *comfort food* in the red and white labeled can isn’t so much made of food, as it is… more

Hi there. Yikes. Neglected this place, I unintentionally have. And there are so many topics on my ever-growing To Tackle list, it’s hard to know which to check off next.

And check one off very soon, I shall. I’ve just been consumed with a few things as of late, such as acquiring not one, but two new jobs; researching and applying to grad schools; speaking with recruiters; beginning wellness care with chiropractors; touring and researching childcare options — double yikes!; my family; weddings; the gammet . Have I mentioned that I have a Wheaten Terrier? He’s probably more consuming than all of the above, it’s a good thing he has his looks.

Please stay tuned, I have much ranting to do. Yep, worth reading, I think. In the meantime, I challenge you to heat your food with anything but a microwave for one week….more

It’s the latest rage: Aluminum is bad for baking. It’s bad for your brain and your underarms. It’s not only a foil, a soda can, a pan material and an anti-perspirant, it’s also an ingredient in baking powder. Some baking powders, that is. If you shop at a large, chain supermarket, your one or two baking powder options probably contain aluminum. So don’t buy their baking powder. This is something to buy from either Whole Foods or a local co-op. They’ll have aluminum-free baking powder, and your brain’s best interest in mind. more

Kale? Does anyone actually eat that?
You just might, if you desire super powers, and especially if you try kale chips (keep reading).

What makes kale well worth eating?
Kale is one of the healthiest foods available to us on the planet. It contains more nutritional value than many other green vegetables. It continues to gain a very good reputation for its cancer-fighting properties and extreme vitamin content. Getting technical for a sec, kale’s a primitive cabbage family member from the Brassica genus. It’s loaded with indoles (plant chemicals) which fight cancer, including ovarian and breast cancer. It’s very rich in calcium, protein, Omega 3’s, vitamin K, A, C and manganese, to name a few. It activates detoxifying enzymes in the liver (thus helps keep the liver in peak condition). Kale boosts these enzymes throughout the body to eliminate carcinogens quickly.

Is kale a superfood?
Not anymore. The term superfood has been banned. I’m not entirely clear on whether we’re permitted to call it a *super food* though. Super or not, kale is something we should all be eating… more

Does your gut really have instinct? I have no idea. Your gut does have its own ecosystem, though. Oh it’s true, and this is no simple system -think complex biome or rainforest. It’s uber important to your overall health, since it affects your immunity, ability to fight cancer, and even alcohol’s war on your liver. When the emergent layer, canopy, understory and forest floor are all getting along and functioning optimally, the rainforest is thriving. When trees are killed, the ecosystem loses its, well, system. The rainforest-gut connection is coming full circle, isn’t it? The trees are to the rainforest as your gut trees are to your gut? Gut trees, a solid name for good bacteria, don’t you think?

Entertain one more analogy for me. When a tree in the rainforest gets cut down, is the tree the only thing that dies? Of course not. The tree is host and home to a number of species. It’s a habitat. Remove the habitat, remove the amazing life that dwelled there. When a person takes an antibiotic, more

My kitchen has never been subjected to a maple syrup detox diet. On that note, it’s never undergone the raw food diet, herbal detox, Hallelujah diet or the fruit flush either. I’m considering putting it on the Martha’s Vineyard Detox Diet, but pretty much because its name lends some virtual travel benefits and just sounds nice.

I have no interest in living on maple syrup for two weeks. I wouldn’t subject my family and friends to the torment of being around me under such circumstances. Instead, when I lapse every now and then… more

Earth Day, April 22, inspired my anti-Round-up saga. This rant was aimed at keeping your yard safe by keeping Round-up out of your shopping cart. Chucking Round-up in your trash can would also suffice. Looking back, I realize my glass may have been half-empty and I didn’t offer up many alternatives, other than getting your hands dirty and digging up your weeds. While this is still an option, it’s not always a realistic one. Afterall, people have families, duties, responsibilities, and other essentials, ranking ahead of weeds.

Behold my generously filled glass tonight. And a little wisdom from my cousin-in-law, Tim. Thank you, Tim. And a little further investigation into organic weed control. If you aren’t privvy to this organic weed killer yet, you’re likely to find yourself raiding your pantry and heading outside to that annoying dandelion patch, momentarily. Brace yourself, more

I’m talking about fake baking in the kitchen – the kind that happens in your oven, not so much under ultraviolet lights. I don’t know much about fake baking in a tanning bed, in fact, other than you should not engage. Alright, besides some past instances, we’ll call them *momentary lapses in judgment* – in which I actually did partake in fake baking my skin – I am not in the know on the subject. All I can say is I wish I could take back each lapse. Those errors in judgment will haunt me forevermore. Fake baking in a tanning bed is BAD, ok? Ahh, youth, wedding parties, tan bandwagons, and the unknown. The rest is history. And filled with regret. ‘Nough said.

Back to kitchen baking – baking. Making and baking from scratch isn’t necessarily as innocent or natural as I first assumed. It can be. Trust me, I’m all for just about anything baked from scratch, with real ingredients. I want the baking innards in my baked goods to be natural. Laissez-faire, if you will: leave my baking innards alone! For instance, I’ve recently discovered that the light corn syrup in my pantry contains high fructose corn syrup and (thanks to a local foodie moms forum) the baking powder contains ALUMINUM, the heavy metal. Yep, confirm for yourself, and go check your own baking innards. If you feel even half as ambushed I did, read on. more

It’s time. The kitchen needs a change, the baby’s on the way, or maybe you just can’t take the pink dining room any longer. It’s time to paint. We’ve all been there, and either do it ourselves, call on friends or family for help, or hire it out. I like to do the painting myself. I prefer interior, but don’t entirely mind exterior, especially if the weather is beautiful. Painting is the easiest, cheapest way I know to change the dynamics of a room.

Your commitment journey begins at the paint store down the street or a warehouse like Home Depot. The array of color choices makes the idea of painting even glamorous, imagining the transformation your home is about to undergo. You were thinking a nice caramel khaki at home, but in person the gold family begins to look like the winner. Now, do you go with the gold, goldcoast, golden autumn, summer of gold, or beachside raffia? At first they looked so similar, it didn’t seem to matter which you chose. Further studying, some start appearing blue, tan and green. If you’re like me at this point, you take your pile of color swatches home to examine for a week or so, holding them against the floor and other rooms to compare. Once you’ve made this heavily weighed decision, you need to order. Almost. more

A birthday party run to Super Target yesterday led me down the cleaner aisle. Our floors see a lot of Murphy’s wood oil soap, thanks to our backyard loving wheaten. We are about to have a bunch of floor dwellers crawling around at the party, and now’s not a good time to be low on Murphy’s. The cleaner aisle at my ST has been relocated and swapped with the paper plate aisle. (You memorize these things when your baby is a fair-weather shopper with strong vocals.) While discovering this, I spotted more