Superfood Girl

Fresh

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Peach Tarts & Spring Water Friends -- Episode #2

(Raw / Vegan Peach Tart Recipe coming -- please check back soon!!)  :-D

Celebrity Nutritionist, David Wolfe - LIVE, Wednesday October 15th

UPDATE 10/15/08 *--There are events BOTH Wednesday AND Thursday (October 15th and 16th); thanks to Kevin Gianni for this blessed string of LIVE internet events this week!--*

There is an event tomorrow (Wednesday), anyone can attend (it's a web-cast).  Celebrity Nutritionist, David Wolfe will be speaking LIVE, again here:  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/davidwolfelive (we had one this evening, on Tuesday...I found out about an hour before it was LIVE); not enough time to let you-all know, sorry!  Anyway,...SO FANTASTIC!  Superfood talk with David Wolfe...also speaks on the company Elements for Life.

So, I've been hesitating at telling the world of my newfound FANTABULOUS discovery...and I guess it's time, I can hold back no longer.  Here's my story...many months ago, shortly after I started doing Avon/Mark as a home-based business, I thought to myself; "Wouldn't it be great if David Wolfe was involved in a direct sales business...something ethical, and having to do with the superfoods I've been using for years, and have grown to know and love?!?"

So, I guess it was about 6 weeks ago, this opportunity fell into my lap...someone had messaged me on one of my social networks, letting me know about this company that David Wolfe and some other "big" raw food people were a part of.  It was exactly what I had intended months before, right there--being presented to me.  How could I say no?  So, I had been intending on having a "loyalty marketing" business (superfood related) come to me...I even listed it as one of my goals!  Anyway, this is one of the many things I have been working on as of late.

Setting the business opportunity aside, this event (if anything like this evening) will be SUPERB!  If you've never heard David Wolfe speak, you are certainly in for a treat; he is not only a great public speaker, he is INCREDIBLY well educated in the fields of superfood & raw-food nutrition.  I seriously doubt if there is any other individual on the planet that is as well versed in these subjects.  His lectures are incredibly informative, and he's quite entertaining as well.

I sincerely hope to have you join us there, I'm ABSOLUTELY sure that if you have any curiosity, or interest in superfood and/or nutrition at all, you would learn quite a lot by attending this event.

If you'd like to view clips of tonight's web-cast you may do so here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/davidwolfelive.  When viewing the second video-clip, fast forward to 4:10 (the audio doesn't "kick-in" until that time).  Even with all of the audio/video technical difficulties, the call tonight was the BEST EVER!  I'm sure more of the "kinks" will be worked out by tomorrows web-cast; tonight was the first.

Many thanks to Kevin Gianni @ The Renegade Health Show for somehow linking me to his blog post, so that I was able to attend this evenings event; Kevin is also responsible for the airing of these LIVE events!

If you are interested in learning more about Elements for Life and the products that they sell, feel free to view my web-site at www.SuperfoodMe.com

Hope to see you at Wednesday's event!  :-)

Storage & Cookware

I recently received a message from a friend of mine, she says:

"I was hoping you could help me with something... We are planning on taking out all plastic food containers (and non stick pans) out of our house, but are trying to find good containers to store (and microwave) food in. Maybe glass? Do you know of any good ones (or sites) to look at?..."

Glass is definitely ideal when you are talking about food and/or drink storage (including water).  Pyrex is one company that I know of that manufactures glass storage containers for food (with plastic lids...but not to worry, since the lid isn't "touching" the food, it's not too much of a concern).

I'm also a big fan of using mason jars for storing things such as beverages, and soups (that go in the fridge), and dried goods such as nuts, seeds, powders (most of which go in the pantry).  I do have to say, though that I am not a fan of the metal 2-part lids that come with these mason jars.  Luckily, you can often find (in the same aisle of the store) separately sold plastic lids that fit onto these mason jars.  Both the glass jars and the plastic lids are very reasonably priced (even if you decide to "ditch" the accompanying metal lids).

I'm not sure about the "microwave-ability" of mason jars, however.  There are reasons for my not recommending that anyone use a microwave (but, that's a topic for another time)!

As far as mason jars, I usually buy Kerr brand jars (but Ball makes a similar type).  They are both intended for home-made canning goods.  I originally chose Kerr, mostly because they had writing on only one side of the jar...and since I knew that my pantry was going to be jam-packed (no pun intended) with these jars...I didn't want to be looking at a bunch of writing, artwork, and measurements every time I opened the cabinet.  Although most of my jars are Kerr brand, we have since acquired some Ball jars as well (we purchase one of our favorite honeys that happens to be packaged in Ball brand jars).  I'm finding that having a few Ball jars around the house has become useful, because it does have measurements on the side--I can see how much water I'm drinking and adding to recipes (and the little "fruit" artwork on the one side is sort-of cute).

Another decision as far as mason jars, is whether to get "wide mouth" or "regular" jars & lids.  This is more of a personal choice.  I buy the regular, because I'm one of those strange people that can yoga my fingers & hand in such a way to be able to stick my hand in to clean it properly.  I don't think most people can (or even want to) do this; I think most people go with the wide mouth, mostly because they are easy to clean.

It's almost a joke in the raw-food community...if you've ever been to any kind of raw-food event you probably know what I am speaking of:  So many people carry their drink around with them, it's usually either a mason jar, or a glass jar from what once was a superfood container...and the beverage in it might be water, but more likely some sort of superfood concoction.  This is always a fun conversation topic, "What's in your jar?"

As you can probably guess, glass is just not practical all of the time (and honestly can get quite pricey, when you start investigating non-mason-jar glass storage ware).  There are actually a few of good quality plastic-ware options out there, that is unless you are totally against it.  I avoid almost completely the VERY low quality plastics such as the kind you find water in on the store shelf (thin, flimsy, opaque looking white, not-so-clear).  I have to be in a real "pinch" for water to be motivated to buy those--plus you don't know how long they've been sitting on the shelf, and if it's been in the sunlight, or heat; these are the things that contribute to "leaching" of plastic into the water...not cool by me (you can even taste it, yuck)!

Sometimes glass just is not practical, such as when you're at the beach, or the pool.  Even for home use, there are some pretty good options for storing food in plastic-ware.  If I were to pick one really good high-quality plastic-ware to recommend to someone, it would be Rubbermaid's "Stain Shield."  If I am not mistaken, it is polycarbonate plastic.  Polycarbonate which, is currently debated in the health community to be a "safe" choice; still most people consider it to be a good choice; but there are viewpoints supporting both sides of this issue.  I personally have no problem with it; my Vita-Mix happens to be made of the same material (my Vita-Mix is my most important piece of kitchen "hardware").  I feel intuitively that the "harder" plastics, such as polycarbonate, and "Nalgene" are better choices than softer, more opaque plastics.

I'm not personally, nowhere near "beyond" using ALL opaque plastics...there are some fairly good quality ones that I own and use.  It is important however, that whenever using plastics (especially opaque ones) to please keep them out of the sun, and out of the heat.  As I've said before, sun and heat encourage "leaching" of the plastic, which is what we all want to avoid.

As far as cookware, I definitely avoid using any non-stick.  I own a really nice set of stainless-steel cookware that I have had for many years, and it has served me well.  If you want to get really fancy, invest in a nice set of glass cookware.  I own one glass pot, and I absolutely love it--I swear the food is quite different coming out of that pot.  It is pretty cool, too...to see your food cooking from the outside of the pot.

Good on you for wanting to make a "Greener" kitchen!  High quality glassware (or plastic-ware) will last you a long time; it's nicer (better quality), certainly more eco-friendly...and great for your family as well.

Happy Storing!   :-)

Twins Eating Nuts

This seems like a great (although, unintentional) commercial for Sunfood Nutrition ;-)