Related to apples and pears (see our 1/28/11 entry: About Pears...another Power Food), fans of this seasonal holiday fruit adore its exotic fragrance and the way it blushes from peach to rose as it cooks. The whole quince fruits are so fragrant at room temperature they were used in ancient times to perfume the room, much as we use room fresheners today.

Unfortunately, quinces seldom receive much recognition in American cooking. They are one of the true gems of Persian origin and are prized for the delicious jams and jellies made from them. Similar in texture to apples, quinces are a bit drier, firmer, and far more tart, which makes them an ideal fruit to use in baking. Quinces are very receptive to seasonings and spices, and are easily peeled with a veggie peeler. The challenge is cutting them as they are super tough and require a good, firm knife.

The raw fruit is sour, so it is usually poached in syrup, roasted with a sweetener, or simmered until soft before using.

If you like trying new things, click here for some purchasing and storing tips and a few delicious, sure-to-please recipes...Enjoy!

Despite this, and over the objections of 2 dozen California legislators and 54 scientists, including 5 Nobel laureates, methyl iodide was cleared for use on a national level by the Bush administration in 2007.

About a year and a half ago the State Department of Pesticide Regulation gave final approval to permit the use of methyl iodide, a fumigant designed to eradicate bacteria, weeds and insects from growing soils. State officials insist the pesticide, a liquid that is injected into the soil, will be applied only by specialists (so what?!!!), and treated areas will be covered by impermeable tarps (again, so what?!!!)

Strawberries are naturally packed with healthy antioxidants, rivaling citrus fruits for vitamin C content (98mg), and have 3.3g of fiber, 40mcg of folate and 254mg of potassium.

Unfortunately, conventionally grown strawberries rank in the top 10 pesticide-ridden fruits and veggies. Be aware! Know that if you choose to buy conventionally grown strawberries (non organic), you are poisoning yourself.

Enjoy our healthy berry recipes du jour.

Day 5 of our eat2live challenge.

As a mother, I realize more than ever, the importance of good health.  I know that I have a choice to either live each day feeling great...living with energy, feeling light and agile ...easily able to keep up with my kids ~ OR live like each day I am getting nearer to my death, due to disease or so much excess weight on my body it is a drag to move around and hard to truly enjoy the day.

I also want my kids to live a good, balanced, happy life.  I do not want to encumber them with diseases they can avoid like diabetes, cancer and heart disease. I do not want them to have to depend on drugs to help them make it through the day.  Therefore, I will try anything to give them the best start I can.

Ignorance is truly bliss. Once I began learning about what is going on with our food supply, it was hard for me to ignore the problem.  My buying and eating habits have changed, mainly with respect to buying organic where necessary, avoiding processed foods...and now, with trying to eat mainly fruits and veggies.

It is not easy to change the way we eat ~ particularly if we are used to a diet full of tasty fats and refined sugars. But there is too much evidence not to attempt to eat for better health.

When I first became a mother, the best piece of advice I was given was to : PICK YOUR BATTLES!  The food our kids consume is well worth the battle of changing habits that are bad, dangerous and deadly.

NOTE: Some kinds of raw beans (especially red and kidney beans) contain a harmful toxin (the lectin Phytohaemaqqlutinin) that must be destroyed by cooking. A recommended method is to boil the beans for at least ten minutes; undercooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans. Cooking beans in a slow cooker, because of the lower temperatures often used, may not destroy toxins even though the beans do not smell or taste bad  (though this should not be a problem if the food reaches boiling and stays there for some time).

Click to download our day 5 eat to live Menu & Recipes

This outrageous number revealed that not only are more and more Americans unable to make a living today, the number of long-term unemployed has increased sharply since the recession officially began in December 2007.

By mid-summer (July-September 2010) nearly half of unemployed Americans (nearly 8 million people) were jobless for 27 weeks or longer (nearly 7 months.) The number of people jobless for a year or more rose from 645,000 in mid 2007 to 4.5 million this past summer! 

Everyone of us knows someone who has lost a job, is having a hard time making ends meet, or has lost both their home and their job.  By race, Caucasians made up nearly 74% of all unemployed people and 70% of those have been jobless for a year or more.

These trying times are exactly this. After so much greed, unjustified glory and overindulgence, what went furiously up has come down hard, and now is the time for us to all be truly grateful for what we have...be it simply good health, family, friends or shelter.

Whatever it is we wake up to, we certainly wake to the choices of how to live this day. Choose wisely and choose well. Choose foods that nourish our bodies and brains, foods that are good for the soul...for what comes around goes around, and if you are waiting for something good to appear, you first have to put it out there in this manner.

For those of us who wake to employment today ~ be grateful.  For those of us who have kids ~ it is time for them to truly understand what being grateful means...looking at the world from a 'glass-half-full' perspective, particularly at this time of the year when materialistic Americana is at its peak.

We are ready to rock and roll! We received our Health Department approval (final approval) yesterday!

This means we will be cooking all next week for training and preparations in order to open our doors on Monday, May 28th, Memorial Day (in memory of my dad who passed on the same day...) 

I will let everyone know in the next coupled of days, what our schedule will be and how we will be bringing you in.

THANK YOU ALL for your patience and interest and support.

 See you SOON! Anita

Please let me know if I have missed anything or if it brings ANY questions to mind.  This is a work in progress!

Instead of bringing everyone physically together as we have been doing, please watch this at your convenience but please watch it asap. This first video covers our calendar (as of last Sunday.)

We need everyone interested and associated with g2g to know what these 3 videos cover.

Thank YOU for your attention. I will try to post video #2 tomorrow.  Please come back to check.

Anita

  Enjoy the nasty honey badger!

V.Earl Irons was born in 1895 and became one of the original pioneers of the natural foods industry. He graduated from Yale and after beating a debilitating mid-life disease (reversing severe arthritis via diet) he started a second family at age 72, fathered his last child at age 80 and died in 1993 just before his 99th birthday.

This is what he had to say about our American health in general:

In 1900 the U.S. was in 1st place as far as health is concerned out of a total of 93 civilized nations. In 1920 we were in 2nd place. In 1978, we had dropped to 79th place. More than one notch per year. Think of it, the richest nation in wealth, knowledge, hospitals, doctors and nurses, yet near the bottom in health ~ all in 82 years.  Yet in 1920, we had no vitamins...Today the vitamin business is a multi billion dollar industry and our health has steadily worsened. So what good are dead vitamins? Think it over! Only LIFE begets LIFE! Only LIFE supports LIFE...

Can you imagine what he would have to say about the state of our health since the 1980's???

Since we began this green2go journey the following fact has been announced many times: 

Unless we change our diets drastically (from too much meat and processed foods to mainly fresh fruits & veggies), this generation of kids will be the first in American history to live sicker and die younger than their parents.

We have a choice, every day, over what we ingest. We understand it is sometimes difficult and expensive to eat truly healthy. As we prepare to open our first doors, please know that it is our aim to make healthy eating easy, delicious and affordable for YOU!