Recipes - Hidden Valley Monthly Veggies

Hidden Valley has a great campaign, Love Your Veggies that focuses on educating parents and schools to incorporate more vegetables into children's diets - but as an adult I find it useful as well. You can check it out here: Hidden Valley

There's a great Vegepedia with full color pictures of different vegetables. If you click on one, it will open a new page dedicate to that vegetable complete with an overview, growing tips, pick/store/prep tips, recipes and even a quiz.

List of vegetables in the Vegepedia:
• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Beets
• Bell Peppers
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Summer Squash
• Sweet Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Winter Squash
• Zucchini

There's another section called Parent Wisdom with additional tips and recipes.

Food - The Top 12 Fruits and Vegetables to Eat Organic

Although there is a lot of advertising hype for organic products these days, there is also a bit of truth. For your own health, you should educate yourself on what is true and what is fluff.

There are two ways to produce food to sell. One way emphasizes all-natural, non-synthetic methods. The government does not subsidize organic farmers, and the results are mixed, so the price for the yield is higher. This method is deemed organic.

The other way is to use synthetic chemicals which is quicker, faster and because these farms are subsidized, the price is lwoer for the same products.

Now, there is some balance. Not all fruits and vegetables absorb chemicals the same way. And we don't eat all fruits and vegetables the same way. For example, if the produce has a skin that can be removed, you are probably safe to eat the inside unexposed flesh. So, that's why there is this list - the fruits and vegetables that are most likely to contain pesticides (and chemicals) that might cause long-term damage. If you don't want to expose your body to those chemcials, you should focus on buying those products as Organic.

The following fruits contained the most amount of pesticide:

1. Nectarines
2. Celery
3. Pears
4. Peaches
5. Apples
6. Cherries
7. Strawberries
8. Imported Grapes
9. Spinach
10. Potatoes
11. Bell Peppers
12. Red Raspberries

References: Organic.org - What is organic?
Gourmet Food at About.com

Recipes - The Costco Connection

Costco is a warehouse-retailer that sells high-quality bulk items and speciality items. They have an excellent produce section (with organic too).

What is really great is their online magazine, The Costco Connection are all the recipes and the recipe booklets!

One booklet, Simply Delicious, contains recipes such as Baked Orange French Toast, Breakfast Yogurt Bowls, Chicken Salad with Fruit and Nuts, Island Kabobs with Tropical Fruit Salsa, and a bunch more

Another booklet, Smart Cooking contains recipes such as Good Morning Apple Cake, Apple Crab Salad, Grilled Chicken Breasts under Bricks, Crab Hushpuppies, and more. Also includes tips on Storing Your Produce

Recipes - Whole Foods Market - Budget Friendly Recipes

Whole Foods Market is a health-oriented grocery store that has a lot of organic and locally grown foods and even some interesting imported foods from a variety of ethnic groups. I love the variety this store offers and they often have sales and coupons (see the website) so you're not overwhelmed by the higher prices. And you can't beat the hot food and salad buffets they offer at lunchtime.

But, the one area on the website I really enjoy are the Budget-Friendly Recipes so you can get ideas on what to cook in a healthy way with organic products (from any store, really).

A Sample of their recipes includes:
• Double-Stuffed Deviled Eggs with Ham
• Irish Cheddar Potato Soup with Asparagus
• Honey Mustard Mucho Mango Dip
• Health Starts Here® Raspberry Nice Cream
• Carrot and Horseradish Roasted Cod with Red Potatoes and Lemons

Healthy Living - FREE - Aim for a Healthy Weight

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has a free booklet, Aim for a Healthy Weight that you can download. It starts with the definitions of overweight (with a body mass index chart) and the risks of being overweight.

There's a section for daily food amounts (similar to the food pyramid but in chart format).

The food replacement section is really helpful. You can see how to swap your usual (more fattening) foods for healthier options. For example, whole eggs can be swapped for egg whites or egg substitute. Another example is to swap ice cream for frozen yogurt.

The next section deals with portion control - which is really important. They even show pictures of what a portion for a particular food group should look like. For example, one medium fruit is about the size of a baseball. One cup of cereal flakes is the size of your fist. Then you can visualize if your portions are too big.

There's a section on eating healthy while dining out and one for eating healthier ethnic foods.

Toward the end is a discussion on physical activity and suggestions on sneaking in some activities. I like the sample walking plan - something that requires no equipment and only a minimal amount of time.