California Drought + Breast Milk Contamination | Real Food Round-Up

The drought in California is a real problem. Here's what you can do to help if you live in California and even if you don't. Plus, contaminated breast milk being sold online and a banana muffin recipe in this week's Real Food Round-Up.

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

California Drought Tests History of Endless Growth

169 drought maps reveal just how thirsty California has become

Breast Milk Sold Online Contaminated With Cow's Milk

Maple-Sweetened Banana Muffins

Healthy Snack Idea | Only 2 Ingredients!

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite quick and easy healthy snacks. It's the perfect option for when you're in a hurry or are craving something a little sweet.

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Why I'm Not Taking Showers Anymore

We all know how important healthy bacteria are for our gut, but what about all of the beneficial bacteria that live on our skin? When we shower, we are washing all of this bacteria right down the drain. I've recently started thinking about this issue and how it might negatively impact my health, so I have decided that I am going to stop taking showers. It might sound strange, but I have to make my health a priority and do what's best for me.

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Natural Easter Egg Dye + More Easter Recipes | Real Food Round-Up

This week's Real Food Round-Up is all about Easter! I'm sharing some healthy Easter recipes, including how to dye eggs naturally and yummy homemade Easter candy.

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

All Natural Easter Egg Dye Recipes from Better Homes and Gardens

Dye-Free Deviled Eggs from Weelicious

Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb with Mint Gremolata from Feasting at Home

Homemade Peanut Butter Egg + 2 More Easter Chocolates

Homemade Peanut Butter Egg + 2 More Easter Chocolates

Easter usually involves quite a bit of candy, so why not make some of that candy yourself? Today, I'm showing you how to make 3 different chocolate eggs: a milk chocolate peanut butter egg, a dark chocolate coconut egg, and a white chocolate lavender egg. Making these chocolates at home means you get to use the best quality ingredients and it's a fun activity for kids and grown-ups alike!

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

March Favorites 2015 | Healthy Snacks, Jewelry, Fitness, and More!

I can't believe March is almost over! Here are some of my favorite things from the past month, including a healthy snack for you salty/savory lovers, a fun food festival, a gorgeous handmade jewelry find, fitness, and more!

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Designs by Melanie

Thistle Ridge Soap

Gaiam Foot Roller

A World without Antibiotics? | Real Food Round-Up

We know that the overuse of antibiotics, including in animal agriculture, is leading to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Now, new projections from Princeton suggest that this problem is only going to grow in the future.

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Global trends in antimicrobial use in food animals

Soaring antibiotic use in animals fuels "super bug" fears

Thai Green Curry with Spring Vegetables from Cookie and Kate

Chocolate Coconut Oil Nut Bars from Savory Lotus

How to Save Money on Healthy Food

It's important to prioritize healthy food in your budget, but you also don't want to be spending extra money when you don't have to. Here's how you can save money on healthy food, no coupon clipping required.

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

One of the best ways to save money on healthy food is to reduce your food waste. It's estimated that 40% of food goes to waste. That's a big problem, especially when there are so many people going hungry. Plus, when you waste food, it's like throwing your hard earned money in the garbage. Here are some things you can do to reduce your food waste.

1. Meal plan. Planning your meals means that you can buy only what you need and don't end up with extra food at the end of the week. This helps eliminate science experiments in the back of the fridge and rotting produce that ends up getting tossed.
2. Be ok with food that isn't perfect. Quite a bit of food goes to waste because of minor cosmetics issues. Embrace the fact that food is biological and is going to have it's quirks and imperfections. If there's a bad spot on your apple or tomato, cut it away and eat the rest rather than throwing the whole thing away.
3. Use everything. The scraps and extras that you're throwing away might actually be able to provide you with an extra meal. For example, use chicken bones to make your own broth. It's easy and that broth can be used to make soup for dinner the next day. You can also save veggie scraps like carrot ends, celery ends, onion tops, and ginger peels in a bag in your freezer to add into your homemade broth. This means that you are squeezing every last bit of nutrition and every last penny out of something that would have ended up in the trash.
4. Compost. Speaking of trash, compost whenever possible. Even if you're trying really hard, things are still going to go bad on occasion. Plus, if you're eating lots of fresh produce, you're also probably throwing away lots of cores and other little bits. Composting these items allows them to decompose naturally, rather than sitting in a plastic bag in the landfill. Plus, if you happen have a garden or house plants, your homemade compost can serve as a great free natural fertilizer for your plants.
5. Grow your own. When you grow your own fruits and veggies, you can get the best produce in exchange for a little bit of your time and energy. Plus, you can eat things that would never make it to the grocery store or farmers' market. If a tomato splits on the vine, you can pick it and eat it right away. Something like that would end up getting tossed on a farm, because it could never make it to market without spoiling and, even if it did, no one would buy it.

Can You Trust a Dietitian? | Real Food Round-Up

A recent partnership between Kids Eat Right (of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics) and Kraft has got a lot of people fired up. It's bringing the credibility of dietitians into question in the media and I had to give my thoughts on the issue.

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

A Cheese 'Product' Gains Kids' Nutrition Seal

UPDATE: I want to clarify something from the video. Kids Eat Right is part of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The AND Foundation has a different board and makes decisions separately from AND. It is unclear to me at this time what sort of oversight, if any, AND has over the AND Foundation and it's decisions.

What I Ate #2 | Healthy Dinner Ideas

If you're curious as to what exactly a dietitian eats or just need some healthy dinner inspiration, this one's for you. I'm sharing some recent dinners from my table and giving you all the yummy details. Who says healthy food can't be delicious?

[x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Buying Half a Hog

Tomato soup recipe from Entertaining with Beth

Is Organic Food Better?

Organic food is often touted to be much better for you than non organic food. But what's the difference? And is organic food really better for you? Here's the breakdown on organic vs non organic and why all organic food isn't created equal. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Get more info about the USDA Organic program here

How to Find Local Food

Gardening Playlist

McDonald's Moves Closer to Real Food | Real Food Round-Up

McDonald's recently announced that they are moving to eliminate the use of human antibiotics in the chicken they purchase. This is a big deal and a great step in the right direction. But, while I'm excited for how this will impact the food system and help in fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria, we still have a ways to go before real food becomes the norm. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

McDonald’s Moving to Limit Antibiotic Use in Chickens

McDonald’s Is Changing Its McNuggets—and the Move Could Save Lives

Honey Ginger Lemonade Health Tonic from Back to Her Roots

Kale, Sausage, and White Bean Soup from 100 Days of Real Food

How to Become a Dietitian

Becoming a dietitian is a process that has a lot of steps. Here it is all laid out with a few tips from me along the way. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Note: As I mentioned in the video, this process will be changing in the future. The details on the new process are still in the works.

You can get more information about becoming a dietitian on the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website.

Health Benefits of Garlic

Garlic is a delicious food with several health benefits. Learn more about why garlic is so great, plus a tip to maximize the healthy compounds in your garlic. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Garlic's health benefits http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/garlic

Garlic and immune system health http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11697022

Garlic and heart health http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20594781 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20594781 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19060427

Garlic and cancer http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/causes-prevention/risk-factors/diet/garlic-fact-sheet http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/dietandnutrition/garlic

The Best Plants for Your Garden

Growing a garden can give you the most delicious and nutritious fruits and vegetables around, but deciding what you want to plant can be hard. These are some of the things I think about when choosing the plants I want to grow in my garden. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]If you want to know more about what I'm growing in my garden this year, here's a full list. I've divided the plants into categories to make it a little easier to find what you're looking for.

Beans

• Provider (bush, snap)
• Rattlesnake Snap (pole, snap)
• Calypso (bush, dry)
• Good Mother Stallard (pole, dry)
• Turkey Craw (pole, snap or dry)

Beets

• Detroit Dark Red
• Chiggia
• Burpee's Golden

Broccoli

• De Cicco

Cauliflower

• Early Snowball

Cabbage

• Prize Choy
• Early Jersey Wakefield
• I also plan to grow some fall varieties, but I haven't selected those yet. I'll add them here once I do.

Carrots

• Dragon
• Paris Market
• St. Valery

Collards

• Vates

Corn

• Smoke Signals Popcorn

Cucumber

• Parade

Ground Cherry

• Aunt Molly's

Kale

• Lacinato
• Red Russian

Lettuce

• Bronze Arrowhead
• Crisp Mint
• Forellenschluss
• Green Oakleaf
• Mantilia
• Mizuna
• Red Velvet
• Sylvetta Arugula
• Tango
• Yugoslavian Red

Melon

• Boule D'Or
• Petit Gris de Rennes

Peas

• Amish Snap
• Champion of England (shell)

Peppers

• Aji Crystal (hot)
• Bull Nose Bell (Sweet)
• Chocolate Beauty (Sweet)
• Jimmy Nardello's (Sweet)
• Martin's Carrot (hot)
• Mustard Habanero (hot)
• Thai Hot (...hot :D)

Radish

• Cincinnati Market
• Early Scarlet Globe
• Watermelon

Summer Squash

• Black Beauty Zucchini
• Summer Crookneck

Swiss Chard

• Five Color Silverbeet (Rainbow Chard)

Tomatillo

• Green
• Purple

Tomato (Cherry)

• Black Cherry
• Blondkopfchen
• Green Grape
• Mexico Midget

Tomato (Large)

• Aunt Ruby's German Green
• Gold Medal
• Italian Heirloom
• Jaune Flamme
• Kellogg's Breakfast
• Paul Robeson

Turnip

• Purple Top White

Watermelon

• Blacktail Mountain
• Orangeglo

Winter Squash

• Marina di Chioggia
• Thelma Sanders
• Winter Luxury Pumpkin

Herbs

• Basil, Genovese
• Basil, Thai
• Borage
• Catnip
• Chives
• Garlic Chives
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Feverfew
• English Lavender
• Lemon Balm
• Lovage
• Greek Oregano
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Spearmint
• Thyme

Flowers

• Beary's Giant Zinnia
• Blue Boy Bachelor's Buttons
• Butterfly Weed
• Calendula mixture
• Lupine
• Globe Amaranth
• Titan Sunflower (edible seeds)

Eat Peanuts to Prevent Allergy? | Real Food Round-Up

In the past, parents have been told to avoid giving peanuts to young children because it could cause a peanut allergy. Now, a new study is showing that eating peanuts early could actually PREVENT an allergy. So what's the deal? Also in this Real Food Round-Up, the pork supply is bouncing back after big losses last year and a hearty kale bowl recipe to add to your lunch rotation. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Peanut consumption in infancy prevents peanut allergy, study finds

Feeding Infants Peanut Products Could Prevent Allergies, Study Suggests

Why restaurants are putting bacon back on everything again

Kale Salad Bowl

February Favorites 2015 | Real Food, Gardening, Playlist Live, & More!

February was a busy month and I've got quite a few favorites to show for it! As always, I'm sharing some exciting real food stuff, plus, this month, I'm also talking about my trip to Playlist Live/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Buying Half a Hog

Garden Planning Tips and Resources

My vlog channel with the hubs and kitties

GMO Apple Approved by USDA | Real Food Round-Up

The USDA recently approved a new GMO apple called the Arctic Apple. This new apple has been genetically modified so that it won't brown as quickly when cut. But what are the benefits and risks of this sort of thing and what do we need to know as consumers? [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Buying Half a Hog | Why I Did It + What I Got!

If you're into organic, pastured meat, buying a whole or half animal is a great option. It saves money and helps you eat the right amount of each cut. My husband and I recently bought half a hog for the two of us and we're loving having a freezer full of high quality, pastured pork. If you're interested in doing the same and are wondering how much meat you get from half a hog, I show everything laid out on our kitchen table in the video.The half hog ended up fitting in two coolers: one 48 quart and one 52 quart. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

What I Ate #1 | Healthy Dinner Ideas

Ever wonder what a dietitian eats? Here's a peak at some of my dinners from the past month. From the simple to the more complicated and the delicious to the straight up awful, it's all here. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]