Category: to your health

Shirataki Miracle Noodles: Are They Worth Trying?

If you’ve ever wished for a noodle with zero calories, zero carbs, zero gluten and a neutral flavor profile ready to absorb spices, you’ll understand why shirataki noodles are called a miracle. Also known as shirataki miracle noodles, miracle noodles or keto noodles, these slippery, watery, initially fishy noodles are similar to the ones you find in Asian stir-fries, soups or curries. Some people use them like pasta. Are they worth trying? Do they taste good? In the following post, I find out.

Shirataki miracle noodles, also known as konjac pasta, made by the Miracle Noodles brand
Two bags of Miracle Noodles brand shirataki noodles in the fettucine cut, two for $5 at Whole Foods Market in Nashville

In January 2017, I wrote an article for Vitamix about how miracle noodles were becoming mainstream. Nonetheless, almost two years later, 73% of you polled on Instagram said you still haven’t tried them. And, despite researching that blog post two winters ago, I’ll admit I’m with you. Read More

Do You Buy All Organic Produce or Do You Follow the Dirty Dozen/Clean 15?

In an informal Instagram survey, a reader recently wanted to know more about grocery sources. Her question: “Do you buy all fruits/vegetables organic, or do you follow Dirty Dozen/Clean 15?” So here’s a look at these labels, which get updated each year, and how you might use them when you grocery shop.

dirty dozen/clean 15 2018
Photo by Sylvie Tittel on Unsplash

In 2018, most Americans know about pesticides, those substances used to kill pests, such as weeds or insects, on plants, as well as the associated risks of using them. Read More

5 Reasons to Eat at True Food Kitchen Nashville

Officially opened to the public this morning, True Food Kitchen Nashville’s is Music City’s newest health-focused restaurant. One of the chain’s more than 20 locations, it offers a large, seasonal menu; a focus on anti-inflammatory eating; and a lush setting on Hillsboro Road in Green Hills. Here are five good reasons to eat there sometime soon.

True Food Kitchen Nashville
Pictured: True Food Kitchen’s Nashville location on opening day, September 26, 2018

As an eatery that calls itself “more than a restaurant … [but rather] a way of thinking, a way of life,” True Food Kitchen is a place that takes health seriously. Read More

Slowing Down with The New Laurel’s Kitchen Cookbook

In the ’70s and ’80s in America, vegetarianism wasn’t mainstream, but it was growing. In fact, you could make the case that at least part of the reason we have so many wonderful bloggers, books, documentaries and restaurants dedicated to vegetarian food today is because of plant-loving pioneers from that time. Here’s a look at one such resource: The New Laurel’s Kitchen.

the new laurel's kitchen

Five years after a group of “spiritual seekers” founded natural, vegetarian community The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee and two years after Mollie Katzen self-published The Moosewood Cookbook, later regarded as one of the most famous vegetarian resources in the world, a trio of California authors got together to create their own meat-free cookbook: the original Laurel’s Kitchen.Read More

5 Ideas for Healthy Meal Planning on a Budget

Many home cooks swear by meal planning (about half of you, according to a recent Instagram poll). They say it saves stress, time and money. Could it work for you? Today when you want to do healthy meal planning on a budget, you don’t have to do it alone. Here are five programs and tools that make it more manageable!

Healthy Meal Planning on a Budget

When it comes to meal planning, you can do the legwork yourself. Actually, if you are particular about what you eat, you probably want to do it. You start with recipes–from your head, cookbooks, Pinterest, etc. Then, you write a corresponding shopping list, buy what you need and follow your menu. This is probably the best option when you don’t mind the practice of organizing a plan and a shopping list. In other cases, however, such as if you dread this task, you want someone to make it easier. Enter meal planning programs.Read More

How to Bake Long-Fermented Sourdough Bread

Long-fermented sourdough bread is sort of the gold standard of natural leavening. Particularly if you’re interested in the health benefits from sourdough, you will care that a long fermentation means more time to break down phytic acid as well as the bran of the grain for digestibility. Min Kim of the beautiful Instagram account Min’s Kitchen created her recipe with this in mind. Available online, it requires no kneading, is largely hands off and yet offers all the benefits of a long-fermented sourdough bread.

naturally leavened long fermented sourdough bread

Traditional foods teacher Min Kim first became interested in true sourdough bread when trying to help her daughter deal with repeated sinus infections. After having her daughter remove all grains and try the GAPS diet for gut healing, her family began to slowly reintroduce only properly prepared grains. Understanding that the traditional method of making long-fermented sourdough bread meant making bread easier to digest, she started baking it herself.Read More