Strawberries are the ultimate summer fruit. I remember going strawberry picking with my family every year as a kid. We would make a whole day out of it and at the end we would get freshly-made strawberry ice cream right from the farm itself.
Condiments are great. There are so many of them, and they can always make or break a dish. Two of my favorite condiments are peanut butter and jelly, a diehard classic. One day, while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I wondered how easy it would be to make my own peanut butter and jelly condiments from scratch. You’ll be delighted to know that it’s very easy (and tasty!). It just takes a little time, patience, and dedication. The best part is, you have full control over the ingredients list.
Have you ever thought about hosting a No Waste Dinner Party? Summertime is all about community…and a no-waste menu dinner party is a great way to celebrate Earth Day, or simply introduce your friends to the concept of sustainability! You can make it a fun, informative event without getting too lecture-y: plus, everyone is more receptive when they’re being fed! Use everyone’s happy mood to open up conversations about
Eating fresh, organic, local produce is a great way to make sure you’re eating food that is at its nutritional peak. It’s also an excellent way to reduce your food’s carbon footprint. You can make your diet even more sustainable by doing things like choosing sustainable seafood options and
S.C.O.B.Y., the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast needed to produce kombucha, is a necessary by-product of the fizzy, good-for-you fermented tea that’s grown in popularity over the last few years. It’s not pretty: most scoby are disc-shaped (they grow to fit their containers, usually a large glass jar), rubbery feeling, and slimy looking, with the occasional grayish-brown strands that can result from yeast blooms.
Water permeates all facets (and faucets – pun intended) of our lives: from what we drink, to how we bathe, to where we gather to swim, kayak, ride boats, and even travel. We’ve all heard familiar phrases like “drink half your body weight in ounces per day,” and “eight cups of water per day is the minimum of what you need,” but few of us ever bother to take a look at our water.
Yes, it can be found in a well, reservoir, tap, or bottle, but few of us are familiar with the actual source: springs.
What do you think of when you hear the words “Fourth of July”? Most people think of fireworks, picnics, family, and, of course, food. Dishes like potato and pasta salads, burgers and hotdogs, fried chicken and corn-on-the-cob, and even strawberry shortcake can be a fun way to celebrate a once-a-year occasion, but most traditional dishes are full of processed grains, high in sugar, and saturated with dangerous hydrogenated oils and trans fats.
It might be tempting to pop a Tylenol, Aleve, or an even more potent, potentially prescriptive drug to relieve pain, but the side effects and risks might not be worth it. If natural alternatives are available–that don’t cause side effects like nausea, stomach pain, rashes, headaches, heartburn, and rare conditions like anemia, bleeding of the stomach, chronic heart failure, and depression–what's there to lose?
When I was a teenager, I took to carrying around a small, rectangular piece of paper that I had printed from the David Suzuki (a prominent Canadian environmentalist) website. The card identified species of seafood that were fine to eat, indicated by a green dot, species that could be in jeopardy, indicated by a yellow dot, and finally species that should not be eaten due to overfishing, amongst other factors, identified by a red dot.
I’ve been writing these monthly produce guides for quite some time now, and I have to be honest with you—this month may very well be offering the best produce to date. This June, do your taste buds a favor by picking or purchasing these five produce items: basil, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and watermelon.