Comments (0)

By Emily, March 6, 2010 7:25 pm

Highlights for February 28-March 6:
Bloggers who inspire me

When I started this blog, my friend Alexandra had a bit to do with it. Besides being one of the few bloggers who I know in real life, her blog, A Food Coma, helped me realized that I could write about food too.  Today I’m super jealous, because she and A Food Coma are featured in a NY Times article! Go Alex!

Of course, Alex isn’t the only one who writes a blog that inspires my cooking, my writing and my eating.  This week I’m highlighting a few of my favorite food/healthy living blogs.  One of the best things about being a blogger is the community that comes from commenting on the posts of other writers.  It’s fun getting to know people, even if I haven’t met them in person yet.

Written by Kristen, Leigh and Rachel,  Cheap Healthy Good is “a blog dedicated to the advancement of frugal, nutritious, ethically-minded food in everyday life”.  Can’t go wrong with that!  Kristen just fed her fiance for a week on just $25, and the weekly Veggie Might column has great vegetarian recipes.

Good (& Cheap) Eats is all about “eating well without spending a fortune and “well” means “healthfully” as well as “deliciously”.   Recent posts: Build a Better Grocery Budget, Gluten-Free Flours, and Highlights from the Great Recipe Swap.

Posts from Holly over at The Healthy Everythingtarian always make me smile.  Her creative flavor combinations, especially at breakfast, and ability to be herself in her posts (something that never seems to come across for me!) makes her blog a great read.

Healthy Tipping Point was another one of the first healthy living blogs I started to read.  Caitlin’s much more into fitness than I am, but maybe someday I’ll stop reading her posts about exercise and start actually doing it!  Plus she’s the brains behind Operation Beautiful.

When I need new vegetarian recipes, book recipes or vegan baking ideas, No Meat Athlete is one of the first places I go.  Matt’s posts about how he combines being vegetarian and a (marathon) runner are nothing short of inspiring.  Plus he started Health Blog Helper which has, well, really helped this health blog!

What can I say about Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman?  Her recipes, photography and life in general are amazing.  Not vegetarian, and sometimes not even healthy, I can’t remember the last time I saw a PW recipe I didn’t want to cook.  Plus her kids are adorable, and who doesn’t like looking at pictures of beautiful countryside?

Lastly, even you “non-food bloggers” should check out the Outside the Box Challenge, which is being organized by Shedding It (another great blog!) and Nutritionista.  This week’s challenge (which ends tomorrow) was to make something from scratch.  I entered last week’s cornbread. The prizes are really awesome–check it out!

Comments (0)

By Emily, February 27, 2010 10:41 am

Being a food blogger, at least the way I do it, can be seriously depressing.  By the time I’ve caught up with my Reader (which, come to think of it, never happens) I’ve read about why fish are going extinct, what’s wrong with the organic produce system, why we’re all fat, and added about 12 things to my list of foods that I try to avoid.  But at the end of the day, I’ve still got to eat something.  Preferably something that tastes good.

Sometimes the weekly Highlights can get a little heavy handed too.  I know some of my readers think exactly the way I do and would love to make Food, Inc required viewing for everyone in the country, but I also know that some of my readers are my friends and family and frankly, they’re just keeping tabs on me.

So, because I need some good news and sometimes the blog needs some lightening up, I bring you some positive news from the food blog world.

Highlights for February 21-27: Good News

By 2013, all 121 flavors of Ben & Jerry’s will be Fair Trade Certified. Another way to rationalize ice cream? Definitely good news.

Quiznos Launches ‘Eat Toasty, Be Green’ Campaign.  The restaurants will be using “100 percent compostable wax-coated paper cups, pulp salad bowls made from renewable sugarcane and napkins made from 100 percent recycled material and fibers.”  Definitely a step in the right direction.

New babies are always good news, right? Host of Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi had her baby, a girl.

Someone out there can read my mind, because this year Just Born is launching chocolate-covered marshmallow Peeps!  There are few things in this world better than marshmallows covered in chocolate.

Finally, I know I’ve plugged it before, but Operation Beautiful always makes my day.  Good news: real beauty is not a number on the scale!  The latest Operation Beautiful video is awesome and there’s no reason to not be involved with their simple mission.

Every Saturday, I choose a theme and highlight blog posts, websites and news articles from my Google Reader which I found interesting (and hope you do too!)  If you want more reading, check out “What I’m Reading” on my sidebar.

Comments (0)

By Emily, February 20, 2010 4:06 pm

Maybe it’s just my interest in cooking unique, healthy, fresh food.  Maybe it’s the appeal of vegetarianism.  But it seemed to me that this week there were a lot of blogs writing about vegetarianism and veganism.   I’m still neither of those, but I really admire people who are and I’ve really enjoyed exploring them recently (I just got Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals from the library and I’m so excited to start reading it!).

Highlights for February 14-20: Veganism and Vegetarianism

Sometimes I think these diets seem more popular because I’m so aware of them, but I’m clearly not the only one interested.  Alicia Silverstone’s vegan cookbook, “The Kind Diet ” was topping Amazon’s bestselling cookbooks list.

No Meat Athlete is one of my favorite blogs for vegetarian recipes, and there’s a whole category of healthy desserts, which are almost always vegan.

People often comment that vegetarian/vegan diets don’t supply enough nutrients.  Planet Green says you can get more iron than Popeye as a vegan

Endless Simmer examines the question “Can a vegetarian/vegan be a “foodie”” (The answer? A resounding “yes”.  Duh.)

Also from Planet Green, “Meat the Press: 6 Ways to Decode Media Coverage of Vegan Issues”

A spin on Bittman’s “Vegan until 6,” Graham Hill is promoting weekday vegetarianism.  I know ideas like this upset “real” vegetarians sometimes, but I think it’s really great.  In fact, in the 14 months since I cut my meat consumption by more than half, full time vegetarianism has become more and more appealing.

Every Saturday, I choose a theme and highlight blog posts, websites and news articles from my Google Reader which I found interesting (and hope you do too!)  If you want more reading, check out “What I’m Reading” on my sidebar.

Comments (0)

By Emily, February 13, 2010 9:06 am

When I was in high school and college, I used to vehemently protest Valentine’s Day.  I’d wear all black and generally be obnoxious to those around me.  Things since then have changed (it helps to be happily married!) and though Brian and I are still having a really low key Valentine’s Day, I don’t hate it the way I used to.  This week’s links are, of course, Valentine’s Day themed.

Highlights for February 7-13: Valentine’s Day

Gifts:

Still shopping? Slashfood has a collection of Funky Valentine’s Day Gifts for Foodies.  I already have 3 aprons, but there’s some cute ones on there…

Everyone loves love letters.  Mental_floss has A Brief History of Great Love Letters, in case you’re in the mood to write (or read…) one.

Drinks:

Serious Beer Pairings: Chocolate and Beer for Valentine’s Day (via Serious Eats)

Pink Sparkling wines (Slashfood)

Food:

Heart Shaped Food for Valentine’s Day (Mental_floss) and just what I always wanted, Papa John’s has heart shaped pizza! (Slice)

One of the things that can suck about Valentine’s Day is not having a significant other.  Fear not, A Food Coma has taken care of that with an indulgent Valentine’s Day menu for one.

Change.org has some ideas for a Sustainable and Sensual: A Valentine’s Day Menu

Both the NY Times and The Daily Beast have pieces on aphrodisiac foods.  I’ll leave it at that.

Candy (clearly, the best part of Valentine’s Day):

5 recipes for homemade chocolate candies (that’d be good for any time of year!)

Why We Give Candy on Valentine’s Day.  Um, because it’s delicious?

Top 10 Dark Chocolates for Valentine’s Day from Huffington Post.

Though I won’t have time before V-Day, I think I may need to test out this recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Strawberries from Slashfood.

Apparently you can use Red Hots as a spice.  Go figure (I may not be trying that one…).

Over at No Meat Athlete, Christine has posted a recipe for making your own vegan box of chocolates (as well as one for Vegan Merlot-Berry Sorbet)–I’m not even vegan and they sound amazing.

I know that’s a lot of links for the week, but there was too much good stuff out there!  Stay tuned for a post about how Brian and I celebrated our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple.

And, don’t forget to enter my Yoplait Frozen Smoothie and single serving blender giveaway!

Comments (0)

By Emily, February 6, 2010 1:53 pm

I live in the mountains of western Massachusetts.  Our winter’s been pretty uneventful, we’ve had one snow day.  That’s fine with me: I hate winter, except for the eating soup all the time part.  Still, it seems awfully unfair that the mid-Atlantic is being covered in snow while we don’t have any in our near future.

In honor of my friends in Virginia and Maryland and the fact that spice was super popular in the blogosphere this week (perhaps it’s super bowl related?), this week’s Highlights from my Reader are all about spicy foods to keep you warm while you’re snowed in.

Highlights for January 31-February 6: Hot Stuff

Want to spice up your computer?  Download this desktop background featuring chili peppers from Chow.

Mental_floss has a list of 4 amazing things that chili peppers can do.

Slashfood has 5 tips that will make your “recipe from the back of the can” chili taste even better.

The LA Times (on their surprisingly bad looking website) has an article on the history and various versions of chili.

Serious Eats posted 2 chili recipes this week.  This spicy one and a vegetarian chili recipe that has rice in it.  I may have to try that one soon.

Another recipe that looks worth trying is Cajun Chicken Pasta from the Pioneer Woman.

If you want to know more than you ever thought possible about oven-fried buffalo wings, Serious Eats has the analysis for you, as well as a fried vs. baked wing taste test.

Into taste tests?  Slashfood put chips and salsa to the test, just in time for the big game.

Finally, Endless Simmer noted that people in DC were hurrying to the store to stock up before the storm hit.  Gansie posted her list of the 5 things she really needed to weather the storm.  If I was going to get 30″ of snow, I’d probably stock up on: soup, pasta, tea, chocolate and fruit.

What’s your snow five?

Comments (0)

By Emily, January 31, 2010 1:09 pm

Every Saturday I highlight items from my Reader to share with the readers of Relishments.   Enjoy!

Highlights for January 24-30

Comic courtesy of Toothpaste for Dinner

I’m a self-professed tea addict.  With the weather as cold as it’s been, my interest in warm beverages is on the increase.  I know some of my readers love coffee and tea as much as I do, so I thought it’d make a good theme for the week.

Check out this really cute Submarine Tea Infuser (via Serious Eats)!

Slashfood has a piece about what we put in our coffee:Milk and Coffee: A Match Made in Heaven

If this brief post isn’t enough for you, Katrina’s blog Tea Pages is all about tea!

Need to buy some tea?  It’s not secret that I’m a huge fan of Harney and Sons. I’ve also been happy with purchases I’ve made from Adagio Teas.

Meanwhile, as I give you links about coffee and tea, Matt over at NoMeatAthlete is working to give up caffeine.  Good luck Matt!

What’s your favorite kind of tea?  Anything I should be trying?

Comments (1)

By Emily, January 23, 2010 8:55 am

Brian and I were both sick all week.  That’s my excuse for lack of posts this week.  I wonder what my excuse will be next week :)

This week I got the really cool opportunity to show one of my classes Food, Inc.  Obviously, I was really excited about showing it and even more excited that it was what they’d chosen to watch (from the limited choices I’d offered).  Of course, I wasn’t surprised when they began to freak out a little bit at the information they were receiving.  To me, the information in Food, Inc is kind of old news, but its so cool to see someone hear it for the first time.

In honor of my students and their expanded awareness and the start of a new semester on Monday, this week’s highlights from my Reader are related to schools and the issues presented in the movie.

Highlights for January 17-23: Education

Tom Laskawy has a good opinion piece on Grist this week: Lessons for Schools: Sweetened Junk Shouldn’t Count as Food.  No kidding…and yet, it does!

Obviously some people agree with Laskawy, because Ontario schools will ban junk food starting in September.  Go Canada!

Several blogs have picked up on Fed Up: A School Lunch Project which follows an Illinois teacher as she buys school hot lunch every day.  If you’re not aware of what kids are being served, check it out.

NY Times has a great piece on the dangerous prevalence of snack time, especially among kids.  It is sort of ridiculous when you think about it…

Watching Food, Inc again sent me into another debate with myself over what I should really be eating.  It was really comforting to see that Holly was having a similar debate over a box of Special K bars.  And I probably would make the same choice she did.

Some of my students expressed the suspicion that there’s nothing we can do to change the food system.  I told them that I disagree and I believe the biggest way to create change is to educate our friends and families, one person at a time.  So, if you find any of these links helpful, share them!

Comments (0)

By Emily, January 16, 2010 7:51 am

Highlights for January 10-16:

Things That Fascinate Me

1. Why Paula Deen has deep fried so many random things.  7 Things Paula Deen Fried, from Food Network Humor.
2. People who run marathons.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome.  I just can’t fathom doing it.  Several bloggers ran the Disney Marathon last weekend–Great job Rachel, Meaghann, Kelly, and Caitlin!
3. Ketchup.  I don’t understand why people feel the need to put it on everything they eat.  I never use it as a condiment and only in extremely rare cases as an ingredient.  A Hamburger Today has a piece on The Case Against Ketchup.  “A burger worth eating is worth eating plain.”  Agreed.
4. The ingredients they put in “fast” food.  As though I needed more reasons to not eat it, Change.org has a list of the 10 most common ingredients in fast food.
5. The amazing way in which bloggers are using their blogs to aid relief efforts in Haiti:

The Pioneer Woman did a great giveaway

Chow.com has listed a few ways you can give.

Endless Simmer’s got a list of organizations that are providing food relief in Haiti.

CakeWrecks posted links to Doctors without Borders and a site that tells you which charities you can trust.

Serious Eats and Epicurious also linked to organizations providing aid.

MixMyGranola is giving $5 for each purchase of their pre-mixed cereal to Haiti relief efforts.

Clearly, we all are much more fortunate than those in Haiti, especially now.  Pick an organization and give something–every little bit helps.

Comments (0)

By Emily, January 9, 2010 7:58 pm

Alternate title: In which my posting schedule gets further out of order, resulting in two “links” posts in a row and a lack of real posts.  Also, a New Years Resolution fail because I didn’t post twice this week.  Sad truth: I have another post ready to go, but we’re doing this one today, because it’s Saturday, and Saturday is Highlights from My Reader day. (But that title doesn’t fit in the Title box)

Highlights for January 3-9: Numbers Edition

Every week, I feature a collection of links from the blogs I follow.  If these aren’t enough for you, check out the “What I’m Reading” widget on the right sidebar.

This week’s theme: numbers and lists.  You know I love lists.

The NY Times featured a Q&A with the author of the recent book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.  In the article, Michael Pollan Offers 64 Ways to Eat Food.

Change.org has 5 Ways to Savor Your Food.  Because if you’re not taking the time to enjoy what you’re eating, what’s the point?

5 Food Films Everyone Who Eats Should See, (more than 5, actually, since more are mentioned in the comments) is also from Change.org.  I’ve only seen Food, Inc. Clearly, I need to update my Netflix cue.

Ironically, on a less serious note, Serious Eats has complied a list of 25 Things To Do With Hot Sauce.  Especially tempting: #8, 10, 13.

The Atlantic is trying its hand with predicting the future with its list of 5 Cocktail Trends for a New Decade.

Just what I need: Epicurious just added a new post announcing that they have 1,644 (and counting!) professionally created and tested soup recipes on their site.  Clearly, I don’t have enough soup recipes yet…

Love peanut butter?  Planet Green has 15 recipes using peanut butter–and none of them are sandwiches.

Finally, if you’re still trying to get started on your New Years Resolutions, Huffington Post has a list of 10 Kick in the Pants Fitness Tips for 2010.

Finally, to make up for my failure to post, I offer this video of squirrel monkeys eating jello.  I think it’s pretty stinkin’ cute.  Enjoy! (via Serious Eats)

Comments (1)

By Emily, January 2, 2010 10:14 pm

Three days ago I posted my New Years Resolutions.  One of them was to “Add new posts to Relishments at least twice a week.”  Well, here I am, posting.  Imagine that :)  Like I said, I really want to bring back “Highlights from my Reader” which used to be a weekly post featuring the most interesting articles that had come up in my Google Reader over the course of the previous week, until I got really busy and teaching took over my life and I all but stopped posting.  Anyway, the highlights are important to me because so many of my eating habits, recipe selections and food related news comes from my Reader (especially now that I don’t have TV!)

So, Highlights from my Reader is back: now on Saturdays.  Enjoy!

Highlights for December 27-January 3: New Years Resolution Edition

Planet Green’s Eat This, Not That in 2010 features Change.org’s 5 Foods You Should Avoid in 2010 along with helpful suggestions for making the changes in your diet even easier.  I already try to do most of the things on the list, but its nice to be reminded and given tips–and 5 is such a manageable number!

If you like that list and want avoid #5 “Out-of-season produce”, this graphic from Good which shows when various kinds of produce are in season might help you out.

If your goal is just to eat better, Huffington Post has a piece on the Top 10 Ingredients for a Healthy Life.

Finally, if all the resolution making (and keeping!) is stressing you out, Food Network Humor has a list of the 2010 New Years Resolutions of the Food Network Hosts

Special thanks to my husband for helping me with my other resolutions!  He’s been super good about reminding me to drink water and asking if I should be blogging…and if it ever stops snowing, we’ll head to the gym.