Greek Salad Farro

I have been trying to replicate a Greek salad that it sold at Lassen's in Westlake Village, CA (a great litle spot) for a few years now. My last try seemed pretty close and it was really tasty actually. I didn't write down my recipe but searched for "Greek Salad Farro" and have found a few recipes very similar to what I made. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Warm-Mediterranean-Farro-Salad/Detail.aspx and/or http://www.grouprecipes.com/68986/greek-style-farro-salad.html. I used a red wine viniagrette, diced tomato, diced cucumber, parsley, kalamata olives, and feta cheese. Farro (sometimes also called emmer) is a type of wheat. It's SO easy to cook, just boil in a pot of water (no measuring necessary) and strain when ready (after 20-30 minutes). Try it, I think you'll like it.

Should we have a say in what low-income people eat?

The other day I was volunteering at the local food bank and it dawned on me - while I was sorting cinnamon buns in those tube containers - that maybe there needs to be some tighter regulation on what gets distributed to those in need. I'm not a believer that a calorie is a calorie and I definitely don't think it's a good idea for these "high sugar/no nutrient foods" to be given to anyone, let alone people that need all of the vitamins and minerals they can get! While the food bank I work at has plenty of great options (including TONS of fresh vegetables, cage-free eggs and organic yogurt) they also have plenty of crappy foods! Or maybe we should just have a nutrition educator work with food banks? I'm not sure what the solution is but I'd sure like to see some changes!

Bill to stop restaurants from serving obese?

I just read about this bill the other day from a news article that was posted on the Drudge Report and was a bit shocked by what I read. Mississippi legislature introduced a bill that would allow the health department to revoke a restaurant's license if they were found to serve to obese people! http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/4524. Sounds pretty crazy, right? Yes, Mississippi has one of the highest state obesity rates with over a third of adults classified as obese BUT this apparently is not the right strategy for helping people lose weight!

Antibacterial soap: Not a good idea

Dr. Mercola (Mercola.com) just posted that triclosan which is found in antibacterial soaps and other products is an endocrine disrupter. I've always thought that antibacterial soaps were gross - not only in the idea of them (I say what's wrong with a little dirt and bacteria?) and the gross consistency but I've always known they were filled with chemicals. So get back to plain old soap - and read this link when you get a chance.

http://www.mercola.com/2006/dec/2/using-antibacterial-soap-may-disrupt-your-hormones.htm

Horse hormones....great idea.

Whoever thought to extract horse urine and make an estrogen pill to give to menopausal women was a real moron. Well a real rich moron now. When I found out about this process I was absolutely livid - not only are they doing unquestionable harm and cruelty to horses which is completely unnecessary but women are actually ingesting this stuff which who even knows how much harm this actually causes! It is just ridiculous and ludicrous to me. An excerpt from the Equine Advocates website (http://www.equineadvocates.com/) talks about the awful life that these horses have. They are kept in stalls and are unable to move so their urine is able to be caught in tubes. After years and years of abuse, when they are "used up" they are then sold for slaughter. Remember this is all in the name of women trying to "ease their symptoms" of menopause. And we haven't even gotten into all of the side effects and problems that premarin can cause!!

Artificial Sweeteners: To use or not to use

There has been a lot of talk about artificial sweeteners lately - or at least in my neck of the world. What is the deal? Why are so many people drinking them or how did they get so "hooked" on them? Are they drugs? Are they addictive? Are they toxic to our bodies? Yes, yes and yes! So why are so many people choosing to look the other way and pretend like they are okay? Oh, yeah, that's right, they are "no-calorie" so we won't get fat. Don't worry. Our bodies will only metabolize them as a poison instead of as a sugar. Yes - great idea! So, enough of my sarcasm (sorry sometimes I really can't refrain) and on to the real deal.

Splenda is my favorite one lately - not only is it "made from real sugar so it tastes like real sugar" but it is 500 times sweeter than real sugar (because sugar isn't sweet enough dammit). But it is especially great because they are able to substitute hydroxyl atoms on sugar (remember how sugar is made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen) and replace them with Chlorine atoms! Wow - great idea - that makes it an organochlorine now - putting it in the same family as the infamous DDT pesticide! Since it seems like the majority of Americans are calorie-scared, Splenda makes a great alternative to sugar. Lets just hope these people never pee it out so it never gets into the environment!

Oooh, aspartame is another super alternative sweetener. I love that aspartame could not get approved by the FDA until Donald Rumsfeld (yes, the Donald Rumsfeld) became the CEO of Searle (who owned aspartame since a researcher who was working for them discovered it) and was able to get it passed. Fishy? Oh no, I don't think so. There is an especially great site http://www.aspartame.net/ (which is owned by the producer of aspartame) that states how safe aspartame is and squashes all those "silly" rumors on the adverse health effects of the sweetener. No studies on multiple sclerosis and aspartame? Hmm. Wonder why.