I am delighted to announce that the winner of our first giveaway here on The Kitchen Rag is… Ronda C! (Ronda – please email me with your info within the next 48 hours to claim your prize.) Thanks everybody for participating! I hope you have a lovely holiday with your loved ones, and I look forward to seeing you back on the blog after things settle down, for some more great discussion on food and health, as well as to test your luck on future giveaways! a Rafflecopter giveaway
Let’s face it. As delightful as Christmas is, there are a few parts that can be stressful. Wanna know what stresses me out the most? Presents! I know, you too… and while I would love to get all of my friends and family the newest version of Vitamix, I am afraid its out of my price range. So we do simple presents like books, hand knit scarves or socks, locally made body care products, personal letters, loose leaf teas, raw honey, etc. This year our last minute gifts turned out to be homemade Aromatherapy sprays! I chose lemongrass oil for its amazing anti-stress properties. Spray it in your home and you will feel like you walked right into a spa! Haven’t made these before? Don’t worry – its easy! Ingredients Filtered water Essential oil of your choice. I like this brand. Spritzer bottle. Find these cute blue ones here. Directions Pour […]
Looking for something fancy, delicious, and easy to make for the holidays? Pork loin is a great option. It takes less than an hour and the results can be incredible. We made it for almost sixty guests two weeks ago at an early Christmas party and it was a hit. Plus, it caters to those who forgo dairy, gluten, eggs, nuts, corn, etc. Pork loin is delightful by itself, but it’s also a blank slate just waiting for some holiday cheer in the form of a tasty topping like sauteed apples, or in this case, cranberry sauce – we still had some left over from Thanksgiving. Thank you Elizabeth for the wonderful photo. I was too busy running around in the kitchen trying to get the rest of the dishes ready. Plus my photo wouldn’t have looked this good anyways;) Ingredients Pork Loin Sea Salt Pepper Lard or butter if you […]
Sigh… Something in my diet is making my skin angry. Very angry. So I put on my detective hat and started investigating. Its not my detergent, since I only use washing soda, or my bath products, since I only use Dr Bronner’s (and a lovely olive oil based soap one of my readers sent me from Greece!). Its not my make-up, since, well, I don’t really use make up. So, that leaves food allergies. Since I’m already gluten free, I decided to remove dairy for a while and see if my symptoms subside at all. So far, I have been off dairy for almost three weeks. My skin rash does look much better, but it’s not gone entirely. I’m planning to continue my elimination diet to see if there are any other offenders, but I wont take eggs, corn, or nuts out until after the holidays. Being gluten and dairy free […]
I am thrilled to announce the first giveaway on The Kitchen Rag! I hope this is the first of many more! The holidays are rapidly approaching and I would love to have you all over to my kitchen for a lovely meal and lively conversation about food, and health, and life. But since that’s impossible, I decided to give the the gift of a giveaway instead! Regular plastic containers can leach bisphenol-A, phtalates, and other xenoestrogens into your family’s food, and many studies have evaluated bisphenol-A as a hormone disrupter, which alters the body’s normal hormonal activity. (Source) In addition to that, plastic containers tend to degrade rapidly and have to be thrown out frequently. Since they are often not recyclable, that means the end up in land fills, polluting our planet and ultimately our bodies. Start the new year with a new set of tempered glass containers to avoid […]
For over a week I have been fighting a nasty sore throat that took away most of my voice and all of my energy. At first hot tea was soothing, but as my fever went up, the idea of drinking anything hot made feel like I would combust. So instead, I stumbled into my kitchen in an attempt to make myself something cooling and full of vitamin C. I had also barely eaten all day, but couldn’t work up an appetite for dinner. I was going to try and simulate this recipe, but after looking through the kitchen I realized all I had was limes and oranges. But this didn’t stop me; I really wanted that smoothie! So I made a pretty basic recipe, but it turned out delightful! I love this smoothie for a few reasons: It is delicious. You could serve it for desert at a dinner party with a sprig […]
Confession – the last few weeks have been incredibly stressful and busy for our little family, and while my husband falls asleep after we turn off the light, guess what I do? I lay awake worrying about everything. Due to the lack of sleep, I have sort of turned into a zombie, and then for the first time in years I got the sore throat half my housemates have, and I got it bad.To give you some back story, I don’t really get colds often. My husband jokes that I have the immunity of a horse, but apparently not if I don’t get enough sleep. Before I introduce you a natural sleep remedy most of you already have in your kitchen, let me tell you what I’ve tried before. Valerian Root This is an herb that appears to have a sedative/hypnotic effect on the brain and nervous system. While I love […]
Did you know that: 1) The delicious bagels, doughnuts, Challah bread, and fluffy cakes you eat are not made with the same wheat your grandparents ate. 2) The incidence of Celiac disease and gluten intolerance in the US has increased 4x since 1950. 3) My mother can’t eat American wheat. As you might suspect, all these statements are very much related, and in what follows I will show you why. But first let’s talk about my background for a second. A Hunk of Bread in One Hand… I was born in the Republic of Moldova, in Eastern Europe, on a small farm. In my culture bread is considered holy and we believe it is a sin to throw it away. If bread goes moldy, we scrape the mold off and feed it to our animals, not the trash can. This reverence we have towards bread comes from the fact that […]
Although I am spending this Black Friday petting some cute goats on my friend’s farm and enjoying a delicious bowl of chili topped with lots of laughter and good conversation, I confess I did do some shopping on line. My weakness – books! Since I am such an avid reader I am always trying to find good deals on them. If you share my love for nutrition and reading you might enjoy browsing through these great ebooks (and an online class!), all more than 60% off until Monday! But before diving into the book collection, let’s talk about water. Did you know that more than 33% of all families in Cambodia don’t have access to clean water? It’s not that they don’t have running water, like when I grew up. This is far more serious. Many people must walk over three hours to retrieve water, and even then it is […]
Recently I have been struggling with good old eczema, which has decided to make a “flashy” return all around my mouth. It’s always such a blow to my self-esteem when it comes back, especially when it settles in right on my face :(! While in the past I have resorted to steroid creams, which caused a severe staph infection on my face four years ago, now I know better. So gluten had to go, completely, even my sour dough spelt and rye crackers. As hard as it was to give up these delicious foods, the irritated red rash on my face was even more devastating. However, cooking gluten-free can be a challenge. Imagine how excited I was when my sister in law, Caitlin, who blogs at Grass Fed Girl, published her Paleo Mediterranean cookbook. These recipes are all gluten free and many of them are also dairy free, with easy […]
