The Kitchen rag

Last week, my husband and I were driving up I-5 on a grey, rainy Oregon winter day, en route to Seattle, when we suddenly ran right into a large, shallow, barely visible puddle of water stretched across the road. We were going about 65mph, and our low key road trip peppered with pleasant conversation instantly took a sour turn. A creepy … Read more

Dear Grandpa, I wanted to let you know I am coming home this summer… It’s been more than three years since I opened your wooden gate and sat on your old clay porch feeding chickens together. Much has changed since for both of us and I have yet to accept that.  I live so far … Read more

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, … Read more

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, addiction is “a compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.” We are taught from an early age about … Read more

Before embarking on our trip to Greece I researched it tirelessly for about two months. The more I read the more stressed out I got; I had no idea which islands we should visit or how long our stay in Athens should be. I wish I could brag and say that I figured it all … Read more

Tomorrow is the Superbowl and although I am not  a huge fan of professional sports (at all, really) I absolute love the food and the fellowship that often forms around it. Lately, things have been tough at gatherings like these, since I have been both dairy and gluten free. Fortunately, there are a lot of … Read more

Recently I started a class on micro nutrients. I was excited about all the new information I was learning until I realized sheepishly that some of my views on vitamins and minerals had to change.While I still buy a rainbow of fresh veggies and fruits plus a large variety of meats, to ensure the consumption of a balanced array of … Read more

This post is dedicated to decoding vegetable oil labels and finding oils that offer healthy, living supplement of omega – 6 fatty acids. There are three major methods of extracting oils from nuts and seeds: the cold pressed method, the expeller method, and the solvent method. Oil Extraction Methods The Cold-Pressed Method The cold pressed … Read more

In a previous article I elaborated on vegetable oil extractions with the description of the solvent-plus-high-heat method. Today I will venture further and explain the concept of hydrogenated oil as one of the leading causes of cancer and heart disease in the US. What is hydrogenation? Hydrogenation is the process through which vegetable oils – which … Read more

Most people believe that raw milk and cream causes high LDL, (also known as bad cholesterol) levels in their blood stream. The media has bombarded us with information that vilifies raw milk not only because it is dirty but because of its allegedly “artery-clogging” fats. So we drink our skimmed, irradiated, vitamin D fortified, pasteurized … Read more