organic

I'm definitely a fan of Valentine's Day, but mostly because I like the excuse to eat chocolate. Besides tasting good, dark chocolate is full of heart-healthy flavonoids (equal to many fruits), can soothe a cough, increase blood flow, and lower blood pressure.

Spread the love even more this holiday by buying my picks for chocolate that's organic, Fair Trade, or health-inspired, and don't forget to throw in a cute card — your sweetie will love you even more for it!

• Vosges chocolatier Katrina Markoff fuses her premium chocolates with things like curry, wasabi, and ginger, but we especially like Vosges because of its yoga and chocolate weekend workshops. Make vegan and gluten-free friends happy with the Vosges vegan truffle collection ($25) — with ingredients like agave nectar, organic coconut milk, pomegranate, and acai, this collection is sure to be a hit with health conscious friends.
• The handmade Drunken Figs ($35) from Cocoavino are made with red wine and dark chocolate — talk about antioxidant overload! Chocolate from Cocoavino is organic and Fair Trade certified, made with wind power, and sold in eco-friendly packaging.
• Forget Nestlé Crunch; Dark Quinoa Chocolate bars ($5) from Alter Eco give you that same crunch except with a tiny burst of protein. Alter Eco sources all of its ingredients from Fair Trade farms and also helps fund community development programs.

To see what other chocolate made the cut, read more

Add rock-country musician Sheryl Crow to the growing list of celebrities-turned-cookbook-authors. Her first compendium of recipes is due out this March.

The tome, cheekily titled If It Makes You Healthy: More Than 100 Delicious Recipes Inspired by the Seasons, is cowritten by Chuck White, her personal chef who's been cooking for her ever since she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It will contain about 125 recipes, designed for Sheryl's hectic schedule, that are grouped by the seasons. Although it won't drop until March 29, it's already available for preorder on Amazon at the price of $29.99.

"I've wanted to do this for a long time," she explained in a video about the book. "I'm not that comfortable in the kitchen . . . so it's great to have recipes that even I can cook." She adds that, in addition to taste, the recipes are about "wellness, and fortifying my immune system."

The recipes — which will include the likes of mojito-braised pork and basil and apple marinated chicken — don't sound run-of-the-mill, and I'm glad that they're being cowritten by an actual chef. Will you buy this book?

Source

How will America's food landscape change in the coming year? If two recent articles from MSNBC are any indicator, organic will really hit the mainstream in 2011.

The first details results of an adult consumer survey, which illustrate that while the percentage of people who buy organic over the past two years hasn't budged, what has changed is where they're buying it. Fewer sales are coming from Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and natural foods stores, with more generated at Target and conventional grocers such as Safeway.

Government changes in food policy and the passing of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will also impact the number of organic vending machines; vending franchises expect "exponential" growth in organics this year, as schools, offices, and gyms trade in Twinkies and Oreos for the likes of gluten-free granola, organic yogurt, and fresh fruit.

Do you anticipate buying more organic in the coming year?

Here's a post from OnSugar blog A Beginner's Journey . . . Gardening:

Last year, I planted my very first vegetable garden too late in the season and was partially impressed. I planted carrots, peas, string beans, okra, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and herbs.

What did manage to grow was quite impressive. However, I was afraid to eat it because I wasn't sure if it was safe (me = beginner). I have since learned that I live in Zone 5 and that I planted an "organic garden." I'd love to do it again so I'm on top of it early this year.

I've already found an awesome website. I'll be sure to share any future good ideas, advice, sources, etc. that I collect along my journey. Thanks for stopping by!

Want to see more? Start following A Beginner's Journey . . . Gardening or start your own OnSugar blog. Maybe your posts will be featured on CasaSugar too!

Eating healthy isn't always as easy as it seems — especially when navigating your way down the grocery aisle. Our tip is to shop the perimeter because it's usually where whole, unprocessed foods are kept like produce and meat. This chart from the healthy eating blog Summer Tomato will make things even easier to decipher. Darya Pino, a food scientist, put together this "supermarket GPS" chart as a way to steer consumers toward the good stuff and away from the crap.

My favorite tips on the chart are to avoid foods that contain more than five ingredients and those with ingredients that you cannot pronounce. It all sort of goes back to Michael Pollan's mantra, which I love: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Source: Summer Tomato

The world of eco-friendly toys is filled with plush animals, reclaimed wood, and natural dyes, but it's not every day that I come across a green toy that has packaging that is just as exciting as the product inside it.

San Francisco-based Apple Park's line of Picnic Pals ($48 each) is five soft animals made with organic cotton "fur," sustainable corn fiber, organic cotton, and recycled, non-toxic plastic pellet stuffing, and recycled, non-toxic plastic, child-safe eyes. Each pal comes in a red hatbox illustrated with a make-believe park from which the toys gather and play. There is also a book ($8) to accompany the toys – a story about the importance of playing outside – with more books planned for the future. Manufactured in China's first soft toy factory to be certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard, the playthings are not just sending good messages, they're safe.

Let children live! That's what Dr. Mehmet Oz advises new parents to do. The cardiac surgeon and author, whose latest book You: Raising Your Child (The Owner's Manual From First Breath to First Grade) is a must read, speaks from experience, as he is also a father of four! I had the chance to interview him and ask his expert opinion on popular parenting issues. Check out all he had to say.

• Ever wonder which foods are worth the fight? Dr. Oz tells us the five foods every child should eat!
• Parents have their baby...and then what? Dr. Oz offers his guidelines for a newborn's first month of life.
• There are lots of things mothers worry about, but Dr. Oz told us what he thinks are the top three concerns for new parents.
• To drive-thru or keep driving: a parent's dilemma. Dr. Oz gave us his thoughts on fast food.
• From whooping cough to peanut allergies to vaccines, Dr. Oz chimed in on hot topics!