Quick and Refreshing Strawberry Basil Lemonade for Spring
By Hannah Canvasser, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Take a break this spring with a refreshing strawberry basil lemonade. With the first strawberries of the season, and a few simple ingredients straight from your farmers market, this extravagant looking beverage will have your friends wondering where you've hidden your bartender. The trick is with the effortless simple syrup, which not only dilutes the fresh squeezed lemon juice, but gives the lemonade its sweetness as well as it's basil background flavor.
Former McDonald’s Execs Building Healthy Fast Food Chain
By Jessica Borges, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Imagine walking into a fast-food restaurant with a menu sans greasy cheeseburgers, replaced by roasted chicken wraps and pork-and-sweet potato...
Organic Produce, Sustainable Farming and Earthbound Cooking: Myra Goodman
Leader in the organic produce business and in sustainable farming practices, Myra Goodman inspires us with eco-tips and organic recipes with her new book The Earthbound Cook.
organic produce sustainable farm earthbound cooking
By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Sustainable farming business woman, Myra Goodman is a popular cookbook author and co-founder of the organic Earthbound Farm, which she started in 1984 with her husband Drew. Her passion for organic foods has catapulted Earthbound Farm into the country's largest grower of organic produce. Myra and Drew's organic and sustainability initiatives have garnered them numerous awards and honors including Global Green USA’s Corporate Environmental Leadership Award and the Organic Trade Association’s Organic Leadership Award. As the author of two successful cookbooks, Food to Live By, and now The Earthbound Cook, Myra is spreading the message that fresh organic foods and produce are not only healthy and delicious, but vital to the sustainability of the environment.
Take Control Of Your Body
By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Taking control of your body may entail more than exercise and monitoring caloric intake. While those two things are essential, the missing key component that many overlook is the hormonal balance within the body. Hormones, chemical messengers within the bloodstream, are secreted by the endocrine glands, which are found virtually from top to toe. According to an episode of the Emmy Award-winning daytime talk show, The Doctors, “[These] glands are collectively known as the endocrine system, which influences a person’s metabolism, mood, growth, development, immune system, and sexual function.” The main three secretions to beware of, which the site calls the “Hormone Trifecta,” are cortisol, estrogen, and thyroid.
Kimberly Jones purveys the best affordable wines from France
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder Healthy Child Healthy World
Queribus Castle and the Cru overlooking Maury France
If you had to...
Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort is a Liquid Gold LuxEcoLiving4U Destination
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
Travels without Journey...well sort of...
We traveled to this beautiful haven...
A Review: The Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara is in a class all...
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
To B or not to B at the Four Seasons...
The Chesterfield Palm Beach: LuxEcoLiving’s # 1 Hotel in Florida
It's a jewel of a hideaway in the confines of one of the wealthiest locations in all the world... Palm Beach Florida. What The...
California, A Cage-Free State For Hens
By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed landmark bill AB 1437, which requires that all shell (whole) eggs sold in the state of California be laid by cage-free hens as of 2015. This means farmers have five years to get hens out of the over-stuffed henhouses and into a space where they can stand and spread their wings without constriction.
Sebelius: Champion of Health AND Wellness
The historic passage of last night's health care reform bill will positively effect millions of American's with immediate benefits as outlined in the House...
Meet the Finger Lime, That Strange Fruit That Looks Like Caviar
Finger limes, or caviar limes, as they are often called, have appeared on the menus of innovative chefs and mixologists slowly but surely over the past few years. The finger lime plant, native to Australia and only recently commercially available in the U.S., produces small oval fruits about the size of a finger.
Le Meurice Paris is # 1:LuxEcoLiving’s Best Hotels in the World Series
By James and Nancy Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World
What a dream! We spent our Midnight in Paris and every waking...
Amy Dixon Bakes the Very Best at The Baker’s Table
By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World
Santa Ynez California breakfast at The Baker's Table 3563 Numancia Street
COME HUNGRY!
You...
Organic Topsy Turvy Strawberry Panna Cotta
A very special recipe from Nancy's Organic Kitchen
by Nancy Chuda, Founder of LuxEco Living
Ingredients:
1/2 packet (1 teaspoon) unflavored gelatin powder
1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
1...
The Best Cheese and Wines in the World: Sunstone Winery hosts The Wisconsin Cheeseman...
What happens when you pair artisan farmstead cheese from Cowgirl Creamery in northern California with some of the finest master cheesemakers from The Wisconsin Cheeseman and you add the finest varietal wines, both reds and white, from one the most magnificent wineries in the world?
The New Hotel Roblin is Paris Perfect
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World.
The New Hotel Roblin is the Paris Perfect
Seated in the...
I Would Rather “Sei” It In The Ocean
How do you take the fame and publicity of a recent Oscar win and parlay that momentum for a good cause? Well, how about...
Pure Perfection:From Farm to Table Los Olivos Cafe Dishes it Up
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
The french may think they know it all or even have...
LuxEco’s Green Light Intiative at the Natural Products Expo
By Nancy Chuda, Founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEco Living and Founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
While amping up for this year's Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, CA and getting the LuxEco team ready for our "Green Light" Initiative in which we search out and highlight the best natural, organic and eco-friendly products that the Green Movement has to offer, I can't help but to reflect on the evolving nature of "GREEN."
Jim and I attended the first Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, CA almost two decades ago... and it was far from gluten-free. We were young, energetic, and held an undying faith that our world was unnaturally occurring; wearing Birkenstock and eating jerky we found our tribe. Or did we? back then, fair-trade was a hearty handshake.
In Defense of Agave
Agave nectar was originally given a lot of positive hype because it has a low glycemic index. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, this is a good thing! Think of it like time-released energy; instead of flooding your bloodstream with sugar that will eventually lead to a crash, foods with a low glycemic index keep you energized for longer.
Sake and Seaweed: Sushi Ran in Sausalito reels in the raw and gets big...
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
Reporting from Casa Madrona in Sausalito California
A Restaurant Review
...
Retaking our Green Wedding Vows at the Hotel Bel-Air
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
In a historic setting which rekindles Hollywoods Golden but now...
The Hotel Plaza Athenee in New York is one of the Best Hotels in...
"New York is the quintessential city for every imaginable pleasure "
Step inside the chic Hotel Plaza Athenee and your first impression is a perfunctory,...
Windstars Best Boutique Cruise in the World: Get On Board Wind Surf Spanish Symphony...
For the best boutique cruise Wind Surf Spanish Symphony 2020
A New App for Apple
Steve Jobs might find a way to cut to the core of a major human rights issue impacting the health of children who get their daily dose of vitamins from eating apples. You can write to him sjobs@apple.com and let him know he's got to get on this issue ASAP.
Vegan Ice Cream
By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant
Several years ago when I decided to stop having dairy I thought I would never again be able to savor the velvety smooth sweetness of delicious ice cream. That was until I started exploring the world of vegan ice cream.
Brown Butter Cookie Company is as good as it gets
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
When you walk in the doors of the Brown Butter...
Michelle Obama and Childhood Obesity
By Bethany Colson, Managing Editor of LuxEcoLiving.com
According to the US government, One third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives; many others will face chronic obesity-related health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma. A recent study put the health care costs of obesity-related diseases at $147 billion per year. With rates having tripled over the last three decades and with millions effected and the percentage of obese or overweight children at or above 30% in 30 states, the childhood obesity epidemic shows no slowing in site... YET.
Enter First Lady Michelle Obama.
The Goal: Through nutrition education, healthy food alternatives, physical fitness and a coordinated effort between public, private and non-private sector, the challenge of childhood obesity will be solved within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight.
Travels with Journey to the Montage: Dogue in Vogue 90210 Style
By Nancy Chuda and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and co-founders of Healthy Child Healthy World
Experience ultimate green luxury, fine dining, the spa...
Rigatoni with Eggplant and Buffalo Mozzarella
Organic Produce and Sustainable Farms are Celebrated at by Myra Goodman at Earthbound Farms
Excerpted from The Earthbound Cook
I discovered this amazingly simple but intensely flavorful pasta dish when our family traveled to Italy a few summers ago. It was so memorable that it made the top of my list of recipes to try to replicate. Chunks of succulent eggplant get a quick sauté to set their flavor, then are simmered in a light marinara sauce until tender. At the last minute, cubes of mozzarella di bufalo are added, quickly becoming soft and creamy as they melt into the sauce. This dish goes together in no time, especially if you have marinara sauce on hand. If you don’t have time to make my Heirloom Tomato Sauce or the Quick Tomato Sauce, you can fast-track the recipe by using a store-bought version. A word about the eggplant, which is at the heart of this dish: Salting is not required, but it’s important to sauté the eggplant over high heat in the amount of oil specified. You need very high heat to force the eggplant to brown and develop flavor. In the absence of high heat, the vegetable will simply soak up the oil, become soggy, and taste fl at. I serve this dish with a warmed baguette to sop up the extra sauce, and with a light salad of lettuce and endive dressed only with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper.
Strawberry Crumble Fresh From The Farmer’s Market
Hit your nearest farmer's market for some farm fresh strawberries and get baking!
By Brooke Rewa, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
It's strawberry season here in Southern California and were baking our way into spring. This homemade crumble filled with locally grown strawberries will have you sprinting to your local farmer's market for supplies.
New Vegan Restaurant Serves Up Healthy Comfort Food
By: Lauren O'Neill, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Los Angeles foodies can rejoice because there is a new vegan restaurant in town, Sage Organic Vegan Bistro on the corner of Sunset and Logan in Echo Park. Formerly raw food restaurant Mooi, the space is now a dream team of organic vegan delicacies: healthy comfort food from Sage, and delicious, dairy-free ice cream from the popular KindKreme desserts (also in Studio City and Pasadena). With the owners of Millie’s in Silver Lake and a former chef of well-renowned vegan restaurant Flore, it’s no wonder the food is so good that it will satiate the taste buds of vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike.
A Review: S.Y. Kitchen Rounds Em Up Italian Rustica Style
By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
A Restaurant Review: S.Y. Kitchen is a dream come true!
We...
Vegan Presidents and Action Heroes?
By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant
In a recent interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, former president Bill Clinton announced that his recent 24 pound weight loss was thanks to a vegan diet. The 64 year old Clinton went on an “essentially plant-based diet” living primarily on vegetables, legumes, fruit, and protein supplements mixed in with almond milk in the mornings.
Google knows we just need those eggs!
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
Saying goodbye to a feathered friend
We lost her yesterday. It...















