Food

By F.R.E.E. Will, LuxEco Editorial Assistant, Author of In The Spice Cabinet series A member of the same family as the more known ginger plant, the rhizome, or root, of the tumeric plant has quite the storied history. Native to the Indian subcontinent tropical regions of Southeast Asia, tumeric has been used in both ancient Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties and has been used for ailments ranging from jaundice to various forms of arthritis. Also well documented are the antiseptic properties of the volatile oils contained in tumeric making it quite effective in dealing with skin afflictions from minor cuts to more severe conditions like eczema and psoriasis; not to mention undeniably cheaper than the vast amounts of antiseptic sprays and creams on the market that serve the same function.

By: Molly Cimikoski, Editorial Assistant What if products that are marketed to assist in living a healthier lifestyle, are actually the ones making us sick?...

Introduction by Nancy Chuda Founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and Co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World. If you haven't had a chance to...

By Nancy Chuda, co-founder of LuxEco Living.com and Healthy Child Healthy World Here in Nancy's Organic Kitchen at The Green Green Home Under The H, I am challenged daily by the special dietary needs of my LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child/Healthy World friends and colleagues. There are so many variables when it comes to defining your plat du jour. At LuxEco, health is the main objective, so I’ve decided to help you figure out where you should look among the various choices within the food chain.

  Le Train Bleu is a best kept secret. Even most parisien's won't share. Dine surrounded by beautiful Belle Epoque artistry, savor the food and wine...

By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin When I jumped on the gardening bandwagon, the first things I started to grow were herbs. I had really started getting into adventurous cooking, and it only made sense to grow my own herbs. If you go to the grocery store, you’re going to wind up spending a few bucks on a couple leaves of basil. Well, I don’t have a few bucks; but I do have a minute to snip off as much basil as I want from my garden, for free. And that’s really what it’s all about: saving time and money while bringing your food to a whole fresh, new level.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief  of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World "You step into the main greeting room and you know...

It's no surprise! Country music starlet Kellie Pickler and Heroes' star Milo Ventimiglia are pretty sexy. Both were named Sexiest Vegetarians ...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Solvang California, Bacon and Brine Chef Pink and Courtney Rae are...

I have traveled the world. Met chefs in Paris, Provence, London, Milan, Venice, Gstaad, to mention only a few destinations and compared to some of those masters I found a brilliant culinary sympatico with John Cox.

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?

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Whole body, mind and spirit Olivia helps others heal In July,...

By Nancy Chuda founder and editor-in-chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World The Worlds Greatest Cheese and Cheesemongers Before Adam Moskowitz found his...

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...

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.

By Bethany Colson, Managing Editor of LuxEcoLiving.com America today is seeing more people being isolated into a world of junk food and unhealthy foods. The U.S is rapidly turning into an unhealthy America with something called a "food desert". What's a food desert? According to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a food desert is a “place where there is not easy access, affordable access, reasonable access to fresh fruits and vegetables — to a grocery store.” It could be an inner city or a rural town but what they both have in common, besides the low income economy, is their lack of access to fresh produce and to healthy food alternatives. Instead, convenience stores and fast foods with their highly processed foods, packed with refined sugars, trans fats and preservatives are ubiquitous and commonplace. As a result, families are left with few options to serving nutritious foods and their children suffer the consequences. With new generations being fed these types of foods, it is only a matter of time before this growing unhealthy America can see any change whatsoever.

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...

The story of sage is truly one that has come full circle. From being a prized herb for its healing and cosmetic qualities, to a useful culinary seasoning, to being relegated to holiday cuisine, then fading into obscurity only to be brought back to the forefront of alternative medicine. Find out more about this robust herb in the latest installment of "In the Spice Cabinet"

By Jason Wachob, Founder of MindBodyGreen.com and LuxEco Advocate Many foodies don't equate the word vegan with delicious, as a lot of recipes don't translate well without butter, eggs, and other animal products. But not when we're talking cupcakes... One of the most popular stories at the NY Times focuses on vegan chef, Chloe Coscarelli, whose vegan cupcakes beat out traditional cupcakes on the Food Network show, "Cupcake Wars."

As victims of busy schedules, we are easily seduced by the drive-thru lines of fast food traps that promise quick service for low cost and oftentimes, low-quality food. We’ve seen their brightly colored signs along freeways, tempting our growling stomachs, but why should we have to sacrifice quality and health in the interest of saving time and money? Many fast food chains have caught on and are modifying their business initiatives to promote healthier and more eco-friendly practices.

By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin The holiday season is in full swing and that means it’s time to crack open that canned pumpkin, right? No! Take the time to head down to your local farmers market and pick out a few choice pumpkins to use this season; they’re incredibly versatile! To break it down, cut the top off and then cut the pumpkin into workable pieces. I find quartering it works really well. With the side of a spoon, scrape away the seeds. To get the raw meat out, scrape against the grain and you’ll get nice short shredded pieces. This pumpkin bread is just one way to use your pumpkin; make sure you save your leftovers for another recipe!

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant For those who spend the extra dough to shop organically, it is fair to expect that a market touting the sale of only organic goods should supply consumers with fodder and non-fodder products on an even keel. One such market, the well-known and widely shopped Whole Foods, is making sure those expectations are met. As of June 1, 2011, the organic grocery chain will require that all personal care products and cosmetics making an “organic” claim can prove it.

By Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World Expert Opinion courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World When my husband and I toured schools to...

Kit Kemp's masterfully designed Knightsbridge London is one of a kind. She pays extra attention to detail in bringing joy to every experience.

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...

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.

It’s a question as old as campfire, and the answer is getting more and more difficult to produce: “Hey Ma (or Pa), What’s for dinner?”. The realities of mass food production in this modern age are out there, and perhaps the harshest light of all has been shed on the meat production industry in particular.

By: Molly Rovero, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Nancy, LuxEco founder and garden guru recommended that I try the Topsy Turvy. Excited about the success of her flourishing tomato plants at The Green Home Under the H she showed me pictures of them on her Blackberry one day while we were chatting. This eco-friendly planter would be perfect for my busy schedule she said, no weeding necessary! Aside from the initial planting, all that Topsy Turvy requires is watering once daily.

How do you take the fame and publicity of a recent Oscar win and parlay that momentum for a good cause? Well, how about...

How to navigate high fructose corn syrup and sugar substitutes to avoid harmful artificial sweeteners in favor of plant based alternatives. By: Molly Cimikoski, Editorial Assistant What if products that contain high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners, which are marketed to assist in living a healthier lifestyle, are actually the ones making us sick? As of 2007, American consumers were spending 21 billion dollars 21 billion dollars annually on diet, or low calorie, drinks. From the outsider perspective, this still seems like progress compared to the alternative statistic, with 64% of Americans qualifying as overweight or obese. But what if you found out that the sugar alternatives that many diet products promote are not only ineffective as weight loss methods, but are also dangerous to your health?

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.

By Nancy Chuda founder and editor-in-chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World. Do drop in when in San Luis Obispo. Visit the...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World One of my favorite Mexican dishes is  Chiles Rellenos or chiles...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Grown in the sun and kissed by a babies breath I live...

By Jazmin Clark, Editorial Assistant We all love our pets, and naturally we want what’s best for them. What better way to show them that love than to extend our own healthy eating practices to the food we provide for them? In today’s increasingly health conscious, green-evolving world there are plenty of organic, grain-free, and holistic options for pet food out there. But how do we know which ones are right for our furry friends?