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...
Fresh and Easy Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sliders for Spring
By Hannah Canvasser LuxEco Editorial Assistant
This recipe can be as simple or complex as you would like. Whether you are looking to show off your spring honed barbecue skills and house make your ingredients, or pick up already-made items from your local market, these sliders will leave omnivores confused about their eating-orientation, vegetarians thrilled to be dining at your place, and the neighbors wanting an invite.
Michelle Obama Urges Restaurant Industry To Change For Kids
By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin
Did you know that most kids’ meals in restaurants have twice as many calories as the meal you’d serve them at home? Not only are the majority of these meals laden with saturated fat and salt, but some even reach a whopping 1,000 calories! Such a meal is high in calories for an adult, and for a child that’s just ridiculous.
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...
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...
The Knightsbridge Hotel London: LuxEcoLiving’s Best Pick Close To Harrods
Kit Kemp's masterfully designed Knightsbridge London is one of a kind. She pays extra attention to detail in bringing joy to every experience.
Fast Food Gone Green?
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.
South Congress trailers in Austin!
By Grace Robertson, LuxEco Advocate
Keeping Austin Weird With…South Congress Trailers!
Austin is a great place to live because of its’ fun people, great music, and uniqueness. Its’ motto is Keep Austin Weird, which is a perfect name for this individualistic place. In my opinion, walking in downtown Austin is a whole different experience from walking in any other city.
Travels with Journey: The Carmel Country Inn by the Sea is Pet Perfect
By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World
Carmel by the Sea at The Carmel Country Inn
Like the candy, Carmel...
Where can you find some of the best cheese in the world? The Cheese...
By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World
I was craving cheese. Not just that typical stinky cheese you find...
Antonelli’s Cheese Shop in Austin Texas is a real love story
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
"We've been asked many times, "Why a Cheese...
Slavery, Chocolate-Coated Slavery
Forrest Gump may have been on to something when he compared life to chocolates. You really never know what you’re gonna get in a box of chocolates, do you? The truth behind chocolate is more bitter than sweet. The Ivory Coast produces 40% of the world's chocolate, and it just so happens to also be notorious for this little thing called child slavery. Children, both local and from other third world countries, are sold to farms in this area where they are physically abused while working in risky and inhumane conditions. Some children are sold into the trade by parents who are tricked into believing their children will have better lives at the farm. Others are trafficked, stolen from their families, lured by the promise of…chocolate. In these farms they are forced to work 60 hour weeks with little or no food (depending on their performance on the field). These children lose their fundamental human rights when they enter these farms and “modern” society turns a blind eye to the atrocities. Every time we buy a box of chocolate that is not fair trade stamped, we (often unknowingly) endorse child slavery.
Les Lodges Hotel and Spa Aix-en-Provence: LuxEcoLiving’s Best Boutique Hotels in the World
By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World
" Sitting in front of the mountain that gave birth to Paul...
Chef Pinks Bacon and Brine is Mighty Fine: One of the Best Tastes in...
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...
Unhealthy America
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.
Losing Taste, Redefining Creative Process
Photography: Lara Kastner for Metropolis
In each of our lives, we are given a unique set of gifts, challenges and even obstacles. ...
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...
Farmers Markets Promote Healthy Eating Habits and Seasonal Shopping this Spring
Shopping and eating seasonally from your local farmers market tastes better, has higher nutritional values, promotes healthy eating habits, reduces environmental damage from shipping foods, and can even be kinder on your wallet.
Farmers Market Eating Habits Seasonal SpringBy Hannah Canvasser, LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Shopping at your neighborhood grocery store, many don’t realize that most of the abundant supply of produce comes from thousands of miles away, and is picked before ripeness to give consumers what they demand. Who would have thought that we could have peaches in October and butternut squash in June! Although off-season and premature picked produce will color and soften on the way to market, taste and nutritional value will be lost. Understanding what produce is available during certain seasons, and shopping at local farmers markets can change these eating habits.
Here are a few reasons to stay local and seasonal with your eating habits:
Farmers Market Eating Habits Seasonal SpringTaste and Nutritional Value:
There are many products available at local farmers markets that will not only be rich in flavor, but high in nutritional value due to ripeness when picked and seasonality. Artichokes, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, corn, red pepper, green beans, peas, and beets are all great spring vegetable additions to your kitchen. Try a spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer or some tasty grilled portabella mushroom sliders to entertain with friends. Mango, pineapple, grapefruit, kumquats, lemons, oranges, tangerines, strawberries, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, melons, and lavender are very popular throughout spring and will enhance your eating habits. With your pantry now stocked, relax with a refreshing strawberry basil lemonade and fresh avocado grapefruit salad, or indulge with some lavender bread pudding.
Trainspotting in Paris at Le Train Bleu: Buffet at de la Gare Lyon before...
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...
In The Spice Cabinet: Healing Through Home Remedies
By F.R.E.E. Will, LuxEco Editorial Assistant, Author of In The Spice Cabinet series
The purpose of this article and the series as a whole is to examine the ingredients that go into some of your favorite dishes, particularly the benefits some of the more familiar (and some not so familiar) herbs and spices contain.
Restaurant Review: Get Your Locally Grown Kicks at Root 246
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEco Living and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
Having just returned from Burgundy, France as...
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?
WATCH: Food, Glorious Real Food
By Nancy Chuda, co-founder of LuxEcoLiving.com and Healthy Child Healthy World
A divine inspiration. A remarkable event. An outstanding evening. Jim and I were treated to one of the most memorable moments in our lives—at Coleman Farm’s annual dinner. Their mission is to re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it.
Vegetarian Once a Week? Flexitarians Enjoy Just Another Meatless Monday
By Hannah Canvasser LuxEco Editorial Assistant
Vegetarians can receive the proper proteins and nutrients they need with many health benefits. The trick? Eating meat, occasionally.
Obesity is a current main health topic because it is unfortunately a growing one. With obesity rates rising in America many studies have aimed their focus to find the root of the problem, narrowing in on eating trends in the United States. It was typical of my grandparent’s generation to sit down to red meat three times a day. Maybe some sausage and eggs for breakfast, a beef casserole for lunch, and meatloaf and french bread for dinner; sound a little excessive on the arteries? In 1971, Vegetarians and Vegans became popular with Frances Moore Lappé's publication of Diet for a Small Planet- revealing the waste build up behind grain-fed meat production, and arguing that a plant diet is best for one’s body and the earth. Though Lappe was one of the first to come out with valid arguments against grain-fed meat production, being a Vegetarian does have its set-backs, and receiving proper proteins and nutrients wasn’t as easy as it seemed.
The Palm Restaurant in West Hollywood sets the bar for the best lobster and...
By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and co-founders of Healthy Child Healthy World
West Hollywood California, The Palm Restaurant
Photos courtesy of LuxEcoLiving...
Mattei’s Tavern in Los Olivos embraces timeless history but fuels creative cullinary change
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
Emily and Robbie Wilson pay homage to the...
Hats off to history on Derby Day
By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
What's a hat got to do with it?
The Kentucky...
The Fess Parker Wine Country Inn and Spa in Los Olivos California is the...
By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
Step into paradise. Once you enter the Fess Parker Inn...
Makini Howell: Vegan Queen
By Rachel Sarnoff, Writer and Founder of EcoStiletto.com and MommyGreenest.com and LuxEco Advocate
Who can get Casey Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, Liv Tyler, Jenny McCarthy, Daryl...
Nancy’s Organic Kitchen Chiles Rellenos with Salsa Verde
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...
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...
Food fit for a healthier life: Olivia Newton-John’s new cookbook Livwise guarentees you will...
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,...
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...
Fishing Closures and Seafood Sniffing: Addressing Gulf Seafood Safety
by Elizabeth Grossman, Author of Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry, High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health
via The...
In The Spice Cabinet: Benefits of Cinnamon
It's a safe bet to say that there aren't too many people in the world who haven't experienced the warm soothing smell of cinnamon as it slowly bakes into your grandmother's extra syrupy sweet potatoes, or as it blends with the apples and buttery crust from your mom's apple pie. What most of us, particularly in the Western World, fail to realize is that we are victims of a very cruel irony.

















