Millions of Grilled Peaches (Grilled Peaches for Me)

I am a fruit girl. Sure, I like vegetables and grains appeal to me now more than ever, but I am, have always been, and will always be a fruit girl.

Besides the pleasure of scorching my translucent flesh to a bacony-textured, slightly off-white hue, the abundance and variety of fruit is the key reason I tolerate humid, stinky summers in New York. Every June and July the Union Square farmers market teems with cherries, watermelon, blueberries, plums – all the good stuff. It’s a rainbow of inexpensive nutritiousness, and sashaying down the open-air aisles, it’s all I can do to keep from stuffing my face with juicy, fruity wonderment. Even the local Key Food, normally a black hole of bruised produce, is starting to brim with berries, melons, and most importantly, peaches.

They were on sale this week, and despite my newfound aversion to off-season fruit, I couldn’t let their fuzzy goodness go to waste in some other Brooklyn kitchen. No, I had to have them. What’s more, I had to have them GRILLED.

Grilling stone fruits (peaches, plums, apricots, etc.) deepens the flavor and, to use a technical term, squishens them. This means you won’t need to sharpen your incisors and/or a hacksaw to enjoy them on frozen yogurt. Fortunately, broiling stone fruits has essentially the same effect, only you miss those darling grill marks. You know – the ones that scream, “BEHOLD, MORTAL! FIRE TOUCHED THIS PEACH!” If you’re lacking a Weber, however, broiling is the way to go.

That’s what I did with How to Boil Water’s Grilled Peaches. First, I let them marinate in a Food Network-approved brew for about five minutes longer than necessary. Then, the broiler was fired up, the peaches were plopped face-down on a pan (flipped halfway through), and blazing, blistering heat took care of the rest. The Boyfriend and I ate them with a spoon and no accompaniment (except each others' swooning gazes). And they were delicious.

One caveat – once the fruit passed the five-minute mark in the broiler, the sugar started to burn to a blackened mass. So keep an eye out. Also keep an eye out for more simple fruit-based dessert recipes in the near future. Because, I don’t know if I mentioned this? But I likes me some fruit.

Grilled Peaches
Serves 4
Adapted from How to Boil Water by Food Network Kitchens.

4 ripe medium peaches, quartered and pitted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 to 2 pints frozen vanilla yogurt (optional)
Suggested toppings: toasted sliced almonds

1) Preheat a grill (medium-high).

2) In a large bowl gently combine peaches, vanilla extract, almond extract, and brown sugar. Let marinate 15 minutes while grill is heating. Place on grill, skin side down, "until skin is slightly charred, about 3 minutes." Flip and grill the second side about 1 minute, until there are grill marks. Flip again and do the same for the third side.

3) Split peaches into 4 servings. If you like, fro-yo and toasted almonds are good accompaniments.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
84 calories, 0.25 g fat, $0.39

Calculations
4 ripe medium peaches: 153 calories, 1 g fat, $1.12
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract: 2 calories, 0 g fat, $0.12
1/4 teaspoon almond extract: negligible calories and fat, $0.20
1/4 cup dark brown sugar: 180 calories, 0 g fat, $0.11
TOTAL: 335 calories, 1 g fat, $1.55
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 84 calories, 0.25 g fat, $0.39

Veggie Might: Daikon (Jicama) Mango Slaw - I Can Make That

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.

It’s pretty much my goal as an amateur gourmet on a budget to recreate the fabulous things I eat (or smell) in restaurants on the cheap, on the veg, or at all. Since I can’t afford to eat out often, I pay close attention and occasionally take notes (or poor resolution camera phone pics).

Working without a recipe can be risky for sure, especially when you’re a cheapskate like me. I HATE wasting food. But I also find it extremely rewarding. It’s creative and fun, and when it works, it’s thrilling. I dance around, give the dog a carrot, and if it’s really good, call my mother to brag.

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of dining at Spring Street Natural, an organic wonderland in New York City’s SoHo district. Two work friends recommended it and were stunned I’d never been there. After I took a gander at the online menu, I was stunned too. There were so many delicious-sounding vegetarian choices. I really have to get out more. Mid-year Resolution: No more veggie burgers in pubs!

Later that evening I found in front of me a plate of corn-crusted tofu, sautéed spinach, and jicama mango salad. It was all lovely. The tofu had a great texture, and the seasoned cornmeal crust gave it a flavor and crispiness reminiscent of the catfish I grew up with. The spinach was spinach. I love spinach; but it was nothing to call mom about.

But the best part of the meal was the jicama mango salad. Oh yeah. It’s why I ordered that entrée in particular. I could have had a veggie casserole with quinoa—Maude knows I love quinoa—but the jicama mango combo was speaking to me. And once on my fork, it spoke to me right in my mouth.

A sweet/savory combo done right is a dream come true. The jicama was crispy and mild; the mango was tart and crunchy with just the right amount of sweetness countered by cilantro, red onion, a tang, which I assumed was lime juice, and some kind of heat. But what was it? Garlic? I didn’t think so. Cayenne? Jalapeño? It was a mystery; there was heat without flavor. Of course, my palate is not that sophisticated, so it could just have eluded me.

For days (okay, two), I talked about this salad before I decided I just had to make it. My only real challenges were finding jicama and balancing the proportions. Jicama is a Mexican tuber with a mild flavor, kind of like an apple. It’s just a touch sweet—just a touch—and crunchy when served raw. Actually, I never had it any other way.

The jicama to mango proportion had been about 2:1, and the cilantro and onion did not overpower. I decided to use cayenne for heat, and if it tasted weird, to add a teeny bit of garlic to a small portion of the slaw to check the flavor. It turned out to be a nonissue.

Never leaving a three-block radius of my apartment, I went to four different vegetable markets on my quest for ingredients. First, I went to my tried-and-true, everything-here-is-about-to-go market, where I scored mangoes at two for $1, red onions for 75¢ a pound, and seven limes for $1. But no jicama. Then, I went to the Korean market—where they coo over my dog—and got cilantro for 79¢ a bunch. Still no jicama. So, Snack and I trucked it down to the Mexican produce market. No señorita, no jicama para tí.

Luckily I was able to draw on the vast (ha!) knowledge of world cuisine I gained working as a waitron at a glorified diner on the Upper West Side. Daikon, a white radish, has a, well, radishy flavor, but is fairly mild. Its texture is similar to jicama, so I figured it would make an adequate substitute. I shoved Snack in his pet carrier, went into the Amish Market (the name of the store, not run by actual Amish people), and procured the proxy ingredient (for 99¢ a pound).

If you try this recipe and can’t find either jicama or daikon, try a firm, tart apple like Granny Smith. It will work great. When choosing mangoes, go for the firm, not-so-ripe ones. You’ll be amazed how much easier they are to cut in this state. Get your chopping gloves on. All the chopping for this recipe gave me a blister.

Daikon (Jicama) Mango Slaw
Adapted from the Jicama Mango Salad at Spring Street Natural
Yields about 14 ½ -cup servings

4 medium daikon, julienned
2 mangoes (firm, not-yet-ripe), julienned
3 limes, juiced
1 small bunch cilantro, finely chopped
½ medium red onion, quartered and sliced thin
Salt
Cayenne to taste

NOTE #1: This dish is all about Julienne and her cutting style. If you have good knives, you’ll be a-okay. If you’re not sure if you have good knives, you’ll know soon enough. I have crappy knives, but I’m persistent. I wore a band-aid at the base of my index finger like a badge of honor when I served this delight at a Memorial Day BBQ.

1) Julienne (cut into thin sticks) the daikon (jicama) and mango. Place in a big ol’ bowl.

2) Stir lime juice into bowl with fruit and veg.

3) Add cilantro and onion. Stir

4) Add salt to taste.

5) Add a few dashes of cayenne. Wait 30 minutes. If you still want it hotter, add a bit more. The daikon gives a little bit of that heat I was looking for.

NOTE #2: The longer this dish marinates the better. A subway ride to Brooklyn is a good start. Here we are a couple of days later, and my Mom is getting a call about it.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
34.3 calories, .2 g fat, $0.37 per serving

Calculations
4 med daikon: 240 calories, 1.2g fat, $2.50
2 mangoes: 170 calories, 1.2g fat, $1.00
1/2 medium red onion: 20 calories, .1g fat, $.25
1 small bunch cilantro: 22 calories, .5g fat, $.79
3 limes, juices, 28.5 calories, .1 fat, $0.08
1 tsp salt: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
1 tsp cayenne pepper: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
TOTALS: 480.5 calories, 3.1g fat, $5.21
PER SERVING: 34.3 calories, .2 g fat, $0.37 per serving

CHG Favorites of the Week

Food Blog of the Week
Carol on Keller
Maryland resident/novice chef Carol is attempting every meal in the legendarily complicated French Laundry cookbook, which is a bit like learning math by starting with calculus. Fr’ instance? The most recent post documents her attempt to braise and stuff a pig’s head. Yoinks.

Food Comedy of the Week
“Cake or Death” by Eddie Izzard
Someone set Eddie’s famous/FAHbulous Dress to Kill show entirely to Legos! It's hilarious, and almost better than being covered in bees.



Food Organization of the Week
Kiva
A microlending organization connecting individuals directly to the folks they’re donating to, Kiva is one of (if not THE) first website of its kind. What happens is this: you choose an entrepreneur anywhere in the world and loan them a pre-designated amount of cash. Over time, they grow their business, lift themselves out of poverty, and pay you back. Then, you can invest in someone else registered with the site. Awesome. Part of my government stimulus is definitely going toward this.

Food Quote of the Week
‘I do wish we could chat longer, but … I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye.” – Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), Silence of the Lambs

Food Tip of the Week
Whether you’re a home cook or part-time dieter, if you have to weigh ingredients often, there’s no need to buy a fancy, expensive electronic food scale. Instead, look for a plain old analog one. They work just as well, clean-up is easy, and brand new items sell for about 20% of what a digital doohickey would cost.

Untried Cheap Healthy Recipe of the Week
30 Ways to Be a Good Guest at Smitten Kitchen
In a stunning culinary coup, Deb compiles more than two dozen of her favorite party-appropriate dishes. It’s all good, but especially don’t miss out on Black Bean Confetti Salad, Hoisin Barbecue Sauce, and Tequila Lime Chicken. Good lord.

Food Video of the Week
“Grits” by RZA
Wu-Tang mastermind RZA digs deep and comes up with the most heartfelt paean to cornmeal ever put on wax. Grits sustained his family in dark times, and now he’s giving them their due.

Eating Healthy While Clipping Coupons: The Dos and Don’ts

(So, I finished this piece a few days ago, but waited until today’s scheduled Article Day to post. Money Saving Mom beat me to the punch in the best possible way. Guest contributor Jody Connelly has a tremendous essay called Nine Coupon Myths Debunked, and while it doesn't concentrate wholly on healthy couponing, it’s absolutely worth ten ganders. I encourage you to read it, study it, and adopt it as your child. Once that’s done, c’mon back here. Hopefully, this can add to Jody’s well-observed points.)

A few weeks ago, Serious Eats (one of my favorite blogs) picked up on a CHG piece called The Hour: How 60 Minutes a Week Can Save Hundreds of Dollars. Their post summarized The Hour in four simple steps, #2 of which was “Clip and organize coupons.” Quite a few commenters picked up on it, and more than one made the same salient point: it’s difficult to use coupons and eat healthy.

(Incidentally, one or two comments were along the lines of, “Coupons suck. I’ve been a vegan for 400 years, grow and cook all my own food from scratch, and refuse to ingest anything that’s ever come within 300 yards of a questionably unhealthy chemical. P.S. I’m better than you.” But we’ll ignore them.)

(For now.)

I won’t deny it: the “coupons aren’t healthy” folks are largely on the money. When it comes to food discounts, the vast majority of coupons are for sugary snacks and preservative-laden convenience products. You’d do better to lick a few dirty band-aids for the vitamins and minerals they provide, “Low in fat! High in niacin!” claims aside. What’s more, coupons can lure you to buy foods you wouldn’t otherwise, and oftentimes, those items are significantly pricier than generic or competing brands.

But.

There are ways around the coupon trap. By applying the little buggers prudently, you can (and will) save a few bucks off healthy foods every week. It’ll compensate for the cost of labor and materials, and the time commitment shouldn’t take away from more important things. Like cooking, sleeping, or wondering why your boyfriend can get his laundry NEAR the hamper, but never IN the hamper.

Here are a few guidelines. You’ll note that some might not be applicable to your particular situation, and a few may even be at odds with each other. But hey – take what you like, and leave the rest. As always, I’d love to hear reader suggestions, as you guys are a scrappy, brainy bunch whose wisdom trumps mine by a country mile.

DON’T clip coupons for crap foods. It may seem intuitive, but if you ignore the insert discount on Mr. Transfat’s Super Rainbow Sugar Snackaroos, you’re much less likely to buy the product. And sandwiched between that barrage of prism-hued cartoon ads (which, infuriatingly, are often and obviously aimed at kids) are food coupons much more worth your while, as both a cook and a healthy eater. Bonus: by snubbing the crap, you’re not adding extra time to your grocery routine.

DO clip coupons for pantry staples. Sure, some folks have the time and inclination to brew their own soy sauce from scratch, and more power to them. I don’t. Fortunately for me, a plethora of standard condiments and cupboard stalwarts appear quite regularly in coupon inserts. In fact, right now, I have paper discounts for bread, Tabasco sauce, mustard, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, milk, eggs, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, soy milk, frozen vegetables, sugar-free sorbet, coffee, whole grain pasta, peanut butter, jelly, bagged salad, and 5,000 kinds of yogurt. These aren’t unhealthy foods, and many function as ingredients for other, nutritionally sound meals. Plus? When the coupons are paired with circular sales, each item can be purchased for well below the regular price.

DO check online. I could be wrong, but I find websites seem to have more health-based coupons than do Sunday newspapers. As of this writing, $3 worth of Muir Glen tomatoes, Birds Eye frozen vegetables, and Tuscan dairy discounts are available at Coupons.com, while SmartSource.com has $3.85 off Tribe hummus, Borden organic milk, Near East couscous, Heartland pasta, and Pompeian olive oil and vinegar. (And, um, $1 on Ben and Jerry’s.) Lots of organic-friendly companies will include coupon offers on their business websites, as well. All in all, that ain’t too shabby. (Of course, beware of grocery stores that don’t take print-out coupons. Mine don’t.)

DON’T be unwaveringly brand-loyal. A vital component of this whole healthy couponing thing (and couponing in general) is forgoing your allegiance to certain brands. Simply, coupons are for all kinds of items made by all kinds of companies, and the more you’re willing to try, the more you’ll save. It means you may have to give up Pillsbury sugar for Domino’s, but the money’s worth it in the long run.

DO clip coupons for personal and kitchen supplies. I don’t know if you’ve ever bought generic plastic wrap, but in my experience, it’s slightly less worthless than a Paris Hilton math book. With the help of coupons (paired with store sales, of course), you can regularly score aluminum foil, Tupperware, soap, cleaners, and toothpaste – all necessities that usually get lumped into the grocery budget - for next to nothing. And? The money you bank can be applied toward healthy whole foods like produce, grains, and meat. Money Saving Mom has the lowdown.

DON’T clip coupons for items you will never use (or donate). Much like the “No Crap Foods” rule, there’s no need to blow two hours eviscerating a coupon insert because you may miss a fantasy deal on fish oil supplements. If you’re an elderly dog owner prone to yeast infections, go ahead and getcher markdowns for Tylenol Arthritis, Alpo and Vagisil. If you’re not, pass them by (unless you will donate those goods to charity in the near future). Again, you’ll save time and aggravation, which affect both your health and your willingness to coupon.

DO read up. I’m far from an expert, but I know that circular sales or coupons by themselves aren’t usually enough to make a product enticing. Applied together, though? Different story. And these two posts include all you really need to know: Coupons Tips and Tricks That Can Cut Your Grocery Bill by 80% at The Digerati Life and The One Month Coupon Strategy at The Simple Dollar.

And that’s it. Readers, again, I’d love to hear from you. There’s so much to talk about with this particular subject, and I’m sure I forgot a ton. Please edumacate me.

(Photos courtesy of Flickr members ninjapoodles, joslynl, and peretzpup.)

City Kitchen Chronicles: Introducing Jaime

City Kitchen Chronicles is a bi-weekly column about living frugally in Manhattan. It's penned by the lovely Jaime.

jaime: Hello Cheap Healthy Good-ers! We here at City Kitchen Chronicles have a special column for you today. Two weeks ago you were introduced to Jaime by way of one of her cheapest, healthiest, tastiest recipes. Today we go past the flash and sizzle to meet the girl behind those tasty beans and veggies, to learn a little about how she ended up here, and why she’s sorta living on rice and beans. Hi Jaime. Thanks so much for joining us.

JAIME: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

jaime: Of course. So, first, how did you end up here at Cheap Healthy Good?

JAIME: Well, that’s a two-part question. Or, several parts. How did I find the website? How did I end up writing for it? Why do I feel the need for cheap, healthy, and good food in my life?

jaime: Any of that.

JAIME: Well, like most websites, I ended up at CHG through some sort of link odyssey. And why did Kris think I had things to say about cheap, healthy food when I spend most of my time blogging about theatre and cats? I’m not sure, but that leap of faith and that trust are a true gift.

jaime: You mention theatre. Something tells me there’s a connection there, to the cheap eating.

JAIME: Ha! Definitely. Working in theatre almost inherently necessitates frugal living. Non-profit off-Broadway theatre, though a wonderful place to work and make art, is not where you get rich. When I was finishing up college, I consciously made the decision to do what I love, not what would make me the most money. And so I find ways to make that work.

jaime: Now, yes, working in theatre does not pay a ton. But surely it must pay better than rice and beans. Don’t many of your coworkers do crazy, indulgent things like buy lunch rather than brown-bagging every day? How can they afford that when you can’t?

JAIME: Well, I may have had some, shall we say, financial indiscressions in my past. Senior year of college it seemed like a great idea, rather than having any savings on graduation, to spend winter break backpacking through Europe.

jaime: Ooh, how was that?

JAIME: It was amazing but, especially after my train passes got stolen on a train somewhere in Germany and had to be replaced, it catapulted me into a dependence on credit cards that I’m only now just starting to shake.

jaime: Ah, credit cards. (And a lesson to our readers to sleep on their bags on overnight trains.) But credit cards – can you tell us more about that?

JAIME: Sure. The Europe trip was the first time I remember really leaning on credit cards, and then it got more intense after graduation. My first job was working as an assistant at a talent agency, which makes my current job look like a goldmine. It paid horribly, and New York City is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. I had a new apartment (with two roommates) to furnish, and I think that went heavily onto credit cards, and my job wasn’t enough to make ends meet. I took on a second, part-time, job, but still – theatre tickets, a dinner out, groceries – I was living beyond my means. Nothing extravagant – okay, there was that hat – but I was just living a reasonable life on unreasonable money.

jaime: That doesn’t sound like the sort of person who would write for, let alone read, frugal cooking and personal finance blogs. What changed?

JAIME: Well, for starters, I got a new job. Which basically meant I could drop the second job – and wouldn’t have time for it, anyway. But a little more money was coming in. And then starting to stumble across, and then read, personal finance blogs was a big inspiration for me. I’d had a handful of moments of panic about my growing debt, but it was only several months ago that I made the commitment – to myself – to completely stop adding to it and to make a schedule to pay it off. So recently I’ve buckled down, hardcore. Part of what was – and is – so frustrating is that if I weren’t sending money to my credit cards every month, I’d have enough to live much more comfortably. But I know that a year (or two, oy) of really strapping down and doing this puts a definite end date to this.

jaime: And what is that end date?

JAIME: (mumbles) September 2011. My theatre paycheck doesn’t give me a lot to work with!

jaime: Well thanks for sharing that. It can be hard to be candid about this stuff.

JAIME: Sure thing.

jaime: So now that you’ve committed yourself to paying off your debt, how has your life changed?

JAIME: I’ve cut spending in every corner. My weekly grocery bill is down from about $60 a week to $25 or $30. I almost never eat out. I don’t have cable. I rarely buy clothes.

jaime: Is that hard?

JAIME: Honestly, yes. I think being young and single and living in New York makes it especially hard. Waah, I know, poor me. But, for example, almost every kind of socializing, of seeing my friends, involves spending money. Did we get free tickets to a play? Let’s get dinner beforehand. Is it someone’s birthday? Let’s go out for drinks. Have I not seen my best friend for two weeks? Let’s get coffee. And lunch. And see a movie. And in New York, all of this is bloody expensive. Groceries, too. Refocusing my priorities has really changed how I live.

jaime: Do you feel deprived?

JAIME: Of course, sometimes. I’ve had to find ways – often, small financial compromises – to keep myself feeling sane. But I also know why I’m doing this, why I’m living this temporarily ascetic life, and that once I’m out the other end, I’m going to have hundreds of extra dollars a week. And I also know that now I have the tools – and the discipline – to make that money go farther. I’m not going to suddenly lose my frugal mindset once my cards are paid off. And that’s exciting, too.

jaime: Good for you. Wherever you get your kicks.

JAIME: No, seriously. Figuring out how to eat for a week on $20, a third of what it used to cost me, is exciting. Because, look, when my cards are paid off, and I’ve got some emergency $$ stashed away, if I don’t go back to my old habits, let’s say $30 a week for groceries rather than the old $60, and I keep brown-bagging, no cable, this general frugal mindset and all the money that saves me from wasting – do you know how many pairs of shoes that is? How many fancy hats? Dinners out? It’s going to be awesome. I’m going to be able to save for retirement, see theatre beyond what I can get free tickets to, spend money where it counts rather than wasting it, and all because I learned to love rice and beans.

jaime: You’re insane.

JAIME: It’s a really pretty hat.

jaime: That’s true. It makes you look like a flapper.

JAIME: I know. I love that.

jaime: Well good for you. And thank you for sharing your story here. I’d ask about food, about cooking healthily and frugally, but that’s what your column’s for, isn’t it?

JAIME: Largely, yes. I’ve got more non-recipes like the bodega beans. I’ve got kitchen strategies that, for me at least, help me not waste money. I’ve got tales of living cheaply in the urban jungle. And I’ll probably find a way to sneak in something (it’s health-related!) about how weight lifting is the best thing ever, and how I really want my knee to heal so I can get back to the gym.

jaime: You pay for a gym membership? Isn’t than terribly anti-frugal?

JAIME: Not if you use it. But more on that to come.

jaime: Ooh, anticipation. Leave them wanting more. I like that.

JAIME: Thanks.

jaime: And thank you. And thanks to Kris for ok’ing an interview that was either a total rip-off of Glenn Gould or an easy way out of writing a self-introduction of coherent paragraphs.

JAIME: Indeed. And thanks for reading!

jaime: More soon!

JAIME: Yay rice and beans!

jaime: You’re crazy.

JAIME: Then so are you.

jaime: Crazy frugal.

JAIME: Okay, seriously now.

jaime: Okay. Bye!

(Photos courtesy of Flickr members GHD Photography & Design, truedeluxe, scandblue, wallyg, and docman.)

Tuesday Megalinks: The Post-Party Edition

We had 100 people at our place for a Memorial Day barbecue this weekend, and my kitchen just this morning stopped smelling like Brooklyn Lager. Please forgive me if some of these are nonsensical.

Being Frugal: Frugal Living for Beginners
Lynnae runs down a few starter strategies for frugal newbies. (Essentially: DIY, plan ahead, consolidate.) BAM!

Culinate: Better and easier cooking: rules for the home kitchen
With eight tremendous tricks to make cooking easier, this piece is a bit like “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Meaning, I wish I wrote it.

Culinate: Steering clear of refined grains (How to eat more whole grains)
What I like best about Culinate is that they walk you through things. Really, they’re the Alton Brown of foodie websites (only without the ballpits that are meant to symbolize atomic processes). This grain post is a good example.

Get Rich Slowly: Can Saving Prepare Us for an Economic Recession?
While it’s a bit tangential to the cheap/healthy theme, JD’s post is a vital one. He’s asking readers if they feel prepared for the financial straits we’re about to enter, and how it’s affecting them already. Personal stories abound, and it’s faboo to read so many viewpoints.

Lifehacker: Become the Memorial Day Grillmaster
Um. I’m one day late. But grill season has just begun to fight!

The Nest Baby: How Big is Baby?
Are you pregnant? Do you know someone who is? Have you ever heard the terms “pregnancy” or “there’s a baby in my belly and I’m going to push it out soon”? Go to Nest Baby now (especially if you like pictograms). Among other things, you'll discover that your nine-week-old fetus is about the size of an olive. (But should not be eaten as such.)

New York Times: Busy Students Get a New Required Course: Lunch
The brainy youths in this NYT article are skipping out on meals to pack in study time. I’m trying desperately to relate, as I was a (big) nerd. Alas, I was not a nerd who skipped lunch.

New York Times: Finding the Best Way to Cook All Those Vegetables
a.k.a. Prepping Produce to Pack Powerful Punches of Putrients and Pinerals. (Um, I was going for a theme there.)

Serious Eats: Cooking With Kids – School Lunch Revolution
Back in the olden days, when I was student teaching at a rural high school in upstate New York, I took the opportunity to glance at the kids’ cafeteria lunch offerings. There were hardly any vegetables, period, and every Wednesday, it was Pretzel Bites and Cheese Sauce. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? And we wonder why kids’ obesity is skyrocketing? Yarg. Anyway, this Revolution Foods program aims to change situations like Pretzelgate.

Serious Eats: Foodies Movies?
Movies! With food!

Serious Eats: Top 10 ingredients I will never have in my kitchen
Extensive comment thread on notorious denizens of American cupboards. Readers, what are yours? In descending order, my picks:
10. Mayonnaise/Miracle Whip
9. Anise
8. Lunchables
7. May to the onnaise
6. Kraft Singles
5. Fish in squeeze-paste form
4. Little Debbies snack cakes
3. Canned mushrooms (non-marinated)
2. Pre-made burger patties
1. It starts with "M" and ends with "ayonnaise"

Slashfood: Think twice about using palm oil
Palm oil = massive deforestation/widespread extinction of endangered species. Not so good.

Toronto Star: Sharing the wealth from Ontario farmland
What in the name of Alex Trebek’s mudflaps is this all aboot, you might ask? Well, if you’ve been curious about CSAs but don’t know where to start, Kim Honey’s $450 venture into fresh, locally-grown produce is a good place to commence reading. (Thanks to Slashfood for the link.)

WXYZ: Real Calorie and Fat Content
That barbacoa burrito you’re about to buy at Chipotle? Might have more calories than you think. Double yikes. (Thanks to Consumerist for the link.)

Washington Post: Young Lives at Risk – Our Overweight Children
If you read nothing else this week, please make sure you read this. It’s a gigantic series on kids’ nutrition and how their growing bellies affect almost every other aspect of their lives. Beyond the immaculately reported statistics and personal stories, the best part about the whole shebang is the multitude of solutions the authors propose. As a nation we need to get on this.

(Photos courtesy of Flickr members emyduck, Peter Korte, and cutglassdecanter.)

How to Lose The Wrinkle

7 Main Causes of Skin Damage
As you age, your skin changes. It becomes loose, thinner, drier and wrinkled, and slower to heal. The wrinkles occur mainly as a result of the rupture of the elastin fibers and the decreasing production of collagen fibers in the dermis but the diminishing of the fatty cells play a part in this as well as the decreasing bonds between the epidermis and dermis.
The main factors that accelerate skin damage are:

1. Sunlight
2. Smoking
3. Pollution
4. Muscle use
5. Inadequate diet
6. Genetic background
7. Decrease of hormonal levels at menopause.

Sunlight (the UV rays actually) damages the collagen and elastin fibers, and causes the development of some abnormal elastin fiber types. This results in a looseness of the skin and its incapacity to retract after stretching, causing the formation of wrinkles. It further creates a higher percentage of evaporation, making skin drier. Skin care for woman is vital, but before seeking anti aging skin care treatment or anti aging skin care product, you may want to know the basics means of protection.

Thus it is advisable at any age to avoid sunlight at midday and regularly use sunscreen creams with SPF 15 or higher. In addition, it is recommended to drink a lot of water, about 50-60 ounces daily. This intake of water would also be helpful in eliminating toxins through urine, rather than through skin pores.

Smoking and other air polluting factors produce free radicals in the cells of the skin, altering these cells and their genetic material. It is important to emphasize the importance of quitting smoking because smokers get wrinkled at an younger age than non-smokers, which is increased with the years and the number of cigarettes smoked daily.

If you want to improve your physical and mental health by stopping some of the processes which lead to aging, consider researching anti-aging programs. You will discover a whole world that is focused on slowing down many of the effects associated with aging, skin care for women, anti aging skin care treatment, anti aging skin care product and more. This will lead to increased energy, a better outlook on life, and a marked improvement in your health.

How To Remove Wrinkles
Here are some homemade remedies to smooth out those wrinkles.

• Rub egg white on our face and leave it for 5 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry.
• Put honey on your face. Wait 15 minutes, then rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry.
• Apply coconut or castor oil on your face. Leave overnight, then rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry.
• Papaya Facial Peel Mask To effectively use this recipe, cleanse face and steam to open pores. The skin will be moist and receptive to the peel. Papaya Peel Ingredients:
  

1 cup fresh pineapple
Half-a-cup fresh papaya
1 tablespoon honey
Puree fruit together.
Add honey and mix into a smooth paste.
Leave mask on 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse completely.

Pineapple and papaya contain natural enzymes and alpha-hydroxy acids that remove dead skin cells while the honey moisturizes the skin.

Vitamin C And Your Skin.



How vitamin C promote healthy skin:

• Helps plump up thinning skin by increasing its production of NEW COLLAGEN.No known risk of allergy, no immune reaction and no injection-induced infection. Just natural collagen being deposited in an orderly fashion...rapidly bringing back with it your skin's softness, strength and elasticity.
• Vitamin C is an antioxidant. As an antioxidant, Vitamin C kills free radicals, which irreparably damage our cells and accelerates the aging process.
• Blood Capillary Strengthener. Vitamin C strengthens blood capillaries which means fewer broken capillaries visible on your face.
• Enhance Skin Brightness. Vitamin C even out your skin tone and helps to remove age spots and liver spots.
• Prevents Transepiderma Water Loss. Helps retain moisture within the skin by reducing the water evaporation.
  

Ascorbyl Palmitate -- 10 Times Better Than Vitamin C .



Since Vitamin C is acidic, if you applied it directly to your face can cause severe skin irritation, swelling, redness and inflammation.

If you mix Vitamin C in a cream, it also is not stable -- it will lose it's potency.

So, what's the answer? Well, scientists have discovered a way to join Vitamin C with palmitic acid which they call Ascorbyl Palmitate.

What makes Ascorbyl Palmitate so good?

1. It is stable. It can be mixed into creams and still keep its full potency for months, even years.
2. It is non-irritating. It can even be placed on an open cut without stinging.
3. It is fat-soluble. It offers maximum protection to our skin against free-radicals at the exact spot they wreck the most damage - the outer portion of the cell.
   

In short, Ascorbyl Palmitate does everything 10 times more effectively than Vitamin C without the "harmful side-effects".

Researchers at Proctor & Gamble were able to show Ascorbyl Palmitate absorbs much more quickly and achieves levels ten times higher in the skin than L-Ascorbic Acid.

Can Human Growth Hormone (HGH) Really Help?
The Facts About Using HGH For Anti-Aging.
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) may likely be the next line of defense against aging for those that are desperate enough to go to major lengths to get help for their "problem".

HGH Is Taken By Injection
Different from antiaging skin care product or anti-wrinkle skin care product, antiaging HGH is actually taken through an injection of a hormone. This stops the patient's own production of human growth hormone and actually slows down the aging process. Does this process sound dangerous? It should. There are various side effects to taking antiaging HGH, among them high blood pressure, soft tissue swelling, muscle weakness and even arthritis.

A Quick Fix
People who take an anti aging hormone often are desperate to avoid the signs of aging and are willing to try just about anything to postpone the effects of natural aging. In short, anti-aging HGH is a quick fix for fighting signs of aging. But quick fixes seldom work. And in this case, it's expensive.

Taking vitamins and nutrients is the physically sound way to take on the signs of aging. Using an antiaging skin care product and an anti wrinkle skin care product is also a must.

HGH Is Dangerous
Antiaging HGH is a clinically proven form of medicine, but it is dangerous and has many side effects. Most physicians take a moderate point of view towards aging and recommend nutrients, vitamins, antiaging skin care product and anti wrinkle skin care product. Anti aging HGH injections are, quite frankly, too dangerous to be taken seriously by most reputable professionals.

How To Use Lavender To Help Your Skin
How Lavender oil can help our skin. Lavender not only smells great, it is a natural skin tonic. Use it to:

1. Treat cuts, bites and burns. Add a few drops of lavender oil in a bowl of water, soak cloth and press over affected area.
2. Use to treat pimples Dab the pimples with lavender oil morning and night.
   

6 Things To Do For The Health Of Your Skin
Anti aging skin care has a lot to do with total body care. Taking care of the body is the best path to taking care of the skin. Anti aging skin care begins from within.

1. Stay out of direct sunlight.
2. Take supplements.Taking a good daily vitamin is the place to start.
3. Watch your medications. Check the medications you take to make sure they don't affect your skin. See module titled, "Medications Can Affect Your Skin" for a list of medications that affect skin.
4. Eat a balanced diet.
   
5. Eat at regular intervals. Skipping a meal a day or reducing food consumption may have a direct effect on skin care. This occurs because of the reduction of insulin intake. Keep body weight down.As long as body weight remains similar to what it was in the late teens, skin care has a solid foundation to build upon. Of course, gaining weight is a part of life and there are few people who weigh what they did when they were eighteen.

Resource : Skin Care Module

White Bean and Kale Soup with Turkey Sausage: Kale and Hearty

(In celebration of Memorial Day, this will be my last post until Tuesday. Hope y’all have lovely long weekends, and don’t forget the sunscreen!)

My experience with leafy greens has been somewhat limited. Salads and simple sauteés mostly, with the occasional collard green experiment thrown in to alleviate the boredom. Oh, and once, I cooked chard for so long it burned to the pot, causing a chemical/produce scent unrivalled by even the foulest San Joaquin poop lagoon. I still owe my old roommate R a new pot for that, plus a few years in nasal therapy.

Why have I never keened on to those heralded emerald veggies? I could resort to, “My Mama never made ‘em,” and it would be true. Clichéd, but true. More truthfully though, they never did much for me. For years, I pegged all leafy greens as tarted-up lettuce – crisp, crunchy, and destined to live eternity out as sandwich toppers. Every time I sauntered through a supermarket, I callously overlooked them, contented to live happily with my carrots and mushrooms.

Then, this week, I met kale. Kale and I knew each other through friends and the infrequent restaurant side dish, but we never really sat down for an extended meal. That changed with Closet Cooking’s White Bean and Kale Soup with Turkey Sausage. Nuanced, filling, and over-the-moon healthy, it made me want to develop a real relationship with kale - one where we could stroll on the beach and whisper love songs by the light of the moon. Of course, eventually one of us would be mercilessly consumed, but it doesn’t mean we couldn’t give it a shot.

As ever, there are one or two (or three) things to know about this recipe:

1) When you first chop the kale, odds are it will barely fit in the pot. (My gigantic dutch oven was just big enough.) Give it a few minutes. It’ll wilt to about 1/8th of the size.

2) You may need more or less stock/water. Seven cups of stock, plus two cups of precious agua did it for me.

3) The scent is outrageously good, and it will make other people want your food. A legal temp almost mugged me at the office microwave yesterday.

This kale encounter has encouraged me to try some of its jade-hued kin. Who knows? Next week it could be mustard greens. The week after that, amaranth. Then ... I don't know. I'm still learning.

Happy vacation!

White Bean and Kale Soup with Turkey Sausage
14 cups of soup or 9 1-1/2 cup servings
Adapted from Closet Cooking.

1 pound Italian turkey sausage (casing removed)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 14.5 ounce can white beans
1 bunch kale (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
1/4 red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 parmigiano reggiano rind (optional)
* chicken stock (I needed 7 cups of 99% fat-free stock and 2 cups of water. – Kris)

1) In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat until browned, breaking it up with the back of a spoon as you go. Remove to a plate when finished.

2) In the same skillet, heat oil over medium or medium-high heat. Add onion. Cook between 7 and 10 minutes, until soft, stirring occasionally. Add garlic. Cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant.

3) Add sausage and the remaining ingredients, ending with enough chicken broth to just cover everything. Cover, turn the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, drop heat to a simmer and cook between 30 minutes and 1 hour.

4) Fish out bay leaf and cheese rind. Serve. Garnish each bowl with parsley and grated parm.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
224.4 calories, 7.4 g fat, $0.94

Calculations
1 pound Italian turkey sausage: 700 calories, 40 g fat, $2.50
1 tablespoon olive oil: 119 calories, 13.5 g fat, $0.12
1 onion: 46 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.18
2 cloves garlic: 9 calories, 0 g fat, $0.10
2 stalks celery: 11 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.50
2 carrots: 50 calories, 0.3 g fat, $0.20
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes: 163 calories, 0 g fat, $0.99
1 14.5 ounce can white beans: 482 calories, 1.2 g fat, $0.50
1 bunch kale: 335 calories, 4.7 g fat, $0.98 (I estimated this at 10 cups. - Kris)
1/2 teaspoon oregano: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
1 bay leaf: negligible calories and fat, $0.03
1/4 red pepper flakes (optional): negligible calories and fat, $0.01
salt and pepper to taste: negligible calories and fat, $0.01
7 cups 99% fat-free chicken stock: 105 calories, 7 g fat, $2.33
2 cups of water: negligible calories and fat, $0.00
TOTAL: 2020 calories, 66.9 g fat, $8.47
PER SERVING (TOTAL/9): 224.4 calories, 7.4 g fat, $0.94

Veggie Might: That’s What I Was Going to Say

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.

This past weekend, my cute doggie, Snack, and I participated in a bike ride to promote pet adoption. Here’s a cute photo of Snack and a link to Rational Animal rescue collective. Adopt a pet and love forever!

Even before Kris asked me to write for CHG, I’d been thinking about what my Veggie Manifesto might say. It would not try to convert omnivores to the fold (though you may think otherwise from my first post—really, I was just making a correlation to our current eco/enviro situation); but it would respond to the same old questions and frequent (and unprovoked) defensiveness I encounter from meat eaters.

Then someone wrote it for me—my Veggie Manifesto—almost word for word. Almost.

In the Slate article, Meatless Like Me, Taylor Clark tells omnivores everything they’ve ever wanted to know about veggies, with a sense of humor and a dose of reality. I heard the podcast version while walking home from work one rainy evening last week. With every new point, I smiled and gave a little “amen, brother!” from under my umbrella.

Point one: We are regular people. Clark explains, “Imagine a completely normal person with completely normal food cravings, someone who has a broad range of friends, enjoys a good time, is carbon-based, and so on. Now remove from this person’s diet anything that once had eyes, and, wham!, you have yourself a vegetarian.”

We’re just like you, but with a plant-based diet. Not necessarily health-nuts, not necessarily activists, just people who choose not to eat meat, just as you might choose not to eat shellfish or horseradish.

I was beginning to feel liberated.

Point two: We want decent food in restaurants. Clark implores, “We really appreciate that you included a vegetarian option on your menu (and if you didn’t, is our money not green?), but it may interest you to know that most of us are not salad freaks on a grim slog for nourishment. We actually enjoy food, especially the kind that tastes good.”

Preach it!

Though, in New York City, I have little to complain about, it can still be tricky to eat out. When dining with my omni friends, I’m accustomed to making meals of sides, appetizers, and parts of entrees to the annoyance of many a waiter and chef to be sure. But I’m used to it. When I go to a vegetarian restaurant, it takes me hours to order; it’s such a novelty—and sometimes a burden—being able to choose from everything on the menu.

Point three: We don’t care what you eat. Clark reassures, “As you’re enjoying that pork loin next to me, I am not silently judging you.” That’s right, omnis. Go ahead and enjoy your osso buco. Savor that porterhouse. As long as I don’t have to eat it (or cook it for you), it doesn’t bother me. I grew up eating meat; I’ve served meat in restaurants (Who had the lamb shank?); I’ve only ever dated meat eaters. The people who attempt to make you feel guilty about your life choices are just, well, obnoxious. And if you feel guilty eating chicken Marsala on a date with your new vegan boyfriend, let me assure you, it’s your issue, not his.

There is one thing I would add or change in my version of the Veggie Manifesto. For me it goes beyond diet, into lifestyle territory.

While Clark is comfortable wearing leather as he shuns a roast beef sandwich, I find that contradiction hard to stomach. He challenges the reader to find a pair of nonleather dress shoes. May I kindly point you here, here, and here? And Portland, where Clark resides, is the home of the first vegan mini mall, which can probably help him find local vegan shoe options.

But his point is well taken. We can drive ourselves crazy trying to be the perfect vegetarian or vegan. (And if you eat fish or chicken sometimes, you’re neither.) We have to set boundaries we can live with. After that, we are only accountable to our own consciences.

So why do meat eaters become so defensive in the presence of vegetarians? Clark doesn’t really ask this question, but I’m curious. I’m not referring to a discussion of the lifestyle between willing participants. I’m talking about unsolicited attacks on the wisdom of my food choices based on presumed lack of dietary merits, ethical differences, or just plain antagonism. Does the perceived deprivation of the vegetarian lifestyle make people uncomfortable? Make them feel like they should be doing something they’re not?

If that’s it, then everyone can relax. I am not deprived. I don’t starve (which you could tell if you could see me), and I enjoy the food I eat. I don’t even miss the meat. Sometimes I get a little wistful when I think of crab cakes or smell fried chicken, but it doesn’t last. I savor the memories and enjoy the vegetarian bounty before me.

Hosanna!

(Shoe photo courtesy of Flickr member shoe la la.)

CHG Favorites of the Week: The Cake Edition

Food Blog of the Week
Allergic Girl
Tree nuts, salmon, eggplant, melon, tropical fruits, and lemongrass are just a few of the banes of Allergic Girl’s existence. For three years, she’s “maintained a wheat/gluten-free, processed sugar-free, lactose-free, soy-free, low processed food-free lifestyle.” These are her stories. (And also her motherlode of food allergy resources, which could be super-helpful to anyone out there with similar issues.)

Food Book of the Week
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Ooooo, this is bleak. Bleakbleakbleak. Like, why-do-I-bother-eating-this-orange-we-all-eventually-die-anyway bleak. Yet! Every time the main characters find food, it sounds like an unparalleled feast. It’s the only novel I can recall where canned pears sound better than ten birthday cakes. Read it and savor. (And weep, too. Trust me, there will be a lot of that).

Food Comedy of the Week
Jim Gaffigan on cake
First, it was bacon. Then, Hot Pockets. Now, it’s sweet, wonderful cake. I think Jim Gaffigan likes food. (And thank goodness.)



Food Organization of the Week
Bake Me a Wish
Speaking of cake, the Boston Globe recently ran this article about Bake Me a Wish, a New York-based baking business that ships the sugary confections to and from U.S. troops overseas. While not a philanthropy per se, you can make donations. So log on! Your favorite airman/seaman/marine/etc. will thank you for it.

Food Quote of the Week
Bill Cosby, on his wife catching him feeding the kids chocolate cake for breakfast: “I've always heard about people having a conniption but I've never seen one. You don't want to see 'em. My wife's face split. My wife's face split and the skin and hair split and came off of her face so that there was nothing except a skull. And orange lights came out of her hair and there was glitter all around. And fire shot from her eye sockets and began to burn my stomach and she said, ‘WHERE DID THEY GET CHOCOLATE CAKE FROM?’ And I said, ‘They asked for it!’ And the children who had been singing praises to me... LIED on me and said, ‘Uh-uh! We asked for eggs and milk... AND DAD MADE US EAT THIS!’ And my wife sent me to my room... which is where I wanted to go in the first place.”

Food Tip of the Week
This one comes straight from The Boyfriend’s mom: to clean your dish sponge, wet it and nuke it in the microwave for a minute. It should kill all the lurking germs. Be VERY careful with removal, though, and make absolutely sure the sponge is damp. Otherwise, disaster.

Untried Cheap, Healthy Recipe of the Week
Chicken and Mango Skewers at Sunday Dish
Food on a stick! And it’s every color of the rainbow!

Food Video of the Week
“Short Skirt/Long Jacket” by Cake
While we’re on this whole cake thing…

40 Greatest Songs About Food: Part II

Ladies and gentlemen, you're just in time for the second half of CHG's 40 Greatest Songs About Food! Sit back and behold!

20) “Me in Honey” by R.E.M.
Kate Pierson is sadly absent from this live performance, but bassist Mike Mills fills in nicely.

19) “Gin and Juice” by Snoop Dogg
C’mon, Snoop – it was never hard being you.

18) “Peaches” by Presidents of the United States of America
Note: This is a band, not our actual Commander in Chief. (As you know, Dubya's biggest hit is about pretzels.)

17) “Blueberry Hill” by Louis Armstrong
Adjust your eyes – it’s Satchmo in EXTREME close up. You can see his pores!

16) “Candy” by Iggy Pop with Kate Pierson
Has Iggy Pop ever worn a shirt, ever? I could draw the man’s nipples from memory.

15) “Pulling Mussels From a Shell” by Squeeze
My second favorite Squeeze song, narrowly beating out “Nail in My Heart.”

14) “Lunch Lady Land” by Adam Sandler
Yeah, it’s not the same without Chris Farley’s original SNL choreography, but still one of Sandler’s best.

13) “Ice Cream” by Sarah McLachlan
Reader (and first commenter) nonrunner! I hear you!

12) “Rock Lobster” by B-52’s
Okay, so this is Kate Pierson’s third appearance in the Top 20. I didn’t even know I liked her that much. COVET THE BEEHIVE!

11) “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie
Every Thanksgiving at noon, my family ceases turkey preparation to listen to our local classic rock station play “Alice’s Restaurant.” It’s as important to our holiday as the stuffing.

10) “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard
For years, I thought the lyric to this was, “You want some sugar?/Well have some more!” when it was actually, “Do you take sugar?/One lump or two?” I liked my version better.

9) “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways
Adolescent rage at its ragiest.

8) “Lost in the Supermarket” by The Clash
“I wasn’t born so much as I fell out.” Best line ever? I say possibly.

7) “Le Poisson” from The Little Mermaid
I could only find the Broadway audio, but picture: a large, animated French chef rhapsodizing on his weakness for seafood, as a talking, calypso-happy Jamaican crustacean scurries away in terror. I’ll give you a minute.

6) “Just Like Honey” by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Get ready … get set … GAZE AT YOUR NAVEL!

5) “Milkshake” by Kelis
I’m not sure if any song has been used in more movies and TV shows. But “Mean Girls” (and wondrous Fey) employed it best.

4) “Baby’s Got Sauce” by G. Love and Special Sauce
I’m pretty sure this was the only song in rotation at my freshman year college radio station. I associate it very strongly with weak beer and young adult angst.

3) “Mayonaise” by Smashing Pumpkins
Hey! Billy Corgan had hair once.



2) “Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones
What a far-out tune! Call me crazy, but I think these kids are going places.



1) “Eat It” by “Weird Al” Yankovic
Like it wasn’t gonna be Weird Al. (The link is the original video. The embedded piece below is just funny.)


And that's it, dear readers. I hope you enjoyed this musical interlude, and are already preparing for next week's Wednesday article, which will most likely be about saving money on food. (Go figure.) Excelsior!

P.S. So - in the countdown, what'd I miss?

40 Greatest Songs About Food: Part I

It’s been pretty serious around here lately, between the food crisis and well, uh, the food crisis. So, I’d like to lighten things up with the sweet, sweet sounds of music. Namely, music dealing with food. Even more namely, my favorite 40 songs marginally related to food, determined by no method other than my own dabolical whim.

Subsequently - be on the lookout! This hour it’s #21-40, and a little later in the day #1-20 will make an appearance. Unfortunately, I can't embed all the videos (I tried, Blogger crashed), but the links will take you right to YouTube.

So! Without further ado! Here goes.

40) "Lady Marmalade" by LaBelle
Eat your heart out, Aguilera.

39) "Eat to the Beat" by Blondie
The link only contains about 20 seconds of the single, but it’s worth a look for Debbie Harry’s general gloriousness.

38) "Ice Cream Man" by Van Halen
Diamond Dave could sing a Con Ed brochure and still make it sound vaguely suggestive. The Good Humor Man shares this fate.

37) "Banana Chips" by Shonen Knife
They’re Japan’s Ramones! Only way cuter.

36) "The Lemon Song" by Led Zeppelin
It’s a song! About lemons! Maybe. Probably not. Definitely not. Okay, it’s actually about the ladies. But the word “lemon” appears in the title. So it counts.

35) "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow
Annabella Lwin was only 16 when this came out. My Ma would have killed me for the haircut alone.

34) "Brown Sugar" by D’Angelo
The first of two "Brown Sugar"s to appear on the list. (Um, I may have just given something away.)

33) "Breakfast in America" by Supertramp
I spent years thinking this was Led Zeppelin. I’m not so smart.

32) "Chocolate Salty Balls" by Chef (South Park)
Note: not actually about delicious treats. You may want to clear the kids out for a sec.

31) "Banana Boat Song" by Harry Belafonte
Featuring Fozzy Bear and a whole bunch of Muppets.

30) "Coffee and TV" by Blur
More notable for the video than the tune. Take pity on the milk carton!

29) "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel
As a native Long Islander, it’s my moral duty to include this.

28) "She Don’t Use Jelly" by The Flaming Lips
If you haven’t heard any Lips since "Jelly," please listen to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots right now.

27) "Green Onions" by Booker T. and the MGs
Get down with the instrumental section!

26) "Trapped in the Drive Thru" by “Weird Al” Yankovic
R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet” is pre-requisite viewing for this. It’s just as funny, if not more so.

25) "Know Your Chicken" by Cibo Matto
This song has been in my head since 1996. I apologize for putting it in yours.

24) "Rapper’s Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang
There’s a whole verse about fried chicken! Mmm ... chicken.

23) "That’s Amore" by Dean Martin
Taste the martinis!

22) "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" by XTC
Man, I love this track. I wish I had clever commentary, but it just comes out as gushing adoration.

21) "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffet
SPRING BREAK!

The second half of the countdown is coming shortly! Keep your eyes peeled.

Natural Bust Treatment

A. Message for Breast Enlargement



Massage is one of the oldest techniques for breast enlargement. It is also the cheapest one and gives you more control over your body – in case one of your breasts is smaller than the other you can massage the smaller one to eliminate the difference. Also, the increase of blood circulation brings more nutrients to the massaged area, resulting in better skin tonus and better shaped breasts. When using breast enlarging creams and certain oils the effect is increased and fuller bust is more likely. If you don’t have a breast cream, you can use the following recipe from aromatherapy known for having breast increasing properties: mix 2 teaspoons of sweet almond oil with 3 drops of ylang-ylang essential oil and 1 drop of geranium essential oil.

There are several known techniques of breast massage. Choose the one that suits you best or use the combination. But remember that all the movements have to be soft and gentle and that no way your breasts should hurt after the session. The results will not come faster if you apply more force. Also, while doing massage, always avoid nipple area.

Method 1

1. Apply breast enhancing cream or oil on your breasts.
2. Warm up your breasts by gently sliding your hands around them in circular motion. Keep your fingers together.
3. Moving in circles, start pinching breasts a little bit.
4. Using your three longest fingers pressed together, start gently pushing on the skin underneath your breasts and also around them for a couple of minutes.
5. Finish by sliding your hands in circles again, slowly and gently.
   

Method 2

This method is a little bit more complicated, because it is based on acupressure. It may take some time to find the right spots correctly. This massage is done using small balls, like table tennis balls, for example.

1. Count 13 cm up from your solar plexus. Move 2 cm to the sides from this point. Massage the 2 points with the balls for 30 seconds, by pressing the balls to the points and rolling them on one place.
2. Stop for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat step 1, massaging the points for 1 minute this time.
4. Take one ball in to your hand, press it between your palms and roll it.
5. Next, massage the point between your thumb and index finger in the same way as you did before, on both hands.
6. Finally, put the balls on the floor and roll them with your feet.
   

Method 3

Remember, you have to do massage regularly, once or twice a day for a couple of months to see the results.

B. Exercises for fuller bust

Exercising is a good way to keep your breasts full and beautifully shaped. In certain cases the breast size can increase, because of the muscle growth underneath the breasts. But even if your bust will not grow with regular working out, the shape will definitely improve and the sagginess will disappear. Exercises will increase the blood flow in your breasts, will tone up your skin and will produce a lifting effect to your bust area. Another benefit is stronger back muscles which will result in better posture.

Exercise 1

Standing on your toes, start quickly stretching your arms up, one after the other, as if catching something above your head. This exercise stretches the upper part of your body, warms up your muscles and straightens your spine.

Exercise 2

Bend forward, keeping your body parallel to the floor. Wave your hands left and right, following the movement with your head. This exercise relaxes chest muscles and strengthens the neck and back muscles.

Exercise 3

Bring your palms together in front of your breasts and push them against each other. You can also do it with a tennis ball. This exercise works directly on your chest muscles, as well as your arms, shaping them beautifully.

Exercise 4

Stand straight with your arms raised on the sides to shoulder level and with the palms facing up. Cross the arms in front of your chest and then pull back to the original position. Do it fast and keep your arms straight.

Exercise 5

Standing straight bring your arms to shoulder level on each side. Do circles with your arms straight, clockwise and then anticlockwise.

Exercise 6

Lie on the floor face down. Bring your hands together behind your head. Lift your head, arms and chest off the floor as far as possible and hold the position for a couple of seconds.

Exercise 7

Stand against the wall with your legs in line with shoulders. Make sure that your toes face straight to the wall and keep your back straight. Put your hands against the wall and do push-ups.

Exercise 8

Lie on your stomach with your ankles crossed. Bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor a bit to the side and in front of your shoulders. Straighten your arms and lift your body while keeping your knees on the floor, hold for a moment and go down slowly with the entire body.

C. Herbs for Breast Enlargement

You probably already know that most of the natural enlargement pills and creams are made of certain herbs. Here is the list of the most popular breast enlarging botanicals, their use in medicine and how they affect your body.

Fenugreek (Trigonella Foenum)

Most of the breast enlargement pills you find have Fenugreek, either at the top of list of ingredients or anywhere else in the formula. When Fenugreek is listed at the top – it means this is the active ingredient – the one that takes most of responsibility for your breast increase. Why fenugreek? Because it was proved by scientists that fenugreek has certain phyto-estrogens that are very similar to the hormone estrogen produced by female body. Estrogen is the main female sex hormone that is responsible for woman’s young and healthy skin, shiny hair and breast size. Fenugreek gives extra estrogen to female’s body and that results in natural and healthy growth of breast tissue.

In ancient times fenugreek seeds and oil from these seeds were used by breast feeding women to increase the amount of milk, as well as develop larger bust. Other benefits of fenugreek are relief from painful menstruation, libido increase and improvement of digestion.

Saw Palmetto

This is another popular ingredient. Saw palmetto has been long known as a tonic that builds and restores body tissues. In homeopathy it is also given for breasts that become small and shrunken due to a hormonal imbalance, because of its estrogenic action. Also, studies have shown Saw Palmetto to successfully reverse atrophy of the mammary gland.

Saw palmetto is also known to treat urinary tract infection, increase libido and restore hormonal balance.

Fennel

Fennel is another estrogenic herb that has been used for centuries to promote milk production. It has long been praised for its abundance of flavonoids. These compounds exert mild estrogenic effects and are completely harmless and non-toxic.

Pueraria Mirifica

Pueraria Mirifica (White Kwao Krua) is a native herbal plant found in deep forests of the northern region of Thailand. It has been well known to local people for many years due to its distinguished properties and efficacy, as well as regarded as the national identity of traditional medicine. The phyto-estrogens in the Pueraria Mirifica are more concentrated than in any other herbs. It also has anti-aging and rejuvenating properties, helping to battle wrinkled skin and memory loss.

Wild Yam

Wild Yam is thought to have a chemical called diosgenin, which can be used to create progesterone and estrogen for the body, leading to similar effects described above. The herb is widely used in many medicines, specifically those that help to treat various illnesses in women, like yeast infections, premenstrual symptoms, breast tenderness, and a tendency to form cysts in the breasts, ovaries or both.

These ingredients are usually present in all herbal breast enlargement pills, but in different doses. Therefore, the effects of different pills can vary, depending on the unique combination of active chemicals and other supportive ingredients in their formulas.

D. Nutrition for Breast Enlargement.

1. Soy.
Soy is one of the most controversial products today. It is known for being high in estrogen, which seems to automatically make it a good ingredient for breast enlargement pills and creams. But is it really effective?

There is a popular belief that soy products can enlarge woman’s breasts and there are many supplements and breast enlargement pills based on soy that are feeding this belief. However, I would like to give a word of caution here.

Yes, it is true, soy is high in isoflavones - chemicals similar to our bodies’ estrogen. And it is true that our bodies sometimes react to soy’s isoflavones. But it is important to know that medical researches have found dangerous components in soy.

Soy products got their bad reputation a couple of years ago, when researches carried out on mice and rats have shown that a certain component extracted from soy causes growth of estrogen-dependent tumors. These findings triggered big disputes in scientific world and scared many people consuming soy products on a daily basis. But further researches clarified that “when the whole food is consumed you get a very different effect than if you consume the concentrated constituents individually”, according to University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor William Helferich. Only raw soy and its products (e.g. flour) were found to have positive effects on health. You can read more about this research here.

So, for someone who wants to enlarge their breast size using soy, I would suggest to avoid any chemical pills or supplements which feature “soy extracts”. You do not know what exactly was extracted and the real amount of isoflavones you will receive, since labels can be misleading sometimes. A better choice would be introducing some raw soy food in to your diet. This will be a much healthier option for your breasts, as natural soy can protect against cancer.

As to the question whether or not soy can enlarge breasts, I would say that maybe in some cases it can, but the vast majority of Asian women, for whom soy is a staple food, prove that it is a rare case.

Source: Science Daily

2. Food for Breast Enlargement.

The first step for breast enhancement is ensuring nutrition for your breasts. It is advisable to eat less animal fat. You can eat more oily fish and use virgin oil other than the standard cooking oils. In order to assure the antioxidant supply for your breasts, eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables like onion, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. You have to include more fibre, especially oats, rye, millet, brown rice and beans in your diet to reduce the reabsorption of oestrogen.You have to bring to an end the intake of coffee, cola, chocolate, strong tea and alcohol. Three to four meals a day that consist of protein will build and keep your breasts tone and firm.

You may wonder how anything that you eat can alter your breast size without making you gain weight. The answer is simple. While eating certain foods alone will not guarantee you any bust enlargement, it may really help you getting faster results if you use any other methods, like creams and pills. This is because some food contains a good amount of phyto-estrogens – chemicals that are close to your own estrogen hormone. And since estrogen is responsible for your feminine curves, a slight increase of that hormone in your body can help you to achieve fuller breasts.

The foods that are most known for their high estrogen content are soybeans, wheat, barley and rye (gluten grains), as well as dairy products. Obviously, you are not expected to eat only bread and cheese and drink soy milk, even though this will increase your breast size along with all the other parts of your body. The idea is to include some of these foods in small quantities in to your everyday life, without overdoing it.

Another important tip is eating food that is high in bromine and manganese. These two chemicals are needed because they stimulate the production of our own sex hormones in the body. They also increase the sensitivity of receptors in the breast tissues, making them more receptive to estrogen.

Bromine can be found in many fruits and nuts like apples, pears, grapes, almonds, and walnuts.

Manganese is contained in seafood like prawns and mussels, and also in wholegrain rice, corn and spices (i.e. ginger, cloves). You can get these chemicals in a good amount by trying out the following salads.

Salad 1 1 medium sized melon, 1 banana, 1 apple, juice of 1 lemon, 1 peach, 2 apricots, 250gr of green grapes, 125gr of cherries, 125gr of strawberries, 125gr of raspberries, 4Tbsp of sugar and 1 cup of wine or Madera.

Cut off the top of the melon and remove the insides carefully. Remove the seeds and cut the pulp in cubes. Peel and cut banana, and sprinkle it a little bit with lemon juice. Do the same for the apple. Put the peach in the hot water for a couple of seconds and then peel off the skin and cut in cubes as well. Cut apricots. Wash the cherries and remove the stones. Mix the sugar with wine. Add the fruits and leave for about 1 hour.

Salad 2
500gr of prawns, 350gr green beans, 4 tomatoes, 4 cucumbers, 1 lemon, 2 Tbsp olive oil, spring onion, fresh oregano, 1Tbsp sweat mustard, 1/2tsp sugar, 100gr cheese

Boil prawns in salty water and put aside. Boil the green beans in a little bit of water. Mix prawns, green beans and fresh vegetables. For sauce mix 3tsp of lemon juice, lemon peel, olive oil, spring onions, mustard, sugar and add some pepper and salt. Pour the sauce over prawns and vegetables and decorate with cheese.

resource : grow your

E. Exercise For A Better Bust.

Whether you want to make your bust look bigger or you’re trying to decrease a large chest, you can make the most of what nature gave you by fitting a few chest exercises into your upper-body training routine. Some of the best bust exercises include dumbbell chest presses, stability ball push-ups and the dumbbell fly. Find out how you can firm up your bustline for a sexier you.

I'm going to recommend three exercises for you to do at home that won't cost you a dime and will put more boom in your boom-chicka-boom in 6-8 weeks. Simply do 1-3, 8-15 rep sets of each move, 2-3 times a week and I guarantee you'll see results! Have fun.

1. The Modified Push Up

1. Lie on your stomach, bend your knees, and cross your ankles. Bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor a bit to the side and in front of your shoulders. Straighten your arms and lift your body so you're balanced on your palms and knees. Tuck your chin a few inches toward your chest so your forehead faces the floor. Tighten your abdominals.
2. Bend your elbows and lower your entire body at once. Rather than trying to touch your chest to the floor, lower only until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Push back up. Don't lock your elbows at the top of the movement and don't do the dreaded "head bob." That's when you dip your head toward the floor without moving any other part of your body.

2. Soup Can Press

1. Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor and a soup can or dumbbell in each hand. Push the soup cans up so your arms are directly over your shoulders and your palms face away from you. Pull your abdominals in but don't jam your back into the floor; don't let it arch way up, either. Tilt your chin toward your chest.
2. Lower the soup cans down and a little to the side until your elbows lightly touch the floor. Push the weights back up, taking care not to lock your elbows or allow your shoulder blades to rise off the floor. (Note: Use soup cans of equal weight. When those get too light, you can fill two Pinesol bottles with dried beans or pebbles.)

3. Incline Fly

1. Lie on the floor with your head, neck and upper back propped up against several large pillows. Hold a soup can or dumbbell in each hand and press the weights directly above your chest, palms facing each other. Tuck your chin to your chest to align your neck with the rest of your spine, and maintain your natural back posture, neither arched nor flattened.
2. Spreading your arms apart so that your elbows travel down and to the sides, lower the weights until your elbows lightly touch the floor. Maintaining a constant bend in your elbows, lift the weights back up, imagining that you have a barrel lying on your chest and you have to keep your arms wide to reach around it.

resource : total health
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