Save Money with Meatless Mondays

May 14, 2012  |
• by Kirstin Uhrenholdt


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It’s the beginning of a new week. Why not start it out on a nutritious note with a Meatless Monday?

You probably already know the health and environmental benefits of reducing your family’s meat consumption. Going meatless once a week can reduce your risk of preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help limit your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel.

But going meatless also benefits your wallet. Food prices are skyrocketing, with the sharpest increases in packaged items and meat, which require extra production costs like feed and transportation. Forgoing meat, even just once a week, is a great way to cut your family’s food budget.

Also, did you know 70% of total US healthcare spending is for treatment of chronic preventable diseases? Reduce your risk for these conditions with a healthier diet, and help to curtail healthcare spending.

For more information on the benefits, visit MeatlessMonday.com.

And here are a few suggestions for items to try on your Meatless Monday menu:

Chan Luu’s Tofu Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Angel Hair Pasta with Trees and Cheese

Orecchiette Pasta with Crisp Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Oven Grains, Greens and Cheese, Please

As always, we want to hear your stories about starting a Meatless Monday tradition in your house. What are your family’s favorite vegetarian dishes?

The Clean Fifteen

May 02, 2012  |
• by The Family Dinner


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Most of you probably know the fruits and vegetables with the highest amount of pesticide residue (see page 149 of The Family Dinner book for a list of 13 fruits and veggies you should buy organic). That list includes items such as apples, celery, and strawberries, which are the three worst offenders.

It’s always better to minimize exposure to toxic chemicals, and to buy organic as much as possible, but sometimes it’s hard to find a wide variety of organic items in the regular supermarket. In that case, try to steer toward those fruits and vegetables with the lowest amount of detectable pesticide residue.

The Environmental Working Group, in addition to publishing its Dirty Dozen items you should buy organic, also provides a handy list of the Clean 15, the items with the least amount of pesticide.

At the top of that list are conventional onions, which according to the group are a clean crop, with less than 1 percent of samples containing any pesticides. Other items on the list include sweet corn, pineapples, avocado, asparagus and sweet peas.

For the full list of the Clean 15, visit the EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides. Or download the guide as a PDF.

Coming Soon: The Big Picture

April 26, 2012  |
• by The Family Dinner


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Atlas Films announced today the start of production for The Big Picture, a feature-length documentary that examines the causes and impact of the childhood obesity epidemic. Executive producers include award-winning journalist, cancer advocate, and bestselling author Katie Couric; author, producer, and environmental advocate Laurie David (Oscar winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth); and Atlas founders Michael and Michelle Walrath. Sarah Olson will serve as a producer. Stephanie Soechtig (award-winning documentary Tapped) will produce and direct the project.

The Big Picture examines how American children are suffering, in dangerously high numbers, from obesity and related health problems like Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart conditions. The film will also look at the epidemic’s financial toll on our economy. The direct medical cost of obesity to the U.S economy is $168 billion annually, and is expected to rise to $344 billion by 2018. The film will include tangible solutions to empower the audience to make immediate and life-altering changes to take back control of their health…

Green Tip: Keeping Aprons White

April 24, 2012  |
• by Kirstin Uhrenholdt


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White aprons get green-pea stains, red tomato splats, and even worse, yellow turmeric sprinkles. But after years of washing white aprons I have found the nicest way to remove the patterns dinner leaves.

First, wash in hot water with optimism and soap. If you are lucky that is all you need.

However, if colors stubbornly remain: Squeeze a lemon into a small bowl of salt, mix and rub onto the stain, hang in the sunshine (this is an important step), watch the stain fade.

Now if only someone can teach me how to avoid the knotted noodle mess of apron strings that flop out of the wash, I will be very happy.

Kick the Can

March 13, 2012  |
• by Laurie David


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It’s time to start naming names. So, here goes: Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Elton John, Lebron James, David Beckham and Michael Jordan. These are just a few of the athletes and singers who’ve recently lent (well, OK, sold) their name, cachet, and influence to promote soda, a product that’s a key culprit in making our kids sick. Ads featuring celebrities touting bubbly beverages are everywhere, like an endless series of public dis-service announcements. Why don’t we react the same way we would if they were peddling cigarettes or alcohol?…