Dare You To...

WIAW... it's been a long time since my last "What I Ate Weduesday" post!  See my previous WIAW posts here, and check out other folks' WIAW over at Peas & Crayons.

Yesterday's meals were all simple, although they'd look like they took quite a bit of time.

I was so tired that I slept through/snoozed my first alarm--very rare!  Got myself up eventually, showered, got dressed, and made eggs. The eggs caused a rude awakening, because the smoke from the frying pan--after I was done cooking, set off the alarm.  That shook me to consciousness.

Thus, breakfast was simple: eggs over lox. Lox, courtesy of my grandmother, who brought them for me when we celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday. She knows I love them but don't buy them often.  Thank you, Grandma!





Lunch was Turnip Noodles with Toasted Walnut Pesto.  Sounds fancy, right?  It's actually a "7-minute meal" by Hungry Root.  They have a variety of vegetable-noodle dishes that are pre-portioned a…

Psst! Don't forget to check out last week's giveaway to win an amazing nutrition/health/recipe book, signed by the author!
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It's been a while since a new food post, but I recently tried a food that was brand new to me: Sunchokes.


Have you heard of this vegetable?  I had never, but then I discovered that it's simply another name for the Jerusalem artichoke.  I'd never actually seen or eaten one of those, either, but had always assumed it looked more like, well, an artichoke (click to learn all about that "new food" dare here).

Intrigued, I gathered the details on this native North American tuber:

Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes, come from a plant that looks a lot like their relative, the sunflower.  What I found, though, looked nothing like a sunflower.  It's the tuber beneath it that looks like a knobby, rough, light brown rock. It looked sort of like ginger, but I honestly questioned whether it was even edible.


Peeled, cut, and cooked, it wasn&…

I've been feeling a little sickly and living off soup since my first 10k race last weekend, but I'm popping in for a moment to bring attention to an important holiday...
Did you know that TOMORROW is National Kale Day??!!?

According to NationalKaleDay.org:
"National Kale Day is held on the first Wednesday in October and is an annual celebration of eating, growing, and sharing kale throughout America."
So how should you celebrate?  By eating, growing, and sharing kale!

But WHY, you ask? Click to review last year's post:What is kale, Why is it great, and How can you eat it?   (Hint: It's a green vegetable with all kinds of benefits that can be eaten cooked or raw in a variety of ways!)


Last October, I celebrated the very fist National Kale Day in style with my friends (see the PaRTaY here), so this year, I dare you to follow suit with your ownKALE PARTY.  Hit up the farmer's market or supermarket, find a few varieties of kale (as shown above), Google a recipe…

It's been a while since a Friday Features, so I've got a couple interesting and informative links saved up.

I'll kick off with a popular video from this week, demonstrating how an ingenious French supermarket made deformed produce popular:




Speaking of fruits and vegetables, a recent meta-analysis of over
300 studies found that "organic food as more antioxidants, less pesticide residue"
... and no one should be shocked.  Duh.  To learn more, visit the Huffington Post.

Then, Marion Nestle evaluates the previous study and asks whether
nutrition is even the right question.  Read her Food Politics postto learn
other good reasons people choose to eat organic foods.



Mark Sisson analyzes "The 'Dangers' of Going Gluten Free".

More questionable links between fat and heart disease
are explored in this Wall Street Journal article.

Similarly, The Angry Trainer answers, "Is red meat really bad for you?"


Further disrupting "conventional wisdom&q;…

Scenes from the celebration of the (proposed) first National Kale Day:


Shopping




Cooking



 (Massaging)







Enjoying!



A fun time was had by all :) 

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There were so many varieties at the store!!  We settled on three to try different ways.

What is your favorite type of kale and how do you prepare it?

Guess what day it is...


Yes, it's hump day.  But today is also... KALE DAY! 
Mm hmm, you heard me.  All who eat their greens, REJOICE:

Wednesday, October 2, 2013 is slated to be the very first  National Kale Day!

Happy Kale Day!

Although, I admit, it's not my favorite green (I can understand why some loathe its bitter taste), I do try to eat kale from time to time.  In fact, kale has been featured as a "new food" right here on the blog!  Check out Cook with a New Food: Kale for that post.  Since then, I've come around to it.  Prepared properly, kale can be quite a delicious addition to any meal!

Now, it's time to pay kale some serious attention!  The folks at NationalKaleDay.org "propose that National Kale Day will be the first Wednesday in October and will continue to be an annual celebration of eating, growing, and sharing kale through out [sic] America."

Dare you to celebrate this inaugural Kale Day by having some Kale for yourself.


Whatis kale?

It…

This is something I wanted for a long time. I heard all the grain-free recipe bloggers raving about it, and quickly added it to my wish list. Just when I'd decided to bite the bullet and buy my own (it's really not that expensive--just $35!), I was lucky enough to win one from Amber's giveaway on Paleo Savvy! I was positively giddy and couldn't wait to get started with my new kitchen toytool.


The Spiral Vegetable Slicer: I can't sing this thing's praises enough. Now, I love my spaghetti squash.  Spaghetti squash bolognese (like this Balanced Bites recipe from Practical Paleo) is one of my absolute favorite, most often-cooked and consumed dishes. However, sometimes the time spent cooking, de-seeding, and scooping out that spaghetti squash is just too much.  I've also used a julienne peeler to shred up squash, but I've also found that to be a laborious, messy process.

Enter: the Spiral Slicer.


This thing takes regular ole vegetables and turns them into... …