Walmart pledges to make food healthier, more affordable

CNN.com:

The largest grocery chain in the country has announced an extensive five-year plan to make its food healthier and more affordable. Walmart, which serves roughly 140 million consumers a week, announced the initiative as a collaboration between its corporation and first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign.

"To more and more of our customers, living better means the ability to walk into our stores and find foods that will help their families live healthier lives," said Leslie Dach, executive vice president of corporate affairs at Walmart. "And importantly, to find these foods at prices they can afford."....

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Don't overeat like Oprah

CNN.com:

Just like the rest of us, Oprah Winfrey has her dark moments.

Winfrey's was in 1998, when a segment on her show, "Remembering Your Spirit" was coming under fire for being too New Age-y and her new movie, "Beloved," had a disappointing performance at the box office.

"All of that kind of happened on the same day," Winfrey said a year later on her television show. "All of these stories were coming out about letting the Oprah backlash begin."

Winfrey handled the stress by asking her chef to make her macaroni and cheese and bread pudding.....

Click here for more information about our delicious sandwiches!

Kiss bananas Good-bye?

Slashfood.com:

Should you prepare to buy your last bunch of bananas? According to a recent story in The New Yorker, the answer may be yes. The problem (which has also been deftly reported by writer Craig Canine, in Gourmet magazine and in an award-winning 2005 story for Smithsonian), is that growers have been relying on a single variety, the Cavendish and its genetic clones. What happens when you have a crop without genetic diversity? A disease, such as fungus Tropical Race Four, which is now running rampant, can take down an entire fruit. It wouldn't be the first time.

Read more: http://www.slashfood.com/2011/01/04/kiss-bananas-good-bye/#ixzz1BOfApXIR

She ate 162 school lunches -- and blogged it

CNN.com:

After a year of eating school lunches, Mrs. Q survived to blog about it.

She works at an urban school in the Midwest, where she ate bagel dogs (yes, that's an entree), yellowish meatloaf and chicken tenders, which she likened to "squirts of chicken foam."

With spork in hand, her mission was to chronicle the $3 school lunches on her blog, Fed Up With Lunch. Every afternoon, Mrs. Q -- who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for her job -- photographed the lumps on her orange school lunch tray, and shared her observations about the food and how it affected students....

Toxic Waste candy bars: truth in advertising

CNN.com:

A brand of candy bars labeled as "Toxic Waste" have proven to be just that: toxic.

Candy Dynamics, operating out of Carmel, Indiana, has issued a voluntary recall of all flavors of its Toxic Waste® brand Nuclear Sludge® Chew Bars. The products were imported from Pakistan and started being distributed nationwide in retail stores and through mail orders in 2007.

The recall was announced after tests showed the cherry flavor bars contained above normal levels of lead. The California Department of Public Health found the candy bars contained 0.24 parts per million - the FDA's limit is 0.1 ppm.....(more)

Body Trim Weight Loss Program

Livestrong.com:

Overview

The Body Trim weight-loss system claims to help you lose weight naturally, eradicate mood swings and increase your energy levels. You eat delicious, home-cooked food, exercise moderately, remain properly hydrated and stay motivated to shed your unwanted pounds while on the program, claim's the diet's website.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/332391-body-trim-weight-loss-program/#ixzz1ByPpQVn5

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Celiac? To heck with that! Living gluten-free and well-fed

CNN.com:

My very first word was cookie - raisin cookie to be exact. Family legend goes, it came out something like, "raymee cook cook." The details are trivial. The moral of this story is that shortly after I left the womb, I discovered my first true love: carbs.

As I grew older, my meal of choice became quite obvious: the basket of bread. Who needs to order at all when the best part of a meal comes at the very beginning, for free?

And so it was, for 24 years, that I lived the life of a glutinous gluten monster - until that fateful day. After about two years of terrible stomach issues and running from doctor to doctor, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. That's the no-carbs-for-the-rest-of-your-life disease (or at least not the good carbs).....(more)

Bob Greene's 5 Ways to Keep Weight Off

Oprah.com:

Studies say about 80 percent of people who have lost weight gain it all back. Fitness expert Bob Greene says your weight management might not be the problem—it could be how you manage life in general. "It's really about the psychology," he says. "What are the barriers that stand in your way?"
Bob says five crucial steps can help you maintain your weight and your life: (click for more)

25 Easy Instant Energy Boosters

CNN.com:

The Morton Salt Girl got it right in her yellow raincoat. “There are days we need a shot of adrenaline before we even get out of bed, and colors can help with that,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and author of More Alive With Color ($20, amazon.com). “By surrounding yourself with bright colors—something as simple as an orange bathrobe or a yellow umbrella—you can give yourself that needed energy boost to face the day.” In general, saturated, warm colors (the red, orange, and yellow of ROY G BIV) are considered most energizing, while cool tones (like green, blue, indigo, and violet) are calming.....(more)

The 30 Healthiest Foods

CNN.com:

Real Simple asked the country’s top dietitians and nutritionists to tell us which superpowered ingredients we should be incorporating into our diets regularly. Here are their combined picks, plus some simple and delicious preparation suggestions....(click for the list)

Limit trips to grocery store to save money Read more: Limit trips to grocery store to save money http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/lim

Bankrate.com:

Newlyweds seem to know all kinds of ways to save money. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. This month's highest-rated Frugal $ense tip is a case in point. Frugal $ense winner Regan Settles and her husband wanted to make sure the money they spent on groceries didn't go to waste. Their saving plan is fairly basic, but sometimes the simplest concepts are the most profound. Learn how they began this strategy and how they stick to it.

Read more: Limit trips to grocery store to save money http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/limit-trips-to-grocery-store-to-save-money.aspx#ixzz1BOfk9bnW

How to Estimate Carbs in 10 Common Foods

Health.com:

Carbohydrates are sugar-based molecules found in many foods, from cookies to cantaloupes.

If you have diabetes, planning your carb intake—and sticking to the plan—is critical to keep blood sugar on an even keel and to cut your risk of diabetes-related problems like heart disease and stroke....(more)

Healthy Lunches to Bring to Work

Health.com:

Pack-and-go (and save!)

Trying to save your pennies? A sandwich and a drink will cost you almost $10—and that's on the cheap side. Instead, pocket the money and enjoy our healthy and delicious updates to your lunch favorites. These recipes are good for you and your wallet......(more)

Five Common French Ingredients You Shouldn't Be Afraid Of

CNN 5@5 - Chef Chris Leahy

5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Pied de cochon. Escargot. Boudin noir. Navigating a French menu for an unseasoned diner - or any menu in a foreign language for that matter– can be like trying to read a book upside-down with your eyes closed. And even after the translation, it's easy to navigate toward the familiar and cower away from the local fare or unfamiliar preparations.

Even in the United States, ingredients and dishes like scrapple or livermush that are considered strange and gross to some, are considered the norm and downright delicious to others. When such is the case, all executive chef Chris Leahy of New York City’s Lyon restaurant asks is that you give pieds a chance. If you like them, well, quelle surprise! If you don't, at least you can say you tried. (more)

25 Ways to Cut 500 Calories a Day

CNN:

The most basic way to lose weight is to slash calories. That’s Diet 101. But how many do you really have to cut or burn to see results? It’s simple: You can drop a pound a week by trimming 500 calories each day. (Calories burned are based on a 150-pound woman.)

In fact, do a couple of swaps a day and you can drop 10 pounds in 5 weeks! So try these 25 easy tweaks—and get the slim body you want in no time.
(more)

Carnie Wilson: 'I'm fat'

The Marquee Blog:

It doesn't look like there will be any New Year's resolutions regarding weight loss from Carnie Wilson.

The Wilson Phillips singer famously underwent gastric bypass surgery for the cameras, but now appears to have made peace with her battle with the bulge. She recently told PopEater "I'm fat as f**k, what can I say?"

Vegetables. Eat them. Here's how.

CNN.com:

On the first day of 2011, our Facebook and Twitter feeds were glutted with friends' New Year's pledges to graze through hectares of leafy greens, ferry home wheelbarrows of winter roots and bunk down with Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

Celebrity chef and Meatless Monday booster Mario Batali publicly resolved to make and eat dinner with his kids, and "master more vegetarian dishes, like simple bruschetta, that are fun to cook as a team." By January 3rd, the Wall Street Journal aided George Ball, chairman of the W. Atlee Burpee Co. in dubbing it yea and verily to be the Year of the Vegetable.....

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