http://www.thealternativedaily.com/

[…]

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Pin it

Mushrooms duxelle is just a fancy French term that refers to sautéeing finely chopped mushrooms, onions, and herbs for a long time until they form a paste-like texture. The creamy mushrooms are delicious when spread over crusty bread. But an even better use is to add some sour cream and make a sumptuous gravy to pour over a warm, buttery biscuit.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Pin it

The hearty, heavy flavors of winter are growing tiresome but fresh spring ingredients like peas and asparagus have yet to arrive. While you wait, do yourself a favor and try out a few ingredients you might not have had in your kitchen before. It’s not only the perfect way to busy yourself while you wait for spring, but you also might just find one or two that will become new staples in your pantry.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

How to Cook Pork Chops in the Slow Cooker

Pin it

While it may seem like the slow cooker can do pretty much everything, there are certain instances when it really just isn’t the best one for the job. So before you dump anything and everything in it, read this first. Here are five items that are better left out of the slow cooker.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Pin it

Poached eggs are a glorious thing. It’s easy enough to make them on the stovetop when you’re just cooking one or two, but for making a larger batch of poached eggs, it’s time to reach for the slow cooker.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Slow-Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls

Pin it

You wouldn’t leave the oven or stove on when you leave the house to run errands or head to the office, so why is the slow cooker an exception? Is it really OK to leave it on all day on your kitchen counter when no one is home?

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

The Best Butter for Your Toast: We Tried 7 Brands and Ranked Them

Pin it

Having grown up on the East Coast, I’ve only ever known American-made butter to come in long, narrow sticks. Turns out I was living in a butter bubble; it wasn’t until I heard a story one evening on NPR’s Marketplace about the difference between West Coast and East Coast butter that I realized there was a difference to be known at all.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Pin it

If you love the way a plain pat of butter transforms everything it touches, it’s high time to bring compound butter into your life. Mixed with ingredients like herbs, spices, spreads, fruit, and jam, compound butter is a deliciously wonderful way to bring rich flavor to your plate. Used on everything from a simple piece of toast to roast chicken, it takes just minutes to whip together, but leaves lasting results.

READ MORE »

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Maple Pecan Blondies with Maple Butter Glaze

Pin it

Open Slideshow

There’s no shortage of desserts out there that won’t benefit from a punch of nutty flavor and texture from peanuts, pecans, walnuts, or almonds. Nuts also give baked goods an extra boost of rich, fatty flavor. And with so many options, there’s a treat out there with your name on it. Time to make a batch of cookies, blondies, or pecan sticky rolls this weekend!

READ MORE »

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

I was always chubby, never fat, but really enjoyed desserts as a kid. My parents moved to the US in the 90’s when I was a child, and our diets quickly assimilated to the local SAD diet, which included easily available pizza, deli sandwiches, anything fried, and way too much dessert.

My parents weren’t very aware of the dangers of sugar. For instance, I would drink chocolate milk in the morning while my parents had coffee, or was given cookies (dunkaroos anyone?) and ice cream every day for snacks. I still remember the blue, red, or green “juice” they would give us in school. This all led to me being a chubby kid my entire childhood. Luckily, I enjoyed karate and sports of all kinds, which helped me offset some of the unhealthy lifestyle.

This changed slightly when my father was diagnosed with lymphoma, and was told that his diet was a big factor. We got rid of refined carbohydrates in the home and increased vegetable and fruit intake heavily. It wasn’t really perfect, but it was definitely a step towards the right direction, which I believe helped my father recover. This turning point in my family’s life forced us to begin looking into how we eat.

When I reached high school, I realized something was off, because I was still chubby. There was a lot of peer pressure regarding looks and weight. I decided to look into health and nutrition purely for aesthetic reasons, and boy, it worked. I became obsessed with the whole “calories in, calories out” concept and ate around 1200-1400 calories a day in the form of protein bars, oatmeal, sandwiches, and fruit, while exercising heavily. It worked. I lost a lot of weight, but didn’t look too great for a 16-year-old, and I was obsessed to the point where I wasn’t doing anything else but tracking my daily food intake and exercise. I seemed sickly, and I never had any energy! Back then I thought it was all worth it to look great, but I wasn’t feeling well at all.

As you may have guessed, I couldn’t keep this up. Eventually, I caved in and started eating a bit more, because I couldn’t keep up starving myself. Just the slight increase in food intake made me gain weight like crazy! Eventually, I found myself 40 pounds heavier by eating the same amount of food that everyone around me was eating. I was so confused! To make it worse, I was a fitness instructor in the Israeli Army at this point, and I was not a good role model at all. It was extremely difficult, mentally, for me because I was fit but at the same time, overweight. I could run a 10k rather easily, although I didn’t look like I could. I didn’t understand.

Until, one day on guard duty, I came across Mark’s site while browsing on my phone. I still don’t know how I got to it, but when I did, I spent my entire 4-hour shift reading everything I could. It was so intuitive and so logical that I knew I had to try it! I even brought my boyfriend on board and results were too good not to share. I stopped starving myself! We started rock climbing and hiking! Every day was a day to look forward to. We are so ecstatic to be where we are today!

What’s interesting about my personal success story, however, is that I truly feel I put in a minimal amount of effort. When I was starving myself and over-exercising, every day was arduous and a struggle. With a primal lifestyle, I eat wonderful foods, create delicious dishes, exercise with so much energy, and enjoy every day! It comes so easily and intuitively! Sometimes we feel guilty because everyone makes it seem like being healthy is supposed to be difficult. Primal taught me otherwise!

Thanks, Mark, for your desire to spread free information to anyone and everyone all over the world. You are an inspiration, and you changed our lives.