The recent salmonella recall for eggs probably has you questioning whether you should even eat the eggs in your refrigerator.  Once again it seems that one irresponsible chicken farmer has caused this situation; one bad apple spoils it for others.  Outraged?  Yes.  Please pay attention to this recall.  

The answer for safe eggs is to choose those laid by chickens that are well care for, not piled up in cages in a building.  Cage-free helps.  Organic is well regulated so its your best bet.  When it comes to cost, the nutrient value of one egg is so high that it is worth it. When you compare the price of a box of  sugar-filled, artificially colored and flavored, nutrient-empty cereal to a dozen of good eggs, it is easy to see where you should spend your money.  Buy the better eggs, make some French toast, and enjoy them.

… for the health of your family,
ellen and sally

Grilling Dads, Jay and Jim Kridel, shared their 12 Best Grilling Tips on our Better Food Choices Radi0 show.  Now you can be a top grill chef, too!

1. LOW and SLOW.  Number one grill tip from the Grilling Dads, Jim and Jay Kridel.  Keep the fire, the heat, to a medium temperature as you cook almost everything.  No high hot flames as they kill the flavor and produce deadly carcinogens.  Replace mystery meat served camouflaged with sauce with moist mouth-watering flavor-filled burgers, hot dogs, steaks, fish and even vegetables. 

2. LOW Fires are made with fewer briquettes spread thinly across the bottom of the grill.  Gradually replace them when needed.  Slow cooked briquettes means slow cooked healthy and super delicious grilled food.

3. Lighter fluid soaked briquettes makes lighter fluid flavored grilled food.  Do we really need to tell you how sickening that is?

4. Listen to the sizzle.  When you want to know if your steak, fish, broccoli, onions or any food is cooking at the right temperature on a grill, bring your ear close enough to listen for the sizzle – lid on or lid off.  If you hear silence, it is time to add some more briquettes, wood or turn up the gas a little.

5. Grilling is a social event, whether it is a small gathering of your immediate family, a larger family affair, or one that includes friends.  Include your kids in the process.  With care, help them to learn how to grill. 

6. Use tumeric, rosemary, oregano and other herbs and spices when you season your food for the grill.  They are anti-carcinogenic – anti-cancer!

7. Grill Baskets are the best!  They are very inexpensive and make it possible for you to grill small sizes of vegetables and keep fish from falling through the grill grates.  Use olive oil to keep anything from sticking.

8. Grill Fruit!  Again, the grill basket makes this possible.  The grilled natural sugars  create phenomenal flavor!

9. Marinate first to maximize flavor and moist texture.  Olive oil, lemon, herbs are enough.  Add cayenne for a little zip. 

10. Keep your grill clean.  A skuzzy collection of residue from past grilling is a great way to ruin a good meal.

11. Precooking hot dogs and sausages in gently boiling beer insures a moist absolutely delicious result.  Once cooked through in beer, lightly grill them until you see a few grill marks.  Beats shriveled up, tight skinned, hard on the outside and often undercooked on the inside dogs.  Since the beer’s alcohol is released in the air while cooking, this is a recipe for kids as well.  Enjoy!

12. Watch for a “Jucy Lucy” burger made by Jay’s 12 year old nephew.  Kids like to cook, too!

Thank you Jay and Jim.  (Listen to the whole show on iTunes!)

… for the health of your family,
ellen and sally

… for the health of your family,

ellen and sally

Shelton’s Poultry has been a family company for decades and takes pride in providing you with the purest healthiest poultry possible. Tune in to meet Matt Flanagan, a member of this hands-on family owned poultry business.  Find out why and how to kick your chicken drug habit!

Our Chickens Don’t Do Drugs: Fri. 5/28, Noon EST, www.BetterFoodChoicesRadio.com, or Free podcast on iTunes. Tune in!

… for the health of your family

Sally’s secret to eating butter is a Mediterranian practice. She dilutes it and makes a spread. Lightly melt butter, add the olive oil and lemon juice, mix well and refrigerate. Use this spread as you would use butter. Makes everything taste super delicious and it is healthy. Now you have a good fat to add to vegetables and spread on whole grain toast!

By the way when interviewing Organic Valley dairy farmer, Regina Biedler, Sally was especially excited to learn more about Organic Valley’s Pasture Butter – means it contains more CLA and other nutrients. We are both going out to buy some. You should too!

… for the health of families,
ellen and sally

Go to itunes, type in ellen briggs, and listen to our interview with Regina. She began farming in Africa. Really interesting story!

Produce – # Chemicals/Pesticides detected
CELERY – 64 chemicals
PEACHES – 62 pesticides
STRAWBERRIES – 59 pesticides
APPLES – 42 pesticides
BLUEBERRIES – 52 pesticides
NECTARINES – 33 pesticides
BELL PEPPERS – 49 pesticides
SPINACH – 48 pesticides
KALE – ?
CHERRIES – 42 pesticides
POTATOES – 37 pesticides
GRAPES (imported) – 34 pesticides

Lettuce was replaced by potatoes.  Do your best to buy the organic fruits and vegetables from this list, fresh or frozen. Or avoid them all together and buy other conventional produce. 

… for the health of your family,
ellen and sally

Peaches, Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Kale, Lettuce, Grapes (imported), Carrots, Pears: The Dirty Dozen.  These are the fruits and vegetables you should by Organic.  Otherwise you will be feeding your family too many chemicals.  Sorry about this… it is a bummer. Fortunately, organic onions, apples, celery, lettuce, grapes raised in the US and carrots are easily found in your local grocery stores.  Do your best with the others.  Try to buy local. 

… for the health of your family,
ellen and sally

* Source: ewg.com
Thank you Chef Lynn for reminding us of this reality.

The CLEAN FIFTEEN are those fruit and vegetables you can buy conventionally without being concerned about the overuse of pesticides and other unwanted chemicals:  Onion, Avocado, Sweet Corn, Pinapple, Mango, Asparagus, Sweet Peas, Kiwi, Cabbage, Eggplant, Papaya, Watermelon, Broccoli, Tomato, Sweet Potato.  Save some money!  Thank you Chef Lynn for this tip.

… for the health of your family,
ellen and sally

* Source: www.ewg.org