A Shout Out From American Heart

With a great post about our annual VegOut! Challenge.

A very nice story about our work at Recipe for Success Foundation.

A fictional story inspired by my work, published by Harlequin in conjunction with their More Than Words award to me in 2011 and $10,000 gift to Recipe for Success Foundation.

Yes! I have now been in a romance novel!

Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower Soup

Our first dish for the VegOut! Challenge’s Virtual Veggie Potluck is Cauliflower Soup, a favorite from Cooks Country .  Elegant in it’s simplicity:

CAULIFLOWER SOUP

INGREDIENTS

• 1 onion
• 1 leek
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 4 cups water
• head of fresh cauliflower
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

TO PREPARE

Chop onion and slice leek thinly.  Cut cauliflower head in half; remove tough stalk and chop.  Melt the butter in a soup pot set over medium-high heat and sauté onions and leeks until they are translucent.  Add the water, 1/2 cauliflower and salt; cook 15 minutes, or until tender.  Stir; add rest of the cauliflower and cook 15 minutes longer.  Remove from heat and puree with a stick blender.

I have topped it here with crisped julienne of Brussels sprouts and a spicy toasted nut mix, serving with a Barbaresco.

There is a Veggie Riot in Houston

A nice glimpse of Recipe for Success

"F" as in Fat: How America is Failing its Children

On Tuesday, September 18, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released its latest report card on obesity in America.
According to the report-
"This new analysis provides a picture of two possible futures for the health of Americans over the next 20 years:
If obesity rates continue on their current trajectory, it's estimated that:
    •    Obesity rates for adults could reach or exceed 44 percent in every state and exceed 60 percent in 13 states;
    •    The number of new cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension and arthritis could increase 10 times between 2010 and 2020 -- and then double again by 2030; and
    •    Obesity-related health care costs could increase by more than 10 percent in 43 states and by more than 20 percent in nine states.

But, if we could lower obesity trends by reducing the average adult BMI (body mass index) by only 5 percent in each state, we could spare millions of Americans from serious health problems and save billions of dollars in health spending -- between 6.5 percent and 7.8 percent in costs in almost every state.  Read More . . .