Gary Null holds a Ph.D. in human nutrition and public health science. He’s also a best-selling author and founder of Progressive Radio Network (PRN), a grassroots talk-radio network with a variety of hosts who cover issues like the environment, autism, health and natural living.

PRN features a show that covers a wide range of vegetarian issues: “It’s All About Food,” airing each Wednesday at 3:00 pm EST. The show may be accessed online at PRN. “It’s All About Food” is hosted by Caryn Hartglass, the executive director of EarthSave International.

I hope you find a dish below you like!

Holiday Stuffed Mushrooms

• 6 mushrooms de-stemmed (mince stems & set aside)
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Avocado
• 2 tablespoon flax seed ground
• 2 teaspoon parsley chopped
• ½ teaspoon sage
• ½ teaspoon rosemary
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• Sea salt and pepper

Coat mushroom caps with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Place in dehydrator for 1 hour. Combine all other ingredients in a food processor. Stuff dehydrated mushroom caps with mixture and serve.
Yield: 6 Mushrooms

Sweet Loaf
Filling

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms
• ½ cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Dough

• Kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn, grated
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon agave
• 1 cup yellow or white hominy, ground (or substitute frozen peas)

Garnish

• 5 olives, chopped
• Red, yellow, purple, and green bell pepper slices
• Cherry tomato

To prepare the filling: In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
To prepare the dough: In a large bowl, combine the corn, olive oil, salt, and agave. In a skillet over low heat, cook the mixture until thickened. Add ground hominy; cook a few more minutes, and set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 375°. Oil a shallow baking dish and fill with one half of the dough mixture.

Add all the filling, and arrange sliced olives on top. Cover with the remaining dough, smoothing out the surface. Brush with olive oil. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Garnish with red, yellow, purple, green pepper slices and cherry tomatoes.
Yield: 2 Servings

(Recipes and images courtesy Gary Null)

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

However, in the spirit of making something good out of a bad situation here’s a plan: A better use of your time (and health) then eating Twinkies is to perhaps play with them. You and your kids can have a lot of weekend fun at the T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. website.

T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. stands for “Tests With Inorganic Noxious Kakes In Extreme Situations.” Most of these tests may convince you that Twinkie cakes honestly should be considered inedible.

Many of these tests are somewhat dangerous so be sure that if your kids visit the site that you make it clear that experiments, while fun, must be done with an adult.

It won’t be the kiddos favorite but my favorite experiment on the site is the Twinkie intelligence test.

Have fun!

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

The following resources are great places to look for answers about your child’s environment.

AIRNow: AIRNow offers lots of ways to stay in the know about air quality. You can check the overall air quality in your neck of the woods and compare it to other places. You can have email alerts sent to you so that you know when the air quality is poor (or good). They also offer fun online kid activities for ages five to ten.

SafeWater from the EPA: SafeWater lets you read current and past reports on the state of water where you live. Learn about drinking water standards, access public water programs and facts, plus kids and teens can hang out at the SafeWater kid’s site.

More to come.

What’s your favorite resource that offers advice for a healthy environment?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

The goal of the Children’s Centers is to address the fact that children are extra vulnerable to the negative effects of environmental exposures. Each of the current centers researches environmental risks along with how to reduce that risk. Some centers are funded in part by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while a couple are funded in full by the EPA.

Why do the Centers matter to you and your family? Each of the centers looks at exposure issues that can harm your children such as lead, pesticides, mercury, PCBs and more. The centers compare these risk’s roles in childhood disorders like autism, learning disabilities, and asthma. The centers go in-depth as explained by the EPA:

“The Children’s Centers employ integrated multidisciplinary approaches to understand the complex risk factors that impact children’s health from the molecular and cellular level up to the systems level. Several of the Centers are conducting pioneering research investigating the role of gene-environment interactions in childhood diseases. The Centers are also developing innovative ways to investigate the role of environmental stressors. Most of the Centers focus on economically disadvantaged populations and communities of color.”

If you’re interested in how your child’s health is affected by environmental pollutions than the centers should be on your frequent reading to-do list. Right now at the center’s main site you can find an immense amount of research plus a news section that’s updated semi-often; although some of this news seems to be routed to the EPA’s homepage. You can also visit each of the centers individually for center specific news.

Coming up later today — more resources that combat environmental risks for kids and the winner of the Downsizing Your Home With Style Contest.

Coming up in December — Lifestyles Channel-wide events and more green winter fun.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family