New Refrigerator and Shelves!

 

We had our new refrigerator delivered yesterday, so I thought it would be a good time to share some updated pictures.  Jason installed the floating shelves next to the microwave about a month ago. I think they add a great touch!

 

Around the same time he also installed some shelves for our coffee supplies. Last weekend I hosted a girls’ weekend our house, so it gave me an excuse to get those cute white canisters. I also got some great serving platters and bowls that had a bright pop of red to the room – I will show those soon! We are thinking of putting hooks on the bottom to hang the mugs, but this will do for now.

 

 

180,000 Deaths in a Bottle

An early release of a study on deaths associated to consumption of sugary drinks has suggested that over 180,000 deaths are occurring each year due to consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Many news sites are covering this, so here are a few places you can read more about it: Forbes, Bloomberg, and CNN.

Be sure to keep in mind that there is no way to directly PROVE that sugary drinks increase death, since the deaths are due to chronic disease (i.e. people aren’t dropping dead solely b/c they are drinking a soda). However, many chronic diseases occur due to poor dietary choices – for example, sugary drinks increase calorie and sugar consumption which increase obesity and diabetes rates. These chronic conditions can lead to many problems that result in death.

Also, I think juice should be included in this study as well – 4 ounces of juice is one serving. Who drinks only 4 ounces? While it is 100% fruit, it is basically just sugar and it having 16 ounces is the same as drinking 16 ounces of soda.

 

4 Delicious Soups!

4 Delicious Soups from 101cookbooks. Here is what Heidi writes –

– A Simple Tomato Soup: Pictured here – A simple tomato soup recipe inspired by a Melissa Clark recipe – pureed, warmly spiced, and perfect topped with everything from toasted almonds and herbs, to coconut cream or a poached egg.

– Pumpkin and Rice Soup: This was the pumpkin soup I made first-thing after arriving home from India last October – it has an herby butter drizzle and lemon ginger pulp. I serve it over a good amount of brown rice with a dollop plain yogurt.

– Coconut Red Lentil Soup: If emails are any indication, this is certainly one of the more popular soup recipes with all of you. Inspired by an Ayurvedic dal recipe in the Esalen Cookbook, it is a light-bodied, curry-spiced coconut broth thickened with cooked red lentils and structured with yellow split peas. It has back notes of ginger, slivered green onions sauteed in butter, and curry-plumped raisins. It also relies on an interested cooking method to bring it all together.

– Posole in Broth: My style of posole. This version has a vegetable broth base, lots of blossoming corn kernels, avocado and mung beans. It’s topped with plenty of chopped olives and toasted almonds.