Happy Thursday!  Would you like to attend a Healthy Living Blogger Conference?  Well if you do, I’ve got the spot for you.  Get ready to meet the bloggers in Boston August 14-15 for a fun-filled weekend of good eats, inspiring talks, a Blogger Kick-Off Cocktail Party, and of course, goodie bags of swag!

Join Jenna, Kath, Tina, Meghann, Heather and Caitlin (and more!) for the Healthy Living Summit at The Radisson Hotel in Downtown Boston.

The weekend will begin with an Official Blogger Kick-Off Cocktail Party on Friday evening August 14. Details TBA!

Saturday’s conference will be held at the Radisson with a Stonyfield Yogurt and Mix My Granola breakfast bar. The day will include seminars, talks, demonstrations and Q&As. Lunch will be provided. We will conclude with a juicy afternoon snack!

Sponsors

Sponsors for the event include Stonyfield Farm and Zestycook.com ( Yes me!! ) as well as foodbuzz and other product sponsors you can see over at the sponsors page.

Site Design

In addition to the sponsorship, I designed and implemented the summit website as a “donation” to the summit committee.  If you are interested in getting some blog work done, contact me and we’ll get the ball rolling.

Registration

Registration for the event takes place tonight at 8:00PM EST so be sure to go over and secure your ticket.

Do you like Rhubarb?  Ever try Rhubarb?  I myself, love rhubarb.  Whether it is just cooked on the stove, gently sugared, chilled and served on fresh biscuits or in a pie/dessert - I cannot get enough.

I thought that this was a fun topic to share with you as I know a lot of people tend not to eat this delicious food.  So I gathered some information both from my head, from family and internet sources to share with you today.

Background

Even though rhubarb is considered a vegetable, it is most often treated as a fruit.  Rhubarb provides a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and calcium. It is usually eaten cooked, and just like fresh cranberries, rhubarb is almost unbearably tart on its own.  It  needs the added sweetness of sugar, honey, or fruit juice to balance out the acidity. Since rhubarb is primarily used for pie, it is also referred to by it’s nickname the “pie plant”.

Benefits

1. Can lower cholesterol - With its sweet taste, rhubarb surely is easy to get down. Along with the bonus of tasting good, rhubarb lowers cholesterol. Because of the vitamins and nutrients, this helps reduce the risk of harmful diseases. Rhubarb is a sure thing to take if you are suffering from high cholesterol.
2. Rhubarb stimulates the metabolic rate - This makes it a great for people who want to loose unwanted pounds. The dietary properties are promoted with the usage of fiber and potassium. With the potassium it is said to speed up your metabolism to help you lose weight.
3. Low in carbohydrates - Everyone is trying to find the latest health benefit for fruits and vegetables. The best health benefit of rhubarb is that it is low in carbohydrates. When you have something that is low in carbohydrates, you can still feel ok when you over consume on occasion.

So there you have my take on Rhubarb.  If you have not yet tried it - you should.  I think you will love it.  If you have any Rhubarb questions by all means let me know and I will try to answer them.  I have grown up with Rhubarb and always look forward to it each year.

Have a great Wednesday and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Take care

zesty

Lately I have been craving candy like no other.  We were at a wedding last weekend and one of the party favors was an all you can eat “Candy Bar”.  It was a great idea, as there was a lot of selection and nice little take out boxes to take your goodies.  It was definitely the highlight of the night.

When it comes to candy, we always seem to have a few Swedish berries on hand as we are addicted to them.  My favorite candy would have to be “black babies”.  I tend not to eat them very often but when I get the craving… oh boy look out.

In addition to the traditional sugar candies I do love a hint of chocolate every now and again.  I do not drink any coffee, tea or pop/soda, so I look for a shot of chocolate every now and again as a treat.

So with that being said,

I want to know your “FAVORITE CANDY”.

Tell me in the comments because I am sure there are tonnes of candy I have not even heard of.  I look forward to hearing everyone’s response.

Have a great Friday and I will see you all on Monday.

Take care

zesty

It is Thursday already which means I now really have 2 days to cram in 6 days worth of work.  Oh dear - this is not going to be pretty.   I have been asked a few times whether it be family and friends or even readers about what to look for when buying fresh meat.  Because I watch a lot of the food network and read a fair amount of reading material on food  - I think I can answer these questions.

For all my vegetarian readers… sorry!  I just want to take a few minutes of your time and hopefully shed some light on this topic.  Whether it be for grilling, roasting, poaching, frying or braising these tips are very important.

Read the full story

Happy Thursday!  The time is here.  The zesty clothing line is ready to go for the world to “buy“.  Now this is my first real stab at selling anything online so please bear with me.  Let me know if there are any issues or if you have suggestions for other clothing items.   I am always open to new ideas.  Here are a few samples that are available in the store.

I went ahead and did a combination of green and red lettering on the shirts, added both men and women white shirts, as well as a simple black t-shirt for both genders.  I also added female tank tops to the mix in addition to a couple of different apron colors.

Why “Buy”?

1. Profits from the clothing sales will go directly to the food bank.
2. It is a great cause and I think the clothing looks pretty cool.
3. If you buy an article of clothing and send me your picture with you wearing it - I will publish it on zesty in a special section on the blog.  My goal is to get as many pictures as possible and support this great cause.  With that being said - I will also use your picture to link to your blog so everyone can find you.

Giveaway

I have been dying to have another giveaway and I thought this would be a great opportunity to do so.  With that being said, here is what is up for grabs.

2 Get Zesty T shirts

2 Get Zesty Aprons

So all in total there will be 4 winners with this contest. Here are the rules and regulations.

How To Enter:

• New and existing email subscribers will automatically get an entry on draw date. Note that only verified subscribers count. (+1 entry)
• Leave a comment about what you think of this idea. (+1 entry)
• Earn an extra chance to win by linking back to this post on your own blog (if you have one). (+1 entry) (please email me if you link back)

The Rules:

• Please only 1 comment entry / person (please enter a valid email address). Your email will be kept private and never given/sold to third parties.
• The winners will receive either a shirt or an apron.  I will do draws with the first two winners winning t shirts and the last two winning aprons.

So let me know what you think about this adventure in the comments below! A random generator will be used to pick the winner. Contest will end at 5pm EST April 19, 2009.

Take care

zesty