Pesto Paradise

There are 3 magical ingredients that can be paired with any food to transform it from delicious to borderline crack cocaine: (1) chocolate;
(2) bacon; and (3) pesto. Chocolate, duh. Bacon, obviously. Pesto, hm? Let me elaborate on this love affair. I've always enjoyed a good healthy helping of pesto, but recently discovered how easy it is to make from scratch (now if only I could make my own chocolate and bacon, I'd never leave my house).

My adventure begins on the way to my local greenery. I must of been undergoing mental photosynthesis because I asked the owner where his pesto plants were. Go ahead, laugh. And those of you who are wondering what's so funny--pesto is made from basil leaves. Thankfully I was in a non-judge greenery zone, and the owner helped me pick out the perfect pack of basil plants. It was love at first smell. My basil plants are currently thriving with all this monsoon rain, and I never get tired of the "Italian restaurant" aroma. Amore.

I got hooked on home-made pesto because it's really easy to make, and if I can master it then anyone can. I found a pesto recipe that only requires a few simple ingredients: 2 cups basil leaves, 1/2 cups of olive oil, minced garlic cloves (No cloves? I used garlic seasoning before and it tasted equally delicious), salt and pepper (to taste), and I use 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese (Romano works, too). Also, you can add 1/3 cups pine nuts or walnuts! Throw all of these in a blender or processor and mix it, baby. This makes about 1 cup of fresh pesto sauce. Put it on your whole-wheat pasta, egg-white omelettes, or just eat it plain. Go crazy.

If you want to keep your pesto throughout the year (and why wouldn't you?), I found a clever freezing tip online! Line an ice cub tray with some plastic wrap, then pour the pesto sauce (omit the Parmesan or Romano cheese because it'll get yucky when thawed) in each ice cube compartment. Freeze, then remove plastic wrap along with frozen pesto and store in a freezer bag. To eat, simply defrost and add in cheese! Nom, nom, nom.

Good Search: Step Aside Google

I am a Google-holic; to the point where I use "google" in my everyday vocabulary as a verb (I was googling until late last night), noun (I am obsessed with Google), and adjective (His name is definitely googleable). If I need information, Google is my man (woman?).

On a different note, I do my best to donate to charities and do what I can to help them (I promise this will all come together). I am a charity's dream because I can't say "no", especially when it has to do with helping children or animals. When Santa rings that bell outside of Wal-Mart, he is really ringing the emotional strings of my heart. Even if I only have pennies, I try to give what I can at that time.

So you have learned two things about me: (1) I'm unnaturally addicted to Google; and (2) I am a sucker for a good cause. If only these things could be unified, together as one. BUT WAIT! So, I came across this search engine called Good Search (I made it click-able for easy navigation). It's like Google and the bell ringing Santa had a love child. This search engine will donate to any cause of your choice for every time you make a legitimate search. Bam, you no longer have to go to church (kidding). But, seriously, this is such a great site. They are donating to a charity of your picking for every search you make. And think about it, how many searches do you make within a normal day? It is such a great idea, and it is so easy peasy!

Please check out this site. I highly recommend it. I know muscle memory causes you to start typing Goog.., but just adjust that "g" to a "d" and you're half way there! Or set it as a bookmark like I did for an easy reminder. If you go to the site, scroll down to the lower left section that's titled Success Stories. Check out the difference a few "clicks" have made. Even if you just use it once, it's one more donation that you wouldn't of made that day. Now get searchin' you good samaritan, you.

I used GoodSearch to search for a picture of GoodSearch. Clever, eh?

Organic Gardening: My Backyard Supermarket

Update! I took advantage of the first sunny day we've had in the past week and a half, and I finally got my garden up and running. Blimey, ain't she a beaut! I bought most of my plants at a local greenery (which proved to be the cheapest and best quality) and a few at Home Depot (which was almost double the price of the greenery). I've impressed myself for not going plant-buying overboard, but I definitely crammed in as many vegetables humanly possible. I've got lettuce (I've had some already and it's incredibly crisp and delicious), red and yellow onions, zucchini, and eggplant in the front bed. Then my back bed is pretty much an ode to tomatoes (Early-girl, Roma, and Celebrity), and then some cucumbers and bell peppers (yellow, green and red) squeezed in. Hopefully my grid layout proves successful but only time will tell. I feel like an expectant mother (Try me, Octomom), and now all I can do is wait.

I love having my own fresh food source right in my backyard. Having a garden has increased my cooking ability (like a Sim who fulfills a skill point), and taught me patience and hard work; every vegetable is an accomplishment. Hopefully my green thumb expands into a full arm accessory.

Happy Food comes from Happy Animals

After reading this title, you may be thinking a couple things: (1) animals aren't particularly happy if they're dead; and (2) why does my food need to be happy? Before I go on, let me say something: I love animals. I wanted to be a vet my whole life (except from ages 6-8 when I wanted to be a tattoo artist). But, sigh, I instead took the business route because I'm a wimp and didn't want to rough it in school for another several years after graduation. But anyways, like I said, I love animals but I am not a vegetarian. I do eat meat, but don't agree with companies wrongly treating animals for the mere goal to mass produce food. I can understand that it may be cheaper financially (and I'm sure I'm naive and not rightfully representing other reasons), but I believe it is possible to treat animals with respect and still be economically savvy.


There is a movie called Food, Inc. It's a documentary that examines corporate farming in the United States. Take it with a grain of salt because it can be a tad controversial, and people may say it only provides a one-sided perspective. Regardless, I think it illustrates a lot of great points and I recommend it to anyone. One of these points talks throughly about chicken farming (a clip is posted below, and it depicts the reasons why I don't buy Tyson). When I go to the supermarket, I always try to buy my eggs or chicken meat "cage free" or "free range". This means that the chickens are raised in a more natural setting then cooped up (no pun here) with other chickens. Usually when chickens are "free range", their diets are less chemically infused; therefore, healthier and happier eggs and chickens. The video below is a clip from Food, Inc.--Just a disclaimer: this clip isn't the easiest to watch, especially if you're a big animal lover, but it depicts the scary realization of corporate farming.

I try to apply this same concept to cows. When buying meat, I always try to purchase "grass fed" beef (I recommend Laura's Lean Beef). These cows are fed, well, grass and you may be thinking, duh. But, as crazy as it sounds, not all cows are fed a grass diet. Many are fed corn feed with a mixture of antibiotics, growth hormones, etc. (this was how mad cow disease came about, kidding). Also another thing to think about, what the animals eat is more or less going into your body as well. Icky. All I know is, cows were constructed to live on a mostly grass diet. That is the way nature intended it, and I wouldn't mess with Mother Nature.

Call me crazy, but I believe happy food comes from happy animals. Call me even crazier, but I can almost feel a difference between eating meat from a happy, grass-fed cow and a sad, corn-fed cow (and in chicken eggs, there's a physical difference between the mass produced and "free range" eggs). Many people don't put this much extra thought into what they eat and that's okay, but this is something that I'm passionate about. I can't change the world, but I know I can illuminate the change I'd like to see. I've always treated others how I've wanted to be treated, so why should this limit animals?

Facebook would be really annoying as a person..

This has nothing to do about being healthy (possibly living well), but I just saw this video on someecards.com and had to share it. This is not to bash Facebook (because I use it just as much as Mark Zuckenburg), but rather a reminder on information sharing. As sad as it is, the video below is pretty on point with how publicized information is via Facebook. As much as I wanna trust Facebook with my privacy, I constantly have to change my settings to stop them from having marketers, other websites, and Donald Trump accessing my information. 

Knowing all this, I still have Facebook set as a "favorite" on my laptop. So, in a way, I guess Facebook wins. The video below is great, and just a reminder to be smart about what information you share. It's true that employers go straight to social media sites to do background checks, and I can almost guarantee that no one will hire you if you're "shot-guning" a beer in your default--then the only thing you'll be "shot-guning" is the front seat of your mom's car.

"Angus is apparently drinking a Coke", ah love it.