Maria's Farm Country Kitchen

5 Food Myths Debunked

I grew up in a nature-worshipping, somewhat hippie family, and with my book, All Natural, I attempted to fact-check our idea that instead of protecting ourselves against nature with technology, people…

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Is Organic Worth It?

The end of 2012 raised quite a few eyebrows and much ire as some quiet and some not-so-quiet snubs were aimed at organic foods. First, the Stanford meta-analysis, which claimed organic foods were "no …

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6 Ways to Detoxify Your Heart

This time of year, there is info everywhere on how to detoxify your body. Whatever toxin you want to remove, or part of your body you want to cleanse, there's a smoothie for that! Now, I love smoothie…

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The Bizarre Insanity of Banning Bottled Water

You may have seen the news on Facebook or heard the stories on NPR: Concord, Massachusetts, has banned bottled water, and certain “liberal” colleges in Vermont have banned it, too. Al Gore spent a lot…

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The Path of Love

I think about God a lot. It’s actually one of my favorite things to dwell on. It started when I quit the Lutheran Church when I was 14 due to the hypocrisy and misogyny I felt whenever I went to chur…

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How to Get Your Kids to Eat More Vegetables

I’ve met a few kids in my time who have never had more vegetables than a carrot stick and, if they had to guess what an artichoke is, would say it’s a karate move. But not my kids, of course. They e…

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Why All the Floods?

Is it me, or are we being inundated with catastrophic floods? Cedar Rapids, Nashville, Australia, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana…the list goes on, and while it seems like an especially bad year, the tre…

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The Easiest Fresh Summer Fruit Pie

This pie was born out of frustration, deception, and laziness. I was all set to try to recreate the famous Hess’s Patio Restaurant fresh strawberry pie (even if you don’t know Hess’s Department Store,…

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My Favorite Healthy Breakfast

OK, let’s get real. This time of year it’s about focusing on health, not indulgence. And as much as some people out there would like to cultivate the fantasy that every morning involves either some so…

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Why I Can’t Live Without Coffee

Whenever I give a speech and talk about local versus organic, I joke about how, being from Pennsylvania, I am totally against local when it comes to my coffee. Here’s the truth: I’M NOT JOKING! Don’…

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