November 11, 2019 at 10:00PM by CWC When vegetables are prepared correctly, they can make your tastebuds sing. Using a scientific approach to cooking can help you succeed more often than you fail. And, when it comes to how to make vegetables taste good, one trick in particular stands above the rest. Valerie Duffy, PhD, a professor at the University of Connecticut who specializes in the study of food taste, tells CNN that the trick to serving delectable vegetables lies in bringing out their natural sweetness. To accomplish that, just set your oven to “roast” and wait for your tray of winter produce to turn crispy and caramelized. You can thank the “Maillard Reaction” for making carmelized vegetable taste so good. The chemical reaction occurs between amino acids and the sugars in a given food that completely transforms both aroma and flavor. When someone compliments you on your roasted vegetable platter, make sure to send out a silent thank you to Louis-Camille Maillard, who first described the reaction in 1912. Of course, there are other ways to add pizzaz to your cauliflower, parsnips, and asparagus. Spanish smoked paprika can give them a smoky, meat-like flavor. Everything but the bagel seasoning adds that extra-satisfying crunch. Or, if you totally forget to season your veggies (oops), try drizzling a special sauce on top to make your nutrient-rich side dish stand out from the crowd. The 12 vegetables you need to buy organic—and 15 you don’t: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHSaA0-Chg] This “liquid gold” sauce also pairs
Tag: Well+Good
LGBT discrimination denies 400,000 children the unconditional love of family
November 11, 2019 at 09:30PM by CWC Nineteen years ago, when Greg Thomas and Ron Preston adopted Samantha, they didn’t expect the process to run so smoothly. “A lot of that had to do with the attorney we had,” says Thomas, who lives with his family in Wichita Falls, Texas. “His wife was one of our best clients. And she was rooting for us and pulled every string in the system to make sure this was going to happen.” Same-sex couples looking to adopt in the future might not be in so lucky. On November 1, the first day of National Adoption Month, the Trump administration issued a notice of nonenforcement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposing to override the Obama administration’s anti-discrimination law, which included gender identity and sexual orientation as federally protected classes. If the rule becomes final after an upcoming 30-day comment period, department-funded faith-based adoption or foster care agencies would be within their rights to deny same-sex couples or LGBTQ persons from adopting a child, a decision many believe treats children as commodities to be traded rather than people deserving of safe and loving homes. When we talk about selective adoption, we often concentrate on the injustice of denying the rights of same-sex couples. But more than 100,000 children in foster care cannot be returned to their biological families and thus await adoption. Is their right to the best chance at a family not also denied when adoption agencies are allowed to
Derms want you to double down on these 3 ingredients for dry winter skin
November 11, 2019 at 09:00PM by CWC The minute November weather hits, dry skin becomes as annoyingly pertinent a part of the conversation as “holiday budgeting” and “no mom, I will not be bringing any sort of a boyfriend home for Thanksgiving.” And so, when the time comes to holiday shop and mentally prepare to spend five days straight with your family, it’s also time to give your skin-care routine an overhaul. “As the weather gets colder, you can expect your skin to get more dry, flaky, and itchy,” says board-certified dermatologist Kavita Mariwalla, MD, FAAD. This tends to happen because there’s less humidity in the air, which means you’re not getting as much moisture from the environment as you do during the warmer months. This dryness can also make your skin look dull and show off fine lines more clearly, and if it’s not treated the right way, you’ll likely wind up feeling uncomfortable, red, and irritated. (Not to mention cold, on top of all that.) And so, it’s extra important to stack your routine with dry skin-fighting ingredients that will help it deal with these issues. “As far as ingredients go, I love to keep things simple. I prefer to use ingredients that are compatible with your skin,” says Dr. Mariwalla. The easiest way to think about it? By way of a three-step calming, hydrating, and repairing process that will give your skin exactly what it needs in combatting that winter weather. To calm: niacinamide Photo: La Roche
As plant-based eating continues to take off, Mexican cuisine returns to its vegan roots
November 11, 2019 at 07:46PM by CWC As we know it in the U.S., Mexican food typically involves lots of meat and cheese—enchiladas stuffed with beef, chicken tinga tacos, nachos topped with sour cream and cheese. Delicious? Absolutely. But not necessarily the first type of cuisine many would think of when considering a plant-based diet. But according to vegan food activist and Food Empowerment Project founder Lauren Ornelas, Mexican food was traditionally entirely plant-based. “It’s really important to realize the effects colonization had on our diets,” she says. “Our indigenous ancestors didn’t drink milk or consume dairy, and they weren’t necessarily vegan, but they didn’t eat as much animal products as is in our diets now.” She says that that the fundamental components of Mexican food have always been vegetables (with a major emphasis on corn and tomatoes), legumes, and fruit. Now that plant-based eating has exploded across the board, Mexican cuisine seems poised to return to its roots. All it takes is a lap around the grocery store to see that there are more vegan options available than ever before—Mexican food included. The demand has led to products such as Beyond Meat’s “beef” taco crumbles, Siete Foods cashew-based queso, and Upton’s Naturals’ chili lime jackfruit. There are also more vegan Mexican restaurants than before, too: Eateries such as Mi Vegana Madre in Arizona, El Papagayo in California, and Charly’s Vegan Tacos in Texas, are just a few examples of how the Mexican food space is changing outside of the
3 signs of counterdependency to look for in an especially avoidant partner
November 11, 2019 at 07:00PM by CWC While codependency in a relationship is something I’m well-acquainted with, counterdependency is a new word to me describing a concept I understand quite well. The opposite of being all-consumingly clingy and codependent, a counterdependent individual tends to resist intimacy, clearly defined relationships, and uses pet names like “dude” to keep distance from you. Need a face to illustrate counterdependency? Consider the following two words: Justin Bobby. I know I’m very late to the early-aughts game, but I’m currently watching The Hills for the first time, and I have all-caps STRONG and AUTHENTIC FEELINGS about each and every character. But no one makes my blood boil like Justin Bobby and his manipulative, counterdependent BS directed at on-again, off-again flame Audrina Patridge. Counterdependency signs can include a fear of commitment, a fear of intimacy, and a resistance to monogamy, says sex and relationship therapist Tammy Nelson, PhD. Regarding the last point, I understand that monogamy is hardly the only desired relationship construct, with setups like swinging, polyamory, and open relationships being more gloriously mainstream with each passing day. Still, plenty of people still seek monogamy, and plenty of counterdependents drag them through the mud in pursuit of it. (Ahem, Justin Bobby.) Counterdependency signs can include a fear of commitment, a fear of intimacy, and a resistance to monogamy, If you are seeking an exclusivity, it’s easy to get stuck in an exhaustingly ill-fated game of chasing a counterdependent person. I’m four seasons deep into The Hills at this point, and I
How to recover after using a product your sensitive skin doesn’t agree with
November 11, 2019 at 06:35PM by CWC After months spent working to get your skin to a good place, having everything suddenly blow up in your face after trying out a new makeup or skincare product is the worst feeling ever. Trust me, I know.Whether it causes a breakout or irritation, your skin doesn’t always just bounce back to normal. Sometimes it can take days, weeks, or months to undo facial skin irritation or breakouts caused by something your skin didn’t agree with. But a dermatologist says there’s no need to worry. “The beauty industry is always trying to sell us something new. It’s how they stay in business! But in reality, less is more and the best skin routine is simple,” says board-certified dermatologist Caren Campbell, MD. “While it’s frustrating when breakouts or irritation happens, they’re usually temporary and taking away the cause usually helps resolve things quickly.” So say goodbye to whatever caused your skin woes and listen up, because these are all the steps you’ll need to recover from a skin disaster in record time. If a new product causes a breakout Acne can be caused by a variety of different factors, including hormonal influences, excess oil production, bacterial overgrowth, and clogged pores from dead skin cells or topical agents, says Dr. Campbell. “In the case of acne triggered by a product, the clogging of the pore is likely the primary cause,” she says. “The clogged pore creates a modus for oil and bacteria to accumulate, which
It’s 11-11, the luckiest day of the year—here’s what an astrologer says to expect
November 11, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC “It’s 11:11, make a wish.” This was a daily refrain among my high-school friends—twice daily, in fact, on Fridays, when we were together right until our curfews. The idea is that when when telling time and all the ones line up, if you notice it within the minute, you could score a bit of luck. It’s not out of nowhere we came to hold this belief, either: 11-11 has significance in numerology and the date 11-11, or November 11, is widely considered to be a lucky day. But today, the 11-11 significance is all about revelation. This year on 11-11—that is, November 11, 2019—we’re halfway through Mercury retrograde, and the planet is transiting the sun. This midpoint is crucial in the retrograde cycle, because not all days of cosmic event are created equally. Some days are all about flight delays and texting miscommunications, while others, says astrologer Chani Nicholas, are akin to a magical or transformational portal. Today, 11-11 falls into the latter bucket. “It’s a moment where it’s said that Mercury enters the heart of the sun, or enters the chambers of the sun,” says Nicholas, author of You Were Born For This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance, available for pre-sale today. “There’s an Arabic word, cazimi that means ‘into the heart of,’ and when a planet, especially Mercury, enters into the heart of the Sun astrologically, it’s said to be able to receive information and receive a kind of solar infusion.” This
7 tips for reducing money-related ‘festive stress,’ according to a finance pro
November 11, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC The holidays are a time for giving—but our desire to connect and give thanks, in the absence of a budget, can often lead to that too-familiar overwhelmed, under-water feeling. Studies show that much of this “festive stress“—as worry related to the holidays is called—can be attributed to gift-giving and receiving. Merriment can be expensive. This year, it doesn’t seem as though we’re poised to rein in our spending. Roughly half of shoppers have already started searching for gifts on their friends’ and family’s wish lists, per a new online survey from The Harris Poll and OpenX. The poll also found that consumers plan to spend 5 percent more this year than in 2018. To help reduce money-related holiday stress, here are some budget-friendly moves to successfully navigate the season—call it my early holiday gift to you. 1. Craft a plan—and stick to it Really, though. It’s one thing to create a list of the important people in your life and a budget for each gift, but the true test is being able to stick with the plan, especially as marketers bombard us with deals and offers. Walking into the holiday frenzy without a clear set of goals and budgetary limits will make it very easy to feel ambushed and impulse purchases are more likely to be made. A plan of action will ensure you spend more intentionally and within budget. Pro Tip: Save your list in your phone and desktop so that you
Actually, casual conversations are legitimately helpful for keeping you healthy
November 11, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC Society at large seems to harbor a collective goal of limiting human connection as much as possible. We ask people out through dating apps instead of striking up conversations IRL. We board planes avoiding eye contact with our seat-mates, fearing they may have a crazy idea: saying hello. We place our Starbucks order ahead so we can just pick up our coffees and go, and if we do stand in line, it’s almost certainly with earbuds in and eyes glued to a screen—i.e., the universal code for “don’t talk to me.” Starbucks, taking note of what customers clearly want, recently opened its first pickup-only location in New York City, completely removing even the notion that humans are meant to interact. That innovation comes on the heels of Uber’s Quiet Mode rollout earlier this year, a feature that lets drivers know passengers are opting for the sound of silence. And ‘quiet chairs’ at various hair salons have allowed for getting a new ‘do without a side of dish. On the one hand, limiting low-stakes interactions can make life easier, faster, and more efficient. But it’s hard to ignore the potential link between Americans being lonelier than ever (especially millennials) to epidemic proportions and our simultaneous desire to minimize our interactions with one another. Maybe the two situations aren’t related, and talking to strangers is an annoying fact of life that’ll become extinct? in the not-so-distant future. That way, we can persist moving about, headphones
5 healthy foods you should always buy in bulk, according to a sustainable dietitian
November 11, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC It’s super common—even among non-card carrying Costco members—to buy items like toilet paper, tampons, and soap in bulk, but for some reason, the same logic doesn’t often carry over to healthy food staples. Some believe that in order for something to be healthy that it has to be bought fresh, and therefore buying in bulk doesn’t really apply. But it turns out that this isn’t always true. According to The Conscious Dietitian blogger Rachel Dickens, RD, it’s actually cheaper and more sustainable to buy healthy bulk foods. Here, she gives the five she recommends to buy this way 5 bulk foods a sustainable dietitian recommends 1. pumpkin seeds While you’ll often find pumpkin seeds sold in little bags, Dickens recommends buying them in bulk because they don’t go bad and it’s an easy way to add more zinc into your diet, which she says most people don’t get enough of. “I love making pumpkin seed butter for a big dose of these healthy seeds,” she says. “I love buying my pumpkin seeds in bulk so I can make big batches of pumpkin seed butter to add to my smoothies, toast or just eat it by the spoon.” Giving your morning smoothie the pumpkin pie treatment? Done. 2. chickpeas “Canned foods, [including chickpeas] are often lined with BPA, which is a known endocrine disruptor, so I like purchasing dried chickpeas in bulk instead,” Dickens says. To cook with them she recommends soaking the dried chickpeas