The Passionate Vegetable - Cookbook Brings the Fresh Harvest of Health from the Field to the Table

Everyone knows that eating a variety of vegetables every day is the best way to get the vitamins and minerals needed for optimal health.  As a mother of picky eaters I am all too familiar with the difficulties of getting kids to eat their vegetables.  I am contently trying new healthy recipes in order to teach my children the importance of proper nutrition.

With the help of Suzanne Landry's new cookbook, The Passionate Vegetable I am preparing new, fresh meals that my whole family can enjoy.  The best part is now my kids are eating their vegetables.  Suzanne has taught natural foods cooking classes for over 30 years and believes in encouraging and educating people to eat more vegetables and high-fiber whole grains and beans and less meat protein.  I too believe that in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle we must eat more plant based meals and less red meat.  Focusing on the connection between food and healing, Suzanne has created fresh and flavorful dishes that allow home cooks, like myself, to make the most of seasonal produce from local farmers markets, stands and gardens and cook tasty, yet healthy, well-balanced meals.



 Suzanne's recipes are easy to prepare and she offers nutritional tips and information in each chapter.  She covers everything from Healthy Start Breakfasts, Salads that Satisfy, Fresh Garden Salads, For the Love of Soups, Amber Waves of Grain, Bean Cuisine, and Vegetables: Nature's Bounty.  Suzanne also has a chapter devoted to meat- To Meat or Not to Meat, and healthy treats: Good for You Desserts.

Some of my family's favorite recipes from The Passionate Vegetable include:

Chunky Apple Oatmeal Pancakes, Chinese Chicken Salad, Summer Quinoa and Fresh Fruit Crisp. The Passionate Vegetable brings good health and great flavor together in one easy-to-use package.

For more information on Suzanne Landry and The Passionate Vegetable visit: SuzanneLandry.com.  You can purchase The Passionate Vegetable online at HealthInspiredPublishing.com, Amazon.com or at your local book store.

*Disclosure: I received a copy of The Passionate Vegetable by Suzanne Landry in exchange for this review. All opinions are accurate and 100% mine.








Cascia Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer, online merchant and mother of five children, living in The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and law and a passion for writing and staying healthy, she started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms Magazine is currently ranked the top health blog for moms and features several health expert writers and mom bloggers. Ms. Talbert believes that if mothers are well educated on health issues and how to stay healthy, they can pass that information down to their children and reverse the childhood obesity statistics in the U.S.

Ms. Talbert is a featured health blogger at Wellsphere.com and her articles can also be found on ezinearticles.com. She also runs the Healthy Moms Social Network on Ning, is the Chief Marketing Officer for Talbert Nutrition LLC,  and is on the Social Media Advisory Board for America's Wellness Challenge. Follow her on Google+. 

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Does Being Skinny Mean Than You Are A Fit Person?

Recent studies indicate that more than half of the people who are within their ideal weight range actually store unhealthy amounts of body fat and are prone to a number of conditions like heart disease and diabetes. These statistics challenge the general perception about fitness as most people are under the impression that if they are skinny, then this means that they are perfectly healthy. However, these notions are totally deluded and being skinny can actually be as bad as being overweight.

It may sound a bit weird, but even if you have a perfectly normal body-mass index, it does not guarantee that you are healthy. It is not your actual weight that matters. The composition of your body is far more important when it comes to fitness. For you to be really fit, you must have sufficient muscle mass too. For example - a man who is six feet tall should weigh between 150 to 185 pounds. However, if most part of this weight is fat, then such a man is considered to be medically unfit. This condition is known as normal weight obesity and is it most common found in people who have more than 30% body fat. Thus, your weight is not an accurate indicator of your fitness. Looking healthy does not mean that you are truly healthy.



Bodybuilders weigh much more than their ideal weight but they are incredibly strong and robust. This is because the excess weight is muscle and not fat. So individuals who aspire to be fit should focus primarily on muscle gain. This is achieved by performing strength training exercises combined with cardiovascular exercises. A high protein diet is also a pre-requisite for gaining muscle mass. Lean meats, protein powders, fish, eggs, legumes, pulses, nuts and dairy products are good sources of protein.

The human body has two different ways of storing fat in the body. One way is storing it under the skin as visible fat and the other way is storing it in the organs. When fat is stored in the organs, it severely affects their function and this ultimately takes a toll on the overall health of the individual. So even if you do not have any visible fat, this does not necessarily mean that you are not storing fat within your body. Being thin and skinny does not mean you are fit.



Being underweight is detrimental to health. It is linked to a host of maladies such as osteoporosis, a weak immune system, dermatological problems, hair loss, anemia and many more. Underweight women often experience menstrual problems and undernourishment can be deplorable for the health of the fetus in pregnant women.

Skinny people feel that they have a license to eat whatever they want. This is totally untrue and any individual who consumes too much junk food is prone to having high cholesterol and is likely to suffer from diabetes, poor cardiac health and sexual dysfunction. So being skinny does not give you a right to be a couch potato and devour large portions of pizzas and burgers. Only a person who maintains a balanced diet and exercises regularly is genuinely healthy.




Melissa Davis is chief in editor at http://facetwister.com, young but fearsome lady with painfully good sense of fashion and fashion streams. Melissa previously worked for number of print magazines as leading stylist and fashion adviser. Her idea is to introduce her audience to the latest fashion trends and to offer advice that will help every woman to fell as beautiful and glamorous as she possibly can.Also loves to write about beauty and health topics.

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My Dilemma With Parrot from the Talbert Zoo

 It's been almost a year since I last updated this blog. Now that I am making major changes to The Healthy Moms Magazine I might actually have more time to write here as well. We'll see. I can not make any promises. Last night I had a very interesting conversation with Parrot. Parrot is my very special little five-year-old boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, formally Asperger's). He is extremely high-functioning and I believe he may have a genius IQ, although I haven't had him tested yet. 

Read More from The Talbert Zoo HERE.

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Slide Off the Weight With 15 Minute Workouts

I start my day early at 6 am with my Bible and morning prayers. After that I have to get three kids off to the bus stop, clean up after breakfast, then it is dishes, laundry, meeting two busy pre-schooler's needs, lunch, clean up toys, maybe some time for my business and myself, then the older kids come home, dinner, clean up, bed-time...I think you get the idea. I am a busy mom but I also know how important it is to take time out for myself.

As moms we are programmed to meet the needs of others first and often forget about ourselves.  In order to maintain my energy level so I can keep up with my busy family I try my best to workout at least 3 to 4 times a week.  On most days I only have about 20 minutes to spend on physical activity.  When I learned that I could spend just 15 minutes a day and get a full body workout with a simple, compact machine that fits under my bed I knew I just had to try it.

The Slide Effect is a revolutionary new workout system created by USA National Champion athlete and coach, Brandon Larcom.  It is designed to give anyone a fit body in 1/3 the time of traditional workouts. Larcom describes the secret as max quad training, which is the combination of four essential forms of exercise - cardio, resistance, toning, and stretching.

Brandon Larcom, Inventor

The Slide Effect is so easy to put together and easy to use.  It comes with handles with wheels, a knee pad or docking station, resistance cords, ankle bands, a nutrition guide and 3 DVDs.  After pulling it out of the box all you need to do is make sure the resistance cords are equal lengths and hook up either the handles or the ankle bands.  It only took me about 5 minutes to set it up.  The hardest part of the set up was getting the resistance cords the correct length.

Using the Slide Effect is also super easy and I definitely felt the burn with the exercises outlined in the workout guide and DVDs.  The workout guide provides enough detail for even beginners to learn and benefit from this machine.  The DVDs are just an added bonus.  I also love the calendar in the back of the workout guide. It helps you to track your workouts and you can either use the DVD training recommendations or you can personalize your own workout.

I recommend that you have hard floors in your home like hardwood or tile before purchasing the slide effect. My home is mostly carpeted and I found that I got a better workout by using this on my kitchen floor instead of the carpet.

Currently, Brandon trains national and international athletes.  He created The Slide Effect after a shattered knee ended his competitive dreams.  So he turned he focus toward helping other competitive athletes by developing increased efficiency in their office training working the body completely in a fraction of the time.  He also had help from sports nutritionists, physical therapists, and top kiniesiologist to develop the Slide Effect.

“The lifestyle of a professional athlete means constantly being on the move, while overcoming the challenge of maintaining peak performance,” said Brandon. “I wanted to create an effective and quick full body workout system that would ensure the athletes’ energy reaches optimal levels when it counted most – on the ice, field or court. Whether you're traveling for business, in your living room, or on your way to the next big competition; anyone can use it to receive that intense workout, in just a matter of minutes. Helping you do what you do best!”

For more information about The Slide Effect and to purchase one yourself visit TheSlideEffect.com.

*Disclosure: I received a Slide Effect Full Body Workout System in exchange for this review.  All opinions are accurate and 100% mine.







Cascia Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer, online merchant and mother of five children, living in The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and law and a passion for writing and staying healthy, she started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms Magazine is currently ranked the top health blog for moms and features several health expert writers and mom bloggers. Ms. Talbert believes that if mothers are well educated on health issues and how to stay healthy, they can pass that information down to their children and reverse the childhood obesity statistics in the U.S.

Ms. Talbert is a featured health blogger at Wellsphere.com and her articles can also be found on ezinearticles.com. She also runs the Healthy Moms Social Network on Ning, is the Chief Marketing Officer for Talbert Nutrition LLC,  and is on the Social Media Advisory Board for America's Wellness Challenge. Follow her on Google+. 



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Thank You Abba

What is food to the weary soul,

What is flower to the bee,

What is a guide in pathless wild,

What is love to a lonely child,

What is peace to a body in pain,

What is provision when in need,

What is ransom to a slave,

What is rescue in a storm,

What is a second chance to the repentant

Or the thrill of being chosen for love,

That is Jesus Christ to me.

Charles Spurgeon

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