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• Pregcellent: Weird Cravings Are Up

  You know that yen for a deli roast beef sandwich, extra mayo, with cheddar cheese potato chips inserted inside the sandwich that struck you suddenly while pregnant? Just me? Apparently not, because the BBC reports that pregnancy cravings are up. Three-fourths of women today experience some kind of craving while knocked up, compared with 30 percent just fifty years ago. Oh, and chocolate topped the list, because pregnant women are not stupid. However, the cravings were not just for weird food stuff. In fact...   Read More... Posted Apr 30 2008, 05:02 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: food, pregnancy, research study, nutrition, mothers, moms, chocolate, BBC, pregcellent, expecting, texture, deficiency, cravings

• Eat Chocolate, Protect Your Baby

  Finally, some good news about pregnancy and what we might choose to eat or drink during those nine loooonnnngggg months. Researchers at Yale University studied more than 2200 pregnant women between January 1996 and September 2000, and found those who reported eating at least five servings of chocolate a week were 40 percent less likely to develop pre-eclampsia than those who consumed less than one serving a week. Preeclampsia is rare but serious, sending the mother's blood pressure soaring and often leading to premature deliveries and babies at serious risk of dying. It's scary stuff and the cause is unclear. Researchers believe .... Read More... Posted Apr 30 2008, 02:33 PM by AmyinMotown with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, preeclampsia, chocolate, good news, yale, prematurity

• Kitchenista: New Spin On Hot Cocoa

  Chocolate is one of nature's perfect foods. And if you heat up a perfect food with a little milk, then you move from perfection into a state of bliss usually acheived with illegal narcotics.   Read More... Posted Feb 19 2008, 01:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with no comments Filed under: chocolate, kitchenista, bliss, amaretto, hot cocoa, chow

• No More Sugar Mama

  When I was a kid, Valentine's Day was a great excuse to overdose on sugar, chocolate, and red dye #40. School parties featured cupcakes and punch and candy hearts while my parents usually had some kind of treat for us at home. It was second only to Halloween in terms of the deliciousness level, not to mention the sugar high.  How times have changed. Last night, for my daughter's preschool party, I made not cookies, not cupcakes, but plain, lightly salted popcorn. Other choices on the sign up sheet included red apples, snap peas, strawberries, and bagels. All perfectly wonderful and tasty food, but party food? Come on now. Read More... Posted Feb 14 2008, 06:03 PM by AmyinMotown with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: preschool, cooking for kids, children's parties, Valentine's Day, chocolate, cookies, chemicals, public schools, kid friendly foods, sugar

• Kitchenista: Because It's About the Chocolate

  Go ahead, you know you want brownies today. Not just any brownies. No, these have to be really rich, almost like fudge (none of this "cake-like" stuff, what is that anyway?). Made with real butter, of course. Made by you. Not from a box (trust me, it's TOTALLY worth it). And really, really chocolatey. Because today is all about the chocolate. I've been making these for years and have never heard one complaint. Yay, Joy of Cooking! Read More... Posted Feb 14 2008, 02:05 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: chocolate, Valentine's Day Gift Ideas, kitchenista, Joy of Cooking, Sharffen Berger, brownies

• Crafty: Say "I Love You" With Chocolate

  In our house, we don't go nuts with the Valentine's Day swag. A card is enough, frankly. It's even better if the card is homemade -- but there's no pressure. Hugs are also accepted in lieu of a card. Still, there's just something irresistibly sweet about these handwrapped candy bars.   Read More... Posted Feb 01 2008, 04:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with no comments Filed under: chocolate, paper, candy, crafty, valentine's

• Strollerderby Playdate: Doggie Style

  Show of hands - how many moms looked at their post-baby belly and immediately started to sob? How many were doing the same thing a year later? How many are making peace with how things in the boob-and-belly region are now? How many of you find keeping your hand in the air is aerobic exercise enough? Read More... Posted Jan 24 2008, 01:29 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with no comments Filed under: yoga, chocolate, baby weight, weight, playdate, mojitos

• Take 3 Ounces And Call Me In The Morning

  I don't cook at all, so you can imagine how bored I must have been to be flipping through an issue of Gourmet magazine while snacking one afternoon.  And there it was, a throwaway line on a page of random interesting facts about food:  chocolate is a better cough suppressant than codeine.   Read More... Posted Jan 11 2008, 02:27 PM by asflutz with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: chocolate, codeine, cough suppressant, theobromine

• Conflicting and Confusing: Today's Nutritional Advice for Pregnant Women

  Fish?  Or no fish?   Wild-caught or farmed?  Is tuna okay?  Doesn't it contain mercury though?  What about deli meat?  Oh, and cheese?  Does it have to be pasteurized? Is blue cheese okay?  How about caffeine?  A little is okay, right?  No?  None at all?  How much caffeine is in chocolate, anyway?  Does it depend on the chocolate?  What about alcohol?  That's a no-no, right?  No?  A glass of wine is okay?  No??  But I heard yes!  But I had one last week; is that bad? I'M PREGNANT AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO EAT!!!!!* Read More... Posted Mar 12 2007, 09:55 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: health, pregnancy, eating, alcohol consumption during pregnancy, chocolate, fish, deli meat, food safety, cheese

• Group Play Produces Fatties

  In what scientists might come to call the "prison effect" or "growing up with two older brothers syndrome," a new study shows that kids who eat in large groups tend to consume more than kids who eat in small groups. Well, duh? If they don't wolf down the meal, someone's going to take it! In essence, the study showed that kids ate more when they were in a group of nine than when they were in a group of three, leading researchers to believe that social arousal, such as noise or activity, led to consuming more food -- although I like to think that feeding one group kale cakes and the other chocolate-dipped heroin pizza had something to do with it. Read More... Posted Feb 14 2007, 08:17 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: children, food, healthy eating, behavior, childhood obesity, stupid studies, chocolate, theories, study

• Valentine for the Mother-With-Everything: The Nursing Mother in Chocolate

  Okay, so call me a bit of a militant nursing mother.  After all, I nursed all four of my children with varying degrees of success.  And I'm all for nursing mother's rights, and I totally honor the beauty that is contained within this simple yet basic action. But. A nursing mother rendered in chocolate?  Okayyy.... Question:  where do you start eating it?  The head?  Because a headless nursing mother is, like, so wrong.  The leg?  Nah.  The, uh, "milk pillows"?  Uh, no.  And what about the baby??!  I cannot eat a chocolate baby.  No. Way. However, this would make a lovely shower gift, as well as a highly unusual but welcome Valentine.  After all, it IS chocolate.  Posted Feb 07 2007, 09:19 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: moms, Valentine's Day, chocolate, nursing mothers

• Because You Want To: Cool Stuff for Valentine's Day

  Before you know it, the most pressure-filled of all holidays will be upon you (thank you, Hallmark).  Will you be ready?  Sending flowers again this year?  (yawn.  Or as I like to say:  it's a start.)  At least make them organically-grown, like these from Organic Bouquet.  Feel compelled to send a card?  Support social justice with these uber-cool hemp cards from the Organic Consumer's Association.  What about the kids?  The Groovy Mind has this set of Five Finger Puppets made from wool spun on bicycle wheels!  How can you not buy this, when you can give a toy and inspire guilt at the same time?  My kids are each getting a weird-what-is-it rechargeable Candeloo light from Progressive Kid, combining form and function with whimsy.  Can't find the perfect gift?  Have a look at the large Valentine's collection from Magic Cabin, with vintage Valentines, magic fairy hearts, and bubble wands. Read More... Posted Jan 31 2007, 07:51 AM by Karen Murphy with | with no comments Filed under: holidays, Valentine's Day, chocolate, hemp, Wild Oats, organic