New Mexican Getaways

Santa Fe is, of course, a world class tourist destination in its own right. But New Mexico features many other attractions that make perfect destinations for a weekend trip! Want to visit New Mexico? Check out these five fabulous destinations:

Taos – A century-old artist colony and former and current home to many famous artists and authors, Taos and its surrounding communities are home to a gallery scene and shopping that can’t be beat.

Abiquiú – This tiny village is best known for Ghost Ranch, the former home of artist Georgia O’Keeffe. The ranch contains several museums, and tours of O’Keeffe’s home and studio are available with advance reservations.

Pueblos – All of the eight Northern Pueblos – Nambe, Picuris, Pojoaque, San Ildelfonso, San Juan, Santa Clara, Taos, and Tesuque – are located close to Santa Fe. Visit on a feast day for a taste of living Native American culture!

Bosque del Apache – A desert oasis, Bosque del Apache is habitat to a stunning array of birds. Whether you’re interested in hunting or wildlife photography, you will find it easy to fill a day or a weekend in this lush paradise.

Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad – Built in 1880 and continuously operating ever since, this steam-powered, coal-fired railroad winds its way through breathtaking scenery into the Rockies.

Winter Decorating Tips

As the weather gets colder, here are some tips to make your home as cozy as possible:

Light Candles
Nothing says winter like the warm glow of a candle flame. Why not dim your overhead lighting and light some candles around the house? Candles with seasonal scents like evergreen and gingerbread will doubly enhance the wintery charm.

Garnish The Staircase or Balcony
If you have a staircase or balcony, consider wrapping the railings with with lights, garlands, or bows.

Opt for a Seasonal Centerpiece
Create or purchase a centerpiece with seasonal flair. If you'd like to make your own, try using poinsettias, small wreaths, gourds, birch bark, rose hips, cranberries, pinecones, candles, or evergreen sprigs.

Warm up with blankets and throw rugs
Since your family will be spending more time inside as the temperatures drop, make your home’s couches and chairs as comfy as possibly by draping them with snuggly throws and extra blankets in vibrant colors. What better way to curl up with a book on a winter night?

Five ID-Theft Protection Tips

During the holidays, when we’re busy, distracted, and spending more money than we do at other times throughout the year, it’s especially important to be wary of identity theft. Here are some tips to help you stay protected this season:

Keep an Eye on Your Statements

Identity thieves know that you’ll be wracking up a higher number of purchases around the holidays – and they’re banking on their fraudulent charges going unnoticed. The way to avoid this is to regularly monitor your checking, credit card, and debit accounts.

No Purse Needed

A large percentage of identity thefts happen when you’re out shopping. It’s easy for someone to grab your purse when you’re distracted in busy crowd. So, carry only the essentials with you.

Look Over Your Shoulder

Make sure you’re aware of people standing too close behind you while you’re using your card; be especially wary of someone pointing a cell phone toward you (cell-phone cameras are increasingly popular with identity thieves).

Battling Diets: Comparing South Beach, Atkins And The Zone

There are so many diet plans out there, all of which claim to offer unmatched weight loss. But how do you sort out the truth from the fiction? In this article, we’ll examine three of the leading diets out there and how they promise to shed weight and improve your health.

• The South Beach diet is a popular choice with many celebrity endorsements. Invented by a cardiologist and a nutritionist, its core principles include managing insulin levels and consuming unrefined carbohydrates that release energy slowly as opposed to refined sugars that burn out quickly. It has been reported to have good results over the long term as long as dieters maintain their eating regimen.
• The Atkins Diet has fallen into disfavor in recent years, but was quite popular in the last decade. Designed by a cardiologist, it also recommends avoiding refined carbohydrates such as bread, sugar, and pasta in favor of increased protein. Nutritionists disagree that consuming more protein is necessarily better for you, however.
• The Zone Diet is one of many pre-packaged meal diets that have taken the country by storm. It focuses on maintaining a nutritional balance of 40% carbohydrates, 30% fats, and 30% proteins. Unlike other diets, it makes a distinction between “good” and “bad” carbs.

No Cooking Required: What Is A Raw Food Diet?

There are a huge number of different diets out there, each one boasting unmatched weight-loss properties and other health benefits. One that is growing in popularity for a number of reasons is the raw food diet.

The basic principles of raw food dieting are very simple. Cooking food over flame causes the cell walls of the food to break down, releasing essential nutrients that are lost. It can also add unwanted chemicals to your meal, depending on how you cook. Raw food proponents argue that we were not evolutionarily designed to consume and digest prepared food. Foods in their natural state are better for you, so why cook them?

Of course, this tends to lead to a primarily vegetarian diet, as raw meats can contain a number of harmful bacteria. Instead of cooking foods, some raw food enthusiasts recommend the use of fermentation to render foods like beans more palatable. There are a number of successful raw food cookbooks on the market that offer recipes for everything from burritos to pizza.

It’s easy to understand why the raw food diet is popular – it hearkens back to a time when we lived simpler lives, less cluttered with technology and information. But the jury is still out on whether a completely raw diet can actually deliver the health benefits that devotees claim.

Let The Wind Blow: Must-See Spots In Chicago

Chicago — the City with Big Shoulders — is one of the most intriguing urban areas in the Midwest, with a spectacular blend of high and low culture to be enjoyed by locals and visitors.

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the best museums in the world, with an amazing collection of work that ranges from prehistoric cave paintings to masterworks of European impressionism. You can spend all day here and not see everything they have to offer.

The city is also famous for its architecture. The skyline of downtown Chicago boasts impressive buildings from the last few centuries, and a guided tour of some of the most famous can really expand your mind.

Looking to cool off on a hot summer day? Take a trip out to the many beaches of Lake Michigan. The spectacular lake has been cleaned up significantly over the last decade, and it’s a great place to swim, boat, or just lay around on the beach and relax.

Of course, Chicago is famous for food – fans of no-frills American cooking have a lot to love in the city’s many steakhouses. It’s impossible to choose the best, but locals rave about Gibson’s and the Chicago Chop House.

True Stories: Five Essential Non-Fiction Classics

Many readers prefer non-fiction to fiction. The world we live in is so rich and complex that there’s enough to explore without departing from reality. If you’re looking to dip a toe into the most important true stories ever told, this list will get you started:

-        The Diary of Anne Frank. One of the most affecting and powerful historical documents of all time, this slim volume collects the personal journal of a Jewish girl during the Holocaust. Frank’s sad tale is one of the most important artifacts from this terrible time.

-        Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau’s retreat from society to a cabin in the woods is one of the most important books in American history, as much of the modern environmental movement draws inspiration from his uncomplicated life.

-        The Souls Of Black Folk by W. E. B DuBois. This essential volume is one of the strongest statements in favor of civil rights. Published in 1903, DuBois’s arguments have informed thought for over a century.

-        Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. Orwell is famous for his fiction, including Animal Farm and 1984, but his first-person account of the Spanish Civil War is gripping and intense, a rare glimpse inside a nationwide upheaval.

-        Working by Studs Terkel. The most recent book on this list, Terkel’s interviews with ordinary people about their jobs ushered in a new era of documentary nonfiction, and it’s an engaging and addictive read.

Classics Reinvented: New Takes On The Casserole

The humble casserole has sort of a bum rap in contemporary cuisine. The standby dish usually delivers bland flavors in massive portions, as the ingredients melt together into an undistinguishable mass. But there are interesting casserole ideas out there, and here are five of our favorites.

-        A classic casserole is the Shepherd’s Pie. This dish dispenses with many of the staples of the casserole, but boasts exceptional flavor. A filling of ground beef sautéed with onions and carrots is topped by a later of fluffy mashed potatoes and then baked until they brown. This is comfort food that’s perfect for a cold evening.

-        An interesting European take on the casserole uses bacalao – the salted codfish popular in Portugal – as a base. Rehydrate the fish, boil them briefly, and then layer them with potato slices in a casserole dish. Bake until the fish and potatoes meld together into a wonderfully flavorful meal.

-        For a Southern flair, making a casserole with grits can be wonderful. Sautee shrimp in wine or cognac and layer them in a casserole dish with freshly-made cheese grits then bake. The flavors will be out of this world.

-        To go even further south, making a variant on lasagna using Mexican ingredients is a great use for your casserole dish. Layer flour tortillas with refried beans, sliced tomatoes, Jack or Cheddar cheese, and your choice of meat – ground beef or roast pork work great. Bake until it all melts together.

-        Casseroles aren’t just for dinner. Try making a breakfast bake in your casserole dish with eggs, shredded cheese, shredded hash brown potatoes, and bacon. It’s a wonderfully filling way to start the day.

Got Tomatoes? Here are Five Simple Recipes!

Tomatoes are some of the most satisfying bounty to take home from a summer visit to the farmer’s market. At their freshest, they burst with flavor and pack great nutrition and antioxidants. Here are five easy recipes to make the most of your tomatoes.

1.     You can make a spectacular pasta dish using fresh plum tomatoes diced into medium-sized pieces, torn fresh basil, and Parmesan cheese. Core the tomatoes before you cut them to get rid of the seeds and pulp. You don’t even need to cook the sauce.

2.     The classic Italian way to present tomatoes raw is by slicing them and layering them between slabs of fresh mozzarella cheese and torn leaves of basil. Simple but delicious.

3.     Spice up a simple grilled cheese sandwich and add some of your daily vegetables, too! Slice tomato and avocado and put them in between the bread along with the cheese. They’ll melt together to make a delicious lunch.

4.     Tomatoes are great with fish — especially whitefish like cod. Put crushed tomatoes in a bowl with sliced fennel, garlic, and olive oil and mix them together. Top your fish with the mixture, wrap in parchment and bake.

5.     Fresh tomatoes are an essential part of a classic Greek salad – quarter them and mix with cucumber, lettuce, feta cheese, and anchovies for a savory dish.

Hit The Pavement: How To Start Jogging

Fitness buffs have known for centuries that running on a regular basis is one of the best ways to get aerobic exercise and tone your entire body. But if you’re new to jogging, there are some important things to know before you start.

-        Buy good shoes. Your feet and knees are going to take the brunt of this exercise, so it’s vital that you wear appropriate shoes. Go to a running specialty store, talk to a clerk there, and they’ll fit you for a pair that will provide optimum support.

-        Warm Up. It’s important to get your muscles ready for exercise. A brief warmup will dilate your blood vessels and prepare you for more intensive exercise. Despite what you’ve heard, you don’t want to start with stretching. Instead, do some light aerobic exercise like walking briskly for ten minutes to prepare yourself.

-        Pace Yourself. Don’t burst out of the gate at your maximum speed. Start slow, gradually increase your pace, and slow down if you feel yourself getting winded. It can be helpful to start on a treadmill for a little while to get a clear picture of your comfortable speeds.

-        Cool Down. You don’t want to just come to a dead stop after you run. Transition into another brisk walk for five to ten minutes. Once your heart rate has dropped to normal levels, it’s time to stretch.

-        Stretch It Out. After you exercise, your muscles should be more flexible. Now is the time to do fifteen minutes of stretching to further engage and tone them. Don’t push yourself hard, just give each muscle a little love and move on.

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