What's In Your Mouth?

Let me start this by assuring everyone that I am NOT preggers... That being said, I have had some crazy ass cravings lately! The kind that punch you in the face and make you want to punch someone else in the face unless they are quenched immediately! Some are normal. Whenever Pete asks me what I want for dinner, for the past few months all that comes to mind are meatballs or chicken Parm. Don't know why. Maybe because my heart longs for dinner at Sweet Basil in Needham. Only THE BEST Italian place in all of Boston (yes even the North End) if not the world! (I know that was a large jump) It's not just food there that will bowl you over (What what!) Its the atmosphere. Its small and cozy, cash only and you have to BYOWine. The staff is friendly and attentive and every visit feels like an intimate dinner party at a friend's house. I'm gonna miss that little gem. I would drive back the hour and half for the chicken parm there. http://sweetbasilneedham.com/ Sigh. They sell a cook book that I am totes picking up before we leave! Anyway something that I can't explain is this new "water" that I can't get enough of. I think part of it is form that whack L.A. diet that made you violently shoot out your ass. But this doesn't do that. It just tastes really good and makes me drink water! One day I was craving something spicy and also cinnamon. So my crazy water was born.

Totally Gross and Awesome Water

1 Glass of filtered water

1 tablespoon of Lime juice

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

a few shakes of Cayenne pepper

a few shakes of red pepper flakes

small squirt of honey

I know it sounds really gross, and it is, but I really like it. Plus cinnamon is STOOPID good for you! Just 1/2 teaspoon a day can help lower your LDL cholesterol, it has an anti-clotting affect on the blood, sniffing it has been proven to help memory and it is a great source of iron, fiber and calcium! BAM! Also there was a study at Copenhagen University that gave people with arthritis a teaspoon of honey and a teaspoon of cinnamon before breakfast for a week and it significantly helped there pain! Listen up Grancheeky! Anyway, drinking water is really important and sometimes (Okay Lots of times) I don't drink enough, so anything I can do to get the ol' washington in me is good! Plus all the tastes and smells sort of trick me into thinking I just ate so hopefully it will help me from snacking as much!

And for a little green in my diet, I have been obsessed with Kale chips and SeaSnax! Cambridge Naturals is a funky crunchy store that I work near and I can't help but stop in on my walk with the kids and pick up one of these fun new snacks. Kale chips are exactly that, freeze dried kale. Who here can say they have enough kale in their diet?? Once just a garnish now a delicioustreat! And again, Kale is really good for you! Why snack on potato chips with zero nutritional value, when you can snack on these lil' buggers that are packed with antioxidents, fiber and carotenoids which help protect your eyes from UV rays. Plus they are a cruciferous vegeatble so they really bitch slap your risk of cancer! All they do is dry out the kale and add crunched up nuts and spices and pour it all over the kale to coat it and give it a really satisfying consistency. I'm big on the consistency of food, it's why it took me so long to get into sea food! Anyway they come in really good flavors like Ranch and chedder cheese, my favorite is the Spicy Miso! Which is a perfect segway into Sea Snacks! (A little Japanese theme here) Sea Snacks are a fun little company that make dried seaweed snacks. They come in littl etravel packs and bigger family sheets or sprinkles for your soups and salads! They come in a few different flavors like onion but my favorite is the OG Just a touch of olive oil and sea salt! at first I turned my nose up at these thin green sheets, but then one day it was the most delicious thing in the world! Funny how that happens. The tag line for the company is "Strangely addictive" and that is so true. On the first day I had three packages. I couldn't help it they melt in your mouth and are gone before you know it! But the good news is each serving was only like 30 calories! Plus Seaweed is the king of nutrition! Jam packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidents. It has anti-inflamitory, anti-cancer and anti-viral properties! And for centuries women in Korea have eaten seaweed to help with postpartum recovery! They learned it from watching the whales eat kelp after giving birth, crazy huh? You can learn more and order snacks at http://seasnacks.com/. I suggest you do! Anyway I can't claim that chicken parms reverse the signs of aging, but everything else has got some good benefits! Hopefully you'll try one or two of my strange cravings and find something new and healthy to add to your diet, or at least have an amazing time at Sweet Basil. I kinda want avacado right now...