Want food that tastes better and is better for you and the environment? Then wave goodbye to your microwave.

First of all, most of what we “nuke” is frozen, processed, prepackaged, and far from its original state. It’s loaded with sodium, preservatives and lots of not-so-good-for-you ingredients–many that we don’t even know about because the FDA doesn’t require food companies to place all of them on their labels.

Secondly, there’s the questionable effects that microwaves have on us, and our food. Like everything else, our food has an energy or “life force” that gets destroyed when we nuke it. And it just doesn’t look or taste good without it!

I’ve also noticed that sometimes it’s even faster to cook on the stove than to use the microwave. That doesn’t seem to make sense.

But anyway, there’s a slow food movement out there, and I think I’m going to join. At least part-time. Life is so fast-paced, it could probably benefit us all mentally, physically–even fiscally!–if we went back to the basics and started to eat and prepare more of our food closer to the way nature intended it.

Keep your tastebuds tuned. I’m taking my time, but I’ll be back with tips and real-food recipes sometime soon!

One of my most favorite memories of Maui is the delicious banana bread we ate a roadside stand during our drive along the famous Road to Hana.

I’ve looked everywhere online (and I’m not the only one, from all the discussion boards I’ve read) and can’t find a recipe that comes close.

The one below is pretty good.  In the meantime, I’d  love to hear from anyone who has the inside scoop on how to make the real deal!

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup Water
1 ½ cup Granulated sugar
3 each Egg
1 ¼ cup Oil
1 ¾ cup Flour
1 ¼ cup Over ripe banana, mashed
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Baking soda
½ cup Macadamia nut, chopped
1 ¼ cup Crushed pineapple (drained)

METHOD OF PREPARATION:
Mix oil and sugar together thoroughly. Add bananas, eggs, and water.

Sift dry ingredients and blend into mixture; DO NOT over mix.

Dust macadamia nuts with flour.

Fold dusted macadamia nut and pineapples into mixture.

Lightly grease and paper line loaf pans.

Pour batter into loaf pans. Bake at 350º F for 1 hour or until firm.

Yields 3 mini loaves.

Last weekend I attended a brunch put on by a busy mother with two babies and a full-time, work-at-home job.

I never would have attempted such a feat–I find it enough of a challenge trying to toast two English muffins at once. Never mind trying to whip up egg batter for 20.

But she had a tip that she was trying for the first time, and it worked. Just throw all the eggs with either milk or water in a blender. They blend perfectly and are much easier to pour, in either one big batch or several smaller ones.

Isn’t that eggcellent?