Once upon a time, a ruminant animal (like a cow or sheep) grazed on living grass and was fed supplemental hay or silage only when such a practice was necessary to sustain the animal's health (e.g. when pastureland was covered with heavy snow). The USDA guidelines for grass-fed meat, while good at first glance, allow a pretty big loophole for producers wanting to take advantage of the well-intentioned consumer. As the standard exists now on the USDA's webpage, the grass-fed marketing claim allows confinement and antibiotic use without restriction. For what it's worth, the USDA acknowledges the limited scope of the grass-fed claim in a notice to the public and suggests that additional claims such as "free-range" and "no antibiotics or hormones administered" may be used to supplement the grass-fed label, when applicable. In other words, buyer beware--American beef only labeled "grass-fed" could have spent a good deal of time eating hay on a feedlot, juiced with antibiotics to fatten it up faster.

Here's a great recipe for a busy day! Throw a few easy-to-find ingredients into the pot and enjoy the sweet smell of curried pork all afternoon. Prepare it on a weekday and come home to a house that smells like heaven, assuming Fido spares you some leftovers.

As with any meat, I recommend acquiring the best pork you can afford. Bone-in cuts like chops, ribs, or shoulders work great for slow-cooking, as do odds and ends like country-style spareribs (boneless but highly marbled bits).

Scale quantities up or down depending on the size of your army and whether you like leftovers!

I have lots of ideas; few of them are truly unique. When dealing with chronic health issues, it's easy to get fixated on finding the single missing piece of the health puzzle. In hindsight, the books and resources that helped me the most were those that considered the big picture. To me that means not just discussing which foods are good and which foods are bad, but also considering the human as a whole being--one who requires more than just a meal plan to achieve a vital state of health.

Of course, the resource that might help you depends on what you know (or think you know) about nutrition. I sure thought I had a solid foundation back when I was sprouting wheat seeds in my kitchen. My gut hurts even thinking about it now. If you're struggling with inflammatory bowel disease (Chrohn's, colitis) and don't know where to begin, start with Gottschall, then keep reading.

In addition to slow-cooking, consider the merits of the one-pan meal. I have better things to do than wash a stack of dishes, but refuse to compromise on food quality. I often use both of the aforementioned cooking methods--not at the same time--to achieve the best of both worlds. A one-pan meal, unlike slow-cooking, can be relatively quick and gives the chef more options than savory mush (but don't tell my Crock Pot I said that.)

Both cranberry and fennel have been on my mind (and in my fridge) lately, and I kept having the inkling they would make a winning team. During a wave of inspiration a couple of weeks ago, I gave this problem some focused thought, scanned the fridge, and got cooking. I produced the recipe shown here, which my family deemed an instant keeper. The recipe was, in fact, so tasty and seasonally appropriate, that it made its official debut at our Thanksgiving table. If you have a leftover bag of cranberries floating around in your fridge, you may have discovered their purpose.