Right now as I write this I’m feeling a wide range of emotions: excitement, gratitude, anxiety, and calm.

Yes, all of these emotions stem from the fact that on October 14th I’ll be speaking at the leading conference on blogging and social media: Blog World Expo.

My talk is entitled: “How to Entice Your Readers with Mouth Watering Content, So They Keep Coming Back for More”…

I’m such a sucker for puns that I couldn’t help but allude to food blogging in my talk description. So what exactly will you learn if you attend my session at Blog World Expo?

• How to create your content in a way that really connects with your audience
• Why it’s important to plan out your blog content in advance, and how to do it the right way
• The only way to ensure your content lives on after you hit publish
• My light hearted social media approach that gives your fans a way to spread the word about you while naturally attracting new readers
• How to choose between all the different distribution channels: youtube, twitter, facebook, SEO, and guest blogging
• When to pick one strategy and run with it, so you’ll get more results for your blogging efforts

So if you’ve been following me or my blog here for awhile, you’ve likely seen me apply some of these techniques. But one of the things I learned through years of experience in blogging and business is that trying to copy a tactic will fall flat if you don’t have the overall strategy.

In my mouth watering content talk I will share with you the overall strategy that creates a cohesive blog reading experience for your audience. That will lead to a growing blog and more influence in your niche or market.

More About Blog World Expo

This year’s Blog World Expo promises to be an action packed “who’s who” of the blogging world. With keynotes by Scott Straten, Brian Clark and Sonia Simone, and in depth blogging training with ProBlogger’s Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. Yaro Starak, Jonathan Fields, and Wendy Piersall are also up to speak. And Leo Babauta of the popular blog Zen Habits will also be presenting.

As a long time blog reader and member of the blogosphere, I’ve gotta say I’m having a hard time choosing between the different panels and sessions. I know there’s something to learn for new bloggers and more experienced bloggers / online business owners as well.

I also want to highlight the fact that getting to hang out with people you know online (yay online friends!) is truly a treat. It’s the most inspiring thing to hang out with people who are just like you, but can also bring a fresh new perspective.

So What Do You Say?

Will you be joining me at Blog World Expo this October 14-16th in Las Vegas, Nevada? Let me know in the comments and tweet me – I want to meet you!

Looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned in my years as a blogger and entrepreneur. Let’s get bloggity!

This is an interview with photography expert and raw food recipe artist Susan Powers of Rawmazing. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions Susan. Enjoy the interview everyone!

1. What brought you to raw food, what’s the story there?

Health issues. I was a gourmet cook, a sommelier and a foodie! Too many years of rich food had left me over-weight, short of breath and with tons of joint pain and other maladies.

2. How do you come up with inspiration for your recipes, and where did you learn to style food and photograph so well?;)

Inspiration for the recipes always comes from traditional food. I think about something I love and then set about making it healthy and raw. The photography just developed itself. I am a bit of a perfectionist so shooting one thing 50 times in the beginning, taught me a lot. I also am a huge researcher and love to learn, so I just read and tried everything I could find!

3. What’s been your experience of being 100% raw vs. not all the way raw?

I feel the best when I am 100% raw but over the last few years have found that it isn’t always practical. I truly am dedicated to helping people no matter where they are along their raw food journey. If I can help people even become aware of eating more raw food, I feel like I have accomplished something.

4. What has been the most life changing aspect of eating more raw food for you?

Having my body feel so much better! I have more energy, less pain and all of the problems I had before have gone away.

5. What one thing would you recommend for someone’s health and well being outside of raw food?

Yoga. For all ages. It is an amazing way to move your body and get rid of stiffness and pain, get in shape and also just simply feel better. It really goes hand and hand with raw food.

6. Do you feel like you’ve got a handle on your life purpose, or is it something that emerges gradually?

Absolutely. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am doing exactly what I should be doing.

7. Tell me about the project you’re most excited about right now, and how people can get their hands on it?

I just released my first book, Rawmazing Desserts. It has simple, gourmet, delicious, healthy recipes with full color photos accompanying each recipe. I am so proud of it and people are loving it! You can find it at RawmazingDesserts.com

8. If you could summarize your experience with raw food, what one word would you use?

Salvation.

Thank you Susan!

I love getting insights from other raw food bloggers and authors. In this case Susan has been an inspiration for me, and she’s got an awesome affinity for photography that just makes us all drool!

If you haven’t checked out her new book yet, do so now!

In my last post I wrote about the surprising benefits of living in harmony with bacteria. Many people in the comments expressed interest in learning how to make their own fermented vegetables.

Well I’m here to tell you that it’s super simple and that anyone can do it in their own kitchen! Let’s break out the crocks and the jars and get to the fermentation already!

How to Ferment Vegetables (Cabbage, Cucumber, etc.)

The Brine Solution

There are two important factors when making fermented vegetables and sauerkraut. The first is the quality of the vegetables you’re using. You want to include at least some fresh (preferably organic or homegrown) cabbage, or cucumbers. From there you can include your favorite vegetables, because both cabbage and cucumbers have the type of bacteria that we’re looking to have in our fermentation.

The second part of making fermented vegetables is the brine solution. This is the salt water that is used to protect against the growth of microorganisms that would lead to rotting, and promote the growth of the good bacteria lactobacilli. The more salt you use in your solution, the slower the fermentation and the more acidic your kraut will be. If you use too much salt then no bacteria will survive and your fermentation will fail.

I recommend about 1 Liter of water for 2 tablespoons of quality sea salt. Make sure that the salt dissolves in the water before adding it to your chopped vegetables.

Share this with your friends!

I’d love to have you share this super simple sauerkraut recipe with your friends and family members. Click the retweet button, “like” it on Facebook, or email it to your friends. Let’s get more people eating fermented veggies!

Photo by Gerolf Nikolay

“Anti-bacterial. Kills bacteria in one spray. Removes unseen bacteria, protecting you and your family.”

That’s what all those sterilizing cleaning products promise. But what if bacteria wasn’t something to be feared and squashed at every opportunity? What if your body’s relationship to bacteria was a symbiotic one instead.

Let’s explore this relationship we have with bacteria, and uncover the 7 misunderstood reasons why bacteria are actually good for you.

1. Bacteria and Fungi Lead to Fermentation

Microscopic bacteria and fungi are responsible for the fermentation of foods and drinks. They produce alcohol, lactic acid, and acetic acid that act as preservatives so that foods retain nutrients.

Our ancestors used fermentation, and thus bacteria, to preserve excess bounty for the long winter months. Fermented foods were also very useful during long voyages at sea because they retained nutrition for a long time.

2. Bacteria Make Foods Digestible

I talk a lot about eating foods that are easy to digest, and fermented foods are certainly more digestible.

Essentially, bacteria are acting as little helpers that work to pre-digest foods for us. This is incredible, since we often expend a lot of energy on digestion. So eating more fermented foods will lead to increased energy.

3. Fermentation Creates New Nutrients

How could it be possible that a little fermentation could increase the amount of nutrients in food? Well the interesting phenomenon of microbial cultures proliferating actually creates B vitamins and even antioxidants.

4. Toxic Foods Become Edible

Another surprising benefit to bacteria and fungi fermentation is the removal of certain toxic elements.

Grains contain a compound that blocks the absorption of minerals into the body. However, with a little bit of fermentation these grains are now neutralized and edible.

5. Eating Live Bacteria Is Good For Your Stomach

The term “live” in live foods refers to eating foods that have not been destroyed, and in this case the bacteria is still alive.

Eating fermented living foods gives your stomach the intestinal flora that is necessary for digesting foods and absorbing nutrients.

Watch out for pasteurized foods, since these do not contain any live microorganisms.

6. Healthy Bacteria Compete with Harmful Strains

By eating fermented foods, healthy bacteria like Lactobacillus compete with diarrhea-related bacteria such as Salmonella and E. Coli.

That’s like having your own army to fend off competing invaders, instead of leaving your body to fend for itself.

7. Fermented Foods Help Protect Us from Disease

There are tons of ideas on how to prevent disease, but how many of them use probiotic organisms to do the work for you?

The body is not an isolated test tube, it is an ecosystem with many different factors at play. That’s why supplying it with health-supporting bacteria is a sure way to give your immune system a hand.

Here’s to Fermenting!

In the book Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz, there are literally 100 recipes on how to leverage healthy bacteria to make yummy fermented foods.

I highly suggest you pick it up to get an even deeper understanding on how simple and delicious fermented foods can be.

What’s your take on fermentation and bacteria?

Let me know in the comments, and share your favorite fermented foods with me!

We’ve harped on about the spiritual ways in which juicing can change your life. We’ve also taught you how to make vegetable juice at home, and how to keep the beet juice rocking.

Photo by Rob Baird

Now it’s time to look at the practical reasons why juicing will impact your life in an amazing way.

This is a guest post by John McIntyre.

1. Liquid engineering for your body.

The life-giving juice found in fresh fruits and vegetables is nutritionally way beyond anything humans can manufacture. I’m not just talking about junk food, but anything from bread to bottled juice.

Unfortunately, 95% of what you find on supermarket shelves is practically devoid of any nutritional value. The various methods we use to process our food are robbing it of its benefits.

This is why juicing is so wonderful. You can take the nutritional power from as many different fruits and vegetables as you want and feed it directly into your body. This truly is liquid engineering.

2. Boost your energy.

Think of the tired feeling you get after a heavily-processed meal. That happens because your body has to redirect energy to your digestive system… not something you really want. And who wants to eat food that makes them tired anyway? We eat and drink because we’re trying to replenish energy, not spend it.

Enter juicing. One of my favorite things about it is that you are doing the body’s digestive work for it. No more feeling sleepy after a meal. Now you get a burst of energy and your body will thank you for it.

3. Sleep better.

When you sleep, your body is recharging itself. Before processed food was invented, this was no problem.

But in today’s world of nutritionally bankcrupt food, this doesn’t happen like it’s meant to. Rather than recharging, the body has to focus on digestion and squeezing whatever vitamins it can find out.

By juicing (and by eating raw food in general) you hand the power of sleep back over to your body. Rather than digesting food, your body can get back to sleeping which means a smoother and more restful night.

4. Wake up early.

It goes without saying that if you don’t sleep well, you’re not going to get up early. So as you feed your body with more life-giving juice, you’ll wake up earlier with more energy for the day.

5. Feel great.

If you’ve experienced how good you feel when you eat good food, then you won’t need any convincing here. Simply put, the better you eat (and drink), the better you feel.

6. Look fantastic.

When you feel great, you look great.

7. Lose weight.

Much of what causes weight gain is found in unnatural and highly-processed foods that don’t have any nutritional value.

When you juice and your body is filled to the brim with powerful nutrients, all of its natural processes will step up a notch. Yes, this means your metabolism, digestion and immune system will function much more effectively.

Don’t forget all the extra energy you are going to have to get rid of somehow. That “somehow” is best known as exercise – the movement that produces endorphins and makes you happy.

8. Eat less.

When you are eating food which is rich in nutrients, your body isn’t going to need as much to be satisfied.

9. Prevent cancer.

Fruit and vegetables are essentially warehouses of antioxidants. These babies make up the army inside you which fights cancer. They eliminate cancerous growths and make sure your body is in tip-top shape.

Sure, you can get antioxidants from eating carrots. But think of how much faster it’ll be if you drink them.

10. Get more done.

More energy is naturally going to mean that you get more done. Whether you go surfing, paint a picture or write a business plan, it doesn’t matter. The point is that you’ll be doing more of what you want to do which can only be a good thing.

11. Enjoy life.

An old arabic proverb says “He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.”

I can’t really think of a better way to put it. The healthier you are, the more you are going to enjoy life.

What did you do with all the energy juicing gave you?

About the Author: John McIntyre is the resident juicer of Healthy Juicing, a place where you can discover how you can look and feel amazing with fresh juices.