Public Service Recognition Week in early May provides a welcome relief from the embarrassments of Federal Employee Scandal Month, which was April. Although General Services Administration , Secret Service and other distractions continue to draw attention, they are offset, at least temporarily, by this week’s well-crafted events designed to demonstrate appreciation for federal and other public employees. Read full article > >

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Public Service Recognition Week provides relief from a month of scandals

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will kick off the general election season Saturday with large rallies in two critical battlegrounds, Ohio and Virginia, intended to showcase the technological firepower of his reelection campaign. Read full article > >

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Obama to showcase technology at kickoff rallies Saturday

President and Michelle Obama reported earning an adjusted gross income of $789,674 in 2011 and paid $162,074 in federal income tax, according to the family’s tax returns released by the White House on Friday. Read full article > >

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Obamas’ tax returns show earnings of $790K in 2011

Elizabeth Gordon is the author of 'The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook and Allergy-Free Desserts'. She was diagnosed with multiple food allergies in 2007 after the birth of her first child and decided to combine her social work background with her love of the culinary arts to help people just like her. She cooks up new treats, weekly, on her blog allergyfreedelights.com The United States is home to 9 million adults and 6 million children coping with food allergies ranging from annoying rashes to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Millions of other families are taking note of government-funded initiatives like Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move project and reaching for less processed and more natural fare. While healthy and safe eating is the common denominator between these groups, there is likely another: sticker shock when the checkout person hands over the grocery receipt. When I was diagnosed with allergies to wheat, eggs, string beans and figs in 2004, I wrongly assumed that my food bills would plummet, largely because it felt as though most of the foods that I enjoyed had just been eliminated from my diet. Venturing into the supermarket after that fateful doctor’s visit, I felt relieved that I finally knew why I was covered in a rash and that by simply choosing rice over rotini, I might be able to eliminate the itching that had plagued me since my daughter was born six months before. I was more than surprised when the cart, loaded with produce, a package of gluten-free flour , some gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg-free chocolate chips and gluten-free snacks like pretzels came out to be almost three times what I previously budgeted for groceries. I thought that there was a mistake. There wasn’t, but even seven years later, I still can’t believe the amount of money that we spend on food. Granted, there are four of us, we live in New York City where the cost of living is higher, and specialty items that are both safe for me to eat and that my children enjoy are simply more expensive. However, I know that I am not alone. I took an informal survey of my Facebook fans, and of the roughly 50 responses, only one person said that her food bill hadn’t tripled as a result of her child’s severe food allergies. One food allergic family even added that they factored their food budget into their mortgage refinancing as a medical hardship. Whether coping with life-threatening food allergies or just buying more mindfully, families know that eliminating any or all of the top eight allergens (dairy, wheat , eggs, soy, fish, tree nuts, peanuts and shellfish) from their diets can get pricey. Here are five practical ways to reduce the weekly expenses: Opt for beans and rice over pasta Rice is always inexpensive and so are hominy, beans (like kidney or black beans), spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes. Gluten-free pastas and cereals are not. Reach for canned or dried legumes or starchy vegetables, which generally have more nutritional value anyway, and save the rice pasta and cold cereal for special treats. Make your own Cooking your own meals, snacks and treats instead of relying on pre-packaged fare will drastically reduce the allergic family’s food bill. It also ensures food safety. Cooking doesn’t have to be a five-course meal every night. Simple steps like making your own gluten-free flour mix for baking or making chicken stock at home really add up to savings. Invest in a slow cooker If you eat meat, the slow cooker turns inexpensive cuts like brisket or chicken thighs tender and moist, and it saves time because it can be left alone all day to have dinner on the table when you get home from work. If you live a vegetarian lifestyle, the slow cooker can be a great way to cook up hearty soups, stews and even big batches of gluten-free, steel-cut oats for breakfast. Eat seasonally The laws of supply and demand apply here. When fruits and vegetables are abundant, they are less expensive. Roast up some root vegetables in the fall. Load up on berries in the summer. Choose citrus in the winter to save. Don’t be afraid to freeze If you can’t live without blueberries in February or your kids want some corn come December, don’t hesitate to look in the freezer section. Better still, load up your own freezer with fresh fruit when it’s in season to eat later in the year. Evidence suggests that frozen fruits and vegetables are just as nutritious, and they can be cheaper, too. Don’t stop at just frozen produce! Freeze leftover herbs to avoid waste. Freeze coconut milk kefir in ice cube trays if you only use a little bit for baking. Stash the meat that was on sale at the market in the freezer for up to three months. Just these little steps reduce waste and expenditures in the supermarket. Safe and healthy eating does come at a price. Fortunately, simple steps can reduce it, because as every family, whether allergic or not, knows, every penny counts. Previously – Being gluten-free and well-fed and Living with peanut allergies

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Allergy-friendly grocery shopping without breaking the bank

First Lady Michelle Obama continues to take TV by storm , announcing Wednesday she’ll appear next Tuesday, and one week later on NBC’s ratings-anemic weight-loss series “The Biggest Loser,” for its first ever White House workout. Read full article > >

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Michelle Obama to help fatten up ‘The Biggest Loser’ ratings

While her husband remains under attack daily for — take your pick — a sputtering economy, high gas prices and universal health care, Michelle Obama may have slowly created one of the most influential programs in the Obama administration: the White House Kitchen Garden . Read full article > >

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Seeds of change: White House Kitchen Garden’s influence

President Obama called the National Museum of African American History and Culture a “celebration of life” on Wednesday morning at the groundbreaking for the 19th Smithsonian museum. The museum will “stand in proof that the most important things in life rarely come quickly or easily,” Obama said. “Though we have yet to reach the mountaintop, we cannot stop climbing.” Read full article > >

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National Museum of African American History and Culture groundbreaking

Much like the airing of dirty laundry, the public release of once-private e-mails can be embarassing. In an e-mails revealed as part of the investigation into the Justice Department’s “Operation Fast and Furious”–and brought to our attention by our eagle-eyed colleague Sari Horwitz — Arizona’s former U.S. attorney called DOJ public-affairs officials “chuckleheads” for criticizing a press release from his office and then took a veiled dig at Michelle Obama’s obesity campaign. Read full article > >

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‘Fast and Furious’ probe shows Burke called DOJ officials ‘chuckleheads’

Michelle Obama has been making the talk show rounds this week (“The Tonight Show,” “Rachael Ray”) and now “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” to talk about her fitness and healthy eating initiative. She already made Jay Leno eat vegetables, and now, the First Lady shows off her athletic skills in a competition with Ellen DeGeneres: Read full article > >

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Ellen DeGeneres challenges Michelle Obama to a push-up contest (Video)

Michelle Obama has been making the talk show rounds this week (“The Tonight Show,” “Rachael Ray”) and now “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” to talk about her fitness and healthy eating initiative. She already made Jay Leno eat vegetables, and now, the First Lady shows off her athletic skills in a competition with Ellen DeGeneres: Read full article > >

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Ellen DeGeneres challenges Michelle Obama to a push-up contest (Video)

Michelle Obama has been making the talk show rounds this week (“The Tonight Show,” “Rachael Ray”) and now “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” to talk about her fitness and healthy eating initiative. She already made Jay Leno eat vegetables, and now, the First Lady shows off her athletic skills in a competition with Ellen DeGeneres: Read full article > >

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Ellen DeGeneres challenges Michelle Obama to a push-up contest (Video)

President Obama has called on a special guest to help him make his case for economic fairness during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night: Warren Buffett’s secretary, Debbie Bosanek. Bosanek will be among the guests in first lady Michelle Obama’s box in the House chamber when Obama delivers his third annual report to Congress at 9 p.m. She is the inspiration for the president’s call for wealthier Americans to pay a higher tax rate, known as the “Buffett rule,” which Obama is expected to highlight again in his speech. Read full article > >

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Warren Buffett’s secretary to sit with Michelle Obama during State of the Union

If there’s one thing we love to do as a nation, it’s to judge one another for what we eat. This is part of what’s made Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move; Here, Have A Salad” campaign so mesmerizing. We hate being told what not to eat, what to eat, that we’re too fat or that we’re too skinny. Find a seemingly well-adjusted person and ask about her weight, and nine times out of 10 you are suddenly tangled in a mess of exposed nerves, and everyone involved has to undergo several years of therapy. Read full article > >

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Alexandra Petri: Paula Deen and our unhealthy fixation

I   can’t speak for Michelle Obama , but call me an angry white woman. If the first lady isn’t angry, she certainly has every right to be. Like every woman I know, black or white, I’ve watched Mrs. Obama with respect, admiration and arm-envy. Every woman. We talk about her unique role in American history, and we are proud and impressed. I’ve interviewed a former first lady’s chief of staff, various Republican operatives, and former staffers for previous presidents, and without exception, they all say the same thing: “I admire her so much.” Read full article > >

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Denigrating Michelle Obama with the ‘angry black woman’ slur

Michelle Obama is rejecting stories of White House conflicts between her office and the president’s and says people have wrongly tried to portray her as “some angry black woman.” In a wide-ranging interview with CBS anchor Gayle King, Obama challenged characterizations of her in “ The Obamas ,” a new book by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor that describes the first lady as a forceful shadow operator in her husband’s administration. Read full article > >

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First lady rejects White House drama