EDITOR’S PICKS

Front-loading washing machines, you have failed me more than my ninth-grade boyfriend (who wound up dating my best friend). WTF, dude? And by dude, I am referring to the washing machine, not my ninth-grade boyfriend, because I totally got over that last year.

Okay, so you're everywhere, in commercials looking so hot, in junk mailers looking affordable, in TV shows looking all Hollywood. You have really come out as the only game in town when it comes to washing machines—well, that is, if you want to be a super-sexy, having-it-all-and-loving-it modern mother of the world.

So, I fell for you. I called you mine and took pride in you like I did the football jacket I wore in the hallways of my high school, even when it was obviously not jacket weather. So excited I was about being green with my energy-saving, water-saving, money-saving new paramour.

It was a love affair, until one day…

One day, all of my family's clothes started to smell bad—an indescribable, sour, yucky, made-my-skin-crawl smell. But I didn't blame you. It couldn't be my new washing machine. It must have been my husband (who winds up doing most of the laundry—God bless him) or perhaps it was bad water from the town. We carried on our lives together, me thinking that there was something wrong with our water and you letting me believe the lie.

And then…

One night, while innocently chatting with my girlfriend, I found out the truth: Front-loading washers are notorious mold-growers. In fact, her friend's family actually had mold poisoning from theirs. Oh no. How come no one ever told me this? Why isn't this common knowledge?

It's true, though. I looked it up and found all kinds of horror stories.

Listen, buddy, the first chance I get, I am dumping you. But until then, I have picked up Tide Washing Machine Cleaner—which ticked me off because I hate using products that are all chemicalled-up, but I couldn't find a natural alternative and I had to do something about the rampant mold. And then, my man gave it a good, old-fashioned scrubbing, cleaning out all its moldy parts.

So for now, we keep the door ajar after each wash and use the Tide cleaner monthly. Here are some more tips on keeping your pretty expensive, high-efficiency front-loading washing machine mold- and mildew-free (or free-ish).

Caveat emptor. I know.

And girls, let this be a lesson: Just because something looks good and is popular doesn't mean it's going to do a good job—or take you to the prom.

Vitamin D

After the above lament, I will keep my next pick short and sweet: Vitamin D. Take it. You are most likely vitamin D deficient. Get 10 to 20 minutes of sun a day without sunscreen on, too. Yup. You need direct sun sans the block to get the vitamin D you need to be healthy, stay healthy and stave off disease.

Check this out from one of our recent articles on what vitamins you should be taking now:

Vitamin D
The important thing to note with this supplement is the type. Look for your multivitamin or separate D supplement to list vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol. Other forms of vitamin D are not easily utilized by your body and are excreted as waste. Current research indicates vitamin D deficiency could play a role in causing 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects and periodontal disease. Adequate vitamin D is especially important during the winter months if you live in the northern hemisphere.

I am taking a prescription once-a-week supplement, but you don't need a prescription. You can march into any health food store or average drugstore, pick up some good D, and get back on the healthy track.

Read more about what vitamins you should be taking now in our article “The Daily News.”

Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Organic Sprouted Grain Pasta

Woo-hoo! Rejoice. Sound the trumpets! You can eat pasta again. The long-sworn-off “bad” carb is back with a new attitude. I've semi-self-righteously indulged in Ezekiel's delish sprouted grain breads for years now (in a kind of look-at-how-healthy-I-can-be way), but it wasn't until recently that I laid my taste buds on their line of all-natural, organic, vegan pasta that’s free of dairy, yeast, color, conditioner, preservatives and additives.

Bloating noodles of yesteryear, take heed: This pasta does not make you feel puffy (or tired) on contact. And here's why: One two-ounce serving of spaghetti, for example, has 7 grams of fiber, 9 grams of protein, just 2 grams of fat, only 10 milligrams of sodium and 0 grams of sugar.

Healthy details aside, the pasta is yummers (that is indeed a technical word), filling and fulfilling.

And now I leave you to heat up the last little bit from a few dinners ago, mange it like it's going out of style and move on minus the guilt. There is a god.