Obama Administration Fails to Protect Consumer and Farmer Choice

On January 27, the Obama Administration made the damaging decision to approve the unrestricted cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. This means GE alfalfa can be planted without any federal requirements to prevent contamination of organic and non-GE crops. It also means that GE alfalfa does not have to be labeled, making it difficult for consumers to identify and avoid. This decision, to support big business at the expense of individual choice, sets a precedent for future deregulation of GE crops although genetic engineering has not been conclusively proven safe. Don't stand by while well-funded and well-connected biotechnology interests are given the power to eliminate marketplace choice. Use the talking points below as a guide to customize your message to the White House. Make it personal and demand that President Obama protect your right to choose products free of genetic engineering!

If you would like to make a difference, click here and submit a letter to President Obama. It's really easy, they basically do it for you!

Did you know: 93% of soy, 86% of corn, 93% of cotton and 93% of canola seed planted were genetically engineered in the U.S. in 2010 – I didn't until I read this article. You may be saying to yourself, well, why does it matter? Why do I care? Or it has no barring on me!

People, when 93% of soy and 83% of corn are GE (genetically engineered). That is Corn Starch, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), Hydrogenated Vegetable (which is soy bean), Canola oils. Etc. Etc... If you think this doesn't effect you, check your labels. Read how many things you eat have HFCS, Hydrogenated oils, Corn Starch's, etc.

If you are wondering why GMO's my be a problem. Check this article out. Or, just Google it. Check it out for yourself. If it bother's you at all. I would click here and send something to Obama. Allowing GE/GM/GMO's only opens the door to many more situations like this. The very people that should be protecting us are not. We must become educated and protect ourselves.

References:

http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/01/no-regulations-ge-alfalfa/

http://ota.capwiz.com/ota/issues/alert/?alertid=24747501

http://www.saynotogmos.org/ud2006/usept06.php#confused

Taco Lettuce Wraps

Last night, I decided that I wanted to make Tacos. I Didn't have all the ingredients I needed, so I stopped at Harmon's. I grabbed some Grass Fed Ground Beef, Vine Ripe Tomato, Avocado, & Tortilla's. Now, here was my delimma... Harmon's does not have a healthy tortilla (Or I just couldn't find any) Some had whole wheat, but it was all refined. So I went with the usual.
After making the taco's, eating one and still wanting another, I was thinking to myself... How can I make this better? How can I make a yummy taco without this refined bread tortilla???
How about a Taco Lettuce Wrap? It was perfect!
So, here's the recipe!

What you will need:
1 Pound Ground Beef (I used 93/7 Organic, Grass Fed Beef).
1 Can of Black, Kidney and/or Pinto beans (My son wanted black tonight).
McCormick Taco Seasoning or your own Taco mix, if you have it. (A little FYI... After I started reading labels, I checked all my seasoning packets ( I had a few), to my surprise, they were "good," no bad "stuff" in them!)
1 Tomato
1 Avocado
Romaine Lettuce Leaves
1/2 Cup or Less of Shredded Cheese
Any other veggies you would like on top!

How to make it:
First get out your Romaine Lettuce Leaves. Keep them long, wash, pat dry on paper towel. set aside (that way they can dry).
Open can of beans, which ever you've chosen. Drain. Rinse in strainer (makes sure there are no more bubbles). Set aside.
Brown your hamburger meat (you can use any kind of meat you like) over med/high heat. Once the meat is brown add taco seasoning, bean and 3/4 cup water.

Continue to cook until it thickens up 5-7 min.
Cut up your Avocado and Tomato.
I like to make a guacamole spread with my avocado. It's really advanced. I scoop all the avocado into a bowl. Mash with a fork and add a little lemon pepper salt. Whala!

How to assemble:
Get a romaine lettuce leaf, spread on some guacamole. Add hamburger meat, little cheese and tomato.

Enjoy!

Spinach and Carrot Meat Loaf, Potatoe Fries & Spinach Salad

Yumm! Who doesn't love Meatloaf? Well, I didn't think I liked meatloaf, until I finally tried it this year. One night, I went by my sister's house. I don't remember why, but she was making this delicious meal! I had to have her recipe. She told me she didn't have a "recipe" she just threw things together.
So, here's the recipe (my sister's recipe). I alter mine based on what I have in my fridge at the time. This is tonight's version!
My kids love this, even my 2 year old ate it!

Here's what you will need:
1 1/2 Pounds of ground beef (grass feed beef)
1 cup Bread Crumbs (I usually pulse Italian style croutons in a food processor)
1 Onion, diced. (I generally us a yellow)

1/2 Cup Baby Spinach, chopped up.
2 Carrots (finely dices)
2 Cloves of Garlic. ( I generally use my minced for this)
2 Eggs, lightly beaten.
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 Tb Dijon Mustard
2 Tb Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Cup BBQ Sauce or Ketchup ( I prefer BBQ Sauce)

How to make it:
Preheat over 350 degrees F.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan on med heat. Saute onion and garlic until translucent, then add celery and carrots, cook for 5 min. take off stove, let cool.

In a seperate bowl. Mix together the beef, bread crumbs, onion mixture, egg, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire. Form this mixture into a loaf and place it in a shallow pan. Pour BBQ sauce or ketchup over the meat loaf.
(I generally use a bread loaf pan. I put the entire mixture in pan, then with my fingers, make a sort of ledge around the entire mixture, then pour sauce on top)

Bake 1 hour.

If you are making these fries. Get these prepped and throw them in at the same time as the meatloaf. I baked them for 1 hour @ 350 degrees F. They were perfect!

In the meantime:
I made my homemade balsamic vinaigrette (look under salad dressing).
Cut up a tomato.
Grab some Baby Spinach.

Enjoy!

Why I Stopped Drinking Coffee

For the last couple years, I have gone back and forth about drinking coffee. You also here claims that it's "good for you", that it's "bad for you"... Drink it... don't drink it.
Personally, I could feel the effects on my body, and I was more addicted to coffee then I thought I was. To stop drinking was a lot easier said then done. Even one of the personal trainers at my gym said to stop drinking it. He didn't know exactly why, but he found that women who drank coffee held on to their last few pounds of weight and as soon as they stopped, they dropped the weight. I wondered why, until now.

In Jillian Michaels book, "Master Your Metabolism", she talks about the effects of caffeine-coffee.
Here's the information. Read it, and decide for yourself.

They have found the pure caffeine in moderation can elevate your metabolism by 6 percent, inhibit insulin resistance and even improve cognitive function.
The catch is... Non organic coffee (or cokes and diet cokes) doesn't give you the fat burning effect you are looking for.
Studies done with pure caffeine were done with an isolated caffeine supplement, paired with other specific substances in controlled lab settings.
The worse part is, caffeine is abused. It not only damages your metabolism, but your hormonal balance as well.
Caffeine stimulates your central nervous system, which makes your endocrine system, which makes your endocrine system think that you have threatened in some way. With the third cup of coffee at your desk each day, you kick your body into fight-or-flight mode while you're checking e-mail. Your adrenals pump out epinephrin and norepinephrine. These two stress hormones set into motion a cascade of fattening hormonal actoins: Your liver releases blood sugar for quick energy, your pancreas spits out insulin to counter the sugar, your body dips because of the insulin's actions. Also, your blood vessels constrict, making you feel like your blood sugar is dipping even further, so you head for the vending machine. Ever notice how you crave something sweet somewhere between the first and second cup of coffee? That's your body reacting to this sudden feeling of blood sugar shortage.
The Acids in one cup of coffee will elevate your cortisol for up to fourteen hours. Now, if you sip caffeinated drinks all day, you switch on your stress reaction over and over- your short term energy burns out, you grab another cup, repeat the hormonal cycle again, and effectively turn yourself into an addict.
Caffeine abuse overstimulates and eventually wears down your adrenals; it also inflicts the long term effects of real stress in your body: Oxygen flow to your brain slows, your immune system is suppressed, the excess cortisol increase your appetite and encourages fat to pack on your belly, and last, your continued insulin spikes help to crate insulin resistance.
To make matters worse, when it's time to restore yourself with rest, the caffeine you drank during the daytime may prevent you from getting adequate sleep that night- and you now know that lack of sleep itself crates insulin resistance.
The Phosphoric acid in colas and coffee interferes with your calcium absorption. In addition to being brutal on your bones, this calcium deficiency- and the caffeine itself- can make the symptoms of PMS much worse, including increased breast tenderness, irritability, and nervousness.
The National Academy of Sciences released a report claiming that caffeinated beverages can be calculated in your daily water intake- but if you ask me, that's bogus. Caffeine is a diuretic, draining precious water from your body at the very moment you're trying to flush out the toxins. When you're dehydrated, your blood volume decreases, reducing the amount of oxygen that can get to your muscles, making them less effective at burning fat. There's no debate here: Get your water from water. **

After reading this information, and then reading the ingredients of my coffee creamer. I knew I needed to stop. So I have. In 3 weeks, I have only had coffee on four of those days.
It all started with eating breakfast in the morning (it is the MOST important meal of the day). I get up and eat right away. Even if I wasn't hungry. I would force myself to eat. I still made my coffee, but I only drank it in the beginning. Then I stopped drinking it, and eventually just quit making it.
The only day's I've had a cup of coffee are the day's my husband is home (because he still drinks it). Even on these days, I have a much smaller cup and I do Organic whole milk and pure can sugar. Instead of my Partially hydrogenated oil, non dairy, sugar loaded and is in no way good for you, creamer.
I had some pretty bad headaches at first, but they have really gotten better and I don't crave the coffee anymore.

Not only do I feel better know, but coffee generally upset my stomach. Why I would continue to drink something the CONTINUALLY upset my stomach is beyond me. I wasn't listening to my body. Are you listening to your body?

I think there are better options, ie. Food! If you do drink it, I believer you should buy organic. Or you could try Green Tea. I've got to figure out some sort of warm beverage, I might go to tea, but I know it won't be caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.



**(information taken from Master your Metabolism, by Jillian Michaels)
Image taken from: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fournisseursinde.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/coffee_beans_india1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://fournisseursinde.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/buy-coffee-beans-from-india/&h=286&w=284&sz=51&tbnid=bxhtz3iSkZ_q2M:&tbnh=225&tbnw=224&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dimages%2Bof%2Bcoffee%2Bbeans&zoom=1&q=images+of+coffee+beans&usg=__KU3F1pQdovncdADpeD0pRARcbuU=&sa=X&ei=tgpCTeeEOYL3gAfUj8SWAg&ved=0CB8Q9QEwAg

Baked Oatmeal

This was so YUMMY! I am a huge oatmeal fan, so having the opportunity to make this was a real treat. I put milk and a little brown sugar, for my son. I had mine with Wallaby Organic low fat vanilla yogurt and blueberries! I've never had yogurt on oatmeal before, it was great.

This recipe was fun to make, it smelled heavenly! And the family enjoyed! It took closer to 55 min to bake for me, but I think I may have had a smaller dish, making it a bit more dense! Click HERE for the recipe!

Enjoy!

Potatoe Leek Soup

I got this recipe from a friend, but I've altered it a bit, so it's more of my recipe now, then his.
I love this soup, my kids and husband love this soup. It's a great, yummy soup.

Here's what you will need:

4-5 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes (Small Dice)
2- Leeks (Whites only, please)
1-White Onion
4-Cloves of Garlic (or you can use minced. I generally do, but for this recipe, I use fresh).
1 1/2 to 2-Quarts Chicken/Veg. Broth (Organic)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil. -EVOI
Salt/Pepper

Optional ingredients:
White Wine
Fresh Lemon Juice
Cloves (to sprinkle on top)
Chewy Italian Style Bread

How to make this:
Cut up Leeks (whites only), Onion, Garlic and Potato.
1/4 cup EVOI in large enameled cast iron pot. (Or you can use a soup pot, or large cooking pan) Heat oil over med/high heat. Get warm.
Add Leeks, Onion, & Garlic (and white wine, if you are using it). Saute until translucent.
Add 1 1/2 quarts of Chicken/veg broth- Bring to a boil
Add potatoes
Let it all cook on the stove until potatoes are soft. I just let it simmer a while. I let ALL those flavors just soak each other up!

If you are using bread. Which I did, preheat over 375 degrees. Cut up bread, drizzle on a little olive oil. bake for 5-7 min.

After the potatoes are soft, scoop into a blender (this generally takes a couple trips) and puree'. Start the blender off slow, so boiling HOT soup doesn't come flying out the top.
If it seem too thick, you can add a little chicken/veg broth or milk to lighten it up.
Mine was perfect tonight with just 1 1/2 pints of broth.
Salt and Pepper
At this point, you can also add fresh lemon juice, if you would like.

I added a little dried parsley on top.

Scoop into a bowl. Grab a slice of bread.

Enjoy!

Out with the OLD... In with the NEW!

I've been sitting her trying to decide what I want to write about today. There is so much on my mind. I guess I will just start with the items I threw away this week:

All my salad dressings.
My Jiff peanut butter
Yoplait Yogurt
Ice pops (you know, the High fructose corn syrup you freeze and eat after they are frozen)
Pop cycles
Ice cream
Last bags of chips that I had lying around

I knew getting rid of everything all at once was going to be a challenge (mostly because I wouldn't have anything left). So day by day, I just keep throwing things away, one by one. I have to say, it feels pretty good. As I am throwing out the "old", I am bringing in the "new." My focus is to buy as much Organic as I can. I know replacing everything would not only be over-whelming, but expensive as well. Baby steps. I have a girl-friend, who is following this new path. It feels great to have a support system. Someone to talk to, vent to, scream to... Okay, there isn't any screaming, but there has been some frustration. I keep reminding her and myself, baby steps.

Even though I am eating a MILLION times better, my body still craves the "junk". I'm not perfect, I've eaten junk this week. For instance:

Pespi
Popcorn
Loft House Sugar Cookies (pure EVIL)
Fruit Snacks

Things I am proud of:
7 days with out coffee (can I tell you the headache I had!)
One of my New Year's Resolutions was to drink less coffee (I will do a big post about this later).
I realized my body was way more dependent on the caffeine then I originally thought. For one, the creamer I was putting into my coffee EVERY morning was not good. The 3rd ingredient was partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil.
I did have a cup this morning and used whole milk with some good ol' table sugar, instead of the creamer. But, (and this is a big but!) I made sure I ate breakfast first!
In fact, that's how I did it... I got up and instead of making coffee, drinking my coffee and then "maybe" eating something (If I drank coffee, I generally didn't eat until 11 or 12 in the afternoon). I got up, ate breakfast (with/in the first hour of being awake) I still made my coffee, at least the first couple days, then I would either fix myself a cup or not all all. Half way through the week, I just stopped making the coffee altogether.

Also, I did a great job of eating 3 meals (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner) a day, plus my snack. They were all healthy. I did however, slip in the junk. Generally before bed, but before 9pm (as if that really matters). But I did eat all my meals all week. Which was awesome.

If you are interested in eating better or you do eat "better". If you need a support system or you are a support system. Please share. I can be a support system for you, give you idea or if you have ideas or suggestions for me, please share! I look forward to hearing from you, either way.

Good luck!

Quinoa- Last Night's Dinner

So, after my fantastic trip to Costco. I found Organic Quinoa, pronounced (Keen-WAH). It is one of the healthiest grains you can eat. In Jonny Bowden's, "150 Healthiest Foods on Earth", he considers this a "Super Food". Considered a high-protein grain, high in lysine and high in amino acids, you can use this grains to make flour, soup and even breakfast cereal.
Quinoa has lower sodium content and is higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, copper, manganese, and zinc than wheat, barley or corn. It's particularly high in iron 1/2 cup contains almost 8mg, way more than any other cereal grain, and a hefty 5 g of fiber. **

After hearing ALL this wonderful "stuff" about Quinoa. I decided we would have that for dinner Last night.

What you will need to make it:
1/2 Cup Organic Quinoa
1-2 Cups Vegtable/Chicken Broth, or Water
1 Tlb Balsamic Vinaigrette- or you could just use Salt & Pepper to taste.
Handful of Green Beans
Rotisserie Chicken

Salad dressing:
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tlb. of Balsamic Vinegar (organic)
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard (I really only used about 1)
2 Cloves of minced garlic (I used just less then 2 tsp of the minced)
Salt & Pepper (I just eyed it, I cupped my hand and maybe did 1/4 tsp of both)

Put dressing ingredients in a blender ball or bowl and mix it all up. Will stay good in air tight container for about a week. (I used up the dressing in just 2 days)

How to make it:
In a medium saucepan add 1/2 cup Quinoa & 1-2 cups of chicken/Veg broth, or water. Bring to boil and continue to boil until liquid has evaporated.
After liquid has evaporated, turn off heat, cover with lid and let stand for 5 min.

While the Quinoa is cooking, get a medium size saute pan.
Turn to Med Heat.
Wash some green beans.
Put green beans in Saute Pan- (I used just a little butter 1/4 tsp)
Stir around, add balsamic Vinaigrette Let cook until tender (about 5-7 min)
Take green beans off the heat. Let cool for a few min.
Cut up into thirds.
Set Aside.

When Quinoa is done, Add green beans. Stir together.

Cut out slices of Rotisserie Chicken- place on plate.
Add Quinoa/Green bean mixture.

Enjoy!






** taken directly from 'The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth'-by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

My "Special" finds from Costco!

I had to share ALL the goodies I found at Costco, yesterday.
First, bread... I switched to Prairie Grain Bread Co. (Utah's own!) I've been buying this bread at Smith's. So, I was looking at the bread at Costco to see if there were any other options, because I like to do most of my shopping in 1 to 2 places, if I can.
But, lol and behold! (and to my surprise) There it was! My Prairie Honey Whole Wheat Bread! (My oldest son found it). Yay!!! Two loaves for the price of one, now that's what I'm talking about!
Okay, moving on.
18 dozen brown organic eggs. Free range chicken broth. Organic Fuji apples. Organic spinach. Organic salted butter. 100% PURE maple syrup (I have a story for you... will get to that in a moment). Romaine lettuce leaves. Organic Quinoa (Keen-WAH). Almonds and walnuts. So many wonderful Organic items. I even requested they carry Almond Milk. Right now, all they carry is Soy milk- Yuck! Sorry, if you like it... it's not for me!


Okay, so here's the story about the syrup. After reading 'Master Your Metabolism'- by Jillian Michaels. I've started reading the labels of everything I own. I conveniently forgot to check the syrup. So the other day, I was standing in the kitchen, making something, (I can't remember) I thought, huh... I wonder what is in my syrup?

Here are the ingredients:
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Cellulose Gum, Molasses, Natural and Artificial Flavor (Lactic Acid), Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Preservatives (Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate), Caramel Color, Citric Acid.

I started laughing, shared the ingredients with my family and continued to laugh and point out that there is no Maple Syrup in our "Maple SYRUP." This was a brand I have bought for years! I have gone through gallons of this stuff... Not any more! I love the consistency and flavor of my new 100% Maple Syrup!

Tuna Fish Lettuce Wraps

Yesterday, I made Tuna Fish Lettuce Wraps! Yum!
My goal is to eat 1 carbohydrate, 1 protein, 1 fat and as many veggies as I can get 3 x a day, plus 1 snack. I have all my bases covered on this one.
Tuna- Protein
Orange-Carbohydrate
Mayo-Fat
Lettuce-Veggie

Makes 3-4 lettuce wraps.

What you will need:
3-4 Romaine Lettuce Leaves
1 Can Tuna Fish/Albacore (My cans are large, so if you are using grocery store cans, I would use 2)
1-2 Tlb. Light Mayo
3-4 baby dill pickles, diced.
About 1/4 tsp. Salt & Pepper to taste (add more or less, depending on taste for you).
1 Orange or Clement (You could also use any other fruit of interest. I just have a bunch of Clements).

How to make this:
Pull apart some Romaine Lettuce Leaves. Wash and pat dry with paper towel. Set aside.
Open can into glass bowl.
Add 1 Tlb. Mayo (I prefer light, you can add more if you like).
I like to add a couple baby dill pickles, chopped up. Little Salt & Pepper, to taste. (I like more pepper, then salt)
Mix all together.
Peel Orange.
Scoop 2-3 Tlb. Onto Lettuce leaf (or as much as you would like).

Enjoy!

Food Inc - Official Trailer [HD]

Just finished watching this movie. Very interesting. Very frustrating. Very disappointing. Very enlightening. I didn't realize how little I knew about what we were eating. Please, please, please... take a moment and watch the trailer and/or movie. I got the movie off of Netflix. I was able to watch it on instant queue.
Friend, family and people I don't know. We must get educated. We must protect ourselves, because our government is not doing what is in the best interest of "us". We must know what we are putting into our bodies. For our own sake.
I'm making the change... How about you?

Please let me know what you think of this video.... If you like it, please share it! If you are interested in more information go to http://www.foodincmovie.com/index.php

Organic Vs. Non Organic Millk

Since 'Taking the First Step', I've been trying to find the best products for my family and myself. I've been reading labels and really watching what I eat. Even if I can't change things overnight... I feels it's best to start somewhere.
I'm in the process of finding the best milk for my husband and kids. I currently started drinking Almond milk. YUM! I love it. This morning, I had some Grape Nuts Cereal with Almond Milk. My 2 year old even ate it!

Okay, back on track....
Do you know what the stipulations are for milk to be Organic vs. Non Organic? I wasn't sure, so I googled what that meant. I found this article. Really great! The video at the end was VERY interesting!
Yesterday, I bought some Winder Farms milk at the grocery store. I just got off the phone with them and their product is Organic and Kosher! They have someone come in and bless their products. Kind of cool, right?!

So, I think the choice for me will be Almond Milk. The Choice for the kids and hubby... it will be Winder Farms or Organic Valley. It's local, organic, and kosher!

Chicken Spinach Clement Salad

Today for lunch, (I just had to share it!) I made the MOST delicious Salad. YUMMMM!
It's a Chicken Spinach Clement Salad.

How to make this master piece...

This could serve 2-4 people
Items needed:
1 Chicken Breast
1 Bag/Container of Baby Spinach (Organic)
1-2 Clements (because they are so small, more is you are serving more people )
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tlb. Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
2 cloves (2 tsp) Minced Garlic
Salt & Pepper

Preperation:
Grill or broil your chicken breast 10-15 min. (I made chicken the other night, I had 1 breast left over). Cube chicken. Set aside.
Wash spinach, pat dry.
Peel clements, cut each individual orange in half. (after I peeled the orange, I just split the orange in half, then cut that in half again, with a knife. Faster then cutting each one individually. Or you could line them all up and cut in half, either way!)

Putting it together:
Put Spinach in a self serve bowl, add cut up Clements, add chicken. Drizzle on dressing. That's it!


Salad dressing:
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tlb. of Balsamic Vinegar (organic)
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard (I really only used about 1)
2 Cloves of minced garlic (I used just less then 2 tsp of the minced)
Salt & Pepper (I just eyed it, I cupped my hand and maybe did 1/4 tsp of both)

Put dressing ingredients in a blender ball or bowl and mix it all up. Will stay good in air tight container for about a week. (I used up the dressing in just 2 days)

Where to Start?? My First order of business.

The question is... Where to start? Jillian Michaels tells you to go through your cupboards and throw EVERYTHING unnatural out. If I did that, honestly, I really would not have any food left. Sad, huh?!

So, I figured we would start with the things we eat most in our house.

Items being removed from my home:
Milk- Personally, I don't drink Milk anymore. I stopped about 8 months ago, but my kids and husband are still Milk drinkers! (I get my calcium from other sources and take a supplement)

Bread- I was buying Grandma's Honey whole Wheat

Peanut Butter- Jiff or Skippy- depending on what they have bulk at Costco

I will/have replaced these items with:
Milk- Almond (for myself, my oldest son might drink it was well) Organic- for my youngest and husband.

Bread- Prairie Grain Bread Co. -Honey Whole Wheat Bread (they are a local company) Or anything else I can find that is as healthy as this. I'm actually looking at getting my own grain, grinding and making my own %100 whole wheat bread. (I'll keep you posted on that one). This bread was a HUGE hit! (Picked it up at Smith's)

Peanut Butter- Recently Costco had an Almond Butter- It is so creamy and delicious. We've already switched over to this for daily lunches.

I would like to share with you the ingredient changes:
Jiff Peanut Butter:
Roasted Peanuts and Sugar, contains 2% or less of: Molasses, FULLY hydrogenated vegetable oils (repressed and soybean), mono- and diglycerides, salt
Almond Butter:
Dry Roasted Almonds


Grandmas Honey Whole Wheat:
Whole Wheat Flour, Water, wheat gluten, honey, yeast, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, soybean oil. Contains 2% or less of each of the following: Cultured wheat flour, salt, distilled vinegar, yeast nutrients (monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate and/or calcium carbonate), corn starch, dough conditioners (ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, enzymes), soy lecithin, milk, soy flour.
Contains wheat, milk and soy
Prairie Grain Bread Co. - Honey Whole Wheat Bread:
100% Stone Ground whole wheat, water, honey, raisin juice concentrate, salt, yeast.


Which product would you choose?

Again, I should probably go through my cupboards and throw ALL the "crap" (and it is crap) out! I think if it was just me... I could do it, but it is going to be an adjustment for the family. Regardless, it is an opportunity to educate.

Some of the items I am becoming fully aware of, and taking an extra look at in my food include, but not limited too:
(The following information is pulled from Jillian Michaels book. Master Your Metabolism. I highly recommend you get this book and read it. There is a lot of information on each subject, and there are MORE subjects then included today, but I'm just pulling bits and pieces. If you want all the nitty, gritty... you will have to purchase/rent this book yourself, but I will share as much as I can!)

Hydrogenated Fats, AKA- Trans fats- This includes anything partially or fully hydrogenated. Created for the convenience of processed foods allowing chips, cookies, crackers, (Twinkies) pies, breads, etc. to sit on the shelf FOREVER and NEVER go bad. Hydrogenated starts out as regular fat and is then blasted with hydrogen to change the liquid into a solid at room temperature.
Hydrogenated increases your "bad" LDL and triglycerides and decreases your "good" HDL. (raising your risk of heart attack, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, inflammation, high blood pressure, hardened arteries, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's)
You only need 20 to 60 calories from artificial trans fats a day to start damaging your health. So, you know how they claim "No Trans Fats" on the packaging?? Manufacturers are permitted to use that claim as long as one portion contains less then 500 milligrams of trans fats. It only takes a couple items like Margarine, cookies, chips etc. to meet that quota. ** Interesting, huh?!

Refined grains- Refining grains help extend their shelf life removing bran and germ from the grain, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, B vitamins, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid and iron. These include white pasta, flour, tortillas, white rice and white bread (raising insulin resistance, diabetes, fat, high blood sugar, chronic low-level inflammation, heart attack and stroke) **

High Fructose Corn Syrup- HFCS (this one makes me really mad!) Did you know we went from producing 3,000 tons of HFCS, in 1967 to 9,227,000 tons in 2005. (UNREAL!!!!) HFCS helps companies boost their profits for pennies. (Giving us ALL the unhealthy benefits.. Yaaa! right?!? I don't think so...) University of Pennsylvania, found that fructose doesn't suppress hunger hormones ghrelin levels the way glucose (table sugar) does. Women who ate fructose instead of glucose had higher ghrelin levels throughout the day, overnight, and into the next day.
(Why, you ask?) Glucose is metabolized by all your cells; fructose must be metabolized by the liver. HFCS somehow tricks the body into not releasing insulin and leptin, two hormones your body releases when you're done eating. And unlike regular sugar, HFCS does nothing to dampen ghrelin, whose rising levels demand that your body eat MORE! So, if you eat or drink HFCS, you'll actually continue to consume more calories, even twenty four hours later, then you would had you just eaten plain table sugar. HFCS also increases triglycerides, and high triglycerides prevent leptin from working in the brain, so it can't tell you to stop eating. (This makes me sick, and mad!)
(My favorite part) You've probably seen ads from the Corn Refiners Association, trying to make it seem like people who avoid HFCS are paranoid. Don't buy (into) their crap- and certainly don't eat it! (parentheses are my comments :D) **

Artificial Sweeteners: Researchers at Purdue University found that when animals were fed yogurt with saccharin they later consumed more calories, gained more weight, and put on more body fat than animals that were fed yogurt sweetened with glucose, a natural sugar with the same number of calories.
The theory goes that just as we can have mental and emotional associations with certain tastes, our bodies have caloric associations with sweet tastes.
Normally, when we eat sugar, our body register sweetness and comes to understand that very sweet things means lots of calories. However, when we repeatedly drink diet soda (or anything else with artificial sweeteners), this understanding breaks down- your appetite says, "Okay, here's the sweetness, but there aren't many calories- that must mean I have to eat a lot of sweet things to get my needed calories." The next time your body is given something sweet to eat, your body doesn't recognize how many calories they hold, so you overeat them... (scariest part) As the animals continued to eat the artificial sweeteners, their metabolism started to "forget" that most sweet things do have a lot of calories. Scary!... One more plausible explanation why artificial sweeteners make us fat might be the fact that aspartame, aka NutraSweet, is an excitotoxin, a chemical that may cause permanent damage to our brains appetite center. And the earlier these neural changes begin (giving diet coke to kids) the worse it is. (parentheses my comments) **


People... Start reading labels. Get informed. Just because it's produced and available, doesn't mean we SHOULD or HAVE to eat it!
I am not a Doctor, nutritionist, trainer, or any of the above. Just a loving and concerned mother, who wants the best for her self, children and family! They are the opinions of me. Take them as you will. Research and do what is best for you personally or you and your family.

Good luck on your journey.

Natalie

**Information taken from Master Your Metabolism-by Jillian Michaels

Taking The First Step

Today, I am starting a new blog. This blog is going to be about 'Taking the First Step' to becoming a better me. Over the last 2 1/2 years, I have been on a journey of becoming a better person. I started with the inside working my way out! I just finished reading 'Master Your Metabloism' -By Jillian Michaels. It was truly eye opening for me and funny at the same time. When my parents got divorced, we would spend time with my Dad. He would always make "Healthy" food... Which we hated. At that time, I would have rather had candy, chips, soda, etc. etc. Today, I realize how silly I was. Now I'm almost 30 years old and I wish I would have eaten better and taken better care of myself. Inside and out. I also wish the same for my husband and children.
Well, my friends... Today is the day, I'm 'Taking the First Step' to a better me.

My goals.

Eat Clean, Raw, Whole foods. As Jillian Michael says... "If it didn't have a mother or come from the earth, DON'T EAT IT".
Get as many impurities and toxins out of my body and home.
To share with anyone who is willing to listen; What I have learned, am learning and about to learn.


If you are interested in what I'm saying... Check out a couple books

Master Your Metabloism. The 3 diet secrets to naturally balancing your hormones for a hot and healthy body! -By Jillian Michaels

150 Healthiest Foods on Earth- By Jonny Bowden

Thank you, for taking the time to read my blog/journey.