I am always harping on using common sense and this news story just doesn’t make any common sense. Cocoa Krispies boosts immunity. Seriously? Are there people out there that would pick up a box of Cocoa Krispies and say, “cool, I’ll buy this because it will boost my kids immunity”. Are you kidding me? It is loaded with sugar which is a punch to your immune system! Thank goodness they are being forced to take this crap off of the label. It is so bogus it is criminal!
Category: Uncategorized
Finally, a meal post
Originally I thought I would use this site to post recipes but the recipes are the easy part. You can pretty much take any recipe and alter it enough to make it healthy. So I decided to sprinkle in some other useful (and probably a little use-less) information.
On this post I will share what I made for dinner yesterday. It was one of those nights where I did one of my little victory dances because my whole family loved my meal. yes!!! So here’s what it was. Like many of my meals, they were fast, easy, and yummy.
I picked up some bison steaks from Super Target (mainly because I forgot to defrost my grass-fed beef steaks) and seasoned them with a little all purpose seasoning (I like Spike) and some sea salt. I put it on my cast iron grill pan (a necessity for cooking) and grilled it up to medium. One of the keys to good grass-feed steaks is to cook them as little as possible. I used to be a hockey-puck steak kind of girl. I wouldn’t eat it unless it was well done. Well, I’ve come a long way and can almost eat a steak rare. Not only is the taste better, but you retain a lot of the nutrients, and it keeps the steak nice and tender.
The kids talked me into getting some fresh organic ears of corn (I usually don’t do corn) but they talked me into it and then I made some Mashed Cauliflower to go along with it.
It was a hit. Than goodness eating healthy can be fast and easy.
Lunchables = Laughable
Well folks…it never ceases to amaze me what I will see at the grocery store. I really try to resist the urge to look in other people’s carts but it is as hard as not rubbernecking to see the accident on the other side of the street. One of my observational “hot spots” at the store is the Lunchable section. I usually whiz by it after picking up my organic turkey bacon at Publix (it’s on the same aisle). Inevitibly I see moms swooshing them into their carts. Never once have I seen anyone pick them up and look at the label.
Even before I even went near the things to check the label, the look of them was enough to turn me off. Pinkish white turkey discs, flourescent cheese, candy, and some sugary drink. MMMMM. But the label just illuminates the anti-nutrient status of this product. Anti-nutients are not only lacking nutrients, but they actually pull nutrient stores from the body as they are injested.
I found this article on line that made me chuckle while exposing the horribleness (is that a word?) of this crap. Some of the kids comments were very funny. As crazy as it may seem, if you really look at what kids are eating in the school cafeterias, many kids get a healthier lunch by buying it from the school than bringing it from home. Lunchables are a perfect example.
Read the article for yourself and share it with anyone you know who is ingesting this stuff. I really don’t understand how it even makes it to the store shelf. This is a true example of how we have succumb to the power of convenience over quality. For goodness sakes, it doesn’t even TASTE good!
Fresh Produce Delivery.
So today, I am awaiting an order of fresh produce from my local natural foods store (Nature’s Corner Market www.naturescornermkt.com ). They have given their customers the opportunity to order bulk organics from their vendors.
I and a couple of friends are splitting some of the items and I am eagerly anticipating getting them in my hands. How crazy is it that I am so super excited to receive produce???
I am just anticipating what I am going to do with it all, what recipes I’m going to prepare, what new things I’m going to subject my family too, how yummy it’s going to taste, and most importantly, how good it is going to be for me.
Things like this are available in almost any city…it just takes some digging. I was part of a CSA previously and that was another way to receive fresh, local produce. You can go to www.localharvest.org to find one near you. There are even services now that will deliver organics right to your door. Granted it is a little pricier, but of very high quality. I have used www.offthevineproduce.com several times and have been very happy.
Top 10 Reasons to Avoid Sugar
Here is what my husband and I came up with for the top reasons everyone should avoid sugar.
1. Sugar (not Fat) is the primary reason for the obesity epidemic
2. Sugar causes hormonal and metabolic unbalance
3. Sugar is your fast track ticket to diabetes
4. Sugar increases the acidity (Ph) of the body
5. Sugar causes inflammation
6. Sugar is the primary reason for high cholesterol
7. Sugar leads to heart disease
8. Sugar is an anti-nutrient
9. Sugar is a known toxin
10. Sugar promotes cancer
NOTE: Sugar substitutes are even worse than sugar!!!
NOTE #2: Processed grains (white rice, white bread, white pasta) must also be avoided.
Parent’s…our kids are not getting any healthier!
I had to focus my blog on an experience I had at my children’s school. I am a volunteer mom for my daughter’s class with the Accelerated Reader program. Basically, students get rewarded when they make 10%, 20%, etc. of their goal. In years past, the rewards were always candy or food of some sort. Last year, I coordinated a wellness council at the school and one of the things we were successful in doing was getting rid of the candy rewards they used to give and switched to stickers, pencils, etc. There was still an ice cream party when the class hit 50% and a pizza party when they hit 100%. However, this year, our brand new principal put the nix on that as well. (Yeah!)
I sat in that meeting and instead of discussing how the program works and our responsibilities, the meeting turned into an uprising against this new mandate. I was in the back just soaking everything in. The mom who is the main lead stood up there and while shrugging her shoulders and rolling her eyes would say things like “I’m supposed to be supportive, this is what we’ve been told to do, I know, it’s ridiculous, I don’t agree with it, etc” The rest of the parents in the room just started a complete revolt against the idea of eliminating food as rewards. Here’s some of the things I heard…
“Well, we’ll just do it anyway.”
“What else can we possibly do as a reward”
“All kids care about are the ice cream and pizza parties”
“Don’t these people understand that ice cream and pizza is the only thing that will motivate these kids?”
“It’s only one day, good grief.”
“My kid should be allowed to eat whatever they want.”
“The kids will allergies can just bring something else to eat that day”
There was not one voice of opposition until I chimed in. I tried, as tactfully as possible, to explain the premise for the new rule. I explained that kids are not getting any healthier out there, that research has shown that foods as rewards develops strange associations with food, that it is not just one day, it is all day long every day, that childhood obesity is skyrocketing, etc. Do you know that not one person spoke up in agreement? They all stared daggers through me and looked at me as if I had three heads.
I left that meeting totally dejected and flabbergasted. If parents don’t give a crap what their kids are eating, and actually encourage the consumption of this crap- no wonder we are in the state we are in. Not only that, my hope for the future came into major doubt. I just could not believe that so many parents allow and encourage their kids to eat this unhealthy food.
When I relayed this story over the next couple of days, I was fed even more examples of what I had experienced in that meeting. One friend of mine said she was planning a Valentine’s Day celebration for her daughter’s class- no one else volunteered to. She sent an email out saying she was going to arrange strawberries in the shape of a heart and bring some other fruit. She said she received several emails saying that their kids wouldn’t eat that and that they would bring in something else. So she went from a healthy celebration to a spread of cookies, cupcakes, and pigs in blankets. Come on parents, are you kidding me?
Let’s just indulge our kids in anything their little hearts desire, teach them that when they do well or are sad or are upset or need to celebrate to stuff their faces full of junk. Let’s thwart anyone who dares to suggest a healthy celebration and wheel in the cupcakes! Lets blame genetics and bad luck when our children are obese, have diabetes before they are teenagers, get cancer, have allergies, asthma, etc. because there is no way the food they eat is contributing.
I just can’t even imagine what goes through people’s heads. How can anyone find fault with attempts to encourage better health? It just sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Granted, my kids don’t always eat the way I want them to and yes, they have the occasional treat but I at least realize that the choice is bad and that I need to try to overcompensate with good, healthy food. It is hard not to indulge our kids. BUT, it is our job to lead not pamper, to be a good example, to discipline, to be a parent not a friend.
I for one will not conform to this backwards way of thinking. I’ll just keep living my life, striving for better health, and trying my best to get others to do the same.
EatSmart Meals 
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