I'm back

I'm back but I'm not here. Huh? I know, doesn't make much sense. I'm back but I'm over here.

What's Cooking is now Real Food Healthy Living! Come see me over there where I'll be posting again!

Leave of Absense Update

I'm still here....just can't start posting again yet. I hope this blog is still useful to some of you as you can look up recipes still.

I do want to tell you that I have big plans for this blog. Someday. It's going to get a full make over including a name change and some great new features (like a search bar that works!). It's also going to broaden it's focus to include more than just cooking. I've been working on developing it all in my mind. Now just to find the time to make it happen. I know that won't be for awhile yet so hang in there with me.

Giveaway!

Be sure to check out this giveaway I'm having

Urgent

Even though this blog is on a leave of absence, I needed to share this issue with you.

According to Food Democracy Now, they are advising that Monsanto's GMO (genetically modified organism) alfalfa is about to be approved as organic by USDA Secretary Vilsack.  This would basically ensure cross-contamination of feed used by organic dairy farmers.  Again, if you haven't watched Food, Inc. - it's time you did because this is scary stuff going on.

You have till March 3rd to either mail a letter or fill out the online form as part of a petition. If filling out the online form, copy and paste the letter to the right of it but edit the quotation marks, the section about the header, put the part in about the "refer to", and edit your name in it. OR you can use this version below that I've edited for you but sign your name at the bottom. Just copy and paste it into the little "comments" box.

Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD

APHIS, Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238

Please refer to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044.

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

As an American citizen who cares about how our nation’s food is grown and produced, I was shocked to read about the USDA’s recent draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that would allow genetically modified alfalfa to enter the U.S. market, despite the USDA’s acknowledged risk of genetic contamination to conventional and organic alfalfa.

I am writing in regard to draft EIS (APHIS-2007-0044) to ask that you reject Monsanto’s GMO alfalfa and to reconsider several of the misleading statements found in the USDA's draft EIS. Since freedom from genetically modified materials is a central tenet to complying with the Organic Standards, failure to reject GMO alfalfa will make the Obama / Vilsack USDA a willing accomplice in the destruction of the organic sector.

As the USDA EIS readily admits, such contamination will cause significant economic harm to small conventional and organic family farmers, not only forcing many of them out of business, but further increasing farm size and consolidating agriculture into the hands of fewer individuals. Hopefully, this is neither a goal of the USDA nor of this current administration or an unintended consequence of any of its policies.

In addition, the implication that U.S. consumers do not care about genetic contamination of organic food shows that the Obama administration is not only out of touch with the American people, but demonstrates how little they understand the fastest growing and most profitable sectors of agriculture today.

As a consumer of organic foods, I care deeply about the integrity of the products that I buy. Not only does organic food production offer better protection for the environment and produce foods that are higher in nutritional density, but it also offers a better economic return for family farmers who have set the highest standard for agricultural production.

It is my hope, that as a Secretary of Agriculture that promised he would represent “eaters” as well as farmers, that you would reject GMO alfalfa so that you can do both.

Sincerely,

Please feel free to share this website with others.

blog housekeeping

A little while back I told you that I turned my thermostat down 2 degrees to see if it would save on our gas bill. The bill came and I'm excited to tell you that the bill dropped $70. I'm so shocked that I'm tempted to lower it 1 or 2 more degrees and see what the results are. We'll see if I'm brave enough to actually do that.

Now, on a more solemn note.....I've decided to stop blogging here for awhile. While I love blogging, I'm going through a season in life where this recipe blog just isn't practical to keep up with. I've so enjoyed working on this blog and I hope I can return to it someday. In the meantime though, the realty is that I'm working now, cleaning houses (while still homeschooling my kids) since my husband has been out of work now for 9 months and no, we don't get unemployment checks. We are at a crossroad in our life and it seems to be a long one. We just found out yesterday that it might be much longer. Life for now is about survival in a tough recession and trying to keep our heads up. We are clinging to the fact that God is good and as long as He is glorified through our suffering, then so be it.

I know I promised printable recipe cards but we just haven't had the time to make them available. I do hope we can in the future. In the meantime, feel free to look up recipes here often. I'll still be here so if you have a question about a recipe, feel free to comment and I'll answer them.

Oh and I keep meaning to tell you that we eat fish now! LOL. A miracle I know!

When I do come back I plan on updating the blog with new features and a face lift. I will still be blogging a little bit over at The Things We Do (for therapeutic reasons) and Hope Chest of Wisdom (when I feel led to jot down things for my daughter).

Sincerely,

Poor Man's Soup

I love this soup. It doesn't look like much but it's so flavorful and filling. Total comfort food in the winter!

1 c lentils
1 c split peas
1 c brown rice
(or any combo of the above to equal 3 cups)
4 quarts water
1/2 c dried veggie soup mix (I buy mine in bulk from a local store but you could substitute Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix or other types of dry soup mix. Just be sure to adjust for the amount of salt to taste in the recipe.)
2 tbsp dried onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

If you are really poor you can lower the 3 cups of grains to just 2 cups. Rinse grains. Boil water in large pot adding all of the remaining ingredients. Simmer on the stove for about 2 hours. Serve with bread and butter.

Featured Product - Bread Bags

I've been testing these bread bags out and I'm excited to tell you that I'm really happy with them! First I did my research and while I couldn't find any statements from Debbie Meyer's website I was able to find info on other websites about them. My understanding is that they are safe when it comes to what they are made out of and that the technology has to do with tiny holes and not chemicals that the bag has been treated with. Several bloggers who are committed to going green, natural living, etc...are recommending these bags.

But do they work? YES. I make a lot of my own bread and being that I don't put preservatives in my bread it can go bad much faster than store bought bread. There is the option of refrigerating the bread to make it last longer but I want to avoid that for two reasons:

1. I heard that refrigeration of bread ruins some of the nutritional content of the bread.

2. It gets dried out in the fridge.

These bread bags have helped my bread stay fresher for much longer than when I use a ziplock.

BUT if anyone knows more information or can share links about why I should NOT use these bags, please let me know. I haven't been able to find anything negative or concerning but I would be VERY interested if there is that kind of info out there.

THANKS!

Q & A cleaning the shower

Tulip's question is:

Ok....so after spending months being pregnant with no energy, not being able to bend over, then surgery, it's been forever since I've decently cleaned my shower...boy, is it disgusting!! What are your tips to getting a super gross shower with hard water stains clean?!?!

Being that I'm actually now an expert in house cleaning (or at least I like to think that I am) I feel like I can answer this question with confidence. I scrub 9-10 showers a week. Yikes. Counting that up is kinda scary and depressing. (For those that don't know, I clean houses to help earn money to feed our family while my husband is out of work.)

Zep- Zep is my new friend. Zep is for tubs and tile but also comes in a mildew version as well. I use both. This stuff is POWERFUL and does an amazing job...especially when I have to clean tile grout. I buy Zep at Home Depot in a quite large bottle for an amazing sticker price of less than $2 (I think it's a buck 50). Spray it on and let it sit for a bit. Then Zep, Zep, Zep it's gone! Go get it right now. It's fun to say too.

Bar Keepers Friend- I've talked about BKF before and let me tell you, it. is. a. favorite. of mine for the kitchen AND the bathrooms. This stuff scrubs off calcium deposits like nobody's business. Works awesome on glass shower doors if you use a good scratch sponge. (psst, it cleans toilets great too!) BKF also removes a lot of stains although some shower stains I have found to be just plain old stained...unremovable. Short of taking a wrecking ball to the shower some stains just want leave. We must fold our hands and except this.

CLR- I love CLR too. It works great on rust and calcium build up. Can't say that I've ever had lime to remove but I'm sure it would do that too. If you've got an old tub with rust issues, this is your stuff. If you've got age old calcium build up let CLR sit on it for a bit and then scrub away. I also have a trick for getting the calcium out of the shower head so that it will spray well again. Pour CLR into a cup and hold the cup over the shower head letting the head soak in the cup of CLR. Take a toothbrush to the head and repeat this a few times. It should help remove calcium that is up in the sprayer as well and return the head to a nice flow of water.

Those are my 3 shower power cleaners!

Q & A what seasonings to use

This is a great question from Kristilea.
I have been trying to cook from scratch and not rely on hamburger helpers and so forth. Can you tell me what seasonings do what and how to use them in my dishes?

Let me start with the "happy trio". Salt, Pepper, and Garlic.

Salt. Put salt in everything. If something tastes bland to you and you feel like you've got all the flavors you should have in there, then it probably just needs salt.

Then pepper. Put pepper in almost everything. All of your non-sweet recipes will usually benefit from pepper. Use 1/4 to a 1/2 tsp of salt for just about any recipe and then just use dashes of more if you think it's not spicy enough.

Garlic. Garlic is almost a basic seasoning. It's used in everything from down-home-country cooking to the finest Chinese cuisine. Garlic goes well in almost everything. Use it in your hamburger helper copy-cat for sure!

Once you have worked the "happy trio" you can experiment beyond that.....

When I started cooking from scratch I used a seasoning chart (which I don't have at the moment, it's packed in my garage waiting to move- but when I unpack it I will scan it and post it on this blog for you all.) But, for the sake of answering this question further I will list a few things that come to mind..... just know that a lot of it has to do with experimenting (which can be fun) and figuring out what your family's tastes are.

Chicken-
garlic (my favorite thing on chicken)
rosemary
lemon
curry
paprika
italian seasoning blend
poultry seasoning
also- Costco has a no-salt blend that is good in chicken dishes
chili pepper (for Mexican flavor)
mustard
onion (I think of onion as an herb sometimes...it has so much to do with the flavor of the dish)

Beef-
pepper
peppercorns
marinades
mustard
garlic
soy sauce

Mexican Cooking-
chili pepper
oregano
cinnamon
crushed red pepper
cumin
garlic

Chinese Cooking-
garlic
sesame seeds or sesame oil
soy sauce
hoisen sauce
lemon
orange
peanuts
crushed red pepper
sugar

Fish-
lemon
crab boil (use this for crab or lobster)
relish
lemon pepper
orange
butter
rosemary
thyme
parsley

Italian/Pasta dishes-
basil
oregano
rosemary
italian seasoning blend
garlic
bay leaf
thyme
parsley
sugar

That's what comes off the top of my head, late at night...when I'm over tired. I'm sure that I could add a lot more to this list but instead I'll wait till I get to unpack the seasoning list. One suggestion that has helped me is to read the back of boxes and read labels on cans....usually you can see a list of ingredients and it gives you a good place to start with experimenting.

I hope this was helpful to you.

Anyone else would like to link to their lists or add to these via the comments, please feel free to! It will benefit several of us I'm sure!

Q & A- Whiny Toddlers

This is the first question that was posted as a comment on my Q & A post back in January. I'm a parent but a parent that has made a lot of mistakes and doesn't have all the answers. I will attempt to answer Betsy's question with the way that I would/have approached this struggle. So, here's Betsy's question:

I have a very smart, but very whiney 22 month-old. I have tried simply making him ask for things in a nicer voice and not giving him anything until he does, but we don't seem to be making any progress. I'm in need of some advice! Suggestions?

Here's my response:

Start with compassion:
-rule out illness and teething. Often toddlers are teething which makes them grumpy. A little Orajel can go a long way. Even if you can't see any teeth trying to come through they can be experiencing pressure pain. Check a chart to see if teething is a possibility.

-analyze change....sometimes change in environment (moving houses or even bedrooms) can cause emotional issues that manifest themselves as wining. Change in routine, change in care taker, change in diet, change in atmosphere (rearranging furniture; new sibling; etc.)

New Baby could be a huge factor....suddenly they don't have mom's full devotion...now her love is split between two. This can take some adjusting time. Having some special mommy and me time set aside each day without baby (while baby is sleeping) or a mommy date can help with this issue. Instead of getting caught up on housework while baby sleeps, take 30 min. to spend one on one with toddler..playing with him, reading to him, etc. If you are already doing this and you still think this might be a factor, then it will just take time to adjust to having another baby in the house.

If "compassion issues" have been ruled out, move to discipline.

-wining is not okay. God tells us to have a happy heart. An unhappy heart (attitude) is sin. If you are sure that it is an attitude issue and "compassion issues" have been addressed and compensated for then I would personally apply discipline. See Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp and Don't Make Me Count To Three by Ginger Plowman. There is a GREAT chart inside of Don't Make Me Count To Three that helps moms deal with attitude sins and what to tell your child the right attitude is. I posted the chart on my fridge for many years.

I hope this helps. I'm no expert....but I did have issues with whining when my kids were little. Heck, my daughter is doing it again this week and she's 8! =0) Parenting is an always demanding job! =0)

Blessings to you and your sweet family, Betsy.

Q & A answers next week!

Next week I'm answering the questions from my Q & A post. Let's see if I can tackle any of these questions with success.

arsenic in my drinking water

I know we talked about drinking water here so I thought it would be helpful to be able to find out what is in our tap water. I added the search box on the sidebar so that you can type in your zip code and see what is in YOUR tap water. Guess what? When I typed in my zip code, I found out that there is ARSENIC in MY TAP WATER among several other contaminates. All the more reason to purify my water.

We use a water purification system that distills our water as described in my drinking water post. That's the best way I know to get everything bad out of our water. As far as detoxing from tap water that we do drink goes, we try to eat detoxing types of foods and we are just now experimenting with detoxing baths. See this post for info about detoxing baths....

The bummer about it for me though is our garden. We are watering our organic garden with the house water which has ARSENIC and other bad things in it. I know people say that it's such a small amount that it's obviously not killing people. But is it? Why do cancer rates keep soaring? Why do other disease rates keep going up? Why do NEW diseases keep appearing? Why does infertility rates keep rising? No, I'm NOT suggesting that the water is the only reason. Just seems to me that in such an advanced country, we ought to be able to purify our water before it goes out to people to fill their swimming pools with, water their yards and gardens with, use for cooking, shower in, bath in, drink, etc..... we can invent incredible computers but we are still sending water to houses with ILLEGAL levels of chemicals in them with a little arsenic sprinkled in?

Okay, this post just got the better of me. I'm done. That's it. No more politics or soap box for me. It's a weakness and I try really hard to avoid the temptation to vent when I blog. So, I stop here. Eat, drink (arsenic free I hope), and be merry!

Here is a great resource for WHAT KIND of water purifier to buy in case you are looking into getting one.

Favorite Gadget Thing- Smart Pot

I love my smart pot crock pot. My husband bought it for me December 08 for my birthday. I wasn't sure how I'd like it but after using it for a long time, I can truly say I'm thrilled with it. The biggest change is that it cooks so much hotter than the old versions. I think it's because of all the food poisoning scares. This thing cooks in half the time that my oldie does.

There are other features that I love as well....such as, it's got the timed cooking which goes to just the "keep warm" feature after it's done cooking. The lid is glass and not plastic which is great if you are trying to not cook in plastics anymore. It is also quite large and can fit a lot more food into it! This 6 quart one is oblong instead of round which is convenient for beef ribs!

Those are my highlights about it. If you are contemplating getting one, I'd say it's worth the money if you love to use your crock pot.

the crumbs in my silverware drawer

Okay. How do I even begin this post? Every house I've lived in I've had this reoccurring problem. Maybe I'm the only one. That would be embarrassing if that is the case.

Alright, here it is. Crumbs in my silverware drawer. Like most people I have a tray in my drawer that sorts the silverware and over time crumbs get in there. I've even made sure that at our current house the drawer is off to the side, it's not near any counter that we do cooking by, there is no bread board above it either. In fact, I have my kitchen stereo on the counter above it so that no cooking is being done there.

We don't put dirty silverware away so why on earth do so many crumbs get into my silverware tray???? Does anyone else have this problem? Am I all alone on this? Does anyone have a solution for preventing crumbs from who knows where getting in their silverware tray?

Help.

two more weeks

two more weeks of "talking" and then back to recipes. =0) Here's the run down.....

crumbs in my silverware drawer
favorite gadget thing
arsenic in my water
and then Q & A answers for a week
featured product- Debbie Meyer Bread Bags

then back to the recipes.....
-poor man's soup
-whole wheat muffins
-sour sourdough from scratch/starter from scratch without commercial yeast
-recipe for homemade deodorant

Did You Know - Milk, it does a body good? or does it?

Did you know that milk nowadays doesn't always do a body good?

I wanted to share this incredible post about milk. I've wanted to share a post like this for quite some time but the work has been done for me.

If you've had questions about:
~why whole milk is best for you
~why low-fat milk, skim milk, and non-fat milk are actually bad for you (they have oxidized cholesterol in them)
~why powdered milk is bad for you (also has oxidized cholesterol)
~why most grocery store milk may cause cancer
~why homogenization is bad for you
~why you have to be careful about UHT pasteurized organic milk

then this post is for you. The only angle that isn't discussed is why it's important to eat full fats together. For example. An egg is designed to be eaten in it's whole form. It's not intended to be separated so that you take the bad cholesterol out of it. Some scientist are discovering that the two types of cholesterol (the fats) are meant to be eaten together and when they are eaten together the body uses them a in a way to actually lower our cholesterol. Same with milk and other foods with fat. I've been reading up on this topic but need to do more study....maybe I'll do a whole post on this topic at another time.

Those of you who know that I buy organic milk are probably wondering why I buy it as opposed to raw milk.

1. It's illegal in the state I live in to sell raw milk without a permit and permits are hard (almost impossible) to get here. I know of one diary (and trust me, I've researched, that has been in the process for years to get their permit and they still do not have it.) I have nowhere to buy raw milk and since I don't have room for a cow or goat in my backyard it's not an option.

2. I do buy pasteurized organic milk instead of ultra high-temp pasteurized organic milk. Meaning the milk is less "dead" and still has some enzymes in it. This way we are still avoiding the synthetic hormones, pesticides, and infection puss that goes into non-organic cows milk. Here's a tip- in the stores I shop at, the organic milk that is in the 1/2 gal. is UHT pasteurized but the 1 gallon containers are only pasteurized (not UHT pasteurized).

*as a side note I'd add that our family does not drink milk as a beverage (other than every once in a great while when my husband and kids has some with cookies but this is pretty rare). We do not drink it with boxed cereal for breakfast because we don't eat boxed cereal. We use it for cooking and we do put a small splash of it on our oatmeal and ricemeal.

Weening my kids off of milk was a big hurdle in eating healthier but a rewarding one! They drink so much more water and I couldn't be happier with the results. I'm often asked about how my kids get enough calcium. We are liberal with cheese and yogurt (3/4 cup of yogurt has the same amount of calcium as 1 cup of milk). I also try and make sure that we eat calcium rich veggies. I also give my kids powdered calcium gluconate (derived from veggies) as a calcium boost.

Vaccines and Flu Shots

Of all the questions other moms and usually younger moms ask me there are two that I seem to get the most. One has to do with what our family does about Halloween (whether we celebrate it or not and if we don't, what do we do instead) and the other question is about Vaccines/Flu Shots. Moms seem to struggle with this issue as more and more research and debate about vaccines and flu shots comes up.

Positions about vaccines and flu shots are as passionate an issue with parents as any other parenting issue. If you want to get parents riled up, take the opposite position than what they passionately hold when it comes to vaccines and flu shots. I'm not here to argue or to convince you otherwise of your position. Rather, I'd like to have a post to point parents to, who ask me what our family's approach is.

So, I'll cut to the chase and share with you that our family absolutely refrains from the flu shot. We also have concerns about vaccines but realize that there are also situations in which vaccines may be the lesser of two evils.

How we got here: I'll start with vaccines. There has been a lot of concern about autism being linked to vaccines among other health concerns/risks. Here is a post that has several links to wonderful articles and information about risks concerning vaccines. Vaccines When it comes to vaccines we basically have these same concerns. Our own story concerning vaccines is as follows:

Our daughter was born healthy and thriving. She was a healthy weight and left the hospital with no concerns. I breast fed her until she was about 8 months old and within about a week of weening she became ill...very ill. She was vomiting every 20 min. for 8 hours....soon she had nothing left and she started throwing up blood (the inner lining of her stomach) at which point we checked her into the ER. This was only the beginning of unexplainable sickness. After a year with her becoming very ill (raging fevers, vomiting, being lethargic, etc.) every two weeks and no answers from our family physician we were referred to a Pediatric Infection Specialist (the best in the state). After extensive testing we still had no answers.

We continued vaccines, kept illness charts, and visited the specialist regularly. We tried asthma treatments, quarantine, sanitizing our whole house and her room, etc. Still, the sickness continued. It was exhausting and we felt helpless when it came to helping our baby stay well. By the time she was two years old I had began to hear and learn more about vaccine concerns and risks. So, we stopped vaccinating. Low and behold she improved.

So, we continued to avoid vaccine and she continued to improve over the next two years. She got sick a lot less often but when she did get sick she was still getting severely sick. It wasn't until we started changing our eating habits and pursuing natural remedies that the severity of her illnesses improved as well. She has never been healthier... and I'd go so far to say that she is healthier than a lot of vaccinated kids (like our son).

Our experience matched up with the concerns and research we had read about. Thankfully we did not experience symptoms of autism. To do again, we would avoid vaccinating our children other than required for traveling abroad. Watching your children suffer because of something you thought you were doing good for them is a horrible experience. I am aware of the reasons for vaccinating. I'm not ignorant of how vaccines have benefited our country. But I do believe that natural living would solve many of the infection/disease issues without the use of vaccines. Often, other parents who do vaccinate their children become angry with parents like us. They feel that we are putting their children at risk. They'd rather my child suffer than know that a child is walking around without antibodies to each disease out there. Let me point out that if you vaccinate your kids, then you don't have to worry about people like us infecting you. You are already vaccinated for it.

If you have concerns about autism you may want to consider holding off on vaccines until your baby is older despite the grief you will be given by others. Spacing vaccines out has also been suggested to help their little bodies handle the overload of vaccines given in combo shots so close together. Or, avoid vaccines altogether. But first, do your own research. Don't rely on what others say.

The flu shot is a slam dunk for us. My husband first had concerns about the flu shot when our daughter was recommended to get one when she was suffering. We did extensive research. We even called the United States Department of Health and Human Services to which they told us that they "can not actually say that the flu shot will help at all." They explained that they take a "guess" at what strain of flu might be the worst one that will go around the next year and often guess wrong.

From there our concern grew. I observed other people who were getting the flu shots only to end up being sick within two weeks of getting it and ended up being some of the sickest people I observed that year. Since that time I've met several families who had autistic symptoms start up the week of a flu shot or other vaccine combos and seen some stories of others who have suffered from flu shots enough to concern us. So, we took the opposite risk and decided that we could probably find better ways to help prevent her from getting sick. Now that we are pursing real foods and home remedies we are sick a lot less often, have avoided the flu for the past 3 years, have avoided even a cold for one of those years, and when we have been ill it's been very mild and lasted only a few days. Here is another great link to a post with links to articles about the Flu Shot.

These are the conclusions we've come to for our family. I hope that this has been a helpful amount of information for those who have asked me our thoughts on the topic and that I've been able to point you to some links that will help with your own research. What does get to me though are people who are cruel to people who choose not to vaccinate. They point to research....I can point to just as much research by bio-chemist that I know that prove there is risk.....it just depends on who you choose to listen too. Taking away other's freedoms, thinking you have arrived (pride) and know the only right way, and being judgmental of others is just sad. We all struggle with that in our humanness. We all want to think we've figured it all out. I for one have not and God has continued to show me that I'm hopeless when it comes to my prideful thinking...so blessings to you on whatever you choose to do for your family.

Vaccine Ingredient List

a video worth watching....

Favorite Gadget Thing- Immersion Blender

I can't believe I lived without one of these for so long! This thing is awesome! I love that I can now puree things while they are hot and still in the pot. Hey, I rhymed! Sorry, back to subject.

My favorite things to use my immersion blender for are soups, pasta sauce, apple sauce, and purees. No mess, no getting out the big blender, no spilling hot food on myself while I try to transfer it to the blender while it's hot.

Now, I don't even have a fancy one. In fact, it was $10 in the clearance isle at Wal-mart when I got it. It's a no-name brand. But hey, it does the job. I love that the end detaches and I can throw it in the dishwasher!

January and February plans

January is almost over and I haven't even covered all the topics that I said I would....so I'll be spilling over into February trying to wrap up all these topics. Once I finish this list then I'll answer the Q & A questions that have been posted here. You still have plenty of time to get more questions in.

still eating out of the freezer

Remember this purge post? Well, I'm still working on it. We've eaten lots out of our pantry. We keep eating out of the freezer. Today I'm going to go through our house freezer...clean it out and defrost some things. Then I'm hoping to move some of the deep freezer stuff into it so that I can defrost the deep freeze.

Anyone else eating out of the freezer and pantry still?

Oh, and the next gas bill hasn't come yet so I don't know if we've saved any money by freezing our buns off lowering our thermostat. I'll let ya know though when it comes.

Did You Know - Bigger Isn't Better

"If we've made so many technical advances in food production over the last 50 years, why are so many people sick? As our demands for quick and inexpensive food increased, farmers put more emphasis on large yields. ....farmers have doubled and even tripled the yields in the last 50 years. Unfortunately, nutrition hasn't kept up with the yield.

....the more a tomato weighs, the lower it's concentration of lycopene, a natural anti-cancer causing agent. ...tomatoes produced by conventional farming methods. It is the method, not the size, responsible for the decrease. Double-digit declines of iron, zinc, and calcium were noted in sweet corn, potatoes, and whole wheat bread.

...We think of an orange as a constant, but it really isn't. In fact, you would have to eat eight oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin A your grandmother got from a single orange. You would need to eat five oranges to get the same level of iron.

...If the soil is lacking minerals, this deficiencey translates to the food. Midwest soil is notoriously low in iodine which plays a critical role in thyroid function. This soil deficiency resulted in a high instance of goiters and resulted in the term the "goiter belt".

...A high ratio of total nutrients to total calories determines whether the food provides the body with necessary minerals and vitamins. A low ratio means the food provides calories, but does not provide the body with nourishment. People eating low density diets may experience excess hunger and consume far more calories in an attempt to satisfy the body's needs. Fruits and vegetables are traditionally associated with nutrient density, while refined and processed foods tend to be low density. We are now learning that analysis is too simplistic and that produce quality is related to soil health."

Yet, another reason to grow our own food or know where it's coming from. I would add that as a result we are getting only 1/2 of the magnesium that we used to get which is why most American's are walking around constipated. For the full article, click here. To subscribe free to Garden & Greenhouse magazine, click here (sorry, US only).

the worship of food

Here is an excellent post about natural living becoming an idol. I can't agree more with Lindsay on this and appreciate her sharing her struggles and convictions. When we put our natural living preferences over people we've mis-prioritized life.

I get asked from time to time about things like: do you eat out? do you go to other people's houses for dinner and eat their non-organic food? and questions like these.

Do we eat out? Yes and No. No because we try not to eat out in general to avoid eating unhealthy and to not spend the money on eating out. Yes, we do eat out every once in awhile as a treat and usually to fellowship with others. We currently eat out about once a month.....when we are invited to join another family. We try to make good choices when we are eating out. But other times it's about celebrating or enjoying our time together and we don't worry about what we are eating so much.

Do we go to other people's homes for dinner? Yes! And we eat what we are served and we enjoy every minute of it! Food is not more important than fellowship and we enjoy the food we are served! People will always be more important than what we eat, what our pet peeves are, our differences in how we live our lives, etc. Now having said that, I've found that some people are hesitant to have us over....they worry about whether or not we'll like their food. I LOVE other people's food no matter how healthy, how fancy or how simple it is. I'm not focused on the food anyway, I'm focused on the fellowship with them. I think some people are intimidated to have us over because I love to cook and entertain and that just makes me sad. I love hanging out just as much as the next person and my mind is on social things not on inspecting your home decor, how clean your bathrooms are, or how fabulous your food is....although I will compliment your fabulous food! I'm just focused on the fact that you've offered hospitality to us and grateful for the time to fellowship and be involved in each other's lives. If I could change the fact that some are too intimidated to offer us hospitality I would but I don't really know how other than trying to be as gracious as I can be which I think I am. And man are we blessed by those that do have us over and minister to our family in that way!

One thing to think about concerning the two above issues is that when we do eat healthy most of the time (at home) then our bodies are more capable of handling those special times when we don't eat the most healthy items. A meal made of processed/microwaved foods isn't going to kill us especially if we are eating healthy most of the time. Our bodies will be healthy enough to process and detox the not so good stuff.

What foods do you enjoy splurging on that you don't normally eat as part of your healthy eating? This is another question I get. Shrimp. Shrimp would probably be the biggest one for my husband and I. We love shrimp but since it takes 2 months to digest in your gut (that tells you how hard it is to digest) and it's a bottom dweller (doesn't bring much that is healthy to you) we don't normally eat it. But we do enjoy eating it as a treat from time to time and hopefully since we eat healthy most of the time our bodies can digest it faster than 2 months. That's my hope anyway.

So, read Lindsay's post and be encouraged that people/relationships are more important than food and being a purest. Don't be tempted to make natural eating and living an idol.

cleaning out the brain

I'm cleaning out my Home Management Binder today. Time to throw out last year's records and start fresh. I've added a new category for my "every day recipes"....the ones I make weekly (ie. bread, snacks, seasoning mixes, etc.).

If you keep a Home Management Binder, consider putting your every day recipes printed up in it for a quick reference.

Featured Product - January Oranges

Don't miss out on January oranges. We used to live in a place where farmers grew oranges and avocados. While living there we learned that one variety of oranges is ripe in January as opposed to varieties that are ripe in the summer. We had such a tree in our backyard there and in January it had the juiciest oranges! Normally I'm very careful about buying oranges because they can be dry and pithy (as my friend, Rebekah likes to call them) but I'm not afraid to buy them during December and January. Yum! God knew we'd need a vitamin C boost in the winter months!

Over-ripe Citrus

I had a bunch of tangerines that were over-ripe which means they were loaded with seeds and the seeds inside were fully mature. It was a pain to try and eat them. Since I didn't want them to go to waste I juiced them. The juice is so good. Different than orange juice and very sweet since they were on the over-ripe side of things.

Next time you have over-ripe citrus, consider juicing it.

Got a question? Ask questions this month here.

a handy book to have

This is a really handy book to have on hand. It's called How to Store Your Garden Produce The key to self-sufficiency by Piers Warren. The book is well laid out. Part Two of the book is produce listed by alphabetical order and instructions for the ways you can store it including recipes listed under several of them.

Q & A

Don't forget to get questions in here.....

Featured Product - glass storage containers

I researched these and the lids are BPA free! Hurray! Mine were from Costco. This is part of our effort to move away from plastics and into glassware.

The glassware is thick and durable. They have perfect sizes for sandwiches and fit well in our lunch insulators. There are large containers for leftovers and tiny ones for small items.

They come with lids that snap on and have colored seals. The blue seals go to the square containers and the green seals go to the rectangle containers.

I'm really happy with these and am thrilled that they stack so well. Many of the glass containers that I've looked at don't stack well. These stack great! Even once the lid is on them, they have a lip in the lid that makes them stackable in the fridge. For storage in the cupboard they nest well too.

One little tip if you decide to use these...at first I had trouble getting the sides of the lids to snap on. Then I learned that if I used both hands on each side and pressed in at the same time that they snapped on easily.

Got Water?

Other bloggers are blogging some really good stuff right now and I really don't see the point in me rewriting the same thing and posting it when I can just point you to their posts. This post about water is excellent. I've had several discussions with people about the reasons we need to drink water instead of milk, soda, juice and other artificial drinks. Her post covers several of the reasons our bodies need water!

If you don't like water, it's worth developing a taste for it. Not only is it what your body needs but it will also save you money! People often don't realize how hard it is on your kidneys to have to process other drinks. On the flip side, water benefits your kidneys by flushing them out. I also appreciate the comment at the end of her post about drinking with your meals. I learned that truth awhile back.

People often ask me if I drink tap water, bottled water, filtered water, or distilled water. I'll comment on each of these types of water and share what we drink.

tap water- what is in your tap water varies by where you live. For example, some areas have lots of fluoride in their water and others have none. Fluoride in your water is another whole topic so I won't get into that at the moment. You usually can find out the content of your water by contacting your local water company. You can usually find out the fluoride content of your water through a pediatrician or naturopathic. You can also purchase a water testing kit to find out the levels of minerals and chemicals in your tap water. You'll want to know things like how much chlorine, calcium, floride, magnesium, etc. are in your water. I've lived in areas where I would not drink the tap water but at the moment I live in an area that I drink the tap water some of the time.

bottled water- many test have been done on bottled water to show that it often is not much better than tap water. It's worth doing some research if you are paying for a bottled water company to deliver water and be very leary of buying individual bottled waters at the store besides the fact that the plastic bottles are quite a bit of waste and usually are not BPA-free. For a safe, economical, and less wasteful alternative consider purchasing a BPA-free insulated stainless steel bottle. We have this one, this one, and this half size design for the kids. These stay very cold for hours even in the summer heat.

filtered water- while filtered water is a good option and often better than tap in some areas it is still not pure water. Usually we think of filtered water as pure but it's actually not completely pure. Depending on the filter system it can actually end up taking out the minerals you want in it and leaving in the things you don't want in it. It's worth doing some research on your filter system as well. Usually the more expensive the better the system.

distilled water- What is distilled water? Distilled water is water that has been boiled and then the steam has been collected. You drink the collected steam. This is as pure as you can get it. Minerals can't float up in the steam so the minerals are left behind and the steam is collected into another container. I own a distiller and we distill about half of the water that we drink. My distiller is similar in look and price as this one but mine is made by Kenmore and from what I can tell they don't make it anymore. I want us to get some of the minerals from our tap water but have benefitted greatly from drinking the distilled water. When there are no impurities in your water, the water can work even better to detox your body. Distilled water is great for pulling out salt from your body. One way I've benefitted is with my carpel tunnel. It was getting so bad I thought I was going to have to have surgery like my mom did. I heard that drinking distilled water would most likely cure it and it did. It will start to flare up if I stop drinking distilled water from time to time.

Real Food Face Off

Kitchen Stewardship blog is doing a series of interviews of other bloggers who blog about REAL FOOD. Real food means whole foods, unprocessed foods, local food, natural food, nourishing food and has nothing to do with the Standard American Diet (SAD). I GREATLY encourage you to read the interviews which have VERY good questions and incredibly INFORMATIVE answers to them (complete with links to great resources) for anyone that is just starting to make healthier diet changes or even those of us who are well on our way to a new eating lifestyle.

Today began with two bloggers, one of whom I follow, Ren of Edible Aria, and you can read the first "Face Off" of interviews by clicking here. The interview is well laid out and easy to follow.

I hope you enjoy it!

Have a question?

I'm willing to do a Q & A if you've got questions for me. Doesn't have to be cooking questions and I'll try to answer them the best I can. Just don't ask me what my most embarrassing moment was because there are way too many to pick just one.

Submit questions in the comments of this post and I'll spend time answering them in February. Anything you've been wondering about me? Anything you want to pick my small brain about (that won't take long, hee hee). Wondering more about what I'm learning about health and nutrition? Got a question you think is too dumb and everyone should know? ....well, don't worry, I'll probably have to ask someone else to get the answer anyway!

So, here's your chance.....ask away. If no one has any questions for me then I'll assume I've done a good job of exposing my thoughts on this blog. That. Or. I'm talking to myself on here. hello. hello. anyone there??? echo echo.....

Baking

Well, it was a productive day.....

1 batch of pumpkin spice muffins made
1 batch of whole wheat blueberry muffins made (recipe to come)
1 apple crisp from a mix I had in my pantry for way too long
1 pan of stuffed shells

Tomorrow I'll bake bread because I'm worn out now.

And I see that the search bar feature on my blog has decided to quit working.

Now to finish conquering the laundry.

See ya back here Wednesday for a Q&A and then a Featured Product on Friday.

Purge

Purge is such a fun word to say. I love saying it. P. u. r. g. e. It feels good to say the word and to purge! I cleaned out my fridge today. Ya, it was getting bad. Neglect is a horrible word. It's not even fun to say.

-So the fridge is cleaned out and wiped down.
-I took inventory of the kitchen freezer and the garage deep freeze.
-I made some menu plans for eating out of the freezer and the pantry.

I know I just did this not too long ago but see, I have a disease...it's the hoarding disease. Apparently I hoard food. I was appalled when I realized this but as I analyzed it more and more I realized there are some reasons.... good reasons. Yes, I'm relieved that I could come up with some good reasons!

a. I buy food in bulk now. No brainer on that one. I'm obviously going to be stocked up on food.
b. I make freezer meals. I've just trained myself to always cook in bulk which honestly has really helped since I'm working now. As soon as I eat out of the freezer I end up restocking the darn thing. It's just habit. It's also stocked with leftovers because I HATE to waste food and frankly can not afford to waste food.

Okay, see, I have good reasons. Well, good enough for me anyway.

So, since I need to save money everywhere I can we are once again eating out of the freezer and pantry this month. It's a way of purging and making sure nothing goes to waste.

Next, I need to defrost the deep freeze. That was my original plan the last time we ate out of the freezer but as you can see, I restocked it before I got a chance to defrost it. So, I'm going to give that a try again. I even started to make a double batch of stuffed shells today and had to force myself to not put a pan of them in the freezer....since the whole idea was to eat the ricotta out of the fridge.....to only put it back into the freezer as stuffed shells? Doesn't make sense to me either. Wow, I'm really rambling. So, we are eating the stuffed shells for dinner tonight. Problem solved.

So, if you have a food stocking issue....and want to join me on eating out of the pantry and freezer this month, feel free to jump in.

Side note on saving money....I turned down our thermostat 2 degrees to see if it saves us money. No, I'm not going to tell you what it's set at because I don't want you laughing at what a wimp I am. I'm hoping that at the end of this month it has saved us money. Now we wear layers in the house!

New poll, on the side bar.....if you click on other, please take a moment to share with me on this post in the comments what your "others" are. =0)

Happy Monday!
I'm off to go do some more food prep for the week, finish schooling my kids for the day, and I can hear the washer and dryer calling me....buzzzzzzzz, buzzzzzzzzzzz, buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Home Remedies

If you are interested or into home remedies you might want to see this post.....

Can we talk???

I'm back but instead of recipes for the moment, I'd like to just talk. Unless of course it completely drives my audience away. I just have stuff to show you, to tell you, to ask you.....and so on. So, pour yourself a cup of your favorite hot drink and pull up a chair for the rest of the month. I'll be covering some of these topics over the next few weeks:

Home Remedies
Costco Finds
Featured Products
Favorite Gadget Things
Bigger Isn't Always Better
Milk. Does it do a body good?
Vaccines- one of two questions I get asked the most by mothers
Flu Shot- not gonna give it a shot
Product Changes
The Crumbs In My Silverware Drawer
Q & A- What you wished you didn't ask
Kitchen Tips

Recipes to resume after we are done chatting.

Good Deal- Eating Well Magazine

I wanted to tell you about this good deal. I love this magazine and have wanted to get it for quite some time. The subscription is on sale for only $5 through Amazon right now and I used my swagbucks to pay for it so I got it completely free!

This blog is still on break. Not ready to come back yet. I will though sometime this month. =0)
Happy New Year