OK, I don't do giveaways but lots of other super amazing bloggers do! And here's a great one from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking. Envibum, a very cool cloth diaper company, is giving away a super cute, soft diaper to 3 lucky winners. You can read her review on this particular brand. Check it out at the link below if you are interested. If you want to read my link on our fave diaper, Fuzzi Bunz, to get an idea about cloth diapering, click here. I entered because they look awesome and her review had me sold. It's so fun to try new cloth diapers. Good luck if you enter!
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/02/envibum-giveaway.html
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
A Snowy Treat
So what else do you do with 3 feet of snow on the ground?
A little bit of this...
A little bit of this...
A little bit of that...
And a whole lot of...
And when you're all done with that (OK the kids are never done with playing in the snow but their mama is),
you can make some snow ice cream!!
What? Really?
Oh, yes, I was a bit skeptical. But it was oh so yummy!
And of course, it was not my recipe or my idea. Check out Laura from Heavenly Homemakers for all the details (Thanks, Jennifer, for the reminder). And yes, it really works! And it is REALLY tasty!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Food, Inc. Just See It!
I'm devoting this blog entry to encourage all of you who have not seen the move, Food Inc., to see it! I can't believe it took me this long to finally watch it!
If you haven't heard of the movie, here's a description directly from their website.
In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.
Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.
I wouldn't be able to do justice to the actual content of the film. I think it's best to see it for yourself and take it all in. Here are a few "highlights" to hopefully spur your interest a little. Nerdy me, of course, took some notes while watching so I could, as directly as possible, quote parts I felt were important to motivate you to watch.
"The industry doesn't want you to know the truth about what you're eating because you wouldn't eat it."
They don't want you to know that a small group of multinational corporations control our food supply. It's a "world deliberately held from us."
The goal of meat companies to to make a lot of food on a small amount of land and sell cheaply so you buy it.
One hamburger patty you buy might contain over 1,000 different cattle.
We want to pay the cheapest price for food, BUT the price to pay for that is big companies and a cheap labor force. (By the way, all major corporations where intereviews were requested, declined ).
These large corporations use their POWER against farms, workers, and consumers. We are deliberately kept in the dark about what we eat and what it does in our bodies.
While much of the information in the movie wasn't new to me, it was eye opening to actually see with my eyes things that I've only read about as far as meat packing plants, large cattle farms, treatment of poultry, etc...
This movie might come as a shock to you, if you are unfamiliar with a lot of the facts presented. It might depress you, anger you a little, and hopefully above all, inspire change. If it doesn't make you change the way you look at food and go shopping, I would be surprised. Every small change you make after seeing the movie is a step in the right direction. I've heard some people say they wanted to become a vegetarian after seeing the movie. While I don't ever picture myself a vegetarian, I was certainly even more grateful for the small farms where we are able to purchase our meat.
I hope that you can see beyond just the meat industry, to how only a few small companies, basically control almost all the foods you would typically buy at the supermarket. How eating a bowl of cereal and milk or pulling into a drive through seems so innocent, and yet, how unhealthy it is and the sacrifice our nation's farmers have had to take.
Eating well does cost more. I've said that before. And while most of us are trying to spend less, food is one area where spending less has larger costs to our bodies and our world.
If you've seen the movie, or see it in the future, please share your feelings! And let others know about it. The more you know, the more power you have to make decisions about what you eat!
If you haven't heard of the movie, here's a description directly from their website.
In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.
Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.
I wouldn't be able to do justice to the actual content of the film. I think it's best to see it for yourself and take it all in. Here are a few "highlights" to hopefully spur your interest a little. Nerdy me, of course, took some notes while watching so I could, as directly as possible, quote parts I felt were important to motivate you to watch.
"The industry doesn't want you to know the truth about what you're eating because you wouldn't eat it."
They don't want you to know that a small group of multinational corporations control our food supply. It's a "world deliberately held from us."
The goal of meat companies to to make a lot of food on a small amount of land and sell cheaply so you buy it.
One hamburger patty you buy might contain over 1,000 different cattle.
We want to pay the cheapest price for food, BUT the price to pay for that is big companies and a cheap labor force. (By the way, all major corporations where intereviews were requested, declined ).
These large corporations use their POWER against farms, workers, and consumers. We are deliberately kept in the dark about what we eat and what it does in our bodies.
While much of the information in the movie wasn't new to me, it was eye opening to actually see with my eyes things that I've only read about as far as meat packing plants, large cattle farms, treatment of poultry, etc...
This movie might come as a shock to you, if you are unfamiliar with a lot of the facts presented. It might depress you, anger you a little, and hopefully above all, inspire change. If it doesn't make you change the way you look at food and go shopping, I would be surprised. Every small change you make after seeing the movie is a step in the right direction. I've heard some people say they wanted to become a vegetarian after seeing the movie. While I don't ever picture myself a vegetarian, I was certainly even more grateful for the small farms where we are able to purchase our meat.
I hope that you can see beyond just the meat industry, to how only a few small companies, basically control almost all the foods you would typically buy at the supermarket. How eating a bowl of cereal and milk or pulling into a drive through seems so innocent, and yet, how unhealthy it is and the sacrifice our nation's farmers have had to take.
Eating well does cost more. I've said that before. And while most of us are trying to spend less, food is one area where spending less has larger costs to our bodies and our world.
If you've seen the movie, or see it in the future, please share your feelings! And let others know about it. The more you know, the more power you have to make decisions about what you eat!
Pass Me a Cup of Joe, Part 1
I love a good cup of coffee! Anyone else out there?? While I don't consider myself a coffee snob, I'm particular about how I drink my coffee, as most coffee lovers are. No sugar, only cream (has to be half and half, NOT milk). While half and half is not a health food by any means, I'm fortunate to have a source that only makes pasturized half and half versus ultra-pasturized (the same place where we buy our raw milk). Coffee is not something I've eliminated from my diet or have any intention to and I have no interest in drinking it black. Because of this, I try to buy fairly traded organic coffee or coffee roasted as close to home as possible from independent coffee companies. And yes, while Starbucks calls my name on occasion because we don't have many independent places in my area, I try to not frequent their store very often.
I asked my brother, the closest expert on the subject I know, to share a few thoughts on coffee in a short series. Hopefully, you'll find the topic as interesting as I do!
Coffee....the word that everyone knows, likes, loves, hates, takes with cream and sugar, is a snob about, or knows what their taste buds tell them.
My sister asked me to write a few things about the subject of coffee and share some thoughts. These thoughts come from 2.5 years of being a barista and a year of roasting experience, both for independent businesses whose owners care a great deal about coffee and providing it for their community.
While the subject of coffee can take many different roads, I'll start with the why. Why do you drink coffee? Is it a caffeine addiction? Do you like how it tastes in the morning or after dinner? Is it pleasurable to drink or have you formed a habit and merely kept it up? Do you like the many aromas and tastes you experience in the cup or is thinking about drinking a cup of hot liquid not really of interest to you?
Unless you answered that this subject is of no interest to you, then regardless of just having a caffeine addiction or enjoying the tastes and aromas of coffee, your experience with this well known drink can be more than you thought. Coffee is often compared to wine and chocolate in the sense that while it may seem simple (take a grape, smash it up and make a drink) the complexities of the whole process from start to finish have many factors, all contributing to the quality and experience of drinking it.
Our general enjoyment of coffee is dependent upon the region between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer, which—except for Hawaii—we in the United States do not fall in. Therefore, the process begins far away from our kitchen counter. Because of this, when we buy coffee, our act is based on at least our preference of a certain kind, but it also involves a host of issues such as farmer relations, care of the roaster and why the coffee is sold (just for profit or a care beyond that). But when you think about it, these kinds of questions come or should come to mind no matter what we buy whether it's a new shirt or a pint of strawberries. The point is understanding and discerning how as a consumer you impact and care for what you buy. Don't worry, I'll stop there and just focus on coffee.
Let's take this in a 3-part series. Like part I, part II will be focused on coffee facts that will hopefully help you appreciate your next cup of joe, and in part III, I'll answer any questions you might have.
So if you have specific questions, feel free to comment or send an email.
I asked my brother, the closest expert on the subject I know, to share a few thoughts on coffee in a short series. Hopefully, you'll find the topic as interesting as I do!
Coffee....the word that everyone knows, likes, loves, hates, takes with cream and sugar, is a snob about, or knows what their taste buds tell them.
My sister asked me to write a few things about the subject of coffee and share some thoughts. These thoughts come from 2.5 years of being a barista and a year of roasting experience, both for independent businesses whose owners care a great deal about coffee and providing it for their community.
While the subject of coffee can take many different roads, I'll start with the why. Why do you drink coffee? Is it a caffeine addiction? Do you like how it tastes in the morning or after dinner? Is it pleasurable to drink or have you formed a habit and merely kept it up? Do you like the many aromas and tastes you experience in the cup or is thinking about drinking a cup of hot liquid not really of interest to you?
Unless you answered that this subject is of no interest to you, then regardless of just having a caffeine addiction or enjoying the tastes and aromas of coffee, your experience with this well known drink can be more than you thought. Coffee is often compared to wine and chocolate in the sense that while it may seem simple (take a grape, smash it up and make a drink) the complexities of the whole process from start to finish have many factors, all contributing to the quality and experience of drinking it.
Our general enjoyment of coffee is dependent upon the region between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer, which—except for Hawaii—we in the United States do not fall in. Therefore, the process begins far away from our kitchen counter. Because of this, when we buy coffee, our act is based on at least our preference of a certain kind, but it also involves a host of issues such as farmer relations, care of the roaster and why the coffee is sold (just for profit or a care beyond that). But when you think about it, these kinds of questions come or should come to mind no matter what we buy whether it's a new shirt or a pint of strawberries. The point is understanding and discerning how as a consumer you impact and care for what you buy. Don't worry, I'll stop there and just focus on coffee.
Let's take this in a 3-part series. Like part I, part II will be focused on coffee facts that will hopefully help you appreciate your next cup of joe, and in part III, I'll answer any questions you might have.
So if you have specific questions, feel free to comment or send an email.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Moving Ahead with Menu Planning
Do you get overwhelmed by the amount of cooking that has to be done in the week?
1. I started by writing down things that I know my family likes to eat for dinner(spaghetti, grilled chicken, tacos, etc...) I asked my husband how often he would want to eat these things (weekly, monthly, etc...) He doesn't like to eat the same foods as often as I do so I wanted him to have a say in what he would prefer. The kids will just eat what we make (or be hungry)!
2. I made 3 columns on a piece of paper, one each for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a place for the date on the side. The teacher in my really wanted to grab some chart table and hang it up on the walls, but I restrained myself. Plus, I don't have any chart paper at home.
3. I started by filling in the dinner column since I knew this would be the most time consuming. Using the plan that my husband gave input for, I started filling in some things to eat on each day. If it was something he only wanted once a month, I only used it once. I also had a few new recipes I wanted to try so I put those on as well. I made sure we had one fish meal a week, one soup a week, one vegetarian, and then the rest were a toss-up between chicken and beef or turkey. I made sure every line had a meal. I know we won't need every single meal because there will be leftover nights or a night we go to a friend's house or have someone over. Sometimes, we also like to make homemade pizza. The meals will be flexible from night to night in case something comes up and they have to be switched around. Also, I left some of them a little generic to fill in with a vegetable later depending on what I find on sale or what is in season. For example, if the meal is grilled chicken and veggie, I don't put a specific vegetable down because it might not be the best choice if it's not a good price when I shop for it.
4. I repeated this process for breakfast and lunch which was simpler and I could repeat things more often. For example, my kids love eggs and eat them about 3 times a week. Again, I put things like eggs and fruit. I'll let them choose what kind of eggs they want (egg surprise, scrambled, sunny up, etc...) and the fruit will be again, what's in season or what I found for the best price. This will be much easier in the summer when there is so much good stuff in season. I'm running low on the fruit I froze this summer already!
5. Once my beautiful chart was complete, I made a grocery list. First, I made a list of all the staples I would need for the entire month, only writing down what I didn't have in the cupboards already. This was things like grains, pasta, rice, canned goods, dried fruit, oils, etc... These are foods I purchase at our local health food store or find in our main chain grocery store.
6. Then I made a list JUST for this week of what fresh produce I would need, plus things like butter, cheese, milk, eggs and bread that I buy weekly. These things I get from local markets. I'll make a new list every week for the fresh stuff based on what we have left and what the menu says we need. If I plan well enough, I should only have to go to the grocery store once a week to do the main shopping and then the local markets weekly.
Fortunately, I have lots of frozen meat from our beef we purchase yearly and chickens we purchase maybe twice a year so I don't have to worry about meat (unless I'm buying nitrate free bacon and hot dogs).
7. Finally, it was time to go shopping. I bought the staples for the month at our local health food store (with the exception of a few things I couldn't find). I was fortunate this month I already had a lot stocked up. Here's what my staples look like:
I do!
And can I tell you how many times it has been 4:00 (OK, yes, sometimes 5:00) and I'm still unsure of what we're having for dinner? Sadly this has happened as often as I've been off on maternity leave as when I'm working full time.
I really do like cooking in general. I didn't grow up cooking much but I still like it. I can't make up my own recipes most of the time so I rely on cookbooks and other people's blogs and websites to dish out the good recipes. No pun intended.
Even with all of the information out there and all of the possibilities, I still find it hard to come up with things to make. And then I tend to make the same stuff all of the time. That gets pretty boring for my husband for sure.
And then there's the times where I call my husband on his way home from work and ask him to pick up a few things on his way home and we spend 20 dollars just to make a meal because I didn't plan ahead. Or yes, order out for pizza occasionally.
There have been times where I've been OK, and I stress on the low end of OK, at planning meals. I know when I do, we spend much less money on food. It's also a challenge when I get home from work because I want to take as much time to play with the kids as I can, but then the call of dinner lingers around and I have to cook. So I am constantly searching for quick meals that are still healthy and call for few ingredients which means less time in the kitchen overall. As I find more meals like this, I'll be happy to share them with you.
There are a few reasons I wanted to do better with meal planning.
1. I'm going back to work after next week and the thought of going back to the "old way" of meal planning, which was jotting down a few ideas and then saying, "I'll figure it out later" and never did, is not going to fly anymore. I want to be more in control of knowing what we are eating to maximize my time with my family and minimize time in the kitchen. When you make a meal plan, you can also say things like...oohh, that meal takes sour cream and so let me come up with another meal to use the rest of the sour cream. Bet you never thought you'd say something like that before.
2. Taking kids grocery shopping can be a challenge as I'm sure many of you know, so having an exact list will be helpful. While I've done exact lists before, it was never exact enough. And I'd rather get as much stuff as possible in one trip and not have to make 10 trips a month to the grocery store.
3. I want to have a better idea of exactly how much we spend on food and how often we go through things. We've always had a pretty loose food budget because I think spending money on good wholesome food is important. BUT, it was getting a little out of control so we are trying to pull in the reins on how much we spend and stick to whatever amount we decide on. My plan is to record the dates of when I buy something so I know how long it takes us to go through maple syrup for instance, or how long it takes to use up a pack of toilet paper. There are people who really know these things and it helps them plan and budget better. This might not be of interest to you, but I'd like to have this information.
4. My husband will be a stay-at-home daddy for an indefinite period of time and I know it will greatly help him to know what to serve for breakfast and lunch. He's pretty handy in the kitchen but I know this will help him stay organized. I wish I had done this months ago so I was more in control while at home!
I guess those are the main reasons. I have in the past planned out dinners for a week but then I wouldn't take the time to do the following week in time and so it would sort of fall apart. The weekly thing wasn't working for me so I'm doing a monthly plan.
I tried doing a monthly dinner plan recently where I took a calendar and wrote dinners for the entire month. It sort of worked, sort of didn't because I left too many open holes for leftovers where there weren't leftovers. And I repeated too many things.
Breakfast is usually pretty easy to figure out and I don't normally plan for it but in this plan I did, just to see how it would work. Lunches are also usually flexible and I tend to buy the same things to have on hand for lunch but there are still days where I feel like lunch is boring and repetitive so I decided to plan for lunch as well.
I read a few methods from some fellow bloggers and then sort of took their ideas and my own ideas and came up with this system. I'm sure there are lots of ways of doing menu planning and this will be a work in progress but here's where I am at this point. You can use my ideas if you want or read some other menu planning blogger ideas too. It certainly feels awesome to have my first full plan finished!
The form I used I took from Stephanie at Keeper of the Home. You can find it on her website or just use a piece of notebook paper and draw a few columns like I did.
The form I used I took from Stephanie at Keeper of the Home. You can find it on her website or just use a piece of notebook paper and draw a few columns like I did.
1. I started by writing down things that I know my family likes to eat for dinner(spaghetti, grilled chicken, tacos, etc...) I asked my husband how often he would want to eat these things (weekly, monthly, etc...) He doesn't like to eat the same foods as often as I do so I wanted him to have a say in what he would prefer. The kids will just eat what we make (or be hungry)!
2. I made 3 columns on a piece of paper, one each for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a place for the date on the side. The teacher in my really wanted to grab some chart table and hang it up on the walls, but I restrained myself. Plus, I don't have any chart paper at home.
3. I started by filling in the dinner column since I knew this would be the most time consuming. Using the plan that my husband gave input for, I started filling in some things to eat on each day. If it was something he only wanted once a month, I only used it once. I also had a few new recipes I wanted to try so I put those on as well. I made sure we had one fish meal a week, one soup a week, one vegetarian, and then the rest were a toss-up between chicken and beef or turkey. I made sure every line had a meal. I know we won't need every single meal because there will be leftover nights or a night we go to a friend's house or have someone over. Sometimes, we also like to make homemade pizza. The meals will be flexible from night to night in case something comes up and they have to be switched around. Also, I left some of them a little generic to fill in with a vegetable later depending on what I find on sale or what is in season. For example, if the meal is grilled chicken and veggie, I don't put a specific vegetable down because it might not be the best choice if it's not a good price when I shop for it.
4. I repeated this process for breakfast and lunch which was simpler and I could repeat things more often. For example, my kids love eggs and eat them about 3 times a week. Again, I put things like eggs and fruit. I'll let them choose what kind of eggs they want (egg surprise, scrambled, sunny up, etc...) and the fruit will be again, what's in season or what I found for the best price. This will be much easier in the summer when there is so much good stuff in season. I'm running low on the fruit I froze this summer already!
My plan is to highlight when we eat the meal so I can keep track of how accurate it was. I'll also fill in the specific fruits and vegetables we ate. If the plan changed, like we went to a friend's house, I'll record that and save that meal for another time.
5. Once my beautiful chart was complete, I made a grocery list. First, I made a list of all the staples I would need for the entire month, only writing down what I didn't have in the cupboards already. This was things like grains, pasta, rice, canned goods, dried fruit, oils, etc... These are foods I purchase at our local health food store or find in our main chain grocery store.
6. Then I made a list JUST for this week of what fresh produce I would need, plus things like butter, cheese, milk, eggs and bread that I buy weekly. These things I get from local markets. I'll make a new list every week for the fresh stuff based on what we have left and what the menu says we need. If I plan well enough, I should only have to go to the grocery store once a week to do the main shopping and then the local markets weekly.
Fortunately, I have lots of frozen meat from our beef we purchase yearly and chickens we purchase maybe twice a year so I don't have to worry about meat (unless I'm buying nitrate free bacon and hot dogs).
7. Finally, it was time to go shopping. I bought the staples for the month at our local health food store (with the exception of a few things I couldn't find). I was fortunate this month I already had a lot stocked up. Here's what my staples look like:
For future budgeting purposes, I recorded how much things cost at the health food store so I can price compare and find where the best deals are for specific foods. This will take awhile but it's part of my overall goals for meal planning and budgeting.
I bought some produce at the health food store and some from a local market. Here's our produce for this week. Hopefully it will last!
Hopefully I didn't forget too much and will only have to go to market for fresh stuff. Our local markets also have places to buy fish, nuts, dried fruits and things like that so it helps to avoid the grocery store.
This whole process of planning, not the shopping, probably took a few hours and I did it in bits and pieces when I had time. I didn't like doing it that way so from now on I'll take a chunk of time toward the end of the month and do it all at once. I think that will go more smoothly. Plus, now that I have a month done, I can repeat some of these meals, add new ones, and have a record of what we've eaten and when. Hopefully, it will just keep getting easier and faster as time goes on.
So, was that a lot to take in? It was a lot to write. I tried to be specific in case you were interested in trying it yourself. Hopefully, if you've been thinking about menu planning it will give you some ideas to get started. And if you want to start slowly, maybe just try it for one meal of the day and then move into other meals. I'd love to know what you're going to try or if you have a plan that works for you already. I'll keep you posted on how this works for us!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Back to Basics
Do you have any idea how many blogs there are out there? Millions, probably.
And how many of them are about healthy and natural living? Thousands I'm sure.
If given time, I could get completely lost and absorbed in bloggyland. You know, how you read a comment on someone's blog, click on their link, and suddenly you are reading thoughts from a person you know absolutely nothing about. But there they are.
This is how I came to discover that there are tons of people out there writing about the same kinds of things I do. Only most of them seem to do it more often, know a ton more than I do, and in my opinion, write much better.
I had the thought this week to just refer you to my three favorite blogs on healthy eating and just turn in my resignation.
But then I remembered why I started blogging in the first place.
I've had a lot of negative experiences sharing my beliefs about food and eating well. Some people don't really understand, or they think you're in some way trying to be better than them. But I really do believe in the things I write about, or the things in my head that I want to write about and never seem to get around to it. And I wanted to share these things with others and help take baby steps to making changes in your lives that hopefully, affect your health in a positive way.
I know that most people who actually read this blog are friends of mine and that's where I wanted to start. There might be a few who were referred by my friends. And that's exactly what I hoped would happen. Just sharing my thoughts with people I love and then maybe getting a few more people on board and everyone sharing with each other what they are changing in their lives for the better with how they eat and live. So whenever someone emails me to tell me something they've changed, I celebrate.
I plan to refer you to my favorite blogging gals in some entries in the future and I encourage you to check out their sites because I really think they are all amazing at what they write about and how they write to encourage other people. All three of them are stay-at-home moms, love the Lord and their families, and encourage others in their journeys to organic and natural living.
As long as you still come back and visit me once in a while.
Once of the bloggers I follow is Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking. Lindsay recently had a post titled Can Natural Living Become an Idol? You can read the post yourself if you want. Basically she talks about how putting healthy eating or living above God and others can create a problem, and it can become your idol.
I thought her feelings on the matter were right on and it obviously hit a nerve with a lot of people because there were over 200 comments about this post. I didn't read all of them but after skimming, I got the feeling that a lot of people are doing their best to make small changes in the way they eat or live. They might not be able to eat all organic foods or do everything "perfectly" but they are doing the best they can.
I've been in the place, I'd say a few years ago, where, while I wasn't making eating organic food an idol, it was becoming a pride issue. While I wouldn't say I felt better than anyone else for the changes I was making, it did give me a sense of pride to stock my refrigerator with good food. Maybe I felt like this because I was just excited about what I was learning and maybe not. I did at times, wonder why other people weren't really all about it, why they didn't think making changes in their life was necessary. Where I would look at someone's grocery cart piled with plastic shopping bags and wonder why they didn't just buy some canvas ones. Or wonder if they ever cooked at all based on the contents of their cart. Or when I told all my friends about how great cloth diapers were, why no one really wanted to try them.
And so I sort of stopped sharing with people because I felt like no one really cared or no one was really listening. I was so excited to tell people but I felt like they didn't get what I was trying to do. I basically was making it more about me, and not about them and certainly not about my Creator, who was teaching me how to look at life and food differently. So maybe it was an idol, even if I didn't see it that way back then.
I think when I finally realized this, I changed my attitude.
It has still been a struggle at times to share my feelings on the pursuit of healthy living. Maybe continued fear of rejection? And that hope that people don't think I'm trying to be better than them? I do really want to just share things I'm learning and hope you'll learn along with me. And my hope is that you'll share with someone else something you've done and then they'll share with someone else what they've done and on and on. Sort of like, paying health forward.
And just a reminder, I'm on the journey right along with you. I'm still working to make changes in what I eat and how I live for the better. I have in no means "arrived" or do I do things perfectly. I'd say this past year, reflected in how often I've written, I've really struggled with eating well starting with how sick I was during pregnancy and how I had a hard time desiring to cook and eat well. While I do my best to feed my family a lot of organic and local food, we're not perfect. There are some changes I've made and will not go back on (in a future post I'll share that) and there are more things I hope to do better.
Which leads me back to the reason for this post. Whew...about time, right?
Remembering that the pursuit for healthy living starts with small changes, and I know many of you have made small changes, I started making a list of things I'd like to do better with and I'll be posting those things in the near future. I hope it encourages you to know we are all in the journey together. And the things I do are not things you have to do, but I'd love to hear about what you are doing.
So, all that being said, here is a sneak peek at a few things on my list. I'll be writing about these and some other areas in the future.
-Getting a better handle on the food budget
-making monthly meal plans
-composting
-less leftover waste
-making homemade snacks
-paying attention to how long things last (laundry detergent, etc..)
-finding more simple and healthy recipes
Knowing me, it will take me awhile!
And what about you? Any goals you have?
And how many of them are about healthy and natural living? Thousands I'm sure.
If given time, I could get completely lost and absorbed in bloggyland. You know, how you read a comment on someone's blog, click on their link, and suddenly you are reading thoughts from a person you know absolutely nothing about. But there they are.
This is how I came to discover that there are tons of people out there writing about the same kinds of things I do. Only most of them seem to do it more often, know a ton more than I do, and in my opinion, write much better.
I had the thought this week to just refer you to my three favorite blogs on healthy eating and just turn in my resignation.
But then I remembered why I started blogging in the first place.
I've had a lot of negative experiences sharing my beliefs about food and eating well. Some people don't really understand, or they think you're in some way trying to be better than them. But I really do believe in the things I write about, or the things in my head that I want to write about and never seem to get around to it. And I wanted to share these things with others and help take baby steps to making changes in your lives that hopefully, affect your health in a positive way.
I know that most people who actually read this blog are friends of mine and that's where I wanted to start. There might be a few who were referred by my friends. And that's exactly what I hoped would happen. Just sharing my thoughts with people I love and then maybe getting a few more people on board and everyone sharing with each other what they are changing in their lives for the better with how they eat and live. So whenever someone emails me to tell me something they've changed, I celebrate.
I plan to refer you to my favorite blogging gals in some entries in the future and I encourage you to check out their sites because I really think they are all amazing at what they write about and how they write to encourage other people. All three of them are stay-at-home moms, love the Lord and their families, and encourage others in their journeys to organic and natural living.
As long as you still come back and visit me once in a while.
Once of the bloggers I follow is Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking. Lindsay recently had a post titled Can Natural Living Become an Idol? You can read the post yourself if you want. Basically she talks about how putting healthy eating or living above God and others can create a problem, and it can become your idol.
I thought her feelings on the matter were right on and it obviously hit a nerve with a lot of people because there were over 200 comments about this post. I didn't read all of them but after skimming, I got the feeling that a lot of people are doing their best to make small changes in the way they eat or live. They might not be able to eat all organic foods or do everything "perfectly" but they are doing the best they can.
I've been in the place, I'd say a few years ago, where, while I wasn't making eating organic food an idol, it was becoming a pride issue. While I wouldn't say I felt better than anyone else for the changes I was making, it did give me a sense of pride to stock my refrigerator with good food. Maybe I felt like this because I was just excited about what I was learning and maybe not. I did at times, wonder why other people weren't really all about it, why they didn't think making changes in their life was necessary. Where I would look at someone's grocery cart piled with plastic shopping bags and wonder why they didn't just buy some canvas ones. Or wonder if they ever cooked at all based on the contents of their cart. Or when I told all my friends about how great cloth diapers were, why no one really wanted to try them.
And so I sort of stopped sharing with people because I felt like no one really cared or no one was really listening. I was so excited to tell people but I felt like they didn't get what I was trying to do. I basically was making it more about me, and not about them and certainly not about my Creator, who was teaching me how to look at life and food differently. So maybe it was an idol, even if I didn't see it that way back then.
I think when I finally realized this, I changed my attitude.
It has still been a struggle at times to share my feelings on the pursuit of healthy living. Maybe continued fear of rejection? And that hope that people don't think I'm trying to be better than them? I do really want to just share things I'm learning and hope you'll learn along with me. And my hope is that you'll share with someone else something you've done and then they'll share with someone else what they've done and on and on. Sort of like, paying health forward.
And just a reminder, I'm on the journey right along with you. I'm still working to make changes in what I eat and how I live for the better. I have in no means "arrived" or do I do things perfectly. I'd say this past year, reflected in how often I've written, I've really struggled with eating well starting with how sick I was during pregnancy and how I had a hard time desiring to cook and eat well. While I do my best to feed my family a lot of organic and local food, we're not perfect. There are some changes I've made and will not go back on (in a future post I'll share that) and there are more things I hope to do better.
Which leads me back to the reason for this post. Whew...about time, right?
Remembering that the pursuit for healthy living starts with small changes, and I know many of you have made small changes, I started making a list of things I'd like to do better with and I'll be posting those things in the near future. I hope it encourages you to know we are all in the journey together. And the things I do are not things you have to do, but I'd love to hear about what you are doing.
So, all that being said, here is a sneak peek at a few things on my list. I'll be writing about these and some other areas in the future.
-Getting a better handle on the food budget
-making monthly meal plans
-composting
-less leftover waste
-making homemade snacks
-paying attention to how long things last (laundry detergent, etc..)
-finding more simple and healthy recipes
Knowing me, it will take me awhile!
And what about you? Any goals you have?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Chocolate Earth Balls
I am forever searching for healthier alternatives to satisfy my seemingly endless sweet tooth. I'm not sure if it's eating more sweets than normal after Christmas or my post-delivery cravings, or a combination, but my sweet tooth has been in high mode for a few months now. And I, admittedly, have given in and eaten a lot of foods I wouldn't normally eat, but I haven't been super committed to limiting my sugar intake as of late. Both my husband and I are committing to eating less sugar, particularly refined sugar. There was a time I had almost completely cut it out of my diet, but as too often happens, the more you slip away from the good habits, the more the bad habits seem to take over. I used to be able to eat dates or coconut rolled dates and feel satisfied. While I still enjoy that treat, it's not my first choice these days. And the fact that pregnancy weight is coming off much more slowly than it did with my other children is adding to my determination to get a handle on my sweet cravings.
So while looking through my Whole Foods Market Cookbook for something for dinner, I poked around in the back section called Cooking With Kids, that I had previously ignored and found a great recipe for Chocolate Earth Balls. I happened to have everything on hand they called for (amazingly enough, that almost never happens when I find something I want to make) and made half a batch, to see what the kids would think. Well, we ate them all in less than 2 days so I made another batch today. They are chewy and smooth with a little bit of crunch and plenty of sweetness to be very satisfying. And the kids had fun helping me roll them together! They sort of give you a sense of eating a candy bar.
As always, you should try to use as many organic ingredients as possible.
Chocolate Earth Balls
1 cup peanut butter
Side note: you should really try to eat natural peanut butter that has all of the natural oils and not the added hydrogenated fats that most traditional brands use. Even better, try organic peanut butter because peanuts are not the healthiest nut and have more pesticides than other nuts). You could also use another nut butter such as almond butter or combine the 2 like I did in my batch today. You could even substitute a little bit of tahini.
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons carob powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut, divided
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used organic grain-sweetened)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecans (I actually eliminated this because I didn't have nuts I wanted to use on hand and they were still fine)
Make sure peanut butter is stirred well. Mix honey, peanut butter and cocoa or carob powder until well combined. Stir in raisins, 1/8 cup coconut and chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Place remaining coconut, sesame seeds and nuts in 3 separate bowls. Roll mixture into balls and then roll into coconut, seeds and nuts. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to set.
This recipe made just over 2 dozen generously sized balls. I might do them a little smaller next time. They really are tasty so I encourage you to try them when you want something sweet AND healthy!
So while looking through my Whole Foods Market Cookbook for something for dinner, I poked around in the back section called Cooking With Kids, that I had previously ignored and found a great recipe for Chocolate Earth Balls. I happened to have everything on hand they called for (amazingly enough, that almost never happens when I find something I want to make) and made half a batch, to see what the kids would think. Well, we ate them all in less than 2 days so I made another batch today. They are chewy and smooth with a little bit of crunch and plenty of sweetness to be very satisfying. And the kids had fun helping me roll them together! They sort of give you a sense of eating a candy bar.
As always, you should try to use as many organic ingredients as possible.
Chocolate Earth Balls
1 cup peanut butter
Side note: you should really try to eat natural peanut butter that has all of the natural oils and not the added hydrogenated fats that most traditional brands use. Even better, try organic peanut butter because peanuts are not the healthiest nut and have more pesticides than other nuts). You could also use another nut butter such as almond butter or combine the 2 like I did in my batch today. You could even substitute a little bit of tahini.
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons carob powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut, divided
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used organic grain-sweetened)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecans (I actually eliminated this because I didn't have nuts I wanted to use on hand and they were still fine)
Make sure peanut butter is stirred well. Mix honey, peanut butter and cocoa or carob powder until well combined. Stir in raisins, 1/8 cup coconut and chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Place remaining coconut, sesame seeds and nuts in 3 separate bowls. Roll mixture into balls and then roll into coconut, seeds and nuts. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to set.
This recipe made just over 2 dozen generously sized balls. I might do them a little smaller next time. They really are tasty so I encourage you to try them when you want something sweet AND healthy!
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