migraine triggers

i'm so happy that [one of ] my sisters is finally getting going through the diagnosis series for migraines.  this means... CT scan, probably a MRI, and MEDICINE!  yay.  no more midnight runs to the ER for butt shots because she's had a throw-up-bad headache for 3 days!  :)

i was thinking, though, that maybe i'd list my triggers for her to help her avoid getting them to start with.  i determined all these things from keeping a 'diary' of sorts over months at a time.

1.  first off, schedule!  regular schedule in general is the best preventative.  eating same time every day, sleeping same time every day, and NO NAPS!

2. low barometric pressure.

3. heat.  i'm really sensitive to it.  i can't tolerate being in high temperatures for extended periods of time (or even short periods...). 

4. bright light (temperature irrelevant - sometimes it is the sun, sometimes it is oncoming traffic at night).

5. strong smells.  especially raw onions and most perfumes.

6. hats.  i can take ponytails as long as they are loose and "buns" or low 'tails - swaying 'tails can put me over the edge.

7. strenuous exercise.  this sounds horrible, but it is true.  i have to stay even all the time.  this doesn't mean i can't exercise, i just have to do low ones.  walking, swimming, yoga, stretching... that's for me.  sometimes if i go up the stairs too fast, i can instantly feel my head start pounding (at work).

8. bad posture - i have to sit and stand up straight!  no slouching.  the blood has to get to my head - and back down to my heart and feet!

9. roasted peanuts.  interestingly enough, i had a PB sandwich for supper last night.  i JUST TOOK a headache pill because i have a migraine.  how about that. (so many triggers, i forget them all sometimes! plus, you gotta live... just know the consequences!)

10.  alcohol.  i just can't take it anymore!  there are a few that don't give me a headache, but i just don't chance it anymore. not worth it.

11. processed meats (sandwich meat, hotdogs, crap with nitrates in it...) i never liked them anyway.  i finally figured out why!

12. not eating - well, i'm fat for a reason.  i have to eat all the time.  if my stomach growls, it is too late, one is on the way!  before long, i'm hugging the toilet.

13. stress - best to stay stress free but that is impossible.  best figure out a way to minimize it!  neck, foot, and hand massages by loving hubby work great!

14. hormones - the one thing you can only control 21 days a month.  that other 7 days, WHEW!  prepare for it.  i usually wake up and take two excedrin tensions. 

15. other food triggers - there are lots listed on the "don't eat" list for migraine sufferers but the ones that are it for me are MSG, roasted peanuts, raw onions, alcohol, and i may be forgetting a few.  ever since i switched to the mostly vegan diet, i haven't noticed many food triggers. 

radioactive chickens

I don’t think this is secret or confidential and when it was mentioned to me, it was said “this would make a great blog topic.”  I didn’t think so at first but the more I thought about it, the more I agreed.  I agree because I believe every American should be provided with safe food, water, and products that are free from chemicals that will have short or long term negative effects on their bodies – REGARDLESS of their income.  I certainly can’t decide for everyone what to do, but I can help educate.  (i.e., you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.)

Who shops at Walmart?  Do you buy your meat there?  Do you trust Walmart to provide you with quality meat?  Why do you shop at Walmart?  Is it because their meat is cheap?  Do you understand that, regardless of the pricetag, all meat isn’t the same (i.e. the chicken on sale at Walmart is NOT the chicken on sale at whole foods or on sale by a local farmer who raised the chicken himself)? 

Does someone who buys chicken at Walmart do so only because of the bottom line price?  Is it because that is all they can afford?  Isn’t it important that they be protected from large animal farmers who use poor management to raise large birds on poor quality feed or inject the meat with water to make it weigh more?  In essence, the Walmart shoppers aren’t getting a quality product. 

What if there was a poor management, large scale poultry farmer in the US who started importing their grain from a company who blended their feed with corn from eastern Russia – where the soils were still contaminated from the Chernobyl explosion?  That radiation would be transferred via the feed to the birds that were sold to Walmart.  All those Walmart customers would then be buying that meat and feeding it to their families here in the US.

Do you think I’m making up a horrible story?  Well I’m not.  Right here in NC, there is a poultry farm owned by a non-US company that plans to feed their birds 100% corn (not blended) from eastern Russia.  They plan to sell their birds to Walmart.  The FDA is deciding whether this is OK or not.  I can guarantee that you’ll never hear one way or another.  If you shop at Walmart, there won’t be a label indicating that your food is radioactive.  Or, that you may get cancer if you eat it.

YOU SHOULD KNOW WHERE YOU FOOD COMES FROM.  Buy local.  You pay more but you can eat less meat and eat more veggies.  You can also rest easy knowing that you don’t have cancer from a nuclear explosion that happened 20 years ago.  You can rest easy because you know you’re supporting local farmers. 

Lastly, regardless of where I buy my meat – which is never at Walmart – I think the people who DO shop at Walmart for their meat should be protected.  Feeding for-consumptions animals this type of feed should be illegal in the US.

here's an article i found online about this same topic:
http://heraldsun.com/view/full_story/12454399/article-Save-the-Townsend-Poultry-Plant-and-the-Rocky-River

kendal's dream

this morning, kendal woke up at 6:36.  his pants were wet where he had leaked out of his night diaper.  i changed his diaper and then he picked out a new pair of pjs (he won't wear mismatched pjs, he has to get a whole new set. he also won't let me pick them out).  next we woke up daddy, who was left the bed about 2am because i was still up clicking away on pictures. 

while we were sitting there waking up daddy, kendal starting talking.  he talked for nearly 30 minutes straight.  he told us a dream he had.  at first, in only got "fire truck, ambulance, and milk"  but by getting him to break it down, i think i got the story of his dream. 

this is the first dream he's ever told us about.  i know he's dreamed before, but this is the first one of which we've gotten the whole story.

[and for background, last night we ran out of milk. aparently, it made a huge impression on him!]

story goes that the fire truck, the ambulance, and the police car brought us milk.  [kendal, how many milks did they bring us? three.]  and then we went to the market [the market being where the cows go to buy a fat pig, home again home again jiggety jig.] and we [we being mommy, holly, and kendal] opened the gate and called the cow but she wouldn't come.  [kendal, what did the cow look like?  the cow was black and white.] so we went to the cow to get her milk.  [kendal, how do we get her milk? he made some sort of hand arm movement over his shoulder.  he clearly does not know how to get milk from a cow. when i asked him this again, he changed the subject by saying the cow was white and then he hugged me.]

yes it took him 30 minutes to tell us that!  he repeated it a lot.  and, i repeated it back to make sure i was understanding what he said.  there were just a few things that weren't clear but i do think that was the main part of the dream. it was cute and he was excited about telling it.

further clarification on the market:  the farm we pass daily on the way to raleigh used to have a bunch of cows.  when the cows "went away", we told them they went to the market.  which is true.  but then they wanted to go to the market to see them.  so, we just started responding by saying they went to the market to buy a fat pig, home again home again jiggety jig.  and, that was enough.  they still ask when the cows are coming home.  that farm purchased two cows and two sheep but didn't put them on the big fields.  i really miss seeing those cows.  it was my favorite part of the drive to raleigh or to mom and dad's house.

how to eat a tootsie roll

holiday menu

i had to take mom's car to zebulon this afternoon and while i was waiting to meet dad, i noticed a note on the console.  this note was a list of items on a typical southern holiday menu! i'm guessing it is what they had for thanksgiving, but i bet it is what we'll eat on christmas eve!

fruit salad
peas (pink eye purple hulls)
butter beans
sweet potatoes
corn pudding
grean bean casserole
collards
two meats, usually turkey and ham
dressing, sometimes two - regular and oyster
gravy
pickles, usually beet and sweet cucumber
mashed potatoes
cranberry sauce (out of a can!)
breads - corn bread and homemade biscuits and homemade yeast rolls
deviled eggs
sweet potato pie
pecan pie
grape pie is also on her list but i wouldn't say that is a traditional southern thing.  that is a mom thing!
sounds good, huh?

the lara revolution

i discovered larabars a couple of months ago (few months ago...) on a whim.  i've been trying different breakfast/energy bars for a while now trying to find something to munch on for breakfast - and larabar has been the only one that i've liked.

this larabar is made of dates and nuts.  nothing else.  no sugar, no vitamins, no additives or preservatives - well,  maybe some spices, like the one i had today (the ginger snap) which also had ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. OH MY GOD.  it was spicy goodness. 

i wish it came in a larabite rather than a larabar because the whole thing is 240 calories, which isn't so bad for a whole breakfast meal but it'd be even better if i could stop at half (120 calories) and save the rest for an afternoon snack or something.  YUM YUM. 

if you are interested, whole foods has them the cheapest that i can find - $1.25 a bar.  i've seen them elsewhere for up to $2.00 a bar.  so when i say whole foods has the best price, i mean it!  they also have a buy-a-box-save-10% deal.  i may buy a box of this ginger snap!  its my favorite flavor yet.  the cookie dough is also delish.  same as the peanut butter...

try one!

judging

yesterday we went to blue jay park (pictures forthcoming) and we spent quite a bit of time in the sand pit.  there, we encountered an small, attractive, thin woman (about gina's size) and a meat-head looking husband and their child. the child was a little bigger than holly but not as big as kendal, and isn't really important in this story except that i thought it was sweet that she tried sand at which time the mama panicked a little!  not that i wouldn't have done the same thing...  not judging that part.  :) 

so the mom was very friendly and interacted with kendal and holly.  she was one of those loud-talker types that wanted you to hear everything she was saying.  like, when she was getting the snacks/lunch out for her daughter, she went into a spill about how she ate healthy and how "daddy" needed to eat healthier.  she went ON and ON about how important eating healthy was.

she was feeding the daughter veggie sticks (carrots).  not sure why she wasn't just calling them carrots, but anyway... i suppose she'd be one to call a grilled mushroom on a bun a mushroom burger.

i judged.  you know what she was drinking?  diet dr. pepper.  there is nothing healthy about a can full of cancer causing chemicals in an acid bath!!!  drink a water, woman.

organic soapbox and dye free m&ms

if you needed a kick-in-the-ass for getting on the organic bandwagon, well here are a few articles that you need to read.

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/health/

http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/08/studies-link-range-of-major-diseases-to-pesticides-new-database-launched/

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/organicfood/conscience/index.htm

just sayin'.  i absolutely can-not buy foods that aren't organic anymore.  that isn't to say that i can't eat them (like when we aren't at home), but i can't buy them.  at home, we are 100% organic.  that is one-hundred percent.  from our juice to our sugar to our noodles to cookies and fruit and condiments and everything in between.  cheese too.  butter, milk, eggs... you name it.  wonder how we afford it?  we don't buy meat AND we eat less.  what did that do for us?  we lost weight (we needed to).  also eating unprocessed foods is more satisfying thus you don't have constant cravings.  it is like an all natural low-carb (rather, low glycemic) diet.  we eat little bread and little raw sugar.  we drink water rather than soda or tea or anything else.  even our kids ask for water (i swear i have the only kids in the world that ask for water). we eat lots of fruits and veggies.  (technically nuts and beans are veggies.) so anyway, we do all this on the same budget as before.  well, maybe less than before.  so, it can be done.  the conversion is hard because you have to go through that same detox like when you switch to a "low carb" diet - you have to "get off" the refined sugars and chemicals that you are probably eating now.  you WILL go through withdrawals!!! 

incidentally, i shopped at an earthfare this past weekend in briar creek and they are like a food lion of whole foods (more affordable than gourmet).  great store.  they even had a non-food dye laden version of m&ms in the bulk bin (and in bags, but i got the bulk - cheaper) called sunspire sundrops.  SWEET!  and at $9.59 a pound, we'll only be eating 5 at a time!  :)  portion control right there!!!  (so you know how many that is, a little less than a pound fills a 1/2 pint glass jar.) holly loves m&ms.  these actually taste better than m&ms.  try some if you see some!  (or order some online!)  i've never seen these at whole foods.

The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today.

made some HOT pepper jelly/jam this week.  hot because this has 2 habaneros in it (and about 20 jalapenos).  i seeded the habaneros but all the jalapeno seeds went in the blender.  it is spicy hot but not too hot.  it is perfect for cream cheese and crackers.  this batch also set up like it was supposed to.

special thanks to nathaniel who hit all the mexican tiendas in search of habaneros y jalapenos rojo. 

and, i did adjust the pictures to "brighten and saturate" the color of the jam. but, only because i couldn't get the light just right.  the 1st picture where i'm holding it up to the light is pretty much spot on for what it looks like.  it is a bright orange-red and looks like fire.  beautiful color.  incidentally, making jam always reminds me of this part of one of my favorite movies (thus the origin of this blog's title).  i can't believe they had the whole scene on youtube.:
 

green M&Ms

jacqueline and sophie gave kendal and holly m&ms in their party gift a couple of weekends ago.  kendal and holly haven't really had m&ms before (since they have food dyes in them) but we opened them in the car (at the request of holly, who loves chocolate). 

anyway, kendal won't eat them.  he just flat out won't eat candy.  no kind at all.  well, i guess last halloween he did taste reeses peanut butter cups but we don't eat much peanut based things (or candy) now.  anyway, i bought a pack of m&ms at target the other day so i could bring my $49.28 total over $50 so i could get a $5 gift certificate (and then use it immediately on my next purchase of diapers).  i opened it after lunch today and got out maybe 15 m&ms and split them up between the 3 of us.  kendal got 2 green ones and several other colors.  green is his favorite color, by the way.  he gave holly and me the other colors and kept the green ones for himself, though he never ate them.  i got him to put them in his shirt pocket for "safe keeping" (i.e., so holly wouldn't get them).

i put holly's in her dress pocket and she thought that was the finest thing.  she keeps looking in there to see if more have appeared.

and, FYI, at nap time, he still hadn't eaten them so i took them out and ate them myself (holly was already zonked out).  he will NOT eat candy.  he's the weirdest kid.  i mean, really, what kid doesn't like candy?

brown the green revolution

don't know why i spend my time reading about why i should eat local and organic foods.  i already eat them and i'm not going to stop.  i guess i want to convince everyone else about why this should be such an important part of EVERYone's life!

here is an interesting article about how india's agriculture was "americanized" back in the 60s (i.e. the green revolution) and they started using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and growing high-yield grains which i'm sure are now all genetically modified.  needless to say, now they need more fertilizer, the pesticides don't work, and they wells are 20 times deeper than they were.

i saw another blogpost (i wish i still had that one open, i have the quote in my cut and paste but the post is closed...) that had this quote:  "While chemical agriculture produced significant yield improvements over a period of years, the party has not lasted.  Increasing off-farm inputs has increased farmer debt loads, increased pest resistance to pesticides, and increased farmers’ dependence on volatile world commodity markets for hydrocarbons and ag products, while reducing soil fertility and water tables, and driving farmers off the land.  Disturbingly, new evidence is also showing a correlation between chemical-ag and increased in cancer in rural areas. ..


we need to brown the green revolution and go back to fertilizing with manure and compost!  we save every compostable scrap of trash in our house and put it in piles in the woods.  it cuts down on what goes to the landfill and one day, it'll fertilize OUR garden.

i love eating food grown in NC and, if i can't buy it local, then buying it organic!  i can't imagine spending my money or eating or feeding to my children any products that could one day harm them.  this includes everything from $5 american cheese (horizon brand - so expensive but i just can't buy the other!) rather than the regular kraft brand to boxed organic mac and cheese - i even buy cheese that is from cows not treated with hormones.  everything in our house is "safe" as approved by the USDA anyway, or grown in NC (i.e. dad's house or from the farmer's market).

next month, there is a farm tour in central NC (chatham co, orange co, wake co, franklin co, etc.) and nathaniel and i are volunteering at the farm where we buy our eggs.  i can't wait.  i'll be posting more about that in the upcoming weeks.

6-hydroxy-5-[(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo]-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid

anyone know what that is (without using google)?

it is interesting to me that the public outcry [in the form of comments] to news articles is "astonished"  with reports of "toxic chemical dispersants" that are/were put into the gulf (read about that in this article) when practically every american can find 6-hydroxy-5-[(2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo]-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid,  which is a derivative of coal tar (Red #40), in many of their pantry and cold items.  i mean, have you checked your orange soda?  how about your M&Ms?  fruit roll ups?  fruit loops? fruity pebbles?  even your light'n'fit yogurt? delmonte fruit salad? kraft barbeque sauce?  catalina dressing? doritos? twinkies (yea, they aren't even red!)? nutrigrain bars?  jello mixes?  pretty much any RED medicine you have (nyquil, sudafed, etc.) and some non-red medicine that you'd never even know about (ALL dyed children's medicines - cherry, berry, grape!)?  colgate toothpaste? advil?  tylenol?  even common prescription meds!  amoxicillin, wellbutrin, zoloft... and multivitams like centrum and children's flinstone chewables! The list could go on and on...

if you go to europe, NOTHING has red 40 in it because it is illegal to use as a food additive there.

i think americans need to keep in perspective what "toxic" is!!!  the government seems to be pretty consistent with their definition of "toxic" since the dispersants were allowed to be used in the gulf AND artificial food dyes are allowed to be put into our foods!

i'm happy to say that we're 99% dye free in our house.  (i have to put that 1% in there for incidental medicines like tylenol and advil and the occasional antibiotic for the kids - they always seem to get the pink stuff which i hate giving them!)

want to read more about food additives?  this is a neat link.  i have it bookmarked and refer to it anytime i find something out of the ordinary.  we generally cook everything "fresh and clean" so additives are very low on my worry list!

wild mushroom and stilton galette

amy sent me a recipe for THIS galette and i linked from there to the wild mushroom and stilton one on her blog from that day.  as soon as i read those words my mouth watered.  i LOVE mushrooms and i LOVE blue cheese.  especially stilton, it is my favorite.

so, i tried it.  it wasn't as hard i thought it'd be (i was expecting worse after reading the smitten kitchen blog) but the frozen butter did bend my pastry knife (i just dumped it into the food processor instead) and my dough didn't turn out as pretty as hers.  i'm not a very patient pastry maker.  that is probably why my biscuits never turn out right either.  my crust was good - awesome flavor - but not as flaky as i expected.  i also had to add more water because i couldn't get all the flour to get into the ball.  eh, i made it work.

SO anyway, the mushrooms weren't anything fancy, i was limited to only what they had at lowes foods (which is just "normal" wild mushrooms) and i also didn't let the dried ones soak for 30 minutes.  within 15 minutes they were cooled and hydrated.

the rest is history.  when it was baking, a lot of the butter ran off the pan so i had to have a drip pan underneath the one that it was cooking on.  it was really messy while it was cooking...

but WELL worth the mess.

the smell in my house was so yummy.  it smelled like fall.  the warmth of the herbs and the richness of the butter and cheese and 'shrooms.  oh man oh man oh man.  it was all i could do to wait to eat it.

but i did and i had 2 pieces.  nathaniel had 1.  it was really rich.  very filling, and very tasty.  it'd be a great side-dish for a steak or an appetizer just a "light" heavy dinner.  (i.e., just a couple of pieces and you're full, but you really don't eat that much but you DO get plenty of fat when you eat it... remember, there is over  stick of butter in that thing!).  and, i did an eggwash on the crust which she didn't do.  either way mine was u-g-l-y (and totally has no alibi)!


so, here are my pictures.  if you want the recipe and a better "what to aim for" idea, then please visit the original website!!!

tabbouleh

nathaniel made some tabbouleh last night that i have to say that i honestly could not wait to get up this morning and eat. 

here is the recipe that i think he used.  i KNOW he used the inca red quinoa because we didn't have wheat germ.  i have to say that i like the red quinoa better than the white stuff - and it is marvelous (and pretty) in this tabbouleh.

1 cup raw red quinoa (plus 1 cup water to cook the quinoa accd to package directions...) - this obviously needed to be cooked then cooled.

4 large tomatoes, chopped (and seeded at my request)
2 cups chopped parsley
don't think he added mint but the recipe we have calls for 1 cup of it, chopped
1 bunch of scallions finely chopped
1/2 tsp allspice (not sure if he added that)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 (or more?) FRESH lemon juice (fresh being most important here - thank you lori for the lemons!)
1/3 EVOO
mix all that together and you have such a delicious and nutritionally complete dish!  tons of protien, fiber, etc.  just wonderful!  even better after it sits overnight.  (i can vouch for that because i had a bite at 7:30 am!)

i'll add a picture of the final product if i remember to take my camera downstairs...

$20 at the farmers market

 (this is not my picture, it was MUCH more crowded than this on friday afternoon!)

thought i'd list what $20 will buy at the state farmer's market.  i was shopping for produce to feed folks at a bridal shower ( for today) - these are all things that dad doesn't really have in his garden (either right now or ever).

$8 for 4 extra large smooth-skinned johnston county cantaloupes - not only did my nose lead me to these, they were also the cheapest - i did taste their samples to make sure they tasted as good as they smelled!

$6 for 12 longer than usual but still skinny johnston county pickling cucumbers (i think they taste the best and have the least seeds - and they still taste really good)

$4 for 6 harnett county green peppers

$2 for 4 peaches for nathaniel since the last 4 peaches i bought him at the grocery store rotted before he got a chance to eat them. these smelled outstanding - and they were fresh from NC!  i can't remember exactly where. 

anyway, the cantaloupe is my favorite.  i think i would have been fine with just 2 of them - they are HUGE.
from dad's garden, i got blueberries and squash - YUM!

we're having fresh and healthy food at our shower today.  no meat!  :)  and, well everything is healthy except for the cake and the ranch dressing.  i didn't know how welcoming folks would be to a homemade yogurt-dill dip so i opted for the more traditional ranch.  just so you know, there is a green onion option that has half the sodium.  i got one of each and the green onion was better.  both nathaniel and i thought so.  mainly because it wasn't so salty!  now if they could just cut out that MSG!

lead in with soy...

i was going to write a blog today about what i put in my tummy part 2 which i intend to be about "FAKE MEAT" but nathaniel sent me an article about "creating chicken without the egg" and it reminded me that maybe i should write a blog first about why i don't eat soy.

my #1 reason is because of the high amounts phyto-estrogen in soy.  oh, and the fact that most soy is genetically motified.  they also can mimic testosterone and inhibit the absorption of minerals like iron and calcium, and cause you to need more vitD and b12...  i've also read something about the thyroid and i know that if you are susceptible to aluminum toxicity, that you should avoid soy (learned that in the book he's not autistic, but...).  but anyway, when i was poking around looking for more reasons (i was hoping to make a top ten list), i found an actually list of ten reasons why that was so well written, i decided to just link to his blog (which i see that he posted it from another link but that one wouldn't work for me...) and repost it rather than coming up with a list of my own.

i'm just going to reiterate his last line really quick, though:  "I personally do not eat soy and will avoid it at all costs." which is almost exactly what i do.  i try not to buy anything that has soy in it - i will consider it if it is processed in a plant with soy (because that is nearly impossible to avoid), but, i'd say that 95% of our house is soyfree.  that 5% would be soy sauce (which i rarely use) and other sauces that have soy sauce in them. 

so, here is the list i didn't make:

10 reasons why you should NOT eat soy!

I have decided to write this Blog about soy because there is a lot of controversy and myths out there in the health and fitness industry as to how beneficial soy is for your health. I am going to tell you quite the opposite and how you should most definitely AVOID SOY!

1. Phytic Acid. Soy contains  high levels of phytic acid. In soy this reduces the assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children. It is possible to neutralise phytic acid in soy through methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. However most soy  in modern times is not prepared through these methods.
2. Protein Digestion.  Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
3. Phytoestrogens. Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
4. Hypothyroidism. To add to the point above, soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
5. Vitamin B_12. Vitamin B₁₂ analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B₁₂.
6. Vitamin D. Rather than satisfying the body's needs for vitamin D, soy foods increase the body's requirement for this vital vitamin.
7. Denatured proteins. Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
8. Processing. Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
9. MSG. When soy is processed with typical food processing methods, free glutamic acid or MSG is formed. MSG is a potent neuro-toxin. Often additional amounts of MSG are added to many soy foods.
10. Heavy metal toxins. Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

As you can see, these 10 reasons to avoid soy are rather damaging to the reputation of this "health food". I suggest you review these points and then have a think whether you would like to continue using soy in your diet.
I personally do not eat soy and will avoid it at all costs.

 

how do you say what???

i tried a new food today and i think my biggest issue with it was the fact i wasn't sure how to pronounce it.  i hated feeding it to kendal and holly (who both LOVED LOVED LOVED it) without telling them what it was.  quinoa.  my southern self wanted to say kwin-o-ah.  but, i did a little internet search and found out that my instinct was wrong (no surprise there) and actually it is pronounced keen-wah.

anyway, as i was searching for the correct pronunciation, i found an interesting thread where people discuss the correct proununciations of words.  and, anyway, some dude put a list of "how to say" wine names.  i'm sure amy can read them all and correct the ones that are wrong, but, i always wonder how to say some of them.  i speak NO french except, maybe - well, none.  so, i thought this was pretty cool.
i definitely recommend going to the site and reading it (it is more than just wine).  you'll get a few laughs. like, the funniest thing the guy, steve, says is:

"I don't think it actually makes a damned bit of difference how you pronounce these wines. Just do the best you can. If you're talking to someone who sells wine who would make fun of you for mispronouncing the name of a grape or region, the proper term for what that person is pronounced  "ahs-whole"."

Cabernet Sauvignon: Cab-er-nay Saw-vin-yawn
Merlot: Mair-low
Petit Verdot" puh-teet vair-doh
Malbec: Two - Mall-beck or mal-beck
Carmenere: Car-muhn-yair
Sauvignon Blanc: Saw-vin-yawn blonk
Zinfandel: Just like it's written
Pinot Noir: Pee-no N'wahr
Pinot Grigio: Pee-no Gree-zhe-oh (or gree-zho)
Cabernet Franc: Cab-er-nay Fronk
Syrah: sear-ah
Shiraz: Shi-roz
Barolo: bah-roll-oh
Nebbiolo: Neh-bee-oh-low
Sangiovese: two possible - san-joe-vay-zay or san-gee-oh-vay-zay
  (The common error with this is leaving off the final "e". It's pronounced as a soft, breathy "A")
Albarino: Al-buh-ren-yo
Pinotage: Pee-no-tazhs
Reisling: Ree-zling
Meritage: two - Mer-ih-tazhs or mer-ih-tage
Valpolicella: val-poh-lee-chell-uh
Beaujolais: Boo-zho-lay
Muller-Thurgau: Moo-luhr Tur-gouw
Gruner Veltliner: Groo-nuhr Velt-lee-nuhr (or just "gruner", for the Wine Hip)
Gaglioppo: Gal-lee-oh-poe
Sauternes: Saw-tairn
Grenache: grin-osh (as in the final syllable of "nosh")
Mourvedre: Moor-ved-ruh
Tempranillo: tim-pruh-nee-yoh
Monastrell: Mahn-uh-stray (this is the Spanish term for mourvedre)
Touriga Nacional: Too-ree-guh nah-cee-yo-nahl
Torrontes: toe-rahn-tez
Chenin Blanc: Shin-uhn Blonk
Semillon: Seh-mee-yawn
Viognier: Vee-yohn-yay
Muscat: Moo-scott
Cinsaut: sin-sew
Chateauneuf du Pape: Shat-oh-noof dew pop
Rioja: Ree-oh-hah
Ribera del Duero: Rib-erra del dweh-row
Chianti: Kee-yahn-tee (accent on middle syllable)
Loire:L'wahr
Languedoc-Rousillon: long-doh roo-see-yahn
Alsace: ahl-sahs
Hermitage: air-me-tazhs ("Tazhs" is pronounced like the end of the word "massage")
Cote Rotie: coat Row-tee
Croze Hermitage: Crows Air-me-tazhs
St. Joseph: San Jo-seff
Gigondas: zheeg-own-dah
Vacqueyras: vah-kay-rah
Barsac: bar-sock
Fronsac: Forhn-sock
Graves: grahv
Haut-Medoc: hoht meh-dock
Margaux: mahr-go
Pauillac: paw-yock
Pessac-Leognan: pay-sock layo-g'nawn
Pomerol: pah-mer-ahl
Saint-Emilion: sahnt eh-mee-yawn
Saint-Estephe: sahnt a-stef
Saint-Julien: sahn zhoo-lee-aw
Soave: So-ah-vay
Brunello: brew-nell-low
Primitivo: prim-uh-teev-oh
Barossa: buh-row-suh
Colchaugua: coal-chaw-gwah
Condrieu: kawn-drew
Montalcino: mon-tull-CHEE-no
Recioto: ruh-show-toe
Vouvray: voov-ray

bad news about BPA

"First used in Germany, in the nineteen-thirties, bisphenol A has a chemical structure similar to that of estrogen, but was considered too weak to be developed into a contraceptive pill."

why do we still have this on store shelves?  i can tell you for sure it isn't in our house!!!  if you ever use the baby food in the plastic container, you are feeding your baby food stored in this type of plastic!  i'm talking about BPA - #7 plastic!!!  check it - even the organic gerber - yup - #7 plastic!!!  if you are gonna buy yo' baby food, get it in glass jars!  and if you ever open a can of food and see it lined with plastic, you better not eat that either - that plastic lining is BPA!  lots of the older baby bottles and sippy cups were #7 too, but they are pretty much phased out now.  BPA is still on the shelf, but companies are advertising "BPA FREE" to lure you in (which is a good thing).  BPA FREE (or just plastic free in general) is the only way to go.

food lion vs kroger

NO FRUITFUL O'S

back when we switched to organic foods, i searched high and low to find a "kid cereal" that was BHT/BHA free and also sans food dyes.  in particular, i was looking for one LIKE fruit loops.  one day on a trip to whole foods, i found three versions - i bought all three boxes and we taste tasted them.  anyway, cascadian farm fruitful o's was hands-down the winner. 

so, for quite some time now, i've been driving to whole foods once a week to buy two to three boxes of this cereal.  i haven't been able to find it around here.  not that i've searched that hard... but the stores i usually shop at (food lion, target, lowe's foods), they have cascadian farm brand cereal, just not that type of cereal.  (the purely o's and honey nut o's are also really good if you are looking for an organic version of cheerios or honey nut cheerios.)

SO, this past weekend, i drove to raleigh to buy more fruitful o's.  i got my reusable bags, walked in whole foods, went to the cereal isle, and began to search frantically for the cereal.  there was none on the shelf.  not only was there none, but there was not even a label for it!  customer service offered to order a case for me. 

SQUEAKY WHEEL

our local food lion has a good organic section.  i've asked the store manager about carrying the FO's and they indicated that i needed to call corporate and make a request.  so, i did about a month ago (with my story about having to drive about an hour to whole foods to buy 2 to 3 boxes a week...).  so, not having a UPC, i called the store again (the local FL) to see if they have heard anything yet (the woman knows me by this point, i'm always requesting stuff for their organic section - of which nothing as been obtained yet.) she said she's not seen anything so to call corporate again.

so, first, i needed the UPC from the box.  since we were out, i had to call cascadian farms.  they were so helpful, they told me two krogers in raleigh that "supposedly" had the cereal.  of coarse, when i hung up with her, i called the closest kroger (in wake forest) to verify, she held 3 boxes for me (they were on sale), we loaded in the car, and i went to get them.  would you believe that i got the last 3 boxes - if she hadn't held them for me i wouldn't have gotten ANY???  they had 8 in stock when i called.  the check-out lady also gave me a rain-check so i can get more boxes at the sale price.  incidentally, kroger also has a pretty good "natural" section.  i may be back...  kroger also has kid-sized carts, which kendal and holly love. (well, they actually fought over who got to push it.  it was a little bit of drama.)

so i called food lion later in the afternoon (corporate) explaining that i'm requesting it AGAIN.  i further asked her what i had to do to get it on the shelf - like did i need to call every day and request it - and she said that it would depend on how many people called and requested it.  THEN i told her how whole foods offered to buy it by the case for me and, since i preferred to buy it by the box IN a store, the cascadian farm customer service line indicated that a kroger 3 miles away has the cereal on the shelf, which i verified by going there that morning and buying all they had on the shelf - which was 3 boxes and within 1 hour they had 8 boxes and i got the last 3 only because they held them for me.  i then told her that i preferred to do all my shopping in one store and that my mom always shopped at food lion and that i guess that is why i always preferred shopping at food lion.  AND, that i would hate to move my business over to kroger over a simple box of cereal.

she changed her tune really quick and decided to enter my call as a SEPARATE call/request.

so, i wonder if it will actually make a difference.  i still prefer shopping at FL. i will, however, use one evening to go to FL and then over to kroger and compare prices on their "natural foods" because, really, the bottom line is price, price, price.  i'm gonna shop at the store that has the cheapest prices.  they have the same brands of foods.  in the past, food lion has always won out on price.  so i wonder where i'll be shopping in the future!??  food lion or kroger!!!???!???!?!??!?

**disclaimer** walmart is excluded from the price comparison!  i will not shop at walmart except on a rare or desperate occasion (or by a lack of choice - you know, like when you live in washington and there isn't really any other choice). 

10 days with daniel

after seeing all the fruit and veggie stands loaded with brightly colored produce (and a grill it with bobby flay episode today where they made grilled watermelon), i've decided that maybe the time has come for me to try the daniel fast. i've arbitrarily picked 10 days as my goal.

the daniel fast is basically a vegan diet except stricter.

Food That You Can Eat In The Daniel Diet:

All Whole Grains
All Legumes/ Beans
All Vegetables
All Fruits
All Nuts and Seeds
All quality Oil
Pure Water and Juice
Vinegar, Salt, Herbs and Spices

Food to Avoid in Daniel Diet:

All Dairy products
All Meat and Animal Products
All Deep Fried food
All Sweeteners and Sugar Substitutes
All Leavened Bread
All Food Made By White flour
All Food containing preservatives or additives
All Caffeine, Carbonated and Alcohol Beverages
All Solid Fats
White rice

i don't eat much meat as it is.  i do eat sugar, so that will be tough to eliminate for 10 days.  i rarely eat bread or anything that isn't fresh/whole right out of the fridge or freezer.  will have to give up rice, which is one of my staples.  and, no butter.  :(  oh, no tea either.  no tea, coffee - nothing, except water.  i can make freshly squeezed fruit juice which i do all the time already.  oh, and no cheese or eggs.  whew, that one will be the hardest.  suppose i shall be buying a calcium supplement!

tofu = bad.  i'll be putting NO soy products into my diet during the fast - i consider soy an altered product since it is impossible to find GMO free. that's  my own add-in to the diet!

darn it, i left mark and amy's recipe book at their house... guess the internet will have to do for ideas!