Category Archives: Food

Following the money

Search for this in the Android or iPhone app store.

Last night, I found a new smartphone app that can tell you if what you’re buying is connected with corporations that funnel money into issues you may oppose.

I must say, it was revealing. After I set up the app, I started scanning products in my kitchen (the app uses the barcode scanner in your phone). Some results I almost expected, while others were pretty disappointing.

First, you “join a campaign,” which sets the parameters for the scan results. I joined three:

Then the scanning of UPC labels began. Behold some results of my pulling things out of the fridge and pantry at random:

Wal-Mart did pretty well, which was a nice surprise. I had read somewhere that they do not use growth hormones in their milk; I was glad that the app backed that up.

But then there was the bad news. Look below the red bar on the images below to see how much money food corporations threw at defeating Proposition 37 in California.

And perhaps the most disappointing scan:

???

???

Quite the eye-opener. I encourage you to enthusiastically get involved in what foods you’re choosing for yourself and your family. And it’s not that I’m on a mission to change the whole world, but here is my issue: If others want to ingest the chemicals that genetically modified foods contain, that is none of my business. Folks can do as they choose. However, if I am going to ingest anything harmful — or worse, feed something harmful to my children and grandchildren — I want to be told about it ahead of time, so I can not feed it to them.

And all the Monsanto money in Washington won’t change my mind.

So download this app, if you’ve a mind to. It’s free, and from where I sit, nothing is bad about extra information.

Hey guess what: it’s Finkday *and* payday. That should make everyone happy. :-D Have a great weekend!

It works.

I’m not one to proselytize, or say live like I live! But I’m here to tell you, fiends, life has changed around here, and for the better, all because of one major detour.

On the 5th of this month, the Thriller had his blood pressure taken, and it was high. Most of you already know that. That evening, we went through the refrigerator, freezer and pantry, and got rid of everything that contained boatloads of white sugar, white flour, insane levels of sodium, and anything prepackaged and preserved with chemicals. In other words, everything we considered unhelpful to our health was removed.

The cupboard was pretty much bare. It was a considerable gut punch. We were faced with a choice: Do we continue to live like this and roll the dice on our health, or do we undertake a massive paradigm shift?

Well, we have now been living this new lifestyle (including my being 99% gluten-free) for 24 days, and let me tell you something: it works. Behold the ongoing results…

  1. The Thriller’s dry, cracked hands and arms are clearing up.
  2. We’re both sleeping better.
  3. Our digestive problems have disappeared. Acid reflux=gone.
  4. I no longer feel wasted every morning, dragging it out of bed with a bad attitude.
  5. My propensity for nailbiting when stressed or nervous is completely gone. (In fact, I’m honked about having to trim them in order to play guitar on my high school concert on the 20th.)
  6. I’ve discovered the awesomeness of coconut oil. I made some salmon patties for dinner last night, breaded with crushed-up gluten-free crackers, and fried in organic coconut oil. Beyond fantastic.
  7. And most importantly — my cravings for sugar have all but disappeared. Although I am an official sugar addict (trust me, this is a real affliction), I can feel good about remaining abstinent, and that’s something that’s never happened to me, ever.

The 8-lb. weight loss thus far? I’m looking at that as a nice side effect, and not the major goal. The Thriller hasn’t weighed himself, but I can tell a difference, and so can he, in the way his clothes fit.

So there’s my sermon for this morning. Get the chemicals (and believe it, white sugar and flour are made up of little else) out of your body and start loving yourself more. We thought living largely organic was going to be a huge drain on our finances. Granted, while organic foods are more expensive, we’ve noticed that over the last three grocery buys, we’re saving lots by not buying canned goods, ice cream, cookies, donuts, and boxes full of fake dinners. Instead, I’m getting excited about being creative in the kitchen again.

Time was, I dreaded the idea of coming home after a long day and cooking dinner. There was a considerable stretch when I didn’t cook at all, and we both just fended for ourselves. No longer. We have to decide what’s important in life — not only for ourselves, but for our kids (and grandkids).

OK, pulpit closed for the day — unless you want to evangelize in the comments. :-)

OK, weird.

had a funny thought as I made my breakfast (pictured, of course, because that’s what silly people do: take photos of their food) this morning.

I used to hate oatmeal. I mean, really hate it. Maybe it’s because Mother tried to make me eat it when I was, oh, five years old, and I clearly remember gagging. She thought I was being dramatic, but I was for real horking on the stuff.

Well, now I love it. As I cut up the strawberries and bananas to put in it this morning, I mused on all the foods I used to hate, but really like now:

  • Salads and salad dressing (although I will eat only Caesar dressing; no other kind)
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Pizza (Can you believe it? A teenager who hated pizza.)
  • Cranberries
  • Rice
  • Alfredo sauce
  • Cantaloupe

Bizarre, eh? I guess your tastes really do change as you get older. Do you have a list like this?

Speaking of tastes, I can’t finish my oatmeal and type at the same time, so I’m out. Yay for Finkday though. :-) Happy weekend!

In case you didn’t know…

…one of my dear fiends is a great writer. She’s also a businesswoman, a musician, a teacher, a photographer, a visual artist, and in some cases, a mother confessor. Haha. (Ask me how I know this.)

BFF Kay’s new business endeavor, along with her husband Bob, is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) project, whereby they grow and sell organic vegetables and fruits, free-range eggs and cheeses, and other homegrown/homespun products. A few lucky saps get to invest in the harvest, and the Thriller and I jumped at the chance. So now, we have a summer full of goodies coming our way — delivered right to our door. Beyond cool.

Since the Thriller’s high blood pressure scare several weeks ago, I’ve become much more interested in — and concerned about — the many chemicals we ingest through pesticides and hormones in produce and meats, and the preservatives in canned goods and prepackaged foods. It’s frightening. No wonder we’re all getting sick and sicker, truly. No joke.

I might be turning into a tree-hugging leftover hippie, wearing peasant blouses, hemp skirts, huarache sandals and flowers in her hair. That’d be OK with me (and would delight Kay to no end).

Anyway, go check out Kay & Bob’s business over at Thistlefink Gardens. While you’re there, click around and see the pictures and the stories. Much to see and read, and all of it good.

Happy weekend! I’m sure it’ll be too short, at least for me.

Can you tell?

I’m getting ready for warmer weather. The spring-like weekend we had really stoked us up for this summer. Stoked me up in other ways, too.

I’m trying to be more organized with food while we’re both busy, so I made a menu over the weekend. We grocery shopped and made alternate plans for tonight and tomorrow night, when neither of us will be home at dinnertime. In the meantime, I received some cool popsicle molds, and thought I’d try them out. Yummy!

A half cup of vanilla Greek yogurt and eight fresh strawberries makes two large popsicles. Three times through the Ninja, and perfecto.

Just those two ingredients made these tasty morsels. Froyopops. Frosicles. Whatever — they’re lishy. I think I’ll try some with banana, coconut and pineapple next time. (Please do not quote that insipid song by Rupert Holmes; it might ruin my day. Please be kind.)

All right then, chaps. Time to make our lunches and get going. Ready to tackle another week, after which just seven remain.