Let's talk about meat

As you add changes to your dairy, bread and center ailse no-nos (foods containing HFCS, hydrogenated oils and dyes) have you considered the meat department?

Finding organic meat at the prices I like to pay can be more of a challenge at times, but it's still worth it. All of our local grocery stores have periodic sales on brands you can trust like, Coleman and Maverick, while Kroger and Publix also sell their own brands (Naturally Preferred and Greenwise). Both Ingles and Kroger mark down their meat between 1 to 5 days before expiration. You may be able to note in my photos that all of the meat I had purchased was reduced. I take what I can on those days and try not to be too greedy. Sometimes when we have it in the budget I do purchase meat at a decent, regular price to support the market.

Bentley's All Natural Meats & Produce is located on East May Street in Winder, GA. Their phone number is 678-963-9877. They now offer specials on bulk orders.

Something I would love to do, but have to work myself up to paying the bulk price would be ordering beef by the quarter. Stokes Farm is a local cattle farm (Lawrenceville/Dacula) that grows grass fed beef that is free of hormones and anitbiotics. Your order is sent to a butcher in Statham so it is already cut, packaged and frozen when you pick it up. Just be sure to have plenty of freezer space. One option to an investment like this is to find a family to share the order with. I sampled some of his beef at the Lawrenceville Market (downtown) one Saturday. After doing so I wanted to take some home with me right then! Pricing as of right now...

Approximately 100lbs of beef:

Deposit $250
Due at pickup: $250

Processing fee to Butcher: $52

Contact info: Stokes Farm
stokesfarm@bellsouth.net

If you are not quite ready for that type of venture try the Dekalb Farmer's Market. They have just about every kind of meat you can possibly desire. One of my favorites is the ground turkey, priced at $2.79 a pound. I use it for my spaghetti, chilli, tacos, meatloaf, casseroles and much more. I also love the bonless, skinless chicken thighs. Oh, and the turkey, breakfast sausage is tasty as well.

Good luck on your hunts! Remember, if your budget is tight try replacing just one meal a week with organic/natural meats. We try to go meatless one night of the week as well. On one occaision I ran out of time to put meat in the spaghetti sauce. Truly, no one missed it!

Hope you find this helpful. God bless and don't give up on your steps towards healthy living!

L'Thai Organic Restaurant

One Friday night my husband and I ventured out to try L'Thai Organic Restaurant. Upon arriving, I was careful not to make an assumption too quickly, as the restaurant was in an ordinary parking lot in Tucker, GA. Inside the environment was small, but cozy and the staff was friendly. As we looked over the menu we read that they encourage you to take your time and enjoy the experience of eating out.

Like a child getting a run through at Toys-R-Us, I thoroughly inspected my menu with a giddy excitement. Did I mention that I love food, especially what I would consider "guilt free"? The menu boasted of a large variety of Thai dishes that were all organic...organic brown rice, grass fed, organic beef, chicken, organic coffee AND organic desserts! Even my husband began to get excited and tried to hurry me along. I reminded him that we were to be "relaxed" and "enjoying our meal".

We ordered hot jasmine green tea and coffee to start with an order of spring rolls to keep my husband happy. For the entree he ordered a grass fed beef dish that was mild. I chose the chicken gingerine and asked for a little kick. Note: Only ask for additional kick if you REALLY like it hot. My dish had great flavor, but I had to keep a tissue handy for my nose!

The dessert options were very tempting but we both agreed that we couldn't fit a bite more. Another pleasing aspect of this tasty, Thai cuisine was our bill. The total came to $37.00, which included the two drink orders and an appetizer; two luxuries that we typically choose not to indulge in.

If you enjoy Thai food and would like to peruse their menu as well, go to http://www.lethai.com/.

I look forward to our next date night. Maybe we will head out to Athens and check out the restaurant called Farm 255. At Farm 255 the menu consists of food from their farm (Full Moon Farms), which is organic, and neighboring farms/ranches.

Brief overview - Dairy

I know we touched briefly on milk but that first blog was geared to those who were at a specific event. To be more organized I want to be sure to cover all my bases for those who may not be aware, so please bear with me if a line or two seems repetitive. Also, before I move on please take in account that I am not supporting a diet stocked full of dairy. In fact, we need more vegetables than we do dairy, but for the dairy we do consume...

At one time, we never thought twice about grabbing a gallon of milk, loading up yogurt and whatever else we needed. Now reports of hormones used to increase milk production, antibiotics to treat illnesses and cows that rarely, if ever, see the light of day are circulating everywhere. And what is in that grain that they eat? Weren't they meant to consume large quantities of grass as well?

If you are going to consume dairy, choose organic products whenever possible. Our options are ever increasing with companies such as Organic Valley, Horizon, Naturally Preferred (Kroger), Publix Greenwise, Stonyfield etc. Cutting back on dairy intake is also a price reducer and may help with health issues as well. My boys love cereal and that's generally their dairy intake for the day with the exception of maybe some cheese here and there.

It's amazing how as of right now we can purchase organic half & half, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, shredded cheese, block cheese, CREAM cheese, butter etc. right from our local grocery stores! As I have stated before, you can print out coupons on the Internet. Choose one or two of these options, print out a coupon and make a change. No getting overwhelmed. Maybe your budget is super tight. Then you can go for the least expensive choice for this month. For example, if you are a coffee drinker and are not addicted to flavored creamers (I was!!) then purchase the half & half. Ingles, Wal-Mart and Publix have it for a reasonable price.


Costco sells yogurt and milk at a fair price. They even sell a bulk package of organic chocolate milk that is a great for a treat in the kid's lunches. I say a "treat" because I rarely purchase this extravagance, but when I do it's a "Friday special".


Let me know of any changes that you make. We can share ideas, inform each other of sales, hidden coupon spots and my personal favorites - markdowns! :)


Proverbs 27:27

"You will have enough goats' [or cows'] milk to feed you and your family and to nourish your servant girls."

Shopping for Fruits & Veggies...

Okay. Quick Review. What is organic?

By definition, organic means that foods are produced according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste (seriously, who would have thought this was something we would have to worry about??), or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives. Livestock are reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones.


All in favor of eating fresh straberries picked from the sewage sludge field say, "I". Of course if you are going to a local farm, I highly doubt this would be a concern. Many of you may have taken some family outings to pick strawberries or blueberries. Great! Supporting local farmers is absolutely a great way to go. Others of you may grown your own. What can be better than this? I hope to start that next year. More on that in another blog.

Due to cost and availability we cannot always purchase organic. I carry the above card in my purse when I go shopping. You would think that by now I would have it memorized, but with everything else I need to keep track of (especially if the boys are with me) the list escapes me. So here they are:

Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Cherries, Imported Grapes, Nectarines, Lettuce, Peaches, Pears, Potatoes, Spinach, Strawberries

I am also adding green beans, cucumbers and BROWN RICE (that is a biggie) from other studies.

Make yourself an index card list and slip it into your purse. Do what you can and when you cannot...here is a Veggie Spray to use to clean fruits and veggies that are not organic.

1 cup of Water (filtered)

1 cup of white vinegar (ahh, the smell of vinegar)

1 T of Baking Soda

10 -20 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract (can be purchased at any health food store/vitamin store)

Pour mixture into a spray bottle and spray down veggies. Allow them to sit for 5 to 10 minutes than rinse off. Viola! You can rest a little easier.

Much of the information in this blog has been obtained from:

Earthbound Organics

Publix Greenwise

Sophie Uliano, Gorgeously Green website

Personal Care

So today in my research and work to find better alternatives in our toxic world, I find myself omitting off the pungent aroma of vinegar. Is there no limit to what I will try to be healthier?? I wondered this to myself as I applied vinegar to my underarms with a cotton ball in hopes of killing any traces of BO. Maybe I should try adding a few drops of essential oils to my vinegar concoction? So, does it work? I'll have to get back with you on that one as my researching and experimenting continue...

Moving on...my dear friends, I have to say that I thought this blog was going to be an easy one for me but I was sadly mistaken! First, thank you all for your encouragement to keep this blog going!! I am now more determined than ever to make healthier decisions and share my findings along the way.


Worried about the effects of sodium lauryl sulfates, propelyne gycol, parabens etc.? Me too. Before writing this blog I wanted to refresh my memory on what I have learned over the last 4 years. What I found is an OVER abundance of information and conflicting views. After a couple hours of reading, I have come to feel more concern about ingredients such as: DEA (Diethanolamine) and TEA (Triethanolmaine) than some of my original thoughts on the "evils" of the cosmetic realm.


Due to the amount of overwhelming information, I would like to share a great resource for quick and easy answers - http://www.safecosmetics.org/. Click on the "Skin Deep" report and you can enter ANY ingredient in their search engine. There you will find a 1 to 10 scale of risk, an ingredient definition, and much more. Very cool. No time to research right now? Here are a couple of respected companies and where they can be found:


Aubrey Organics: Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods, Internet (Amazon, Aubrey-Organics.com, etc.) AND even some of your neighborhood grocery stores


Burt's Bees: All of the above places in addition to Target, Wal-Mart is also getting in on the action.


FYI: At Amazon.com you can watch for Free "Super Saver Shipping". If a product is eligible you can receive free shipping on orders of $25 or more.


I want to write more but I have promised not to overwhelm. So in conclusion for today, remember to read labels!! If you are concerned and unsure, take a moment and find out it's origin. Our skin is a living organism. Let's be good to it!

Next Blog: The "DIRTY DOZEN" of Organics

Breads, Milk & Water

Reading food labels has always been a known practice for some time now. However, shoppers are beginning to realize that it's not just calories, carbs and fat content that we have to watch out for. For a good rule of thumb it is best, when possible, to avoid the following three ingredients: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Oils, and Dyes (Red #40, Blue #1 ect). This can be frustrating for most due to the fact that just about everything on the shelves these days has one or more of the above ingredients. For this reason I want to begin to encourage others to start small. Make one change at a time, maybe even one month at a time. This does not have to be difficult or overwhelming.

So let's start with bread, milk and water. There are several facts that I could give you to support why we should make these changes but I promised to keep this simple. If you would like the how and why, please let me know. I would not mind the extra study, as I tended to only file what I had to know.

BREAD:

You could make your own, using WHOLE wheat flours, bran, spelt etc. (After 4 years into my journey of healthy eating I have only made one loaf of bread.)
Shop at Whole Foods or the Dekalb Farmer's Market - niether place has the naughty ingredients in any of their breads
Ingles, Wal-Mart, Publix, Kroger has a couple of options. Ex. Nature's Own (made w/ organic flour), Kroger's Naturally Preferred, etc. Watch for the buy one get one free and freeze a couple of loaves!

Milk:

Organic is your ONLY option here. Organic milk is available at all grocery store locations. Take a moment to go to Stonyfield.com and Organic Valley.com to request and/or print out coupons. At Organic Valley's website they allow you print out new ones frequently.

Publix Greenwise Milk is okay and they put their milk on sale every so often. Pick up a Publix Greenwise magazine at the front of the store and subscribe. They will send you one each month for FREE and each issue has helpful info as well as coupons.

You could also look into Soy Milk. After some research I opted to go with cow's milk anyway, but that is something you could decide for yourself.

Water:

New Wave Enviro makes water filter products. Check out http://www.newwaveenviro.com/ for information and more details. I checked out Amazon.com and they had one for $77.oo. The filter only has to be replaced once a year, depending on family size. Each year I search different sites to compare prices and have found the replacements for as little as $65.oo.

Okay. That's all for today because my kids are bored. If this was at all helpful to you, please let me know. I would love to continue this, as I have lot's of ideas and hints, but don't wish to overload. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at rowdens4@bellsouth.net. Next blog will be on personal care for big and little people!!