A cheesy subject

Found this article on Yahoo! today and it made me happy, cause boy oh boy do I LOVE cheese! This is a perfect example of why its not good to stick to "non fat" foods. The fat in some foods, like cheese, are GOOD for you and will actually help you lose weight! Imagine that =) Take a gander!

Happier, Healthier You

by Lucy Danziger, SELF Editor-in-Chief a Yahoo! Health Expert for Women's Health

I don't know about you, but I've never met a cheese I didn't like. Parmesan, cranberry Brie or anything in between, I'm basically a cheeseaholic. So I was particularly excited to find out that my favorite nibble can actually help keep me slim. That's right—women who ate an ounce of full-fat cheese every day gained fewer pounds over time than those who didn't, according to a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Turns out whole-fat dairy may stoke your metabolism because it contains conjugated linoleic acid. To harness these health properties, each day savor a single ounce (about the size of your thumb) of one of the cheese whizzes below.

Make goat cheese your go-to spread

Your 1-ounce portion has 76 calories, 6 grams of fat (4 g saturated) and 5 g filling protein, so it curbs munchies. Bonus: Traces of copper in goat cheese stoke your immune system. Have goat cheese in place of mayo on a sandwich or in a wrap, mix it with chopped nuts and dried fruit to create a nutritious schmear for whole-grain toast or crackers, or spread it on a pizza crust, as in this tasty Artichoke, Goat Cheese and Chicken Pizza.

Sprinkle Parmesan on veggies

Reason to keep your grater handy: a serving of Parmesan has nearly as much calcium as a glass of milk, and 10 g protein. Add a shower of the white stuff to green beans, salad or enjoy some fluffy, golden Parmesan rolls with your dinner.

Melt some cheddar

Upgrade from a slice of American to this sublimely meltable favorite and you'll get 6 percent more calcium. It's terrific on burgers, tacos and grilled cheese, but if you're looking for something different, try these Pinto Bean & Cheddar Patties.

Snack on Monterey Jack

This mellow fromage and its spicy cousin, pepper Jack, deliver 20 percent of your daily requirement of calcium and 6 g protein in a single 110-calorie ounce. Have a couple bites with grapes or apple slices as an afternoon snack or enjoy it in a Mexican dish.

Add ricotta to pasta (and more).

Mangia, mangia! The cheese of choice of Italian grandmothers everywhere should be yours, too—even full-fat ricotta has just 49 calories per ounce. Add it to your pasta at dinner or spoon a dollop over fresh berries, then sprinkle with nuts and drizzle with honey for a sweet and filling breakfast.

Stuff a sandwich with provolone

Want to instantly upgrade your lunch? One slice of provolone delivers 21 percent of your daily requirement for calcium, as well as bone-building minerals phosphorus and selenium, for 100 calories and 7 g fat (5 g saturated). Savor some in these Turkey Paisano Sandwiches with Fig-&-Black Olive Vinaigrette. Bonus: Firm cheeses like provolone tend to have less lactose, making them tasty options for those who are lactose-sensitive.

Fold mozzarella into omelets

For a nutritious breakfast, add mozzarella to your morning meal. A 1-ounce serving delivers 22 percent of your daily calcium for 85 calories and 6 g fat (4 g saturated). Try it at lunch, too, in a Grilled Vegetable & Mozzarella Panini.

Snowball Cookies

So these are some of my absolute favorite cookies at Christmas time, the only problem is that they are made entirely of bleached and enriched flour and processed sugars and butters - so I changed it! Yesterday I was experimenting with a new version of these, and they didn't come out well at first. Too wheat-y and grainy for Christmas cookies. The second attempt however, was a complete success! Even passed the taste test with my sweet-toothed finace, so you know they have to be good! Here ya go, super easy!

1 cup coconut oil
**1 cup organic powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 finely chopped nuts
**Organic powdered sugar for dusting
(**See note at bottom of recipe)

Combine softened coconut oil (if yours is not already in liquid form) with the whole wheat flour
Mix in the powdered sugar
Mix in vanilla
Mix in sea salt (note - make sure this sea salt is finely ground! otherwise you will bite into big pieces of salt)
Add in the chopped nuts - I used walnuts

Preheat the oven to 400
Mix until just incorporated, it should look crumbly !!!Do not over mix!!!
Take a spoonful of the mix and form into balls. The dough will fall apart and some will fall back into the bowl, just combine until it stays together. If you find it wont clump, add a teaspoon more coconut oil at a time until you get the right consistency.
Make the cookies into 1 inch balls and place on a prepared cookie sheet
Bake for 8 minutes
When you take the cookies out let them rest on the sheet for about 5 minutes
Roll the cookies in their first coat of powedered sugar and place on a wire rack to cool
Repeat with the rest of the dough
After about 30 - 45 minutes, roll the cookies in their 2nd coat of powdered sugar and place on the rack again for another 10 minutes to let the sugar set
Enjoy!

**Note: if you do not have any organic powdered sugar, but you have regular organic sugar, simply pour it into a blender and let it go for about 5 minutes. Stop every now and then to shake it up and make sure all the sugar is getting whipped. Ta-da! Powdered sugar!!

The experts say...

So a few days ago my ever attentive husband-to-be showed me a blog from yahoo in which the experts are now talking about food that you absolutely should not eat. You can read it here 7 Food Even The Experts Won't Eat. This is just a very short list compared to the foods that I could list off for you, but its a start, and at least now someone other than just every day joe schmoes are saying it. When you read these things you will notice that a vast majority of them include things that they have found contribute to all kinds of cancer. When people we know say "dont eat that! it'll give you cancer" I used to, as I'm sure you do, tell them they were paranoid and over-reacting. But now, I am a member one of the cancer choir. With all these things in these every day common food items that are contributing to cancer, is it any surprise that almost everyone past the age of 50 is developing some type of cancer? Hardly. And I refuse to be one of the masses. In the initial email sent from Dana when I began this, she said something that stuck with me - Health before wealth. People so often will skip over organic food because it is just SO expensive - and I'm not going to lie, it truly is. You see a mark up of two to three hundred percent on organic items, and its easy to opt for the potatoes that cost 1.99 than the ones that cost 5.99. However, I was put on this earth with this body, in charge of taking care of it and keeping it as best I can. Men and women in the bible used to live well into their hundreds, and when I say well I mean well. It was not the sickly state that most people who make it to their hundreds are in now. And often in the bible, Jesus criticized those who simply accumulated wealth and did nothing about it. Our money is a blessing and a gift, and one that we were meant to utilize for good and to better people, ourselves included. Now this doesnt mean bettering ourselves with a 50,000 dollar sports car, or a 300,000 dollar home with 10 rooms that will never see company. We should spare no expense when it comes to our health, and if you spend an extra 50 - 100 dollars at the grocery store on food, your body will thank you for it. Now I understand that for some families you are barely putting food on the table as it is, but I am a firm believer that God will provide your needs. Also, if you have to switch products in order to eat organically within your budget, I also believe that that is what you should do. Example,

(All items are Wegmans Food You Feel Good About/Organic)

16 oz. ground angus beef - 5.29
16 oz. Natural ground turkey - 3.99

1lb boneless chicken breasts - 8.99
1lb boneless chicken thighs - 4.99
1 lb chicken drumsticks - 2.99

So if you have to switch from ground beef to ground turkey for a while until you can straighten out a budget, good! (Ground turkey is better for you anyway!!!) And chicken thighs are an easy substitute for chicken breasts. And if you don't mind the bone, or you know how to de-bone, you can go even cheaper. and if you check out this recipe on Dana's blog Dana's sticky hwaiian chicken.

Tips for making organic shopping a little easier on the wallet:

If you have a whole foods or trader joes - GO THERE! These places offer a huge selection of natural and organic foods at prices that, while I will not say are cheap, they are affordable.

If you aren't lucky enough to have one of these "mega" places to shop, do some research, I can assure you that you can find a local whole/natural foods store. The issues with these stores are not in what they carry - you can usually find great local natural foods there - but since they are smaller with no other funding, their prices aren't as competitive. Still, if its all you have, its better than nothing.

If you have a Wegmans - and if you live anywhere in the north east, you probably do, take advantage of their natural foods section. Also some good information, Wegmans has a line of products that they call "Food you feel good about" - This is a good thing to watch for, these products are usually "natural" - as per the packaging. Not all Wegmans products carry this logo on it, so try to be selective, but choosing some of these can really help make the change to organic less drastic.

Clip coupons!!! I know, I know, no one has time for coupons any more, but trust me, they help! Now you wont find organic coupons in the Sunday paper, at least not many, but you can search online and subscribe to some or print some out. Organic Valley coupons and heres a general List of ogranic coupons.

If all else fails, try to stick to fresh food as much as possible - because while they will still likely be altered or have been sprayed with pesticides, fresh is always better than preserved. 

I wish I could emphasize just how important it is to make the attempt to eat right, hopefully I've given you a few things to consider here, and I hope you do. We have one life to use and live, we need to make the best of it!

Research shows...

Over the past few days I've read some pretty disturbing articles about people who are suffering because of things we are putting into our bodies - both directly and indirectly. Things that are cutting our lives, and the lives of our children, short. We can control these things - as one of the most influential and contributing countries in the world, we have so much power to change these things. Take a look at the below articles and think about what they're saying, what that means for you, and what we can do to change these things.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156507.php - one of the key quotes "Nitrites and nitrates belong to a class of chemical compounds that have been found to be harmful to humans and animals. More than 90 percent of these compounds that have been tested have been determined to be carcinogenic in various organs. They are found in many food products, including fried bacon, cured meats and cheese products as well as beer and water."

http://organichealthadviser.com/archives/shocking-h1n1-swine-flu-vaccine-miscarriage-stores-from-pregnant-women-tell-your-doctors-that-vaccines-and-pregnancy-do-not-mix - Reports from many many women claiming they miscarried immediately after they received the h1n1 flu vaccine.

Stories and reports like these are the things that continuously motivate me to work towards a natural, organic, and self sustained lifestyle. This is not the life I want for myself or my family.

Well it's spaghetti and meatballs, Naturally.

So today is a chilly, cloudy, late fall day - a great day for sauce! I just perfected my sauce recipe a few weeks ago - and I'm sharing it with you :) Here you go!

For the meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb organic turkey sausage (if you can find it... if not, just stick to the turkey!)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
Italian seasonings - I use a dried herb mix, you can use whatever you like. I prefer something with basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, onion, black pepper, thyme, and rosemary.
1 tbsp MSG free Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup natural grated Parmesan cheese

Mix together, form into balls, and bake at 350 for about 15 - 20 minutes

For the sauce:
1 cup minced onion
5 - 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
28 oz. organic crushed tomatoes
12 oz. organic tomato paste
13 oz. organic tomato sauce
2 - 3 tbsp pure cane sugar
Fresh basil - chopped
Fresh oregano - chopped
Fresh thyme - chopped
Fresh rosemary - chopped
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp italian seasonings
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 - 2 cups water

In a heavy pot, saute onions and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Add the meatballs, cover, and simmer for as long as possible, but for the best results at least 4 hours. Serve over whole wheat pasta and top with a little more Parmesan cheese, and enjoy! =)

Please hold, our country seems to be experiencing some technical difficulties

This morning when I was checking my email one of the stories on the main page caught my attention, so I decided to check it out. It was Yahoo!'s article about new computer life span (click the link to read it yourself). They are now projecting that a VAST majority of the new laptop and notebook computers that we buy will last on average a year or so - at the most, three years. Is it just me or is there something wrong with this picture? This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that is causing a huge problem with our country. We pour hundreds and thousands of dollars into electronics and other entertainment items, and it seems (yes, I'm going there) that the manufacturer's are intentionally making them more likely to break down after a short amount of time so that we have to go out a buy a new one in a year. Think with me about the cycle, we throw out an old computer (and honestly, do you REALLY know where that's going?), spend anywhere from $300 - $1500 on a new one, it breaks "somehow" in a year and a half, we throw it away, spend $300 - $1500 on a new one, it breaks in a year and a half... the cycle goes over and over again. Now I'm aware that everything in life is in a constant state of deterioration, but I KNOW that computers can be made to NOT break in a matter of months or a year. This all goes along with what I said about being greener and not creating more waste for our planet. If we want to be able to live a healthy lifestyle, we need to keep the world we live in healthy as well, and the massive amounts of waste that we are producing needlessly is rapidly accelerating the disrepair of this world. Wake up, America, and stop letting yourself be taken advantage of.

The first step of a long journey

So here we are... or, I am anyway. If you read the "About Me" section of this blog, you know why I'm writing this, so I'm hoping you're here to either join or support me in my efforts. This is the merely the first of many steps that need to be taken on this journey. This probably will not be an enlightening or motivational post but we have to start somewhere, and I guess the beginning is best.

As I said before, until just recently I lived a very "American" lifestyle. I love convenience, and I love "good" food - Burgers, Pizza, White bread, and pretty much anything fried. And if I'm being REALLY honest I have to say that I didn't think much (okay, at all) about what was going into my body or what I was contributing to my carbon footprint (I am now convinced that being "green" and being "natural" go hand in hand.) Until recently, that is.

A few months ago I stumbled upon my good friend Dana's blog, cleverly entitled "Clean out your pantry". Intrigued, I asked her what it was all about, and what she told me planted itself in my brain and, although I didn't know it at the time, the roots began to grow deeper. Over the next few months I learned more and more about the new lifestyle she adopted and the benefits of that lifestyle, so I decided to test this idea. I started gradually, switching over certain products just to try them out and see if there was any truth to what she was talking about. It wasn't until a few weeks later when I started getting sick and, instead of taking medicine, I followed Dana's advice and loaded up on garlic, water, protein, and vitamins. I kept up a natural immune strengthening regiment throughout the next few weeks and never got sick, even while I watched everyone around me catch a brutal cold. After that point, I became a true believer in the benefits of a natural lifestyle. In the weeks since then I have done more and more research on living naturally and exactly what that means and, with some guidance from lovely Dana, I have decided to make it my mission to make the change to a natural and organic life. I started searching in the Bible to see what God had to say about the whole thing, and that is where I found Deut. 8:7 - 10 - The verse that you see underneath my blog title. I truly believe that we should live the way God intended us to, consuming that which He provides for us, without adding to that with man man chemicals and hormones.

Luckily I have a wonderful man who supports me in this endeavor and provides me with resources to assist me in this journey. A few days ago he shared with me a blog/website he found, www.pathtofreedom.com, about a modern urban household that is now living naturally and are almost completely self sustained. After some discussion we decided that this was something we wanted to do, so we are now planning to move further out to the country where we can have a little more land to implement our plan. That is the ultimate goal. To build a self sustaining life for ourselves and our family and to help others see the benefits in such a lifestyle. This blog is meant to document that journey - the advances, set backs, and accomplishments. I invite you to follow me, in reality if you're brave enough, or here if you are not ready to take that step. After all, that's what this journey is all about, taking one step at a time...