Hi all,
Just wanted to let you know that if you checked out my new blog and tried to subscribe but couldn't, I fixed the problem so please subscribe so that you can continue to get my posts. And if you never subscribed, now's your chance.
Click here for the link to the new blog.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
New Blog
Okay everyone, it is ready!!! Check out the facelift and new home of my blog. Just click here and you will be taken directly there. It comes complete with two new recipes. If you subscribed by email to this blog, you have to resubscribe to the new one. The email subscription button is in the menu bar. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Becoming Better Eaters
While I'm working on my new blog, that will premier soon I promise, I thought I'd give this very important rant about eating:
I have been reading about and listening to stories about the importance of organic and natural eating for a few years now and I thought I knew a lot, that is until I watched the documentary, Food, Inc. This film is really about the corporation of food and how distanced we have become from what we eat. There are several disturbing images regarding the meat packing industry but this is not a film that sets out to make vegetarians out of meat eaters, rather to make all “eaters” better “eaters.” As a nation we are becoming sicker everyday; our children are lazier, more obese, and more of them than ever before have diabetes. We have changed the way we eat over the last few decades and it is time to change it back. We need to know what goes into our bodies and how it affects us, and we need to demand to know more.
I’m not sure if you are aware of the few celebrity chefs and trainers who have set out on this very mission, but I praise these people. Jamie Oliver has made it his goal to bring healthy lunches back into school cafeterias. Our children eating healthy? What a novel idea. I want you to think about how often you have gone to Wendy’s or any other fast food chain simply because it was faster and cheaper. Once a week? Twice? Once a day? That is just too often. Now, let me break this down for you: a one pound box of pasta costs (on average) $1.29; a 14.5 oz. can of crushed tomatoes (with no salt added, nothing but pure crushed tomatoes, these are just as healthy as the fresh and since you are cooking the sauce, they are a time saver) costs $1.00; a head of garlic; $0.99 (and will last you beyond this one meal); salt and pepper (free since you most likely have this in your house); olive oil (you probably already have, and if not, buy a bottle and it will last you weeks). At this point you have spent $3.98 to feed a family of four. Add chicken and you are looking at another $5.00 (protein is the most expensive part of a meal). You can now control the amount and quality of ingredients that go into your food, make with love, and connect with your entire family. Had you gone to Wendy’s here is what you would be looking at: For the kids, say you only bought them the hamburgers: $2.00 (Equal to the box of pasta and canned tomatoes); for you and your spouse (if you get the medium combo meal) you are looking at, on average, $5.00 per person. That’s $12.00!!!! Versus the home cooked meal for $8.98. Not to mention the time you missed out sitting at home with your family and the health risks that come from eating so much fat, sugar, and salt. Do this 7 times a week, and you’ve spent $21 more on what you thought was the “cheaper” meal. A little planning in the kitchen goes a very long way.
I would love to urge everyone to go and buy organic only, but that is expensive. Let’s start by buying food we can cook ourselves and setting the time (the pasta dish would have taken, at most, 20 minutes to make) to take care of our bodies, because we only get one and it deserves our respect. The next step would be to be locally every chance you get so that you get to know the people that are responsible for your food. Learn to love and respect the food you eat and it will do the same for you.
Oh, and watch Food, Inc., or read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, it will change the way you view the corporation of food.
I have been reading about and listening to stories about the importance of organic and natural eating for a few years now and I thought I knew a lot, that is until I watched the documentary, Food, Inc. This film is really about the corporation of food and how distanced we have become from what we eat. There are several disturbing images regarding the meat packing industry but this is not a film that sets out to make vegetarians out of meat eaters, rather to make all “eaters” better “eaters.” As a nation we are becoming sicker everyday; our children are lazier, more obese, and more of them than ever before have diabetes. We have changed the way we eat over the last few decades and it is time to change it back. We need to know what goes into our bodies and how it affects us, and we need to demand to know more.
I’m not sure if you are aware of the few celebrity chefs and trainers who have set out on this very mission, but I praise these people. Jamie Oliver has made it his goal to bring healthy lunches back into school cafeterias. Our children eating healthy? What a novel idea. I want you to think about how often you have gone to Wendy’s or any other fast food chain simply because it was faster and cheaper. Once a week? Twice? Once a day? That is just too often. Now, let me break this down for you: a one pound box of pasta costs (on average) $1.29; a 14.5 oz. can of crushed tomatoes (with no salt added, nothing but pure crushed tomatoes, these are just as healthy as the fresh and since you are cooking the sauce, they are a time saver) costs $1.00; a head of garlic; $0.99 (and will last you beyond this one meal); salt and pepper (free since you most likely have this in your house); olive oil (you probably already have, and if not, buy a bottle and it will last you weeks). At this point you have spent $3.98 to feed a family of four. Add chicken and you are looking at another $5.00 (protein is the most expensive part of a meal). You can now control the amount and quality of ingredients that go into your food, make with love, and connect with your entire family. Had you gone to Wendy’s here is what you would be looking at: For the kids, say you only bought them the hamburgers: $2.00 (Equal to the box of pasta and canned tomatoes); for you and your spouse (if you get the medium combo meal) you are looking at, on average, $5.00 per person. That’s $12.00!!!! Versus the home cooked meal for $8.98. Not to mention the time you missed out sitting at home with your family and the health risks that come from eating so much fat, sugar, and salt. Do this 7 times a week, and you’ve spent $21 more on what you thought was the “cheaper” meal. A little planning in the kitchen goes a very long way.
I would love to urge everyone to go and buy organic only, but that is expensive. Let’s start by buying food we can cook ourselves and setting the time (the pasta dish would have taken, at most, 20 minutes to make) to take care of our bodies, because we only get one and it deserves our respect. The next step would be to be locally every chance you get so that you get to know the people that are responsible for your food. Learn to love and respect the food you eat and it will do the same for you.
Oh, and watch Food, Inc., or read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, it will change the way you view the corporation of food.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
New Blog
Hi Everybody,
I have been working on a new home for my blog and a new look so I haven't had the time to really write here. The wait for the new blog will be well worth it, I promise, and it will come ready with two brand new recipes. I will post the new link on here as soon as it is ready. Stay tuned.
I have been working on a new home for my blog and a new look so I haven't had the time to really write here. The wait for the new blog will be well worth it, I promise, and it will come ready with two brand new recipes. I will post the new link on here as soon as it is ready. Stay tuned.
Friday, April 1, 2011
My Success
Sorry I’ve been MIA this week, but things have been crazy busy and I’ve not been feeling too great so cooking has sort of fallen by the wayside. However, I couldn’t let the week end without at least one post and I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what to write about and then, WHAM!! It just came to me.
In December of 2009 I discovered that I had a condition called PCOS (Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome). The simple definition of this condition is that it is a pre-diabetic condition, but there really is so much more to it. PCOS is a genetic condition that only occurs in woman (in case you couldn’t figure that out from the ‘ovarian’ part of the name); it causes a high level of testosterone and an inability to properly break down sugars in the body. Some of the symptoms include acne, unexplained weight gain, and excessive hair growth. The greatest concern for me and the symptom that causes most women to discover this syndrome is infertility. For more information, click here. This is a much more common condition than women are aware of (1 in 15 women have this).
I have been struggling with my weight ever since I hit puberty and have never understood why it was that no matter what I did, I couldn’t control it. I was like the many women out there that knew there had to be a greater reason beyond my eating habits which while not the greatest, were not horrendous either. So I began treatment for my PCOS (which is mainly taking a prescribed dose of metformin) and I could feel my body come into a more balanced state of being. My skin was glowing, I felt more energetic, and I knew I was on the right path. However, I only experienced minimal weight loss, and at 167 pounds was really beginning to worry. I wasn’t just worried about my weight because I wanted to look good, though I won’t lie, it certainly weighed (no pun intended) in on my concerns, but because my father suffers from type two diabetes and had bypass surgery. Watching my father depend solely on his medication to keep his levels normal and his heart working and not, at all, watching what he ate really scared me and I knew that not only did I not want to end up like that, but when the time came for me to have children, I wanted to be their primary role model for good eating habits. When September 2010 came around and I was still struggling to figure out just how I needed to eat, I sought out a nutritionist, who has been my angel and savior. What my nutritionist taught me was that I needed to lower my carb intake to 40-45% (the normal is 60%) and increase my protein. I also had to make sure that anything I ate, whether meal or snack, had to be a balanced combination of carbs and protein. This combination keeps the carbs from being absorbed too quickly and me from eating too often. It seemed so simple, but it was like a switch was turned on and I have lost close to 20 pounds and today I bought a size 6 shirt!!! And while I know it isn’t about the size, I can’t remember the last I bought that size or the last time I really felt as physically good as I do today.
It is this condition and the journey I’ve been on that intensified my interest in how food affects our bodies and what spurred me to begin my blog; because I truly love food and am constantly amazed by the connections it creates and the healing power it has.
Since this is a visual blog, I’ve included a picture of some of the things that are constants in my journey to health.
In December of 2009 I discovered that I had a condition called PCOS (Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome). The simple definition of this condition is that it is a pre-diabetic condition, but there really is so much more to it. PCOS is a genetic condition that only occurs in woman (in case you couldn’t figure that out from the ‘ovarian’ part of the name); it causes a high level of testosterone and an inability to properly break down sugars in the body. Some of the symptoms include acne, unexplained weight gain, and excessive hair growth. The greatest concern for me and the symptom that causes most women to discover this syndrome is infertility. For more information, click here. This is a much more common condition than women are aware of (1 in 15 women have this).
I have been struggling with my weight ever since I hit puberty and have never understood why it was that no matter what I did, I couldn’t control it. I was like the many women out there that knew there had to be a greater reason beyond my eating habits which while not the greatest, were not horrendous either. So I began treatment for my PCOS (which is mainly taking a prescribed dose of metformin) and I could feel my body come into a more balanced state of being. My skin was glowing, I felt more energetic, and I knew I was on the right path. However, I only experienced minimal weight loss, and at 167 pounds was really beginning to worry. I wasn’t just worried about my weight because I wanted to look good, though I won’t lie, it certainly weighed (no pun intended) in on my concerns, but because my father suffers from type two diabetes and had bypass surgery. Watching my father depend solely on his medication to keep his levels normal and his heart working and not, at all, watching what he ate really scared me and I knew that not only did I not want to end up like that, but when the time came for me to have children, I wanted to be their primary role model for good eating habits. When September 2010 came around and I was still struggling to figure out just how I needed to eat, I sought out a nutritionist, who has been my angel and savior. What my nutritionist taught me was that I needed to lower my carb intake to 40-45% (the normal is 60%) and increase my protein. I also had to make sure that anything I ate, whether meal or snack, had to be a balanced combination of carbs and protein. This combination keeps the carbs from being absorbed too quickly and me from eating too often. It seemed so simple, but it was like a switch was turned on and I have lost close to 20 pounds and today I bought a size 6 shirt!!! And while I know it isn’t about the size, I can’t remember the last I bought that size or the last time I really felt as physically good as I do today.
It is this condition and the journey I’ve been on that intensified my interest in how food affects our bodies and what spurred me to begin my blog; because I truly love food and am constantly amazed by the connections it creates and the healing power it has.
Since this is a visual blog, I’ve included a picture of some of the things that are constants in my journey to health.
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