Let the mocking begin

Okay it's been a while. Things are crazy around here as we are gearing up for school to start on Wednesday. 10 starts middle school ( yikes) and 6 starts first grade. This year I have a new 'wrench' thrown into the mix......the organic mission!! My children have always brought their lunches to school,but this year will be a little different. So,I've been planning what I'm sending with them for lunch,what I'm planning on baking myself and what I will be buying at the store. Needless to say,that has kept me pretty busy.

Now that I've explained my hiatus,let me explain the title to this entry. Mocking. It happens all the time. Now I'm pretty tough skinned for the most part and can handle some good natured ribbing. Mocking is a different story though. Since I began this blog and this journey,I've had more then one 'friend' mock,ridicule,and shown a general distain for what I'm doing.Why? I'm not really sure the reasoning behind the scorn for what I'm doing. Despite what others think I know in my heart that this is the right thing for my body and my family.The comments just reconfirm my mission and make me feel more stubborn about the whole thing.


So,school starts on Wednesday-my kids will be eating homemade organic bagels for breakfast and lunch will be Tabouli!! Yum! Things are great. Oh yea,coming next week-granola bar recipes!! No high fructose corn syrup here!

For the love of Bread!

So I love bread. Any bread,any shape,any flavor. I love the stuff plain,with butter,with olive oil,and with cream cheese. I could live on the stuff. So, when I started this crazy mission I didn't realize how hard it would be to find good tasting affordable organic bread. Let me rephrase that-it's not difficult,it' impossible. So in order to feed my addiction I decided to make my own. With my organic unbleached white and organic whole wheat flours in hand I've been experimenting all week in the kitchen. The results have been DELISH!! I've made a whole wheat sandwich bread that we all had PB&J's on,Two different bageuttes ( one all white one 1/2 white,1/2 wheat) and tonight I'm making ,wait for it........bagels!! Yup that's right. I'm making organic bagels. Again I've used 1/2 white 1/2 wheat. Then I split the dough in thirds and am making some plain,some cinnamon raisen, and some onion(my favorite).Won't know until tomorrow if they're any good,but I'm having fun so far!


Now I'm not a baker. I love love love to cook,but baking is a different ballgame all together. It requires measuring and a level of percision that I usually have no patience for. But lately my need for good wholesome organic baked goodies has over-ridden my dislike for the 'rules'of baking. So here I am in the kitchen covered in flour,praying the yeast will rise!

As I trod clumsily along on my journey I'm discovering new exciting things about myself,my kitchen and my family.I'll let you know tomorrow how the bagels turn out!

Organic shopping-wholesale style

Went to Costco today,mainly for soap and paper products,when much to my surprise,I found a LOT of organics! Paint me surprised!! Not only was there local organic spinach and lettuce( Earthbound Farms is right up the street). I also found organic unbleached flour,organic pasta,organic pesto,and HOLD THE PHONE organic milk!! The milk at Whole Foods runs $5.99 a gallon,but at Costco it was $9.86 for 2 gallons! Yippee!! I also found some chicken. They had organic meat but it wasn't grass -fed so I decided to skip it. I'll be checking out the Farmer's Market to see if I can get some local meat. Speaking of does anybody know of a place to buy a side of beef. Organic grass-fed? If so let me know.

Today's trip really helped my moral with this whole thing. I needed to have a moment where I believed it was possible to afford this way of life. The more I'm learning about all this garbage,the more I realize I can't afford not to. Can any of us?

total ramblings :)

As I mentioned before I'm on a strict budget,so going organic means finds creative ways to cook organic for my family without going over budget. Not as easy as I thought it would be when a gallon of milk is twice as much and most things are at least 50% more expensive. My solution- I'm making a lot more thing from scratch. Also more vegetarian meals. So far it's been fun,it's really making me think outside the box.

To be honest,I wouldn't say I feel any different health wise yet. That being said, my entire kitchen hasn't been switched over to all organic.It's a work in progress to say the least.

Sunday I'll be heading to Moss Landing to check out their organic offerings. I was there before,but not shopping for organic. Depending on what I find, I might be checking out the 2 other Farmer's markets that we have here locally.

Speaking of locally- my friend mentioned to me the importance of eating locally.To that I'd add eating in season. But to return to my friend's point- if our goal or a part of our goal in eating organic is to help the enviroment,we should also be paying attention to eating locally. It's all great and good if our strawberries aren't sprayed with chemicals,but what if they've been trucked halfway across the country or the world? The overall benefit to our Earth is diminshed. But if we can all choose local,in season, organic produce think of the impact to the world. It truly is mind boggling! Thanks for the food for thought Donna!

Enjoy the weekend my friends.

where you live helps!

So while talking to a girlfriend who's hubby is stations at Fort Polk,LA ( inserrt sympathy here)she pointed out that if I lived where she did this whole adventure would be nearly impossible. That got me thinking about a couple of different things. First, I know she's right. Anyone out there whose been to Leesville,LA would know that it's a very very small town with few options as far as shopping is concerned. We were once stationed in a remote town in OK called McAlster,and I wouldn't have been able to find things there either.So,that being said, what if ( gasp!) our next duty station is a place like one of these. A small town with small choices and even smaller minds? Honestly, I really have no clue!! Ha, just kidding. I think that in the past I've had this all or nothing mentality when it comes to healthy living. I'm working on shifting that belief right now. Although I currently live somewhere that is abundant with organic,grass-fed choices,I know that won't always be the case.I have to make choices about how and where I spend my grocery money now. That will be even more crucial when we move to an area that is, let's say, less organic friendly.
The bottom line is this. No matter where you live,your health and the health of your family,heck the health of the planet,should be more important than pretty much anything else!!So, Deb,and and all my other remotely located friends- start small with something simple like changing over your 'dirty dozen'. Your body and the planet will thank you. For those of you who don't know,here's the list of the 12 dirtiest pieces of produce. If you switch to organic here you are eliminating 70% of your toxin exposure!
celery
bell peppers
apples
strawberries
blueberries
peaches
nectarines
spinach
kale
cherries
potatoes
imported grapes
Good Luck my friends!!

I went to the store yesterday for my first 'organic' shopping adventure. It was a HUGE wake up call. As I wonder ed the commissary looking for items that met my criteria,I realized something very profound. This switch was going to have to be about more then just swapping my old favorites for organic versions. This was going to have to be an entire rethinking of how I feel and think about food. Also it's going to mean reaching far outside my comfort zone as far as cooking goes! There is no way I can afford to eat organic without making some changes in our overall diet.So,that being said I bought the bare necessities ( $45) and came home.
The meal plan I made for the week was a little tricky. Trying to take into account the likes and dislikes of 4 very different family members,the overall health of a meal,and of coarse the cost. Here's the menu for the week.
Cheese Quiche with watermelon
Tabouli with 3oz grilled chicken each
Pasta with grilled mixed veggies
Stuffed red bell peppers with salad
Black beans and rice
Quinoa and red lentil stew( recipe from foodtv.com)
Quinoa summer salad( also foodtv.com)

As you can see there are alot of vegetarian meals.The plan is to make enough of each meal to have leftovers for lunch the next day.I also made some organic whole grain pancake mix so I can make a quick breakfast for the kids of pancakes,vanilla yogurt and fruit. Yum!

With consideration to my diabetic daughter we need to have at least some form of protien at each meal to help stabilize her glucose levels.Every meal we eat needs to have at least a little protien for her. That being said I know that her levels stay more stable with a low fat high fiber diet. I'm hoping that this switch will also help her levels.

So, I guess that's all for now. If anyone wants the recipes let me know and I'll share.

Organic on a budget? Can it be done

Well now that I'm aware of all the scary nonsense that is in the foods(even the so-called healthy)we are eating,it's time to start the switch to organic ,GMO,antibiotic,and hormone free food. Thatnumber being said,if anyone has looked at the grocery store lately,that stuff is a little expensive, In fact ,the main reason I haven't gone organic in the past is the cost.We have 2 children and live on an Army salary.Only one salary,because I am blessed enough to be a stay at home mom. As every family knows,there are certian sacrifices that must be made when you live on one income. All that being said,I've decided to figure out a way to make the switch without blowing my food budget. A lofty goal,but I believe I'm up for the task.
Okay,so here's the plan.Since,like I mentioned above,I'm on a limited budget,I can't just clear out my kitchen and replace everything with organics. Sigh. So,my realistic task is the replace everything slowly over a two month period.In order to be able to make the switch I'm going to have to make a few changes to how we eat.Mainly the meat consumption. I did a little research and grass fed beef runs about $8-10 per pound(yikes),the pork is pretty similar,and chicken is $5-6 per pound.There's just no way that we can continue to eat the amount of meat we are currently eating with it costing that much. I'll be posting my menu,shopping list, and the weekly cost to feed my family organic as soon as I get it all down. As for today,I'll be hitting the store to get some milk and bread. As of right now I found Whole Foods brand 365 to be the cheapest organic milk at $1.99 per half gallon. If anyone out there in cyber-land has any tips,ideas,or anything......feel free to post!!

GMO,GE,& GM's.....what?

The acronyms above all stand for the same thing- Genetically Modified Organism. Otherwise known as mutated food! Scientists have altered the DNA of foods to make the resistant to bugs and pesticides. That way they can spray the h*ll out of the plants without killing them. Sounds tasty,right?! This is mostly done to corn and soybeans.
So, a couple of things about GMO's-
First,they are in almost EVERYTHING!!! Well everything in a package that is.There are even trace amount in our meat and dairy( because instead of eating grass our cows are fed corn( GMO).
Second,the food industry is NOT required to label foods that are or contain GMO's. So,with no research telling us one way or the other on the safety of these mutated items,we are all consuming them at an alarming rate.Yikes!
So I did a little investigating in my own 'pseudo' healthy kitchen.Here's the list of foods I found with GMO's in them. It's a little scary to think that I've been feeding my kids this garbage!
Sunflower seeds( really!!! I thought these were healthy)
granola bars
powdered sugar
white chocolate baking chips
Chicken broth
fat free half and half
cereals
bread(whole grain no less!)
kids instant oatmeal
mayo
horseradish
chili sauce
ketchup
salad dressing
BBQ sauce
syrup

HOLY COW!!! Seems like everything that came in a package was contaminated!

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Unfortunatly ,I have no clue.What I do know is this. As a part of my families switch to organic,I feel compelled to include GMO foods on my list of axed items.
Why,you ask? Because you never know.

The beginning

Jenn here,this is my first foray into the world of blogging. I was watching the movie Food Inc today when I had a total ah-ha moment.For years I've been struggling on and off with 20 pounds and the worries about the effects of our 'typical'american diet on my families health.Today it hit me. There has to be a better way then this. So I made the decision to change. NOW. So here's day one of a 30 day transition to all organic,no processed,grass fed,antibiotic free food. Yikes,just saying it sounds scary!
Yup I'm a little freaked out about this whole thing.I'm nervous about the cost,the extra work,and my families willingness to join me on my trip to crazy town!
Step one,and quite possibly the hardest, was making the choice to change and actually deciding to follow through with it!
Step two-Figuring out how much we are currently spending on our groceries. Still working on this one. Once I figure it out I can begin the process of changing our ways!
Well that's all I've got for now. I'll keep you posted!