Good morning everyone, I hope it's been as gorgeous where you are as it has been in Michigan lately. Kent and I hosted a neighborhood chili cook-off Saturday and it couldn't have been a more beautiful fall day. It was fun sampling so many types of chili, and it's wild how they all taste so different.
Yesterday my sister, sister-in-law, niece, and I walked in the Crop Hunger Walk in our hometown because it was dedicated to my Mom. She worked on this committee every year with her church, and beforehand a family friend said a few sweet but tear-jerking words about Mom. He talked about how fitting it was that she would've been so involved in this event to end world hunger, since she was constantly feeding those right in her own small town, whether they were elderly folks or someone not feeling well. At their church smorgasbord she was the one who insisted they get to-go containers to take meals around town to those who couldn't get out, or to those who may have just gotten home from the hospital. While in town I stopped to see my step-Dad and wow, as many of you who have lost a parent understand, going to her house without her there is really hard on the heart…
The other day Kent and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary (a day we're always especially thankful for since we almost didn't make it), and went to one of our favorite places, Amore restaurant. The chef/owner, Jenna, is so cool, she walks around the dining room and chats with everyone like we're family. The food is so tasty that I always forget to snap pictures because I'm too busy enjoying it. 🙂 I had the yummiest pumpkin sage ravioli! Jenna told us about her latest favorite drink and when she had us try it I had to order one. It's made with an all-natural ginger soda and a special vodka and tastes JUST like a ginger snap cookie! We took our time enjoying dinner so much that we didn't end up getting over to Art Prize. 🙁 I'll get there soon, though, but I heard it's more packed than ever this year. Have any of you gone yet? If so, what was your favorite? Any of you who are out of town, this is worth a trip to Grand Rapids, you've got to experience how amazing this is. (Here are my past posts about it if you don't know what I'm talking about, and here is the official Art Prize site.)
Here's what I've got for you and just a warning, I'm ALL over the place this week…
- Ditching ultra high-heat processed, iodized, ain't-nothing-left-but-sodium chloride-and-anti-caking-agents salt (yuk!) and replacing it with REAL, unprocessed sea salt (that link is my favorite) with the original minerals intact is an important step in transitioning from processed to real foods. I also love these Himalayan salts — they're economical and tasty — really, after you switch, you'll never go back to nasty-tasting industrial salt.
Here's a highly-rated 3-book set for only 99 cents on Kindle. Download it here. (No Kindle? Get a free reader for your phone, tablet or computer by clicking here.)
- Did anyone watch the Dr. Oz episode on pesticides and GMOs? Are you still pinching yourself, too, that these issues are being talked about in the mainstream?! I've been blogging about this stuff since late 2007 and it's so encouraging to see that slowly but surely, our movement is growing and spreading! My friend taped it for me but it didn't work, darn it. I wish they'd post the whole show online, but at least you can watch this longer trailer.
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An Austin children's book author got a visit from the police and investigated by CPS (and all her children interrogated) because she let her 6 year old son play outside, unattended, about 150 yards from her house (in a location she could see from her house). You won't believe the CPS agent's advice when the case was finally closed! Read the FB comments and see the post here.
- A little TMI for your day. (Admit it, you're curious, right?) This really is important information that everyone should know, but few actually do. Or should I say “doo”? What Great Poop Looks Like from Mama Natural.
- Speaking of that topic, this pic cracked me up last week!
- Did you know this? Citric acid is added to most processed food, but hey, it's just acid from citrus, right? WRONG! “Today, it is not only true that nearly all citric acid is made through mold fermentation with GMO corn, but that it is produced by some of the biggest of Big Ag food producers, both in the U.S. and in China.” Read more. If you need citric acid, you can find the non-GMO variety here.
- If you haven't seen this post yet, you may want to check it out for a laugh: My before and after pictures of some of my blog recipes.
- Kent is so sick of hearing me talking about this movie, but you guys, you HAVE to go see it. It's in theaters now so I took the kids last week on my birthday. The ending will ROCK you — you want to teach your kids this stuff. I'm going to buy it when it comes out because these are the kind of movies I want to support. Here's the trailer for When the Game Stands Tall:
- Do you ever wonder who those nasty internet trolls ARE and how we should handle them? “An internet troll is someone who comes into a discussion and posts comments designed to upset or disrupt the conversation. Often, it seems like there is no real purpose behind their comments except to upset everyone else involved. Trolls will lie, exaggerate, and offend to get a response. What kind of person would do this?” Read this about internet trolls to find out.
- A reader asks: “I've developed a crack in the corner of my mouth. What causes those and how do I get rid of it?” Find out what my Facebook readers suggested here.
“In (the libertarian) movement, we're accused a lot of being elitists,” Salatin told the LPAC audience. It's a charge he also hears about healthy-eating evangelists such as himself. But “the real elitists” are the people who say “we need to tell Americans what to eat.”
“We would be a much healthier culture if the government had never told us how to eat,” he suggested, bringing up the U.S. Food Pyramid—an advice module that's fallen far, far on the wrong side of nutritional history. “These elitists thought the country was too stupid to know how to eat, how to feed their kids.”
In his view, the elitists are also “the ones who want subsidies in the farm program,” who “run around telling us that backyard chickens are hazardous”, look to “factory farms as the answer”, say you can't “build a pond on your farm, that's water hoarding”, think farming is only “for those kind of people,” deny people the ability to operate stills and grow hemp, and zone people out of running businesses from their own homes or land. The elitists are “the Republicans who want to be in bed with Monsanto” and “the Democrats who want to govern every morsel of food we put in our mouths.”
- I've told you about our friend, Spencer and the Miracle League, well last week there was another extra special game — watch this to see what happened (and read the article here: Two Brothers, One a Wounded Warrior and the Other a Miracle League Athlete, Take the Field Together):
- As usual when it comes to food, France beats all! This time with hospital food.
- What do you guys think? Is this hype, or could this stuff be true? Read it here: Ebola is a GMO.
Have a great week!
KitchenKop says
Gosh I hate spam, sorry about the one you all just got. 🙁
I deleted it but wish my spam filter caught more of it!
JEANMARIE TODD says
Kelly, it sounds like your dear departed Mother and my Mom, who is now in the hospital with my Dad recovering from a car accident, would have liked each other if they’d ever met. My Mom is known to all who know her as the most generous, giving, loving person around. I’m sitting next to her in her hospital bed as I type this. I wish I could clear out the nutrition propaganda from my parents’ brains to help them heal faster with Real Food. They’ve been dutifully eating low fat for years, and you can imagine how I feel about that. So, I sneak two pats of butter in Mom’s oatmeal; if a nurse feeds her, they don’t bother to add the butter. At least Mom and Dad were doing light weight-training before their accident, and that seems to be helping them bear the damage done on Sept. 7. My cousin, who lives nearby and is a fellow Real Foodie, is going to find me some Great Lakes gelatin that she has at home so I can spike Mom’s soup with it and get some healing nutrients in her. Soup and a bit of fruit is about all she will eat right now, and of the three offered in the hospital cafeteria, tomato is the only one she will eat. Her diet is supplemented with Nestle’s nasty “Boost” so-called nutritional supplement. Mom herself calls it “too sweet and nasty.” She said she “might” be willing to try a homemade shake I’m going to make for her tomorrow morning. So that’s something! The same cousin has supplied me with fresh eggs, and you can bet some raw egg yolks are going in the shake! The nursing staff allows food from outside being brought in for patients, thank goodness.
KitchenKop says
Jeanmarie, you’re doing such a great job taking care of your parents! They are so blessed to have you. 🙂
Kel
Linda says
I just wanted to let you know that I followed two of your recommendations for products and I am totally satisfied with them! First, I bought the Olea Estates olive oil which is excellent. It is so light and fresh. I realize now that almost every olive oil I have bought in the past was rancid when I bought it! I also bought the Primal Pit Paste Deodorant Sticks for my husband and myself. I got him the unscented one and I got the Thyme and Lemongrass! Love it! It works so well and without all the “gunk” in the traditional kind of deodorant. Thanks for researching products and keeping us informed!
KitchenKop says
I’m so happy you’re loving the stuff I recommended, Linda!!! Thank you for telling me. 🙂
Kel
Better Health says
Believe it or not, there is actually a “poop chart.” Sorry if this is TMI. I have worked in England as a carer and when there are digestive problem with patients, we rely on this chart in order to find out if we need to give medication or stop it. – Angel S
KitchenKop says
It’s not TMI for me! 🙂
Jeanne says
The Hundred Foot Journey is on my books to read list. Thanks for hosting Saturday! Great neighbors, great food and a great time!
Jennifer says
I completely agree with you on When the Game Stands Tall! I wanted to see it from the first trailer I saw, and finally found the time to go with the family last week (we took our two teen boys, and our 8 and 11-year old girls). Great movie, with a great message. And based on a true story with…a GREAT message. Plus, I absolutely adore Jim Caviezel – wonderful actor and a wonderful role model (which is more than can be said about quite a few actors!!!).
I always wonder if I’m considered an internet troll. I feel the need to comment on things where I truly believe the truth is not being offered (and a lie is being propogated), but I’ve been told by many people that there is no such thing as “discussion” on the internet (at least not outside the boundaries of communities where everyone agrees). What do you think? Is it worth the time to present the truth in a kind and factual way, even if you’re doing so in “hostile territory”? Despite the narrow definition offered by the article you posted, I think most people believe a troll is anyone who comes into the discussion and posts anything that the majority of the community disagrees with. Just something to consider. 🙂
KitchenKop says
I don’t know, but I really think there’s a difference, because trolls go around JUST to stir up trouble. You, on the other hand, are trying to enlighten others! And maybe I feel that way because I know that you really are promoting TRUTH. However, once you’ve planted the seed, when you can see that you’re at a point where everyone is just closed-minded and they get nasty, I’d back out of it quickly if I were you!
Kel
Heather says
With all due respect, I cannot buy the Ebola is a GMO article because it is coming from Natural News, a “news” source that cites itself. I teach students about which sources to believe and which not to based on the credibility of the research being done, and whenever Natural News comes up, I do not allow it as a resource for student work.
I am very much into natural food and medicine movement, but as someone trained as a social scientist, I need actual research, not sensationalistic headlines based on evidence they create themselves.
Jennifer says
I agree. Thanks for pointing this out.
Jennifer says
I haven’t formed an opinion on the facts yet, because I want to do more research into the issue, but if you look at the bottom of the issue, there are a LOT more sources cited by the article than just Natural News. Indeed, the Liberian News source linked has quite a bit of detail implicating a US government/bioresearch agency role in the 2014 Ebola outbreak, at the very least. I think it’s pretty disingenuous to claim that Natural News “cites itself” (as though the article ONLY cites itself and others on their own website) when there are SIX outside sources quoted in that particular article, not to mention the further sources mentioned in the outside-sourced material.
From one of those non-Natural News Sources: “Reports narrate stories of the US Department of Defense (DoD) funding Ebola trials on humans, trials which started just weeks before the Ebola outbreak in Guinea and Sierra Leone. The reports continue and state that the DoD gave a contract worth $140 million dollars to Tekmira, a Canadian pharmaceutical company, to conduct Ebola research. This research work involved injecting and infusing healthy humans with the deadly Ebola virus. Hence, the DoD is listed as a collaborator in a “First in Human” Ebola clinical trial (NCT02041715), which started in January 2014 shortly before an Ebola epidemic was declared in West Africa in March. Disturbingly, many reports also conclude that the US government has a viral fever bioterrorism research laboratory in Kenema, a town at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.” (written by Dr. Cyril Broderick, Professor of Plant Pathology. Dr. Broderick is a former professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Liberia’s College of Agriculture and Forestry. He is also the former Observer Farmer in the 1980s. It was from this column in our newspaper, the Daily Observer, that Firestone spotted him and offered him the position of Director of Research in the late 1980s. In addition, he is a scientist, who has taught for many years at the Agricultural College of the University of Delaware.)
Jennifer says
Sorry – that first sentence should read “…if you look at the bottom of the article Kelly posted, there are a lot more sources cited…”
Heather says
Fair enough, though I am having trouble accessing the Liberian Observer article. As for the rest and how they play out, many of the sources ARE from Natural News, so that is still questionable. A patent does not equal a GMO, necessarily, and the changes n the Executive Order do not seem scary either. Would you like someone with Ebola not to be quarantined if they come to the US? I, for one, would most certainly want federal quarantines for it. The legal argument is a major stretch, and even they nod to it being one, but they make it anyway because FEAR THE GOVERNMENT. I’m not saying the government is always in the right, far from it, but really? I think the dots being connected are absurd. Yes, study Ebola where it is sourced…that makes sense to me. Do I want a vaccine? Eh…not sure because vaccines are full of garbage, but let’s educate the public in a useful way about what it is, how to get it, and to seek proper medical care (and actually have that available, for that is the BIGGEST problem, really(.