Good morning and Happy New Year everyone! I know I wasn't the only one out there who had a rough 2014, so hopefully we all have a great 2015. Did any of you do something unique on New Year's Eve? We went to our friends' house and I barely made it to midnight because I'd been up at 5:00 a.m. that day getting some work done, so I was feeling old, LOL. When the ball was at “10…9…8…” our daughter was next to me yelling, “MOM WAKE UP!” Kind of pathetic, huh? 🙂 For appetizers I took these jalepeno poppers (ACK I need help on that picture! If you have a better one of those to share with me I'd be very thankful!), and I also brought another yummy appetizer that I'll be posting soon.
Here's what I've found for you this week…
Warning: I couldn't narrow it down, there's a lot of odds and ends here, so just scroll through and see what grabs you. 🙂
Are you pregnant or do you know anyone who is? Maybe you'd like to become pregnant in 2015? My friend, Cara, has a new book, The Empowered Mother, and it's on pre-sale right now! The Empowered Mother is an e-book of short weekly reading topics and questions to guide you through your pregnancy to help you make informed decisions that work for your pregnancy, your priorities, your budget, and your family – Questions that will affect your child’s health for their whole life. Plus, if you order it now, for yourself or as a gift, you'll get this guide FREE: The Empowered Mother’s Guide to Getting Back to Your Pre-Pregnancy Weight in 6 months or less.Click here to order now!
Are you pregnant or do you know anyone who is? Maybe you'd like to become pregnant in 2015? My friend, Cara, has a new book, The Empowered Mother, and it's on pre-sale right now! The Empowered Mother is an e-book of short weekly reading topics and questions to guide you through your pregnancy to help you make informed decisions that work for your pregnancy, your priorities, your budget, and your family – Questions that will affect your child’s health for their whole life. Plus, if you order it now, for yourself or as a gift, you'll get this guide FREE: The Empowered Mother’s Guide to Getting Back to Your Pre-Pregnancy Weight in 6 months or less.Click here to order now!- I think I'm going to vomit. I was looking for movies to watch with the kids later and you know how they show ads on Youtube video trailers sometimes? There was one that said this at the top: “Improving lives in Africa…The Monsanto company” – NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you're not sure what GMOs or Monsanto even are, read this basic GMO definition and get other information here.
- As we head into 2015, how well do you think your family does at eating healthy? Here's my post from a while back about living in “the middle ground”.
- Here's another one from the archives that I've been thinking a lot about lately as MORE relatives and friends are being diagnosed with cancer (please would you say a prayer for a friend of our family, George? He has 4 young sons and just found out he has terminal cancer): Don't wait 'til someone in your family has cancer, THIS is why I'm a freak about ingredient labels.
We're not grain-free around here, but those of you who are must LOVE all your cookbook options nowadays!!! Here's a new one by my blogging friend, Kelly:
Everyday Grain-Free Baking: Over 100 Recipes for Deliciously Easy Grain-Free and Gluten-Free Baking
- Have you heard of “standby power”? It's when electronic devices suck up electricity, even when they're not on. Well if that bugs anyone like it does my friend, Bob, you'll enjoy his rant over it: Standby Power: What it Is, Why it Sucks, and What You Can Do About It “All this stuff that’s turned off when not in use? They’re not really off. Did you even know this? Most people don’t, so don’t feel bad. Most of the stuff that we plug into the wall these days suck a tiny amount of energy out of the outlet 24/7. This energy use is called by different names, like‘phantom load’ ‘leaking electricity’ or ‘vampire energy,’standby, or instant-on power. And it sucks. Literally. All of these electronic devices and appliances, when turned off in standby mode, consume an awful lot of energy.“
- Those in Michigan who are concerned about Smart Meters, get more info here about an important hearing coming up where we can be heard! (See my past post: Say No to a Smart Meter Even if it Costs You!)
Chipotle is on their way to being the first GMO-free restaurant chain, but they're not *quite* there yet. In the meantime, here is Chipotle's menu ingredients page, with GMO items clearly labeled. Doesn't their transparency make you want to give them your business? I hope more restaurants and restaurant chains follow their lead, both in transparency, AND in eliminating GMOs!
Chipotle is on their way to being the first GMO-free restaurant chain, but they're not *quite* there yet. In the meantime, - Did you see these top recipes from food bloggers in 2014? Bummer I didn't recognize any real food bloggers on the list! (Not that these recipes weren't healthy, I just didn't recognize their names.) The last two were the ones that looked best to me, and I printed them out, yum!
- This Huffington Post list of Healthiest Foods was NOT impressive in my book. There were only a few that would've made my list at all! What about you, which ones would have and would not have made your list?
- Unfortunately, this picture is accurate (get the Orwell classics, Animal Farm and 1984, in one volume here):
- Thanks Tina for sending me this secret factory farm video, which was shot with a drone — it reminds me of my earlier post on this topic: Dairy Cesspools — Neatly Dividing One Solution into Two Problems. Watch the video here:
- The High Risk of Low Cholesterol from Sarah — I never get tired of reading these types of articles, there are still SO many who don't know these truths! (Check out my comment there about Alzheimers…)
- This was an interesting Facebook conversation if you have dry eyes.
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Did you catch all of last week’s posts? Here they are in case you missed them:- Breakfast Pancake Recipes: Start a New Year Tradition! {Check Out the Pictures}
- Why You’ll Want to Make the SWITCH in 2015! – My favorite brands all in one spot and why you'll want to support them!
- Will you share YOUR creative ideas for Finding More Time to Exercise?!
- Here's a sad story:
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Have a great week everyone! 🙂
Tina says
sorry…sometimes auto correct does odd things…that is supposed to be glyphosate, don’t know where the extra “p” came from.
Tina says
Ok…I almost hate to bring this up because up until I looked at the ingredient list for Chipotle, I was a fan of theirs. But…now I sort of wonder if they might be greenwashing..??
They say they want to be sustainable, they’ve removed gmo soy, they’re trying to buy local and even sometimes organic for what appears to be a somewhat “healthful” option for fast food. We’ve purchased food from them on numerous occasions, after talking with the line employees, managers etc. we were lead to believe that their products were mostly clean aside from the soybeans, which have been addressed recently.
I specifically asked about how the beef and chicken were raised for the meats and dairy and was told that it was all sustainable, pasture raised meats etc. They even put signs up when they have to buy what they call “conventional” beef. That indicated to us that their meats were normally sustainably raised, as they market. I was extremely disappointed to read their ingredient list and see that even though some of the veggies might be organically and sustainably raised, their meats are raised using GMO feeds.
I really think this is a bit deceiving. They make a big deal of their “responsibly raised” meats, no antibiotics or hormones..although yes, it does say “subtherapeutic” antibiotics. But, their meat animals are still fed GMO grains, which contain round up, which is glyphospate, a patented antibiotic. The animals eat the GMO round up containing grain, the animals then contain gmo round up. Our main reason for eating clean is to avoid pesticides and herbicides, which is why we had chosen to eat at Chipotle, believing that it was sustainably and ethically sourced.
There is nothing sustainable or ethical about glyphosate. If it is a patented antibiotic, and that is in the meats they serve, then how can they possibly say that their meats are anti biotic free? That is simply NOT true.
I get that they are trying, and perhaps kudos to them for being transparent about the fact that their proteins contain GMO ingredients. Of course, we would never have voted with our dollar and chosen to eat there at all unless there was transparency. I guess we just didn’t dig far enough.
Yes, perhaps the lettuce is clean, and perhaps the black beans are sustainably grown and maybe locally sourced, but if you take all that clean food and put a serving of round up on it, it’s still a toxic meal. It doesn’t really matter if it is one serving of round up or 4 servings of round up. I believe in eating healthy meats, and know they can be raised sustainably. Perhaps Chipotle chose to expand too fast without the supply of the clean meats they want to have. But if that is the case, they have to be more forthcoming about the meat containing GMOs and round up.. don’t hide behind fancy tshirts saying their animals are happy and free…if they are eating GMO grains and round upthey are not happy animals, and are not being treated with dignity and respect. Working hard to try is not the same as doing.
A lot of fast food and restaurant companies want to sell organic pastured meats because the general consensus is that those meats are more healthful. I’m sure McDonalds would love to sell burgers that they could advertise as responsibly raised meats. But…they can’t source it for the demand they have for the vast garbage food empire they control…so they don’t sell it as such. Unfortunately, Chipotle can’t source sustainably and ethically raised organic pastured meats for their vast empire either…so is it fair that they are leading people to believe they are? We are back to only eating at the little local places where we know the owners and know the farmers and trust how things are grown. Know your farmer, know your food.
Bob A. says
Thanks for the link share Kelly!! I’d invite any of your readers interested in saving energy at home to also visit my other site Green Home Source (where I try to feature less ranting and more actual info)
https://green-home-source.com/
p.s. That factory farm drone video has me thoroughly disgusted and irritated, and it’s only 9 a.m. so thanks for that, too ; )
Sue E. says
How did those guys do the marshmallow story without cracking up????!!!!
hahaha!
Soli says
Noooooo! Not the marshmallows!
I started my new year with the worst bout of allergy trouble I have ever had in my life. And that is saying something. No idea what caused it, and it has taken almost a week to clear.