What to know about organic foods. At first, eating organic was a 'fad' a 'status'. I didn't think much of it except that it was expensive! But now, I think it is more important than it was before to eat some foods that are grown organic.
I never could understand why the simplest foods, including organic were the most expensive in stores. It doesn't makes sense. It costs more to produce and manufacture a sugary, gelled, preservative filled artificial fruit snack than it does to grow an apple. It's so backwards it makes me mad. Mad because families who can't afford the all natural or organic foods are filling their bodies with preservatives, sugar, and empty calories....no nutrition.
Recently, my family and I watched Food Inc. on PBS. Not only was I saying 'AMEN' to just about everything they were talking about, but I was in shock of what really goes on behind the grocery isle. My jaw dropped a couple times and my heart went out the farmers that try so hard not to get wrapped up in the unnecessary mess. For instance; one of the new shopping tactics that I'm going to start doing is buying eggs and poultry from a local farmer. I highly recommend either watching the movie or reading the book. Here is their website: http://www.foodincmovie.com/
OK...off my soapbox. Organic. Let's say you are shopping in the grocery and you don't know if the produce you are buying is organic. Here is the secret to know how to tell: if the PLU code on the sticker or packaging starts with the number 9, then it's organic. Neat, eh?
My rule of thumb for buying organic is that I buy fruits or veggies that don't have a natural package. Meaning I don't buy organic bananas because they have a peal, I don't buy organic melon because I'm not going to eat the rind, you get the picture. Another tip is to just go to your local farm market and buy locally. Taste the flavors of your latitude.
Food is a necessity, keep it simple and healthy.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Recycling - save money and the earth!
Earth Day is this week so in celebration we are going to talk about recycling. My husband and I started recycling over a year now. Yeah, we were slow to get started. We always knew we should recycle but for some reason just never took the effort to. Then one day my sister was telling me how much money they save from their garbage service by recycling, and the next week we started.
To get started I checked out our local recycling center verses going through a curbside service. Mentally thinking going to a recycling center didn't limit us on the amount we recycled verses curbside where most services have a container size which might limit your efforts. So, at our recycling center we can put all glass, cans, plastics in one bin. And all paper and light cardboard (like cereal boxes) in another bin. The last bin is for thick cardboard like boxes you get from UPS, etc. Very easy!!
The cost for recycling $0, unless you count gas to get to the recycling center. We no longer have a garbage bin because we don't have very much trash now. We use garbage bags bought from our garbage service. We save $10 a month or $120 a year!
Just knowing that you are helping to keep the earth clean feels so good. It was and still is amazing to see how much we recycle every week! Try it, you gotta see it for yourself.
Tip on cleaning out the peanut butter jar: put steaming hot water in the jar and put the lid on it. Let it sit overnight. Next day take your sink sprayer and the peanut butter comes right off!
Celebrate Earth Day in style....start recycling! Snack Smarts recycles too. We recycle as much as we can, mainly boxes and paper.
Would love to hear your tips on recycling.
To get started I checked out our local recycling center verses going through a curbside service. Mentally thinking going to a recycling center didn't limit us on the amount we recycled verses curbside where most services have a container size which might limit your efforts. So, at our recycling center we can put all glass, cans, plastics in one bin. And all paper and light cardboard (like cereal boxes) in another bin. The last bin is for thick cardboard like boxes you get from UPS, etc. Very easy!!
The cost for recycling $0, unless you count gas to get to the recycling center. We no longer have a garbage bin because we don't have very much trash now. We use garbage bags bought from our garbage service. We save $10 a month or $120 a year!
Just knowing that you are helping to keep the earth clean feels so good. It was and still is amazing to see how much we recycle every week! Try it, you gotta see it for yourself.
Tip on cleaning out the peanut butter jar: put steaming hot water in the jar and put the lid on it. Let it sit overnight. Next day take your sink sprayer and the peanut butter comes right off!
Celebrate Earth Day in style....start recycling! Snack Smarts recycles too. We recycle as much as we can, mainly boxes and paper.
Would love to hear your tips on recycling.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
What pat is best? Butter pat that is.
Butter. So good, but so bad for you, right? Well, kind of right, but not totally. My grandma lived to be 93 and she ate butter, lard, etc. You would think that our society would get the picture that eating simpler foods in moderation would help you live longer.
Back to butter. So figuring out what butter or margarine is the healthiest is a funny concept because neither is really healthy. But if you were to eat a pat of butter or margarine, choose butter. Butter has only one or two ingredients, naturally simple. Just don't overdo it.
Now if you want a spread try using real butter first. Take a stick of butter and put it in one of those butter dishes (the dish that a stick of butter fits into) and leave it on the counter. It stays good for about 10 days. But if you just can't do it, then choose the spreads that have the least amount of ingredients in them. I used to buy the tanish/brown container...no names, which tastes great and is a popular spread; but then I switched to the olive oil spread. It's a little more expensive but it has less ingredients and good fats in it. And NOW I am using the good old fashion stick butter.
All in all, stick to the natural stuff and be aware of your portions. You don't need to put butter on everything that society is used to buttering. Skip the butter when you can.
Back to butter. So figuring out what butter or margarine is the healthiest is a funny concept because neither is really healthy. But if you were to eat a pat of butter or margarine, choose butter. Butter has only one or two ingredients, naturally simple. Just don't overdo it.
Now if you want a spread try using real butter first. Take a stick of butter and put it in one of those butter dishes (the dish that a stick of butter fits into) and leave it on the counter. It stays good for about 10 days. But if you just can't do it, then choose the spreads that have the least amount of ingredients in them. I used to buy the tanish/brown container...no names, which tastes great and is a popular spread; but then I switched to the olive oil spread. It's a little more expensive but it has less ingredients and good fats in it. And NOW I am using the good old fashion stick butter.
All in all, stick to the natural stuff and be aware of your portions. You don't need to put butter on everything that society is used to buttering. Skip the butter when you can.
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