Tonight we enjoyed the black bean burgers and homemade fries. Click here for the recipe. I wanted to take a picture, but dinner was late tonight and we were all hungry so I forgot to take one. They were fairly simple to make and the boys both ate it. Elijah in fact seemed to love them. I was worried that they wouldn't eat them since they are not crazy about beans. So I definitely recommend these if you like black beans. There are other variations with different beans that I look forward to trying too.

I am very tired from growing this sweet baby girl, so tonight my post is short and I will leave a website I've enjoyed researching this week: www.vegsoc.org

Action Time

We spent the last half of the week in Florida for a work incentive trip and I enjoyed the fresh fruit and refreshing fresh squeezed orange juice.
Now we are back from our vacation and I made my first grocery store trip since watching the documentary and deciding to make some changes. This week's menu is sort of simple and puts our plan into action, somewhat.
I stocked up on fresh fruits since it is loved so much by the whole family. I bought mostly organic produce, but I am trying to stay as seasonal as possible as well, except nothing seems to be in season right now. :-/
I didn't buy any meat this week. However, there are some turkey meatballs and frozen salmon and swordfish in the freezer that we will finish for sake of not wasting. So this week will not be meat free, but we are baby stepping our way to that experiment.
I have been talking to some of the healthy eaters that I know and also reading some blogs/websites from people who eat whole foods most of the time. I'm reading opinions from strict vegan to the other end of the whole food spectrum; including organic meats and dairy. I look forward to finding where we fit in, as it can get overwhelming to decide what is the best for our family. I also need to research nutritional needs for the boys and myself, being pregnant and soon nursing our baby girl. That will probably be another overwhelming process since everyone has an opinion of that as well.
So this week I am going to make a vegan chili and black bean burgers, both of which will have plenty of protein. If they turn out well, I'll post the recipes. I also plan to make fruit smoothies since Jason stocked up on some frozen berries last week. He has this thing with buying frozen berries, so I am going to put them to good use. We also are going to start juicing fresh veggies and fruits. My favorite is carrot apple juice, yum yum.
The boys are recovering from a nasty cold/virus so I'm hoping they respond well to this week's menu. I am also feeling a bit stuffy and am hoping to prevent getting sick by taking Emergen-C packs and elderberry capsules. It helped my last cold stay pretty under control, so I'm hoping for the same results. We try to stay as natural as possible in treating our illnesses as well. This is a learning process though, and we still have a lot to learn. Herbs can be a tricky topic.
Well I hear my little Elijah crying in bed. I'm sure he's missing his mommy and hoping she hasn't taken off on another vacation. Good night.

Noah's Miracle

Jason made this video when Noah was about a year old. It's wonderful but hard for me to watch, so be prepared to bring out some tissues.

Step One: Watch Food, Inc.

Wow oh Wow, seriously?!?! What an eye opener this documentary is. I knew it was bad, but this goes beyond my wildest thoughts of how messed up our food industry has become. So Jason and I watch this last night to begin our experiment and we haven't been able to stop talking about it. It's something you can't explain to others, it sounds too crazy to be true. My eyes have been opened to where our food supply comes from, and it ain't pretty. Pardon my southern.

One of the steps we are going to take is to cut meat out from our diet. I've always thought vegetarians were misguided, but I'm not so sure about that anymore. I honestly don't know a lot about it yet, but it is something we are going to "experiment" with to see how our bodies respond. We already know that red meat, even the organic brands, are very hard for both of us to digest and the boys don't like it at all. Noah is allergic to fish/seafood and gets sick every time he eats it. Little man Elijah prefers fruits and veggies over anything, and is so young that he will comply as long as it's tasty. Jason and I have pretty much already cut out pork and most seafood because we just don't enjoy it anymore and again, it's hard to digest. Our main meat choice is poultry, so that will be our biggest challenge. I have a feeling we are going to do fine cutting out meats, especially after watching this documentary. We are doing it primarily for health reasons and aren't hard core animal rights activists, but we do love animals and realize how awful they are treated in food production factories. It's heartbreaking, and has fueled the fire to stop eating meats. I know there are sources for obtaining meats from local farmers who treat their animals well, but there is just something about seeing those poor animals slaughtered that doesn't seem right to us.

Meat is just one of the issues discussed in Food, Inc. Genetically modified foods(GMO's) are also taking over our food supply. I mean, come on, why do you have to mess with nature? God's design is perfect and it seems like they are trying to be their own God by improving something and it's killing people! The GMO soybean industry is just ridiculous, bullying farmers who choose to raise non-GMO crops. And to the fool who allowed patenting seeds, wow, you really messed up buddy. It's insanity! We also watched another great documentary that went into more detail concerning GMO foods called "The Future of Food." Another goal we are setting is to avoid GMO foods as much as possible. I have a feeling it is becoming very hard to completely avoid them because labeling laws protect these companies and sometimes you have no idea that you are eating these genetically engineered foods. It's really corrupt and disgusting, and it infiltrates our government. Most of the FDA, EPA, and USDA leaders are tied in with these big food businesses, so they are promoting these practices all in the name of MONEY! Forget about the health of the people, the poor innocent dying children, just so they can make the big bucks. It's sickening and I am going to make choices that do not support these businesses. We are just one family, but it always starts with the person in the mirror.

If you click on "this documentary" at the top of the blog it should link you to a free download of Food, Inc. and also click on "The Future of Food". I hope you take the time to watch them and do your own research. We have become passionate about learning where our food comes from, I think it's something every American should be aware of. You would think you could trust our food supply, that someone out there has to have some sense of morals and look our for the health of our nation. Unfortunately that person has to be you, everything seems to be motivated by money and our well-being is low on their list of priorities.

I'm just hoping a GMO soybean seed doesn't blow into my blog and I get taken to court by Monsanto!

Our Introduction

Jason and I have been searching for answers, pure truth about the foods we eat. We are "sick and tired of feeling sick and tired!" We have dabbled into holistic eating over the past 3 years but never really gotten EXTREME about it. And we love that word, it reveals passion and we are passionate about becoming extreme in our health.

God created our bodies to do amazing things, to live off of certain foods and to heal itself. One can pray for healing, but running out and filling our bodies with unclean foods can hinder that process. I do not discount the power of prayer at all, we have experienced healing in our family and know God is in the healing business as much today as when His son Jesus walked the Earth.

We've been playing tug of war with our bodies, eating mainly holistic foods and exercising for a while, then going back to the SAD(standard American diet) with little to no exercise. We have been immature, rebellious, whatever you want to call it. Personally, I know a TON about holistic living, and they say "when you know better, you do better." Yeah, I've done a little better but often find myself purposefully ignoring what I know so I can enjoy my pizza, hamburgers, and Dr. Pepper without as much guilt. After we eat those things we always know why we shouldn't because of our body's reactions and vow to change our ways.

Easier said than done, I must admit. Jason and I are as different as night and day, but we also have this annoying similarity. We "food pout" together, or as some put it, look to food for comfort. We sit on the couch talking about what to eat for dinner, taking way too much time to figure out what will make us feel "better". And that usually ends up being some sort of processed piece of crap and a Dr. Pepper. Sometimes we even watch "The Biggest Loser" while we eat this junk, how lame is that!?!

To give myself some credit, I could give the biggest organic hippy a run for his money at the grocery store. I know all about buying the healthiest organic, whole food choices and how to save money eating this way. My cart usually looks amazingly healthy with very limited bad ingredients. And when I have an extra hand to grab them, my reusable bags hold my purchases. I'm doing my part for the environment. :) I stock my fridge and pantry with things many Americans have never seen/bought. We've been teased for having "everything" organic, from produce to condiments to cookies. When I buy eggs, they are organic and free range. My butter is always organic. We don't drink cow's milk because we are all lactose intolerant, but use coconut, rice, and almond milk. During this pregnancy, meat really makes me nauseous, but if I do buy it it is free range, grass fed, organic, hormone free, all that good expensive stuff. Whenever I can, I get organic food because I know it's a better choice and it just tastes better.

Since I am a stay at home mom, I prepare a lot of meals. The boys and I always have a healthy breakfast and lunch at home using all those wonderful things I buy at the store. The boys love to snack, so I either cut up some fruit or give them a snack free of HFCS(high fructose corn syrup), preservatives, etc. Praise be to healthy Mom. (angelic music) Then dinner time rolls around and angelic Mom morphs into a tired, unprepared to make dinner Mom and all those good habits go down the drain. Dad gets home or makes a call and typically either goes to the store to buy all those convenient things I don't put into my cart, or brings home take-out. Yep, all those good choices are pretty much cancelled out by what we make for dinner. I will say that being pregnant has increased this behavior because I honestly do not like cooking things that "smell". I am accustomed to cooking big dinners with lots of flavor and rich smells, and that just can't happen right now. So here we are back into our "rut" of eating processed dinners foods and "food pouting" on the couch together. We knew this must STOP for the sake of our family's health and our pocketbook.

So what are we going to do? We are going to do a healing experiment with our bodies. It will become extreme, an invitation to comments like "you're crazy", "is that healthy for you?", and "you make your kids eat what?" Yes, we are ready to put all that great knowledge to good use and heal our bodies from the inside out and we want you to experience the journey. We both will blog about our experiences. Jason jokingly said his grammatical errors will shut down the blog site, so be gracious with his spelling mistakes. lol We know this is going to go against our "food pouting" sessions, but we are ready to stop pouting and start feeling GREAT! I am really excited about the changes we are going to experiences and ready to tackle the challenges. I am ready for this because I understand the GRACE of God in my life on a different level, and true change comes from this revelation. I know that's a whole different topic, but it's the basis of this experiment. Together, because of who we are in Christ, we are going to start living healthy and trusting our bodies to heal the way they were created to heal. Hallelujah!

I want to end this post by leaving you with a few statistics on "being the average American." These come from a great motivational holistic speaker Dr. Richard Schulze:
They eat a low nutrition high fat and sugar food program.

A diet high in over processed nutritionally deplete food.

They consume 300 soft drinks a year, 170 pounds of white refined sugar, 400 candy bars, 500 doughnuts, and will eat over 12 entire 3,000 pound cows,
6 whole pigs, 3,000 chickens and other birds and another 3,000 assorted fish and sea creatures and over 30,000 quarts of milk and pass all of this through their digestive system and bloodstream.

They will get very little exercise if any, be 25 pounds or more overweight, have hypercholesterolemia with a average level of 200 and have high blood pressure

They take over 30,000 aspirin and assorted other pain killers in their lifetime along with over 20,000 over the counter and prescription drugs and over 2,000 gallons of alcohol.

They will have an average of 2-4 bowel movements a week coming up 70,000 bowel movements short in their life time, definitely having diverticulosis and digestive/elimination problems.

I don't want to be the average American, how about you?

Quick Update

Noah had his eye and ear doctor appointments the first week of the month so I wanted to update you all.
His right eye is responding well to the drops and his vision was much better in that eye. He is so cute during his exam, talking really silly when they ask him what the shapes he sees are. Elijah is just all over the place trying to push buttons and pull cords and climb in the exam chair with Noah. My own personal "curious George."
He still has the hole in his left eardrum. :( But we have 6 more months of waiting and praying to see if it can in fact heal on it's own. Our bodies are miraculous healers and I believe it can! He will also have a hearing test then to determine his true level of hearing. It is hard to get an accurate test until they are 4 or 5. He doesn't seem to have any issues hearing unless it happens to just be convenient...like "Noah pick up your books that you threw off the shelf for the tenth time today!" lol Somehow he just doesn't respond to that.
On the positive side, Noah was released from physical therapy this week!! YAY!! His strength is not 100% on the right side, but she believes he will get stronger as he grows a little more, and of course we'll continue to work with him at home. No more Therapy Tuesdays! Noah was actually kind of sad because he likes therapy and his therapist. I told him we would have to make a Wiggletime(toddler play place) date each week instead, and he decided that would be super. lol :)
Everything is going good with the whole family. I am very pregnant now, and entered the third trimester yesterday. It won't be long until we get to meet "sister", still yet to be named. The next 2 months are going to be spent cultivating my "nesting" commands. I'm sure Jason is going to love it!