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!