Saying Sayonara to Soda!

People are often surprised when they find out that my 6 and 4 year olds have never had soda.  None.  Why? They just don't need it.  They don't need the empty calories.  They don't need the loads of sugar and caffiene.  And they don't need all the artificial junk that's in there.  Do you know what happens to your body when you drink a soda?

In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.

20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)

40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

>60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

>60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.

>60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having theability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

My 6 1/2 year old often asks why she can't have it because "all her friends do."  I decided to SHOW her.  So we did a little experiment.  We took a glass of cola and an egg, placed the egg in the cola and waited an hour.

This is what soda does to your teeth!  And that's in only an hour!

So...If I won't let my kids do this to themselves, why do I do it to myself?  Why is my health less of a priority than theirs?  So today I am kicking the soda habit. Now, I can't say I'm never going to have soda, but I'm not stocking it in my fridge anymore and it's not going to be an everyday thing.  So Sayonara soda!  I'll miss you!

effects of soda info came from here

Making Homemade Yogurt

I have really been trying to limit the amount of refined sugar our family (especially the kiddos) eats.  One of the things that had a shockingly high amount of added sugar was yogurt.  I was also looking to eliminate the artificial colors.  Limiting sugar and dyes really has an effect on Elliot's behavior.  I had heard that a restrictive diet did wonders for kids with ADHD, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try it with my very high strung and energetic little man.

My initial thought was to just buy plain yogurt and stir in fresh fruit.  Have you ever looked at how much sugar is in plain yogurt?!?  It was around 20g per 6oz serving!  WAY too much.  Enter my crucnchy momma plan...

I found a yogurt maker on amazon, ordered some yogurt starter to go with it, and eagerly awaited their delivery!

You'll need 1 quart of milk (I used skim), yogurt starter, fruit or other flavorings, a bit of sugar and water and a thermometer.

Start by heating your milk to 185-190 degrees.  Be careful not to burn it! (not that I'm speaking from experience or anything!)  Then set it aside to cool.

Cook your fruit with a bit of water and sugar for 10-15 minutes.  The recipe I had called for 1/2 a cup so I used 1/4 cup of each kind.  I used about 1/4 of water and 3/4 tbsp of sugar with each fruit.  I pureed the fruit after cooking it for my family members that don't like fruit chunks in their yogurt. 

Once the milk cools to about 95 degrees, mix the starter with 3/4 of milk.  Then mix the starter with all the milk.  If you are making all the same flavor, you can mix your fruit into the milk.  I put the fruit directly into the jars,poured the milk on top, then gave each a quick stir.

Set your timer for 12 hours (higher fat milk takes less time) and then voila! yogurt!

My finished yogurt was OK.  Even after being told to NOT move the yogurt machine, of course, my hubby did.  Apparently that can mess with the fermentation process.  I think I shorted my milk measurement a bit too because I couldn't fill up my jars all the way.  Instead of just making one less yogurt, I evened out the jars.  I think that was a mistake.  My blueberry yogurt was pretty good; the strawberry was set up right.  Everything has a learning curve, I guess...better luck next time.

Get BPA out of our food!

Funny that I came across this tonight, after my post earlier today...

Please click on this link to send an email to the FDA telling them we don't want BPA in our food's packaging!  They decide on this at the end of the month, so act now!

Turning My Brown Thumb Green...

I would love to have a green thumb...to be able to plant anything and have it flourish.  Unfortunately mine is brown.  I kill everything.  It's amazing my pets and kids survive because plants don't stand a chance!

My first foray into gardening was 2 summers ago.  I started with 4 tomato plants, 2 peppers, and some herbs.  Everything but my cilantro was purchased from the farmers market as healthy thriving plants.  I started my cilantro from seed.  The only things that I got anything from was my cherry tomato plant and basil.  My cilantro never grew. Rabbits got my peppers and something would get to my big tomatoes every time they got ripe enough to pick!  I would check them, think "a couple more days till they're ready" and when I went back out, the bottom half would be eaten!

Last year, since we're stuck in a rented house, I tried a patio garden.  I'm thinking my pots were too small for my tomatoes and peppers because all the vegetables were really small!  the skin of the tomatoes were tough and they only grew about a dozen vegetables each.

This year I'm going to try bigger pots and hope for the best!  I really want to get enough tomatoes to get us through the winter without having to buy canned tomatoes! 

Not only will it save us money, but all new the information about canned food is kinda scary.  The lining of cans contains BPA.  Tomatoes particularly (because the are so acidic) break down the lining of the cans and BPA gets into your food!  I cook with a lot of tomatoes so it's very important to me to find an healthier alternative!

For more info on BPA in canned food read here.

And if anyone has any gardening tips. please let me know!!!

Adventures in Cloth Diapering

So why, with my third baby, did I start using cloth?

I started looking into cloth diapers for the economical benefits.

Let's assume over 3 years you average 60 diapers a week.  We'll also assume that with sales, coupons, and different brands, that diapers average $.20 per diaper.  (I think these are low estimates btw)  You would be spending about $1900 on diapers.  I spent under $300 for my stash that will last till potty training.  I was quite frugal in my spending and did not buy diapers that cost more than $20.  This also doesn't take into account the cost of wipes.  We use cloth wipes also...I find its actually easier than trying to make sure a disposable wipe doesn't make it into the wash!

Once I started reading, the green reasons for cloth diapering became more important too.   No one knows how long it takes for a diaper to decompose.  Estimates are anywhere from 250 to 500 years.  Using the above estimates, that means each baby is contributing over 9000 diapers to the landfill in their diaper-wearing years!!!

And let's not forget what we are exposing or babies to when using disposable diapers.

~Dioxins~ Most disposable diapers are bleached with chlorine, resulting in a byproduct called dioxins.  Dioxins are amoung the most toxic chemicals and are listed by the EPA as highly carcinogenic.
~Sodium Polyacrylate~This is a super absorbant chemical compound used as a filler in many diapers.  Ever have those little gel balls on your baby's bottom?  That's what it is.  Sodium Polyacrylate was removed from tampons because of concerns with toxic shock syndrome.  No studies have been done on the long term effects on infants.
~Tributyl-Tin (TBT)~According to the EPA, this toxic pollutant is extremely harmful to aquatic life and causes endocrine (hormonal) disruptions in aquatic organisms. 

I'm just not comfortable with all that being pressed up against my baby's delicate skin 24/7 for the first 2-3 years of her life!

Besides...isn't this butt a whole lot cuter than one in a disposable?!?

For more information on the chemicals in disposable diapers, read here.

There's WHAT in my Tacos?!?

I do a lot of label reading now.  This is mostly thanks to being on a soy-free, dairy-free diet for my baby.  the more I read, the more I'm shocked (and a little scared) by what I find!  Have you read the back of that oh-so-convenient taco seasoning?  Here's a list of ingredients from the packet in my pantry:

Wheat Flour- an unnecessary filler probably just to make it seem like you are getting more
Salt- no surprise but definitely doesn't need to be the second ingredient!
Dried Garlic
Maltodextrin- an additive, made from rice corn or potato starch
Chili Peppers
Spice
Dried Onions
Monosodium Glutamate-what is this? MSG...according to many, a leading cause of obesity
Paprika
Sugar- in tacos??
Contains less than 2% of Silicon Dioxide As An Anticaking Agent, Soybean Oil, Malic Acid.

Is anyone else surprised that most of the ingredients are NOT spices??  Since there are several ingredients in there that I try to avoid, and a couple I had to look up, I decided to find a better alternative.  I found this recipe and haven't looked back!  It's low sodium, gluten free, and can easily be made organic!  I make a big batch and then it's ready to go!  Two heaping tablespoons works great for about a pound and a half of ground beef or shredded chicken.


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon chili powder

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper


Mix all ingredients together and store in an air-tight container. 

Happy Cooking!

Call me 'Crunchy'

I am the mom to 3 beautiful babies; 2 girls and 1 boy.  I’ve always been aware of green practices and ignorantly blissful in my non-green lifestyle.  I always assumed that “they wouldn’t make that or do that if it wasn’t safe.”  Wrong.  Companies look out for themselves and their bottom line. 

I cloth diaper, breastfeed, grow some of my own vegetables, buy local and organic when I can, make my own baby food, and avoid a LOT of things.  But I’m not obsessive.  We don’t eat all organic, we eat out (even occasionally at McDonald’s), we vaccinate, use big brand hygiene products and plastic (BPA free of course).

Why have I started this effort in my family now, after my 3^rd child?  Two main reasons...

One...How many of you know someone close to you that has had cancer?  I would bet most, if not all, of you.  That was not the case 50 years ago, or even when I was a kid.  It has to be coming from somewhere.  Something we’re doing now is poisoning our bodies.  If I can do something simple to lessen the risk for my kids, why wouldn’t I?

And Two...I started to READ!  It started with cloth diapers and vaccines and grew from there.  I read both sides of each topic, discuss it with our pediatrician, and my husband and make a decision based on what I think is best for MY family.

I’m not here to preach or criticize.  I don’t think my way is better than yours.  Some things just aren’t for everyone.  I’m learning as I go.  My oldest was formula fed.  My first two were in disposable diapers.  I just want to share my knowledge, things that have worked for me and things that didn’t go so well in my journey to a healthier (and greener) lifestyle.