It's not just what you eat - it's what you cook it in

We usually get our pots & pans based upon sales or what our mom used for our childhood meals. We don't much think about it again but as we get healthier in what we eat, we start to also look at the tools we use to prepare our healthful meals.

Most cookware on the market is coated with Teflon to make the fat-free cooks happy. Teflon and Silverstone coating is convenient for sticky food and things like eggs, but there are real dangers when not used properly:

• Never use it on high heat - only put it on a medium to medium low heat.
  
• Never heat it dry - always have something in it before heating, like oil or butter.
  
• Never use it once scratched - if you scratch it discard it because those chemicals will get into your foods.

When heated dry, particles become airborne and embed in your lungs. The fumes are lethal to birds. And let's face it, they scratch easily and are therefore not an economical or environmentally sound way to cook meals.

Aluminum is also popular since it is a great conductor of heat and is cheap. Most restaurants use aluminum cookware to prepare food but aluminum is a poison and leaches into our foods (and you'd better believe those aluminum pans used in restaurants are all scratched up so pieces of aluminum are surely in the foods prepared for our enjoyment - which is another reason we tend to not eat out.) Anodized Aluminum does effectively seal the chemicals but harsh chemicals are used to create the anodized aluminum. In addition, it can scratch easily and then you get the aluminum and the black specs (toxic chemicals) into your foods. And it is definitely not dishwasher friendly.

Stainless is the most economical choice but is not a good conductor so is always plied with other metals. You can easily scratch it and some of the chromium or nickel may leach into the food, but very minute amount. If a magnet sticks to your stainless steel cookware, it has less nickel and is therefore a safer option.

Instead choose cast iron (preferably not pre-seasoned and season it yourself that way you know what kind of oil you are using), enameled cast iron, ceramic, glass, or a safe stainless steel cookware.

My preference is the enameled cast iron. Le Crueset is expensive but you can sometimes find good buys at discount stores like Marshall's and Mercola has his own cookware and great information too.


This is part of today's carnival for:

Carrots, Chlorine, & Kids, Oh My!

The internet is great for sharing information. Unfortunately, it's equally great at sharing misinformation. And as we all know, a little information can be a dangerous thing.

Once again, the email about baby carrots is circulating. This says that it's from a farmer and gives some fancy labels explaining that baby carrots are "dipped in a solution of water and chlorine to preserve them (this is the same chlorine used in pools)." Some of the emails claim the carrots are not real and call them "practically plastic" and others say they are deformed carrot mutations and that is why they are cut up into baby carrots. Even better it goes on to say "You will notice that once you keep the carrots in your refrigerator for a few days, a white covering will form on the carrots. This is the chlorine which resurfaces. At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables?" After reading that, how can we feed this to our precious kids?

I checked on snopes and there are some valid points and some clear non-truths. That is in addition to the spelling error for aesthetically. I also took this a step further contacted Bunny-Luv the maker of the organic baby carrots directly and learned:

1. The white residue is evidence of dehydration not chlorine.
   
   
2. Chlorine is not a preservative and cannot be used as a preservative, it has not preservative qualities.
   
   
3. Grimmway/Bunny-Luv uses the same amount of chlorine found in your regular drinking/tap water NOT the levels from a pool. So if you wash your food under your tap water, you are doing the same thing.
   
   
4. Baby carrots are NOT plastic or practically plastic or deformed carrots, they are big carrots cut to size.
   
   
5. Baby Carrots are not cut from mutant carrots, they are just created from regular larger carrots or the tops after processing carrots for other things like frozen or shredded carrots.

This was the response from Grimmway/Bunny-Luv:

"We do use chlorinated water in the processing of our carrots; HOWEVER, the amount of chlorine used is only 4ppm (parts per million) which is the same standard for household tap water. If you wash your vegetable under running water from your faucet, you are getting the same amount of chlorine we use.

Chlorine is not a preservative as it has no preservative qualities. It is used to kill any bacteria that may be present on the surface of the carrot. The dry white that can appear on carrots is not chlorine residue; it is simply evidence of dehydration. Cut and peel any carrot and allow it to sit for awhile and it will turn white. I hope this answers your question."

So baby carrots, at least organic ones, are safe to eat and are a good food to feed our children.

HOWEVER, it is true that Chlorine is a carcinogen. Chlorine is probably the most widely used toxic chemical. It is used in clothing, paper products, laundry bleach, cleaners and scouring pads. We use it to clean, we add it to our pools, we add it to our laundry to get our whitest whites.

Chlorine is readily absorbed through the skin and is toxic when inhaled. Chlorine Bleach, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Hypochlorite, and Sodium Hydroxide can irritate lungs, burn eyes, skin and internal organs (if swallowed). Chlorine can react with other chemicals, like ammonia, to damage lungs. In fact, it was used full strength as a weapon to destroy the lungs of soldiers in WWI.

Once Chlorine gets into our environment, it forms cancer-causing compounds. It is a "hazardous pollutant" according to the Clean Air Act and is on EPA's Right To Know List. It is the chemical most involved (tops the list for children) in poisonings, injuries and even death. Studies show a link between dioxins and cancer as well as reproductive problems, endocrine disruption, and a weakened immune system.

We should make the effort to eliminate it from our laundry, cleaning, and washing. We should also take steps to eliminate it from our showers (which are a toxic mix of chlorine heated next to vinyl shower curtains – a horrible combination - that's another post!)

We buy baby carrots because they are convenient. We can add them to soups and stews. They are an easy kid-friendly snack. They are great for dips and the crudites platter. They save us time from peeling and washing and therefore allow us to add a vegetable to our day easily, even on the go.

Baby carrots are a REAL FOOD made more convenient and much better than opening a bag of chips or pretzels. Please don't stop eating carrots. But do take steps to take chlorine out of your life where possible.

This is part of

Let's Clear the Air

I love to travel and explore with my family. At the same time I dread it - being out of my comfort zone, being away from my kitchen where I prepare meals that nourish our bodies with good food and our souls with tradition, and stepping into the unknown of chemicals and cleaners used at the place where we will rest our heads.

Since we've stopped using chemicals and have been eating real food, we notice it, even the kids do. Walking into a shoe or toy store makes our eyes water with all the off-gassing. It's amazing what we can subject our bodies to, lack of nutrition, bombarding it with chemicals and disease, and our lovely bodies continue to function. Our family, thankfully, is more in tune so we can make better decisions knowing what's good and not.

We realize this and are more accepting of the outside world when we travel but there is one thing we cannot tolerate. And you shouldn't either. When you think about it, it's an amazing invention that never existed and now has become a necessary element in making a house a home.

Sprays, plug-ins, plug-ins that self-spray, odor neutralizers, air sanitizers, and aromatherapy candles in just the right scent are all there, something for everyone. Air fresheners seem to work to help erase the smells in the room and clean the air, but actually they work on us. The chemicals coat our nasal passages with a film that deadens the nerve endings. They mask the problem and fool us into thinking the room is fresh, the smell we have learned to mean clean.

The ingredients are toxic and may include things like formaldehyde, fragrance, benzyl alcohol, camphor, ethanol, and naphthalene, among others. Aside from causing asthma and allergies, many of these chemicals are known carcinogens that lead to cancer and birth defects. Many attack the central nervous system which can lead to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, or SIDs in infants. Children are particularly susceptible to poor air quality which can lead to a host of diseases and premature death. Sound clean to you?

Air fresheners and room deodorizers actually create air pollution. When used in a confined area, like our homes, places of work, or cars, they create an intense amount of toxins in a small area. The EPA ranks poor indoor air quality among the top five environmental health risks to the public. Pollution indoors is oftentimes worse (sometimes up to 500 times worse!) than the pollution outdoors! Sure, tobacco smoke indoors is a horrible contributor to that, but aside from that, indoor pollution is primarily the cause of all the things we use to clean our homes and make our homes smell good. In aerosol form the dangers are multiplied because of the micro-particles that are created of the chemicals that can then enter our bloodstream.

Many natural and health food stores sell aromatherapy candles. Traditional candles are made of paraffin wax, a by-product of the gasoline industry, a petrochemical. The fragrance is either artificial, once again a petro-chemical and many not suited for combustion, or a pure essential oil which, when burned, no longer offers the therapeutic effect and actually converts into unhealthy byproducts. Scented paraffin candles usually contain metal or lead core wicks creating unsafe lead concentrations when burned. 100% of the lead that is inhaled when the candle is burned ends up in the bloodstream which can be particularly damaging to, you guessed it, growing children. What is not inhaled immediately attaches to furniture and walls to be inhaled or ingested later. The black soot created from burning traditional, and especially scented, candles is toxic. According to the American Lung Association - "scented, paraffin candles cause lead poisoning and using slow burning paraffin candles cause poor indoor air quality, and a serious health concern." Once again, instead of freshening the air, they work to mask the odor while adding poisons to the air we breathe in the comfort of our own homes.

Unplug them, stop buying them, save your money and instead, really freshen your air:

• clean instead of masking the odor, use nontoxic cleaners
• open the windows for real fresh air (if you're not in a high rise with smokers on the patio above or below you, or up against a busy street, of course)
  
• empty the garbage frequently and get rid of rotting meats and vegetables
• burn 100% pure UNSCENTED beeswax candles with 100% cotton wicks - not only is it the best alternative to traditional paraffin candles, but pure beeswax candles actually do purify and clean the air and add a warm golden glow
  
• use the box of open baking soda trick from your fridge in closets and bathrooms or put a half a cup of vinegar in the smelly room to absorb the odor
• use a drop or two of pure essential oils in a mister filled with distilled water and spritz
• simmer spices like cinnamon and cloves in a little water on the stovetop
• simmer 3 - 5 organic lemons cut in fourths in clean water for 30 minutes to an hour
• simmer crushed or cut fresh ginger in some water
• simmer herbs like rosemary or basil
• boil some water and then add a drop or two of your favorite pure essential oil(s)
• dab pure organic cotton balls with orange, vanilla, lavender, or lemon extracts or essential oils and place them around the house
• use organic herbal sachets and potpourris or run your fingers against pots of fresh herbs that you keep in the house to release their scent
  
• add potted plants to your room to clear carbon dioxide and other toxins naturally
• use volcanic rocks to absorb the odors
• get freshly cut fragrant organic flowers
• cook or bake, toast up dried spices in a pan, put something in the oven - create a delicious meal and you'll make the house smell good and fill happy tummies with something delicious -it's amazing how aromas of food can fill the air and create memories for our children.

This is part of Natural Body Care Products for Real Foodies for

Join at Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Your Biggest Organ

This is usually one of the last things we change. We get attached to name brands, the smells, and how they make us look and feel. But the fact is that more chemicals get into our body through our skin, our biggest organ, than through eating or what we breathe.

Children and teens are especially susceptible to chemicals. While the FDA does test chemicals and additives to see if they cause cancer, they do not look at the effects these chemicals may have on our growing children. In fact, children products are notoriously toxic. They do not test how it may accumulate in children. They do not test the hormonal effects or potential learning disabilities associated with additives. And then there is the potential problems missed from mixing chemicals by exposure to a variety over a short period of time.

The list of chemicals in any one product is staggering, just look at an ingredient list and try and pronounce them all. Most ingredients that are listed are harmful chemicals proven to cause cancer and birth defects. According to the Environmental Defense Group, some 78% of the chemicals in personal care products have not even been tested for toxicity. While Europe has stricter standards, the U.S. government does not police all chemical ingredients in personal care items. Companies are allowed to do it because it's only a "minute amount" of this or that bad chemical. The theory is that a little bit can't hurt. But the reality is that all those minute amounts are compounded into all the luscious creams, lotions, shampoos, perfumes, sprays, deodorants, cosmetics. On top of that, we use these products daily, thus compounding the cocktail of chemicals into our body on a regular basis. And, unbeknownst to us, the ingredient list doesn't include everything because many combinations are protected as "trade secret."

But we can take steps to safeguard ourselves. Choose companies that take an interest in our health, not just their bottom line in creating effective yet safe products:

• Aubrey Organics
• Badger Balm
• Dr. Bronner's
  
• Earth Mama Angel Baby
• Kiss My Face
• Mercola
  
• MyChelle
• Terressentials
• Weleda

Tips to remember when shopping:

1. Labels on the front are for sales purposes when it comes to personal care items. Organic does not necessarily mean safe for personal care products. It's a marketing ploy. There are currently no certifications for personal care products to be organic, though it is in the works. Choose companies that truly offer organic ingredients not just an organic smattering so they can highlight that on their label or, my favorite, when they say it's 90% organic because it's, oh, 90% water infused with organic essential oil.
   
2. Make sure your hair coloring is lead-free free and read to avoid other harmful chemicals.
3. Personal care items should be free of Sodium-Laureth/Lauryl Sufite or SLS and Parabens, and other harmful chemicals.
4. Lipstick does indeed get ingested as we eat, drink, kiss, and lick our lips . Many lipsticks contain lead. Choose lipstick with ingredients that you would eat since after all, you are going to eat it.
   
5. Choose nail polish that is formaldehyde and toluene free.
6. Perfumes can include a laundry list of items not on the label. Most include hormone disrupters, phthalates, and artificial fragrances. Phthlates are known hormone disrupters leading to issues in fertility; they have been linked to birth defects. Once you understand what's in there, the aroma won't be as alluring. Choose pure essential oils instead.
7. If pregnant, you are sharing what you spray and put on your skin so choose carefully for the health and safety of your wee one.

Or try doing without commercial products altogether. One Generation has great posts on making your own homemade safe and effective:

• deodorant
• shampoo
  

Recently, a friend of ours commented that my family's hair looked great. I laughed. We recently started no-pooing and me with my very curly hair always had frizzy in the humid south Florida climate and now no extra products and no frizz - just simple baking soda/water combo and rinse with vinegar/water/vanilla bean solution. The kids are doing it too and some are happy not to have to wash their hair anymore.

Link for more information:

• Skin Deep, Environmental Working Group
• Are Your Products Safe?, The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
• Come Clean Campaign, Organic Consumers Association
  

This post is part of two Carnivals:

Getting Human is the topic for today at

and

Join the Real Food Wednesday Carnival by heading over to Kelly the Kitchen Kop for Natural Body Care Products for Real Foodies and Join the Works For Me Wednesday Carnival by going to We Are That Family.

Cauli-Power

My kids love cauliflower! Bet you can't say that. Maybe you can, maybe you understand the smile that starts in your toes and draws to both sides of your face when your child asks for a fruit or a vegetable or something as unhip as cauliflower.

I admit it; I was a cauli-hater. I saw no real redeeming value in that white (so I figured tasted bad AND not high in antioxidants) cabbage-like vegetable. That was until I roasted it one day and the bowl hardly made it to the table as we all tasted and tasted and tasted. That's still our favorite and easiest way to prepare cauliflower. The kids LOVE it. I love it. Even the Husband loves it. I bet the dog would too if he ever got any but we clean the bowl. Now I buy and make two at a time to keep up with our ravenous cauli-tite.

Like Broccoli, Cauliflower is a cruciferous super-vegetable that helps ward off and fight certain cancers. Only cruciferous vegetables are rich in the nutrients isothiocyanates, sulforaphane, and indole-3-carbinol, all linked with reducing the risk of breast, prostate, cervical, lung, and other cancers. Cruciferous vegetables boost the immune system, support cardiovascular health, build bones, fight cardiovascular disease, fight age-related macular degeneration, and help fight against birth defects. We should all make them a part of our healthful delicious diet.

Be on the lookout when YELLOW or ORANGE and PURPLE Cauliflower is available. Broccoflower and Romanesco Cauliflower, that's the one that looks like a lime-colored crown, are also fun and different. We love to try new vegetables and in new ways but hey, when you find something you love, like roasted cauliflower, well we make that all the time.

Roasted Cauliflower Power

Preheat oven to 425F
Chop up the cauliflower into sort of even size pieces so they cook the same
Drizzle on some olive oil and toss it around to coat it. Sprinkle on some sea or grey salt.
Lay on a cookie sheet. Do not crowd it. This is important, if you crowd it, it will steam, not the delicious goodness you are looking for so don't crowd it.
Roast 15-20 minutes, maybe more depending upon the size of your pieces, until it browns and caramelizes at the tips and tops and is tender. (Fork it to be sure, you don't want it tough or chewy, should be tender and soft and delicious!) Enjoy hot out of the oven - I dare you to get it to the table without a massive dent in the bowl.

Will make a cauli-lover out of any cauli-hater, takes one to have known one.












Roasting vegetables this way can actually make any vegetable more delicious as it caramelizes it. You can chop KALE and do the same thing (again, be careful not to crowd it and WATCH IT - don't overcook it - then crunch away like potato chips.) Broccoli is great roasted too. So is sliced cabbage. Remember the secret is not to crowd the pan.

So good. So easy. Roasted veggies are a healthy food my kids love!

Some other things I do to add nutritious foods to our kids bellies:

• Breakfast Smoothies of course - I add flaxseed meal, flax oil, or chia seeds for added omega 3s as well as a healthy amount of fresh and colorful fruits, splash of vanilla, some honey or maple syrup and maybe a dash of cinnamon to milk, yogurt or kefir.
• I add leafy greens to stews, dinners, lunches and our favorite is adding a healthy dose of Spinach to Basil Pesto which I add to everything from brunch Frittatas to Stews to Pizza. Getting more veggies is much easier when you start the day with foods like frittata. See my post on Greens here with that recipe and more ideas.
  
• We have a hot breakfast in the morning, no cold cereal, rarely hot cereal, it's usually eggs. The lutein, antioxidants, protein, are all good to start their day. Some of them like scrambled, others like the yellows good and runny. Of course only organic and preferably pastured and free roaming and not soy-fed.
  
• The kids love grassfed meat and rice and of course I add shredded zucchini and other vegetables, like a stir-fry.
• The kids enjoy (healthful) yogurt as a snack or a meal. They like dipping spelt pretzels into it or fruits. Make sure it is real yogurt, not the ones loaded with sugars, emulsifiers, fillers and rBGH. We like Seven Stars organic biodynamic brand best - the vanilla rocks but we usually get plain and add the maple syrup and vanilla ourselves.
  
• We eat together. We eat our meal not several different meals. We eat together. I had to say that twice because I have seen several friends feed their kids "kid-food" first and then clean up the kids, send them away, and sit down for the adult meal. Kids need to be part of that adult meal. They need to see us taste new foods, even if we don't like it. They need to see us eat our vegetables. They need to be with us and we need to be with them.

I'm not a believer in hiding vegetables in the brownie. If that's your thing, that's cool, it's just not mine. I think that the brownie should be experienced unadulterated and pure, with very little flour and only whole wheat, and succanat, but you will not find spinach puree in my baked goods.

I will, however, hide vegetables in ground beef, meatballs, meatloaf, pesto.

I think kids should see and enjoy the color of vegetables and experience each one at least three times, yes, even under duress and threat of taking away every electronic device that they cannot bear to live without. They won't starve, I promise, well, they may for a couple days if they are as stubborn as one of mine, but hey, it's part of the adventure and eventually they will indeed eat the food you prepare for your family.

For more tips on how my children make good food decisions on their own see: How Has Real Food Changed Our Lives?

This post is part of two Carnivals:

Getting Human is the topic for today at

and

is about Kid-Friendly Real Food - Healthy Food Kids Love! Join the Real Food Wednesday Carnival by heading over to CheeseSlave and Join the Works For Me Wednesday Carnival by going to We Are That Family.

Time-Saving Kitchen & Nutrition Tips - The Healthy Pantry

When you ditch the microwave (that's another post) and stop buying most pre-packaged foods, you start to create short cuts to having real food in a hurry. Real food doesn't necessarily take more time, I can usually get dinner on the table in 30, but it does take planning and having a good filled pantry (fresh, frozen, dry) of supplies so I know I can make anything based upon the fresh veggies or meats I have on hand. I choose organic (non-gmo) for everything except meats and fish, those are grass-fed and wild respectively.

My Pantry consists of Dry - Frozen - Refrigerated/Fresh -

DRY:

• Oils: olive, coconut, palm shortening, macadamia nut oil
  
• Coconut milk
  
• Stock, preferably fresh made and frozen but I have some of that organic chicken stock on hand just in case, don't tell anyone
  
• Basic spices - sea salt, (NOTE: this is NOT regular table salt! I only use real sea salt, grey salt, river salt, we feel a big difference in our health and if we ever eat out, we can feel the difference in the sodium.) fresh black peppercorns, cumin, cayenne or chili pepper flakes, curry and curry paste, maybe some spice blends, vanilla beans and vanilla extracts
• Canned tomatoes whole and diced (make sure it's in a lined can so the aluminum doesn't leach from the high acidity of tomatoes and only organic tomatoes)
• Brown Rice (there are so many kinds of rice: Red, Wild, Sweet Brown, Short & Long Grain), Brown Rice Pasta (we love Tinkyada brand), Quinoa, Millet, Wheatberries, Grits (only organic), Kamut Berries, Barley, Oats (steel cut, rolled, thick rolled, Scottish, we use them all in different ways)
  
• Baking supplies - flour, (I'm using the last of the organic unbleached all purpose and whole wheat flours, moving toward Amaranth Flour, Coconut Flour, Buckwheat, Spelt, Garbanzo Flour and things like that. Also having whole wheat berries I'll be getting a Vitamix to grind my own and make my own sprouted wheat - can't wait!), chocolate chips, baking powder/baking soda, yeast, chia seeds (whole and pulverized - I add them to smoothies and baked goods to add omega 3s)
• Honey - I like YS Organic Honey and New Zealand honeys, but there are tons of lovely organic honeys each with their own qualities. I use one from Africa on meats and in sauces, it is the only honey I know of that is from a flowering tree; the flavor depends upon the flowering blossoms and organic means the bees are roaming on pesticide-free flowers
• Crackers - particularly wheat-free and crunchy ones like Mary's Gone Crackers and Foods Alive Golden Flax Crackers
  
• Condiments: Soy sauce from fermented nonGMO soy beans, Fish sauce, Mustard, Vinegar, Kethcup (Organicville makes one with Agave instead of sugar)
  
• Nut butters: Almond, Cashew, Macadamia Nut, others
  
• Fair Trade Coffee & Tea
• Sweeteners we use Sucanat, I love the flavor and color of it, or Rapadura which is a brand name of the same thing, we also use in moderation: Brown Rice Syrup, Agave, Xylitol, and Therasweet from Living Fuel and
  
• Organic Maple Syrup, Maple Chunks and Maple Sugar
• Date Sugar
  
• Jam, there are organic all-fruit spreads by bionaturae that are great!
• Canned Wild Alaskan Salmon, Sardines, and Tuna
  
• Beans - canned and dried especially cannellini, garbanzo and black beans
  Snacks for kids - Fruitabu Twirls, Freeze-dried fruit like Just Tomatoes Just Organic Strawberries, things like that we have for lunchboxes and quick snacks
  
• Raisins, Apricots, Cherries, and other dried fruit
  
• Fair Trade Dark Chocolate and Cocoa Powder, I have some organic fair trade milk chocolate for the kids but they are beginning to like some of the dark ones now too
  
• Seaweed stuff - Sushi wrappers, Dulse, Wakame
  

FREEZER:

• Nuts: we have a big variety - cashews, pecans, walnuts, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, flaxseeds and flaxseedmeal (great for baked goods and smoothies), every kind, I keep them in the freezer to keep them fresh since they have a high fat content which can lead to them going rancid quickly
  
• Frozen fruit are great for smoothies. Any fresh fruit that doesn't get eaten gets frozen. Frozen fruit are also great to put in a juicer to make mock ice cream or even just to eat right out of the bag.
  
• Frozen veggies are good to have on hand for frittatas, stews, etc. but I prefer fresh.
  
• Grassfed Meats/Pastured Free Roaming Organic Poultry/Wild Alaskan Seafood - grassfed ground beef, lamb, turkey, grassfed bison, bacon, burgers, skirt steaks, salmon, halibut, a variety of cuts and kinds of meats and fish
• Frozen pre-made meals that I made extra including Chicken & Beef Stock, Stews, Soups (lots of soups), breakfast muffins, desserts
• I store Wheat Germ and Whole Wheat products in the freezer or anything I buy in bulk
  

REFRIGERATED:

• Grass-fed Dairy: Heavy Cream, Milk, Butter, Kefir, Cheeses, Sour Cream, Ricotta Cheese, Yogurt (we like Seven Stars brand, I get plain and add vanilla and maple syrup) - always organic and rBGH-free and grassfed. If in Miami get Raw Milk at the Miami Coop or contact Justine with The New Hunter Gatherer or your visit the Weston Price Foundation
  
• Flax oil - great to add to smoothies or salad dressings
  
• Eggs - organic, preferably pastured
• Fresh Fruits, Veggies and Herbs - LOTS of Fruits & Veggies - and a great variety!
  
• Cultured Veggies, Pickles, Olives
  
• Miso
• Kombucha (have to learn how to make it myself)
  
• Organic Deli Meats, but not that much since they are not usually grassfed, when I can find grassfed nitrite-free deli meats, we have our way with those
  

Save time shopping by going online, Amazon has lots of great groceries and organics now too, that way you can comparison shop and take your time.

When I cook an item I use a lot, I make extra and freeze it including:

• soups - especially when veggies are plentiful (or about to go bad) like Roasted Pepper Soup, Broccoli soup, and of course Chicken and Beef Stock
  
• basil spinach pesto - I freeze and then I can add that to anything from stews to pizza to frittatas or anywhere I need to add some greens and some flavor. Link here to see other GREENS tips.
  
• baked goods - desserts, cakes, muffins, pancakes, waffles, all of these freeze very well and that way it's there when you need it when friends pop by

More Meal-Make-In-A-Hurry Tips -

• make extra - use leftovers and create something new, heat them up as is for leftovers the next day, freeze them for another day
• I'll make meatballs and freeze them uncooked to use another time: drop them into soup, braise them, cook them in the oven - ready to go and I know what went into them!
• freeze peeled GINGER, I peel it and freeze it. It grates easily frozen, no need to thaw, and that way I always have some on had to grate into any dish with my micro-rasper.
• freeze any fresh fruit or vegetable you don't use in time for use later
  
• fresh fruits and vegetable preparation - I cut up apples and swoosh them in orange juice to keep them from browning and use as a quick snack; cut up celery and carrots and have on hand in the fridge ready to grab. The kids will grab those with nut butter as a snack. I take fresh herbs and rinse them, shake off the excess water, and wrap them in a kitchen towel and put them in a refrigerator drawer ready to use.
• I take meat, fish, poultry out of the freezer every couple of days to plan my menu for the next several days
• sauces make a meal, adding a sauce can change it and make it really delicious
• extra soup can be used the next day or frozen for another day - be sure to label the frozen food with a date and what it is (maybe even the ingredients or the name of the recipe so you know what it is and what it includes in case of allergies in visitors or new allergies)
• extra rice can be used the next day to make a chicken/beef/pork/veggie-fried rice
• stews incorporate veggies, meats, broth, everything in one hearty bowl, I tend to make quite a bit of stews since they are fast to put together, can be crock-potted, are satisfying and nutritious.
• breakfast for dinner - the kids love eggs, frittatas (great way to mix veggies in), pancakes, omelets, so much you can do with eggs! We tend to have a bigger lunch.
  
• oh for my daughter's birthday party I made sandwiches cut up in flower and other shapes and saved all the crusts and used that to make an easy bread pudding with eggs, honey, vanilla, orange zest, milk.
• don't toss the bones from roasted chicken, you can use that to make a rich chicken stock, add in the parsley stems that you didn't use fresh
  

Favorite kitchen gadgets and things I could not live without -

• Glass Pyrex dishes. These are great for storing, come in a variety of sizes, can be used to reheat things straight from the fridge as long as you start them in a cold oven, and can even be used to store things in the freezer! There are containers, mixing bowls, all with tops and in a variety of sizes. They are glass but the tops are plastic. I just try not to overfill them so the top doesn't touch the plastic and I wait for the leftovers to cool before putting the top on the container.
• Immersion Blender - without a doubt my number one favorite kitchen gadget is my Immersion Hand Blender. I have a Braun, 400 watts, but there are others out there. I use this for making everything including salad dressings, soups, sauces. I use it practically every day. It's easy to use, easy to clean up, and makes cooking from scratch a snap. I cannot imagine preparing food without it.
• The Microplane Stainless Steel Micro-plane Zester I use for everything from fresh citrus zest to fresh nutmeg to frozen ginger. A must have.
• Hand-held Grater for grating cheese into sauces, soups and sandwiches, it's easier than the big food processor
  
• Cheese Slicer saves money from buying pre-sliced cheese and does a great job. Plus when you slice it yourself, it's fresher and, if you're getting cheese wrapped in plastic, the whole block has less surface area touching the plastic so less change of leaching.
  
• Food Processor - it doesn't get as much work in my house but is handy to have
• Juicer - we haven't been using it as much lately and I don't recommend it if you have a good blender like a Vitamix. The problem with my juicer is that with a family of 6, every time I juice for us it takes forever and then clean-up is not a snap, but I do believe it's important to juice veggies, especially leafy greens.
  
• Blender - we use our blender practically every day to make morning smoothies for the kids. I add frozen fruit, milk, honey, sometimes a couple green leaves, chia seeds (for omega 3s), vanilla and blend BUT my goal this year is to get a Vitamix as they are super powerful for smoothies and juicing greens and for my new step into good food: grinding fresh grains
• Cast Iron Pots and Enameled Cast Iron - of every shape and size to do the job right. if you have any nonstick or silverstone pots and pans, get rid of them and don't buy any more, they are harmful to our bodies and the planet, I'll write a post on that another time.
• Dehydrator - this is good for everything from keeping home-made yogurt at the right temp to making your own fruit leathers
  
• Silicone Spatula, Tongs, Poultry Shears, thin but wide stainless Spatula, Slotted Stainless Spoon, utensils important for the job. If you find this post or my blog helpful, I'd appreciate you linking on the affiliates the next time you want to buy something to help support my writing habit - Thank You!
  

For Packing Lunches:

This year my kids are back in school. We found this wonderful Montessori school and they are loving it and I do too. I do miss our family big lunches each day and the time together, but they get home so excited with much to tell me. I make the kids lunch each day and usually add a note. Planning and the proper containers make this easier.

I warm up and add leftovers to a stainless steel thermos after filling it with hot water so it stays warm. I make sandwiches on sprouted wheat bread with no nitrate deli meats or cheeses. They love yogurt and I usually add no sugar cookies or pretzels for dipping.

I make raw meatballs "batter" (meat, Parmesan cheese, oats, milk, tomato sauce, seasoning, maybe some basil pesto) and keep it in the fridge to make meatballs and rice for their lunch fresh in the morning; they love those meatballs.

I make panini sandwiches and wrap them in recycled aluminum foil. If using aluminum be sure not to use it on anything acid next to it, to buy recycled foil and to, in turn, recycle it. Aluminum is a killer on the planet to source but can be recycled indefinitely!

Some nifty things for making lunches eco-friendly and healthful include:

LunchBots Uno + Duo Set - cute new container in stainless perfect for sandwiches and snacks

Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Container - these are stainless steel bottles and come in a variety of sizes and COLORS perfect for any age and personality

You'll notice what I do NOT have because the ingredients on the manufactured ones are poor:

• Granola, Granola Bars - store ones contain soy oil, canola oil, bad fats, sugar, all to avoid and it's actually pretty easy and MUCH more delicious to make yourself, I'll post our recipe fave with pictures soon as I'm due to make more
  
• Cold Cereal - they normally contain sugar, corn, preservatives, even the organic varieties have things I don't like and I just don't believe cereal is good for us, it starts our day on carbs and the grain is not natural (it's puffed or extruded)
• Salad Dressing - so easy to make your own, so much more delicious, ones on the market are gmo, soy oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, even organic ones don't taste good and use bad oils, sugars
• Mayo - though Wilderness Family Naturals makes a wholesome mayo
  
• Frozen Meals and Pre-packaged foods - we make our own "pancake mix" and things like that, it's really easy and doesn't take so much time, there is just a learning curve, as with anything worthwhile in life
• "White" stuff - plain old white sugar, white flour, white iodized salt, white rice
  
• Artificial Sweeteners like Splenda, Asparatame, Saccharine - we use dates, safer sweeteners like xylitol, honey, maple syrup (lots of maple syrup!), date sugar, there are other sweet options
• "Health" Foods and gimmicky stuff like Acai, unfermented soy stuff, power bars (except we do like Larabars, but they aren't organic so we don't induge that often)
• Traditional Deli Meats - they contain nitrates which convert to nitrosamines that are carcinogenic
• "Vegetable" oil like corn, soy, canola, peanut - these are all bad oils, some are even touted as "health" food but the research shows otherwise, more on that later
• most prepackaged foods. Typical shelf stable non-organic foods contain HFCS, MSG, hydrogenated oils, and artificial colors. Organic foods don't, so it's easy for us to avoid those things but sometimes artificial flavors, MSG, non-GMO soy and corn do lurk in even organic pre-packaged foods so it's important to read labels and KNOW what you're reading.
  
• Soda, even organic, it's just liquid candy so we don't buy it
• Juices - the whole fruit and vegetable is much better than a pasteurized juice which is just full of sugar. We don't drink much juice, we have some on hand but it's not a staple that I must have nor do we drink a lot of it, not really health food
  
• Potato Chips, even organic ones, the oil isn't good since they use cheap stuff for their own bottom line and the process of frying them creates acrylamides which are carcinogenic
  
• any grain-fed meats or regular conventional rBGH agri-biz dairy
• most name brands, there are some organic brands we now get but we tend to shy from big name brands just because the product quality ingredients deteriorate to make way for higher profit margins
  

Eating and preparing real food to me means being frugal with each item and really using everything you can, but it's not always easy. I believe in taking time in preparing and cooking food when possible. Making a meal with love adds flavor, nutrition, and to the pleasurable experience for the one making the food and those enjoying it. We all have our hurried moments, and for those days, which can be many in today's busy world, time-saving tips and being prepared with a good pantry and the right kitchen tools can help us eat healthy in a hurry.

I am really looking forward to reading all the posts for the real food Wednesdays carnival this week and incorporating more ways to save time in the kitchen from these hip, smart, eco-mamas writing these blogs.

This post is part of two Carnivals today:
and

Join Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family; Join the Real Food Wednesday Carnival by heading over to Kelly the Kitchen Kop

What’s Real Food?

Real food is whole, natural, and nutrient-dense.

* Organic
* Humanely raised (animals on pasture, not in factories)
* Grown locally when possible
* Whole and unrefined (real maple syrup instead of high-fructose corn syrup)
* Processed as little as possible (raw milk instead of pasteurized and homogenized)
* Nutrient-dense (enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics)
* Free of additives and preservatives
* Free of synthetic and chemical ingredients
* Not genetically modified
* Traditionally produced and prepared

In other words, butter or lard instead of shortening or vegetable oil. Real milk from a cow instead of soy milk. Real sprouted flour (ground fresh or purchased) instead of refined white flour. Real, natural sweeteners like honey or unrefined cane sugar (rapadura or sucanat) instead of white sugar.

If it’s highly processed and/or doesn’t come from nature, it’s not real food!

We’re not saying you have to be perfect (nobody is) but try to feature real foods in your recipes and minimize the junk like vegetable oil and refined sugar and additives.

How Has Real Food Changed our Lives?

This is part of Real Food Wednesday: Share Your Real Food Testimonials

I was raised to be aware of artificial colors and hydrogenated oils so we didn't get much candy or packaged cookies at home but I never really understood why and you'd better believe that as soon as I hit school, I inhaled the latest kind of every colorful piece I could find. My friends all thought we were health nuts and I guess comparatively, we kind of were, but, oddly enough, we really were not. We had plenty of sugar in our house, we went through many 5lb bags regularly. We ate a lot of cereal and bread, my mom made homemade bread as I got older. We guzzled regular (not organic) skim milk, pasteurized and from cows shot up on growth hormones and living in small confined areas. We ate regular eggs from hens in coops so tight they had their beaks clipped. We used margarine over butter, it was the healthier alternative then. Our meat was mostly kosher so they got a little more room to move but I'm sure they were fed grain, not healthy for cows; I'm not sure if genetic modifications were big back then but as the years passed, I'm sure they were fed gmo corn and soy. The veggies were mostly overcooked, not very delicious, not organic, and we were not encouraged to drink water.

When I moved out on my own I ate whatever without much regard but did pretty much keep away from artificial colors and flavors, out of habit. But my diet wasn't good. And my body felt the effects of it even though I exercised and looked pretty healthy on the outside.

Life changes when you are responsible for someone other than yourself. Pregnant with my first child, my husband and I really started thinking about what I ate to nourish the baby and we started reading and making small changes.

After he started to eat solids, we realized we needed to get into organics and make greater commitments to our health and so our journey into truly real food began. As well as our journey to change how we lived, our footprint on the planet, our understanding for how our purchase impacted others in the world, and to use real products to clean instead of chemicals.

I was just speaking with someone the other day and she asked if I felt healthier. The truth is that we, as a society, don't know how unhealthy we truly are until we change our diet. Then we can feel the difference.

You can tell a lot about a person from their, well, output. Many of us, I was included, thought it was normal to have uncomfortable poops. It's not! Stomach cramps, pains, headaches, constipation, diarrhea, all of this that we live with everyday like it is the way our bodies are meant to work, but it's not. We see commercials on TV to help make these "regular" symptoms tolerable from antacid to laxatives and pain medication because this is our normal. Once we start eating REAL food, we know the truth. But money drives corporations so we are force fed a bunch of convenience pre-packaged foods created with artificial flavorings from fossil fuels and from things that were once food but were raised on sterile farms poisoned with chemicals to enhance our fast-paced life which causes us to need more meds in order to live comfortably.

How has my life changed? I feel alive! I am alive. I have a connection with my food and my family. I take time to create and appreciate each meal (and I usually make three meals a day for the six of us.) My children understand and I have confidence in the choices they make. We make a conscious decision every time we put something in our mouths or make a purchase.

My children taste. When we travel, our biggest luggage is our food. On our way back from Disney World we were running late and hence had run out of food. We stopped at a fast food place (how many of my friends had looked at me like I was a child abuser for never taking them for fast food!) and figured, well, once wouldn't kill them. They had seen the commercials, so you know, happiness comes in a bag. Well, they looked at it and took one bite, spit it out and asked "what is this?" They were right! It really doesn't even taste good. It doesn't taste like real food because it isn't food at all.

My children understand what food is, what it is for, and that it SHOULD taste delicious always. They have respect for the earth, for real food and our connection to the planet. They know that we impact our environment and that each of us must make choices for our own health and the future of our planet. And because they understand, they make good informed choices by themselves. When there is candy at school, they use it to barter for other things their friends have or they give it away. (Really, I actually have had teachers call me to ask if something was wrong because they wouldn't eat the cake, candy or even pizza that was offered.) My children are smart. They know that when they get home they will have some truly yummy food made with real ingredients, including love.

Join the Real Food Wednesday Carnival. Add your testimonial by heading over to Cheeseslave

What’s Real Food?

Real food is whole, natural, and nutrient-dense.

* Organic
* Humanely raised (animals on pasture, not in factories)
* Grown locally when possible
* Whole and unrefined (real maple syrup instead of high-fructose corn syrup)
* Processed as little as possible (raw milk instead of pasteurized and homogenized)
* Nutrient-dense (enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics)
* Free of additives and preservatives
* Free of synthetic and chemical ingredients
* Not genetically modified
* Traditionally produced and prepared

In other words, butter or lard instead of shortening or vegetable oil. Real milk from a cow instead of soy milk. Real sprouted flour (ground fresh or purchased) instead of refined white flour. Real, natural sweeteners like honey or unrefined cane sugar (rapadura or sucanat) instead of white sugar.

If it’s highly processed and/or doesn’t come from nature, it’s not real food!

We’re not saying you have to be perfect (nobody is) but try to feature real foods in your recipes and minimize the junk like vegetable oil and refined sugar and additives.