GMO Food Dump

Nitrates in food...why you should care (or shouldn't?)

Yesterday I was in the grocery store browsing the food to see what was on sale. More and more I'm getting frustrated with the local grocery store that I've been going to. I'll get on more of why later. However...I noticed something while there today. In their lunch meat sections they had lunch meat labeled, nitrate free. So I read the fine print of some of there meats, and I see Sodium Nitrate, and Sodium Nitrite (note the difference). I'm baffled. Why should I care about Nitrates?

I began my research on why I should care, what is it doing to my body?. Well, first warning I read was that babies metabolize nitrates differently then I do. You can read more about it in the link if you want, but in summary babies under six months of age shouldn't eat processed meats, or cheeses that could have added nitrates in them. Quite frankly though, babies under six months shouldn't have anything but breast milk. Just sayin.

Some researchers believe that too much nitrite in the system (your body turns nitrates into nitrites), can be cancerous.  Although that research hasn't been completely supported by whatever government body needs to support it to be credible.

So why is it there? It's a preservative. It retains the color, wards off bad smell, and prevents the growth of botulism.  There's a lovely thought.  Now, is this on my list of things I won't eat.  Not entirely.  I won't go nutso with this one yet.  I will for my kids, but for myself I"ll keep it on the every now and then it won't kill me list.  They can make their own decisions about what they eat when they're older.

Here's another helpful link.

What are your thoughts?

Earth Day

So...this is the third year my blog has been up and running on Earth Day.  It's hard to imagine I've been writing so long.  Today though isn't about me and my blog, it's about Earth Day and trying to maintain it's integrity.

So minus all the freebies people are giving out, and all the other crap that's going on.  I'd like to get to the real deal.  What changes are you going to make this year?  How are you going to do even better?  Eat less meat?  Start a garden?  Buy locally from a farmer if you're not good at growing food?  Recycle?  Be anal about your recycling??

What's the biggest change you've made in the last year?

Free Tree on Earth Day!

Lowes is giving away trees for Earth Day!  Go to your local store on April 23rd to get your free tree.  Yay Lowes!

Menu Plan Monday

Earth Day is this week...so in honor of that, we'll be vegetarians this week.  Having been a vegetarian in the passed this is a refreshing twist on our lightly meated diet (yeah, I just made that word up...yep).

Vegetarian is easy, and healthy if you live a sedentary lifestyle.  Current factory farming of meat is HORRIBLE for the environment, and generally I purchase only organic meat from small farmers.  If you are clueless about the environmental impacts of factory meat farming, I suggest you read up on it.  Make a change, this is one of the best, easiest ways you can make a change and become healthier for it.

If you must eat meat, choose wild caught, hunted (correctly hunted), or locally grown, organic meat.  I'm off my soap box, and onward to my vegetarian week.

Monday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Tuesday: Bean and Rice Tacos
Wednesday: Baked Tortellini
Thursday: Mac n Cheese Casserole
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: Leftovers

Lunch ideas:
Fresh Salad
Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches (one of my girl's favorites)
Potato Salad (or egg)

Do you have any awesome vegetarian recipes you'd like to share, leave a comment below! :)

Tomorrow!! Free Bag from Target

Tomorrow April 17th, Target is giving away reusable bags (with purchase) for Earth Day.  Go early if you can, they will likely run out in a few hours.  Going to try to get one in the morning myself, so I'll be sure to post if they're worth going out to get one.

Free Starbucks!

Starbucks is giving away free coffee in honor of Earth Day.  Simply go to your local Starbucks with your travel mug on April 22nd, and fill up.  Yay Starbucks!

Garden Update

Well, I haven't done this in a while.  I'm in a new house, and I'm starting a new garden from scratch.  I'm even in a new growing zone, and I've heard that gardening here will be more difficult than anything I've ever experienced.  My previous homes have all had their challenges.  My townhouse way back when was situated so close to a stream that my back yard was a marsh for weeks after it rained.  My first single family home was in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.  Surrounded by trees, I had a difficult time finding a sunny spot that was far enough away from the Black Walnut trees.

Now I'm in the high desert of Colorado.  The season begins later, and ends earlier.  There's less natural water, and I may actually have to water my vegetables every day (gasp!).  Virginia I could almost forget about it.  I tended of course, and watered on a weekly basis.  Picked for slugs, and kept things healthy.  However now I"m in a territory I don't know, so I'll have to learn as I go I suppose.

Yesterday my daughter and I finally got around to planting some tomato seeds.  I tend to stick to heirlooms whenever possible, and yesterday we planted Brandywines.  I'll do a couple of varieties of tomatoes throughout the season, and I'll start canning them in either August, or September, depending on the season here.  In Virginia, tomatoes grow like weeds.  They're hard to mess up.  I hear that in Colorado it's not the same, and depending on the year they can grow great, or they can fail miserably.

My friend Salix recommended this wonderful man to make these boxes for me over the passed few weeks.  The previous owner of this house had rabbits, and had a little fenced in area for her rabbits.  I thought this area was perfect to keep the kids and dog, and *ahem* rabbits out of my garden.  This coming up weekend I should have a delivery of dirt, so I can actually start working the ground.  I'm excited to see what this barren space will look like in a few months.

Anyone else starting something new this season?

Tuesday Hoppin

I haven't done this in a while. Leave a comment below if you're a new follower. I will follow everyone back. :)

Have a fantastic day!

Menu Plan Monday

My mom is in town this week, and I haven't been cooking very much. She loves to go out, and she loves to spoil us by taking us out for dinners. I've had lots of stuff going on in my personal life lately, if you're curious I encourage you to click the blue botton on the right to my more personal blog. Anyway, I have some things to throw together for quick meals if need be, this is very much a convenience food type of week. Here's some fall back plans for dinner if we decide to stay in.


1. I bought a few simmer sauces from Seeds of change Specifically their Korma is my absolute favorite. Make some rice, cook some chicken and simmer for a few minutes in a sauce pan and I have a very easy dinner. It's not the cheapest, the bottle costs about 4-5 dollars at the store, depending if it's on sale or not. But it's good, oh so good, and the kids like it too.
2. I still have a few jars of last summer's tomatoes in the cupboard, so it's likely that spaghetti may end up on the menu if necessary this week. I always have garlic on hand, so home made garlic bread could also be a fall back option. Throw some mushrooms and onions in those tomatoes along with oregano and a dash of red pepper seeds, and YUM. Love love love...
3. I still have some sausage leftover from the sampling of Applegate Farms I received a while back. So throwing together breakfast might be an option too.