Food or Science?

I think the concern about what is happening to our food supply is starting to be talked about more publicly. Today’s blog is mostly pictures, capturing some of those topics. As you scroll through, think to yourself - food or science? Maybe some of these things are important to you and looking over these pictures might make you consider if there are things you may want to do to make better choices. I have talked about some of the topics perviously, others more to come in the future.

*sorry might be hard to read*

Which would you prefer?

That is a lot of cows in one area! Read more about beef in my blog posts here and here

No surprise humans are starting to become resistant to antibiotics. What the animals eat, you eventually eat. 

Less time, larger chickens means more money for the company. More antibiotics and hormones for the consumer.

If one chicken dies, how long would it take to realize because they are so jam packed into these coops?  *One benefit is at least these chickens see the light of day, which is more than some.*

According to the National Cancer Institute, “cancer care accounted for an estimated $124.6 billion in medical care expenditures in the United States in 2010.” Additionally, the National Institutes of Health estimates “medical expenditures for cancer in the year 2020 are projected to reach at least $158 billion.”

According to a report written for the President’s Cancer Panel, “Some chemicals indirectly increase cancer risk by contributing to immune and endocrine dysfunction that can influence the effect of carcinogens.” Additionally, “children of all ages are considerably more vulnerable than adults to increased cancer risk and other adverse effects from virtually all harmful environmental exposures.”

According to the National Cancer Institute, “the rates for certain diseases, including some types of cancer, appear to be higher among agricultural workers, which may be related to exposures that are common in their work environments. For example, farming communities have higher rates of leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and soft tissue sarcoma, as well as cancers of the skin, lip, stomach, brain, and prostate.”

Maybe it is normal for factory workers to be suited up in head to toe masks and gowns. It does makes me question if this is a step beyond sanitation and instead are trying to protect themselves from something.

What we think is simple food, is unfortunately not simple at all anymore! Have you heard of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)? More on this later...

Do you want to know what is in your food?

**Most of these images are from the documentary Food Inc. A couple others were found floating around facebook, with unknown sources**

What are your immediate thoughts? Anything you wish was different?

~Ashley

Spicy Sausage Hash

Hash is an easy staple dish around our house. It is easy to make, pretty quick and all in one pan.  Guess what that means - easy clean up! Plus, I can usually get a protein, grain, and veggie all in one dish with not many ingredients.

Hash is basically meat and potatoes cut into small pieces with the most popular hash probably being corn beef hash. I don't worry so much about the size, instead try to get all the ingredients the same basic size, so it is easy to eat. You can make hash for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a side, so to me, that is one versatile meal! My hash base consists of potato, onion, garlic. Each time I make a hash, I play around with various seasonings, veggies (corn, peppers, etc) and protein (sausage, leftover deli meat, eggs, etc). I encourage you to do the same. What is in your fridge?

Today I am sharing a spicy sausage hash, using some of fresh spicy link sausage that I get from my mom's coworker's family. They sell sausage as links or ground, mild or spicy - plus it is local so that is of course a benefit for me. Hope you enjoy!

Spicy Sausage Hash
Serves 4

Ingredients:
Baking Potatoes, 2 small
Onion, 1 small
Garlic, 2 cloves
Bell Pepper, 1 small
Spicy Sausage, 1 lb link
Paprika, 1 tsp
Salt
Pepper
Oil

Peel and cut potatoes to desired shape. I prefer half moons or small cubes. With this recipe I did half moons because of the shape of the sausage.

Heat an oiled saute pan over medium heat. Add potatoes and let begin to cook and crisp. Don’t touch them for at least the first 5 minutes, so they can start to brown on one side. 

While the potatoes are cooking, slice or dice the onion and pepper to your desired shape. Mince garlic.

Better Bonus Tip: This dish is a little onion heavy, but I love onions. Feel free to use what you would like. You could just use less, not use any fresh and just sprinkle with some onion powder, or zest some fresh onion just to get the flavor, but not the texture.

Next, cut sausage links into pieces. 

Better Bonus Tip: Make sure to use a separate cutting board for the sausage. Also, feel free to remove the casing or leave it on - most are completely edible, but some people prefer to remove it.

After potatoes have cooked for approximately 15-17 minutes, you will notice they are beginning to brown and the oil is mostly absorbed. Add the sausage, onion and pepper. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.   You don't need to add more oil, because as the sausage cooks, it will produce grease.

Finally, add minced garlic, sprinkle with 1 tsp paprika, salt and pepper and cook for another minute or two. 

Easy 30 minute meal, all in one pot!

~Ashley

Crispy Lemon Kale Chips

I bet by now you have heard of the popular veggie kale. Kale is part of the cabbage family and is so nutritious and good for you, which is why I think it is so popular right now. If you are only going to eat a few veggies, dark green leafy ones are the best to eat. Kale’s nutritional line up consists of: low in calories, high in vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, phosphorus, manganese, copper, calcium, iron, folate and fiber.

A lot of people are adding kale to their smoothies, although I still tend to want to stick with the powder for ease sake. I am also seeing a lot of kale salads lately. My favorite way to eat kale is as crispy kale chips. Honestly, this is the way I eat kale 95% of the time. They are so easy to make and the crispy texture makes it not like many other veggies.  I bet your kids might even eat these. Give them a try!

Crispy Lemon Kale Chips

Ingredients
Kale
Fresh lemon
Oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

To start out, make sure the kale is washed and dried. You might have also noticed the thick stems on the kale leaves. Some call them veins, but to me it is just a thick stalk or stem. To remove the leaf from the stem, you can use your knife or your hands - this is a hardy vegetable and won’t bruise. 

You might be thinking this looks like a lot of kale and you don’t want to use it all, but it will shrink just like spinach and other greens.

Next, use your knife or hands and chop (or tear) into pieces. Then toss in oil and sprinkle with salt and spread out on baking sheet.

Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, tossing halfway. This might seem like a long time, but works in my oven. Just be sure to keep an eye on them, so they don't burn.

As soon as you remove from the oven, squeeze fresh lemon juice and toss. 

Let me know what you think!

~Ashley

My Morning Routine

I hesitated to write this blog. I felt people will think I am crazy. I decided to go ahead, because I made the choice when I started this blog, to give it my all. Even if that meant opening myself up for judgement. I feel it is important to share what I do and why I think it is important because someone else might be interested.

With that said, here goes.

I wrote about my morning smoothie last winter and have since made some updates. I will share those with you, but first off I want to say, this truly works for me! I try very hard to take care of myself and make healthy choices, so can’t say it is all because of these particular choices. I can tell you I can’t recall the last time I was physically ill. Honestly, way too long ago for me to remember. I know for a fact, I have been in my current position at work for two years and have not been sick once since then and probably longer than that. So what am I doing?

Check out my blog from last winter to see what my starting point was. Why did I decide to change anything? The more I have read and learned, I just knew there was more I could do to better fill me up and continue to give me health benefits. So, this past May, I made some changes. Here is my ‘recipe’ I now am following. I never measure, usually just eyeball in the blender. I tried really hard to make one and measure what I feel I do on a typical morning.

Morning Smoothie

Ingredient	Benefit
Frozen Fruit ½ c	Nutrient Packed Antioxidants
Plain Greek Yogurt ⅓ c	Probiotic Dairy/Calcium Protein
Oats ¼ c	Fiber
Ground Flaxseed 1 T	Fiber Omega 3 (6 x what is in fish) - good for poor memory, cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis
Aloe Vera ⅓ c	Healing properties (75 nutrients and 200 active healing compounds) Helps with constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, heartburn, ulcers, kills germs and fights disease
Green Superfood Powder 1 T	Green food blend (wheatgrass, barley grass, alfalfa, spirulina, spinach, chlorella, broccoli) Antioxidant blend (acai, maca, carrot, beet, raspberry, rose hips, pineapple, green tea, acerola cherry) Fiber blend (flax seed powder, pectin fiber) Digestive enzyme/active culture and probiotic blend (l. acidophilus, alpha/beta amylase, protease, lipase, lactase, cellulase) Other ingredients - peppermint, silica, Siberian eleuthero root
Protein Powder ⅛ c	Protein
Agave Nectar 1 tsp	Raw sweetener

 A few more details.

• You can buy flax seeds, but the true benefits come from the ground version. I started with seeds, because that is what I had at home and they do grind some with the blender, but the true powder works best.

• The aloe vera probably scares some people. When I first bought this I bought a brand that was pretty well known and I couldn’t even finish my first smoothie. It was awful. I talked to some different people and was recommended George’s. It is perfect. It has no taste at all. I know you probably don’t believe me, but it really just acts like water in my smoothie.
• For the green powder, I have found adding just under what the recommended scoop is makes a huge difference in the consistency of the smoothie. I can’t even taste it is there now.
• Since I get my smoothie started (adding the fruit and yogurt to my blender) the night before, I lose that icy consistency. I just add some crushed ice to bring me back to that cold true smoothie temperature the morning of. 
• I still stick with my handy Hamilton Beach personal one cup blender to make my smoothies. This blender really does help make this a successful part of my work day.

I would like to say that is all I do, but I do one other thing each morning.

Prior to my smoothie, I actually drink about 5 oz of Kombucha. What is heck is Kombucha? Kombucha is a carbonated, fermented tea drink. It is full of antioxidants, amino acids, enzymes and probiotics. Its most well known health benefits are it is detoxifying, metabolic balancing, aids in digestion, and immune enhancing qualities. If you decide to try this drink, it is important to do your research. Everything I read said to start slow so your body can adjust. You can then eventually work your way up to multiple ounces, multiple times a day.  

You can buy Kombucha in pre-mixed bottles similar to soda, juice, sports drinks, etc but Zach and I purchase ours from kegs at Whole Foods. They work with a local company and you purchase a growler (64 oz) the first time and then just pay for a refill the following visits. Each week they have two flavors to choose from, such as red berry, papaya, elderberry grape, ginger, strawberry lavender, grape, original, etc.  

I am not this adventurous, nor do I have the time, but one blogger I follow has made her own. Check that out here.

Do you think I am crazy yet?

So to summarize, I start out my morning with a lot of liquids. I sometimes feel like the cup lady. Five ounces of kombucha and a twelve ounce smoothie. I usually fit a coffee in and then move to water for the rest of the day - and I mean a lot of water!!

I am not perfect. I struggle daily with stress management and balance in my life, and to me those are active components of a healthy lifestyle, so please understand I am not trying to say how perfectly healthy I am!

What healthy choices do you make to start your day?

Update: I now use maple syrup or honey instead of agave nectar and have stopped the protein powder.

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~Ashley