Compulsive buying

Some of my closest friends and family members are compulsive shoppers and buyers. They seek the thrill of the purchase, and sometimes there can be a lingering effect of pride for the item. But that feeling fades and one must buy again to keep themselves happy. Cruise lines are a great example of a money making powerhouse which feeds off all nationalities of people with little regard to humanity and the environment. Just buy, eat, buy, eat, buy!

How can you tell if someone is a compulsive shopper?
They have bigger closets than living rooms, more shoes than friends, spend their time going out of town to shop, or are compulsive cruise line sailors. They have 10 pairs of watches but only one wrist to wear it on. Freezer, fridge and pantry stocked with the same items, half expired due to always eating out.

But they don't need a lot of money. Those with a lower income are the cupon seekers, the sales event shoppers, and I am guilty of the thrift store shopping (although I limit myself to once a month.) A majority work long hours and enjoy the comfort of their couch or computer chair at home. Highly processed foods fill the shelves because who wants to keep up with fresh food and spend time cooking their own meals, especially when it just tastes so great! Add water, pop in microwave and presto! Delicious home cooked meals in only 3 microwave minutes.

I started eating healthy when I was 22. Maybe even 23. After working at an organic foods store I began buying from there because of my discount. I learned how delicious healthy food was and best of all- how it make me feel. When working at a hotel I got paid very little and worked part time so I got my food from a food bank. Once a week you could get a bag of fresh veggies, and a bag of fresh fruit. Once a month a box of the monthly supplies- grains, canned foods, meats, dairy. The breads were from local bakeries including Panera Bread, and the veggies were not only from grocery stores but local farmers who had too much. So I got to experiment with a different foods I normally would not have chosen...
Now I am a compulsive label reader. After having a job which required weekly date checking of the entire store I go through my parents pantry and refrigerator for expired goods about once a year.  Sometimes things will sneak by.. like 4 cans of beans expired 2 years back...
And these highly processed potato stix... cant be worse than potato chips right? WRONG!
18g fat, 8g TRANS FAT in ONE serving~ the entire can.
My dad was bring these to lunch.  After having a foot of his colon removed due to colon cancer, I thew all of those cans in the trash...  Read those labels!  Even if it says 0g it can have up to .5g and read '0'.  So read the ingredients too, make sure there are no hydrogenated oils, unless you like to cover your heart with a nice layer of fat...

Hula Hoop. For Your Health!

Last week I heard a fat lady lost 130 lbs in a year by hula hooping! First she started at 10-15 min a day and worked her way up to an hour and a half a day. A friend of mine "facebooked" that hooping burns 100 calories in 10 minutes. I am putting these stories to the test and plan to hoop at least 30 minutes each day. Its fun and I am learned to dance with my hoop. Now I can twirl about, walk and jump while hooping. Still working on the transition from hooping with my hands and dropping it to my waist~ i can do it, but its messy looking. For $5 at wal*mart go get yourself a hoop! Just make sure its the larger size, as adults need the bigger one, unless you are skinny mini! ;) (I am medium sized and the large glittery wave hoop in the kids section is great)
Hoop On!

Sneaky Trans Fat

We all know trans fat isn't good for you... and labels love to read "0 grams trans fat"
However!~ for a product to claim 0% in their nutrition facts there needs to be a "trivial amount" which is 0.5grams or less PER SERVING.
Take a look at YooHoo for example. At 1gram of fat it appears to be "healthier" than my soy milk, reading further down through the list of unpronounceable ingredients appears "partially hydrogenated oil" or... TRANS FAT. That means if I was feeling super choclatey today I may want to drink 16 ounces (2 glasses) of YooHoo. That earns me 1gram of trans fat. You are supposed to not eat more than 2g of trans fat a day (I try to always shoot for zero but like I say... trans fat is sneaky!) so if I eat another 2 servings of peanut butter or cool whip or some other "food" boasting "zero trans fats!" I may end up being a fatass.
Moral of my blog post~READ THE INGREDIENTS OF YOUR PRODUCT

lower fat lunch decisions

today when looking into my sparse fridge I had few choices for what to have for lunch. Ignoring the neapolitan ice cream sandwiches calling to me from the freezer, I reached for the romaine and paused at the fat content of my "lite" caesar dressing~ 8g of fat. The ice cream bars at 5g of fat won, their influence is strong.

Sprouts!

I started growing my own sprouts in March. It is fun, easy and so much cheaper to start your own sprouts at home! I first obtained alfalfa sprouts from Ebay, but quickly found myself becoming bored with them. Then I found the Sprout People! They have so many different varieties and mixtures of sprouting seeds to tantalize your tongue! I bought 3 different types~ The Russian Mix, Beanies Super Awesome Mix, and the French Mix. They are all different and delicious!
Just be careful of how much you start~ I did 2 tbsp of the French Mix and it became huge!(See Photo)
Today, however, I started 1/2 tsp of the Russian and French mixes (lettuce varieties) to grow in the garden for a fall crop. The Sprout People's website even tells you how to grow their sprouting seeds in your home garden. Fast & friendly people- they really know their sprouts!

Smoothie Goodness

Some people pay $5 for a smoothie. Some people are also crazy!
All you need is a blender, fruit and liquid.
Bags of frozen fruit (usually picked at ripeness, not beforehand like what you get in the produce section) cost around $2-$3. If I buy 3 bags I can make well over 10 smoothies with them. Fruit juices come in cans (like Jumex at 33cent 8oz can), bottles, frozen concentrates, and in fruit(if you got the time to juice your fruit.
Got a pint of berries which half are beginning to mold? Toss em and freeze the un-molded berries. Bananas starting to get spots? Unpeel em and freeze em too!
Here are some suggestions for smoothie success:
Pick your fruits: Strawberry, Blueberry, Blackberry, Cherry, Mango, Peach, pineapple, banana, guava, kiwi, etc!!
Pick your juice: Fruit juices like apple, pineapple, grape, orange, cranberry; water, green tea (or any tea, I have only tried green and its great!), Soy Milk, Regular Milk, Almond Milk... you get the point here...
Pick your add ins: Honey, Yogurt (plain or flavored), powdered greens mix, or VEGGIES! That's right. Take a handful of spinach and throw it in there. The fruit will completely over power the taste of the greens.

How do I know how much to use? I always end up making a bit too much... but what I do is add my fruit to the cup of my choice, then add my liquid almost to the top. Throw it in the blender and blend away!
Now you have at least half your daily dose of fruits/veggies! don't it feel good?

Farmer's Market! For your health!

Saturday I went to the local farmer's market and got 2 large zucchini, 3 medium yellow squash and 6 pickles for $3! Usually farmer's markets operate a weekend day (or both) and a week day, and every town I have ever lived in has had a farmer's market. This one is pretty small, but still wonderful! I like to go Tuesdays so I get a chance to talk to some of the farmers and get advice.

I made Farmer's Market Lasagne.
It turned out so delicious that my neighbors were bartering food for it!
1 chopped zucchini (and I added 1/2 a squash)
1 chopped sweet red pepper
1/2 cup shredded carrot (store bought for me)
3 cups baby spinach (also store bought, too hot now for it)
1 26oz jar pasta sauce (Full Circle Organic Roasted Garlic was on sale and info read healthiest)
1/2 15oz jar ricotta
6 regular uncooked lasagne noodles, broken in 1/2
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Step 1: Cook the zucchini, squash, pepper & carrots however you like, just until slightly tender. Heat up pasta sauce (I don't think I did this now that I think about it...)
Step 2:Layer 1/2 cup sauce, 4 noodles, 1/2 veggies, 1/2 cheese & repeat! Bake for a WHOLE HOUR at 350 degrees. Cover with foil if it browns. The reason for the caps is that I always forget to look how long it takes to bake and starve in the meantime. ;)

I also made Honey Glazed Chicken Stirfry
This turned out super easy and delicious, the sauce is like terriyaki
12 oz skinless/boneless chicken breasts
2 tbs honey (local)
2 tbs vinegar
2 tbs Orange Juice
4 tbs soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
4 cups veggies
2 tbs oil for cooking veggies
2 cups hot, cooked rice

Use a WOK~ they ROCK!
Step 1: cut everything up. For veggies I used peas, onion, broccoli (frozen, store bought) squash & zucchini of course, and shredded carrot for color & oomph! Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Step 2: Mix up your sauce in a bowl~ honey + vinegar + OJ + soy + cornstarch.
Step 3: Cook the veggies in oil 4 minutes or so, until tender. Remove from wok and put the chicken it. Cook it all the way, pile it all in the middle and add your sauce. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly and add the veggies in, tossing and coating it all in deliciousness.
Serve over rice, aint it nice?!

Tonight I am going to make pizza again, and I think I am going to do some jalapenos, cheddar cheese... and chicken sausage. Yum! :)