The Chains of Choice

Why do you select the brands you do? Did you spend hours doing research, checking every label to see what is in it, what does it promise, and how would it make you better?

Here is a quick look into branding and advertising and how advertising has changed over the last couple of years. I have a hunch that people are fed up with being lied to. We have given people millions of options and an inability to differentiate between brands except for bad advertising that tries to set their company apart from the others by making false claims or stealing another companies research claims and making them their own. What kind of peace of mind is that? Have you ever known anyone ridden with guilt that they might have not bought the right ___ because they didn't do all the research ahead of time or didn't do more research. A good friend of mine, and soon to be former employer, would spend hours upon hours researching whatever she was going to purchase. She is a true skeptic and researcher at heart (literally, she is a well known math researcher for a living!) She told me about a time she wanted to buy a humidifier at a target and walked in and couldn't pick one because what if it didn't do x, y, and z and was harmful or more expensive than it should have been or hadn't been tested, reviewed etc. She spent a year researching the best humidifiers until she finally bought one. She told me that it can often be frustrating that she can't just walk in and buy something. It is funny at first, but really, how often do you and I suffer from the same thing? (I have to say I appreciate her thoroughness of research and I did purchase the same humidifier as her and continue to ask her about the things she has researched. She already did the worrying for me so why not take advantage?)

My point being, is it is an interesting phenomena the millions of options we have given people to free them up to choose and the reality is that we have really chained them. Companies have thrown too many options in front of us with not a lot of clear differentiation between what works or doesn't and few companies truly stand behind their products these days. I don't know many companies who do due diligence like Shaklee--it is a rare gem. So what ends up happening is that we leave people paralyzed to make decisions instead of freeing them up to make a choice. How do you choose what you buy and does it weigh you down?

Delicious, Healthy Pancakes

 I made these pancakes the other day on a whim when I got up. I was craving pancakes like you wouldn't believe and so I whipped these up. Real easy and really healthy. I think what I love about these pancakes is the ingredients used. It really makes a difference when you use good, fresh, organic ingredients.

These eggs are from a local farm here in Gainesville, TX and these boys have their own business selling       their farm fresh, organic, free range eggs!

                                              Don't hesitate to call the number!

Multigrain Pancakes:

• 3/4 cup of organic whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup of buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup of spelt flour
• 1/2 cup of tapioca starch
• 2tbs golden flaxseed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbls olive oil/organic coconut oil
• 1 cup of milk

1. Mix dry ingredients together.
2. Add in egg, oil, and milk.
3. Stir until mixed well. Consistency will be a little thicker than normal.
4. Pour into hot pan that is lightly coated with butter or coconut oil.
5. Cook for 3-4 min on each side.
6. When pancakes are finished, top with Irish butter and organic maple syrup and organic strawberries!

Yields: 8 medium pancakes

The butter is Kerrygold's Irish butter. I became addicted to the creamy goodness of this butter in Germany. It is one of my favorite Saturday morning treats! The different flours are great nutritionally. Buckwheat is such an amazing flour nutritionally, but I wouldn't use too much in any recipe because it has a strong taste. Spelt is wonderful for its nutty flavor. Tapioca gives it a great fluffy spongy consistency. If you are gluten free, you can easily modify this recipe and Tapioca will be one of your best friends because of how it interacts with the batter to give it "structural" support.

Gardening Delights

With warm sun rays gliding off my back, a slight cool breeze brushing my face, I am defenseless to keep myself from spending every moment outside, basquing in this exquisite weather that is certain to leave us in a few months.

What do I do outside? Garden of course! I have worked on my flower garden and a completely organic vegetable garden! Today, I thought I would post pictures of my flowers that are just now beginning to bloom!

Monsanto as a human--Monologue of a child

Everyone has heard about the evil corporation Monsanto. He is in everything! Here is a great video from the organic consumers website showing the implications of corporations being held as human beings. The funny thing is that even a child has understood the implications of this far better than anyone else. Check out the website here

First change: Your Frame of Mind

My best friend tagged me on facebook this morning, telling me I had to read this great blog from Jordan Korson about changing over to natural, toxic-free cleaners, and her journey. Of course when I read it, it made me even more excited about Shaklee's Healthy Home line because it is not only safe and effective, but AFFORDABLE to those who don't have the time or passion to make cleaners at home and it is still cheaper than making it yourself! Did you know Shaklee makes no significant profit on their cleaners because they believe it is their gift to the planet to create a safer environment for this generation and the next, coming into alignment with their philosophy "living in harmony with nature."

Here's an excerpt from Jordan's blog:

"There are so many toxic chemicals in our homes, in our communities, and in our country. We live in a toxic society. We live in a poisonous society. 

The sad and disgusting part of all of this is that it is just accepted. I often hear excuses like, “There is just too much to change, so why start? It won’t make a difference.” Even excuses mixed with humor like “Everything gives you cancer now days.” The fact is whether you want to ignore it because it is overwhelming or laugh it off because you don’t know what else you can honestly do, we are killing ourselves. We have to stop believing the lie that there is nothing that we can do. There is something we can do! And it starts with just one change, your frame of mind....read more "

Toxic bath for my baby? Why, no thank you!

What are we putting ON our kids?

FACT:     287 Industrial Chemicals—Found in a test of the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborns: consumer- product ingredients, banned industrial chemicals, and pesticides

FACT:    1,4-Dioxane and Formaldehyde—Found in 61% of 28 children’s bath soaps, shampoos, lotions, and other personal care products tested; considered probable carcinogens by the EPA

Babies’ skin is 5X thinner and more permeable than adult 

skin, making babies more susceptible to toxins .

FACT:    Phthalates—Fragrance can contain phthalates—known endocrine disrupters—which are also known to be skin irritants with potentially negative impacts on the respiratory system, liver, and kidneys

FACT:    Bisphenol-A—Found in polycarbonate plastic containers, baby bottles, and toys—is an endocrine disrupter; newborns and infants may have up to 11X more in their bodies than adults

*Raw onion on skin, motion sickness, nicotine, birth control patches.

    Going natural isn't limited to "hippies." You actually are loving your family (and self) well when you choose to use natural detergents, cleaners, bath products, and good nutrition free of these toxins that we are so accustomed to. Did you know that most women made all these products in home until around the 50s when companies convinced us that our home wasn't clean unless it smelled clean? Women bought the lie that they weren't good housewives and mothers unless their home was cleaned with these toxic cleaners that promised to make their lives easier and their homes cleaner. Guess they forgot to mention the time they would now be spending in the hospitals and doctors offices due to disease and poor health from these "helpful" cleaners. 

    I've heard this year is the year of the woman. I'd say it's time for women to stop believing these lies and be the mamma bear and protect and nourish her family by switching over to safe, natural, and effective cleaners! Great thing about Shaklee's Get Clean line is that they are not only safer for your family, but they are a lot CHEAPER! Not only are you also saving tons of money, but also time because the highly concentrated solutions keep you from running out of cleaners as fast; therefore, not going to the store every month or so. Looks like there is a product that goes back to nature AND does what they were trying to do in the 50s. No compromising here!

Fluffy GF Vanilla Cupcakes

My godson celebrated his 4th birthday last week. His parents and I threw him a Ninja themed birthday party! It was so much fun. He and his father are allergic to gluten so my best friend asked me to make some gf dishes for the party. The vanilla cupcake recipe I used, I borrowed from the gluten free goddess-- only I tweaked them a little bit and made my own cream cheese icing instead of the mocha icing since a bunch of 4 year olds would be eating it!  These might have been the greatest cupcakes I've EVER made. They were so delicious and so fluffy!

Yields: 24 large muffins

Ingredients:

Dry:

1 1/3 cup Brown Rice Flour

2/3 Certified GF Oatmeal Flour

2 cup tapioca starch 

1 cup organic cane sugar 

1 teaspoon sea salt 

2 teaspoon baking powder 

2 teaspoon baking soda 

2 teaspoon xanthan gum 

Wet:

2 cup  almond milk 

2 organic free-range egg

3/8 cup  pure coconut oil 

2 tablespoon vanilla extract 

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
3. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
4. Add in wet ingredients one at a time.
5. Beat until smooth. Be careful that you don't over beat the batter. Consistency will be thick.
6. Scoop batter into liners filling 3/4 or less full. They will rise considerably so depending on how large a muffin you want, that is how much you want to fill it up.
7. Bake15-18 minutes.
8. Cool on wire rack.

 

Icing

8 oz package of cream cheese

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup Confectioner's sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Mix cream cheese and softened butter with electric mixer.
2. Add in confectioner's sugar and vanilla
3. When muffins have cooled, ice with mixture. Mixture is easy to pipe because of it's thick creamy texture.