Why My Family Does not Drink Juice

Once upon a time ago I used to be a BIG juice drinker, in fact when I was pregnant with my first my husband will tell you that I went through about 1/2 gallon of orange juice a day. Today I just can’t imagine drinking that much juice in one day. After I had my Pi and started reading on child nutrition, books like Natural Baby Food Cookbook and Dr. Sears Nutrition Book.  I learned that processed juice was not a good food source for our babies or ourselves.

• Juice is very filling and as  it turns out is full of empty calories and sugar. Empty calories in a little one’s tummy are not good, the fill up the tummy and leave little room for real food, food that delivers much needed nutrients that help a body grow properly.
• My kids did not see juice until they were more than 1 year old, and at that time it was the recommended 4 oz. a day diluted with water. But somewhere along the line I read that Hibiscus and Rose Hip teas, such as those made by Celestial Seasonings Zinger Teas contain MORE vitamin C than a glass of orange juice. About the time PI was 2 years old we switched her off of her 4 oz. of juice a day to zinger teas, My two youngest barely saw any juice at all. They have been raised on teas.
• Many juices are sweetened with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). HFCS contributes to wild blood sugar swings.
• Most juice you will find on the shelves is pasteurized and has added ingredients to stabilize it’s shelf life. Do you really want to put beetle shell in your body?
• Fruit juice can cause problems such as obesity, dental cavities, diarrhea, and other intestinal problems such as gas, bloating and abdominal pain.
• The sugar in juice can also affect your immune system as it causes white blood cells to stop working as effectively as they should.

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So what do we drink instead?

• Water – lots of it. Sometimes we get tired of it so we add flavor via limes or lemons.
• Herbal Teas and teas with Hibiscus and Rose Hips, my kids learn to drink these straight without added sweeteners, so when they have a cold they are reluctant to add honey. They would rather take a spoonful of honey than adulterate their tea
• Green Tea – I recently stopped drinking coffee, and began drinking Green Tea,
• Kombucha – I got up the courage to try this all natural drink this summer, lets just say I am hooked. I loove some natural effervescence, read bubbles, and since I am not a fan of yogurt it is a great way to get those probiotics into me.

Now we do occasionally juice our own juice here at home, but for the most part the above drinks do quench our thirst.
What is your favorite thirst quencher?

This post is linked up with Monday Mania , Living Well Blog Hop, Fat Tuesday

Technorati Tags: juice drinking,real food.

Ten Reasons Why I Use Local Honey

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I have been cooking with honey now as my choice of sweetener for about 12 years. I always knew that local honey was better for us, don’t ask me how I knew but I did. Here are my top reasons for cooking/using local honey.

1. Much imported honey is from China, and of suspect origins.
2. Some store bought honeys are not even honey
3. Local honey aids in allergy treatment, desensitizing you to the local pollen.
4. It tastes better
5. I am supporting local business, often times my friends and neighbors. Money spent locally, is said to be circulated 7 times before leaving the local economy.
6. You can use about 1/2 the amount of honey in a recipe as you do honey.
7. I can use it to wash my face
8. Honey is the perfect thing to take when you have a sore throat. it is soothing and antibacterial.
9. Local honey has the lowest carbon footprint of any sweetener. A Swedish study in 2006 showed that it took far less energy to make and deliver a pound of local honey to consumers than any other sweetener (1.3 MJ/kg). By comparison, overseas honey requires 5.6 MJ/kg and refined sugar requires 9.8 MJ/kg.
10. Eating local honey connects you to the environment around you! Each spoonful of honey contains a story about the landscape that you and your family live in. It gives you a great excuse to shop at a farmers’ market, meet a local beekeeper, learn about bees, and maybe visit an apiary!

Technorati Tags: local honey,benefits of honey

This post is linked up to Simple Lives Thursday, Food Renegade - Fight Back Friday,Fresh Bites Friday , Day 2 Day Joys

Wordless Wednesday

I saw where a friend wrote as her facebook  status yesterday “It’s the most Wonderful Time of the Year”. I think she was referring to back to school, her kiddos just started. But for me, even though my kids have been in school  a month, yes you read that right a MONTH, September is my favorite month. And luckily for us here in Oklahoma, the weather has decided to comply.


Now that the weather has turned the corner and is much more seasonable we will be able to enjoy this season.

My Neck of the Woods

In my neck of the woods we live out in the COUNTRY. That  is country with a capital C means we have only a few yards of sidewalk and our driveway is pea gravel with a small section of concrete slab. What that means is that my kids don’t have any sidewalk or drive way to practice riding bikes, or skate on. It means we have to drive at least 6 miles to a park for them to ride. So we took advantage of Labor Day to figure out how to put the new bike rack on my car, and off to the big city we went so the kids could practice.



Pumpkin got his first bike last Christmas. Bless his heart, he is still learning to ride it with training wheels. We tried to teach him how to ride without training wheels, but he needed a little extra help with balance. Today we lowered his seat and he took off, seriously. By the time we were done he was riding back and forth and even rode his bike around the playground. I think he would have ridden it right into his room to sleep tonight if we gave him a chance.

The girls gave roller blading a try. They seemed to be spending a lot of time on the ground. Luckily my girls are the most graceful fallers, they fall in slow motion. 
Yes, peanut is barefoot there, and so is Pi, they did take off their skates more than once and walk, they claim they need new roller blades. I think I paid less than $5 for both pairs of roller blades. Can you say BARGAIN?
And that is what is happening IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS

Stream of Consciousness–SEPTEMBER!

 


I am in love, with this weather that is. I absolutely love fall. The cool mornings, the warmer days. We have turned a corner here in Oklahoma. I am hoping that the 100 degree temps are gone the way of the Dodo. Yesterday when we left church it was 100 degrees as I write this it is 79.  Yes folks 24 hours later we are more than 20 degrees cooler. Do you know what that does for me? I feel alive. When it is 100 degrees it is hard to get motivated to do anything except sit in that 50 degree creek water.
My husband is loving this weather too. He has gotten more done today than all summer. See what normal weather does for a person?
We took advantage of this Go-lur-ious weather to take a family hike.  We even took the lab. Her first hike. I am looking forward to more of this weather. In fact as far as I am concerned it can stick around for the rest of the year. Remember that song that says “it’s the most wonderful time of the year?” Well that is right now folks, as far as I am concerned. 
 
This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post up with  All Things Fadra
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

E–Book Review and Give Away

This give away is now closed. Thanks to Everyone who participated. 




Regular readers of my blog know that I am a fan of natural cleaners. I have been making my own for years.  I started with just simple white vinegar when I first got married. It really helped me to get over some allergy and auto-immune issues I tend to have.

Even though I have been making my own cleaners for years, I am always looking for ways to improve them. How can I make them better, easier? So when Jenny at the Peaceful Housewife asked me if I wanted to review her new e-book I said sure.  I would just like to add that Jenny was one of the first people I linked up with when I started blogging for earnest this year. Even though we have not met IRL she is a local peep to me. Maybe one of these days our schedules will synch up.
First of all what I love about Jenny’s recipes for cleaners is that she uses ingredients you are likely to already have in your home, and if not, they are readily available at your local store. For example her furniture polish is simply olive oil and lemon juice.  My house smells good just mixing it up. If I have any left I can make my homemade vinaigrette with it. Jenny has included many recipes for the modern home, granite cleaner,  wet mop refill cleaner, stain remover, even a gel stain stick. Have I mentioned how much I miss my stain sticks?
Now I know that not everyone is a DYI sort of person like me. So if you would rather, Jenny has products available for sale on her website. The Peaceful Housewife.  All of her products come unscented or in your choice of scents, with the exception of their  Multipurpose Cleaning Spray and Glass Cleaner.  Those two items do not come custom-scented because the essential oils that we’ve chosen to use in them are part of what makes them work so well.
For those who are more adventurous and would like to try their own hand at making cleaners. I am giving away 2 copies of the e-book. All you have to do is  go on over to The Peaceful Housewife look at her scents and them come back here and tell me what scent you would love to try in your house.  This giveaway will be open until  9am Friday,  September 9, 2011.  I will be using Random.org to determine the results of the winner. Good Luck.

7 Quick Takes

1

September is my favorite month. When I was a kid, school never started before September and usually it started the Wednesday after Labor Day. Growing up in Southern New England that meant that the weather had already begun to turn cooler. Today September first at the time of writing this it is 102 degrees, at 7pm.  Seriously weather it is September, I need to break out the cords, and sweaters. Fall is my favorite season by far. I love the crisp morning air.  Lucky for me it looks like September weather will begin arriving this weekend. After a summer of 100 degree temps I am ready!

2

I am excited for my kids. The girls are both trying new activities this year. Pi has decided to take ballet for the first time at the age of 13 and Pumpkin will be taking tumbling and dance.  I have always been a fan of children not specializing in a sport at a young age. So I am thrilled that my kids are trying something new.  Some people would look at it as quitting a sport, but not at our house. I like the change. It is good for their bodies to switch out sports. In fact is it is very important that they don’t over train at their ages, doing so could result in injuries.

3

Received a text tonight that reminds me of the power of prayer. A dear friend was in the hospital with a rare disease,  Lemierre syndrome. This disease can be and is often fatal.  She was very nearly near death about a week ago, before being admitted to the hospital via ambulance. Deacon G went to visit her while she was there, to raise her spirits.  I received a text message from her tonight. They are releasing her, to convalesce at home, with supervision. The typical outcome of this disease is a week of antibiotics in the hospital, but it was decided that she would probably get better quicker at home. She told me that according to her doctors she is a miracle,  and mentioned the power of prayer.

4

I am coaching my son’s U8 soccer team again this year. Actually I have been coaching soccer for most of his life. Every season brings up a new crop of players. This season it looks like I have one of those parents. You know the ones, the one who likes to coach everyone from the sidelines. I think I will need to find him a special job. Any suggestions?

5

Sometimes, just sometimes it is okay not to make homemade food for your family. Like when it is 105 degrees and you are dead tired from school all day. My sweet husband (ssh don’t tell him, I said that), detected the tiredness in my voice when he called to say he was leaving to come home from work tonight. He offered to pick up something for dinner. Secretly, I think he wanted Mexican. But I can’t complain, we get a meal for two with extra sides of beans and rice and feed a family of 5. We even had leftovers.

6

Take me Out to the Ball Game. I will be going to my first base ball game (minor league) in about 20 years. What can I say. Baseball has not been the same since Roger Clemens played for the Red Socks.

7

My mother lives in an area that has taken a hit from Hurricane Irene. She has been without power since Sunday. She is doing fine, no damage to her house, but living in the country has some drawbacks, she has a well and has been without running water since the power went out.  She is starting to get a little bonkers, and lose her patience with the Electric Company. Understandable. Prayers for her and everyone who has suffered damage or loss of power due to Hurricane Irene would be appreciated.

for more 7 Quick Takes head on over to Conversion Diary