Never let them see you sweat(?)

As we have evolved into the highly sophisticated, urbane people that we are, we have decided as a whole that certain human bodily functions are abhorrent. Flatulence, excess body hair and yes, perspiration are on that list (among others). Well, I must tell you, the way in which we deal with some of these could be hazardous to our health. The more I learned about health, the more I realized that the human body has its own internal cleaning mechanisms, one of which is perspiration. The body also has different sides for the intake and output of things. Traditionally the right side is the input and the left side is the output. You will find more of the lymph nodes that handle the filtration on the left under your armpit than on the right. And, it also follows that the majority of breast cancer found is also on the left side. When understanding that the body needs to sweat to release toxins, I began a search about a year ago for just a deoderant without an antipersperant. In the women's aisle, I found zero, zilch, nada. Evidently someone somewhere deemed women no longer needed to sweat and it had become so distastefull that we would eradicate it from the earth. If you were a man however, it is evidently very manly to sweat and we can manufacture deoderants to as to mask some of the odor without eliminating it altogether. That was perplexing to me. I did find a mineral salt crystal. It is all natural and changes the PH so that even when you do sweat (which is healthy and necessary) the bacteria does not get produced which actually causes the odors of perspiration. So that is what I started using. The more people I spoke to about this all seemed to caution one thing, if you do continue to use antiperspirants, choose one without aluminum. Here is an article about this topic for further reading:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/38619.php

I have gotten over some of my fear of going antiperspirant-less. My mindset is that of more concern for my health and less for the social impact of some body odor. Does that mean I want to be recognized as the stinky girl in the neighborhood? No....but I realize that sweating is a part of being human and a necessary thing. So I have said goodbye to the traditional antiperspirants until I find one that is a safer alternative. Yes, I know, I live in Arizona and it gets hot. I am not a fan of sweating but oh well, it has to happen. Sometimes you do need to let them see you sweat!!

More comments on cleaners

I just got this email from Dr. Mercola, it talks about cleaners and the influx of "natural" and "eco-friendly" products on the market today. If you want some additional info, well here it is:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/24/how-safe-are-green-cleaning-products.aspx?source=nl

It just means more research and more reading labels. This is especially true with these cleaning products since ingredients are not required to be listed on the labels. I think the ingredients of EVERYTHING should have to be listed, but that is a different gripe. Happy cleaning, hahaha.

Teacher appreciation week

I had been working on these clipboards since the beginning of the year. But at that time, Matthew was just in the SPICE class which consisted of 1 teacher and 2 aides. Then he went to the integrated class and gained another teacher and 2 more aides plus I wanted to do something for the speech pathologist too. I decorated them with paper, made die cut flowers and letters for their names and tied ribbons to the top. Then I wrote a little poem and clipped it to the clipboard. Here's what they looked like:

An interesting article on vitamins

I get the email newsletter from Dr. Mercola and one of his recent topics was vitamins and the media hype and sensationalism. Read the top article and then scroll down for his take.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/06/can-vitamins-shorten-your-life.aspx

It goes to show you how "supplements" and natural foods really can get a bad rap for nothing. The point is choosing the right, high quality supplement and of course the key is to try and get the bulk of your vitamins and nutrients from raw fruits and veggies. Certain things need the vitamin or mineral in raw form for it to be absorbed in supplement form. I love that Dr. Mercola advocates raw foods. I want to promote our juicer yet again! Having small children, I cannot always get them to eat all their veggies. Now, my kids get between 6 - 8 ounces (which equates to a lot of whole food) of raw fruit/veggie juice. I am using spinach, kale, celery, carrots, grapefruit, apples, etc. I need to pick up more parsley too, that is a great for key nutrients and is a natural chelator (takes metals out of our systems). I give them 2 ounces at breakfast, lunch and dinner. They still get fresh fruit throughout the day and of course LARA bars (which are all raw with great natural oils and good fats from the nuts) as healthy snacks. My kids appetites have increased which is a reaction to the great enzymes they are getting from the fresh juice. They are also requesting more healthy snacks, Emma has been asking me for walnuts and raisins! I would encourage everyone to look more at juicing for health. There are tons of resources on the web and you can learn more about why this is so beneficial. My husband and I also drink the juice. I think it is definitely helping with weight loss so far. So, if you are like many who have a problem getting all your fruits and veggies in, juicing may be a great way to get that raw nutrition into your system! Salud!

Great bread!

If you shop at Sprouts you probably have seen Alpine Valley breads. If you were to make your own bread, yours would have all the things these have in them: Whole wheat, water, salt, yeast. No hydrogenated oils, no dairy, no MSG, no corn syrup, no coloring to make them look brown and therefore healthy, just great, albeit dense, bread. But, the cost is about $4.49 per loaf. Well, the bakery is here in Mesa!! It is on Southern, just west of Country Club. The best part is, they sell their breads for 2 for $1!!!! Yes, you read that right, 50 cents a loaf!!! Talk about a bargain. If you have an extra freezer then you can (and should) take advantage of this. I know it may be a drive but for that price, I will make that trip every few weeks and stock up. The bread I got had a date of April 24th and it was the 20th so it is towards the end of its shelf life, especially without all the preservatives! I got 4 bags of bread for $10 but that included a yummy chocolate chip loaf that was not marked down ($3) and a bag of Lay's chips as a snack for me which was probably $1. I got whole wheat hamburger buns, some honey oat, some 9 grain, a few sourdoughs and an awesome foccaccia type bread with rosemary and olive oil which we sliced in half and grilled on the George Foreman grill and made Panini's with, YUM-O! So for about the price of 2 loaves I got 4 bags full of bread. I brought them home and popped all the ones for future use in the freezer. I keep my bread in the fridge here anyways. With the heat and no preservatives, the bread just goes bad so fast. So, hot deal alert for anyone wanting great bread at a great price!

School lunches

As I made a quick trip to Sprouts today, I noticed a billboard car as I call them. It was a car completely decorated with a company's logo and info. The more I read, the more I was intrigued. It was a school lunch program that was all organic. It is called Fresh Gen Kids (www.fresgenkids.com - yes it is missing the "h" in fresh). I briefly looked at the website, unfortunately they do not do GFCF diets but, maybe in the furture if Matthew's gut gets healed and dairy and wheat are not such a big deal we can look then. Definitely for Emma I will be looking this company up! It brings up the topic of school lunch quality that I have been meaning to blog about for a while. Thanks to Amie for forwarding me this email which stunned me:

Tell USDA: Stop Allowing the Torture of Downed Cows to Feed Our Schoolchildren

Dragging cows too weak to stand. Shocking them with electric prods when they can't walk. Ramming them with forklifts. Even forcing water down their throats -- right out of the manual on waterboarding.
Our shocking undercover investigation revealed these and other abuses of "downed" dairy cows -- those who are too sick or injured to walk -- at a Southern California slaughter plant. And The Humane Society of the United States’ investigation also discovered that the meat from these tortured animals gets fed to children through the National School Lunch Program! Please watch our investigative video, and then take action today to stop this cruelty.
Our video of the cruelty is very difficult to watch. Even worse is the thought that an outfit like Hallmark Meat Packing Company got away with this kind of abuse every day, without proper oversight from the USDA.
Urge the USDA to tighten its lax enforcement of the downer rule and to close the rule's loophole -- so that cows who are obviously in no shape to walk are not taken to slaughter in the first place.
Don't forget to tell your friends and family how they can help, too.
Thank you for all you do for animals.
Sincerely,Wayne PacellePresident and CEOThe Humane Society of the United States
P.S. You can find the full details of this shocking investigation on our website or in a recent Washington Post story.

It was shocking to watch the video they referred to. And, I also heard that they will start allowing cloned meat into the school lunch supply. I know there are plenty of people that don't care about eating cloned meat but I do. I just don't think there is enough info out there about the genetic changes that may be occuring with cloning (if any) and what our consumption of those animals may do to us in the future. So, I am totally against them being able to slip that stuff into my child's school lunch. And, right now the offspring of cloned meat have already made their way into our food supply, without requirements for labeling. I personally plan to push our legislators to make it mandatory for the labeling of cloned meat on the packaging. We should know what we are eating and be able to make that choice or not. So, for those of you with school aged kids who may be less than thrilled with the school lunch offerings, you may want to check out Fresh Gen Kids!

Composting 101

I had a comment from Sherri asking for more info on composting, so here it is. If you haven't started composting, maybe this will make you think twice. What is composting? In a nutshell, it is a place where you put veggies, fruits, leaves, grass clippings, coffee grinds, egg shells where it will decompose and produce organic material for your garden. Basically it is giving back to the earth. Instead of throwing away the ends of your celery, your cucumber peels, banana peels, etc, you put them in your compost bin (or pile) and let nature take its course. No it does not smell. Once in a while you turn it, preferable with a pitch fork so as not to kill your herd (of worms that is) and then add some water once in a while. Soon, you will have rich, dark, organic compost to add to your own garden which give nutrients back, keeps soil moist, and keeps weeds down. And, if you live here in Gilbert, the Town will give you a compost bin for FREE! Gotta love that. They even deliver it right to your doorstep, with instructions, call 503-6400 for yours. We put it right next to our air conditioners/trash cans. We just had a compost pile in Mira Mesa. We used a far back corner and just started there. It can even be a plastic bin with holes poked in the botton so it doesn't get too wet when it rains (or cover it for added protection). We keep a small covered container on the kitchen counter and empty as needed. With the new juicer we are emptying that thing multiple times per day. It is a pretty simple was of giving back to the earth some of the nutrients that we take from it. You will gather worms who basically go in and eat the food and digest it into organic matter. And, it is pretty amazing how much heat is generated by this process! The great fresh dirt comes out the bottom and you put all the stuff in the top. I hate to waste food so I love the fact that ALL of our fruit and veggie scraps go to the compost. Between composting and recycling, we have about 1/2 of a trash can of trash each week. And we still have a child in diapers! I love that on average, we have about 1/2 - 1/4 the trash for similar sized families. Very little goes into the landfill from our house, I keep looking for ways to reduce that even further.

More info on baby food pesticides

Here are a few articles that I found on the pesticides in baby food:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=990CE2D9153BF935A15754C0A963958260

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health-fitness/exercise-wellness/consumer-reports-why-organic-baby-food-is-safer-106/overview/

http://www.babycenter.com/0_pesticides-in-your-babys-food-what-you-need-to-know_1408813.bc

I just googled "pesticides baby food", there were more articles too but I wanted to highlight more "credible", mainstream sources. The article from consumer reports looked like it even broke down which things to buy "organic" vs. conventional if cost is an issue. I would highly suggest people visit the Farmer's Market on Power just south of Elliot here in Gilbert. T.J. and Julie are the owners, they can tell you which local products are pesticide free and which aren't. And, the produce is much cheaper than "certified" organic. The main point is not eating pesticides, I could care less whether someone has the certified seal because quite honestly, that does not mean much more than they paid the $50,000 fee to be certified. There is a "certified organic" farmer who just bought 40 acres in Chandler and is going to be planting on it. Up until last year it was farmed cotton which means crop dusting. That doesn't sound very organic to me since it takes years for the pesticides to diminish. The local farmers who live and breathe farming are not happy with this whole certification process since many have always farmed without pesticides yet cannot afford the fee and then miss out on being able to charge more for their products. Or join an organic food co-op. I belonged to Protea Produce http://www.protealife.com/Organic_Produce.html. It was great, you could pick the size basket you wanted and then every two weeks you got a new basket brimming with organic produce. The large basket was $50. It was a TON of stuff. My main reason for quitting was that I frequently got things that we did not use often and quite honestly, I never made time to find a use for them before they went bad. And, I still had to get staples (bananas, lettuce, cucs, etc) that we run out of every few days. It seemed easier and more cost effective to go to the Farmer's Market for us.

If you can, steam and puree your own baby food. You don't need a real expensive food processor or a lot of supplies. Freeze puree in ice cube trays or old glass baby food jars for quick meals for your little one. I did big batches and just froze them in the trays, emptied the trays into big Ziplocs and labeled the food and date and it worked really well.

Wonder what to buy organic vs. conventional? I go by this rule: If it has a thick peel you can go conventionally grown, just make sure you peel it first (bananas, cucs). If it does not have a thick peel, especially root veggies (strawberries, apples, carrots and potatoes), try and go organic as much as you can. But, that consumer reports site had a good breakdown. I hope that helps!

We have our garden going and I would encourage everyone to try one. A raised bed, some drip irrigation and a little time keeping the pests at bay can give you a bountiful harvest for very little money, and you know exactly what is not in or on your produce. We have tomatoes, corn, stevia, herbs, peppers and asparagus going. I love going out and harvesting our food, one of these days I am going to have a real farm, lol. I am sure people are laughing at me, there are many who would be very surprised to hear me say that!

Earth day, every day

In honor of Earth Day (yes I am late, hey it has been a crazy week as usual), I wanted to discuss Earth friendly cleaning supplies. I caught a segment on Good Morning America with (I think) Diedre Imus who has a book out (?). Anyways, she was talking about environmentally friendly cleaners. I was pleased to see she had vinegar and baking soda on her table! I use these as my primary cleaners around the house, along with some of the Method brand cleaners found at Target. In addition to being super cheap, baking soda and vinegar is totally fine for consumption. So, when I am scrubbing the tubs, you know, those big drinking vessels where my kids LOVE to fill containers and then drink their bath water, I feel confident that they are getting no toxic chemicals. The combo of the two do foam and the baking soda is a great abrasive. It is even a great combo to help flush out any slow moving sinks. Vinegar works great on toilet bowl stains, just let it sit for a while before flushing. Did you know vinegar is also a disinfectant? The acidity kills many bugs which is nice in the bathroom! And, when we have the "ick" going around, I throw some in with the laundry to make sure all the buggies are killed, especially on any soiled sheets. It negates the need for bleach. I knew bleach was toxic but in the brief spiel I caught on Good Morning America, Diedre was saying the bleach fumes collect at ground level, which is awful for our little ones running (or worse yet crawling) around. They cannot escape those fumes. I did not research this and we don't usually use bleach except for the case of raw meat drippings in the kitchen sink so please Google this yourself if you need more info. But, as a rule we keep the bleach to a very minimum. Diedre also mentioned (and this disgusted me) that there was a test done on commercial baby food (i.e. Gerber) and in 1 jar there were 16 different pesticides found. YIKES! What is all that about?? I didn't know anything about this stuff when I had Matthew. I made 99% of Emma's food myself and I wanted to with Matthew but I guess I just did not know how to get started. Looking back, I am so sorry I didn't learn more because I wonder what impact those toxins had on his system. Even baby foods (including those "Puffs" - I think I remember them having soy and trans fats, there was something bad in them) you have to watch out. It is sad that we have to check ingredients of baby food, those should be among the purest there are. But, moving forward, if everyone would use safer cleaners, walk or bike a little instead of drive, maybe start a garden and compost and recycle, maybe we can help the Earth and give back instead of just taking. Just a few thoughts in honor of Earth day.

My new toys

So I am a geek. Here are my new toys, both bought from Craigslist. The grill is so small though but we figured we'd start small to see if we liked it. We did hamburgers last night and boy did it get the fat out. I think I will try chicken tonight. And what can I say about my juicer?!?! I am SO excited!! It is a masticating juicer, not centrifugal. It leaves all the good enzymes intact, which is the point of drinking fresh veggie/fruit juices anyways. I have a funny story. We give Matthew enzymes and they smell awful. We also compost and Eric was emptying our compost container and said "Did you put Matthew's enzymes in here? It smells just like his enzymes". I had to laugh and said "What do you think fruits and veggies DO?". We do manufacture certain enzymes on our own, but we require lots of them from fresh fruits and veggies. Unfortunately the typical American diet does not contain enough fruits and veggies, which then creates a whole host of problems with digestion. So, Eric was smelling the organic version of Matthew's enzymes. That is why I have been so obsessed with finding a masitcating juicer and getting some raw veggies into my kids. They do ok with fruit but the veggies, only Emma eats them. Matthew will do cucumbers and tomatoes and that is it. I have to hide things like spinach and kale in spaghetti sauces, muffins, etc. But, those are cooked sources, which are better than nothing but you do lose some nutritional content and those awesome enzymes! So, Tuesday I picked up my juicer and promptly ran to the Farmer's Market. I got about 2 ounces in the kids Tuesday 4 ounces yesterday. I am so happy about this and even I feel better already. I will keep you posted!

No bump in OUR road....

Higley Groves folks, sorry to say the Town will not put speed bumps on Park because it is a "collection" street. That means it was designed to be the main through way for ambulances, fire trucks, etc. I do know how important that is but on the other hand, how do we get the majority of the cars that drive through there on a daily basis to stop at the stop signs and to SLOW down?? Any thoughts??

Yes, I made it!

Sorry for the long delay in posts. But, I MADE IT! I completed my first Triathlon and lived to tell about it. I actually did better time-wise than I thought I would. It was an amazing experience. They were delayed about an hour and a half which was not fun. The organization could have been much, much better but oh well. I was supposed to start my swim at 8:38, I wasn't in the water until 10:00 am which meant I was running at 11:00 am or so, so it was HOT! I was tired and a little dehydrated but other than that, GREAT! My arms were a bit sore, that 50 meter pool really does make a difference. Note to self: Find 50 meter pool to train in for next one. Everyone was so encouraging along the route, lots of "Keep going, you're doing great!" and "Way to go!", what a positive and friendly group, for the most part. We did have a late comer push their way in between our bikes in the transition area. She was frantic and looked kind of out of it and TOTALLY took over our space, to the point where I had no room. I had to laugh at the gall and absurdity of it all. I was doubled over laughing because it was just too ridiculous and too over the top for me that early. So, all in all, it was a wonderful experience. I am so glad I had Kate and Kim to share it with, that made it all the better, taking that picture at the finish line together!! :)

PS - Elan, I was going to send you the email I sent out but only have your email from Grancell. Can you email or comment me and give me your personal email??

GREAT recipe!!

OK - it has been a tough day...for whatever reason, the kids just went nuts tonight. They are both asleep so I am catching up on half finished blogs and posting them all while I have a chance, that is why there is so much activity tonight.

Anyways, for dinner I made fellow Higley Groves resident and blogger, Shari's, Caribbean tacos. All I can say is YUM-O. I wanted to eat all of it! Seriously. The kids did not like it which surprised me because of the honey but whatever, more for me! So, I am bootlegging it, passing it on because everyone should try this. I am going to make up a huge batch and freeze with some of my Sprouts chicken!! :)

Here it is from her blog:
Caribbean Tacos

4 T. Honey
3 T. Fresh Lime Juice
1 T. Oil
2 tsp. Chili Powder
1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
1 - 1 1/2 pounds shredded and cooked chicken

Mix marinade and toss with cooked and shredded chicken. Take soft corn, table tortillas (these are the kinds that fold without breaking) or you can use regular corn tortillas, just fry them a bit or get them real crispy If you want to eat them saucer style.Fresh and Easy has cute mini corn tortillas. layer a little shredded green cabbage , chicken and some fresh mango salsa. I bought some great mango salsa from Costco. Vitamin A source. I wanted my tortilla a little crisp but didn't want to fry it so I put it in the toaster.It is very low fat that way.

I did it a bit different because of running Matthew around for his appointments. I boiled up 2 large chicken breasts early this afternoon and then put them in the fridge before running out the door. When I got home, I cut them into chunks and then mixed the marinade and added to the chicken in a pan, set on low. Meanwhile I did fry up the corn tortillas (in coconut oil of course) so they wouldn't break. I shredded some lettuce and grabbed the Herdez salsa. Open a can of beans or make some spanish rice or just have the tacos with a side salad and viola, dinner! I made the kids theirs tostada style but they just ate the lettuce and some tomatoes I chopped for them. Crazy kids. It was ridiculously easyand too great not to try, I promise you!

Higley Groves Update

I know there are a few ladies in my neighborhood who read my blog. You may already know this but in case you do not, here goes. On Friday, an 11 year old boy was hit on Park Avenue just past Richard. He was riding his scooter on his driveway and went out onto the driveway skirting/street and a person hit him. The person thought he hit a trash can so didn't stop at first. The child was taken by helicopter to the hospital. Torrey and I were coming back from a run along the power lines and I just knew the helicopter had landed in the field at the end of our street based on its trajectory and proximity to the ground. That is never a good thing. The boy sustained breaks to both legs and some liver damage that they are debating doing surgery on to stop the bleeding. In any event, it brings up a few issues here.

Now, I am speaking STRICTLY as a mother and resident on my blog, not as a Board member, so my thoughts and feelings are my own and DO NOT reflect that of Higley Groves HOA.

Recently, I have seen increased negilgence on our streets, specifically Park Ave. Not only do people drive too fast but people will drive the wrong way down the one way street to get to their home 2.5 seconds faster, yet endangering people and property along the way. I had an alercation some of you may remember, I was called a B*&^% for telling someone to stop doing this. My ghetto-ness kicked in and after several choice words she promptly threw her hands up and said "OK OK I won't do it anymore". Well, as another Board member was in that area, they saw someone from that same household do it again!

We happen to live on a cul-de-sac that ends at the large park/field. During soccer season our street is FILLED with cars as parents from other parts of the neighborhood drive to practice. Our normally quiet street turns chaotic. Well, for those on Park (and some of the other streets that go all the way through) this is everyday. Our kids MUST be safe from racing cars, cars failing to stop at stop signs, and people constantly parking on the one way streets (which are not wide enough for cars to be parking on anyways, none of our streets are for that matter) which block visibility. Of course, we as parents have a responsibility to teach our children to stay out of the street but we have tons of kids in this neighborhood, many who do play on our sleepy streets with moms watching on. Little ones DO dart into the street after a ball. It just happens. So, there is already one petition going around for speed bumps.

What happens is, the town needs a petition of at least 10 homeowners. Once that happens, they will do a "study" to determine what streets need them, what the traffic is, etc. Then, if they decide they are necessary, they tell us where they need to go and bill our association for $3000, per speed bump. Now, I am all about keeping our assessments low (speaking as a homeowner here) but, is there a better use of money than keeping people to a reasonable speed and hopefully reducing the accidents like this one? I have asked for my own blank petition. My thought is, if we have more petitions than just one, maybe, just maybe the Town will listen and respond quicker. We have inquired about speed bumps before, a Board member's son was hit at that same intersection last year on his bike on the way to school. Luckily he was fine other than being shaken up. We were told there was nothing we could do, the Town owns the streets, etc. But, given the severity of this boy's injuries, they may think twice about that answer again. There was another homeowner who recently came before the Board to request them on his street too. With Highland Park being built, we DO have more traffic into and out of our community. It is a lot busier, especially down Park and really any street that does go all the way through. So, if you are a homeowner and would be interested in signing my blank petition, email or comment me. I will make sure I see you when I get it. Hopefully we can keep our streets a little safer for all of our children!

GDA (Good deal alert)

Anyone locally should get to Sprouts. They have fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.88 per pound. It is normally $4.49 per pound. I have not done the research on this chicken yet, we will soon be going totally organic for the chicken but as far as I know the Sprouts chicken is good. Time to stock up and then do some cooking/freezing to save yourself time for dinners in the future. Happy shopping!