Pizza Meatloaf "Muffins"

I found this recipe in Womans Day and figured I would give it a try. It was a hit with my picky eaters (Matthew and Torrey) and not such a hit with my psuedo-vegetarian Emma. But, it was super easy and I plan to make and freeze a bunch for easy last minute meals, at least for the older 2.

Heat oven to 375. Spray 8 muffin cups with cooking oil.

With your hands mix in a bowl:
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (I use Laura's lean ground beef, found at Super Target)
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs (for GFCF I used the Almond/Rice bread and cut into small pieces, sprayed with olive oil and seasoning and broiled for a few minutes until toasted, they were a hit on their own!)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (I used the chunky veggie pasta sauce from Fresh & Easy)
2 eggs

Pack into cups. Bake 25 minutes until cooked through. Optional (We left this part off and they were still great!) Top with pizza sauce, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and some dried oregano. Bake 2 minutes until cheese melts.

Enjoy!

Good reading for parents

I know I have wondered why Autism rates (and other disorders affecting children) have skyrocketed. You may have heard that there was a victory for at least one family in their fight against vaccine companies. I have always been pro-vaccine, even after finding out about Matthew's disorder. However, it was always based on fear. The "what would I do if my child caught something and died from a preventable disease?". I know other moms in the exact same boat as me. However, I started learning more about the immune system and our bodies and what is actually IN vaccines. This comes about 4 years after I noticed significant reactions to vaccines in Matthew. At his 4 month shots, he stopped sleeping. Just stopped. The month before his shots he had been actually starting to sleep 8 hours or so and we were thrilled. The day of his shots the child stopped sleeping and wouldn't get back into the groove until his next round, which then disrupted his sleep again. When I told my doctor he said that was odd, he'd never heard of that before. But, in talking with other parents, it was not so odd. Some remarked that their child's personality changed with vaccines. Now THAT is odd. When a child suddenly STOPS sleeping, not a good sign. It would mark the beginning of a very long period of sleeplessness for Matthew (and us). I still stuck by vaccines and faithfully took my children in. But, quite honestly, I am one of those "weirdos" that has stopped vaccinating until I learn more. I use the term "weirdo" because that was how I looked at people who didn't vaccinate. The fear is now greater for me as to what the vaccines will do to my child rather than save them from. Now I sit at home with my 4 1/2 year old (without his 4 year shots) and my 2 year old (without her 2 year shots) and breathe easier. Now, could we be exposed to something bad that is preventable, absolutely. I will be devastated. However, I am now trying to work through whatever damage HAS been done to Matthew and let me tell you, the nervous system and gut is HARD to fix ladies and gentlemen. There is no ER I can rush him to, there are no easy tests for us to take to give us the truth as to what it at work. Most doctors have no clue as to what to do, so you find out on your own and hope you are right. My job is to fix what has gone wrong and try and make sure the same does not happen again or to Emma.

And now thankfully because of Matthew's disorder, I know more about what DOES truly fight viral and bacterial illnesses than I ever thought possible. We are armed with some of the very best things to help the immune system fight the daily attacks we come under, and the best thing is that they are natural and not going to harm anyone. In fact, many of the preventative things are good diet, proper hydration and sleep. And we have an arsenal of "supplements". You know, those scary things that the FDA wants off your shelves (so they can regulate i.e. charge 50 times more than they cost now). We (as a human race) relied upon herbal remedies since day 1. There ARE things out there that are better for us than Zocor, Claritan, Crestor, Lipitor and any other "or" out there. All these medications have serious side effects, and quite a huge strain on our livers. I am not saying ALL drugs are bad, I think we rely on them too quickly and for too long. Lifestyle changes can help SO many things, as can cutting artificial sweeteners, MSG and other toxins in our food. Stress management, good sleep and exercise go a long way in good health too. And, we are giving kids TOO MANY MEDICATIONS! And, those meds start on hour 1 of their birth with Hep vaccine. You know why they give kids Hep vaccines? Because a very small percentage of women have Hepatitis B when they deliver. Hep B is transmitted through bodily fluids. It would be relatively easy to screen soon to be moms. But no.....they will just inject your kid when they are born, same thing with antibiotic ointment in the eyes. They come into contact with STD's in the birth canal and so this kills it. Well.....both my kids were (unfortunately) c-section babies and so they did not GO through the birth canal. And, I DO NOT have hep B. So, why should my children routinely be given this vaccine, which they do not need for the very, very small percentage of kids where this would help them???? What is wrong with this picture?? I can't remember the numbers, maybe 1 in 40,000 would be effected so we immunize all kids so that 1 in 40,000 won't get Hep B. Like I said, I can't remember the exact figure, check out Dr. Mercola's site for the real figure (www.mercola.com). It is unreal to hear some of this stuff.

Sorry for the rant, I am having supplement "issues" in getting my Dr. to write a letter of medical necessity so I can use flex spending to help with some of the costs so I am frustrated. We parents KNOW these things work for our children. If it were a prescription, absolutely it would be covered. But, because it is natural and over the counter, no such luck, it burns me. But, if you are interested in reading about the court battle over vaccines, here is info on the case that has settled.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/government-concedes-vacci_b_88323.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/the-vaccineautism-court-_b_88558.html

Small changes....

If you are looking for some small changes to make for yourself or your kids, here are some you may want to try:


Switch from fruit roll ups and fruit gushers which have zero nutritional value to all organic Fruitabu or the Stretch Island Fruit Leathers. Both companies are one and the same. You can buy the big variety packs of Fruit Leathers at Costco - the Mango one is the only one with "natural flavors", all the others list a specific flavoring that has been added, or just use fruit juices. I just avoid the mango ones. The Fruitabu can be found at places like Wal-Mart and are all organic with just fruit and juice, pretty easy.



Switch from the bagged microwave popcorn to the Whirlypop popcorn. You cook it the old fashioned way, with a hand crank, use coconut oil for even more healthy goodness. Popcorn is a whole grain and kids LOVE it anyways. The coconut oil adds a hint of buttery yumminess without the butter and coconut oil is SOOOO good for you! And, per Sparkpeople, one cup of oil popped popcorn has only 55 calories!!! Add in 1/2 cup of popping corn with 3 tablespoons oil, crank handle until popping slows and viola, enough popcorn to fill a huge bowl and the whole family can enjoy. Unless you have a husband and son like I do and then you are lucky to get a snack sized bowl full for you and your toddler to share! Oh well, I can always make more! We found ours at Cost Plus but I have seen them at Target too! I send this as a snack for school often.


Healthier beans....I found this off brand of refriend beans at Fry's today. I cannot remember the brand exactly but it has beans, salt, water, cottonseed oil. No soy, no lard, no trans fats, no MSG. I could not believe it, and they were CHEAP. So, look at labels, read what is in there and stay away from the "natural flavors" and other hidden forms of MSG.


Healthier salsa.....I have always been a HUGE fan of Herdez salsa, that is when I don't have time to make my own. It has tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilatro, salt. NOTHING bad and it does NOT taste like ketchup!! You can find it anywhere, grocery stores or Target/Wal-mart. Sometimes they have it in the mexican food section and not with all the other salsas but usually that is just at Target.


Most tortilla chips are OK but avoid the ones made with canola or soybean oil.


Speaking of oil - hot tip for this week, if you are local and shop at Fry's, run don't walk to their sale! They have the spectrum organic coconut oil on sale for $4.99!! You save $3.30 per 16 ounce container. That is a screaming deal. I snagged their last 2 bottles (Val Vista and Baseline) and got a raincheck for 15 more!!



Fruit cups, packed in pear juice. I have been sending these as snacks for school or just for around the house. The kids love them and they are handy! I make so many things from scratch it IS nice to have something already prepared that I did not have to chop, cook or bake. We all need SOME conveniences. Same thing goes for the UNSWEETENED apple sauce. Even most stores have their own brands that are about $1.50 for a 6 pack or so.


And one of our all time favorites...LARA Bars. Our favorite farmer's market, Guadalupe Farmer's Market on Power just south of Elliot brought those in for us (they also sell them at Sprouts and Fry's). If you haven't been down and met T.J. & Julie, the owners of the Farmer's Market, you need to. In addition to being amazing people, they have always been so nice at bringing in items I request. They have awesome produce, most local (and therefore organic) but very economical and fresh. They carry most of the LARA Bar line. What are these? Dense (and I mean dense) bars that are all natural, non-GMO, no dairy, no wheat, no junk whatsoever!! They are even raw and vegan!! My favorite is chocolate coconut chew, yum! Matthew loves the banana cookie and my friend Amie loves the one with Pistachios. Their base is usually dates, then nuts. The chocolate coconut chew has date, almonds, walnuts, cocoa powder, period. I love these for my purse, in the "emergency" bag in the car for snacks on the go and at home too. It is packed with heart healthy omegas with the nuts and great protein. My kids love them. They cost just over $1 per bar and have about 200 calories, and all the right calories too. If you haven't tried these, you need to!



Another "ready made" snack, especially for those with allergies or intolerances is the Enjoy Life brand. Again, T.J. & Julie brought these in for us, Sprouts also carries them. They have a whole line of cookies and "granola bar" type things. The sugar content is a little high (12 g per 2 cookies) and our rule is generally 10 per serving MAX and then only 1 serving total per day (unless it is a raw food like the Lara Bar which has higher sugar content because of the raw fruit/nuts so your body breaks those down slowly, without the major insulin crisis caused by processed sugars). But, the forms of sugars in the Enjoy Life products are usually things like raisin paste, date paste, fruit juices, etc., it just varies based on the product. But, no soy, no dairy, no wheat, no MSG. The kids love them.





So there you go, some alternative snacks for kids, you, your spouse, whoever. Now you can eat healthy, even on the run or for those school lunchboxes!

World Autism Awareness Day!

In addition to April being Autism Awareness Month in the US, today is also World Autism Awareness Day. I will be highlighting certain things about Autism all month long in addition to the other stuff I talk about in this blog. As more and more children are diagnosed each day with some form of Autism, the world needs to wake up and figure out just what is going on. These children are amazing, creative, loving, brilliant children, some stuck without the ability to communicate all that is in their heads. The more I know about Matthew's Autism, the more I realize I don't know about other childrens' Autism necessarily. There is a saying, "once you know 1 person with Autism, you know 1 person with Autism". It is so easy to look at the news stories or Dr. Phil or whatever media outlet is trying to sensationalize the disorder du jour but really, each person living with Autism has different challenges. Not all people with Autism are non verbal, not all of them bang their heads and rock back and forth, not all of them avoid social contact, not all of them want to be alone all the time. There is a new face of Autism, pretty much the child next door.

Autism is a neurological disorder. Just as the brain is a compex network, Autism can be just as compex. Certain things may effect one child that don't another child. Matthew has extra sensitive hearing and perseverates (focuses, obsesses) on sounds, like the lawn mower outside or a truck driving by. If a fan is on, the sound of it blowing can distract him from his school work. He cannot differentiate that doing his school work is more important than that sound and therefore, ignore it. He also craves vestibular input (jumping, swinging, hanging upside down). Matthew has low tone in his body and face which makes chewing somewhat difficult and mealtimes often torturous. He also dislikes certain food textures which adds to the fun. The bottom line is that Autism is as unique as the individual living with it. But one thing remains true, integrating into "normal" society can be challenging, regardless of the severity. Our society is built up heirarchies and "fitting in". That can be very hard for people who have certain things going on in their brains that others do not. OCD and anxiety often go hand in hand with Autism as well.

On the flip side, now that we are immersed in Autism as it relates to our family, we have found ways to look at the situation with humor. And, other people with Autism (especially adults!) also often find humor in their compulsions. Here are some funny things we've seen/read, although I warn you, you may need to be intimately aware of Autism to get some of these:

1) Yes, I have Autism, stare if you must, I am not paying attention to you anyways.

2) Eye contact is overrated.

3) Be patient with me now and I will be kind to you when I write my book.

4) Autism never sleeps (so my mom is cranky).

5) My child has Autism, your questions are encouraged, but your parenting advice is not (unless you also have a child with Austism) **** My favorite one!!

6) My child has Autism, what the hell is wrong with YOUR kid?

7) Autism effects 1 in 150, but I think my son is 1 in a million!! ****My other favorite!!

8) If at first you don't succeed, perseverate!

Musings from my (death) bed

OK now maybe not my death bed but that is what this certainly has felt like at times over the last 3 days. But, armed with my laptop, today I started to fight back. I developed a theory that life (and disease) is all about PH. What is PH? It either the alkalinity or acidity of something. When you get too much of one thing, bad things happen. When did I start looking at this? Well, last summer we had the "climbing thing" which was one of those Step 2 or similar brand thing with slides, tunnels, etc. that the kids could climb on. A troop of ants apparantly built a nest right under it and swarmed it and Matthew one day. He was COVERED in red ant bites. Due to his mis-perception of pain, he was in a little pain but not as much as he probably should have been thankfully. I went online quickly and found that red ant venom is alkaline which means acidity would counteract it. I quickly grabbed vinegar (one of life's gems) and dabbed it all over his legs. The bites subsided, immediately. And I mean immediately! By the next day there was no sign they were even there.

So here we are, day three into major stomach/intestinal hell. Nothing is staying in my system, nothing. I had no idea I had this much fluid in my body!! I start trying to find the PH of the flu virus. Turns out intestinal viruses are very alkaline. They replicate (the goal of a virus) quickly and fill both the small and large intestines. The alkalinity signals your stomach to vomit so that production of acid will commence. Also, alkalinity DOES burn, just as acid can. Since our intestines are used to acid, the alkalinity actually burns which triggers the intestines to produce copious amounts of fluid in the form of diarrhea to flush out the offending alkalinity. The antidote? Pure tomato juice, lots of it and nothing but tomato juice, anything else will feed the alkalinity. Drink 8 ounces each 1/2 hour. You do this for 8 hours AFTER the last symptom subsides. Here I am, 2 hours into this and I cannot even tell you how much better I feel. I did pop a Virastop and Olive Leaf Extract (both very good at fighting viral issues) and I feel like I am getting back to my old self. I still do not stray too far from the bathroom but hey, this is better than I was just a mere 4 hours ago, yippee!!

So at day 3 I have learned, this was not a fun way to 1) lose 7 pounds or 2) get a full system cleanse. Nonetheless, it is what it is, now I will try NOT to gunk it up again after this is resolved.

Back to the land of the living (sorta)

So....I thought I had missed the nastiness that has been going around my house. Not so. From midnight Monday until about 9 pm last night, I was sick, sick, sick. I was sicker than I have been in years. It was not pretty, it still isn't really great but at least I am vertical. Eric luckily was able to rearrange his schedule and stay home with the kids because I was not able to do a thing. Today I got a massage and a Meyers cocktail at my friend's office, True Harmony Wellness, visit their website http://www.trueharmonywellness.com/. A Meyers cocktail is IV therapy that has mega vitamin C, magnesium, B vitamins and lots of other great vitamins and minerals. They are used to help with chronic fatigue, cancer patients, or just any time you are run down and need a little pick me up to boost your immune system. So, every mom should have one weekly, lol. You feel SO much better after one. Vitamins and minerals are not fully absorbed through the gut so IV form gives you greater absorption and effectiveness. Anyone in the Phoenix area who needs a great OB/GYN should run to True Harmony and see Dr. Christine Brass-Jones. In addition to being a phenomenal doctor, she is also a great friend and wonderful person. She has a naturopath on staff as well as massage therapist and reiki practitioner. They have even started doing facials. It is so great there, a blend of mind and body and even a meditation room to wait in if you need some quiet time before your appt. She also serves as my general practitioner. I still don't feel great but man, do I feel better. So, off to bed to try and recoup the sleep I did not get at all Monday night and last night. Hopefully the next time I post I will be back to my usual self!

Coo Coo for Coconut Oil

Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a great day. Today's blog will be about Coconut oil and oils in general. Our personal preference is Coconut oil. In the past, coconut oil (and other tropical oils) got a bad rap for saturated fats. However, this was based on studies with hydrodgenated coconut oil. I am talking about pure, organic coconut oils here. The benefits of coconut oils are rich and varied, just google it for your own edification. Coconuts in general are extremely healthy, in remote areas coconut water has even been used as blood plasma in cases of emergency, what other item from nature can tout that? In short, it is a healthier alternative that even helps fight yeast, for those people who have that as a concern (which is about 90% of the American population, many don't even know they have a yeast problem!). But what about Soy and Canola? Aren't those great alternatives? Well, the government would have you believe that, and they are so cheap! That is actually one of the main reasons, they are cheaper to produce. I have already covered soy and why I am against that, and that goes for soybean oil too. Canola oil is another story. The latest hype is on hydrogenation, with many fast food chains and snack foods touting "NO TRANS FATS" because that is what hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils are, trans fats. Why are they bad? Well, they basically clog up your neuro transmitters. And, when you do take in the good fats (like avocados, nuts, etc) your body will ignore those in favor of the yucky trans fats that you may have consumed. And we won't even go into the problems with trans fats and your heart/cholesterol. Lets get back to Canola oil. They toot their own horn as having no trans fats. However, what is a canola? Do you know what plant/animal this oil comes from? No? Me either. It is derived from the rapeseed plant, which who wants rapeseed oil? That doesn't sound so great. It is a product of Canada so Canada + oil = Canola. Anyways, most oils are already oils and then they are hydrogenated = the labeling of trans fats. But, to be edible/safe, the rapeseed oil goes through a process of hydrogenation and then viola, Canola oil. But because the hydrogenation is done pre-production so to speak and not after it becomes Canola oil, it can carry the label "Trans Fat Free". But, it is hydrogenated. Now more than ever you will find this little gem on packaging, it is cheap and they can get away with the "Trans Fat Free" label by using this. Your best bet? Olive oil, coconut oil or good 'ole butter. You want things to harden when it gets cold, melt when it gets hot, not stay the same no matter what temp it is! That is just weird. I know you are probably thinking, BUTTER? Yes, butter, you know the stuff that comes from COWS? Not margerine (again, what kind of plant/animal is a margerine??). Oil is oil, it is supposed to be used in moderation. We can't have our cake and eat it too. A fat is a fat. Use the real deal, just don't go crazy. But, if you are interested in trying a new oil, one that tastes great (we use it to pop popcorn and it tastes buttery, not at ALL like coconuts) I would highly suggest coconut oil. We bake with it, cook with it, even fry with it on those rare occassions where we fry. It does not convert to transfats upon high heat like other oils do. So, yes you are still eating fried foods but at least some of the ick factor is gone. Try it, I bet you'll like it!

What a week

So, in the past week I have:

* Had a bday
* Got a massage
* Pigged out on Pizza at Oregano's (and paid for it the next day)
* Started my BRICK workouts (Bike, Run, ick...) for the Triathlon, currently up to my total biking distance of 9 miles (even more sometimes) followed by a 1 mile run so far. Swimming is going great, that is the least of my worries now, I am now more worried about the run....
* Eric is gone again
* Not 20 minutes after he left Matthew started complaining of stomach ache, 2 hours later, began throwing up and kept throwing up all day. Typical. If you read my earlier post about his 1st ear infection you will know one of the kids ALWAYS gets sick or something happens around the house when Eric leaves.

Whew.....It has been busy. I officially signed up for the Triathlon as my 36th bday present to myself so I am committed now. I am excited that I am almost up to the bike/run portion. The 400 meter swim is actually pretty easy for me at this point, even though I was most worried about it. We rode to the chiropractor then Riparian Preserve then Fresh & Easy on Sunday. In total a 12 mile ride with Eric pulling the kids. A month ago I would NEVER have considered riding that long at one time, I am getting stronger and am so happy about that. Today I am going to ride the bike to the gym then do a 2 mile run and the 400 meter swim. That's my goal anyways. The ride will not be 9 miles (only about 5 or so) but if I can do at least 2 of the 3 events each day, I will be feeling great about the tri in April. If I do the run/swim and part of the ride today I think it will give me an idea of how ready I am.

Missing: 15,000 gallons of water

We are having our pool acid washed and then converted to a salt water system. We've been waiting for about a month to have this done. We moved our pool equipment last spring, and recently a pipe that was moved had started to leak air and we were trying to get the other company who moved the equipment to fix it under their warranty. We'll, their lack of communication, resolution, service just prompted us to say "let's just have the new guy fix it!". Well, I couldn't be happier. We are using Doctor Pool for the new stuff and they are AWESOME. They came out even a day early! Their team is cheerful, professional and respectful of our home. It has been a pleasure working with them. They are very communicative which is a huge change from the other company. So, here's what our pool looks like right now. Today it will get acid washed and then refilled. But what a weird sight! It actually looks a lot deeper than it really is. I thought I would share our big empty hole in our backyard!

Let's talk beef

So we've all pretty much heard the saying "corn fed beef" right? It usually is said with a level of pride attached, like that is the best. Well, I am here to dispell that myth. Cows aren't meant to digest corn, it ferements in their stomach, allows eColi to breed which then requires antibiotics. Yummy, huh? When you see "Corn Fed Beef" you know now, regardless of what the packaging says after that, they have been given antibiotics. And, many places will try and fool you by putting "grain fed" on the packaging, which usually means corn. And nowadays most of the corn is GMO anyways which is another level of eww for me. What you want to look for instead is grass fed beef. A brand that I buy is Laura's Beef, their site is here http://www.laurasleanbeef.com/ and their products can be found locally here in AZ at the Super Target stores and at some Fry's stores.

A brand that I have not tried yet but am eager to is Alder Springs. I am thinking of getting a group together to order one of their large packages, anyone interested in going in on it, let me know. http://www.alderspring.com/

So avoid the hype over "corn fed" beef and save the antibiotics for when you want them and really need them, in a prescription bottle, not in your meat!

Disclaimer

I am kind of bombarding my blog with stuff that I took the last 2 years to learn. I hope no one is getting too overwhelmed. I went through the process of anger, disillusionment and then dispair as I did this research. I was very angry at our government, the "regulatory" process that governs our food supply and food manufacturers. But, I realized that it will not change until WE change it, through legislation and simply NOT buying the junk anymore. So, as I share all this stuff, I realized that you may be getting a crash course. I started to get overwhelmed and decided I could ONLY focus on certain things right now. I chose dairy first. Then we focused on hydrogenated oils, then MSG, we never really used artificial sweeteners or that would have been next. Then we focused on cleaning products, personal care products and food storage. I know, it is ALOT. Once you realize just what we come in contact with and especially for children with developing nervous and immune systems. So, I want you all to know, I am never trying to be condescending, egotistical or come across as a know-it-all. I do regularly use sarcasm, it is as natural as breathing to me :) So if you have stumbled upon my blog and do not know me, please do not confuse my warped sense of humor for anything other than that. So if I am bombarding you too fast, speak up. Otherwise I will keep posting.

Almond milk recipe

1 1/2 cup almonds
4 dates

Soak almonds between 6 and 24 hours
Rinse thoroughly

Add 4 cups water, dates and almonds to blender. Blend. Strain with a coarse strainer. Add 2 more cups of water to blender and remaining pulp that you strained. Blend again. Continue straining until desired conststency. We strain using a bigger strainer for 2 rounds of straining, then switch to a fine strainer for 2 rounds of straining, then we use flour sacks for a pulp-free milk. The dates add just a hint of sweetness. You can customize, adding more dates or Stevia for more sweetness, vanilla, cocoa powder for chocolate, etc. We do a double batch every 4 days or so. It will be good for 4 days in the fridge. Enjoy!

Soy sorry to tell you this......

but if you are believing the hype and adding soy into your diet, you may want to reconsider. Here's a link from my dear friend Sunny's website http://www.taoistlife.com/soy.html. She also has a seperate page just on the research to support the claims laid out on her page. You may be asking yourself "well, who is this Sunny person anyways?". She is a friend I met here in AZ who was instrumental in helping our family figure out what was going on with Matthew, getting services, changing our lives through better eating and health in general. She is an OT (occupational therapist), Reiki practitioner, Doula and childbirth educator. She also has degrees in health education, and more I cannot remember. In short, she is about the smartest person I know about food and health. Her OT background was with children on the Autism spectrum and sensory processing disorder. So she knows a lot about the neurological system and understands the intricate balance between our nutrition and neurological health (she is a raw foodist now by the way). I bow down to Sunny when it comes to all things nutrition! Anyways, read up, do your own Google searches. But please learn more about what soy does. Even plant based hormones are not good for us, even in small quantities. And please don't give your kids soy!! Remember, the more refined the product is the better, but chances are you are not going to find many well refined soy products because of cost and time involved.

Sugar, Sugar, aw honey honey

Well, you should know by now that too much of a good thing is bad. This goes for sugar too. Now do not get me wrong and think "well if sugar is bad I should reach for the aspartame, Splenda, etc., etc". You could not be more WRONG. Those things are pure poison, I don't care if their marketing gurus tell you "it tastes like sugar because it is made from sugar". Yeah, sugar bound with chlorine, does that sound like it is good for you? Come drink my pool water, you will probably get less chemicals in that gulp! Look, the bottom line is, losing weight and getting healthy won't be easy. Why do you think I am not in perfect shape? Knowing the stuff and implementing it are hard to do. Years of bad eating habits have certainly caught up with me, I just am trying to detox and make darn sure my kids don't have the food addictions I do. Here's an excellent article on sugar http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/sugar.htm

One thing to think of is that sugar depresses the immune system. As we battle through cold and flu season and our kids constantly bring home bugs, each piece of candy they (you) eat only serves to bring your defenses down. You don't want that do you? But maybe you are asking yourself, well does that mean I can't ever have sweet stuff? Well, no that would be silly, and more importantly depressing. Here are some healthier alternatives:

1) Stevia - all natural sweetener, sweeter than sugar, sold in the supplement aisle because of the lobbying done by the sugar/artificial sweetener corps. There is a great conversion chart here for baking
http://www.sweetleaf.com/category.php?subcat=recipes&subpage=eq_chart It has no impact on the glycemic levels so it is safe for diabetics too!
2) Agave nectar
3) Real maple syrup
4) Dates
5) Other fruits (especially bananas)

You may ask what the difference is. Sweet is sweet right? No. Not all forms of sugar are the same. Natural ones that are not refined are more gentle on our systems and do not produce the insulin spike like the refined forms do (sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, high fructose corn syrup, regular syrups, etc). You don't want your body riding the sugar roller coaster, constantly spiking insulin. Eventually your body gets sick of that and then you get sick. Talk to someone with diabetes, I bet you will begin looking at your sugar consumption when you see the effects of that disease on a body. The goal here is to be as healthy as we can for as long as we can right? I love sweets as much as the next person (ok maybe more) but I have to look at the long term. So put those Girl Scout Cookies down and go grab a piece of fruit. I know, its not the same but your pancreas will thank you for it.

MSG

In my mission to help people make better informed choices about what they put into their bodies and their children's bodies, here is my public service announcement on MSG. MSG is insidious, its main purpose? Flavor enhancer. They created the 1st strain of obese mouse using this stuff, it can cause brain lesions (irreversible damage), has been linked to ADD, Autism and other neurological disorders, basically this is bad stuff for your brain. The FDA knows it is bad stuff yet it allows it in our food supply because it sells more products. This stuff hits certain receptors on your tongue, enters your bloodstream, works on your brain as an excito toxin (much like aspartame) and can make you addicted to products. It also has a hand in the obesity epidemic. They have added "labeling laws" that require labeling of foods that contain MSG (mono sodium glutamate). But, those crafty manufacturers have figured a way around that. There are over 200 other ingredients that DO the same thing but since they all have different names, if a product does not have "mono sodium glutamate" as an ingredient then the product can carry the label "NO MSG" and still have MSG in it. Nice, huh? Want to read more: http://www.msgtruth.org/whywe.htm and here about labeling http://www.truthinlabeling.org/nomsg.html

Want to know other ingredients to watch out for, here they are. Now go check your pantry and be amazed at how many things have MSG, even multiple sources...It is super common in things like breading, ranch dressing, BBQ sauce and other dips. Check those labels.

* Food Additives that ALWAYS contain MSG *

Monosodium Glutamate
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
Hydrolyzed Protein
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
Plant Protein Extract
Sodium Caseinate
Calcium Caseinate
Yeast Extract
Textured Protein (Including TVP)
Autolyzed Yeast
Hydrolyzed Oat Flour
Corn Oil
Gelatin (including all supplements and/or vitamins in gelatin capsules)
Autolyzed Plant Protein
Glutamate
Glutamatic Acid

* Food Additives That FREQUENTLY Contain MSG *

Malt Extract
Malt Flavoring
Bouillon
Broth
Stock
Flavoring
Natural Flavors/Flavoring
Natural Beef / Chicken / Pork / Smoke flavoring
Seasoning
Spices
Vegetable Gum
Torula Yeast
Modified Food Starch
Annatto
Pectin
Carmel Flavoring
Enzyme Modified "anything"
Ultra-pasteurized "anything"
Fermented "anything"
Protease
Dry Milk Solids
Milk Powder
Dough Conditioners
Cornstarch
Citric Acid (when processed from corn)

* Food Additives That MAY Contain MSG Or Excitotoxins *

Carrageenan
Enzymes
Soy Protein Concentrate
Soy Protein
Soy Protein Isolate
Soy Sauce
Soy Extract
Whey Protein Concentrate
Whey Protein
Whey Protein Isolate
Rice Syrup
Brown Rice Syrup