Salmonella in the air???

With all the hype over tomatoes, it is no wonder I am critical of everything I feed my family. But, in the recent weeks, it is chicken that has me more worried. In need of some major batch cooking, I proceeded to pick up some Pilgrim's Pride chicken from Wal-Mart. I normally do not buy meat at Wal-Mart except for the all natural turkey breast slices that I cannot find them elsewhere. But, I was (as usual) trying to get a million things accomplished and a trip to Sprouts was not in the cards. So, I ventured out of my comfort zone and home I went with 3 packs of chicken breasts. I got home, already knowing what I would cook with all that chicken. I opened one pack, something did not smell right. Everyone in my family knows, I have a nose like a dog. If I don't think it smells right, no one eats it. OK so on to pack #2, same thing, pack #3, you guessed it. I marched right back to Wal-Mart for a refund. "Would you like to exchange these?"....."Ah, no thank you". We went vegetarian that night. So, flash forward a few weeks. I did find a pack of chicken from Sprouts in the deep freeze and so we have been living off of that. But decided once again to venture out, this time to Fresh and Easy since we needed more chicken. This is my first try with their chicken. I got their chicken thighs, dated July 22nd, 4 days from now. You guessed it, BAD. What is the deal???? Could there be another salmonella scandal on the way? Could it be a fluke that the last 2 places where I bought chicken sold me rancid chicken and no one else got any? Does everyone smell their chicken before cooking? After these last few weeks, I sure hope they do!!! We would have been another family (also consuming tomatoes this week) joining the ranks of the afflicted, maybe assuming it was the tomatoes?? Who knows. But, it adds to my paranoia about our food supply. So tonight we are having homemade spanish rice and bean burritos, with salsa AND tomatoes. So AZ folks, beware, the last 4 packs of chicken I have bought have ALL been bad. I don't know WHAT is going on. And even Sprouts had some chicken that went bad (I assume) because I let it sit in the fridge 4 days. I thought that was a bit fast to go bad but all the other packs I bought and cooked were fine before I cooked and froze them so I assumed I just waited a tad bit too long. Who knows. Be careful out there, and always trust your nose!!

More info on GMO foods

Here is an interesting article I found on Dr. Mercola's website about Monsanto, a company that is trying to control our food supply. This was the same company who created PCB's and Agent Orange and now they control a large majority of the GMO crop seeds that are used today. Very eye opening and also confirms why we need to know where our food comes from and why we need to support local farmers who do NOT use GMO crop seeds. Here's the link:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/07/08/tthe-most-evil-company-on-the-planet-monsanto.aspx?source=nl

Here's another interesting video "The Future of Food" which also highlights Monsanto's role in our food supply http://www.mercola.com/future-of-food/index.htm

Dr. Woeller

Whew, I am exhausted and yet exhilarated all at the same time!! Matthew and I just got back yesterday from a whirl wind trip to Temecula via San Diego. We left Monday and came home yesterday. We got in to see a wonderful doctor, Kurt Woeller, in Temecula who specializes in Autism Spectrum disorders. We had our appointment on Tuesday from 2 - 4 pm. It was a comprehensive review of Matthew's medical/developmental history and also a physical exam (quick). I had a chance to explain my own theories about what is going on. For the past 6 months or so (after being on a web conference call with Dr. Woeller which sparked much of my research) I had been investigating the role of viruses in Matthew's challenges. He had chicken pox (which is a strain of Herpes virus) at 6 months and then again at 3 years old. I had chicken pox twice, Eric's dad died of herpes encephalitis which is super rare and they attributed it to his 2 tours in Vietnam and possible agent orange exposure as a reason why his immune system was depleted. Eric's mom also had chicken pox and shingles. The herpes strain of viruses has been linked to autism-like behaviors in young children. And, Eric's family also has a history of having low body temperatures. As you know, our temperature is what helps fight off viruses and germs, which is why we run a fever when sick. Matthew rarely runs a fever, even when very sick. I started to think about that and wonder if there was a viral issue that his body was unable to fight and that is contributing to his issues. When he did run fevers I would notice really interesting changes in his ability to communicate, new cognitive thinking, complex thinking, etc. and yet that "improvement" would go away after a few days after he was done being sick. Dr. Woeller immediately said that I am definitely on to something with my theory (nice to know I am not crazy!). He agrees that there is an immune system dysfunction, viral issues and also a yeast overgrowth. We've been treating him for systemic yeast since December using dietary enzymes. We may move to a more aggressive treatment once the testing is done. So, he has suggested Methyl B-12 injections which arrived today and WE have to give him a dose every 3 days. But the needle is super small and after speaking with parents and watching videos online, the kids don't even feel it, many get the shots in their sleep! We can officially vouch for this since we did give him his first shot and he never even knew what was happening, and he was awake! Dr. Woeller did prescribe a numbing cream which he says is probably more for our benefit! :) But, he did order extensive labs, stool samples, urine samples, etc. So, we are having the whole workup done and will FINALLY get a good look at the metabolic and biological processes that are happening inside Matthew. I am NOT looking forward to getting his blood drawn but he said to use the numbing cream on his arms to help with that (I hope it works as well as it did for the methyl B-12 shot!). Dr. Woeller said our strict adherence to the GFCF diet has really made improvements in him just by hearing what life was like before and after removing wheat and dairy. He thinks we are on a great path to helping Matthew get past these issues! The stories of success using the Methyl B-12 shots are amazing and I can't wait to see if it helps with Matthew! Matthew has made so much amazing progress already just by the diet modifications and supplements we done on our own, I can only imagine what will happen with the guidance of someone who really knows what he's talking about! He explained the Methylization process that happens in the brain. Basically the cell needs certain conditions for them to "fire" and talk to one another. There are a few things at play that effect that and Matthew has most of them (temperature issue, omega 3 overload and possible viral issues) so he is an excellent candidate for this therapy. I will keep everyone posted on what comes from this. Our lab appt. is on Monday, now THAT I am not looking forward to!!

Mini Size Me???

Has anyone else noticed that packages are getting smaller but the prices aren't? I started realizing that we are going through a lot more toilet paper than in the past. Yes, we do have another person (Emma) using the toilet these days but come on.....she's 2! The rolls (even double ones) are running out much, much faster than they used to. And, the other day Eric looked at a "1/2" gallon of ice cream to find that it is not a "1/2" gallon anymore. It still costs the same. Things are being downsized, even if they are still in the same sized box. The economy is really hitting people. It is a bad sign and we as consumers need to know that things aren't what they seem these days. So make sure you check weights and compare when you are out there shopping. We all need to be wise with our money and getting duped by the manufacturers makes that even trickier. So, when doing your comparison shopping or deciding whether to use coupons or go with a store brand, make sure you look at weight too.

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??