Another Anniversary

The end of February marks the end of my blog's anniversary month. I can't believe it's actually been two whole years since I began this adventure!

For those who may have joined us later on, here is my very first post, and here is the post from my first year anniversary.

In the latter, I wrote: "Keeping up Katrina's Kitchen somehow makes me accountable and motivates me to continue making healthy changes as I become more and more educated in all sorts of health topics (as well as budgeting). It is a bonus that many of you have been able to benefit from what I learn, too, and are also making healthy changes for your families." This still holds true and I just wanted to say thank you again to those of you who have contributed to this venture with your comments, recipes, questions, suggestions, and encouragement.

May the year 2012 prove to be a healthy and educational year as we all continue to change and improve!

SlimKicker: A New Way to Motivate Healthy Habits

One of my readers, who is way more tech-savvy than I, has just started a new site and app to help people motivate themselves to increase their healthy habits, particularly when it comes to exercise. I've checked it out and it looks really good--and it's free! There are already lots of users. You can peruse it, too, at http://www.slimkicker.com/?tag=beta1.

This is her philosophy:

"For me, I think the problem with being healthy is motivation. It's an abstract, overwhelming goal. I think the best way to counter this is to have concrete, winnable games and small victories.

So, this app will makes living healthy, and fitness into a RPG game, where users earn points, and "level up' as they achieve their goals. Everytime they eat something healthy like vegetables, they earn points. Everytime they complete a workout, they earn points. Each level will present different challenges.

The challenges will follow a certain structure. First will come changing your environment such as getting rid of junk food. Then, reducing stress, as stress leads to eating comfort food. Then concrete goals like keeping track of everything you eat, or taking the stairs for a week. Small, concrete goals rather than abstract ones like "be healthy" or "exercise more".

The whole point is to create a holistic framework/game so people will rely less on willpower, and more on fun, achievement, and changing our environment."

What Soy Foods to Avoid

For those who may have not taken the time to go to all the links I posted in my previous article on soy foods, I thought I would briefly post specifics on what soy foods to avoid (taken from this article). This is as much for my benefit as for anyone else's because, while I consciously avoid buying soy food products for my family, I sometimes forget what other names they are known by. And these ingredients are found so often in processed foods--yet another reason to make everything from scratch.

Soy foods to avoid include:

• Soy milk
• Soy protein powder/bars
• Soy nuts
• Soy cheese
• Soy burgers
• Soy yogurt
• Soy ice cream
• Soy baby formula

Less obvious soy foods to also avoid (which are typical in processed foods):

• Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
• Textured plant protein
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
• Vegetable protein concentrate
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• Lecithin (usually from soy)
• Vegetable oil (usually from soy)
• Vegetable broth (usually from soy)
• Bouillon (usually from soy)
• Natural flavor (usually from soy)
• Mono-diglyceride(usually from soy)

And for those with particular sensitivity to soy, the list is even more extensive, including isoflavones, guar gum, and mayonnaise. See this article for the entire list.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

When my 4-year-old tasted this a couple nights ago, her response was, "Mommy, this is so yummy!" The rest of us agree.


This "bread" recipe is modified from my mom's and is actually more like cake. The sauce recipe I modified from my Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook, p. 483.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

3 to 3 1/2c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1 c. oil (or butter)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond flavoring
1 1/6 c. honey
1 1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 1/2 Tb. poppy seeds

Mix all ingredients together. Add more flour if too runny, but should be like cake dough, not bread dough.

Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans or 1 large Bundt pan (don't use regular cake pan).

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, depending on size and depth of pan, until nicely browned and passes the toothpick/knife test.

Once out of oven and while still warm, mix sauce and baste on loaves.

Lemon Sauce

1/3 c. raw sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/8 c. water
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1/8 c. lemon juice
1 beaten egg yolk
3 Tb. butter, cut up
1/8 c. half-and-half, light cream, or milk

In small saucepan stir together raw sugar and cornstarch. Stir in water, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more.

Remove from heat and gradually stir egg yolk into hot mixture. Return to hotplate and cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Gradually stir in butter until melted. Stir in half-and-half (or milk). Pour slowly over cake loaves while still in pans, until top is all coated.

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Why We Don't Eat Soy Foods

I cringe every time I hear a particular ad on news radio about "heart healthy" diets that include soy foods. There is so much bad eating advice given by nutritionists and governmental programs that it is, in my mind, criminal. If you do the research, you'll find, as I have, that soy--particularly in large amounts--is actually very unhealthy and can, in fact, cause health problems.  (And I'm not even talking about soy as an allergen; did you know it's in the top 8 list of allergens?) Now, I like soy milk and soy nuts, but I haven't felt good about including even these in my family's diet the last couple years.

Note: Most researches agree that soy eaten in its organic, whole food form (such as edamame and soybean sprouts) is healthful, but proponents of soy foods do not generally issue such limited recommendations. And Dr. Mercola goes even farther, to say that only fermented soy is healthful.

One big argument for soy foods that I often hear is, "The Asian world eats lots of soy and they have the healthiest hearts." Well, "lots" is actually a misconception. In the Cornell study of China, cited in this article, it was found that the Chinese ate only about 2 teaspoons of soy per day--in other words, a condiment amount. Interestingly, the Japanese daily diet contains a third the amount of soy protein as the US's FDA recommended amount--which recommendation was made, incidentally, after one study funded by the soy industry.

As explained in the above article, high amounts of soy in the diet can cause disruptions in hormones, the endocrine system, and thyroid function, and can really cause problems for infants fed soy-based formulas. (One article discusses how these formulas are similar to birth control pills!) But the problems don't stop there. Another article I found debunks the most popular soy myths. Here are a few of them:

Soy foods...

• Are processed in a way that denatures proteins and increases levels of carcinogens,
• Do not supply needed B12 to the vegetarian diet because "the compound that resembles vitamin B12 in soy cannot be used by the human body; in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B12,"
• Do not prevent osteoporosis because they "cause deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D,"
• Do not prevent heart disease because "in some people, consumption of soy foods will lower cholesterol, but there is no evidence that lowering cholesterol improves one's risk of having heart disease" (one of the biggest myths in modern medicine, that most people think is fact--a topic for another post),
• Do not enhance mental ability. In fact, "In Japanese Americans tofu consumption in mid-life is associated with the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease in later life,"
• Contain a lot of MSG because "free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods."

This article explains the process soybeans goes through to make soy milk, which shows quite clearly that soy foods aren't even "real food" and are very processed. How the FDA and the American Heart Association ever became convinced that such products were healthful is blatant proof that the people in those organizations never did the research. In my humble opinion...

If you're interested in learning more, many more articles on this topic can be found at the Weston A. Price Foundation here, as well as the following:

The Great Soy Controversy by Real Food Forager (which includes links to 3 studies)

Dr. Mercola (which includes a video about the dangers of soy)

Wise Woman Tradition (which includes what soy foods to avoid and which ones are actually healthful)

Trampoline Jogging (with a Confession)

My sister has been using a mini trampoline (AKA "rebounder") for quite a while to improve her health and well-being. After hearing her talk several times about how much it is helping her, and what her research turned up about all it actually does for the body, I decided to make the investment myself (which actually isn't a very expensive investment). I realized at the end of 2011 that I needed a change in my exercise routine. It just wasn't that fun anymore and I was having a hard time staying motivated. I also felt that I wasn't getting enough of a cardio workout and wanted to do better. Then, too, I had recently realized that my preschool-aged daughter wasn't getting enough exercise during these cold, sometimes lethargic, days of winter, and her nighttime sleep was suffering as a result. But she loves to jump on trampolines. So when I saw an ad for a sale on mini trampolines at a local store, I got excited. I thought this might be the change I was looking for.

It wasn't until later that I remembered my mom daily jogging on a mini trampoline when I was young... Funny how history so often repeats itself.

Now I have been jogging on my tramp about 5 days a week for a couple months and I'm still loving it! I started out at 30 minutes per session and am increasing my time. My sister uses hers to actually jump on, and research I have found indicates that may be the most beneficial way to exercise on a trampoline, because "[the] twice-gravity bounce affects every muscle and cell of the body." But because of my knee problems, I have found that even low impact jumping isn't a good option for me. So I jog. Happily, the above-quoted website says that is great too:

"Rebounding offers an exercise that can be adjusted to your fitness level, is easy on your joints and back, and can be done in your home at your convenience while providing a safe, gentle low-impact workout. Studies show that jogging or rebounding on a trampoline will burn more calories than traditional jogging. Exercising on a trampoline can also strengthen your heart, improve your circulation, stimulate the flow in your lymphatic system, revitalize vision, help slow the effects of aging, reduce stress, and benefit children with learning disabilities and cystic fibrosis."

Wow. This makes me excited all over again. And the website includes 31 ways jogging/rebounding can improve your well-being. It's a pretty awesome list! Number 27 states that "rebounding can curtail fatigue and menstrual discomfort for women." I am hoping that is true for me; it certainly seemed to work this month in both ways, when I pushed through the "blahness" of my first postpartum menses and jogged even though I didn't feel like it. I hope this continues to be the case!

A few days ago I finished the book Born to Run (the book which inspired the Huaraches I mentioned recently), which made me wish again that I were a runner, and also got me thinking how I could use the principles I learned to become more fit while still helping my joints and feet be strong and healthy. Now I think about it every time I jog on my tramp, to try to improve my gait and form--and of course I jog without shoes.

LiveStrong.com has a whole bunch of articles about the benefits of using a rebounder. Another site affirms what I see happening (at long last) as I try to "bounce back" after having my third baby:


"Working out on the trampoline quickly increases the heart rate and causes effective fat burning, stimulation of the lymphatic system, increased oxygen flow as well as improved lung capacity. Regular workouts on the jogging trampoline will effectively deliver a well toned body as well as other benefits of exercising such as reduced stress levels and skeletal strength. All these benefits are delivered with greater safety for leg joints and the spine..."

Finally, we get to my confession: One way I keep tramp-jogging fun, which also motivates me to want to exercise every day, is to watch part of a movie while I do it. My sister tells me she does the same thing, so I know I'm not the only one. Is this cheating? I don't know, but it works!

Thanks, Sis, for instigating this positive exercise change in my life! :)

Givmo

I've mentioned Freecycle (here and here) and what a great venue it has been for me to give away items I no longer need that others can use. (Oh yeah, and I've gotten a few good things this way too.) I just learned about another site that enables free giving and receiving on a slightly different level, with a bit more sophistication. It's called Givmo and this little video clip tells you the basics: