Huaraches

Back in 2010 I wrote a post entitled The Barefoot Controversy. Even though I'm not a runner (I wish I were!), due to bad knees, I am still intrigued with the notion of barefoot running--and barefoot everything else. When I wrote the above post, I was just learning about Vibram Fivefingers shoes. Recently I learned about another kind of minimalist running "shoe" that seems to be even better (I seriously may try these out someday) and they're much more affordable. They're  huaraches (Spanish for sandals, pronounced "wah-rah-ches", if you didn't know) made by a company called Invisible Shoes. They even won "Best Huaraches 2011."

On the Invisible Shoes website I also found a link to this very interesting website (by someone at Harvard University) that delves further into the biomechanics of why minimal footwear is good for the feet and the body. If you're interested in more information on this movement that is really growing in popularity, check out the Invisible Shoes website and scroll down to the right-hand side where it says "Barefooting Links."

Breakfast

Yesterday, Katrina's Kitchen was featured at Word of Wisdom Living. What an honor to be mentioned in such a wonderful health blog! The topic was breakfast. and how to incorporate what we know about health to that meal. In other words, if you can't do no sugar, which is the ideal, at least make sure you're getting more dietary fiber than sugar (which is a hard criteria to meet in store-bought cereals). And don't skip breakfast (as you've heard a zillion times before)--there are so many reasons why! Check out Skip's breakfast post, here.

Budget Saver Tip #29: Scrubbers

When we have hard, crusty food stuck to our dishes, I like to use Scotch-Brite no scratch pads to get them ready for the dishwasher. I've tried several different kinds of scrubbers over the years and these are what I've settled on as my favorite. (Too bad I'm not paid for endorsing products, right?) I like these because they do the job without scratching my dishes and they're very durable. When the pads get too gross to clean off under the faucet, I put them in the dishwasher and they clean off really well. And they're large enough that I only need half a pad, so I cut them in half before use. Each half pad lasts me for a few months, so even though there are only three pads per pack, I only have to buy a new pack once a year or so. Therefore, the cost for scouring pads for our family per year is negligible. Everyone likes different products, of course, but this--about 40 cents per half pad per three months or so--is what works for me.

Breakthrough in Plastics Recycling

Not every place in the United States has facilities for recycling plastic and I have lived in some of them over the last several years. I feel guilty throwing away anything plastic because I know it takes forever to break down and is bad for the environment.

As the video clip below illustrates, while about 90% of metals are effectively recycled, only about 5% of plastics are--but now there is hope! I found this video very interesting, particularly toward the end, and hope you do as well. It definitely seems like a breakthrough to me!

Potato Wedges

I first had these when my good friend and then-roommate made them in college and they have since become a regular family favorite. (They're the only way so far that my almost-four-year-old will eat potatoes.) I have modified them only slightly, just to make them even faster, and I love that they're so quick to whip up from scratch!

POTATO WEDGES

Serves 4 (I like to double the recipe for my family--we always eat more than 1 potato per person when they're cooked this way--which leaves some leftovers)

4 medium potatoes, cut into large wedges
1 Tb. olive oil
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place cut potatoes in a large bowl, sprinkle with oil, pepper, and salt. With hands, toss gently to combine.
Arrange seasoned potatoes in single layer on greased baking sheet.
Bake 10-15 minutes, then turn potatoes with spatula and bake another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve immediately with ketchup or other desired dipping sauce.

Guest Author: Adrienne's Story

I asked my friend, Adrienne, if she would write an article about her family's recent lifestyle change. I am always intrigued by why people make health changes, how they do it, and what motivates them to make such changes permanent. I also knew enough of the details to know Adrienne's would be an inspiring story. But even I was amazed with the full details...

First a little information about my family.  I’m a wife and a mom of two tiny boys. One is 15 months old; the other is 3 months old.  We live in Kentucky, and grew up in the suburbs just outside of Cincinnati. These facts each play a role in the health journey I’m about to share with you.

When I was pregnant with my first son, I didn’t gain much weight until the very end of my pregnancy.  I slapped on a whopping 30 lbs in the last two weeks, and my blood pressure spent some time going much higher than it should.  After battling blood pressure the entire pregnancy, the doctors started to talk about preeclampsia and induction.  Luckily, it stayed just barely under control and my cute (not so) little guy was born weighing 9 lbs and 7 oz.  Just a few short months later, I was pregnant again with the second baby.  The first trimester was brutal, but again I gained almost no weight.  I ate everything I felt like eating and scoffed at those who ate organic foods and turned up my nose at anyone who’d go out of their way to eat healthily.  “We just can’t afford it,” I said. “I don’t like vegetables,” I complained.  

Then something changed.  

My baby (the one not in utero, obviously) started to crawl.  That little sucker was FAST!  So I started to chase him.  Chasing a crawling baby while 5 months pregnant isn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done.  I was worn out.  I was tired.  Something had to change.  So I started doing prenatal yoga, but that didn’t seem to be enough.  Then, one random day, I noticed something.  My dear sweet husband was eating a TON of peanut butter.  Jif creamy reduced fat peanut butter.  It was his favorite snack.  A spoonful while preparing a meal.  A spoonful after a meal, “just to top off.”  A spoonful as a snack.  I’ll spare you all the gory details, but a little research quickly showed that reduced fat peanut butter had almost the same number of calories as the regular peanut butter, and a lot more sugar, not to mention the copious amounts of synthetic ingredients.  Then we calculated the number of calories he was eating in peanut butter every day.

Almost 2000. (See?  I told you it was a TON of peanut butter!)

It was time to make a real change.  He went to the grocery store and bought some natural peanut butter.  Within a week, his cravings for peanut butter were completely gone.  After we realized the change, I started doing some research into making healthy changes.  I started with wordofwisdomliving.com.  The blog lists a healthy change for every week to make over your diet.  We did the first two right away, and went straight to healthy change #3.  It says, “Cereal products must be made of whole grains, and have more grams of natural fiber than grams of sugar.”  In order to make this change, we opted to shop for new cereals at Whole Foods. While standing in the cereal aisle at Whole Foods, my husband started talking to me about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. Katrina mentioned him here.  

Then and there, in the cereal aisle at Whole Foods, we decided we were going to completely overhaul our eating by following one simple rule.

Do not eat any ingredients you don’t recognize on the label.

We began to eat only real foods.  We went home and threw out everything that wasn’t clean, (don’t worry!  I hadn’t grocery shopped in far too long, we didn’t waste much!) and packed our kitchen with healthy ingredients.  In less than a week, we felt 100% better.  More energy.  Better brain function.  We were eating vegetables and enjoying them!  We started visiting local farmers’ markets on the weekends.   Within two months, my husband lost 30 lbs without even thinking about exercise.  

It stayed off.

My blood pressure stayed in a normal range.

Then it got harder.  I was still pregnant, and hadn’t lost any weight, in fact-I’d gained weight!  I was starting to get discouraged, but then just a few weeks later, I gave birth to my sweet second baby with one easy push, and a very quick recovery.  I felt much better than I ever had.  

In the few weeks that followed his birth, I discovered that I weighed less than I did on my wedding day.  I noticed that I had more energy than I’d had as a new mom with my first.  Postpartum depression faded much more quickly the second time around.  

The key to keeping up with these changes was an easy one;  it was never a diet, it was a calculated lifestyle change.   It was hard work.  At the beginning, grocery shopping trips felt like they took years to complete.  I had to spend more time cooking.  It was a challenge.  Then I learned which items at the store were clean.  I started to enjoy cooking.  The foods without preservatives, artificial colors, and artificial flavors tasted better!

It’s really not hard to keep up and continue making new healthy changes to the routine we already have, because every little change we make helps us feel even better than before.  So we’re off on a new adventure in 2012-

Project exercise.  

What a difference a year can make.

Hot Cocoa Mix (no refined sugar)

Here's another holiday beverage my mom figured out how to make last year with raw sugar. It's yummy and doesn't leave us with a headache from sugar overload. Of course, we're past the holidays, but for most of us the cold weather will continue for quite a while longer, so hot cocoa is still on our minds...

HOT COCOA MIX

1/3 c. raw sugar or sucanat
1/3 c. cocoa powder
¼ t. salt

Enough powdered milk for 1 quart (varies, depending on brand--check your box or can for instructions)

Budget Saver Tip #28: Make Your Own Dishwasher Detergent

Budget Saver Tip#28: Make Your Own Dishwasher Detergent

A while back, a cousin of mine sent me this link to a recipe for homemade laundry detergent, which is something I've meant to make for a long time--and still intend to do. But after realizing how often I have to buy dishwasher detergent, versus laundry detergent, I opted to first try the former. So far I'm hooked! Not only does homemade dishwasher detergent cost less, but it also has much fewer ingredients and no funky chemicals. (One thing I hadn't thought about is that commercial detergents have a chemical in them that prevents buildup in the plumbing. This site offers a solution for that.)

Rather than re-invent the wheel, I will direct you to a couple of the sites I found. I've seen several places with detergent recipes and they're all very similar. (Note: I have found they range between recommending 1 to 2 Tb. detergent per load):

The New Homemaker-I haven't tried mine with essential oils yet and it works fine without them. If your essential oils are pure without fillers of any kind, 30 drops per batch is way over the top; 10 would probably be more than adequate.

DIYNatural has a cost savings breakdown, which is cool to see the visual and compare.

Warning for Neti Pot Users

Some of you may have seen this article (or this one) about two deaths attributed to neti pot usage. Of course, it was the water they used that was the culprit, not the method or neti pots themselves. But it is kind of scary. So, a word to the wise on this matter: If you use a neti pot (and I have repeatedly recommended them for allergies, colds, and sinus infections), don't use tap water. Instead, use filtered, distilled, or purified water, as the above articles specify. I've recently made this change myself, just to be extra careful, even though I prefer warm, not lukewarm, water.

Resolutions and Saying No

Since January is the most universal time to make resolutions for the new year, I have been reflecting on what changes my family may need to make as we continue our quest to be healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient. I don't know if my list last year helped anyone focus on what their family needed to do, but it is a good reminder for me of what to continue.

I also saw this article online that offers a valuable tip which I had not thought of in quite these terms before. Sometimes--more often than we realize--it is just as important to know (and plan) when to say no as it is to plan all the things we're going to do: "Focusing our energies--and goals--on what we should NOT be doing in the coming year can have just as positive an effect on our productivity, not to mention well-being." A "Stop-Doing" List sounds like a great idea to me!

Year in Review: What I Learned in 2011

The year 2011 was quite a learning year for me and my family. I suppose most years are for most of us, as we strive to become more educated and more proactive, but last year was particularly eventful for us. So I wanted to look back and see what were the biggest things I learned--the top 20, to be exact. This post may be more for me than for anyone else, but I hope that it may provide a good review for others of you as well.

In 2011 I learned:

• A lot more about the evils of MSG (here and here), its many hidden forms, and how to avoid it
• The value of red meat and the necessity (for us) of adding it back into our diet
• The joy of purchasing a vehicle in full--ie, owning it free and clear from the date of purchase (which is the only way we've ever done it, but I had forgotten how good it feels!)
• More about essential oils (particularly those from the company I buy mine from, which are so pure they can also be taken internally) and the science behind why they work (This has been so empowering! I happily use them regularly on myself and my family now)
• More about refined sugar and the plethora of negative health consequences resulting from its over-consumption
• A lot more about the value of baking soda and its surprising uses (here and here)
• Why infant circumcision is completely unnecessary and why we chose not cut our baby boy
• How important magnesium is to our health (and that I need it daily)
• Why we decided to wait to cut our baby's cord
• The joys of Freecycle
• How easy it was to can pickles all by myself for the first time (and boy, are they yummy!)
• To value the Five Love Languages again as I re-read the book about children's
• About Reglan (and Fenugreek) and how it saved us while I was hospitalized with pneumonia
• More about the amazing properties of garlic
• How to grow and harvest potatoes (a first for us last year!)
• About root cellaring
• About the school lunch "Food Revolution"
• The recipe for the most scrumptious pumpkin bread imaginable
• How much wood is in the processed and fast food diet (eewww!)
• About the Emotion Code and how amazing and empowering this information is (If I could, I would underline this one three times!)

As the year drew to an end I also realized how many more vegetables we are eating, just as a matter of course, than we used to. I attribute this healthy improvement to our weekly Bountiful Baskets, which provide us with more vegetables than we would otherwise be able to afford (or honestly think of buying) and enforce the eating of them (since we have so many and I don't want them to go bad). I love that I desire vegetables every day now, whereas I used to be pretty ambivalent (even as I knew I needed to do better at including them in our daily diet).

As I look over the above list, I am amazed at all the learning that was crammed into one year! I believe that one of the main reasons for life is to learn, so seeing this list makes me happy. And, of course, learning without applying the new-found knowledge is pointless, so I am also happy about all the ways I was able to help my family improve our health last year. If my blogging has served no other purpose, the fact that it documented our improvements in 2011 and showed me all I've actually learned, it is worth it. 

Here's to a great 2012 for all of us, with a lot of learning and application along the way!