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)