Food
Cool Treats Minus the Artificial Stuff
July 20, 2011 by Tonya · 2 Comments
Try these foods without food colorings and high fructose corn syrup!
Kozy Shack SmartGels: These tasty gelatin snacks are free from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and food colorings! I’ve been searching for a long time for something like this and finally happened upon them at Wal-mart on Hwy. 20 in Madison,AL. I had previously seen something similar at another specialty store, but they were outrageously expensive. These are actually cheaper than the jello brands. While these aren’t the most eco-friendly since they are individually packaged, sometimes it’s nice to have a jello or pudding cup! It reminds me of being a kid! They also have pudding cups, CowRageous Pudding as they call it!
Edy’s Strawberry Fruit Bars: These have real strawberries in them, not the artificial flavors! As a preggo lady, they are a great alternative to a strawberry daiquiri (okay, sort of!). But really, they are quite yummy with no red food coloring! These are easy to find at various grocery stores in the Huntsville and Madison areas.
Good Sport Natural Sports Drink: I’m days away from having our second child and my OB is allowing me to have sips of gatorade and/or juice while I’m in labor. Of course I don’t really want the standard Gatorade with food colorings and HFCS since it’s not something I typically consume. In my search to find a more natural alternative, I found Good Sport at Kroger on Hughes Rd. in Madison, AL. It’s made by company called OWater and is free from artificial flavors, preservatives and colors. Score! The orange flavor is my favorite right now!
I am a bit confused since the OWater website does not list Good Sport as a product. I kinda think that Good Sport has changed names into Sport OWater and maybe Kroger hasn’t gotten the new product in yet. That’s just my guess anyway.
While these aren’t foods we eat all the time at our house, it’s nice to have some special treats in the summer! Do you have any natural products you’ve found that are better than the artificial popular items? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section!
Oven-Fried Okra
May 21, 2011 by Mecca · Leave a Comment
The good news is I found another green vegetable my two-and-half year old will eat. The bad news? It’s fried okra.
I tried two recipes. The corn meal version is MUCH better than the Panko crumb take.
I remember before I ever actually had children that mine were going to eat all their vegetables without prodding or bribing. I thought all you parents that complained about your children not eating their greens must be total pushovers. My children would eat their veggies because I said so and because I wouldn’t give them anything else to eat. Remember the joke about the dog that ate turnips? And then the guy’s friend said my dog won’t eat turnips, and the guy replies, neither would mine for the first 6 weeks. Ha! But seriously this is kinda of how I figured it should be with kids. (Granted probably not the healthiest or most nurturing outlook.)
Turns out these little munchkins can wait you out a lot longer than you can wait them out. I never figured myself for one of those parents begging a child to eat. I was too cool, too laid back. You’re not hungry? Fine with me. But it’s so not fine with me. My desire for him to eat and grow is much stronger than my desire to be cool and laid back. Meanwhile my son could probably go all day playing with just a juice box and a bag of pirate booty. How is that possible? I fear his bones will turn into cheese dust.
That’s why I was thrilled, THRILLED, when we were out to eat and he started eating fried okra off my husband’s plate. Beneath all that deep-fried, breaded unhealthiness was the tiniest smidgen of green earth goodness. And I was glad.
Back home I tracked down a few oven-fried okra recipes and gave them a whirl. Here’s the results of my efforts and yes they are actually pretty good. My two and half year old is the proof. Don’t bother with the Panko recipes, not the same. Stick with the corn meal. I tried both and it wasn’t even close. And I don’t want to hear guff from any of southern food fanatics, I don’t care if you think deep fried is better. I am not filling a pan with liquid fat and cooking my family’s food in it. Traditional Southern food is one of the reasons the Southern states are consistently ranked the unhealthiest in the nation. Get with the program and look for healthier versions of your favorite recipe. Cooking Light Magazine is a great place to start. Happy eating!
Recipe after the jump. Read more
Madison City Farmers’ Market Opening Day
April 13, 2011 by Tonya · 3 Comments
Opening Day for Farmers’ Market in Madison, AL
It’s that time of year! The flowers are in bloom, the spring breeze is blowing and my mouth is watering for that fresh Alabama produce! I received the information below from the Madison City Farmers’ Market email list. If you haven’t been, come out this Saturday for some yummy local finds. We’ve tried produce, breads and cheese from this market and enjoyed all. You’ll see lots of friendly faces and little ones in wagons helping to shop! A fun morning for all. 
Come join us this Saturday (April 16th) from 8 a.m. until Noon for the Opening Day of the 2011 season of the Madison City Farmers Market. A few things to look forward to this week are strawberries, radishes, arugula, carrots, beets, turnips, asparagus, salad mix, green onions, kale, endive, beef, pork, LOTS of eggs, artisan cheeses, wonderful baked goods, fresh flowers, bedding plants, vegetable plants and great local crafts.
As usual we are located next to Discovery Middle School on Hughes Road (see map below). We hope to see all of you there, and remember, as the signs say “Please wait ‘till 8”, this gives our vendors time to setup to serve you better. See y’all on Saturday!
If you go, tell ‘em LGB sent you! And, let us know what your favorite finds are for the week.
Food Dyes and Behavior
April 4, 2011 by Tonya · 4 Comments
A rainbow of dyes in our foods targeted towards children
When first becoming a parent and “going green” I read about the Feingold diet and decided it was best for my family to steer away from food colorings and such. Last week I was reminded of why I’m putting forth the effort to read food labels: the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is now reviewing research linking food dyes to behavorial issues in children. While the evidence does not point to causation, it does show a correlation with exacerbation of symptoms in those children who are diagnosed. This is enough for me to pause and think! Also, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) states that Europe has already banned most food dyes and those still allowed have to contain a warning label. I wonder what our FDA will decide to do?
Take a few minutes next time you’re at the grocery store and you’ll see food dyes in everything from cereal, crackers, pickles, and more. Some of my favorite cereals: Quaker Cinnamon Oatmeal Squares and Life have food dyes. Now, I choose the Barbara’s versions: Shredded Oats and Shredded Spoonfuls. They have less sugar and no food coloring. You can find Barbara’s cereals at Kroger on University Dr. and they are usually on sale too.
What’s your take on dyes in your food? We’d love to hear from you! Also, if you have noticed food dyes affecting your child’s behavior take action and report it to the CSPI by filling out the form at this link.
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Grow Buddies – Friends That Grow and Share Food!
March 13, 2011 by Mecca · 3 Comments
Be a Grow Buddy, it’s like a workout buddy but you get delicious homegrown food to share!
According to the calendar spring is less than a week away and it’s time to start thinking about homegrown goodies. Not a gardener? Not a problem! As our friend Lee McBride with Foodscapes says, “Cut open a bag of potting soil and poke in some seeds.” Even better, talk your friends into being your Grow Buddies! Recruit a few friends to grow one or two crops each and then you all share in the bounty. For instance, I’ll grow zucchinis, Tonya will grow tomatoes, and our friend Liv will grow eggplant.
With Grow Buddies, there’s no need to commit hours to a full home garden. Just find a sunny spot in the backyard for a couple of plants, point the hose their way on occasion and you’ve got food! Homegrown, pesticide free, FOOD! A couple of plants in the back yard are super simple to handle. Plus you have the added incentive of growing delicious veggies with your friends. Just like work-out buddies, Grow Buddies serve as sources of encouragement and information. It’s also a great family activity. Your kids will love growing actual food! And growing your own veggies with children is a great way to get them more interested in eating their greens.
Gather your Grow Buddies now and I’ll ask Lee to share some of his spring planting tips with us in time for April-May planting. Some plants to think about that that do great in the southeast: tomato, watermelon, zucchini, yellow squash, cantaloupe, peas, beans, eggplant, and lots more.
I Can’t Sleep
March 9, 2011 by Mecca · Leave a Comment
And my crappy diet is to blame.
I haven’t been sleeping, or more accurately I have been sleeping and then waking up 3ish and unable to fall back to sleep. It’s been one of those crazy periods: huge charity project, work changes, new school for my 2 and half-year-old (a M-W-F morning program), the list goes on and on. It wasn’t surprising I was having sleep issues and I figured it would get back to normal once my life calmed down.
But it didn’t. Instead I would wake up and physically feel uncomfortable. Stress? Not so much. Like a lot of people when things get hectic my healthy eating habits fall by the wayside. Usually I stay away from highly processed food, and eat natural, raw, and organic as much as possible but the past few weeks of late nights and not-a-second-to-spare days it’s been nonstop munching out of pizza boxes (at least twice a week!), fast food (so sick of Chik-fil-a) and even microwave meals (highly processed and cooked in plastic!).
Unfortunately instead of getting right back on the good-eats wagon when things calmed down, I let it slide, “Next week,” I thought, “We’ve still got half a box of frozen TGIF snacks to eat”. In the meantime my sleeping habits did not improve. The stomach ache and early-morning jitters I attributed to stress were still there. It was my husband who linked my diet to my sleep, “You’re body isn’t used to so much processed foods and all the chemical junk and additives.” Now that he mentioned it, my 3 am wakings did have a sort of ‘tweaked’ feeling to them. And I felt so lethargic, gross, and bloated.
Even worse it wasn’t my own diet that had suffered, as the meal-maker, so had my family’s! After my restless nights I hated to think about my 2 and half year-old’s body trying to process all that junk. For the most part since I wasn’t cooking meals we relied on the old standbys like the organic and all natural Earth Best frozen foods for my son. But those still count as processed foods and we try to use them sparingly (plus they are EXPENSIVE).
Three nights into fresh veggies and unprocessed meals, I’m sleeping through the night. I’m a little embarrassed I didn’t put it together sooner but I bet a lot of people don’t link their sleep, or even moods and happiness, to the foods they are putting in their body. I feel like I stumbled into my own “Supersize Me” experiment, complete with the rushes, weight gain, and immediate adverse health effects. I’m happy to get back to healthy eating habits!
Now off to bed for a great night of sleep!
