Always Buy Organic

Besides eating healthy my husband and I are involved with Growers First. They are a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping the extreme poor.

Shayne Moore will be speaking at the Growers First. annual event this October 23rd.

Check out this great interview with ONE member and all-around awesome soccer mom Shayne Moore which aired on CNN. In it she discusses how she got involved with ONE and how she’s doing her part to combat extreme poverty: http://bit.ly/9FS3u3

You can Pre-purchase her book "Global Soccer Mom: Changing the World is Easier Than You Think"

My copy is on its way!

We don't go out to eat much because I love cooking at home.  I know what is in my meals, and I try to buy organic as often as I can but when we do go out, we try to find restaurants that serve organic foods, grassfed beef, and chicken that is organic as well.

One of our great finds lately is La Sirena Grill. 

(The Following descriptions were taken directly off the the La Sirena Grill website) The original La Sirena Grill is located slightly off the beaten path in downtown Laguna Beach, California. Reminiscent of a hole in the wall in old Mexico, seating is limited to a few barstools and handful of tables and benches. This location offers the finest in sidewalk dining and take-out service, and they offer breakfast.

The South Laguna location is conveniently located on Coast Highway across from the exclusive Montage Resort and Spa in Laguna Beach, California. The casual atmosphere and peak-a-boo ocean view make this a favorite spot for locals and out-of-towners alike to relax with a taco and cold beer after a day at the beach. This location offers dine-in as well as take-out service and has ample seating both inside and out.

(One of our favorites because of the great outside seating is) La Sirena Grill’s third location brings contemporary-Mexican flavor to the rustic elegance of the Orchard Hills Village Center in Irvine, California. The recycled wood furnishings and whimsical wall treatments create a charming dining atmosphere. Additional seating is available in the center’s open-air patio. This location offers a casual dining experience as well as convenient take-out service.

Their 4th location is in the Plaza El Segundo shopping center. La Sirena Grill & Cantina is their full-service concept with a inviting dining area, glowing fire wall in the open-air patio, and premium tequila bar featuring our signature drinks, beers, and tequilas. Making it a great place to meet friends and family.

We love, love, love their food.  You will not be disappointed!  The salads are huge, and worth every penny.  Bean Burritos, Tacos, beans, rice, nachos, and the guacamole and salsas are to die for. Here is a link to their menus.
If you are in any of these areas, please be sure to drop in.

Well we finished our cleanse.  I didn't write day to day because there wasn't much to tell.  I really thought there would be much more activity going on, but everything was normal.  I'm sure we may be a bit healthier, but no noteable change.  Eddie lost 5 lbs., and I lost 1 lb.  I guess we are a little disappointed, and really want to look into a really good cleanse. 
I will research that, and bring up at a later date

Cleansing is very important for your digestive system.  Toxin load builds up from exposure to the air, water, and food.  Excess toxins can make you feel lethargic, tired, run down and can impact your health negatively.  It's also important for absorption of nutrients into your body.  I picked Garden of Life Perfect Cleanse because its Organic, gentle and convenient with a 10 day program. 
So this is the third evening, and our full second day.  I don't want to get too graphic, but lets just say we both had a very eventful day as far as bowel movements go.  Nothing  that looked out of the ordinary like I have read from other cleanses just very eventfull.  This is only the second full day though. 
I'll be reporting tomorrow...stay tuned!

We decided to start a 10 day cleanse, and we started yesterday.  In case anyone is thinking about starting a cleanse, I thought I would blog our little journey.  We are using "Garden of Life."  I know there are several cleanses out there, but I love the Garden of Life vitamins and probiotics so I thought we would try their cleanse.
There are 3 steps.  Purify, Capture, and Remove.  They are all taken at night.  The 3 purify pills are taken a half hour before dinner, the capture you drink a half hour after dinner, and the Remove is 3 pills before you go to sleep. 
Monday, our first evening we followed all our steps.  Our first full day was normal.  There was nothing unusual. 
Tuesday evening we are just experiencing a little stomach gurgle, and maybe a little gas.  We have taken our 3 steps tonight.  Nothing really to report.  The instructions say there will not be much movement until the third day.
See you back here tomorrow night for our update.

I always felt that drinking your fruits and vegetables in a smoothie were far more nutritious than juicing from all the research I have read. Thus I use my vita-mix every morning! Juices are not a complete food; humans could not live on juices alone. Very often juices have unbalanced amounts of sugar. Contrary to juices, green smoothies are a complete food.


Has anyone ever heard of The Raw Family?? They are doing a great work getting the word out about drinking your fruits and vegetables. They have quite a testimony. Their book, "Green for Life" has great information, and "Green Smoothie Revolution "  
Here are some great points for drinking smoothies:

1. Green smoothies are very nutritious. The ratio in them is optimal for human consumption; about 60% ripe organic fruit mixed with about 40% organic greens.

2. Green smoothies are easy to digest. When blended well, most of the cells in the greens and fruits are ruptured, making the valuable nutrients easy for the body to assimilate. Green smoothies literally start to get absorbed in your mouth.

3. Green smoothies, as opposed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber. Consuming fiber is important for our elimination system. Remember when you are drinking your smoothie it is as if you are eating a meal...it is raw food

4. Green smoothies belong to the most palatable dishes for all humans of all ages. With a ratio of fruits to veggies as 60:40 the fruit taste dominates the flavor, yet at the same time the greens balance out the sweetness of the fruit, adding a nice zest to it. People who eat a standard American diet enjoy the taste of green smoothies. They are usually quite surprised that something so green could taste so nice.

5. A molecule of chlorophyll closely resembles a molecule of human blood. According to teachings of Dr. Ann Wigmore, consuming chlorophyll is like receiving a healthy blood transfusion. Many people do not consume enough greens, even those who stay on a raw food diet. By drinking two or three cups of green smoothies daily you will consume enough greens for the day to nourish your body, and all of the beneficial nutrients will be well assimilated.

Are you on Lipitor, or any of the many statin drugs??  How has it happened that so many people of age fifty-plus suddenly needs a statin drug?
Why statins don't help heart disease.  It's a series of events.  Aging people overexpress a molecule called nuclear factor kappa beta (NFkB), which then ignites a lethal cascade through the body.  NFkB acts like a switch to turn "on" inflammation if you live an unhealthy lifestyle with a poor diet, but it turns "off" the inflammation switch if you are in good health.
Okay so statins do inhibit NFkB, which is why it seems that it works, but by inhibiting NFkB, it also inhibits the effectiveness of our immune system, which is so important and matters because the immune system is our defense system.  Because of this, inflammation can run out of control, causing many things, but most importantly...heart disease.  It inhibits our Co-Q10, which is our most important and essential nutrient.
Statins can:

• alter the immune system
• inhibit Co-Q10 production, which leads to loss of nerve function, muscle disease, and pain in more than one nerve
• cause inflammation of the muscles (myositis and deadly rhabdomyolysis)
• lead to breakdowns in muscle fiber and the release of myoglobin, which blocks the kidneys
• cause brain damage, dementia, and memory lapses
• Cholesterol is our sole source for our sex hormones.  Statins inhibit cholesterol production, and we now know that statins deplete testerone. Slowly the sex drive will go away...uuumm...unacceptable!

We have come to expect statin side effects such as liver damage, muscle pain, nerve damage, and heart failure, but the cognitive side effects from statin drugs are unexpected by both patient and physician.  Sometmes systems begin right away, and in other cases several years might pass before the the onset of symptoms.
We have to stop looking at cholesterol as the sole culprit in heart disease.  Inflammation is more directly linked to heart problems.  We need an abundant supply of cholesterol in our bodies for proper functioning.
Statins may lower cholesterol, but at what cost??  With all the negative side effects associated with statins, the whole idea needs to be rethought.
Omega -3's, Co-Q10, and a healthy diet is a great start to preventing heart disease.  Cut back on saturated fats, trans fats, and omega-6 fats, and cut out chemicals.
Go to "spacedoc.net" by Dr. Duane Graveline for great information on statin drugs.  Read, read, read and educate yourself.

My husband loves the meals I make him, but I think it's all in the spices.  Spices are huge in making tasty meals, but there is so much more to spices in regards to your health.

A big component to our diet is that we average three spices per meal.  Meaning put organic cayenne pepper on your brown rice, turmeric or cumin on your eggs, sage in your soups,  cinnamon in your smoothies or yogurt.  Spices improve the density of nutritional foods.  The more nutritious the food is, the more nutrients in it, the better.  Every time you put three or four spices in a meal you have just upgraded your food.  You have made it a superfood.
Per Dr. Eric Braverman, you should go out and spend $50.00 in spices and $50.00 in herbal teas.  There are over four thousand flavonoids that have been discovered in teas that are all anti-flammatory, but there are also anti-flammatories all over the place: oranges, carrots, nutrients, teas.  Dr. Eric Braverman in Suzanne Somer's, "Breakthrough", recommends drinking four or five cups of herbal tea a day.  Greentea is a cornerstone, but so is turmeric, or cumin, all the spices, they're all good.
According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, Flavonoids provide powerful protection against cancer and other diseases.  Flavonoids are plant pigments responsible for the color of flowers, fruits, and sometimes leaves.  Researchers believe the flavonoids that plants supply provide the natural anti-flammatory and antioxidant magic bullet so important for health.
Following are foods that contain flavonoids:  Onions, Lettuce (whole plant), garlic (bulb), Cabbage, Basil, Kale, Spinach, Lima Bean (all leafs), Brussels sprouts, Kohirabi (shoot), Asparagus (root), Fennel (fruit), Kidney Bean, Garden pea (shoot) and Adzuki seed.
Herbs that contain flavonoids:  Dill (seed), Tea (whole plant), Thyme (whole plant), Cayenne, Corander, Peppermint, Chamomile, Anise.
A little side note on Sea Salt:  Consume at least a teaspoon of sea salt every day and drink enough water.  This combined with exercise will keep your lymph system from clogging up, and the lymph system is paramount to your health.  Don't be afraid of sea salt - there is very little sodium, and it is 97 percent minerals.  Celtic sea salt and pink salt are the best.
Now, go out and spice up your meals, and enjoy your healthy superfoods!

In all my reading I have come to find out many things that should not be in our foods.

1.  MSG
2.  High Fructose Corn Syrup
3.  Hydrogenated oils

MSG has many other names that you may not know about.  If negative information comes out on MSG they come up with another substance that in most cases has MSG in it.  Following are some of them.

1.  hydrolyzed vegetable protein
2.  caseinate
3.  autolyzed yeast extract
4.  beef or Chicken broth
5.  natural flavoring
6.  soy protein
7.  soy isolates
8.  soy protein isolates
9.  soy protein concentrates

The government regulatory agencies allow food manufacturers to call these excitotoxin additives by any name they choose as long as the glutamate content is less than 99 percent pure.
Excitotoxins can and do cause brain damage.  These chemicals literally excite the neurons  to death, which is why they call them excitotoxins.  Their regular consumption can cause brain damage and cancer. 
It may seem that each item we buy does not have enough to hurt us, but remember, almost everything that is packaged, bagged, boxed and so on is processed, and may have MSG in one form or another.

Suzanne Somers does a great job interviewing Drs. with a wealth of information.  This information is in her book Breakthrough.  It will change your way of eating for sure!

Spicy Tortilla Soup:

So...I love making Spicy Torilla Soup. My cooking is usually very simple, but my Organicfreak husband loves it, therefore, he is helping me with this blog.

I use my Vita-mix for many of the things I cook. My soup taste different everytime, but it's delicious each and everytime. I start with making my own stock when I boil my Orgainic Chicken. You can use Organic stock from the store as well. I add 2 cups of stock and 2 cups of water, 2 tomatoes, 1/2 onion, cilantro, lots of garlic, simply organic cumin, sea salt, simply organic pepper, 1/2 small red bell pepper and to spice it up a bit I put in a 1/2 cup of my homemade salsa (which is on the recipe page). Mix in Vita-mix until blended to your satisfaction. I add pieces of the chicken I had boiled. I cook organic basmati white or brown rice and add a cup or two, and there you have it. Crush some of your favorite organic tortilla chips in it...Enjoy!

I thought I would inform my readers on the synthetic cosmetic ingredients known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, birth defects or endocrine disruption. When it comes to these chemicals in your cosmetics, don't use them!  Most women expose themselves to at least 168 chemicals a day with products they use.  Europe has banned 1109 chemicals in its personal care products-including sodium laurel sulphate, found in most shampoos. The FDA has banned the use of 10 chemicals in US personal care products.  We deserve the same safe products that the Europeans have! 9 out of 10 ingredients used in personal care products in the US have not been evaluated for safety.
These toxins are at the top of the list...please read your labels:
1.Methyl and Propyl and Butyl and Ethyl Paraben. Linked to breast cancer.
2.Imidazolindyl Urea. Impurities linked to cancer.
3.Diazolindyl Urea. Allergies/immunotoxicity.
4.Petrolatum. Can cause highly allergic reactions.
5.Propylene Glycol. Alters skin structure for enhanced skin absorption. A skin irritant that can cause allergic reactions. Irritation.
6.PVP/V Copolymer.
7.Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Non-reproductive organ system toxicity, irritation. Changes skin structure which allows chemicals to penetrate more deeply into skin.
8.Stearalkonium Chloride. Non-reproductive organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity, and irritation.
9.Synthetic colors. Developmental/reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, and non-reproductive organ system toxicity. For example, synthetic colors may be listed as the following: FD&C Blue 1 Aluminum Lake or D&C Red 27 Lake.
10.Synthetic fragrances. Neurotoxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity, and other concerns.
11.Phthalates. Developmental/reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, hormone disruption, allergies/immunotoxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation, and non-reproductive organ system toxicity. Linked to reproductive birth defects in baby boys. May damage lungs, liver, kidneys.
12.Triethanolamine. May form carcinogenic compounds called nitrosamines in the body after absorbed - also among the most potent cancer-causing agents found.
The following are some brands that do not have these toxins:
1.Nurture my body
2.Suki
3.California Baby
4.Zum Body
5.Zum Bar
6. Earthmama
7. Jane Iredale
8.Lavera
9.Tropical Traditions
10.Weleda
11. Weleda Baby
12.Emani

Okay everyone...Go out and get healthy!!

I have given up gluten in my diet.  Why??, you ask...
I started having hot flashes (pre-menopausal symptoms), and someone told me to take gluten out of my diet, and all my symptoms would go away so I did.  Believe it or not, my hot flashes went away!  I have told many other women about my find, and it has worked for them as well.  It is also a healthier way of eating.
So in my search for gluten-free products I was introduced to Pamela's Products by my daughter.  It is a fabulous product.  There are recipes on the back of the package, and I have made most of them.  All I can say is DELICIOUS!  We make cookies, muffins, scones, sour cream cinnamon cake, and pancakes, using Agave Agave is a sweetner that is lower on the glycemic index, and is safer for people with diabetes, but it is great for anyone.  We use it for our coffee, organic tea, and I bake with it.
I use Pamela's Productsnbsp;recipes, and I also ad-lib changing things up a bit. You won't be sorry you used it!

Food inc., in my opinion, is a must see. You will understand completely why our children are getting diseases such as: Diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, leukemias, cancers, and so on.
A few truths are:
1. One hamburger pattie comes from thousands of different cows.
2. Monsanto made round-up weed killer, they sprays it on soybean...that chemical is in 90% of products.
3. Wheat, corn, and soybean are in 90% of our products.
4. 1 in 3 americans born after the year 2000 will have diabetes.
5. Tyson, Swift, Cargill and National beef control meat and how it is raised.
6. Beef and chicken from the companies named above are genetically changed.
7. PLEASE SEE FOOD INC.!
A couple of great books to read:  "The Omnivore's Delimma" and "Fastfood Nation"
I don't want to appear paranoid about our food, I just want to educate myself as to why everyone is getting so sick, so young.  I look at it as preventive medicine.  I know that someday I am going to die...I just want to stay healthy while I am alive!...don't you??

We start out with a fruit/veggie smoothie EVERY morning! It is the best way to start your day. I use my Vita-mix for all my mixing needs. It is one of the best investment I have ever made. Remember you are investing in your health today so hopefully your golden years will be golden and not spent in the hospital.
I always try to buy organic, but eating fruits and veggies that are not organic are still better than not eating them at all. I usually always put in an orange, watermelon, pineapple, and then I pick a berry...strawberries, blueberries, raspberries...etc.  Grapes are extremely nutritious and filled with anti-oxidents. I trade may veggies...spinach, kale, chard, wheatgrass, cabbage...a cup or 2. Put in a cup or so of ice and blend. In the beginning if it is not sweet enough for you, add a couple of dates or a banana.
You will not believe how your body will start to feel. Your aches and pains will start going away because you are feeding your body anti-oxidents, and nutrients that help with inflammation in your body. We don't wake up in the morning achey anymore and our joints don't hurt. Your skin will feel softer. Much more energy. These are some of the advantages we have seen.

I have a lesson for my readers today...five words: Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil.

We use coconut oil to cook EVERYTHING! We use it for cooking, frying, sauteing, for our skin, for our hair, taking off make-up, baking...etc.

Independent laboratory analysis show Tropical Traditions to be one of the highest quality coconut oils on the market, having the highest levels of antioxidants, twice as high as any sold on the market today. All coconut oils contain large amounts of lauric acid, usually around 50%. While Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil has test as high as 62%. Lauric acid is found in breast milk. Coconut oil is one of the best oils to use in cooking, because it does not break down easily, and it's organic too!

As a "functional food," coconut oil is now being recognized by the medical community as a powerful tool against immune diseases. For more info on coconut oil go to: http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/coconut_oil_healthy.htm

Zucini
Yellow Squash


Slice veggies into bite sizes. 
Mix in Organic extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  
Broil for 5 to 10 minutes, and set aside.




Ground organic turkey, chicken or beef (browned). 
(You may also cook chicken breast and cut into bite sizes).
Add 1 jar of Muir Glen spaghetti sauce
Boil your organic brown rice pasta as indicated on package, and add
to meat sauce.


Grate manchego cheese or cheese of your choice


In a casserole dish layer starting first with pasta,
layer of veggies, and then cheese.  Do this until engredients
are out ending with cheese.
Cover and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.