Tips & Treats for Organic Healthy Eating, know what you put in your body! :)

Hello again Everyone!
I know it has been a while since I've updated but I promise I will update more. For those that don't know I had a beautiful baby girl Feb 18th this year and am currently trying to lose my baby weight. I was 145lbs  the end of my pregnancy and now I'm at 120lbs in less than 2 wks! Obviously minus the actual baby hehe she was 7lbs 10oz. but Breastfeeding has helped but exercise and diet has increased it. In my previous blog posts I got to use my own advice now during my pregnancy & breastfeeding. I can personally tell you that eating organic makes a world of a difference in energy level & recovery after pregnancy. For anyone not pregnant it goes for everyday life as well, when you cut out fat greasy foods you feel like a new person! :)

The next couple of blogs I'm going to introduce recipes, I've had a couple people contact me wanting fast organic healthy recipes for moms and non moms. Once I start hitting the gym (since I'm still recovering from a c-section delivery) I will be posting body comparison updates & workout tips etc to help everyone in their weightloss or healthy living journey! Contact me via fb or by posting if you want to request something or have any questions. I have had lots of people ask about my views in diff aspects of organic living/eating & I'll he happy to help anyone that wants to learn. :) As most of you know I'm completing my bachelors in Kinesiology & hope to go into some sort of a fitness physical therapy, teaching/dietitian realm, I'm not a Dr. by any means this blog is just from my personal experience & suggestions so I hope everyone enjoys! :)



The Easiest Cheesiest Mac N Cheese Recipe!: (see pics below)
Ingredients:
.5 lb. #4 Wellness rating Farm raised grass fed Organic ground beef (servings for 2-3 people, if for a family double the ingredients including meat & use two boxes of Annie's)
1 Box of Annie's Organic Shells & Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese
Frontier Organic Spice Adobo Mix
1-2 tbsp Organic unsalted butter
3 Tbsp Organic Lowfat Milk (or organic milk of your choice)

For added flavoring you can use 1 clove of garlic to mix in with sauce & extra cheese of your choice

This is the easiest recipe because you just need to somewhat follow the Annie's Macoroni Box :)


Instructions & cookware needed:
You'll need 1 bigger pot in order to boil water
You'll need saucepan for the meat
You'll need 1 strainer/bowl to put the cooked pasta in

Step 1: To start use 6 cups of water (or you can just fill up the pot if your going to strain the pasta after) put in the big pot on high & bring to a boil
Step 2: Once at a boil put pasta shells in & cook to 8-10 mins (put a timer on to help :))

While that is boiling get out your medium saucepan for the meat
Step 3: Put a lil olive oil to grease the pan, lay the ground beef in & season meat front & back with the Frontier adobo seasoning mold into the meat. (if you cannot find the seasoning you can use organic salt, pepper, onion powder, tumeric will do.)
Step 4: Put pain on medium heat & scramble meat up in pain until golden brown (once cooked you can turn pan off)

For added flavor if you would like to use fresh garlic cut & smash one clove out, cut it up very finely & add in step 3 with meat (you can mold it into the meat).

Once pasta is boiled in step 1-2 put aside & strain, ifyou have a stand up strainer leave it in the strainer or put in a regular bowl. Use remaining pot to make the pasta sauce.
Step 5. put 3 Tbsp lowfat organic milk in pan, pour cheese packet in that came in the box, add optional 1-2 Tbsp butter, add optional handful of extra shredded cheese of your choice
Step 6. Stir those ingredients together until mixed in well
Step 7. Pour strained pasta back into Pot & stir
Step 8. Pour cooked meat into Pot with pasta & cheese sauce & stir well till everything is coated

Step 9-----Eattttt!!! :D
Final Product:

Ingredients:

Here is a great comparison of regular Kraft Mac N Cheese over Annie's Mac N Cheese....price point comparison you can usually find them both on sale & are usually 50cents difference.

Annie's ingredients: Organic Wheat Shell Pasta, Organic Valley organic cheddar cheese (organic cultured pasteurized milk, salt, non-animal enzymes), Organic whey, salt, sodium phosphate, organic annatto extract for color.  

Main thing to notice is 1 all ingredients are necessary to make Mac N Cheese, 2. they are organic, & 3. they only contain milk & wheat ingredients due to the wheat pasta & cheese ingredients :)

When it comes to dietary needs it is a great source of protein even without the meat, along with vitamins A C, calcium, iron, B1, & folic acid. The sodium level is lower in this mac n cheese as well. There is no added trans fat which is what our bodies cannot pretty much break down.

In this Kraft Mac N Cheese (I personally grew up eating) There is so much added ingredients:

Read the first line alone, in order to have vitamins in this product they actually add it to them...in the other it is naturally in the ingredients. Also this is an enriched macaroni PRODUCT....meaning there is no nutritious means. & the rest of the ingredients if you just read speak for themselves...it is all additives including dyes & added enzymes to make the product look like Mac N Cheese :(

I wanted to do a couple pics of some spices comparison. I used the Organic Frontier adobo seasoning on my ground beef in this recipe. When I was going through my spices I realized I still had an old thing of Cavender's seasoning that I used to use before I went organic. A lot of people speculate that spices don't do anything but in reality they do. Non-organic spices tend to have a higher sodium level & the big thing is they generally use some sort of not necessary additive like hydrolyzed corn or soy.

I know what your probably thinking well soy isn't that bad right? Well yes & no, organic soy has great protein properties in it because it is naturally grown, but now a days most of America is using & processing something called "GMo" soy which stands for Genetically Modified Organism. So soy isn't "soy" anymore, its a genetically modified ingredient that we have modified in order to keep up with production. No one knows the long term effects yet on these GMO products, & it is very important to realize it is not the natural ingredient that comes from the ground anymore when the product becomes modified to keep up with society's demands. I think the ingredients speak for themselves when choosing spices :)

Frontier Organic Adobo Seasoning ingredients: Sea salt, organic garlic, organic onion, organic black pepper, organic oregano, organic bay, organic tumeric.
Sodium is alot less at 140mg at 1/4 tsp

Cavender's Ingredients: Salt, Black Pepper, Corn Starch, Garlic Monosodium Glutamate, Organo, Flavor base seasoning (Hydrolyzed CORN SOY PROTEIN, Sugar, Onion powder, Spice EXTRACTIVES??), Parsley, & Five OTHER SPICES?? (see pics below for more on Soy GMO info)

They don't even specify those additives along with this contains soy protein which we can assume it is GMO since all products that are Non GMO are not listed on ingredients or on the front of the product as "Non GMO Project Verified." The Sodium is almost double at 241 mg 1/4 tsp as well.

Courtesy of wikipedia as seen- in 97' 8% of all soybeans were genetically modified, as of 2010 its now 93%! That is just pure craziness! If you research the US is the biggest when it comes to GMO products, and as it says has caused a big problem in exporting to regions...why you ask? because Europe doesn't want GMO products for a reason. GMO are NOT natural....do we know the effects of long term use? We don't know yet but can only assume what they will eventually do...there are many people that speculate what they do & the damages they cause on our bodies but I'll let everyone research that :) I just know I personally don't want to be eating foods that aren't natural and are enhanced for protein.
A great documentary to check out which helped some of my views kick into gear is Food Inc. its available on Amazon prime movies for free & Netflix. I HIGHLY recommend it, it gives a great look into the fast food industry, meat production, & how much GMO soy has effected farmers. Very eye opening.

If anyone has any questions feel free to message me, hope everyone enjoys the tips & treats! :D

Organic Eating Can Change You & Your Children's Life: Topic on Eating Right, Family, & Expecting/Breastfeeding Moms

Hey Everyone!

My first topic today is going to be more on two sections, 1 directed towards all the moms that are breast feeding or have children, and 2 anyone trying to eat healthy. 

     To all the moms out there that are going to or already are breast feeding this is something you should research. Everyone that knows me know I try and only eat organically but there is so much behind it. It's so important for everyone including moms to realize that just because something is more affordable doesn't mean its healthier. If its not organic its probably just a cheap imitation to make you think that something is healthy and really not. Next time you go through the grocery store take a closer look at what your actually buying the non-organic foods have wax in the apples to make them look shiny, they use growth hormones and antibiotics in all the meat products, they use pesticides in all the fruit, they have processed a majority of all the foods, they put added chemicals in foods just to make it taste better, GMOs, high fructose corn syrup, hydrolyzed corn gluten, soy lecithin, and so many more bad ingredients are added. They wonder why people get cancer? It's ridiculous all the crap they put in our foods! Read the labels people! The first ingredients should be the actual food! Not a different weird name. 

      And regarding this article I just want to put it out there that its a fact what you eat goes to your baby. Even your baby starts developing your eating habit as early as in your amniotic fluid! Lets say if you drink non organic milk (which has all the left over antibiotics & growth hormones from the cow in it and is highly pasteurized), after you drink it that antibiotic & hormones goes into your body, which is eventually ingested by YOUR BABY by breastfeeding. Think about it, and nutrition wise when they highly pasteurize something it heats up the temperature extremely high to kill any extra bacteria, but it also kills the nutritional enzymes that you were seeking in the first place. 

     Products like this (non-organic) which has left over growth hormones and antibiotics are causing so many people to start becoming resistance to some antibiotics. The added growth hormones into meat is also why preteens are developing so much more early, because they are pretty much ingesting what the cattle just went through. Y'all might not want to listen to this or turn the other cheek but it's reality people! Do some research you'll find out many things you did not know. But the greatest thing is it's fixable! Eat organically, it is much healthier! It is how our grandparents and their parents were raised off the land, not all this added processed food hormone crap. 

     It's our generation that can make a stand, I guarantee you if your trying to loose weight or just trying to life healthier if you cut out all the crap the fast food, the processed foods, all of that and eat organically within a month you will feel so much "cleaner" and healthier. Kroger's, Tom Thumb, has organic selections now go check them out! And all natural *** does not count on the label, it'll say organic. Whole foods is my favorite store but not everyone has the time to go but it's worth the trip. Here are some photos from my recent trip to Tom Thumb I wanted ya'll to take a look at.

Let see what is really "budget" friendly. This tomato sauce is the "eating right" version tricking you to think its healthier with the no sugar added symbol on it, but in reality it is not. 

Cost: On Sale $1.67

Ingredients: Diced Tomatoes, Water, Tomato Paste, Carrot Puree Spices, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt, Vinegar, Dehydrated Onion, Dehydrated Garlic, Refined FISH OIL (ANCHOVY & SARDINE), PORK GELATIN, SODIUM POLY PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, Canola Oil, NATURAL FLAVORS, TOCOPHEROLS, Sunflower Oil, CITRIC ACID.

I think the ingredients speak for itself....you wanted a TOMATO sauce and instead you get some Fish and Pork added in it....NO THANK YOU!!! :(

Now Here is the Organic choice:

For all of those that think organic can't be "budget friendly" Think again

Cost: On Sale $2.00

Ingredients: Organic Diced Tomatoes, Water, Organic Tomato Paste, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Basil, Sea Salt, Organic Dehydrated Onions, Organic Vinegar, Organic Garlic Powder, Organic Spices

Now if that doesn't want to make you rethink paying the difference of just $.33 I don't know what will. Again, the ingredients speak for itself....and that's just a tip of the iceberg!

I also wanted to share this website off of wholefoods that had some great facts listed for Moms/Breastfeeding Moms: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy-eating/parents-and-kids/nutrition-pregnant-and-nursing-moms

Thank ya'll for listening and enjoying my blog, & I hope you took something away from this topic! I leave you with this picture of chickens that are in all of our local supermarkets today. 

Go Organic! It is the Natural Way! :D

Organic living isn't just for Foodies, it's for Everyone!

Hey Everyone,
This is a blog for all my friends and anyone that wants to know more about Organic foods! After a long time of contemplating whether I should make a nutritional blog or not I decided that this is a great way to share my thoughts and advice on healthy eating habits. Most my friends know what I'm studying but for those that don't I am an Kinesiology/bio major. I am finishing my bachelor's and am interested in dietitian work whether it be opening my own practice or working with the school districts with our children's nutritional needs. I am very excited to share my thoughts about eating organically, and hope to hit important topics on today's food system. I am open to comments, questions, and suggestions on further topics. My hope is that if one person can take away something from this blog so that they will make a more conscientious choice when choosing food then I've done my part. :) Thank you all again for listening!! :D

OrganicNut