We have tomatoes!!

One of my dreams/goals is to have a food garden.  Well, I'd love a rose and flower garden, too, but I really want to grown my own fruit and vegetables.  We started to plan it out this spring but decided to wait until the fall and give ourselves enough time to plan.  I decided to go ahead and start little by little so we started with tomatoes.  Kai helped me plant them, and his job is to remind Daddy to water the "matos" while I am out of town this week.

I am so excited about feeding my family and growing whole food!!

"That Mom"

I know Kai’s teachers at Mothers Morning Out think that I am a fruit loop. I am THAT MOM. The mom that does not send juice or candy or much processed food for lunch. The mom that sends small toys for Valentine’s Day instead of candy. His teachers have even asked what some of the things are…like kale chips. They are super nice about it and rave about wishing it was their lunch…but I know they are teasing me.






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They were so anxious to see what I was going to bring for his birthday lunch. Most parents bring cupcakes or cake, and I can always tell because Kai never naps. I did break down and bring Rice Krispy Treats, which is one of Kai (and Lee’s) favorites. I think his teacher’s were shocked that I brought a “dessert.” I think the other kids thought they were boring but it was definitely a treat for Kai. As I looked around, every single kid had juice boxes and most had highly processed foods.



I am that mom that sends fruit and vegetables. He might get a sandwich or crackers but over half of his lunch consists of whole foods like tomatoes, clementines, carrots. The best part is that he eats it! He does not know any different and those are actually some of his favorite foods. He has even turned down cookies before, and he would eat several clementines every day if I let him.

I am the mom that has never even given him a sip of Coke. For that matter we do not even keep it in our house. The choices are milk or water, and occasionally he gets organic juice for a snack if he needs more hydration. Orange juice for breakfast is a very special treat. Caitlin is 15 months and still not had juice (that I know of).

So yeah, I am that mom. I may very well be a fruit loop but I am so glad to have kids that eat healthy and love it.

Myths about organic food

Organic farming is not as productive as conventional farming and requires more land to produce the same amount of food. If the world switched to organic farming, 10 million square miles of forest would need to be cut down.




A few studies have shown more nutrients in organic food. In actuality, what makes the biggest difference in nutrients is how long it sits on the shelf. After one week, spinach has lost about half of its folate.



Organic food may not always taste better…if it’s flown halfway around the world. Locally grown produce in season probably has fuller taste.



You still need to wash organic produce thoroughly under running water. All produce is susceptible to bacteria. Soil and runoff water can be contaminated with E.coli, as well as the transportation and storage of produce.



Organic companies are not necessarily small farms or eco-companies. General Mills owns Cascadian Farms, Kraft owns Back to Nature and Boca Burger, Kellogg’s owns Morningstar Farms. Whole Foods sold roughly $1 billion in produce last year; only about 16% was grown locally.

Organic is not necessarily better for you…not if it is organic chips, organic soda, or organic cookies Cane sugar is still sugar and fried chips are still fried. I have even seen organic poptarts!

Adapted from : http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/myths-organic-food

Makers Diet: Whole Food

You have heard me talk about whole foods, particularly concerning supplements. Why whole foods? Here is an excerpt from Extraordinary Health, Jordan Rubin’s new health magazine published monthly by Garden of Life, Inc.:



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We all know that one of the key nutrients provided by an orange is vitamin C. The health benefits of vitamin C have been promoted for decades. Vitamin C is so important that hundreds of companies now manufacture vitamin C to their food products. That seems like a good thing. In fact it is a huge mistake.


An orange contains so much more than vitamin C. It contains hundreds of nutrients, minerals, and phyto-chemicals. These co-factors work synergistically with each other. Without them vitamin C is not nearly as effective. Vitamin C needs all of these other beneficial compounds in order to work as effectively as possible. When you isolate vitamin C from all of the other nutrients in an orange you severely limit its potency.


This is the basis for whole food nutrition. Food consumed in a state as near to nature as possible is far healthier than food that has been processed, isolated and fractionated into its individual nutrients.