High Fructose Corn Syrup

Posted by html404 on May 3, 2010
in Health and Nutrition

I don’t know what most of you know about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), but it isn’t a healthy ingredient. It is made with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). As our family has been reading new materials and watching food documentaries, we are becoming more and more aware of how the FDA is allowing in our food supply – most of which is not healthy for us.

We have always tried to drink pure juice. I love my orange juice in the morning, but my husband likes grape, cranberry and apple on occasion as well. My husband recently bought some cranberry juice that was only 20% juice, by mistake, but the here is what the Langers’ juice container had written on the side:

‘Sweetened with Real Sugar’: Is high furctose corn syrup (HFCS) a major cause of obesity? Most nutritionists say yes. The body processes hight furctose corn syurp differently than it does sugar, altering the way the metabolism is regulated. As a result, the body is tricked into craving more while the liver releases additional fat into the bloodstream. We eat more and at the same time store more fat. Langers Cranberry and Raspberry Juice Cocktail is a delicious and nutritious alternative to beverages sweetened with HFCS. Enjoy it today.

Incredible that a juice company has stopped using HFCS, isn’t it? That isn’t all the news. Pepsi is getting on board as well. Take a look at this article: http://industry.bnet.com/food/10001771/the-death-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/

For more information, please read the resource links below or even do your own google search for studies on HFCS.

Resources:

www.WestonPrice.org/The-Double-Danger-of-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup.html

www.WashingtonPost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012601831.html


www.Huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/sugar-may-be-bad-but-this_b_463655.html”

http://industry.bnet.com/food/10001771/the-death-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/


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Farmland and Mentorship

Posted by html404 on May 3, 2010
in Family Stuff

We still have not worked out details of the farmland that we went to see a few weeks ago. We are waiting to hear back about pricing and we need to get the soil tested to see if it is even good for farming. That is the “limbo-land” that I just followed up on. I do know where we can get a soil testing kit for free and where to send the soil for a minimal testing fee, so I have been learning as we go along here in our search for farmland to rent.

Farmland

Image: Tom Curtis / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last week we inquired about another piece of land that is being offered “rent free”, yes that was a rare opportunity and one we could not just pass over. The landowner is looking for produce in exchange for rent, so it is an exchange really. We went to see the land the other night and meet with the owner. The plot of land is 200 x 80, so it is a good size for a family garden, which is what we’d like to start with. This land is farther away making the distance a definite downfall, however, for the use of equipment etc. for just this year seems like an opportunity we had to investigate.

We also have a farm mentorship in the works through our Stateline Farm Beginnings Class, which we graduated from in Feb.-March. Just waiting to hear back from our mentors. I am sure they are amidst their busy planting season.

Update: We have officially accepted the offer of the land that is farther away. The rest of the spring will be busy learning to ride a small tractor, tilling our growing field, purchasing seeds, planting, watering, weeding, mulching and working on supplying our family with farm fresh veggies – grown by our own hands! We will only be using half of the growing field to start to see how we manage that first. We are excited about this opportunity and will keep you updated on our progress as “produce growers”.

We also found out the the first rental property will not be able to be farmed in the future due to sewer work that needs to be done. Too bad and I am so glad we had the other field to fall back on!


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Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook

Posted by html404 on May 2, 2010
in Books, Business

OrganicFarmersBusinessHandbookcover

I realize this book may not be of interest to some of you, but in case there are aspiring farmers among our readers or in case aspiring farmers come across us via google or other sites, I thought I would share it. Plus, what I read gives you a sneak peek to yet another side of me and my family.

The book I am referring to is, Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook. It was written by Richard Wiswall, a successful organic farmer who worked hard to get to where he is and wanted to share his experience and knowledge with other organic farmers. The book includes a CD with Excel worksheets that farmers may use for their own business.

I found that Mr. Wiswall provided some invaluable information that both beginning farmers and veteran farmers alike can glean from and use. He points out some important tax info and how to make a profit from an organic farm.

Our library ordered this book when I requested it and now owns it, so I have been able to get it out a couple of times this past year. However, I am hoping to add it to our home library at some point, especially once we start our commercial farm as I really liked it and think it should be on our shelf for quick reference.

P.S. I just borrowed it from the library for the third time! 🙂


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How Do You Tuck in a Superhero? – Revell Book Tour

Posted by html404 on May 1, 2010
in Books

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

How do you Tuck in a Superhero

I mentioned that I had started reading a book back at the end of March about Life with Boys and have been trying to finish it up amidst everything else so I can post my review. So here I am on the last day of the Revell Book Tour posting my review. I have thoroughly enjoyed Rachel Balducci’s book, How Do You Tuck in a Superhero? It has been a very good book. Rachel knows what life with boys is really like since she has five sons. In her book, she shares the mysteries of raising a crew of boys.

This book isn’t about her spiritual journey in raising boys, so don’t expect to see great exhortations about how the Lord has inspired Mrs. Balducci to parent boys. It is a book about the nitty-gritty details of boyhood. How Do You Tuck in a Superhero? is a refreshing look at life with boys. As I have stated, I have grown very frustrated with my boys on more than a few occasions. Mrs. Balducci helped me see the beauty and the normal-ness of what if means to be a boy. Like I said in my March post, I grew up with ALL girls. Having an all girl family is much different than having and all boy family or even a mixed gender family – so many differences that affect the dynamics of family life.

I loved the short chapters of the book – I think Mrs. Balducci realizes how busy we parents are! The short snippets of stories about her boys gave me a chance to either laugh or ponder the incredible task we have in raising boys. Her experiences also made my life with my own boys seem almost normal too. I love the fact that Mrs. Balducci has embraced her calling as a mother of all boys because I think it is important for us as mothers, as parents, to embrace the family He has blessed us with. He didn’t make a mistake when He put our families together, but sometimes I think we can mistakenly think that when the going gets rough. If only we could all find joy in the tough, real moments of living together, how much better would those “bad” days be!

I think this book is a must read for anybody trying to figure out the male gender. As Dr. Kevin Lehman is quoted on the back of the book, “This book is a celebration of boyhood in all its glory.”

“Available April 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”


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Sponzai

Posted by html404 on May 1, 2010
in Blog Stuff

I signed up for Sponzai a couple of weeks ago and to claim my own blog I have to insert a phrase they generate for me. I have been putting it off because I had no idea how to create a new blog post with this phrase. So I am just going to create this post for the sake of creating a post and share the phrase:

A nameless razor fusses.

How would you all have used this phrase? It has nothing to do with blogging or anything real, does it?

My husband and oldest daughter are here trying to convince me to write a story using that phrase, but I just do not have the time or inclination. I have books to read and review! Hopefully one will be posted later today….


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Prego Planner

Posted by html404 on April 30, 2010
in Pregnancy and Birth

This review is done in cooperation with The Healthy Moms Review Team that I am a part of. I did receive free products, but that in no way affects my review.

Prego Planner< Prego Planner

The Prego Planner is a neat little planner that is probably best suited for first-time moms. It comes in a binder that includes a calendar, OB/GYN/Midwife section, a section for Pediatrician research and appointments once baby arrives, a checklist section for your newborn, a gift list to keep track of all the wonderful things friends, family and co-workers supply for your new family member. Finally, the last section is for labor and delivery, which includes a place to record your birthing class notes, your birth plan, your preparation checklist, a place to record your thoughts of baby’s birth (weight, height, apgar etc.), a call list, a post delivery checklist and postpartum checklist.

This planner is very thorough and I can see it being of help to husband’s too, especially the checklists for birth, call list etc.
I love the poems and saying on each of the section dividers. The calendar gives an expectant mom a place to record when she hears baby’s heartbeat, feels his/her first movements, appointments etc. The Prego Planner is definitely a handy little tool to keep everything pregnancy related together in one place instead of scrounging around for little pieces of paper that may be in multiple places.

If you are already use to using a planner, then transitioning to a pregnancy planner won’t be a problem. But if you are new to using a planner, then it might take a bit of time to get use to recording everything, at least at first. Most expectant first-time moms want to remember all the wonderful things they experience and the Prego Planner just makes it that much easier to do so.

I like the idea of the Prego Planner and think it would have been more useful in my first pregnancy. Since this is my eighth live (actually my 13th pregnancy) I actually haven’t found it as useful as I thought I would. I think that is because I know what to expect, what to plan for and have most of my baby items already. Plus, our family tends to do things differently now than when we were first starting our family.

Resources:

www.pregoplanner.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prego-Planner/73389632697


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Twin Princesses

Posted by html404 on April 29, 2010
in Family Stuff

Our Wordless Wednesday photo this week is of our niece and youngest daughter playing dress up this past weekend. It was cute because shortly after we got to the “cousins”, Cousin Blondie remembered she had two Sleeping Beauty dresses and said, “Me and ‘Blondie’ (using her real name of course) can be twin princesses!” Our Blondie wore her outfit the whole time we were at the cousins.

It had been awhile since we had seen my husband’s brother and sister-in-law. We had a really nice visit watching a movie, well, the younger children and men did. The older ladies – meaning my sister-in-law, mother-in-law and I along with a couple of the teens remained upstairs and chatted. Then we had pizza and dessert before heading home for the night.

Weekends have been incredibly busy around our house lately. This weekend we have the opportunity to go to a CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) Field Day, but I think it is suppose to rain. Or we could go to a used curriculum sale. Then there’s church on Sunday morning. Plus, there is a Green Fair at an organic farm an hour or so away on Sunday afternoon, so we could potentially be out all weekend if we choose to do so. We love all the activity, but we are really zonked at the end when we go out full throttle. And the weekend is only two days long!

Our summer may hold an adventure we did not expect, so stay tuned to find out what that is…..


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Wordless Wednesday – “Twin” Princesses

Posted by html404 on April 28, 2010
in Family Stuff

Two Princesses


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Author Mama

Posted by html404 on April 27, 2010
in Books, Ebooks

I recently purchased a little ebook for just $5.00-5.99 called, Author Mama. It was written by author Christina Katz, who also wrote Writer Mama, which I got at my library and read last summer. Then during the winter I proceeded to hunt it down and found it for only $2.00 on ebay and bought it for our home library. Both books are very good and definitely helpful to mothers who are trying to write for a living – be that as a blogger, article writer or an actual book writer. Sometimes one leads to the other, in case you did not notice.

Author-Mama-Cover-231x300

I found that Author Mama was one of the next steps after Writer Mama. Where Writer Mama gave tips on how to actually get articles published, fight procrastination and get into the habit of writing everyday, Author Mama shared Mrs. Katz’s experience on how to get your book published and how she’s done it. She also had a book called, Get Known, which is on my list to read.

Getting published is a lot of work. Just as bloggers know how much time and effort is involved in blogging before you even start to see some money trickle in, getting published is very much like that process. Time, work and effort, not to mention perserverance. I appreciated Mrs. Katz perspective, what she had to share and hope the book is of help to other mothers out there who are “Writer Mamas” too.


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Havoc at The Hillside Market – SuperKids Book

Posted by html404 on April 26, 2010
in Books

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

SuperKids Book

I won this book when I entered a contest for bloggers, so I really didn’t receive it in exchange for a review but since I am reviewing it I will just keep my disclaimer in tact because I cannot remember everything that the contest entailed now!

Our older children thought the SuperKids Book, Havoc at The Hillside Market, was a cute story and educational. One of our daughters actually had to read the book three times in one sitting to the little ones! The illustrations were bright and the story held their attention. My oldest is already looking for the rest of the book series at our library!

The book has a whole page dedicated to introducing each character of the Super Crew (TM), who they are, what they do and what their names are. In the back of the book there are tips for those just getting started in teaching their children through reading. There is also a Happy Face Pizza recipe.

One thing that I noticed is that you really have to look at the pictures of the story because the words themselves do not reveal the complete story line. I thought that was rather odd for a children’s book. It almost read like a comic strip on some pages.

Overall this is an adventure story that all our children enjoyed and we like the fact that it is reinforcing healthy eating habits.

Visit www.SuperKidsNutrition.com for more information and activities just for kids!


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