Let's Go Shopping

Good evening everyone! I hope everyone has had a nice "muggy" Saturday!

I spent the day volunteering for Farm Fresh Delivery @ PBS kid's Day at the Park, which brings me to the topic of SHOPPING for groceries. I try to include in my posts where you can find some of the items that may be new to your household. Here are the places I shop and what I like about each place.

Farm Fresh Delivery- a year round to your door delivery of local organic produce and natural groceries. I get this bi-weekly and absolutely love it! You can also get local organic meats, eggs, & several other items. I also LOVE the excitement of my 3 year old when our bin arrives! The fact that she is connecting excitement with fruits & veggies has got to be instilling a good healthy food relationship for her. That makes me happy!

Kroger- This is where I do most of my shopping. I love that they have all their organic items together in one place rather than searching the whole store. This makes shopping a lot faster!

Meijer- I love that Meijer has their own brand of USDA certified organic items! I also love their organic produce. The tricky thing is you have to look for the brown organic tag, all of the organic is mixed in with the regular items.

~My two FAVORITE stores are Whole Foods and Trader Joe's but they are 45 minutes from my house, so I don't get to go very often.

~I also want to tell you about a great online store that my friend Denise told me about called vitacost and that is where I get a lot of our soaps, shampoos, baby wipes, vitamins, etc. They have a ton of things on this website at a discounted rate. I love using the organic section because you can get a lot of items you might get at a drugstore like CVS, but without all the harsh chemicals.

My Eats Today- I was pretty rushed today so didn't get to take many pictures of food today.

Breakfast- A whole grain waffle with almond butter and a sliced banana and a green juice with kale, spinach, lemon, apple, cucumber, and celery

Snack- Lara bar and edamame

Lunch- was out went to Chili's. I got a house salad with avocado and chips-n-salsa

Dinner- a bowl of kashi cereal

Something to comment on- Where do you like to grocery shop?

Geek fact from my book assortment- The best way to grocery shop in a supermarket or health food store is to focus your attention on the periphery. That's where the fresh food is!

~Kris Carr, from the book Crazy, Sexy, Cancer

Happy Shopping,

~A

Jump Around...Jump Up, Jump Up & Get Down

I'm going old school...watch out!

Yep, that's right I got a mini trampoline and I am stoked! I promise I won't break out the legwarmers! I have been reading a lot about "Rebounding" (jumping on a mini trampoline) and it is awesome for you! I won't go into all the boring science of why, but rebounding helps to tone, cleanse (rid your body of toxins), and stimulate your metabolism. All while burning some mega calories! Just google it if your curious.


After training for the mini marathon, I am excited to get off of the treadmill (nothing against the treadmill, I do love the treadmill) and start jumping! My plan is to put on my ipod and just go nuts...ALONE! No one can watch! LOL I'll let you know when I come up with a real plan. First, I just want to experiment.

I will try to get Matt to take a picture of me on it...if you promise to laugh!


On with the eats:

Dinner last night was my vegan version of my favorite fast food meal...three cheese nachos from Qudoba minus the cheese! Here is what I mixed in a bowl:

~black beans

~brown rice

~100 calorie pack of Guacamole (Love these! I get them at Kroger)

~tomatoes

~onions

~Tofutti Sour Cream (vegan)



Then I dipped my favorite chips (Guitless Gourmet) in it! It was SO satisfying! You could do a non-vegan version of this by adding cheese or chicken.












After Sophia was in bed Matt and I each had a square of this dark chocolate. I like keeping my chocolate in the freezer. For some reason it feels more like a special treat that way, and I am less likely to get into it a lot.


~Apparently no one has told Macy what chocolate does to dogs, because she really wanted some!














This morning I started off with a green tea with Stevia to sweeten it. Since cutting out pop I am trying to drink more tea.













Then for breakfast I had oatmeal with a little yogurt on top, strawberries, and chia seeds sprinkled on top.

*Chia seeds can be found at health food stores or online. They are good source of Omega 3's. Click here to read what Dr. Oz says about chia seeds. I love Dr. Oz!

Hope everyone is having a great day!


Peace, love, & chia seeds!

~A

The Dirty Dozen

There is so much talk on whether or not to buy organic. Different people have different opinions. Here is how I decide for me and my family. If the item is an animal product ie. any type of dairy or meat I always make sure it is organic. Why? Hormones and antibiotics. A lot of animals are pumped full of these 2 things which we then ingest when we eat them. As long as your meat and dairy are USDA certified organic, you can feel confident that they were not given drugs. Also, just an FYI if you can find a farmer who is organic and feeds their livestock a grass diet that would be the absolute healthiest. In Indiana Traders Point Farm is the only grassfed, certified organic dairy farm. However, don't overlook the small local farms. It is very expensive for farmers to be become certified organic. I reccomend looking at your Local Food Guide to find a farmer near you. Indiana peeps, click here for our 2010-2011 Local Food Guide

With produce you don't have to worry about hormones and antibiotics, but rather the concern is pesticides. I read yesterday that if you eat a piece of celery that is not organic, you could be exposed to 67 different chemicals! I know you're probably thinking, yeah but I wash my produce. Have you ever done the science experiment where you dip celery into water with food coloring and watch the color travel up the whole stalk? Unfortunately, a lot of produce is very porous and the chemicals seep right on into the fruit or vegetable so while washing is a good thing it's not protecting you from all the chemical exposure. But organic is more expensive right? Yes, in some cases it is (although farmer's markets are sometimes insanely cheap) so here is how I decide. There is a list called the Dirty Dozen. This is a list of the 12 dirtiest and 12 cleanest fruits and vegetables. The link I provided for you here, gives you the full list of 49 fruits and veggies. It starts with the cleanest and ends with the dirtiest. If it's on the dirty list I always buy it organic. If it is on the clean list often times I will buy non-organic. The staples in our house that I always buy organic are apples, celery, strawberries, spinach, kale, and lettuce. Again, as with the animal products not all local farmers can afford to be certified organic so if you are at the farmer's market talk to the farmers and ask them if they use chemicals. However if you are at the grocery look for this label to ensure it is organic.

Just remember nobody is perfect and sometimes organic may not be available for what you want. Just do your best and what feels right for your family. That's what I do!

So now onto my day. I have actually had a bad headache all day and just haven't felt well. Bummer. It is so pretty out. I prepared a part of my breakfast last night. It is called Vegan Overnight Oats. Now, you can certainly make this non-vegan as well by using cow milk or yogurt and it would be just as fantastic! It is very good, if you like oats. It is also, super easy! Today, I topped mine with soy yogurt, carob chips, and pecans.

Lunch was a wrap with a Sunshine burger (I get these in my Farm Fresh Delivery Bin) with half an avocado, spinach, tomatoes, onions, and ketchup. I put ketchup on just about everything! Local Folks Food's ketchup is my favorite local ketchup with no high fructose corn syrup. I think Heinz is making one now also without high fructose corn syrup.

I had this juice for a snack. It was kale, spinach, apple, lemon, celery, and cucumber. This is my favorite juice! If you are here in Indy, and would like to try this fantastic juice look for the Natural Born Juicers at the farmer's market. Ask for the Ultimate Green's drink with extra apple! That is what inspired me to make my own version at home. Visit their website to see when and where they will be each week. They travel around to several farmer's markets in town.

I hope you look at my blog as a fun learning tool to make small changes (or big) in your own and your family's health. Certainly, you don't have to do what I do, but maybe it will give you some ideas of things you might like to do. Again, I am no expert and am learning all of this information as well. I love hearing about things you are doing to better your health too! This is a journey for us all!

Be well,

~A

Plastics 101

Ok, so I am not an expert by any means, but wanted to share some new things I have learned in regards to plastics. Let's start with water bottles. Alot of plastics contain contains a harmful chemical called BPA (Bisphenol A) a hormone disrupter that can leach into the liquid you are drinking. I always check the bottom of plastic water bottles for the number in the middle of the triangle, if the number is a 1, 2, 4, or 5 I will drink out of it. If the number is a 3, 6, or 7 then I try to stay away. 3, 6, and 7 are said to be the "scariest" plastics. This number also serves as a recycling code. Most places recycle 1's and 2's but the other are harder to find.


I bought Matt, Sophia, and myself stainless steel water bottles so I know we aren't drinking leached chemicals from plastics and it's more enviromentally friendly. Here is a picture of our water bottles. Now Matt and I's are Klean Kanteen's and they cost a pretty penny, but we wanted big ones for work (they are 40oz) You can get stainless steel water bottles anywhere now. Meijer has a great selection. If you are interested in a Klean Kanteen check out "A few of My Favorite Things" I have a link there.















This morning when I got up I was not hungry at all. Very weird for me because usually I am starving for breakfast. I made myself a "Green Monster" aka a green smothie with 3 cups of spinach, 1 frozen banana, 1 T. almond butter(you could use any nut butter), 1 C. almond milk (you could use any milk), a scoop of chia seeds (similar to flaxseed high in Omega 3's, I get mine at the Vitamin Shoppe), and a scoop of Amazing Grass


I know some of you may be a little skeptical of this very GREEN drink, but you cannot taste the spinach. It tastes like a peanut butter banana smoothie. I even have Matt hooked on them! Now that is saying a lot!













CONFESSION- This is my favorite cup and it is a #7. I try to only drink my smoothies out of it.


Lunch today was from my new favorite Southside joint called Sandella's. LOVE it! They have several vegetarian options and several non-vegetarian options, and kids meals are only $2.50! I had the Greek Salad.














I went to the grocery today and can I just tell you I could spend hours at any grocery! Of course that may have a little (ok a lot) to do with the fact that I get to go alone. I love my fam, but a girl needs some alone time.



After the grocery it was past dinner time, so as we say in my family, "It was a fend night" as in every man for himself. Yeah right, who am I kidding, I still figure out what everyone is eating. I had an avocado and Mary's Gone Crackers (love these crackers, I get them @ Kroger in organic section) Matt had a "Green Monster" and cheese and triscuits, and I would love to tell you that Sophia had something amazinly healthy, but she had Easy Mac! Hey when you're 3 your pretty set on only a few foods.


I was very excited tonight to purchase my new juicer, so I rounded out the day with a hearty serving of some fruits and veggies. My mom and I experimented with a veggie we hadn't juiced yet. The beet. So here is what went in: 1 beet, 2 carrots, 1 green apple, 1 lemon




















And now let me introduce you to this fabulously beautiful pink juice! TAH-DA!!

Tomorrow- To buy organic or not? I'll tell you how I decide.

Peace, love, and pretty pink beet juice,

~A

Books, books, and more books!

Hello everyone! I have realized I have a book addiction. I LOVE BOOKS! The weird thing is I don't read fun fiction books, I am a total non-fiction junkie and I love it! I have already made a trip to the library this summer, recieved a book order from amazon, got 2 new books for my birthday, and been to the used bookstore twice! HELP!

Here is a picture of the addiction.

Today was an easy going day around the house. I was really excited to wake up this morning and eat my breakfast that I made last night. It is a homemade breakfast cookie! I got it off another blog that I have been following. It was oats, almond butter, almond milk, cinnamon, and pecans. I mixed it all together and then flattened it on a plate and put it in the fridge overnight to harden. It was wonderful! If you want the exact recipe to anything I post email me and I will send it to you. adrianne.iszler@gmail.com

Lunch was nothing exciting. Matt went to Burger King and got us all a veggie burger. Mine was with no cheese and no mayo.

Dinner tonight I was on my own. Matt wasn't here and Sophia ate 2 bowls of oatmeal. So here is what I did. I took an Eziekel tortilla and put inside it half an avocado, morning star "sausage patty" half cup brown rice, 2 T. Tofutti sour cream, and then after I took this picture I added a little tomatoe. It was so good! I love anything that remotely resembles mexican food! I didn't do real well with my veggies today so tonight after Sophia goes to bed if I am feeling hungry, I will have a "Green Monster" with spinach and Amazing Grass.

Ok, so here is the picture of the salad I made for me and mom for the zoo yesterday. Oh, and by the way I haven't had pop in 3 days!! I am so proud of myself! I have been drinking 2 40 oz bottles from my Klean Kanteen. I will post pictures tomorow of the water bottles I use for my family to make sure we are not drinking leached chemicals from plastic water bottles. I will also give you some info on what I have learned about plastics.

Off to read my nerdy books!

Be well,

~Adrianne

A Mess

This post is a mess! I had a ton of pictures that I wanted to show you of recent eats, but can't figure out how to get them arranged properly, so they are a jumbled mess and I apologize! Last night I couldn't log on to the blog so that's the reason for all the pictures.





I have been quite the Suzy homemaker in the kitchen since summer break began! Yesterday while making dinner, I poured myself a glass of wine, turned on Pandora and made a wonderful dinner. It was nice and relaxing especially since the little one was outside with her Daddy!





Today was a fun filled day at the zoo! I packed our lunch of course! Here are the pics!






Last nights dinner. "fake" chicken with curry
simmer sauce, brown rice, and a SCREAMIN
salad!



















The wine! Mallow Run Reisling

















Snack- Almond milk, 1 scoop amazing grass,
stevia, and ice





















Screaming salad at the zoo! Spinach, yellow pepper, raisins, tomatoes, goat cheese,
pears, avocado, onions, and homemade dressing


Sorry, no picture!

After dinner snack- Soy ice cream with carob chips, pecans, and shredded coconut