A New Energy Source

It is cold here in New Jersey. Today, the snow is falling mixed with icy rain. The temperature is in the low 30’s and it is nasty out there. Yet I have found a secret weapon to give me the energy that I need to get through the day. Help me pass this info on..

While I love coffee, I usually like it with condensed milk and then drink a lot of it. That’s good but it adds extra calories. I was looking for a healthy alternative and something I would feel good about drinking. Coffee, black tea and even green tea sometimes have a bitterness that I do not like. I wanted something yummy for my mid morning break. I did not want a commercially made energy drink. I wanted something natural.

What I found was better than I thought. I found something that has the caffeine that I need, antioxidants, vitamins and amino acids that are beneficial for a healthy lifestyle. Best of all, these all came in the form of a magical good tasting tea – no chemicals or ingredients that are harmful. As a side benefit this plant is grown in the South American Rainforest in the shade so it supports rainforest conservation! Wow good for me gives me energy and good for the earth.

So what is it you may ask? It’s a tea made from a type of holly called GUAYUSA (why-you-sa) which is grown in the Amazone. The focused energy it provides is called “mental strength and courage by the native Kichwa people. It is sold by a new company called Runa LLC which means “fully living human beaing”. The company commitment is to live responsibly collaboratively and intelligently as a global community.

I met one of the company representatives at Whole Foods and had to try the drink. She was kind enough to give me some samples which I quickly gave to teachers and friends in law enforcement. They all liked the flavor and said that they did have more energy. As I type this I am drinking my traditional blend from my new box. You can get this tea at Whole Foods and on line at Amazone (see link)You can contact the company directly at :

Email : info@runa.org

Phone: 1-800-485-3803

Website: Runa LLC

 






No, I am not affiliated with them in any way. I just love their product and that’s just what I need on a cold winters day in New Jersey.



Ketchup Recipe

My daughter LOVES ketchup.   I do not like all the stuff they put in to the store stuff. The organic one is expensive and is hard to get in my area. So what is a mother to do? Can’t find it – then make it. Here is a recipe I found that works.

My little girl likes it plain but you can add spice to it and change it up a notch. The water is what makes it thin or thick so adjust that to your tast.

Ketchup

3 6 oz cans tomato paste organic is the best

1/4 c honey local if you have it since it helps with allergies

1/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

pinch of cayenne

pinch all spice

pinch garlic powder

3/4 c cider vinegar organic if you can

Water as needed to reach the right consistency.

Mix together and simmer while stirring, for five minutes. Remove from heat. Cool. Adjust seasonings. Flavor will improve on standing .

For those that have to have it now. You can skip the simmering but this helps blend the flavors. Try adding different spices like chipotle to the mix.

Bon appetite.

Organic or Not

We always look for the best foods to buy for our family.  After much research I found that it pays to buy these foods from the organic section.  On my next post I will tell you which ones to buy from the regular section.  We have grown many of these in our gaden to make sure they are organic.

Celery
Peaches           The animals eat ours before we pick them
Strawberries   A few plants go a long way and are fun to grow.
Apples
Blueberries (Domestic)  In NJ we have organic farms and freeze the berries.
Nectarines
Sweet Bell Peppers  We grow our own.  Not hard and great to grow.
Spinach
Cherries
Potatoes  We tried growing them this year in planters.  Not hard and now we have some to store.
               Next year we will plant more.
Grapes they are growing on the side of our home.

Why should you care about pesticides? There is a growing consensus in the scientific community that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can have adverse effects on health, especially during vulnerable periods such as fetal development and childhood. We know that chemicals are bad and now we learn that they can affect birth defects.

Of the 12 most contaminated foods, seven are fruits.

More than 96 percent of peaches tested positive for pesticides, followed by nectarines (95.1 percent) and apples (93.6 percent).

Nearly 86 percent of peaches contained 2 or more pesticide residues ‚ followed by apples (82.3 percent) and nectarines (80.6 percent).


Among the vegetables:
Some 95 percent all celery samples tested positive for pesticides, followed by imported cucumbers (84.5 percent) and potatoes (84.2 percent).

Nearly 85 percent of celery samples contained multiple pesticides, followed by sweet bell peppers (61.5 percent) and collard greens (53.2 percent).

Also keep in mind that maintaining your family's health is not the only reason to choose organic food. Pesticide and herbicide use contaminates groundwater, ruins soil structures and promotes erosion, and may be a contributor to "colony collapse disorder," the sudden and mysterious die-off of pollinating honeybees that threatens the American food supply. Buying or growing organic food is good for the health of the planet.

PLU Codes and What they mean

As you pull out the food from the grocery store you wonder why they bother to put those little stickers on each and every peach. They are hard to take off but tell you a wealth of knowledge if only you can decipher the code. The glue on these stickers is food safe but don’t eat the sticker.
Those little stickers are called the PLU code or the price lookup number that speed you out at the checkout stand. This little code also tells you how the fruit was grown. You can tell if the fruit was genetically modified, organically grown or produced with chemical fertilizers, fungicides, or herbicides. All this valuable information that you did not even know you had.

Here is the code breaker:
Conventionally grown (grown with chemicals) PLU code consists of four numbers.
Organically grown fruit A five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 9.
Genetically engineered (GM) fruit A five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 8.

The numeric system was developed by the Produce Electronic Identification Board, an affiliate of the Produce Marketing Association, a Newark, Delaware-based trade group for the produce industry.

I try always to buy as much food as I can that starts with a 9. The next best is anything that does not start with a 8. While all food is to some extent genetically modified by cross pollination and selective breading, I prefer that it be done the natural way and not by the manual transfer of genes of one species to another.