**REVIEW** Living Natural Yacon Syrup

In my quest to eat healthier, live healthier and stay in shape, I've tried making small changes in my life. One of the changes was trying to get away from so much processed sugar. I talked about this before. And then again. One of my favorite substitutes for white sugar is raw or brown sugar. A favorite  substitute for those sugars is Yacon syrup. I've tried others and now I've had the chance to try Living Natural's  Yacon Syrup.

Yacon syrup has lots of benefits over the usual sweeteners a lot of us use. For me, the taste is the biggest positive. There is non of that metallic, artificial tinge or aftertaste.

Living Natural's Yacon has an exceptionally nice taste because, to me at least, the molasses type flavor was a little more pronounced that in other syrups I've tried. The texture was a little different also - almost grainier-looking but not actually grainy at all.

This is Living Natural Brand Yacon

To compare a difference of textures, this is a photo what another brand of Yacon syrup I use:

This one is darker & a tiny bit thicker

As for quality and taste, both syrups I have tried are nice. The Natural Life syrup is (to me) slightly sweeter while the other one has a more wine-like undertone. The main thing is the benefits of using them as an alternative to sugar. Some info straight from the product page:

• 100% natural with no additives or sweeteners and is extracted purely from the roots of the Yacon plant (Smallanthus Sonchifolius)
• high amount of fructooligosaccharides. This natural soluble fiber has been shown to reduce symptoms of constipation and improve metabolism.
• high in antioxidants and potassium and studies have shown it increases the levels of 'friendly' bacteria in the digestive system

From my own use over the months of Yacon syrup, I can tell you that using it on a regular basis did decrease my sugar cravings. (I have not used white table sugar in a few years, but I don't even use my brown or raw sugar in my coffee now except on an occasional basis.) When I started using Yacon syrup some time back, I was still coming down off my prednisone weight of (I shudder to even type this) 204 lbs. I am down to the 160's and would be doing better if I had not gone back on a steady diet of bread in the past couple of weeks... Also, it helps if you actually use the Yacon on a regular basis.

The suggestion is to use Yacon in beverages and I have grown to like the taste of it in my coffee. This time, I also tried adding a little bit to some rice (plain white rice with butter) and to some oatmeal. The taste was interesting and pleasant, but I had to experiment with how much to add to get the right amount of sweetness. (I ended up using about half a dinner spoon full.) Because Yacon has a distinctive taste, I got a sort of molasses-flavored treat with my oatmeal. I have to say that I like using this particular brand in my warm/hot food where I use the other brand in my coffees and some of my teas. I think it's going to come down to preference. Personally, I want to keep a variety around for my different uses.

I'd also like to add (as I usually do) something about customer service. The product page has a nice message:

When you order today, you're protected by our 100% quality and satisfaction guarantee together with our focus on exceptional customer service!

Finally, I will say this about using Yacon syrup: Any one of us who is trying to revise our diet and lifestyle to be healthy know that big changes come from lots of small efforts. Using an alternative to white sugar is one of the best changes I've made. Lord knows, I'm not giving up sweets if I can help it. Using Yacon syrup is a good way to make a single but important effort. Did that make sense? I hope so!

I will suggest to fellow healthy minded people that if you take one part of your daily diet that costs you the most calories from sugar, then use Yacon (or some other sweetener alternative) instead.

Peace
--Free

DISCLOSURE:
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Food and Choices

Finally, I've lost enough weight that I feel comfortable again in my clothes. I'm wearing pants that fit a little closer and tops that aren't made to hide things. My clothing choices really marked my journey from the prednisone poundage to the return to a more normal size for me. I didn't realize this until recently when I was tossing old clothes.

The first clothing milestone was when I went from wearing loose pants to prevent chafing to some that were less loose but didn't hug any curves. My tops went from extremely baggy sweater-types to still-baggy but not as thick. I think it was when I was able to see the slimming effects of leotards that I begin to feel like I was making real progress. Before then, any slimming products would just roll up and bunch at the waist and make me feel my blood pressure rise.

My happiest moment was when I was able to wear t-shirts again without feeling like a stuffed sausage. It's so nice now to put on clothes and feel comfortable. No matter what I wore at my heaviest, I always felt like I was bound and bandaged too tight by any fabric.

Now that I am at this point and aiming for my ideal weight, I can focus more on maintaining an intake of good food and nutrition (instead of fighting cravings and feeling guilty when I caved).

Looks sooo good. Except in a pair of jeans...

A lot of my friends and family have commented on my progress. If it helps anyone else, here are some things I've learned on this weight loss journey:

• As adults, we don't have to eat by set rules. Traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner is just that: traditional. I can have a salad for breakfast if that's what I want (and I often do).
• Canned food is underrated. I love smoked oysters, kippers, and clams. Sardines with crackers and olives is a favorite snack. (I have a best friend who likes to eat her fruit with hot sauce & spicy dips.)
• A meal does not have to have the traditional layout of a meat, vegetable and starch. Sometimes, I just have a piece of well-seasoned chicken or fish - or pork chop. I love a good chop.
• I've learned to eat outside my comfort zone. I've tried (and love) lamb. I'm learning to use more seasonings. (Love basil. Not crazy about cilantro.) I'm trying different kinds of breads and cheeses and sauces. Salt is not my go-to seasoning now that I'm finding other flavors.
• When I enjoy cooking a meal, I enjoy eating it. Instead of frying or baking everything, I'm learning new ways to prepare food. Who knew (I didn't) that there are 7 "basic" methods of cooking and even a list of 15 methods? If you want to go wild, you can try many, many more. The other day, I watched Guy Fieri cook some skewered meat between two cast iron skillets, one skillet place on top of the other. Neat.
• Fast food is not going to go away. If I want a burger or fries or tacos from someplace with a neon sign, I have it. I don't want any of that as much as I once did. I think my system has self-detoxed!
• It helps to learn what other (healthy) people are eating. Right now, I'm really interested in Mediterranean food, but it's interesting to search out what's known about the health of other cultures. I'm reading articles about the 10 "healthiest" and such.
• I think that any regional/cultural food can be healthy with some adjustments.
• Instead of eating (or not eating) to look good, I'm eating to live good.

Try it with hot sauce

My little brother and his wife have inspired me with their garden. I'm going to taste my way right through their yard when I see them! They were telling me about the fresh and "old-fashioned" taste of the veggies they've grown. (Hid your green beans, you guys. I'm on my way! LOL)

I want a garden. NOW!

As far as the suggestions, that's just me and my take on it, but everyone is different. You have to do what is "do-able" for you and your lifestyle and health needs. By the way, even if you are "skinny", you still need to eat well for your health. I have a very thin male friend who had a bypass in his mid-40's. Looked as good in a hospital gown as he did in his jeans...

Peace

--Free

Recap: Detox Challenge

Well.

Seeing as I'm too bleary to even remember which day I stopped recapping, I'm just going to tell you how the rest of the detox went.

On whichever day I was supposed to be doing all fruits and veggies - I did. I did it a day early, in fact. Yeah. All that water I tried drinking obviously diluted the best of my brain cells.

Once I got off track (and had to keep looking back at the first post just to remember which day I was on), I decided to just stick with the fruit, veggies and water. I did okay until about 2 this morning. That's when I came wide awake to have a full-on anxiety attack.

I should have done this detox challenge at a better time. I started right when we had visitors coming into town (which meant lots of meals I had to cheat with or miss out on); I'm in the middle of trying to get packed to move; and I'm obviously feeling the stress to the point where my brain is rebelling against being on good behavior.

Oh - and to top all of the other stress going on, I got a jury summons. Really? I'm moving away, people! And, because I have a new doctor who's out on vacation, I get some stand-in who knows nothing about me. He refuses to write a disability excuse. I wish it was his jury I'd be sitting on. I can't keep my own life straight, but I'm supposed to sit in judgement of some other poor soul's fate?

Anyway, here is what I noticed overall about the last days of this challenge:

• I only sensed some increased energy once. Since then, I just feel water-logged (even though I never made my water limit). My fatigue is hitting a high.
• My mind isn't any clearer. The stress of moving may be causing some of that, but the challenge didn't help.
• My skin is a lot less dry, including my lips. Usually, I have to use balm throughout the day to stop chapping. Even my feet (which are dry and rough as Arizona pavement in July) are not as scaly and don't take as much care.
• I peed. Lots. And then lots more. 
• My bowel movements didn't increase or decrease. (But I never did get around to drinking any prune juice.)
• My hair feels great. Like my skin, it's lots less dry. It just feels really soft and moisturized.

I don't know what all of this means. I'm guessing that there is something in coffee that makes my brain work better. There might even be something in it that decreases my sarc symptoms. I say that because, when I decreased my daily coffee intake, I became a little more clumsy and off-balanced than I have been in a while. Again, this all could be due to my stress and anxiety levels. 

Since this challenge didn't go as well as I liked, I plan to do-over once I get settled in my new town and calmed down.

Peace

--Free

Recap: Days 2 - 4 of Detox

To recap of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of my detox challenge, here is how those days went and what I consumed:

Sunday (Day2)

I didn't feel as stressed because I knew I'd be able to eat something (minus breads). My energy level seemed good and I wonder if that's because of the water from Saturday. I did have to pee a lot throughout the day - but not as much as I thought I would. My other bathroom use didn't increase.

One of my hopes in detoxing is, that by clearing my body of toxins, I will be more clearheaded. My illness messes with my brain and I'm praying that cleansing my body will give some relief from the fuzzy-headedness and the frustration that causes.

• Coffee with flavored cream (at 6:30 a.m.)
• 40 oz water
• Snack of 1 oz plain goat cheese, 5 Triscut crackers, three pieces of pickled garlic, 1.5 oz of beef summer sausage (lunch at 3 p.m.)
• 16 oz water (while cleaning and packing)
• Coffee with flavored cream (around 4 p.m. because dinner isn't until 7 p.m.)
• 1 cup collard gumbo (shrimp, tomato paste/sauce, okra), 1 small piece of hot water cornbread and  fried chicken wing  (Yeah, I said "fried"! It was a family dinner, sorry.)
• 16 oz water before bed.

I almost think I ate too much food today. Even though I ate a very small amount at dinner and skipped the candied yams and sauce, I felt too full afterwards. I almost didn't have room for the last serving of water. I was really disappointed that this is the second day of not making the full 80 ounces of water.

Sausage, cheese, garlic, crackers

"Grammy's Gumbo"
Usually made with pork chops, not shrimp

Monday (Day 3)

Didn't feel as energized this morning. Probably has to do with feeling too full at bedtime. Noticed that my urine was super clear every time I got up to use the bathroom during the night - which was about four times! Maybe that's why I was a little groggy. Told myself that I am not going to eat as much today. Thinking I will stick to cheese and cracker snacks, and maybe a little bit of sausage.

• Coffee with flavored cream at 7 a.m. (but not as much because of feeling so full already)
• 16 oz water while running errands
• Goat cheese, sausage, crackers and garlic for lunch around 1:30
• 2 servings of water 16 oz each while making calls and folding clothes (feeling a little headache-y and tired, but not hungry)
• 1/2 cup leftover gumbo at 4 p.m. (made my headache go away, but I'm still really tired)
• About 1/2 ounce (3 slices) sausage and 8 oz of water for dinner at about 7 p.m.
• Cup of chai tea at bedtime 

Felt really super tired all afternoon, but at least I wasn't running to the bathroom every 10 minutes. I did have to pee about every hour. And, yes, I realize that I am falling short on the water intake.

Tuesday (Day 4)

I woke up still feeling a little groggy and un-rested. This could be an effect of the water cleaning some of the toxins from my body. I hope.

One positive: my skin doesn't feel as dry as it usually does. This apartment holds heat like a roasting oven, so most nights I can almost feel the moisture being sucked out of my skin. The air is still super dry in here, but I don't feel the need to roll out of bed reaching for my body lotion.

Some of our out of town guests are leaving tonight so someone had the really good/really bad idea of meeting at Lucky Wishbone for a family lunch. (Any time family comes to visit there are 2 places on their list to eat: Lucky Wishbone and Arctic Roadrunner - both are burger joints.) I'm going to attempt to remove the bread from my Jumbo Burger, but I'm probably going to cheat.

• Coffee. Yes, with flavored cream. Around 6:30 a.m. I'm so tired, I wanted to chew grounds right from the can.
• 2 16 oz bottles of water, back to back, between 11:00 and 12:00

Here is where I feel off the wagon y'all: today we hit Lucky Wishbone. I stuck with just a burger (bread included) and then downed another bottle of water (about 12 oz). I babysat DJ from noon til about 4, then the whole family spent the rest of the day together. I just got home and it's almost 11 p.m.

The nieces and nephews (and my sis)

This kid. 'Nuff said.

We had a family seafood night

I stuck to crab and shrimp

And salad

I feel like I'm going to have to do much better with my water intake. This is ridiculous. How hard should it be to drink plenty of water? Apparently, I'm struggling with it. (I even went off and left my water bottle at the fam's tonight.) I am promising myself tonight that I'm going to do much better with the challenge in the next few days.

I'm still fatigued. If I'm not feeling better by the end of the week, I'm going to have to check with the docs to see what is going on. I don't need to get sick when I'm trying to get moved... My brain is a bit fuzzy, so I hope that I kept all this straight. I tried drafting a post for each of these past few days, but had to edit here and there. For now, goodnight.

Peace
--Free

My Favorite Homemade Eats

Make all the "black folk" jokes you want, but I love chicken. I like it smothered in vegetables or gravy or barbecue sauce. I like it fried, dyed and laid to the side. So there.

Of course, I don't always do chicken the way my mama use to. Most of the time (in the past couple of years), I've tried to do healthier versions of all my mama's recipes.

First up, this is the Baked Chicken recipe I use to replace the fried chicken I grew up eating.

• Season a pot of cold water with your fave spices. I use 1 bouillon cube to every 5 cups water and a dash of tenderizer. Set to medium to medium-high heat.
• Put the chicken (breasts, wings, or legs - whatever) to cook in the water. I leave the skin on, but you can remove it. ~shrug~
• While chicken is cooking, mix in a small dish some olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and a drop of liquid smoke. You want enough of a mixture to dab all the pieces of chicken.
• When the chicken is fully cooked through, remove from water & drain. Let the pieces cool enough to handle.
• Heat your oven to between 300 to 375 degrees (depends on how warm or cool your oven runs). Place a wire grill over a baking pan that's deep enough to add water to the bottom.
• Lift the skin of the chicken and dab on the seasonings mixture (I use my fingers). Make sure to season all sides of the pieces.
• Bake the chicken the crispiness you like. I like mine to be really crispy, so I will sometimes set the oven to broil for the last minute of cooking.

I use water in the bottom of the baking pan to catch the drippings. It stops the drippings from smoking up your oven, and it makes the pan easier to clean.

This is my Mixed Greens Concoction, which is so simple, I can't even call it a "recipe":

• Kale 
• Turnips
• Collards
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Ginger (cut real thin) 
• Yellow, red or sweet onion (cut thin)
• Green onions
• Tomatoes (if you have them, because they are so good for you)

I put about an inch of water and a drop of olive oil into a pot with one dash of salt or a pinch of a chicken bouillon cube.

I start the water boiling and put in first the collards, turnips and ginger. Cover the pot and turn down to medium heat. (BTW: I like the tiny bit of heat ginger gives because I avoid spicy foods)

When the collards and turnip greens are starting to get soft, I add the broccoli - just laying it on top of the other greens without stirring. When the broccoli starts getting that bright green color, I add the kale on top of the broccoli - no stirring.

Let this cook for just a  couple of minutes. Turn off and remove the pot but keep the lid in place.

Slice your onions and tomatoes, sprinkle them with pepper and a little salt (or Mrs. Dash) and set aside.

Here is where you can deviate. Sometimes, I like to add the spinach on top of the rest of the greens and replace the lid while I slice my onions and tomatoes. Sometimes, I like to not steam the spinach and just add them to the top of the cooked greens on my plate.

Whichever way you choose to do your spinach is fine. When I have everything on my plate, I like to eat the greens with little bits of the onions and tomatoes. Sometimes, I will even drizzle a little more olive oil over the whole mess of greens! (By the way, I've done this "Greens Recipe" as a meal in itself - no meat. You'd be surprised as how filling and hydrating this is."

I use this next recipe to satisfy my burger cravings. There's no meat in it, but the dressing added to the veggies and bread gives me a sense of satisfaction. It's a simple veggie wrap:

• Get whatever type of bread you want as your wrap. I love using a plain piece of sourdough sandwich bread that I flatten with a can or rolling pin. (Okay, sometimes, I use two pieces, flattened together.) You can also use a tortilla, a pita pocket type bread - whatever.
• Cut up your favorite veggies. I use strips of green, yellow and red bell peppers; onions, spinach, and whatever else I have around. (Recently, I used some kale and collard greens. The kale wasn't bad, but the collards were a little tough. Still good though!)
• In a bowl, mix together some mayo and some french dressing with a drop of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Dump your veggies in the bowl and mix well so they are coated in dressing. 
• Arrange your bread (or whatever) on a paper towel with one end of the towel hanging beyond. Add your veggie/dressing mix and tuck your bread closed with the paper towel covering the bottom to stop drips.
• Dig in.

It tastes really good. The tangy dressing flavor can make you forget that you aren't eating any meat. It's pretty filling. I know that it may not be as calorie conservative as other healthy choices, but you are getting your veggies. (I came up with this one after I went to Burger King for one of my beloved Whoppers. I ended up tossing out the meat and I just ate the rest of the sandwich.)

Before I forget, I also still like this recipe for Water Veggies.

Enjoy!

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** The Detox is ON!

 Okay, so I'm not juicing my food so much as liquefying it. 

Because I am closer to being homeless than I am to living the high life, I had to do a lot of research and comparison shopping before I settled on what type of appliance to purchase. Thanks to a really good friend (Hi, Perry), I was gifted with fifty bucks toward the buy. Here are the products I considered (and why I didn't choose any of them):

Magic Bullet - Too plastic, too many parts & pieces, yet not enough power for constant heavy-duty use. (Sounds like I'm talking about a whole other type of "magic", doesn't it!) Besides the lack of power, I really couldn't be bothered with making space for, or keeping track of, all those dang parts. It is cute though.

Magic Bullet $50 - $60 (250 watts)

NutriBullet - Had better wattage at 600, but for that much money, it should. Besides, I read too many reviews about leaks, rusting, cracking and - my pettest of peeves: poor customer service and contact. Also... plastic! I'm not real fond of anything plastic when it comes to using long-term use of anything coming in contact with my food. Pro: comes in a variety of cute colors. Add to cons: too many parts.

NutriBullet around $100

Ninja - I would've have run when I saw the price but I felt too faint to move fast. This baby can go for $100 to $260 and up. I wasn't able to run, but I sure as hell got away fast enough not to notice whether or not this one had color options. I did notice that it packs 1000 watts at the low end model. I don't know about wattage for the higher end ones. At 260 bucks, I don't really care.

Ninja. 1000 watts at the lower end

Vitamix - If I felt faint looking at the price on a Ninja, I damn near puddled right to the floor when I saw the (gasp) $440 tag on this monster.The product service plan of $45 is what I had to spend when I walked in the store. Don't ask about the wattage. For this price level, that bitch would have to run my car before I'd buy it.  For the price, I could hire a personal chef for an eighth of an hour.

Pro: not many parts. They probably cost another arm...

I heard about another blender that runs around playing in the 600-dollar range. I left it playing and kept my ass in the world of the real. I won't even mention that madness. If you pay $600 for anything that doesn't cook, clean or sleep with you at night, you better be friends with Oprah or Bill if you don't want people waiting for you fall on your financial face. Hah!

Annnny-way...

I had fifty bucks, health on my mind, and a need for power. I found this for $40 and spent another $5 for a 2 year repair/replacement warranty:

Farberware 4-speed digital at 800 watts.

Chile, I almost stepped on a woman's foot trying to snatch that bad-boy off the shelf.

Single-serve cup attachment

I'll probably never use it with the blender, but that single-serve cup is perfect for packing with me on my errands.

An 800-watt motor, stainless still facing, and a glass jar. Perfection. (The travel cup is plastic but... whatever.)

The Pros: Easy set-up (once I decided not to bother with the travel cup), not a bunch of pesky pieces to deal with, and it's very sturdy, and powerful but not very loud. LOVE that not-loud part since I have a bitchy upstairs neighbor and a room mate who wastes every hour of the day in front of the living room television set...

The Cons: That freaking travel cup. I couldn't take the hassle of changing out between it and the glass jar.

I like that I don't have to monitor it while it's blending. It has a very cool way of stopping and restarting so as to let the contents settle for better blending. (Did that make sense???) 

The real test, of course, is how well it works. It does a super job. My first blend was one of carrots, kale, collards, spinach, turnip greens....

.... beets, strawberries, blueberries apples, banana and...

... about a cup of store-bought carrot juice I had left from last week.

Yeah. So.

That's a pretty crazy mix, but I'm a pretty crazy chick. I think I just got carried away with tossing in more stuff and watching the colors blend. It was fun until I realized I had 42 ounces of liquefied goodness that might taste like crap. So I squeezed in a little honey. 

The color: amazingly pretty. Sort of a beet-red/Prince-purple look. Gorgeous. Oh, wait - I was thinking of Prince. ~sigggggh~ But the juice was also gorgeous. The taste: deee-lisshus. Really. It was pretty thick, but pulp is what I wanted, which is why I decided on getting a blender instead a juicer. I don't want to pay all that money for produce to just toss out the best (and most nutritious?) part. Besides, I think that fiber won't hurt when it comes to filling me up and (ha ha) emptying me out. (Too much information? Sorry.)

I had 20 ounces to sip for my all-day meal and still have about 20 million ounces (kidding) left for the freezer. I'm going to have to see how freezing affects nutrients...

Anyway, I'll try to update here as I get through the coming weeks. My plan at the moment is to do an all- (or, mostly-) liquid intake for a month as a junk-food detox. Okay, it's really more about vanity. Summer will soon be here and I'd like to have my skin and hair ready for this round-the-clock Alaska sun that allows one to hide NOTHIN. 

Well, off to bed for me. I used up the last of my energy sucking down the rest of my "meal". 

Peace
--Free

(And because I just have  to post a reminder pic of GOALS)

You can do this chica!

Here I Go Again

Almost 3 months into the new year. As a woman who's given up on making resolutions, I am backsliding. I've now resolved to change my dietary habits. Again.

Several years ago, I went on a juicing kick. I drove everyone within 50 feet crazy with the jackhammer sounds of my juicer. I juiced carrots and apples and spinach at 5 in the morning so I'd have my breakfast and lunch ready for work. After work, I dropped keys and jacket and headed for the kitchen to juice carrots and beets and oranges for dinner. Sometime in the evening, I'd juice whatever veggies I could so I'd have something for middle-of-the-night cravings.

I felt better and looked better. I was already about a buck-ten in the weight department, so losing pounds wasn't a goal. Juicing was the best thing that happened to my hair, skin and nails. Even my eyes were brighter. The biggest benefit was that my brain seemed to be on steroids. Good thing because I was working like a field hand at that point in my life.

Juicing lost appeal for me when I got sick of drinking all my nutrition. I'd go out with friends and eat the same things I juiced at home. I justified my love of vodka and O.J. by categorizing the drinks as "electrified  nutrition." Hah. The thing is, when you're already fairly healthy (and young and pretty and thin), you don't appreciate all the benefits of good dietary habits.

Now that I am older and just getting back into shape, I pay lots of attention to all my habits. Walking cutely in high heels used to be the only exercise I needed to stay in shape. These days, if I smell a doughnut, I have to do three miles on a Planet Fitness treadmill. I used to joke about ingesting calories via smell, then I saw this documentary on Netflix the other night.The whole smell-to-calories crap is a thing. Well, damnit.



Thanks to that same documentary, I started thinking again about juicing. And I'm not talking about sucking the soul from someone during a deep kiss. I'm talking about spending money for a decent machine and then stocking up on produce for suck the liquid from.

Of course, when I went on my juicing kick before, I should've eased into and made the process more bearable. I went all out and ate practically no solid food for about two weeks. Let me tell you something about doing that: my insides were so clean, I think my colon squeaked when I went to the bathroom. Maybe that's too much information, but I put it out there as a warning to others. Chewing some fruit and veggies every now and then might've made my life easier. Also, I could have limited my intake. I just went juice-crazy.

This time, I'm going to be held in check by the state of my budget. It's pretty tough to eat healthy, especially here in Alaska where produce can rank right up there with diamonds if you're buying in the winter months. In the summertime, you still have to shop around because shipping costs from out of state is ridiculous and local farmers can get greedy when it comes to their Alaska harvests.

I've learned some lessons from poverty, let me tell you. When I start my juicing this time, I'm going to be buying on-sale produce in bulk and then freezing and storing up what I juice. My goal is not to have the freshest juice. I just want to have more good stuff (fresh or not-so-fresh) going into my body in place of the fresh junk I've been getting. And it's not that I have bad eating habits. I eat fairly healthily, but I know that I'm getting too many additives and second-hand vitamins. I eat salads (with lots of store-bought dressings), I bake-not-fry too many things that come out of the freezer sections of the grocery store, and I cheat too often by drinking coffee in place of having a meal. I've said it before and I'll repeat it from Beyond: I'm never giving up my coffee.

courtesy Etsy

courtesy Tumblr

Yes, indeed.

I remember that when I juiced, I could almost immediately feel a difference in my energy level. What I don't remember (you know, because I was in my early thirties and took everything for granted) is when I noticed a change in my appearance. When I start this time, I will do updates here on the blog. In the meantime, I am on the hunt for a blender that I can afford. I am having severe longings for this one from Amazon. It's affordable. Too bad the shipping rates to Alaska are so ridiculous on Amazon. (Not the first time I've bitched about that.)

If any of you have been thinking about (or already are) juicing, I'll try to share recipes and info as I find them.

Peace
--Free

Ethnicity & Food

Okay, I'm going to piss off a lot of people, but I will go ahead & say it:

Black people (in general & especially) need to eat healthier.

~waiting for hail of stones to stop raining down~

Now that I've gone and put it out there, let me explain what I mean.

Not all black folk eat unhealthily. I know a lot of black (brown, taupe, tan, deep chocolate,etc) people who do watch what they eat and understand why they need to. That said, I also know a LOT of "us" who still use the excuse of "Grandma did" to eat things that are so bad for anyone: lots of pork and "drippings," red meat, salt, salt and salt. I am not joking when I say that I knew an older woman some years back who actually ate salt sandwiches. Did you hear what I said? SALT sandwiches. She would cut up a raw onion, some tomatoes and literally coat this in salt and make a sandwich. Seriously. (She is dead now. Died at around 58 years old.)

My mother was an "old school" foodie - she ate a lot of green stuff, cooked and raw - but she had that salt habit. Salt and pepper were her seasoning staples. She also ate tomato and onion sandwiches. She didn't coat them with salt, but she did use salt.

When babies were born into our family, some of them teethed on pork gristle. Yeah. Kind of gross, but at least there was no salt involved. Yet. (I have one niece who has been a chicken-or-fish-only gal for about 15 years & if I really want to make her ill, I remind her that her teething was done on a pig ear! LOL)

The biggest excuses for a lot of poor eating habits, no matter what your ethnicity is, is: "Mama did it," "It's a black/German/Puerto Rican/Polish/etc thing." Like La Nostra Cosa (hope I didn't mangle that). Yeah, and sometime "Our Thing" will kill your ass. As deadly as it it cool-sounding.

Our family "thing" with food has always been a lot of variety as long as it's battered, buttered, fried or salted. Or all of the above, damnit. I got better about my eating habits as I got older (mostly out of shame), but until I was around 20 and got married, I ate a lot of delicious and bad-for-you food. My first husband was from a country where the food is bland but the people live for-freaking-ever! I'm from Texas. Take a look at what I can tell you about:

Homemade cakes (Pound, Chocolate, Pudding)
Fatback (deep-fried and eaten just like that, drippings poured into vegetables as a seasoning)
Grits, rice and hot cereals (with butter - lots of butter)
Hominy (which is the only "grits" we ate without butter)
Eggs, eggs and eggs (scrambled, sunny-side, runny or hard-cooked - as long as they were salted and sometimes, believe this or not, buttered)
Pork (chops - breaded or not - bacon, skin fried or pickled and funky - aka CHITLINS)
Breads (rolls of all kinds, corn-batter, hoecake, corncake, fried, grilled and sun-cooked)
Greens (always with drippings, salt and a hunk of that damned fatback)

Do you see what I mean about good food & bad habits? It's a joke among black people that we will waste no part of a pig. "From the rooter to the tooter." I mean, seriously, we eat the feet, tails, ears, ass and freaking guts. Ya know. That's not a diet, that's damn near an addiction. I remember the stench that hovered over the kitchen whenever the family sat around cleaning "chitterlings" (my British ex-husband actually called them by the proper name & I damn near laughed my ass into a fit every time he said it. He kind of liked that nasty shit. Ugh!) If the smell of "chitlins" didn't put you off any food until the smell of rotted ass died down, I don't think you can be cured of Pork. You almost couldn't fix chitlins without have the neighborhood knowing. I think the only reason folks eat that mess with so much hot sauce is to give their senses something else to concentrate on while they eat it. I'm sorry, but, damn.

Some food that I heard my parents talk about might not have been bad for the health, but it still just didn't seem right for humans to eat. Let's visualize what "Rocky Mountain Oysters" are, shall we? They are bull's balls. I promise. Apparently, my Grandma Jack just loved her some R.M.O. (What's really nasty is that I hear they have a gelatinous texture. Ewwww!)

But back to my original point. We (meaning anyone who grew up eating unhealthy foods) have got to do better, people.

One of the reasons given for a bad diet (other than the old "Good enough for Mama" excuse) is that "Mama" and her mama & daddy  ate the way they did because of poverty. Okay, a lot of people (especially in this economy) are still feeling impoverished. (And trust me when I say that I can teach you some creative ways to spell "broke.") That's still no excuse not to do what we can. Guess what's free? NOT adding so much salt. NOT adding so much (or any) "drippings." Not cooking everything in a batter or butter or fatty oil.

Guess what else? Not being a diabetic, amputee, kidney patient is cheaper than anything. We can make all the jokes we want about people having "Sugar" (diabetes) and "Salt" (high blood pressure), but that shit isn't even a little funny when it hits home or heart. I know firsthand.

With that little mammy-made rant of mine over, I will say this: I've recently learned that it is possible to do better. And it's not as hard or expensive as we'd like to think and in some ways is cheaper (go price a pound of butter if you don't believe that). It's not easy though. Breaking life-long ways and habits is never easy. Just trying is better than nothing at all.

I recently learned that I can eat my vegetables without curing them in salt. I am having a hard time getting used to eating so many vegetables, but my goal is to eat vegetables as much as I used to eat meat. I'm not giving up on meat (I'd be out of mind to swear off Lucky Wishbone forever!), but I'm not making it a part of every meal as if I can't live without it. I can and of I get any sicker or broker, I will have to.

For Memorial Day, I had a two burgers. One beef patty during the barbecue we had and one Portabello mushroom later when I went back for more. It wasn't bad at all. I consoled myself with the fact that I could have just a thin beef patty but a fat-ass mushroom burger! I think it's partly in the seasonings and partly in the mindset.

As I try new vegetable dishes, I tell myself what my former mother-in-law told me was an old English joke for the newly married virgins: "Just close you eyes and think of England." That never fails to crack me the hell up! I just close my eyes and think of life not on dialysis or in and out of a hospital.

Good eating, everyone. After a couple rough days, I'm having a lucid one so I'm off to work on the book.

Peace
--Free

Chew On This

(Yeah, corny post title, I know, but...)

As you know, I am trying to eat healthier - doing a lot of fresh veggies (juiced & steamed), fruits and good grains. I've even cut out a lot of the meat I have a hot romance with. (I had a dirty dream about Lucky Wishbone's burger & fries last night.)

The reason for my dietary change is that I am not in the best of medical health right now. This Sarcoidosis and the meds are kicking my ass. Also I am vain. Seriously. I don't like having this skimpy hair, fat ass and inability to strut my stuff. Hard to strut in "sensible shoes" - or in any shoes when you're liable to walk into a wall. So what is a chick to do?

Number one, I am trying to follow doc's orders. No smoking (ohmigoodness, that is a pain in my butt), exercising (yeah, yeah, yeah) and, on my own initiative, the food thing. Plus, after the whole Live Below the Line challenge, I feel differently about cramming bogus calories into my mouth. Somehow, it's harder (not impossible, mind you) to enjoy a burger and fries when you realize there are babies who aren't getting good nutrition let alone some crap like greasy beef and potatoes fried in fat. (I am almost petty-pissed that I am so aware.)

Another motivator is that I feel like what I eat is the one thing I can be so totally in charge of. (To a limit. I mean, I'm not eating caviar with my whole grain toast points.) For about the same amount of money that I was spending on my meats and pre-packaged foods - not to mention my sneak visits to Burger King - I can pick up enough greens and rainbow foods to keep me full and feeling better. See, I've made things interesting by thinking in color.  (Screw some Skittles, I got my own thing going on.)  Check out my box of Crayons:

The "Greens" are collards, kale, spinach, peas, cabbage and broccoli. The "Rainbows" are the bananas, apples, oranges, carrots and my beloved mangoes. I'm even starting to get a groove for bell peppers that are not surrounded by ground beef and pasta. (Okay, I still miss "Mama's Texas Spaghetti recipe!) Next week I'm going to experiment with "Earth Tones" of mushrooms and beans. Someone told me about a killer burger made completely with mushrooms and seasonings. And I haven't forgotten my background beige/taupe with the tofu for fun.  Salt is a struggle so I try to be moderate. I love olive oil so that's no biggie.

I can do this. I just have to keep myself interested. I have a strange mind, but I have learned how to play with things to keep myself on track. Some folks claim a method to their madness, I have a plan for my peculiarities. Yes, indeed.

I have to remind myself that there are some hefty-assed vegetarians out there. I know a couple. So, I am watching the fruit - because of the sugar and other, um, reasons. Last night I went to bed full of some peaches and nectarines that my nephew bought me and I woke up a few hours later breaking Jesse Owens' track record to get to the bathroom. Learned something about that fruit: Mess around and eat the wrong thing and you better not take a deep nap. Be in deep shit in a very literal way. (I do put out too much info at times, don't I? Sorry.)

Anyway, I stumbled across an interesting video over on Hulu tonight while I was folding clothes. Really I  only queued it because the title caught my eye and folding clothes bores the snot out of me, but I'm glad I caught the vid. It made me feel like I am doing a good thing for my health. In case you want to check it out, here is the link & it's called "Chow Down."

Enjoy.

Peace
--Free

*Sigh* Cravings

Not loving this whole vegetable juice thing, but I know that it's good for me. I know that because like anything "good for you," this diet sucks chunks. And are my sister & niece being any help? I don't know, let's see what they had for lunch today:

Some nicely seasoned wings from a really good Chinese place up the street.

Oh, and this is while I was downstairs fixing my lunch:

Rabbit food. Rabbit food that takes forever to turn into rabbit juice.

I was feeling pretty evil by the time I finished chopping and blending. Those gals must have forgotten I was an armed woman. Armed but still somewhat sane. I kept my violent tendencies in check & drank my damned juice, but...

This is the look I gave those bitches:

Yeah.

Damnit. Can't smoke, don't want to take up drinking & everything else is either illegal or should be...

This weekend, I'm having a Lucky Wishbone hamburger!

Peace

--Free