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Category Archives: Food and Beverage

On the Ball

04 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Lori Mainiero in Food and Beverage, organization, Purpose Driven Mom Stuff, Specific Product Recommendations

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Tags

ball, canning accessories, cooking tools, herb sicissors, kitchen organization, kitchen shears, kitchen tools, pantry organization, removable labels, spice labels, spice lids, water infuser

I don’t usually do random product recommendations, but I am so taken with four new things recently, that I just have to share them with you.

You already know that I love to can foods. One of my future projects is to create the perfect Paleo Marinara and can up a ton of it. Tomato season will be arriving soon, so this is moving up on the to-do list. In the meantime, I keep looking at the canning supplies of my local stores. And I must say, Ball has some seriously cool new tools! Four of them top my list of all-time favorite kitchen aids.

Ball dissolvable labels. I can’t tell you how many times I have put leftovers in the fridge, mingled among various similar containers, only to forget what’s in each container, subsequently ignoring said containers and emptying them into the trash ten days later. (As I mumble Oh, yeahhhhh, we DID have pot roast last week. Darn!)

Enter these new labels. Cute as a button, real paper stickers that don’t require any special kind of pen. I label everything. Did you hear me??? EV-RY-THING. I have them in the fridge:

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I have them in the pantry:

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I have them in the bathroom:

butter cropped

The coolest part of these labels is that they wash right off! (Even accidentally, so don’t get your jar near water if you want to keep the label!) No scrubbing or special solvents to rid your item of stickiness. They wash right off in the dishwasher. Or under the faucet. It’s pretty cool to watch it dissolve off of the container under a stream of running water.  I think it’s safe to say my OCD loves these things!

Ball Five-Blade Herb Scissors. Holy mother of pearl, if you’ve ever spent ten minutes finely chopping herbs for a single meal, you need these scissors!! They have five blades, so you can chop herbs in jig time. I have been a parsley chopping fool for the past five months. I got these scissors three weeks ago, and my life hasn’t been the same since. Snip, snip…oh, look, all my chopping is done. I have time to have a glass of wine while hubby lights the grill!   These seriously rock!! The first time I used them, I freaked out when the parsley stuck all between the blades, leaving me to wonder how in the heck I was ever going to get all those herbs out of those tiny, sharp spaces. And then I looked at the cool plastic sheath that came with the scissors. There’s a corresponding five-blade grid on the end of the sheath that is used to clean out the scissors. Voila!!! No wasted herbs. Why can’t everything be this easy?

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Ball Herb and Spice Lids. I thought the little quarter-pint jelly jars were too cute when they were sold as a set of four with these regular-size flip-top shaker lids. But now, Ball sells the lids in separate two-packs. I already had a full set of the tiny jars and was using the jar/lid/ring combos for my spices. But fiddling with lids and rings every time I want dried basil or shrimp seasoning gets old. These lids offer four generous holes covered by a secure flip-top. I love their size and color. My spice-cabinet loves their easy stackability.

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Ball Mason Jar Infuser. Okay, so this one really isn’t a kitchen tool. It’s a sippy cup for adults. Whatever. I love it. This infuser fits wide-mouth mason jars and supplies a drinking lid and removable infuser compartment. Just fill the infuser with your favorite herbs, fruits, whatever, and fill the jar with water or tea. Moments later, you have a rockin’ flavored beverage. The infuser is dishwasher safe and BPA-free, for the win!

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So there it is, folks: my love of all things Ball. Green rocks!

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Why No Wheat?

14 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by Lori Mainiero in Food and Beverage, harmful ingredients, Healthy Living, lifestyle, medical issues, paleo, Purpose Driven Mom Stuff, reporting on progress, The Body at Work

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

diabetes, glycemic index, Grain Brain, no grains, paleo, pre-diabetic, wheat, Wheat Belly

I had the “wheat-free” conversation with two friends recently, which prompted me to write this post.  Over the course of the last year and a half whenever I tell someone that I try to follow the Paleo lifestyle for eating, they always ask why I don’t eat grains.  I suppose sugar is a no-brainer for most people, as it was for me, but I didn’t always have a ready answer on the grain part.  I had only vague “grains are anti-nutrients” statements that I could not support with any memorable scientific notes.  Not being one to try to force people to my way of thinking, I’d shrug and let it go.  What’s right for me isn’t necessarily right for someone else.  Hadn’t I learned that already in my own household?

Last autumn when my husband was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic I read through the literature his doctor sent home with him.  It recommended low-fat foods, fruits, vegetables and lots of whole grains.  Ugh.  But I nearly lost it when the literature encouraged diet soft drinks and sugar-free candy.  ENCOURAGED!!!   I read the absurdities out loud and then tossed the literature across the table.

“Will you help me eat right?” my husband asked.

“I don’t agree with that crap,” I said, pointing to the literature endorsed by the American Diabetes Association. “I can’t even explain to you exactly why I don’t agree with it, but I can’t stomach the idea of medical professionals telling people whole grains and Aspartame are good for you.”

“Then we’ll throw those papers away.  Will you help me eat right?” he asked again.

How could I say no?  He was placing more trust in me than in his doctor, and I wasn’t about to let him down.  I jumped back on my Paleo bandwagon with both feet.  Dom immediately cut out grains and sugars.  His blood sugar, which we tested daily, normalized at once and over the course of the next three months he lost 20 pounds.  Even better than those awesome health benefits, we were enjoying cooking dinner together almost every night and sharing lunch at home during the workdays.  I decided to make it my mission to find out why this grain-free life was treating us so kindly.

Two of the books I have read in my quest are Grain Brain and Wheat Belly, both written by physicians and chock-full of science.  Admittedly, I sometimes found myself zoning out from all the scientific references, but two things caught my attention and held it: 1) Both doctors referenced cases of various illness and disorders which other doctors could not specifically diagnose – all alleviated with the elimination of grain from the diet; and 2) the scientific trials referenced in both books included tens of thousands of individuals – large scale research.  Conversely, I overheard our local news recently touting a health study in which 200 individuals participated.  Wow…a whole 200 people?  Please.

Even though I had already given up wheat and other grains, these books reinforced my resolve to avoid them.  Some basic facts that strengthened my understanding are:

  • It’s not my great-great-grandmother’s wheat.  The wheat we eat today has been so genetically modified in order to produce larger crops and greater profitability that it no longer resembles the wheat of our ancestors, and it wreaks havoc on the body in ways that ancient grains simply did not.
  • The inclusion of grains as the basis of our food pyramid (not to mention the sheer proportion of grains compared to other foods in our “recommended daily nutrition”) is not based on any scientific evidence.  It was pretty much decided by a group of politicians in the 70’s (who were likely trying to support corporate agriculture) and simply never challenged.
  • Genetically engineered wheat (roughly 99% of all wheat world-wide) can not survive in a natural environment.  Originally created to produce higher yields in an effort to offset world hunger, these grains were propelled into our food supply without any studies on their health effects.
  • From a blood glucose standpoint, a slice of whole wheat bread whacks out your blood sugar more than a Snickers bar.  (NOT that I am advocating you dine on Snickers!)  To be precise, a Snickers bar has a glycemic index (GI) of 49.  A slice of whole wheat bread has an average GI of 71.  This information alone makes me furious that the ADA literature I referred to earlier actually promoted wheat products and whole grains for people wanting to manage diabetes.  I guess I should just be happy that they didn’t advise we have a Snickers bar with our diet soda.

I looked at the American Diabetes Association’s website explanation of GI on various foods.  They list the GI of a piece of whole wheat bread as “medium GI (56-69)” while stating white bread has a “high GI (70+).” Conversely, according to the Harvard Medical School, whole wheat bread averages a GI of 71, the very same as white bread.  Surprising to most, a “healthy” bowl of instant oatmeal averages a GI of 83.  I looked extensively at various groups’ food GI charts and came to my own conclusion:  given the extensive varieties of food products available to us in the stores, the data pretty much can be expressed in any light to support any claim.  But I have to marvel at the fact that a whopping 79 million people in the U.S. are “pre-diabetic.”  From my standpoint, it’s easy to see why.

Okay, so I gave up bread (and oatmeal and crackers and cereal and donuts and… you get the picture).  Wanna know what else I gave up?  My ever-growing list includes joint pain, cramps, blemishes and skin oddities.  Dom gave up antacids entirely.  Just a little slip (which we made on two separate weekends) brings back symptoms we would have otherwise ignored in our former selves.  So many health inconveniences were just accepted as a part of life and aging.  But the elimination of wheat (and likely sugar too) has proven that life and aging can be so much better than we had been trained to accept!

So, what do I eat?  Well, lots of eggs, uncured meats, cheeses, whole milk (I’m “paleo plus dairy” 🙂 ) fruits, nuts and vegetables.  We drink red wine with dinner.  No sugars, no starches.  I rely on sweet potatoes for an indulgent carb boost and paleo “treats” for my occasional sweet tooth.  (See Living Healthy with Chocolate and PaleOMG for some awesome treat recipes!)  I don’t worry about calories, fat or cholesterol for many of the reasons cited in the two books referenced above.

And no, quitting wheat cold-turkey was not super-easy.  I actually did it three times before it stuck.  This last time, with Dominic’s health at stake and armed with much more information, I walked away from wheat and didn’t look back.  But I know how hard it can be… after all, I made an Italian give up pasta.

I’m no doctor and I don’t pretend to be.  I don’t know your personal situation and cannot guarantee any results for anyone, including myself.  But if you’re dealing with an ailment no one can identify, or you’re simply just wishing you could feel better, try eliminating wheat and grain from your diet.  Give it four weeks and see how you feel.  It may work for you; it may not.  I’m betting that it will.

I found a quote on Facebook the other day that stated, “Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it.”  (Credit: Heather Morgan, MS, NLC.)  I have learned that I’m a fighter.  How ’bout you?

I wish you health and peace.

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Where Did I Go Wrong??

03 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by Lori Mainiero in Food and Beverage, harmful ingredients, medical issues, Parenting, Purpose Driven Mom Stuff, The Body at Work

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aspartame, headache, wrigley's gum

That’s a rhetorical question, of course. I know exactly where I went wrong.  No need to rub it in.

It all started a little over a week ago when Victoria popped a piece of Juicy Fruit gum in her mouth.  Wow…Juicy Fruit.  I used to LOVE that gum when I was little.  My immediate reaction, though, was “That’s not a gum I approve, you know.”  Oh, she knows. My comment made little difference as she smacked away on it and tucked the remaining pack back into her purse.  I reasoned to myself that a stick of Juicy Fruit was certainly not the end of the world, high fructose corn syrup be damned.

Fast forward to last night at the grocery store, where as I am sliding my debit card back into my purse, Victoria is slapping not one but TWO packs of Doublemint gum on the counter behind me, cash in hand.

“What’s in that gum?” I ask.  She shrugs and emphasizes the fact that she’s buying this contraband with her own money.  Fair enough, I reason. I try to give my kids freedom in spending their own money while encouraging them to make smart choices along the way.  How else will they learn, right?

I pick up one of the packs and flip it over to the ingredients list. Corn syrup, no surprise.  Guar gum, gum base, yadayadayada.  Holy crap: Aspertame.  Acesulfame K!  BHT!!  I feel my own head exploding as I announce the evil ingredients.  “Vic!!  This stuff is horrible!!”

“I’m not going to chew a whole pack in a day, Mom!” she protests.

“No,” I reply, “you’re going to poison yourself a little at a time over the course of the next week, rendering your entire nervous system defenseless against the tiny, steady onslaught of toxins.  My God, you might as well start drinking Diet Coke!  I mean, really, what if you want to have children when you’re grown up?  Is that pack of gum worth ruining your chances before you’re even old enough to want them?!”

Yep. There it was.  Did you see it?  I became THAT mother.  I didn’t say anything I don’t believe, but I said it in a way that I can’t stand, and worse, in front of people who don’t understand.  I could feel the eyes of the cashier upon me as Dom bagged up my slew of organic, unprocessed, non-GMO groceries.  I know she was thinking, “Oh, poor kid!”

Truthfully, though, for reasons I couldn’t readily explain to anyone, I felt like a dagger had been driven through my heart.  Aspartame and BHT were two of the first ingredients I identified as dangerous back in 2010.  Everyone understood their harmful effects.  Didn’t they?  Or had the passage of time and priority weakened our commitment to safe and healthy eating?

Our commitment.  Was it really ours?  Or was it just mine, forced on my family because 8 and 9-year olds don’t have as much buying power as (the now) 12 and 13-year olds?  It was a really low moment for me.

In the car on the way home I tried to reiterate to Victoria what Aspartame and BHT do inside the body.  I ran a short litany of side-effects.  At the mention of headaches, light bulbs switched on for both of us.  Vic had been having unexplained headaches for about the past week, complaining at least every other day.  We had estimated causes to be the change in weather, change in hormones, not enough sleep.  It didn’t occur to me to ask, “Have you chewed any crappy gum lately?”  It’s not labeled as sugar-free, because there is corn syrup in it, so I would have never guessed that Wrigley’s made its gum with the artificial sweetener Aspartame.  But now we know.

Part of me feels that she’s still young enough for me to control what she has access to.  And I do not mean to give that up entirely, lest you think I’m okay with her touring crack-houses as a hobby.  But another part of me feels that she has to learn some things on her own.  She has to be allowed to make choices, even those that I don’t agree with.  My part in this stage of her life is to keep her alive and safe and make sure she can match the effect to its cause in any circumstance and learn from the experience.

I just pray that I have the grace to not be such a jerk about it.

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Here But There

25 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by Lori Mainiero in Food and Beverage, Healthy Living, lifestyle, paleo, Purpose Driven Mom Stuff, reporting on progress

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

paleo, Recipes

Sorry for being  MIA again.  I haven’t been able to complete a blog post for what, four months now? I’ll start one and then it just sort of fizzles.  I think I have writer’s block.  It’s showing up in other areas of my life, too.  Time to banish the demons.  😉  I once read that a blogger should post something every day, even if it’s crap writing.  I just can’t make you suffer through EVERYTHING in my head, so I (obviously) haven’t subscribed to that idea.  Maybe I should.  Be warned.  (Footnote: after finishing this post and re-reading it, I think I’m already testing the theory. My apologies.)

The Hubster and I are back on the Paleo Wagon in a much more committed way.  It’s been pretty easy this time around, and we are already feeling better as a result.  Hubs is dropping pounds and I can already tell that food is in control of that crappy pain in my right elbow.  My pantry is shaping up nicely and I have found several new blogs to stalk.  Not all of the blogs are strictly paleo/primal, though many are.  I likely will not turn PDM into a paleo blog, but I just have to share some of the awesome sites I have been stalking.  Check ‘em out:

PaleoHacks  I just registered for PaleoCon, a free week-long e-seminar that starts Monday.  Paleo pros will share information, research, exercise and recipes.   Eeep!!  As I read up on PaleoCon, I noted that one of the speakers, John Durant, reminded me an awful lot of the mainstream media image of Jesus.  And then I saw that his topic in the conference is about (roughly interpreted by me) the biblical aspects of paleo.  Too funny!!  Bring it on, John!

Crackers on the Couch I found and fell in love with Brooke’s recipe for mushroom broth, which we now cannot live without. 

Edible Harmony  Denise rocks some “real food” recipes!!  Shortly after I canned an army’s supply of sugary pumpkin butter, I found her paleo pumpkin butter recipe. 

Paleo Spirit  On her “About” page, Lea states, “When I realized that ‘Paleo’ could mean much more than just diet and exercise, I was hooked. I embrace the ideal of pursuing health and fulfillment through simple, time-tested strategies and apply them to my life as a woman, a wife, a mother, and a Christian.”  I heart her.

Crazy Sexy Wellness  Kris is a ten-year Stage 4 cancer survivor with a wealth of knowledge and experience.  She has some great whole-food for your whole-life stuff on her blog. 

PaleOMG  Juli calls it food porn.  It is.  Seriously, as my friend Kim says, Oh-Em-to the double-Gee!!  This is usually the first place I go when I’m brave enough to try something new.  Or when I want sweet cheats.

Paleo Cupboard If you’re in the mood for Cajun Shrimp and Grits, give this a try!  After a stressful week of questionable eating, this was the first meal that actually satisfied me.  That shrimp spice recipe?  Ohhhhhhh yyyyyyeaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. 

Everyday Paleo  Sarah was one of the first paleo bloggers I started following, way back when my quest for natural sun tolerance led me to try paleo.  And since we are tamale lovers, I cannot wait to try her brother’s paleo tamale recipe. 

Multiply Delicious is home to my favorite herb cracker recipe. 

Elaina at The Rising Spoon saved me several dead presidents this fall with her pumpkin pie spice recipe.  She’s also trying to get me to put butter in my coffee.  Hmmmmmmm…

So there you have it… a smattering of the places I’ve been hanging out lately.  You should visit them too.  I’m sure you’ll find something you like!

Late night edit to today’s post: I was browsing the Paleo Digest on my new computer (found in the Microsoft Store for Windows 8 – love it but don’t know much about it…anyhoo) when I stumbled upon a site I am going to haunt for the long term…Living Healthy With Chocolate.  Basically, imagine something you like with chocolate in it, and I’m pretty sure Adriana has already made it Paleo!  Magnifico!!!!!

 

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And Now We Juice

02 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by Lori Mainiero in Food and Beverage, harmful ingredients, Purpose Driven Mom Stuff

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Tags

green lemonade, homemade tomato juice, juicing, vegetables

A couple of months ago my parents introduced us to juicing.  Mom and Dad were experimenting with juice recipes and happily sharing their discoveries.  A few days before my own introduction, they showed my husband the wonders of the juice machine and enthusiastically gave him a glass full of some celery concoction.  Dom is NOT a celery fan by any stretch of the imagination, so when he left my parents’ house that afternoon, he was not sold on the idea of juicing.  At all.

By the time I stopped by their house later in the week, Mom had found a website of promising juice recipes and had me pick one.  I chose Green Lemonade because I liked all the ingredients in the juice: apples, lemon, kale, cucumber, and spinach.  Mom juiced it up, and I drank it down.  I loved it.

I loved it so much that I came home to Dom and barked all night long about how awesome that juice was. Dom eyed me warily, since his juice experience had not been as rapturous as my own.  I had to explain to him that the juice he tried had celery in it, and Mom didn’t know he abhorred celery, so future juices could definitely be tailored more to his taste.  “Besides,” I added, “we could make you fresh tomato juice in the mornings.  How cool would that be?”

Earlier in the spring, Dom had marked tomato juice off of my grocery list.  Confused as to why he would voluntarily omit his favorite breakfast item from the list, I pressed him for answers.  He said he had done his own research on BPA and decided to nix the plastic additive on his own.  If you’ve followed the blog for long, you have witnessed a slow progression of understanding on The Hubster’s part.  He battles me until he researches on his own, and then quietly comes around.  It can be a maddening wait, but the ultimate validation is totally worth it.   Apparently, the idea of making our own tomato juice was a winner, because 48 hours later we were the proud owners of a brand new juicer.

We loaded up on fruits and veg and headed home to make our own juices.  I first made the Green Lemonade, which he liked, and I promised to find a good tomato juice recipe that resembled a spicy V8.  (By the way, if you are into juicing, JuiceRecipes.com is a great site that allows you to select the ingredients you have on hand, and it generates a list of recipes you can make.  It’s been a lifesaver for me when I’m staring into the fridge with that “duh” look on my face.)

Eventually I found a tomato juice recipe on someone else’s site that promised to taste just like V8, so I washed up all the appropriate vegetables the night before and had them waiting for breakfast.  The next morning I juiced them all up into this really unattractive brown beverage.  I smelled it.  It did nothing for me.  I handed it to Dom.

“This is just like V8?” he asked skeptically.

“Supposedly.  Taste it.”

“You’re not drinking any?”

“Nah.  You go ahead.” I watched him drink half of it, squint, stick out his tongue and shake his head.  I eyed the half-full glass.  “That’s three carrots, two tomatoes, half a cucumber, a cup of broccoli and some garlic left in that glass.  You done?” I asked him.  He made another disgusted face and tossed the rest of it down his throat.  He looked like he had just swallowed motor oil.    I felt bad that our tomato juice was such a horrific failure.

He kissed me goodbye and headed out the door, saying over his shoulder, “Lose that recipe.  Please.”

I’ve had some practice with juicing since then, and I wonder if I could have saved that nasty recipe with a beet.  Beets overpower everything else, and they’re sweet.  Plus, who doesn’t mind a pretty purple beverage?  It might have at least saved the taste.  I’m on the verge of purchasing a recipe book, with hopes that it lives up to its promises.  But first I’m going to the kitchen to juice up some beets and sweet potatoes from yesterday’s Farmer’s Market.  Yum.

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Organic Coffee Right Here… Who Knew?

12 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by Lori Mainiero in coffee, Food and Beverage, Purpose Driven Mom Stuff

≈ 1 Comment

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you may recall my prior experiences with organic coffee.  The coffee itself was okay, but nothing to write home about.  The side effect for me was that after a week or so of drinking it, I was unable to tolerate any desserts.  The first bite would taste fine on impact, but would turn bitter within the first three chews.  Aside from being a bit disconcerting, it was a great deterrent to eating sweets.  I just didn’t think that the coffee was all that delectable, and with the extra unexpected side effect, decided it also wasn’t worth the money.

And so it was two weeks ago that I ventured – rather unenthusiastically – down the coffee aisle at my local Drug Emporium/Vitamins Plus, where I stopped in front of a line of beautiful blue bags of organic coffees with familiar looking pictures on them…bayous and cypress trees, nonetheless.

Organic coffee with Louisiana flair…could it really be????

Now, I have to impart a startling fact about myself here.  I am not a real good Louisiana coffee drinker.  I love coffee, don’t get me wrong, but Starbucks Blonde Roast is more my line. I like my tea very strong, and my coffee…well, not so strong.  What can I say?  I’m an enigma.  😉  I leave the dark-roast, chicory, down-home, French Quarter-style coffee drinking to my dad, who could easily stand a spoon in his coffee cup.  He complains that the coffee I brew is “for pansies.”  Admittedly, he’s right.

So in keeping with my own taste I examined each blue bag of Louisiana Roasting Company organic fair-trade coffee to try to find a mellow, not so “Louisiana chicory” blend.  And I found one that sounded pretty darn good.  Magnolia Morning.  What could possibly be more appropriate for a Saturday on the back patio of my North Louisiana home, I ask you?

And the answer to that is, of course, not a darn thing!  Because I brewed it this morning and proceeded to enjoy not one, but THREE cups of the most magnificent, smooth, great-tasting coffee I have ever had.  No lie.  But that’s not even the amazing part.

Although I am usually an optimist, this venture into organic, good-for-you and good-for-the-earth foods has turned me into a bit of a cynic, what with all the so-called family farms that supply organic foods, and our nation’s lean toward slapping a clean label on anything cheap and easy.  So I stood there, amazed by my first sips of this coffee, and found myself scoffing that this “Louisiana” roast was probably made in Indonesia or some other such place that had no ties whatsoever to my locality.  I braced myself as I flipped the bag over to read where it was actually produced.

OH MY HOLY GOODNESS – my eyes landed first on the zip code: 71107. All.  Too. Familiar.  And then the city…SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA.

Louisiana Roasting Company is located right here in my hometown?  Are you freakin’ KIDDING me??????  HOW HAVE I NOT KNOWN THIS???

By sitting my butt in the line at Starbucks, that’s how.

So I got online and stalked them for an evening, reading everything I could about why they are here and how they came to roast these coffees that Cajuns can call their own.   I suppose there are worse things than an overly enthusiastic customer who happens to be so local she could show up in their parking lot.  I’d like to ask them if they ever allow customers to tour their facility.  They have the chance to reinstate my faith in the community of organic producers.  Know what made me like them even more?  Their decaf is made so by water processing…no chemicals.  Peeps after my own heart, I tell ya.

If nothing else, I am emailing the coffee company to tell them two things: 1) I am in love with their coffee – like, I want it by the case-load, and 2) that I hope and pray they stay here, keep producing this awesome Louisiana brew, and remain true to their mission of making delicious, organic, fair-trade coffees available to the public.

I’m making a trip back to Drug Emporium to purchase a pound of coffee for my dad. I’ll get him the French Quarter Organic Coffee House Blend, noted in the description as a “bold blend.”  That ought to be right up his Café-du-Monde-lovin’ alley.

Louisiana Roasting Company sells locally at Drug Emporium (not sure where else in Shreveport yet) and some sweet spots in Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and California.  They also sell all of their coffees online, for those of you who might be interested in their various coffee lines that are particular to the east and west coasts as well as our dear Cajun Country.  Check ‘em out.  Let me know what you think.  🙂

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Helloooo, July! It’s Sooooooo Good to See You!

04 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by Lori Mainiero in Food and Beverage, Healthy Living, lifestyle, medical issues, Parenting, reporting on progress, The Body at Work, The Bright Side

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Greetings from the road to recovery!  We have actual, reportable progress on so many of my most stressful issues that I just gotta share…

First, I am finally healed from my first tumble.  The doc determined that I did not fracture my elbow and he downgraded me to a sprain, which made me very happy.  Unfortunately, that news was not even twelve hours old when I fell AGAIN right at three weeks ago.  Despite bruised ribs, a gashed up knee and a face that made me look like a volunteer punching bag, I am finally healing – again.  Only in the last week have I actually felt like myself.  I accomplished tasks at work (yay!), cooked dinner, and even did a little more packing.  Oh, and I managed to sneeze without feeling like my ribs would be blown to the four corners of the earth.  For the win, right?

Next, while I was laid up in bed whining over my wounds and snorting Lortab (not really…well, maybe…) we got an offer on our house.  Which, of course, we accepted.   Which means we sold our house.  Which means that we have to get ready to get the hell out of Dodge…for real now.  Aaaaaaaaand, we closed on our construction loan and broke ground on the new house.  Next we move in with my parents.  (And their world will never be the same…)

On the Food Front, I have to thank you all for your support and wonderful comments with regard to me changing our diets for Aaron’s benefit.  It has not been an easy change, and we have had several nights that tried everyone’s patience at the dinner table.  But Aaron is a trooper, and even though he abhorred many of the things we made him try he DID try them, and even found some new things that he likes.  I had to throw in one or two cheat days to keep everyone sane and chugging along with me, but that one night of sundaes and DQ Blizzards was worth the tummy aches we all had the next day, if for nothing more than strengthening our morale (as well as our resolve!)  We are tweaking Paleo to work for us, and in the end I think that we will each have a better ability to make proper decisions about our own nutrition.  The kids have really embraced all this change better than I imagined they would, and I am so grateful to have such earnest learners, even when they are begging me relentlessly for Southern Maid donuts.

Finally, I think the biggest change is once again happening within me.  I’ve learned that falling down is easy (too easy, thankyouverymuch!) but getting up is where you grow and learn.  I learned am learning to slow down – to not rush through these days of change and uncertainty, but rather to embrace them and try to appreciate something different about each day.  Last week as I walked across the parking lot, realizing that it feels so damn good to be “me” again, I found myself hurrying.  And then I realized that hurrying is exactly how I got injured in the first place.  I will make a conscious effort to slow down, physically and mentally.  Because as stressful as I know these days ahead may be, I don’t want to miss a single thing about these events and the opportunity to see my family through them safely.

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Paleo Progress

03 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by Lori Mainiero in Food and Beverage, Grocery Shopping, harmful ingredients, lifestyle, paleo, reporting on progress, The Bright Side

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grocery shopping, paleo, progress

You’re probably wondering how this whole putting-my-kids-on-paleo thing is working out.  It does, after all, have the potential to land me flat on my face, or at the very least, my cavewoman butt.

I didn’t want to start them out on paleo before school ended, because I had no clue what to put in their lunchboxes and decided that three more days of PB&J sandwiches wasn’t going to kill us.  So school ended on Wednesday, and then we found our fridge and pantry pretty bare of essential ingredients.  With payday and a resulting grocery trip looming on the horizon, I decided to hold off a couple more days before turning this dietary apple-cart upside down on the weekend.

So, yeah, we are officially on Day Two.  Four hours ago, my family completely hated me.  Four hours ago, we were also standing in the middle of WalMart while foods we used to buy with reckless abandon taunted us from their shelves.  Who wouldn’t be hating during that?!

But let’s back up a bit.  Yesterday we made our first ever paleo pancakes, which ironically got two thumbs up from the Hubster.  The kids did not share his enthusiasm for the pancakes.  They were a messy pain to cook, so my enthusiasm was waning before I ever tasted them.  But they ended up being the kind of pancakes I can’t get enough of.  If you’ve ever had the harvest grain (nut and grain?) pancakes at IHOP, these are similar in texture.  And totally paleo.  The kids ate bacon as they explained to me that the pancakes just didn’t turn them on.  So be it.  Not everything is going to be a win right out of the gate.

Lunch was a little more enjoyable for everyone.  We had bunless hot dogs and homemade tamale chili.  I can’t get my family to buy into the best-for-you hotdogs at the health food store, but everyone tolerates Hebrew National fairly well.  Let me state that nothing about a hotdog makes it paleo.  There are several ingredients that make me cringe.  For now, though, it’s a means to an end, and it represented our first everyone-seems-happy-eating-the-same-thing meal.

Dinner was hosted by my Mom, who rocks steamed squash like nobody’s business!  Breakfast this morning was fried eggs (but I think I slept through it) and A LOT of complaining and whining that everyone was hungry and all they really wanted was a bowl of cereal.  I was the Wicked Witch of the Kitchen, starving my subjects with grain withdrawals.  Waaa, waaa, waaa.

It was with these attitudes and prejudices that we went grocery shopping.  You can imagine how much fun we had.  Despite the fact that my children were bickering through the entire store, that I threatened to flat-out beat them on the salsa aisle in front of an innocent bystander, and the fact that I was abandoned to push my own buggy with a fractured elbow not once, BUT TWICE during the trip, there were some positive highlights.  For one, the Hubster actually started reading ingredient lists.  I showed him what he needed to look for, and as he picked up item after item that he used to LOVE to eat, he grew more and more disgusted.  I think he was more disgusted with the fact that he knew those things were never again going in my buggy than with the fact that the ingredients themselves are dangerous.  But, whatever it takes, ya know?

And, even though we usually despise WalMart, I have to give them kudos for carrying my fave brands of organic coconut milk, coconut oil, and chicken at really decent prices.  Their seafood and produce still leave A LOT to be desired, but I’ll be heading out to Kroger this afternoon to finish stuffing our fridge.

We came home with our still-sour attitudes and blood-sugar crashes to a lunch of fajita chicken, guacamole and cherry tomatoes, after which Aaron informed me that even though it’s tough, he does believe these changes are worth it.  I really needed to hear that from him.  Sometimes I don’t know if he is trying to convince himself, or if he just wants to say something that will make me smile.  But he’s a smart kid and I know he believes in positive change, even if it sucks for a while.

A few notes of confession:  I have not nixed dairy from the kids’ diets because I still think milk is important for their bodies, and a little cheese adds great flavor to some otherwise boring recipes.  I still let them have a little sugar – we bought some V8 fruit/veggie juices to drink – and of course, I add dark chocolate to my homemade trail mix.

If you’re wondering how making this change is remotely possible for us, I found these two incredible resources this morning.  Paleo Plan has great recipes, and BTB Fitness gave a perfect standing grocery list and a ton of info on implementing it.  Worth the reads if you’re interested.

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Mama Drama and a Month of Mammoth Change

24 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Lori Mainiero in Food and Beverage, Healthy Living, lunch, medical issues, Parenting, The Body at Work, The Bright Side

≈ 13 Comments

I will spend this post sharing more than I am comfortable sharing, and half of you will start the reading thinking that I am crazy or cruel, or both.  By the time I’m done, the weights will have shifted and the other half of you will be convinced that I’m crazy or cruel, or both.  This is not a post in which many of you are going to applaud my maternal actions.  Just know that I’m okay with that.

Also know that before I published this post, I let my son read it, and I got his express permission to share his story.

Oh, and this is a really long post, by the way.  Consider yourself warned. 😉

I had a single recurring nightmare when I was pregnant with Aaron, my firstborn.  I would dream that I had birthed the baby and come home with him.  Like, days ago.  Suddenly I would realize that I had not yet fed the baby.  And I would PANIC because I had no idea if he was going to survive since we had been home ten days or so and he had not been fed even once.  I would wake up in a sweat, grateful that I was still pregnant and had not yet earned jail time as a new mother.  I bet I had that dream six or so times during the pregnancy.  It freaked me out every. single. time.

Contrary to my nightmare, Aaron ate well as an infant and a toddler.  It wasn’t until he turned two and was off of “baby foods” that he started refusing normal table food.  He drank milk.  Lots and lots of milk.  The dream was haunting me.  So I did what any regular, worried, American mom would do: I talked to my pediatrician.

Here’s my disclaimer:  I really, really love my pediatrician.  I do.  I think he is the most gentle and good-hearted man.  When my children are sick and I can’t cure them, he is the only person I want to see.  I wish, though, that I had already come to the realization that physicians are not demi-gods, and that they are not necessarily smarter than I am about me and my children – they just went to school longer and paid more tuition and can explain things about the human body that I cannot.  But that’s about it.  I still respect doctors and I mean none of them any slight.  But now I listen to my own instincts first.  Now, I think Conventional Wisdom may not be so wise.  However, in 2002, I did not have this presence of mind.  I took a doctor’s words as gospel.

My dear pediatrician explained to me that Aaron was getting practically all the nutrients he needed from the milk, and what was not in the milk, I could add as supplement via the miracle of (drum roll, please) Ovaltine.

And that, my friends, is how I addicted my son to a liquid diet of chocolate milk.

Aside from Bob the Builder fruit chews (which would not be allowed in my grocery cart today, much less my home) Aaron subsisted on Ovaltine and milk.  And since the doc said that was all good, by golly who was I to question it?

Ten years later, I can say I really wish I had ignored my pediatrician.

I wish that I had instead listened to people like my dad who said, “The boy’s not gonna starve! Put the meat and veggies in front of him, tell him that’s dinner, and be done with it.”   I thought my dad was so extreme!!  (And now that I write this, I realize that’s twice I have ignored my father’s advice.  Regretted it both times.  Dammit!!)

When Aaron entered pre-school, the teachers told me that they were concerned because he flat would NOT eat lunch.  They asked what he ate at home.  By this time, our culinary tastes had expanded to include the all-holy Cheerio.  The teachers suggested that I pack the cheerios in his lunchbox and they would make sure he was eating.  For the rest of the year, I packed him cheerios and milk for lunch at school.  He ate the same for dinner at home.  We eventually expanded to PB&J sandwiches when he entered kindergarten.  And puffy cheetos.  Woo hoo!  With five items on our son’s menu, we were making progress!!

All the while, our toddler daughter was eating everything Dom and I ate – up to and including crawfish etouffee.  A teacher at my children’s school approached me one day and said, “You have night and day at your house, don’t you?” noting the unmistakable personality differences between my offspring, who otherwise look like twins.  I dropped my shoulders and replied, “Ohhhhhhh, you have no idea!!”

For the next five years, Aaron continued to eat Cheerios and PB&J sandwiches.  He outgrew the Ovaltine, going on a multi-year self-imposed hiatus from chocolate.  (Is he really my son?!!) We flavored the milk with Strawberry Quik.  (Yes, really.  I gag just thinking about it!) Sugar, grains and milk were his steady diet.  We managed to work in plain pasta, and he preferred the whole wheat versions, to my immense satisfaction. And somewhere in the middle of all of this, he fell in love with Whataburger chicken strips.  Other chicken strips get snubbed; Whataburger’s chicken apparently rocks.

During this time we also had a few trips to the pediatrician for tummy troubles.  He was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and we were told to add Benefiber to his milk and not worry that he only consumed pale-brown and white foods.  The symptoms came and went, the Benefiber brought hit-or-miss results, but for the most part he seemed to do okay.  He was growing, after all, and aside from random tummy issues wasn’t ever sick, so what did I really have to worry about??

But then in 2010, I went down the rabbit hole and dragged everyone with me.  It has taken two years to secure foods and snacks that are “Lori-approved.”  Ingredient lists have to be practically virginal before I will buy a food.  Allowing no petrochemicals or partially-hydrogenated oils in my pantry meant many of my kids’ favorite cereals and snacks got the boot.  Cheerios remained, for their lack of the preservative BHT (where other cereals failed us).  Only a few brands of bread survived my inquisition, and as you know I started baking much of my own.

I considered bread to be foundational not only on my dinner plate, but in life around me.  I naturally therefore considered grains to be wholesome, pure and body beneficial.  “Living on Cheerios, crackers and bread is not completely awful,” I would protest.  “At least he gets plenty of fiber!”

This is the point where many of you have already been shaking your head, and you are now chastising me because I feed my child such poorly chosen foods.  No veggies, no greens.  Chicken, of all animals, and not even the eggs!!  Yes, I have heard it all before… “make him eat different foods.  He won’t starve!  You have to force it on him.  Be strong!”  Folks, I tried.  I got all mean and big and bad and threatened to not let him leave the table until he had tried whatever I had cooked.  You know where that put us?  Back at the doctor’s office with chronic upset stomachs (“brought on by stress”) where I was told his dietary preference was simply not that big a deal.  I clung to that and convinced myself that he was going to be just fine, despite all the personal stories I knew of people who had lived on a similar diet and suffered digestive distress as adults.

My choices have never been perfect.  They never will be.  I am still learning.  I am still reading…a lot.  And I am still making changes that affect my whole family.  We are still in the rabbit hole; we just found another tunnel within it.

I’ve been talking to my kids about the things that we don’t need to eat, a list which has very recently expanded to include grains, sugars and starches – the very basis of the foods they love.  Dom and I have switched to a new food lifestyle where we eat primarily meats and veggies.  I say primarily because I still incorporate fruit, coffee and occasional wine into the lifestyle.  And a tiny bit of soft cheese and bittersweet dark chocolate.  (If I ever give those things up I will be totally surprised.)  But here’s where most of you will revolt…I’m making my kids do it too.  My kids who eat sandwiches, cereal and everything sugary are about to go paleo with us.  Oh-Em-to-the-double-Gee, right?

I realize you can’t quite agree with me yet because you have not yet wrapped your mind around why in the heck I would promote and follow something so quirky.  So I will explain…

In my reading and research I have learned that our bodies are not really meant to digest grains and use them for the body’s benefit.  Go figure.  If you have seen Food, Inc, think of the grain-fed cows and the vet/scientist guy who was explaining that cows are not meant to digest grains, so when factory farms feed them grains instead of grass, their digestive systems get all whacked out.  Their bodies still function, but not as efficiently, and certainly not as they are meant to.  This is one of the many reasons to buy grass-fed beef.  It’s better for the animal’s health, better for the quality of meat, and that in turn is better for the person eating it.

In my opinion, the same principle works for humans.  Our bodies were not meant to digest grains because, as Mark explains so well on Mark’s Daily Apple, grains are meant to be planted.  Grain’s natural defense when eaten is to pass right on through so that it can eventually land in fertile soil and grow.  So on its way through our body, it wreaks havoc on our digestive system, leaving virtually no nutritional value in its wake, filling us only with cheap and empty calories.  We cope and we medicate and we deal with all the symptoms that our minds don’t automatically connect to our consumption of things like dinner rolls and oatmeal, but there we are anyway with aches and pains, reflux and gastrointestinal issues.   (These are not to all be totally blamed on grains, by the way.  That’s why we avoid sugars, dairy and starches as well.)

An overwhelming number of Mark’s readers chimed in with testimony to their own health benefits after giving up grains.  All I could think of was my son, destined for a life of tummy troubles if I did not intervene.  Suddenly every doubt and wonder that had crossed my mind over the last decade – What if I’ve been doing it all wrong? What if I don’t listen to the doctor? – came crashing back down on me as escapees from their prison of my own insecurity and self-doubt.  Every what if suddenly had an answer.  And the answer was: I’ve got to change it and I’ve got to change it NOW!!!

The gist of it is that I am taking away all the cereals, breads, pastas – GRAINS – from my children’s diets.  Dom and I have already removed them from our own food choices, so it’s not like I’m forcing something on my kids that I’m not willing to do myself.  They are not insanely giddy over the idea, don’t get me wrong.  But as I started this journey back in 2010 I shared with them everything that I learned and explained the reasons behind the changes I was making.  It is no different now.  I have shared the reasons and the potential benefits I expect to see.  If we do this for a month and the kids don’t notice positive changes in their own bodies, then I will concede to the food pyramid and take back all the nasty things I have said about grains and the FDA.  I can say that because I totally doubt it will come to pass.  My biggest battle will be the attitudes and the wills of my children.  But because I believe so strongly in their health, I will not be deterred until we have clear results – and answers that do not exist only in my head.

Ironically, you know who was freaking out the most when I told them of my plan?  Victoria. (I’m ruining EVERYTHING, you know!!)  Aaron, on the other hand, asked if he could try some scrambled eggs for the first time.  He said he wanted to eat better and feel better and, even though it was scary, he understood what I was doing.

I love that boy.  I love him so very, very much.

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Decaf, Schmeecaf

20 Sunday May 2012

Posted by Lori Mainiero in coffee, Food and Beverage, Healthy Living, reporting on progress, The Body at Work

≈ 1 Comment

When I tell you that I nearly titled this post, “What the Hell Was I Thinking?” you’ll know exactly where this is going.

So, yeah, I said I was ixnaying caffeine, right?  Would you think terribly less of me if I retracted the whole hair-brained idea???

I’ve been drinking decaf coffee for a month now.  I have also suffered with a month of bad hair days.  Coincidence?  Whatever.  It’s also coincidental that as soon as I returned to full-caf earlier this week my hair went back to being manageable.  But I also totally jacked the experiment by switching shampoos two days ago.  So was it the decaf or the shampoo or just my hair rebelling against 40?  Who knows?  Who really cares?  I gave decaf a fair and mighty shake, but in the end I decided there may be an undiscernable reason that decaf and I just aren’t meant to be together.

I’m no sharper for having switched, either.

I found a few minutes to discuss this with my dear friend Kim the other night while she stirred a pan full of corn.  “I read your post.  What’s all that about?” she asked.

“Oh, I think I’m gonna have to give that up.  Can a month of decaf make me have thirty bad hair days in a row?”

“Of course it can; Venus is in retrograde.  You’re just trying too much stuff.  You need to chill.”

It’s good advice, really.  There’s one thing I’ve learned in these two years of change.  If it’s a good change and worth holding on to, I’ll feel it.  There should be a positive benefit that I am able to recognize after a certain amount of time.  If I struggle with something for a month and experience no positive changes, then it’s quite possibly just not something I’m destined for.

This may be the fastest retraction I’ve ever made on this blog.  Coffee, anyone??

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