(By the way, The Man seems to dig it. He has single handedly consumed almost all of the first batch. Better than The Good Housekeeping seal of approval if you ask me <3)
Gluten free snacks don't have to taste like cardboard, or be boring. I have had the idea for this rolling around in my head for a couple of days, so today was the day to give it a shot. Crispy popcorn and meaty pieces of bacon, coated with a buttery maple-y vanilla scented caramel, then sprinkled with sea salt. The popcorn is popped in the bacon fat, so that adds another layer of flavor. Of course I used the Earth Fare thick cut apple wood smoked bacon; it's the best tasting bacon I've ever had from a store and it has the perfect fat to meat ratio. The rest of the players are not slouches either - organic white popcorn kernels, real maple syrup (grade B for the best flavor), unsalted Irish butter, coconut palm sugar, Madagascar vanilla extract, and Himalayan sea salt. Sorry kids, can't give the recipe. This combination is pure magic and there may be a future in it! I will keep you posted on my progress.
(By the way, The Man seems to dig it. He has single handedly consumed almost all of the first batch. Better than The Good Housekeeping seal of approval if you ask me <3)
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Wow, did we have a great day on Saturday for our March Against Monsanto. The weather was perfect, the crowd was awesome, and the group we were with was more fun than should be allowed by law. The Man took a bunch of pics, and has graciously allowed me to post them. If you haven't met him, there's one of him as well, holding our four footed marcher, Rufus. Take a gander at the pics. The estimate is about 750 attendees, with some saying it was closer to 1000. There were whole families with signs, every possible age group, and lots of four footed friends. A young man with a guitar sang protest songs with such passion it was like we were back in the 60's. State Senator Frank Nicely (R-Strawberry Plains) spoke about being a farmer and how he will lobby for labeling laws in Tennessee and at the federal level. We're not looking to put Monsanto out of business, though that would be the ultimate gift. We just want to know what is in our food.
Being part of something world wide was pretty overwhelming. Knowing that millions of people all over the world were doing the same thing at the same time, working towards making the world's food supply safer..... well, it was a pretty cool feeling. I am so glad that we all did it. However, the work does not stop there. We must continue to fight against the poisons that this conglomerate are forcing in to our food. Contact your local representatives and demand they vote for label disclosure. Sign every petition you can get your hands on. Do your shopping at the farm markets that are everywhere; supporting local small farmers is the best way to make sure the stuff you're buying is clean. Buy local meat when possible, it is readily available if you look. For further information about the cause, please see these websites: http://organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto A great new app for both iPhone and Android is Buycott. Scan the barcode on a product and see if it has GMO's, is made by a company that is a subsidiary of Monsanto or the Koch brothers. http://buycott.com/ Be aware of what you're eating, and be active in making others aware. Talk about it to friends and strangers on the street. Together we can make the changes needed. I have reached a sad point in my life - I can no longer party like it's 1999.
It somehow seems fitting that I hit my 30 day mark protesting against the one thing that makes so many sick. The weather is perfect, and I'm very excited to be spending this auspicious day with two of our besties, Aja and Michael. They are both incredibly passionate about food, and about safe food, I am so blessed to have them in my life.
Before the rally we are going to the farm market for a bit of organic local shopping, and meeting up with a few more friends along the way. I'll take a bunch of pictures and do a follow up this evening. If you are in the Knoxville area, please join us in our fight for food equality. We're not asking for Monsanto to stop doing what they're doing, just be upfront about it with proper product labeling and let the consumer decide if they want to take the risk. Give the people the power to make their own decision! March Against Monsanto Market Square, Knoxville, TN 1p-3p - meet at the events stage Hmmmm.... the first post was eaten up by some unseen force, so I will repost it.
It was a long day of running around like a nut while accomplishing very little. I pondered this question after The Man inquired what kind of wine would go with dinner - Is it wrong to just stick a straw in the wine and slurp it up like a juice box? In deference to The Man, I went with a glass. It was a big glass, but still.... The shiraz he picked went perfectly with dinner - grass fed aussie beef burgers, slow cooked bacon and onions, and vintage australian cheddar (completely coincidental..... unless you think it was a brilliant move to pair aussie beef with aussie cheese, then of course I did it intentionally!) on grilled bread (Udi's for me, multi-grain for him) with oven fries with himalayan sea salt and smoked paprika. I would have taken a picture, but alas, it was scarfed up before it occurred to me that it looked and tasted so brilliant that I should document it. Maybe next time. An odd craving, I know, but there's just something so homey about soup, even in warmer weather. I'm one of those odd people that can eat soup any time of the year.
I started with my old friends mirepoix - carrot, celery and onion. Add the kernels from five ears of corn, and let it saute for a bit in some good unsalted butter. Add a handful of herbs (lemon balm, thyme, parsley and marjoram in this batch, but you can go so many ways with it - more on that later), some stock (I used chicken, but you can use veggie if you like) and some milk or cream (or not if you would like to make it vegan). Cook until everything is tender, it's reduced a bit, and the flavors are awesome. You can stop there if you like. I pureed mine in the Ninja to make it smoother. Serve hot, or it makes a really nice cold soup too. Now for the fun part. Easily adapted to your needs, this is a great basic recipe. Want something a little southwestern? Add diced tomato, lots of cilantro and oregano, maybe some black beans, and leave it all chunky. Add diced potato and bacon in the beginning to make it more of a chowder. Cheese and diced cooked ham make great additions. Cook it with lemongrass, Thai basil, mint and cilantro and a bit of hot pepper, puree it twice and strain out the solids for Thai velvet corn soup. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination. Went to the doctor today. First visits with a new doc can be stressful, but I went in to it with an open mind and a willing heart.
Dr. Rivers is very relaxed, listens well, doesn't talk down to you, and spends as much time as you need to get to the source of the problem. He sat with me for over 45 minutes talking about symptoms before he even examined me. He put me at ease pretty much immediately. After I answered all of his questions and he examined me, he said we were no closer to a solution but he had a better idea of what could be the problem. I then went to his lab and the nurse took about a pint of blood out of me. They will be testing for: rheumatoid arthritis thyroid issues diabetes anemia liver issues kidney issues The last two are long shots, and not really the focus, but we are trying everything. I go back in two weeks for the results. He also asked me to take a small Aleve (225mg) twice a day until I go back. If it helps with the pain, then we will be leaning more towards arthritis. If not, then we keep looking deeper. I can stay off the gluten and wheat if I like, and I can keep taking my zyflamend and curcumin. He is very open to supplements and the holistic aspect of healing, so I think we will make a great pair. Together we will figure this out and get me better. The only way he could be more perfect is if his office didn't have a scale in it..... oh well. Saturday is the March Against Monsanto in Market Square. It is something we are both very passionate about so The Man and I are going, rain or shine. I was thinking about it yesterday on my way home from work, and something occurred to me. If you look at what the majority of people have a food sensitivity to, it is all things that have been modified over the years. Wheat and other grains, soy, corn, peanut, dairy.... these are the biggest culprits lately, and all have had their biology changed by the good people at Monsanto.
Since I'm me, I delved a little deeper. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology:
o Approximately 6% aged 0-2 years have a food allergy o About 9% aged 3-5 years have a food allergy o Nearly 8% aged 6-10 years have a food allergy o Approximately 8% aged 11-13 years have a food allergy o More than 8.5% aged 14-18 years have a food allergy
I will leave you with one final thought - when we were getting our food from local farmers that grew things in real soil with things like manure and compost instead of insecticides like RoundUp, we were a whole lot healthier. Now that companies like Monsanto are messing with our food, we are a sick nation. Every step they take forward to make us "safer" makes us sicker. Girls and boys are hitting puberty at record low ages, yet no one has connected this with the hormones in the dairy we feed them to make them "big and strong". Feed a baby estrogen and things are bound to speed up. Put Monsanto bastardized wheat in everything, and suddenly we are a nation of celiacs. Well, one of the things that this GMO grain does to bugs is turn their insides into mush and kill them. Sound familiar? Start doing the math, people. Fight for your food this weekend, and join a march where ever you live. If you're in the Knoxville area, come to Market Square and march with us. Rain or shine, it's time we took back the power and had control over our food. Resources: https://www.facebook.com/events/171120199707740/?ref=ts&fref=ts http://www.aaaai.org/about-the-aaaai/newsroom/allergy-statistics.aspx http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/03/food.allergies.er.gut/index.html Being whiney has officially gotten old. I hate what I've become. Looking forward to the doc appointment tomorrow.
Doctor appointment has been made, I'm done with feeling like crap and not knowing why.
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