Monthly Challenge Number 1: Sugar Free October

Scary, I know. But isn't that just perfectly fitting for October when all the ghouls and goblins rear their startling faces?

What is truly scary is how negatively sugar affects our bodies.

Our blood has a very specific amount of sugar that it can tolerate. Refined sugar [unlike the sugar found in fruits] goes directly into our bloodstream. So, when we consume refined sugar, our bodies must produce and release insulin quickly to balance the level of sugar in our blood. This release of insulin is what causes the "sugar crash" that you feel after you consume refined sugar. That tired feeling then causes your body to crave more sugar [for the high], and this creates a vicious cycle. This cycle is very hard on our bodies, and after a while of this back and fourth of sugar an insulin, our bodies just kind of give up trying to normalize the levels of sugar in our blood. That is called diabetes.

[Let me also mention that this is only the tip of the ice burg in discussing why sugar is so hard on our bodies and how it makes burning fat really difficult.]

You may be wondering, then, about the natural sugar in fruits. Fruits do not affect our bodies the way refined sugar does because the fiber in them slows down the absorbtion of that sugar into our blood. That does not spike our blood sugar and trigger the instant insulin response that refined sugar does. Fruits are a great part of a healthy diet!

Most people are addicted to sugar [I know I am]. Some form of sugar is in almost every packaged food [which is part of why packaged and processed foods are so bad for you, but we'll get to that next month ;)]. Sugar is hiding in some unexpected places like condiments, bread, crackers, and processed meat [just to name a few]. That is how we end up consuming much more sugar than we expect. This has caused a rampant addiction to sugar in our society. And if you think addiction is too strong a word, it's not. If you join me on this challenge, you can expect to experience some very real withdraws. These include fatigue, crankiness, low energy and extreme cravings. But don't lose hope, these will subside after a week or so and then you will experience a rebound of energy and at some point sugar won't even sound good.

Here is the challenge: go one month without consuming refined sugar. See how it makes you feel. I am hoping that I will feel more energetic and less just plain tired all the time. I also hope to curb the intense sugar cravings that I have and break my addiction to sugar. The purpose of this challenge is to make a lifestyle change. It is a challenge for a month so we can see how much better we feel without sugar. I am not one of those people that is going to claim that I am never going to have sugar again. At this point in my life that just sounds preposterous. However, I hope this month will teach me to be able to have a little sugar every once in a while, instead of a ton of sugar every day.

So you want to join me? What does that mean? What can you eat? What can't you eat? It is pretty simple. Do not add sugar to anything that you are eating. Check the packages of anything that you consume to make sure that there is no sugar or any kind of corn syrup in it. Hint: anything that ends in an "-ose" is sugar with a Halloween mask on. I am also going to stay away from honey for the month, not because honey is bad for you [although it is high on the glycemic index, and I'll explain what that is another time], but because I do not want to be using it as a crutch.

So, other forms of sweeteners. We have agave nectar. Ah, it kills me to have discovered this because I really used to like agave, but it is no better than corn syrup. So, agave is a no go [sorry]. Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin are a resounding NO. These are so bad for you, it would be better to just eat sugar. These are chemicals that are not meant to be consumed by humans. Researchers are finding all kinds of unexpected health problems caused by artificial sweeteners. Stay away from those. Ok, so we have come to stevia. Now, some people may disagree with me on this [and that is okay], but I do not think it is a good alternative to sugar. It may be "derived" from a natural plant, but then it goes through an ungodly amount of processing before it hits the shelf. So, I say no. Honey, molasses and pure maple syrup are about the only good sweeteners that I can think of, but don't overdo it. These are meant to be used sparingly, not at every meal.

I will update you on my experience at the end of the month.

Well, wish me luck on my sugar-free month. I hope you join me!

Hummus

Hummus is a tasty, healthy alternative to most veggie and chip dips. It is also an excellent substitute for may on sandwiches and wraps. Hummus mostly consists of garbanzo beans, or chickpeas, which have been linked to healthy digestion and appetite suppression. So, sneaking more garbanzo beans into your diet is a great way to boost your health.

I have to admit, I didn't used to like hummus because I found it pretty bland, but add some garlic to it and I will almost eat it straight. We created out own [awesome] recipe and it is great!

Here is our very garlic hummus recipe:

Garlic Hummus

3/4 cup dry or 3 cups prepared garbanzo beans*

2 tbsp garlic

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup tahini

3 tbsp olive or safflower oil

1/4 cup water

Season to taste with:

cumin [we used quite a bit, close to a tbsp]

chili powder

Black & Red [or black pepper]

season salt

salt

*you can find the recipe for preparing dry garbanzo beans here.

~ Use a blender or food processor to cream the garbanzo beans, garlic, lime juice, tahini, oil and water together.

~ Once the mixture is at your desired consistency, transfer to a bowl and stir in the seasonings to your liking.

~ Enjoy with chips, veggies, sandwiches, pita, or whatever else you can find!

Preparing Dry Garbanzo Beans

Using dry beans versus canned beans is so much better for you [and usually way cheaper]. Canned beans have a bunch of preservatives and are generally really high in sodium. You can avoid those additives if you are willing to put fourth a little extra effort into the preparation.

Cooking dry garbanzo beans is quite easy, if a bit time consuming. These instructions will apply to most dry beans.

First, put the dry beans into a bowl or container to soak overnight [I put mine right into a saucepan to prevent extra dishes]. Add water. You are going to want the beans to be covered with at least a couple of inches of water [they are going to expand like crazy].

The next day, drain the water and rinse the beans thoroughly in a colander.

Put the beans into a saucepan and cover with an inch or two of water. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer. Let simmer until soft. Ours simmered for a little over an hour before they were done.

When they are done cooking, drain and use. If you do not plan to use the bean immediately, they can be stored in a container in the fridge for a couple of days.

Yay. You have prepared dry beans. Pretty easy, huh?

Whatcha doin'? Hibernatin'?

I accidentally left our gate open when I went to the gym and look what I found in our yard when I returned:

She was just chillin' there. And she stayed in our yard for hours.

I also noticed that our strawberry plants were entirely demolished, so I think I found the culprit.

There was also a squirrel hanging out with her.

To a suburban girl, this felt quite Wild Kingdom-esque.

1,095 Days Later

Christian and I have been married for three years today!

"If I lay here,

If I just lay here.

Would you lie with me,

And just forget the world?"

I am so lucky to have found such an amazing man to be my beau.

This Bread is Bananas B-A-N-A-N-A-S

This banana bread really is bananas because of how good it is.

Banana bread something I made all the time as a kid. I would secretly hope that no one would eat the bananas so that they would turn brown and I would be able to make banana bread. Or I would beg my parents to buy that ridiculously big bag of nearly brown naners at the store. Either way, it was one of my favorite things to make.

I no longer use the same recipe that I did when I was little because, well, it's simply not the best recipe. I feel like I should be charged with treason by my childhood for saying that, but it's true. I found a recipe that was really good and modified it a bit to make it my own [and better ;)].

Sweet breads are possibly my favorite baked good. Possibly.

Super-Moist Banana Bread

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking spice or 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp salt

2 - 2 1/2 cups mashed bananas

~ Preheat oven to 350°. Butter one loaf pan.

~ Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add vanilla. Mix until combined.

~ In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, spices and salt together.

~ Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix gently just until moist. Fold in bananas gently.

~ Pour into prepared pan and bake for about an hour until toothpick comes out clean.

~ Cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes.

~ Enjoy!

Water: Our Contaminated Lifeline

The human body is over 60% water.

Human blood is 92% water.

The human brain is 75% water.

Human muscles are 75% water.

Human bones are 22% water.

The USDA recommends consuming about 3 liters of water per day.

Have you ever wondered about the quality of the water that flows from your tap?

Considering how vital water is to human life, it only makes sence that we should investigate the safety of the water that is provided throughout the US.

After careful research of the quality of the water in the United States, I have come across some concerning information. Water quality varies from region to region, so any information is general for the US.

An analysis of tap water conducted by the Associated Press has shown that trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs are found in tap water. Cholesterol medication. Birth control. Anti-depressants. Immunosuppressant drugs. Antibiotics. The list goes on. Official research of how this constant [though minimal] exposure to this cocktail of medication over a lifetime would affect a human has not yet been conducted. However, I don't think I need a researcher to tell me that ingesting an unknown mixture of prescription medication is not good for me, now or in the long run. I found this information pretty disturbing.

About 50% of tap water in the US is fluoridated. This means that during the water treatment process fluoride is added to the water that eventually comes out of your tap. What is wrong with fluoride, it is good for my teeth, right? Wrong. Not only has research shown that fluoride is entirely ineffective at strengthening teeth when ingested, research has also shown fluoride to be nearly as poisonous as arsenic. Shocking. Yet, it is still in our tap water. Again, disturbing.

Other contaminants commonly found in our tap water include various pesticides, manure runoff, and fertilizer. These are not chemicals or organisms that are meant to be consumed by humans and can prove to be very detrimental to our health and well being.

It is scary to think that children, pregnant women, elderly persons and people with compromised immune systems are being exposed to such harmful contaminants in their water. I know that I do not want the 60% of my body that is made of water to be jeopardized by our sub-par water supply.

So, what can you do? Well, this is a bit tough. Bottled water? Nope. Most bottled water is just tap water with a big price tag. You could distill all of your water; however, that is energy [and time] intensive [it's not "green"] and distillation breaks down important electrolytes naturally found in water. That leaves filtering your water as your only option. The problem is that most commercial water filters do not filter out much [if any] medications and chemicals. There is no filter on the market that can claim to filter out all of these contaminants.

There is one filter that does a pretty damn good job, though and that is the Berkey water filter. It is the most powerful water filter on the market and you can purchase an extra attachment that filters fluoride out of your water. Let me warn you, this is not cheap. The water filter system is going to run you between $230 and $330. The fluoride filters will run you an extra $60. It is important to note that the filters last for 3,000 gallons of water, which generally lasts several years. And to replace just the filters, it's going to cost about $100. You have to decide how important clean water is to you and your family. It is a costly investment, but it may save you in the long run. We have a Berkey and we love it. My mom was kind enough to buy us one as a gift and I could not be more grateful.

Happy filtering!

Raspberry Lemon Jam

Over the summer, Christian and I discovered that our side yard is covered with raspberry bushes, and they were producing like crazy. We ended up with a gallon sized bag full of raspberries. Yay, free food! So, one way to use up a good amount of these bad boys was to make jam.

Plain raspberry jam would be too boring. I had some rhubarb, but that combination sounded too tart. So, I decided to use some left-over lemons and make raspberry/lemon jam. Yum. It turned out really well. Here is the recipe:

Raspberry Lemon Jam

4 cups raspberries

1 cup lemon meat*

1/2 cup lemon zest

4 cups sugar

* Very technical term, I know ;) Peel the lemon, separate into sections. Then slice each section open and peel off the tough skin, leaving only the meaty part of the lemon [does that make sense?]. This is what it should look like:

Moving on:

~ Place the raspberries, lemon meat, and lemon zest into a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Mash the mixture with a potato masher as it is heating. Boil mixture at a full boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

~ Add sugar. Bring back to a boil and let boil until gelled, about 5 minutes.

~ Ladle into sterilized jars. Let sit at room temperature until jars have sealed.

~ Enjoy!

Need Some Heart-Warming Inspiration?

If you need to restore your faith in humanity, here you go:

If I ever have children, I hope that we will share the bond that this father and his son have.

Hippie Granola

I love granola. But I have trouble finding granola that does not have high-fructose corn syrup or sugar in it. So I decided to try my hand at making some sugar-free granola at home and it actually turned out really good. So, if you would like to try it out, here is the recipe:

Hippie Granola

2 cups rolled oats [preferably not quick/instant oats]

1/2 cup All-Bran Buds [or similar, fiber-rich cereal]

1/2 cup pecan pieces

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp apple pie spice

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tbsp coconut oil [you can also use safflower, vegetable or canola oil]

3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries

~ Preheat oven to 350°. Cover large sheet pan with parchment paper.

~ Combine oats, All-Bran and pecan pieces in a medium bowl. Set aside.

~ In a small bowl, combine applesauce, apple spice, vanilla, honey, maple syrup and oil. Mix well.

~ Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.

~ Place mixture onto prepared pan and bake for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes until crunchy.

~ When mixture is done baking, place into a large bowl. Add dried cranberries.

~ Let granola come to room temperature before you store in airtight container or bag.

~ Serve with milk or just eat plain as a snack :)

Friendship Bread

I remember having friendship bread as a kid and really loving it, probably because it has a ton of sugar in it and then it is sprinkled with sugar. And having made it again, I can tell you with utter certainty that it is very good :)

The interesting thing about this bread is that it is made from a starter and takes 10 days of rising and feeding until it is ready to be used. You can make the starter yourself [recipe below] or you can get a starter from a friend.

Whether you make the starter from scratch or get one from a friend, you end up with three more "starters" that can be given away to friends. Hence, friendship bread. This is pretty much the bakers form of a chain letter, except it is completely delicious and not at all annoying.

This bread is better known as "Amish friendship bread," however, in all of my in depth research [thank you, Google] I have not been able to track down any evidence that actually links this bread to the Amish. So, it is really just plain old friendship bread. It would totally be more interesting if it actually was a traditional Amish recipe. Sorry.

Friendship Bread Starter

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 oz [1 package] active dry yeast

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

3 cups milk

*Note: Do not use any metal utensils or bowls in this whole process*

~ Dissolve the yeast into the warm water in a small bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes.

~ Mix 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar together in a very large bowl. Add 1 cup milk and mix until the lumps have smoothed out. Mix in the yeast until well blended. Cover loosely. I used a plate to cover the bowl. You can you plastic wrap, just drape it over the bowl loosely. It needs to have a little bit of air flow. Set in a safe place. This is day 1.

~ Days 2-5: Stir mixture and recover.

~ Day 6: Stir mixture and add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir until smooth. Recover and let sit.

~ Days 7-9: Stir mixture and recover.

~Day 10: Stir mixture and add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture to make friendship bread. From the rest of the mixture portion out as many 1 cup batches into glass or plastic containers as you can [I had 4]. These are your starters, you can give them all away or keep one for yourself. Make sure to give them away with these instructions. Use recipe below to make the bread.

Traditional Friendship Bread Recipe

1 cup friendship bread starter mixture

1 cup oil

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 [5.1 oz] instant vanilla pudding mix

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup nuts [optional]

~ Pre-heat oven to 325°. Butter two loaf pans. Coat buttered pans with sugar.

~ In a large bowl mix the starter mixture, oil, milk, eggs and vanilla together until well blended.

~ In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, pudding mix, and salt together.

~ Mix the dry ingredients into the wet and mix just until blended. Fold in nuts.

~ Portion into the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 1 hour. Cool on cooling rack and enjoy!

There are many variations of the bread. You can have a lot of fun with it. Experiment :)

Goodbye, Wells Fargo.

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good-bye.

[FYI: Contrary to what you might think, burning checks is not the best way to dispose of them. Nor is it as fun as one might imagine.]

Investigating 9/11/2001

First off, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to those who lost siblings, spouses, parents, children and friends due to the events on September 11, 2001. I would also like to thank the everyday heroes who gave so selflessly that day and in the days to follow.

I remember feeling a complete sense of humanity as I watched people tirelessly search the rubble, heard stories of people helping others out of the buildings ahead of themselves, and saw emergency services boldly rush to the dismal scene. Hearing countless stories of people coming together to help one another in such a desperate time is something that is generally rare, but during this time they were plentiful. It made my 13 year-old heart so happy to know that there were good people out there. But there were also the bad people who had caused this devastating event.

I do not remember being angry. I knew we had our sights set on Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. It seemed like everything happened so fast from there. Bin Laden. Al-Qaeda. Afghanistan. Saddam Hussein. Iraq. It seemed like we were suddenly everywhere and I didn't quite understand why. And, alas 10 years later we are still fighting the "War on Terror" and I still don't quite understand the shaky logic on how we have ended up here. The United States has paid very highly for this war with both our soldiers and our tax dollars. Since 2001 5,796 soldiers have given their lives for this cause, 41,221 soldiers have been wounded for this cause and finally US citizens have supported this cause with $1,248,027,079,147 in tax dollars. All of these numbers continue to grow at an alarming rate.

It seems like this all happened so quickly that we hardly had time to examine what really happened on September, 11, 2001. We didn't have time to ask some tough questions. We were all so caught up in patriotism that we jumped into a war during a time that we should have been mourning and deciphering the evidence of the events of that gruesome day.

I want to know what happened that day. I am not convinced that terrorists are to blame, and I am not entirely convinced that it was an "inside job," but I do think that there are many questions about what happened that day that need to be answered. And I do find it suspicious that our government has refused to release information and answer these questions.

I have not bothered to delve into the specific questions for a couple reasons. One, many of the questions are complex enough that I would have to write a lengthy lead-in to express the necessity of the question itself [and I don't want to do that, call me lazy]. And two, "Loose Change" [below] does an excellent job of presenting these questions, no need to reinvent the wheel.

If you have never watched this documentary, it is well worth the hour and twenty minutes to do so. Also, it is not a Michael Moore, shove conspiracy down your throat kind of movie. It simply presents evidence and asks questions. They let you come to your own conclusions based on the information they have provided.

If you have never questioned what happened on September 11, 2001, you should. If after you investigate, you still believe that bin Laden is to blame, then you have lost nothing. It is good to have a thoughtful and quizzical eye.

I know some of you may think that I do not like America and that I am not patriotic. And that is not entirely true. I am an American who thinks that America has lost it's way. I do not believe that we are beyond repair. I think that America is made up of intelligent, truth-seeking, well-intentioned people. However, we have to come together and demand more of our government. We must demand transparency. We must demand more freedom. And we must expect more of ourselves as a society. A government is its people, so if we are unhappy with our government, we have the power to change it if we can just band together as a people.

I am beginning to rabbit-trail. So without further adieu, here is Loose Change:

And here is a follow-up movie that they made in 2006, Loose Change: Final Cut:

Garden Fail

Our garden has not been so fruitful. This is our bounty so far:

Sad. I know.

We are pretty sure that we just planted too late in the season. And we have had Bambi issues.

Oh, well. We always have next year.

[And there is still some hope for our tomatoes. We'll see.]

Kittehs?!

Christian and I think that life is more fun with pets [well, most of the time ;)]. So, we got two kitties about a month ago. Meet Luke and Leia:

O hai. I iz Leia. I luv tois lyk kurtins and aprons. I iz energetik kitteh. I iz noktural, isn't that interesting? I iz skeptikal of most sings and I dunt reerly lyke being held. Hoomins eat yummy smerring stuff, I lyke to have a bit erey now and then. I lyke to has sleepy on the warm kontrapshun that the hoomins are aways rooking at. See rue yater!

Tranlation: Hello, I am Leia. I like to get into trouble and play with things that are not meant to be kitty toys. I climb the curtains and I am constantly trying to pull the aprons down from where they hang. Oh, and I wake up at 5am and like to put my nose in my human's face and purr as loudly as I possibly can. And then I sleep all day. I am a bit shy, but I will snuggle with my humans on my own terms. I love to beg for human food and I have no shame in just taking food right from my human's plate. My favorite place to sleep is the computer, but only when my human's are using it. Yay! Good to meet you!

Oh hai. I iz Luke. You luk fun! Can I rubz my face on you? Do you rant to hold me, preeez? I luvz mah hoomins! I getz up early as sun to spend tyme wif them. They lykes it. I luvz to race my hoomins tru the house. They lykes it. I cant stand it wen mah hoomins reave, so I wait for zem by the big opening. They lykes it. My toi-box under the synk iz the best, such fun tois in there. I luv the windos. I lyke to walk on the kontrapshun that makes noyz. I lyke to uze the big blac box as skraching post. I LUV TOEZ!!! I luv bein skwirt with water! Byze!!

Translation: Hello, I am Luke. Do you want to play? I am a bit of an attention whore. I want to be in my human's face ALL THE TIME. I wake up a bit earlier than my sister, I am usually up and bothering my human's by 3:30am. I love to run, especially when I can do so in between the legs of my human's as they are walking around the house. Oh, and I love to wait by the door while my human's are out, so when they get back I can try to escape. It is funny to watch them fumble with keys and bags while I try to get out. Muahahahaha. The trash is my favorite place to find new toys. And isn't climbing screens the best? I am a very talkative kitty. If one of my humans is on the computer, you can bet that I will be trying to walk all over the keyboard. I like to claw at my human's amp, nice and soft. Boy do I love nibbling at the short-haired human's toes. The humans seem to like water fights, they are always squirting me with a spray bottle when I am doing my favorite things, but that is ok because now I like it! Yay! Nice to meet you!

Ok. So my kitty speak is not great, but you get the picture.

In all seriousness we are having a lot of fun!