Over One Month Being A Vegetarian

It's been alittle over one month now of cutting out meat. I can honestly say I feel a whole lot better inside my body (That sounds crazy, doesn't it?). I feel lighter, I don't think I have actually lost pounds but I feel bouncer... I have had no trouble staying away from meat because I have been buying the Morning Star & Boca products which have helped alot.
I have also had a bit more energy & not sure if it is from not eatting meat or if it is pre-menopause, menopause or what but this lady has been feeling frisky : )
I could just kick myself for not starting this sooner in my life!!!! It has always been something I wanted to do but always put it off.
I am reading two GREAT books:
The Kind Diet by Alicia Sliverstone (I am still reading but LOVE it!!!)
Natural Energy Boosters by Carlson Wade
Both of these books are very easy to understand which I love!!! I have been trying to read thru Michael Pollan's books and have had such a terrible time with them. I just can't seem to digest the info. in them, that is why I am so glad I found these books alot easier for me to understand : )

Baby Chicks!!!!

Here are my baby chicks I picked up from my local feed & grain store, Aren't they just adorable??????

They are just so cute, I LOVE them : )

The two lighter ones are golden sex-links, the dark one is a partridge rock & the greyish one is a light brahma.

I set them up for now in a bird cage I have and placed them in my wash room. They don't really need a heat lamp here in FL. since our weather is so hot already but I set up a lamp with a regular bulb to add alittle warm at night.

I must say they are pretty loud already.... I thought I would be up all night but they settled down after awhile.

So far they all look really good : )

Every Change Makes A Difference!

I have been reading a wonderful blog: 100 Days of Real Food
It has given me another "eye opener" reading this blog! I can not tell you how many times I have assumed something is on the healthy side with out really looking at the label, How wrong I have been! One example is, I have changed my family away from white bread which I was so proud of but when I looked at the wheat bread bag label I was shocked : ( The list of ingredients is so long I can't even begin to write it here for you.... and this is on "bread" something that I would of thought just took a few ingredients to make!
I also have been buying a granola bar that my daughter & I love (it does have chocolate on the outside of it) and took a peek at the wrapper, oh my gosh here again a mile long of words I can't even pronounce. I am now commited to reading the labels of the food we are eatting and make some changes in this area also!

My daughter & I watched a dvd yesterday as part of her homeschooling lesson, It was called: Strange Days on Planet Earth 2 I was stunned but again on the things that we are doing to the earth and its animals!!!! I think this dvd needs to be played for all highschool children, I really think we need to start making the young people aware as early as we can of the affects that are happening to the earth. The second half of the dvd showed how the plastic we are dumping from our garbages are getting in the ocean and the birds guts are full of it! They cut open a dead bird and showed you all the little pieces and even a pacifier! The mother birds are mistaken some plastic pieces for food and actually feeding their baby birds this stuff and are killing them in the process : ( Here again I am really going to work on buying products with as little plastic as possible! I have found a blog about a family who is really keeping a close eye on every product they buy and are trying to go without buying any with plastic: Modern Muse
Like the dvd said every person with making even some changes will make a big difference, I am commited to making changes!!!
P. S. - Also, I want to mention that my daughter has now jumped on board with me about the "no more plastic" in our garbage after seeing that dvd so that is one more person to be making changes - Heck Ya! : )

Books, Books And More Books

Okay I have offically gone Book Nuts again!
I just can't stop, I am a sponge and want to soak up as much information as I can about vegetarian cooking, nutriton, recycling, less waste ect....
I went into the library and came out with 7 huge mega sized books to read,
"The Organic Food Shopper's Guide" by Jeff Cox
"The Unhealthy Truth" by Robyn O'Brien
"A Slice of Organic Life" by Sheherazade Goldsmith
"In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan
"The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
"SuperFoods HealthStyle" by Steven Pratt
"Natural Energy Boosters" by Carlson Wade

I just finished reading "Better off Flipping The Switch On Technology", I enjoyed reading the adventures of the couple trying to live the "Amish" type way of life. The ending was a bit disappointing (I won't go any further then that so as not to ruin the book for others). One nugget I took from the book was how with so much more work for them to do each day because of using less technology ex. no computer, tv, telephone, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine ect. they still felt they had more time during the day.... I can so agree with how the computer will eat up your day if you let it!!!!! Lately with my thirst for finding out all I can on my new interests I have been spending WAY too much time on!!!! I need to add that to my list of things to change : )
What do I always say "Too much to do, Not enough time"....

Organic Food

Last night I watched "Food Matters" WOW! That's the first word the comes to mind. It is so interesting and informative on the affects of "We are what we eat" theory. Having food battle cancers is mind blowing! It really all makes sense to me, how the body can heal it self if you give it the right fuel.
Which brings me to vitamins, I have never taken vitamins in my lifetime. I never really gave my kids vitamins on a daily basis (Kelly started taking the chewy adult gummy type ones recently but we stopped because they are pretty expensive). I really want to look into getting some vitamins for us to take after watching that dvd, I can't belive how many years I have been going without them.... One Dr. hit home when he said "There is no reason the average person should be tired in the afternoon" - That's me ever day! I am always tired and always without any energy.
They also suggest a large glass of water in the morning before you eat or drink anything else - I drink no water! You can see a pattern forming here : (
They feel you should eat organic food, that the pesticides are just ruining the fruits & veg.. Well I live near a potato farm and you would not belive the way they spray the heck out of those plants, I can imagine all that pesticides are leaching down into the potato as it grows. I actually have an organic co-op down in town that I would like to check out but really worried about the cost.... They say in the dvd how we are willing to buy the best car, the best house, ect but we are willing to put the worst food into our systems that we should be spending less of our money on those other things and spending as much as we possible can on getting the most healthiest food for our families.
I'll let you know how my shopping goes tomorrow.

The Need To Stop Using Plastic & Recycle More!

Okay my eyes have been opened lately with what I have been finding out about! Two things I will talk about in this post is plastics and the amount of garbage we are making....
My daughter & I watched "Planet In Peril", The first thing she said to me is "God must be really mad at us for taking such bad care of the earth"! This from a 16yr. old who really doesn't show much emotions one way or another on many topics...
It really has given me more of a boost to do what I can to make changes in a number of areas!
I recycle cans, plastics, cardboard & newspapers, but after some of my reading I am finding out plastic just doesn't really recycle very well. To top it off the plastic that does not get recycled is causing such issues in our oceans! Can you imagine 8 football fields covered with plastic water bottles is the equivalent of how many are discarded every 5 minutes in the United States...
The chemicales that are coming off of the plastics are causing such heath issues too that I really want to limit my families use of them.
Here are some ideas for getting started not using so much Plastic.
Contact your local recycling center to see what items they can recycle, You will be amazed at some of the items you can drop off there, Here is an example of what my town can take. Also check out this great searching tool for what you can recycle & where.
It sure is alot to digest and it really is all mind blowing how much we have abused the earth : (