Tag Archives: GMO

Fruit ‘n Nut Bars Made at Home :)

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I was cruising around FB and what did I see but a recipe for fruit and nut bars that promised to replace my beloved Larabar.

I bought Larabars for the first time last month and posted them on my FB page as a great non-GMO energy bar/snack bar. I loved the taste and texture so much that I figured it was going to be my new favorite snack. Well of course someone lets me know that the parent company is General Mills and GM were not only against labelling GMO foods but they also contributed a ridiculous amount of money to the ‘NO’ vote on Prop 37 in California. I feel strongly about labelling GMO foods so I decided that I would boycott them like a lot of other people.

All that to say that I was over-joyed to find this recipe! It comes from Maoomba ‘s website and I adapted it slightly. Stormy has a lot to offer on her site so go take a look. (but then come back here…ok?)

You will need: food processor, plastic wrap, almonds, apricots, crystallized ginger and dates

I started with 1 1/2 cups of almonds and crushed them in a food processor. I chopped 3/4 cups of dried apricots and 3 pieces of crystallize ginger into small pieces then added them to the food processor with the almonds. Once thoroughly mixed remove from processor and set aside.PicMonkey Collagedate

I put 3 cups of pitted dates in the food processor and pulverized them into a sticky mass and I mean a STICKY MASS!!! lol

Add the sticky mass to the nut/fruit mixture and work together until it is all mixed. Press into a pan of your choosing lined with plastic wrap, cover with another piece of plastic wrap and press down firmly with whatever you can find, to compact the mixture. You will want to really get the mix as compact as you can so that it sticks together like a bar once you cut them.PicMonkey Collageme

Place the pan in the fridge to chill, I left mine in over night. When they are chilled, remove from the pan by lifting the plastic wrap up. Cut into serving sizes of your choice and wrap each piece in plastic wrap and store in the fridge. PicMonkey Collagebars

I have to admit, these are very good.

There are so many variations to this simple recipe and I plan to make several more batches. I think a chocolate variety is in the cards next. ;)

have you made an at-home energy bar?

in health

Denise ♥

 

Canada Day my way-Strawberries with a dash of Running

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I didn’t participate in any organized Canada Day celebrations yesterday but I sure did have a good day! It started out slow enough with a lazy coffee and computer time but then I decided to continue pitting the cherries for freezing which led me to thinking about strawberries!

my finger nails are purple!

We went out to Ash Berry Farms, a local Upick run by a couple and their 4 young boys. We were enamored right away driving up their long driveway as to our right were several piglets…who doesn’t like piglets? Yes, I know where they are headed for but they’re still cute!

drink break!

Anyways, we were there for strawberries not pigs! We were given a 4 litre milk jug and shown to our row of berries to pick and off we went. I will admit, I did sneak a couple into my mouth…come on…I had to try before I bought them didn’t I? They taste amazing…plump, juicy and fresh off the stem! Mmmmm…..

so juicy!

The jug filled up too quickly! I was just getting into this and it was already over! I was getting good at finding the delectable ones hiding under their green covers.

Found you!

There are so many berries in the field that are not yet ripened so I know I will be able to return for many more pounds of strawberries. ♥

Since we are trying to eat and buy local we had a great conversation with the owners after the picking was done. They have a lot of tomato plants for their personal use and since we are trying our hand at tomatoes and tomato canning this season we had a chat about growing, covering and protecting from blight. They also sell chickens and yes, sides of pork.

Naturally the conversation turned to organic and GMO’s. I didn’t realize just how hard it is to not be affected by GMO somehow. They raise their animals free range but the feed almost surely has some form of GMO in it. We found out that those farmers that use non-GMO feed have to sell their products at such a high price that it makes it cost prohibitive. We were told that a friend of theirs has non-GMO fed chickens that she finds harder to sell because she has to charge a much higher price to recoup her investment. :(
Somethings gotta give here! We’re going the wrong way and the government is NOT listening! I’ll stop here as my blood pressure is rising. Suffice it to say that we are being led down a very dark path with our food.

Back to strawberries :) I brought them home, washed them up, froze half and ate way too many…is that possible? to eat too many strawberries? :)

:D

They must have done something for me because I went for a run later on and I busted out a 1K in 5 minutes 40 seconds…my fastest 1K ever :D Then I did hill repeats to prep for my upcoming ascent race July 28th. Strawberry power!
Since I run along Goose Spit I am always surrounded by beautiful views of the ocean and mountains. Tonight however there was the added pleasure of watching kite boarders slickly skimming across the water as the winds were perfect!

I could feel their freedom!

Oh and then I went home and I ate more strawberries for my post run refuel, this time on my Greek yogurt with Skinny B chia seeds and bananas!

Strawberry Power!

So, not a typical Canada Day but a day spent with such fullness and richness. I am working at filling up my life with simple pleasures and so far I am on track…

I’ll leave you with this last photo…I was taking a pic of the young turkey and my husband threw it a strawberry at the same time. I didn’t notice until I uploaded the pic to our PC that the strawberry was in mid air…love this photo!

hahaha…

Visit Ash Berry Farms FB Page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ASH-Berry-Farm/136230569720856?ref=ts

Don’t forget to enter my Giveaway for a free Gymboss Interval Timer. Go here for details: http://fitpsychology.com/?m=20120628

how often do you go to Upicks?

Support Local Farmers

Denise ♥

 

 

 

 

 

How I Eat Now…

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So I have been making a real effort to eat clean 85 – 90% of the time and let me tell you this: the more I try the harder it has become. All the information I am digging up and educating myself on brings with it yet another discovery…it’s never ending it seems.

What’s on your plate?

Recently I watched Food Inc by Michael Pollen and although I kinda knew what was going on out there with our food, I really had my eyes flung open with this documentary. There is so much to digest (no pun intended folks) that I had to watch it over 2 days. I will need to watch it a few more times as well. I won’t go into gruesome detail or start railing about the evil that is Monsanto and GMO or GE’s, genetically modified organisms and genetically engineered foods…but I would strongly urge you to watch it for yourself so that you may become more aware and educated with how our food is so out of our control. We need to come together as a people who want to know what is in our food and for goodness sakes we NEED to support local growers and our farmers! Ok, I can see that I am going to get all riled up so I will stop here on this particular subject…mostly because I would be remiss to think I knew enough to educate you on it. Please just be open to the education :)

It’s worth a viewing

I started to take my food seriously and to another level just this past February. Yah, I know, 47 (46 then) and just getting smart…I am not vegetarian nor will I ever be but I do try to buy grass-fed, sustainable meat products and I now know I do not need to eat meat everyday day. I try to limit it to a small portion of red meat every 7-10 days which I feel is enough for my body’s B12 and iron needs and chicken or fish 2-3 days a week. I then eat vegetable variations and  the occasional whole wheat pasta dish. I eat a lot of salads, like, every day I eat salad! I love salad. I have an album on my FB page of my salads I love them so much. ;) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.366795503381479.82468.303769623017401&type=3

♥ too pretty to eat…but I did. I usually make extras for the next day :)

I have been going to the local markets now that they are opened and I am trying to buy from local growers. There’s nothing like biting into a locally grown, fresh carrot that has just come out of the ground. The way it snaps off when you bite into it is evidence enough for me that fresh is the answer…plus it reminds me of raiding gardens when I was a kid…sorry Mrs Johnson!

fresh from the local market :)

However you choose to eat is up to you. I personally am trying to stay away from as much processed foods as humanly possible. I am really trying to stay out of grocery stores but it is very hard. I go to the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and the local veggie stands. I buy my eggs from a co worker who has chickens and I love all the irregular looking eggs with those beautiful deep orange yolks. I like slowing down and choosing food wisely and asking questions of the vendors. I have been contacting companies of products I like and asking them if their food is from ingredients that have been GE’d. So far I have been pleased that my choices have been certified non-GMO.

They say nothing in life is as it seems and that is a very grim reality with our food. I will continue to educate myself and my family and anyone who would like to listen.What I won’t do is preach because I have come to find out that we all evolve at different times and at different levels. People learn what they want when they want…myself included. What I will do is share my ideas and food choices through my FB page- https://www.facebook.com/fitpsychology?ref=tn_tnmn and this blog.

Oh and just so you know, there is no such thing as perfection and I do indulge in treats but even with that I am trying to find healthier alternatives ;) I make my own baked items so I know what is in them, I seek out potato chips - Kettle Brand - that are made from non- GMO’d ingredients and on and on…

I feel at my healthiest and happiest now and I really do believe it is because of the choices I have been making with food and exercise.

Here are a two documentaries to start you out on educating yourself with what’s on your plate. One is aptly named “What’s on Your Plate” :)
http://www.whatsonyourplateproject.org/
http://www.takepart.com/foodinc

how have you changed your diet for the better?

share any non-GMO products here…I need more choices ;)

in health

Denise ♥

Our 23 hour cross border shopping trip :)

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My husband and I decided that since I had a 4 day weekend we may as well get out of dodge for a change of scenery so we headed to Bellingham US. No small feat since we live on Vancouver Island which means we drive 1 hour to the ferry, 2 hours to cross then 30 minutes from Vancouver to the border and another 25 minutes to Bellingham…and then we got to do it all again today! :-/

on BC Ferries from Vancouver Island to Vancouver enroute to the States

I was determined to remain mindful of my food choices especially since I was doing a lot of sitting! We did indulge in a burger at Bob’s Burger’s in Birch Bay but we split the meal as usual so the calorie count was lower than it could have been. I drank water throughout the drive and did not have any unhealthy snacks. We shopped a little then picked up a spinach salad and ate that in the hotel room. I was tired but I did a workout anyway and felt so good afterward.

this is the workout I did last night in our hotel room ;)

The hotel we stay at has a complimentary continental breakfast…you know the ones; pastries, sugary cereal, extra large fat filled muffins! Luckily it also has packets of oatmeal and bananas which is what I chose. The oatmeal packets tend to be high in sodium but a better choice than a pastry!

A good choice considering my options were calorie laden pastries etc :)

We did a little more shopping – Nike Outlet – I’ll show you my new running outfit tomorrow- and then we went to Trader Joe’s! I love that store, probably because we don’t have one and also because it has mostly (if not all) organic, non GMO food products. We spent quite a bit there…mostly healthy items like almond meal, nut butters, honey.

Our Trader Joe spending spree!

 

and the outrageous bill to go with it! Jeff almost choked! lol

finally found almond meal...gonna make some protein balls this weekend! good trail mix ingredients too :)

 

We did pick up a few frozen items like Eggplant Parmesan, convenient for busy nights after work. Most things were healthy choices even the 72% Fair Trade organic dark chocolate! My husband somehow slipped cans of beer into the cart while I was chasing down some brussel sprouts ;) . We bought the most delicious lentil wrap I have ever tasted to split for lunch and were on our way back home before home knew we were  gone!

All in all, a good getaway but happy to be home. Oh and BC Ferries if you’re listening? Please lower your fares so we can get off the island without going broke…$79.00 each way?!? come on…sigh…

in travelling and health

Denise