The fight for raw milk continues.  Congressman Ron Paul has introduced a piece of legislation “to authorize the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk and milk products that are packaged for direct human consumption.”  This bill, (H.R.778) will not do away with each state’s decisions regarding raw milk but will make it legal to bring raw milk from other states into states where it cannot be sold.  The whole idea that the government can dictate what we eat is absurd and unconstitutional.  This bill won’t fix everything but at least it’s a step towards more health freedoms.  I encourage you to contact your local representative and ask them to support bill HR 778! :) 

I have my husband rate my cooking.  I started doing this because when I would ask him how he liked the food, his descriptions were less than informative.  So now he rates each meal between a 1 and a 10.  Men can be hard to understand but a rating makes it much clearer.  Most of my meals lately seem to be a 7. 
However, I’m not content to live with a seven. 

My GOAL: to develop a menu where every meal we eat is a 9 or a 10.  Life is too short to eat anything less! 

Think about it.  If delicious, healthy food is just a matter of finding the right recipes and developing the appropriate skills, then why settle for mediocre meals. 

You might think eating healthy is too expensive.  While I think it CAN be it doesn’t HAVE to be.  Processed foods are what can really break you.  We live on a pretty modest income and yet I am still able to buy fresh, whole food on a regular basis.  It’s just a matter of prioritizing and knowing how best to buy.  It isn’t always necessary to buy organic.  Some produce has higher levels of pesticides than others.  For instance, I usually buy conventional broccoli, bananas and avocados but I try to only buy organic apples, grapes & peaches. 

IF it is possible to make delicious, healthy, food and still live within our budget, why would I do otherwise? 

And so, I keep trying.  Despite many setbacks I’m determined to press on, because the health and happiness of my family is worth it.  Giving us the best odds for avoiding chronic illnesses is worth it.  Smiles around the family table are worth it. 

Keep in mind that there’s a difference between health-food and healthy food.  Check out my post on Health Food vs. Whole Food to see why. 

Apparently that while it’s true that global warming is happening, the reasons that are often cited for it’s occurrence aren’t exactly true.  Humans are usually the main ones blamed and yet we actually play a very small role in the matter.  I sure would love to be at that conference! 

Even with this information I think it’s important that we do take care of the earth.  In seeking to live a healthy life we must also seek to nurture a healthy planet. 

While pregnant I became a bit anemic and needed to get an extra dosage of iron each day.  This surprised me somewhat since I regularly cook in an iron skillet (which contributes iron into your diet).  Iron supplements can cause constipation so you often have to take a stool softener with them.  Eating whole foods is always preferable to taking individual vitamin supplements.  This is because the different parts of food work with each other in harmony in order to be most beneficial to the health of our bodies. 

At the suggestion of my midwife I started taking a spoonful of unsulphered molasses each day.  She also suggested eating Malt-O-Meal for breakfast.  One serving contains 60% of the RDA for Iron!  Because it’s not what you eat that is most important but what you ABSORB, I took my iron strong foods along with orange juice.  It’s high in vitamin C which aids in the absorption of iron found in foods (but not in supplements).  Don’t take molasses or other iron-rich foods with milk, tea or coffee as the calcium and phosphorus in milk and the tannic acid in coffee and tea actually interfere with iron absorption.  Following this regime my iron levels went up quickly without the problem of constipation. 

Here are some excellent natural sources of iron:
Clams, canned (LOTS of iron)
Beef Liver - I only WISH I was one of the people that like it! :( 
Red meats
Shrimp
Legumes (especially brown ones)
Tomato juice
Artichoke

Low iron levels can sometimes even be the cause of reduced energy, motivational problems or behavioral problems.  Before seeking seeking more extensive treatment options, you may want to get your iron levels checked just to rule out the possibility of a nutritional deficiency.