Popcorn Treats

By now, most of us have even heard that popcorn should be off-limits if you commonly prepare it in the microwave. This unfortunate malady can also be lain at the doorstep of the food processing/packaging industry. It seems the interior lining of those popcorn bags are also full of chemical additives which do leach into your popcorn. So if you happen to be a great fan of popcorn, it's either find a new way to cook it - safer, that is - or just do without!

Now, that second choice my husband doesn't even consider it to be an option. He just absolutely L-O-V-E-S popcorn. So, since we sold the air-popper at a yard sale a few years ago (he always used the microwave), we now found a safer alternative for the microwave.

Brown Lunch Bag Popcorn

Remember those old brown lunch bags many of us used to carry to school or work everyday?

 If you're one of us older generational individuals, after the lunch box craze came (and went), the brown paper lunch bags came onto the scene next. It seems, they are still around to some degree, usually in your grocery store in the aisle with the aluminum foil, plastic wraps, trash bags etc.. Well that little brown paper bag makes excellent popcorn.

Recipe For Success

Place 3 tablespoons of popping corn into a paper bag and fold the top over twice. Place this bag into your microwave, standing upright, and microwave about one and a half to two and a half minutes on high (if you have the popcorn setting, use that).

The first few times you prepare it (or if you buy a new brand),  listen very carefully because every microwave is different. Your popping time is going to vary depending on your unit itself. Listen very closely and when you only hear one or two pops about one second apart, your bag is ready. Remove it from the oven, open carefully because it will be very hot! Season to your taste.

Retaining The Healthy Version For The Diabetic

Now the first thing on everyone's mind, is where's the butter? But the saturated fats in a stick of butter is one big health mistake for anyone, not just the diabetic. Those artificial butter flavorings are no substitute either because many are not allergen or diabetic friendly. So just what can you put on fresh-popped popcorn which tastes great and doesn't wreck the waistline (or the heart clogging arteries)?

• use a bottle of extra virgin olive oil and spray lightly then add some garlic powder or onion powder
• make a tex-mex version by sprinkling with chili powder or cayenne pepper
• a fine sprinkling of all-natural Himalayan or Celtic sea salt gives you a boost of important salts plus all the necessary minerals our body needs for efficient operation
• like an Italian version? Give it a sprinkling of oregano, basil and garlic.
• for the dessert variety, mix in a few raw nuts (cashews, almonds, or walnuts) and seeds (pumpkin, sunflower or sesame)  then melt a small amount of 70% (or greater) dark chocolate and drizzle the popcorn and nuts/seeds with your glaze. Be a little more careful with your serving size here because you did add a measurable amount of extra calories with the chocolate.

You can keep going like this and making and mixing together any of your favorites to personalize your bag to match any list of your favorite flavors.

Holiday Tips For Pet Safety

In a couple more days, here in the United States, the whirlwind season between Thanksgiving and Christmas will fall upon us whether you are ready for it or not. For some of us, it is a joyous season. For others... life can become a little more hazardous without the utmost caution.

Friends, family and office gatherings are a norm everywhere. But one of those common scenarios many people do not think about is the family pet.

Safety Tips For The Family Pet

One of the biggest concerns for any individual with food allergies or even diabetes is all the special foods which circulate around us everywhere during the holiday season. But while for you these are temptation, for the family pet, they might as well have their name plastered all over them. At least we have the conscious mind to tell ourselves, "we should know better". The pet's safety though, they are reliant on us. Some good examples include:

• greasy, spicy and hot foods all can lead to extreme gastrointestinal distress for the common dog or cat. Too much leads to a shutdown of the pancreas, known as pancreatitis.
• chocolates, especially milk and dark varieties can be fatal to a dog because they lack the protein to metabolize its compounds unlike the human body
• cats especially love to nibble on plants. Many people believe poinsettias are toxic to a cat. The actual truth though, while a poinsettia may cause some digestive disturbances, ivy, holly and mistletoe are all poisonous, thus fatal if too much is ingested.**
• the leftover turkey bone or ham bone might be tempting to your dog but if a sliver of bone chips off and gets stuck anywhere in their digestive system, far more serious complications are usually the final result.
• some fruits, notably the grape and raisins are toxic to a dog. Keep them away at all times for their own safety.

Food is not the only complication that can come up though. Some other areas of concern include:

• scented candles, although they smell wonderful, it is a lighted wick. Unless the candle is enclosed in some type of glass enclosure, as a cat walks by their tail can easily catch on fire.
• any animal, as it runs or walks through the house, a lighted candle can easily be tipped over thus leading to the danger of surrounding furnishings catching on fire. Never leave a candle unattended in any room.
• playing with the Christmas tree (and or decorations) can be tempting for the indoor cat or dog. Always be sure it is anchored well to prevent tipover.
• decorations close to the bottom of the tree, if they are glass, run the risk of being broken. Glass shards lead to rips or tears in the paws or legs or swallowed pieces of glass.
• all the pretty tinsel, garland, balls and icicles are very tempting to a pet, especially a cat, who loves the sparkling colors. All of these though when swallowed can lead to bowel obstructions, thus pet surgery.
• too many people and too much commotion is a major disruption to your pet's normal routine also. Sometimes a pet's temper can get "frayed" also leading to doggie nips and kitty scratches from a disturbed pet. Pay as much attention to their feelings and surroundings as you would your children to ward off any accidents before they happen.

Although the holidays can be a wonderful time for many, the chance is there that every day little stressors are  capable of building up into even larger problems is quite possible without a little bit of advance planning and concern,  even for the four-legged members of the family.

**In the event of a suspected poisoning, call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 1-888-426-4435 for immediate assistance.

Finding Hidden Dairy Products

Milk sounds so very easy to find, doesn't it? Of course, we all know milk is the stuff you drink. Then there's cheese and ice cream products also.

But what many people do not realize, the food industry has a lot of other words they also use to "describe" the use of milk in the manufacturing industry. So being diagnosed with a milk allergy, even a lactose intolerance, means you now have to learn all of these names also for yours (or a family members') protection.

So some other common food sources to find milk products also includes:

• butter and margarines
• creamed soups or sauces
• canned entrees like, spaghetti, ravioli etc.
• macaroni and cheese boxes
• many dessert selections
• almost all chocolate selections
• milk shakes, malts, powdered drink mixes, cocoa mixes
• pre-packaged salad dressing bottles and mixes
• pre-packaged whipped topping mixes and coffee creamers (even the ones which say Non-Dairy)
• plus many others

Many of the surprising ones, like the non-dairy coffee creamer for example, you must become accustomed to reading the ingredient label. Although they may not have added milk, they did use one of the milk-based proteins within the ingredients. This addition therefore means you now have a type of milk product within that jar. Many of the truly dairy allergic can and will have an adverse reaction.

So, get yourself accustomed to reading that label and look for some of these words also. If you ever see any of them, that means that product does contain milk.

• milk solids, low fat or nonfat milk
• cow, goat, sheep and camel milk may all be a problem for some
• cream, sour cream, whipped cream, half & half and cream cheese
• yogurt and kefir
• lactose or lactalbumin
• any words with casein, caseinate or sodium caseinate
• artificial butter flavorings
• buttermilk or buttermilk solids
• whey or whey protein
• rennet
• ghee or clarified butter
• hydrolysates

There is also many other ways milk can be an added ingredient in pre-processed or pre-packaged foods. Until you become accustomed to finding them all, actually the easiest, and actually the cheapest way to guarantee your safety is just by cooking and preparing your meals for the family right from your own home. After all, if you cooked it, you know what went in it.

What about any of you... what's the most unusual item you found when you first started? What you had difficulty with believing can become a life-saver for someone else just starting out. If you can remember what your stumbling blocks were, let the rest of us know. Thanks for the help!

Gluten Free: Easy As 1-2-3

When a gluten free diet gets mentioned as a course of treatment by the doctor's office, so many people all of a sudden feel like everything they eat is now off-limits. After all, no bread, no pasta, waffles and pancakes, cakes and cookies, donuts and pies..., almost all of these are part of their normal every day diet.

But then somebody mentions pre-packaged salad dressings, sausage and deli meats, canned/jarred sauces and gravies are also off limits. When is this list ever going to end?

With time and education though, you will find many of these things aren't truly off-limits because every single  one of these items can actually be prepared (or often bought) entirely free of the gluten protein. The difference here is just some simple changes needed to be made in the list of ingredients. By changing up the list, almost any recipe can end up with very close if not better final results with experience.

Another Way To Go Gluten Free

Being unfamiliar with all the terminology, a newly diagnosed individual also has no reason to realize many of the normal every day foods have no gluten in them at all anyway. If you stick to purchasing organic fruits and vegetables, raw nuts and seeds plus fresh grass-fed beef and poultry (plus their eggs), the advantages you will reap in your health can and will far outweigh the inconvenience you might feel now from abstaining from a few simple ingredients. So to begin your new lifestyle, choose from some of these common sources instead:

• dairy products like cheese chunks or cheese sticks, yogurt and cottage cheese all make excellent snack time choices
• fresh eggs or egg substitutes
• peanut, almond, cashew or pecan butters. All nut butters you make yourself are gluten free but if purchased yours, check the ingredient label to be sure there was no additives or fillers used in their recipe also.
• raw seeds are also an excellent source. Choose from pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds or butters.
• all fresh fruits and vegetables are safe.
• combine dried fruits, nuts, seeds and coconut to make your own trail mixes.
• quinoa, millet, almond and rice are all gluten free flours along with many other varieties. These can be used to replace almost any of the normal flour-based items you commonly are used to preparing. Combination flours often must be used to get the best final results but a good quality gluten free cookbook can be used to quickly and simply guide you into transitioning to gluten free cooking and baking.

Even though you might be trying to avoid your allergens or just any diagnosed intolerance, for your own better health, get in the habit of worrying just as much about the quality of your selections. With time, you are going to find going gluten free was actually a breeze after all and the best part is you actually do feel better through it all!

The Best Quote I Have Ever Heard!

 An article in the recent Pittsburg gazette quoted a farmer (who refuses to grow genetically-engineered crops) as saying that his seed catalogs tell him do not feed any GE corn husks, corn products or any other parts of the finished crop to his cattle because of adverse health effects. But, per the farmer, I can't grow it for my cattle but I can grow it for me to eat! Doesn't anyone but me see the problem here?

 Tuesday November 6th is rapidly approaching. It's election day! Sure we are supposed to pick another president that day in this country, but if you ask me something far more important is going down that day.

What is it?

The ballot vote in the state of California for or against the labeling of genetically modified ingredients in our foods in the entire food system.

Believe me, I'm guessing but probably better than 95% of the food industry itself is hoping and praying this doesn't happen. Why, other than it is inconvenient? Because they all know once the people actually do start questioning what that label is and what it means, they won't buy it anymore. People do not want to know there is herbicides, pesticides, and altered DNA in their foods. Other than it sounds horrible, how in the world can it be good for our health?

Oh, you think this stuff was all safety-tested, do you? Well, sure it is. It has been all along. Every single time you buy some corn on the cob, you're safety testing it. Buy anything with sugar, with corn, with soy, with beef (if they were fed the leading feed crop for cattle). Do you wear cotton T-shirts? Or how about sleep under a cotton blanket or some cotton sheets? The list can go on and on and on how you are daily safety-testing all of these altered products. GE (genetically modified) products are all over our food systems, our personal possessions - actually we are inundated with them daily and we don't even know it.

But that's OK - after all, we are safety testing the stuff for them!  Each and every single day!

Why? Because there was no long-term safety tests ever done. That's what we're here for. Heck, after all, we all go to the store every day, every week, every month etc.. We eat out at restaurants, we go to self-pick farms or to farmer's markets. We all purchase food all the time for them to safety test their latest invention in GE foods.

Advertising is all over the place, especially in the state of California, trying to lull the population into believing the guaranteed safety, reliability, cost effectiveness etc. of these goods. But this is big business. Corporate America has loads of money to spend on advertising, all of it to try to hide the facts from the everyday people.

Another group, just us ordinary people - we don't have loads of money, but we are trying just as hard trying to convince Californians the dangers here. And trying to get them to realize the dangers which they don't know about. But we don't have an unlimited bank account. We don't have ANY of the advantages corporate America has. We just have the people. Your friends, your neighbors, the farmer who is trying to raise your crops safely. The rancher who is worried about the safety of the feed he has to feed his animals. The mother, or father who  hopes and prays he is not making a mistake giving his child a bowl of cereal for breakfast tomorrow.

Tuesday is a deciding day in the USA. The decision is going to be made whether we can basically feel a little safer when we actually sit down to feed ourselves or any family member. So much of the rest of the world "gets this" dream and has kicked GE ingredients out of their stores, their country, their life.

Let's just hope millions and millions of dollars of twisted truths, outright lies and false accusations don't scare the people in California into voting for the wrong side this coming Tuesday.