Pleased to "meat" you...

It's overwhelming when you think about it--eating has become so complicated. There had to be a time when if the food tasted good it was good for you and if it tasted or smelled bad you avoided it. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. What seems to be perfectly safe food is causing illness and sometimes even death. The most recent case happened just the other day when salmonella was found in ground beef packed in Fresno, CA, prompting a recall of 826,000 pounds of beef. This same company recalled 1560 pounds of beef cheek products (Just knowing that there are products made from beef cheeks is disgusting enough!) a year ago due to E. coli contamination. If these problems keep appearing why hasn't something changed in the way our meat is processed? Could it be because the government agencies that we trust to protect us and uphold food safety standards are more interested in protecting the interests of the food companies? Just a thought...

I was relieved that this was one meat recall I didn't have to participate it. My ground beef came from a ranch in Colorado where cows aren't crammed into feedlots standing knee deep in their own waste. It didn't cost $1.89 a pound like the recalled beef probably did, but we have been eating it for two weeks and have nothing to worry about. So how do you know which beef to buy? There are so many adjectives describing the items in the meat case these days how do you know what matters and what is just a marketing ploy? Click here to see definitions of the terms found on your meat labels.

This week I wanted to compare some produce prices so I visited my local Whole Foods. Based on this week's prices, the Winder Farms' organic produce box came in about a $1 more than the same items at Whole Foods. It seems like prices have dropped throughout the whole store. The Kashi cereals were around $3.49/box, the Stonyfield Farms Yokids yogurt tubes were on sale and I was delighted to find hamburger buns without high fructose corn syrup(I don't remember if they were on sale, I was just happy to find them). We also tried the Horizon Organic kids yogurt tubes which did not pass Jack's taste test. They are very tangy compared to other "kid" yogurt. I didn't like them very much either and I am pretty forgiving in the yogurt taste department. I also found boneless, skinless, organic air-cooled chicken breasts for $4.99/lb. When I purchased them I had no idea what air-cooled meant, I was just happy to see organic boneless skinless breasts for the same price that Albertson's organic bone-in breasts were. I haven't tried them yet but after some research I discovered that they are supposed to have amazing flavor.

Our baby chickens are growing so fast and their only air cooling will come from our air conditioning unit because we brought them home to be egg layers not fryers. I never knew how much joy could be found from watching chickens. They are so goofy and cute. We take them out each night after dinner and watch them trying to catch bugs, taking dust baths, learning to fly and pouncing on each other...it's hilarious! I will have to film it and post a video. They will be all grown up before I know it but at least when that happens, I will have the freshest free-range organic eggs that money can't buy.

You can lead your kids to healthier food but you can't make them eat!

This morning I woke up excited to start the day. What made today special? I was making homemade granola bars and I couldn't wait to try them. I am living on the edge, I am breaking the rules, I am...failing miserably! It seems to me that my kids are purposely rejecting the new things in the hopes of getting the old foods back(or I am paranoid). Personally I thought they were tasty. They weren't as crunchy as Nature Valley granola bars but not as chewy as the Quaker ones. If you do make the recipe, don't cut them until they are completely cooled or else they won't hold their shape well. They(my dear sweet children who I am trying to give the best available food to so that they can be as healthy as possible and have long productive lives with great jobs and loving wives and adorable children and summer vacations at the beach, etc.) have also rejected the new yogurt. Rather than being a homogenous blend like Yoplait and Gogurt, there is actual fruit in the yogurt. They asked what it was and found the watery-fruity part gross. Isn't this how real yogurt has always been? It is just more evidence that something needs to change.

Here are some of our Farmer's Market and organic purchases steamed and tossed with olive oil and garlic salt--Delicious!

Today found us at another Farmer's Market. We hadn't planned to go but we were visiting friends in Henderson and they suggested it to us so we went to see it together. It was larger than the Summerlin one and had better prices. They even had some bakeries but we arrived too late and they had already left for the day. If you are looking for the best strawberries on the planet, don't miss this market! They were as sweet as candy and so was the lady that sold them to me. One overflowing green plastic basket was $3.00 or you could get 3 green plastic baskets for $8.00. I wish we had bought 3.

Tomorrow's adventure: sweet potato muffins made with farmer's market sweet potatoes!