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Food today is just not the same as when we were growing up.

We didn’t eat meat and dairy with so many hormones (that are actually ILLEGAL in many other countries).   Today some kids are going through puberty as early as the age of six (true story about a friend’s daughter…hair and all!).

We certainly never ate corn that was labeled a “pesticide” by the EPA. What? And it didn’t “blow up the stomachs of the insects that ate it”. Wonder what it does to our bellies?

We didn’t eat chicken or turkey (or rice) that had arsenic injected, or fed (or for the rice, sprayed with it in combination of a pesticide). Yes, that’s right, arsenic.

And, we didn’t eat apples that had an average of 54 chemicals sprayed on them.

I could go on and on, really, but I think you get my drift.

Things are just different now.

Some people say GMOs are hype, some say they are extremely dangerous. Now I don’t know exactly how all of this affects us. I don’t know if the GMOs and some of the other issues are partially to blame for the increase in health problems in our country, but I do know that I am not willing to let my kids be the guinea pigs.

Anyway, here are a few more fact regarding last week’s post on allergies. Notice the timeline from the increase in allergies (from last week’s post) and the growth of GMOs in our foods…

Did you know:

-Foods containing GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) do not have to be labeled in the US. — approximately 70% of processed foods in the US now contain GMO ingredients. The European Union, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and many other nations now (64 countries) require mandatory GMO labeling. In fact, in China, it is illegal to feed children foods with GMOs without parental consent.

-In May 1992, the FDA’s policy on GMO foods stated that they not need to be labeled nor safety-tested.

-Meanwhile, prominent scientists have publicized alarming research revealing severe damage to animals fed GMO foods.

-In 1996, when Monsanto began selling Roundup Ready soybeans, only 2% was GMO. By 2008, over 90% of soybeans in the US contained Monsanto’s gene.

-In March 1999, UK researchers discovered that reactions to soy had skyrocketed by 50% over the previous year.  All GMO soy had been imported from the US.

-On another note, Monsanto also produces rBGH, an artificial hormone given to cows to make them produce more milk…actually up to 15xs more milk than they would naturally. Anyone out there nursed their babies? Can you imagine? The infections, mastitis, etc from 15x the milk? Guess how they remedy those issues? More drugs! Oh, and it’s been linked to breast cancer and other health problems. It has been banned entirely in Canada, Australia, Japan, and all countries in the European Union. So why is our country still allowing it?

According to Robyn O’Brien, founder of the KidsAllergy Foundation, most countries outlaw these hormones because they “haven’t been proven safe“. But the US has a different way of looking at things. Our government says, wait, ready for it? ….”But they haven’t been proven dangerous”.

So what can we do? Ideally, eat organic meat, milk, fruits and veggies (esp thin skinned). And assume that if a label on a packaged food doesn’t say “Non-GMO”, that it is indeed a GMO food.

Okay, so how about a yummy, non-dairy or gmo meal? Who out there loves Houston’s Chicken Salad?? Actually, I should say who DOESN’T, right? This recipe really isn’t far off from it.  As I was making the dressing, I wondered if it would actually be any good. Wow! I was pleasantly surprised!! It’s one of my new favorites and it’s a must try for sure!!!

Here is what you need for this Mock Houston’s Chicken Salad:

Salad ingredients:

• whole organic rotissie chicken
• fresh scallions, 1/2 cup chopped
• cabbage, 1 large head or 10 oz. chopped bag from TJ’s
• carrots, 1 cup chopped by food processor or pre-cut bag from TJ’s
• fresh cilantro,1/2 cup or more
• peanuts or cashews, 1/2 cup chopped

Dressing ingredients:

• 4 garlic cloves or about 1 1/2 tsp minced (I was out of fresh)
• 2 light shakes of cayenne pepper
• 3/4 tsp fish sauce
• 1/4 cup tamari soy
• 3 tbsp vinegar (rice wine or white)
• 4 tbsp coconut palm sugar (you could probably use honey)
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice (I used 1 whole lime)
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (you could use all peanut or all almond instead of splitting)
• 1/2 cup water

And, if you buy everything pre-cut or pre-made like I have, it’s even easier to make…

Pull chicken apart. Put it in a large mixing bowl with all of the above “salad ingredients” and set aside. Now mix all of the “dressing ingredients” together except for the nut butters and water. Mix together in bowl well. Then add the nut butters and whip together. Then slowly add water until the dressing is mixed well and smooth. Pour dressing over the salad mixture and enjoy!!

It’s good for a couple of days but best when enjoyed immediately. I hope y’all like one as much as I do!

 Enjoy in good health!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Oh and Si from Duck Dynasty hopes the same, and says “hey”…

So…on a more serious note, what is going on with kids and all of these food allergies? Rarely did we hear about kids with allergies when we were growing up, so clearly something has changed. This topic fascinates me and depresses me at the same time.  Did you know:

According to the CDC:

• Cases of children with severe peanut allergy more than tripled between 1997 and 2008.
• 1 out of 13 kids now has a food allergy ,with 1 out of 40 being life threatening.
• And since 1998, there was a 265% rise in food allergy hospitalization among kids.

So, what the heck happened between 1997 and now??  I’ll give you some time to think about it. Stay tuned to the next post and I’ll offer some interesting tidbits that might help you draw your own hypothesis…

While I’m not providing any clues just yet, I am offering a recipe that we use to love and honestly forgot about it. I’m so glad I remembered it!!

Here is what you need for this yummy Thai Chicken and Broccoli dish:

 

Have a great weekend! PS-Did you remember to mark your calendar for August 3rd and 4th? 🙂

 

Hey guys, I am sorry I haven’t posted much this summer but hope everyone has had a good summer so far!! I can’t believe it’s already half way over. It needs to slow down!!! June went by really fast with swim team and all, as I’m sure it did for many of you.

I just love swim/dive team — the schedule, the practice, the camaraderie and the meets! It was so fun and we had a great season (Go #1 Bullfrogs)!!

Oh Tate, my fearless wonder. So much for doing the “pencil” dive…

Okay, so first, a little business since I’ve had many inquires. It’s finally time to mark your calendars!!! Saturday August 3rd and Sunday August 4th I will be hosting the Back to School — Prep for Success with Nutrition, for parents (and kids on Sun).

Saturday is an important day as you will learn:

• why it is so important for our kids to eat healthy
• what nutrients they need at their age
• and just how food affects them now, and in the future.

Then, Sunday August 5th is the follow up where you can bring your kids to the office to try lots of fun and yummy snacks.

We are looking at doing Saturday’s session for parents at 11:00am and Sunday’s session at 4:00pm (I think, now is the time to make any time requests!!). The cost will be $60 for Saturday’s session and $80 ($20 for each add’l child) for Sunday’s session or $125 if you go ahead and sign up for both. Please call Atlanta Center for Holistic Medicine at 404-814-9808 to reserve your spot.  Space is limited!

On to the kale…

So, if you’ve read some of this blog, you may know  that we looove our kale chips! And you also may know that if something isn’t quick and easy to make, I won’t do it. So after years of being lazy and  buying the pre-cut kale I  am now trying to figure out why I ever did that. Lately we’ve been getting the fresh cut big organic kale bunches (from Whole Foods) and we love it. The leaves are so much thicker and heartier and really it’s just as easy to prepare. Actually, it might be easier to prep since you just have cut off a few long stems versus picking out all of the chopped up stems from the bag.

I also haven’t been using the cashew “flour” that I mentioned in a previous post because I haven’t taken the time to make any (not that it takes long to blend, but still…). But, we did have some individually wrapped bags of cashews from Trader Joe’s. So, I just took a kitchen hammer and chopped those up as much as I could (before opening the pack) and put that on the kale chips, along with plenty of nutritional yeast, some salt and lots of coconut oil. Then we placed them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, laid them out flat, and cooked them on 300 for 25 minutes. We then turned the stove off and let them sit for another 30 or so until they got nice and crispy.  You might have to play with your oven to get just the right temp/time since everyone’s ovens are different.

This is how they looked after cooking for 25 minutes. They should look not quite done and feel a little soggy to the touch. Otherwise, you don’t want to leave them in, even with the stove off for too long, so make sure you don’t burn them. Again, test your oven, temps, times and after a little trial and error, you’ll get it, I promise!

And it’s so well worth figuring out! Notice I have two trays above. One for the kids and one for me and Scott.  If I don’t do the two batches, Scott and I don’t end up getting very much!

By the way, have y’all made this Chinese Chicken Salad yet? I added some chopped cashews to mine (what can I say, I’m on a cashew kick lately) and it was awesome.  It’s such a great meal for the summer!!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!! By the way, have you ever watched Duck Dynasty? Apparently those guys (ah-hem) will be running the Peachtree Road Race tomorrow. What a tradition (see last year’s post)! Fingers crossed on the weather for everyone running!!

 

I hope all of the sweet dad’s out there had a great Father’s Day today!!

For breakfast this morning, we started the day off with some really tasty Cinnamon Bun Muffins.  I followed my own advice per the post and doubled the batch.  Big mistake as it meant I ate double what I normally would have. But  oh my gosh, they really are amazing!! I, I mean he, really loves these things! 🙂

As for an afternoon treat we made some Nut Butter Balls that are really AWESOME. Okay, I hear the giggles, my husband is already like Beavis and Butthead saying to me “you are writing that you made “balls” on Father’s Day!”. He’s got a point…I guess. At least I changed the title of this post. It was, well, you can imagine!  Okay, so back to the treat. So you could easily do these without chocolate on them, but well, it was Father’s Day and my husband is a chocolate guy, so of course, I had to add it.

So this is the nice full plate right after lunch time.

Tate was a huge fan!

And this is what the plate looked like by the time I got home from grocery shopping and doing a consultation, so by about 5:30. Geeze, where did they all go??  Then I remembered what Tate said as he tried the first one after lunch…”Can I just eat all of them??”.  He actually said he likes them better than the Reece’s Cups…that’ says a lot cause those cups rock!

Anyway, they were super easy to make and a great treat! Be sure to cover (or hide them!) and keep them chilled in the fridge. I hope y’all like them!

Sometimes I get really excited about a new meal, and this is one of those times.  I cannot take credit for this, as I got this recipe from Gwenith Palttow’s new cookbook. The first time I made it I really liked it, but then I made it a second time with some changes and LOVED it. Tate actually called it “delish!” and I don’t even know where he got that word from, but whatever. I’m just happy the kid liked it!

Here is our rendition of Chicken Thai Burgers

• 2 lb white or dark ground chicken meat (we prefer dark)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 4-5 scallions, center parts chopped
• 1 tsp celtic salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp tamari (gluten free soy) or coconut aminos
• 2-3 tbsp coconut oil or avovado oil

In a large bowl, mix all (except for the coconut oil) of the ingredients together. Next turn your skillet pan on high, add 1-2 tbsp of coconut oil and fry each side of your burger until it’s a nice golden brown. Then turn your stove to low, cook for another 5-10 more minutes on low until the burger is no longer pink in the middle. Be sure not to overcook as it will continue to cook just a bit once you turn the stove off.

Enjoy! These make awesome leftovers and are also great on salads.

Oh and speaking of salads, our new favorite love, Tessamae’s, had a sampling at Whole Foods the other day. We discovered that we loved most of their dressings and not just the Balsamic.

We ended up with 3 new bottles (and 3 new favorites) that included Zesty Ranch, Soy Ginger, Cracker Pepper…

Still can’t wait to try some of the others down the road. Happy weekend everyone!!