To Be Organic or Not To Be, That is the Question...

The big "thing" now is to be "green". A lot of people are switching to organic and natural products. I am quite interested in this movement and have done lots of research on it.

It all started during my undergrad when I had to write a paper on a topic of my choosing. It had to do something with consumers and the products we buy. I chose to research BPA in plastics. Wow. When I first started researching I found a lot of stuff that said the amount of BPA that leaches out into your food is insignificant...but then I hit the jackpot and found research linking BPA to cancer and other diseases. No thanks! I'd rather not risk my life and switch to BPA free plastics and glass containers.

I was like a little kid testing out the water with my toes, but the water wasn't warm enough for me yet. I still wasn't convinced that organic was what I needed to be eating and that my "footprint" actually mattered. I was actually one of those people who thought it was silly to be green and natural. I wasn't about to give up the things I was comfortable with.

It wasn't until I watched the documentary Food Inc. that the water was warm enough for me to jump in! I would highly suggest you watch this film. It's about how animals are treated prior to being cooked in our kitchens. Now, I'm not a member of PETA or anything but I don't think animals should be treated poorly just because they are going to end up as food. And I believe that those farmers who are doing the right thing (in my eyes) should be people I support.

In the weeks following I did a lot of research on organic foods and how to be green. Now, I'm no expert but I know if I have any questions I can easily look something up on the internet.

My plan is to move towards becoming 100% organic and be at that point when my husband and I have children. Okay, okay, that's a huge task in such little time (I'm thinking a couple years) I know! I'm not sure if we'll be 100% organic but I'm going to be very critical about what we eat - especially our children.

Here's the plan:

1. Antibiotic and hormone free meats
2. USDA organic foods when available
3. Farmer's Market during that season
4. Cage free/free range, USDA Organic eggs
5. 100% whole wheat grains

There are so many things I could put on this list but for now, those are the top five.

I'm working on starting a page to track my progress at fulfilling my big goal. So be on the look-out for that!

Does anyone have any ideas on things I could do/change? I have so many ideas in my head it's hard to remember them all and actually put them into practice. I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Have a great rest of the week. I might not be around until Monday - in a wedding Friday! Peace out!

Peanut Butter Jelly!

I'm on a health kick right now, you probably already knew that from my days without Coke tracker. Well, technically I'm just changing a few things - I can get rid of Coke but I refuse to give up my candy!

One thing I am changing is my peanut butter...

Let me start by saying I love peanut butter! I could eat it everyday on just about anything! I don't know what I would do if I found out I was allergic to it.

My concern is all the ingredients in regular jar of peanut butter? There's too many if you ask me.

I didn't just decide to look on my own. I was actually browsing the Whole Foods website to see if their 365 brand was organic and someone had commented that it had too many ingredients. At that time I was like, come on, really? But now I have a totally different point of view.  If you think about it, shouldn't peanut butter be peanuts only?

Here's the list of ingredients from an unnamed brand of peanut butter:

1. Roasted peanuts {the good stuff}
2. Sugar {good ole sugar}
3. Molasses - this and the rest have 2% or less {more sugar?!}
4. Fully hydrogenated vegetable oils (rapseed and soybean) {hydrogenated? why}
5. Mono & Diglycerides {what the heck is that?}
6. Salt {just what we need, more salt!}

Here's the ingredients from the new peanut butter I've been buying:

1. Dry roasted peanuts {now that's what I'm taking about}

I've been shopping at The Fresh Market down the road from my work and they have the coolest machine! Yes, I know I'm weird for getting excited about this but I can't help it. I blame my parents. Just kidding. Anyways, it's a machine that makes FRESH peanut butter right there in front of your very own eyes! How cool is that! I didn't think there was such a thing that us consumers could purchase! I guess you learn something new everyday! And just to let you know I added this to my wish list on Amazon.com

 (credit: Amazon.com)

This is kinda what it looks like - just the one at The Fresh Market looks more industrial. What you do is take one of their round, plastic containers and hold it under the spout. You hit the start button and it grinds up the peanuts from the top and makes a peanut-buttery-goodness goop. It costs $2.99 a pound and they also have almond and cashew butter - the almond is $7.99 a pound and the cashew is $4.99 a pound (don't quote me on that though)

You may wonder what it tastes like. Well just remember the last time you ate some plain peanuts and that's what it tastes like. Chewed up peanuts - sorry for the gross way of putting it but sometimes that is just how my brain works. I think the biggest taste difference is that it's unsweetened.

And because I didn't think the plastic packaging would keep my peanut butter well enough - I have this thing about eating bad food, I'm scared I'll eat some bad food and be sick for a week - I put it in a ball jar that I actually got from my best friends wedding. I like putting free things to good use!

 (please excuse the unclean rim...that's a little embarrassing)

Let, me tell you something...if I like a product or am really interested in something, I could talk your ear off about it - you'll learn that about me!