Let's Talk About Pets.

We have been talking about our own health for a few weeks now. Healthy us, healthy kids...what about our pets? We want them to be healthy, and happy, too. I briefly mentioned elsewhere that what we find in our pet's food is very questionable. As far as I am concerned, what is not healthy for me is not healthy for my pets.

What's in the cheaper dog food? Are you ready for this? From Dog Food Advisor: comes a description of "rendering". It's too disgusting for me to share here. But check it out. It's how they get the by-products you see on dog food labels. They also share a list of what is legal to put in to dog food. Ready?

• Slaughterhouse waste (organs, heads, hooves, beaks, feet)
• Bread and cereal rejects (cobs, stalks, mill sweepings)
• Contaminated grain middlings
• Dying, diseased and disabled farm animals
• Road kill (deer, skunks, and raccoons)
• Distiller fermentation waste
• Spoiled supermarket food
• Dead zoo animals
• Restaurant grease
• Euthanized cats and dogs

I have dogs. 3 of them, to be exact. They are all up there in years and have really only been fed on bagged dog food and some wet food from a can. Since I am concentrating so much on the health of me and my husband, I decided that our "kids" needed good healthy food, too.

This is what I am doing. Or attempting to do.

Many Paleo folks are just switching from the store bought stuff to raw meat and bone broth. I am uncomfortable with the raw meat. It is my feeling that maybe our dogs don't have the intestinal fortitude to digest raw meat anymore. I may be wrong, but better safe than sorry.

Hubby has always given them a share of his meal. Bacon and eggs from breakfast. Chicken from dinner. They love it. So...that's what I have been giving them. I recently bought the ends and pieces of bacon in the deli section. I baked it as I do my own bacon. Granted, it took awhile because I wanted to cook all of it right then and there, and my pan didn't hold all that much at one time....but boy? They loved me for days. I was able do save some very pretty leaner pieces for us and gave them the fatty ones. I also got a lot of bacon fat that I turned around and used in my own cooking and shared with them.

I am still giving them the dry dog food, but am buying healthier brands. I pour beef broth or bacon fat on it and stir it in. They are now spoiled and prefer it that way. Eventually we want to eliminate the dry stuff altogether. I found some healthy canned dog food for a really good price. No meat by products or gluten. Some rice flower, peas and carrots in with real meat.

I cook them ground beef, ground turkey, eggs and give them the extra pieces of fat from our own meats.

This is what NOT to give your pets.

I know dogs are easier to feed. They will eat poop if you let them...at least one of ours does. EW. But cats are finicky. When I had a cat, he would ONLY eat the bagged cat food. If you can't cook for them, my suggestion is to find good quality for your pet. Go online and find good sources of pet friendly food. I know it can get a bit expensive, but remember: Supply and Demand. The more we buy of the good stuff, the cheaper the good stuff will get.

Your pet is like your child. Treat them well, and they will love you forever.

Happy New Year

Here we are. A new day, a new Year is finally upon us. How did we do? Are we ready?

I am. Here is my breakfast this morning.

We had baked bacon, cage free eggs...see how pretty and yellow? The eggs were scrambled with chard and scallion from my garden and I tossed in a mushroom. There is a sprinkling of feta cheese over the top. It was well received!!

And this afternoon, it's Roast Beast. I am also dehydrating pineapple slices for snacks. 

After breakfast, Hubby and I took a long walk with the dogs...our new tradition...a hike on New Year's Day.

But, lo and behold, when making breakfast, I found a 'no no' in the kitchen; a bag of chips. They were tossed. This brought me back to day one of last year's 16 day countdown. The first assignment was to junk the junk from the pantry. Did you do it?

There is no real reason to have pre-packaged, chemically laden food like products in your kitchen. Take a look at this label. Tell me it is really food. It's quick and easy, and 99 cents...but does it have any nutritional value? Look at the sodium content. Gag!

Even things you think are safe, like packaged tuna poaches, for example, have vegetable broth (soy, which means GMOs) salt and water added. Why can't it be just tuna?

We have been fed the notion that whole milk is bad for you.  We are told all fat is bad...heart desease and all that mumbo jumbo. Personally, I think God didn't give us cows, goats or other milk producing mammals for us just to create chemical, processed milk-like products. Adults usually don't have the ability to digest milk, anyway. I believe eating that chemical garbage above is what gives us heart disease, etc. 

Let me explain skim milk. Milk is taken from Bessy. It is then spun in a centrifuge to separate out the fat, which is removed to make other products, or fed back to Bessy. Then the watery liquid that is left over has to have some nutritional value, so synthetic vitamins are added back in, as well as dried milk. Dried milk comes from heating the milk so high that it dries to a powder. Thus all nutritional value is cooked out of it.  Oh, and somewhere in this process the milk has been pasteurized, again cooking out nutrients. So we are back to adding in the synthetic nutrients.   Really? Is this supposed to be a health food?

I don't drink milk. But I do use Organic Heavy Cream (whipping cream) in my coffee. Or I drink Almond Milk. But, there again....with popularity comes big business. Not all Almond milks are good...more chemical crap. Read the labels.

So, if you have not already done so, go into your kitchen with a big box or bag, read all the labels on all the cans and boxes in your pantry. If the label is a chemistry experiment, toss it. Throw out that 1%, 2% or skim milk. Throw out that American  processed cheese-like product wrapped in those handy plastic wrappers. Toss it. The hot dogs, processed deli-meats...toss them.

Go buy real tuna...in water. Go buy organic whole milk. Go buy real veggies, not ones in cans. Go buy real, grass fed meat, or at least meat from a butcher.

Go! Now!
Well, go tomorrow....enjoy the holiday today.

I plan on being healthy this year. I hope you come along with me on this journey.

1..... The Last Day of 2013

Today is the last hoorah! Party likes it's 1999.  Go hog wild if you want.   If you drink, be CAREFUL! 

Don't drink and drive.....at all. 

Eat what you want, clear the kitchen of the candies, cakes, mashed potatoes...

BECAUSE TOMORROW WE START OVER!

Got you bacon and eggs ready?

I know we have worked hard to get here.  Tomorrow starts a new life. I hope you are ready! I am!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!!!!

2....wheat

Before we go into the New Year, I want to bring up the topic of wheat consumption. I could go on and on about what wheat does to your system, but I'm going to let Mark Sisson do it. From his blog Mark's Daily Apple

He in an expert, and knows his grains.  Here is his blog


The Problems With Modern Wheat


Today, I would like you to do more investigations on the poor nutritional values of wheat.

In 2014 I will not have wheat in my diet. I will not have any grains, for that matter. There may be an occasion to eat something as a treat, but for the most part, NO.

So, you have today's assignment. Enjoy the research.

3.....The Salad Bar Theory

My father-in-law is a vegetarian. He occasionally eats fish, but for the most part, he eats fruits and veggies.  His dinner ritual is the salad bar he creates in his kitchen. I thought it was such a good idea, that it has become a ritual for us. It has made eating veggies so simple.

My father-in-law and his wife cut up the veggies of their choice and store them in containers in the fridge. They use recycled glass jars.  I use plastic boxes as they store better in the fridge. (I am attempting to get rid of the plastic stuff in my house, but step by step)

He then pulls all the containers out at dinner. He has usually cut enough for a few days. What ever is missing on their list of goodies, is chopped right then. He lines them up on the kitchen counter, then fills his bowl much as you would at any salad bar. He makes his own dressing, to boot. Then he easily puts everything back in the fridge for the next night. 

Our salad bar consists of the following....our favorites.

Spring Mix salad greens

baby leaf spinach

Sun flower sprouts (a farmers market purchase...I haven't mastered sunflower sprouts)

Alphafa sprouts if I have them (I'll share that trick another time)

Cherry tomatoes

Mushrooms

Carrots

Cucumber

Celery

Feta cheese

Dried cranberries

Pineapple chunks

Cottage cheese

Hard boiled eggs

Walnuts and garlic slices

Bacon bits sometimes

The only thing that might not keep well for more than a few days is the chopped cucumber. They tend to get mushy. Everything else will keep up to a week. 

I make my own dressing with Extra Virgin Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar. I add herbs that I like. 

We eat meat, so I'll add a burger or pork chop or chicken breast. I can cook enough of those ahead of time. In the summer, we grill enough for the whole week and store in the freezer. 

Try this It is so easy to eat this way, you will be amazed. 

4.....Shopping List Guide

Ok, we are 4 days away from a new start. Today I want to help you stock your pantry for the coming year. By now you should have junked the junk. If you haven't, you will need to make room for the new, healthy stuff. 

Here goes.

Every good kitchen, whether you are Paleo, Primal, low carb...or just clean, needs to replace the old Standard American Diet junk with the following:

Here is what I have in my kitchen. 

Coconut flour. This replaced that nasty white flour we used to use.

Almond flour. Ditto...we will use this to make some tasty treats. 

Store these both in an air tight container, or in the freezer.

Apple Cider Vinegar and Balsamic vinegar

Chicken Stock...buy organic or make your own.

Spices:  sea salt, black pepper, cinnamon, basil, oregano, thyme, cumin, chili powder, 

Stevia

Coconut oil *****very important

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Butter....NOT MARGARINE!!!!!!!!! Get the real stuff

Nuts...get your favorite. Peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes...but low carb.

Ok. That's a good start. I know this may look expensive, but it's a once a month, or less, investment in your health. I guarantee, if you stop eating out, this list will save you money.

Get meat you enjoy. Try, if you can, to get grass fed...if not, that's ok. If you are on a budget, try these ideas. 

Bacon and eggs...for the first day, and many days after

A pot roast...this will last days

Get salmon for one meal

Chicken for one or two meals

Ground beef is easy

Buy your veggies.

Go simple. Get your red potatoes.,(those little ones) and carrots for the first day. Salad greens, carrots, cucumbers. What ever you like in your salads. Buy organic, if you can. Hit your farmers' market this weekend. If you can't get organic, don't panic. But buy fresh. Get what you love, and preferably what's in season. 

If you are lactose intolerant, drink almond milk. Be sure to check the labels. Almond milk is becoming popular, and there are some sketchy brands out there.  

If you can handle milk, buy the cheese of your choice. I like Swiss and natural cheddar. BUY REAL CHEESE, not cheese like products. Don't forget the feta for your breakfast. Whole Milk!!!!  I can't stress that enough. Low fat milk isn't really milk. If you can buy raw milk, or goats milk...all the better.

You know yourself and you know your family. If you are jumping from pizza to Paleo, this may be a culture shock.  (There are paleo pizza recipes, don't worry)   I want this to be easy for you, but try it. 

Now, go shopping. 

5.......

Imagine. It's January 1st, 2014. What are you going to eat? 

We've come quite a ways in these past few weeks to prepare and be ready for Januart 1st. The biggest problem is, it's a holiday. Everyone has off. There are football games. Food to prepare. Statistically most New Years Resolutions are abandoned within the first 14 days. Usually on day 1. Why? Because we cheat.

Well, you and I are not going to cheat. We will enjoy the day....in health.

Let me tell you my plans. Maybe you can get some suggestions from that.

I'm not a big New Year's Eve party goer, but I plan on sleeping in. When I'm up, it's straight to the coffee....a must. I love my coffee. I use Stevia to sweeten it and heavy whipping cream as the creamer. Remember. I'm going whole hog low carb. Excuse the pun. 

Then out comes the bacon. My daughter taught me a new trick. Cook it in the overn. It comes out perfect every time. I lay the strips in a flat pan that has sides to catch that glorious fat. I make enough for the day, then some for left overs the next day.  Place the pan into the cold oven and set it to heat up to 400*. Then set the timer for 20 minutes. As the oven preheats, it starts cooking the bacon. Check at 20 minutes to see how things are going. You may need to add time at 5 minute increments to  cook it to perfection.  I like mine crunchy.  When your bacon is done, carefully pour that fat into a jar for later. 

While the bacon is cooking, I'm going to prepare my eggs. I use that left over bacon fat that I keep in the fridge. My grandma used to just leave it on the stove. (If you don't have bacon fat, you will in about 20 minutes.) While we wait on the bacon, chop some Swiss chard or spinach into bite size pieces. Scramble 6 eggs in a bowl. Grab the feta cheese from the fridge. Make sure it is crumbly. 

Ok, bacon is done. It's hot, be careful.  While it sits to cool, spoon 2 or 3 spoonfuls of fat into your fry pan. I use cast iron that is already seasoned with bacon fat.  Heat it to a medium temperature. You don't want it to smoke. Then add the chard or spinach and wilt it in the fat. Trust me, it's a beautiful thing. When it's nice and wilted, pour in the eggs and stir them in. Cook until you like them...me? I don't like runny. Then sprinkle the feta cheese into the eggs and stir a few more times so it melts. 

I will serve mine with slices of tomato. My farmers market still has them. Bacon and eggs and tomato!

It's a holiday, so we probably will wait to have an early dinner. I'm planning a roast beef with onions, tiny red potatoes and carrots. We will have our 'salad bar'. It's a trick I learned from my father-in-law. I'll share that tomorrow. It's a great way to get your veggies quick!

If we have guests, I'll make a veggie tray with celery, carrots....what ever I can think of. Here is a clean Ranch Dressing recipe to add to your collection.

1/4 cup organic mayonnaise Add more mayo to make thicker for dipping

1/4 Coconut milk

You can use a clean sour cream if you can handle milk

Add 1/2 dill

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp chives

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbl lemon juice

1/2 tsp parsley

Salt and pepper to taste. 

Stir that all together and enjoy! 

You asked (I just heard you) how can she eat so much fat? Doesn't that cause heart disease? I promise to go into that. Needless to say, my grandma, a farmer all her life, who ate cow and pig and chickens  and veggies she raised...and lived to be 101. Does that tell you something?

It really is easy to be healthy. I have had some heavy carbs these past few days and I feel just awful.  It's time to reboot my body.  

Tomorrow, it's time to get ready to restock your pantry.  Get out your list!