Halloween

Now that it is almost Thanksgiving, I figured I better post our Halloween pics (ha - so, I'm a little behind!). 

We had a wonderful Halloween at the Partridge's house this year.  Jon and CB joined us for the festivities and good times were had.  Linda made a wonderful Taco Salad dinner, CB made some hot chai tea for us to enjoy during the trick-or-treating and she made some yummy Halloween treats.  We brought over guacamole & chips and brownies.  Good eats all around!  Afterwards we all relaxed and enjoyed a movie together.  It was a really fun night with great friends.

Teya was a butterfly, Skyler was Darth Vader and Jordan was Spiderman.  They were too darn cute.  The kids had an awesome time trick or treating and got ALOT of candy. It was the most successful candy night in the past 2 years that we have been trick or treating together!

Our Trick-or-Treaters - aren't they cute!

Snickers anyone?

Yea for candy!

Skyler was a nice nephew and gave Jon his favorite - Almond Joy

CB's Halloween Treats - Yummy!

Getting some of CB's scary treats

Skyler and Jordan having some hot cocoa

Hope everyone had a safe and scary Halloween!

Dangers lurking at the Grocery Store

Dr. Oz (love him) recently talked about the bacteria lurking at grocery stores and ways to protect you and your family.  Here what he had to say about the produce section.

THE PRODUCE SECTION

Dirty little secret: When you grab an apple for lunch, your hands may be the 20th pair to touch it. That’s right, veggies and fruits are picked, sorted, thrown on a truck, taken off a truck, sorted again, boxed, and unboxed all before they reach the display case where they’re fondled by other customers before they meet you. Experts say, all in all, 20 people will touch a tomato before you slice it up for your salad. And that’s in addition to all the animal waste that can mingle with produce on the long journey from farm to table.

Quick fix: Carefully wash all fruits and vegetables before eating, even if you don’t plan on eating the skin. When you peel or cut vegetables and fruits, the bacteria from the exterior can travel inside. Keep any prepped veggies, such as sliced tomatoes, at 41 degrees or cooler until you eat or cook them.

It has been so long now that I have been washing my produce and not just rinsing with water that I forget that it is not common in most households to wash their fruits and veggies with any type of scrubber or veggie wash. Remember just like washing hands or anything else, simply running water over our produce does not remove bacteria, germs and pesticides.  You can lower your risk with organic produce and locally grown produce, but washing is still recommended.

Here are two ways of washing.  Choose whichever works best for you.

Cool Water:  Wash the produce under a stream of cool water or using the spray nozzle of your faucet and rub the produce with your hands, or scrub with a vegetable brush, to remove potential bacteria in all the grooves and crevices.

Produce Wash: You can buy produce wash at the grocery store or make your own.  I know of two recipes; 1) equal parts water and vinegar or 2) grapefruit seed extract (3 to 4 drops to 4-6 oz of water).  Spray, rub and rinse or for leafy veggies & large quantities, soak for 5 to 10 minutes.

I love my reusable bags and use them whenever I remember to bring them into the stores.  I'm pretty good about the grocery store, but frequently forget at other stores.  Anyway, Dr. Oz had another great tip that I have a hard time remembering to do.

Reuse, recycle, and REWASH! Reusable bags are great for the environment, but can be bad for food safety. Wash them every 10 uses—using an acidic cleaner such as vinegar or running them through the washing machine—to remove any dangerous bacteria from your previous shopping trips.

Dirty Dozen - Shopper's Guide To Pesticides

Many of you have asked about what I eat and what products I use and why.  I can always tell you what, but most of the time I can't remember exactly why.  I've done lots of research with books and online information and I do what I believe to be the best for me and my family.  As I come across some of the articles and information that have impacted my decisions I'll post them on my blog.  This will help me organize my information and hopefully they will be useful to you as well.

Here is one of them about fresh produce:

I buy as many of my fruits and veggies organic as I can, but I can't always find them.  Here is a list that I use as my guide.  It is "The Shopper's guide to pesticides" and it lists the top 12 dirtiest and 15 cleanest fruits and vegetables.  For a full list, click on the "full list" tab in yellow to see where your favorites are on the list.  This list really helped me when I began switching over to organic.  I began with the dirty dozen and made my way further down the list.  It felt easier doing it slowly.  I hope it gives you a place to start as well. 

Also, buying organic is not significantly higher in  price.  I buy everything we need with at least 50% of our produce as organic and spend the same amount at the grocery store as I did before when I stayed away from the organic section.  What has helped our bill is reducing the amount of meat that we buy.  I'll get more into that topic in another post.

Happy Shopping!

You can click on the title to get to the page or here is the website address http://foodnews.org/walletguide.php

What soft drinks are doing to your body

I just read this article (What soft drinks are doing to your body) and I found it informing.  I have not drank a soft drink for over a year and I don't plan on having another one ever, but I read it to see if it was worth passing on to my soft drinking friends and family.  I thought it was worth reading and I hope you will too and maybe it will make you think the next time you go for a soda.  (click on title of this post to go to article)

Have a great day!

Here is the web address:  http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/20270/what-soft-drinks-are-doing-to-your-body/

Melanoma Walkathon

In 10 days I will be walking in the Safe from the Sun Walkathon for Melanoma in Tucson, AZ. I created a team - Pale Skin Is In, of course :) - and I am deeply touched that friends have joined and will be walking beside me and my family.

It has been just over a year since my lung surgery and 6 months since my last melanoma. I am happy to be walking in this event as a cancer free survivor and in honor of those that have lost their battle. I have been battling this beast for 3 years now and so much has changed in my life since. I used to love the sun. I would put some 8 SPF (seriously what was the point) on and lay out baking for hours. It never crossed my mind even once that I may be putting my health or more importantly my life at risk. I now do not go out in the sun without sun protection, either lotion or clothing and I now look for the shade. My daughter Teya also does not go out in the sun without protection. Every morning before school I put lotion on her and I have bought her sun protection clothing. I am going to do what I can to educate her how to be safe while having fun in the sun.

This walk means a lot to me for many reasons, but one is that awareness of melanoma is low. I wasn't really sure what it was when I was originally diagnosed and I was quick to learn that others were as naive as me. I was sadden when my cancer returned that friends of mine still did not understand melanoma to be life threatening. I heard too many "I thought you just had skin cancer" statements. I thought I had educated those close to me, but I realized that I had failed in some cases. Everyone should know the importance of sun safety and getting their skin checked regularly by a dermatologist - not your medical doctor. The money raised by this walk will not only go to much needed research for better treatment, but also to spread the word for prevention and early detection. Melanoma is about 90% curable if caught early, however, there is lack of effective treatment for later stages.

Please let me know if you will be in the Tucson, AZ area or would like to travel down with me to this event. If you cannot join the team, but would like to make a donation, you can do so by clicking on the title of this blog entry or the "My Fundraising Page" link on the top right side of my blog.

If you are reading this via my Facebook feed, you can go to http://www.safefromthesun.org/ and join or donate to my team.

Thanks for your support!