Sugar & Gluten Free Chocolate

I’ve been playing around with different homemade chocolate ideas that are both sugar and gluten free.  This is a great recipe and you can make it with many different variations. I had a variety of chocolate molds already from a chocolate kit that one of my kids got me (he likes chocolate;) for a gift a few years ago.  You can find them on Amazon, at Michaels and at any candy making supply store. They are only a few dollars apiece and work great. This recipe uses whey protein powder. I had never used it before but found one by Dr. Mercola http://proteinpowder.mercola.com/Pro-Optimal-Whey-Protein.html that is GMO free from grass fed cows, and sweetened with stevia, but you can skip it if you’d like.  I’ve made it with both cocoa butter and with coconut manna (or coconut oil) substituted for the cocoa butter. Both are really good. You can add nuts, dried fruit and if you like spicy chocolate add a little cayenne or curry power.  One batch filled two mold sheets. Whenever I have a little extra I mix it on waxed paper with nuts and make chocolate bark.

Ingredients:

2 oz.  Organic Cocoa Butter (or Coconut Manna, or Coconut oil)

2 oz. Organic Unsweetened Chocolate

½  cup  Whipping or Heavy Cream, preferable organic and raw

2 tsp.   SweetLeaf Stevia Powder  (use less & to taste if you’re using liquid stevia)

1/8 tsp. Celtic Sea salt

1 tsp. Organic Vanilla Extract

6 Tablespoon of Whey Protein Powder

Directions:

Get your chocolate molds out, or you can use a sheet pan covered with a layer of wax paper.  I don’t oil my molds, after the chocolate is frozen they pop out pretty easily.

Chop the cocoa butter and chocolate into small pieces. Place into a double boiler or a glass bowl and melt over hot — not boiling — water.  Remove from heat and stir to combine.

In a food processor or blender, combine the cream, stevia, salt and vanilla.  (You can just mix it all up with a spoon but with the whey it will dissolve better if you blend it).  Pulse to combine.  Add the whey protein and pulse to combine. Let sit for a minute or two to dissolve the protein powder, then blend briefly until smooth.

With the motor running, slowly add the chocolate mixture. Pour into your chocolate molds, or onto waxed paper – you can put it by the spoonful to make bite sized pieces.  Freeze for a few hours and then you’ll be able to unmold it. I freeze it in a plastic container.  It melts pretty fast once it’s out of the freezer, but is so good.  Enjoy!

Carb and variation notes: Net carb count for the entire batch is under 11 grams. You can make a ‘milk chocolate variation, decreasing the unsweetened chocolate to ½ oz and using a little less stevia with net carbs under 9 grams and you can make a white chocolate bar by omitting the dark chocolate and increasing the cocoa butter to 3 oz, the vanilla to 2 tsp and the whey to ½ cup.  Net carbs under 6 grams for the whole batch.

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It’s Our Right to Know

If you live in California (and forward this to those you know who do!)

There is a GMO Labeling 2012 Ballot Initiative in the works.

Go to the site, and sign up to help and/or give a donation.

http://labelgmos.org/

Can GMOs Help End World Hunger?

By John Robbins

Can genetically engineered foods help feed the hungry? Are anti-GMO activists and over-zealous environmentalists standing in the way of the hungry being fed?

The hope that GMO foods might bring solutions to malnutrition and world hunger was never more dramatically illustrated than when Time magazine ran a cover story titled “Grains of Hope.” The article joyfully announced the development of a genetically engineered “golden rice.” This new strain of GM rice has genes from viruses and daffodils spliced into its genetic instructions. The result is a form of rice that is a golden-yellow color (much like daffodil flowers), and that produces beta-carotene, which the human body normally converts into Vitamin A.

Nearly a million children die every year because they are weakened by Vitamin A deficiencies and an additional 350,000 go blind. Golden rice, said Time, will be a godsend for the half of humanity that depends on rice for its major staple. Merely eating this rice could prevent blindness and death.

The development of golden rice was, it seemed, compelling and inspiring evidence that GM crops are the answer to malnutrition and hunger. Time quoted former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: “Responsible biotechnology is not the enemy, starvation is.”

Shortly after the Time cover story, Monsanto and other biotechnology companies launched a $50 million marketing campaign, including $32 million in TV and print advertising. The ads, complete with soft focus fields and smiling children, said that “biotech foods could help end world hunger.”

Other ad campaigns have followed. One Monsanto ad tells the public: “Biotechnology is one of tomorrow’s tools in our hands today. Slowing its acceptance is a luxury our hungry world cannot afford.”

Within a few months, the biotech industry had spent far more on these ads than it had on developing golden rice. Their purpose? “Unless I’m missing something,” wrote Michael Pollan in The New York Times Magazine, “the aim of this audacious new advertising campaign is to impale people like me — well-off first-worlders dubious about genetically engineered food — on the horns of a moral dilemma … If we don’t get over our queasiness about eating genetically modified food, kids in the third world will go blind.”

The implication of the ads is that lifesaving food is being held hostage by anti-science activists.

In the years since Time proclaimed the promises of golden rice, however, we’ve learned a few things.

For one thing, we’ve learned that golden rice will not grow in the kinds of soil that it must to be of value to the world’s hungry. To grow properly, it requires heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides — expensive inputs unaffordable to the very people that the variety is supposed to help. And we’ve also learned that golden rice requires large amounts of water — water that might not be available in precisely those areas where Vitamin A deficiency is a problem, and where farmers cannot afford costly irrigation projects.

And one more thing — it turns out that golden rice doesn’t work, even in theory. Malnourished people are not able to absorb Vitamin A in this form. And even if they could, they’d have to eat an awful lot of the stuff. An 11-year-old boy would have to eat 27 bowls of golden rice a day in order to satisfy his minimum requirement for the vitamin.

Read the rest here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robbins/gmo-food_b_914968.html

Voluntary non-GMO verification aids consumer choice in Boulder County

To label or not to label

By Cindy Sutter Camera Food Editor

Silk Soymilk and some of its other beverages recently completed the verification process of the Non-GMO Project.

Why the careful wording? Given the ubiquity of genetically modified organisms in some U.S. commodity crops — 93 percent of soybeans grown in the United State are genetically modified according to Craig Shiesley of Silk — no product is able to call itself completely free of GMOs. However, Silk and some other companies, such as Whole Foods with its 365 products, have sought to do is to get as close as possible, using a certification process from the non-profit Non-GMO Project, which holds products to a standard of 99.1 percent GMO free.

Shiesley, general manager of the Silk business, says the verification process for the company’s soymilk, coconut milk and almond milk took 12 to 14 months, a surprise for the company, which had always sourced non-GMO ingredients.

“The reason (the verification process) elevates this to another level if that it goes from verifying the ingredient to verifying the entire process,” Shiesley says. “For example, (it verifies) that there’s no cross contamination in the dehullers.”

GMO in the food supply

Currently labeling for GMOs is not required in the United States, as it is in European Union countries and Japan. The percentage of U.S. processed foods that include at least one genetically engineered food is estimated at about 60 to 70 percent, according to a 2010 fact sheet from Colorado State University. Even foods labeled as natural, a term that has no legal meaning, may contain genetically engineered crops; however, USDA certified organic foods forbid GMOs.

Do GMOs matter?

The answer depends on whom you talk to. Companies such as Monsanto, DuPont and Bayer that supply genetically engineered seed, say the crops, often engineered to be resistant to herbicides such as Monsanto’s Roundup, are nutritionally identical to non-modified crops. The U.S Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration agree with this position. They say the engineering allows them to grow crops more efficiently and with fewer, less toxic pesticides.

Opponents say the effects on human health and the environment have not been fully tested. They fear genetic modification may be involved in an increase in food allergies and other problems, and they say weeds may become resistant to herbicides, requiring more toxic herbicides to kill them.

Labeling

In addition, they argue that a U.S. decision not to require products with GMOs to be labeled has kept consumers in the dark about how deeply genetically-engineered crops reach into the food chain. Surveys have shown that many consumers don’t know that they regularly consume genetically engineered foods. For retailers with a consciousness about food and how it’s produced, the lack of labeling means they have no way to verify GMOs in products unless the items are certified organic.

Mark Retzloff, president and chairman of Alfalfa’s, says the grocery has worked hard to verify that the canola and other oils in its bulk dispensers are not from made from genetically modified seed crops. The store has verified that the dairy products it stocks are from cows not dosed with hormones. However, unless the product is certified organic or has the new Non-GMO label, the store can’t verify if cows have been fed genetically-modifed grain. He is particularly concerned about genetically modified alfalfa, which the U.S. approved for use earlier this year. While certified organic milk producers won’t use it, the possibility of contamination through the cross-pollination of organic and GMO crops, as has happened with corn and soy is concerning, he says. In addition, as the genetically engineered seed becomes available, farmers may have a hard time buying non-GMO seed.

“From my own experience at Aurora Dairy, we buy about 40,000 to 50,000 tons of alfalfa hay. It’s all organic. If we start having trouble doing that, it restricts our ability to produce organic milk,” he says, adding that milk is a gateway product into organics for many consumers.

Whole Foods is currently putting its 365 brand products through Non-GMO verification. The products don’t currently carry the label. However, customers can go to Whole Food website and click to find Non-GMO certified products.

“It’s a significant focus of the company right now to work on verification,” says Ben Friedland, regional marketing coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Region.

Asked about the company’s position on GMOs, Friedland says: “We believe in farmers’ right to farm non-GMO crops and our customers’ right to choose whether they want GMOs. We work to provide opportunities for both our stakeholders,” Friedland says.

Shiesley of Silk says the Non-GMO verification is extremely valuable to his company. For the Silk products that are not organic — the company switched some of its Silk line from organic to natural in 2009, Shiesley says because the company wanted to source soybeans domestically — the non-GMO verification offers assurances.

Shiesley says he also believes the label will raise awareness.

“I hope we’re at a tipping point with consumer understanding toward Non-GMO,” he says. “Unlike organic labeling which went through legislation and took eight-plus years, the industry can self-regulate … I don’t think we can wait five years plus with this.”

Read the rest here:

http://www.dailycamera.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=18546106&siteId=21

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/08/monday-mania-882011/

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Gluten & Sugar Free Blueberry Muffins

My husband and I – the teens are doing their own thing – are on our second month of gluten and sugar free eating. We’re feeling really good eating this way. These muffins are great!  After the first day, I take the leftovers and freeze them. Then we can pull two out as we want and give them a quick reheat in the oven. They are wonderful warm,  split in half with pastured butter on top and they are very filling and they’re low carb as well – less then 2 grams per muffin. One is plenty! And my husband was amazed at how good they are. He liked them as well – if not better –  then the blueberry muffins we used to make: http://momsforsafefood.net/2010/02/01/organic-blueberry-muffins/

Ingredients:

2 cups organic almond meal – we make ours from crispy almonds

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼  teaspoon Celtic or sea salt

½  cup (1 stick) organic/ pastured butter, melted

4  organic/pastured eggs

1/3  cup water

1 cup fresh or frozen organic blueberries

½  tsp. organic lemon zest

1 tsp. organic vanilla extract

Stevia to taste = to 1/3 to ½ cup of sugar.

Preparation:

1) Preheat oven to 350 F.

2) Butter or put muffin cups into a 12 muffin tin.

3) Mix dry ingredients together well.

4) Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. You don’t have to worry about overmixing with almond flour/meal

5) Put in muffin tins (about 1/2 to 2/3 full) and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/08/monday-mania-812011/

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Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/08/real-food-wednesday-832011.html

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Since the early 1990’s there have been genetically modified organisms in our food. GMOs – short for genetically modified organisms – are man-made organism created in a laboratory and patented by a corporation or the USDA. GMOs are created by a process called genetic engineering.  Many people have been asking for required labeling of GMO food, as already exists in thirty other countries. And there are a growing number of countries, like Ireland, Japan and Egypt that have completely banned the cultivation of GMO crops.

GMOs are not created the same way as traditional cross-breeding. Traditional cross-breeding is creating natural hybrids, such as crossing two varieties of roses, different types of squashes, or different breeds of dogs or cats. GMOs are made by actually splicing a gene from a virus or another species into the GMO seed.  Some examples are, fish genes being spliced into tomatoes, human genes in corn, mouse genes in potatoes.

Since the 1990’s, people have been asking for GMO food to be labeled.  We’ve been asking the USDA, the FDA, our legislators and the courts. They are not listening, and it’s time for us to speak for ourselves.

If you live in California, there is a Ballot Initiative in the works for the 2012 election. This proposition would require labeling on all GMO foods in the state of California. The website is http://www.LabelGMOs.org and there’s a Facebook page as well, Label GMOs.

Why avoid GMO foods and why do we want them labeled? Scientists warn that GMO foods may set off allergies, increase cancer risks, produce antibiotic-resistant pathogens, damage our food quality and produce dangerous toxins in our environment. GMO fed animals had higher death rates and organ damage in scientific studies.

GMOs will increase the risk of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria due to the use of antibiotic resistant genes in GM food. The British Medical Association cited this as one reason why they called for a global moratorium or ban on GM foods.

GMO crops cross-pollinate: Canadian organic farmers can no longer grow canola and soybean crops organically. The seed stocks of those two crops are now totally contaminated by GMOs, which cross-pollinate into other market garden crops from the brassica family, such as kale, cabbage and broccoli.   The recent deregulation of GMO alfalfa is particularly concerning as Alfalfa is a high cross pollinator, which means it can cross pollinate – and contaminate – many other plants.

It will be a few months before we can volunteer to gather signatures but there are many ways to get involved now.  If you would like to be part of the Label GMO campaign you can visit the website, spread the word, volunteer to gather signature in the fall and/or donate.  You will be coming together with other parents, farmers, doctors, scientists and food activists who are demanding our right to know what’s in our food.

This is an exciting time.

It’s time to for us to join together and legislate labeling of all GMO food.

We have a right to know!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/07/monday-mania-7252011/

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I’ve made this a few times in the last few weeks, as everyone liked it so much. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand but what I used below was wonderful and it’s another good way to use zucchini if you’re growing it in your garden, like I am.  This is easy to make, takes around a half hour, and is nice enough to serve for company.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup organic pastured butter

1 to 1 ½ pounds organic chicken tenders or skinless thighs

2 tbsp. dry vermouth

1/2 tsp. grated organic lemon peel

2 tbsp. organic lemon juice

1/4 tsp. Celtic or sea salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

1 cup organic heavy cream, preferably fresh and raw

1/3 cup organic grated Parmesan cheese

½ – 1 cup organic sliced mushrooms

½ – 1 cup sliced organic zucchini

3 organic scallions, chopped

Directions:

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat; add chicken. Cook, turning, about 10 minutes (around 5 minutes per side) or until chicken is brown and tender.

Remove chicken to ovenproof serving dish. There should be lots of wonderful butter left in your pan. Saute your vegetables in the butter for 5 minutes, or until just tender and then put the veggies in the casserole on top of the chicken.

Add wine, lemon peel and lemon juice to skillet; cook and stir over medium heat 1 minute. Stir in salt and white pepper. Gradually pour in cream, stirring constantly, until hot; do not boil! Pour cream sauce over chicken and vegatables; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Place the dish in your oven around 6 inches from heat source and broil until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.  Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/07/monday-mania-7182011/

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Grassfed Steak Fajitas

We bought 1/8 of a grassfed cow last month, it was around 40 pounds of meat, and some of the cuts were not ones I usually buy. We have two packages of ‘fajita meat’ so I started looking around for recipes. I found a few that I tweaked together, and added in what veggies we had in the house to make this.  I’m not eating grains at the moment so I just had mine on a plate with a little shredded raw cheddar and they were delicious.  We all like them so much that I made it again a week later.

Ingredients:

NOTE: What you see in the pictures is double the steak and the marinade ingredients listed. I wanted leftovers.

1 pound grass fed flank steak or skirt steak, cut into strips.

Marinade:

A few tablespoons of Olive oil

Juice of 1 organic lime

2 cloves organic garlic

½  teaspoon ground cumin

½ tsp chili powder

1/4 cup chopped fresh organic cilantro, including stems

Veggies:

1 large organic yellow onion

2 large organic bell peppers (I used one yellow, one red)

3 organic scallions

2 organic  zucchini, cut into little stick shapes

1 Tablespoon of organic Coconut oil

Serve with:

Tortillas, brown rice or on their own.

Shredded cheese

Salsa

Directions:

The meat we had was already cut into strips so I put it into a glass dish and tossed the meat with the marinade.  I covered it and let it marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator.

First I cooked the meat in a large frying pan with a little coconut oil, until cooked through, it took around 10 minutes. Then I took the meat out of the pan and set it aside, covered to stay warm.

Next I cooked the veggies in the same pan, with a little more coconut oil and cooked until they were done. Then I added the meat back into the pan and mixed them both together.

You can serve them with tortillas, brown rice, or as they are. They’re wonderful with a little cheese and salsa. Guacamole would be great too. Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/07/monday-mania-7112011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/07/real-food-wednesday-7132011.html

Read more, great Real Food Weekly posts here: http://www.thewholegang.org/2011/07/real-food-weekly-july-14-2011/

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Farmageddon – A MUST See Movie

We saw Farmageddon – The Unseen War on American Family Farms last week.  It’s produced and directed by Kristin Canty, a mom of four, who couldn’t understand why the healthy food she wanted to buy for her family, was so hard to find.

Kristin said, about why she made this film, “I decided I needed to tell this story. My goal was to let these honest farmers using centuries old farming practices tell their side of the stories. So, I set out to make a film. Farmageddon is in no way meant to convince anyone to drink raw milk, or eat grass fed beef, but rather an argument to allow those that want to make those choices to do so. It is simply about freedom of food choice. The government needs to stop harassing small farmers, private food buying clubs and co- ops without food freedom…. we are not free.”

From the movie’s website, “Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.”

“Farmageddon highlights the urgency of food freedom, encouraging farmers and consumers alike to take action to preserve individuals’ rights to access food of their choice and farmers’ rights to produce these foods safely and free from unreasonably burdensome regulations. The film serves to put policymakers and regulators on notice that there is a growing movement of people aware that their freedom to choose the foods they want is in danger, a movement that is taking action with its dollars and its voting power to protect and preserve the dwindling number of family farms that are struggling to survive.”

I knew the basic premise of the movie before we went to see it as I had seen the trailer and have been impatiently waiting for it to come to a theater near me. It’s such a travesty of justice that our small farmers are under fire, most times with no just cause. There are cases of food and animals being seized, hundreds of thousands of dollars of livestock, and equipment seized, for no reason.  No complaints had been filed, no one had gotten sick. There have been raids of private food clubs, guns drawn on young children. It’s not just isolated instanced. Google “farmers raided” and you will see too many examples. There are more examples on my post of last year, http://momsforsafefood.net/2010/10/25/what-is-the-matter-with-the-fda/

This is not the American Way!

I thought Farmageddon was brilliantly directed. Where it could have just been a very depressing story, there’s hope here too.  It’s about the growing real food movement and how more and more people are looking to buy their food directly from their local farmers.

It’s time for all of us to stand up for food freedom. For the freedom to choose real food for our families and for the choice to not have our food contaminated by GMOs. I am starting to wonder if it’s going to take acts of civil disobedience – nonviolent resistance – and becoming vocal to the point where the FDA, USDA and our government understand that we are not going to put up with our small farmers being harassed and raided for good no reason.  It’s time to stand up for ourselved and our farmers!

This is a film that everyone should see. It’s only in a few theaters now, but if you are near anywhere there is a showing, it’s an incredible film.  Below is the link to the website. There you can watch the trailer and see or arrange a screening.  Highly recommended!

http://farmageddonmovie.com/

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-july-8th/

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Asian Braised Pork Belly

We had a pound of cubed pork belly in the freezer that I wanted to cook. I looked around at a number of different recipes and combined them into this. It turned out great!  Pork belly is bacon without the smoke or salt cure.

This recipe is for pork belly that been slowly braised in a salty-sweet liquid for hours and hours, until both the fat and the meat melt in your mouth.

We served it with brown rice, steamed broccoli and Sauerkraut.  My husband was skeptical, but he loved it too.

1 lb pork belly

2 tablespoons Organic sugar or rapadura

½ organic Onion peeled and roughly chopped

1 cinnamon stick

1 Organic Orange, quartered (with peel on)

1 large piece of fresh ginger

1 star anise

3 tablespoons Organic soy sauce (wheat free for Gluten Free)

2 tablespoons sake

2 cups of homemade beef or chicken broth or water

Cut the pork into cubes about 1 inch or so square. If the skin is still on, leave it on. Heat up a large pot with a heavy bottom. Sauté the pork belly cubes, without any added fat (you don’t need it…) until browned.

When the meat is browned, scrape it to one side and put the sugar in the fat that’s accumulated on the bottom, and stir around until it’s a bit caramelized. Stir and toss so the meat gets coated by the sugar.

Add the rest of the ingredients, you can chop the orange into four quarters.  I peeled a bit of the rind off one quarter and also squeeze the juice out of the same one and added it all to the pot. Bring to a simmer and lower the heat. Put a lid on and let it simmer gently for about 3 hours, turning occasionally.

To serve, dredge the pieces carefully out of the oily cooking liquid, and peel off the thick layer of fat that’s on the skin side of the meat, or just the skin. Drizzle a little bit of the cooking liquid over the cubes.

Serve with very steamed vegetables, like broccoli, steamed rice and a fermented vegetable like pickles or Sauerkraut would be great too.  To eat, take a small piece and put it on top of your hot rice, and let the sauce and fat sort of melt in. A little goes a long way.  Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/06/monday-mania-6272011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/06/real-food-wednesday-6292011.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/06/30/simple-lives-thursday-50/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/06/pennywise-platter-thursday-630.html

What we can do!

I wanted to add some updates to “what we can do” to work towards ending GMO’s in our food supply. There are a lot of people starting to take action and it’s making a difference.

First, if you, or your family and friends have not yet seen the movies The Future of Food and The World According to Monsanto, you can watch both for free.  Watch them and then share the links with everyone you know.

Knowledge is power!

The Future of Food can be watched here:

http://www.thefutureoffood.com/onlinevideo.html

The World According to Monsanto can be watched here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6262083407501596844#

Then get involved!  There are so many ways to get involved and even spending a few minutes here and there can make a difference.

The best place to start is with your grocery shopping.  Tell your store managers you don’t want GMO’s in your food. GMO’s in our food are showing serious health risks for everyone and they are being hidden in most of our food. (read more about their health risks here: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers/health-risks

Vote with your fork!  Buy heirloom and organic varieties from your store and local farmers market. Buy pastured and 100% grassfed meat. Corn fed meat is fed GMO corn, unless it’s organic.

The Institute for Responsible Technology has a number of free letters and flyers you can use on their Action Tool Kit page here: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/take-action/action-tool-kit

Join Organic Consumers, Millions Against Monsanto campaign.  They are working on petitions, action groups, and much, much more.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm

If you live in California, there’s a labeling campaign going on.  You can find out more here,

http://labelgmos.org/

If you want to learn to teach others about GMO’s, Jeffrey Smith gives wonderful and affordable Speaker Training Courses, online and in person.  More info here:

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/speaker-training-calendar

It’s time to take back our food supply.  Together we CAN make a difference!

Love,

Mom

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/06/monday-mania-6202011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/06/real-food-wednesday-62211.html

This week we have a guest post by Jakob Barry.   Thanks Jacob!    Mom

Garden Insects worth Keeping Around

While out in the garden you may come across a variety of bugs that are strange looking and others downright scary. Nevertheless, it’s important to distinguish between the good ones and the bad ones, as the former can positively affect the state of your crops by acting as a natural form of pesticide and killing and eating the latter.

This often means cultivating a hospitable environment for the good ones so they’ll enjoy your yard and keep fruits and vegetable plants healthy without the need for chemicals.

However, before inviting the little critters in to your organic reserve it’s probably a good idea to get to know a little about who they are:

Lady bugs: Beloved by gardeners, most are completely harmless to humans. They love eating aphids and many other small bugs attacking your plants. They are attracted to certain herbs like dill and flowers full of nectar and as long as they have plenty to eat they will be faithful to your garden.

Lacewings: They also love nectar, can be attracted by lots of flowers such as dandelions and sunflowers, and in many cases one lacewing will eat up to 100 aphids a week. Multiply that by even 50 and you have some hearty helpers!

Dragon flies: Primarily found near marshland or other moist areas their larvae are aquatic but eventually crawl out of the water and mature into these truly remarkable insects. You may find dragon flies eating some of the other good bugs but know they will mainly feast on the pest population.

Hover flies: They look like tiny bees and give off the appearance they are hovering even though the anti-gravity pose is simply a result of their wings moving very fast. Hover fly larva are an early spring savior for gardeners and <a href= http://www.landscapingnetworx.com/ > landscapers </a> killing aphids where bigger bugs can’t or won’t go because it’s still too cool for them outside.

Spiders: Garden spiders generally won’t discriminate between good and bad garden bugs but will kill larger amounts of the ones you’re trying to get rid of.

Praying mantis: They are valuable predators that will kill anything small enough to be caught but won’t harm people or pets.

Bees: They are not in the predator business like some of their insect peers but as they move from flower to flower their importance in the realm of pollination is unparalleled.

Slugs: While they are unwanted in most parts of the garden because of the destruction they will bring one place where they are welcome is in compost bins. There they are great consumers of organic matter including animal matter such as other dead slugs.

Worms: Like bees their contribution to the garden is different but no less unique. Rather, their tunneling through soil gives it composition and important drainage. As a fertilizer their feces do wonders for plant growth and pest control and provides the soil nutrients against disease. While they enrich soil they also like enriched soil so keep dumping compost in the garden and they will be happy to stick around.

Jakob Barry writes for Hometalk.com, a growing community of homeowners and contractors getting the most from their resources by sharing and monitoring home improvement projects. He covers various home improvement topics including <a href= http://www.hometalk.com/feeds?type=tabs&category[]=496#type=tabs&category[]=496 > Green Living </a> and <a href= http://www.landscapingnetworx.com/landscape-maintenance/ >grounds maintenance</a>.

Read more, great Monday Mania Posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/06/monday-mania-662011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/06/real-food-wednesday-6811.html