What's Really in the Food We Eat?

So you guys know that I like Diet Pepsi, even though I think Michael Pollan is right on the money.  You know that vegetables are my least favorite food group, even though I know they should be first.  You know that I think a lot about ways to help my kids have a healthy relationship with food.

But what you don’t know is that my friend, Janet, knows the exact calorie and fat count of every food ever produced.  Okay, that might be a teensy, beensy bit of exaggeration, but if I’m not sure about something food-related, she’s on my speed dial.  (Also for any fashion questions, but that's a post for another time.)

So when Janet said she learned stuff she didn’t know when she read Eat This, Not That, I couldn’t believe it!  She learned stuff?  I knew I had to get my hands on that book.  What could it possible contain that she didn’t know?  So I popped on over to the library and took a look.  And chock-full of information, it is.  I must admit that there are some interesting tidbits, like the fact that one Original Glazed doughnut from Krispy Kreme has less fat (11 grams) and less calories (190) than one Wild Blueberry muffin by Otis Spunkmeyer (22 grams, 420 calories).  Who knew?!

All in all, I’m not a big fan of the book but I can certainly see the appeal.  It’s a very practical guide for middle-of-the-store grocery shoppers.  But most weeks I try to avoid both Krispy Kreme and Otis Spunkmeyer—those are some fat grams I’d rather save for a rainy day.

By far, the grossest part of the book was page 6, which took me right back to high school English class, the one where we read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.  Perhaps I’m naïve, but I left all of those disgusting thoughts about food processing back in the 80’s and I was very disturbed to find them resurrected by the little chart called “The Wrong Kind of Protein; The little ‘bonus’ ingredients the FDA allows in your food.”  Here’s a sample:

“Canned tomatoes:  Can contain up to 5 fly eggs or 2 maggots per 500 grams.”

Maggots?  Do I really need to say more?

“Peanut Butter:  Can contain up to 30 insect framents or 1 rodent hair per 100 grams.”

30 insect fragments??

“Popcorn: Can contain up to 1 rodent pellet in one sample or 2 rodent hairs per pound.”

A rodent pellet?  IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS??

Alright, Mr. President.  As long as you’re overhauling everything else, what about the FDA?  As if the peanut recall weren’t bad enough, now I have to worry about rat crap in my popcorn? Puh-lease!

This is the best argument ever for participating in CSAs and buying local.  I'm not sure I'll ever be able to enjoy canned tomatoes again.  Uggh.  Please, please don't tell me what you know about Diet Pepsi.  Let a girl enjoy her vice in ignorance, would you?

Enjoy the weekend everybody.  And for goodness sakes, be wary of your popcorn!

photo credits: asplosh

How Do You Solve Conflict in Marriage?

Update:  If you tried the link earlier & it didn't work, I'm so sorry!  The link is corrected-now click on over!

Sometimes, life throws you a curve ball.  When it happens to you as a single person, you deal with it in your own way.  We all have different coping mechanisms, right?  Some of us tuck into our shell and quietly contemplate for hours, days, or weeks.  Some of us call everyone we know, and hash out all of the gory details, over and over again, until we can finally make sense of them.  But what happens when you add a spouse to the mix and your coping mechanisms are entirely different?

See the rest of my thoughts on this over at Blissfully Domestic (aka Wedded Bliss) today.

How to Find Time For Yourself

As a young mom, there were days I was desperate for a little me-time.   All right, fine.  As an older mom, there are still days I’m desperate for a little me-time.

But as one of those peculiar moms who recoils at the thought of turning on “kids” TV, I didn’t have an easy out.  How on earth could I get a shower, cook dinner or take a deep breath without Backyardigans to the rescue?

It took some time, but I eventually figured it out.  Kids can entertain themselves.  It just takes a little work at the front end.  But it is so worth it when you finally get to take that breath.  Ahhhh!

For the Littlest Tykes try these…

Hands-on manipulatives go a long way with this group.

* Wooden blocks
* Big fat Legos (Duplos)
* Round ball with the shapes
* Fisher-Price stacking toy

These are just a few my boys really liked.  There are tons of things kids can play with—even your Tupperware or Rubbermaid.  If they can stack it, fit it together, or bang it loudly, it has a good chance of success.

As they get bigger…

* Brio or Thomas trains
* Lego blocks (still the Duplos – now for building, instead of banging or chewing)
* Books on tape (like magic!)
* Leap Pad – ours worked sporadically, but if you have a good one…
* Inexpensive matchbox cars, lots of them. They can race them, line them up, or just plain old play with ‘em.

When they won’t eat beads anymore…

* Perler Beads!  **Can serve double duty as fancy Christmas ornament gifts for Grandma and Grandpa, and everyone else they know**
* Regular Legos
* Books
* Books on tape/CD/iPod
* Kids’ digital camera
* Football cards

Admittedly, you won’t get much of a breath to begin with.  Set your expectations low, to start.  I began by sitting with my kids while they played with their toys.  But (for once) I didn't participate.  For just a few minutes, they managed on their own.  After awhile, they got used to figuring things out for themselves, and I eased out of the picture.  Now, if you're thinking I grabbed 30 minutes to myself, you need to re-evaluate, friend.  Slow.  Start slow.  It's all about your expectations!  

In the beginning, the time I got to myself was short - 10 minutes, at best.  But if you can grab 10 minutes to start dinner, you’re still ahead of the game.  In time, 10 will grow to 20.  By the time my kids were 3, they could entertain themselves in their rooms for an hour.  An hour!  Not only is this arrangement good for you, it’s good for them.  Independent play time fosters creativity.  Life doesn't always throw you something new when you're bored, does it?  No, sometimes we have to make our own fun with what we have.  That’s a good lesson to learn at any age, wouldn’t you agree?

The Modern Enjoli Woman

So how have I been spending my time lately?

Well, first there was this:

And then there was this:

Now, do any of you remember this?

Do they even still sell Enjoli?!

  So maybe I didn't bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan, but baby I laid the tile and baked the cake in the same day.  That has to count for something!

A Letter to My Neat and Tidy Friend

Dear Neat and Tidy Friend, 

Congratulations!  I hear you are considering adopting a puppy.  Fantastic idea!  Who doesn’t want a cute little bundle of fur take on walks, cuddle with, and love unconditionally?

The unconditional part is important, you see, because this puppy will change your life.  You know this already, right?  People have told you about the night waking and the many walks, they’ve told you about how you’ll have to re-arrange your schedule and save bundles of money for vet bills.  But what about the fur?  Have they mentioned the fur?  Or, more specifically, the shedding of the fur?

Oh, right, you’re going to keep him outside in a dog run.  Good plan.  My Aunt Elaine had that plan, too, until her sweet little Gypsy got sick.  She came in to get well and never left.  Dogs are smart that way.  People are the foolish ones.  That fancy dog run became a lawn ornament and trellis for beans or raspberries or some such thing.  It sure didn’t see Gypsy again.

And when your puppy joins the household, it won’t be long before you sit down to a lovely dinner and find a stray dog hair in your salad.  Consider yourself warned.  Disgusting, you say!  You are cleaner than that.  You will sweep and vacuum and mop away the evidence.  Yeah, okay, good luck with that.

My favorite part, really, is how dogs can sense who loves them and who would really rather see them penned up on a farm somewhere far, far away. One day, your stylish friend will show up dressed in her sleekest black pants, strutting her trim stuff all over the place.  And your super-hairy, hugely-shedding yellow Labrador will be right there to greet her. In a fine example of the skills dogs have honed through the years, he will sense that she doesn’t want a single strand of that nasty dog hair anywhere near her swanky self.  He will bound up to her, tongue hanging, tail wagging, hair flying everywhere, just to show her who’s in charge.

Dogs are the smart ones, I’m telling you.

Have fun with your new puppy.

With much love,

From  your friend with the extremely friendly, unbelievably hairy 13-year old Labrador

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network's blog blast.  It's sponsored this week by SC Johnson, who's introducing the Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair.  And as any dog owner will attest, this is an idea who's time has come!

SC Johnson to introduce the Pledge™ Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair.

Thoughts About Life

So why are we here?  Not here, online, on blogs, making friends with women we may never actually see, but why are we here, here.  Here on this earth.  In this world.  Why are we part of our particular family? The community around us?  Why are we friends with our particular friends and mothers to our particular children?

Heavy stuff for a Thursday morning, wouldn’t you say?  Read the rest of my ruminations over at Midwest Parents today.

My Baby Boy is 10 Already!

Wordless Wednesday.

Is it Possible to Find Harmony on a Budget Vacation?

About 15 years ago, in our early married days, my husband and I took a weekend trip to Spokane, WA.  No kids, two incomes, endless time.  Sounds like fun, right?  Turns out, it was an early lesson in the marital art of compromise.  How we ended up on the sidewalk in front of our hotel, on a sunny, brisk morning, arguing about the coffee and paper he'd just purchased, is the topic of my most recent post at Blissfully Wed.  You can read about the compromise that saved all future vacations at Blissfully Wed (aka Wedded Bliss).  Pop on by for the gritty details!

A Sampling: Phelps, Guitar Hero, Madonna, Air Supply, and L'il Wayne

That title should get a few hits, huh?

Speaking of hits, this morning I was checking in with some bloggy friends, and I laughed out loud when I read Anne's post "Don't Phelps that Bong."  I found her 3rd point about journalists particularly amusing, the best being the one who said Phelps was caught "taking tokers from a bonger."  I'm still laughing.  Did someone really say that?  I don't care how busy you are.  It's worth a short click over for a good laugh.

Then I popped over to SusieJ's and read about how Guitar Hero has built a musical bridge between Susie and her teenage son.  Since just last year we suffered more than a bit of angst over our oldest son's intense desire to fit in and download all of the songs his friends were downloading, I found this compelling.  Guitar Hero can help?  Perhaps we should relent.  I'll take Fleetwood Mac over L'il Wayne any day of the week.

SusieJ mentioned Love Me Two Times by The Doors, so of course I watched the YouTube link.  Then I had to listen to this one, for really old times sake.  Well, you know what happened next, right?  I had stumbled onto Nostalgia Lane and I couldn't leave.  I just kept clicking.  Madonna, The Eagles, and Tears for Fears all reared their heads.  I'm not saying for sure, but Air Supply and Journey may have made a quick appearance too.  Suddenly it was 1985 and man, I was young.

I even rediscovered Men at Work and their vegemete sandwich.  And hey, do you remember this one?

I had totally forgotten, but there it is, preserved better than I'll ever be.  No wonder my dad hated MTV.  Between these guys and Madonna's lingerie, I'm surprised we didn't toss the TV and move to the woods.

It wasn't all wasted time, though.  Ever efficient, I was able to learn something new during my foray into the past. Until today, I thought you could find just about anything, anything I tell you, on YouTube.  But apparently, Prince (of course I tried to find Purple Rain!) and his record label have a ban on posting his music on YouTube.  You can find a few soundless videos, but really, who wants to look at that?  It's all about the listening, Prince.  No one wants to watch your 1984 writhing.  Okay, lots of people probably do, but I'm not one of them.

And then, Prince-deprivation notwithstanding, I began to come up for air. I surfaced from the depths of YouTube and my long ago musical past, and realized that I had doctor's appointments to make, articles to write, a Valentine's party to plan, a birthday cake to bake, and that none of my children have clean clothes.  So it's back to 2009, where I am less young but oh, so busy.  And if I need a flashback, there are always YouTube and Guitar Hero to help me out.

Happy Thursday, all!  

If  you want to join me in wasting some time, enjoy these blasts from the past, courtesy of YouTube:

The Good Old Days of Summer

Wordless Wednesday.

Is Stealing Wrong? I Need...

Last week, instead of doing the 25 Random Things About Me thingy, I stole this idea from Slackermama and came up with this.

I discovered that I kind of like stealing.  

So this week, I stole this idea from Coal Miner's Grandaughter, who is quite funny when she wants to be.

So here is the product of my most recent thieving.  Enjoy!

I need...

...a few more hours in each day.

...a few more minutes in each hour.

...a warm, sunshine-filled, palm tree-laden vacation (see above).

....to love my husband on purpose.

...to make the bed more often.

...to learn to let things go.

...to laugh with my friends.

...to laugh with my kids.

...to enjoy the present.

photo credit:  sirtrentalot 

3 Cheap Dates for Valentine's Day

With our wallets feeling the pinch of the faltering economy, spending a big wad of cash for Valentine’s Day might not be this year’s best move. Instead, celebrate things you love about one another and keep your money in the bank.  Pop on over to Blissfully Wed to read my ideas for 3 Cheap Dates for Valentine's Day.

4 Simple Ways to Say I Love You

Showing love comes easier for some than others, wouldn't you agree?  If you’re one of those people who are all hugs and kisses and moonbeams, it’s probably easy-peasy for you.  But for the rest of us, those who are still wondering what moonbeams are and how to find them, it can be a bit more difficult.  Our culture doesn’t encourage showing love as much as it encourages lust.  Don’t believe me?  Take another look at those Super Bowl commercials.  Funny, yes.  But if we want to help our kids demonstrate love, we’re on our own.  

Here are a few things our family does to share the love:

The Video/DVD:  I’ve received these for various occasions, including Mother’s Day and my birthday.  The one I received for Mother’s Day remains one of my favorite gifts of all time.  My husband and the boys created a Top Ten Things We Love About Mom video, which, as you can imagine, brought tears to my eyes.  And as much as I enjoyed watching my precious boys act out the things they loved about me, I understood that this was also an act of love from my husband.  You can’t have a better Mother’s Day than that.

The Scrapbook: If you’re the type that faithfully records your family events in a scrapbook or album, or if you worship at the alter of Creative Memories, you get this one immediately.  Putting together a small scrapbook to celebrate an occasion, a special year, or a trip together is a great way to demonstrate love. What if you don’t have a crafty bone in your body?  Not to worry.  Simply upload your photos to a site like Blurb.  Slide and drop the pictures onto pre-formatted pages, and they’ll print a lovely hardcover scrapbook for you.  You’ll never even have to go near a Michaels.

The One-on-One Date:  When my third son was born, I realized that time alone with each boy was a valuable commodity.  To make sure life didn’t pass us by, we scheduled monthly “dates.”  These dates don’t have to be expensive or complicated.  Sometimes we take a board game to the café in Barnes and Noble, buy some treats, and play for an hour or so.  Other days we ride bikes around the lake.  Occasionally we go out to dinner, just the two of us.  I remember one meal in particular, a dinner at a Chinese restaurant with my oldest son.  As I sat there, enjoying the conversation and watching him order General Tso Chicken, I could see him growing up before my eyes.  It’s one of those moments that’s burned into my being.  Sometimes we have to step out of the ordinary routine to really experience our kids and love them where they are.  

The Take-A-Break Gift:  Let’s face it.  While we all love our families dearly, there are times when we need a break.  We need an hour, a day, a weekend, some tiny bit of time all to ourselves so we can regroup and recharge.  I have one friend who’s really good at this.  The rest of us fail regularly.  Spouses who understand that a little time alone is good for the soul are worth their weight in gold.  One of the biggest investments we can make in our spouse’s well being is to help him (or for him to help us), take this time.  (Yep, I’m working this angle for a weekend away.  Of course I am!)

The thing about love is that the old adage is true:  Actions do speak louder than words.  It’s so nice to be told, “I love you,” but so much more powerful when it’s accompanied by action.

This post was written for Parent Blogger’s Network’s blog blast.  They’re collaborating this week with LIFE, a non-profit Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education.  Check here for other great posts about love.

photo credits:Joe Shlabotnik, petit hiboux, donger, superash, fresh head films, and BeccaG

Valentine’s Day: Take It or Leave It (But Keep the Piña Colada)

So Mommycosm is off in Aruba, and I’m sitting here with several feet of snow outside my door. That person—the one who said “IT'S NOT FAIR,” was absolutely right. But, hey, I’m not one to begrudge a girlfriend some time in the sun. As long as you raise a glass to me while you’re living large, I’ll raise one right back. Preferably one with a little pink umbrella sticking out of it. And maybe a pineapple…

How on earth is this lovely beverage related to my feelings about Valentine's Day?  To find out, click on over to Mommycosm, where I'm guest posting today while she works on her tan.

How Old Is 13 In Dog Years?

Wordless Wednesday.

Instead of 25 Random Things About Me

I've been tagged for the 25 Things thingy quite a few times.  But last week, I saw this on Marilyn's blog, and I liked it.  I really liked it!  Since she stole it from Randi, I'm going to steal it from her.  Instead of 25 Things, you get 15, but I just love how you have to find your answers in Photobucket.  So, that's why I'm doing this one, if you must know.

If you want to play, be a good blogger and follow the rules:

1.Go to www.photobucket.com (don’t sign in).


2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box.


3. Copy the html and paste for the answer. 

Here Goes Nothin'!

1. What is your relationship status?

2. What is your favorite color?

3. Who is your celebrity crush?

4. What will you be doing tomorrow?

5. What is your favorite Disney princess?

6. What would you splurge on if you won the lottery?

7. What was the last thing you bought?

8. Where is your dream vacation?

9. What cell phone do you have?

10. What do you want to be when you grow up?

11. What do you love most in life?

12. What is your favorite food?

13. What is your least favorite food?

14. What is your favorite dessert?

15. What is your biggest fear?