Stevia in the Raw

As you know from this post, I recently connected with Stevia in the Raw via Twitter and they were nice enough to send me a sample.

I currently use Truvia as my sweetener of choice but I’m certainly not against changing that if something better were to come along. I also don’t love that along with Cargill, Coca-Cola is the maker of Truvia. There is also debate on the erythritol found in it.

Back to Stevia in the Raw … I first used it in a giant protein powder oatmeal pancake. (Lessened the recipe a bit but still a large, delicious pancake topped with some agave nectar and almond milk).

I had this same pancake a week ago with Truvia and this weekend with Stevia in the Raw. In the pancake, I really noticed no difference.

Next, I had Stevia in the Raw in my normal cup of morning tea (2ish packets).

Tea drinking is where most of my sweetener consumption happens, so this is the most critical for me in comparing sweeteners.

And finally, another important one … the sweetener in my morning oatmeal. As with the tea, I did notice a difference and it was a good one!

My husband and I agree with the results and here they are …

We like Stevia in the Raw more than Truvia.

Reasons?

• Stevia in the Raw is sweeter than Truvia (that’s a good thing since it’s sweetener and all ; )
• It’s not “gross” stevia as some stevia, in my opinion can be
• It tastes more “real” than Truvia
• The packet sizes are normal sweetener sizes, whereas Truvia packets seem large (okay, so that’s not a huge deal, but it’s a weird reason I like Stevia in the Raw better)

One con is that I’m pretty sure Stevia in the Raw is pricier than Truvia. I’ll have to check and see how much it is at my grocery store and that’ll probably be a big factor in whether we officially make the switch or not.

Anyways, there are our Stevia in the Raw thoughts. Thanks for the sample, Stevia in the Raw!! : )

Do you use a sweetener besides sugar? If so, what kind?

-Lesley

 

Simply Tea; my first loose leaf experience

Erik and I ventured on over to a place called Simply Tea this weekend and I’m glad we did. They opened in January of ‘08 and I’ve driven by it many times wondering what it might be like but never actually stopped for some reason. (And you all know how much I love my tea!!)

I’ve been a tea bag kinda girl up until now but loose leaf always sounded like more fun. Anyways … here’s what we picked up.

Four sample-sized bags of different kinds (.99 cents each) to try out and a large bag of Tropical Green green tea (we knew we’d love this kind because it smelled so good!) aaaand a little mesh tea ball.

I think I’ll definitely be going back to Simply Tea as it was a pretty pleasant experience.  The lady working was very nice and extremely helpful and seemed very knowledgeable.  She let us smell various kinds of teas, suggested popular kinds as well as one’s she likes, etc. So far, the tea has tasted great too.

Only con is that while I believe they have some organic tea, I don’t believe the majority of their tea is organic and I would definitely prefer it to be.  And I’m not sure how important organic is when it comes to tea?? I’m sure it depends on where it’s grown.

Anyways, here’s a few pictures of my first loose leaf tea experience with my fun little tea mug.                                      

Awww … I love tea!! I’ve had it every single morning (plus some) for a little over a year now and I haven’t even come close to tiring of it.

Any thoughts on organic tea vs. non and/or do you prefer tea bags or loose leaf tea?

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend : )

 

-Lesley

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”  ~C.S. Lewis

Pluots & Stevia in the Raw

Happy Weekend!

Thanks to VeggieGirl who helped me identify my mystery fruit, a Pluot! (aka a plum/apricot).  A pluot was included in my most recent fruit/cottage cheese after dinner eats and yum! It was good. I love the pluot’s beautiful color! Anyone ever tried a pluot??

This afternoon, I found a package at my house today with this inside:

I’m very excited to try Stevia in the Raw. As most of you know, I currently use Truvia to sweeten pretty much everything. I connected with Stevia in the Raw via Twitter and after Ashley reviewed it.  Review to come later … ; )

Erik’s brother and sister are in town from NY to visit their dad so we’ll be with them most of the weekend. We hung out with them for a few hours tonight and already had a good time. When they all get together they have so many funny stories to reminisce about and we were laughing all night.

Anyways, hope you all have a fabulous weekend! : )

 

-Lesley

 

Smart Chicken & Plums

It’s almost the weekend already, woo hoo!

Hope you guys are all doing fabulous. In case you missed it, please don’t forget to check out my interview with Tosca Reno that was in my last post.  She offered some wonderful advice!  She even put the interview on her blog. (You already know this if you follow me on Twitter, so sorry for the repeat info if you do). I was pretty excited about that because I like Tosca so much! : ) And though it’s pretty much just the same as was on my post, I also included the interview on my Examiner site too, in case you feel like checking that out.

Now onto some eats … I cooked up a bunch of Smart Chicken the other night for dinner.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m paranoid after watching Food, Inc or if it’s something else (*cough* most chicken is nasty and loaded with antibiotics among other things that came from factory farms *cough*) but I just can’t stand the taste of , say, Tyson’s “100% Natural” chicken anymore when I have much more real natural chicken.

There is SUCH a difference between it and chicken like Smart Chicken (though I don’t know how free range Smart Chicken is, I know it tastes much better than Tyson and I know it’s much more real than Tyson!)

Simple and easy!

And some of the yummy fruit I’ve been having included this …

I’m not even sure what this is, some kind of plum? My MIL gave it to me among some other fruit. All I know is that it was GOOD!

Now I’m off to do some cleaning, laundry, and dinner cooking. (I sound like such a good little housewife, don’t I? HA) I hope to fit in some bis and tris, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen tonight.

Have a good one : )

 

-Lesley

Interview with Tosca Reno

I am very excited about this post!! : )

Tosca Reno is a best selling author of the Eat Clean Diet book and more, who in her 20s weighed over 200 pounds.  She’s had three children and through eating clean and lifting she ended up a swimsuit model in her 40s.  Read: she’s a great inspiration and is proof it’s never too late to get fit!

I’m very excited because Tosca was nice enough to answer a few questions for me that I felt were some common worries, fears, and misconceptions towards lifting and eating clean, all of which I have dealt with at some point in time. Without further ado, here’s some fantastic advice from Tosca herself …

 

Tosca Reno; Photo by Paul Buceta

1) A lot of us (especially us ladies) who aren't accustomed to going to the gym seem to be pretty intimidated by it at first.  How do you suggest overcoming such intimidation and fear?

Many women are intimidated by the gym because it’s a public place and they think that everyone is going to be looking at them and more specifically, judging them. This usually isn’t true – most people are at the gym for the same reason you are: to get fit! And the reality is they are far more interested in looking at themselves than at you! If you are a newcomer to the gym, I suggest booking a couple of sessions with a personal trainer who can show you how to use and make the most of the weight machines and your time in the gym. Just knowing what to do while you are there will give you the confidence to get on with your program and not worry about what others are thinking. Also remember that you may well be a source of inspiration for someone else who is just beginning or thinking about lifting weights.  This can be enormously empowering for you to consider as you pick up the dumbbells.

 

2) What are the benefits of having a regular lifting routine vs. mostly just cardio?

Being a “cardio queen” is good for initial fat loss but it won’t help you in the long run. A regular and challenging lifting routine will not only rev up your metabolism and help you burn more fat, but it is also the key factor if you want to reshape your body. After I lost weight I was thin but still had saggy bits. Training helped me turn my entire body into lean, hard muscle, and helped me shape my body in ways I hadn't thought possible. I never had a butt -- even my mother used to make fun of my flat rear-end -- until I began training with weights. Now I have a high, round, perky rear end that even made it on the cover of Oxygen's Glutes issue.

 

3) A common concern of lifting for girls can be summed up in something like, "But I'm afraid of getting bulky, I just want to be skinny".  What is your response to that?

That is a common misconception many women have about weight training. The truth is that women’s bodies aren’t meant to grow big and bulky muscles without the help of recreational steroids or plenty of testosterone (which most of us gals don’t have in abundance). Don’t be afraid of lifting heavy – I press 500 pounds and my legs are leaner than ever before!

 

4) For someone who has a desire to start eating clean and getting active but doesn't know where to start, what advice would you give them?

The best thing you can do right away is go through your kitchen and throw away anything that isn’t Clean – that means all processed products or products with more than a couple of ingredients, and anything with added sugar including white bread, white pasta, white rice (see a trend?), candy, cookies, cakes, etc. Replace these items with lean meats, lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, canned beans and spices for seasoning. If you are new to exercise, ease yourself into a program gradually. Many people tell themselves they will start training everyday and burn out quickly. If you have a lot of weight to lose, start with a walk around the block. Each day, walk one driveway further until you’ve walked a mile, then two, then three. Get into the habit of lifting weights by using soup cans and water bottles during your commercial breaks. When shopping, park in the furthest spot away from the shopping center. Take the stairs. Do stretches or lunges on your lunch break. These little things really start to add up! Once you begin to incorporate movement into your daily routine, you’ll find you crave it more and more until it’s a priority.

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I hope you guys enjoyed Tosca’s answers as much as I did! Thank you so much, Tosca!!!

Turkey burgers courtesy of George

The past few weekends since Erik’s been feelin’ sick, we’ve been finding ourselves eating “frozen” foods a couple nights. Typically we really never do (can anyone say expensive?) but it’s been very convenient and Erik wanted it.

So while he had an Amy’s pizza, I took everyone’s advice who said the burritos were really good and I tried one.

I’m very impressed with Amy’s frozen foods! For frozen, I think they’re really good!

And for dinner tonight … another old standby that you all see a lot around here. Turkey burgers cooked by the good old George.

Topped with fresh sliced tomatoes, 2% cheese, a dollop of fat free sour cream, and less sugar ketchup on toasted Ezekiel bread served with veggies.

Okay, so I’ve been eating way too much fruit lately! Ha, I think it’s because I’m beginning to really feel that summer is drawing to a close and I must hurry and stuff myself with this wonderful fruit before it’s gone!

So in my recent fashion, upon consuming dinner, I had some fruit and cottage cheese. Tonight was cantaloupe.  Yum!

So how was your Monday??

 

-Lesley

"Summer's lease hath all too short a date."
- William Shakespeare-

Pancakes for breakfast

I love weekends and I’m not ready for Monday yet!

I had delicious Oatmeal Berry Protein Powder pancakes this morning … mmmm!!! It was a wonderful break from my normal oats.

Here’s us this morning.

And a better picture of the new ‘do. (Thanks for all the nice comments about it!! ; ) I’ve had long hair most of my life and never loved my hair short so we’ll see how this goes. So far, it’s a really nice change!

For lunch, we ate at the Hyvee salad bar real quick because we didn’t feel like cooking and there didn’t seem like anywhere else to go.

I piled my plate as high as I could, ha.  However, it was a bit disappointing. Certainly no Whole Foods bar, that’s for sure.

We cleaned out our cars really good today (much needed), and I picked up the house a bit. Aaaand that’s pretty much been the highlights of our Sunday.

Anything exciting going on for you this week?? Erik’s brother and sister are coming from NY on Friday to visit my father-in-law but not much other than that here.

 

-Lesley

Searching for eggs

Hello!

Well, Saturday started out with the hunt for some eggs at the farmer’s market.  Sadly, I got there too late and they had already ran out (the farmer’s market here is very, very small). But I got a few other things to try. 

Some soap from Natural Elegance. It smells really good, can’t wait to try it.

And a giant cantaloupe that I immediately cut up upon getting home …  so much tastier than store bought!

Aaaaand I chopped off my hair! Ha. I really like it. Though I don’t like this picture I quickly snapped before my camera batteries went dead, you get the general idea ; )

After getting my hair done, I came home to find Erik not feeling good at all. (He’s not been feeling well for the past few weeks). So he finally went to the doctor and turns out he’s got a bad sinus infection. With everything that’s been going on lately, he hasn’t had any time to rest at all and has been going a hundred miles a minute without any breaks so he’s sleeping right now and hopefully he’ll be all better soon.

Tonight = watching a movie, eating Kashi pizza and some Breyer’s 1/2 fat ice cream.   ; )

 

-Lesley

P.S.  Erik decided he wanted one of these, ha … a good way to save water … who knew they existed??

 

 

Winner and dinner

Finally the weekend! (I say that, but really, the week flew by). 

I really enjoyed reading all your fitness/healthy eating stories for my giveaway entry … very inspiring!! And the random winner of the magazine subscription is ……..

Mandy : ) who wrote:

“I LOVE both of these magazines!! I don't have a subscription to either... but would love the chance to have either of them! :)

Ten years ago, I weighed 237 pounds... I went through many different "diets" trying to lose weight. Throughout those diets... I lost weight, gained weight, lost weight...I finally found my way to a better way of eating - healthy, nutritious food - not processed, junk! I lost 100 pounds! I gained some weight back during my pregnancy four years ago... but thankfully, clean eating has a way of whipping your body back into shape :) I also found a great work out program that combines weight lifting & cardio - I've been doing it for six years and STILL love it! They had my husband and I in their most recent infomercial as success stories!”

Congrats! And thanks to everyone who entered.

Tonight is a recent favorite of ours …. zucchini lasagna.

With garlic Ezekiel bread.

I drizzled the bread with EVOO and seasoned it with garlic powder and a tomato basil spice mix then put them in the oven with the lasagna until they were crispy.

And here’s my two younger doggies.  Adrian is telling Rocky with her eyes she better not come near her bone because it’s HERS. Haha.

And Rocky busy with her own doggie treat.

Have a great weekend!

 

-Lesley

 

Eating some kindness

There’s still a little time left for my giveaway so hurry and enter!

I’m just sitting here passing the time away because Erik had to go to a meeting at work (boo to 9:00 meetings!) But I have my sleepy big doggie friend keeping me company.

I only wish Bubba got along with Rocky & Adrian … it would make life much easier. Oh well! Even though he’s more work, I can’t help but love him and I know he’s happier here than by himself in a back yard.

I had a Kind bar today … another one of my favorites. (I’m kind of on a bar kick if you can’t tell :s)

When I’m in a nutty mood (ha, pun intended I guess?) Kind bars are the way to go. 

What I like about them:

• I like that they’re called Kind bars because that’s just fun : )
• All natural ingredients
• Few ingredients
• Low GI
• Non GMO ( not genetically modified … that’s always good!)

Who doesn’t like a little kindness? ; )

And last but not least, here’s some salmon, brown rice, and baby Brussels.

And Happy Friday : ) Any fun weekend plans??

I have a new quick Examiner post up, too ; )

Lesley

“When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel-

Tastes good cold

Entered my giveaway yet? It ends in one day!!!

Erik has to be on the road all day for work tomorrow, so requested  something that “tastes good cold” for his lunch tomorrow, adding “and that’s not chicken”.  Haha.

I always make extra food for dinner to pack in our lunches the next day.  So as I was thinking of what we could have for dinner that would be good cold the next day, tuna came to mind.

I’m not much of a casserole person, buuut in light of his request and in light of quickness, I decided to have a whack at a sort of tuna casserole using what I had on hand. Here’s what I came up with:

Tuna Rice Bake

It’s basically a combination of all this:

• 4 6 ounce cans tuna
• 3 1/2 – 4 cups brown rice (already cooked)
• 4 eggs (cooked)
• 1 bag of assorted frozen veggies (thawed or still frozen)
• 3 light original laughing cow cheese wedges
• 2% shredded cheddar cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• balsamic vinegar
• a little lemon juice
• couple squirts of ketchup
• pepper
• red pepper flakes
• sea salt
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• dash of almond milk
• sliced or slivered almonds

I mixed all of these ingredients together using a little shredded cheddar cheese, a little Parmesan cheese, and the sliced almonds as a topping. Throw it in the oven at around 400 until the almonds have browed a little (around 30ish minutes, depending) and voila!

Easy-peasy (sp? ha), tastes good right out of the oven and tastes good cold the next day ; )

It’s almost Friday …. bring on the weekend!! (I’m getting my hair done on Saturday, woo hoo!)

 

Lesley

“We shall never know all the good a  simple smile can do.”

–Mother Teresa

Why exercise (alone) won’t make you thin

Hi everyone : )

First off, don’t forget to enter my magazine subscription giveaway that ends on FRIDAY!!

Just a quick post to share a recent Examiner article with you all. I love working out but I think this shows the importance of having a healthy lifestyle mindset, rather than just striving for a new temporary diet or temporarily working out.  Here goes ….

“When trying to lose weight, a common goal and objective is often pursued in buying a gym membership. One vows to undergo regular sweat sessions in order to combat excessive fat. So what is the problem and why do these regular sweat sessions oftentimes seem to do no good at all?

According to a recent study in the article, "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin", it's oftentimes due to what one eats after that intense workout session or what's done (or not done) after having exerted oneself.

     Photo By: D Sharon Pruitt

Expending yourself in the gym oftentimes creates hunger as your body’s glycogen storage is running low. So an important factor to look at is what's going on right after exercise? If the answer involves high-calorie, high-sugar energy drinks or greasy junk food, some rethinking may be in order.

Oftentimes after exercise people seem to feel like they "deserve" the junk food that they're craving or they simply won't be as active the rest of the day because they feel as though they already got enough activity in. Similar to the article's example, if a person was to spend 30 minutes on the elliptical machine only to chug a sugar-filled Gatorade right afterwards or eat a muffin from Starbucks, from a weight loss point of view, this person would have been better off never having gone to the gym.  Assuming 300 or so calories were burned while on the elliptical, more than that was consumed just eating that muffin. (As the average 6 ounce muffin has 400 calories).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This brings us to the point of it all: when loosing weight and maintaining weight loss, what you eat is about 90% of your success or failure. In fact, when trying to loose a bunch of weight, the most important thing is eating clean and staying active.  Success isn't necessarily about strenuous sweat sessions, but an active and healthy lifestyle mindset. For example, instead of the elevator, take the stairs. Instead of the closest parking spot, take the one further away.

Not to say those intense sweat sessions aren't necessary or good because they are! They improve heart health, cardiovascular strength, and do help blast that fat away.  However, next time you're tempted to go eat a muffin or drink a frappuccino right after a hard workout, try a whey protein shake instead, or some fresh fruit (just watch your portion sizes) and your results are likely to be much more positive.”

 

Lesley

Here goes nothing

Good day!

I don’t really have much to say today but enjoy saying nothing so here goes ; )

Breakfast was my favorite breakfast ever.  1/3 oats with a small spoonful of PB, Truvia, frozen tart cherries, and a dash of almond milk, alongside 1 egg and 2 egg whites.

I was also very pleasantly surprised to find two new Lara flavors at the grocery store today.  I got a PB&J and consumed it immediately upon leaving the store.

I loved it! Cherries and PB are two things I like very much so having them together in a bar was delish.

I’ve decided that Laras are one of my favorite quick snacks, and I love how there are so many flavors. No matter what you’re craving there’s a bar that most likely fits that craving. (I just wish they were cheaper!)

Speaking of snacks, I’m planning on upcoming Examiner article about on-the-go, healthy, and easy snack ideas.  I’ve of course got the basics like bars, fruits and veggies, so here’s where you come in…

What’s your favorite on-the-go easy snack??

-Lesley

Watermelon craving

Happy Sunday night! (already??)

I’m happy to be eating this right now.

I spent pretty much the whole afternoon cleaning the house; mopping, dusting, vacuuming, etc and afterwards I was craving watermelon! But we didn’t have any at the time so I decided to have some kohlrabi before it went bad.

I peeled it, sliced it and ate it with a little bit of sea salt. (The best way to eat kohlrabi, I might ad! ; )

After eating my kohlrabi, Erik and I went to get some groceries for the week.  Our purchases included watermelon : )

We picked the one with the smiley face in it : ) It hit the spot, too!!

After shopping I was starving and wanted something fast for dinner, sooo … it was the good ole standby.  Egg sandwich. Hope your Sunday was a wonderful one!

What’s your favorite summer fruit? (Watermelon and cantaloupe are definitely up there for me)!

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

 -Mother Teresa-

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my magazine subscription giveaway!

Thanks for dinner, Amy

Erik and I went to a movie this afternoon and afterwards, we just did not feel like cooking and we had no food to eat at our house, sooo … we decided to let Amy feed us.

I decided to try the cheese enchilada.

I hadn’t ever had any Amy’s frozen dinners before.  Here’s the stats:

The results? I thought it tasted very good for a frozen dinner. I’m not sure if it filled me up as much as a normal dinner, but I’d definitely still eat it again. Plus, organic and no GMO’s! I’m down with that.

Erik got a pizza.

I may or may not have had a few bites to try it ; ) It was pretty tasty, too!

All in all … good job, Amy’s frozen dinners!

What’s your favorite Amy’s product??

And don’t forget to enter for a free magazine subscription!!

Happy Weekend : )

Just wanted to say “HEY”! And if you want a free magazine subscription, don’t forget to click here! 

Random news: I finally tried the Peanut Butter Cookie Lara for the first time and I think it’s my new favorite!  

My plans for the day are to clean! I watched the Healthy Living Summit live for a little while this morning and am enjoying just being home with Erik. 

And of course I’ve been doing some Bubba dog walking ; )  Though it’s hard having three dogs, I can’t help but love this big guy.  He has problems getting around sometimes but he’s so playful for such an old guy at the same time.

What are your weekend plans??

Anyone want a free magazine subscription?

Hey, hey!

So remember how there was going to be an exciting ending to Lifting and Clean Eating Series I just did that you're probably all sick of hearing about by now? Well ... here it is, the exciting ending.

I loved sharing my journey of how I got from not caring what I ate and never working out to eating clean and working out regularly and my hope is that it will inspire and help others.

So, since I love both Oxygen Magazine and Clean Eating Magazine and since they've been such a help to me, I'd like to give away a one year subscription of one of either magazine. The winner will get to chose which magazine they'd prefer. (Sadly enough, I haven't even gotten myself a subscription to Oxygen yet, I've just been buying it every month at the store ... I could be saving a lot of money, :s ! I'll have to do that.) 

Do you have a fitness/eating clean story?? I'd love to hear about it! (I may even share it with in another post if you don't mind).

To enter the giveaway:
-leave a comment briefly telling me your fitness and/or eating clean story and if you don't have one ...
-leave a comment telling me which magazine you would like best
-or just leave a comment : )

*if you don't have a blog, leave an "Anonymous" comment with your name or some way of identifying you in the comment

And like usual, if you'd like to entered more than once, leave an extra comment if you are a subscriber, link this giveaway to your blog, or if you follow me on twitter.

Good luck!! I'll leave this open until next Friday, August 21st at 3:00 p.m., Central Time, in which the winner will be chosen at random using random.org : )

My health story

In short, my food and health philosophy can be summed up in one sentence:

“Eat close to the ground, and move.” 

Here’s how my journey to a healthy lifestyle evolved:

Growing up, I really could have cared less about what I ate, as long as it tasted good!  My health, my weight and the thought of staying active in life never concerned me.  Upon starting college and faced with cafeteria meals, cheap fast food restaurants, and a busy schedule, a realization was made: I could not keep eating anything I wanted while staying healthy, and at my ideal body weight.

Comically, I soon married my husband Erik, health exercise science major. Though he loved me and my fast food ways, as I began to see my jeans no longer fitting, my energy levels declining, and how my husband never wanted the greasy food that I did, I started to think just maybe he was actually onto something with all this healthy food/working out stuff.  Thus … my journey into eating clean, and living actively.

From Taco John’s to Brussels Sprouts

When switching my diet from "I eat whatever I want whenever I want" to "clean, fresh and healthy", I didn't just all of a sudden go cold turkey and start eating clean, unprocessed, real foods. It wasn't ever that easy for me. I had to take little steps, a couple things at a time. I was in this for the long run. It wasn't just going to be a diet to loose weight, but it was about finding how to eat healthier long term.

From Couch to Gym

Having not been any kind of athlete whatsoever, I was extremely intimidated by going to the gym, and all things working out because I felt "bad" at it and I didn't know what I was doing.  I was somehow convinced everyone would stare at me and secretly make fun of me knowing I just didn’t belong there.

Long story short, my husband convinced me to go to the gym with him. He became my personal trainer, teaching me what I should be doing at the gym.  Each time I went, I became more confident and realized that no one else actually cared what I was doing there!

It’s all sinking in

Surprisingly to me, I began to really enjoy these changes in my life, and I was astonished at how much better I felt eating healthy foods, and being more active. I began reading tons of articles on health and nutrition, reading from my husband's nutrition textbooks, and just couldn’t get enough. I wasn't sluggish anymore, had way more energy, and a lot more confidence in myself.

Where I am today

Overtime, I grew to really appreciate the quality and taste of good organic and local foods.  Not only does it taste good and support local growers, but it helps to preserve and heal God’s wonderful creation too!

 
"It's never too late to be what you might have been."
-George Elliot-