far too long

I have let this turn into sister and the scale so I am going to try and contribute more. I have been wanting to write down all the facts I learn, the successes I have, recipes, all that and realized I should just use the blog. It's working so well for Angie and I should use it more often too.

Today - I went to my first yoga class at Oja's Yoga in Owings Mills and I loved it! It is so relaxing and I love the way I feel after class. I look forward to many more classes. I did have to laugh at myself though, I am definitely in need of a pedicure and forgot all about the barefoot part of it! But I doubt anyone noticed. That's another thing I love about it - everyone's there for their own reasons and no one judges you.

I also listened to Jillian Michaels podcast about the importance of organics. At first I was bummed because I had already listened to it but quickly realized that I could still learn from it. Today what stuck with me was how important it is to eat organic meat, especially beef. It is so important to eat grass fed beef. So many corporate farms use growth hormones to make the cattle grow bigger to get the most meat for their money. And often they are not out in pastures but penned up and antibiotics are required to keep them healthy. There are even cases where they are fed other animals which is a big mistake because they are not meant to eat meat. And when the cows are filled with hormones to get bigger, and antibiotics, we absorb that into our system when we eat their meat. And now we have the antibiotics and the growth hormones in our body. What a disgusting thought. Now obviously I am paraphrasing and doing this from memory so I am not relaying this as well as I should but you get the point. And that is not to say that all farms are that way. Many are not. But to be safe, buy the grass fed beef from the grocery store or better yet, go to the local farmers market or butcher shop and get to know the vendors and how they raise their animals and crops. Not only are you doing good for yourself, but you are supporting your community as well. I grew up on a farm so I know that many farmers do not share these practices but we need to be vigilant and read the labels. Look for grass fed, or no growth hormones, no antibiotics. The more informed you are the better decisions you make. You wouldn't feed yourself these poisons, why eat something that has them in it?

We bought mango chicken sausage that is nitrate free, no antibiotics, no growth hormones, aka the good stuff. I took fresh salsa and added some mango and topped the sausage with it. I also found that Paula Deen has a peach salad dressing that is very low in calories, has very few ingredients - all of which I can pronounce - and doesn't contain soy. I brushed this on the sausages the last couple minutes. It was an awesome meal! Everything was so fresh and tasty. Even the sausage had very little grease and was very healthy. I will definitely make this again.

Later!

Barby