29 New Non-GMO Verified Wines to Love

Source: http://www.organicauthority.com

In recent years, items from our grocery lists to our medicine cabinets to the cupboard under the sink have been converted to more natural counterparts. So let’s extend the same courtesy to our wine stocks! Thanks to Natural Wine Merchants, 29 imported wines from Europe have been non-GMO verified. It’s time to drink up!

The announcement of the non-GMO challenge is in-line with the celebration of Earth Month this April. The Oregon- and Spain-based company is introducing the first European imported wines with this verification onto the American market. 

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20 Ways to Build a Whole Food Kitchen on a Budget

Source: http://eatlocalgrown.com

Making a trip to the grocery store these days is like running a gauntlet. From one side you are assaulted by food-like substances in brightly labeled packages, some even touting exaggerated health benefits from the toxins within. From the other side, you are gouged and poked by cleverly marketed “natural” foods that are 4 times the price of conventional foods. When you change directions to avoid one onslaught, you are immediately attacked by the other.

1. Buy local. Ideally, you never need to set foot in a grocery store.  Change your shopping habits and buy from local farmers, either directly from their farm or from a farmer’s market.  You will get your produce at the optimum time, right after it was picked. As well, you can directly ask the farmer about his practices.  Sometimes farmers grow organically and they just haven’t gone through the expensive and highly regulated certification programs that exist to make increase the monopoly of factory farms. (Enter you Zip Code in the search box above to find Farmers Markets)
2. Join a food co-op or CSA. This is win-win, because it helps out the farmers and it helps out your family.With both of these options, you can register ahead of time (in some cases you pre-pay for the season) and then receive a box brimming with abundance from your own area.  You will get to try lots of new things (this is how we tried one of our family favorites, rutabaga, for the first time) and you will get to do this at a fraction of the price.
3. Buy produce that is in-season. Purchasing food that is in-season is not just cheaper, it is nutritionally beneficial too.  Buying strawberries in January and asparagus in October requires that the produce be picked before it is fully ripe, and the produce begins to decompose and lose nutrients the second it is separated from the plant.  Avoid the high cost of transporting your “fresh” Christmas berries and melons and stick to the items that nature is currently providing in your area.
4. Grow as much as you can in the space you have.  Plant a sunny windowsill with salad veggies and herbs, grow a container garden on a balcony, or turn your yard into a mini-farm.  Every bite of food you grow yourself is a revolutionary act.

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How to reuse silica gel packets

Although silica gel has massive potential for reuse, I haven't had any luck finding a recycler. But I did discover several great suggestions for using these packs around the house and keeping them from the landfill just a wee bit longer.

 

• Put packs in your ammo cans and gun cases/safes to keep dry.
• Protect personal papers and important documents by putting some gel in a baggie wherever these are stored.
• Keep with photos to spare them from humidity. Tuck a small envelope in the back of frames to protect even the ones hanging on your walls.
• Store in camera bags and with film. After snapping photos in cold or wet conditions, silica gel will absorb moisture to keep your lens from fogging or streaking.
• Leave a couple packs in your tool box to prevent rusting.
• Use the material to dry flowers.
• Place with seeds in storage to thwart molding.
• Stash some in window sills to banish condensation.
• Dry out electronic items such as cell phones and iPods. Remember after the device has gotten wet, do not turn it back on! Pull out the battery and memory card and put the device in a container filled with several packs. Leave it in there at least overnight.
• Slow silver tarnishing by using the gel in jewelry boxes and with your silverware.
• For items in storage, such as cars or anything prone to mildew. Popular Mechanics offers a good suggestion for use in engines of sitting vehicles.
• Tired of buying big bags of pet food only to have it get soggy? Store your kibble in a bin and tape some silica packs to the bottom of the lid.
• Cut open the packs and saturate the beads with essential oils to create potpourri.
• Use in luggage while traveling.
• Tuck some in your pockets. Hide them in your closet in leather goods such as coats and shoes, and even handbags, to help them survive life in storage.
• Gather your razor blades and keep in a container with several silica packs to stave off oxidation.
• Video tape collections will last much longer with these to help keep them dry.
• Litter is now made with silica. With its fantastic absorption qualities, this litter requires fewer changes and sends less mess to the landfill.

 

And my personal favorite:

• Squirrel some away in your car, especially on your dashboard. This will help maintain a clear windshield and leave it less foggy during times of high humidity.

While these packets are annoying and seem like a waste of resources, they can extend the life of many items. Another reason someone needs to be collecting them to recycle: they can be reactivated repeatedly. To recharge, you just need to bake the saturated beads on a cookie sheet, as detailed on ehow.com.  

Source: http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/illinois/local-blog/how-to-reuse-silica-gel-packets

McDonald’s Reveals 17 Foul Ingredients in Their French Fries – Including GMOs

The worst part are the ingredients. Instead of the standard two ingredients necessary to make french fries-potatoes and oil, there are approximately 17 as reported on the ingredients facts list on the McDonald’s website.

They include:

Potatoes, canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, safflower oil, natural flavour (vegetable source), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain colour), citric acid (preservative), dimethylpolysiloxane (antifoaming agent) and cooked in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with THBQ, citric acid and dimethylpolysiloxane) and salt (silicoaluminate, dextrose, potassium iodide).

At a glance, many of the ingredients above are hazardous to human health, including those which are genetically modified (canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil), hydrogenated (soybean oil), chemically preserved and antifoaming (THBQ, citric acid, dimethylpolysiloxane), and artificially colored (sodium acid pyrophosphate).

How many people do you think have an awareness that McDonald’s french fries contain this many ingredients? Thanks for the transparency McDonald’s…hopefully it will help wake up more people to the difference between your artificial food and real food.

Source: www.undergroundhealth.com/mcdonalds-reveals-17-foul-ingredients-in-their-french-fries-including-gmos

Organic Easter Egg Dyes

Avoid dangerous artificial colors and dyes! 

Red 40 is a commonly used food coloring dye added to a variety of products. While it may make food esthetically pleasing in appearance, it can cause a negative reaction in those who consume it.

Children are most often the ones who have sensitivity to red 40, whether or not their parents have realized it or not. Reactions include temper tantrums, hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, uncontrollable crying and screaming, kicking, nervousness, dizziness, inability to concentrate and sit still among other findings. Physically you may get frequent headaches or migraines, upset stomach and feel ill after ingesting this additive. Often when Red 40 is eliminated from the child's diet a remarkable change is noticed immediately.

Red 40 is used in many food products including kool-aid, orange and other flavored sodas, cheetos and dorito chips, strawberry pop-tarts, any candy with red coloring to it including m&m's, skittles, many chewing gums, etc. Also many children's vitamins and pain relievers/cold medicine have red 40 in the ingredients.

Source: http://voices.yahoo.com/is-red-40-food-dye-additive-having-negative-180784.html

Learn to make organic dyes instead!

Use vegetables and spices to create egg dyes that are natural and beautiful.

Yellow onion skins = Yellow to dark orange
Turmeric or cumin = Bright yellow
Red beets = Pink to red
Red onion skins = Pale purple to red
Red cabbage = Blue (strange, but true)
Spinach = Green
Purple grape juice (use as is) = Lavender
Coffee (use as is) = Tan to brown
Chili powder = Orange
Raspberries or blackberries = Pink to purple
Yellow or green apple peels = Yellow-green

Source: http://www.organicgardening.com/living/how-make-natural-easter-egg-dye?page=0,1 

Ditch the Toxic Sunscreen

Ditch the Toxic Sunscreen; Use Coconut Oil Instead

by Paul Fassa

Source: www.bodymindsoulspirit.com

That’s right, the same extra virgin coconut oil in your kitchen pantry will do the trick to protect your skin – minus the toxicity from health-compromising ingredients. Coconut oil has been used as an effective sunscreen for thousands of years by indigenous, pacific islanders. 

Avoid Toxic Sunscreens

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) approximately 75% of commercial sunscreens contain toxic chemicals that are linked to cancer and disrupt hormones.

Store bought sunscreens typically contain:

Retinyl palmitate, a known skin cancer hazard.

Oxybenzone, which disrupts hormones leading to cell damage and cancer.

Zinc and titanium nanoparticles are in colorless sun screen lotions.

Those and other chemicals rubbed on your skin are readily absorbed into your bloodstream and can be just as unhealthy and toxic as an oral dose.

The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) Hoax

An excerpt from a 2012 CNN article about sunscreens:

“The EWG said consumers should not purchase sunscreens with SPF greater than 50. SPF (sun protection factor) works by absorbing, reflecting or scattering the sun’s rays on the skin. It is very misleading to put high SPF numbers on labels because it gives consumers a false sense of security and doesn’t offer a lot more protection.”

Coconut oil has an SPF of 10 which means 90% of beneficial vitamin D creating UBV rays are blocked. How many people know that SPF ratings do not indicate any protection from the highly damaging UVA rays?

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Seasonal Food Guides for your area

Click on your state or province to learn what's in season in your local area (USA and Canada).

<<Click here for map>>

By purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles, your food dollar goes directly to the farmer, and your family will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Buying seasonal produce also provides an exciting opportunity to try new foods and to experiment with seasonal recipes. And it simply tastes better!

Source: www.eatwellguide.org