I Deserve Better Food

Well today was just a catching up day for me - I did not really cook anything much because I spent part of my day walking around Fota Wildlife Park with the children. It was a lovely day and the place was really pleasant and busy.

However, being ever vigilant and by now used to reading all the adverts I was quite surprised by the pushiness of it all... I mean outside the toilets there were strategically placed ads for ice cream. Just in case you missed them on the way past the little shop or the restaurant. 

Oh well. It all seems to be a bit too much in your face at times - these fast food, junk and sweet makers are a lot like drug pushers. I remember walking in big cities such as Toronto or Rome many years ago and passing someone who would mention under their breath the name of some drug they were selling...

An advert placed outside a toilet is a bit like that memory for me. The sign sort of yells 'Hey buddy, want to eat some sugary high fat chemically processed junk before your dinner?' And of course it is aimed at the little ones.

So, back to my day - I thought it was time I had a re-evaluation day because I think I have reached yet another milestone here. Without even realizing it I am no longer even carefully considering what to make, how to make it or dragging my feet in any way - I am just jumping in and making something on the run so to speak.

Yesterday we wanted to go to the cinema (this is still a big deal here as we only go about 3 or 4 times in a year) and needed something to bring in the car for a treat. With only an hour to get everyone ready and out the door - I dropped everything and whipped up a batch of flapjacks.

Then today, I did it again - someone said treat and I jumped into action and within a few minutes I had a pan of cashew cookie bars chilling in the fridge. It is that easy! And I was very pleased to find I had crossed over yet another form of reluctance.

You must know what I am talking about, the sense that you want to make something, but have a hard time either getting started or you end up giving in to the thinking it is too much trouble. Then time will go by and the task never gets done. 

It must be a form of procrastination tinged with self sabotage. 

When I came home this afternoon we wanted bean burgers and onion rings - both of which are easily enough made. The catch was, these taste loads better with mayonnaise - so I did it once again. In no time flat I had a bowl of fresh mayo on the table - and it was the nicest one I have made so far.

If I was to bring these two experiences together at the end of the day I would say to the junk food pushers - I am way ahead of you, I can do far better. And you know what? I deserve better too.

April

Black Swan at Fota in Cobh Cork 

Dangers of Processed Foods

Not many people make the effort anymore to ensure that they have wholesome foods to eat - from my own experience this is not something that originated with our generation (although we are the ones paying the price) but appears to have come about after the last great war as a modern solution to slavery.

Perhaps in an effort to make things easier for more people to be out working for little wages, following someone else's blueprint of reality, an overall vision of creating a new world paradigm could be easily inserted over the old one. With everyone consumed with obtaining all the things that they did not need and that were placed just out of reach, there was little time left over to cook.

With no thought, planning and preparation going into making wholesome meals for the entire family - it is relatively easy to convince people of something so counterintuitive that it is mind boggling. A dry powered, dehydrated, factory made, highly altered substance contains all the vitamins and minerals that you could possibly need. 

And for the most part, we believed it!

Balanced meals in a box. How on earth have we come to think we could eat this stuff (all the time) and maintain any form of gut integrity? However, the most important point to be made here is that a non functioning gut means a non functioning body.

All systems go down when food does not contain the required vitamins and nutrients to sustain body processes.

This is pretty serious stuff - yet, when we go into any supermarket, the shelves are lined off with 'food' prepared and ready to eat or cook (just add some toxic tap water) and stir. During the last few years even more prepared foods are hitting the market, with the certain aim to replace any time that you might need to spend in your kitchen.

When you do a little research - it doesn't take much - links can be found between processed food items and a host of modern dysfunctions from diabetes and cancer to depression and hormone imbalance. What is worse is many of these 'diseases' are being treated with some of the most toxic chemicals on the planet.

Distinctions are also made between; 

processed foods (put through chemical processes with added stabilizers and preservatives e.g. low fat yogurt, sugary cereals) 

junk foods (contain little real food usually made from white flour, sugar and corn syrup e.g. drive through foods and fizzy drinks)  

fake foods (contain no real food, primarily made of fillers, gums, sugars e.g. salad dressings, dehydrated soups).

All of this can be reversed in a short period of time when a little energy and effort is put into using real ingredients such as vegetables and fruit, whole unprocessed beans, lentils, grains, locally sourced fish or meat and clean water. 

Feeding yourself well is worth the effort - for your mind, body and spirit. 

Have a lovely day,

April

Cover - Closing The Energy Leaks©