Who knew?

Okay. So one of these days I may get around to getting my food blog up and running... we'll see. It's so interesting - today's world of food. What is even more astonishing is just how much I didn't realize until I started reading. It has knocked my socks off... I literally dread trips to regular supermarket (and now with Azure Standard I won't have to go much at all), bc I don't know if there's much in the way of food there. Honestly, there isn't much. Not real, whole food anyway. We are basically a nation of chemical consumers and genetically altered "food" junkies ... and it's no wonder we feel the way we do. The thing is, many people haven't even given it much thought.

There are lists upon lists of ingredients found and consumed by the majority of Americans that have been scientifically linked to cancer, hyperactivity, anxiety, insomnia, depression, weight gain, headaches, poor vision, balding in both men and women, hormonal problems, infertility, alzheimers, and the list goes on and on. So what do most Americans do about these health concerns? They seek healthcare providers. Who mean us no harm, but what they have to offer, typically doesn't do us as much good, or may have better effects if only we'd make changes in the way we think. And go a step further in allowing that shift in thought to permeate and change our behaviors... And I'm not only talking about foods...

We live in a culture that is so busy running here and there - we live by an overly filled schedule. I am all too guilty of this, too. And in the process, we give little thought to some very key areas of our lives... we're just too busy to add one more thing to our lists of things to think on awhile. And somewhere we get this notion that , "we're young and this is what we do in our 30s and 40s, right?" But then, what really lies in store for us in our 40s, 50s, and 60s? Are we so caught up in the "I'm here and want it now" consumer culture that we really haven't stopped to see what might be coming ahead?

Today's babyboomer generation is seeing record numbers of cancers, heart disease, etc. And the age of those effected by the same illnesses are dropping. In a study found in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (vol 27, no 17 (June 10) 2009) they are projecting a 45% increase of confirmed cancer cases in the next 30 years. And that is only one study I looked at recently. Could it be this harried lifestyle coupled with not so great exercise habits, stress-filled lives and no-thought eating habits and consumption habits (like lotions, etc.) could be causing our bodies to say - "Whoa, I can't run on this or like this anymore."

Okay. Enough soapbox chatter. All I meant to get on here to say was that I recently borrowed a cookbook entitled Nourishing Traditions. Now, I have been interested in eating well, healthy cooking, and getting back to the old way of doing things for awhile now... This book neatly packages it into one book. I think it's great for the beginner. So today, I decided that the Cream Cheese Pastries sounded good. I don't much in the way of sweets in our home. I avoid white sugar at all costs. In all seriousness, that stuff will kill ya - right along with canola oil and other vegetable oils... But I digress.

So I have been in the mood for something with cream cheese. I didn't have any on hand today.... which always gets me thinkin' how people made the item prior to it being in a consumer-happy package at the local market. Well, I learned today you can make homemade yogurt very easily and for cheap. Esp if you have a crockpot or a dehydrator. Yep, and you take that freshly made yogurt and hang it up. Mine is currently hanging from my microwave (it's a much better use of it than using it for cooking/heating anything) and once the whey has stopped dripping, you have cream cheese. With more flavor (and mine is raw milk so it has all the needed enzymes for lactose digestion and processing along with a lengthy list of minerals and vitamins) You get the added benefit of the whey (which also has a bunch of uses, I'm learning) with which you could make homemade ricotta cheese.

Who knew? My grandma probably. Man, in looking around the store, my kids' friends may one day think it novel to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I mean, they now make a all in one package of dump and stir) I wonder if our grandmas were disillusioned by boxed brownie and cake mixes? I'll bet they were. Hmmmnnn and we're trading all this rich tradition and know how for chemicals that are making us tired, making us obese, and making us ill...

That's some food for thought today. :)