Hormone Free Children

I receive periodic emails from the Food and Water Watch. This group helps keep citizens informed and united to encourage the government to take appropriate actions in order to protect the people of the United States. Most of the issues deal with public health concerns or social issues as it relates to food and water.

Recently, I received an email to participate in the campaign to bring hormone free milk to our country's children. The children of our society are served milk via school lunches and breakfast programs. During 2005-2006, approximately 430 million gallons of milk were given to our Nation's children (National Milk Producers Federation). Much of this milk was not free of artificial growth hormones.

Artificial growth hormones in milk can lead to significant health issues in our children. Some of the health concerns are long term such as cancer. Our children can also be affected by developing and maturing too quickly due to the abundance of growth hormones in our food supply. In order to ensure that hormones stay out of school provided milk, send a note to your elected represented regarding the Child Nutrition Act. As the saying goes, "it takes a village to raise a child", so even if you do not have school age children, you can make a difference in our society by taking action and protecting those who cannot protect themselves.

Buying organic milk will send a clear message to milk producers that consumers want hormone free milk. The Food and Water site has a list of hormone free dairy providers for your individual state. Be proactive in your quest to live naturally!

Here's to your continued health and well-being!
ClearSkies

Caprese-Yum!

After a workout at the YMCA, while my daughter had piano lessons, I came home and prepared a light dinner. I love insalata carprese, one of my all time favorite foods. The herbs I planted a few weeks ago are doing well in the pots out back. We have cilantro, basil, Italian parsley and garlic chives. What a wonderful treat to clip fresh herbs whenever I need them for salads and cooking.

Tonight I prepared a tasty insalata caprese, with fresh tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil from my potted herbs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I slice the tomatoes thin and then top them with sliced buffalo mozzarella and basil leaves, sprinkled with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Caprese pairs well with a crusty baquette to soak up all the oil and vinegar. Sometimes I will have a fresh green salad and marinated olives to make the meal complete.

Living Naturally is simple and easy, especially when preparing summertime favorites. With the days getting longer, mealtime can be easy and light, which gives us more time to enjoy the outdoors. What I relish even more is sharing the meal with those I love in the outdoors before the weather gets too unbearably hot.

Here's to your continued health!
ClearSkies
Photo courtesy of: http://www.pdphoto.org/index.php

I feel the Earth move under my feet!

Happy Earth Day!

We celebrated Earth Day by playing at our favorite park, Philippe Park, in Safety Harbor, FL. We played near the Indian Mound and breathed in the wonderful breeze coming off the water. Philippe Park is encompassed in ancient Oak trees, which feels like being embraced in the strong arms of a grandfather.

Anytime we need to connect with the Earth, we pay a visit to Philippe Park. Pinellas County has information about the park, as well as a virtual tour on their site. Visiting Philippe Park is a truly beautiful experience.

Here's to your Earth Day!
ClearSkies

Self-powered Transportation

One of the best modes of transportation in my opinion is walking. I love to walk to places I need to go. With all the cars on the road today, it is a lovely break to be able to walk. I walked to the bank today, which seemed like a long walk of about 10 blocks one way, but I enjoyed it. My 3 year old and I walked along and saw a baby bird learning to fly, which we would have missed had we been racing by in our car. My son found a grassy knoll to run up and down numerous times which gave him a total thrill and I was able to relish in his pleasure as well.

As we walked along, my toddler's legs became tired and he decided to hop in the stroller which I had been pushing empty all along. We made it to our destination and performed our bank transaction and headed back home. The sun was setting and there was a cool breeze in the air. As I proceeded home at a quick pace, I noticed my son was no longer moving about, as he had fallen fast asleep. Apparently, the walk, with it's joyous adventures and cool evening air had tired him out. This was the easiest he had fallen asleep in many nights. Ah, the joy of naturally living and living in the moment! What a wonderful way to end the day!

Here's to your Naturally Living Moments!
ClearSkies

Pickin' and Grinnin'

My children and I met with up with our fabulous friends yesterday for our annual tradition of strawberry picking at an organic strawberry farm in Dover, FL. The experience was perfect with a backdrop of horses eating strawberries out of the kid's hands and dogs running around frolicking with the children. Moms and dads were busying themselves with picking strawberries in the field, complete with sunhats and glasses. Toddlers were running up and down the strawberry rows with red strawberry juices dripping down their chins and onto their shirts.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Jordan Farms. The owners are friendly and have now expanded to include numerous vegetables as well. The organic vegetables included corn, broccoli, green beans, beets, cabbage, lettuces, squash, cucumbers and herbs. All the vegetables were u-pick except for the squash and cucumbers, which had vines that could easily be trampled upon by feet. The neighboring farm had blueberries for sale as well at the trailer upon checking out.

The Tampa Tribune published an article recently about Jordan Farms. If you are interested in experiencing the joy of organic strawberries that you picked yourself, go visit Jordan Farms. Call the owners and see how the berries are doing before you go:

Ron and Cherri
Jordan Farms
3243 MOTT RD
Dover, FL 33527
813-478-0844

We are thoroughly devouring our strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers, lettuces, cabbage, green beans, radishes and broccoli flowers. I made a beautiful salad last night and packed the kids fresh picked berries in their lunches. When I met my children for lunch at school today, my daughter proudly displayed her berries that she and her family picked to her friends. The smile on her face said it all!

Here's to your continued health and happiness!
ClearSkies

Emotional Freedom

A close friend of mine is a practitioner of EFT, which is Emotional Freedom Technique. It is a wonderful approach to releasing those powerful emotions that can cause stress, depression and anxiety. EFT has also been used to treat physical ailments and disease. Children can benefit greatly from EFT and parents can apply the techniques themselves. EFT is described as a needle-free version of acupuncture, as it uses the bodies acupressure points to help release emotional patterns. EFT can be used to assist you in many areas of your life. I once used it to overcome anxiety related to my shoe breaking right before an important meeting. I was able to laugh about the event instead of stressing.

There is an official Emotional Freedom website where you can download your own manual and learn the techniques yourself. Spiritual leaders such as Deepak Chopra, Bruce Lipton and Cheryl Richardson all advocate EFT. The website contains various helpful articles and testimonials on the changes that individuals encounter for the better when using EFT. If you download the manual, it is user friendly and it is free.

Or you can visit a practitioner in your area. My friend, Lynette Conat, has done wonders for me personally. I have gone from experiencing excruciating sadness and anxiety to feeling blissful and happy again. She is a wonderful friend and healer, with a strong and powerful intuition. To contact her, go to Integral EFT website. I have found that for some deep seated emotions, a practitioner is able to get to the bottom of the emotion.

Here's to you emotional health and freedom!
ClearSkies