Fall Activities Desert Style!

In case you have never been to the desert of Arizona let me share with you a bit of our natural rugged beauty.  My first trip to AZ was 15 years ago and I feel in love with it instantly. 

Our temperatures are starting to cool down but we still have some of the afternoon heat.  One of our favorite things to do is go on Nature trails and hikes.  Monday we decided to stay close to home and take an afternoon walk to collect things to make our Nature Pals.  This was a cute idea my daughter had to make people out of some of the items we find on our walk.  We will make these into ornaments that represent each of us and our beautiful land. 

Tuesday, we wanted to head over to another favorite destination in Tucson, the Sonora Desert Museum.  We have the Family Membership so it is a great play to get out and enjoy some fresh air, local animals, the wild on the lose finds, and much more. 

Today,  one of the beautiful treasures was the amount of butterfly's we found.  The place was covered in them everywhere you turn. 

We started our day over to the Ancient Arizona exhibit.  This is were you start by going down in to the cooling underground cave.  The kids get to see gyms, fossils, rocks, and more.

Michael loves all the dinosaur history, fossils, and information.  The kids could spend half their time in this part alone. 

Some of my favorites Opals and  turquoise. (Left)
On the right you see some of the stalagmites and cave rivers. 









Coming out of the cave we are in the paleontology dig site.  Here the kids can be paleontologist and work in the dirt to find fossils and treasures that lie beneath. 

They have a wonderful station, covered, that has treasurers under all the sand.  On the right the girls are working on the initial areas to find and identify whats on the sign above them.  The kids found all the items!!  

There is also two stations that are designed to let kids hammer and sweep away to find the fossils.  They found a coral fossil.  They recorded it in the book and got to take it home!  They all took turns sweeping and hammering to get it out carefully.  

Most of the Museum is all walking and trails, with natural animal habitat viewing.  While it is a sunny day, I like that they use plenty of plants and trees to provide beauty and shade.  

Then we headed over to the Butterfly Garden to see what was going on.  

 Here we saw a ton of Yellow, Black, Purple, Blue, and Orange Butterfly.  Unfortunately they always flew away before I could get close to get on my phone. 

The plants are always a neat find for me to see how they always use plants that you will find in Arizona.

In the B. Garden they had tons of great information on the life cycle and benefits of butterfly's.  

Next we headed over to the Hummingbird exhibit.  Today was wonderful because they really let us get up close and see they more. These beautiful birds are so delicate and sweet.  I could spend all day on one of the DM very comfy benches and just watch them all day.  

We decided to pass on the animal and just hike around.  We like to change it up and visit different sections when we come.  Here are a few of my pictures of the different ares on our walk.

 The desert has many types of cactus.  Some of the walking trails are paved and some are dirt like you see on the right.  I usually like to tell the kids to wear tennis shoes for hiking, but we knew we where going to be staying on the pavement trails today.  The desert view and walking through the upper left side of the park is a wonderful experience you do not want to miss.  It is a little more hiking though. 

These are a few of the lose and interesting critters we got to enjoy.  We always see some kind of lizards, sometimes snakes, rabbits, and squirrels.    This is a living museum, so you are always watching where you step. 

A few more views of our day.  I love the desert! 

 The sun was shining hard on the sign and it was hard not to get a glare.  You can spend an entire day walking the grounds and loops, seeing animals, bugs, birds, panoramic views, and so much more.  We go all the time and see something new.  In fact the kids wanted to back the very next day.  A big plus is that they have bathrooms and water stations all throughout the park.  They also have a top notch restaurant, ice-cream shops, vending machines, and coffee shops!  In the winter it's great to grab my complementary coffee, as a member, and walk the park.  While we have enjoyed the restaurant we like to bring in our packed lunches and have a picnic sometimes too.

What do we bring?
Hats, glasses, water, lotion, and our kids explorer stamp book!!  

Check them out on Facebook, where you will see more up close pictures of the animals. 

Desert Museum Website

The Dangers of Additives

Lets start with what is an additive. The additives that I am referring to are the chemicals that manufactures ADD to the food we consume. These are items that were not originally there. They come in many forms and are passed off as something helpful, needed, and sometimes even HEALTHY!!!! Typically manufacturers use these techniques to save or make money due to the longer shelf life.

Reading the labels and becoming familiar with companies is extremely important. You would be surprised the things you could find out with a little research. I am not hear to bash any company, but to show you there are hidden ingredients in food that invokes caution. The more these chemicals are taken into the body the more the body is taxed, lowering the immune system.

Here are some of the ways our bodies can be effected:

Sulfates: are used in preserving and bleaching food, you will find these mainly with dehydrated and fresh produce. They are trying to regulate the amount of use of this chemical, but it is still used all across the America. Symptoms of an allergic toxic reaction can be flushing, dizziness, wheezing, or shortness of breath. A great way to avoid over exposure to this chemical would be to buy organic product, if not all at least "The Dirty Dozen" also referenced in Sara Snow's book.

Nitrates: These are used mostly in processed meats (bacon, bologna, lunch meats) Nitrates are a sodium salt and cause negative reactions when mixed with amino acids in the bowel. I know several people who can not eat things with nitrates due to side-effects such as headaches or stomach pains. You can buy meats that are made without the use of this chemical. HORMEL makes many products that you can buy in the grocery market, but you will have a greater selection in your local natural or healthy store.

Food Dyes: Have been known to cause allergic reactions but they have also been linked with children behavioral problems as well. You will find Food Dyes in almost everything. Anything with a #5,#6 so on, is a dye. They use coloring to make the product more appealing. We usually shop and eat with our eyes, especially children. The side-effects noted have been behavioral changes, asthma, hives, and headaches.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): This is still under controversy but anything that had been know to cause headaches, bloating and other side-effects is something that I would like to stay away from, but that is me personally.

I know how hard it is to try and omit these foods with chemicals. They are going to be in your everyday cereals, lunch meats, anything in a box, and canned foods. Knowing what some of these additives can trigger, you can look to see if they are effecting you or your children.

I will also say this; sometimes what you consider normal is not. After taking my seven year old off most cereals and other processed foods I noticed a HUGE change in his behaviors and emotions. I now realize that giving him a lot of certain foods in his diet results in the whole family suffering for it.

Here is a great Alternative for Boxed Pizza. When you make it you know exactly whats in it.

Chunky Tomato sauce

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cups fresh tomatoes peeled, seeded, and diced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup basil, chopped fine

pinch of sea salt

1/4 pepper

Suttee onions in olive oil until tender, add tomatoes, vinegar, and garlic . Bring to a boil and reduce reduce until liquid is almost gone. Stir in basil, and seasonings. Remove from heat about 1/2 hour and allow the herbs to fuse with sauce.

Pizza Crust..

1 1/2 -2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbl olive oil

1/2 tbl sea salt

2 tsp yeast

3/4 cup warm water


Mix salt, flour and olive oil together until crumbly. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water, let sit about 4-5 minutes. Add yeast and rest of water to form a stiff ball. Knead dough until smooth. Place ball in a bowl drizzle with olive oil and flip ball around until coated. Cover ball in bowl with a cloth and allow to rise about 20 minutes. Place dough on lightly oiled stone and move dough out to sides of stone. Add your sauce and veggies and cheese. Place in a 425 degree oven 15 minutes or longer depending on toppings.

Chunky Tomato was used from "Nourishing Traditions".

Pizza Crust is our recipe from lots of practice and an assortment of other recipes. We enjoy this pizza so much more that store bought or boxed.

Have a Blessed and Healthy day.

Why would someone go Organic

OK, so today I wanted to mention a little more about why Sara Snow started it all for me. I began watching on the Discovery channel a few years back, and love that she finally made a book and DVD. It is nice to have all my notes in one place.

I would recommend this book for anyone that was beginning to learn more about nutrition and the benefits of reading labels, buying organic, and having a clean home.

Most of us think that because it is in the grocery store it is healthy and nutritious for us. This is false. Sara talks about the dangers of eating food that is laced with chemicals and preservatives. Studying food enzymes showed me the importance in knowing when foods are processed they usually get striped of the enzymes that help us to digest that food item. Making gas, bloating, and pain when the food does not get processed within our bodies correctly. They do this for a longer shelf life. She also talks about the dirty dozen and the list of foods that if we are not always able to buy organic, these are the foods that should be. In a perfect world, we would all eat organic because it has more vitamins and minerals, less pesticides, and other chemicals. Sara makes it very easy to slowly grow into an organic lifestyle with a gradual process which is great for learning about the lifestyle while also understanding your on a budget. She also talks about the labels of NATURAL and ORGANIC, how sometimes we think we are buying something when Manufactures are just using a key wording for better sells. She shows you how to look for things in the label. There are many other things she talk about from fair trade to greening each room in the house, and so much more.

I have also added her DVD for those mommies that would like to know more about making things safer for babies. She also touches on these ideas in her book as well.

One thing I want to share is that in our fast pace world we have stray from the way things were meant to be made, packaged, and consumed. We have a lot more health problems today than we did 150 years ago. There will also be another book that has been very helpful to me. My sister-in-law gave this as a gift to me and I have loved it. "Nourishing Traditions" has a great amount of recipes and knowledge about the way things previously were prepared and cooked and shows us how to get back to those roots. From canning, to cutting, storing, and cooking. This is a great addition to any kitchen.

Today's Recipe....

Make your own granola. Great start to the day and very healthy.

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour or barley flour 1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbs chopped almonds 1/4 cup canola oil
2 tbs chopped pecans 1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt salt
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Mix dry ingredients on left well. Then mix the liquid ingredients in with dry Ingredients. Spread on a lightly greased cookie sheet, I use one with edges this might be helpful. Bake at 325 for 20-40 minutes and mix around to make sure it does not burn. Cool
I store in a glass bowl with lid.
We love it with milk. You can add any fruit and it makes it a great breakfast or snack. We even add some over yogurt.

Tomorrow I will be talking about the Dangers of Additives and why they are so harmful to our children and ourselves.

Have a blessed and healthy day.

The Beginning

I love food. I know everyone probably loves food, but it has become a great passion for me.

I started out as a mother of four small children stumbling in the dark about what to feed them and trying to make sure that it was nutritious, or at least what I thought was nutritious. I was worried about the many times I had to take my children to the Physicians Office for a cold, or an ear infection, and I started to wonder if it had anything to do with what I was feeding them. I had started to watch different programs on the Discovery channel and found, now one of my heroes, Sara Snow. She spoke about everything you can do at home to have a healthier more fulfilling life. This was just the start.

So I started taking some classes on Nutrition just to make sure I was doing my part on the food side. My husband was very supportive and loved the idea that I was learning, so I give them the best start to everyday that I could.

Learning about the different vitamins and minerals in food has given me an understanding of what food does to the body. I am happy to say that I have changed my household upside down. I have learned from books, classes, and friends that everything we eat has either a good effect or BAD effect on the body. That is why I have started this blog. This is my journal of the long and satisfying road that I have traveled with Nutrition.

I will be sharing my experiences, good and bad, recipes, and how my family has benefited from it. It is such a great feeling knowing that I am giving my children a inheritance in GREAT health. I have stories to share and one that I am very happy about is the fact that we hardly have to visit the Physician except in our yearly well checkups. There will be times and reasons to see a Doctor.....but if we can reduce those visits by using good nutrition to stay healthy, than that's a great way to live. Staying healthy has many perks to talk about.

Here you will NOT find advice, but GREAT ideas that have worked for my family. I will also let you know about great books and items that I have found to be very beneficial to our household.
I hope that you will follow me down this road of discovery that I plan to share with you. I know that every parent wants the best for their children. I hope that even those of you that are not parents, have a desire for better health and life for yourself as well. Nutrition is for every person!!!! Lets all get back to basics and see where better nutrition takes you!!!!