Organic, Grass-Fed, and/or Free-Range Meat & Poultry

Why Switch to Grass-Fed Beef?

Nutritional scientists report that by switching to grass-fed beef you will lose weight, have a healthier heart, reduce your risk of cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and allergies and improve mental clarity. The reasons involve fundamental nutritional differences. Compared to grain-fed beef, grass-fed beef has higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), more Beta Carotene, more Omega 3 fatty acids, more Vitamins A and E, and lower levels of saturated fats. See here for a great article on the history of fats in the American diet and why grass-fed is better.


What About Organic?

The problem with sorting through the options at your local supermarket is that so many foods can claim to be "all-natural," "organic," "free-range" without providing good definitions of what that means. "Certified Organic" means different things in different countries, but generally involves avoidance of synthetic chemical inputs (e.g. fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives, etc) and genetically modified organisms; use of farmland that has been free from chemicals for a number of years (often, three or more); keeping detailed written production and sales records (audit trail); maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products; undergoing periodic on-site inspections. (From Wikipedia). Sounds complicated? You bet, and expensive too. That's why many local farms, while following the spirit of organic farming, are often not allowed to call themselves certified as organic. The joy of buying locally, however, means that you get to ask them just how they grow their crops, how they house their chickens, and what they feed their dairy cows. Because what goes into their crops, chickens, and cows is what goes into you--and, lest we forget, into your kids.

Local (DC Metro) Options:

• Polyface Farms delivers to Arlington, and if a number of people are interested they may add another drop off point in the area.
• The Organic Butcher
  6712 Old Dominion Drive
  McLean, VA 22101
• Mount Vernon Farms also has local drop locations.
• Golden Farm in Middletown, Virginia carries grass-fed beef and lamb, as well as eggs and organic vegetables in the summertime. No growth hormones used. Orders can be placed at 540/868-2765 or 540/868-2389.
• South Mountain Creamery - delivers milk, eggs, cheese, meat and poultry
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation: "There are no hormones, antibiotics or pesticides in our beef. Our cows graze healthy pastures eating only grass, the natural feed for ruminants like cows. As a result the meat is lean and clean and good for the environment." For more information contact Michael Heller or Rob Vaughn at 301.627.4393 or mheller@cbf.org.

Online Sources:

• Here's a great listing of small, independently owned farms at the EatWild website, "your source for safe, healthy, natural and nutritious grass-fed beef, lamb, goats, bison, poultry, pork and dairy products."

As always, let me know if you have any suggestions! I'd love to hear about other, healthier, meat options out there.

Local Produce: CSAs, Home Delivery, and Farmer's Markets

The idea behind Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is that a consumer pre-purchases a “share” of the harvest for the season—thus creating a relationship between local farmers and community members.

The good news is that you'll get a nice variety of fresh veggies and fruits. Some farms offer the option to get eggs, dairy products, and herbs as well. Some places will deliver your share to a central pick-up location, some farms offer "you-pick" times in addition to the shares, and most farms welcome visitors/helpers.

The bad news is that farms won't have exactly the vegetables you want exactly when you want them. Plus, being a smaller entity, they are more subject to the whims of Mother Nature than the supermarket down the road.

Bottom line: a CSA share is great for someone who is willing to try new foods and to adapt their recipes to suit the vegetables available that week. Just like people had been doing since the dawn of time, right?

However, the "surprise!" aspect of CSAs just doesn't appeal to everyone. If you have a picky child--or spouse, for that matter--maybe you want to be sure to have certain foods on hand for them. Say, all things orange. Farmer's markets offer much the same freshness as you'd get through a CSA delivery, but with a little more choice on your part--don't like the kale or collard greens? On to the next stand! Many markets offer diary, eggs, meat, and poultry stands as well. Although some fall during the week (Rosslyn, Virginia's is mid-days on Thursdays) most are on Saturday mornings, and if you can drag yourself out of bed to be there when they open, then you get the best pick of the available fruits and veggies. Don't be afraid to ask if they'll let you sample something unfamiliar!

• Here's a list of Farmer's Markets in Virginia. I've personally tried the Saturday morning markets in Falls Church (300 Park Avenue, Contact: Howard Herman, (703) 241-5027) and down in Fredericksburg (in the commuter parking lot on Route 3 West). The Falls Church market is a great location--the parking lot of the community center--and we've gotten some pretty food vegetables and fresh bread. Prices seem ever-so-slightly on the high side, but perhaps that's just in comparison to the abundance of very reasonable priced veggies to be found at the Fredericksburg market. If you like to head out of the city on the weekends, I highly recommend taking a trip down to Fredericksburg to catch this market--great tomatoes all summer long, delicious varieties of peaches and other stone fruits towards the end of the summer, and fabulous sweet corn. There are also several stands with dairy, meat, poultry, and breads.
• In Virginia, check out Virginia's Assocation for Biological Farming for a listing of CSA Farms.
• In DC, check out the Washington Post list of DC farmer's markets
• Find markets all across Maryland, and search by county, here.
• If you're looking specifically for organic, here's a list of organic food sources (farms, farmer's markets, stores) in the DC metro area.
• For a great list of farmer's markets, family farms, CSAs, and other "sustainably grown food" vendors across the country, try the Local Harvest website.
  

Local Farms that offer you-pick or delivery:

• Great Country Farms & Foggy Bottom Vineyard in Bluemont, VA. 540-554-2073.
• Clagett Farm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
• Washington's Green Grocer offers home delivery of a large or small box of either all-organic or mixed organic and conventional produce.
  

I hope you enjoy exploring all the options for healthy local eating! If you know of any other resources that should be included here, please let me know!

Learning to Live Lean

Lots of us have a few extra pounds hanging around after having had a baby. Or perhaps after starting your first desk (read: sedentary) job. Or perhaps just after putting on a few pounds a year every year since college. Whatever the reason, there are a plethora of diet plans out there. I read about most of them with skepticism, because for me the absolute bottom line has always been:

calories in - calories out = weight gained (or lost)

Simple, right? And yet, such a difficult equation to internalize. One article that does a pretty good job at showing some places where people tend to make unhealthy choices is this Lose 10 Pounds in 5 Weeks from MSN. Normally I eschew articles like this, but this one points out that simple, everyday choices that you don't even realize you are making, really add up.

Maybe this is you:

"Often, I see overweight people at salad bars. Presumably they have chosen to eat a salad because it’s healthy and less fattening than a meal elsewhere. But the salad they create often has more calories than a Big Mac! It’s piled high with very few vegetables, but with all the meat toppings and creamy potato and pasta salads that can fit on the plate. And then, the entire thing is slathered with blue cheese or ranch dressing."

Or, this is you:

"This fat mindset doesn’t just apply to eating. It applies to being active. I know overweight people whose hobbies are all sedentary: watching movie after movie, playing video game after video game, surfing the Net, and watching endless TV shows. Studies have shown that the more hours spent doing these sorts of activities, the more overweight a person is."

How to fix it? How to break the cycle? Some people swear by keeping a food log, either on paper or by using on of the many online calorie counters. An easier solution, if you're fairly aware of what you eat and the relative calorie counts of foods, is to do the 500 rule: decrease your total calories by 500. You can do this by cutting calories that you take in, or increasing calories that you burn, or doing both. For example, making breakfast a bowl of healthy cereal with skim milk rather than a fancy coffee and a high-calorie scone or muffin, plus taking a 30 minute brisk walk at lunch, will probably get you to that 500 calorie mark fairly easily.

At least, this is the path I'm taking...I'll let you all know how it turns out!

Healthy Eating on $7 a day & Great, Healthy Muffins!

Since we, like most young families, are always into finding ways to eat healthier and cheaper, I thought this article was of interest: Healthy Eating on $7 a Day. Not surprisingly, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and green leafy veggies all make the list. Somewhat surprisingly, many staples from the bulk-bins section were included: oatmeal, cornmeal, and dried beans. Do supermarkets even still have bulk-bin sections? Well, my research shows that Whole Foods does! (Eggs, nuts, potatoes, and tomato sauce--actual tomatoes being too expensive for the $7 a day limit--round out the list.)


And, here's a wonderful recipe to try--these muffins are moist, slightly sweet, and hearty. Even better, they are low in calories, low in fat, and high in fiber. A great breakfast or snack, they are so good my 2 year old calls them "Cake!" No higher praise can be given. Although the ingredient list seems long at first, you really just dump all the dry ingredients together in one bowl, dump all the wet ones together in another bowl, add the bowls together and spoon into a muffin tin. Much easier than it seems!

Applesauce, Bran, and Oatmeal Muffins
From Cooking Light

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I substituted 1/4 cup refined white sugar, because I was out of brown sugar)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup fat-free milk (I used whole milk, because that's what I had!)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon light-colored corn syrup
1 large egg
Cooking spray


Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.
Combine flour and the next 7 ingredients (flour through salt) in a
medium bowl. Stir in raisins; make a well in center of mixture.
Combine applesauce and next 4 ingredients (applesauce through egg);
stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until
moist. Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 375° for 18 minutes or until the muffins spring back when
touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool
on a wire rack.

Note: Before freezing, let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack.
Store them in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag in your freezer for up
to a month.

Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin) I used a mini-muffin tin, and put 4 mini-muffins into each baggie to freeze, and that wokred out to a great breakfast at around 340 calories and 4.8 grams of fat.

NUTRITION PER SERVING:
CALORIES 169(13% from fat)
FAT 2.4g (sat 0.5g,mono 0.7g,poly 0.9g)
PROTEIN 4.1g
CHOLESTEROL 19mg
CALCIUM 59mg
SODIUM 186mg
FIBER 3.2g
IRON 1.8mg
CARBOHYDRATE 34.9g

Green Cleaning Solutions

Why is Green Cleaning Important?

Well, three wonderful reasons:

(1) It's better for the environment--no nasty chemicals heading down your drain and (eventually) into your drinking water.

(2) It's better for you--no danger from chemical burns, no toxic smells in your house, no worry that your child will break open the cabinet lock and find your stash of bleach and ammonia, and decide that it's science fair time.

(3) Budget, baby! It's much cheaper to buy a big container of white vinegar and a box of baking soda than it is to invest in the 50 million different cleaning products you need just to keep your kitchen sink clean.


For just a few dollars, invest in these Green cleaning items:

• Baking soda
• White vinegar
• liquid soap (dish-wash soap, to be used sparingly, as a little goes a long way!)
• Scouring pad
• Cotton washcloth or a sponge
• Cotton rag without much lint
• 16 oz. spray bottle

And then go to town trying out these Green cleaning recipes:

• Tub and sink cleaner: Baking soda, liquid soap
  
  Sprinkle baking soda on fixtures and rub with wet rag. Add a little liquid soap. Rinse well to avoid leaving a hazy film.
  
  
• Window and mirror cleaner: White vinegar, water
  
  Put 1/4 cup of white vinegar in the spray bottle and fill to the top with water. Spray on the surface. Rub with a lint-free rag. For outdoor windows, use a sponge and wash with warm water with a few drops of liquid soap in it. Rinse well and squeegee dry.
  
  
• Linoleum floor cleaner: White vinegar, water
  
  Mop with a mixture of 1/2 cup vinegar in a bucket (pail) of warm water. The vinegar odor will go away shortly after the floor dries. This works with those ever-popular Swiffer-style mops too. Instead of buying the throw-away mopping pads, simply take a washcloth, dunk in the vinegar water, squeeze out excess, attach to Swiffer, and mop away! Rinse and repeat as needed.
  
  
• Toilet bowl cleaner: Baking soda, liquid soap
  
  Sprinkle baking soda inside the bowl as you would any scouring powder. Add a couple drops of soap in also. Scrub with a toilet bowl brush and finish outside surfaces with a rag sprinkled with baking soda.
  
  
• Oven cleaner: Baking soda, water
  
  Mix 1 cup of baking soda with enough water to make a paste. Apply to oven surfaces and let stand a little while. Use the scouring pad for scrubbing most surfaces. A spatula or a bread knife is effective to get under large food deposits. This recipe will require more scrubbing effort, but it is not toxic to you or your child. Commercial oven cleaners are severe irritants. NOTE: Do not use this cleaner recipe on self-cleaning ovens.
  
  
• Drain cleaner: Baking soda, white vinegar, boiling water
  
  This recipe will free minor clogs and helps to prevent future clogs, so don't wait until the sink is stopped up--do this weekly! Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain first, then 1/2 cup vinegar. Let it fizz for a few minutes. Then pour down a teakettle full of boiling water.
  

Here's a nice article talking about the importance of Green cleaning and providing additional tips for how to make your own green cleaning solutions.

Homemaking at its Best

Healthy Living = Happy Families is just a small brain-child right now--I guess it's the younger sibling of my two year old son and six month old daughter! But it is because of my two beautiful babies that I've gotten more interested in living healthily and purposefully, and I'm thrilled to share whatever small nuggets of knowledge I've gleaned with anyone out there who might be reading.

I plan to share ideas for homemaking in the best sense of the word: making a home. This won't be about staying-at-home, working-out-of-the-house, or any other fancy acronyms. We all need more time to do the things we really want to do in life, and we all need to make our footprint on the planet to be as small as possible, and I'll throw a wild guess out there and say that we all need to live healthier, too! So, this is for you, all of you, and any of you, whether you're a family of one or 10. Or more!

Who am I? Well, there's two good answers to that:

Prebaby? I was someone who enjoyed reading, cooking, baking, travel, learning other languages, and occasionally watching Sex in the City re-runs.

(Although I must confess, I always wondered, Who ARE these women? And: How do they have time to brunch and lunch and shoe-shop with such vigor? But I suppose some of the sweetness of watching any TV show is in its disimilarity to one's own life. My husband, for his part, loves to watch Everybody Loves Raymond and then say to me "Our marriage isn't like that!" Like, Oh thank goodness you don't mock me in front of your parents! Or, I'm so happy that you don't actually call me stupid to my face!)

Now? My vaunted daily to-do list includes reading Brown Bear, watching Sesame Street, cooking toddler-friendly meals with colored vegetables, deciphering baby-talk and toddlerease, sneaking in a nap on the couch while my son is watching the afore-mentioned Sesame Street (or, as it is called in my household, "COOKIE!"), and, if you were a fly on the wall, you'd think my favorite activity was cleaning the kitchen. Somehow I never move beyond the kitchen. I clean the kitchen at least every other day, sometimes I make it to the living room, rarer still to my son's room...the bathroom? Let me just say, and I'm not proud of it, but we just bought our second shower curtain liner this year due to the lovely colors that were beginning to grow on the old one. And, since we don't actually have a shower curtain, but only a clear liner, it must at the very least be actually clear.

Perhaps that isn't the best story to tell you as I try to convince you that I actually know something about homemaking! But I do, I promise, and I'll be posting recipes, cleaning tips, budget-living ideas, healthy planet thoughts...and, any suggestions YOU have for me to include! So, let me know what you think and what your best ideas are, and I'll be thrilled over the moon to hear from you.

Baby Items for Sale

Fisher Price Activity Mat-Farm Animals -$20

Plays music continuously and the animals swing back and forth, or just plays music when baby kicks/bats at the swinging animals. Also has mirrors/animals that crinkle/turning balls along the sides of the mat.















Cosco Baby Swing - $20
Simple model-Two speeds. Good condition, works perfectly.















Snugli Baby Carrier - $10
This is a front pack where the baby can face in towards you or out at the world. A definite must for new moms & dads. Just like the one in the picture:











Baby Einstein Playmat/Activity Gym -$30

The Discover & Play Activity Gym is a soft play gym with fun Baby Einstein characters on the mat that correspond with hanging plush characters.
Retails for $70