The Cottage

When we moved to Manor Hill Farm there was a shed that must have been an old milk house of some sort. I immediately wanted to turn it into an apartment. Low and behold it was one at some point. Plumbing was under the floor, there was a vent fan... I wanted this man cave made into a cottage. The vision was there, but the money and time to do it was not. After lots of begging and design work I set the hubster on his mission.

We found broken water pipes- termites, rotten boards, electrical issues.... it was a never ending battle of problems. I wasn't sure if we could turn this 16'x20' box into a pretty cottage.

With much hard work from the hubster, his grand father, and a few plumbers and an electrician- the job finally got done and we were able to welcome a live in barn manager into her new home.

 I'm so very proud of the hubster who would come home from work, eat a quick dinner and spend every night working on this. Another special thank you to his grandfather who was there to give expert help, and make sure things were done right! It's been a long road... and I'm so happy with the results!

Not bad for two months of work.

A storage room of Boxes let the challenge begin

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First things first. Fix the Roof

Paint the roof

Plumbing problems? Broken water pipes from not being buried deep enough....

Begin the digging up of water pipes

Adding new water pipe lines

Laying new plumbing and building a wall to divide the bathroom and kitchen.

Drywall and plaster

lets see if this stuff will fit. Nope. Need to buy a different shower. 

New wall.

Fixing termite damage, and laying in pipes. 

The first water line going in.

Siding...

New wood floors

Kitchen Cabinets!

Move the door, add a door

Soon to add in the bathroom stuff

Doors work.

Siding is getting there. 

Paint, and countertops!

BATHROOM! 

Cleaning up the mess.

Paint the rest of the roof, and siding is done!

Moving in....

Deck and Done! 

Sweet little cottage. 

Bumble the chicken.

I currently have three hens. Two Americana and one Buff Orpington. The Americana chickens lay a light colored blue egg and the Buff lays a brown egg. I noticed the other day that one of the Americana hens had escaped. No surprise seeing as my three year old likes to collect the eggs and does not always shut the door to the nest. So she jumped from two feet out of her hen house. My three year old went to pick her up too rough- he sometimes misses the hold and ends up grabbing them by the wings, where I quickly step in and help him with his hold. He put her back but then I noticed she was limping and her tail was down. A sure sign of pain from something.

That was two days ago. I have been checking up on her and slowly her tail feathers have lifted, showing me that it isn't so bad anymore, but she is still limping.

I ran a nice warm bath for her and placed her in the sink. I cleaned off her feet. She sat there like a queen not minding the warm bath. I put the towel on the counter and she jumped up and snuggled into the towel. I dried off her dinosaur like blue legs and took her outside for some quiet time away from my screaming kids, and nutty chocolate lab Henry who couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a chicken in our kitchen sink.

I went and sat with her with the towel, and gently turned her over onto her back. She didn't fight me as I really looked close to see if she maybe had a "bumble foot"- An open wound that sports an infection and can cause a great deal of pain on the bottom of their weird looking four pronged foot. The bottom of her feet looked to be in excellent condition.

So I started to massage very lightly up her leg that was lame... and worked my way up to her pelvis, all the while looking deep into her wise eyes for any sign of pain. As I reached the painful spot I could tell I found where she was hurting. She closed her eyes and her head relaxed against my thigh.... her head rolled to the side almost as if she was dead. I felt around the bone and the muscle and I could feel that she had pulled her upper thigh-butt muscle. I massaged it very lightly all the while watching her go into a deep sleep. If I had taken a picture of her you would have thought I had a dead chicken in my lap.

I worked my way back up to her foot. The minute I left the painful spot she opened her eyes begging me to go back to that spot. So I did, and once again her head dropped and her head rolled to the side and her beak slowly opened as if to say... "oh yeah thats the spot"

I slowly turned her around on her feet and she once again sat right down into my arms and snuggled into the warm dry towel. I took the moment to talk to her and pet her head... once again she rolled off into a sleep. Eyes closed as I stroked her head and body. All the while making a soft "brr brr brr" sound.

When I was done with cuddle time I put her back in the coop. She still had a  limp, but her tail rose up as she took a few gulps of water. I opened the door and she came running over and jumped into my lap again...as if to say, ready for round two.

I get why people love birds. They are wise creatures that have oodles of personality. The problem that I find is that I live on a horse farm. I have three horses soon to be five, a dog, three cats, three kids and a husband. I wish I had that sort of time for each and everyone of my animals and kids everyday. I named my limping chicken "Bumble" the other two don't really have names yet sadly. But now I feel like I know this one on a personal level.

I just hope Bumble heals up quickly. I hate seeing her limp around- but I know she will be fine. She's a tough old girl.

Live like it's your last day

I am full of philosophy's that got me here today and this is why I am maybe the happiest I can be- given the circumstances. (three kids that run me stupid)

To start I suppose I should tell a story about a friend I grew up with in high school. I'm going to change his name because I know he reads this thing and loves his privacy.

His name is Alan. There. Thats a fine name.

So Alan and I have known each other since freshman year of high school. Eighteen or so years. Ouch that is a long time ago. I'm getting old.

 Anyway, we became friends because I used to poke him in the back of the head with my pencil and give him a hard time about getting better grades on his test then me. He would try to hang out with me to play pool, or go out for dinner... I liked to hang out with him because he would have this laugh... that would choke him up, and he would start to shake... and it was fun to watch. I like people that laugh at my jokes.

So sure he was a nerd, and was weird, but we had a great time. We both went to college, and we still stayed friends. It seems that every six months or so we still manage to hang out as a ritual. He still has the same laugh.
This last time I hung out with him I noticed something. I noticed that I was doing all the talking. I finally got around to asking him "so what have you done in the last year?"
Keep in mind he is single, no girlfriend, in his mid 30's, has a decent job, his own apartment, isn't ugly, and is a really nice smart guy.
"working" is all he could really say.
For the last four years or so Alan has been working, living by himself, and doing the same thing every single day. He's plays music so he has a hobby... but no vacations or nothing really amazing happened to him.

This guy is living the life I wish I still had. He has no kids, no pets... and can get up and go anywhere. He could live anywhere. He can do anything... and yet. He has a job he hates, and does the same boring thing every single day.... and has lived in a 30 mile radius from the house he grew up in his entire life so far.

I freaked out on him.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ALAN?!! YOU ARE FREE TO DO ANYTHING! GO LIVE A LIFE! WORK IS NOT A LIFE!!!!

Meanwhile, I had three hours of stuff to tell him that I have been busy with in the last 6 months.... and I don't really have a job. I'm a stay at home mom that runs a horse farm. There is always something happening.
I can't do 95% of the things Alan can do now because I have three kids and way too many animals. That there- is an excuse not to do something. Being single without children or pets gives you free reign to do whatever you want.

My point is, don't make your job your life. There are things out there waiting to be discovered. If I were Alan I would be living in Montana, or Switzerland, or Australia, and would have a job being a scuba diver instructor at the sandals resort or something like that. You don't need a lot of money to get to these places. It's more so you have to have balls and self esteem and courage to do it.

My philosophy has always been. "TAKE A VACATION!" no matter what. At least twice a year. I did- and I was poor for a really long time. I would go on vacation with barely enough money to drive the eight hours to go and sit in a cabin with no running water or electricity and would eat peanut butter sandwiches and hotdogs. AND IT WAS AWESOME! It doesn't matter what it is or where you go, just make it an adventure. We all have friends somewhere that have a place somewhere cool where you can stay for free. Just do it!

The happiest people I know are independent, have lots of hobbies and interests, and live a care free life, but work hard.

Poor Alan... he just works hard... to do nothing.
He could drop dead tomorrow. Did he have a happy life? A fulfilling life? Nope. He hates his life, his job...his boss- and you know what? I don't feel sorry for him because he is an idiot. I told him that to his face.
He laughed.

Pet Peeves- the list gets worse every year.

We all have those little things that drive us nuts. I have a long list... and I would like to think I am an easy going person, and easy to live with....

How many of these things bother you? Am I just a weirdo nut case? Is it so much to ask that people to notice these things too?

Lets start the list shall we?
Here it goes.

Bathroom:
1. When I sit on the toilet my eyes hurt when I see dust bunnies in the corners. You know... those little wads of hair, dust and dirt that has managed to wedge itself along the corner of a baseboard?

2. Toilet rings! There is a thing called a toilet brush. When a ring starts to form just take that brush and give it a good ring around... we have a huge problem with this since no one I live with likes to flush "yellow water" the grey bio film... It drives me mental. Toilet brush... is my favorite friend these days.

3. Dried toothpaste on the handle of a toothbrush. My mom was the worst with this. Even as a child I would always know which brush was her because the handle would be covered in a dried chalky toothpaste. I don't know why this really bothered me.

4. Toothpaste gobs on the countertops. I find myself scrubbing globs of toothpaste off of the sink basin and countertops. I'm going to blame the hubster and boys for this one. It pains me to take a sponge and smear it around till it comes off.... it makes me gag. Call me a freak.

5. Hair in the drain of the bath tub. Ok people... it's my hair. I'm shedding like a dog right now... and I keep clogging up the drain with large amounts of hair... but I still cringe when I have to pick up that soft wet mass of nastiness out of the drain. I curse myself... on the verge of shaving my own head so I don't have to deal with this gross act of femininity.

6. Wet floors. I'm big on stepping out of the shower onto a floor mat. The hubster however takes his big hobit feet and marches his little wet flippers all over the hard floor... and I'm a sock wearing person. So my socks are always wet. Worst feeling ever. Cold wet soggy feet. The worst.

7. Toilet paper facing the wrong way or toilet paper rolls with no toilet paper conveniently sitting on the toilet paper holder. People of the world. The toilet paper should be facing on top and go down. and...it's really not that hard to change the holder.

Floors:
I was raised with the constant sound of a vacuum cleaner going. I used to sit in bed at 9 am and curse my mother for vacuuming. The sound still makes me angry, but alas her hard work paid off because now I am super sensitive to dirt on the floor. I notice dirty floors. Thanks mom for that!

My mom also made me super sensitive to dirty stairs. She would clean the stairs every other day. I thought she was nuts... Now I notice all the dust bunnies on them, and do the same things. Thanks again mom... for another anal retentive trait.

I really don't like to mop the floors. I feel like I'm just swooshing around wet dirt, and bacteria. Call me crazy... but when I do mop I do it till that water isn't brown anymore... which takes me a good hour and the floors are so wet you can't walk on them for hours.

Windows:
Tiny hand prints on the windows.... or tv. I have learned to just ignore it, but when my mom comes over, she has a field day windexing the life back into them.... only to find them completely clouded with more pudgy hand prints again ten minutes later. That's a lost cause. But I do notice it, but have forced my eyeballs to see through it.

Sinks:
Once again my mom is weird about scrubbing the sink. She doesn't like to see water marks or dirty sinks. We have a white farm sink. Mom lives in England. I still scrub the crap out of our sink thinking she will be over any second to tell me how dirty my sink is. I wasn't born with the dirty sink syndrome, that was trained into me. Don't get me started on dusty wood shelves.

Food:
Loud chewing sounds or gulping sounds. Just shoot me in the face. I just can't handle it. I will call you out about it, and come close to slapping you if you make disgusting noises near me while chewing your cud. This is why I rarely sit in a quiet room while eating with someone else. I just can't be a nice companion.

Leftovers gross me out. I find them to be smelly, and I can't bring myself to reheat them. You might as well put a bag of horse poo in my fridge. I aint going near that.

Condiments sitting next to the milk. Condiments not located on the door, Food and drinks on the same shelf? No organization... things aren't in their place? No. No. No. You have messed with the wrong person.

Peanut butter in the fridge? NO! Bread in the fridge. NO!!! I can't stand for such absurd things. Way to make my peanut butter spreading days impossible.

The crisper drawer.... ugh. You might as well call it the "lets hide a bunch of parishables and never see them again until they turn to liquid nastiness" The hubster loves to buy bags of carrots and spinach. I never see them until the smell hits me, and I have liquid veggie yogurt sitting in  the hidden drawer of nastiness.

Opening new stuff while the old stuff slowly makes it's way to the back of the fridge. The hubster is great at putting new milk right in front of old milk... no no no. The old stuff goes in front of the new stuff people. Get on board with this. Nothing worse then having a milk competition of lets see which one doesn't get used because we don't know how old it is. I don't do sniff testing. If it needs to be sniffed just throw it out.

Trash:

So much trash... everywhere. My trash can is constantly over flowing. It usually does this when the bag falls down and more trash get pushed on top. I'm not touching it. I don't do the trash. Yet, when I do- I take the bag handle and wrap it through a loop at the top so the bag doesnt collapse. Such a simple fix unless I wasn't the one to put the bag in there.... and then you have overflowing trash. With the game of "who will deal with this? not me"

Trash under the bag. Whoops I threw some trash into the can with no bag. I'll just ignore it and put a bag over it. NO NO NO! Pick that stuff out lazy people.

Oh I'm exhausted. I can go on for days.
But wait there's more.

DISHES!!!!
in the sink, food stuck to them, not washed.
the smell....the eye sores.... I can't deal with it.
I need a clean empty sink. Once dishes start to pile up I start to rage in my little head. I get angry, and start banging the dishes together cursing the idiot that did this to me.
Food stuck to pots, pans, forks.... there is a reason why I'm rail thin. Once I see this, I go on a eating strike. I curse food for existing, and vow never to eat again. Till I get hungry and have to clean up... again. It's a never ending cycle of mysery for me. I really just don't like dealing with dishes.

Laundry:
I don't like clothes either. I don't like clothes on the floor, I don't like folding clothes, I don't like washing clothes. If it were up to me I would like to just throw dirty clothes in the trash can instead of dealing with them. This is why I have uniforms.... I wear the same outfit everyday until it is crusty, or falling off my body. I don't care. I hate doing laundry. The hubster is terrible with his laundry, he hides it and makes these piles around his closet that look like little beaver dens. His solution is to kick it into his closet and they magically go away. He has no clothes to wear. I refuse to deal with that. Call me a bad wife. I don't care. We have 5 laundry baskets in every room. If the clothes don't make it in there, they ain't getting washed.

Socks:
I have a rogue sock basket. One a month I go through the rogue basket and match the socks. All of a sudden we have tons of matching socks. I try to mentally make a game of it. "Oh good" today I'm going to test my brain to see how many different navy blues, blacks, and dark browns I can separate in the fastest amount of time. Ready go.

And yet with all these pet peeves... my house is still a mess. I have become numb to it all... I can only do so much. I feel like Bob with a jar around my neck with a goldfish. Babysteps to not freaking out.... the world will not end. Everything bothers me. My little head is always freaking out over such small stupid things. And then I hear my mothers voice. "It doesn't matter, just let it go"

Let it go where? It never stops.
Things could be worse. I could have no arms... and I wouldn't be able to deal with half of this stuff on a daily basis. NO ARMS! Better yet. No eyes... to see it all avalanching towards me.
My little bubble...is neurotic.

The Farm Life with Kids.

As I was sitting on my porch I noticed that a few fence posts need to be replaced. I really don't like my post and rail fence. When it rains or gets dry they shrink up and the rails fall down or the posts start to move and rot, and need to be replaced. Everyday, I am putting up a rail that has fallen down.

This sort of stuff.... never mattered 6 months ago. I started to think about winter coming.... so much stuff needs to be done. It is a never ending amount of things I need to buy in order to fix stuff. How do real farmers do this? And how... did they do it with three kids under the age of FOUR?

Today I bought grass seed- one bag was supposed to be enough for one acre. I bought three bags. Each being $50 a bag. Not to mention the seed spreader. Another $40.. and don't forget the lyme fertilizer to make the Ph in the ground perfect.

Talk about a bunch of boring stuff, but that stuff is what makes this farm profitable at the end of the day. Without good grass and pastures, and nice fence lines... people won't want their horses to live here.

My four year old son helped spread the seed today.... he was all sweaty as we walked together up and down the hoof and turd beaten field. My three year old was stead fast at my heal holding my hand and my 4 month old daughter was in the backpack on my back. As my kids participate in laying down grass seed they start to realize why we do this. I explain what the fertilizer does, why we plant grass in the fall, and how the weather right now is perfect for laying seed since it is going to rain for the next week. They are getting a fabulous education.

Not only did I have to buy grass seed today but I also had to buy a fuel syphon pump, plus lots of W-D 40 plus about 10 different kids of magical engine stuff that makes things run perfect. I need to get the old gas out of the tractor, riding mower and push mower, and grease up all the moving parts. My kids will also watch how we do that- yet another valuable lesson on how to take care of your farm equipment and make it last through the bitter months that lay ahead.

I managed to muck stalls today instead of tonight. My kids were present for that too. Each had a pitchfork and helped to pick up the horse poo. Their favorite part is sprinkling PDZ odor refresher on the pee spots. My four year old can tell you that it helps to get rid of the ammonia and makes breathing conditions for our horses better. He likes to scrub the water buckets and fill them up with fresh water, actually saving me a lot of time.

Animal care has been apart of these kids lives since the day they were born. Everyday when the boys come home from school they go gather the eggs from the chickens. They check to make sure they have water and food. My three year old is an awesome chicken wrangler. He can pick up the chickens and put them back in their house if they manage to escape. He has a way with the hens,  they seem to realize his size and will squat for him to pick them up.

I even pride on the fact that my four year old can look at the clouds, and say "oh boy mommy it's going to rain, looks like a storm is coming"  I don't recall saying things like that when I was four.

The worst part for me is that my four year old isn't tall enough to reach the pedals on the tractor, mower or truck yet. So he sits on my lap and holds the steering wheel and helps me mow the grass. He's remarkable good at driving. I can't wait for him to start driving. I'm sure he will be about six when I hand him that responsibility.

So at the end of the day- it is a lot of work, it is a lot of money, it is a lot of stress.... but to me it is 100% worth every penny and minute because I am raising hard working kids. Yes, they spend lots of their time playing video games, but when I tell them I am going to the barn they are quickly throwing on their shoes to follow me to work.

Genetically Modified Organics, Organic Food, and Diets

Boring Title Isn't It? Who wants to read another blog about this stuff? It's all the rage.... listening to snobs and hippies talk about how our food is being controlled by the government and Monsanto seed corporations... blah blah... just give me a cheeseburger while I drive my car.

Well.... I'm not really going to write about that boring stuff... but I am going to tell you a story about my family and how switching to a healthy diet changed us in as little as a month.

It's all very complicated to me- GMO's, and Organic foods. The USDA... all these labels to read, and the articles that constantly contradict themselves. I've decided to take it all with a grain of salt.

I was raised on McDonald's, Steak and Potatoes,  Celeste Frozen Pizza, and Cheese Dogs. Most of the year ,when I'm not hugely pregnant I am around 115-120 lbs and 5'4" tall. I have a consistent blood pressure of 120/60, and I will throw up easily after running an 8 minute mile. I don't work out. I don't sit on my ass either.

Extreme anything to me is what classifies someone as "nuts".... anything that is consistent is "anal" and anything that is done in moderation, or proportionally is "normal". The minute you try to stick to a schedule that is impossible- sets you up for failure. It's ok to slip up on exercise, food or substances- all in moderation right?. I think that is the best way to do things. Guilty pleasures are the best!

With that said....
I took my family from eating the cheapest generic food found in the supermarket and switched our grocery list to all organic generic food. The change increased our shopping bill to about $20 more, and took away most of our unhealthy options. For instance, there is no organic chef b'yourdee. (or however you spell that slop in a can).  My four year old was not happy. Yet, You can find Amy's organic mac and cheese, and let me point out that it tastes way better, but is about $1 more than craft mac and cheese. (The yellow color in the cheese is really bad for you in that stuff. I read an article on it, and talked to a neighbor that had a kid allergic to it. It's like Yellow number 5 in Mountain Dew. Bad stuff. Nasty)

This started because my husband started having stomach issues. I also just watched a quick video about a mom (who was a commercial nutritionist) made a video and petitioned against GMOS companies because  her child had an allergic reaction and almost died from eating Eggo Waffles- (poster child for GMO foods). I started to research Gmo's, which was trumped by Organic foods, because if it's Organic, then it can't have Gmo's in it. The government is also against labeling GMOs Food. So you don't really know what you are consuming. But, at least with organic you have a better idea of what is it, where it came from, and how it was grown or butchered.

Long story short. My husband has broken his femur, had knee surgery, passed kidney stones, and has even been punched in the face- and yet the stomach pain he was in was worse then all of these things. He went to the Emergency Room, and sat for three hours waiting...they never took him. He came home and wallowed in agony on and off for the next three weeks. The doctor blamed it on acid reflux. Which was wrong. This had something to do with his diet, and his stress levels. He had Irritable Bowel Syndrome like symptoms. Most of those are caused from diet, and apparently pesticides and chemicals in food will trigger this response in people with IBS.  I could fix the diet problems. It took about a week of eating all organic foods for him to start feeling better. Gradually his skin went from grey to pink. His energy levels went back to normal, and his stress went down after we moved. I know for a fact he is sensitive to chemicals and round up because if he eats fruit sprayed with weed and bug killer his lips swell up. The fruit has to be washed or peeled to avoid swelling.

Next are the kids. My four year old and two year old were hyper, had no attention span, and would easily crash off of any high fructose corn syrup... or foods that had abnormal amounts of colored die in it. We found that they sat down for longer periods of time when we went out to eat, they were better behaved, and would quietly play with each other for longer periods of time. They also had less stinky poops. You are welcome for that small fact. Gross I know... but you can tell a lot about your health from your poop. Did you know that a healthy poop should sink, not float? And you should poop at least once a day- (although it can be perfectly normal if you don't).

Then there is my health. I am 34 weeks pregnant, and my blood pressure is 120/60 I weigh 140 lbs and I'm all belly with some added love handle and butt. It is very hard to keep my cravings at bay. I want SUGAR and SALT all the time. I want strawberry ice cream, whip cream, and chocolate sauce at least three times a day. But Instead, I will eat an Amy's organic bean burrito. On Friday's we have pizza take out. Pizza is my all time favorite food. It is the only day of the week that we really go nuts on junk. On Saturday mornings we normally go out for breakfast at the diner. I will get French Toast and share it with James, and Watts will get Oatmeal and fruit. My husband will get eggs and sausage. I get the short stack being two pieces of toast. James eats most of it. Luckily I don't have much stomach space, so I can only eat half of a slice of french toast. I drink coffee, even though that is considered a no no. I don't care. A small cup won't kill us. About twice a week I will even indulge in one beer, or a glass of white wine. Again. I don't care, and really it is just hurting my soul since I want to drink the entire bottle, and the entire case of beer but can't... so it's just waving bacon in front of a dog, but it does take a stressful day and make it go away. I also have terrible urges to smoke... I just want a cigarette all the time. I know they will taste bad, and they are terrible... and I will stink from it....but I have nothing to release my stress... I haven't quite figured that out yet. I force my husband to wiggle my toes at night or massage my hands to release some of the hard day of raising two boys under the age of four while being very pregnant. The all organic diet has also helped with some of my terrible cravings, and mood swings. Did you know that pregnant ladies are full of hormones? Hormone rages come easily, but a healthy diet counteracts that.  I also lost weight... mostly bloat. The first week of the organic diet I went from 142lbs to 138. Now I am putting on a good pound a week in a healthier way.

Anyway, organic just means that no chemicals, or hormones were used, and maybe the animals were treated better. It depends. I don't know about you... but who wants to eat something that has been sprayed with round up weed killer? I don't. Who wants to eat a chicken that stood in it's own poop and was kept in a dark cage with a million other sick chickens? I don't. Who wants to eat a cow that was dragged through it's neighbors poop before being slaughtered? I don't. Who wants to eat animals that are pumped full of hormones and drugs? Nope not me.

Anyway, this is a long rant... would you expect anything less of my writings? Like I said I love my junk, and it took a long time to find foods that didn't suck. Kashi Cereal SUCKS. Don't buy it. I rather suck on chalk then eat that stuff. Cascadia Farms cereals are delightful. Here are a few other things I found on my explorations through the organic aisle of mystery food.

WONDERFUL HEALTHY FOODS TO TRY THAT TASTE AMAZING:

The best thing I have discovered in the organic section is COCONUT OIL!
Buy it.
Substitute it with Vegetable Oil whenever you can. It goes better in sweet stuff....
I broke down yesterday and made dark chocolate brownies with walnuts. The recipe called for 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons water and one egg. I used coconut oil instead, and added more water to get the texture correct. Best brownies ever! The coconut oil leaves a coconut taste to whatever you cook it with.

I tried sauteing my asparagus in it instead of olive oil... and it was weird. Asparagus shouldn't taste like a cookie.

Anyway, I am slowly discovering that healthy food doesn't have to suck.

I substitute sugar with organic honey. I like wild flower the best.
And I hate drinking water, so I drink seltzer. plain or tangerine... I also will add fresh grape fruit juice to plain seltzer or apple juice and it is lovely.

I like purple cabbage instead of shredded green cabbage. Add a teaspoon of Cole slaw dressing and it is delightful with any kind of meat.

I  found out that the darker the inside of a fruit or vegetable means that there is more nutritional content to it. So a pink grapefruit would have more content than an apple. Purple vegetables have more nutritional stuff in it than their paler counterparts. Of course.... I read this in an article, and you can't believe everything you read. I'm sure someone will counteract that topic in a few months.

I love Salmon. It has DHA in it, which makes you smart. I need as much of that as possible, plus it's great for Ava inside my belly. She will be smart too.

Morning Star Veggie Burgers, and fake ground beef are very tasty. A wonderful substitute for hormone meat.
The boys love Morning Star Corn Dogs. I hate corn dogs... so I can't be a good judge.

I also have started buying real loafs of bread that actually will go moldy after a week if not eaten. Mold... good indicator that your food is real. Take it as a compliment... don't be grossed out. If it went moldy, buy some more. That right there was real.

Leave a McDonald's cheeseburger in your car... it will look the same in 5 years.
Not real.

Ok that was my rant for the day. Feel free to tell me more about the stuff you love in organic land. I'm afraid of most of the stuff I see in there.

YUM! Morning Star Burgers and Products are my fast food. Pop it in the microwave and eat. 

Breakfast of Champions! 

My new "wheres waldo" game in the super market. Look for this label, and you are good to go. 

You can even put it on your skin, or eat it by the spoonful. This stuff is awesome!