Jalapeno Peppers in The Garden

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I am not a fan of the heat that comes with the Jalapeno pepper, but they have a lot of benefits.

First that have a number of health benefits vitamins such as C and A are present. They have been shown to help prevent migraines, congestion, and may help in weight reduction. Some say they may also play a role in preventing certain types of cancer.

 Jalapeno peppers are growing in my garden right now. Because the smell keeps a lot of bad insects away from my tomatoes, and green peppers. The tomatoes,and green peppers will provide shade for the Jalapeno peppers so it will no dry out. They are also great to help prevent root rot, and other Fusarium diseases. Okra is also a good plant to provide shade for the Jalapeno. It also likes to grow with cucumbers, swiss chard, squash,eggplant, and escarole. You can also plant these herbs with the Jalapeno; basil, rosemary, oregano, and parsley.

Never plant with broccoli, beans, brussle sprouts, cauliflower, fennel, or cabbage. You can also make a tea from this pepper and use it as an insect spray.

While I am not a fan of the heat, it works great in the garden, and others here like the heat. I plan on using them to make some home made salsa. I might also add some to the home made spaghetti sauce I plan to make.

 Do you grow Jalapenos? What have used them for?

Tuesdays With a Twist #6 Link Up

It's time once again for Tuesdays With a Twist Link Up party. Last week my computer was sick with a virus and I was unable to co-host, but the little guy is all better after a quick visit to the doctor.

Love the rules because there is only one must be family friendly. However you could think about following me through the various ways on the right. Our host Mary from Back to the Basics can be followed via Bloglovin or Google + links on her blog.

Our featured blog this week comes from Yesterfood with Great-Grandmother Tenery's Oatmeal Cookies.

                                    If you have been featured be sure to collect a button.

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Now it is time to link up from 7:00 am Tuesday EST through 11:59 pm. Link up as many posts as you want and let others know about the party, LINK UP!!!!!!

May 17 Food Revolution Day

 May 17 is Food Revolution day, here are some suggestions to incorporate into this day.

Set up a table at a local church, health store, gym or any place else you can think of that has alot of traffic. There are brochures available at Institute for Responsible Technology which you can print out, or order. 

While GMOs are a big issue our food suffers other problems as well. People need to be educated on where their meat products are coming from. We need to get to know our local farmers and support them. Visit some local farms in your area, and download the files of questions to ask of various types of farms here.

Consider doing a showing of the documentary Genetic Roulette either at your home, a local library, church, group such as MOPS, hospital staff, local gym, the possibilities are endless.This is a 1 hour and a half documentary covering various truths about GMO/GE foods and the effects it is having on the animals that we eat, and our health. You can rent the documentary here for seven days at $2.99 or purchase the DVD through Amazon for $14.99.

 If you feel an hour and a half is too long you could use one of the power points available. The material used for the power points comes from the documentary Genetic Roulette. There is one which is only 5 minutes and consists of 37 slides, a 20 minute one containing 53 slides, and the last one has 112 slides. There is also a printable version of the text which is located on the slides making it easy to discuss each slide. Look to the right at the power point library for other topics relating to our food.

Host a GMO free feast, you can get some great ideas here for theme parties. Once you decide on a theme you can let your guests know what it is and ask for each to bring a GMO free food or dish. You can turn it into a cooking party by having each guest bring an ingredient for the dish being made.

Don't forget to talk about other ingredients in our food which are harmful.  Aspartame found in all the sugar free products, and they are trying to get to add to many dairy products and not have it labeled. There are numerous additives in foods which many people are unaware of.  High fructose corn syrup is in a numerous varieties of food including, but not limited to bread, sauces, and soda. Not only does high fructose corn syrup cause obesity, but it also is contaminated with mercury.

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How about involving the kiddos on this day by planting some GMO free foods. Studies have shown that even children who do not normally eat vegetables are more likely to eat what they have grown. Even if you do not have any kiddos to plant a garden with this is a great way to celebrate Food Revolution Day. If you have no room for a garden see if you can use some land, at a church, or community center for a community garden. 

Get printable goods from Food Revolution.

Like GMO Free Worldwide and learn more about our food and other world wide events.

How will you celebrate Food Revolution Day?

Chili Casserole Bake

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It is the end of the month, money, and food are low, so what to make for two hungry teen boys. I thought about it, taking into mind what food I had left. While the majority of our food is just that there still remains some GMO junk, like noodles.

So, I have two packages of ground turkey, tons of noodles, some GMO junk four cheese Mexican, a jar of Texas chili starter. I wondered if the chili starter would be enough, and then realized I had some tomato sauce. I could easily add that along with some of the chili seasoning mix I have if I need to. So I was off to make a dish I have never made before.

Fortunately for me my 16 year old will eat what I make. He has a great palate for seasonings and is often critical of my homemade dishes. That is okay, he is also my taste tester, and will add what he thinks is missing. On the other hand we have the 14 year old who will not even try some things I make from scratch, like my quinoa dishes. So, it was important I made something the 14 year old would even try.

Many of you know I do not use a lot of measurements. This is because as I have said before, number one when making dishes from scratch I have noticed it takes a lot of seasoning, and two everyone is different.

I made too many egg noodles, but not a problem 16 year old likes them with some Trace Minerals (pink sea salt.) Okay so let me just give the list of ingredients I used.

   
                    Chili Casserole Bake

Egg nobles
2 packages of Shelton's ground turkey
1 25 oz jar of Frontera Texas Chili Starter
1 package of Secret Recipes Herb and Spice Blends 7 pepper chili
1  17.64 oz Pomi Tomato Sauce
Four Cheese Mexican
Trace Minerals (pink sea salt)

I cooked both the ground turkey, and noodles. I then retrieved my Pamper Chef baking dish, and filled it with the noodles, and ground turkey. I poured in the chili starter, and tasted it needs some salt and more sauce. I added the tomato sauce until I was happy, I added the chili seasoning a little at a time along with the salt tasting as I went a long until I was happy with the flavor. I then topped it all off with cheese until I could no longer see what was underneath.

I baked at 350 degrees until the cheese was melted, and then put the oven on broil high to get a nice brown crispy topped cheese. You have to really watch once you put it on broil or the cheese will get real hard and not real attractive.

That was it my husband took some for lunch today, both boys had two helpings, and there is still some left for today.

Making Sure It's Organic

 

When I stopped buying GMO junk and starting eating food, I wanted to make sure it was indeed food. Once again I am going to say that organic food should not be labeled as such as it is food the way I remember it growing up. But considering this is what has been done here is what I do to make sure that what I am buying is indeed organic.

I have been buying our food online from the Green Polka Box, Abe's Market, Lucky Vitamins, and Nature's Path. When I first started I visited the web site of every company whose product/products I was interested in. I looked for the USDA organic label, and the Non-GMO project verified I prefer to see both of these, but that was not always the case.  From there I looked to see if they told me where their product was coming from. How the product is processed is also important to me, so I also looked for that. Then I found some canned fruit, and beans, my concern here was not just the previously mentioned factors, but also are the cans BPA free. One company had it on their site, the other one I actually called them to find out.

It is actually very interesting to read about the various companies, who started them, why they did. It is also interesting to note that the majority of the companies I have looked at and purchase products from grow what they sell. I read an article on Natural News about being careful when purchasing organic food from China that it may not actually be organic. This confused me because of what I learned doing my research, but then I thought about stores like Whole Foods, and thought I bet that is where the China imports are located.

I did find some companies that did not give me enough information, and therefore passed on purchasing their product. The USDA organic label is not enough for me I want to know more about the food my family and I are eating.

When buying a product labeled organic be sure to check out company web sites, to be sure your food is indeed organic, food.

Tuesdays With a Twist Link Up

Welcome to the 4th Tuesdays With a Twist Link Up. Yes, it is that time again, feel free to link up from Tuesday 7:00 am EST through Saturday at 11:59 pm. Old posts, new posts, and everything in between as long as it is family friendly.





This weeks featured blogger is Black Fox Homestead with Quinoa Chicken Salad

 If you have been featured on Tuesdays With a Twist don't forget to grab button.

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Oh did I forget to mention the giveaway, that's right our host Mary from Back to the Basics and Mary's Heirloom Seeds is hosting a giveaway yeah!!!!

The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada and runs until May 8th at midnight. So, guess you wonder what Mary is giving away.

Well here it is, she is giving away the Baker's Dozen Seed Collection 13 seeds from 13 varieties which includes the following;  Calabrese Broccoli, 5 Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard,  Black Beauty Eggplant,  Waltham Butternut Squash, Crenshaw Melon, Bloomsdale Spinach,  Cal Wonder Bell Pepper, National Pickling  Cucumber, Beefsteak Tomato, Atomic Red Carrots, Self-Blanching Snowball Cauliflower, German Giant Radish,  Detroit Dark Red Beet. Wow!!! that is a great selection of seeds. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Okay now on to the party!!!!!

GMO Free Worldwide

Ms Mary from Back to the Basics, and I decided we are so passionate about letting others know about the dangers of GMOs that Mary created a Facebook page.

This is a place to share any and all news concerning GMOs and our food. It is also a place to share how to better educate others about GMOs. I have talked to some people who have literally said, "I don't want to know." What?????? I don't understand how someone would not want to know what they are eating.

I have also shared with others who have said that their child keeps getting sick and their white blood cells are low. Studies done on rats who were eating GMO foods showed that their white blood cell count decreased. White blood cells are the back bone of our immune system.

Others have complained that they are gaining weight, can't lose weight. However, when I share my story of how I have lost 5 lbs since eating organic, and did it effortlessly, they make excuses why they can't buy organic.

I want to know from others how to deal with these issues, and wake these people up to see that what they are eating is nothing but GMO junk. So, will you join us at our new Face page GMO Free Worldwide, to share, and learn? Please spread the word the more people we can get together the more we can learn from each other and find ways to educate others.