The Ninja

I finally bit the bullet and bought a Ninja. I researched them extensively first of course. I waited and watched until I got a good deal, and let me tell you.. I. LOVE. THIS. THING.

Here is the one I chose.

I wanted to make nut butters, and smoothies and dough. I needed a versatile machine. So I picked this one. So far I have made:

Clean Mayo

Garlic Hummus

Clean whole wheat waffles

Peanut Butter

Almond butter

Bullet proof coffee

Clean whole wheat tortillas

We have also made countless smoothies and juice blends, bread dough, pizza dough and butter.This thing will do anything! I love making my own products so that I am not pumping me or my kids full of preservatives and chemicals. Especially since Kennedy is allergic to citric acid. 

Recipes:

Clean Mayo- 

1 Egg (room temperature...this is important)

1/2 tsp Lemon Juice (could use vinegar instead)1/4 tsp Sea Salt3/4 c. Oil  (Choose organic.  Could use olive oil, coconut oil or palm oil)

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 cans (15 ounces) chickpea (garbanzo) beans, drained and rinsed

• 2/3 cup roasted tahini

• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/4 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Crack egg into Ninja. Turn the Ninja on. When egg begins to fluff and turn a lighter yellow color, add lemon juice and salt.  Once salt and juice are whisked in well, slowly drizzle a thin, continuous stream of oil into the mixer while beating. It's best to use a cruet here. Or improvise like I did and use one of the kids sport bottle cups... drizzle it in until oil is gone. Store in fridge. 

Garlic Hummus-

Combine all the ingredients in the Ninja. Blend for several minutes until very smooth. 

Nut Butters-

Use one pound of dry roasted, plain nuts. Make sure you are using dry roasted with no added oils! Add nuts to Ninja and blend for 5-10 mins depending on the nut. Almond butter needs a tablespoon of coconut oil added as well. Your peanut butter will need salt added as well. Store nut butters in fridge. 

Bullet Proof Coffee-

1 cup brewed coffee

1 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Blend for a few seconds in the ninja. This will keep you full all morning long!

*Whole wheat tortilla recipe is in the next blog.

Clean Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have a new favorite blog. The Gracious Pantry. She is a totally clean eating Momma/Blogger. She has a clean recipe for almost every single yummy thing you can think of. You can play around with the ingredients on this recipe a little. I substituted for what I had on hand. Instead of applesauce (we were all out), I used one of Kennedy's little apple/strawberry fruit squeeze's. I used coconut oil instead of avocado oil. The items I switched out were still clean, and didn't effect the taste. These are super easy and made about 20. The kids snacked on them for a couple of days. They were a big hit. Here is the recipe:

Clean Chocolate Chip Muffins:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 egg

1/2 cup raw honey

1/4 cup avocado oil (olive oil or safflower oil will also work)

3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk (or milk of preference)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray your muffin tin

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, chocolate chips and baking soda.

In a large mixing bowl, blend everything else with a whisk.

Add the flour to the wet ingredients and whisk again.

Pour into your muffin tin. Fill up the cups only half way.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

The batter will be thick.

Yummy!!

In With the New

I suppose it's not too late for a "first post of the year." After all, it is still January. I have made yet more changes to my life this year, and of course I will be blogging about them.

First things first, eating. I adapted the clean eating lifestyle about 6 months ago. I started making little changes here and there. You can't just go cold turkey with a clean eating diet. For those who are not aware of what "clean eating" is, I will give a brief description. You basically eat only natural, unprocessed foods. That means fruits, veggies, meat, nuts, seeds, etc. all of which are plain. In there natural form. No cereal, no pre-packaged, no long list of ingredients. I check every label very carefully. As a rule, if it has more than 6 ingredients- I don't eat it. If it has any oils in it, (like canola or vegetable- I will eat clean unprocessed oils like olive or coconut oil) I won't eat it. If it has added sugar in it, I won't eat it. You get the point. I try to stick with things that were not made in a factory using chemicals or with ingredients I can't  grow or kill in my own backyard. Okay, so you get the idea. Clean eating. The way God intended our bodies to be nourished. I have slowly gotten my family on board. Slowly. Definitely not there yet.. but we are working on it. One way I have found is to use Emeals. Emeals is an excellent meal planning website. Each week you are given a menu with 7 dinners, sides and the complete grocery list for the dinners, broken down into sections at the grocery store. Simple. The easiest thing you will ever find. They have a CLEAN eating dinner plan. It is fantastic! So every night for dinner, my family gets a clean, healthy, nourishing dinner. Go check out the site Emeals.com and see samples of meals and how it works. They also offer a clean eating crock pot meal plan for mommies on the go. If you watch Groupon, they have specials for Emeals all the time. I got a one year subscription for $29. That's 365 dinners complete with grocery lists. It's a great deal. I will take a minute to share a week of meals:

Provencal Chicken and Braised Kale with Lemon, Onion and Garlic

Buffalo Chicken Burgers and Parsnip Fries

Maple Citrus Pork Loin and Garlicky Pan Roasted Cauliflower/Broccoli

Rosemary Lamb Chops and 

Saute'ed Spinach Chick-Peas

So, clean eating has made it's way into my home in full force for 2014. I plan on sharing some clean recipes this year on the blog and some tips and tricks I have learned along the way. 

Next up, exercise. Of course I run. I run and run and run some more. I still love running and I am sure I always will. But I wanted to add more. I feel like I am missing strength training and muscle definition. So I did what any normal person would do.. I started P90X. (normal = crazy). I am one week in and I am floored at how intense this program is! It's over an hour everyday. You get one rest day a week. The program goes for 90 days. It promises muscles, definition and a "beach body". I plan on fully testing this program out. If I survive it! I am taking pictures as the program suggests, and plan on blogging this adventure as well. It is very hard for me to run and do this program but I plan on keeping both up. I can do anything for 90 days. That's just 3 months. It can't be THAT hard.. ;)

Moving right along. The next "new" is the use of smart phones and social media. I have seen all the blogs and videos and read all the articles. All the little sad stories about how life is passing you by as you sit and stare mindlessly at your phone. All the sweet little moments you miss with your kids, all the fun you miss with your friends... there are plenty of articles guilt tripping you into putting down the phone. And as you very well know, I am NOT the one to follow. I play by my own rules, I do my own thing. That thing for me is to put the phone down. Not because the blogs and news reports tell me to. Not because of an article that made me feel guilty. But because I want to. It takes up too much of my time. I was discussing with a friend that the smart phone has seemingly replaced all other forms of entertainment in my life. I usef to read books. I used to sit outside. I used to draw and paint. I used to do art projects and crafts. Now I read facebook, on the couch. I pin crafts instead of actually doing them. I don't like the person I have become with the phone in my hand. The way I zone out of the world around me to be sucked into people's lives I have never met or rarely see. I just don't like it. So I made a change. I deleted my facebook app. I make a conscious effort not to look at my phone every 5 minutes. I am not "quitting" my phone, or my apps, or even facebook.. but I am knocking them down the list. WAY down the list. I am given one life. One chance here on earth. There are so many other things to experience in the world than staring at a glowing screen. 

Last change this new year is a spiritual one. We are going through the entire bible with our children. We are actually using a book called Long Story Short. We do devotions 5 nights a week. We are doing this with all our church family and I am so thankful for it. It is a quick, easy way to bring our family together for just a few minutes each night in prayer and in the word. 

So out with the old ways and in with the new. Changes are a part of life, and we all continually make them. I am thankful for the will to make positive changes. And I always pray the positive changes I make in my life will effect those around me. I pray that God will use this vessel to encourage others. 

 2 Peter 1:5-8   For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here's to 2014!

Resolution Race 2013

Roll back to January 2013. I had been running for about 9 months. I had only participated in one race. I enjoyed it. It was a hard, long  10K and  I wasn't really ready for it. But I finished it. Took me 1:10 to finish, and I had to walk quite a bit. I had signed up for the Hot Chocolate 5K with some friends in January. That is when I got the idea to do a race each month. I had really begun to love running, and I thought this would be a great way to make sure I always had something to look forward to. I would also learn many other things along the way of this journey! After my first race, month by month, I signed up for more. I began to take on more challenges, more distance, learn more speed. I had no idea how many things I would learn from this resolution! I have never before in all my 32 years had a resolution like this! One that I stuck to. One that challenged me, made me grow. Each race, each training brought about new trials, new excitement, and fun! I actually ended the year with 14 races, 2 more than I had intended. I decided to blog about the races and my experience with each one. Some I did alone, some with family, some with friends. Each one has a special place in 2013 for me.

January: The Hot Chocolate 5K in Atlanta at Turner Field. This was my first 5K, also my first race in Atlanta. I did this with several of my closest friends. I trained to run this non-stop, which I did. The hills in Atlanta are always a challenge, but I had so much fun at this race! There is nothing better than a chocolate haven waiting on you at the finish line. 33:08 was my official time.

February:  The Shape Diva Dash 5K Obstacle Course Run. This was a bit more than a run. This course included 12 different obstacles. From climbing, to swinging, to jumping over hurdles.... this was more physically trying. Not only were they obstacles, but it was 30 degrees and pouring rain!! This made it an extra hard run. The race was over an hour from home, and I had originally signed up for it to do with my friends.. both of which backed out last minute. So I did the race alone. I think it would have been more fun with my friends though. I finished this race in 37:52, 37th overall.

March: The Publix Half Marathon in Atlanta. I decided to train for a half. 13.1 miles. I went into this with a friend by my side. Due to knee injuries, she was unable to continue her training and left me hanging, once again!! ;) But I decided to carry on and do it alone. I am so thankful for this race. Not only was it a really big, exciting race- but during the training I learned a lot about myself and my strength. Half marathon training requires weeks of long runs. All of which I spent alone. Alone time out on the road is a place to deal with stress, do your deepest thinking, and hear the Lord! I finished the race in 2:10.

April: The Color Run 5K and The Crosspointe 5K. The color run really wasn't very competitive. I was a little disappointed in the route as well. It was mostly just "fun". And lets be real, I am NOT in running for the "fun" of it. I was a little ticked it wasn't timed also. But I still had a great time with my family and friends! I finished this in 22 mins... I think because the route wasn't a full 5K. :) The Crosspointe 5K was much more competitive! It was a local run with only about 100 runners. It was an out and back down a country dirt road. I thoroughly enjoyed this run! I finished 1st place female and my son finished 2nd place for his age group. This was the first race I really pushed myself HARD to get a good time, and it paid off. I finished this 5K in 26:11

May: Brooks Beat 10K. FINALLY my friend who repeatedly stood me up came through on this race! I have to give her a hard time about it though. This race was really good for me. It was my first 10K in 6 months. I wanted to give it my all, and I pushed myself really hard to finish first in my age group. I was neck and neck with another runner almost the entire race. This pushed me to run a sub 8 min mile pace for a good portion of the race. There were several hills, and most of the race was out in the country. This is my best 10K time of the year. I finished 1st place for my age group. Official time was 50:42. Still looking to go below 50 mins on a 10K soon!

June: Dirty Spokes 15K Trail Run at Dauset Trails. I signed up for this race thinking a trail run race would be fun. I had done some trail running (3 miles) and I thought I could handle this 15K (9 miles) with no problems. Well... this race was definitely more challenging than I thought it would be! I hit these trails HARD. Literally, I tripped and fell 3 times- just look at my knees below! I started out fast, and got tired quickly. By mile 6 I was done. I finished fairly strong, even though I was miserable. I somehow came out with a time of 1:31. I love to trail run, it's so beautiful and peaceful! But it requires more thought about foot placement and focus on balance. I will definitely be doing more trail runs next year! This run was a little more fun, because my husband came and joined me by running the 5K.

July: The Peachtree Road Race 10K. This race is amazing! This is a famous race run every year on July 4th in Atlanta. It's full of excitement and spectators, hills and spunk! Not only was this a great race, but it was a really great night! This was a girls night out race. I got to stay in Atlanta with several of my friends, eat out a nice dinner, order room service cheesecake, and soak in the hot tub! I trained hard for this 10K, but with the rain and heat and people, I finished in 54:37, not the time I had hoped for, but still good.

August: Sunrise on the Square 5K. I had a great time at this 5K with a very good friend! With the exception of the killer hills we were NOT expecting, we both did really good! We finished 1st and 2nd for our age groups! Time: 26:15

September: Scrub Run 5K I really enjoyed this local race in Griffin. The course was downtown, around the hospital and through the Griffin City Park. Just barely missed first place female overall by about 30 seconds! This was a great race with lots of friends also participating! Time 24:42

October: Jubilee Jaunt 5K and Jack-O-Lantern Jog 5K. This was another 2 race month. The Jubilee Jaunt was in Concord, my hometown! It was an out and back course on my regular stomping ground. I enjoyed the race, it was small and only locals racing. I finished 1st place female! My son ran this one with me and came in 2nd for his age group! My time for this race was one of my best 5K times. I finished in 23:59. The other October race was at my sisters school. The Jack-O-Lantern Jog was a course in downtown Griffin through the houses down and around East College Street. I really enjoyed this run and had a PR for this 5K! Both of my girls ran in this race too which made it even more fun! My finish time was 23:45

November: Rock and Roll Marathon and Atlanta Thanksgiving Day 5K. This was another 2 race month. These were probably the two most memorable races of the year for me. The first race, The Rock and Roll Marathon in Savannah, was amazing! I spent weeks training for it, hour after hour of running. I spent the whole weekend in Savannah with my husband, and even finished off my marathon with a commemorative tattoo on my foot. This was the very best weekend! I finished the 26.2 mile race in 4:19. It was hard, but I did it! And I will definitely be doing this next year. The second race of November was the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day 5K. This was a very special race, as it was my Mom's 60th birthday! I am so proud of her! She ran almost the whole race, only walking briefly up hills. We spent the night out in Atlanta, had a nice hotel, fancy dinner and a dip in the hot tub. Other than the 24 degree weather at the start line (TOO cold for me!), it was a fantastic race! My sister and I stayed with my Mom the whole race, and I held a sign telling the world it was her birthday :) We finished the race in 49:02.

December: 

Silly Santa 5K. This was my last race of the year. Actually, this wasn't supposed to be my last race, but due to weather and race rescheduling, this became my December race last minute! My original race was the Jingle Jog 5K in Griffin at Cowan Road Middle School. I was going to do this race with all my friends and my entire family. But there was a chance of rain and the school moved the race to the next Tuesday. I already had plans on Tuesday night so I was forced to find a race. Any race! I found one and the price was right, so I quickly signed. My mom was sweet enough to do this with me! Little did we know this would be a COLD and RAINY race!! I am so glad I ended up  doing it though. We ended up with some friends and had the best time. I also managed to come in first place female and brought home a nice trophy! This was a great race and I finished in 22:50.

I successfully completed 2013 running one race every month! I feel very accomplished and I can't wait to start my new goal for 2014. I have decided to run a half marathon each month for the year. This will take a lot more effort. Not only will it be physically more challenging, but it is harder to find local half marathons. I will have to drive further to other cities and spend more time running races alone. This will be an awesome challenge for the new year! I encourage you to set a goal for 2014 and stick with it! It was so amazing to see myself end the year accomplishing my goal. You can do it too! Just make up your mind to do it and do it! Here's to 2014...

I Choose to Be Thankful

As November comes to an end, I am reminded of the many things I have to be thankful for. I could sit and make a list a mile long I am most certain! I am blessed beyond belief. I have a wonderful family, amazing children and some of the best friends in the world. I know being in the great land of the free, we all too often take for granted what we have. We take for granted the TV we all have in our living rooms. We take for granted the computers and cell phones we talk and type on daily. We take for granted the food we have readily available at our big box grocery stores. We forget that not too many years ago, we had to walk or travel horseback where we wanted to go. The ability to jump into a car and travel 500 miles is all too often taken for granted. Childhood diseases are minimal thanks to vaccines, preterm babies now survive, and deadly health conditions now have miraculous medical cures. These things are all too often forgotten. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded of what all we have, just how good we have it. I spent a few weeks in Uganda Africa as a young adult. It was a mission trip that took me to some of the most under developed, far out, third world villages you could ever imagine. Places like this don't exist. At least I didn't think they did. These people live in mud huts built with their own two hands. They wear nothing more than a rag around their waist. They grow and kill their own food. They have no contact with the outside world. They rely on herbs and teas to heal the sick. They don't know what phones are, or even electricity for that matter. Most of the people in the furthest villages have never even seen a white man. The children circled me, and wanted to touch my hair. They used the bathroom in holes in the ground. No running water to be found. AIDS and Malaria run rampant. They worship many gods and have many idols. It was so different from anything I had ever seen. I still remember the lost look in so many of the village peoples eyes. We just don't know how great we have it. I just feel as though we are given a certain amount of time here on earth. Some longer than others. Some in villages, some in America, some in poverty, some in riches. And whether we ended up with a lot or a little, a long amount of time or a short amount of time... we are all given the chance to make the best of it. To allow the Lord to use us or not. To be thankful or not. To praise Him for what we DO have, no matter how big or small, or not. The choice is yours.
I said all that to say this...

That even on the worst of worst days...  Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials James 1:2

When everything is crashing down...  Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Phillipians 4:4

When you can find nothing to be happy about... Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus 1 Thessalonians 5 16:18

And complaining is the only word from your mouth... Do everything without complaining and arguing. Philippians 2:14

Be thankful. Just do it. Giving thanks always for all things. Ephesians 5:20

Marathon

Marathon. There is something about the word that sends chills down my spine. Only runners understand this. Most people don't even know how many miles it is. Let alone all the work, effort and dedication that goes into it. 26.2, miles that is. The marathon is 26.2 miles. The training alone involves almost 500 miles. Countless hours of running, stretching, proper nutrition, hot showers....

The day is one I will forever remember. Actually, the whole weekend I will remember, and it will be very hard to top it! I wanted to share my experience and maybe inspire you to try something you deem impossible yourself!

My sweet parents took my kids for the weekend. It was my 13th wedding anniversary as well. We (my husband and I) stayed at the River Street Inn in Savannah right on River Street. Our hotel was about 20 steps from the start line and worth every penny of the over-priced rate we paid ;) If you have never stayed in a historical hotel on River Street, this is a must! And I highly suggest this one. It was gorgeous! We were able to park our car on the street and never have to use it again until we headed home. This method also allowed me to sleep in a little later and stroll right to my start corral in minutes. I tried not to think about the excitement of the race or finishing it. I tried to think of this as just another long run. Just another day. I managed to get a little sleep, and woke up feeling refreshed. (I am literally getting nervous just typing this..) It took about 15 mins after the race start for my corral to make it up to the start line. I was focused on getting my watch connected to GPS and my music playing. It was very cold, and I was trying to stay warm. When I finally made it to the start line, I took off running! Seeing how over 18,000 people were running in the Rock and Roll, this was not easy. I tried to zig-zag, hop, skip and jump my way through the herd of people. My first mile took a little longer than I anticipated due to the people. But what a rush! What an exhilarating experience! I just soaked it all in for the first 5 miles. I waved at all the wonderful people of Savannah, out so early in the cold, supporting us and cheering us on! I people watched of course, and checked out other runners shoes, pants, leg muscles.. ;) I think the Lord sent me a friend about 6 miles in. He just kind of showed up beside me! He was running the same pace as me (although he had no time goal- he just wanted to finish). We kept a steady pace of 9:15 to 9:30. We talked about races (found out we both did the Publix half), running, family.. all sorts of things. He actually lives in Fayetteville, not too far from me! We enjoyed the split of the race. The split separates the half runners and the full runners. This is where is gets real. 80% of the runners go down the half route, leaving only a handful taking the full course. There is a sense of pride here though. Proud to be one of the 0.5%  of people who finish a marathon. Not that I look any less at the half marathon runners, I just felt accomplished and strong to be taking the harder, longer route. We just kept on running, and before we knew it- we were at mile 17! It was a nice distraction, to forget what your legs are doing and just enjoy the bands, scenery and people around you.  At some point he stopped, and told me to go on without him. He had to walk, he was tired. So I just waved bye and kept on running. I felt really good until that 20th mile. I started getting hungry. The kind of hunger no running gel, chew or bean could fix. I reached in my Camelbak for a fruit squeeze. It's basically like baby food in a suckable pouch. Bananas and blue berries I believe. It satisfied my hunger, but left me with a horrible side cramp. I have had this happen before on long runs (when I tried eating raisins). So I knew exactly what caused it. It lasted over 15 mins. It forced me to walk for about 3 minutes as well, something I had NO intention of doing. It slowed me way down. I felt discouraged and weak. My best friend was under strict orders to call me at mile 20 and check on me. She did, but I felt too bad to talk. I told her to call back and check on me in a little while. I managed to finish mile 20 and 21. Painstakingly finish them. The cramp passed, finally. And as I neared mile 22 my friend called back. She talked me through the next 3 miles, telling me I could do it, I could finish strong. She was watching live video feed of the finish line and told me about the inspiring people crossing the finish line. About 75 year old men, 275 pound women... all who finished a half marathon! Amazing what the human body is capable of! I continued running (except for one hill- which me and everyone around me decide to walk up). I told my friend thank you and bye at mile 25 and buckled down to finish strong. I managed to run that last mile in about 10 mins. Which was difficult. My legs felt like lead. I could barely pick up my feet to take another step, but I kept on. I prayed for strength, I prayed for all the children on my I Run 4 board (a place where runners are paired with kids who have permanent disabilities, diseases or terminal conditions and you run for them), and I thanked the Lord for the ability to run. I crossed the finish line strong! I crossed that finish line a stronger person than the one who started. The hours following the race were tiresome. I sat in the park and stretched and ate a bagel and a banana and downed chocolate milk. We had to walk over a mile back to the hotel, which took a while considering my legs felt like spaghetti. But it was amazing! The high you feel from a race like that is indescribable. We made it back to the hotel where I showered and changed and then we walked to lunch at Outback. By the time we made it back to the room I could hardly hold my eyes open. I took a nice nap until 5, then we walked to Starbucks for a pick me up coffee and then to the tattoo shop to get my awesome 26.2 tattoo. This weekend was just amazing! Words will never be able to describe it. The whole adventure was a long, challenging and a learning experience.

Headed down the chute to the finish line!

Out of 1,645 women who ran the marathon , I beat 1,173 of them across that finish line. I'm proud of that!

I had a friend tell me she was proud of me and congratulated me. She said, "I am proud of you for running the marathon, but I am even more proud of how running has changed you! I know you have come a long way and conquered and defeated so many demons to be here." And she could not be any more right! It was about more than running the marathon. It was about putting so many things behind me and moving forward with my family and my life! Years of anxiety, worry and a truck load of unhealthy habits have gradually unraveled. My journey actually began before I started running- but the only reason it finished strong and remains that way is through this gift of running the Lord has blessed me with! I prayed for years a way out of the anxiety, fear and stress. I spent countless hours on my knees praying and crying for an end to the wicked prison I was in. Little did I know that the day I picked up my phone and downloaded the Run Double C25K app, it would forever change my life! Not only my life, but the lives of so many people around me. I feel like the Lord led me to running. He has a perfect plan and purpose:

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

This is my purpose, this is my gift! I know that through Christ, I can reach people. I can reach them through running. I can encourage, teach, inspire and love on people through my running! So my friend was right, this was about more than the strength to run 26.2 miles. This was about my life! This was about change! This was a symbol of what I have accomplished.

This road has led me to a healthier lifestyle. It has encouraged my family and friends to eat better, exercise more and to do something you never thought possible! I continue to pray that the Lord would use me through this healthy lifestyle. Use me to help others understand that the Lord has given us this outlet and a way to handle our depression and anxiety and fear. If we trust our lives to the Lord, and allow Him to shine through us- we can love on those around us and share the same gift of Jesus Christ that was freely given to us with others!



I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my gift of Salvation, my family and of course ... RUNNING!

Oh the Citric Acid...

For those of you who don't know, Kennedy developed a rash on her face a few months ago that would not go away. It seemed to get worse at times and them some days not as bad. But it was always there. I asked her pediatrician at her 2 year check up about the suspicious rash. She said it looked like some type of contact dermatitis and it was nothing to worry about or do for it.

Well, the rash continued. I treated it with every cream known to man with no change. Several friends had suggested food allergy, but since the doctor had shrugged that off I was hesitant that food could be the cause. After several weeks of no change in the rash despite my avid attempts, I decided to start reading the labels of her foods. I noticed her rash was a thousand times worse after consuming Cran-Grape juice. I scanned the ingredients, only 3 or 4. I wondered if she were allergic to cranberries? I decided to eliminate the juice from her diet and see. It got a little better, but was still there and would still flare. I examined her diet again and decided to check the label on ALL her favorite foods- fruit snacks, fruit puree squeeze's, and ravioli. The only ingredient all three things had in common WITH the cran-grape juice was .... Citric Acid. Oooh I cringe at the word. With a few Google searches you will realize it is in virtually everything on an American grocery stores shelves. After eliminating the citric acid from her diet, her face returned to normal within two days. Ding ding ding... we have a winner.

Now here is the breakdown on the citric acid. It is man-made. Naturally occurring citric acid, like that found in citric fruits, is not the citric acid she is intolerant too. Citric acid is made from the mold Aspergillus niger. The mold is cultivated and allowed to metabolize sugar. The by-product is citric acid. Gross. I know. It's the by-product from a mold. And it is in everything. Deemed not harmful in general, it may also be GMO. After a little research you will see how the government regulates certified organic and that Citric Acid is allowed in certified organic product, even if it was produced by using know GMO's such as sugar beets or maize. Citric acid is used in products to create a sour flavor. It is also used as a preservative. So basically I can't count on a label saying "organic" and it being free of citric acid. My grocery store trips now take 20 mins longer as I have to read labels on so many items. Finding the right tomato sauce, apple juice, jelly, baby fruit squeeze's, loaf bread, bubble bath, shampoo and even yogurt (yes citric acid is in all of these things) takes time. Most of my info came from these sites: 

http://girlmeetsnourishment.com/citric-acid/

http://foodreference.about.com/od/Food-Additives/a/What-Is-Citric-Acid.htm

I wanted to share all this information with you for several reasons. One- your doctor doesn't know it all. Be your child's (and yourself) advocate. Take things into your own hands and find out what is really going on. Two- read your labels and know what you are eating. American food is full of chemicals, preservatives and toxins. Know what you are eating and what is good to avoid. Do some research. Americans have the 7th highest cancer rate of the world. Cancer in other less commercialized countries is almost non-existent. Their diet of fresh, unprocessed food is the key I believe. The United States is a money hungry, selfish country. Companies will put many preservatives and chemicals into our food found at the grocery store to make it last longer, look prettier and taste better. The FDA has allowed many additives into our food that are BANNED in other countries. To me, it's no wonder my baby is allergic to this and it's no surprise that so many others have food allergies. Our bodies were not created to consume these chemicals. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/8-foods-we-eat-in-the-us-that-are-banned-in-other-countries

Okay, I'm off the box for now. Hope this info will help someone, somewhere along the way!

Citric acid free face!