...or not moving....

We did move to North Carolina, but I am not moving my blog :)

North Carolina has so many trees! Holy crappin' moly are there trees. But no wind. I think we need to work out some kind of nature trade between North Dakota and North Carolina. We'll send up some trees, if you send down a breeze. I am not joking here. It is a rare thing here to see a tree branch wiggle from a light breeze. After daily winds ranging from 10 mph to 40 mph, this is nuts! Especially with the heat and humidity. A gentle breeze down here wouldn't kill you, Mother Nature!

Side note: Currently watching Gordon Ramsay's "F Word" show from the UK. Really like him in this show as opposed to his American shows (except Master Chef, that one is good). He's not the complete jerk that he's made out to be.

Moving

I'll be moving my blog over to tumblr as it will be a better platform for the little bit i post :)  Here is the new link http://kristalrowland.tumblr.com/

And we will also be moving our household, all the way to North Carolina!

Fast and Easy Smoothies and Fruit Sauce

Need a fast, easy and fairly healthy snack? A smoothie fits the bill here. And they are pretty portable too if you have little ones to nourish.  Most people do enjoy smoothies, but don't like the hassle of dragging out the blender.  Today, I have a great recipe that fits the bill. A simple smoothie that doesn't use a blender! (One of these days I will do a better job of photographing things to share :) really, I will!)

If you do prefer to use ice in your smoothies, I highly recommend the Single Serve blender from Hamilton Beach.

It is small, easy to clean and does a good job of crushing the frozen stuff. We put whole frozen strawberries in ours and it crushes them really well.

Defining Real Food

Transitioning from American convenience foods to real foods can be difficult for some, my family included. We are still working on it. If you find a sudden switch too hard, make smaller, gradual changes that will help you to stay on track. Unlike many fad "diets", we are aiming to change our eating habits and dietary choices for life.

To begin with, we need to define what "real food" is. The most basic definition is this: anything that you can grow in a garden, or pick off a tree; food that is closest to it's original state. Processed food is food that is a product of refining or made in a lab. The nutrients have been removed while processing and may be later added back in, but in an altered state. A good tip when deciding if it is real food is would your great-grandparent's recognize it as food or could you possibly make it at home?

Below is a more thorough list of real food, as put together by Lisa Leake of 100 Days of Real Food. Another great resource on real food is The Unconventional Kitchen.