Who knew you could”patent” a seed?

Watched Food, Inc. today.  Wow.  More on that in just a bit.

After 6am Spin…Circuit Craze…and another Spin….I was more than ready for lunch.  Pizza was calling my name!  Started out with a FlatOut wrap:

Topped this bad boy with some Earth Fare brand pasta sauce…spinach…shroom babies…and some Fat Free Mozz.  There also may have been a sprinkly or twenty-four of crushed red pepper.  😉

Pre bake:

10 minutes later….lunch!

Snacks for the day included the new Dannon greek yogurt, as well as some puffed millet cereal!  Totally diggin’ on this stuff!

More eats (consumed later…I promise) consisted of a two part dinner!

Part one before my appointments came in:

Mushroom, Spinach, and Mozz sammie on a wheat pita.  I saw my co-worker/love-o-my life Christie eating something similar to this earlier today at work…and knew I wanted to recreate it for dinner!

Part two included a mini salad from Panizzle.  Fuji Chicken Apple salad..sans the chicken.  There was also the classic hunk of whole wheat baguette deliciousness.

And a dessert that rocked the YMCA dowwwwwwwn.  Yep, it was that good.

Strawberries plus this little bit of joy.

Pure amazingness.

———————————–

Moving on to a less palent tantalizing topic.  Food, Inc.

My pal Heather was kind enough to let me borrow this movie to watch!  I have been dying to see it.

Ok.  If I hadn’t been a vegetarian before, I think I would be now.  I had no idea the poor extent to which our food is being produced on a daily basis.

This isn’t to say that meat and/or meat products are the only culprits in this craziness.  Even some of the food that we would normally take for granted: fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, and even SEED!  First of all, who knew that seed could be “patented” and that if you re-seeded a crop from a previous year that “belonged” to a company…that you could be sued for all you are worth (and in most cases…much, much more).  Absolutely ridiculous.  This along with the fact that the VIP’s in these corporations even hold high power positions in the FDA, which can then in turn promote such outright ridiculousness.

Also these poor local “growers” of pigs, chickens, and cows across the country are at the complete mercy of the huge corporations…who will require “upgrades” to their farmers facilities just to ensure that they have to take out more loans to pay for everything.

It was said that the average “grower” (how ridiculous that a farmer is now referred to as a grower…and even more ridiculous that animals can even be “grown”) earns about $18,000 a year…while they are on average in debt up to $500,000 just to “maintain” the facilities.

It was alot to think about, that is certain.

What are your thoughts on this movie?  What about your thoughts in general about non-organic/natural foods?  It has seriously made me even re-consider going to Kroger/Wal*Mart to get “cheaper” things that I don’t buy organic/natural at Earth Fare.  Are the lower prices really worth what the food is doing to our bodies and our nation?

Sweet Potato or Small Child. YOU be the judge.

Please look at this massive yam that Ashlei and I found at Kroger.

This was supposedly a yam, but I am not convinced that it wasn’t some un-identified Government run project.  SERIOUSLY MASSIVE.

4 Pounder!!!!

Lets rewind a bit.  On the way to teach my high school Yoga class, I snacked on my fav-o-rite Kind bar, and an apple of joy!

After a sweaty Yoga sesh, it was time to the YMCA to meet Ashlei for spin!  I was so stoked she came today!  We were both sweaty messes, and loved it!

It was then time for DINNER!  I decided to show Ashlei my favorite little Thai place…

I love this little place.  They always ask on a 1-3 scale how hot you want it, and I always say “as hot as it can possibly be made”  They most certainly didn’t let me down tonight.  I went with the Tomy Thai Fried Rice with Veggies…extra heat, and a delicious little kick from the cashews and pineapple:

This bad boy packed the heat!  Ashlei’s look delicious, too!

Once in the car, Ashlei rocked it out with my GaGa inspired shades….ra, ra, ahhh ah ahhhhhhhh…

And then we both headed home.  Boo!!!  What a great evening though, I love having a fellow healthy foodie/blogger/friend that lives so close to me!  Fun times all around!  Once home, I broke into a PRESENT that Ashlei brought me.  RAW macaroons anyone?!!?!

Alongside my favorite vanilla frozen yogurt…

*instant drool bath quickly commenced*

Ashlei, you ROCK.  These were amaaaaaaaazing, and it is almost worth me going out and buying a dehydrator outright if I know I can produce these on a daily (heck hourly) basis.  ❤ ❤ ❤

Now……….on to another Monday high note.

Who wants some free chocolate?!

Soon, I will be creating a thread simply with information on the Endangered Species Chocolate giveaway I am hosting.  All information can be found there and entries start tonight…and end on this Sunday, at midnight!  Stay tuned for that thread!  It’s a fun one!  😉

Question Of The Night:

When it comes to grocery stores…how much of your cart is healthy/organic?  Do you ever get questioned by the clerks?  When I am in a non-natural/health food store, it ALWAYS happens that as I am checking out the clerk has some smart remark like “Boy………YOU must eat healthy” with a negative connotation!  Why?!?!  It would be like a cashier ringing up the common disgusting cart full of crap and being like “WOW, your an unhealthy tub of lard!”  Either way, it is not good etiquette.  What are your thoughts?

Back To Reality.

Well, I knew I was back home when I woke up to this:

Luckily, I also had these pups to remind me of the good aspects of Tennessee life.

I woke up with a bare kitchen, and threw together a yummy breakfast with the last of my supplies!  It was a Kashi waffle kind of morning.

“Sauce” was Almond Butter mixed with Natural Peach Jam

Also had an actual peach to go with the peach sauce.  Ok, so it was a peachy sort of morning as well.

It was then definitely time for Earth Fare!  It was good to be back in MY yummy food mart.  Loved the Floridian ones, but I do love me some Earth Feezy quite a bit.

Pretty soon I had a buggy full-o-fun:

Finished up at Earth Fare, and then headed home with the loot:

I’ve gotten several questions about my grocery bill.  Here is some advice:

Think about staples….it is so fun and tempting to go and buy all “fun” food and snacks, but buying alot of meal creations will make your money stretch that much more

Buy produce elsewhere!  Rarely do I ever get produce from Earth Fare…it is way too expensive.  In this case, I went right next door to Kroger for the veggies/fruit

Make. A. List.  Going into a store like this with no list is like setting a 10 yr old free in Toys-R-Us on a sugar rush.  Not a good idea.  Stick with what you need

Buy big!  Get items that will last several uses or make several meals/snacks

Have fun!  Grocery shopping should not be a chore, it should be FUN!  I swear I have the time of my life in these places.  Try something new!

Coupon Hunt!  Earth Fare always has a large selection of coupon books up front to loot through, and save money.  For example…I got $1.00 off of EACH of my Almond Milks, making them around .98 cents each!  Score!

My total for today (both stores combined): $76.49

This may seem steep, but it will make at least 20+ meals.

Speaking of meals, it was time for lunch!

Veggie Indian stew topped with crushed red pepper, and a new ingredient I was excited to try:

Yay for yeast!  haha  I had seen this used on several of my favorite bloggies, but when Fitnessista said it tasted like cheese…I was sold.  Also toasted up a Whole Wheat Pita Pocket for dippage:

Plus a jealous on-looker:

Dessert was simple and tasty.  Pear drenched in cinnamon:

And since I started with some doggie cuteness….gotta end with some.

Do you see the distractions I must live with?!?!?!  😉

Later bloggies.