A Spoonful of Sugar

In July of 2012, the USDA deregulated genetically engineered sugar beets.  If you read my last post, and especially if you took the time to do a bit of research on GMOs, you know that this news does not bode well for the average consumer.

However, this blog is intended to help "average consumers" like me take charge of where grocery dollars are spent.  One simple way to avoid GMOs is to use an organic source of sugar in baking and canning.

One of the stores that has helped our family turn our pantry into a GMO-free zone is Costco.  Check out this 10 pound bag that commonly lands in my cart on Costco shopping days:

For just over $10 I buy this big bag of evaporated cane juice and use it in place of the refined sugar that used to be dumped into my baking.  As a family we are striving to cut down our sugar intake in general.  For the occasions that we want to use some sugar, even though this bag is more expensive than the refined and bleached alternative, it is completely worth it to us!

In the past two years I have taken up canning as a useful hobby. This year I stepped it up by being sure to use only organic ingredients in my preserves.  Last week when I scored some organic peaches, this organic sugar came in handy for some delicious peach butter.

It has been satisfying to be able to label my homemade concoctions "organic" because I have put trust in each ingredient I have added to the pot.

Finally, for baking, this sugar is absolutely delicious.  We made organic cupcakes for my daughter's birthday using this sugar and they were amazing!  More recently, I added this sugar to zucchini bread.  It was just delightful!

Your super simple tip for the day?  Head to Costco and get a membership!  Then dump your white refined sugar and grab this bag for your sugar needs.  Any of your trusted baking recipes will be fabulous using this organic sugar in place of refined sugar.  It is just one small step you can make toward an edifying pantry!

The Day We Did A 180

It was a normal day.  My kids had probably poured themselves cereal that morning for breakfast.  Good old Corn Flakes maybe.  Lunch was likely PB & J with some chips and carrots with dressing to dip.  Maybe our snack that day was my famous no bake oatmeal/chocolate/peanut butter balls.

I really don't remember what I fed my children that day.  What I do know is that over the course of a normal afternoon I took the time to watch a documentary that changed my perspective on every single food item I had served my children - for their entire lives.

I didn't know!  I had no clue what a GMO was.

The documentary I watched is Genetic Roulette. I was stunned.  The Corn Flakes, the peanut butter, the jelly, the bread, the chips, the dip, the chocolate chips... nearly everything I had offered my children that day was made with genetically modified ingredients!  Overwhelming?  YES!

But I did not let the new knowledge go.  I was on a mission to figure out how to get these ingredients out of my home.  And after months of research and perseverance, I did it.  If I can do this, anyone can.  Your first step?  Educate yourself.  You can get an idea by watching this small YouTube clip.


I would suggest taking an hour of your day and renting the full version which you can get here:  http://geneticroulettemovie.com/.

Watch the documentary and then come back and visit this blog. Together we will figure out how to clean up our pantries!

Where To Buy Good Snacks To Have on Hand

I would love to have some type of completely homemade snack for my children every afternoon.  In fact, I hope to soon add a page where I can share homemade snack options (your ideas are quite welcome!).  However, like most dear readers who may choose to check out this blog, I live a busy life.  I've got four kids, I home school, I've started an at-home business, we are active in church, we've got soccer and horse-riding and AWANA and baseball and piano and... you get it, right?

So what do you do when you don't have homemade on hand but you don't want to compromise on junk from the gas station on the way to whatever-it-is-you-have-going-that-day?  I've found that having a basket of packaged snack options in our pantry has been very helpful.

Maybe one of the biggest surprises in my quest for organic eating has been the boxed and pre-packaged organic options at... BIG LOTS.  Yes, you read that right.  The first time I got a text from my friend and GMO-free eating mentor (truly, she should be writing this blog), raving about her Big Lots finds, I was a bit skeptical.  Upon checking it out myself, I have found it to be a little treasure trove.  Plus, I nearly always get the bonus of the friendly cashier commenting on all the healthy food I'm buying.  It's like a little pat on the back as I check out.

At the same time, while I do worry about them selling out of our beloved granola bars if I tell too many people about the Big Lots secret, I want them to continue to carry these items.  Maybe there will be such a rush on organic food that they will create a separate department for these items.  This would be helpful because right now it is a bit of a hunt up and down the aisles to find the good stuff.

On my last trip to Big Lots I stocked up on Nature's Path Organic granola bars and oatmeal packs.  At about $2.50 a box they are a great buy.  At other grocery stores I have seen this brand sell for double the price.  The kids have easily adapted to this brand over the big name brands with more questionable ingredients.  Nature's Path has a lot of flavor varieties which makes it fun, too.

Of course that is not all I found, but that's a start.  Have you been organic food shopping at Big Lots?  What did you find?

The Premise Behind Edifying Edibles

For most of my life I have had a battle with food.  Secret cookie eating and stuffing myself in order to deal with my emotions dominated many of my days.  And then I birthed three children and hit my mid-30's and the over-indulgence and occasional sweet binges were not so easy to exercise off anymore.  I was overweight and in denial.

The last two years, however, I have found myself on a journey.  It has been a winding road toward health and wellness.  I surely do not have all of the answers, but I do have some.  This blog is dedicated to all those in my life who have seen the changes my family has made this past year and wonder why or cannot comprehend how they could implement such changes in their own homes.

My vision is for Edifying Edibles to be a resource for health and food information and a buying guide resource specific to Northwest Indiana.  Welcome!