Tapping the Oak Kombucha Barrel & Taste Verdict, Aloe Plant, Chocolate Mail, Using Craigslist and Ebay, 5 Wacky Wed. Facts

Hi Friends! How is your Hump Day?  Mine has been good and productive.  I actually went to the gym today rather than using My New Bowflex.   Skylar was begging to go because on the weekends she's with Scott while I workout, and Monday and Tuesday I worked out at home, and so after four days of not going to Kid's Club (the gym daycare) she was chomping at the bit to go, so we did.  I had a great workout at the gym.  Probably because I had a few days off from it.  Now that I am mixing it up between home and gym, so I guess I can appreciate the gym experience a bit more now.  Variety is the spice of life except when it comes to grunting, smelly dudes.

After the gym, I had to pick up a few TJ's items and I saw this Aloe Plant for $3.99 and thought it would be perfect for my kitchen.  

I tried to explain to Skylar that the plant has "medicine" in it.  I tried to explain there is healing juice inside it and that if we get a cut, we can put the plant's juice on it to help us heal.  She is still a little confused how a plant that has "sharp pokeys" can heal you.  Kind of a non sequitur, I agree.

It goes perfectly next to my Stevia Plant!   

 

I now own two whole plants.  Hopefully I can keep both of them alive.

Today a lady came over and picked up a Scoby Mushroom Mother from me.  I fetched one, and some "starter juice", from my Kombucha Mushroom Hotel that lives on my coutertop.

 Layers of shrooms!

I put an ad on Craigslist a few days ago and she was the first person who replied to it.  She wants to start brewing her own and needed a scoby.  Perfect, I've got plenty.   I'd actually love to start selling my kombucha since I have more than I need but I don't have time to sit at a farmer's market and so far no bites on my Craigslist ad to buy any. 

It's been almost a week, and it was time to take a few sips from the Kombucha that's been brewing in my New Oak Barrel

Tappin' the keg, baby!

Verdict:  It's insanely good.  For those of you who think you "don't like kombucha", please come to San Diego and try mine. 

It does not taste like vinegar, dirty feet, old shoes, it's not bitter, it's not sour.  It's delicious!

I would say that the oak barrel fermentation has caused it to taste like a mix between chardonnay wine + hard cider + kombucha, all rolled into one.  If I do say so myself, it's amazing. 

And yes, it has alcohol in it, and yes, you will catch a buzz if you drink too much or you're a total lightweight like me...hah!  There are worse things than getting your buzz on while you get your fermented beverage on.  Most kombucha ferments have between .5 to 3% alcohol.  I have no idea where mine falls.  Nor do I care.  Alcohol is simply a byproduct of the anaerobic process called fermentation.  It's science at work!

Skylar loves my homemade kombucha, too!  I have some batches which I under-ferment and have more sugar, less alcohol, in them.  I usually give her those.  But I don't give her more than 3-4 oz a day.  There's more alcohol in vanilla extract than there is in kombucha anyway!

Apparently drinking kombucha puts 3 year olds in a dancing mood!

After we gave the Craigslist lady a Scoby, and drank our 'booch, it was time to open the mail.  I was happy to find Chocolate from Sarris Candies!

PB Meltaways

A 1 Lb Deluxe Assortment

 And Milk Chocolate Pretzles

 Thank you to Sarris Candies and Athena!  You made a lot of people's day around here and your generosity is sooo appreciated!  Thank you!

From Yesterday...
Thanks for the compliments on my hair and most of us seem to agree that good hair days = good mood.  Or at least the chance for being in a better mood!  

And many of you as little girls seemed to have moms who wanted to cut your hair or give you hairstyles you didn't like.  I won't do that with Skylar, promise!

And then I asked you about Food Labels.
Most of you said you read food labels not necessarily because you're allergic/intolerant to certain foods, but because you don't want to ingest chemicals, crap, and Franken-Foods!  I agree!  We all seem to glance at labels and if the ingredient list is just too long or has things you have no idea what they even are, you simply put the product back on the shelf and don't even bother reading the entire label. 

To the question of reading food labels because of food allergies and companies who are mislabeling foods as Gluten Free or free from soy, dairy, nuts, etc. when they are not, either by oversight, ignorance, or knowingly doing it but turning a blind eye, whatever the reason, I think it's awful! 

  Why do they need to put wheat in rice cakes?

I forgot to tell you this story yesterday but it's important to me share what can happen to people who are exposed to foods they are allergic to...

When I was in my mid 20s, I went out to an Asian restaurant and ordered a vegetarian stir fry.  Basically just sauteed veggies and some rice.  Well, turns out that it was cross-contaminated with Shellfish and I went into anaphalactic shock.  My airway started swelling shut, I was covered in hives and welts all over my body for a week; my nose, face, and eyes all swelled, and I couldn't breathe.  I ended up in the Emergency Room and without medical intervention to help me breathe, could have died.  Food allergies are not a joke! 

I hate it that companies can get away with improper food labeling!  I am not going to die from ingesting gluten; I will live in the bathroom, be a total bitch, be moody and irritable because of the horrific stomach ache and brain fog that will result, my joints swell up for a week, and lots more unpleasantness occurs, but I won't die.  Shellfish, I may die.  A reader wrote in to say her son ended up in the ER after mislabeled ingesting mislabeled bread with eggs in it.  


Ilana brought up a good point about the Food Should Taste Good Chips I mentioned bother me and I think this translates into most all commercially prepared food: 

"Food Should Taste Good chips - they're marked Kosher Dairy which they say is because all the chips are processed in a facility that processes dairy, which to me indicates that they're not careful at all about cross contamination, even though they only produce one chip with dairy in them."

Thanks to all of you who said that you believe in tougher standards for food labeling!  Sarena and so many others who commented, you and I are all on the same page!  Not only because of allergic reactions but also for overall health.  We all want to know exactly what's in our food! 

As for Exotic or Unusual Foods, quite a few of you had eaten Snails/Escargot but said the Garlic Butter Sauce drowned out any Snail-ish flavors!

 

Eden ate chicken feet (not fingers) by accident 
Gabriela has had : "frog's legs, calves' brains, foie gras, steak tartare. That's what you get for having a Francophile mother. I've tried jellyfish salad, sea urchin and other weird sushi items willingly though."
Christine has had Alligator 
And Sophia loves her durian

Moving On...
My Green Food: Romaine, Asparagus, Brussels, Sugar Snaps Peas, Tomatoes, and Cukes and Yellow Mustard.  The mustard drizzle is as exotic as I've gotten lately...haha!

With some Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing that I added too.  Sweet-n-tangy meets Mustard. 

Dessert:  Raw Vegan Chocolate Donut Holes

5 Minutes, 4 Ingredients

Raw Vegan Chocolate Donut Holes

Gym & Weights Workout Today From This Tab: Full Body Workout

Tip of the Day: Did you Check and see Who Won my Ani Phyo Raw Essentials Cookbook Give Away?

Click Here to See Who Won

Questions
1.  Have you ever bought or sold anything on Ebay or Craigslist?  Or found anything for Free?
I love to de-clutter, purge, pare down, and keep around only what I need so I am very familiar with selling things on Ebay and CL.  I try to sell what I can before I donate it, i.e. Scott's Droid phone he just told me he doesn't want. 

I use CL for bigger items, household goods and furniture from a washer and dryer to beds to bikes and tons more.  I have used Ebay to sell electronics and smaller items that are more easily shipped. 
I have also bought tons on Ebay and CL from cell phones, lamps, dishes, clothing, purses, a new breast pump, you name it, I've bought it!  I always check Amazon & Ebay if I have a specific item in mind that I want to see if I can find an especially good deal on it.

Do you use Ebay or Craigslist?  Or any other similar sites?  What have you bought or sold?

2. Have you ever had an aloe plant?  Anything special I need to know about keeping it alive?  Hopefully not because as I mentioned here, I frankly get scared off from plants if they require anything "special" from me...hah!

3. My Wacky Wednesday 5 Facts: 
1. I have to have my pillows fluffed just perfectly and can't fall asleep until my pillows are just right.
2. I re-use plastic/ziplock baggies
3. I shave every day.  I have tried going every other, but I hate stubble.  
4. I keep my cell phone on silent most of the time and just let my calls go to voicemail.  I actually don't get that many calls since most people email or text me.
5. I have a really expensive juicer that I never use because I hate cleaning it.  Juice pulp just sticks everywhere and I hate dealing with it.

Let's Have Some Fun...what are your 5 Wacky Wednesday Facts?

Winner Announced for Ani Phyo Raw Essentials Cookbook Give Away!

Thanks for all the support, entries, and excitement about my Ani Phyo Raw Essentials Cookbook Give Away!  There were 420 entries for this book and the lucky winner is going to love it, I'm sure! 

This is quite possibly My Favorite Cookbook, ever. 

Click Here to see Who Got Lucky!

Hair Salon & Hairstyles, Reading Labels, Mislabeled Foods, Exotic or Unusual Foods You've Tried

Hi Friends!  How was your day?  Mine was good because I got my hair done.  The last time I had it done was the end of May in advance of my June 5th bodybuilding show in Phoenix.   Rather than going back to the salon in San Diego that I used to go to (here's why in my Cheating on Your Stylist Post), I decided to try a new salon and new stylist based on randomly seeing a girl's hair who I thought looked good and this is where she told me she goes.  More in This Post  

Picture from ReVive

The rates for the stylist I saw today are about half of what I was paying at my Previous Salon before I moved from San Diego to Phoenix last year so that's nice. 

Which left money to splurge on this leave-in conditioner/detangler.  I have wavy hair that is prone a tanglefest!

  If it doesn't work, you better believe I will be returning it.

Anyway, here's my Color.  It feels so good to be freshened up!  

I was feeling so blah with blah hair.  It's amazing how better hair = better mood!

I never, ever stay for the blowouts or flatironing at the salon.  Never.  As if I have time for that.  This is air-dried and combed and good enough.  I am happy with the color, especially for a first visit to a new stylist.  So, I will go back to her.  I also don't allow any bleach in my hair.  High lift color, that's it.  Bleach is too damaging for my hair so the trade off is a little brassiness but I'd rather have brassy than breakage!

If only my hair was like this.

It could have been, but my mom used to cut my hair short when I was a little girl....gahh!!!  I've never cut Skylar's hair yet and don't plan to til it's dragging in her crack..haha!

Moving Onto My Shopping Stash that I picked up over the weekend...

TJ's Dark Sumatra, Dates, and Raisin Medley mix are staples for us

Lots of Fruit!

Red & White Plums, Nectarines, Peaches

Bananas, Tomatoes, Pinepple

Should get us through about 3-4 days, tops

 These were a Buck Each.  Score!

They are perfect Dipped in my "Spicy Doritos" Cheezy Dip

 "Spicy Doritos" Cheezy Dip

And then I picked up this bag of Rice Cakes Multigrain Fiber Crisps on sale for 99 cents.  I was all excited until I realized...

  Why do they need to put wheat in them?

 ...What I thought were just Rice Cakes actually have Wheat Gluten in them.  Grrrr Moment.

Nothing a little Mango Cocoa Butter Body Wash can't fix.  Smells Delicious!

Also at Target, I saw a Cheap Body Spray that I couldn't pass up.   

 Vanilla anything and me are bff's!  Here was my Body Spray spree last week.  Can't help it.  Love Body Sprays!

And I found this gum which I've had before.  It's fine, very subtle, but yummy.

 I can't seem to find Extra Mango Smoothie here in San Diego.  I've looked everywhere and maybe it was a Phoenix regional thing.   Living without that gum is a happy price to pay to not be living in Phoenix anymore!

From Yesterday...
Thanks for your congratulations about getting a Bowflex and setting up my Home Gym!

I am so happy to have this as an option!   I really enjoyed working out, at home, on my timetable and not rushing to beat the ever-closing childcare at the gym, and not feeling rushed today.   It was one of those days with my salon trip that chasing off to the gym would have been just another ugh moment.

I hope all of you who wrote in and said you don't have the space now but in the future, you'd love to have a home set-up of some sort.  I hope you can Do it!   Our place in San Diego is small and I am sacrificing storage space and I had to donate some clutter in order to get this to fit my garage, but it's worth it to me! 

And look who worked out next to me in the garage today:  A Snail

Do people really consider snails (escargo) a delicacy?  They just need to come to San Diego after it rains and the snails all come out and litter the sidewalks in droves.  This fellow came out after the sprinkler system turned on and made his way into the garage.   I think he liked the Lady Gaga I was playing.

Thanks for filling me in yesterday, too, about how much research you like to do on things.  It seems some of you are research-aholics, and peruse Consumer Reports for the last 10 years like it's your job..hah!  Whereas others of you are more the fast and furious approach.  Once you know you want something, you read everything you can on it, for a few days, but make a fairly quick decision on it.  I would say, I'm more the later, but can also fall prey to being a research-aholic!

Dessert:  Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting Drizzle

 

These are reported to be insanely good.  
 Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting Drizzle

Gym & Weights Workout Today From This Tab: Back/Abs

I'm still working on getting faster with the Bowflex's cables and pulleys and transitioning from one exercise to the next.  I can already tell that it's biggest con, is the transitioning and re-configuring the cables but like anything, I will get faster with some practice.   For the price paid, the versatility of how many different exercises I can do with it, and the convenience factor of having it as an option to workout at home, I can't complain!
 

LAST CALL- WINNER ANNOUNCED WEDNESDAY 7/28!

Tip of the Day:  My Ani Phyo Raw Essentials Cookbook Give Away!

This is quite possibly My Favorite Cookbook, ever. 

Click Here for your Chance to Enter & Win It!

Questions
1. Have you ever eaten Snails?  Would you?  Or have you eaten any "exotic" or unusual foods?  I realize the definition of exotic and unusual is very fluid and not standard based on geographical region, ethnicity, etc, but hopefully you get my drift.

No Way! for me with the snails.  However, during my make-exception-to-eating-fish-when-going-out-for-sushi-with-friends kind of vegetarian days in my early 20s I did use to love unagi (eel).   Eel sauce is so good.  No vegan hate mail with any undies up in a bunch, please.

I've never had durian which I am told is good, but really stinky.  No thanks to stinky food.  I have enough issues just handling the smell of garlic.  Which to me is stinky!  It's that fluid definition thing: one persons ewww is another person's yum!


2. Reading Labels.   I have food allergies and consuming gluten throws my body for a real loop and I feel pretty awful for about a week after being glutened.    It's been 5+ years since I have been GF and most of my diet is whole, raw plants or food I make myself.  However, I do eat some food I can't make from scratch, I mean, I do have a life and need to buy some food every now and then, that I can't make. 

 Good thing I read the label on what I thought were rice cakes before I tore into them.

When I do purchase food not made in my kitchen, I always read the labels.  Always.  The problem arises when foods are labeled as GF or Dairy Free or Vegan or Soy Free or Tree Nut Free, but they really are not.  Either because the company doesn't test properly, or they do test, don't care, and mislabel things anyway because there is no governing body really enforcing truthful and proper labeling in food.   

Katie sent me This Article which discusses testing issues:

"Even companies that do explicitly label their products as gluten-free, she said, might not always test products they assume won't contain any gluten. The study "is a wake-up call to the food industry," said Kupper. Companies "need to make sure (their products) are truly gluten-free."Without an FDA regulation in place, there is still no hard-and-fast government definition of what gluten-free means, Thompson said.
That makes it harder to keep companies that might skimp on their testing accountable.
"It's hoped but certainly not assumed that manufacturers who are putting the (gluten-free) label on their single-ingredient grains and flours are testing their ingredients," Thompson said. "Do all manufacturers test? Probably not.""

I can tell from my own experience that the Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Chips which are reported to be Gluten-Free, in my personal experience, they are not gluten free, enough.  I have major reactions after eating 2 chips.  I repeated this experiment (called a Food Challenge in allergy circles) 3 times over the course of 2 weeks and anecdotally can say for me, they are not gluten-free, enough.  Maybe they pass certain testing limits, but not all.  Whereas with Mary's Crackers, also labeled as GF, I am totally fine with and have never had a reaction.

Which begs the question, why is it ok for food companies to sell, distribute, and mislabel or inaccurately label what's in the food they're selling?  It this because food allergies are not considered "real"?  What if they omit that there's peanuts in a product and a child had a life-threatening peanut allergy and died?  Would that get the attention of those who can enforce truthful and accurate product labeling? 

2. Do you read labels?  For what purposes?  Do you read nutritional stats, ingredient lists, either to weed out "junky" ingredients or possible allergens?  Do you have any food allergies that cause you to really have to pay attention to labels?  Do you read labels for The Wrong Reasons, i.e. to obsess about fat/calories?

3. Are you shocked by the lengthy list of ingredients in almost anything that's store-bought? 
I know I am which is further reason I like to make whatever I can myself, but there are only so many hours in the day!

4.  Does your hair impact your mood?
I think most people will say that when their hair isn't looking the way they want it to, that they don't feel quite as chipper.  Then again, some people do seem truly impervious to this.  Even Scott says that when he needs a haircut, he doesn't feel as confident.  Does bad hair automatically put you in a one-down position and feeling a little grumpy?  It does for me!

5. Did your parents try to force you to have hairstyles you hated as a kid?
My mom never wanted to let me have long hair.  She thought it would be tons of extra work for her so she made me keep it short and I wanted long hair!  I really don't feel like Skylar's hair being longer is any more work for me.  What, a couple minutes per day?  That's my job as a mom...care-taking.  Who cares if it takes me a few extra minutes for her hair!  I love long hair and I think some girls can rock the short hair but it's just not me.  I love Skylar's long hair and Scott does too!  

Stay Tuned For The Give Away Winner!