Archive for Health and Nutrition

Lose Your Bad Habits or Lose a Limb!

Posted by html404 on November 15, 2011
in Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health & Garden Tuesday, Health and Nutrition

If you were at a cross road in your health and knew you could lose a limb due to poor circulation probably acerbated by your diabetes, would you lose your bad eating habits? I know I would no matter how much of a struggle it would be! We have a family member who recently faced this very thing. Due to stints and skilled doctors though this person kept their leg, but doesn’t appear to be ready to drastically change their eating habits. This person has had several operations in the last couple of years and undoubtedly more to come if old habits do not die fast and hard.

I find it ironic that people do not want to change. This may sound awful but I understand how people can ignore the obvious problem – their eating habits. I would much rather eat healthy than give myself a shot of insulin. I would much rather have both my legs and eat spinach than ignore fruits and veggies only to chance losing my leg. Losing a limb is life changing. More life changing than simply eating more fruits and veggies. It is a known fact that Type 2 diabetes can be reversed/controlled through diet, exercise, and with the help of alternatives. I have heard of people even stopping their insulin shots! Yet people still choose their medicines, operations and ongoing symptoms over simply changing their eating habits. I don’t get it.

It would be a dreadful thing to lose a limb. Any limb. It is a scary thought. Our family tries hard to eat healthy but I admit we struggle at times too. It concerns me for our future health. I would love to eat healthier to be honest, but like most families our budget will only allow for so much. That is the very reason we desire to grow our own food and raise our own meat birds, laying hens etc. Besides the fact that farming also provides a natural means of exercising. Just working on the farm is exercise. No need to schedule a special time for yet another activity away from home because it naturally occurs….now that is my kind of exercise!

Today’s Health and Garden Tuesday post is to simply challenge all of us (myself included!) that the choices we make today determine what our future will be like. So eat lots of fruits and veggies and cut back on those sweets (my downfall)!

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Closed FruitShare Review & Giveaway!

Posted by html404 on November 11, 2011
in Faith and Family Reviews Friday Giveaway, Food and Treats, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Health and Nutrition, Holidays, Organic

And the winner is………comment #3…..Congrats Domestic Diva!!!

Thanks to all who entered!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week I wrote a post (read it at this link) about a company providing fresh, organic, in season fruit saying that I was going to try them out. I placed an order over the weekend. Apparently they process orders on Monday with the expectant delivery date being Wednesday or Thursday depending. We received ours today, which is ok. I will update you if our next order is any different in the way it is processed and/or delivered.

We received our box of organic apples, pears and cranberries via FedEx from FruitShare and I have to say I am impressed by the quality and taste. Very flavorful and juicy! The children were very excited and probably would have ate the whole box had I not held them back.

Our box contained a variety of 16 apples, 6 pears (2-3 varieties) and two containers of cranberries….Thanksgiving here we come! We could easily eat the whole box in a day or two with our crew, so I am grateful for the co-op we go to on Thursdays which provides us with some fresh organic produce as well. FruitShare is a treat. They truly choose quality fruit!

In celebration of Thanksgiving coming up, for healthy living and eating we are giving away a box from FruitShare! $39 Value! This would be a great gift idea for any family on your gift list this year. And yes, they do offer gift certificates. Since we are offering this personally, we are going to choose a winner, have the winner tell us their box choice, we will place the order and have it delivered to the winner’s home. The delivery of the FruitShare box will depend upon when we receive the winner’s info.

Giveaway:

One lucky reader will win a organic fruit share from FruitShare.com

Mandatory Entry: What fruit share do you want to try from FruitShare.com
?

Extra Entries;(Please be sure and leave a comment and link for extra entries):

1 Entry: Tweet about this giveaway. Include a separate comment for each and your tweet url with your comment:

Enter to win a organic fruit share! @faithandfamilyrewv #giveaway http://bit.ly/sul4tL #organic #eatinghealthy

1 Entry: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Twitter

1 Entry: Like/Friend Faith and Family Reviews on Facebook.

10 Entries: Blog about this giveaway and link back this post. Be sure to leave me a link.

1 Entry:For every comment you leave anywhere else on this blog, but please leave a link with your comment!

2 Entries: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Google Friend Connect (on the our right side bar).

Details:

This giveaway will run from November 11th, to November 20th, 2011 at midnight CST. The winner will be chosen through Random.org. I will send one winner their prize. Winner will be contacted via email on or before November 20th, 2011 and will be asked for their contact and other pertinent info. Winners will have 48 hours to send me their e-mail at [ffr] [giveaways] [at] [gmail] [dot] [com] (without spaces and parenthesis). Please note: This giveaway is offered to USA only.

Thanks and have fun!

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FruitShare – Health and Garden Tuesday

Posted by html404 on November 1, 2011
in All Natural Products, Food and Treats, Health & Garden Tuesday, Health and Nutrition, Organic

Finding organic, fresh, local and in season fruit can be hard. We had numerous people at the farmers market ask us if we offered organic fruit, which sadly we did not. Then I discovered FruitShare. A company based out of Colorado that offers all of the above, except it isn’t “truly” local, but at least it the fruit is from the USA! Plus they ship it right to your door! I am hoping to try them in the next couple of weeks and will let you know how we like it. In the meantime if you want to check out their site and what they have to offer, visit www.FruitShare.com

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Fall Canning and Apple Picking Photos

Posted by html404 on October 6, 2011
in Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health and Nutrition

Thrifty Thursday is all about canning and finding ways to provide good food for our families. Canning can be expensive, but if you are going to do it for the long haul then the initial investment is worth it. I bought canning supplies back in 2001 and we have only used them a handful of times until this year. Friends have been good to us providing produce and jars.

Apple picking. Check local orchards, neighbors who do nothing with the apples just falling to the ground in their yards and gleaning programs set up by non-profit organizations and farm partnerships. This applies to other fruits and vegetables too. We do this not only for ourselves but to provide local food pantries with fresh fruits and veggies – the ones that take them anyways.

This is actually fermenting sauerkraut and it is a before photo as I think it was a failed first attempt….maybe….haven’t tasted it yet to know for sure. Kind of scared to and you’ll know why by the next photo. A friend told me it should be fine, but I still have my doubts….

And here is one of the second batch with the first batch….notice the difference in coloring:

This is our stash of some of our canned tomatoes. We also have salsa, jam and applesauce. We are planning to make more applesauce tomorrow with two families. We will have three moms and 24 kids…..thankfully we will have a few over the age of 16! Plus some other young ladies helping equal the number above age 12!

Gleaning often means taking the leftovers that have fallen to the ground and are not perfect. However, they are perfect for canning and dehydrating.

Apple picking/gleaning is also a wonderful way to spend a beautiful day together as a family.

Happy Thrifty Thursday!

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Pure Bars Review

Posted by Brande on October 2, 2011
in All Natural Products, Food and Treats, Health and Nutrition, Organic

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

“Pure Bars are made with simple, whole ingredients and are gluten-free, vegan, kosher, and entirely delicious.”

“Pure’s Mission: Pure is dedicated to helping everyone live a pure, healthy life. We are passionate about creating delicious, innovative products made with simple, wholesome ingredients. We share our knowledge and ideas to inspire people to live a purer, healthier lifestyle, and give back to the community in a meaningful way.”

There are 2 kinds of bars:

“Pure Organic - Certified organic, gluten-free, raw, and vegan, our mouth-watering fruit-and-nut bars are the ultimate pure snack bar. Pure Bars provide completely clean and balanced nutrition in an enticing and entirely delicious bar. Made with only simple, real ingredients, Pure Bar will nurture your body, mind, and spirit.”

The Pure Organic Bar flavors are Chocolate Brownie, Wild Blueberry, Cherry Cashew, Apple Cinnamon, and Cranberry Orange

“Pure Naturals – Pure’s dedication to delicious, simple, clean nutrition continues with our innovative new line of all-natural, vegan and gluten-free fruit and nut bars. Pure Naturals come in an array of succulent flavors and are packed with 5-7 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. Dive in to a thrilling new combination of nutrition and taste”

The Pure Natural Flavors include Chocolate Almond, Peanut Raisin Crunch, and Superfruit Crunchy.

You can visit Pure Bar on their website at www.thepurebar.com. Pure Bars are available online or search for a store near you.

My Review:

We received 1 bar of most of the flavors, with the exception of Superfruit Crunchy and Chocolate Almond. They were really good, I’m always looking for on-the-go snacks that are healthy. I like that they don’t have any unneeded sugars and are healthy for my whole family. Our favorite was Apple Cinnamon and our least favorite was Cranberry Orange. The Cranberry Orange was a little too Orangy for us. We enjoyed all of them and plan on purchasing them in the future!

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Attune Foods – Uncle Sam Cereal Review and Giveaway

Posted by Brande on September 30, 2011
in Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition, Organic

Sorry, there’s no prize or marshmallows in the box. Uncle Sam’s Cereal offers much more for you families heath. This product distributed by Attune Foods. Attune’s goals are to help support the digestive & immune system along with general wellness. Uncle Sam’s Cereal has been feeding families since 1908!

In addition to Uncle Sam’s, Attune Foods has 3 other cereals including, New Morning Organic Gram, Skinner’s Raisin Brand, & Erewhom. Attune also has a varities of probiotic granola bars. Last year they added Munch probiotic bars that come in Maple Nut, Chocolate and Apple Cinnamon.

For more infomation you can visit their website at www.attunefoods.com.

It’s wonderful whole grain goodness! My family really enjoyed Uncle Sam’s Cereal. It had great flavor and texture. For something that is so healthy it sure is yummy! We really love it!

GIVEAWAY-

Attune Foods wants to give one winner the chance to win SIX coupons to get your own products from Attune!

Mandatory Entry: Tell me what cereal products your family loves best!

Extra Entries;(Please be sure and leave a comment and link for extra entries):

1 Entry: Tweet about this giveaway. Include a separate comment for each and your tweet url with your comment:

Enter to win a x2 coupons to @attunefoods @faithandfamilyrewv http://bit.ly/niF3Qo #giveaway

1 Entry: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Twitter

1 Entry: Follow Attune Foods on Twitter

1 Entry: Like/Friend Faith and Family Reviews on Facebook.

1 Entry: Like Attune Foods on Facebook

10 Entries: Blog about this giveaway and link back this post. Be sure to leave me a link.

1 Entry:For every comment you leave anywhere else on this blog, but please leave a link with your comment!

2 Entries: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Google Friend Connect (on the our right side bar).

Details:

This giveaway will run from September 30th, 2011 to October 14th, 2011 at midnight CST. The winner will be chosen through Random.org. Attune Foods will send one winner their prize. Winner will be contacted via email on or before October 14th, 2011 and will be asked for their contact and other pertinent info. Winners will have 48 hours to send me their e-mail at [ffr] [giveaways] [at] [gmail] [dot] [com] (without spaces and parenthesis). Please note: This giveaway is offered to USA only.

Thanks and have fun!

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Activia Selects Review

Posted by Brande on September 27, 2011
in Food and Treats, Health, Health & Garden Tuesday, Health and Garden Tuesday, Health and Nutrition

My Review:

We received French Selects Cherry, French Selects Fruit on the Bottom in Mixed Fruit and Greek Selects in Vanilla. We love yogurt in our house. We especially enjoyed the Activia Selects French & French Fruit on the bottom. They were smooth and creamy. The Activia Selects Greek is a thick yogurt. We don’t usually eat Greek yogurt, because of it’s thickness. But, it was still very enjoyable.

Go to this website and you can get your own free Activia Selects to try!

http://activia.us.com/products/enjoy_activia_selects.aspx

About Activia Selects:

“Everyday, millions of people across the country enjoy Activia at mealtime or as a snack. So, we’re especially excited to introduce you to the newest innovations from Activia Selects – new styles of yogurt made from recipes inspired by global cultures, including those from Greece and France. Each allows fans of Activia – and those who may not have tried Activia before – to explore the wider world of tastes and textures offered by a brand they already trust and love.”

“The new Activia Selects styles and flavors, including French style, with large fruit bites layered on the bottom, and Greek style, a creamy blended yogurt. As always, Activia Selects, made with the unique pro-biotic culture Bifidus Regularis, can help regulate the digestive system when consumed daily for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle, so you’ll feel good about what you’re eating.”

“Partnering with Activia Selects is Johnny Luzzini, award-winning executive pastry chef and “Top Chef just Desserts” head judge, who can share delicious ways to explore new flavors and textures based on cultural recipes.”

Activia Selects French are available in Cherry, Mango, Pineapple, & Blackberry. Activia Selects French Fruit on the Bottom are available in Strawberry & Mixed Fruit. And the Activia Selects Greek come in Vanilla, Blueberry, Strawberry, & Pomegranate Berry.

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NEW! Health and Garden Tuesday Post

Posted by html404 on September 6, 2011
in All Natural Products, Family Stuff, Health and Garden Tuesday, Health and Nutrition, Home

I just wanted to share a little testimony for this week’s post on Health and Garden Tuesday. Over the weekend I went with a friend to give a Raindrop to a client who won a free Raindrop with a qualifying order at one of my friend’s meetings. I was acting as her assistant and had to ring out two towels with hot water. The only thing is I made the water too hot and burned my thumb so much so that it started smarting and blistering right away. I was not able to put anything on it until Sunday morning and when I did I applied two Young Living essential oils: Purification and Lavender. The blistering is basically gone and what remains does not even hurt. I have never used an essential oil on a burn before and am very glad that I did since the pain of the burn is not as long lasting as it usually is. My burn really benefited from using Young Living essential oils.

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Review ~ Squid Balm

Posted by Professor on July 31, 2011
in All Natural Products, Baby Products, Eco Friendly Products, Family Stuff, Gift Ideas, Handmade Items, Health and Nutrition, Organic, Personal Care Products, Products for Dad, Products for Mom

Squid Balm

A Vast Variety of Vegan beauty goodies….

Vegan products that are Nut-free, Bee0free, phthalate-free, paraben-free, and gluten-free.

These products are great for sensitive skin types!

Solid product means Squid Balm is TSA friendly as well as eco-friendly.

There is a myriad of choices on Squid Balms Website ranging from skin and body car to hair care! The products are scented or unscented…something to suit everyone’s taste!

OUR REVIEW:

We received the following products:

UNSCENTED ~ Squid Balm Solid Lotion Bar

UNSCENTED ~ Handcrafted Cold Pressed Avacado Oil Soap

UNSCENTED ~ Squid Silk Solid Conditioner Bar

Squis Squeak Solid Shampoo Bar ~ PURE

Gentle Oil Cleanser ~ For Normal Skin

This is such a wonderful product! I must say that I sought them out for my daughter who is 2 and has severe Eczema on her little body. I am tired of using steroid creams and was searching for a natural alternative when I found Squid Balm. I opted for the phytoestrogen (plant estrogens) free option that Squid balm offers…so I must say I cannot comment on the scented line of this product. The phytoestrogen free products are also free of xenoestrogens (synthetic chemicals that can mimic estrogen in the body), fragrance free, phthalate free, nut free, gluten free, and paraben free. I opted for this option because of the Eczema and anything that a product can eliminate to suppress flare-ups is a plus in my book! However, with that said…this product is so wonderful that their scented line can only enhance the “awesomeness” of Squid Balm!

On to my review…

Theese were all AWESOME products for my daughter with sensitive skin. She did not have an Eczema flare up while using this product. It actually helped to clear up the Eczema. I was extremely surprised to see how well she took to the product. Often creams (even sensitive, fragrance free) creams irritate her skin…causing it to “burn” as she says when applied. Squid Balm DOES NOT burn or irritate the skin…in fact she liked the lotion bar so much she carries it around putting the cream on herself. This is such a relief to a mother who used to have to hold her daughter down to apply cream! All of the products were great for her little skin… I liked the shampoo bar because it too was easy to apply and since she was already used to Mr. Squiddy (as we affectionately call the solid lotion bar because of the cute logo) she was not apprehensive about letting me wash her hair as she usually is with the commercial shampoo I was using.

The only thing I did not try out on my daughter was the Gentle Facial cleanser (I saved that one for myself!) the cleanser is nice and smooth and does a great job! In fact I like it more than the cleanser I was using previously! The only thing I wish is that the bottle I was given included a pump…I received the 1 oz size which does not come with a pump. I would imagine that a pump dispenser would be much easier to use with the product and cause less waste! I must also admit that I swiped the conditioner bar for myself (my 2 year old does fine with just shampoo and no conditioner) I am currently using this in lieu of shave gel…let me tell you this is by far the BEST thing I have used for shaving! The conditioner bar has many used from traditional conditioner to styling crème…but I liked it best as a shave lotion.

All in all these products are truly AWESOME! I am so glad I have found Squid Balm for myself and my daughter…we will use this product for years to come!

To find out more about Squid Balm and to order please visit:

http://squidbalm.com/index.html or look them up on facebook or twitter!

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30 Meals in One Day Review, Promo Code & Giveaway!

Posted by Brande on July 8, 2011
in Books, Coupons, Deals, Downloads, DVDs & CDs, Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Health, Health & Garden Tuesday, Health and Garden Tuesday, Health and Nutrition, Products for Mom, Recipes, Saving Money

So, you spent the day at work or running around with your kids. You get home and the question comes up, “What’s for dinner?”. Imagine telling them we’re having Slow Cooked Chili or Chicken Stuffed Manicotti within 45 minutes! With this book and CD, it’s possible!

Dinner is Ready (by Deanna Buxton) is the book & software I received. In this book, there are 15 chapters. Each explains in detail the steps you need to accomplish your ultimate goal of 30 Meals in One Day. Here are a few chapter titles. “What is Freezer-Worthy?”, “Things That Will Make Your Life Easier”, “The Day Before”, & “Thawing”.

I’m going to share 2 (two) paragraphs from the “Dinner is Ready” book.

From Chapter 2 – “What is Freezer-Worthy?”

“The test for “freezer-worthiness” is, “Do you like it after it has been frozen?” After it is frozen, thawed and heated, can you tell that it has been frozen? If you can tell it has been frozen, you don’t want it on your freezer-worthy list. You are not freezing leftovers! What makes leftovers taste like leftovers? Leftovers can taste dried out, thick and overcooked. Freezing is a marvelous method for food preservation. When frozen properly, the food you serve your family will taste as delicious as if made that day! The intention is to freeze food at or before its peak so you are always serving fresh tasting food. Fully cooked meals such as Slow Cooker, StoveTop and Oven recipes should be frozen as soon as cool enough to go into the freezer. Assemble recipes should be frozen as soon as preparation and packaging is complete.

From Chapter 4 – ” Choosing Recipes”

“Before choosing 15 recipes to prepare, you must first divide them according to cooking method and/or time required to prepare each. Slow Cooker recipes, Oven recipes, StoveTop recipes, and Assemble recipes.

Your recipe list should very nearly consist of:

2 Slow Cooker recipes, 2 Oven recipes, 2 StoveTop recipes and 9 Assemble recipes

This is a general rule. The number of each will probably vary at times. Just be sure to limit the total to 15. Don’t choose more Slow Cooker and Oven recipes than are physically possible in a day and avoid choosing too many labor intensive StoveTop recipes.”

My Review:

What your doing is making 15 double batch recipes, getting 30 meals. This book and software is fantastic! The software is very friendly, when you pick your recipes. It will develop a shopping list and labels! Also, from the software you can print a menu, recipes, and labels! The book is very step by step and it seems as though nothing has been left out! There are 158 pages of recipes! However, I must warn you. You’ll need 1 (one) full day just to cook. So, put your families on notice for that day. That and your shopping day, you’ll probably end up spending more than normal. But, you’ll have tons of meals! I know what some of you are thinking, where am I going to fit 30 meals in my freezer? (There’s a chapter on this too) I’m limited on space and moving in a few weeks. So, 30 meals didn’t make sense to me at this time. Or maybe you want to try it out first. You can do what I did, I made 10 meals (5 recipes). 1 Slow Cooker, 1 Oven, 1 StoveTop, and 2 Assemble. Worked for me!

In addition to Dinner is Ready, they offer Lunch is Ready & On the Side. Got a wedding or baby shower coming up?

Overall, I recommend this product!

Let’s talk promo codes! We’ve got one for you, for you! You can get $5.00 off any order over $12.oo if you use this promo code: UTFAIR Not too shabby!

Join their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Dinner-is-Ready#!/pages/Dinner-is-Ready/192962734062940

Or their blog at http://www.30mealsinoneday.blogspot.com/!

Oh, one more thing! We have a giveaway!!!!

One very lucky Faith and Family Reviews reader will win a Dinner is Ready book and software combo!

You can also purchase this combo on their website at http://www.30mealsinoneday.com/products.php and don’t forget your promo code UTFAIR. If you order the same combo set, then win the giveaway, they will refund your order OR send you another set! AND – it you order the full set (all 3 cookbooks and 3-in-1 software) before the winner is announced, the will refund $60.00 of the winner’s order!

Happy Cooking!

Giveaway-

Mandatory Entry: Tell me what your favorite dish is to cook or bake.
Extra Entries (Please be sure and leave a comment and link for extra entries):

1 Entry:Follow Faith and Family Reviews On Twitter

1 Entry:Like/Friend Faith and Family Reviews on Facebook.

1 Entry: Join their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Dinner-is-Ready#!/pages/Dinner-is-Ready/192962734062940

2 Entries: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Google Friend Connect (on the our right side bar).

2 Entries: Tweet about this giveaway, but only one tweet per day please. Include your tweet url with your comment. You may write your own tweet or use this one:

Giveaway: Enter to win a 30 meals in one day combo pack! http://bit.ly/p4jNyA @faithfamilyrevw! Please share! Thx!

5 Entries: Blog about this giveaway and link back this post..

1 Entry: for every comment you leave anywhere else on this blog, but please leave a link with your comment!

Details:
This giveaway will run from July 8th, 2011 to July 22nd, 2011 at midnight CST. The winner will be chosen through Random.org. 30 Meals in One Day will send one winner their prize. Winner will be contacted via email on or before July 22nd and will be asked for their contact and other pertinent info. Winners will have 48 hours to send me their e-mail at [ffr] [giveaways] [at] [gmail] [dot] [com] (without spaces and parenthesis). Please note: This giveaway is offered to US and Canada only.

Thanks and have fun!