Buy American

This is truly disgusting!  

I saw this post on Facebook.  I know everything we read on Facebook should be taken with a grain of salt HOWEVER….I have read several things on this same subject and I think most of it is true.  Look on your packages from home and see if you don't find the very things this person is saying.  "Packaged in china"  So sad but so true.  We all need to buy American!  I myself will only be buying Birds Eye brand from now on.  Even more so though, I plan on expanding my garden this year so that hopefully, I won't need to buy many veggies, I can freeze and can my own!!
Read the whole thing…….


After reading I remembered that I purchased Tilapia from Wal-Mart
last week. I read the label and it was just as the article stated "packaged in Jacksonville, FL but processed in China. After reading
it, I threw it in the garbage. At my sister-in-law's suggestion, I took out of the garbage and took it back to Wal-Mart. It had started to
thaw before taking it back and inside the sealed (unopened) wrapper, there were little black particles that appeared to be feces. I took
this e-mail with me and the customer service lady told me that she was familiar with it and as much as her kids liked Tilapia, they don't eat
it anymore. I left the entire e-mail with her because it doesn't just address Tilapia.

DO NOT EAT TILAPIA: Greetings and Salutations...
I read several articles on Google about this, and even one that was defending the eating of tilapia said to avoid the fish that came from
China. Also, I had just returned home from buying Publix & Albertson's 4-day special of 4 bags of frozen tilapia for the price of one. Sure enough, on the top of the bags, it read "farm raised", and on the bottom in small print it said, "China". I recently saw a Food inspector on TV...
He said he had lived overseas and he had seen the filthy conditions their foods are raised and processed in. It is enough to make you
throw up. Some foreign workers have to wear masks as they work in these places, because the food is so rotten and filthy, it makes them
want to throw up.

Many of their Fish on Fish Farms are fed Raw sewage daily. He said he has seen so much filth throughout their food growing and processing that he would "never" eat any of it. They raise this filth , put some food coloring and some flavorings on it, then they ship it to the USA for YOU to consume and feed to YOUR families. They have no Food & Safety Inspectors. They ship it to you to buy and poison your families and friends. Imported food we eat and the junk we buy

Green Giant frozen vegetables are from China , and so are most of Europe's Best.
Arctic Gardens are Okay. So is Birdseye.

Never buy the grocery store garlic unless it is clearly marked from USA or Canada, the other stuff is grown in people poop (even worse
than chicken poop). China is the largest producer of garlic in the world U.S. is next. Buy only local honey, much honey is shipped in huge containers from China and re-packed here. Watch out for packages which state "prepared for", "packed by" or
"imported by". I don't understand the lack of mandatory labeling, especially the produce. The country of origin should be clearly shown
on the item in the store. I go to the local farmers' markets in season and keep a wary eye open the rest of the year.

Please read this very carefully, and read to the very bottom. It's important for all of us. How is it possible to ship food from China cheaper than having it produced in the U.S. or Canada?

FOR EXAMPLE
THE "OUR FAMILY"BRAND OF MANDARIN ORANGES SAYS RIGHT ON THE CAN 'FROM CHINA '. SO, FOR A FEW MORE CENTS, BUY THE LIBERTY BRAND. GOLD BRAND OR THE DOLE IS FROM CALIFORNIA Beware, Costco sells canned peaches and pears in a plastic jar that come from China. ALL "HIGH LINER" AND MOST OTHER FROZEN FISH PRODUCTS COME FROM CHINA OR INDONESIA. THE PACKAGE MAY SAY "PACIFIC SALMON" ON THE FRONT, BUT LOOK FOR THE SMALL PRINT. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS COME FROM FISH FARMS IN THE ORIENT WHERE THERE ARE NO REGULATIONS ON WHAT IS FED TO
THESE FISH.

Recently The Montreal Gazette had an article by the Canadian Government on how Chinese feed the fish: They suspend chicken wire crates over the fish ponds, and the fish feed on chicken s--t. If you search the Internet about what the Chinese feed their fish, you'll be alarmed; e.g., growth hormones, expired anti-biotics from humans. Never buy any type of fish or shellfish that comes from these countries: Vietnam, China,
Philippines. Check this out . I did. Steinfeld's Pickles are made in India - just as bad! Another example is in canned mushrooms. No-Name brand came from Indonesia. Also check those little fruit cups.They used to be made in Canada in the Niagara region until about 2 years ago. They are now packaged in China!

While the Chinese export inferior and even toxic products, dangerous toys, and goods to be sold in North American markets, the media wrings its hands! Yet, 70% of North Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended!
Well, duh! Why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges? SIMPLY DO IT YOURSELF, CANADA AND THE U.S.
Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says 'Made in China' or 'PRC' (and that now includes Hong Kong ), simply choose another product, or none at all. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, and you will be equally amazed at what you can do without.

I bought "Dole" fruit cups from Walmart and when I got home noticed they were "packaged in CHINA"
I threw them away and am very aware of DOLE products now.....and check out the cans etc....
I don't buy any food "packaged in CHINA etc" Watch out for "store brands' also.





THINK ABOUT THIS:

If 200 million North Americans refuse to buy just $20 each of Chinese goods, that's a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our
favor... fast! The downside? Some Canadian/American businesses will feel a temporary pinch from having foreign stockpiles of inventory.
Just one month of trading losses will hit the Chinese for 8% of their North American exports. Then they will at least have to ask themselves if the benefits of their arrogance and lawlessness are worth it.

START NOW and don't stop.
Send this to everybody you know. Let's show them that we are
intelligent, and NOBODY can take us for
granted

Workout

I don't know if you all have seen this on Facebook or not….but it seems like a pretty good regimen to start with.  It is not going to burn a whole lot of calories nor is it going to take a whole lot of time.  But it does seem to work on the key areas we all want to "tweak"  The abs, legs and butt.  Im going to give it a try, starting on Monday.  Who's in with me?  And if we seem to hungry while doing it on the diet, we can just quit.  I really don't think it will effect our hunger tho, and I do think it will help the weight loss.

Have a great weekend!!  

Baby it's cold outside

Well, here we are in the middle of another winter storm.  Old man winter isn't quite done with us yet.  However I am in the "tropical" 50 degree weather in Eastern Tennessee.  We came here for the Presidents' Day weekend are now staying an extra day because of how bad the weather is in NWI.  Exciting news we are redoing the kitchen here at the lake and we got to go over everything while here this weekend and construction should be done by June 1!!  So exciting!!  I will show you some before pictures which will have some after photos in a few months.

This is how is currently appears....yes very dated and very small, especially for someone who likes to cook as much as I do!  But,never fear a bigger and better kitchen for this"country chick" is on its way.  

It's raining at the lake now.  The same storm that is dumping over 8 inches is snow at home is dropping some rain showers on us here.  I will take rain over snow at this point.  We were able to get out and about on Saturday, heading over to Jackson TN to do a little shopping and browsing.  It is the closest "big" city near us.  It has a Target, SAMs Club, a mall, and most importantly....a Starbucks!!  I don't go for long without my cup of java from my favorite source, but coming down here means I need to have my supply of Verissimo coffee on hand!  

Just sharing some photos of the lake house....my mantle, notice the gigantic flower I found...love it!!

This is looking down from the landing and out into the water...love it

The sign I found at Pier 1 for the guest bedroom, How cute is that??

This is the motto we live by here, and for everyone that comes and visits.  We are planning on hosting a huge family reunion here this summer....let the party planning begin!

Healthy Vanilla Bean Scones

I have had a few questions on things people can eat for breakfast besides the eggs and turkey sausage.  Protein shakes are also ok, but I know for me anyway I like something sweet in the morning sometimes.  Well yesterday I came up with a recipe for scones and let me tell you, it is pretty amazing!  Vanilla Bean scones to be exact.  But not only are they good…they have less than 5 carbs per piece AND they have around 4 grams of protein in each piece!!  I love it!  They were not that hard to make and everyone loved them!  I frosted a few with a glaze made from Splenda and half of them I just left plain.  They really didn't need anything, and let me say they are GREAT with my coffee this morning!  There seems like a lot of steps here, but don't let that intimidate you…These are super easy and I finished it all in under a half hour.  The possibilities for this are endless…you could add maple flavoring and make maple scones, pumpkin scones, even using some Walden Farms Jelly and making some fruit ones.  Let your imagination run wild!  

Here it is….

Vanilla Bean Scones

In bowl mix 

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Vanilla Bean Scrape out the inside and put all the yummy flecks of the bean in the cream and then just put the remaining skin of the bean in it to.

1 Egg

Let it set while mixing ...

1 Cup Almond Flour

1 Cup Coconut Flour

1 Cup Spelt Flour

5 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 Cup Splenda (Optional, I didn't use it mostly because I forgot it, but with the coconut flour and glaze, it really is pretty sweet)

Sift above ingredients together in large bowl

In food processor, pour flour mixture in and put in 

1 Stick cold Butter

1/2 Brick (4oz) Cream Cheese

Pulse on high until it resembles crumbles then pour back into bowl and add the wet ingredients.  Mix it just til its combined.  Don't over mix.  Pour out onto a floured surface and shape into a rectangle pushing the dough together to about 3/4 inch thickness.  Then take a pizza cutter and cut 4 cuts widthwise and 2 cuts lengthwise.  Then take each square and cut it at a diagonal so that you end up with 29-30 small Triangles. Put on baking sheet, they can be close together since they don't spread much and bake at a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  

Roll out the dough into a rectangle shape

Use a pizza cutter to cut the triangles

Glaze

3/4 Cup Splenda

Cream

Mix cream by teaspoonfuls into Splenda and mix til glaze consistency.  Spread on scones 

Enjoy!!

Let them cool completely before spreading the glaze on them

Mmmmm Perfect breakfast!