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I've done a lot of reading about GMOs .. but am no expert.  Here is an incomplete list of ways to possibly avoid them.  Please leave a comment with ways you avoid the 'buggers' ;) Buy certified USDA organic products (I have much mistrust of the USDA ...) Stay away from ALL processed foods (salad dressings, mayo, crackers, hot dogs .. unless they are certified organic .. and then be skeptical .. it's not that hard to make your own dressings, mayo .. etc.) Buy produce from local farms where you can talk to the farmer about their farming practices. Avoid EVERYTHING with soy products .. again .. unless they are certified organic .. and soy sauce says naturally fermented.  Still ..use soy sauce sparingly.  Soy is hidden in so many things that say 'natural flavorings' .. it's a catch all phrase that the government allows .. I'm allergic to 'natural flavorings'. We now will have a problem with buying organic meat with the government's recent allowan...

Are GMO's (genetically modified organisms) .. i.e. altered DNA plants such as soy, corn, beet sugar .. now the alfalfa being fed to farm animals making us sick .. and giving us allergic reactions?  Is there some big cover-up between the USDA and mega corporations .. perhaps payoffs?  I don't want to sound like Chicken Little .. but it's becoming more apparent as time passes that there is a skunk in the hen house .. and the government is turning a blind 'nose'.  I think the Pide Piper is more like it.  A melodic tune has captured the general public and turned them into robot zombies .. eating and consuming junk foods, processed foods, and not noticing the effects until they wake up one day with food allergies, type II diabetes, or a host of other maladies.  There is a big cover-up going on.  Start informing yourselves so you can, in turn, inform your families before it's too late.  Oh wait .. it is too late!  Pandora's Box has been opened and GMO c...

Some days I get antsy reading the headlines on the sidebar of this blog.  GMO foods and crops .. to soak or not to soak grains .. raw -vs- pasteurized milk .. toxic money .. etc.   Yes, it is good to be informed.  Taking in the news and trying to eke out a common sense approach to life is important to having a quality life.  There is just too much living to do that one needs not to be in fear of living.  Just breathing is dangerous it seems some days.  I get the most enjoyment trying to figure out how to make products at home.  Be it soap or green cleaners.  Trying to save money and not always needing the latest gadget.  Being content with thrift store shopping.  Growing as much food as possible for summer use and winter storage.  Can I do it all? NO!  .. and I have learned that being a good homemaker means not only keeping busy at home with the garden, etc. .. but also seeking the best local produce, eggs, meat, etc. in the c...

Yep ... it's true, just ask my mom.  Back in the early 1960's we lived in a somewhat rural area in Utah.  Dad had gotten a big box of beautiful ripe apricots from someone ... these were picked from a farm or commercial orchard perhaps .. unbeknown to me ... (at the ripe old age of five) I ate some fruit directly from the box without the benefit of washing first.  Boy, they were good tasting apricots ... who could stop eating just one. Two, three, four, five ... apricots later.  Within a day I began to get SICK ... and WEAK ... and had to eventually go to the doctor.  He gave me some awful big-old-chewable-disc-shaped iron pills (the size of a nickle) .. to take daily.  I believe he said I was anemic (fuzzy here .. many moons ago).  I did feel ill for weeks .. perhaps months.  I couldn't sleep at night ... I would get sweaty and chilled .. the only comforting thing to do was take a warm bath for hours it seemed.  No sleep .. restless .. ill .....