Now Showing: The Junk and Ugly Truth

Not only that I am a smoothie junkie but also a movie and TV series aficionado. I have this daily habit of watching one movie per day, not necessarily in the big screen but at home before sleeping and usually a DVD marathon of my favourite TV series during the weekends (The Big Bang Theory is my current obsession). However, the downside of this habit is the snacks. As For me junk food and soda is always the top food choice to go with a good movie, it takes two to tango, right?

But then eventually I realized I have to break the unhealthy snack habit and change the pattern of my eating behaviour. Here's why: I gained weight so fast that my jeans wont fit anymore and I was once dizzy the whole day after I consumed a bag of MSG-packed chips. Well, that was my body pleading to cut down my intake of preservative rich foods and I have to listen for my own good. The idea is excruciating for my palate but beneficial to my health. I do not want to die young, overweight and depressed! Do you? I don't think so.

So the idea popped out at once. Since I love popcorn and smoothies why not splurge on it rather than chips and sodas. FYI: all homemade ingredients.

Popcorn:

1/2 cup Corn seeds/kernels
 2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil/Olive oil
1 tbsp. Light Butter

-Coat the bottom part of the pan with Olive oil at medium- high heat

- Add the corn Kernels. Make sure to cover the pan

- Let the Kernels cook and shake it once in awhile
-In 3-5 minutes when it stopped popping turn off the stove, let it cool, out it in a bowl, add some butter and serve.

Smoothies:

Mango smoothie

1 ripe Mango

1/2 cup milk

Ice cubes

Honey/ Agave nectar
Flaxseeds

Process everything on a blender at 60 second cycle (I use my OMNI BLENDER V) or until its creamy. Add some honey to taste.

There you go. Nothing fancy just homemade, msg-free and healthy. Oh by the way, I buy organic chips once in awhile for a change but the smoothies...oh! I love it! I can have those creamy and smooth beverage every hour of every day =)

Smoothie Junkie

Organic versus Conventional food products

Organic Farming is a natural way of agriculture. This method produces crops using crop rotation, green manure, biological pest control and the use of natural fertilizers. The aim of organic farming is to produce good quality crops with high nutrition values with no damage to mother earth by completely breaking the habit of using synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers, etc. Organic food saves us from the alarming effects of conventional foods that are chock-full of fertilizers that will eventually take its toll on our body's immune system.

It is surprising that nowadays a lot of consumers are changing, from conventional to healthy organic lifestyle. People are now wiser and more cautious on what they cook for dinner for their families. But then the problem is, not everyone can afford it. Organic is generally expensive than conventional food. Is it really? Let see.

• Organic food production is limited as compared to conventional. It is a fight over quality versus quantity. The fact is that non-organic products produce more because of the fertilizers they use to increase production. However, with organic products, they may be lesser in production but it is jam-packed with nutrients that makes it tastier, juicier (fruits), greener and healthier of course.
•  Farmers do not use fertilizers and pesticides so hard labour is exerted to meet the demands of organic farming. Natural ways of soil fertilization, pest control and production is very toilsome for farmers growing organic foods.
• The demand exceeds the supply. Because of the sudden increase in demand of organic food, people who are selling them peddle the goods at a higher price in the market.
• No government subsidies allocation for Organic farming unlike conventional farming. The government funds conventional farming because they are in dire need of fertilizers for mass and fast production. Or else, we will all starve. Like what happened after World War II where food is scarce and people are dying out of starvation. In lieu of this horrible event, the government decided to load the farms with chemicals to increase growth and production without the realization that the quality of the crops perished.

So it seems like, Organic food products are more expensive than conventional but come to think of the benefits. Some studies show that habitual intake of organic food reduces the risk for cancer and other diseases. Also, you are not only saving yourself but the planet as well. You see with Organic farming, the soil life will be preserved until the next generations to come. Water pollution from the chemicals that is washed out into the bodies of water will be reduced.

There is no doubt that money-wise organic products is a pretty penny but come to think of it, does it really burn a hole in your pocket ?

SmoothieJunkie








The images are not mine unless otherwise stated. Courtesy of google.com