I won I won I won

Yay I never win anything.
There is this blog that I follow... It's bookmarked over here to your left on the screen... DO you guys click on those?
Anyway, the blog is Cake Maker To the Stars and I kind of adore her. She's from New Orleans and she has a magical pyrex collection. She also has a magical garden. And she makes magical food from her magical garden. Vegan food, of course, and there are so many recipes of hers I want to try. She makes her own sushi!! How cool is that? I want to do that!! She created what is called a Zine, basically full of her recipes, craft ideas and advice. Click here to read more about her zine.
So anyway, she was having a little contest of sorts and she picked two winners to whom she is sending her zine for free! So basically to win, she just asked us to leave a comment on her page. She said we can talk about our pet fish, or our moms. I dont have fish, but I have cats, and I have one super bad ass mom. SO my comment said...

"I have your blog bookmarked. When I discovered your blog I went all the way back and read all of your entries. I am in love with your kitchen, and your garden. You are so cute and colorful and I envy your pyrex collection. There was a very dry spell where you did not post and I was sad. I am not Vegan actually, just vegetarian. But I am always looking for new recipes and I often bake vegan treats. I don't have a fish, but I do have 2 big furry cats named Elton and Coop. My mom is kind of like a mixture of Betty Crocker and Martha stewart, she taught me everything I know about cooking and baking.
Pick me pick me!!!!"

Sorry mom I hope you're not offended that I compared you to Martha and Betty. You're way better than them. And you really did teach me everything I know, and I have so much more to learn I hope you teach me new things every day :)

I won. I'm awesome.
Thank you Kittee!!!

Speaking of recipes and what not... My cooking has become so boring lately. I dont know why, maybe i'm lazy. But I havent been trying anything new. I hope my new zine will help me snap out of it.
My dad said something last night, well he said a lot of things last night, but a few things stood out in my mind. I was eating my "meat crumbles" burrito, like I do almost every night and suddenly I panicked, I pulled some of the food out of my mouth and I knew it was real hamburger it wasn't pretend hamburger haha. I immediately lost my appetite. My dad pointed out that even though we think we know what we're eating, most the time there are "additional things" in our food. Whether it be insects, animal fur, or other gross things that happen to end up in our food. He was talking about how they examine cup o noodles under a microscope and they SEE other random gross NON FOOD items in there, but they let it slide and its sold to us poor folk who rely on cup o noodle. I used to be one of them haha. The FDA (food and drug administration) are sneaky sneaky people. They allow a certain amount of unsafe chemical additives to our food. Its disgusting. Let me just touch on one particular chemical they allow in our dry foods and beverages. ASPARTAME.
This is from a book I read called Skinny Bitch
"So many people have been sickened from this shit that there are aspartame victim support groups. Some of the 92 aspartame side effects listed by the FDA include memory loss, nerve cell damage, migraines, reproductive disorders, mental confusion, brain lesions, blindness, joint pain, Alzheimer's, bloating, nervous system disorders, hair loss, food cravings, and weight gain.....

KEEP READING

NutraSweet and Equal contain aspartame. When ingested, one of aspartame's ingredients, methyl alcohol, converts into formaldehyde, a deadly neurotoxin. In addition to aspartame, Equal contains the amino acid Phenylalanine. Phenylalanine occurs naturally in the brain, but high levels can increase the chance of seizures and lead to depression and schizophrenia. There is no lesser of the two evils."

Aspartame is found in our precious diet coke. I gave up soda a couple months ago and while I agree its been difficult, when I read about aspartame and the effects of soda pop I dont even want to drink it, i'm disgusted by it. Does anyone even think about what we're eating anymore!?! I'm no saint, don't get me wrong, I eat plenty of junk food. But I try my hardest to read ingredients and avoid things I know are bad for me. I try to find brands that I trust.

Sorry for the rant. I doubt any of you continued reading once it started.

I just want to be happy and healthy and I want all of my loved ones to live long lives without medical complications. I want everyone to be more cautious and aware of what they eat and drink. Everyone I know believes that their body is a temple, a gift from above. So lets think first before we eat, shall we? I'm not targeting anyone specific. Just saying...


On a much lighter note, I love my cats.