When Your Soap Isn't Soap

I've been making my own soap for quite a few years now.  I sell them here and there, and give away lots of them!  People are generally receptive, but, not always as excited as I seem to be at the prospect of using handmade soap.  After a recent conversation with my son, I finally realized why that is.
He asked me, "What's wrong with store-bought soap?"
So, it occurs to me, that the majority of people do not know or realize that there IS something wrong with store-bought "soap".  First and foremost, your store-bought soap, though enticingly fragranced and perhaps beautiful to behold, is actually......not soap at all!
Soaps are made from oils, either animal or vegetable.  Lye and water are added to these oils and "saponification" takes place.  You have a bar of soap!
Sometime, during one of the world wars, as oils became scarce....manufacturers needed to find new ways to make cleansers, and soon, synthetic detergents were created.  Loads of chemical lathering agents, synthetic colors and fragrances give a deceivingly soap like presence, but your skin knows the difference.  In addition, other manufacturers began removing the beneficial glycerin that is produced during the saponification process, in order to increase profits by selling it to other manufacturers.....replacing it with artificial ingredients or chemicals.  These detergents and chemicals strip your skin of their natural moisture, (oils) and require you to slather on lotions and moisturizers....never realizing that you are creating the problem.  Even more alarming than the drying effects is the fact that your skin absorbs the chemicals from these cleansers, and they are then stored in your fat cells or other organs.  Over time they build up, and as any other toxin you might ingest, have the capacity to cause great illness.  Its really no different than eating pesticide laden produce.  You should know that these chemical additives are not exclusively found in cleansing bars, but also in most other mass-produced bath & body items, ie: conditioners, shampoos, lotions, even toothpastes.  Don't get me started on antiperspirants/deodorants!
What can you do?  Inform yourself.   Make your own soap, or find someone who does.  You may pay a little more for that soap, but you'll find it lasts a lot longer than store bought cleansers, AND you won't spend a lot of extra money on moisturizers!
What real soap can do for you?  Restore your natural skin balance and  eliminate the need for moisturizers (or at the very least decrease the need).  Really?  Really!
My favorite soap is a simple, olde fashioned bar of Castille, or Olive Oil soap.  Its the only soap you need!

Organic Beef? Not Always What You'd Expect!

I've been buying organic meat at the grocery store for some time now.  Organic beef ranges from about $5/lb for ground beef to $10-$20/lb (or more) for other cuts.....when you can find it.  This can quickly become prohibitively expensive, particularly when you really love beef!  So when a co-worker told me of her "organic" beef supplier that sells whole, halves or quarters for about $2.69/lb.....I was amazed and intrigued to say the very least!   Unfortunately, when I finally got around to calling the supplier, she said she already had a full load coming to Illinois in June (this is her drop-off point), so could only accept orders for the next trip, which would be in August.  I was extremely disappointed, but this is definitely a case of bad news turning into good news!  Just wait!

So, I proceeded to ask for more information from the supplier, and expected to go ahead and place an order for August.  Well, as it turns out, her beef is not organic.   She calls it natural, or as close to organic as you can get without being organic. She went on to tell me that the cost of organic feed is too expensive, and would more than likely quadruple her price.  She also quoted me a similar cost as my friend had mentioned, but explained that the cost could vary depending on the price of corn this summer.  Hmmmmmm....so she feeds her cattle corn.  Haven't I heard alot about "grass fed" cattle?  Is it alright to feed your cattle corn?  I decided to do some research when I got home, to find out if corn is an acceptable feed for cattle, and also, what exactly is the difference between organic, natural and grass fed?  Do I have to buy organic?  Is it good enough to buy beef that has simply been raised natural, but not necessarily certified organic?
Let's start with commercial cattle.  Their story is not a pretty one, and I won't linger too long.  They spend a few months after birth grazing on grassland, but are soon transferred to a commercial "feed-lot" where they are stuffed into stalls and fed almost exclusively grains in order to speed growth, not to mention the growth-enhancing antibiotics, hormones, feed additives, etc, etc.
So, what about organic cattle?  This is where my paradigm shift comes!!  Organic cattle are raised without antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, irradiation or bio-engineering....this we all know.  But, did you know that organic cattle are not necessarily "free-range" or "grass-fed"?  In fact, they may indeed be transferred to feed-lots and fed organic grains to "finish" them up before slaughter.  Although, to be certified organic, they must be certified "humane"....the USDA's opinion of humane and mine may differ greatly.
So, now its getting a little tricky.
What about grass-fed cattle?  Is grass truly better?  Yes it is!
Cattle are not meant to eat grains.  Their natural diet is grass.  A diet of grain is one of the primary reasons beef is considered unhealthy today.  It is true.  Grain fed beef can have nearly 50% of its fat as saturated, whereas, grass fed beef usually has less than 10% saturated fat.
Comparing grass fed beef to grain fed beef:

• Two to four times richer in heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
• Higher in "good" unsaturated fats and lower in "bad" saturated fats.
• Three to five times higher in CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) content.
• Loaded with over 400% more of vitamin A (as beta carotene) and E.
• Virtually devoid of risk of Mad Cow Disease.

Alright....I'm convinced......grass fed beef is the way to go.
I found this great website, Eat Wild,......has lots of info and maps with links to grass fed cattle ranches in your area.  You can read all about each ranch to see if it really fits in with your ideals.
I found quite a few close by to me, some organic, some not, but all stressed that they don't use antibiotics, hormones, etc. and their cattle graze freely in pesticide-free pastures.
Some are more expensive than others......and some are already sold out for early summer delivery.....so I expanded my search area, and clicked on a little ranch in Poynette WI.  They don't have a website, but I emailed them to ask for a brochure.  The little quip that showed up on the map stated that they are a "husband and wife operation dedicated to providing our customers with all naturally-raised meats on top of being good stewards to the environment.  Our Galloway cattle are rotationally grazed on lush, rolling pastures.  In winter, they are fed hay produced from fields on our farm.  All our pastures (grasses and legumes) and hay are grown without chemical herbicides and pesticides.  The cattle receive no grain.  All our animals are treated humanely and do not receive any growth-enhancing antibiotics, steroids or hormones.  The combination of quality food, humane treatment and a stress-free environment contributes to a lean, tender and flavorful meat."
Best news coming up now:
The gentleman replied right back to me......he is sending a brochure, but let me know that the deadline for ordering for early summer delivery is May 15th and the cost is $2.30/lb plus butcher's fee of course.
This is definitely where I am ordering my beef!  I actually did a search of this little ranch, Rainbow Hill Farm, and turned up some interesting tidbits.
I found an article that actually offered more info then the quip on EatWild.  The highlight of this article states that the owners attend the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service Conference each year and strive to follow their mandates, as well as meeting all criteria for being  listed as an organic, sustainable farm.
I'll do a follow-up after we actually get our meat, but, if you live in the area, I would already highly recommend that you check them out. 

Juicing.....Organics & Other Ramblings

No....not steroids....but another kind of healthy growth enhancers!  My juicer has arrived and we just completed out first juicing session.  I am so much more than thrilled!  Even though I have been touting the benefits of juicing, and researched the juicers, ordered and anticipated the arrival of said machine.......underneath, I still had my doubts about whether or not I could actually stomach the drinking of VEGETABLE juices.  Now those fears have been subdued as I just drank a big glass of orange-carrot juice.  It was incredibly delicious!  So, I now know I can at least drink carrots.

As you can see here, I've got tons of other veggies to try, so hopefully they go as smoothly.  I'm still trying to find a good book with recipes.  I may have to go out & buy one.

At any rate.....this is my plan.....to go thru these veggies one by one and create palatable flavor combinations so I not only tolerate, but actually enjoy what I'm drinking.

I should mention that all of these veggies (with the exception of the bag of Cuties) are organic.  I can't stress enough the importance of buying organic.

Perhaps I should once again start at the beginning of my adventure.  When I decided to embrace a more natural lifestyle, I began by eliminating preservatives and such in processed foods.  I particularly watched for Partially Hydrogenated Oils AND High Fructose Corn Syrup.  These poisons are everywhere, but especially in commercially prepared baked goods (cookies, crackers even supposedly fresh baked breads from your local grocery's bakery section. Read one of their labels!).  I thought I was doing great!  

But then again.....one thing leads to another.  

Read that label again.

wheat flour, sugar, butter, salt 

All natural ingredients, right?  Not always so much......did you know that if an item states "sugar" as an ingredient, it probably includes a combination of sugar cane AND genetically modified sugar beets.  In fact, nearly ALL sugar beets are now GMO.  The only way you can be sure you're not getting GMO sugar is if the ingredient label states "pure cane sugar".  What about wheat?  Ask yourself, how was it grown?  Commercially grown grains (as well as nearly all vegetables, legumes, fruits etc) are inundated with chemicals during the growing process, including poisonous pesticides & herbicides.  Ok....butter sounds good, right?  In fact, that butter probably came from a cow that received regular injections of drugs, hormones, & antibiotics, not to mention the forced feeding plans, and animal by-products in their feed.  Add to that specialized breeding plans, and its nothing like nature intended.

What about simply washing fruits & veggies with a mixture of vinegar & dish soap?  Well.....that may help a little, on some thicker skinned produce....but, in fact, pesticides are absorbed into the fruit and can't be completely washed away.  Thinner skinned fruits & veggies like tomatoes & strawberries are particularly vulnerable, as well as root vegetables which absorb all of those pesticides so well as they grow in the soil.

So now.....we not only have to avoid preservatives in our foods, but we also have to avoid "natural" foods that have suspect growing methods.  Pesticides, herbicides, GMO,, etc.

To make a really long story a wee bit shorter.......I've decided to simply BUY ORGANIC.

That's the simplest solution.  Oops....one more thing.....even organic veggies can be tainted if they are packaged in a can with BPA laced lining.  Tomatoes, again, are most susceptible to absorption of BPA.

I am shocked at how many organic companies package in BPA lined cans?  Why don't they simply use jars?  or BPA -free lining, as Eden Foods does?  

DON'T BUY ANYTHING IN CAN'S UNLESS LABELED BPA-FREE!

I'll do another more detailed post soon regarding GMO.  I think ts something most people don't really realize exists!  They may have heard of it, but don't understand what & where it is.

Now....my next, personal step is growing my own vegetables.  I don't even want to say how much I spent on that load of veggies up top (& it was from a discount type supermarket).

I do have one concern:  how healthy is my soil?  are there contaminants in it?

That will be my next research project.