I am sure you noticed when you arrived at my blog that it is called Glo's Garden. It was set up as a garden blog, to be a journal. I already had a garden blog and it sat there unused for almost a year. I decided to put it to use for a blog to discuss things which bothered me or excited me. A blog where I could speak about things which would be of no interest to the readers of my other blogs. A blog about things which effect my life. A place where ideas are "cultivated".
This morning I planned to make a New York Cheese Cake. I got all the ingredients out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature. When I retrieved the heavy cream from the back of the ice box my only worry was, is this still fresh (I had purchased it quite a while ago.)? I turned it on its side to check for the use by date (which I never go by), but just wondered. I re-opened it (it had been used before) I smelled it, I tasted it, all was fine.
While I was checking it out, I decided to read the whole box including the "health " info. I was shocked. Not by the 300 mg per serving of cholesterol but by what I read under it. Did you know there are ingredients in heavy Cream? At least in this carton there are.
My husband brought home this quart of " Heavy Whipping Cream", which I needed the minute he came through the door, the only thing I noticed was the note on the front which said "ultra pasteurized". I am not a fan of it but it seems to be a fact of life on a lot of products. This morning, in detail, I began reading the carton.
FRONT OF CARTON:
Under the name it has in small print "made with" and then larger decorative print, "All Natural Cream".
Then if you get a magnifying glass, on the bottom left corner in red printing on top of red strawberries is, "see side panel for complete ingredient listing". WHAT ingredients, okay I will give them that, the carton contains cream; the ingredient.
LEFT SIDE OF CARTON AS YOU LOOK AT THE FRONT:
A beautifully done rendition of how to whip cream.
RIGHT SIDE OF CARTON:
The nutrition fact label. Under that the ingredients. My whipping cream is not pure cream.
HEAVY CREAM
CONTAINS LESS THAN 0.5% OF THE FOLLOWING: MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, POLYSORBATE 80 AND CARRAGEENAN.
CONTAINS MILK
BACK OF THE CARTON :
A lovely statement with a picture of a bowl of whipped cream telling us how it is produced without preservatives or artificial flavors.
I am used to reading ingredient labels on lots of products because I am cholesterol conscious. Heart Disease runs in my family. I also try to stay away from additives. There are products I don't think I need to look at the labels, because I know what they contain. I.E. you don't think you have to read the labels on a dozen eggs. They are after all a self contained product. Do I now need to read the label of a pound of butter?
I have a pound of butter in the refrigerator. Guess what's there! It contains: Pasteurized cream, natural flavor and contains milk. BTW what is Natural flavor that it is an ingredient? Isn't the butter "naturally flavored" by the cow. Why is it added and what is added to give it "natural flavor".
Our food is being over salted, teaching our tastebuds to consume too much. Our food is being filled with preservatives giving it a longer shelf life, what do they do to our quality of life when ingested. Our food is being sprayed to control the bugs, ZAP! what does it do to us? Our food is being dyed to be pleasing to our eyes, does it dye our brain too?
Years ago, We (as in my hubby and I) produced 80 percent of the foods we injested. We had our own milk, eggs, and meat. We raised all of our vegetables; drying, canning and freezing. It was hard work and we miss the products. Now we only have the garden and the chickens. I would like to say our good health then was due to the consumption of the foods we were eating, but is our declining health now due to food additives or just old age?
The point of this rant is reading labels. Be concious of the contents of your foods. Return to cooking from scratch (you will know what's in your dinner). People say they don't have time. How much time did you spend running to and from the fast food place? Was it maybe around 30 minutes. In 30 minutes you can fix a multitude of meals, ask Rachel Raye. Breakfast can be made in 15 minutes. If you are worried about dishes to wash and the time, there are disposables which BTW is what you get at the fast food places. Dishwashers are a green alternative and those kids you are catering to by buying fast food, They can learn responsibility by loading the dishwasher. When you are in the kitchen together you are spending time with each other.
You can also visit me at:
This is mainly a quilting blog with cooking and gardening too.
New blog Feb 16, tutorial for making 5 panel boxer shorts.
blogs about the wildflowers on our farm
Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry
New Blog Feb 16, about seeds sprouting.
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