Tuesday "Try"... Beet Chips

 So often my ideas start with what I have in my refrigerator that needs to be eaten. Today it was beets! I wanted to do something different with then just steamed etc. so what I usually do is research ideas and what I came up with was beet chips. I sliced them really thin with my mandolin ( I asked for one for Christmas once - great time to ask for fun things to play with in the kitchen.), but you can just slice them thin with a sharp knife. Just try to be fairly consistent with the size of the slice so they will cook even. I coated them with coconut oil (or olive oil)...

then I laid them on these nice screen racks ( got this for my birthday once!!!) but you can use a cookie sheet. Baked them at 350 degree in the oven for about 10-12 min - as you can see mine were in there just a little to long ( oops forgot and got off doing other things).

But they were still very yummy! I had never made them before and next time I want to try a mix of beets,carrots, sweet potatoes and yucca. I may even make a dip to go with them.

See No Evil~Hear No Evil~Speak No Evil~ TASTE NO EVIL...

YES... this beautiful juicy red strawberry you see, is more then meets the eye. It is on the list of the Dirty dozen http://www.ewg.org/foodnews  and just because you can't SEE the pesticides, or you haven't HEAR about it, or there hasn't been people SPEAKing out about it in your community, doesn't mean what your TASTing isn't one of the highest pesticide sprayed fruits and vegetables in your grocery store or even at your local farmers market.  

I use this as an illustration to bring awareness to "eating more consciously." Just because there is not a label around what your eating, doesn't mean you assume you know what is in your food. 

We have to become advocates for our own health and those of our children. Ask questions and ask until you get a reliable answer that you feel comfortable with. Research and "google" your concerns. It can be overwhelming, but take small bites ~ like that strawberry you are getting ready to put in your fruit salad: Find out where it came from ( how far it traveled to get to the store), how was it grow (organic, sprayed), is it in season, is it GMO http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/what-is-gmo.

When we are informed we can then make better choices about what we choose to eat. It's not about perfection, it's about progress, awareness and food investment ~ self investment http://whole-food-living.blogspot.com/2013/06/food-investment-self-investment.html.

With awareness comes change ~ one food at a time, one meal at a time. We can do this!

Here are a few resources to help make the research for those strawberries a little easier:

http://www.localharvest.org

http://www.ncstrawberry.com

http://www.pickyourown.org/NCpiedmont.htm

I'm daughters idea for strawberries:
Hollowed them out and put peanut butter inside!

~ Ready to Make a Change : contact me at http://wholefood-living.com/index.html