If you want to know more about "who" we are, check out this article about us in Lake Murray magazine!  (*Great job, LM - thanks!!!)

Read it HERE (*or at http://www.scribd.com/doc/62856055/Lake-Murray-Magazine-September-2011).

It's a little slow to download because it's a whole magazine!

A 30 year Harvard study tracked 119,000 women and men. 

Those who ate peanuts, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, and other tree nuts daily had less risk of dying from heart disease and cancer.  Previous studies showed lower risks of diabetes and colon cancer, too.  (*Long as you're not ALLERGIC to them, you know?)

The belief that eating more nuts would make you fat from their high caloric content didn't show up in their studies.  In fact, they found the opposite.

Some, like the heart association, recommend unsalted, unoiled, but the Harvard study didn't define how they were prepared. 

Read more about it HERE (*Or at http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/21/study-says-nut-eaters-have-lower-cancer-heart-disease-risk/?intcmp=latestnews)

Funny phone call! 

A dear friend called and blurted out that she ran out of the vitamins we carry, didn’t have time to get it from me so since she was in the health store anyway, she picked up some “whole food” supplements there.

She reasoned, “ They’re on sale so a good price, organic, reputable company – has to be similar to the GNLD Cindy has so this is good.”

With a sudden burst of energy, she dramatically exclaimed, “They’re good….but I’m still TIRED….and THIS IS RIDICULOUS, CINDY!   I don’t have TIME to be TIRED!  I don’t know what GNLD puts in their vitamins that other companies don’t but there’s something missing in these!!! I can’t AFFORD to be tired all the time….I’ve got way too much to do for this to be happening!  Can I PLEASE get some more of the ProVitality boxes and I’ll take a Super B while you’re at it!” “ 

What a great way to start a Friday! 

Nice to know we’re making a DIFFERENCE in one busy mom’s life!

Check out our new webpage HERE (*or at www.NeoLifeClub.com/favorites)!                                                                                                  

I LOVE cats.... 

Always have, but there was a time when I let the negativity of those around me - (ahem!) - stifle my desire to own another until......

Our daughter called, saying, "Mom....guess what I've got in  my car?  A box of abandoned kittens!"

Eyes barely open, they were dirty, starving. 

They needed full-time care - bottle feeding constantly - and the smallest, little Sophie, came very close to dying due to being so under-nourished. 

(*She's now so healthy and strong that she's trying to sit on my HEAD as I type tonight! ha!)

Our little grey dog became their mom, and eventually all thrived!    

 
Consider giving a cat a good home!  Ours repay me DAILY with more love than I could have imagined the day that box came through our front door! 

I loved these photos below of an island where cats are welcomed and roam free! (*Bet there's not a mouse problem there! Ours keep our home fairly "bug" free, too! ha!)
Beautiful colors - enjoy this "visual" vacation HERE.
Be sure to click the arrow to see the entire slideshow!

(* or at http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2013/11/22/cat-heaven-island-draws-tourists-and-more-cats/)

 

 

GREEK yogurt for sour cream?

Our daughter said, “Mom, did you know you can use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream?”

She tried it in French Onion dip and on a baked potato, giving both a thumbs up. 

I liked the thick creaminess it gave fruit smoothies.   

The true test? Baking!

I bake gluten free and rice flour is gritty when compared to wheat flour.  Using either sour cream or Greek yogurt as part of the "liquid" in a recipe made a creamier batter, thus creating "softer" baked goods. 

The Greek yogurt worked well in my gluten free DARK chocolate cake,
but my gluten free Sour Cream Pound Cake wasn’t the same. 

The flavor was good, but the texture was....

• more springy & spongy,
• not the usual flaky, dense texture of a pound cake, 
• and the "crust" wasn't the same.

It may have been because the original recipe used "whole milk" sour cream and the only Greek yogurt I found was "non-fat", but the pound cake was wonderful buttered and toasted the next day for breakfast! 
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BTW, our Blendtec® Kitchen Mill creates super-fine flour, even from gluten free grains like rice and amaranth!  Check it out HERE! (*at our website of www.grainlady.com) or HERE! (*at our affiliate link http://www.blendtec.com/?cjaff=7275373). 
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One interesting note:  Greek yogurt has a much higher protein content - 23 g in a cup verses 9g in regular yogurt.  ________________________________________________________________________

In comparing two yogurts and one sour cream, here’s what I found –

·         Daisy Sour Cream – 2 TB (30g) has 60 calories, 5g fat, and 1g protein.

·         Stonyfield Organic Plain Whole Milk yogurt – 1 cup (227g) has 160 calories, 9g fat, 9g protein.

·         Chobani Greek Plain Non-Fat Yogurt – 1 cup(227g) has 140 calories, 0g fat, 23g protein.

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Daisy sour cream writes, “* Made with milk from cows not treated with the growth hormone rBST.”   Go HERE! (*or  http://www.daisybrand.com/products/pure-natural.aspx) to read it for yourself. 

Chobani also writes on their container, “Milk from cows not treated with rBST”.  Read more HERE! (*or at http://chobani.com/products/faq/).  

Some say there’s no significant difference nutrition-wise, while others like HERE, contend potential health risks for humans, (or at http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.cfm).

Stonyfield dairy says rBST can affect the cow’s health, too, on their website HERE (*or at http://www.stonyfield.com/healthy-people/our-yogurt/why-we-oppose-rbst).

The less chemicals going into us, the better, I say.

DISCLOSURE POLICY - 

I’m Cindy.
This blog is simply me.

I think somewhere I read that it's imperative to "disclose" things like whether a product was given to us free for review or whether we make a living off the blog, etc.

Our family owns a small business (www.grainlady.com) where we sell "favorites". 

If we find a "favorite" product, we might write about it.

If they offer an affiliate program, we might join and add their link to our page. 

If a favorite business sends products for review, we just might. 

Let’s get real – it takes  money to survive in this world. 

The time spent blogging is time away from other means of earning a living.
If I can find a way to “marry” the two, I simply must so sometimes we may get paid a bit of income from it ......hopefully.

I’m writing this disclosure on Day 1 of this blog so I don’t really have a full grasp on what it will become. 

But... if we ever get paid for ads, sponsors, paid insertions, or other forms of compensation, no one will be controlling the content except me and I will do my best to be as honest and upfront as I possibly can..….

While I might take suggestions to heart, it’s still my little world here, ok? 
And I'm a bit of a control freak.  
 
In other words, it’s going to be the truth as I know it, simply sharing the good things that come across my desk. 

Also, let me make it clear that I'm not a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, etc. so –
absolutely nothing  - is intended to diagnose, prescribe or treat. 

Please, please, please see your health care practitioner for that. 

Use all information on this blog at your own risk.  We can't be responsible for anything, including culinary flops. 

Any claims on products must be verified with the manufacturer for they are constantly changing stuff like that.  I simply cannot stay on top of it all AND find time to write, create recipes, etc.  so we simply can't be held liable for all the things in this world we cannot control. 

Thanks for understanding our need to protect ourselves. 
It’s a shame we have to, but our world has changed.

Welcome to the "maiden" voyage of our Grainlady blog!

It's been years in the making because every time God nudged me to create it, I pretended to not hear Him.

Today, I listened .... and actually tried to get my husband to create it FOR me! Ha! 

Oh well, we pray it blesses SOMEONE! 

Cindy