Say you live in a village.

And in this village, everyone drinks water from the same well in the center of town. Everyone brings their own bucket, lowers it, brings it back up and carts it home to have water to drink and cook.

One day, 9 out of 10 people drinking from the well get sick. Suspecting that it’s something in the water, those 9 out of 10 stop drinking the water, retrieving water instead from the river 2 miles away. Those 9 out of 10 quickly get better.

They then return to the well for their water. After all, it’s right in the center of town and not a couple of miles away. The 9 out of 10 get sick again. They stop drinking the water from the well, then get better again.

On again, off again. The process repeats itself over and over again, reproducibly and consistently. Few are spared.

So the mayor declares the water tainted. “The solution is simple,” he proclaims. “Stop drinking from the well and drink only from the river!”

Ah, but then the political fireworks…

DR. WILLIAM DAVIS has a great analogy for the Wheat industry.  Check him out at Wheat Belly Blog dot com.

Amidst all of this goodness I am clicking and sauntering my way through old cross links, messages and tweets in an effort to catch up on Wheat Free Family and general gluten free stuff.  What have I found?

They LIKE Me!  They REALLY Like Me!

I’ve always wanted to use that quote.

There is a new Social Media tool out there that is drawing in ALL the tools into one. Paper.li is a  RSS Feeds, Twitter et al that is composing news into a personalized newsletter.  I have come across the Wheat Free Family posted in at least two of those and that is without too much looking about.  It is a neat idea as even I have a hard time keeping up with Tha News.  Will have to look into it further.

• the “15 days” writing campaign was noted at “Great Contradictions Daily” complete with a graphic link
• some retweets over at AnitaMJohnson’s

(… some time later…)

Ahh ta hell with it! Being a sucker for technology I set one up to play with!  Don’t do the TWEET thing but scared you are missing something?  Check out the ” The Wheat Free Family Digest” at Paper.li.  Apparently, it will refresh daily with that day’s information.

Until later … Enjoy the Sunshine!

Eden Foods has made a simple directory of quinoa recipes.  From Basic to Fruit Pudding and everything in between.  I can’t wait to launch in and try the.  I promise to share the results!  Why not try them yourself and share what YOU find!  I would love to hear !

Recipe Name

Basic Quinoa
Chili – Three Bean & Quinoa
Chili with Quinoa
Citrus & Mint Couscous
Colorful Quinoa Medley
Crimson Quinoa

….  and so much more!

Sunscreen – Yes.   Sighs.   For some people, even coming in contact with wheat can cause epic rashes and reactions so with summer here….  Ya.  Lotions and sprays start to come into question.  So to the google we go.

Our Place – Living Gluten Free did some research last summer on this and has done up a great list!

The following is a list of Gluten Free Sunscreens, as always, it is recommend that you contact the company directly if you have questions or concerns…Especially since companies change their ingredients frequently. Please note that the companies with Organic Products are denoted by a “*”.

* Rocky Mountain Sunscreen
*Keys Solar Rx Moisturizing Cosmetic Sunblock, SPF 30+
Blue Lizzard Australian Sunscreens
Coppertone (all products)
California Baby
Banana Boat (Sunscreens Only)
Bare Minerals Tinted Sunscreen for Faces
*Desert Essence SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen (Note: Does contain Xanthan Gum)
*Coolibar Products (website allows you to choose by active ingredient)
*Lavera Sunscreens
*Natures Gate Organics Mineral Sunblock: Sun Screens and Tanning Lotions
Dermatone Sunblock Creme with Zinc
*Jason Natural Products
Topix Replenix: CF Advanced Anti-Photoaging Complex SPF 45
Alba Sunscreens (please check label or call company, not all products are GF)
Obagi – Nu-Derm Healthy Skin Protection SPF 35

Sugars that spike and drop quickly put our bodies through roller coasters that give us bursts of energies and valleys of inability to focus.  Hunger or fatigue that we often counter with a ” quick snack” of more sugars which repeats the cycle.   For kids this can mean that even the healthy whole grain cereal breakfast with milk wears off before recess and leaves them distracted or spiking and dropping repeatedly through the day.

So… the ” Why are you doing this?” answers.

ADD, ADHD, Chronic fatigue, Fibro, diabetes, and the general wear and tear of a society based on doing more, faster and longer all require from us a constant reliable energy source.  We know that candies, sodas and the processed foods are NOT good fuel sources for our bodies… but they are not the only forms of sugar that enter our body.

I’m not going to go into allll the different types and compounds of sugars but do check out a listing and some definitions check out the Sugar & Substitutes.  I have become more and more surprised ( and a little grossed out ) by the amount of sugars found in the foods I thought were ‘good choices’.

• 13 teaspoons of sugar in low-fat yogurt;
• 10 teaspoons of sugar in one serving of pickled beets

So.   I am going to be reading and reading and trying to K.I.S.S .   Sustainable, delicious and satisfying need to be part of this.  A parting quote for this post?  A get started perspective…

Reading Labels
A word ending in ose means it is a sugar. Watch for the positioning of any of these sugars. If it appears near the top of the list, the product has a high sugar content. If only one is listed or if it listed near the bottom, the product is considered low in sugar.

However, be aware that sugars may be listed separately; and when added together, they will constitute a significant portion of the product. Another thing to watch for is if a product is labeled sugarfree or sugarless. This does not necessarily mean the obvious. It generally means that the product contains NO SUCROSE, but still may contain other forms of sugar.