I hope you’re having a fantastic day and that you’re living through your day and not just getting through it, especially since it is the middle of the week!  Let’s live life to the fullest y’all!

I want to talk to you about being organic friendly when it comes to produce.

A few mornings ago Greg and I were having breakfast, and after we finished with our devotion he picked up the Psychology Today magazine that he gets in the mail so that he can keep up with certain current events.  Coincidentally, as we were eating breakfast with fruit on the side, he flipped to the page that showed all of the different types of fruit and veggies that contain pesticide in the order of least to greatest. 

Unfortunately I don’t have the article with me right now, but I do recall some of the information rather loosely:

• Apples contain the most amount of pesticide chemicals out of all fruits (At least 30+ different types)
• Fruits like blueberries, grapes, and even pineapple contain chemicals
• One would think that something like corn would be exempt, but even foods with thick skin are affected
• The workers who spray the chemicals have to wear gloves that cover their arms up to elbow length!
• Most of those chemicals contain carcinogens
• Surprisingly, kale is one of the least affected.  Yay! *Edit:  Kale does contain a high amount of pesticide but not as much as the other ones featured in the article*

Sorry that it’s such a poor list of facts!  Wish I could actually show you the actual page, but this will do for now.

You can say that both of us were more than “shaken” by this horrendous fact.  I mean, we already knew that organic is usually better than non-organic produce; however, we had no idea the nitty gritty facts of just how bad these chemicals are for our system!  One might as well say, “I’d like some apple with cancer please.”  And the thought that the workers need to wear ultra resistant gloves simply makes me shiver.

If you recall a few posts ago during our visit to Urth, I mentioned that Greg loves fruit even more than say, meat, lasagna, tacos, french toast, pancakes…Yep, at least he gets his vitamins one way or another despite his fear of most veggies.    Since we’re always on a quest to pursue as much of a healthy lifestyle as possible, we immediately decided that from now on we will be buying groceries at two separate stores.

Actually, it was Greg who first highly suggested that we buy most fruits and vegetables at Whole Foods.  I was shocked, to say the least!  Since Whole Foods offers almost everything non-organic as well as organic, we figured that this is the best way to go. The rest of the groceries will continue to happen at stores like Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Albertson’s, Ralph’s, etc.

Yesterday I purchased the stuff photographed above and I’m not sure if it’s the placebo effect taking place, but so far everything tastes more fresh and crisp!

I can almost hear the “tsk tsks” and sighs from some readers going through this post because yes, sometimes it seems almost too wasteful and arrogant to buy organic foods.  Hey, if we can afford to eat anything we are considered blessed and spoiled!  And if I can be brutally honest, there were times when I even thought that buying organic was a waste of money!   But we’ve both come to realize that in the very long run this way of eating will help us gain better health and prevent several doctor visits.  We’re starting to think that although the wallet may be growing skinnier right now, in the future we will be glad to have done this.

So who’s with me on eating organic produce?!  (Mind you, it doesn’t have to be all produce since not all of them are equally affected)

Last night both of our sweet teeth (?) tooths (?) were calling out for some dessert.  Of course, being the healthifier of desserts that I am, I set out to make a tasty, protein packed peach cobbler.

Peach Cobber Delight {vegan-protein rich}

This recipe contains some almond meal, which ups the content of protein!  It can easily be made with coconut oil instead of Earth Balance, and one can easily adapt it to be gluten free with the substitution of oat flour instead of whole wheat.

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients for Top Crust

• 1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 TBSP almond meal (almonds crushed into flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 TBSP melted Earth Balance
• 2 TBSP almond milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 drops Stevia extract (or about 1 TBSP sugar)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Ingredients for Peach Filling

• ~2 C frozen peaches
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 4 drops Stevia extract

Directions

1. Grab a small-medium bowl and stir together all of the dry ingredients for the crust.  Then, add the wet ingredients and whisk until well incorporated.
2. Place the peaches in a baking dish or ramekin and sprinkle the cinnamon and Stevia.  Stir it together so the peaches are evenly coated.  Then, pour the crust batter on top of the peaches and bake at 375 F degrees for approximately 12 minutes.  Let it cool slightly and top it off with some delicious ice cream!

I used this So Delicious ice cream as the topping and it was so good!  I found it on sale at Albertson’s for $2 and some cents.  Score! Haha.

This weekend will be pretty packed and we’ll be away for two days because our church is going camping!  It is supposed to be 3 days total, but we’re only able to make it for the last 2.  I’ve never been camping before so I’m pretty stoked!  Have a blessed week everyone.

What do you think about buying organic food?

Are there any desserts that you’d want to see made healthier?

Have you been camping before? 

Love,

Ellie <33

Tagged as: healthy desserts, protein packed peach cobbler, Psychology Today article, So Delicious ice cream, the importance of organic produce, whole foods