Thursday, 27 June 2013

Why My Daugher Won't Be Selling Girl Guide Cookies and How You Can Help to Change Things.



Last year my daughter joined the Girl Guides of Canada.  She loves going to Brownies and I love the experiences that she has there.  She learns about safety, giving to her community, and respect for herself, her friends and their environment. She has great role-models and loads of fun.  Many of the camps and other activities that they do are paid for by weekly dues, by parents, and significantly by the sale of cookies.  Cookie sales are a vital part of the Girl Guides.  Without the sale of cookies many things the Girl Guides do would not exist.
So why did I tell my daughter that she can't sell cookies next year?  Simple: they are full of GMOs.  I spend much of my day avoiding GMOs, helping my daughter avoid GMOs, and explaining to others why they should avoid GMOS.  I simply cannot then turn around and ask my daughter to sell them to her friends and family.

So what to do?  Girl Guides needs the money they make from cookie sales to keep the organization going, but selling GMOs is not an option for our family and I imagine for many others as well. 

Enter Linda Cirella, a mom and Guide Leader from Victoria BC.  Linda wants to support Girl Guides but doesn't want to sell cookies full of GMOs.  Her solution?  Change the cookies. And to that end she has started a petition to the Girl Guides of Canada to remove the GMOs.
I have signed the petition and I encourage you to do the same. 
Just follow this link and help the Girl Guides of Canada to see that GMOs are an important issue and that selling unhealthy food is no way for this esteemed organization to make money. 
Thank you for your support and be sure to share this with your friends and ask them to sign too!

* UPDATE*

It has come to my attention, through the comments below, that I have neglected to make clear that we are financially compensating our Brownie Unit in lieu of selling cookies. We consider it our responsibility to pay for our daughters activities and would not expect the other parents/girls to have to pick up our financial slack, so to speak.  We adore the Brownies and The Girl Guides of Canada.  It's the GMOs that we abhor.

I have also attached a photo of the ingredient list from the back of the GG Cookie box.  My grandma would not recognize most of those ingredients.


Friday, 21 June 2013

How's Your Hummus Mojo?



  
I lost my hummus mojo about 2 years ago. No matter what I did I couldn’t make a decent hummus. I tried adding red pepper, chili, yogurt, more garlic. Nothing worked.   So, last week I started looking for some inspiration and lucky for me I found a great looking recipe in an old copy of Vegetarian Times Magazine.  I was so excited to try it.

Monday, 10 June 2013

Sesame Asparagus Spears

 


I love these little gems.  I serve them in the spring and summer as a nice cold appetiser or as a side with a BBQ. They are super easy to make and look quite impressive.  I love the salty crispness. Yum.

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

How Do You Make Gluten-Free Pancakes that Actually Taste Good?



 
I had heard about these pancakes. How easy they were to make.  How good they tasted. And I have to say I was suspicious.  I didn’t think they would be any good.  You see, they are made without flour. No flour at all.  No almond flour, no oats, nothing.  The basic recipe calls for only two ingredients. Two! 

Monday, 22 April 2013

Commercial Canned Foods and BPA


We all eat canned food, it's something at we are all used to and comfortable with. It's super convenient and most of us couldn’t imagine doing without at least one item that comes in a can.  Canned foods have been around for generations so why is it a problem now?  The answer is a resin coating that lines the cans.  Almost all food cans are lined with a resin that contains Bisphenol A (BPA).  That means that BPA, an endocrine disruptor which can mimic estrogen, may leach into the food in those cans and then into the people eating that food.

Sunday, 14 April 2013

Delicious Flourless Two-Bite Brownies


OK, these things are delicious and they also just happen to be gluten free.  I’d eat these babies all day long if I could.  The almond flour (also called almond meal) gives them that yummy brownie texture that makes your mouth want more!

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Taco Tuesday with Homemade Re-fried Beans




Almost every week we have Taco Tuesday. Sometimes we have it as a vegetarian meal or sometimes I’ll include some ground turkey or beef cooked with a bit of chili powder. It is a great meal that kids love because they can add all the ingredients themselves.