Rain Barrel Art

You will need:

• Rain barrel
• Krylon Fusion Spray Paint for Plastic (we used a gray-blue color) or other spray paint for plastic
• MinWax Indoor/Outdoor Helmsman Spar Urethane or other urethane
• Paint brushes
• Acrylic paints
• Newspaper
• Tape
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Start with a completed Rain Barrel
2. Wash area to be painted of Rain Barrel according to Krylon directions
3. Cut out a pattern form from your newspaper that allows a large paintable space on your Rain Barrel (We used an oval shape)
4. Tape pattern on Rain Barrel
5. Tape newspaper around form to keep spray paint from getting on other parts of Barrel or surfaces nearby
6. Spray Krylon onto Barrel within form according to Krylon directions
7. Remove form
8. Paint using brushes and acrylic paints
9. Once dry, spray Urethane onto painting according to Urethane directions
10. Enjoy!

Buying from your own back yard

So its pretty common to hear of your local farmer's markets selling fruits and vegetables, but maybe not so common to get locally grown meat? Thats the subject of this recent cnn.com article on the emergence of CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) of beginning to also offer locally "grown" meat from their farms.

As they say "Buying from a local CSA or just shopping at a local farm, you can see where it's coming from. You can talk to the farmers and figure out how the animals or the produce is raised."

We spend so much of our life eating, it would be nice to know for sure exactly where your food is coming from!

Take a look and see if you can find a CSA near you and we can maybe test it out for ourselves.

Garbage Patch Kids

I ran across this article from cnn.com on the garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. Not too much "new" info or findings from their studies, but what they did re-iterate is that the garbage patch we may picture (mountains of garbage floating like icebergs) is more realistically tiny particles of plastic and debris floating just beneath the surface of the water. Of course this covers thousands of miles of ocean, quite a huge area!

Sometimes I feel most people will say "who cares!" unless it directly impacts them. Two sentences I saw were:

"Brainard says they find a lot of skeletons of seabirds on the Islands and "their gut content is just filled with plastic." Brainard says that has scientists wondering what other animals are eating this plastic. As the larger animals and marine life eat the smaller animals, this plastic eventually ends up in the human food supply, too."

Hard to think about your McDonalds wrapper ending back in your Big Mac after you throw the wrapper out the window! Hopefully with our reduce, re-use, recycle mindset that is slowly spreading, we'll be able to keep these garbage patches at bay until we can figure out a way to clean them up!

Mmmm mmmm Chilis!

Diane and I were out at Chilis the other night to use up a gift card we received as a gift. As we went, I remembered seeing in a past issue of Nutrition Action a section titled Xtreme Eating 2009, highlighting some incredibly unhealthy meals out. Chilis was nominated for two, including their Chili's big Mouth bites when taken as an appetizer they provide you 1,580 calories, 28 grams of sat fat (over 1 1/2 days worth) and 2,930 mg of sodium! And that's before your entree! Needless to say we searched the menu and I ended up getting something off of the Guiltless Grill portion of their menu, the portion that guarantees no more than 750 calories, 25 grams of fat and 8 grams of sat fat. My choice was the Guiltless buffalo grilled chicken sandwich, served with steamed veggies and Parmesan cheese.. Can you believe its served with GRILLED chicken, LOW-FAT Ranch and its served on a WHOLE WHEAT bun? The funniest part was though, that feeling confident with my choice, I still felt awkward saying "I'd like the GUILTLESS buffalo chicken sandwich please" and when I ordered it, the waitress kindly told me that "the sandwich is kind of small, I brought it out to a guy earlier today and he yelled at me and told me it was too small, just warning you." Do we really need a 1/2 pound of beef to be content with our meal out? Needless to say I was plenty full finishing the meal, and although we would've still been healthier at home, it was a nice meal out.

So I still can't tell if these Guiltless type sections of menus really work. Does the name help or hinder the section? Will I feel "unmanly" if I order from the Guiltless menu? Its too bad that a section of the menu has to be focused on this stuff, instead of maybe providing LOW FAT ranch dressing and WHOLE WHEAT buns on all meals, just as a start? Would consumers really notice a taste difference? Not sure what the answer is but I look forward to the day when restaurants willingly post their nutritional info on ALL their menu items so we all can make more informed choices!

Nutrition Action Healthletter--Red Meat

I've caught of few issues of Nutrition Action over the past few years, and I've always found it to be incredibly informative and sometimes pretty witty (plus getting 10 issues for $10 makes it a no brainer). The cover story of the latest issue tracked a recent study of the health effects of red and processed meats. While this particulary story wasn't all that ground breaking, I'm always intrigued by the data that lies behind the claims. This study found that people who eat the most red and processed meats have higher rates of heart disease (no surprise), certain kinds of cancer, and even diabetes.

I've been pretty impressed with the organization that puts out the monthly newsletter. The Center for Science in the Public Interest seems to do a good job of reviewing the available research and being upfront with potential flaws or conflicts of interest. The video below outlines their goals and progress over the last 30+ years.



Nutrition Action is a great way to keep up with the latest scientific studies concerning health. At about 16 pages its a quick read and there aren't even any ads!