Moms Own Words Blog Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 05 January 2010

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact Kristi Maloney (maloney.kristi At gmail Dot com).

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Cash for Appliances

We purchased our Maytag Washer and Dryer in 1998. Twelve years and just one replacement dryer belt later, and I still rely on these prehistoric machines to do one of the most distasteful jobs on the planet. I realize I am dealing with two ticking time bombs, so I am gearing up for this next, large purchase.

The good news is that I will be eligible to receive a (cash) rebate from MA for the purchase of new ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances. In my case, I am eligible to receive a rebate for the purchase of a new washing machine, but not a new dryer. However, I will check with our electric company, as they may offer a cash rebate for the purchase of an ENERGY STAR-qualified clothes dryer. (We did receive a $50 rebate for our refrigerator from our electric company.)

The rebates are being funded with $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under this program, eligible consumers like you and me can receive rebates to purchase new energy-efficient appliances when we replace used appliances.

Each state and U.S. territory was allowed to design its own rebate program, and all 56 have submitted plans to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Some of those plans have now been approved.

Each state and territory may select its own set of ENERGY STAR qualified products to rebate. DOE has recommended that states select from among the following appliances:
· Boilers
· Central air conditioners
· Clothes washers
· Dishwashers
· Freezers
· Furnaces (oil and gas)
· Heat pumps (air source and geothermal)
· Refrigerators
· Room air conditioners

Links-

ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Projected program start dates according to state.

Memories Wow Photo Book Winner

Thank you to all who entered the giveaway for the Memories Wow Photo Book!

The winner of the Memories Wow Photo Book is ....#95 - Carol. Congrats, Carol!



Carol, I will be emailing you shortly! Thank you all for reading and subscribing to Moms Own Words!

Meatless Recipes on Recipezaar for the Mayo Clinic Diet

On any given week in 2009, my grocery cart was filled with things like sirloin steak tips, chicken breasts and sausages but today the second day of 2010, my cart was filled with black beans, red kidney beans, hot sauce, chili powder, canned stuff like low sodium tomatoes, corn and fresh stuff like jalapeno peppers, onions, zucchini, apples, pears, and so on.

I am changing my meat-eating ways by taking the advice of the Mayo Clinic Diet book and its healthy weight pyramid. By building meals and snacks around fruits, vegetables and whole grains, while reducing the upper pyramid items like meats, dairy, fats and sweets, I hope to lose some weight in 2010! (Enter to win your copy of the book here. )

Among my many bad habits, I was breaking the number 4 habit of eating too much meat. I was following the "eat more protein to feel full" advice. However, the Mayo Clinic recommends that you limit your total daily consumption of meat, poultry and fish to 3 oz. (which is about the size of a deck of cards!) Why? According to the book: Even lean cuts of meat and skinless poultry have some saturated fat and cholesterol and can be high in calories. A 1/2 cup serving of cooked beans, peas, lentils or tofu is about the same as a 2 ounce serving of meat, poultry or fish.

The Mayo Clinic diet contains a small variety of 10 recipes, but I was searching for more recipes, specifically of the meatless, Mexican variety. Boy did I luck out when I checked out recipezaar.com! I find that of all the great, mega recipe sites, I really do prefer recipezaar for several reasons: the site has over 450 categories of recipes, you can create your own cookbook and menu of recipes that you select, you can add recipes, you can also join in the community forums. I really appreciate that you can read all of the member reviews (which helps me make my selections) and easily print recipes that include nutritional information, and it is all free!

Here are five tasty, meatless (mostly) Mexican recipes that are compatible with the Mayo Clinic diet:

Fantastic Mexican Corn and Bean Salad (Vegetarian) - 217605 - Recipezaar

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas - 292128 - Recipezaar

Meatless Mission Chili - 6854 - Recipezaar

Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna - 352980 - Recipezaar

Healthy Mexican Tortilla Pizza - 228349 - Recipezaar

I made the first recipe, the corn and bean salad and true to its name, IT IS FANTASTIC! In place of white sugar, I used the blue agave nectar, which is a low glycemic organic sweetener.
I also made the meatless chili, which was chock full of veggies like shredded carrot and zucchini and is delicious with just a pinch of Parmesan cheese. I look forward to trying them all and hope you like them too.

If you decide to visit recipezarr.com, enter to win the Recipezaar Sweepstakes. Five lucky winners will win a $100 Gift Certificate for Recipezaar !

Have a happy, healthy 2010!

Food Inc. - Healthy Eating May be a Movie Away

If I were to give a grade for the way that I ate over the past year, I would go with a B-. I was successful at eliminating processed foods about 90% of the time. I ate at least two servings of fruits and four or five servings of vegetables daily about 90% of the time. I ate whole grain once a day, brown rice or for a starchy vegetable, I ate sweet potatoes. Sounds pretty healthy right? Well, one of my indulgences was..ahh...is "So Delicious" Organic Soy Ice Cream with Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips...and lots of 'em..several times a week. Okay the truth comes out! C-

Considering that I just reviewed the Mayo Clinic Diet Book and that Jan. 1 is just days away, maybe it is time to reassess my diet.

According to the Mayo Clinic book, we must break the habit of eating in front of the TV or computer screen. I eat in front of the computer screen every day! Talk about being unconscious - how sad. I can't even remember the last time I shut down my computer...

And....I do eat meat daily and some weeks I eat red meat twice a week. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was trying to follow the principles of the Blood Type Diet. According to my type, which is type O, red meat is supposed to be beneficial to me. Interestingly enough, my cholesterol levels are fine despite eating the red meat. However, my weight has stayed the same over the past year. (I have been 30 lbs. overweight pretty much since having kids!)

According to the Mayo Clinic doctor's research, it is recommended that we eat no more than 3 oz. of animal protein per day. Yikes! I eat double that easily......

If the Mayo Clinic research isn't enough to get me to cut down on meat, and buy organic, maybe the movie Food Inc. will do the trick. Before Jan. 1, I am going to watch this "scary" movie. (Playing on Comcast On Demand through Jan. and available on Amazon.com. )

I read an article today about this documentary that came out in 2008. Food Inc. is a movie directed by Rober Kenner and is based on the book entitled "The Omnivore's Dilemma", written by Michael Pollan. According to the article, the movie takes a look at our Nation's food supply in a manor that we as Americans never see. Some parts in the movie are disturbing, in particular the way that our meat is slaughtered and processed. The movie aims to open up our eyes as we make our weekly trips to the neatly lined shelves of our American grocery stores- I hope it will help up me to make healthier choices!

Will it change the way I eat for the long term? Time will tell.

If you have you seen Food Inc. be the first to comment on what you thought of the movie.





Click on these links to see what the critics say about Food Inc.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/food_inc/

http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/movies/12food.html

http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/foodinc

Food Inc. - Awareness is the new trend in healthy eating and (fingers crossed) weight loss.