Down memory lane & Food

     Most people don't think about how eating puts everyone in a happy and better mood. Food is nourishment to the body, mind, and soul. It promotes energy. It also can create fun and entertaining times and experiences. One of my favorite memories while eating is when my friend named Erine' came along with my mom, myself and papa to Biloxi,   Mississippi.
     Originally we had no clue what was offered there to begin with. My mom and papa were going to gamble and try and win money at the hotels and casino's in that area. Erine' and I are always entertaining each other and making laughs and jokes about everything so we really weren't concerned if their was nothing to do there.
     We stayed at the Palace which had a casino, buffet, Starbucks, and rental for movies. We mostly stayed up in the hotel on rainy days and watched movies and talked. But when the sun was shining we'd adventure out and see another side of the world that was abandoned to us. "The beach." We would walk along the beach and take pictures together and enjoy the weather. Their was sail boats on the sand that were really cool.
     I remember the Maragaritaville that was a restaurant being built right across from our hotel. I really wanted to go there from others view and experiences. Erine' and I had a better choice at the time when it came to food. We ate at the buffet and it was the best food ever. It was so good that I got sick and couldn't move or go out at all. After 2 hours passed by I remember getting my bathing suit on and rushing out to the pool to meet up with Erine'. At the time we both were sun worshipers. Even though I ate to much food and indulged way to much, I had the best time there and I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

This is a picture that Erine' took of me on the balcony at the Palace when we were taking pictures of the scenery!!!

Food behind it's Mask

     This morning, and usually every morning I start my day off by eating oatmeal. I'm not too picky about a certain kind of oatmeal but one of my favorites is the raisin, date and walnut oatmeal by Quaker. I like that you can taste different flavors as you are eating but I'm actually surprised and not aware of the ingredients in oatmeal. I looked up the ingredients on the side of the box and this is what i saw;

     Whole grain rolled oats, sugar, raisins, chopped dates, walnuts with BHT added to protect flavoring, salt, calcium carbohydrate, oat flour, guar gum, cinnamon, niacinamide, reduced iron, vitamin A, palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid.

     My first thought was Wow! Thier is way to many other ingredients than I thought their would be in oatmeal. Whole grain comes from wheat which comes from a seed. Whole grain is very healthy and is recommended to eat 23 grams a day. Sugar comes from sugar Cane which is also in oatmeal but many other foods. Raisins come from grapes which are dried up. Chopped dates, and walnuts all come from trees that are grown. Some other ingredients that I read like hydrochloride freaked me out completely. BHT also added in the ingredients to keep flavoring has me wondering if really Quaker oatmeal is the best for me to be eating.
     Some of the ingredients like whole grain and raisins are healthy but also their is combinations on bad. This lookup has me cautious to look and be more observant before I eat my regular foods. I also had orange juice with my breakfast. Orange juice ingedients has water, oranges, and concentrate juice. This orange juice was manufactured from Publix in Florida and they use all natural ingredients. After observing all the ingredients and learning where they come from and discover some bad ingredients I have a different opinion now on the foods I think are healthy. I will now look on everything and read over the labels before I buy the product because I want to be healthy and have no complications later in life.