Donate to Lawton Food Bank: Empty Shelves Threaten Holiday Season

Lawton Foodbank in Southwest Oklahoma Needs Your Help

With the economic depression deepening and the shelves at the Lawton Food Bank empty, this holiday season hundreds of families who depend on the Lawton Food Bank may not have the help they need. 

The Lawton Food Bank serves the elderly and disabled primarily, providing a week's worth of groceries on a bimonthly basis. 

This year the Lawton Food Bank is in desperate need of both food and money donations. The food bank has reached out to many local churches and community organizations, but they still need a significant amount of help if they hope to reach the 2000+ families this year with holiday baskets and needed food items.

You can help by donating online or dropping off food.

Click to Donate Online to the Lawton FoodBank

The food bank is open Monday - Friday from 9am - 4pm.  If you can't make it there during business hours, give them a call and they'll make arrangements with you.  They're located at 1405 SW 20^th Street and their phone number is 353-7994.  

Find out more at the Lawton Food Bank Facebook Page

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New York City Girls fight Obesity with Organic Farming

Hola Everyone!

If you are interested in changing what your kids eat and stopping the high rates of obesity in the next generation, I highly recommend checking out this great kid-friendly documentary ""What's on Your Plate?"

The film's synopsis (from Whatsonyourplate.org):

"WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE? is a witty and provocative documentary produced and directed by award-winning Catherine Gund about kids and food politics.

Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows two eleven-year-old multi-racial city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. Sadie and Safiyah take a close look at food systems in New York City and its surrounding areas. With the camera as their companion, the girl guides talk to each other, food activists, farmers, new friends, storekeepers, their families, and the viewer, in their quest to understand what’s on all of our plates."

These girls are making a difference in their hometown by bringing organic food and CSA's to their local NYC neighborhood. The film is also available through instant streaming on netflix.

African-Americans and Hispanics have the highest instances of diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity in the US. We can change that by teaching our children how to avoid the snares of the big food companies. Eating well will protect them from the sicknesses that have affected our generation. I wish I had known as much as these two girls when I was younger. I would have avoided serious blood sugar problems today.

Enjoy the flick! And take care of your kids!

Love,
Mami Mozart

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Mom Alert: High Fructose Corn Syrup Name to be "Corn Sugar"

Image via WikipediaHola Awesome Mamas,

The latest hubbub regarding the detrimental effects of high fructose corn syrup which now constitutes a large percentage of the calories consumed by Americans (see this Princeton experiment where rats eating high fructose corn syrup gained more weight than rats eating regular sugar).

The corn industry, according to a New York Times article will change its name to "corn sugar" in order to "better inform" (or perhaps confuse?) consumers.

Scientifically, high fructose corn syrup (or "corn sugar") is not incredibly different than regular sugar. What IS different is that almost every processed food product has a high percentage of high fructose corn syrup (sugar). Some food products have only a tablespoon or two of sugar, while others have as much as a cupful or two of extra sugar.

As a mom, imagine giving your child an extra cup of sugar each day without even realizing it. For this, companies like Heinz have taken high fructose corn syrup out of some products. Increased sugar (no matter what kind) is not healthy for children or adults. The sugar calories are empty (no nutrients or vitamins) and can lead to obesity and diabetes (rampant in Hispanic families).

What are some ways to decrease sugar content overall?

1) Do not buy any products with high fructose corn syrup or any type of sugar (ends with -ose) as one of the first few ingredients of a product.

2) Take out soda entirely.

3) Make your own salad dressings

4) Reduce the amount of processed products with high fructose corn syrup

5) Buy products that have low levels of sugar

Keep your family healthy!

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Image via WikipediaHola Everyone,

Making delicious whole wheat banana raisin muffins for my daughter. Our small apartment smells like bananas, vanilla, and cinnamon. Was up till 3:30am last night writing and composing. I managed to release two singles that I had been meaning to for awhile, as well as wrote maybe ten articles for a website I am freelancing with, and also redid the audio for an album release that I meant to finish a month ago. But who has the time?

Fabricación de los molletes deliciosos de la pasa del plátano para mi hija. Nuestro pequeño apartamento huele como plátanos, vainilla, y canela. Estaba para arriba hasta que el 3:30 que escribía y que componía anoche.

My baby girl and I visited one of our close friends who had her baby yesterday afternoon. I can't believe how tiny her daughter is! To think that my baby was that size not too long ago. My friend's baby has more hair than my little girl, though. I have such a baldy of a baby!

Mi bebé y yo visitamos a uno de nuestros amigos cercanos que tenían su bebé el ayer por la tarde. ¡No puedo creer cómo es minúsculo es su hija!

Right now my baby girl has walked up to me, babbling about a crinkly book that she has ignored for months now. She has rediscovered it and is so excited that she wants to show me.

Ahora mi bebé ha recorrido para arriba a mí, charla sobre un libro rizado que ella ahora ha ignorado por meses. Ella lo ha redescubierto y es tan emocionada que ella quiere mostrarme.

Well, I must go back to being a mom. The timer is about up, and soon we will enjoy yummy banana raisin muffins for lunch.

Bien, debo volver a ser una mamá. El temporizador está alrededor para arriba, y pronto gozaremos de los molletes deliciosos de la pasa del plátano para el almuerzo.

Smiles and Happiness to all,

Mami Mozart

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Midnite musings

Hola Everyone,

(Yawn) Its 4:30 am and I just managed to put my little baby to sleep once again. She started crawling a few weeks back and her sleep schedule went out the window. The funny thing is that she started pulling herself to stand a week before she started to crawl. In fact, except for chasing down mommy or daddy in our small apartment, she tries standing more than she crawls.

Having your own child is definitely much different than teaching someone else's children! I have probably taught thousands of kids by now, from preschool to graduate school, but having my own little booger running about sure changes things. :-)

Plus side today: I made her some yummy peas/carrots/onions stuff and she actually ate it, no questions asked!

Ok, back to sleep....(YAWN!)

Mami Mozart