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3 Comments Posted on July 18, 2014 food reviews, Health, Uncategorized, vegan

Recipe For Vegan Banana Split Milkshake With No Added Sugar Or Anything Artificial

My 3 and a half year-old son is now so used to me reviewing everything from cars, to road trips, to food products, one of his new catch phrases is, “Daddy, don’t do a review on that!”

But it’s just that I am so passionate to share things I enjoy, including my own new recipe for “Vegan Banana Split Milkshake With No Added Sugar Or Anything Artificial,” that I just couldn’t resist from taking pictures to share with my vegan-curious friends.

I figure there are enough people out there, like me, who physically can’t process much processed sugar without suffering from some kind of ailment. For example, my eczema would return if I went back to consuming added sugar in my food.

With that being said, this recipe is for anyone who wants the idea of a Banana Split Milkshake but from a dairy free, no added sugar, nothing anything artificial perspective.

My version also does not include peanuts- most of which are GMO.

I am providing convenient photo collages of the ingredients along with my original recipe.

When I am craving “bad” food, like a traditional banana split and/or milkshake, I ask myself, what is my body actually craving?

The answer: Good fats (from nuts and seeds) and good sugars (from non-juiced fruit, not separated from the fiber found in that fruit).

Therefore, my recipe for “Vegan Banana Split Milkshake With No Added Sugar Or Anything Artificial” is actually completely nutritious and completely filling.

Not to mention, it contains less than 1% of your daily cholesterol intake. Research that concept- it’s a big deal!

I’m not saying it tastes as awesome as the real thing, but it works for me. Do you want to try it?

Instructions: Place all ingredients except for the cherry in a blender, put on “crush ice” mode. Pour into a chilled, quirky glass. Then place the cherry on top. Done.

(Instagramming optional.)

“Vegan Banana Split Milkshake With No Added Sugar Or Anything Artificial” By Nick Shell

Serves one:

1 banana

1 palmful of strawberries

1 palmful of cashews

1 cup of unsweetened almond milk

1 cup of ice

1 serving of chia seeds

1 serving of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cherry (on top)

If you do ended up trying my recipe, I would love to know about it. Thanks!

Leave a comment Posted on July 18, 2014July 18, 2014 Uncategorized

Annie’s Homegrown Is America’s #10 Best Small Company

October 17, 2013 at 9:55 pm , by Nick Shell

2 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

Tuesday afternoon when I picked you up from school, your teacher Ms. Lauren directed me over to the current poster on the wall, featuring what you and your friends have been learning about this week.

The question was, “What do we buy at the grocery store?”

As always, you had the most random, confusing answer:

“Old MacDonald mac and cheese, apple squeeze things, fruit juice, pizza.”

By “apple squeeze things,” Ms. Lauren knew you meant fruit pouches (GoGo Squeez applesauce pouches).

But as for “Old MacDonald mac and cheese,” she had no clue…

I explained to her that Annie’s Homegrown makes a type of mac and cheese called Bernie’s Farm, which contains noodles in the shapes of rabbits, tractors, carrots, and cows.

That, to you, is “Old MacDonald mac and cheese.”

The only other peculiar answer I saw on the list was your friend Sophie’s:

Spoons.

Yes, well, I guess sometimes you do have to get spoons at the grocery store…

Of all weeks for this story to be something I would write about, when I signed on to the MSN homepage today, I saw a link to the story, according to Forbes, “America’s Top 25 Best Small Companies.”

Annie’s Homegrown is #10 on Forbes’ list!

Do you know how happy that makes me?

I love it that a food company like Annie’s Homegrown, who is committed to saying no to GMO’s (and Monsanto) and petroleum-based food dyes (like Kraft uses) is able to be so successful in the free market.

The other thing I love is that there’s enough people in America who demand real food (that doesn’t contain mysterious and potentially harmful chemicals) so that a brand like Annie’s can be this successful.

This is such a beautiful case of supply and demand.

But most of all, the best part of this story for me is, you love Annie’s enough to mention it at school as one of the necessary staples that you like to buy at the grocery store.

You’re as passionate about Annie’s as I am! (Okay, so maybe you just like the way their food tastes and looks, and you’re not really aware of Annie’s “no GMO” policy, but still.)

That gives me one more reason to be so proud of you.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on July 17, 2014July 22, 2014 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: New Infographic- Rent Vs. Own: Which Option Is Best For You?

3 years, 8 months.

Dear Jack,

I’ve been mentioning to you about our family’s plans to move out of our townhouse and into “a real house with a yard and one that’s in the right school discrict.” (That’s important here in Nashville.)

After having owned our townhouse for 6 years now, we are finally at the point at which we could sell it and actually make a profit.

For now it’s sort of a waiting game, as we continue to build our savings after having gone debt-free a year ago. Meanwhile, the prices in the neighborhoods we are considering moving to are now affordable… but how long?

The paradox: The longer we wait to move from our townhouse (as we continue to put more in savings for the down payment on our next house and watch the value of our townhouse continue to rise), the more likely the prices will also rise on the house we want to move into.

When should we move? We’ve got our sights on early next year.

This brand-new infographic below does a great job explaining which option is better, renting or owning. While it doesn’t relate to us in that we already own our townhouse instead of renting it, it does relate in helping me personally see that by owning it 7 years makes it more of an investment than selling it sooner.

Ten years would be ideal, but again, we have to keep watch on prices of the neighborhoods we’re interested in.

It’s hard to imagine what it will be like actually moving into the house that our family plans to live in for the rest of your childhood.

We’ve been working towards this goal for a while now.

I remember back in the days when it seemed the value of our townhome would stay in the negative forever.

But we’ve worked hard to pay off our debts, save our money, and keep a close eye on what’s going on out there.

Maybe by early next year…

Love,

Daddy

Infographic courtesy of SpareFoot.

Courtesy of: SpareFoot

1 Comment Posted on July 12, 2014 parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

To My Readers, Why I Chose The Name “Family Friendly Daddy Blog”

First off, I want to thank you personally for being one of the readers I am referencing in the title. You don’t have to be spending your time reading what I sayright now; but you are, and I truly appreciate that. You actually linked the link and found yourself here, off the mainstream path.

I will admit I was at least curious as to see if I’d lose any followers on Facebook and Twitter after I left Parents.com 2 weeks ago.

Gratefully, I’ve am still gaining followers since the departure, so I’ll take it that people can still appreciate my writing even without the glory of the Parents magazine name in my header. That means a lot to me.

Whereas I’ve been writing directly to my son Jack over the past couple of years, don’t be surprised if you start seeing more “To My Readers” segments; in which I show you what’s going on backstage and behind the scenes here.

Today I thought it would be a good idea to explain why I chose the name “Family Friendly Daddy Blog” now that I’ve returned back to my original site; as opposed to “The Dadabase.”

I admit I only spent about 47 seconds coming up with the name “Family Friendly Daddy Blog.” It was the first thing to came to mind when trying to figure out how to make myself easily “Google-able” as a daddy blogger and as one who keeps things PG rated.

The phrase “family friendly” also indicates that my blog is not simply a daddy blog, but more of a blog for parents and families.

So “Family Friendly Daddy Blog” is my way of saying when you come to my site, you should expect something family oriented, but specifically written from a male, fatherly perspective.

Another thing you can expect is for my material to be positive.

But also real at the same time… but not too real…

I say that because Facebook can be a bipolar place. I want “Family Friendly Daddy Blog” to be a welcoming exit when you see me pop up while scrolling through your Facebook home page.

Well, that’s it. That’s what “Family Friendly Daddy Blog” is all about and that’s why I felt the new name was a good way to sum it all up.

Again, thanks for being a part of it.

Sincerely,

Nick Shell

Leave a comment Posted on July 9, 2014 Health, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

A High Fructose Corn Syrup, Artificial Food Dye Tour Of WalMart

What’s the easiest way to being able to spot junk food?

Fat? Cholesterol? Weird, unpronounceable chemicals?

Those are all good, but there’s an easier way than that…

Just look for high fructose corn syrup and/or artificial food dyes.

This is coming from a guy who over the course of several years, learned the cure to eczema (dyshidrosis) by experimenting with what I did and did not eat. The first step for me, 6 years ago, was discovering I had to eliminate high fructose corn syrup and/or artificial food dyes from my diet.

Why?

High fructose corn syrup is the most processed version of GMO sugar you can find. It’s the sweetest of the sweet, which teaches your body to “look for the rest of the food” it came from. In other words, high fructose corn syrup keeps you hungry; as explained in this article by scientificamerican.com.

Meanwhile, artificial food dyes have been linked to anxiety, migraines, and cancer; according to this respectable article on Forbes.com.

Today, I want to introduce you to the concept that WalMart’s vendors are very good at making sure WalMart’s customers are strategically surrounded by high fructose corn syrup and artificial food dyes.

It’s common knowledge to our generation that WalMart has this way of attracting a certain crowd worthy of their own website: peopleofwalmart.com. (I don’t endorse that site, by the way; it’s not “family friendly”.)

However, there’s a reason it’s so easy to relate to WalMart memes:

For example, over the weekend I overhead this phone conversation while I was there at WalMart: “I ain’t no snitch… I didn’t give the cops a first name. I wasn’t brought up that way…”.

In case you need a visual, he looked like a young version of Weird Al in his video for “All About The Pentiums.”

This past weekend while I was there to pick up my car after getting an oil change, I took a walk around the place.

I only had to walk past a few aisles to pick up on a marketing strategy: WalMart’s vendors strategically place “pillars of cheap junk food” around the outer perimeter of the store’s interior.

Vendors pay for that high-traffic real estate within the store, as explained by one of my coworkers, whose wife is a manager at WalMart.

If I sound a little harsh regarding these strategically placed junk food pillars, let me give you some more quick background on me, because I feel it’s relevant to my passion behind this story.

I was one nervous little kid, from age 10 to age 12. I had anxiety issues, as well as constant digestion problems.

Fortunately, my own parents were open-minded enough to listen to good advice, and cut out red food dye (Red 40 and Carmine) from my diet.

What a lot of people here in America don’t realize about those petroleum and insect derived food dyes is that are banned in Europe.

So hopefully now it makes better sense why I am “outing” WalMart’s vendors for barricading the floor with junk food pillars.

See for yourself the next time you shop there.

I realize that other stores do this to, but I feel it’s taken to a whole new level at Walmart.

This is me inviting you to be in the know; just like I did back in 2009 when I pointed out the marketing scheme of fast food companies using the color combination of red and yellow in their logos to subconsciously control you like a traffic control light:

Yellow: “Slow down.”

Red: “Stop!”

What do you think? Do I know what I’m talking about here?

Is it safe to say that the vendors of many stores, WalMart serving as the epitome of them, surround the floor space with pillars of junk food, filled with high fructose corn syrup and artificially food dyes?

Tell me I’m not crazy. Most people say I am.

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