non-GMO

1 Comment Posted on September 7, 2014 Uncategorized

4G Equipped 2015 Buick LaCrosse: Labor Day Weekend Family Friendly Review

As I mentioned in The New (and Younger) Buick, Equipped with 4G and OnStar, our family had the privilege of getting to review the 2015 Buick LaCrosse over Labor Day Weekend.

I had my wife take notes of the comments our family made during the trip about the vehicle.

She personally was impressed that the car was even roomier on the inside, compared to how it looks from the outside.

And speaking of the outside, everyone we encountered over Labor Day Weekend all made the same comment: “Wow, what a beautiful car!”

Perhaps I was most impressed by how quiet the LaCrosse is, despite its power (3.6 L, SIDI V6).

Seriously, I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t an electric car. But looking back to my most recent trip to GM’s headquarters, I remember them mentioning how much attention and effort they put into making sure that Buicks are notably quiet- sort of like a trademark.

But of course I also loved having not only 4G Wi-FI in the vehicle, which enabled my son to learn about his ABC’s on my wife’s Kindle for a good amount of the trip, but also the access to OnStar.

I love OnStar! I really appreciate being able to have an instant human helper to assist me while I’m driving. I’m not the best multi-tasker, so having OnStar is extremely helpful to me.

From here, I want to finish up by doing the modern day equivalent of how people use to share photos with captions written on the back, to tell you about their trips.

We left our house in Nashville on Saturday morning and begin our journey. The shot of the highway above was where Jack proclaimed, “I see Lake Tahoe!” (We went there earlier this summer.)

First stop: My own grandparents’ house in Chattanooga.

Next we headed to Whole Foods, using OnStar of course, to enjoy a nice plant-based lunch.

After that we made our way to my hometown on Fort Payne, Alabama; where we chilled out for a while at a Labor Day get-together.

Jack and I enjoyed discovering the awesome playground, pretending to be pirates.

For a year now, since I’ve been regularly been reviewing cars, I’ve been wanting to take Jack to Desoto Falls in Mentone, AL.

I made it work… It started raining as soon as we got there and stopped raining the moment we got back to the Buick.

Oh well, Jack loved it. Plus, it didn’t rain hard enough to mess up my camera while we took some fun pictures.

For his nap time, Jack had an interesting request…

For me to read his story to him while wearing a scary mask!

(See the full story: Dear Jack: Reading Bedtime Stories With A Scream Mask On.)

We definitely had a fun road trip in the 2015 Buick LaCrosse! Before we left, we loaded up the trunk, full of produce from my parents organic, non-GMO garden to take back to our home in Nashville.

I hope you enjoyed learning about the 2015 Buick LaCrosse! Thanks for reading this week’s car review. I wonder what we’ll be driving next?…

2015 Buick LaCrosse- Premium

As shown: $42,240.00.

Fuel economy: 21 MPG combined/18 city/28 highway

Government 5-Star Safety Ratings:

Overall: 5

Frontal Crash, Driver/Passenger: 5

Side Crash, Driver/Passenger: 5

Rollover: 4

Leave a comment Posted on July 17, 2014July 17, 2014 food reviews, Health, parenting, vegan

The Difference Between Organic And Non-GMO Foods

September 8, 2013 at 12:18 am , by Nick Shell

2 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

Our family cares about buying organic and non-GMO foods.

To put it lightly, I’m personally not a fan of Monsanto.

In fact, I recently (jokingly?) referred to them as the antichrist and GMO foods as the mark of the beast:

“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” ^{[Revelation 13:17]}

A good amount (that’s an understatement!) of the food bought or sold in America is GMO and not organic.

What’s the different between non-GMO and organic foods?

To put it simply, non-GMO (“GMO” stands for “genetically modified organism”) means that a company (like Monsanto) has not synthetically interfered with the seed of the food to fit a uniform, worldwide model.

If the food is organic, it means that chemicals and additives (like pesticides and fertilizers) were not used in the process of the food being grown.

Yes, a food product can be one without the other. I think of it this way: “Non-GMO” refers the the seed, “organic” refers to what happens to that seed once it is planted in the ground.

So how can we know which of our foods are both non-GMO and organic?

We’re definitely not waiting on the government to force companies to label their products…

Instead, we’re paying our respects (and money) to the food brands out there who not only have organic and/or non-GMO products, but who are smart enough to label their products that way, so that families like us know to buy them.

We’re not putting our blind trust and health in the hands of companies who use chemicals and synthetic modifications to “make” their foods.

We prefer our foods the way God intended them to be, instead.

And by now, enough people are passionate enough about this, like we are, that it’s getting easier to identify the labels for non-GMO and organic.

So we look for the “Non-GMO Project Verified” logo with the butterfly and the circular USDA Organic logo. We try to buy those options as much as possible.

We can’t stop non-organic, GMO foods from being sold. But we can certainly choose to buy the alternative. By alternative, I mean, the original.

Love,

Daddy

2 Comments Posted on June 15, 2014June 15, 2014 Uncategorized

Unboxing Of GoGo Squeez’s Apple Mandarin & Gimme Five : Family Friendly Review

As the official daddy blogger of Parents.com for the past 3 years, I’ve always tried to be careful not to openly promote a product. However, with GoGo Squeez, it’s been difficult not to…

That’s because they are one of the few food brands out there that I approve of 100%.

GoGo Squeez is vegan friendly, non-GMO, kosher certified, gluten free, contains BPA free packaging, contains no artificial flavors or flavors or high-fructose corn syrup and, at the risk of sounding redudant here… is 100% natural.

All of their ingredients are certified USDA organic, grown on local farms in rich, healthy soil that hasn’t been treated with chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

We are a plant-based family, so all that stuff is a big deal to us!

My friends at GoGo Squeez send our family a care package for our upcoming family vacation to Lake Tahoe. So I used that opportunity to help spread the good word about this food company that I am personally passionate about.

I made some “unboxing” videos of my son trying some of their newer flavors: Apple Mandarin and Gimme Five! (a blend of apple, mango, strawberry, peach, and banana).

By the way, I promise I didn’t prompt my son to only say good stuff about these “on the go” applesauce pouches. I admit he was probably confused as to why we were filming him get to eat of of his favorite snacks, but he just went with it!

There are very few food companies out there that I openly stand by and trust. For a strict vegan like me, with a plant-based family, it takes a lot (!) to impress me.

GoGo Squeez is the real deal.

Thanks for stopping by my Family Friendly Daddy Blog today. Now, let me find something else to review…

Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: