cheese | Healthy & Happy

Hey friends!

I hope ya’ll had a fabulous Thanksgiving! We sure did! The hubs and I tried our hand at karaoke…I was kind of a hot mess, but we still rocked it! Is there anything better than hanging out with the family during holidays? Not for me 🙂

Can you feel Christmas in the air?! The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is here and it’s in full swing! Everyone is so busy, malls are crowded and parties are raging!

This weight loss tip goes hand in hand with the one I gave ya’ll last time. Welcome to part 2 of 3!

This week, it’s all about dairy (milk, cheese, cottage cheese, butter, cream cheese, yogurt, even greek yogurt…you get the idea). We’re going to talk about why it’s so important to get organic dairy. What’s the big deal? Is it really necessary or is it just a waste of money? Does it have more nutrients than regular dairy? And more…

Let’s paint a picture of the factory farmed dairy industry. In general, a factory farm is “a large industrial operation that raises large numbers of animals for food”. The cows are crowded into a building where they spend pretty much their entire lives. Here, their poor udders are harnessed to a machine several times a day where they are milked. They are given hormones to amp up their milk production (about 100 pounds/day), and antibiotics when they get infections from being milked all the dang time. You try having your nipples hooked up to a machine that’s constantly sucking several times a day and see how long it takes you to hurt. Just sayin. -3

Do you realize that in order for a cow to produce milk, it has to be pregnant? These poor factory farmed cows are forced to get pregnant, over and over and over. Their calves are repeatedly ripped away from them, and the torture continues. When they can no longer produce milk, or they collapse from exhaustion, they are killed and sold as meat that people eat. All this, and most of them are barely 5 years old! If the calf is female, they are thrown into this cycle. If they are male they will never produce milk and are sold for meat. Bet you didn’t know that’s where veal comes from. -2

I have to remind you. I’m not talking about all conventional dairy here, only the factory farmed variety. There are many dairy farms that have good standards, but unless you know the farm your dairy comes from, I would choose the safe route and buy organic.

Now let’s talk about how different organic dairy is. The conditions are drastically different. They are actually humane. The cows are able to go outside, walk around and graze, as regular cows do in nature.

Remember when we talked about those pesky pesticides, herbicides and fungicides last post? Well, you are what you eat, and you are what your food eats too.

In order to be termed “organic” dairy cows are free from hormones and antibiotics. They can’t eat any food that has a lick of pesticides (or other “cides”) on them and they can’t be given anything with GMOs. -1

Not to mention, organic dairy actually has more anti-oxidants, omega 3s and other nutrients than conventional milk does. -1

Let’s not forget that milk is the perfect food for baby cows. Baby cows have to grow at an alarming rate compared to humans. There are hormones that naturally occur in cow’s milk to help their babies grow quickly. If it helps cows gain weight rapidly, imagine what it could do to you! So, if you want to avoid gaining weight, slow your roll with the dairy. And when you do consume it, make sure you get it from happy cows.

So, back to the questions above, yes! It’s a HUGE deal! It’s totally worth it!!!

I didn’t want to talk about all this dairy and leave ya hangin! So, here’s a recipe that’s fast, easy and delish. Best of all, it’s dairy-free but no one will know it. It’s creamy and smoky, it’s fantastic on vegetables, sandwiches, oh heck, I slather it on just about anything. It’s Better Than Cheddar Sauce, and it’s amazing!