Margarine vs Butter

I knew Margarine is bad, but I don't know how bad until know. Recently, I have good incentives to make homemade cookies. Some of the incentives are my choice of ingredients without the added additives in cookies that are sitting on store shelves. I always have a thing for baked goods, and always wanted to learn how to bake. If I were to make my own cookies, I am going to make it with the better ingredients, brown sugars, healthy multi-grained flour choice and all that because I get to have my way. But when it comes to butter and its alternative, I was struck. I knew I have to do some good research on it. Butter is full of flavors but also full of fat. I didn't really put much thoughts on margarine until my friend told me she uses it for baking, and another friend told me she likes to use it for spreads. I hate to be a party pooper, but i am too aware of little things like that to omit doing some good research. Here is a little something from the article I read.

"Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback, so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back.
It was a white substance with no food appeal, so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. More recently, they have come out with some clever new flavorings." - Author unknown, but good truthful information

And here's the most disturbing fact...

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC. This fact alone is enough to make you want to avoid margarine for life, as well as anything else that is hydrogenated. (This means that hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance.)

You can try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or a shaded area. Within a couple of days, you will note a couple of things:

No flies, not even those pesky fruit flies, will go near it. (That should tell you something.) It will not rot or smell differently, because it has NO nutritional value. Nothing will grow on it. Even tiny microorganisms will not a find a home to grow on. Why? Because margarine is nearly plastic.

Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

I picked this because I always despise Capitalism. The world would be a better place if capitalists make a little less effort in creating byproducts for money. And the people would live happier healthier lives a little bit longer. Of course, at the end, the choice is ours. I think too as the author of this article says, butter is the better choice, at the least, it is a real food. It does have many benefits to our body if eaten in moderation. I would definitely re-evaluate my choices of food to crave for. There is a better alternative to butter for baking, which I spotted on the baking section of Ralph's, the spectrum's all vegetable shortening. It is not hydrogenated, but cold pressed palm oil. Palm oil is one of the good oils to benefit for cooking. I am happy that over the past year, I was more interested in making Chinese food at home. I do not have to include butter in almost all the dishes.

25 things about me

Usually, I am not as fond of letting everyone know everything about me. It is a scary thing but I got passed that. I'll be happy already if you care to read. It is either I am in desperate search for friends, or I just come to a point where I am accepting the fact that if you like me, great, if otherwise, I am okay too. I used to not be myself and try to be a people pleaser. Oh..was I miserable, because I cared too much of what others think of me. I used to hide my personality and be presentable. Best of all, I could never get my in-laws to like me. LOL...I am at a point now that I don't care about what people think and be myself. And I expect people I know to be honest to me too. I have never been happier now.

I think 25 things are not merely enough to describe me, but it is a good start.

1) I am ambidextrous
2) I have had 13 different jobs so far, and being a mom is the best job ever.
3) I began going to a baptist church when I was three years old and loving it. It has so much impact on my life, and no one church can be compared to it.
4) I am very easy going but can be very stubborn, but my mom did a more than good job to tame me when I was little. I think it is a bit too much.
5) I always dream of one day traveling the world, but would be afraid to do it on my own.
6) I am a very picky person, mostly having a high standard for myself that I can't even fulfill.
7) I have very low self-esteem, if I don't call u, it doesn't mean it has anything to do with you.
8) I value family and friendships.
9) I love savoring past memories. I treasure my pictures and videos. I get quite emotional sometimes when I wonder what happened to the friendships and why we don't keep in contacts anymore.
10) I still don't know what my goals are in life. I am still trying to discover what I enjoy doing the most.
11) I have a love for small animals. Cute and cuddly
12) I love watching hgtv lately. I will become an interior designer in one year.
13) I like romantic comedy movies. I can get very emotional.
14) I always love the outdoors and natures. Anything to get me close to nature, I am going.
15) I am a timid darer. I am willing to try any new exciting things, but I will spent the whole night worrying about it.
16) I have one regret in high school where I did not give love a chance. I thought I was not worthy of such love and afraid of losing such a wonderful friendship.
17) I love to take pictures. I always have one camera with me and I am running out of hard drive spaces.
18) I am the kind of person that would rather have one rose once in awhile than a dozen rose in a year. This kind of apply to everything else too.
19) I am very good on managing money. My childhood goal was to not have money take control of my life. I hardly spend anything on myself, except for the essentials. I like the freedom of being able to live freely so I can spent a whole lot of some things.
20) I like to live freely. Freedom of choice
21) I have a great sense of humor, but sometimes, for people who don't know me as much, that I may seem not too smart.
22) I have the worst memory of all. So don't ask me about history.
23) I don't believe in working for a job that I don't enjoy.
24) I am not as outgoing as you think I am. I can be shy and not initiative at times. I can be quiet as long as I am in uncomfortable situations.
25) I love food and desert. I want to taste all the good foods no matter what kind it is. Being a chef is on my list.
26) I am a VBC (Vietnam born chinese), count this as a joke because I don't think there is such a term. I used to be ashamed of letting people know, especially there was a time where Vietnamese was looked down on by Chinese.
27) I am an Internet addict. Before I buy something, I will do extensive research to find the best product out there. I want to be an educated consumer. Boy..am I glad I did not get a Dyson.

Why do we have so much stuffs?

As I was thinking about organizing the home, I was overwhelmed by the fact that this is an ongoing process that just will never ends. Things just pile up and get out of control. To clean up and organize is equivalent to taking our valuable time to spend with family and friends. But yet, why do we keep spending more money on more stuffs? I admit that I am a very frugal person when it comes to spending. I hardly buy any thing in a year except for the essentials. Every time I thought about buying one thing, I have to justify if it is a need or want. Once in a while, I will get wrapped into the societal hurricane and stop thinking hard before buying one thing. It is as much of a cultural influence as a psychological one. America is a substantial materialistic society. I see many use garages mainly to store stuffs, not cars. Worst yet, when the garages run out of spaces,they pay for storage space to safeguard the belongings. I have spent many years defying the force field in this American capitalist society's motto where "spending more is better." In the media, on TV, Internet, everywhere, we have ads telling us that there are newer models of cars, cellphones, even household appliances get smaller and nicer and the trends keep moving faster and faster. If you can't keep up, you are not as cool as others. Sad but true. It is great to have innovative technologies, but when capitalists care more about gains and profits for themselves;cutting corners,mass producing and having false intentions, then it is a different story.
I am so thankful to have stumbled over this video. It is great to feel being supported and reconfirm my ways of thinking.