Wretha's Adventures Living Off Grid: August 2025

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Foods, Real Foods

I started paying attention to food labels back in my twenties. At first, I was just trying to cut out sugar (anything ending in “-ose”) and Red #40 from my son’s diet. This was well before it became a common thing to do. Back then, asking questions about what was in your food often earned you some strange looks. But something didn’t sit right with me, and thankfully, it was actually easier to avoid toxic ingredients then. Fewer processed options, fewer marketing distractions. And yes, for those wondering, the change made a real impact.

Every new school year, the usual forms would come home asking about allergies or special dietary needs. I always returned mine with a simple request: “Please don’t feed him anything that I didn’t send.” I packed everything he ate, from daily snacks to birthday cakes. But the school always pushed back. They wanted a physician to sign off on this so-called special diet. So I brought my handwritten food log, a real notebook filled with daily entries about what my son ate and how he responded, to our DO.

She would glance through it, nod, and say, “I wish more parents would do this.” Armed with her signature, I returned the paperwork to the school. Even then, they acted like I was doing something extreme, like I was depriving him. But with a doctor’s note, their hands were tied. And to be clear, he never missed out. If there was a celebration, I supplied cake. Homemade. I made cookies, candies, and more, all from scratch. No shortcuts. No chemicals. That alone could fill a book.

Years later, not much has changed. I still read labels when I shop. And to be honest, most of what I pick up goes right back on the shelf as soon as I spot something like toxic oils, hydrogenated anything, synthetic sweeteners, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, or colors. At this point, I don’t even call them ingredients anymore. To me, they’re chemicals.

There are whole aisles in the grocery store that I just skip. Condiments are a lost cause. Salad dressing? No. Store-bought mayo? Definitely not. Most of it smells like it’s gone rancid, and for good reason. The oils used are unstable and low quality. BBQ sauce? Packed with sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. I make all of these at home with real food. Ingredients I can recognize and pronounce. Sometimes I add in lacto-fermented components to boost nutrition and shelf life. Though nothing really lasts long in my fridge. I do consume fats, just ones that my body recognize, things like real butter, olive oil, animal fats and the such.

This isn’t a fad for me. It’s just how I live. If you ask the people around me, they’ll tell you I’m hard core about it. If I’m at someone’s house and they offer me food or drinks, I usually decline. Politely, but quickly. Even when it’s something they think is a better option. That’s when the game begins. They start rifling through their kitchen, hoping to find something I’ll approve of. I always appreciate the effort, but it’s sad how many of those “healthy” products are still full of questionable ingredients. Labels like “natural,” “sugar-free,” and “fat-free” are just marketing. Most people don’t realize how misleading those claims are.

One example that sticks with me is Wheat Thins. Their box practically shouts health benefits. “Whole grain,” “no artificial flavors or colors.” One day, I was shopping in the store and broke my usual rule. I bought a box to munch on during the drive home without first reading the label. As I was eating, I noticed they tasted oddly sweet. I figured maybe I was just sensitive because I don't eat sugar. But when I flipped the box over, here’s what I saw:

WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT FLOUR, CANOLA OIL, SUGAR, CORNSTARCH, MALT SYRUP (FROM CORN AND BARLEY), SALT, REFINER’S SYRUP, LEAVENING (CALCIUM PHOSPHATE AND BAKING SODA), BHT ADDED TO PACKAGING MATERIAL TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS.

From my perspective:

Canola oil is toxic.
Sugar, malt syrup, and refiner’s syrup are all added sugars.
BHT is a toxic synthetic preservative I want no part of.

I threw the box away. I hated wasting the money, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat another bite. It’s disappointing. And the saddest part is knowing how many parents buy these thinking they’re doing something good.

I have some hope that the MAHA movement will push the food industry toward more transparency. But even if it does, it won’t solve everything. That’s why we can’t stop reading labels. We have to stay alert. Companies will always look for cheap ingredients that maximize profit (nothing wrong with profit as long as it isn't harming anyone). And many of them intentionally add substances that mess with your brain chemistry and appetite. The goal is to keep you coming back for more. If that sounds a little like addiction, it’s because it is.

Last weekend, I did my usual grocery shopping. I stuck to the outer perimeter of the store, where the real food is. I picked up fresh produce, eggs, milk, half and half (more on that in a second), and meats like chicken and pork. I also grabbed a bag of corn chips, but only after carefully scanning the options and picking the cleanest one. And no, I don’t snack on them randomly. They’re part of an actual meal.

Let’s talk about cream. I love using it in recipes and coffee. But I’ve noticed that most heavy creams, even the pricey organic ones, come with gums and stabilizers. Why? Cream should be just that: cream. That’s it. Ironically, I’ve found that plain half and half, which is just milk and cream, usually doesn’t have any of those additives. I have no idea why that’s the case, but it is. If I could find raw heavy cream straight from a local farm, I’d be thrilled. Until then, I’ll stick with half and half.

This is how I live. Every day. It’s not about being extreme. It’s about being intentional. What’s really extreme is how normal it has become to fill our bodies with synthetic chemicals and call it food.

So now I’ll ask you. Have you made changes to your diet? What have you swapped out? What differences have you noticed? Let’s start sharing and celebrating real food again. It’s time.

All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

Friday, August 8, 2025

Sam's Club Membership Half Price 50% Off

Want a Sam’s Club Membership for Half Price?

Use my referral link to get 50% off your first year of a Standard Club membership—that’s only $25 instead of $50! You’ll also get $5 in Sam’s Cash to spend, and I’ll get $5 too.

If you want all the extra perks of Plus (like free shipping on most items, 2 % Sam’s Cash back, and more), you can upgrade immediately for $60. That means you get Plus for only $85 total (instead of $110) your first year, and you still get the $5 Sam’s Cash!

Link good through August 31, 2025

Limited to the first 5 friends per Sam's Club rules, if you don't make it in this time, look for a new link next month.

I don't live near a Sam's Club, in fact the closest one to me is some 3 hours away at Texas highway speeds, I'm a very rural mountainous area of far west Texas (yes, Texas has mountains, just don't tell anyone), we have very limited access to stores (food or otherwise) and what we do have is typically more expensive than city shopping. Even paying full price for the plus tier it's worth it for me to carry the membership since they will ship most items to me for free. I wish I could get perishable items, but they don't ship those, so an every few months trip to Odessa is not out of the question for me to stock up on the items I need and want from Sam's, mostly the items they won't ship. Things like fresh fruit and veg, meats, cold and frozen foods, it's always a good trip to the big city for those items.

As for the rest of the stuff, things like coffee, powdered creamer (it's for hubby, I wouldn't consume that but I can't stop him from liking it), supplements, dry goods like Kleenex, paper towels, disposable cups, and a few other staples, I save enough money ordering those items that it more than pays for itself over the year.

Hoping you are having a great day! Tell me, do you prefer Sam's Club or Costco? Or do you use both? I have made online orders from Costco before, they carry a peanut butter I like, since I am not a club member, they do charge a shipping fee, it's not much, just a few dollars, well worth it. I did a comparison for the two clubs and discovered for me, for the things I typically like to buy that Sam's Club Plus is the best deal for me.

Thursday, August 7, 2025

Turning 60

Well, this is my last week of being in my 50s, I'm 59 which makes my upcoming birthday one of those milestones that I'm not sure what to think about it. I've never been one to fret about age, I always considered age just a number. I've known people who seemed to be forever young, and I've known people who looked and acted elderly long before they should have.

It's funny, ironic, I'm not usually at a loss for words, in fact I tend to be a bit too wordy when it comes to writing. But I don't know what to write, well that's not entirely true, I have lots of thoughts on this subject and have started several paragraphs only to delete them. I don't want to come across as whiny, or complaining, I also don't want to sound like everything is perfect. I need to find a middle ground here. So let's get started.

The whiny parts, I'm aging, it's a fact, the alternative is dying young, something I obviously am not interested in. In the last few years (about 5 or 6 years) I have actively worked on my health, mostly by eliminating unhealthy things and adding in healthy things. (How many times can I say "things" LOL).

The things I started and continue doing, I began doing intermittent fasting, it just happened to fall when Covid started, it had nothing to do with that, it was absolutely a coincidence, but a good one it turned out. I typically don't get sick, or when I do it's fairly short lived, but during C, as we all know, anyone who coughed, or had the hint of being sick, well it was a scary time. I personally wasn't worried about it, but I know how people acted, especially in public, so getting or sounding sick just wasn't an option.

It turned out that during the height of the C scare, I didn't get sick, not once, no cough, no sneezing, no sickness at all, I fully attribute that to my daily fasting. Later on I do believe I caught it once, from someone sitting next to me in a meeting I had to attend whose family definitely had it. No big deal, it was one and done. I never got tested nor did I take the jab (a personal choice, no judgement), I'm going by the symptoms I had to determine that I did in fact have C.

After I started daily fasting, I began to pick one thing in my diet to eliminate, it wasn't really hard since I love to cook, and I am already an avid label reader, I already chose not to consume artificial chemical garbage, things like artificial sweeteners, artificial colors or flavors, at that time it was difficult to avoid because it was in everything, but I did my best. I discovered when I ate cleanly, I felt better, and it was immediately apparent if I ate something that wasn't good.

The next thing I eliminated was a hard one, it was sugar, all refined processed sugar. I am pretty hard core about that, even homemade goodies, if they contain sugar, I choose not to eat it. Last Christmas, my friend who is a fab cook/baker, was making homemade cookies, I agreed to try one, I ate one cookie and one tiny square of fudge. Well the rest of the day, my head was buzzing and I was dizzy. It was not pleasant, and absolutely not worth the few minutes of pleasure on my tongue.

The only sweeteners I'll eat are natural from fruit, and allulose/monk fruit, and maple syrup in moderation, mostly in my coffee which isn't daily.

The next thing I eliminated from my diet was toxic oils, things like palm oil, anything hydrogenated, corn oil, basically all of the toxic seed oils. I use butter, ghee, olive oil, and avocado oil. I am truly amazed at the companies who make so called healthy foods that use toxic oils, it's just safer to make my own snacks and foods.

Now with RFK Jr in charge of our foods, he is banning artificial colors and other things, I'm happy about that, it means I'll potentially be able to buy more foods from the store ~~without~~ with less worry. Though honestly I still don't fully trust the food manufacturers to do the right thing, I'll still continue to read labels and if it has something I don't like, I won't buy it or eat it.

Lacto-fermentation, it's something I have been delving deeper and deeper into, science is learning that we are influenced by our gut microbiome, some are good, some not so good. I am actively working on making and consuming more and more lacto-fermented foods. Right now I have 5 jars of fermented veggies sitting out that I eat from. I also make my own yogurt. All of this is so much simpler than I originally thought it would be, it's not scary at all, just do it!

I am doing other things to improve my health, supplements, hydrogen water, red light therapy, making my own tinctures and the such. All of this is an attempt at keeping my body and mind in tip top shape. I am not perfect, I am overweight, but have maintained this weight over many years, ie I don't yo-yo diet, I feel like maintaining is healthier than losing and gaining over and over.

_____________________________________________

So it's been a few days since I started writing, I almost decided to not post this at all, but then I went over to my friend's house, she could see there was a bit of a shadow over me, so she pulled out 2 boxes and sat them in front of me. I didn't know what to think, she is a big, major big wrapping paper kind of person, she even commented that she hadn't wrapped them but chose to give them to me anyhow.

I opened each box, the first one had a fermentation crock, the kind with a an airlock lid, weights and a thing I can only assume it's for tamping down whatever I'm fermenting. The other box contained 2 large glass jars with lids that also have an airlock/venting system. And there were 2 glass weights.

I must say that my friend knows me so well, she knew I'd love those items, I would USE them and I'm going to make some ferments for her as well.

Sunday, August 3, 2025

Greenthread: The Desert Bloom with a Moody Disguise

Tucked among the rugged terrain of the Davis Mountains, where dry winds brush across stone and sunbaked earth, a slender, scrappy plant quietly thrives. Around our place, we call it the “Adam’s Family flower”, a nickname my husband coined after watching its sunny yellow blooms shrivel into something you'd expect in a gothic bouquet. But officially, it’s known as Greenthread (Thelesperma megapotamicum), a native wildflower with deep cultural roots and a flair for dramatic exits.

🌿 A Closer Look at Greenthread

Widespread across the American Southwest, from Texas plains to Arizona foothills, Greenthread is a tall, wiry perennial with thread-thin foliage and solitary golden flower heads. During bloom, it’s cheerful and bright. But after flowering, the heads dry and blacken, transforming the plant into something out of a Tim Burton set. The contrast is striking, and once you see it, you’ll never forget it.

That darkening stage is exactly why the name “Adam’s Family flower” stuck in our home. The spent blossoms look like something Morticia herself would carefully arrange with a smirk.

🍃 History in a Cup

Beyond its theatrical looks, Greenthread has long been valued for its herbal uses. Often called Indian Tea, Navajo Tea, or Coyote Tail, it’s been used for generations by Indigenous communities as a calming herbal infusion.

Traditional tea made from this plant is believed to:

Ease digestive issues
Calm mild stomach cramps
Act as a gentle sedative
Help with water retention
Support general detox (according to folk beliefs)

Modern research hasn’t yet caught up to traditional wisdom, but its use in herbal practices is well-documented and considered safe.

✂️ How to Harvest & Preserve It

Interested in harvesting your own? It’s simple, but timing matters:

Best Time: Mid-morning, once the dew has lifted and before the sun gets too hot
What to Harvest: Snip the top portions, stems, leaves, and blooms, while in flower
Drying Method: Gather into small bundles, hang upside down in a shaded, airy space until crisp. Store in paper bags, tins, or glass jars, away from moisture and sunlight.

☕ Brewing Greenthread Tea

Here’s a simple way to prepare a cup:

Use about 1 tablespoon of dried plant material per cup.
Pour just-boiled water over the herbs.
Let it steep for 10 to 15 minutes.
Optional: add a slice of lemon or a bit of honey.

The flavor is light, earthy, and faintly bitter, somewhere between green tea and chamomile. Longer steeping brings out a stronger, more medicinal flavor.

🔍 A Few Plants to Avoid Confusing It With

Although Greenthread is fairly distinct once familiar, here are a few plants that can appear similar:

Coreopsis tinctoria – Often used for tea as well, but has red and yellow bicolored petals.
Dyssodia species (aka fetid marigold) – Similar shape but an unmistakably foul odor.
Small thistles and dandelion relatives – Yellow flowers, but different leaf and stem structure.

Trust your senses, especially your nose and an eye for those signature thread-like leaves.

🪴 Why I Love It

Greenthread is a survivor, growing in dry, rocky soil where little else wants to root. It's modest in size but full of charm, both during bloom and after. Whether you’re harvesting for tea or just appreciating its resilience, this unassuming plant has a lot to offer.

And yes, part of me still chuckles when I see those dark, dried flower heads swaying in the wind. The “Adam’s Family flower” might not be its scientific name, but around here, it’s the one that sticks.

🌿 Disclaimer:
The information provided here is based on personal observations, traditional knowledge, and informal research. While I strive to be accurate, I am not a certified botanist, herbalist, or medical professional. If you choose to forage or use wild plants for culinary or medicinal purposes, please do your own thorough research and consult with qualified experts when needed. Proper identification is absolutely essential, some plants can look similar but have very different effects, and mistakes can be harmful. You are fully responsible for any use of the plants described here. When in doubt, leave it out!

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