Mazola® Blog Part 1: The Goodies and Facts

The AllStars are back in action! Oh how I have missed having a preset list of things to cook. Since the AllStars program slowed down and school picked up and my boyfriend ripped my kitchen apart for renovations, I haven’t really been into cooking lately and I basically stopped meal planning. I do indeed miss this. I miss knowing what’s on the menu for dinner every night as well as what I need to be purchasing for said dinner menu. We’ve been eating out a lot! This is made me realize quite a few things. First off, it’s incredibly expensive to dine out, even when eating at the CHEAP joints. I mean, a family of four, even if we all ate the $1 menu from McDonald’s, comes to $12 a day for ONE MEAL or around $360 a month! I can get $600 worth of groceries at the store for that much with coupons and sales, and feed my family for 3 months!!! That’s including breakfast, lunch and dinner!!! It’s also lead me to realize that all of that eating out, even if we eat salads, is unhealthy. Cooking is way better because you can control what goes in the food. You KNOW what you’re putting into it. For those of you going “oh but if you’re buying oils, and canned goods, and food from companies, how do you know it’s healthy still?” READ YOUR LABELS PEOPLE. DO YOUR RESEARCH. If you’re just self-conscience about what you’re buying, you CAN eat healthy.

This month, for ALL of the AllStars, our sponsor was Mazola®. They sent us a 40oz. bottle of Corn Oil and a pretty nifty two sided measuring spoon with two of the most common measurements, 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon. I like it because you don’t have to dirty two spoons or hunt for two spoons if you have a less than perfect kitchen (raising my hand here).

Moving right along to the healthy part of this post!

Being healthy is something that we seriously need in my family. I’m overweight. My boyfriend is overweight. I have a 10-year-old son that I don’t want to be overweight and my father has suffered serious heart attacks and a stroke so clearly, it’s important that we eat healthy. I do try to cook a little healthier these days. I grill or bake more than I used to and I have recently been experimenting with various health conscience foods such as organic, fat free, cholesterol free. Don’t get me wrong. We haven’t gone to eating strictly cardboard, and we do still eat some foods considered unhealthy. I’m trying to promote a more healthy and HAPPY lifestyle in my home. This means eating things we like. What’s the point of eating if we hate the way it tastes??? We can eat healthier and still enjoy the taste of our food. Most cooking oil labels say the same thing. My mom always used canola oil because she said it was better for you but then after my boyfriend moved in he was partial to vegetable oil and after reading the label, there wasn’t much difference so we switched. He claims it tastes better. I can’t tell the difference. However, after receiving this Corn Oil from Mazola®, I read some more labels and did some more research and maybe just maybe I can get my boyfriend to switch to corn oil now. Research has shown that Mazola® Corn Oil lowers cholesterol more than Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). My father is on pills for cholesterol so this could be a step in reducing some of the meds he has to take. Healthier lifestyle equals less artificial lifestyle (that’s what I think of medication). Corn oil has shown to lower LDL cholesterol by 10.9% compared to EVOOs 3.5%. Mazola® Corn Oil is cholesterol free and 100% pure. Seriously! This is the factoid label!!!

More about the study Mazola® conducted as well as health benefits can be found at Mazola.com (http://www.mazola.com/) and you can also check them out on Facebook here (https://www.facebook.com/MazolaBrand).

For our Mazola® assignments, we had to create, rate, and review two recipes which I have regrettably not been able to do yet, however, they will be done shortly! So stay tuned for Mazola® Blog Post #2 to see all the deliciousness of the recipes!

Disclaimer:

I am an AllRecipes AllStar Brand Ambassador. This is a voluntary position which I am not compensated for.