Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Erinlovestoeat figured out the apple fries - cutting them into "fries" takes an object like an apple, which anyone can buy several of for $1.50, and turns it into a "branded" product, that people will pay $1.50 for. (Same with potatoes, by the way, we're just a lot more used to them).

Think about the potato - how hard is it to cut a bunch up and fry them at home? Not very - but no company is going to make money off of a potato, because the production and transportation costs are just barely covered by the selling price (this is why you never see coupons for produce! There's not enough of a margin). So Ore-Ida comes along, and gets a few Urshel cutting machines and a deep fryer, and they take those potatoes and cut them up, slap a brand on them, and suddenly they can sell $1 worth of potatoes for $5, and make a much bigger profit than they would selling plain potatoes.

Unfortunately, natural products don't last in that cut up, branded state, so they have to add all sorts of chemicals to make them "shelf stable" - and we eat those chemicals every single day.

Of course it's healthier and cheaper to eat whole, real foods (like apples and potatoes) but we've been convinced over the last 25 or 30 years that cooking is for experts (like the chefs on Food Network), that it's too hard and it's a chore, so we pay a premium price to have other people and machines do the work for us, at the expense of our health and our budgets.

There's nothing inherently wrong with apple fries, or french fries, as long as one realizes that they're a convenience food, and not a Real Food, and eats them only in moderation. I hope no one would choose apple fries for $1.50 over an apple for $0.30, if there were a side by side choice. But there are no apples in the Drive-Thru... So it's not a side by side choice.

Fortunately grocery stores are trying to jump on the convenience bandwagon, but they're doing it with healthier, fresher food (because they have it available in a way that BK does not). So, at many stores, you can get cut up fresh fruit in the produce section that's ready to eat, or bagged salads with dressing and everything, or even soups and salad bars. One grocery store in my small town has a chicken wing buffet (?!?!?). I haven't quite figured that one out.

Hopefully, as grocery stores get more and more into convenience health foods, we'll start getting out of the drive thru and into the stores. Maybe the next step is to add a drive thru to the grocery store!

But apple fries is simply a way of taking a commodity, like an apple, and turning it into a Product, with a trademark and everything. It has nothing to do with "tricking" kids into eating fruit, and everything to do with "tricking" parents into being parted from their money.

Amy @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com

I used it before both of my kids' births. I started drinking it around the 7 month mark, and gradually increased my consumption to the maximum recommended on the box (which, IIRC, was three cups a day).

My first child was born in 3 hours and 45 minutes. I knew I was going to have to be induced with my second, so I got Raspberry Leaf extract - a really concentrated liquid that you can find at the health food store, and took as much of that as I could stand to try to induce labor. I still had to be induced, but at 36 weeks I was 3 cm dilated, they used Cytotec and 4 hours of un-labor later (if you say, "was that a contraction?" and look at the monitor when you don't have any pain meds, it doesn't count), they broke my water. After that everything went FAST and she was born one hour and nine minute later.

When I would drink it, I could feel the Braxton Hicks contractions get more focused and intense, so I know it was doing something.

It may not work for everyone, but I'd say it worked for me! I definitely plan to use it in future pregnancies.

My uterus is the only toned muscle on my entire body.

Amy @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com

That's just going to make you hurl (lots of women hurl during labor, but it's best to try to avoid it). Gatorade is basically just sugar and salt and water, so if you want electrolytes, you can eat a couple of salted crackers or pretzels, and drink some juice, and there you go. No strange concoctions required.

Good luck! Have a good baby!

Amy @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com

That was back when the world had a sense of humor...