For Your Information…
Posted: July 31, 2008 Filed under: Food, For Your Information, Natural Body Care, Organic | Tags: babyies, bamboo, blueberries, breech delivery, bug bite, chamomile, chamomile tea, pampered chef, pregnancy, sun, watermelon 6 Comments »Wow, this week has gone by fast! Here’s what I’ve learned:
*You can put a baby to bed, but you can’t make her sleep. Bummer, kid! (this fact compliments of Inara and her little buddy Julia)
*When baking with blueberries, toss the berries in 1/2 cup of the flour mixture before adding them to the batter to keep them from 1) bleeding all over the bloody place! and 2) from sinking! Who da thunk it!
*You can eat a whole watermelon. Yes, I do mean whole! Throw the rind through the juicer and drink up! I 
plan to try this today so I’ll let you know how it tastes. Also, according to the ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine, you should store your watermelon on the countertop vs. the fridge. If you leave it on the counter it will hold on to up to 139% more betacarotene than otherwise.
*Pampered Chef has new bamboo products coming out in their September Catalogue. I am excited for this as bamboo is a renewable resource!
*If you get an insect bite you can treat the itching with chamomile. Make yourself a cup of tea (mmmm… tea!) and after you steep it, place the tea bag on the bite. The azulene in the chamomile is a natural antihistamine that will work for allergie related itching, redness and swelling as well according to an article in this months Vegetarian Times. Drinking the tea (you made a cup already, remember?) will help alleviate tension or “digestive upset”. What a great term!
*According to American Baby Magazine, the suns rays are strongest when your shadow is shorter than you. What a great little tidbit of knowledge!
*Also from the American Baby Mag- breech babies may be genetic! A study of 2.2. million births was just conducted that found that if you or your partner were born butt or feet first that your first kid is twice as likely to be born in a like manner. I read a ton of pregnancy books and none of them said that! had I known that I would have stressed less! Now I know, and now you know!
What else do you know?
August Aspirations
Posted: July 31, 2008 Filed under: Food, For Your Information, Household Upkeep, Locutions, Natural Body Care, Organic, pennies and nickels, Quotes | Tags: aspirations, August, coconut macaroons, exercise, goals, honey, maple syrup, oral health, raw, raw food, smoothies, stavia, sugar, walk 9 Comments »“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” – Japanese Proverb
I need goals. A clearly laid out plan. A highly visible target. A comprehensible aim. The end in sight.
The following is my paradigm for the month of August. I’ll keep you abreast of my successes and shortcomings therein…
1) To prepare at least one meal with meat a week as this is something Erik greatly enjoys.
2) To personally not eat any white (processed) sugar. I will instead use natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, agave, stevia, and honey- all of which I’ve been playing around with in preparation for this switch.
3) To personally eat one raw meal a day. A smoothie obviously counts here. I need to make sure there’s something green in every one though. No more of these just fruit delights for me!
4) To serve one raw meal a week to the family. (Stay tuned for some amazing and simple raw dessert recipes!)
Raw Chocolate Coconut Macaroon Bliss
5) To floss every day. (sigh) Last night I was told I have six months to reverse some gum issues or my life, as I now know it, is over according to my dentists’ assistant. Suck.
6) To not blog during the day until after I have spent some time with God. I really wish this didn’t have to be a stated goal, instead being something that naturally occurred, but it doesn’t. So it must.
7) To scale back on my wardrobe. This is part of my goal to live with less to being able to live more.
8) To go for a walk at least five days a week either outside or on the treadmill. I’d prefer outside as would Inara!
I think that about covers it. Whew. I can’t wait to get started!
How about you? Want to join me in making a goal for the month? Something we can all keep each other accountable for and updated on come September 1st? You know you want to! Share away!
Food Math: Number recognition
Posted: July 29, 2008 Filed under: Food, For Your Information, Organic | Tags: fruit, Organic, stickers, veggies 5 Comments »Ya know those little paper stickers on your fruit and veggies that you buy at the the grocery store? I suspect you too have eaten a few of these too. Did you know that the code on them identifies the produce as either organic or not? It’s true! If it starts with a four, it’s your run of the mill fruit or veggie, if it starts with a nine on the other hand you are beholding superior organic goodness! Now you know.
Bonus: For Your Information…
Posted: July 25, 2008 Filed under: Food, For Your Information, Organic | Tags: avocadoes, bok choy, carrot, celery, eggplant, figs, garlic, grapefruits, grapes, kidney beans, lycopene, olives, onions, oranges, pears, rhubarb, sweet potatoes, tomato, walnuts 4 Comments »I received this sweet little forward from my favorite mother-in-law and thought I’ would pass it on as it pertains to a lot of what we talk about round here. Enjoy!
It’s been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish… all before making a human. He made and provided what we’d need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We’re such slow learners…
God left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body!
God’s Pharmacy! Amazing!
A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye… 
and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.
A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopene and are indeed pure heart and blood food.
Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.
A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.
Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone 
strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.
Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female – they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and 
increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.
Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.
Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.
Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
Onions look like the body’s cells. Today’s research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.
Psalm 46:10
‘Be Still and Know that I AM GOD’
For Your Information…
Posted: July 24, 2008 Filed under: Food, For Your Information, Household Upkeep, Natural Body Care, pennies and nickels | Tags: apple cider vinegar, celery, cellulite, copper, cornstarch, gas, limes, parsley 4 Comments »*Parsley, you know, the little green thing on the side of your plate at restaurants? Yeah, that stuff. Well, it’s 
good for you, so eat it! Parsley contains the flavonoid apigenin which in lab studies has seemed to throw prostate cancer cells into slow-growth mode. Load your boys up on this sprig of green ladies!
*When I discovered my penicillin allergy in high school I became photosensitive for a little over a month. Red rash, every time I was forced outdoors during daylight. Lots of fun, lots. Women’s Day magazine just published a list of food that can be photoirritants. Let me know if you’ve ever noticed skin problems after eating the following foods and then hangin’ out with the bright one: celery, limes, parsnips, or figs.
*Supposedly the oldest cells in ones body are no more than seven years old. Sweet! Now there’s no need to worry about staying young, you are young!
*If the stars and the planets have all aligned and you are blessed enough to have time for a bath, a clean tub and Delilah’s on, I say go for it! When you do, throw two cups of apple cider vinegar in the bathwater with you. It will draw toxins out of your body and spin them down the drain. Whee!
*90% of all women have cellulite. The other 10% live in Hollywood and have bought their cellulite free bodies. Insert not nice word here.
*To clean copper the green way sprinkle baking soda onto a cut lemon and then rub the lemon all over the copper pot. when it’s all nice and shiny you can use a slightly wet sponge to wipe of any residue.
*Have a knot in your favorite necklace? Sprinkle it with cornstarch and the know should come right out! I’ve also found that using a needle can get into small loops better then my short finger nails.
*It takes less gas to shut your car off and start it again then to idle for as little time as 30 seconds. Crazy, huh? No more writing grocery lists in the car with the air blasting in my face I guess. sigh.
Your Turn! Tell me what you know!
Leisurely Demise Anyone?
Posted: July 23, 2008 Filed under: Food, Natural Body Care, Quotes 1 Comment »“Very few people know what real health is, because most are occupied with killing themselves slowly.” – Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Ph.D., Hungarian-born American biochemist; Nobel Prize in physiology and medical science
A Benefit of Becoming a Raisin
Posted: July 23, 2008 Filed under: Food, For Your Information, Natural Body Care, pennies and nickels, Recipes | Tags: blood, kidney, kidney stone, lycopenes, toxins, watermelon 2 Comments »
My beloved father-in-law had a kidney stone right after Nara was born. From what he says, it doesn’t fall into the realm of “pleasant experiences”. He was just the one out of every ten I guess. I was reading about natural ways to pass kidney stone today (for no particular reason, I just landed on a fun page) and this is my personal favorite:
Buy 20 to 100 pounds of watermelons (give or take a pound). Right now they are at their lowest price of the season at Walmart- just $4.98, I think. Jump* into your bathtub with a Big knife and a spoon and dig into said melons! Demolish as much of those lushes melons as you can manage throughout the day, peeing regularly of course, and I would recommend adding fresh warm water as your bathwater cools so as to remain as comfortable as a giant raisin possibly can. By spending your day like so, people have been known to have large stones disolved and then passed as smaller stones. If nothing else is accomplished, you will at least have had a great kidney cleanse and more than your share of daily lycopenes! Where’s the downside kids?
*Note: Only “jump” in if your tub is already full of water. Otherwise, you should ease in to avoid hurting yourself!
great kidney picture compliments of this great about your kidneys kid site
Water, Water, Water!
Posted: July 22, 2008 Filed under: Food, For Your Information, Organic | Tags: grapes, green peppers, lettuce, onions, oranges, spinach, water, watercress, watermelon 6 Comments »Here are some foods with HIGH water content. So high (like drinking from the hose high!) that if you ate these all the time you probably would never have to drink water from a glass again. Okay, in all likelihood that last part is not true. It really would just be ideal since most filtered waters taste like crap. On to the list!
Navel Oranges are 85.97% water and are delicious.
Watermelon (check out the name!) is 91.45% water and freezes well to add to smoothies later.
Sweet Onions (raw) contain 91.42% water, but Erik will only eat them sauteed in butter so that doesn’t help me any on my quest to quit drinking. Quit drinking water that is. Bartender!
Watercress comes in with 95.11% water and a lot of dirt. Hmm. Maybe that’s just my watercress from our CSA. Continue on.
Red grapes register at 80.54% of Adam’s ale. Inara loves these. I wish it wasn’t so expensive to buy organic!
Green Peppers could sustain me if they needed while stranded on an agriculture island (I would never be lucky enough to land on the tropical island). They are 93.89% water after all.
Lettuce is 95.07% while Spinach is 91.4% water as long as you don’t cook it. Salad anyone?
percentages provided by the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory
Watermelon tap instructions found here.
Physical Strength
Posted: July 21, 2008 Filed under: Life | Tags: running, walking 9 Comments »I did it. I dragged my sorry butt out of bed at 6:30 a.m. to go running with Sarah yesterday. Yes, you heard me: to run.
In case this doesn’t sound like a great accomplishment to you let me tell you about the last time I ran further then down the driveway to stop the FedEx guy… Um, there isn’t a time.
In high school, for P.E., I was supposed to run with my dad. Nah. I would just walk and pace him while he ran 13 minute miles. That’s what long legs are there for, right?
I’ve always envied runners. Well, most of them anyway. I usually attribute running with being in fabulous shape and able to take on the world. Living in a college town though, I’ve noticed more and more people don’t quite fit that stereotype. For example, the group of girls who started from the same place as us yesterday are training for a marathon and were running 13 miles yesterday. They were fast! They has great legs! They had endurance! They had beer bellies. Yep. Beer bellies. That is not my personal ideal for physical perfection. Call me crazy.
Either way, we’re running. We will one day be able to run further than to the corner. We will run and not grow weary. We will walk and not grow faint. We will run a 5K. Then we will run at least a half marathon before turning forty and then we will rest at a spa (if Erik and Jonathan see this that last part is a joke, sweeties. If you’re a fellow woman, you know the truth!)
My body burns. Yet I persevere. Who’s with me?!?
Confession: While writing this, I was stuffing my face with mini chocolate chips. sigh.
