About Me

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I have a health ministry for friends, family, and health lovers world-wide. I'm totally into all-natural and avoid chemicals, food additives, etc. even in my cosmetics. I am working toward eating Vegan, Organic, and raw as much as possible (my family too). I'm married, and have two teen daughters that I homeschooled up until high School and two grown step kids. Optimal Health - God's Way ".....and the fruit thereof shall be for meat (FOOD), and the leaf for MEDICINE." Ezekiel 47:12 KJV

Saturday, March 31, 2012

"Like" this new Facebook fan page and qualify to WIN GREAT HEALTHY PRIZES!

"Like" this new page and qualify to WIN PRIZES! Random winners will be selected everyday over the first 30 days of its launch!
http://www.facebook.com/exfuze7/info

Here is this amazing company's fabulous mission to help impoverished children around the world and change the health of the entire planet while at it:

Mission
Before he founded eXfuze, Rick Cotton founded VivaKids, a division of To Every Nation, a non-profit that works with underprivileged and undernourished children all over the world. During Rick’s nearly ten years abroad, he witnessed the effects of poverty, hunger and hopelessness in every country he visited. Driven to do more to help children around the world, and after witnessing his father’s remarkable recovery, Rick was moved to “build a company and use network marketing as a vehicle to create a huge opportunity for children in need.” Rick, alongside his brother and cofounder of eXfuze, Don Cotton, set out to change the health of the entire planet. Currently, one percent of the gross revenue from eXfuze goes directly to VivaKids to meet the basic needs of children. This is the foundation of the company and has been in place since the very first bottle of eXfuze product was sold. The VivaKids Child Sponsorship Program provides quality education, health care, nutritious meals, life skills training and hope for a brighter future to hundreds of children in the Dominican Republic for only $32 a month. Though a partnership with VivaKids, the CIMIV Children Center in San Pedro, Dominican Republic, built an 11,372 square-foot vocational school, which will provide technical education to youths and adults in fields such as computer applications, electrical training, health and beauty, plumbing, baking, and business administration. The VivaKids team in the Dominican Republic worked tirelessly to build a fish farm to produce several hundred pounds of tilapia and vegetables, which will provide invaluable nutrition, as well as allow children to sell their harvests to their communities. The latest harvest provided a fish fry for an entire community. There are several more projects in the works, including building a house for a family in need. “VivaKids is what we’re building the company on. It’s not an afterthought; it’s the reason the company was founded, the reason it exists,” says Rick.

Pasta Primavera recipe (vegan)

Allanas Pasta Primavera from the Hallelujah Acres website
Submitted By: Allana Martian

"This could quite possibly be the best pasta you've ever had!" - Allana Martian

Ingredients

1 pkg whole wheat or brown rice penne pasta
1/2 cup organic vegetable broth
1 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup snow pea pods, sliced in half
3 cups tomatoes chopped
Add alternative vegetables such as broccolli, asparagus, peas, carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, green onions.

Directions

Boil pasta.
Cook the onion, garlic, and basil in the broth, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes.
Add the bell peppers and mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Add all remaining vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season with unrefined sea salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over the pasta.

http://www.hacres.com/recipes/cards/allanas-pasta-primavera

Thursday, March 29, 2012

The conventional lie about Autism and other chronic diseases

Thursday, March 29, 2012 by: Jonathan Landsman

(NaturalNews) Imagine your doctor telling you: "There is no known cure for this condition". Sadly, there are a staggering amount of people victimized by this destructive (false) belief system. But, to make matters worse, millions of people are being systematically prevented from hearing the truth about how to effectively eliminate disease - naturally.

Join us for an enlightening program - filled with practical solutions - with a true (medical) pioneer - visit: http://www.naturalhealth365.com and enter your email address for free show details.

The corporately-controlled, western medical system is losing its grip on reality. It is no longer acceptable to merely treat symptoms with toxic drugs - when (natural) cures are available. There are literally hundreds of medical professionals helping children (and adults) fully-recover from Autismplus many otherlife-threatening diseases. Physicians everywhere need to educate themselves or risk getting fired! (the choice is yours)

A closer look at solutions for autism - beyond the vaccine issue

Dr. Michael E Dym says, "Directly from human medical research, we have definitive proof of a linkage between polyvalent viral vaccines and inflammatory bowel disease, in particular the combination MMR vaccine and Crohn's disease and/or ulcerative colitis (the same thing?) in susceptible children."

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, MD, a prominent British gastroenterologist, documented measles virus infection in the intestinal walls of nearly 100 percent of the autistic children he scoped and biopsied, who developed their disease within a short time after MMR vaccination.

So, how do we solve these health issues? According to Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, we must eliminate food allergies, bowel infections (especially Candida) and remove nutritional deficiencies due to intestinal disorders. Join the discussion - as Dr. Teitelbaum reveals a dramatically successful program for treating disease.

The NaturalNews Talk Hour begins this Thursday evening at 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern, and registration is FREE. Click this link - http://www.naturalhealth365.com and enter your email for FREE show details + a FREE gift!

This week's guest: Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., best selling author and teacher

Dr. Teitelbaum offers natural solutions for Autism, CFS plus much more - Thu. Mar. 29

Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, a board certified internist, is the author of From Fatigued to Fantastic!, Three Steps to Happiness: Healing Through Joy, plus many more. Dr. Teitelbaum contracted CFS when he was in medical school and had to drop out for a year to recover. For over 25 years, he has dedicated his career to finding effective treatment options.

Dr. Teitelbaum lectures to patient, physician and research groups internationally. He is the lead author of groundbreaking research on the effective treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Dr. Teitelbaum has made many media appearances including: Good Morning America, CNN and the Dr. Oz Show. His free, patented, "symptom analysis program" helps to determine the best course of treatment for patients to get well.

Get well naturally! Our next program intends to provide practical solutions for thousands of people suffering with chronic disease. Don't be "in the dark" about your healthcare options. Help spread the word about this show - tell your friends and family - there is hope! Visit http://www.naturalhealth365.com and enter your email for FREE show details + a FREE gift!

http://www.naturalnews.com/035390_Autism_disease_lies.html

Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Enzyme Story (how to get them and why we need them)

Note:
I have looked at, compared, and tried many different digestive enzymes over the past several years, but I was blown away when I recently found this one: Garden of Life Raw Enzymes! Wow! It even contains Nattokinase (provides vitamin K2), which we are starting to realize that many people are deficient in and comes from a healthy fermented soy called Natto. It also contains a super probiotic called saccharomyces boulardii. I'm going to start this one as soon as I'm done with my current enzymes, which should be in a few days. I'll keep you posted. Below is a great article explaining what enzymes are and how to get them from food and supplements.
Miriam

The Enzyme Story

Anyone who has any understanding of health has got to be taking digestive enzyme supplements with every single meal they eat. Unfortunately, most people think of enzymes (if they think of them at all) as necessary only if they have some kind of digestive problem. And, yes, it's true that people suffering from digestive problems, hiatal hernias, ulcers, and the like, have benefited greatly from using digestive enzyme supplements. But if that's all you think enzymes are for, you've missed the point.

Dr. Howell, in his book on enzyme nutrition, puts it quite clearly when he says that a person's life span is directly related to the exhaustion of their enzyme potential. And the use of food enzymes decreases that rate of exhaustion, and thus, results in a longer, healthier, and more vital life.

Now that's about as clean as you can get. But if that's not enough, let's go into the enzyme story in a little more detail.

Health Depends on Enzymes

Enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical reactions in living organisms. In fact, they are required for every single chemical action that takes place in your body. All of your cells, organs, bones, muscles, and tissues are run by enzymes.

Your digestive system, immune system, blood stream, liver, kidneys, spleen, and pancreas, as well as your ability to see, think, feel, and breathe, all depend on enzymes. All of the minerals and vitamins you eat and all of the hormones your body produces need enzymes in order to work properly. In fact, every single metabolic function in your body is governed by enzymes. Your stamina, your energy level, your ability to utilize vitamins and minerals, your immune system -- all governed by enzymes.

Enzymes in Food and The Body

As it happens, they are produced both internally (most notably in the pancreas and the other endocrine glands) and are present in raw foods that we eat. At birth we are endowed with a certain potential for manufacturing enzymes in our bodies, an enzyme “reserve,” if you will. Nature intended that we continually replenish that reserve through proper nutrition and eating habits. Unfortunately, that just doesn't happen. Let's take a look at why.

Most people believe that when you eat a meal it drops into a pool of stomach acid, where it's broken down, then goes into the small intestine to have nutrients taken out, and then into the colon to be passed out of the body -- if you're lucky. Not quite.

What nature intended is that you eat enzyme rich foods and chew your food properly. If you did that, the food would enter the stomach laced with digestive enzymes. These enzymes would then "predigest" your food for about an hour -- actually breaking down as much as 75% of your meal.

After this period of "pre digestion," hydrochloric acid is introduced. The acid inactivates all of the enzymes, but begins its own function of breaking down what is left of the meal.

Eventually, this nutrient rich food concentrate moves on into the small intestine. Once food enters the small intestine, the pancreas reintroduces digestive enzymes to the process. As digestion is completed, nutrients are passed through the intestinal wall and into the blood stream.

That's what nature intended. Unfortunately, most of us don't live our lives as nature intended!

The Death of Enzymes: Cooked Food

Processing and cooking destroy enzymes in food. (Man is the only animal that cooks his food.) In fact, any sustained heat of approximately 118 - 129 degrees, destroys virtually all enzymes. This means that, for most of us, the food entering our stomachs is severely enzyme deficient. (Actually, there are some enzymes present from our saliva. The amount, however, is minuscule since we only chew our food about 25% as much as is required.) The result is that most of our meals enter our stomachs woefully devoid of enzymes.

The food then sits there for an hour, like a heavy lump, with very little pre-digestion taking place. Even after the stomach acid has done its work, the meal enters the small intestine largely undigested.

At this point, the pancreas and the other organs of the endocrine system are put under tremendous stress since they have to draw reserves from the entire body in order to produce massive amounts of the proper digestive enzymes. The less digestion that takes place before food reaches the small intestine the greater the stress placed on the endocrine systems. Recent studies have shown that virtually 100% of all Americans have an enlarged pancreas by the time they're 40. Is it any wonder that diabetes is so rampant in the United States.

There's also major research showing that enzyme deficient diets contribute to a pathological enlargement of the pituitary gland (That's the gland that regulates all the other glands.). And there is research showing that almost 100% of people over 50 who die from "accidental” causes have defective pituitary glands.

The bottom line is that regular supplementation with digestive enzymes takes stress off the pancreas (and the entire body) by providing the enzymes required for digestion. In other words, digestive enzyme supplements just may be one of the best insurance policies you can give your body so you can enjoy a long and healthy life.

All of what you've just read should be convincing to you; but just in case it's not, let me give you three real world examples of the power of digestive enzymes in action.

F. M. Pottenger, MD., and D. G. Simonsen conducted a series of studies to determine what if any impact cooked food had on health. They put two groups of cats on diets of meat and vegetables, identical except that in one group the meat was raw, and in the second group the meat was cooked. The results were astounding. The group on raw meat maintained normal good health throughout the experiments and showed no sign of degenerative diseases, but the group on cooked meat showed an astonishing break-down of health in all the animals, including:
Incomplete development of the skull and other bones
Bowed legs
Rickets
Curvature of the spine
Paralysis of the legs
Seizures
Convulsions
Thyroid abscesses
Cyanosis of the liver and kidneys
Enlarged colon
Degeneration of motor nerves throughout the brain and spine
And by the third generation, this group could not reproduce
And here's one with lab rats. After all, everyone puts great stock in lab rats. Studies done with laboratory rats have shown that rats eating raw foods live about 30% longer than rats eating diets devoid of enzymes.
Or did you know that the classic Eskimo diet consists of 80% saturated fat. That's 80% saturated fat. But it's primarily from raw fat and raw meat. And in a study of 3,000 of these people not one of them had high cholesterol, heart disease, arteriosclerosis, or high blood pressure. And only one of the 3,000 was even slightly overweight.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating that you live on seal blubber and dairy like the Eskimos and the Price Pottinger cats. But, can there be any doubt in your mind that live enzymes in your diet make a dramatic difference in your overall health and longevity?

Immediate Benefits

As Dr. Howell said: a person's life span is directly related to the exhaustion of their enzyme potential. And the use of food enzymes decreases that rate of exhaustion, and thus, results in a longer, healthier, and more vital life. The question for you, then, is: how could you not be insisting that everyone you know and love use enzymes every time they eat. How could you not be using them every time you eat?

This is a no brainer. In addition to a longer, healthier, and more vital life, you will also experience a number of short term benefits. These include:

You should notice a significant reduction in indigestion and heartburn problems resulting from too much acid in the stomach.
Since complex carbohydrates are now being substantially digested before they enter the intestinal tract, you should experience relief from gas and bloating. (Some people may actually notice an increase in activity for several days as their digestive systems come alive.)
Look for improved digestion of dairy products caused by lactose intolerance.
Diminished food allergies due to more complete protein digestion.
Greatly reduced flatulence due to more complete carbohydrate digestion.
Since the digestion of enzyme deficient food is an extremely energy consuming task, within a few days of enzyme supplementation you should notice an increase in energy levels.
Relief from hiatal hernias.
Relief from ulcers. (Digestive enzymes help with ulcers in two ways. First, they help digest so much of your meal during the 40-60 minutes of predigestion that your body requires less acid in the actual digestion phase. This means that taking digestive enzymes will help lower the levels of acid in your stomach. (Those who suffer from chronic low levels of acid need not worry. Digestive enzymes supplements help here too by breaking down so much food in the predigestion phase that less acid is actually required. And over time, decreased demand results in increased reserve capability.)
But Which Enzymes Should You Use?

The fact is you'll benefit from any good vegetarian based digestive enzyme supplement. But look for one that contains:

A variety of proteases, including Papain (to aid in the digestion of protein). Papain, which comes from papaya, is so effective in digesting proteins that it is often used as a meat tenderizer.
Amylase (for the digestion of starches and carbohydrates).
Lipase (to digest fats).
Cellulase (invaluable in breaking down fiber cellulose into smaller units).
Lactase (which works in the digestion of dairy products).
In addition, a superior formula should also contain large amounts of Bromelain.
Bromelain, which comes from pineapple, is a miracle enzyme. It digests protein. It burns 900 times its weight in fat. And it's amazingly beneficial for the body as a whole once it gets into the bloodstream -- particularly in terms of reducing inflammation and swelling in joints.
But There's Even More

Pancreatic enzymes are part of a substance called pancreatin (or pancreas juice) produced in the pancreas. This complex includes the enzymes protease, amylase, and lipase and is released both into the intestines and the bloodstream.

In the intestines, pancreatin works to help digest the proteins, carbohydrates, and starches of our meals. Supplementation with digestive enzymes along with a meal helps share the workload of your body's own pancreatic enzymes and can aid in digestion. But what happens if you take enzymes between meals?

As mentioned earlier, pancreatic enzymes are not only released into the small intestine, but also directly into the bloodstream. Why?

Protein molecules that are only partially digested in the small intestine are absorbed into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, the immune system treats them as invaders provoking an immune reaction. Antibodies couple with these foreign protein invaders to form circulating immune complexes (CIC's). Now, in a healthy person, these CIC's may be neutralized in the lymphatic system. But if the immune system is in any way compromised, CIC's accumulate in the blood, where they initiate an "allergic" reaction. As the number of CIC's builds, the kidneys max out and can no longer excrete all of the CIC's, so they begin to accumulate in the body's soft tissues, causing inflammation.

It is here that the pancreatic enzymes in our bloodstream come into play. Pancreatic enzymes are able to break down CIC's so that they can pass through the kidneys for excretion.

What does that mean for us? Well, if enzymes are taken between meals, the body doesn't need the enzymes for digesting food, so they make their way directly into the bloodstream to aid in the elimination of CIC's.

But it gets even better. Because of their ability to digest foreign proteins, pancreatic enzymes (both those produced in the body and those absorbed into the bloodstream from taking supplemental digestive enzymes) work to clear out infecting organisms such as viruses, scar tissue, and the products of inflammation. For this reason, pancreatic enzymes are frequently used by Naturopaths to treat a variety of conditions, including lung infections, tooth infections, bone fractures, and as a body strengthener before surgery. Specifically, pancreatic enzymes have been used by many healers to aid in a variety of disease conditions, including inflammation, viral disease, multiple sclerosis, and cancer.

Note: A dedicated proteolytic enzyme (high protease) formula, will be even more effective in this regard than a digestive enzyme formula forced to do double duty. Ideally, you should use a dedicated digestive enzyme formula with your meals and a dedicated high protease formula between meals.

An Experiment

There is a fun experiment you can perform (that will work with any good digestive enzyme formula) and that will actually let you see the benefit of enzyme supplementation in just a few minutes.

Make two bowls of instant oatmeal.
Crush (or mix) a couple of digestive enzyme capsules into just one of the bowls of oatmeal.
Wait 45 minutes.
Now check. If the formula you are using is any good, there should be a pronounced difference in the two bowls. The untreated bowl should be as expected: congealed, lumpy, stick to your ribs consistency. The bowl with the enzymes will look quite different. It will be “digested” and have the consistency of watery gruel. Which oatmeal would you rather have work through your body: the one that's stuck to the bowl like cement, or the enzyme bowl that's predigested? Which oatmeal do you think is less stressful to digest?

A Note On Ulcers

Digestive enzymes help with ulcers in two ways.

First, they help digest so much of your meal during the 40-60 minutes of predigestion that your body requires less acid in the actual digestion phase. This means that taking digestive enzymes will help lower the levels of acid in your stomach. (Those who suffer from chronic low levels of acid need not worry. Digestive enzyme supplements help here too by breaking down so much food in the predigestion phase that less acid is actually required. And over time, decreased demand results in increased reserve capability.)
Second, protease will begin breaking down the protective coating of the H. Pylori bacteria responsible for so many ulcers. In other words, it will actually begin to digest it. This is the prime reason digestive enzyme supplements are so helpful for those who have ulcers.
A cautionary note. There is one concern when using digestive enzymes with ulcers -- and that's if you have a severe existing ulcer. What happens is that the protease can actually begin to digest severely damaged stomach lining tissue. This can cause noticeable discomfort for several days. To avoid this discomfort, if you have a severe ulcer, start with small amounts of the supplement with your meals and build up slowly.

Conclusion

As I mentioned earlier, a person's life span is directly related to the exhaustion of their enzyme potential. And the use of food enzymes decreases that rate of exhaustion, and thus, results in a longer, healthier, and more vital life.

At a minimum, you must use a good digestive enzyme supplement with each and every meal you eat -- particularly any meal that contains either processed or cooked food.

A couple of times a week at night (or more often if you think of it), before bed, take your digestive enzyme supplement on an empty stomach.


http://www.jonbarron.org/enzymes/barron-report-digestive-health-proteolytic

Friday, March 23, 2012

The Benefits of Probiotics… The Missing Link to Obesity

Note:
Another great article on the critical importance of probiotics! I will keep posting these until every single one of my friends and family understands this! Many of the food allergies people are suffering from are connected to a lack of good stomach flora from not obtaining enough probiotic/prebiotic units and/or multiple strains. It can also mean the difference between life and death, especially with the out-of-control pathogenic bacteria levels rising at record rates, like MRSA and C. Diff, that are causing thousands of deaths each year. These bacteria have become resistant to the antibiotics traditionally used to treat them and have started mutating into new tougher strains, so we must do everything we can to protect against them before they attack. Without the "proper" amount of good bacteria in your gut you are free game and have no protection against them.
P.S. Yogurt does NOT contain enough good bacteria to protect you!
Miriam

The Benefits of Probiotics… The Missing Link to Obesity
by Bente Hewitt

Did you know that probiotics can play a major role in your natural weight management? Perhaps, it’s the lack of probiotics that is keeping you from achieving your weight loss goals? Additionally, an unbalanced or toxic digestive tract could be compromising your overall health and vitality.

Perhaps you are unaware of the secret world within you that is dramatically influencing your health and longevity. This vast internal ecosystem, otherwise known as our human intestinal flora, dramatically influences every individual's personal state of health and well being. This includes our physical and mental health, our metabolism, and quite possibly, our life span. It also performs a vast number of necessary tasks for maintaining high energy levels, proper immune function and counteracts cancer causing compounds in the colon.

Currently, much research is being focused on the possible connection between the lack of friendly gut flora in our intestines and the growing epidemic of obesity around the world.

We've all heard the saying "Death Begins in the Colon." Right in line with that theory, many alternative doctors believe that a disrupted ecology of the gastrointestinal tract may be at the heart of up to 90 percent of all known human illnesses and disease.

A properly functioning intestinal system guards your body against harmful bacteria, yeast and viruses. It also stimulates the function of the entire digestive system and produces essential vitamins and regulates their levels. Total health begins in the gut, so if your GI tract is not in optimal health, then your overall health will be compromised.

Science now recognizes that 80% of your immune system is actually living right in your digestive tract.

The human body is made up of an estimated 100 trillion bacterial cells from at least 500 species, not including viruses and fungi. These bacterias (probiotics) are referred to as "friendly" bacteria and are responsible for several important biological functions. Some of these functions include assisting with digestion, keeping other harmful bacteria at bay and stimulating the immune system. Probiotics are live microorganisms (in most cases, bacteria) that are similar to beneficial microorganisms found in the human gut. They are also called "friendly bacteria" or "good bacteria."

Is you’re digestive tract at peace? If not, your body could be staging a war against you?

The delicate bacterial balance in the intestines can easily be upset. What we have come to learn is that there is a strong connection between our body's intestinal flora and its' ability to prevent serious illness and add vital years to our lives. When you consume a diet rich in sugars and processed foods, take antibiotics, experience stress or suffer from lack of sleep, the protective bacteria in your digestive tract weakens. A continued weakened gut eventually leads to the overgrowth of harmful bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella, Candida Albicans, and many others that cause diseases as well as food sensitivities and excessive weight gain.

The more often you take antibiotics or cortisone-containing drugs, the more disturbed your natural balance of intestinal flora. As the flora in your intestine becomes increasingly out of balance, two things happen: the lining of your intestines weakens and you develop a craving for sugars and carbohydrates to try to feed the unnaturally large amount of yeast in your intestine.

Antibiotics (literally meaning anti-life) indiscriminately kill bacteria throughout your system. This is good if you have bacterial pneumonia or an infected wound, because the "bad" bacteria could eventually threaten your life. However, the antibiotics also kill the "good" bacteria; especially those that live in your digestive tract and help digest your food. This upsets the natural balance of bacteria and yeast that usually live in harmony in your digestive tract, since yeast is not affected by antibiotics.

While, bacteria and yeast are a natural occurrence in the body, when the yeast grows and overpowers the normal beneficial bacteria, it can make us sick. What makes it grow? Sugar and starches. Too much sugar and starches feed Candida. The more sugar and carbs you eat, the more the yeast grows out of balance and the larger your appetite becomes for even more sugars and carbs. In response, the lining of your intestine weakens due to the unnatural balance of microorganisms and the increasingly weakened immune system.

If indeed you are not feeling well and you have had a course of antibiotics, been under considerable stress, or eat nutrient poor food, the cause could very well be a bacterial imbalance and a high quality probiotic formula may be of great value to you in restoring your health. With the proper diet, including food products rich in beneficial bacteria, (such as cultured yogurt, buttermilk, kefir and other soured milk food products) and additional supplementation, everybody is capable of achieving and maintaining an extraordinary new vigor and vitality far into the future, regardless of age.

Certain studies have proven the many health benefits of probiotics such as the prevention or control of:

• Food and skin allergies in children
• Bacterial vagniosis
• Premature labor in pregnant women
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Recurrent ear and bladder infections
• Chronic diarrhea
• And now… obesity

Probiotics perform many important functions, including strengthening the immune system, assisting in digestion, aiding in the absorption of nutrients and regulating our caloric intake by signaling the brain when we are full.

The most common sources of friendly bacteria are mothers' milk, raw fermented foods including yogurt and sauerkraut and fresh, raw and organically grown produce. For most people none of the above mentioned sources of friendly bacteria are a regular part of the diet.

They regulate and enhance the overall bowel function including digestion, assimilation and elimination. This greatly improves health by enhancing the utilization of nutrients from the food supplies and greatly reduces immune stresses by reducing bowel toxicity.

They protect against pathogens including unfriendly bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. This will lead to an improvement in overall immune and endocrine function as well as a reduction in infections, food poisoning and food allergies.

These friendly bacteria are not only perfectly safe for pregnant women, infants, toddlers, children and pets of any age, but also critical for optimum health. Less than adequate levels of friendly bacteria are directly related to high incidences of infection including ear infections, food poisoning and acne.

Not to mention, the use of probiotics during pregnancy is extremely important to delivering a healthy, balanced child. It is through the birth canal that the first probiotics will colonize an infant’s body, providing protection from infection and disease as well as assisting with digestion. All those babies with colic or digestion issues are… LACKING PROBIOTICS. The type of bacteria living in a mother’s vagina at the time of birth will determine her child’s health in the first months of life, and perhaps a lot longer than that. For this reason alone, it is extremely important that the mother is not taking any antibiotics or does not have a yeast infection during the birth process.

In addition, our newborn babies will acquire the good, beneficial bacteria (probiotics) through their mother’s milk. Another great reason to breast feed your infants – the probiotics in your milk will provide your babies with a foundation for strong, efficient immune and digestive systems.

Today, all across the world, individuals are being overfed and under nourished. Poor nutrition, the chronic use of antibiotics, hormonal imbalance, stress, among others, are contributing to the epidemic of our unhealthy, overweight, illness-plagued society. It’s time to take a look inside. With just a few, easy tweaks to your diet, you too can achieve and maintain extraordinary new vigor and vitality far into the future, regardless of your age. Probiotics can change your life, and now may be proven to be the missing link to weight loss.

Author's Bio

Bente Hewitt is a long-time student of natural health modalities. She is nutritional consultant and founder of Intuitive Health Inc. She is passionate about educating and helping adults and children of all ages with her realistic approach to the wellness process. Through her Optimal Health Program she works to eliminate food allergies and eradicate Candida, promoting natural bacterial balance, proper energy flow and digestion and overall well being. With the proper foods to fit your body type, nutritional supplements, dietary and lifestyle guidance, you too can be on your way to optimal health.

http://www.oasisadvancedwellness.com/learning/obesity-probiotics-benefits.html

Monday, March 19, 2012

Be sure to choose a pediatrician carefully, one who has the same beliefs you do!

Medical terrorism in Michigan? Parents forced by the state to poison their child with cancer-causing chemicals

Monday, March 19, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) Government is not merely denying parents and families the right to consume healthful whole foods such as raw milk; now rule-by-force government authorities are threatening a Michigan family with criminal prosecution if they do not poison their child with chemotherapy chemicals -- even though their child shows no signs of cancer!

This latest gross violation of medical freedom by government goons has been reported by World Net Daily in a story by Bob Unruh (http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/state-demands-child-take-cancer-causing-dr...). Other facts revealed in the story include:

• The case is being fought on behalf of Ken and Erin Stieler and their son Jacob by attorneys with the Home School Legal Defense Association (http://www.hslda.org).

• The Michigan Department of Human Services has filed suit to force the parents to administer the chemicals to their son even though medical scans reveal him to be completely clear of cancer.

• The chemotherapy chemicals being mandated by the state include ifosfamide, etoposide and doxorubicin. All of these chemicals are carcinogens, meaning they cause cancer. The FDA openly admits that these drugs have never been proven safe in children, stating, "safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established."

• Lower courts in Michigan have twice ruled against state officials and sided with the family to avoid their son being poisoned with chemotherapy.

• The Michigan Department of Human Services insists that state criminal prosecutors charge the parents with medical negligence.

Statement from the HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association)

From: http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/mi/201203130.asp

the Michigan Department of Human Services continues to attempt to prosecute this family for medical neglect. If they succeed they will force Jacob to resume chemotherapy despite the fact that the drugs in question are not FDA approved (either for children in general or for this particular cancer). Moreover, these drugs do not promise anything close to a guaranteed cure. And, the FDA requires the drug manufacturers to disclose that these drugs cause new cancers to form, heart disease in children, failure to sexually mature, and many other serious side effects in some cases.

The Marquette County Probate Court has twice ruled against the Department. Yet, the department keeps on fighting against these parents.

Big Brother medical insanity: Poison your child or go to jail!

For several years, I've warned NaturalNews readers about the rise of what I coined "Gunpoint Medicine." See other examples of gunpoint medicine at:
http://www.naturalnews.com/gunpoint_medicine.html

The term "gunpoint medicine" means medicine administered at gunpoint by the government, and it's exactly what Ken and Erin Stieler are facing right now. The origins of this bizarre use of government force against families stems from the twisted belief of government worshippers and power-tripping "authorities" that the government owns your children, not you (the parents).

You see this reflected in school lunch programs as well, where parents who pack brown bag lunches for their children are horrified to learn that their children are forced to ditch their home-made lunches and eat processed "pink slime" chicken nuggets at school. (http://www.naturalnews.com/034979_food_police_sack_lunches_schoolchil...)

Due to this overreaching form of government-sponsored medical terrorism, parents who do not agree to poison their children with cancer-causing chemicals may be criminally prosecuted, thrown in jail and have their child taken away from them.

If you think about it, this is a fundamental human rights issue. Don't parents have the basic right to say "No" to a medical treatment that is openly admitted to cause cancer, brain damage and kidney damage? Isn't this a rational decision made by parents who wish to protect the health of their child?

But no; in today's profit-driven medical system, profits are far more important than human rights. That's why children are routinely used as human guinea pigs by drug companies who murder those children during their vaccine experiments and drug trials (http://www.naturalnews.com/023654.html). It's also why chemotherapy, vaccines and other potentially deadly medical "treatments" are being forced onto children all across America. Remember when Texas Governor Rick Perry announced that parents had to inject their teens with HPV vaccines? (http://www.naturalnews.com/033571_Rick_Perry_HPV_vaccines.html)

Only western medicine must be administered at gunpoint

Of all the systems of medicine that exist around the world (Ayurvedic medicine, Amazon rainforest medicine, Aboriginal medicine, Tibetan medicine, Chinese medicine, etc.), conventional western medicine is the ONLY system so dangerous, deadly and unwelcomed that it must be administered under the threat of imprisonment.

Pause to think about that for a moment: Every other system of medicine in the world is voluntary. But not western (pharmaceutical) medicine. It is a system of medicine found to be so offensive by rational people that the state itself must resort to using the threat of arrest at gunpoint in order to coerce parents into reluctantly agreeing to the toxic treatments.

That's why I say:

"A system of medicine that requires enforcement at gunpoint is not medicine at all. It is coercion and torture."

It's also a crime against humanity.

Chemotherapy drugs cause kidney damage, liver damage and brain damage

Even when chemotherapy drugs supposedly "work" to shrink a tumor (which, by itself, is no real measure of a cancer cure), they do so at a terrible price: The permanent damaging of kidneys, liver and brain.

Chemotherapy causes so much kidney failure that kidney dialysis is one of the most common procedures following chemotherapy patients. Those patients also suffer from so-called "chemo brain" -- a permanent damaging of the brain that mimics dementia or Alzheimer's.

Liver function is also severely harmed by chemotherapy agents, sharply reducing the patient's ability to detoxify their body from future chemical assaults, thereby making them more susceptible to recurring cancer in the future. That's why cancer almost always comes back a year or two after chemotherapy.

Even worse than all this, the No. 1 side effect of chemotherapy is cancer! Yep, this is a treatment that admittedly causes the very condition it claims to treat. How's that for total medical quackery?

Take action: Protest this medical insanity being pushed by the Michigan Department of (In)Human Services

Protest this medical insanity! Here's some contact information for the director of the Michigan Department of Human Services:
http://www.mi.gov/dhs/0,4562,7-124-5459_7097---,00.html

Director Maura D. Corrigan
P.O. Box 30037
Lansing, Michigan 48909
Telephone: (517) 373-2035
Fax: (517) 335-6101
Email: dhsweb@michigan.gov

Warning to parents: STOP taking your children to drug-pushing pediatricians!

The lesson in this case of medical coercion is to AVOID taking your children to conventional pediatricians!

Parents: You may not realize this, but a pediatrician has the power to throw you in prison for dismissing their medical demands!

If that pediatrician says "Your child needs chemotherapy" and you say, "I prefer not to poison my child with cancer-causing chemicals," that pediatrician simply picks up the phone, calls state authorities and has you arrested. In other cases reported by NaturalNews, we've even seen pediatricians call state troopers and SWAT teams on parents who refused to comply with their demands. (http://www.naturalnews.com/gunpoint_medicine.html)

Pediatricians are the new medical terrorists in America, you see. And if you do not follow their demands, they have the power to have your children taken away from you while you are arrested and prosecuted for criminal "medical negligence."

I'm not making this up. Such is the dangerous power of police state medicine in America today.

The solution to all this is obvious, and I'll say it again: Do NOT take your children to conventional pediatricians! If you don't take your child to see a pediatrician, you deny them the opportunity to diagnose your child with something and then demand your compliance with their high-profit treatments. You refuse to submit to their false authority.

Instead, take your children to naturopaths or other practitioners who are not ego-tripping medical maniacs who get off on punishing parents for refusing their medical services.

Buy our chemicals or go to jail

There's another angle in all this, too: Many of these pediatricians are pediatric oncologists, meaning they specialize in cancer treatments for children. The dirty little secret of the cancer industry is that oncologists earn most of their profits from selling chemotherapy drugs to patients.

So at the same time they are "diagnosing" you with cancer, they're also selling you a load of (chemical) bunk and hoping you're stupid enough to buy into it. Once you sign the "treatment" line, your insurance company pays them big bucks. Huge profits margins are generated from chemotherapy drugs.

If you say "no" to an oncologist -- who is very much like a car salesman in the sense that he has a financial stake in your decision -- you are costing him a loss in profits. He doesn't like that. His BMW needs an upgrade, you see, and he's hoping to fly to Hawaii to catch another golf game next week, and to do that, he needs another $20,000 in health insurance reimbursements from your policy. So if you say no, he might just be so angry that he calls the police on you. "You dare to say NO to ME? You'll see who has the power NOW!"

You can almost hear the "Muah ha ha ha!" following the whole scene.

Yes, these pediatric oncologists are some of the most evil, unethical, and downright criminal minds you will find in the medical system today. Far from helping children, they are engaged in mass poisoning crimes that rival the gassing of Jews in Nazi Germany. In fact, some of the chemicals come from the very same sources -- drug companies that were once part of IG Farben, the Nazi war crimes chemical conglomerate that was found guilty of crimes against humanity. Today's Bayer company is an offshoot of IG Farben, in fact, and the former chairperson of Bayer, Fritz ter Meer, was found guilty of war crimes in the Nuremberg trials.

As NaturalNews reported in 2008: (http://www.naturalnews.com/024534_Europe_health_WHO.html)

"At the Nuremberg Trials, 24 of the IG Farben directors and other industrialists were charged with genocide, slavery, and other crimes against humanity. Many of these unscrupulous villains would later play a key role in reinstating several IG Farben companies as huge players in the pharmaceutical/chemical industry not only in Germany but also throughout Europe and the United States. And several of these former Nazis would be pivotal in devising a pan-European trade association which has now evolved into the European Union.

Dr. Fritz ter Meer, a director of IG Farben who was directly involved in developing the nerve gas, Zyklon-B, which killed millions of Jews, was sentenced to seven years in prison but was released after four years through the intervention of Rockefeller and J.J. McCloy, then U.S. High Commissioner for Germany. An unrepentant Fritz ter Meer, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity, returned to work in Bayer where he served as Chairman for more than 10 years, until 1961.

This same ter Meer, a convicted Nazi war criminal, went on to become one of the initiators of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1962, an organization that was nurtured by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and latterly the World Trade Organization (WTO)."

Protect your children from poison-pushing pediatricians

So the next time you see a pediatrician pushing chemotherapy, just think to yourself, "Nazi war criminal!" Just because they have a medical license doesn't mean they aren't committing crimes against children. Hitler made it the law that Jews should be exterminated, but just because something is the law doesn't make it right, obviously. And just because someone who claims to be a doctor prances around in a white lab coat and claims your child needs their (profitable) chemicals doesn't mean he's telling you the truth. If he's a pediatric oncologist, he's probably lying to you as part of his fear-based sales pitch to coerce you into buying chemotherapy treatments.

Remember: The No. 1 sales tool of the cancer industry is FEAR. And if fear doesn't work, they simply call the police and resort to using INTIMIDATION and coercion instead.

Gee, and they wonder why people are increasingly ditching conventional medicine, chemotherapy, pharmaceuticals and surgery? Maybe it's because parents and families are tired of being treated like criminals by a class of arrogant medical scumbags who believe their power is more important than your freedom.

Protect your children (and your freedom). Say NO to (poison-pushing) pediatricians.


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035290_pediatricians_chemotherapy_medical_freedom.html#ixzz1paMaqqyn

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Another huge reason to take probiotics: B12 deficiency!

The B12 Issue: Resolved By Hallelujah Acres
Dr George Malkmus

In 1997, I received a letter from Michael Donaldson, a young Christian family man who was about to graduate from Cornell University with a PhD in Chemical Engineering. In his letter he shared that most fellow graduates were going to pursue a career in the drug industry, but that he had concerns about the safety of drugs and didn’t want to go that route.

In his letter he shared how his wife had resolved some pregnancy issues after adopting The Hallelujah Diet. He felt the Lord leading him to a career in nutrition; specifically, he wanted to join Hallelujah Acres to help us ensure that The Hallelujah Diet was scientifically up-to-date in its dietary recommendations.

Dr. Donaldson was brought on board as our Research Director. His first concern was regarding the adequacy of vitamin B12 in the vegan, 100% plant-based Hallelujah Diet, which was based on God’s original diet as found in Genesis 1:29.

For years, various writers had been saying that there was sufficient B12 in a vegan diet, a diet containing no animal flesh or dairy, which many believed was the primary source of B12. Others claimed B12 was contained in blue-green algae, an analog form of B12 that research reveals mimics the real B12 but does not satisfy B12 needs.

I was under the impression that a 100% plant-based diet had to contain sufficient B12 because Adam and Eve consumed a 100% plant-based diet. Furthermore, not only had Adam and Eve thrived on it, but the human race continued to thrive on such a diet after Adam and Eve were cast from the garden.

It Came As Quite A Shock
Dr. Donaldson tested 54 Health Minsters who had been on the 100% plant-based Hallelujah Diet for B12 adequacy after they had been on the diet for a minimum of two years.

His finding revealed that 47% of those who had been on The Hallelujah Diet for two years or longer showed signs of B12 deficiency at the cellular level — that came as quite a shock to me! Dr. Donaldson said that these results confirmed that there was reason for concern regarding B12 adequacy for those who adopted The Hallelujah Diet.

I was disturbed by Dr. Donaldson’s research findings because the last thing in this world I wanted to do was share information that could potentially harm someone, or prevent them from experiencing the best results after adopting the Hallelujah Acres Diet. I wanted some questions answered and the truth revealed.

Could God Have Made A Mistake?
The first question that had to be resolved to my satisfaction was: “Could God have made a mistake when he gave mankind that original 100% plant based (vegan) diet in Genesis 1:29? And could it be that the reason God allowed animal flesh to be added in Genesis 9:3 was because of a vitamin B12 deficiency in God’s original diet?”

This question did not take me very long to resolve because of the biblical evidence. On the Genesis 1:29 diet (and without any animal flesh foods), after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, man had lived to an average age of 912 years, for some 1,700 years (right up until the flood), without a single recorded instance of sickness.

Certainly, if there had been a nutritional (B12) lack it would have shown up during such a lengthy period of time.

So, if there was no lack of B12 on God’s original diet for the first 1,700 years of recorded history, why would some people today, on the primarily raw, vegan, 100% plant-based Hallelujah Diet — based on God’s original Genesis 1:29 diet — be showing a deficiency after only two years?

At the time Dr. Donaldson began his research I had been on The Hallelujah Diet for 24 years and showed only a slight B12 shortage at the cellular level (a reading of 3.9 or less is considered normal and my level was 5.0). Meanwhile, more than 50% of those Health Ministers on the Hallelujah Acres Diet who Dr. Donaldson tested, also showed no deficiency at all.

This raised another question: “Why do some people on The Hallelujah Diet show a deficiency, while a small majority showed no deficiency?”

The Source Of Vitamin B12 Discovered
The answer to these questions came when we learned where vitamin B12 originates. Dr. Donaldson’s research revealed that B12 does not come from something we consciously consume as food; rather it is manufactured within the body of all God’s animal creations, including humans, by bacteria and microbes.

This all began to make sense to me when I read David Wolfe’s book: “The Sunfood Diet Success System.” Following are a few quotes from that book that I found extremely interesting:

“Although animal and dairy products are a source of vitamin B12, the natural soil microbes and bacteria found on wild food, unwashed garden plants, and also those supplied by plant fermentation are typically adequate to supply the body with vitamin B12 needs.

“The natural microbes and bacteria in the soil need to be duplicated and colonize in our intestinal tract for optimal absorption of nutrients . . . . Vitamin B12 is produced by these natural microbes and bacteria as they colonize the intestines.

“A problem with the formation of B12 occurs when there is a sterilization which happens between the picking of the fruit or vegetable and the moment it reaches the mouth. Sterile environments are unnatural. The soil microbes and bacteria, which grow on raw fruits and vegetables, need to be duplicated in the intestinal tract for the proper assimilation of vitamin B12 to take place.”

“Studies have shown that those eating a typical diet of animal products actually require more vitamin B12 than those who do not eat animal products. This is because the typical diet leads to digestive atrophy. Because vitamin B12 is peptide bound in animal products and must be enzymatically cleaved from peptide bonds to be absorbed, a weakening of all gastric acid and gastric enzyme secretions (due to a cooked food diet) causes an inability to efficiently extract vitamin B12 from external food.

“Raw-food vegans, who have more powerful digestion, actually get more vitamin B12 absorption from the bile (liver secretions in the duodenum) than they do from external food.

“Sugar . . . . is an antibiotic. So a long-term high-sugar diet . . . . coming from refined sources . . . . can damage or wipe out the intestinal flora. Cooking also destroys microbes. A highly-sterilized cooked-vegan diet may not provide the intestines with enough excellent flora.”

In his research, Dr. Donaldson found evidence that gives credibility to the idea that B12 comes from the microflora in the gut. In the follow-up portion of the study, several volunteers consumed probiotics and were then retested for B12. Some of them, but not all, had much improved B12 levels without using any other source of B12. So, proper gut flora can be a source of B12. Since this was not consistently found testing is required by each person who follows this method to ensure that it is working for him.

Is Consuming Animal Flesh & Dairy The Solution?
Concerning the B12 issue, have you ever personally experienced, or known someone on the Standard American Diet, who consumed lots of animal flesh and dairy daily, and yet showed a deficiency in B12 – a deficiency so severe that they had to receive vitamin B12 injections?

Obviously, these people were not receiving sufficient B12 from their animal source diets. For proof of this need for concern of a B12 deficiency by those on a daily animal sourced food diet I call our attention to “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” (71:514, 2000), which reveals:

“Low vitamin B-12 levels don’t just occur in older people. . . . And contrary to current wisdom, meat, poultry, and sea food may not be a good source of the vitamin. . . . A surprising 39 percent of participants [3,000 men and women-aged 26-83] had blood levels below 350 pg/ml, the level at which neurological signs of B-12 deficiency or high homocysteine levels sometimes occur. . . .”

Warning
There are a number of health advocates who teach that a 100% plant-based diet is dangerous for pregnant women because of the lack of vitamin B12 in a vegan diet. But they fail to warn pregnant women that it is also dangerous to depend on animal source foods for B12 adequacy, as 39% of those who consume animal flesh and dairy daily are deficient in this vitamin also.

Obviously, consuming animal source foods daily does not guarantee a person is receiving adequate B12 in their diet any more than consuming a vegan or Hallelujah Acres diet does. In addition, there are considerable health risk potentials for a person consuming animal source foods.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell writes in his book “The China Project” – “Only a small intake of animal products was associated with significant increases in chronic degenerative diseases.”

Prior to Dr. Donaldson’s research, there were a number of books and vegan websites stating that there was indeed adequate vitamin B12 in a 100% plant-based diet. Once Dr. Donaldson released his findings we have not been able to find a recent book or website that still proclaims there is adequate vitamin B12 in a vegan diet.

Thus it would appear that Hallelujah Acres has resolved the vitamin B12 issue through research that shows there is no vitamin B12 in a vegan diet and that those who consume daily animal source foods do not fare much better with regard to the B12 issue.

Other than Hallelujah Acres, we are not aware of another health ministry or supplement company that has a scientist who is constantly researching the adequacy of what they are teaching or proclaiming.

Dr. Donaldson remains to this day the lead scientist for Hallelujah Acres. In future articles, we will share some of the other research discoveries Dr. Donaldson has made since his first research regarding B12 over 15 years ago.

So What Is The Solution?
The simple answer is: “SUPPLEMENTATION.”

Following much research, Dr. Donaldson came up with a B12-B6-Folic Acid supplement. Methylocobalamin, the type of B12 used in the Hallelujah Acres supplement, is the preferred form of B12 as it is active immediately upon absorption. The other form of B12, cyanocobalamin, must be converted to an active form prior to utilization.

Numerous studies suggest that vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and folic acid play an important role in optimizing homocysteine levels in the body and are a powerful complement for not only vegans and those on The Hallelujah Diet, but for all people regardless of diet, who want to make sure they maintain optimal levels of B12.

After the results of research conducted by Dr. Michael Donaldson of the Hallelujah Acres Foundation revealed low levels of B12 in 47% of the 54 subjects, it became clear that it is wise for everyone to be aware of their potential need for B12 supplementation, regardless of their diet.

And for those following a vegan or vegetarian diet, including The Hallelujah Diet, it is vital to use a B12 supplement or take sufficient amounts of probiotics to provide adequate bacteria for the body to manufacture it.

http://healthtip.hacres.com/index.php/2012/03/13/the-b12-issue-resolved-by-hallelujah-acres/?utm_source=Health%2BTip&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Text%2bLink&utm_content=746&utm_campaign=Health%2BTip

Monday, March 12, 2012

Chicken Salad Surprise recipe (vegan)

Note:
I made this tonight! I really liked it, and my 10 yr old actually had seconds! My 6 yr old would not even try it just bcs she knew it was healthy....arghhhhh! We put it inside 100% whole grain pita pockets. It could maybe work for dipping chips or crackers also.
Miriam

Chicken Salad Surprise

Submitted By: Health News Magazine #68

Who needs chicken salad when you've got this? Make this mixture the day before a party, then let the flavors mingle overnight in the refrigerator and spread it on sandwich bread before the main event! Perfect with Hallelujah Acres Kale Chips.

Ingredients

Vegetable Ingredients
½ large red bell pepper minced (remove seeds and stem)
1 cup minced purple onion
1 carrot, peeled, ground into tiny pieces with the S blade of the food processor
¾ cup broccoli, chopped fine with the S blade of the food processor

Spread Ingredients
2-4 Tbsp water, only as needed
4 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cups walnuts soaked overnight, soak water discarded
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp dried dill weed
1-2 Tbsp ground flax seeds (for binding)

Directions
Place vegetable ingredients in a bowl.
In food processor, add walnuts, 2 Tbsp water, dill weed, salt and lemon juice. Blend until creamy, adding more water only if needed.
As walnut mixture blends, stop the processor several times to push down the mixture that has crept up the sides of the bowl using a spoon or spatula.
Pour walnut mixture into the vegetable mixture. Stir well.
Ensure the mixture can spread on sandwich bread without falling apart.
To insure binding, add 1 Tbsp ground flax seed and mix well.

http://www.hacres.com/recipes/cards/vegetable-walnut-spread-finger-sandwiches/?utm_source=Weekly%2BTheme&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=2012-03-08&utm_campaign=Recipes&utm_term=Image

Vegan Crock-Pot Baked Beans recipe

Rhonda's Crock-Pot Baked Beans
Directions

This past Friday evening at Rhonda’s Culinary Class, attended by 30, Rhonda demonstrated and prepared for those gathered, items for a Hallelujah picnic. She demonstrated and those gathered tasted a Garden Surprise Juice, a Summer Soup, Picnic Slaw & Dressing, Cucumber Sandwiches, a non-dairy Cream Cheese, a non-dairy Hallelujah Butter, Crock-Pot Baked Beans, and for dessert, a Red, White & Blue Parfait without dairy. All were delicious, but the Baked Beans probably received the most accolades.
2 cups dry navy beans, washed, sorted and cooked until tender

1” of Kombu leaf, crumbled

2/3 cup fruit sweetened ketchup

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 cup dark molasses (not Blackstrap)

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 sweet onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt (optional)

Pinch of cayenne

1 cup distilled water

Sort through beans removing anything that shouldn’t be there, place in a strainer, and drain. Place drained beans in a bowl and soak overnight. Drain. In a large pot, place the drained beans and crumbled Kombu leaf with enough water to cover, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 2-hours. Drain cooked beans and place in crock-pot. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and cover. Cook on low 10-12 hours or on high 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally. ENJOY.
*ORGANIC INGREDIENTS ARE ALWAYS RECOMMENDED.

http://www.hacres.com/recipes/cards/rhondas-crock-pot-baked-beans

Ingredients (from a different recipe: mix and match with above recipe as desired)

1 (16 ounce) package dry navy beans
6 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped sweet onions
1 clove garlic, minced
4 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Aduki with squash / pumpkin and kombu recipe

Note:
I found this recipe on natural-cancer-cures.com. A short-cut for this recipe would be Eden Foods Organic Aduki Beans canned, which already contain kombu seaweed. You can also use Farmer's Market Organic Pumpkin canned. Both available on vitacost.com. Use this code to get $10 OFF your FIRST ORDER:
http://www.vitacost.com/Referee?wlsrc=rsReferral&ReferralCode=90197996

Aduki with squash / pumpkin and kombu

There is a macrobiotic dish made with aduki, kombu seaweed and squash or pumpkin. This dish is nourishing for the kidneys and highly recommended for those with kidney weakness (with symptoms such as low energy and low sexual drive).

It's very simple to do. Just cook pre-soaked aduki beans in enough water to cover, together with a strip or kombu seaweed, cut into small squares.

When the beans are about done, add squash or pumpkin. Japanese pumpkin, or kabocha, is particularly tasty with this.

Also, add a pinch of sea salt (to draw out the sweetness of the aduki beans). And cook for another 20 to 30 minutes.

Actual proportions of beans and squash or pumpkin is not vital. Just go easy on the kombu and don't use too much of it. One or two strips for four to six people would be more than enough.



http://www.natural-cancer-cures.com/aduki-beans.html

Friday, March 9, 2012

How to know the shelf life of your food (keep it or toss it)

Still Tasty
Your ultimate shelf life guide

Keep it or toss it:

http://www.stilltasty.com/

Dijon Mustard Substitute recipe

from Taste of Home Community:

Dijon Mustard Substitute?

This is obviously way too late for your dinner! But, in case you run into this problem again or if others need it, here's my recipe. I never buy dijon mustard--it would spoil before I could use all of it & this recipe makes just a little. If you need more, just adjust

Dijon Mustard

1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar -- (or 1/2 white wine, 1/2 white vinegar
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
pinch sugar

Mix all ingredients.

Yield: "2 tablespoons"

NOTES : For Chinese Mustard for dipping, drizzle a little sesame oil into the Dijon Mustard & mix well..

http://community.tasteofhome.com/community_forums/f/28/t/6513.aspx

10-Minute Fried Rice recipe

Note:
Use organic coconut oil or safflower oil instead of canola oil. Use organic tempeh instead of sausage, etc.  I used Braggs Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce. You can also use an egg replacement, such as 1 TBS ground flax seed mixed in 3 TBS of water, or omit the eggs completely.
Miriam

Recipe: 10-Minute Fried Rice
By Amanda Haas - Feb 19, 2012

This simple and delicious recipe is a perfect way to use up leftover rice and small bits of veggies that you have in your fridge. It's colorful, flavorful and couldn't be easier to make!

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tbsp canola oil
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup broccoli, stems and florets coarsely chopped
1 cup pre-cooked sausage, chicken or tofu, diced
4 green onions (scallions), sliced
3 cups cooked brown or white rice (or frozen)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
soy sauce or hot pepper sauce

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and broccoli and cook until crisp-tender, about 3-5 minutes, making sure you keep stirring it. Add the sausage (or chicken or tofu) and ¾ of the green onions and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the green onions are soft. Add the rice and stir until it’s warmed through, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, then add the eggs in the center of the dish. Let them sit for about 10 seconds before you start to push them around. This helps set the eggs a bit and leaves them in bigger pieces. Stir until the egg is cooked, taste for salt and pepper, then serve immediately garnished with the additional green onion.

Amanda Haas is a cookbook author, cooking video host, and the founder of One Family One Meal, a website that helps families menu plan, grocery shop, and cook on a budget. Her latest writing collaboration is with renowned chef Todd English. The book, Cooking in Everyday English, is now available on Amazon and is loaded with family-friendly recipes. Amanda’s own One Family One Meal cookbook will be released in the Fall of 2012.


http://www.circleofmoms.com/article/recipe-10-minute-fried-rice-03059?trk=digest_editorial_3059&email_enc=ocuq1Mugpdbgy9TQxtnWpnmXyKSZ3KVnytnT&email_src=13312659799a4c164e90c7fa9373638a1f508eeabd&template_name=digest_weekly_2&subject_id=0ab459cd81bff65dda88df58cda54e07%3A0&has_fb=1

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Get $10 OFF your FIRST ORDER of organic foods and more!

Have you heard about Vitacost.com?

They have over 30,000 health and wellness products, including vitamins, supplements, herbs, personal care products, organic foods and more; and it's all way cheaper than the health food store!

If you decide to check it out, please register through my link so we can both get a $10 off coupon!

Use this code to get $10 OFF your FIRST ORDER:
http://www.vitacost.com/Referee?wlsrc=rsReferral&ReferralCode=90197996

My Online List of approved products

Hi, All.

I've handed out several copies of this list, but now you can all have it!

These are items that I personally use and that I've investigated for safety of ingredients. There are a lot of items on these discount websites that I do NOT approve of. Please read labels before ordering and avoid products with ingredients you cannot pronounce. If you are not sure that something is safe, check out the product or the ingredients on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.

The items below are from www.luckyvitamin.com (free s/h on orders of $100 or more and no tax) and many are also available on www.vitaglo.com and www.vitacost.com (free s/h on orders of $50 or more). I even get some on www.amazon.com (free super saver shipping on certain items over $25). I order them from whichever website has them cheaper. The only problem with Vitaglo is slow shipping and terrible customer service. Vitacost ships the fastest and has excellent customer service. Use this code to get $10 OFF your FIRST ORDER from Vitacost:
http://www.vitacost.com/Referee?wlsrc=rsReferral&ReferralCode=90197996
(
Be sure to  use the same email address when you register as when you order products.)

Everyone can make their own list like mine on Lucky Vitamin or Vitacost. It makes repeat shopping very easy! Vitaglo does not have this feature, but I always refer to my Lucky or Vitacost lists when shopping on Vitaglo. My Vitacost list is public so you can search for it there or click here:
http://www.vitacost.com/MyAccount/MyFavorites.aspx

Remember that to minimize our toxin overload we need to make sure that almost 100% of the ingredients are from God's nature and not man's crazy synthetic inventions.

MY REGIMEN:

Greens Plus - Omega-3 Chia Seeds - 1 lb. - 1 lb.
Item#: 71149
Price: $12.55

NOW Foods - Organic Cashews - 12 oz. - 12 oz.
Item#: 53790
Price: $6.06

NOW Foods - Pecan Raw Halves and Pieces - 12 oz. - 12 oz.
Item#: 57132
Price: $6.67

NOW Foods - Walnuts, Halves & Pieces, Raw - 12 oz. - 12 oz.
Item#: 53963
Price: $7.26

NOW Foods - Almonds - Natural & Unblanched - 1 lb. - 1 lb.
Item#: 54687
Price: $5.24

Vita Coco - Coconut Water 500 ml. Acai & Pomegranate - 17 oz. - 17 oz.
Item#: 100811
Price: $2.48

Badger - Headache Soother - 1 oz. - 1 oz.
Item#: 73128
Price: $6.00

FunFresh Foods - Himalayan Pink Salt - 8.75 oz. - 8.75 oz.
Item#: 60224
Price: $4.04

Bragg - Organic Vinegar Apple Cider - 16 Oz. - 16 Oz.
Item#: 58711
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Wisdom Natural Brands - SweetLeaf Stevia Clear Liquid - 4 oz. - 4 oz.
Item#: 70094
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NOW Foods - Tea Tree Oil - 1 oz. - 1 oz.
Item#: 54413
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Omega Nutrition - Hi-Lignan Flax Oil Certified Organic - 16 oz. - 16 oz.
Item#: 66679
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Dr. Bronners - Bar Soap Organic Baby-Mild - 5 oz. - 5 oz.
Item#: 61148
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Maca Magic - 100% Raw Maca Magic - 2.2 lbs. - 2.20 lbs.
Item#: 76236
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Eco-Dent - Dental Floss Gentle - 100 Yard(s) - 100 Yard(s)
Item#: 60882
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Aubrey Organics - Earth Aware Household Cleanser - 32 Oz. - 32 Oz.
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Nutiva - Organic Shelled Hempseed - 13 oz. - 13 oz.
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Aubrey Organics - Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing Shampoo - 11 Oz. - 11 Oz.
Item#: 57236
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Aubrey Organics - Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing Conditioner - 11 oz. - 11 oz.
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Aubrey Organics - Silken Earth Powder Blush Bronzed Earth - 3 Grams - 3 Grams
Item#: 72174
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Badger - Sunscreen 30 SPF - 2.9 oz. - 2.90 oz.
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NOW Foods - Oat Bran - 14 oz. - 14 oz.
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NOW Foods - Sesame Seeds, Hulled - 1 lb. - 1 lb.
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Seventh Generation - Chlorine Free Maxi Pads - Overnight - 14 ea. - 14 ea.
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Kal - Nutritional Yeast Flakes - 12 oz. - 12 oz.
Item#: 50567
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Boericke & Tafel - Cough & Bronchial Syrup for Children - 8 oz. - 8 oz.
Item#: 59273
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Tea Tree Therapy - Eucalyptus Chest Rub - 2 oz. - 2 oz.
Item#: 67207
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Tea Tree Therapy - Tea Tree Antiseptic Ointment - 2 oz. - 2 oz.
Item#: 67356
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NOW Foods - Pumpkin Seeds, Raw, Chinese - 1 lb. - 1 lb.
Item#: 56990
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Nature's Plus - Animal Parade Tooth Gel Very Cherry - 4.5 oz. - 4.50 oz.
Item#: 66884
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Nutiva - Organic Hempseed Original Bar - 1.4 oz. - 1.40 oz.
Item#: 50765
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Dr. Bronners - Magic Organic Hair Creme Lavender Coconut - 6 oz. - 6 oz.
Item#: 74733
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Alvera - All Natural Roll-On Deodorant Aloe Unscented - 3 Oz. - 3 Oz.
Item#: 57510
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Aubrey Organics - Amino Derm Gel Clear Skin Complex - 2 Oz. - 2 Oz.
Item#: 56356
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NOW Foods - Certified Organic Golden Flax Seeds - 2 lbs. - 2 lbs.
Item#: 75700
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Bob's Red Mill - Steel Cut Oats Organic - 24 oz. - 24 oz.
Item#: 103784
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Wholesome Sweeteners - Organic Raw Blue Agave - 23.5 oz. - 23.50 oz.
Item#: 72454
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Peelu - Xylitol Dental Chewing Gum Spearmint Flavor - 100 Piece(s) - 100 Piece(s)
Item#: 52314
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NOW Foods - Pea Protein 100% Pure Non-GMO Vegetable Protein Unflavored - 2 lbs. - 2 lbs.
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Larenim - Mineral Airbrush Pressed Foundation 4-WM - 0.3 oz. - 0.30 oz.
Item#: 76483
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Jarrow Formulas - Organic Coconut Oil - 16 oz. - 16 oz.
Item#: 66832
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Aubrey Organics - Natural Herbal Maintainence Oil Balancing Moisturizer - 2 oz. - 2 oz.
Item#: 55368
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Nubian Heritage - Shea Butter Infused With Coconut & Papaya - 4 oz. - 4 oz.
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Herbs Etc - Singer's Saving Grace Soothing Throat Spray Extra Strength - 1 oz. - 1 oz.
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NOW Foods - Lemon Oil - 4 oz. - 4 oz.
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Dr. Bronners - Magic Pure-Castile Soap Organic Tea Tree - 32 oz. - 32 oz.
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Natracare - Organic Cotton Natural Panty Liners Curved - 30 Liner(s) - 30 Liner(s)
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NOW Foods - Amaranth Grain--Organic Non-GE - 1 lb. - 1 lb.
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NOW Foods - Carob Powder Roasted - 12 oz. - 12 oz.
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Aubrey Organics - Natural Herbal Seaclay with Goa Herb Oil Balancing Mask - 4 oz. - 4 oz.
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Yummy Earth - Organic Lollipops Personal Bin Mixed Fruit - 30 Lollipop(s) - 30 Lollipop(s)
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NOW Foods - Organic Sunflower Seeds - 16 oz. - 16 oz.
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Colorganics - Hemp Organics Organic Lip Tint Terra - 0.09 oz. - 0.09 oz.
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Yummy Earth - Organic Candy Drops Gluten Free Assorted Flavors - 13 oz. - 13 oz.
Item#: 69524
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Aubrey Organics - Sea Buckthorn Skin Care Bar with Sandalwood - 3.6 Oz. - 3.60 Oz.
Item#: 56064
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Seventh Generation - Chlorine Free Maxi Pads - Regular - 24 ea. - 24 ea.
Item#: 53158
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Giovanni - L.A. Hold Styling Spritz Maximum Hold for all day style - 5.1 oz. - 5.10 oz.
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NOW Foods - Tapioca Flour - 12 oz. - 12 oz.
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Organic Essentials - Cosmetic Rounds - 80 ea. - 80 ea.
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Aubrey Organics - Lumessence Rejuvenating Eye Creme - 0.5 oz. - 0.50 oz.
Item#: 57397
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Aubrey Organics - Men's Stock Daily Rejuvenating Eye Cream - 0.5 oz. - 0.50 oz.
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Gaia Herbs - Oil Of Oregano Liquid Phyto Capsules - 60 Liquid-Filled Capsul - 60 Liquid-Filled Capsul
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NOW Foods - Quinoa Grain Organic, Non-GE - 1 lb. - 1 lb.
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Aubrey Organics - Treat 'Em Right Organic Lip Balm Raspberry - 1 ea. - 1 ea.
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NOW Foods - XyliWhite Platinum Mint Toothpaste Gel - 6.4 oz. - 6.40 oz.
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Dr. Bronners - Magic Pure-Castile Soap Organic Baby-Mild - 16 oz. - 16 oz.
Item#: 60831
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Nutiva - Organic Hemp Protein 50% - 16 oz. - 16 oz.
Item#: 76540
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Bragg - Liquid Aminos - 16 oz. - 16 oz.
Item#: 58708
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Garden of Life - Beyond Organic RAW Protein Formula - 622 Grams - 622 Grams
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Nature's Answer - PerioWash Alcohol-Free Mouthwash Cool Mint - 16 oz. - 16 oz.
Item#: 65275
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Micro Essential Laboratory - pH Testing Hydrion Papers 5.5-8.0 Range - 1 ea. - 1 ea.
Item#: 50940
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Larenim - Mineralash Mascara Jet Black - 0.25 oz. - 0.25 oz.
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Biotics Research - Bio-D-Mulsion Forte Emulsified Vitamin D - 1 oz. - 1 oz.
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Honeybee Gardens - Jobacolors Eye Liner Pencil Belgian Chocolate - 0.04 oz. - 0.04 oz.
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Honeybee Gardens - Jobacolors Lip Liner Pencil Island Spice - 0.2 oz. - 0.20 oz.
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Honeybee Gardens - Jobacolors Eye Liner Pencil Jet Set - 0.04 oz. - 0.04 oz.
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Aubrey Organics - Silken Earth Powder Blush Warmed Rose - 3 Grams - 3 Grams
Item#: 72180
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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Raw Spinach Dip recipe

Note:
This is very easy to make and yummy, but I prefer using my food processor instead of a blender!I recommend using way LESS red onions though; they are too much for my taste.
Miriam


Submitted By: Rhonda Malkmus
Hallelujah Acres

Raw veggies are great for snacking, but they're even better with a yummy dip! Try this one with your next raw veggie tray and watch them disappear.

Ingredients

5 cups spinach
1 large avocado (peeled & pitted)
½ cup red onion pieces
1 small garlic clove (peeled)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon unrefined salt
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of ginger root (optional)
Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until creamy.
Add a pinch of ginger root for a little extra zing if desired.

http://www.hacres.com/recipes/cards/raw-spinach-dip/?utm_source=Health%2BTip&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Image&utm_content=746&utm_campaign=Health%2BTip

Monday, March 5, 2012

Metric Conversion website for recipes

http://mdmetric.com/tech/kitchen.htm

Tempeh Lasagna with Cashew Cream Sauce recipe

Note:
Tempeh is a healthy version of soy bcs it's fermented. You can buy organic tempeh at Publix in the organic produce section. Instead of making the sauce I'm using Muir Glen Organic Pasta Sauce (Italian Herb). For the metric conversions I have added the conventional equivalent to the right of each item I'm using from the recipe. You can also use this site for help:
http://mdmetric.com/tech/kitchen.htm
Miriam

From TofuforTwo.net:
We both love lasagne, and this is definitively one of our favorite ways to fill those pasta sheets. Fried tempeh crumbs, basil tomato sauce, and white sauce made with cashews and nutritional yeast were a delicious combination in this creamy and hearty and remarkably satisfying lasagne.

Our lasagne wasn’t extremely photogenic, but the side of steamed broccoli added a hint of aesthetic value – and also balanced the rich lasagne quite nicely.

Tomato Tempeh Sauce:

5 dl tomato sauce (passata type)
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
200 g tempeh (6 oz)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

First, we prepared the tempeh. We chopped it finely, until we had nice crumbles.

Now, we heated a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan, and fried the temped crumbles for about 7 minutes, until they’d turned golden brown. Then Heikki added the soy sauce and the liquid smoke to the pan, and fried the tempeh until the liquid had evaporated, for a few more minutes.

I removed the tempeh from the pan, added a little more oil, and fried the onions until they became translucent. Now I added the dried basil, fried it for a few seconds, and then added the rest of the tomato sauce ingredients to the pan. I let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes, until the cashew sauce was ready, and then mixed in the tempeh crumbles.

Cashew Cream Sauce:

3 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/2 dl wheat flour (3 TBS)
2 dl cashew nuts & 1 dl oat milk (12 TBS)
9 dl plain oat milk (just under 1 liter)
1 dl nutritional yeast flakes (6 TBS)
1 teaspoon green peppercorns, ground
1 and 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

While Heikki ground the cashews with 1 dl of oat milk to create a thick cream, I melted the margarine in a small cooking pan on medium heat. When it started to bubble, I added the wheat flour, whisking all the time, and kept on whisking and frying the flour for a few minutes. Now, I added the rest of the oat milk a little by little, whisking to get it smoothly incorporated, and brought the mixture to boil on medium-high heat, stirring all the time. After the mixture had thickened a little, I whisked in the nutritional yeast and the cashew cream, and heated for a few minutes. Now the sauce was quite thick, and I added the rest of the ingredients – salt, green peppercorns, and lemon juice.

Assembling the Lasagne:

250 g (half a box) spinach lasagne sheets (Pirkka brand)
We first brushed our lasagne pan with olive oil, and spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce over the bottom of the pan. We covered the sauce with 4 lasagne sheets, and spread some more tomato sauce over the pasta. Now, we spooned about one fifth of the cashew sauce over the tomato layer, and then added three more layers of pasta covered with the two sauces. We reserved a little more cashew sauce for the last layer, and spread it evenly over the whole lasagne. We ended up with 4 layers of pasta, a layer of tomato-tempeh sauce underneath, and a layer of the creamy cashew sauce upmost.

Now we baked the lasagne in 200 degrees Celsius for about 35 minutes, until the white sauce had browned nicely, and let it cool down for about 10 minutes before serving.

http://tofufortwo.net/2008/02/29/tempeh-lasagne-with-cashew-cream-sauce/

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Amazing made fresh to order, 100% natural skincare and body products!

I absolutely love these homemade, 100% natural Skin2Spirit products made fresh to order by my friend, Kirschner Kathi! I just placed another order and can't get enough! My hubby uses the face and eye lotion too. They smell and feel amazing! They end up lasting a long time so they are also a great value. I actually pay less now for my face and eye lotion than before bcs the containers are twice the size of what I used to buy. In addition to many other fabulous ingredients they contain organic, wild-crafted superfood extracts of:
-Acai Berry
-Blueberry
-Brown Seaweed
-GAC Fruit
-Goji Berry
-Mangosteen
-Noni Berry
-Pomegranate
-Sea Buckthorn AND
-GREEN TEA

Love them!

Order here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Skin2Spirit

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Carrot Juice recipe for BlendTec Blender

Watch short video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWBuuKlx7Ts

So easy! I did not have any ginger so I just added an apple.

Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Pie Crust (raw, vegan)

Vegan Raw Pie Crust (or Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Crust)
2011 MARCH 4

OK, don’t let the hippie name fool you. It tastes like cinammon sugar cookies. And its super easy! And its alot healthier than regular pie crust. Just dump the ingredients in a blender, and go. Thats it. Just try it!! At least your dessert will be less guilty.

If you aren’t vegan or if you aren,t into raw food, or even if you aren’t struggling with food allergies, this pie crust is still a big winner. Consider all kinds of fillings for the crust- sliced bananas with vanilla pudding and dairy free whipped cream on top. If you can do dairy, try cream cheese and honey with cooked strawberries and lemonzest on top. This pie crust freezes beautifully. Fill it with dairy free ice cream and your choices of toppings! Ice cream pie!

I’d much rather call it Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Crust but then Google searches wouldn’t be so successful. *sigh*

This pie crust goes beautifully with my vegan cheesecake rhubarb pie recipe. Just doooo eeeeet.

Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Crust

Ingredients

1 cup pecans or walnuts (roast them if you aren’t raw! very yummy)
1 cup unsweetened coconut (the dried shaved kind- organic tends to be sulfite free)
2 tbsp warmed coconut oil (or unhydrogenated organic palm oil)
1 cup ground almonds
6 large dates (or 12 small ones) soaked in water over night (or if you aren’t raw, microwave 3 minutes or more in a bowl of water till soft)
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt ( 1/8 tsp)
1 tbsp agave nectar (non vegan can use honey) (or more, to taste)
1 tsp almond extract

Directions

Put the pecans, almond and coconut in the blender, pulse till finely chopped (but not till its like flour!)
Add in the dates, honey,cinnamon,salt and coconut oil. Blend until the mixture is well incorporated and starts becoming a ball rolling around in the blender.
Press into the sides of a pie pan. Done! Fill it with whatever you want. No baking!

HINT: Line your pie pan with parchment paper first, so its easier to remove pie wedges. Otherwise, this is very sticky stuff. Flip over your pie pan, trace a circle around the top of it, cut it out, and then cut slits into the sides of the circle. It should fit nicely into the pan and prevent a mess.

ALSO: This freezes soooo well. Perfect for an ice cream pie!!

http://www.myrealfoodlife.com/vegan-raw-pie-crust-or-cinnamon-sugar-cookie-crust/

The importance of a mattress!

Most of us know that a bed mattress needs to be replaced at least every 10 yrs, but we often try to get by on longer. I know I did! I still have the one my hubby and I purchased when we got married almost 13 yrs ago. Unfortunately, about a year ago it was starting to cause me back pain. The same thing was happening to a friend who was still sleeping on her wedding mattress too.

So instead of replacing the mattress (still trying to save money), I ordered a magnetic mattress pad that is about 2 inches thick, and the pain stopped the first night and never returned. Yay!

I got this one because my flexible spending account covered it, but there are less expensive options on this wonderful website:
http://magnapak-magnetic-mattress-health-therapy.com/catalog/trunorth-natural-queen-58x775-1000-north-magnets-p-569.html


Even if you sleep alone on a full or queen size bed, you can order a twin size mattress pad to save money if you only sleep on one side of your bed. Also, if you share a bed you and your husband may want different types of pads so you can each get your own if you purchase twins.

I highly recommend magnetic mattress pads! Yes, I still have to replace the mattress eventually, but I love my mattress pad!

Blessings,
Miriam

Friday, March 2, 2012

Yellow Mustard Recipe - French's Clone

Note:
I haven't made this yet but will try it when we run out of our Annie's organic mustard. I'm planning to use organic ground dry mustard, arrowroot powder instead of Wondra flour for thickening, and organic apple cider vinegar instead of distilled white. I also plan to leave it raw. We'll see how it goes.
Miriam
--------------

This is a recipe that I found at Grouprecipes.com and it was posted by "Tuilelaith." It's as much of a clone of French's mustard as I think you'll find. It won't be cost effective to make it relative to simply buying a bottle of French's. But if you like to serve your own condiments or are interested in how typical yellow mustard is made, well... this is pretty much how it's made.

Ingredients (T = tablespoon; t = teaspoon):

4 T ground yellow mustard
1/2 t Wondra flour (to thicken)
3/8 t salt
1/8 t turmeric
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of paprika
1/4 c water
3 T distilled white vinegar
Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients together in a small sauce pan.
Whisk in water and vinegar until the mixture is smooth.
Heat mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it boils.
After it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes (I simmer mine for 7.5 minutes).
Remove pan from heat and leave uncovered for 1 minute.
Then cover pan and let the mustard cool.
Put mustard in a covered container and store refrigerated
Yield: 1/4 cup

The Wondra flour is used to thicken the mixture. You probably could use all purpose flour if that's all you had and you probably wouldn't notice a difference in the taste. The Wondra won't clump as easily as all-purpose flour, making it a more convenient thickening agent.

http://marketpower.typepad.com/market_power/2010/02/yellow-mustard-recipe-frenchs-clone.html

Thursday, March 1, 2012

The 10 symptoms of vitamin D deficiency you need to recognize

Friday, February 10, 2012 by: Aurora Geib

(NaturalNews) Taking vitamin D while still young may be good for the body in the long run. Results from a study conducted by the University of Zurich have confirmed that sufficient amounts of vitamin D taken consistently are necessary to maintain bone health.

Many people believe that maintaining healthy eating habits is enough, but only few foods naturally contain significant levels of vitamin D. According to Dr. Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, a faculty of UZH, in order to get adequate levels of vitamin D through diet alone, two servings of fatty fish like salmon or mackerel would have to be consumed every day. It is thus necessary to increase vitamin D levels in the body through sufficient sun exposure and supplementation in order to use the sunshine vitamin's full potential for maintaining proper body functioning.

This misconception about maintaining D levels through diet does have a degree of ground since vitamin D is not a stand alone vitamin. To perform many functions, vitamin D works in cooperation with other vitamins like magnesium, which can be found in leafy green vegetables such as spinach. This unique characteristic of vitamin D has contributed to the management of many chronic illnesses.

The many faces of vitamin D

Decades ago, health care professionals thought vitamin D was only good for keeping healthy bones and teeth. Recent advances in science, however, have put this vitamin in the spotlight by revealing its multifaceted role in the proper functioning of the human body and its ability to lower the risk of illnesses not formerly associated with it.

Despite the recent revelations about the potential of vitamin D, it appears that not everyone appreciates this discovery. The current lifestyle of working indoors has contributed to the growing number of vitamin D deficiency cases worldwide. This is compounded by the fact that not everyone is aware that he or she may be vitamin D deficient.

Am I vitamin D deficient?

The best way to discover vitamin D deficiency is to take a blood test that will measure the level of the vitamin in your blood. You can either ask your doctor to administer the test or buy a home test kit do the test yourself. However, you are certainly vitamin D deficient if you have any of the following ailments, and you need to consult with your doctor regarding your preventive, as well as curative, options as soon as possible.

1.) The flu - In a study published in the Cambridge Journals, it was discovered that vitamin D deficiency predisposes children to respiratory diseases. An intervention study conducted showed that vitamin D reduces the incidence of respiratory infections in children.

2.) Muscle weakness - According to Michael F. Holick, a leading vitamin D expert, muscle weakness is usually caused by vitamin D deficiency because for skeletal muscles to function properly, their vitamin D receptors must be sustained by vitamin D.

3.) Psoriasis - In a study published by the UK PubMed central, it was discovered that synthetic vitamin D analogues were found useful in the treatment of psoriasis.

4.) Chronic kidney disease - According to Holick, patients with advanced chronic kidney diseases (especially those requiring dialysis) are unable to make the active form of vitamin D. These individuals need to take 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or one of its calcemic analogues to support calcium metabolism, decrease the risk of renal bone disease and regulate parathyroid hormone levels.

5.) Diabetes - A study conducted in Finland was featured in Lancet.com in which 10,366 children were given 2000 international units (IU)/day of vitamin D3 per day during their first day of life. The children were monitored for 31 years and in all of them, the risk of type 1 diabetes was reduced by 80 percent.

6.) Asthma - Vitamin D may reduce the severity of asthma attacks. Research conducted in Japan revealed that asthma attacks in school children were significantly lowered in those subjects taking a daily vitamin D supplement of 1200 IU a day.

7.) Periodontal disease - Those suffering from this chronic gum disease that causes swelling and bleeding gums should consider raising their vitamin D levels to produce defensins and cathelicidin, compounds that contain microbial properties and lower the number of bacteria in the mouth.

8.) Cardiovascular disease - Congestive heart failure is associated with vitamin D deficiency. Research conducted at Harvard University among nurses found that women with low vitamin D levels (17 ng/m [42 nmol/L]) had a 67 percent increased risk of developing hypertension.

9.) Schizophrenia and Depression - These disorders have been linked to vitamin D deficiency. In a study, it was discovered that maintaining sufficient vitamin D among pregnant women and during childhood was necessary to satisfy the vitamin D receptor in the brain integral for brain development and mental function maintenance in later life.

10.) Cancer - Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington DC discovered a connection between high vitamin D intake and reduced risk of breast cancer. These findings, presented at the American Association for Cancer Research, revealed that increased doses of the sunshine vitamin were linked to a 75 percent reduction in overall cancer growth and 50 percent reduction in tumor cases among those already having the disease. Of interest was the capacity of vitamin supplementation to help control the development and growth of breast cancer specially estrogen-sensitive breast cancer.

Prevention is proactive

These various health conditions associated with vitamin D deficiency need not be something to fear. A proactive approach to prevention can assist in the avoidance of the many chronic diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency. For one, thousands of dollars can be saved, not to mention the peace of mind, simply at the cost of taking a walk under the sun. Save the umbrellas for the rainy days.


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035089_vitamin_D_deficiency_signs_symptoms.html#ixzz1nssha1h8