Moving Strongly Forward

Black Beans and Rice

This is one of my favorite recipes, given to me by a friend from graduate school from 19 years ago – YIKES! I have tweaked the recipe to make it nutrient dense. My family has not eaten black beans and rice in about a year, due to our following the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. This diet does not allow black beans or rice. Now that we have healed our guts and cured our seasonal allergies and Ryan’s ADD, we are eating it again, and oh, what fun! As an added bonus, it is another great way to use bone broth!

Ingredients:

2.5 cups dry black turtle beans (about 2 packages)

10 cups of chicken bone broth

1 large tomato, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp. ground cumin seed

6 strips of bacon

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp salt

2 tsp white pepper

2 tsp oregano

Directions

Rinse and sort beans and soak in water with 2 TBS of lemon juice or whey for 12 hours or more.

After soaking, rinse beans again and sort beans that are split, too hard or funny looking, and discard those.

In a large pot, put beans and 10 cups of chicken bone broth and bring to a boil over medium high heat. After steadily boiling for a couple of minutes, reduce heat and cover tightly. Simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, until beans are tender.

In a frying pan, put one cup of olive oil and bacon chopped up into small pieces and fry for a few minutes. Do not let the bacon get fully cooked. You don’t want it crisp. Add your veggies and sauté for 10 minutes.

During the sauté period, increase the temperature of the beans and bring back to a good boil. Add your veggie mixture and oil - all of it. Add seasonings.

Cover and simmer 40 minutes. Serve with herbed rice (that means rice with some ground thyme).

Rice: Rice has a lot of starch. Be sure to rinse rice thoroughly. If you have the time, let it soak for a half hour or so to remove more starch. Cook the rice using chicken bone broth.

Note 1: When done, sauce should be pretty thick. If not, it’s amendable. Just keep cooking for awhile. Then turn the heat off and let it sit until cool. This usually does the trick.

Note 2: Bacon is optional. If you have collected some bacon grease, throw that in instead.

Fats – How to Use Them

Today I am putting a stop to the conundrum I often face when cooking with animal and plant fats. So many things to remember…like what happens when I cook with olive oil? Does it become cancerous? (NO.) How long can I keep that pork grease in the refrigerator? At what temperature is it best to cook with coconut oil? And why am I no longer using corn, vegetable, or canola oils? Enough of the questions and time for some answers.

I have very little experience cooking with animal fats other than butter, so I am relying on some internet research to help. Check out this link to see how the rest of the world cooks with Animal Fat and other Saturated Fats: The Real World Traditionally Ate Mostly Saturated Fats.

Another great overview is at this site: WAPF: Know Your Fats.

These are the fats that are a daily part of my family’s diet:

Butter – Butter comes in two varieties: salted and unsalted. Both are fine for sautéing or frying at temperatures of medium or less. Unsalted butter works well for temperatures all the way up to high, which I have only done when cooking Cajun food.

Pork Fat and Lard – I have almost no experience with pork fat and lard. There is a jar of lard from bacon drippings sitting in my refrigerator and I occasionally use it to sauté boiled greens, onions and garlic. I only do this because I vaguely know that my Grandma and Great Aunt used to use it. Visit Put Lard Back in Your Larder or 

thekitchn.com to learn more about use and storage. As for storage, I have read recommendations from a few weeks up to six months in the refrigerator and up to two years in the freezer.

Olive Oil – I rarely cook with olive oil, as cooking destroys nutrients. Still, it tastes yummy and finds its way into my black beans and rice. I do not cook with olive oil at high temperatures, as I only use extra virgin olive oil and it is too costly to ruin the flavor. Plain olive oil, which I have not used, is the recommended high temperature cooking oil. It is more processed than extra virgin oil, which raises a red flag for me (I am all for as little processing as possible). To get a better idea of the types of olive oil, visit this site: http://whatscookingamerica.net/OliveOil.htm.

Coconut Oil – Coconut oil is great for sautéing vegetables, baking and putting into smoothies. This oil has gotten an underserved bad rap for being a saturated fat. It is a fantastic food for many reasons, such helping to prevent heart disease, killing bacteria and viruses (antimicrobial), and serving as a poison antidote. Read about these benefits here: The Latest Studies on Coconut Oil and here: A New Look at Coconut Oil

Beef Tallow – I know nothing about cooking with beef tallow, but this is an interesting article to get started: How To Cook With Beef Tallow ~ How To Cook Like Your Grandmother. This site looks like great fun, and I will explore it more.

These are the fats that we quit using once we learned about the natural fats above: Canola, Vegetable and Corn Oils. These are processed, illness causing oils. Corn Oil, for example, promotes cancer and heart disease. You can read about the dubious history of Canola Oil here: The Great Con-ola. Generic “Vegetable Oil” is a blend of oils, often containing corn and soy, which I avoid because they cause disease.

Menu – Day 7

Here are Friday’s meals, and my last food journal post. A recipe for each item is in the Recipes section of this blog or a link is provided.

Breakfast

• Water with Lemon Juice (see Lemon Juice Before Breakfast)
• Kefir Smoothie
• Almond Flour Scone for Ryan
• Black Coffee for Ryan

Snack

• Colson – Apple

Lunch

• Colson – Steak, Tomatoes, Carrots
• Laura – Eggs and Tomatoes
• Ryan – Vollkorn Bread with Raw Cheddar Cheese, Apples, Carrots, Oranges, Soaked and Dried Almonds
• Water

Snack

• Watermelon
• Strawberries (hooray – it is Strawberry season!)

Dinner

• Baked Chicken
• Steamed Asparagus and Broccoli
• Volkhorn Bread
• Watermelon
• Strawberries
• Water

Menu - Days 5 and 6

Menu – Day 5

Here are Wednesday’s meals. A recipe for each item is in the Recipes section of this blog or a link is provided.

Breakfast

• Water with Lemon Juice (see Lemon Juice Before Breakfast)
• Kefir Smoothie
• Black Coffee for Ryan
  

Snack

• Colson – Apple and Oranges

Lunch

• Colson: Beef Chili with Beef Bone Broth (use the Nourishing Traditions recipe and add Chili powder to taste), Broccoli, Orange
• Laura: Baked Pollock, Raw Cheddar Cheese, Broccoli, Orange
• Ryan: Beef Chili, Apples, Carrots, soaked and dried Almonds, Almond Flour Muffin
• Water
  

Dinner

• Black Beans and Rice, both made with Chicken Bone Broth (I will post the recipe soon)
• Salad
• Water

 Snack

• Oranges

Menu – Day 6

Breakfast

• Water with Lemon Juice (see Lemon Juice Before Breakfast)
• Kefir Smoothie
• Coconut Chocolate cookies for Colson
• Almond Flour Muffins for Laura and Ryan
• Black Coffee for Ryan

Snack

• Colson – Apple and Birthday Cupcake. This was an old school cake box mix with white flour and sugar and other anti-nutrients. I explained to Colson what was in it and, knowing that white flour and sugar nuke the immune system, he chose to eat it.
  

Lunch

• Colson, Laura, Ryan – Black Beans and Rice with Chicken Bone Broth
• Laura and Colson - Broccoli
• Ryan – Vollkorn Bread and Raw Cheddar Cheese, Apples, Carrots, Orange, Soaked and Dried Almonds
• Water
  

Dinner

• Steak
• Salad – Ryan and Colson
• Brussel Sprouts cooked in butter, Olive Oil and Chicken Bone Broth - Laura
• Vollkorn Bread
  
• Water

We have been eating all of our food, with great progress eating leftovers. Now I can easily clean the fridge!

I am soaking almonds and pecans and will begin roasting them tomorrow so that the Pecans will be ready Friday afternoon and the Almonds will be ready Saturday morning.

Thank You Holistic Moms Network

I requested help today from the Holistic Moms Network www.holisticmoms.org. Our relative was diagnosed with cancer today, after five biopsies over the last few weeks. The cancer has blocked the opening to her stomach, preventing her from eating and drinking. The doctors were not communicating well for the last several days and we reached a point of complete frustration. I was not sure what to do and asked for their help.

The women of the Holistic Moms Network are incredible. They provided their advice based on their experience and research and in some cases their professional expertise. These women took time out of their day writing thoughtful, realistic, warm and encouraging responses. They shared a tremendous amount of knowledge that would have taken me long to accumulate, and who knows if I would have found it all. I needed quick support, and they gave it.

I have only met these Moms through email. They are located all over the country, representing about 150 chapters. The Holistic Moms Network has taken me and my family far on its journey, and I am again humbled by their caring, knowledge, and power.

Menu - Day 4

Here are Tuesday’s meals. A recipe for each item is in the Recipes section of this blog, a link is provided, or the recipe will be posted shortly.

Breakfast

• Water with Lemon Juice (see Lemon Juice Before Breakfast)
• Kefir Smoothie
• Black Coffee for Ryan

Snack

• Colson – Apple and Oranges
• Laura – Soaked and dried Almonds

Lunch

• Colson: Beef stew made with Beef Bone Broth, green beans and carrots
• Laura: Beef stew and carrots
• Ryan: Hard Boiled Eggs, Apples, Carrots, soaked and dried Almonds, Almond Flour Muffin
  

Dinner

• Black Beans and Rice, both made with Chicken Bone Broth (I will post the recipe soon)
• Sauerkraut
• Tomatoes
• Water
  

Snack

• Oranges

Menu – Day 3

Here are Monday’s meals. A recipe for each item is in the Recipes section of this blog or a link is provided.

Breakfast

• Water with Lemon Juice (see Lemon Juice Before Breakfast)
• Kefir Smoothie
• Black Coffee for Ryan

Snack

• Colson – Apple and Oranges
• Laura – Soaked and dried almonds

Lunch

• Colson: T-Rex food (baked organic, free-range chicken from a small local farmer), green beans, tomatoes
• Laura: Chicken Big Mamou on pasta, green beans, tomatoes, raw cheddar cheese
• Ryan: Chicken Big Mamou on rice, apple, soaked and dried almonds
• Water

Dinner

• Baked Pollock
• Rice cooked in Bone Broth with lots of butter
  
• Salad
• Water
  

Snack

• Colson – Banana and Orange (he is never full!)

The Definition of Insanity - Part 2

Our relative is back in the hospital with her second round of kidney failure due to dehydration caused by vomiting. She was supposed to be home resting and healing in preparation for her major Whipple procedure (see The Definition of Insanity).

While home recuperating, the doctors told her she could “eat” the beverage Ensure or Carnation Instant Breakfast, so she was. How in the world is someone supposed to heal and strengthen eating this garbage?!?!? I am in no way claiming that this “food” caused our relative to vomit and experience kidney failure again, but this is the hospital’s recommendation regarding how to feed and heal someone. Absolute Insanity!!

Here’s a look at the first 9 of 40 ingredients of Ensure. Ingredients are listed from highest to lowest amounts.

Ensure, Homemade Vanilla:

1. Water
2. Corn Maltodextrin
3. Sugar (Sucrose)
4. Milk Protein Concentrate
5. Canola Oil
6. Soy Protein Concentrate
7. Corn Oil
8. Short-Chain Fructooligosaccharides
9. Natural and Artificial Flavors…

For the consumer this means:

1. Water
2. Sugar (an immune system destroyer which feeds and grows cancer)
3. Sugar
4. A denatured milk-like ingredient that is used in Glue. Read about it here: http://www.familyfarmdefenders.org/pmwiki.php/MilkProteinConcentrate/MilkProteinConcentrate
5. A poison. Read about it here: http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/conola.html
6. A cancer causer
7. An all around causer of ill-health, particularly injurious to the heart
8. Sugar
9. Artificial Flavors of unknown origin

Our relative now likely has the very smallest beginning of cancer (still not conclusively diagnosed by the doctors). If the area of concern is not cancerous they feel strongly it will become cancerous and must remove much of her viscera. Using their utmost dietary training, the doctors recommend a cancer causing, immune system killing bomb to feed her.

And what of the bone broth that I had been urging and which was the only thing she could keep down before the severe dehydration and kidney failure? It is no longer a part of her diet. This incredibly nutrient dense, healing, soothing food is not even on the hospital’s radar.

A friend recently suggested that I go to school and get credentialed as a nutritionist. I responded “absolutely not.” I know more about food that heals than any university program could teach me. I would wind up pulling out all of my hair after being forced to regurgitate the low-fat, high carbohydrate debilitating diet philosophy that is preached at the universities.

After writing this infuriating post, it is time to visit my favorite teacher on Twitter. Check out krisraphael whenever you need a quick and powerful reminder of the important stuff.

Wishing you health and peace.

Menu – Day 2

Here are Sunday’s meals. A recipe for each item is in the Recipes section of this blog or a link is provided.

Breakfast

• Water with Lemon Juice (see Lemon Juice Before Breakfast)
• Almond Flour Pancakes
• Water
• Black Coffee for Ryan (hooray…he is cutting down!)

Snack

• Apple
• Grapes
  

Lunch

• Colson: Applegate Farms Chicken Hotdogs (no bun), Broccoli, Water
  
• Laura: Kefir Smoothie
• Ryan: Bone Broth with Rice

Dinner

• Cajun Chicken Big Mamou (see menu day 1) with rice cooked in bone broth
• Asparagus with Butter
• Water

A Day in the Life – Menu Day 1

People ask me what we eat each day. Here are Saturday's meals. A recipe for each item is in the Recipes section of this blog or a link is provided.

Breakfast

• Water with Lemon Juice (see Lemon Juice Before Breakfast)
• Kefir Smoothie
• Almond Flour Muffins
• Water
• Black Coffee for Ryan

Snack

• Apple
  

Lunch

• Scrambled Eggs
• Raw Carrots
• Fresh Pineapple
• Water

Dinner

• Cajun Chicken Big Mamou with Pasta (3/4 spice) by Paul Prudhomme http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/pasta/08/rec0814.html. Remember – 3/4 spice, as this is a very spicy dish full strength!
• As for the broth prescribed in the Paul’s recipe, use the bone broth recipe from this blog instead to make an even tastier and more nutritious dish.
• Salad with homemade Vinaigrette dressing
• Bread
• Water and Beer

Dessert

• Ice Cream Cake

Part of Dinner (Bread, Pasta, Beer and Ice Cream Cake) was food that we very rarely eat, but we did because it was Ryan’s birthday.

Now for the FUN part. Chicken Big Mamou was a dish we feared. All that fatty butter goes against the grain of everything the American society is taught, even though it is one of the most heavenly foods ever. Little did I know for the 14 years that I had been making Mamou that the butter helps absorb nutrition, and the broth I was making for it was one of the most nutritious foods. Instead of being afraid and treating Mamou as a guilty pleasure, I should have been celebrating it full force!

As for the foods that we rarely eat, we are healthy enough that we will shed the effects from them quickly. Other than the ice cream cake, the ingredients are still very healthy by the average person’s standards. Lack of concern about the food we eat (it tastes so good and is so good for us) and knowing that we are strong are a couple of the greatest pleasures of regaining our health.

The Definition of Insanity

We have a close relative who is at the mercy of western medicine. I won’t go into the symptoms, but they have been life threatening. The doctor who is qualified to treat this undiagnosed condition has repeated the same biopsies and tests four times and is about to go at it a fifth time. Same thing over and over, and the results are unchanged.

The doctor wants to do a Whipple procedure and remove part of the stomach, half of the intestines, part of the pancreas, and the gall bladder, among other things. It is a serious surgery. In hospitals that do lots of these procedures the death rate from surgery is 4 percent. In hospitals that do not do many the death rate is up to 20 percent. Neither of these rates is “good.” Given that this doctor is not in a high volume Whilpple hospital, it is probably fair to say that his hospital is not in the 4 percent category.

The question becomes, should the patient get this life threatening or life changing procedure because the doctors do not know what else to do? To compound matters, why did our relative refuse the doctor’s offer to refer for a second opinion? The doctor feels confident that even if our relative does not have cancer now that eventually cancer will grow.

A definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I am grateful to western medicine. The doctors can be wonderful in emergencies. They saved my life last year. But in the case of our relative, I fail to understand the wonderfulness of western medicine. When the potentially cancerous problem was first identified last fall, the doctors did not know how to even begin to heal it. Just tests, misdiagnosis and watching until the crisis developed.

Oriental medicine, with its five thousand years of knowledge, might have quickly shed some light on our relative’s condition and ways to successfully treat it that the 300 years of Western medicine can’t. Steps could have been quickly taken through oriental medicine and food to prevent this medical emergency and bring healing.

I ask again, why are people afraid to break from Western medicine when necessary in order to save their lives? Unfortunately, this type of situation is not new to my family, especially in the past year. We have one dear friend who did not change the Western medicine pattern and she will die soon. We have two other friends who did change, and they are thriving. Read one testimonial here: Guest Post - More Motivation and Success!

People need to make their own decisions, but when one approach fails to bring health, try something else. Ryan summed up the average American person’s health expectation perfectly: “Grow older, fall apart, medicate and die.” Make the choice today to grab health and enjoy a vibrant life well into old, old age. Life is much more fun that way.

Visual Proof That Food Heals

For an exciting update of this post go to this link: And the Bone Density Drum Roll Please…

Do you wish that you could strengthen your teeth and bones? I have done it thanks to eating nutrient dense food. Here is a current picture of my teeth: 

You can see some translucence and streaking near the center of the bottom third of my teeth. This is a huge improvement over how my teeth were about a year-and-a-half ago.

I wish I would have taken a picture of my teeth before I started seriously increasing nutrient dense foods. They were completely translucent from top to bottom for as long as I can remember. I don’t know if I fully deposited calcium and other minerals into my bones. The number of cavities that I had at a young age makes me believe that I probably didn’t. So much for the two to three glasses of milk I drank a day – and they were big glasses! By age 30 I was diagnosed with osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis). The diagnosis was astonishing, given that I was bench pressing just over 100 pounds and I could run ten miles.

I substantially increased eating Bone Broth in November 2007. Bone broth has become the most important nutrient dense food in my family’s weekly menu (see recipes section). After eating the bone broth or another type of nutrient dense food I take ½ teaspoon of butter oil (BO) and ½ teaspoon of cod liver oil (CLO). The amount of CLO will decrease to ¼ teaspoon in the next month or so when I begin taking fermented CLO. I posted on the need to take fermented CLO instead of unfermented in this post: Cod Liver Oil (CLO) – To Ferment or Not to Ferment?

The BO/CLO combination was first recommended by Dr. Weston A. Price. This combination greatly enhances absorption of nutrients. The benefits of BO can be read at: http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html. I have used both Green Pastures and Radiant Life BO. Ryan and I take ours in liquid form and Colson takes his in a refrigerated form like it is a pill because he can’t stand the flavor of butter.

One of the great mistakes that resulted from my nutrition ignorance is that I did not give Colson butter as a young child. I was blindly and faithfully following the recommended low fat diet. Sally Fallon calls butter the “perfect fatty acid”, and it seems that I missed the window for getting Colson to like it. He also doesn’t like that yummy roasted chicken or turkey skin we have once a week. At least I sneak them both into his food in other ways, like bone broth or scrambled eggs.

We are on a creative and changing journey. One day Colson may even like these fats… I never thought I would see the day that I would eat raw onions, and now I do. It only took 42 years!

 

P.S. My teeth have always been perfectly straight, a sign that my mom ate fairly well when she was pregnant. Check my February blog for Sally Fallon’s slide shows showing crooked teeth caused by bad diet: Real Food Real Medicine Conference Day 2. Notes for Day 3 of the conference are in the March archives.

Cod Liver Oil (CLO) – To Ferment or Not to Ferment?

Cod Liver Oil used to be straight forward. Only buy the good brands: Radiant Life, Blue Ice, and Dr. Ron’s. I recommended all of these in an October 2008 blog post, based on the information from the Weston A. Price Society and my Dr. of Oriental Medicine. These brands were good because they were high quality (lacking fake compounds and contaminants like mercury).

Now the Processed Foods monster has reared up again, making non-fermented CLO a less healthy processed food. The natural vitamins A and D, which were maintained in the CLO sold by the good brands, will be replaced with synthetic A and D because that is more cost effective for the manufacturer. Dr. Ron of Dr. Ron’s will no longer be selling unfermented CLO because he considers this a serious problem. For example, synthetic vitamins are made from coal tar derivatives. Give me the real thing any day!

If you are taking CLO from another manufacturer, you are in even worse shape than those of us using the good brands, as your CLO will not be as pure and contaminant free as the good brands and will likely be rancid.

Here is a great article from the Organic Consumers Association discussing synthetic and natural vitamins: http://www.organicconsumers.org/nutricon/qa.cfm

A couple of pertinent QAs are:

Are all synthetic vitamins and minerals bad?
There are many negative health and environmental impacts from synthetic ingredients in vitamins and supplements. Put simply, the human body has evolved for millions of years to digest foods found in nature. Most synthetically produced vitamins and supplements are chemical compounds that cannot be found in nature, hence the human body does not recognize these ingredients which can result in unanticipated reactions. The body knows the difference between real and fake and it always prefers real.

Regarding A and D specifically the OCA has this to say:

Are certain synthetic ingredients worse than others?
Yes. Some vitamins are water soluble, so the flush out of the body quite easily. Other vitamins are fat soluble. The fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E and K. Because they are soluble in fat (lipids), these vitamins tend to build-up in the body's fat tissues, fat deposits, and liver. This storage capability makes the fat-soluble vitamins potentially toxic when consuming high-dose synthetic versions of these vitamins, rather than food-based vitamins that the body knows how to metabolize. Care should be exercised when taking the fat-soluble vitamins, and it is recommended that you avoid the synthetic forms of these vitamins whenever possible.

Also many people are allergic to the chemicals used as a base for synthetic vitamins. Some are toxic, including nicotine, coal tars and alloxal. Avoid toxic ingredients such as magnesium stearate or stearic acid (toxic flowing agents), silicon dioxide (common sand used as an expensive filler that makes the bottle weigh more with the hope that the uneducated consumer will equate weight with higher quality), natural flavors (a common term for toxic MSG used to disguise bland tastes), methylcellulose, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, and many more. If you are not sure of what you are taking, do not take it! These toxic chemical agents can create significant health problems when consumed over time. The OCA will be posting a detailed list of some of the most problematic ingredients.

Why Fermented CLO?

In the next month my family is going to crack open its first bottle of fermented CLO. We are moving to fermented CLO because it maintains its natural vitamins due to fermentation. In fact, it is even more nutrient dense than the CLO we were taking.

If you do a search on the internet, you will see that at its least expensive fermented CLO costs about $47.95. Keep in mind that it will last longer because it contains more than twice the servings. NOW FOR THE FUN PART! If you can get some friends to go in with you and purchase a case of 12 bottles, Hahn Natural Foods will sell it at $28.50 a bottle! I just received my shipment of 16 bottles. Shipping is $23.50. I am not sure how long Hahn Natural Foods will have this deal, but I do not think that there is an impending deadline to make an order.

Here is the contact information (please tell Carrie that Laura Combs sent you):

Carrie Hahn

www.HahnNaturalFoods.com

Hahn Natural Foods

P.O. Box 10395

Pittsburgh, PA  15234

info@hahnnaturalfoods.com

Finally, I would not be “in the know” regarding this CLO saga if it were not for the power of community. Chandi of the Holistic Moms Network enlightened me. Friends are such an important part of the healthy life journey. Thank you, Chandi!

Why Do People Resist Great Health?

Change can be hard. It has taken my family six years to change and come as far as we have. The magazine Scientific American Mind sheds some light regarding how people of all ages deal with change:  http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=set-in-our-ways. This article addresses only part of the resistance to change, though.

Consider these questions. Why would people accept that their lives are going to deteriorate and they will lose their vibrancy as they age? Why would people accept that they have auto-immune diseases at a young age and continue to try treatments that rarely work? Why do people medicate instead of healing the disease? Why take the same failing actions over and over instead of trying something simple and old, like eating food that heals?

The brainwashing of our society by the medical and pharmaceutical industries is more than I could ever dream!

I recently returned from a trip to my parents in Michigan. I blogged about it for a few days, and if you were wondering, I am almost fully recovered from adverse effects of the food that I ate. While in Michigan, I watched a lot of television. Ryan, Colson and I only see television when we stay in another person’s home, so any exposure is a cultural awakening. The last time we saw a tv commercial was about 1.5 years ago. So much of the advertising time is spent on brainwashing people into medicating their illnesses! While we had a great time watching some of the shows (I am now a Dancing with the Stars fan and will watch it again in a couple of years), the amount of mindless, repetitive brainwashing was agonizing. The American population as a whole has ceded their power and lives to Corporate America.

These statements have been echoed over and over to a mostly deaf audience. What has become so profound to me is that the farther I get from advertising, the harsher and scarier it becomes. I am not sure how to wake people up. People could take control of their health and their lives and have so much fun experiencing every day instead of watching pseudo-life on tv. I was hoping that my blog and the example of my family would inspire some to act, and it has, but not enough. Any insights that you have that will help communicate the message that health equals vibrancy, fun and adventure would surely be appreciated. Please post a comment or share your inspirational story on the blog.

Congratulations for taking control of your health!

Healing from Unhealthy Food

We are back from a fabulous trip to Michigan. My family is great and my new nephew is BEAUTIFUL! Colson had a wonderful time with the family and during his third birthday party.

I am physically feeling pretty thrashed due to the food I ate. Aches and pains are back in full force, with my first lower back spasm in ten years to top it off. I can't believe I have a hard time touching my toes!!! I did learn that my feet quit hurting (probably when everything else quit hurting in November), and I didn’t realize it until they started hurting again last night.

What to do, what to do? I have to get active to work out this back spasm. Food will take care of the rest. Ryan put some chicken bone broth in the refrigerator to defrost, and I will be drinking that today with some veggies, primarily cabbage, cooked in it. I am going to break out the Champion juicer today as well and juice some veggies, as I am feeling the need to detox. Most of all, I am looking forward to a kefir smoothie this morning. Our breakfasts have been almond flour muffins, chocolate coconut cookies (see recipes section of this blog), and fruit. While those are all healthy, nothing replaces the smoothie.

Whew! I can’t wait to lose the pain. Hopefully it will take less than two weeks.