How to Enjoy Kefir: My favorite breakfast shake

As evidence by my blog posting dates, learning about health has fallen off my radar.  However, eating and living healthy have not!!!  One of my favorite health secrets right now is kefir.  It's a yummy way to get fermented food and probiotics into your diet. Here's what you do:

1) Get kefir "grains" from a friend (they look like the tops of cauliflower).  Anyone who makes kefir has multiplying grains, so there's always plenty to share.  There are also places to buy them online. I've always just asked on a local e-mail loop.

2) Get good quality milk (raw, from a farm) and put at a least a couple teaspoons of grain in a quart of milk (or how ever much kefir you want to make.)  Let it sit out about half a day on the counter.  You are looking for it to thicken up around the grains at the top. OR do an internet a recipe for refrigerator kefir and make it slowly in refrigerator.

3) Use a strainer to separate the grains from the kefir.  Store grains in a little milk in the refrigerator till you are ready to make another batch.

4) Store kefir in fridge.  In my rather picky opinion, the kefir isn't good to eat plain.

5) Make a kefir shake.  Here's my recipe that I often enjoy for breakfast.

 Put in to blender:

•  1 cup kefir (I use the marks on the blender itself.)
• about 1/2 a frozen banana (stored cut into small chunks)
• berries or other fruit (such as 3-4 strawberries)
• one scoop of stevia (using the scoop that comes in my stevia...it is very small..the sweetness counters the sour kefir taste.)
• a squirt of honey (stevia sweetens, but this just adds a bit of flavor) 
• Cinnamon (helps blood sugar) and Nutmeg (good for adrenals)...I like the taste, but added these originally for health benefits...I have also use the above too with clove when I was worried about a possible ulcer.
• Sometimes I add a green powder or a few fresh green leaves.  I like to keep it small so  I don't affect the taste.

I love the taste and I feel great when I have this for breakfast. When you try it, let me know what you think!

Is your body suffering from health debt?

I used to think, "I'm healthy--Why worry?" Now I realize, it was sorta like saying, "I can make the payments, so what's wrong with adding more credit card debt?" Our bodies are able to handle amazing amounts of stress, toxins, and germs. But eventually the scales tip if we add more negatives than positives. Alot of people wouldn't dare treat their cars as badly as their bodies! And we wonder why we should care what's good or bad for our bodies when we seem "perfectly healthy". Of course, we may not realize that small things, like catching lots of colds or skin problems or allergies or frequent headaches, may be a sign we need to look closer at how healthy we really are.

For me, when I was under a lot of pressure and still not paying attention to my health, I got Lyme disease. Can you say "Wake up call!" So, now I'm trying to tip the scales back. The more small health changes I make, the more the scales get close to normal. And right now, I'm feeling like a real person again! (Those with chronic illness will know what I'm talking about.) It really works.

But, I've wised up, when I get the scales back to reading "healthy", I'm not going to be satisfied. Nope! I've learned my lesson and will be getting a good store of healthy habits so I'm ready for the flu season, for an epidemic, for stress, or whatever. You see, I've been a slave to disease already, and I won't be foolish to end up being a slave a second time. And my hope is that as I share what I find "tips the scales", my readers will learn from my mistakes and store up lots of good health before the hard times come.

Health Spa at Home

I recently put together for myself a list of things I could do to boost my health. I got to try it out partially one day and I'm using this list to help me do a much as possibly on a daily basis. One thing I wanted to do was try to eat foods that allow the body more energy to heal, so I leaned toward the vegetarian, though I don't really do this every day.

I took out all my meds/supplements and a few Lyme specific things so I could share with you a plan for a health boosting day. Take a few things. I admit I'm an idealist, so even I don't accomplish all the things I plan out, but I like to shoot for the stars and reach the moon!

Morning:
Skin Brushing
Apple Cider Vinegar drink
Breakfast (Fresh Carrot Juice and Fruit)

Mid-morning:
Immunopower (Immune boosting essential oil on feet)
Sit in Sun (15-30 min)
Kombucha (fermented drink)
T-Tapp or jump on mini-tramp

Lunch:
ACV drink
Lunch (Salad and Soup from Chicken Broth)

Afternoon:
Ningxia Red Juice
Rest (take some deep breathes)
Spicy Lemonade
Fruit for snack

ACV drink
Dinner (Carrot Juice as 1st course and no processed food for meal) and Tonic (post coming soon!)

To bed by 10 (Early to bed...makes a man healthy....it's really true!)


Until we claim our health back!

How to lose weight, gain health, and stay sane (or how to not "try harder"!)

Tired of trying to have more "self-control" but equally tired of being unhealthy? Well, maybe it's time to realize it's the SYSTEM that's broke--not that your not trying hard enough. This year find something that works as a life style change, not another sprint.

I've been working about 2 years so far and I've made quite a few lifestyle changes. But I made them slowly and for the long haul. Before you give anything up, find a healthy replacement. For example, if you crave something fatty and sweet like ice cream, eat some almond butter (fat and protein) mixed with some honey (sweet). Voila--craving satisfied and diet not ruined! And the best way to lose weight is to get your body health so it can do what it was made to do.

If you want a tangible New Year's resolution try this: "make at least 1 diet or healthy lifestyle change a month." Then, at the beginning of every month, make a mini goal. Here's some suggestions:

January: Replace your salt with "RealSalt" or "Celtic Sea Salt", replace all vinegar with raw, unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar, white flour with whole wheat flour, and all sugar with honey (or Maple Syrup, Sucanot, Stevia, or Agave.)

February: Eliminate cokes and other sugar filled drinks. Replace with homemade lemonade (2 Tbsp maple syrup and 2 Tbsp lemon juice in a glass of water) or herbal tea sweetened with honey.

March: Begin reading labels of food in order to avoid anything that's not food in a natural state. Watch out for white flour (called "wheat flour"), sugar, corn syrup, and chemical sounding names.

April: Replace eating out (or eating a processed/prepared meal) with cooking a simple from scratch meal once a week. If you need some suggestions, try Sue Gregg cookbooks (they have sample recipes to try online free.)

May: Start the T-Tapp basic workout--15 min. every other day.

June: Get a high quality water filter and drink more water in the day.

Just imagine how much more energy and health you would have if you could make those 6 changes in the first half of the new year. Then, imagine how much healthier you'll be in 3 years if you MAINTAIN those changes! These kinds of small changes of changed my life.

May God strengthen you in 2008!

Questions welcome

I love helping people, so if you have health questions or comments feel free to leave them. I'd love to target my posts to specific needs.

Today, I'm keeping it short as I'm having computer problems. Hopefully I can write more soon.

PS--Our computer has been down for almost 2 weeks! So, I'm testing out the principle of fasting and health! But this time I'm "fasting" computer use. But a time of rest is always helpful.

When the world gives you Lyme's...

make Lymeade. Well, 4 years ago, I was just living like the rest of the world (health-wise), but under a lot of stress and boom, I got Lyme disease. I may tell more of the story later, but now I want to tell you how I made Lymeade. You see I got "old" in my late 20's--forgetful, tired, moving slow, arthritis, gray hairs, kids (my own) wearing on my nerves, and on and on. But through it I've learned so much about how to stay healthy naturally, and I'm determined to stay young when my peers get old. I've almost conquered Lyme disease and because my body has been so weak, I can tell you what things out there are worth your time and I've figured out how to make it simple enough so anyone can do it! Maybe you can avoid some chronic disease of your own. In the end, I feel I've been so changed in this experience that life is better because of it.

Well, that's it for today! But come back soon and join me for a nice glass of Lymeade and some practical advice for real people.