About Wifi....

Some of you more health conscious readers may realize that wi-fi and other signals create an "electro-magnetic pollution".  But in our modern world, it's hard to use a smart phone or a tablet without access to wi-fi.  So, how do we balance function and health?  Here's what we choose to do for our family:



(Yes, it's an affiliate link, but I paid full price for mine and it's my honest recommendation).  

This router has an amazing feature...an on/off button for wi-fi!  So, want to look something up? Yes, we have to walk over and click a button.  Better than driving somewhere and MUCH better than having to sleep all night with signals you don't need.  If you can just turn it off for 8 hours a night, you've reduced the time your home has signals by 1/3! We have our desk-top computer hard-wired in and only use the wi-fi for phone, tablet, or laptop.  

As a note, for full benefits, you also need to turn the signals off on your phone and other devices...all you need to do is click to airplane mode when you go to sleep and on again in the morning.  You'll save battery power on your devices as well. If you think someone might need to get a hold of you in the night, you can turn off wi-fi only and leave the phone signals on, but consider you might not want that right by your head all night.

Hope this tip helps you find the right balance for your home!

 

Cleaning with Baking Soda

Baking Soda has amazing cleaning power and since it's safe enough to eat, there are no worries for kids or pets.  My latest cleaning project was the grout on my kitchen floor.  It looked like the grout was a dark color, but we turned it back to light.  The difficulty was not getting too much baking soda.  I put just a enough in the crack, sprayed it with vinegar, scrubbed with a toothbrush, and then wiped with a rag.  Sometimes I used more vinegar to wipe the tile itself to get up all the vinegar.  Not only does the rag get more dirt up, it helps you get the baking soda up.  If the baking soda is left behind, you'll see white residue and the floor will feel gritty, so wiping it up is important! The grout completely changed colors and now my floor looks great!  I didn't even realize how bad it was!

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!

Another reason to use natural cleaners

Convenience could be called the god of our age.  And we sacrifice a lot on the alter of convenience. One of those things is health.

I am a big believer in getting the chemicals out of your house.  Sadly, I read a news story today about how kids things that Tide Pods are candy.  Click here to see the story at ABC.

Tide is working on better child-proof packaging, but really, if it is poison,do you really want it on your clothes everyday, even in small amounts?  In addition to danger for children who might swallow it, chemicals can get into your air. They remain behind after use.  And all-day everyday exposure for our whole life just doesn't seem safe.  With a large dose, the body works to get it out.  But what about a tiny, but steady does?

At our house I use Soap Nuts for washing.  I also use white vinegar occasionally for rinse.  And I have found that I need a spotter (I used diluted amounts of Meyer's laundry detergent--which was what I used before Soap Nuts) and OxyClean (OK, probably not the best) for my whites.  I recently found a recipe homemade version for OxyClean, so when I get around to trying it, if find that it works, I'll be sure and share.  I didn't throw out all my chemicals in a day.  I adopted the philosophy of chemicals aren't good and slowly work at it. 

Little by little is way to win the race.  And good health is definitely a marathon!

Avoid candy? Cows may not--and here I thought they ate grass!

You are what you eat, they say.   Do you think the same is true for cows?  Or at least a cow with a healthy diet is healthy?  And a human eating the beef from a healthy cow is healthy?  Well, today I read a couple reports about farmers mixing candy unfit for humans into their cows' feed (links below). Since the shelf-life of most candy and other mostly-sugar products is years, it makes you wonder what's wrong with them.  Even worse, some of the candy still has wrappers (I think I see some at 31 secs on the video I linked). 

This is just unbelievable!  Apparently,several farmers are doing this and have in the past.  A university professor of animal nutrition says the feed has all the right nutrients in it and one of the farmer says they are "healthy" and gaining weight (implying, therefore it's good!) Just think what kinds of things they might feed them that they don't admit on TV!  Glad I know the farmer that raises most our beef lets them eat grass.  Think I'll look for ways to cut out the occasional store beef despite climbing food costs.  May the Lord have mercy on us!

Article with video at the bottom:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48765348/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/sweet-cows-get-candy-instead-corn-during-drought/#.UGkhRK4lqSp

Article with pictures of candy: http://www.kltv.com/story/19283677/kentucky-cows-eat-candy-instead-of-corn

And here's an article about a second farmer: http://www.inquisitr.com/343289/dairy-cows-put-on-a-strict-candy-diet-its-cheaper-than-corn/