Making a New Year's Resolution to Get in Shape?

I love T-Tapp. It's one reason I hardly need a chiropractor anymore. They currently have the Basic Workout on VHS for only $15. So, for you penny-pinchers that have a VHS players, you can now try T-tapp with just a bit of Christmas money. Why T-tapp? Read this post. And notice that post was over a year old--and it's still my favorite!

Go to the store and click Super closeouts on the top left. I'd be happy to share how I do a modified Basic Workout if anyone is dealing with health problems similar to mine--just e-mail.

I wanted to share the link to the 12 days of Christmas you-tube that I posted last year, but it's changed. It was posted last year and got 8 million hits and so the group has gotten back together now and made an album. http://www.sncmusic.com/ is the group's site or you can still see the original video at: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/straight-no-chaser-12-days-of-christmas/4229357834 Merry Christmas!

May 2009 bring you good health and good cheer! God Bless You!

Hit the beach for fertility?

This report comes from Australia--at it actually is summer there. Vitamin D is important for health and this study now shows it affects fertility too. When NUTRITIONAL deficiencies were corrected half of the male fertility went away!! (apparently some of those with other "minor" treatments.) So, half of those guys could have saved a lot of money and possibly embarrassment by hanging out in the sun and/or eating a better diet. The most natural source of Vitamin D is sunlight. Second best is a high quality fish oil, like Carlson's , which comes in oil, flavored oil for kids, and tablets.

Apparently, the Vitamin D affects female fertility as well. Read more at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/22/2397775.htm?section=australia

Interestingly enough, I read some information from the Weston A Price foundation that most traditional cultures had males and females eat special foods shortly after they were married b/c they considered these food important to the health of future children. Some of us barely change our diets for pregnancy. I wish I'd thought more about it BEFORE I had my children. :)

Just makes you wonder how many diseases and problems are avoided altogether with a good diet. Well, I'm betting (with my organic grocery dollars) that it's a lot. :)

A "Normal" Breakfast

I just had to share about breakfast! Yum. Today we had whole-grain pancakes that taste almost like white flour pancakes (made in a blender with Sue Gregg's recipe.) But the really exciting part is that we got to have butter. Real butter! It is made from raw pasture-fed cow's milk and made by a little old lady and sold on her farm. We just found this source of butter, so I'm really excited. Normally we buy pastured organic butter at the store, but my family can't have it b/c of allergies, so I'm the only one to use it. But I think the raw butter they can have (I'll let you know if I'm wrong--they CAN have raw goat milk, so I'm hoping raw cow's milk is the same.)

And then to top it all off, real maple syrup--I wouldn't touch Aunt Jemima's syrup with chemical flavoring and corn syrup which doesn't taste great and is horrible for your health. So, yes, maple syrup is expensive, but it is our treat to replace soda, candy, etc, so I find it worth the cost! Maple syrup is always great for your health--how many sweeteners can claim that?????

Now I really like to add eggs to balance it out, but we didn't this morning--but with the new butter, it was quite satisfying!

A "Normal" Meal?

As I was eating dinner the other night I was considering how normal my meal seemed but how different it truly was. We had Hamburgers and Fries! YUM!

So, why is that different?

Well, let's start with the buns--I made them earlier in the week. First, we ground the whole wheat grain in our grain mill and then soaked it with raw Apple Cider Vinegar overnight for all our bread for the week. They next day, I made it using natural ingredients, such as honey for the sweetener. When I made the bread some of it I made into rolls and then squished them flat for hamburger buns! The fresh bread tastes so good!

And then there's the meat--it was actually ground venison! I can't really taste the difference on a hamburger. This is my low cost way of getting meat without hormones or antibiotics. Wild food is much better than something "caged" in a barn. And I get the extras from the hunter in my family--what a blessing!

Next there are the fries--they are store-bought--GASP! But there are sweet potato fries made with good oils (and I think they are organic--but I don't have the package any more!) I love to add Real Salt (that's a brand name) as I really enjoy my salt!

How about the toppings? Besides Organic green leaf lettuce, we have homemade ketchup (with organic tomato sauce, honey, tamari, raw apple cider vinegar, fresh minced garlic, and Real Salt) and Mayo (store-bought and made with grape seed oil.)

I guess that's about it for a "normal" meal at my house! It is possible to be healthy without giving up all your old favorites--if you are willing to invest a bit of time in the kitchen. And it's an investment that will pay great dividends!

Fermented Salsa--Probiotics and Enzymes the natural (and free!) way

I did it! I made fermented salsa! It really tastes pretty much like salsa, but it's got great probiotics in it. Let me share my recipe.

Add to Mason jar (makes almost a quart):
6-8 organic tomatoes, peeled, seeded & diced
1 med vidala onion, very finely diced
1 med green pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 med jalapeno, mostly seeded (gotta have a few for spice) and finely diced
roughly 1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove of minced Garlic
roughly 1/2- 1 tsp dried oregano
1 TBSP sea salt
2 lemons' worth of juice
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar (Bragg's or another raw vinegar)

Add enough water to cover top of veggies after smooched down. Cover jar. Let sit 48hrs or so on the counter to ferment. This turned out more like Pico de Gallo (how do you spell that?), but if you put it in the blender for just a second it's more like traditional salsa. If you blend very long at all, it turns into liquid, so be careful! Or you can blend half of it so you keep some nice pieces, but get more liquid. Refrigerate after 48 hours.

The last 3 ingredients are key to making sure it develops good bacteria, not bad, so don't skip any of those. Make sure your tomatoes and green peppers are organic (or homegrown, un-sprayed) and you use the raw vinegar.

Why ferment? There are lots of health benefits, but do you know that traditional food was fermented to preserve it. So, refrigerators let us cheat and skip the fermenting part and it's made it hard on our health. That's why people need digestive enzymes and probiotics--we don't eat fermented food! But do you know that yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut, vinegar, and many other "normal" foods were originally fermented. Now they have the taste (from processed vinegar) but none of the health benefits. I think that's why a lot of people do better on a raw vegetarian diet--they get more enzymes. But I think the traditional diet is actually best b/c of the fermented food!

If you try my new recipe, be sure and let me know what you think!