TOD 7/30/13

God didn't make our appendix useless after all! ... link

http://www.foodrenegade.com/your-appendix-isnt-useless-scientific-theory-gains-ground/

MMR Vaccine Causes Autism, Courts Quietly Confirm | REALfarmacy.com | Healthy News and Information

MMR Vaccine Causes Autism, Courts Quietly Confirm | REALfarmacy.com | Healthy News and Information

TOD 7/29/13

We try our hardest not to go out more than 1 time a month. Fixing your own food in your own home, you will know exactly what the ingredients are.

TOD 7/27/13

Thank you Davidson's Organic Tea for this image on Facebook!

God made every plant with available nutrients for us. I drink Raspberry leaf tea during every pregnancy. I'm going to have try the rest of these.

TOD 7/26/13

If this is the "case", get it -- case? OK, I'm still tired. I'm sorry if you didn't think that was funny. Anyway, I have known since about 7th grade that Coca Cola is not good for you. I did a science fair experiment that proved that it was a wonderful meat tenderizer...

TOD 7/25/13

 

TOD 7/24/13

Abide With Me: Dr. Mom To The Rescue~ Part 1: Health Care At Home... link

Abide With Me: Dr. Mom To The Rescue~ Part 1: Health Care At Home...: I'm so excited to share this with you today. This post, in a three part series, has been a work in progress. It comes to you after much ...

TOD 7/23/13

Free shipping from Tropical Traditions ends tonight!

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/blog_specials.htm

Going back to nature - Grains

After writing a bit on grains for today's Thought of the Day, I figured I needed to say more about how versatile grains are. You can grind, roll, and sprout them, maybe even more. It is so amazing how many different kinds of grain there are; from amaranth to oats to many types of wheat.

Here is a link to all sorts of different types as well as their nutritional profiles.

Here is another link that tells you how long WHOLE grains can be stored.

As I said in today's TOD also, I am planning, hopefully in the near future, to start grinding and flaking my own whole grains. I will be able to buy whole grains in bulk through our co-op.

For sprouting, it's quite simple, and you have heard of wheatgrass, right?

There are also these really cool lids to put on 5 gallon buckets and air eaters to help keep your grains the longest and still be able to take some out as needed.

Once I have all the necessary components, I can't wait to try these 2 recipes... here and here.

TOD 7/22/13

 

 

Yes, we should be eating and drinking foods that God gave us, how God gave them to us. Any kind of processing of food diminishes their nutrition.

This is why we get raw milk weekly from a certified organic local farm and started buying Kalona dairy products.

I am even planning in the near future to start grinding and rolling our own grains. God gave us great nutrition in those tiny little grains, but as soon as the shell is cracked, they go rancid very quickly. Grains were not meant to sit on store shelves with an expiration date on them.

Everyday I learn more and more, and I pray that you do as well.

TOD 7/21/13

 

You can also use wintergreen essential oil and xylitol. I am planning on using this for our first homemade toothpaste and put it in a cleaned out tube of toothpaste with the crimped end cut off and then put one of those tube squeezers on the end.

TOD 7/20/13

TOD 7/19/13

 

For those of you who do drink alcohol, this is what you are really drinking. Why risk your health for something that tastes so nasty? Also, I just don't understand the thought of wanting to drink this stuff in the first place. Is it just to get the alcohol content into your body, or do you really enjoy drinking it?

You could brew your own Kombucha and get a much healthier drink (and it tastes like light apple cider vinegar) if you are wanting some bubbly drink.

How are you raising your children? ... link

I posted earlier from the same blog. I really like what she has to say in this post also, so I thought I should share it.


http://teachinggoodthings.com/blog/are-you-preparing-your-children-for-life/

TOD 7/18/13

 

I have 90% of this list done. What about you?

Another blog... link

I have needed a "swift kick in the pants", so to say, lately and this blog did it! Maybe this will stir your heart also?

Make sure you read the next day's post also.

http://teachinggoodthings.com/blog/why-they-kidshusbandhousework-get-on-my-nerves/

Fishtail ponytail for Tabitha

Here is Tabitha's hairstyle today. It's not as hard as it looks, but my hands were kind of tiring out by the end!

 

TOD 7/17/13

As with everything in life, you start with step one and go from there. This is especially true for teaching your family to eat traditional foods and eat a non-American diet.

Nourished food list... link... blog

Here is a good blog on traditional foods. I am putting the link to all the wondrous foods she has defined that are nutritious. She is pretty much gluten free though, so I add that you need hard and soft wheat berries for fresh grinding. If I had an unlimited income, I would definitely buy from the seafood place she recommended, but alas, at this point in our lives, we eat seafood maybe 2 times a year, unless it is canned tuna.

http://nourishedkitchen.com/where-to-buy/#seafood

COCONUT!!!

As some of you may guess, coconut is one of my favorite things to use. It is so versatile. I use the oil to cook with, soap, baby rash ointment...

I thought I would make a post about how I use coconut products in our food.

1. "Almond Joys" (or Mounds if you don't like nuts, lol)
      2 tbsp. Coconut Cream Concentrate
      2 tbsp. Shredded coconut
      1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder (I like dark)
      1 1/2 tbsp. raw honey
      8-10 raw almonds

  Mix all in ingredients except almonds in a bowl with a fork. Put small clumps on parchment paper or a sil pat. Put an almond on each clump. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

2. Coconut yogurt
    I really like Liberte yogurt flavors, but don't like the fact that it's not pastured organic, so I have
   decided to make my own with Kalona plain yogurt.
  
   1 24oz tub of Kalona Plain 5%
   1 tbsp. vanilla extract (homemade)
   3+ tbsp. pure maple syrup (or honey)
   1/2 c shredded coconut
   1/2 c flaked coconut

   Mix together in a bowl. Put into jelly jars for single servings.
   I use ball jars with the plastic lids and Erasable Multi-use Labels so I can write the info and
   expiration date on top.

   I also am planning on making blueberry, strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, lemon, peach, apricot,
   etc... As long as it is in season, I will make a freezer jelly and we can have those as mix ins. I will
   just have to make a naturally sweetened base, just as the first 3 ingredients above.

3. Apricot bars
  * I use shredded coconut
I have not tried it yet, but I would think you could use almost any dried fruit in this recipe and it would be quite yummy. I am going to try medjool dates and figs soon.
  
4. Baked oatmeal 
  I have substituted the cranberries for dried cherries or mixed raisins. I sprinkle a light layer of
  shredded coconut on top after I get everything else in the casserole dish. It gets nice and toasted and
  everyone (except Eric - I sprinkle it on 3/4 of the dish) likes it.

5. Granola
    I do not use the vegetable oil. I replace it with coconut oil, but you could use sunflower seed oil
    also. I also do not add the nuts/seeds until afterward. I use raw nuts and seeds, which have more
    nutrition. You could also sprout your nuts and seeds for even more nutrition.

   You can also used any dried fruit as long as it is diced (apricots, figs, dates...).

   I double the cinnamon and vanilla, since we really like cinnamon and vanilla around here.
   
    For coconut-y granola, I use virgin coconut oil and 1/2 cup of shredded coconut. If you don't want
    the coconut flavor, but the benefits still, use expeller pressed.

    For chocolate granola, I add 3 tbsp. of cocoa powder (1/2 batch)

   So far I don't think one of my batches has ever been the same. I love experimenting with different
   ingredients. Also, I usually 1/2 this recipe, as it makes a lot.
  
   I use this for snack time and cereal.


Here are a couple things I have not gotten around to try yet.

1. Homemade Magic Shell Topping
  
    Eric loves this stuff, yet the commercial stuff is so bad for you. I found this recipe a couple weeks
   ago.

2. Maple Pecan Ice cream
   There are even more recipes online. I have a few more, if interested contact me.
   I really like coconut ice cream. I was first introduced to it through our co-op. The brand is Luna & Larry, but I just can't afford to buy it more than maybe once a year, if that! So, I am on the hunt for
  delicious, do it yourself recipes. Now all I need is an ice cream maker. Anyone want to buy one for
  me?

TOD 7/16/13

Like I have posted before, I get all of my coconut products from Tropical Traditions in bulk. I always look out for their free shipping days that correspond with the sale products that I really need at that time. (I never buy anything retail priced... unless I have to)

TOD 7/15/13

TOD 7/14/13

SAVE THE BEES!

TOD 7/13/13

This is better late than never. We had a wonderful day as a family, going to the farmer's market bright and early this morning, then going to a pool for the rest of the day. I am burnt, but happy to have had a peaceful and relaxing day.

 

TOD 7/12/13

Thought I would share the different types of good fats.

Hair styles for Tabitha

A couple months ago, my friend and midwife posted "Princess Hairstyles" link on Facebook. I am going to try and start taking pictures and posting as I try different new styles for Tabitha.

Today we tried the Spiral Braid Ponytail. I added the twist braid to the ponytail to finish the look.

 



TOD 7/11/13

 

Yes, why not here?

 I am doing my very best to rid our home of GMO's still. I am happy to announce that I did source non-GMO sweet corn at our local farmer's market last weekend. I pray that they are telling us the truth.

TOD 7/10/13

New new way to look at "unclean animals" in the Bible

Has anyone ever read Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan? I did as required reading in 2nd or 3rd grade ( I went to a private Christian school). Now my daughter is reading it for required reading in her 2nd grade curriculum (we use -mostly- Ambelside Online).

I keep saying to people, how much I learn by teaching my daughter. Well, as we are going through this book, I have come across certain things that make me question my own heart, but yesterday I came across this: (copied from a Gutenberg pdf file) ...


FAITH. This brings to my mind that of Moses, by which he describeth the beast that is clean. [Lev.

11:3-7; Deut. 14:6-8] He is such a one that parteth the hoof and cheweth the cud; not that parteth the hoof

only, or that cheweth the cud only. The hare cheweth the cud, but yet is unclean, because he parteth not the

hoof. And this truly resembleth Talkative; he cheweth the cud, he seeketh knowledge, he cheweth upon the

word; but he divideth not the hoof, he parteth not with the way of sinners; but, as the hare, he retaineth the

foot of a dog or bear, and therefore he is unclean.

CHR. You have spoken, for aught I know, the true gospel sense of those texts. And I will add another thing:

Paul calleth some men, yea, and those great talkers, too, sounding brass and tinkling cymbals; that is, as he

expounds them in another place, things without life, giving sound. [1 Cor. 13:1-3; 14:7] Things without life,

that is, without the true faith and grace of the gospel; and consequently, things that shall never be placed in the

kingdom of heaven among those that are the children of life; though their sound, by their talk, be as if it were

the tongue or voice of an angel.


What I am gathering now from that, is that, just as in all the rest of the Bible, the clean and unclean beast were a metaphor or parable for us. Just as it says in the New Testament, that all beasts are not unclean. God put animals on this earth for us to nourish our bodies.

Just as I posted the other day about lard, pigs are said to be "unclean" in the Bible, but there are so many health benefits to eating (in moderation) pork and lard.

This is just my interpretation of what I am reading. If you still believe that you should only consume "clean" animals, then that is between you and God to decide what is right for your family.  


 
  

TOD 7/9/13

 

Eating a raw and organic diet is the only way to stay healthy. I have heard some say that you need to eat what your grandparents eat, but that wouldn't be good enough, since yesterday I learned that Crisco began to be made in the late 1800's. So, maybe we should say great grandparents, or for the even younger people (20 and under), their great great grandparents...

TOD 7/8/13

 

No more info needed...

The TOP 3 reasons why YOU should be eating LARD...link

The TOP 3 reasons why YOU should be eating LARD

We recently found a new farm, Tierra Verde Farms, (closer to us) to purchase our pork products. They also have chicken, beef, and lamb. They sell handmade lard by the quart and may be making tallow in the near future.

TOD 7/7/13

 

I thought a love letter would be appropriate today, for our 12th wedding anniversary.

 

Happy anniversary Eric, my sweetheart. I love you more and more everyday.

 

Only God knew that when we met 16 years ago, you would not only be my best friend, but my husband and wonderful father to our 3 children.

TOD 7/6/13

Awesome reminder to get outside and enjoy life without electronics.

TOD 7/5/13

This is a perfect reminder for me and my husband today. We need to just breathe and be patient. God has a plan for our huge project we are undertaking right now. Slowly, and in God's time, it is all falling into place.

TOD 7/4/13

 

Good to know.

Beautiful blessings

I thought I would share a beautiful blessing we had yesterday.

A few weeks ago I saw this fat green caterpillar feasting on my parsley plants in my raised beds. I took him and the parsley he was eating and put it in my daughter's bug house. We forgot about it for 2 days, then remembered that we needed to go check it and feed it. Well, when we got to the bug house, it was starting to turn into a chrysalis! So, this turned into a home school lesson for both my son and daughter. We learned about the life of a butterfly and looked up to see what kind of butterfly it was going to be. We discovered we had a Black Swallowtail! I had always heard of them, but had never seen one in real life, so I was getting really excited too.

Well, a couple weeks past and I decided to bring it in the house to keep a better watch, since we kept forgetting to go out in the sun room to check on it. 2 days later, my daughter came running to me in a panic. The butterfly had just come out of the chrysalis. So we proceeded to take the bug house outside and lifted the door open, so it could climb out and spread it's wings. Here is the beautiful picture I got of it on my hydrangeas.

God is so good to us!

Christians and drinking

Everyone seems to make up their own rules when it comes to alcohol.

From what I have read in the Bible, the only time wine is allowed, is when there is a celebration or Holy Day. Any other more alcoholic drink was to ease one's pain when dying. So, why is it that I keep hearing about Christians drinking? We do have alcohol in the house for cooking and preserving purposes, other than that, I have a small 1 ounce glass (to drink!!!) of Manischewitz for Passover and that is it. Eric does not ever drink, which I think is absolutely wonderful!

Please, if you claim to be a Christian, please stop ordering drinks from the bar or buying liquor if you are drinking it (unless you are dying...).

TOD 7/3/13

Yep!

Children and God's word

OK, I know I'm on sort of a soap box today, but I'm irritated and need to get this stuff off my mind and type it out.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me", not force the little children to sit and be force fed information and make them go to church so they can grow up to force other information down other's throats.

I have always talked about Jesus to our children, never making them sit and read stories, but I let them naturally come to me to learn more. They saw how I wanted to read and learn more, so they naturally started asking questions and now my daughter is reading her Bible daily to learn more for herself. The Bible speaks in it's own language. We really don't have to "babify" anything, if they are truly wanting to learn from God. He will open their minds as he sees fit.

I believe in another post way back, I told you that we do not read from children's Bible story books. There really is no need of them. They are a waste of money, if you ask me. Mainly for the reason that I have never seen a children's book that has accurate information, straight from the Bible. Take Noah's Ark, for a good example. Read a child's story book, then go to your Bible and read the story. They are not the same.

 Buy your child a KJV Bible after they learn how to read and when they are seeking to know God for themselves. (Any other version is further from the meaning than was originally intended).

Presbyterians vs Methodist vs Jehovah Witness vs... ...

Why is it that all of these churches, who supposedly read the same Bible, have such awful opinions about each other? Doesn't the Bible tell us to love our neighbors, no matter what they believe? Even if you do not go to a church, if you are really saved by God, then we are all brothers and sisters through Christ. Why can't Christians just get along?

Eric and I really don't understand why there isn't just 1 huge church for each city. Oh wait, I know! Because Constantine started the fact that it was a business and that it was tax exempt... So, there you go. Churches are built for the soul purpose of having a profitable business. Yes, I said it!

Like I have said before, you are not called to go to church. Christ is the church in your lives, where 2 or more are gathered together in his name. There is no requirement to go to this huge gathering every week, that splits your family into various parts of a building. I would think you would want to spend every second you could with the ones you love the most, learning about God and reading the Bible together, but maybe that's just me?

TOD 7/2/13

Sorry everyone, life got hectic yesterday, so there is not a TOD for 7/1.

 

Another "pushy" topic. Again, my blog is for informational and personal purposes. Take or leave what you want. I can't make anyone change, just inform them of my personal views.

Some Christians are just too pushy!

Life has been extremely busy for our family in the past couple of weeks. A lot of stress and hard work, as well as important life lessons.

My husband just got back from a trip to help his sister remodel her bathroom. Before he got on his plane, a family member gave him verses and a prayer, since they believed he is not saved.

Everywhere we seem to go, we are bombarded with, "Are you saved?" "What makes you think so?"... Why is it that other Christians think they need to know if others are saved or not? Isn't that something that is exclusively between that person and God?

Even when we tried to go to a couple of local churches, because that's what I thought we had to do, since that was how I was raised. We would quickly run from each church, because as soon as someone spotted us as a "new person", we would get questioned, like we were being interrogated as to our true intent on being at that church. The last 2 churches we tried to attend even had the audacity to send people to our house, unannounced, to question us. If you think about it, that is exactly why no one really wants to go to church, and then to actually accept Christ, then it seems as though you are stuck cornering everyone else in your life to turn to the way of your thinking. That is just not how it is supposed to be people!!!

I pray that no one views me as "pushy"! I put my thoughts about religion on my blog for the purpose of sharing my views. If you do not want to read my views, you do not have to. Everyone in the world is allowed to make their own decisions. Everyone has their own beliefs and makes decisions based on what they can sleep with at night. I don't recall reading in the Bible, that Jesus went door to door, forcing his message down people's throats. No, he would be in a public area, and those who wanted to hear, came to seek his opinion. So why is it that we have all these Christian people that find out that someone does not accept the Bible at this time, start pushing their views and are constantly on the backs of someone who is not (or thought not to be) saved?

It is time to re look at the Bible, and use it as a tool to guide our lives. When and if someone sees how you live your life, wants to know more, then you can be prepared to share the wonderful news that is in the Bible with them. Otherwise, please, just let people be. Church goers seem to just be upsetting most of the public and are creating a totally different problem, that they are creating. I know they have the best intentions, but that is not how to go about it.