Winter is Coming...

Winter is coming.

 Less Vitamin D, lowered immunity = more colds and flu. 

I strongly urge you to keep the 

sugar, meat, dairy, salt and oil consumption 

to a minimum, 

and eat lots of whole plant foods.

 Take a good whole food boost daily~ like Juice Plus, 

to keep your immune system consistently fed what it needs 

to fight off the nasty stuff. 

Tumeric is a great whole food antibiotic. I make sure I give that to my family several times a week. Garlic is great. I have in my fridge Dr. Christopher's Super Garlic Immune Formula (Amazon is a great place to buy it). I also mix up my large batches of immuniTea (which includes echinacea, rose hips, elderberry, mint, cinnamon, ginger, and more) and we drink that throughout the winter. I rarely need to treat colds and flu in my house, for which I am grateful, but I know that it takes vigilance on the mama's part and also faith in God for good health and for wisdom in knowing how to be the keeper of the family's health. 

Happy autumn, everyone. 

Enjoy cozy firesides and lamplight shining in the windows. 

Move every day and get some fresh air in your lungs.

And eat well!

Of Emily Boller and Other Things...

I have struggled with weight issues ever since I was 10 years old. I am a classic example of what is happening in America in the form of premature puberty in adolescent girls (among other things). I went from the cabbage soup diet, to different pills that promised weight loss, to the Atkins diet, etc with no lasting results. It was so discouraging to watch my weight just mushroom and the scales go up every year instead of down, as I had hoped.

Then I discovered plant-strong eating and its long-term help in losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. For the first time in my life, it made sense. And the many thousands of people that Dr Joel Fuhrman and many other doctors like him have helped to reach and maintain a healthy weight has encouraged me greatly.

I have lost slowly the past six years, as my body healed from other issues. But in the past year, as I've employed more of Dr. Fuhrman's recommendations for weight loss, I have enjoyed increased success in losing the pounds I have carried unnecessarily for 17 years. And I am excited!

God used Emily Boller to be the final boost I needed a few years ago to do something positive for my weight problem. Read her story here. If you struggle with excess weight, be encouraged that a few changes now will yield positive results for a life time.

 

Interview With Emily Boller



Being overweight is not a good thing. It puts stress on your organs, your skeletal system and your immune system, which leads to diseases that are totally preventable and greatly reduces your quality of life.

Feeding the body good foods, exercising regularly and avoiding excessive amounts of oil, salt, sugar, and animal products = healthy weight and healthy body.

If you want to lose weight without starving yourself or counting calories, while feeding your body nutritiously, here is Dr. Fuhrman's recommended plan which has worked for many:



Of Summer and Ice Cream...



Humidity...it happens even here in the Fingerlakes in the summer, even though most days are pleasantly cool and breezy. Summer just seems to spell 'ice cream' and although we have not bought the traditional dairy, sugar filled ice cream for several years now, we certainly know pleasant replacements for it. I thought I would share some recipes with you that we enjoy in the summer time instead of ice cream as we used to know it.

Strawberry Coconut 'Frosty'

 

Into a 4 cup measure place

1 can coconut milk (like Thai Kitchen unsweetened)

2 c. almond or other plant based milk

1 t vanilla

Whisk together.

Into a Vitamix or powerful blender place

 

4 or 5 c frozen strawberries.

Pour the milk mixture over the berries.

Add 1/4 c sugar or maple syrup, if desired.

Blend til smooth.

 

Mango Peach Frosty

 

4 c coconut milk/almond milk/vanilla mixture poured over

2 cups frozen mango chunks

(I found awesome small chunks in 2 lb bags at Aldi in the seasonal freezer)

2-3 c frozen peaches

Blend until smooth.

 

 

 

 

We enjoy these so much we don't even miss ice cream

(not that ice cream is a must-have food by any means).

I certainly do not miss the sugar headaches and hangovers I used

to have when eating ice cream.

 

What about you.

 Do you

have a

favorite ice cream replacement

 to share?

 

 

Leave a comment and tell me about it.

Vitamin Water

It has been years now that our family stepped away from drinking much more than water. So many of the drinks on the market are loaded with artificial coloring, sugars, and other harmful-to-health ingredients. What a waste of money, both in the purchasing and also in the dentist/doctor bills these help to incur!

We also avoid drinking fruit juices on a regular basis because they are not a whole food. The fiber in the fruit actually slows down the absorption of sugar to the body, thus making it a better choice to eat the whole fruit rather than drinking the juice.

 

But sometimes water gets boring. Here is a fun thing I tried this afternoon (has been on my to-do list for a few weeks).

Into a gallon jar, place

4 thinly sliced lemons and 1/2 cup

chopped mint leaves. Fill with water, place a lid on the jar and store overnight in the fridge.

 

 Enjoy a flavorful, refreshing beverage for a different twist on drinking water.