Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Why I Care So Much About What I Eat (Part 8)

I have one more adventure to share with you. While I realize my testimony will never end until the Lord has me right where He wants me, this particular one I will try to end in this post, as I am sure some of you are jumping for joy! This adventure is what had really prompted my change in eating.


Remember I mentioned the aversion to buying meat, allow me to illuminate.  In late May of '09 I had found a lump in my left breast during a routine home exam. Knowing that my biological mother had breast cancer, I make it a point to do examinations. At any rate, I not being one to run to the doctor hesitated. After much prompting, and lovingly getting yelled at by two my closest friends, I finally conceded and made an appointment.


In the beginning of June, on a Tuesday, I went in to see my md. She did a breast exam had she showed quite a bit of concern.  She made an appointment for me to be seen by a local radiologist the same day to have a mammogram, and a sonogram. Nothing could be seen in the mammogram due to the density of the breast tissue, but there was great concern with what the sonographer had seen in the image on the machine. The radiologist called me in on Thursday to talk about the results. He wanted me to go to the UNC Breast Cancer Center to see a specialist.
After I went home that day I packed to go to my parents' house. I spent quite a bit of time with the Lord in prayer. I had told Him that I would be okay with whatever the outcome. I was actually a little excited at the thought of this situation being used by the Lord to bring some family and friends to Christ. To me my body is just a physical shell. While I of course want to be a good steward of it, ultimately though it is where my soul spends eternity that is the most important.


I also told the Lord that I would do whatever he required of me to be the most healthy that I could be to serve the kingdom effectively. If cancer was the lot for that season of my life, I wanted to do things His way. I immediately began doing searches on the Internet for diets that would be ideal for cancer patients. I promised Him that I would give up whatever was required. Something I read that was unanimous was that dairy had to go.


I didn't think I could ever give up dairy. I loved milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, and sour cream. My favorite food was pizza, and I couldn't imagine having the will to say no to it. Nevertheless I can remember taking my sons out for pizza and ice cream the very next night as a goodbye to dairy products.The following  morning I heard a still, small voice tell me specifically, "Sweetie, don't worry, you can do this, I will help you every step of the way. That weekend I went to the grocery store bought dairy free everything.


It was from that point that the Lord allowed me to learn more and more through sources on the Internet, books, and through health conscious friends what it was that I needed to do to keep my body as clean as possible. I stayed up several nights scouring the Internet for trustworthy information. The one detail in common that all of the sites that I visited or videos that I watched had in common was stating that the raw vegan diet was best for anyone who had any type of cancer. I started there, no more animal products, and  just raw veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds.


I found several helpful sites. One in particular that caught my attention was The Renegade Health Show by Kevin and Annmarie Gianni. This down to earth, friendly married couple teaches about the raw food lifestyle. They offer great information, as well as awesome recipes. They have had some wonderful interviews with health experts offering their advice and information as well. I like Kevin and Annmarie because they encourage healthier eating, and implementing raw foods, but they don't put anyone down if they don't eat raw yet, complete raw, which they don't eat 100% raw.


Yet I still felt like even though all of this information was great it was beginning to seem like only people into the New Age movement were offering any advice. I thought surely there must be a believer out there who is into raw food. I wanted direction from a godly persepctive. I'll never forget it, minutes after praying that prayer, I was looking through youtube, and I saw this gentleman, named Paul. He seemed like a nice, regular guy, but he knew all of this "raw food stuff."  I decided to go to his blog. I really liked everything he had to say. I thought to myself, if this guy was a believer, he'd be 100% right on target for what I was needing at the time. About 30 seconds later I read Paul talking about Yeshua, his savior. Yes, God is good!


Back to the lump, I'll make what seemed like the longest month of my life short, thank the Lord, I do not have cancer. I did go to the breast cancer center. I was assigned a nurse specialist who walked me through all of my options if it was cancer, and if it wasn't. Basically what I have is a non-cancerous tumor. I have decided not to have it removed.  I felt like leaving it in if it wasn't causing me any problems would be less traumatic for my body than having it surgically removed. My nurse said that my decision was perfectly normal, and safe. 


So what this all leads me to is once I found that out the news I decided to stay raw vegan for the rest of the summer. I never felt so good in my whole life. I had lost the rest of the extra unhealthy weight hanging around. I had more energy, my skin started to glow so to speak, and my hair regained it's shine. I knew that whole situation was a test of my faith, and was a huge learning and growth experience for me to see what I would really put on the alter and give up for God.


I am not currently raw vegan. In the fall of 2009 I implemented some cooked grains and steamed veggies back into my diet. I eventually brought legumes back in as well. I felt my body needed the heat that the cooked foods provided, and that I cleansed enough over the summer. I think that eating locally is important, and local foods in the colder months are mostly root vegetables which almost all require some cooking. I do try to keep my main source of my diet be raw. I don't keep a calculator around for percentages, but I know that when more of my meals are raw than not, I feel much better.


In January of this year I put eggs back into my diet. I'll eat them hard boiled or poached. Then the newest addition to my diet was raw goats'milk. I also occasionally eat flounder. I don't think I'll ever put meat back into my diet. I don't really want it, and I eliminated two huge problems from taking it out, which were halitosis, and blood in my stool (sorry if that was TMI), but if you have the same issues, try taking meat out for a while. I'm currently putting together a weekly menu for myself. If anyone is interested please  post a comment so I know, and I'll put it on  the blog.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Why I Care So Much About What I Eat (Part 7)

If I didn't mention it, the "cold incident", and the new medication all occurred during the end of March of 2009. After I was no longer sick it had occurred to me that I hadn't been dizzy from the vertigo, or had a migraine in a couple of days. Did the Lord hear my prayer? Had he healed me?  I started to rejoice, and then seeds of doubt started to creep in. What if its all a fluke, He hadn't really healed me, and I tell people, then I get sick..was I good witness for healing? Forgive me Father for my unbelief.

April 1st rolled around, and  I was due to pick up my best friend, CC from California. I had exhausted myself throughout the day, I did too much, not a good thing to do ever, but especially not after just getting over an illness. On the ride over to the airport in the evening to pick her up I started to feel it, the slight pounding, and then the nausea kicked in. My doubt or unbelief that I could be "really healed from 18 years of misery" became disappointment.

I had over done it, and put my body past its capacity, instead of listening to what the Lord had been trying to tell me, to seek His face in all things, take comfort, rest in Him, and to really physically rest. I did have a migraine that night.  I have to share though that I recovered faster than I ever had been able to before. I am happy to anoounce, that I had been healed, on April 1st, 2009, it was MY LAST MIGRAINE!

I wish that I could put into words what being healed from that has doen for my life. Glory be to God in the Highest!  Along with the migraines I had chronic fatigue, which I no longer have. I am still really tired of course, doing all of these parenting things on my own, but I haven't felt the way I used to, and it was all of the Lord Jesus' doing. 

Why I Care So Much About What I Eat (Part 6)

As anyone who has a relationship with Jesus knows the more that you get to know His heart, the more that you love Him. This brings about strong desires of wanting to obey Him more than ever. Its amazing how you can begin to find areas of your life where you have not submitted to Christ. Those areas just sneak up on you sometimes.

In January of 2009 the chronic migraines, which I had had since age 11, had severely increased. I was getting 3-4 a week, with tension headaches in between. (Did I mention I was homeschooling, and my husband is away with his job? It was by the grace of God that I got things done.) If you have never had a migraine then I am happy for you, I hope that you will never experience one in your life. I would become completely debilitated. In February  to boot I started feeling extreme dizziness and feelings that I was spinning. I was diagnosed with Vertigo.

(Little did I know the road on which God was taking me. Here's a side note for you. During this same time period, as strange as this sounds I would go grocery shopping. Well, not so strange, right. The strange part was my weird aversion to buying meat. I'd look at chicken and turkey, and get sick to my stomach almost every time I was at the market.  I'd think gosh, Lord, why don't I want to buy that? Why don't I want to eat that? I love poultry. I thought I was just crazy though, dismissed it, and put it into my cart.)

Back to the migraines and vertigo, my neurologist and my general practioner had prescribed more chemical medications to see if it could ease my situation (can I get a great big-NO). She gave me a prescription for the Vertigo, and said it might help. It depends on the patient. I really wnated to explore all natural means and options before taking one more drug. So I explored them for quite a while. 

I had been through all sorts of testing. My neurologist had actually changed my medication to a different kind. She had said that the tension headaches resulted from a bout of my body basically being poisoned from the original medication.

Apparently it was too much for my system, even though I would try not to take it everytime, and I never exceeded the dosage. Shortly after finding out this information my neurologist switched me to a new drug that apparently can make you lose concentration, and slow down all brain function. I was so conflicted about taking this medication. I cried, and prayed.

I really felt like enough was enough. I had been on legal drugs for migraines for almost three years, and before that I would suffer through them with high amounts of naproxen, and prayer. Sometimes I would just suffer through them without taking anything because I hated putting what I always knew in my heart to be toxins into my body even if it was excrutiating pain. I wanted to feel like myself, if I could even remember what that felt like. Between the antidepressants mentioned in other posts, and the migraine drugs, I was full of poison.No more drugs!

I can remember my prayer at this point that changed the way I pray. I was finally able to submit. On my knees, face smooshed against the side of my bed, I held the pill bottle up professing to the Lord that He is the healer, doctors are not healers, drugs are not healers, He is the only one. I gave all the pain away to the Lord. I asked Him to please, if it were His perfect Will, to take all of the migraine pain and vertigo away forever. I never asked him that before.

I always prayed about the pain in the moment, in the back of my mind, expecting to get another one later after having them for so many years. I never went that deep or far in my prayer before. I decided to trust, and not take that brain altering medication atleast until I could talk with my doctor. It didn't feel right taking it.

To add icing to the cake, I came down with the most horrible cold 2 days after receiving the medication.  You are probably thinking, big deal, you had a cold, how bad could it be? People have those all of the time, right?  I cannot express to you the degree of this cold. I was miserable. A cold of this magnitude on top of the migraines and vertigo seemed too much for me to handle.

I was also very concerned about taking the new migraine drug along with cold medication. I read up on the Internet, I called the doctor, and I read the cold medication box. By the way, that isn't something I typically do, take cold medication. I never do it during the day. The body needs to go through the process to cleanse and heal itself. God made our bodies this way. We were not intended to stay sick. Also these drugs do not heal anything, they simply mask the symptoms, or force our bodies to do things unnaturally.

Putting "over the counters" into our systems are so risky. We have no idea what those drugs are really doing to our bodies. So many drugs have been put on those shelves without thorough testing. It is so disturbing to me how many recalls there have been over the years. Despite all of that I not had slept in 3-4 days, and I was so sick. I was desperate to breathe, and for rest, therefore I gave into taking them only at night. So to be really cautious, and to honor the decison that I made prior, I put a halt to the migraine meds.

So at this point I called my health savvy friend MM, and she told me that I had to have vitamin C crystals. I was unable to go out to purchase any for about 2 days. As soon as I could go out to buy it I went ahead and took some, and just let me tell you to please taste and see that the Lord is good.  After having the vitamin C in my system for less than 24 hours I started to recover. The Lord used His creation of the vitamin C to clean out my system from the illness.

The cleansing process was amazing. I hadn't been able to blow my nose in days. Everything was stuck up inside my head, and made for searing headaches.  After taking the vitamin C crystals it was almost as though I couldn't stop. The crystals are crucial by the way. Never take any supplements in tablet form. Our bodies can't break them down, and citrus in tablet form, like vitamin C, is extremely detrimental to the enamel on our teeth. Powders, crystals, and capsules are superior.

Now this is my personal opinion, I believe the Lord allowed me to get sick with the most terrible cold ever in order to cleanse my body completely from the drugs. I was deficient in Vit C to begin with, and in order to help my body heal, and actually get me in bed to rest, this was His method. I say that because, I am a  Mom, and for all of you moms out there, I have a question-do we rest? I have to say that I am still quite disobedient in that area.( Lord please forgive me, you know I am working on it with your help.)

I know I said I would end this diatribe soon, and I will. I just feel it really important to show you where T've been to understand where I am at now. Go on to the next part if you haven't died of boredom yet.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Why I Care So Much About What I Eat (Part 5)

In 2006 the Lord brought our family to the Triangle area of NC. At this period of time I was very adamant about improving my own as well as my family's health. I remember being exceedingly excited because I now had wonderful stores available, and farmer's markets to help make this all a little bit easier.

As previously mentioned I was on prozac. This had troubled me for so long because truth be told once I came ot know the Lord, I was no longer depressed. I no longer had a desire to be in bondage to these legal drugs. I also believed the drugs were doing more harm than good. So I made it my prayer to the Lord for Him to please find a way for me to be delivered from this life term sentence that all psychiatrists had told me that I would be never be released from.

I had been to one pyschiatrist in the area whom I didn't care for so I didn't go to one for a while, and my MD was fine with prescribing the medication for me. She, however, not being a psychiatrist was not able to give me a clear diagnosis of no longer needing the medicine. Its not always pleasant looking for new doctors.

Around March of 2007 I decided to look for another psychiatrist.  I found one in my insurance network, and made an appointment. I just expected to be told the same old thing, you need these drugs for life.  I guess I had given into what I had always been told.

The first meeting was just a get to know you, share your background history type of meeting. I didn't need a prescription at the time. So I received the usual round of questions, and went on my way.  He wanted to meet with me the following month so I made the appointment, and that was that.

In April I went in for my second appointment. By this time I was low on medication, and I went in hopeful to atleast reduce the dosage. Sadly, my prayers had been reduced by my lack of faith in this area. I can remember clearly that there was an intern in the room that day. The doctor asked me if it was ok for him to observe. I thought, oh great, another person to note how crazy I am...lol.

I asked the doctor if  he could reduce my dosage. I thought surely this was a reasonable request. Do you know what he said? He said, "Have you ever considered not taking them anymore?!!!!" I almost cried. I was in disbelief that he was asking me this question. He said I was the most sane person to come through the doors, and he really didn't think I needed them anymore. I didn't need to wean myself off or anything.

I told him that it was an answer to prayer. I'd wanted to be off of them for 6 years.  This is all to say NEVER GIVE UP ON THE LORD! He never gives up on us. All things are done in His perfect timing. If you don't know Jesus, please get to know Him. I know what the world says. I know people say the Bible is bogus, and not scientifically viable, but it is very much so. That's another discussion altogether, but if you feel like there's more to life, you're right, and I'd be happy to talk or pray with you about it.

Remember when I said I thought the drugs were doing more harm than good, about one year later, from the drugs not being in my system I had dropped about 8-10 pounds.  It was at that time that I had also introduced many more organic foods into our family's diet. I had learned that all of these prescription drugs that we put into our systems make unhealthy fat stores stick to our bodies. So do the pesticides, and hormones that are pumped into and on conventional foods.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Why I Care So Much About What I Eat (Part 4)

All summer I wrestled with the Lord. I knew what I needed to do. I also for the most part wanted to invite Christ into my heart, but I knew that once I had done that I needed to stop anything wrong that I was doing, or atleast make a conscious decision to try, and ask for His help along the way. I knew there was no turning back.

In August of that same year I dropped to my knees and submitted unto the Lord. Jesus was at that moment and for the rest of my life my Lord and savior. I had become a Christian, an actual Christ Follower. CT sent me a Bible, which I actually read, and then in the October of 2002 I was baptized by her future husband. So she is now CH :)

My walk with the Lord started out very slowly. I had a lot of learning to do, and still do to this day, and I expect will until the Lord brings me home into His presence. I started going to church full time while we were living in California.  I joined the women's bible study, and made some wonderful friends. God has truly blessed me, and changed my life. Glory be to God!

(I promise this will end sometime, and I will get to why I care so much about what I eat...still.)

Why I Care So Much About What I Eat (Part 3)

What I'd like to share with you now is what changed my life forever...classmates.com. That's right I said classmates.com. My closest friend, CT from elementary school who I had lost contact with when I went to college had looked me up on classmates.com in April of 2001. I had no idea what was in store for me next.

I was so thrilled that she contacted me I emailed her right away, and we began talking on the phone as if there was never any distance between us.  She was thrilled about my son, and she wanted to meet my husband.  We had wonderful conversations. She seemed different though, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. I could detect a joy in her voice that hadn't been there before.

It was that very joy and contentment that I craved. I asked her why she sounded so different, and she told me. It was Jesus. She was a believer now. She didn't do the same things that she used to do because she followed Him now. In fact that was the reason she joined classmates.com. She joined so that she could find me, and share the love of Christ with me. 

I knew what she was saying was true, and was very open to it, because I had just been praying before she contacted me about figuring out how to get to know God.  I specifically remember saying, "God, I don't know who you are, or how to get to you, but I know it's you that is missing from my life." Little did I know how easy it was to invite Him into my life. I didn't even realize that what I had said was a prayer.

At this point you are probably wondering what I mean. How is it I was praying, but I didn't know God? How is it I was saying those things, but didn't know I was praying?  You see I was raised in a Roman Catholic home.  I knew doctrine, I knew who Jesus was in name, and what He did, but I didn't have a personal relationship with Him.

God had always been this far away diety that if I didn't follow His rules would damn me to hell.  I never heard the song Jesus loves me. I didn't know I was fearfully and wonderfully made as it says in Psalm 39:14.  I didn't know John 3:16 "for God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life."  I didn't know to read my Bible.

When I was 19 I can remember being so frustrated with life, and the man made religion that I had known, that I was foolish and I cursed God. I kept trying to be good, and I kept failing, so I gave up on God and decided to do things "my way" all of the time. In Roman Catholicism it is all works based. You earn your salvation, and you don't quite know where you're going until you die. I couldn't live like that anymore. I figured I was going to hell, so why bother. It was torture.
 
I had been running from Him for quite some time, and my running shoes had finally expired. I had a ton of questions for CT. In June CT had invited me to visit her. She was a nanny at the time, and lived in a nice townhome in Northern Virginia.  My husband was on a military deployment overseas. So I packed up my things, put my baby boy in car, and we went for a trip. 
 
We stayed up talking every night. She brought me to church, and I think for the entire service I must have cried.  The music was beautiful, and everyone had jeans on!  The pastor speaking wasn't wearing robes, he actually was holding a Bible, and he read out of it.  He also seemed to be talking with words that I could understand, and it was quite interesting.  Somethings hurt, as the truth often does, but I didn't mind. I knew that I needed to change.

Why I Care So Much About What I Eat (Part 2)

I didn't go back to starving myself praise the Lord. I did however continue to want to learn more about eating healthier. I consumed lots of fruits and veggies. I stopped eating most items with white flour around 9th grade. It was around that time that I stopped eating red meat and pork as well. I became unable to tolerate it. I would get terrible stomach pains, and it would trigger terrible migraines. I decided to remove it from my diet.

I stayed fairly disciplined with eating until the end of my freshman year in college. I was also dancing in classes 3-4 hours a day, then working out after school, as well as having dance rehearsal at night. So anything I ate that wasn't so healthy didn't stay with me very long. I remember vividly being introduced to Chick-Fil-A and Krispy Kreme, which are two of my vices even tot his day.

I took a break from college due to financial issues and mental stress, and started to work full time. At this time in my life my diet really suffered due to finances, and I would eat what I could afford, which was usually boxed mac and cheese. It was at this point as well that I began seeing a psychiatrist who put me on paxil for depression (little did I know how these would affect me). As one can imagine my health was not stellar, and I was also not exercising as I once did.

Fast forwarding a few years into my first pregnancy I gained 44 pounds, and I was only able to lose about 20 pounds. I can't say I consistently tried very hard though. I was still on antidepressants, switched from paxil to prozac when I became pregnant. So basically I was an overweight, 20 something college drop-out, on legal drugs for depression, with a baby and a husband.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Why I Care So Much About What I Eat (Part 1)

It occurred to me some of you might wonder why I am so nutty about the food that I consume. Most close to me know, but for anyone else reading this blog, here ya go.  The Lord took me on a journey last year in 2009.  Going back a bit before then, I suppose since my highschool years I'd always been interested in eating healthier.

Unfortunately the interest turned into an obsession, and I led myself down a path of anorexia. For my junior and senior years of high school I gradually began eating less and less. I got myself down to around 80-85 pounds. It had gotten so bad that for a season I would eat 6 slices of low cal bread with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray on them each day, and that was all.

I was dancing then, and it was extremely important to look good in that leotard, not to mention be light enough for male dancers to lift you. I did not know the Lord then, and I felt very out of control with my life. I had a horrible self image. I didn't have the greatest friends growing up either in both elementary and high schools, so it made for a difficult round of teen years. 

I would sleep away hunger after school. I can also remember waking up at 5am just to exercise before school. Then I would exercise at night, and practice dancing as well. I thank God for my Mom. She caught on to what I was doing with eating and exercise. She took me to the doctor, and my doctor was extremely concerned. My heart rate was excessively low as one could imagine. 

The doctor said she'd have to admit me to the hospital if I didn't stop everything, and start eating normally again. After that my mother watched me like a hawk.  She made sure I was eating, atleast while she could watch me. I did starting eating more again. I didn't want to be hospitilized, I just wanted some sense of control, and more than anything I wanted to be loved. Little did I realize at the time that Jesus really did love me, not to mention my parents.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Free High Raw E-Book

Just wanted to share a great free read from raw foodist, online health show host, and author Kevin Gianni. Kevin and his lovely wife, Annmarie host an awesome health/nutrition show online. There is a new one M-F. Be sure to click on the Renegade Health banner aka...the big smoothie picture in order to get your free e-book.

Eating Raw in the Summer

I am a huge advocate of the raw food diet. It allowed me to cleanse my system last summer. I will share my testimony in another post as to why I eat the way that I do now. Anyway, this summer I am on a search for more raw recipes so I can be all, or mostly all raw again. I cannot stress the benefits of a raw food diet, consisting of mostly vegetables, fruits, seeds, and nuts. 

A small percentage of animal products like raw goats milk and eggs are great also. I can't honestly say I've gotten to the raw eggs yet. I'm not sure I ever will. perhaps blended with certain recipes, but the image of chugging a raw egg by body builders in the 80's still holds in my mind-not attractive.

A daily diet made of mostly raw foods makes a body oh so happy. I know from experience that I feel so much better when I've eaten a higher ratio of raw foods, and drank enough water each day. By the way you can easily know how much water your particular body need by dividing your body weight in half and using that number as ounces instead of puonds. Kind of like if you weigh 120lbs then you would need to drink a  minimum of 60 ounces of water.

Raw foods, especially local, organic, raw veggies and fruits have these really neat things called enzymes. Our bodies need them for proper digestion and the breaking down of proteins.  The more enzymes we consume the better off our digestion and the assimilation of the food we consume is as well. The longer a food has been out of the ground, and the more pesticides it has on it, the less enzymes it is going to have which is bad for the whole digestion process.

So growing your own gardens, shopping at local farmers markets, or joining a CSA are great ways to ensure that the pocketbook isn't breaking while getting proper nutrition. Our bodies need to work hard beleive it or not to digest properly. Eating too many cooked foods slows down that process which can lead to stress on other organs in the body, or eventual shut down altogether.

The worst foods to eat are cooked processed foods like refined white flours, sugars, and  rice. Those processed foods have the nutritional properties stripped, plus they are bleached, and full of pesticides/insecticides. Our intestines or our "gut" is such an integrally important part of our system as a whole. People talk about the heart, and the brain...but what about the gut? Oh, as a matter of fact that I like that question so much, I think I'll make it a post on its own :)

Another great blog that I like is http://rawon10.blogspot.com/. She has some fantatsic raw recipes for those of use on a budget :) Eating healthy does not have to eat your wallet. Realistically though, are you going to spend more for organic spinach than for a box of macaroni and cheese? Well, yes you certainly will because you get what you pay for by far.

While we are on Earth our spirits are housed by a physical temple that the Holy God of the Universe has graciously given us to take care of  while we are here and to be good stewards. Yes, God cares about what we eat or He wouldn't have talked about it in his Word. Yes, this is my blog, and I'll preach if I want to...lol :)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Recipe calling...

Sunflower Lentil Pie by Dreena Burton



3/4 cup lentils (I've used brown and french ones, I think any will do)

1 3/4 cups of water

1 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped

1 cup quit oats or oat bran

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup celery, chopped (organic if possible)

2 med-large garlic cloves, roughly chopped (yes, use fresh)

2 tbsp ketchup (organic if possible)

2 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari (I of course use the coconut aminos)

1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (recipe calls for 1 tbsp, but 2 gives more flavor)(Trader Joes brand is best)

2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (I don't use this)

1/2 tsp rosemary ( I use basil)

1 tsp dried oregano (I use parsley because I detest oregano)

1 tsp course sea salt (Himalayan is best)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

  • Over med-high heat cook water, & lentils up to a boil (yes throw them all in from the start)

  • Reduce heat to med-low, cover, simmer for 15 minutes

  • Add the onions in there for another 15 min or so (all water should be absorbed)

  • Pop the lentil mix in the Vitamix blender or food processor with the rest of the ingrediants and puree it

  • Transfer mixture to a coconut oiled pie plate (don't cook/heat olive oil-I'll talk about that later)

  • Bake on 375 degrees for 30 min, let it stand for 10 minutes if you can, it will firm up a bit as it cools
  • Serve with a big kale salad

Summer Sun Skin Care

Hi! So it occurred to me a few weeks ago, actually closer to a month ago that summer was coming, and that the sun would be really shining brightly.  Actually, the sun always shines brightly doesn't it? For some reason when it is hotter we tend to think about it more though. Anyhoo, I kind of had a personal conviction that the kids and I would not use sunscreen this year. Here is why.

Last summer I cannot express how much money I spent on chemical free suncreen. Yuckers, not doing it this year.  So along with my conviction came questions. Am I right in feeling this way? I mean I certainly believe that the chemicals are just as harmful, if not worse than the sunburn. Also I wasn't so sure about the truth of it all.  Do the sun rays really cause cancer?  Why would God allow such a thing? Are the doctors being honest with us? How sure are they really that this is the case?

So as my usual curious self, I went trudging through the beautiful yet terrible thing we call the Internet.  One resource for medical and health infomation that I trust is Dr. Joe Mercola.  His website has a wealth of free information.  I'll post the site below.  Today I will post questions about all of this on The Renegade Health Show board, as well as The Raw Life Health Show board. When I hear responses I will post them here. I just like to compare information so I can give the most accurate facts available.

Another concern of mine is the lack of vitamin D. Our bodies need Vitamin D, and most people, omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike all tend to be on the low side of this much needed vitamin. Without it we cannot process calcium, as many people know is necessary for the growth and protection of our bones. The sun is the BEST place to attain this vital vitamin.  Unfortunately, we lather on that sunscreen, and while it may prevent sunburn, it also prevents the penetration of vitamin D.

No, supplements are not the same. Most supplements are not even the vitamin D that we need.  Yes, there are different ones. Our bodies need vitamin D3. Synthetic versions of this vitamin are also not adequate. To help make up for the lack of D3, I do take a supplement. It was recommended by raw foodist Paul Nison, and raw foodist Kevin Gianni.  It is called Garden of Life Vitamin Code D3.  You can purchase it at Paul Nison's website. I have the link labeled Raw Life on the blog if you want to try it.

For now the kids and I are going to wear hats, and try to cover up in the best ways possible.  I think a great way for the pool and beach is to use rash guards. For anyone that doesn't know what they are its really a surfer thing, that caught on with everyone else later. Basically all rash guards happen to be are shirts that can get wet, dry easily, and prevents the surfers from getting rashes from the waves. Well, I suppose the look of them became appealing, and now many people wear them.

I usually buy them for my boys at Old Navy when they are on sale. They go sale every now and then for $9. Nowadays they make them UV protectant, so it cuts down on spreading the suncreen.  I also went to the Children's Place and buy them some sun hats with my $10 coupon :)

Back to the sunscreen issue, I believe the sun does us much more good, than harm.  Lack of sunlight is also directly correlated with depression. So go outside, enjoy the summer time fun, and wear a hat!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/08/02/sunscreen-cancer.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/07/02/sunblock-cancer-part-one.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/09/03/vitamin-d-cancer-part-one.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/06/03/vit-d-sunlight.aspx

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Writing...writing...and writing :)

As many of you know I homeschool my children.  I am a member of our church's homeschool co-op.  So a couple of months ago I started thinking about what class I was going to teach or help with for the Fall season. In April I started feeling a strong conviction to teach a biblical health/nutrition class at our co-op. To be honest I was a little nervous to bring up the idea. I wasn't sure how people would take to the concept.

At our co-op meeting in May, our facilitator, who is so wonderful btw, asked if anyone else had thoughts or ideas for classes. After some prayer, and nudging from the Holy Spirit I took a leap of faith, and raised my hand. Much to my delight and surprise many women seemed interested, and I was told it was a great idea...lets do it. I explained its something extremely important in my household, and if there's interest, I'd love to share it all.

I've been keeping all of these things lifted up because I want to do this all the Lord's way.  I am currently writing the 12 week curriculum that we will use. There are so many important topics to cover.  I will cover many of the same things in this blog. I may allow this blog to be an additional resource for the students in the class. My main resources will be using the book "The Maker's Diet" by Jordan Rubin, and "Health According to the Scriptures" by Paul Nison.

I also want to say that whether you read the Bible or not, are a Christian or not, biblical nutrition is worth looking at for sure. The Bible is an amazing history book. The Jews are a real culture still living today. Their health practices have proven to make them one of the healthiest cultures in existence.  Those who still ahere to the original health practices have the "cleanest bill of health" around.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Exciting Journey

So we are to do all things as unto the Lord, and so shall this blog be!  I hope and pray that this blog will be a blessing to all those who read it, and wish to learn a litle bit more about health and nutrition. I am still learning just like everyone else. I am not a holistic or naturopathic doctor, just a Mom with a passion. I do believe I have encountered quite a bit of information over the years, so I feel it would be wrong not to share it. I've met several people online and in person who have a wealth of knowledge.  I'd like to share what they have learned as well.  So walk with me on this journey to be good stewards of our physical temples.