Making Mustard

Condiments are huge in our culture. They add flavor, spice, and character to a meal. I firmly believe in being able to taste what the actual food we are eating tastes like and not loads and loads of processed sugar, salt, and artificial flavoring in heavy dressings or sauces. Yet using healthier condiments to accent flavor points in certain foods is wonderful!

Today I thought it would be fun to make an American condiment standard...mustard! Did you know that certain mustards can contain gluten? Mustard is not exactly a food you'd think would contain gluten. Mustard typically contains vinegar. Many white distilled vinegars are made with glutinous grains.

Here is how I make mustard. The cool thing in making your own is it makes quite a bit, and even using organic mustard seeds makes this an economical  condiment. I've sized the recipe here down, but feel free to double or triple it. It should last in the refrigerator for several months. Be sure to use a recycled jar you have lying around to store it in. 

Recipe makes about 1/2 cup.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Yellow or Brown Organic Mustard Seeds

1/4 Cup Organic Ground Mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 Cup Filtered Water

1 Tsp Celtic Sea Salt

*Optional: 1/2 Tsp Organic Ground Turmeric

Using a coffee bean grinder reserved for grinding seeds, grind the mustard seeds. Allow it to be a little choppy like in the picture below.

Next just add everything into a bowl and mix well. 

Mix it up!

Store it in a jar in the fridge. Remember not to use it for 12 hours. Let the flavors come together. It will be a little thick and spicy, so a little goes a long way.

Let me know if you decide to make some mustard of your own! Be blessed, be healthy, and be a good steward!

Support Your Winter Wellness!

Tis the season for celebrating, family, friends, decorations, leaves falling, hay rides, school activities, and lots of sniffles and sneezes. Did you know it does NOT have to be that way? Did you know you CAN prevent the inevitable? Did you know you DO NOT have to get the flu shot? It is entirely possible to not pump poisons through your veins and stay healthy, unbelievable I know, but so true!

I blame cold and flu season on one word: SUGAR! Sugar falls under the category of white sugar, white rice, white flour, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), corn syrup, maltose, dextrose, and maltodextrin. All of these unhealthy forms of sugar attack our bodies form the inside out. It breaks down our immune system, attacks our brains, and raises our blood sugar levels to unbelievable levels then quickly leaves us to crash splat on the ground beyond exhaustion.Sugar substitutes are also extremely dangerous like aspartame, sodium saccharin, and sucralose. These fake sugars are carcinogenic so steer clear. Choose better forms of sugar like coconut sugar, whole cane organic sugar (rapadura), dates, red bananas, coconut nectar, raw honey, and real organic maple syrup. Also you can use stevia, a natural plant used as a sweetener. Go for the leaves or whole concentrated organic drops, not the white powder.

The really super extraordinarily frustrating  factor....it can all be avoided! I work at a natural supplement store part time and this is the busiest season of the year for the store. First I want to say that I applaud anyone using truly natural supplements for supporting their health, no doubt! Truth, sometimes you get sick, even me, your holistic health counselor. What doesn't happen to me is that I do not get sick every week or month, get a cold I just can't kick, nor do I get the flu every year. Wanna know why? I don't eat that nasty bleach filled chemical sugar....and neither do my children. Sugar by certain health experts like Dr. Joseph Mercola, renowned osteopathic medical doctor, has called sugar a type of narcotic.

I love you my readers, so please don't take this as me being harsh, rather me trying to save you hours and dollars spent the doctors office.So first things first, get out the fake sugar. Whole real sugar on the other hand in monitored amounts is perfectly fine. Lets be realistic, we like sweet stuff. In small amounts here and there it is totally fine in my honest opinion. Others may disagree, but I am a realist. I do not live in happy little healthy land where I never touch a brownie or cookie. I just make wiser choices, make them myself, and limit it to one or two. I use delicious real, whole, low gylcemic alternatives like coconut sugar.

Twelve Tips to Support a Healthy Season

• Remove fake or unhealthy versions of sugar
• Eat real, whole foods
• Reduce or remove gluten filled foods
• Drink raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar everyday in your water
• Eat foods with raw garlic each week like guacamole or put it in salad dressing
• Make real chicken stock from a free range organic chicken, the store bought stuff is mostly salt and water; use this for all your soups
• Put Thieves essential oil blend on the bottoms of your feet with organic, unrefined coconut oil after each bath or shower
• Reduce or remove caffeine
• Take digestive enzymes before you eat cooked food
• Take probiotics daily
• Use a neti pot at the first sign of anything in the nose or sinuses
• Go to sleep between 9pm and 10pm

I hope this article helps you during this winter season. These tips are really simple, yet will make an enormous difference.  If you have any healthy tips be sure to share them below. Be blessed, be healthy, and be a good steward!

Resources:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/20/sugar-dangers.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/02/is-sugar-toxic.aspx