Homemade Elderberry Slippery Elm Syrup

Loving this fall weather, except for the gray days. Summer time is my absolute favorite season though. I love the hot sun beating down on me while I'm hiking on trails or walking on the beach. So since we have now walked into the holiday season immune defenses are going to be down because of all of the sugar and not so great dietary choices. This time of year is so tempting. If you'd like to skip cold and flu season all together, check out my post here. To keep a little insurance so to speak in our back pockets, I thought it would be great to show you how to make a kid friendly medicinal syrup to administer daily or weekly to boost your family's immune systems.

So colds and flues are viral. Viruses are not the same as bacteria. Viruses cannot replicate with a host cell, therefore they are not considered living organisms. Bacteria on the other are able to exisit and thrive without a host. Knowing the type of infection you have is key to treating it. Regardless, both types of infections can really take our bodies into an unnecessary tail spin...not fun! To keep myself and my children healthy I utilized some of God's finest from the outdoors and made a immune system boosting syrup. This is appropriate for age 1year and older. It does contain honey, so do not give it to a baby under a year of age. There is a particular bacteria, C.Botulinum that can cause death in infants.

Ingredients & Benefits

(1/2 Cup) Dried Black Elderberries: immune boosting, helps ward off viruses

(1/4 Cup) Slippery Elm Bark: soothing for sore throats, fights infection

(1/4 Cup) Ginger Root: anti-inflammatory, immune booster, mucous solvent

(3) Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks: anti-inflammatory, warming to the body, anti-bacterial

(1 Cup) Raw Local Honey: anti-bacterial

Here is how to make the syrup:

Mince the ginger root.

Then measure 3 cups of filtered water and put it into the pot.

Then put the elderberries, ginger, cinnamon, and slippery elm bark, into the pot.

Simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Next you will turn off the heat and use a mesh strainer to strain the herbs from the liquid. Add your honey. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

Servings:

Adults: 1 Tbsp

Children under 12: 1 Tsp

Children under 4: 1/2 Tsp

You can use one serving daily for immunity support or take 3 servings at the onset of illness to fight an infection. Store in the fridge for 2 months.

Please give me a heads up if you make this for yourself or your family. Be healthy, be blessed, and be a good steward!

Gluten Free Donuts!!!

Oh my goodness, need I say more? It's a dream come true right....gluten free and donut to be in the same sentence. Okay, so it's not exactly Krispy Kreme, but they are sweet enough and have a hole in the middle....score! These are even better because dare I say, they are actually good for you!

These delectable yummies are made with coconut flour. It's loaded with awesome fiber, healthy fat, and vitamins! Really, while they do contain some healthier sugar, you could almost serve these to the kids for breakfast and really not give yourself a guilt trip.

Ingredients:

Donuts

1/2 Cup Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil

1/4 Cup Organic Coconut Sugar 

1/4 Cup Organic Maple Syrup

1/2 Tbsp Organic Ceylon Cinnamon

6 Farm Fresh Free Range Eggs

2 Tsp Organic Pure Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Organic Coconut Flour

3/4 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Celtic Sea Salt

Chocolate Topping

One 365 Whole Trade Dark Chocolate Bar

1 Tbsp Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil

Directions:

I used a Pampered Chef fluted mini bundt stoneware pan. Go ahead and grease it with coconut oil ahead of time. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

You can use a blender or food processor. I opted for the food processor. Go ahead and add your eggs, coconut oil, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Process them well.

Place a stainless steel mesh strainer over the open top of the processor bowl. In the strainer add the flour, salt, and baking soda to sift. Shake and sift the mix. Whatever doesn't sift through, dump into the processor bowl. Process it well.

Pour into greased wells of donut pan or fluted mini bundt pan. If you use the Pampered Chef fluted mini bundt pan it will take 30 minutes to bake. Using smaller donut pans? Cut the bake time in half.

While baking, break up the chocolate bar into a small pot. Add the coconut oil. Don't do anything with this yet. Once the donuts come out of the oven, put the pot with the chocolate on the stove. 

Slowly melt the chocolate. Then drizzle it over top of the donuts. 

I realize mine do not look super pretty. Perhaps you are an expert drizzler, I am not :) That's okay, they still taste fabulous! Put them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then take them out and enjoy them! Please let me know if you try them with a comment on my blog. Be healthy, be blessed, and be a good steward!

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!

Need Magnesium?

We need lots of vitamins and minerals to thrive. Magnesium is one of them. The best way to take in our nutrients is through our foods. Even a whole foods based supplement cannot compare with the food The Lord has given us. No, Centrum doesn't cut it. It's a rock that doesn't break down. Stop wasting your money.

There are lots of foods that contain magnesium like bananas, beans, lentils, brown rice, oats, quinoa, avocados, nuts, seeds, spinach, sea veggies, and more. 

Magnesium is a mineral that acts as a catalyst for so many areas of the body to function properly. We need it for regulating blood sugar, to eliminate properly, strength of the heart, for energy, as well strength and form of bones and teeth. The recommended daily allowance is 300-400mg.

 A vitamin D deficiency severely effects our magnesium levels. Be sure to supplement with a good vitamin D3 like pure drops in chocalciferol form or Garden of Life Raw D3. Most adults need at least 5000 IUs of D3 daily.

Magnesium deficiencies can be very dangerous. As you can see magnesium is a mineral found in plant foods. If yours or your child's diet is lacking in plant foods then you are highly likely to be deficient. Also depleted soils that are not mineral rich especially for conventionally grown crops is a problem. Organic or sustainably grown is a much better bang for your nutritional buck.

If you get headaches, have sleep issues, muscle or leg cramps, have chronic fatigue or nausea, you may be deficient.

Another super way to absorb magnesium is through the skin. This is easily done by using a magnesium gel or spray. Sure you can buy them, but they cost a ton. Here's how to make your own below.

Magnesium Spray

You'll need:

1/2 Cup Magnesium Chloride Flakes

1/2 Cup Distilled Water

4oz Glass Spray Bottle

Boil the water

Turn off the heat when it reaches a boil

Pour the flakes into the water

Stir until the flakes dissolve 

Let the water cool

Using a funnel pour the solution into the bottle

Once it's ready you can use it daily. The best place to spray it is on your stomach. You can spray it on your legs too. Use it after you shower or bathe so your pores are nice and open to receive it well. This is great for kids too! It's really difficult to get too much magnesium.

As always I'm your holistic health counselor, be healthy, be blessed, and be a good steward!

Get Up & Go Smoothie

It's a great morning and it's going to be a busy day for Kingdom Health and myself. We have such hectic lives! Taking advantage of super foods to super charge your day is an emphatic necessity. Our food supply has been so drained of nutrients due to genetic modification, chemicals/pesticides, and the manufacturing of lab created fake food like products that it's difficult to get authentic nutrition. 

Super foods are a great way to get a maximum health value on minimal amounts. I've done blog posts on my favorite superfoods before. There are several and truly there is debate about which foods should be classified as such. The foods are called super foods are named that way because their plant life hasn't been tainted like most crops.

Here is a favorite version of a super food smoothie that I love to drink. I'll list the basic benefits to each super food below. Try each super food out and see how they work in your body. Remember everyone is different. One person may do well with one food and another person may not react well to it at all.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Hempseed

2 Tbsp Raw Cacao Powder

1/2 Tbsp Ground Ceylon Cinnamon

1/2 Tbsp Chia seeds

3 Medjool Dates

1 Handful Goji Berries

1 Tsp Spirulina

2 Inch Hunk Peeled Raw Ginger

1 Tbsp Organic Gelatinized Maca Powder

Pinch of Ground Organic Cayenne 

1 1/2 Cups Filtered Water

1 Cup Ice

Basic Run Down of Nutrition:

Hempseed: complete plant protein, healthy gamma linoleic acid (that's a good fat), fiber

Cacao: (this is raw chocolate) energy, antioxidants

Ceylon Cinnamon: not all cinnamons are equal, this is the cinnamon with the most medicinal value for being anti-inflammatory and regulating blood sugar, its also naturally sweet and delicious

Chia Seeds: energy, omega 3 fatty acids, fiber, calcium

Medjool Dates: healthy sugar, fiber, just plain yummy

Goji Berries: iron, protein, fiber, encourages HGH (human growth hormone: the youth factor) to grow, libido stimulator

Spirulina: calcium, complete protein, iron, very detoxifying 

Ginger: anti-inflammatory, soothing to the gut, immune boosting, naturally warming, vitamin C

Maca: Peruvian root best used gelatinized meaning lightly steamed over raw due to digest ability and absorption, balances hormones, nourishes hypothalamus, energy, libido stimulator

Cayenne: naturally warming, regulates blood pressure, can be a natural blood thinner, improves circulation

Let me know if you try this out! Truly everything in this smoothie is optional. Play...see what your body needs and does well with then drink it up! Be healthy, be blessed, 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

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

I am so elated it is Autumn because of one word....Pumpkin! There are so many lovely varieties of this winter squash. It can be prepared in numerous fashions as well. What a joy to play in the kitchen!!! Pumpkins are so very nutritious in addition to being delicious! There is over half an ounce of fiber in one cup, 394 mg Potassium, 1.2 gr Protein, and 197% of the daily value of Beta-Carotene (precursor to Vitamin A). One handful of seeds is your zinc intake for the day.

Pumpkins are a versatile food. They can be eaten cooked or raw, savory or sweet. The seeds and flesh are edible. Getting our nutrition from our food, versus supplements is always a better route. There is not a supplement around, being an isolated portion of the food that will ever be just as good as the real deal.

Today I thought it would be fun to share a yummy recipe and video. Here is a great way to start your day...a Pumpkin Pie Smoothie! It includes "raw pumpkin puree." Watch the video to see how to make it!

Smoothie Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Raw Pumpkin Puree (organic canned will do)

1-2 inch Chunk Raw Ginger

1 Cup Whole Coconut Milk (homemade or organic BPA free canned by Native Forest) or Unsweetened Almond Milk (again homemade is best)

1/2 Tsp Raw Vanilla Bean Powder

1 Tsp Organic Allspice

1 Tsp Ceylon Cinnamon

1 Tsp Chia seeds

2-3 Tbsp Hempseeds

2 Medjool Dates

2 Cups of Ice

*Optional: 1 Tbsp Carob Powder

*Optional: 2 Tsp Maca (gelatinized)

Watch the video below to see how to make raw pumpkin purée!