Vaccines??

I'm due to have a baby...any day now would be great. I'm choosing NOT to vaccinate my children and it's something I was set on way before I was even ready to start poppin' out the babes. Recently, a friend of mine showed me NVIC.org. I have been perusing through this site a little at a time. If you're one that's on the fence about vaccines, check out this site. You might deicde vaccines are for you and you may decide they are not. I personally recommend you read this flyer. And as always, go out and search and decide for yourself. I read enewsletters all the time from different sources (sources that are non-profit, independent, and, I believe, trustworthy) and I become more and more convinced vaccines are more dangerous than they are helpful. Like this about the flu shot, this one on 'possible' autism links, or this one on infant mortality and vaccines.

Other sites:
ThinkTwiceGlobal
VacBook.com
Natural Society

Pesticides in Produce

Check out the EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Help yourself to limit the amount of pesticides ingested through the food you buy!

Exercise of the Week: 21's

21's: 21's can be done with any muscle exercise. It is commonly done with the bicep curl. To do this exercise, grab a dumbbell weight that is medium heavy. If you use a resistance band, make sure to allow yourself room for full range of movement but tight enough that you will feel the burn! With knees slightly bent, feet shoulder-width apart and abs tight, take the weight in your hand with your elbows in to your side and palms facing forward. Curl the weight up to mid-way - your elbows should be at a 90 degree angle. Lower the weight and repeat for 7 reps. At the 7th rep, keep the weight at mid-way and curl the weight all the way up to your chest/shoulders. Lower the weight back down only to MID-WAY. Repeart for 7 reps. At the 7th rep, lower the weight all the way down again and perform a bicep curl with full range of movement for another 7 reps. You bicep should be feeling the burn by the time you get to this last set and you should have completed 21 reps all in succession.

Simple Salad

Salads don't have to be difficult. Sure, it's great when you can add plenty of powerful veggies, nuts/seeds, sprouted legumes and so forth. But the other day I wasn't in the mood to cut up a hundred different vegetables and just wanted something light and easy.

This is what I came up with:

Fresh mozzarella and roma tomato, sliced on top of a bed of sweet baby lettuce mix and drizzled with a light balsamic vinagraitte (no the dressing wasn't homemade but I intend to try that out soon!). It was delish!

Make Your Own Almond Milk!

I love Almond Milk.

Besides the fact that Almond Milk is silky and nummy, I very strongly believe the cow's milk, especially the processed homogenized, pasteurized, hormone-filled milk that fills America's refrigerators, is incredibly dentrimental and hazardous to our health. I have witnessed it several times and done my research and there is nothing 'healthy' about store-bought milk contrary to what the Milk ads constantly throw in your face. That's all propaganda, folks, intent on one thing: sales.

But I digress. Let's move on to the recipe. One of the benefits of making your own almond milk is that it's really very simple, you know exactly what's going in it, and as the words organic and 100% natural become more of a trend, you need to be aware of companies who falsely label their products (yes, it happens) to bring you these items filled with things that are anything but organic and natural so that they can make a quick buck.

Almond Milk

4-5 cups spring or filtered water

1 cup almonds, soaked overnight

1 tsp vanilla extract (for flavor)

a few dates or 1/4 cup Agave, for sweetness

*you don't have to add the dates or the agave. Also, there have been times when I have just sprinkled in a small amount of Stevia and Cinnamon and shook it up into the milk later. Makes it super sweet ;)

** you will also need a fine strainer or sieve, a large-ish bowl, and a glass container to store your milk.This recipe is actually very quick and simple once your almonds have had a good soak. Takes me about ten mintues is all :)

This is what soaked almonds look like. See how plump they are?

Look at the difference between soaked almonds and regular almonds (right):

I always throw a few extra nuts into the soak because I can't resist nibbling on them when I open the refrigerator. Soaked almonds are actually very good for you!

Take your cup of soaked almonds and throw them in a blender or food processor along with all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth. I don't have a stellar blender and so I use my food processor. However, my food processor will leak a lot of liquids so I usually start out with all the ingredients and only 1 cup of water until everything is chopped to fine bits and then I gradually add a cup at time and then 'pulse' for a few seconds to blend it all together.

It should look like this when your done:

Doesn't that frothy goodness make you want to go make some right now?


Then you need to take a fine sieve or strainer and a large bowl to strain the milk:

Pour your milk into the strainer over your bowl:

And then you will end up with 'almond meal'. I like to press down on the meal to extract as much water as possible and then I save the almond meal to go on top of salads or yogurt.

Then pour your the milk from the bowl into a glass container that you can store your milk in. It will keep for about 5 to 6 days and is delicious over oatmeal, buckwheat cereal and the likes:

See? Easy-peasy! Now go make some of your own and be proud of how 'natural' you can be :)

I've Been Thinkin'....

Lately I've been experiencing inner turmoil, dread, and overwhelming anxiety. Why the doom and gloom?? While, yes, it does have something to do with the most recent disaster in Japan and the radioactive plume that is inevitably coming our way, it also has to do with the government and their control over our food supply, the dwindling supply of nutrient-dense soil, the dwindling supply of fossil water, etc, etc, etc. It feels like disaster is everywhere. When I read and research to try to prepare my food storage and medicine storage, I get more and more discouraged at the vast amount knowledge I need to have. I feel like there is too much for me to possibly retain!!!

There is going to come a time when we experience food shortage. A lot of people know this and prepare for it. A lot of people have no clue. And what is extremely sad is that gardening and harvesting your own food is pratically a lost art. It's ridiculous of me to even say it's a lost art. Maybe not so much in the more rural areas of the country where farming and growing food is the way of life. But for cities where there are people packed on top of people, gardening and harvesting is a lost art. Why learn it when you can walk down the block or drive down the street and get any kind of nutrient-dead, processed, chemically-laden food in a box or a bag? I know I have been affected by this. My parents have alway done a garden my whole life, thankfully, so I feel like I am not too far behind however, I am still feel as if what I know is not enough and am trying desperately to catch up on knowledge that I should have acquired years ago.

It seems so foreign to me now that we rely on big companies to grow, process, package our food and then ship to us where we just buy it, happily thinking it will always be there. Somewhere along the way, knowledge of how to sustain yourself naturally has been lost to most of the population. It frightens me. Because for those who do grow and store their own food, they are going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep it once everyone else has run out of theirs.

And don't you find it funny that natural, organic food that you buy is more expensive and less available than the alternative? It's outrageous when you think about it. Natural food is what we were born to consume - it's our right as a human being to be able to eat food as it was meant to be. That we even have to label things organic instead of everything being grown the way it should be. I could go on and on and on!!!! I am so frustrated with the state of this country, with my own lack of knowledge, and with everyone else who points fingers at those who believe that nature has a cure for everything and then go right to the store to fill up on corn dogs and frozen pizza and soda pop (right after the visit to the doctor where they are told they have diabetes, clogged arteries, arthritis, etc and stop by the local pharmacy to fill up on toxic, poisonous drugs). What is wrong with this picture?? I could scream from the frustration it causes me.

Brussel Sprouts

Yummy Yummy Brussel Sprouts! Tiny little versions of cabbage heads that are soooo wonderfully delicious and nutritious :)

• Brussel sprouts contain phytonutrients that help our body to promote the production of enzymes involved in detoxification.
• Like all veggies, it can help you fight cancer....isn't amazing how all the cancer-fighting properties are found in the raw form of veggies that come from our Earth?? It's the way we are meant to eat!
• They have cholesterol-lowering benefits
• It's chalk-full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants! Just check out the chart below!

(chart taken from whfoods.com)

For even more info on the benefits of brussel sprouts visit here.

Fluoride Reduction

Visit Pure Water Freedom here:

http://purewaterfreedom.com/osc/remove_fluoride.php


for some tips on reducing your fluoride intake.


Why is this important? Because sodium fluoride is a poison!! 1 part per million more than doubles the chance of bone cancer in boys and men! And there has been 900 parts per million has been found in powdered eggs!! Can you believe that?? Fluoride causes sterility, reduces IQ's and the list goes on and on! Nazi's used to add sodium flouride to the water of their prisoners to make them more docile! And the fact that it is in our water is FORCED MEDICATION - and should be against the law! But it's not only in our water and toothpaste, it's been added to hundreds of products including baby products which is completely unneccessary and with all this extra flouride to 'save our teeth', there is a whopping amount of children with dental fluorosis - a condition where they receive TOO MUCH fluoride and their teeth are being damaged.

Visit this website:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/sodium-fluoride-poison-in-the-tap-water.html
for some more facts about the dangers of fluoride.

Dave's Direct = The Best Meat I Have Ever Tasted!

Technology can be such a wonderful thing! Months and months ago, I received an invitation from a Facebook friend to "Like" a Facebook page called 'Freebies 2 Deals'. I looked at it and couldn't decide if I wanted to or not and so I left it alone and then forgot all about it. Well I decided it was about time to go and clear out invites I didn't want since they were piling up and I came across that one again. I decided to like it and am I ever glad I did!! I would glance over all the deals that Freebies 2 Deals would post and I either didn't need it or didn't want to go through the trouble. And then, blessedly, I happened upon a deal for Dave's Direct. Check out the website STAT!

Dave's Direct does only ALL-NATURAL, HORMONE-FREE, ANTIBIOTIC-FREE meats!! Ahhhh, now your talkin' my language Freebies 2 Deals! Their piedmontese beef (a double-muscled cattle) interested me immediately and I browsed through all their packages offered. You can even build your own package to meet your own taste. And GREAT prices is the cherry on top!

So, I talked to the Husband about making the purchase and ten minutes later I had a Friends and Family package ordered. They can deliver to your house but I opted for the pickup since it's cheaper. Lucky me they had the pickup just the following morning at the Thanksgiving Point Golf Club House in Lehi, UT and I made my order just in time!

An extremely friendly Christine helped me out and gave me information and even had a ribeye and all natural chicken breast on the grill!! I tried them both and I thought I died and gone to heaven! Why? Because meat that hasn't been pumped full of fillers and dyes and hormones and antibiotics is REALLY tender and flavorful!! Most people have no idea what they are missing. The only seasonings used was a little salt, pepper and garlic powder. The piedmontese rib-eye was FIVE-STAR. Delicious.

I truly wish that we didn't live in a country where an FDA or USDA exists - that there would be no one to outlaw drinking raw milk and squak about those who grow organic crops and meat - something we should be free to do as we please. Everyone would be incredibly healthier without people to decide for us what we take into our bodies. Grow your own gardens, even the smallest bit helps! And try to buy local and organic wherever possible.

I plan on giving Dave's Direct my business...I recommend you try them out and see the difference for yourself!

Exercise of the Week: Stability Ball Wall Squats

Exercise of the Week

Stability Ball Wall Squats: This exercise is so versatile. If you don't have a stability ball then just do it with your back against the wall. With your feet shoulder-width apart, and the ball between the wall and the small of your back, slowly lower yourself into a squat position until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Go even lower to really trigger those butt muscles. Slowly raise back to start position. You can also keep this stationary. Lower yourself into that squat position (with or without ball) and hold that pose for as long as you can. Not as easy as it sounds!!

Teach 'Em Early!

I have this cooking blog that I absolutely love to check in on. It's a smorgesborg of great looking food at For the Love of Cooking. She recently posted about an awesome trip where her children were invited to be a part of Frigidaire campaign called Kids (good-for-you) Cooking Academy. I thought I'd share this because I love the message: get kids involved in the kitchen early! Teach them how to prepare healthy food so they know HOW instead of reaching for easy to eat foods from boxes and packages! They are more likely to grow up and keep those good for you cooking habits!! Even Jennifer Garner realizes this and she was there to help out in the kitchen!!