Thursday, December 30, 2010

Family Time


     I hope you all soaked in the family love this holiday season. Sleeping in, eating a relaxed breakfast, late night games and movies and having my kids home have been a holiday blessing. I have enjoyed almost every moment of it. I love seeing the oldest (17) take the youngest (6 year old Tate) under his wing and teach him how to imagine. I came home one day to this note on the door from the 17-year-old who was home watching Tate. He was gone for two hours with Tate. He armed him with a sword, his crocs and pajamas. They hit the parks to slay dragons. They found a few Jedi Warriors (neighbor kids with light sabers) along the way to also fight. It was a great adventure and I was glad to see they had made it back alive. I had one of those mommy moments when my heart did a little flutter to see how cute kids can be sometimes. Especially teenager kids. I love to see my children play together and enjoy moments. Despite the bad raps teenagers can have, I have some pretty amazing ones. 


     I have been thinking lots about the New Year. I love to make resolutions. I love the chance to better myself or at least attempt it. Last year it was all about doing "Hard Things" and although I would still like to keep pushing this motto further, a new one is coming. I have only a few days left to put it to work. You are just going to have to wait until the New Year to find out.


     Along with that new idea is another new idea I have been thinking about....Hmmm. Yep. Your going to have to wait for that too. I don't want to miss another moment of my kids being home. We have games to play so I will talk a little further right after the New Year strikes.


Enjoy all the little moments. Take time to appreciate it all. Some of my favorite moments from this holiday season:



 ....Seeing the beautiful fall colors in Utah for Thanksgiving
 ......Seeing a super cute husband skate down the hills like he was a teenager.
 ......Tate wearing this elf hate for 8 days straight. He waited so patiently for present time!
.....Shooting in the desert with the family and watching the kids take shooting lessons from their dad. 


Good times had by all. Only a few days left before I ship them back to school. I think I will be ready by then. I am quite sure they will not be.


     

Monday, December 20, 2010

Getting Cultured: Kefir

Many of you probably have no idea what Kefir is or why in the world you would want this in your diet. The idea of taking on something new in the kitchen can be overwhelming until you understand why it is so important in our diet. I am fairly new to the "kefir" scene, maybe a year into the process and I will share all I know so you may also catch the "kefir bug" at your house.


What is kefir? The word "Kefir" actually comes from a Turkish word "Keif" which means "good feeling". Already sound good? Kefir is a cultured product meaning it is left to ferment to create the healthy organisms in the drink. It can be created from milk or water or even coconut water. It is an enyzme-rich food that contains an overabundance of friendly bacteria to help balance out our inner vessels. 


Kefir is better than yogurt for our bodies. It contains complete proteins, essential minerals and the much needed B vitamins.  We lack so much of this in our diets and with the overuse of antibiotics destroying our friendly bacteria in our systems, kefir will help restore that balance.


When our system is out of balance, meaning the bad bacteria overtakes the good bacteria, we become sick. Our bowels are irregular in most cases, we have yeast problems, allergies, skin issues, auto immune diseases and much more. The daily intake of kefir will help to heal our bodies.


In our house, we use water kefir and milk kefir daily. Although drinking milk kefir is very beneficial, we don't drink milk around here due to some allergies. The process of culturing milk kefir breaks down the lactose in the milk which is a main source of allergy but it still contains many other proteins as well and I am not ready to challenge that in a daily drink, yet. But, I know it is great in smoothies and many drink it daily without issue. For me , I use my milk kefir in any recipe calling for buttermilk, milk or sour cream. It makes the fluffiest and lightest baked goods around. I used it in my buttermilk syrup recipe, for my coleslaw and just about everything else I could think of. Since the kefir is cultured, it is so much easier to use by the body. This is true especially if you are using goats milk although a little stronger of a flavor. Milk kefir is so easy to do. It takes very little work. If you love using buttermilk than this would be a much better option for you. Finding buttermilk in the store that is free from additives is near impossible. This is just the straight milk but loaded with the good things. Of course, by cooking it you are killing much of the good bacteria but you are still getting the benefits of a cultured food for better digestion.


The water kefir is my favorite to drink. My friend Kara has me hooked. It becomes fizzy like a soda pop and when you add juice, it tastes like a sparkling juice. I always have some brewing on the counter and drink it daily as do my children. I have been experimenting with flavors; grape, lemon, cranberry lemon, apple, etc. Some have been better than others. 


How do you make kefir? It begins with kefir grains. You put them in the bottom of a glass container like a mason jar. I use the quart size for the milk kefir and the half gallon size for the water kefir. For the milk, you just add the milk (I prefer the raw milk) and give a little stir with a plastic or wood utensil. You then lightly cover and put it in a dark cupboard or closet. Usually within 24 hours or less you will have some thick and creamy kefir. The longer it sits, the thicker and more sour it gets so it is your choice. It is good to stir it a few times while culturing. You then strain the grains in a plastic colander and store the kefir in the fridge. You rinse the grains and begin again.


The water kefir feeds off of sugar. The sugar is broken down in the process so no need to worry about that. You want to use a sugar that is not processed. I use Sucanat  but you can use whatever you like. Coconut sugar won't work but you can use honey or any of the raw sugars. You cover the grains in water, add some sugar and let it sit for 24-48 hours. After that time period, you strain off the grains and then add juice to the kefir. I then let it sit for another 24 hour period to get good and fizzy. I then put it in the fridge to chill. The longer it sits out, the more alcohol you are making so just beware. Any food fermented has some alcohol, even a piece of ripe fruit. There is such a minimum amount in Kefir unless you let the fruit juice step to go beyond the 24 hours. 


If you are interested in becoming "cultured" around your house, I have lots and lots of water kefir grains and some of the milk kefir grains. I won't ship them but if you live around here, you can shoot me an email to come get some. They are $8 per tablespoon to get you started. They grow like crazy so you can share them as well. I will also give you complete instructions at that time. 


Seek knowledge. Don't be content where you are. The more I learn I realize the more I don't know. Isn't that exciting? 

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Healthify

I am on many different email lists for "health" sites. Some pretty good, some not so much. One email that I received last week made me a bit confused. It was from an "Eat Healthy" website with a cookie recipe. The title of the article was on "Healthifying" food. This recipe was called "Double Chocolate Cookies - Healthified". Sounded great. I took a look at the recipe and honestly wanted to call the website folks. It contained white flour, white sugar, etc. The only thing I could possibly see as better than any other ingredient was butter instead of shortening. What a waste of my time to even look at that email.

It is just another point and case that commercial America's idea of "healthy" is much different than what traditional "healthy" is. Once again, we can't trust a label. We need to be educated. We need to read labels, take extra steps. Now, if I were to healthify a cookie, it would have whole grains, non-refined sweeteners, cultured creams and pure chocolate. I am sure some mom out there made these cookies feeling like she was doing a great service to her kids. 

So, my healthy moms out there, I am offering you a service. I would love to help "healthify" your recipes if you have a favorite that is need of doctoring. Just send me an email with the recipe and I will see what I can do. I will give you options so you can go as healthy as you want.

I am going to start with my favorite salad recipe. I love the sweet vinaigrette salads. What is not to love -  you cover your greens with sugar. However, who wants to ruin good nutrition with sugar! I took my dressing recipe and made it sugar free. Don't even think for a minute that is like the "sugar free" claims you will see at the store. Commercially that just means you are putting in a synthetic sweetener in it's place. Not here. It means we are using natural sweeteners your body will appreciate. 



This is pretty much what the dressing contains other than a little salt a pepper. 

1/2 C. expeller pressed grape seed oil
2 T. white wine vinegar
1/4 cup real fruit jam of choice (used fig this time)
1/2 t. Celtic salt
1/4 t. pepper


Blend and chill. 


I love the St. Dalfour jams that come in all sorts of different flavors. Some of them are not organic but another good organic choice is Crofter's jam. They use White Grape Juice for the sweeteners. They make a perfect sweet taste for the dressing.


For the salad, I used baby spinach, baby romaine, apple slices, craisins, feta, baby thin sliced cucumbers and some candied almonds.


For the candied nuts, you can make these "healthified" as well. 


You can use 1 T. butter and 1 T. honey sauteed with nuts until made into toffee. Or another choice is you can whip egg whites and add a little honey. Toss over nuts for a light coat and dehydrate. Soak nuts overnight first and dehydrate for even better nutrition. 


Eat Healthy. Pure and simple.






Friday, December 10, 2010

Words from a 109 year old man

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/10/are-you-using-this-powerful-antiaging-secret.aspx

If you haven't heard of Bernardo LaPallo then it would be worth your time to listen to this healthy 109 year old. He lives here in AZ and can teach us all a thing or two about living a healthy life. He looks like he is barely 70 and has not been sick a day in his life. 


This particular interview is from Mercola's sight so there  is a script from Mercola as well, take that for what it's worth. But, the interview is great. You can also check him out on You Tube for more interviews. He has written a few books, one when he was 108! 

Monday, December 6, 2010

Lemon Cilantro Hummus

Snacks are always hard for me around my house. I am not a snacker at all but my kids are always hungry. 3 meals a day will never do. They come home from school acting as if they hadn't seen food in months. Since I don't have lots of boxes of processed snacks, snacks take effort. I think a snack should be a good apple or banana but they can only eat so many. I find that if I don't have something set out, they will reach for any quick, box type food they can find. I am trying to have good healthy choices set out. I try to have a smoothie to start with. Today I made some lemon cilantro hummus and some stove popped popcorn in coconut oil. I had lots of extra kids over and they devoured the popcorn. Only mine ate the hummus. It looked like foreign food to the others. I am sure they would have liked it if they only tried. I ate more than my share of the hummus. I used to always get the Lemon Cilantro Hummus at Fresh and Easy but the store next to me went out of business. I worked on this recipe and it tastes just like the little container I would purchase from the store. 

Hummus is  such a good snack to eat. It has protein and is low in fat. It is especially healthy with whole wheat pita's and some vegetables. It is about the easiest thing to whip together and you can make all sorts of varieties. To me, its one of those things you can eat too much of and get sick of so I take a break now and then. I am just off my break and could lick the whole bowl. I didn't, though. Manners.


Try it out. 


Lemon Cilantro Hummus

2 Cups cooked garbanzo beans or 1 can, drained
1/8 Cup tahini paste
1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp cumin
3 T. Olive Oil
1 T. chopped jalapeno pepper. Use seeds if you want in hotter or use jarred jalapenos.
1/4 bunch chopped Cilantro, stems removed
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. Sucanat or other sweetener
1 tsp. Celtic or other sea salt

Combine all in blender and blend until smooth. Add more salt or lemon juice as desired. 

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Shopping around

Thanks to good friends who send info my way, I have been finding some pretty good deals lately. I am impressed that many stores are now carrying organic and pesticide free products. I think the world is wising up just a little. I will take what I can get.


Here are some deals that I have been finding:


Walmart now has Grass fed , organic cheese. It is in the packaged cheese section in a bar. It is great cheese! Remember, we want our animal products grass fed, not corn fed, just like nature intended.


Coscto and Walmart carry tomatoes and baby cucumbers that are pesticide free from Wilcox, AZ! They are delicious and as cheap as the pesticide-loaded tomatoes and cukes.


Costco carries lots of organic products now like baby spinach, frozen organic peaches, fresh raspberries and much more.


Sprout's carries Rudi's organic bread for less than other commercial bread and it is even on sale right now.


Walmart has packaged organic figs, great for sweetening recipes!


Groupon is offering a $5 credit to anyone buying their first Groupon until December 7th, click below for the offer. They are in most states- great Christmas gifts.


http://www.groupon.com/r/uu6393115


Do you have some deals to share? Let me know.


Also, I am ordering supplements in the morning if you need anything. If you want to learn about zinc, check out Terri's post yesterday, below. I was just about to post on zinc when I saw she already did it for me. It is one of my regular supplements everyday. It is especially important for hormone production!


http://thirning.blogspot.com/2010/11/importance-of-zinc.html




It is $20 per liquid bottle. 

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Taking Care



5 out of the 9 of these little monkeys are mine. They are all adorable. I love them all to pieces. I want them to keep growing strong and healthy and free from all the disease in the world. Problem is....they are making choices. One of them even drives. Many of the others have bikes and can ride to the store themselves with their very own money.


What that means is that I don't have control. They are going to buy treats. They are going to go to lunch at fast food places. They are going to break all the food rules I have at one time or another. That is just the honest truth.


I have been thinking about that today and wondering what my defense will be. How will I counteract that? 


Two things:


Education  
&
Overcompensation


I was talking with a mom today with two very young children. She was talking about this lingering cough the 2-year-old had , his rounds of antibiotics and confusion over what to do. She was tired of always being in the Dr.'s office. It reminded me of my early days with my first child. I did the same thing. I didn't know what to do and I relied on the Dr. for all the info regarding this child's health. Boy have I come a long way. I have been "educated" and my children have been greatly blessed for it. The antibiotics stopped with the first one and my eyes were opened from that point on. I want to do all in my power to shed all the light and knowledge I have  upon my children so they will make good choices because they realize it is what they need to do for their body; not what their mom wants them to do.


I had to chuckle inside the other night when I was talking to my son about some acne on his teenage face. I was telling him we should do a liver cleanse to help clear it up a bit and he said,


    "It is just because I ate real bad this weekend; my acne is related to what I eat."


Why this is so funny is because I have told this to him for years and he wouldn't believe me at all. Now, it was like it was his idea! The brainwashing is working.


Now onto overcompensating. I am going to fill them to the brim with all the fighting power of nutrients I can while they are in my grasps each day. I will arm them with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals so when they are chugging down the illegal 32 oz or dish of fast food Orange chicken, they will be armed to get it out of their system. 


I love the smoothies as you know and do them pretty regularly in the morning but after really reading the "Green Smoothie Diet", I am committing to morning and night green smoothies and as much raw goodness in between. It is my defense system. I just finished reading this book and every one really should read it. It is full of information that makes you want to change your life to eating better and downing the green drinks. Thanks Green Smoothie Girl! It is the best $10-$12 dollar purchase you will make this week. Check out Amazon for the best deals out there. See my previous smoothie post for a link.


I am amazed at how many children are allowed to not eat their veggies. It is truly an act of love to make them eat those greens. They will learn to like them but only if you persist. 


I had my grandparents over last night and served a big salad with our pasta. My grandfather is 89 and still will hardly eat a veggie. My grandmother told my mother today that she was amazed that all my children ate salad, like it was some Christmas miracle. 


Be the mean mom and make them eat what is on their plate. 


If you also have a problem getting down the veggies, take the Green Smoothie challenge: 30 days of 1 full quart of green smoothie daily. You can drink it anytime during the day but you must drink it all. After the 3o days, see the difference in your life. Use all different sorts of produce with at least 50 percent veggies. No sugar. For the kids, 1 pint a day will work. 


The new year is coming. Time to reevaluate and change the paths of life. Arm the kids with fighting power and knowledge. Arm yourself with energy and vitality. What better thing is there? 


Say no to drugs. Say yes to greens. 

















London's Run

If you sign up today for London's Run, the 10K price is only $20!! Prices go up on December 1st. They also have a half marathon and a 2 mile fun run. Love to see you there! Who's in with me? 


Sign up here:  http://www.londonsrun.org/registration.html

Monday, November 29, 2010

Drink it up

This is what should greet you each and every morning. This should be your "go juice", or as we call it in our family; our "Super Juice." It is a glass full of all you need to get the engine running and the immune system pumping. It is enough vitamins and minerals to kick the daily FDA out of the park. It is so very easy but so many just don't do it. 

We are talking green smoothies. You can change the green to pink with some berries so the kiddies don't even know your little green secret. You can put just about anything you have in the fridge into this concoction and make it as healthy as you like. The important thing is that you make it a daily routine. 

I love supplements but supplements should be exactly that: a supplement not a replacement. You should do your best to get your nutrition from food, not a pill. The pills are used when you are lacking nutrients or need to catch the body up when the system isn't working right. If you use fresh, organic veggies and fruits in abundance each day, your body will praise you by supplying you with health and vitality. 

I don't really go for taste anymore when I make smoothies because my gang will drink anything I throw at them now but if you are still trying to win over the masses, here is a basic smoothie recipe that can be altered any way:


Frozen berries or fruit, try to use organic as possible or fresh frozen yourself.


Raw spinach, a good handful


A banana or two for creaminess and sweetness


chunk of cabbage


Flax seed meal or oil


Any other fruit and veggies you want


Add some ice and some natural juice like orange, apple or pineapple; no sugar added, organic if possible.


Blend up and drink right away!


You can also add some Kefir or yogurt if you like to cream it up. I love to make mine really green with kale, bok choy, cucumbers, etc. I also add some carrots sometimes and lemon.  Possibilities are endless. Whatever it takes to get them down.


I love the info given by the Green Smoothie Girl
on her website and love what she does in her home. She drinks a quart a day and fills up a pint jar for each of her kids in the morning. They have to drink it by the end of the day. Of course, drinking it right away is best for the nutrition factor but get it down anyway you can. I just bought her book with ideas on amazon.



It is a great place to start. 

Smoothies should be a part of every ones lifestyle. When I do classes with moms just starting out, they always tell me there is no way their child will drink it. I make some up and without fail, every single child there will drink it and usually ask for more. You can't taste the spinach and with the berries and a good blender, you can't even see the green at all. 

Juicing is also a great way to start the day and a good way to use up garden leftovers. It uses way more produce but it also gives you more nutrients per cup. We rotate around here depending on what we have on hand.

Use produce in season. Use fresh and organic. You may spend a little more on produce but  you will save at the Dr. You are so worth it! 

Drink up!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Being Thankful

It is Thanksgiving week, my very favorite holiday of the year. I get sad at the fact that it is so covered up by Christmas. The stores are full of "Christmas" way too early thus, cutting us short of the Thanksgiving season. I don't like to even touch Christmas until I have celebrated my Thankful season, even if that means I get to cram gift buying into a few weeks. 


Thanksgiving is family, relaxation, food, gratefulness. No stress of gifts or fitting in all the parties. It is just a perfect week and I am already daydreaming about sleeping in and pumpkin pies.


Gratitude is so very important and I think that it is something that many of us don't pay enough homage to. Sometimes I think we get caught up in the hard times of this world; job issues, financial strain, our political system, family issues. We forget how really wonderful we have it. We are blessed simply by living in American, if nothing else. There isn't a morning I don't come down my stairs and think what a beautiful house I have. It isn't very big or decorated perfectly, but it is a beautiful home to me. A home that feels like a home where my children love to bring friends and hang out in. I am blessed indeed. I don't want to ever not be thankful for my life.


I want to remember some of the things I am thankful for this year and hope you are all taking a moment to write some of your "thanks" for the year. Here's a bit of my list:


My children
My husband who serves me daily 
My parents, in laws, great SIL's and brother in law
Grandparents
Eating lunch with my grandparents on Wednesday
My new toaster oven
Green smoothies
My garden
My house
My friends who lift me up and teach me to serve
My great visiting teachers
The Internet
Living in Gilbert
My children's good friends
The new LDS temple being built in Gilbert
My scriptures
The gospel of Jesus Christ
My savior
The opportunity to serve
My brain still able to learn and retain
My strong, healthy body
My husband's job
Ability to buy organic food and local produce
All my kitchen gadgets and cookware
Flip flops
Endless recipe's online
Being able to stay home with my children
My children's healthy bodies
That Tate can now say, "No thank you, mom" clear as day.
Az weather
The Backyard Farmer delivering organic produce to my door.
Church leaders
Personal revelation and inspiration
Natural Medicine
The beauty of nature
Clean windows and floors
Mulled cider candles
Sweet potatoes
Liberty Market restaurant
My cute preschool kids
Good Jeans
My blogging friends




......That's just a touch of it. I am just so thankful for life. What a blessed person I am. 


Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have lots to share but will just have to wait until after I celebrate my Thankful days.


Be grateful. 

Groupon deal of the day

If you haven't looked at Groupon yet, go check it out. I get all sorts of deals by clicking on the daily deals. Last week  I bought coupons to Iruna in Scottsdale: spend $20 get $40 in food, a groupon to a new gourmet sandwich shop in Mesa for $10, getting $20 in food and today I just bought a groupon to Nordstrom's rack for $25, getting $50 in merchandise. Super deals. They have a groupon for different states. Great Christmas presents! 


For today's groupon, click here:http://www.groupon.com/r/uu6393115


It's Christmas shopping time! 

Friday, November 19, 2010

Thanks to all who called

Thanks to all who made calls and sent emails yesterday on the Tester-Hagan amendment. It passed and was attached to the bill. Our small farms are a bit safer but we still need help to defeat the whole bill. See Terri's post today for additional details. Fight for our food rights. Don't let America keep going down this road to total food destruction. 


Terri's post at here

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Need your help....Call AZ senators today.

Terri posted this today and we need to take action so we can protect our small, local farmers. Please....take a minute today.

Help protect small farmers and growers

There is legislation that is being negotiated today that, if passed without this amendment would severely cripple local growers. I for one am much more comfortable buying my family's food from local growers whom I can meet, ask about their growing procedures, etc. than I am the giant food producers who see our food simply as dollars going out the door. Our food supply should be diverse, as it was intended to be, and we should have local options available to us. Consumers should make the choice to support small, local growers if we want. Legislation should not mandate unrealistic requirements suited to large scale producers, it would effectively shut down most local growers. If legislators want to "protect" our food supply they should focus on things like removing the hidden sources of MSG (a known neurotoxin and chemical designed to addict people to their food) and other chemicals that most consumers don't even know about rather than shutting down the local farmers who are producing the real, healthy food we should be eating. Call your senator today and ask them to support the Tester-Hagan Amendment!! Here are links explaining the issue more.

Letter from an organization supporting the Tester-Hagan Amendment.

Information on what the existing legislation would require and what the Tester-Hagan Amendment would change.

For those in Arizona, our Senators are:

John McCain (602) 952-2410
Jon Kyl (602) 840-1891

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Nuking

years ago when we were poor college students, we lived in apartment without a microwave. With little money and little kitchen space, we decided to not get a microwave. I wondered how we would thaw food. It amazed me how very little I missed it and somehow we made it for 2 years without a microwave. It took a little planning ahead for meals sometimes but it worked. 


We have one now and it is used to reheat and thaw on occasion. I have never cooked in it and would never treat it like an "oven" to prepare meals but, I put in a frozen muffin or thaw butter now and then.


However, thanks to one of my great friends, Terri, who knows lots and lots, she has reminded me today on her blog that I need to quit the microwave altogether. Take a moment and read her post and listen the the video. Ignorance will never save us. I love to hear how other countries ban things and in America we keep it around. The Soviet Union banned the microwave in the 70's. Why do we insist on killing ourselves in America through indulgence? Listen also closely to the information about heating up baby formula in the microwave and what it does to the ingredients. Funny how they have always said to not heat up breast milk as it will kill the nutrients. Why is it any different from any other food?


Many of us are trying really hard to have good foods in our home. We go through the effort to buy organic, grow it, cook it and learn what our bodies need and then we nuke it. We destroy what is good. I love these little reminders and although some days I wish I didn't know anything, I am sure glad I have ladies out there to remind me. We all need support groups. We all need pep talks. 


Nuking is out. Guess I need to go get a toaster oven again. Maybe I will tell Santa.


Read Terri's post here:thirning.blogspot.com/2010/11/dangers-of-microwaving-food.html


From another reader, Earth Mama, read here:http://aspiringearthmama.blogspot.com/2010/09/microwave-free-living.html


Few minutes later.....




Since I am one to dive in all the way when I learn and decide to make changes, this is what I just bought: (love the internet, couldn't wait for Santa.)















Don't really know where I am going to put it but I am excited for that brown box to come, nonetheless. You can even dehydrate in it! It has a defrost feature so that is my main draw and a way to heat up some left overs without heating up the whole oven.Had to have it....for the kids health, you know.


Sunday, November 14, 2010

My Veteran's Day

I didn't have anything on the calendar for Veteran's Day since the little ones were home and I needed to be available to meet their every desires. However, turns out they didn't need me. Other than Tate, they had friends they wanted to hang with and had the day already planned out. On some occasions this would make me a little sad that I was second to friends but this day, I was a bit glad that I was going to have a day to get to some things I was itching to conquer. First thing: Cheese. I have wanted to make cheese. I have the kit in the pantry already to go. I read the instructions, I picked up my goats milk. I just needed time. Today was the day and magically....it happened. A total success. Take a gander:




Now before you are too impressed with me, it was so incredibly easy. The total time from milk to cheese was maybe 30 minutes. It is mozzarella cheese but since I used raw goats milk, my husband calls it "goatsarella". Cute. It has perfect texture and melts beautifully. I can taste a little hint of "goat" on it but when paired with flavor, you loose it. The best thing about it is that since you only heat the milk to 105 degrees, you are still keeping it raw. Unfortunately it takes 1 gallon of milk to make one pound and that makes this little pound a bit expensive. But, nonetheless, I made it. It is as healthy as it gets for cheese and it was great with some sun dried tomato pesto and crackers or paired with some Bruschetta on the french bread I made with the goats milk whey leftover from the cheese making process. Didn't want to waste that good nutrition. It was equally as easy to make and quite tasty. Only downfall is that I used more white flour that I would have if I had some more sprouted flour on hand. I am sure it was better with the white flour anyways but my gut would have appreciated more wheat. 




I then made some yummy salsa from my produce delivered from the Backyard Farmer to my doorstep. It was divine. It felt wonderful to stay in my kitchen and get some things done without being so rushed.


I then had the privilege to be able to clean about every surface in my house with my very favorite new cleaning mixture. You need to come smell my house...really. I am just about out of the Spice of Life oil I use to clean with since it is still on back order so I had to concoct something new. I put about 10 drops of grapefruit seed extract and 10 drops of peppermint oil in a 16 oz spray bottle of water. I gave it a good shake and went to town. It smells like a peppermint stick around my house and when paired with a microfiber towel, every surface was clean. It works on windows better than anything out there. Best part is that you can drink it and be a better person for it. I use it on my preschool kiddos hands at snack time to disinfect without harming them. No antibacterial gel around my house. Total harmful stuff. 


It was a good day. I got to end it by attending the Mindy Gledhill benefit concert with my sweet daughter and SIL and her daughter. I love days when you are not rushed and get to stay home and just do what makes you smile. I guess cheese does it for me and  clean windows. I am a simple woman.


Hope you had a fun day as well! 


Business notes: My morning classes are full. I have some openings for the Tuesday afternoon classes only.


I am ordering supplements on Monday evening so I can get them in before I head out of town for Thanksgiving. Please email me asap if you will want something for the next two weeks. If you want to try the peppermint oil and Grapefruit seed extract, prices are $16 for peppermint and $12.50 for GSE. Grapefruit seed extract is a wonderful thing to add to your kitchen cabinet. 


Some applications:


Throat gargle
Face wash
Produce wash
sanitizer
helps to kill yeast problems
Works to help kill nail fungus
Nasal and ear rinse


****Check out today's groupon for a great new sandwich shop in Dana Park in Mesa:


http://www.groupon.com/r/uu6393115


$10 for $20 worth of gourmet sandwiches. Great lunch date. Just click on "recent deals" for all of today's selections. 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

2011 Playtime Classes

I can't even believe we are talking 2011 already but it is around the corner. Crazy. 

Anyways, just letting you all know that I will have one more afternoon playtime class opening up starting in January if I can get it filled.

The new class is Tuesday afternoons from 12-2pm. It is for little ones ages 2 1/2 to 4. I will take a little younger if they do well away from mama. The fee is $35 per month with a $20 supply fee.

I also have one opening in my Thursday am class and one in my Thursday pm class.

Let me know asap if you are interested so I can see if this class is a go! I am in Gilbert on Higley and Elliot. Your child does not need to be potty trained. If you want to know more about what "Playtime" is....just shoot me an email at goodman-7@cox.net.

Thanks! Hope you had a great Veteran's Day. I will show you what I did tomorrow.