Hot Fudge and Caramel Sauce.

Let me first warn you, there is nothing at all healthy about this post. My SIL just called and wanted me to give her my hot fudge and caramel sauce recipes. I thought it would be nice if I just shared it with everyone. I mean.....we can't be healthy all the time and it is homemade, not the bottled up plastic versions. For me, these sauces are drinkable. The ice cream is just the means to get to the sauce. The more the merry. Unfortunately, my older, more mature stomach can't handle the cream well so it is a rare occasion I make this. Serve this at a party and you are a hit. The smell is just too much to handle. OOOOH, hot fudge. I miss you so.

Hot Fudge Sauce

3/4 C. semisweet chocolate pieces

1/4 C. butter
2/3 C. Sugar
2/3 C evaporated milk

In a saucepan, melt chocolate and butter. Add the sugar, gradually then stir in milk. Bring to a boil stirring constantly then reduce heat. Boil gently over low heat for 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Serve warm over ice cream. Makes about 1 1/2 Cups sauce.

Caramel Sauce

1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 T. cornstarch
1/3 C. light cream
2 T. light corn syrup (I know, horrible. moderation girls)
1 T. butter
1/2 t. vanilla

In a saucepan mix sugar and cornstarch. Stir in 1/4 c water. Stir in cream and corn syrup. Cook and stir till bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm over ice cream or with fruit.

Got Acne? Think Zinc.

Our skin is our largest organ. It tells the story of what lies beneath it's surface. The idea then,(that many Dr.'s even subscribe to) that what we eat doesn't affect how our skin looks, is ridiculous. The skin is the storyteller. It lets us know when something is wrong inside. But, many of us just want to cover it up with a quick fix. We want the magic solution in a cute little jar to cover it up. Listen to the skin. It just might be telling you something.

Today's skin topic will be on acne. Nobody likes it. Nobody wants it but nonetheless, it plagues many. It seems to surge at the time the hormones first drop by to visit and can reappear anytime later; stress, pregnancy, menopause. Those little acne visits just maybe a deficiency in your body screaming at you to make amends. We all know that diet can attribute to how our skin looks. If you think about the person you know with the best skin, chances are they don't pound down a box of donuts. Some are just blessed but that usually only lasts so long. However, even if you are a good eater, you may still have problems with acne.

In America's diet today, we lack many nutrients that were once abundant. Our soils are now depleted of some of the rich minerals it once contained. Especially zinc. Zinc has a huge effect on the skin. It has been studied greatly but how many of you have even heard about zinc for the skin? Any Dr.'s tell you? Probably not. It is cheap. No money is really to be made on it. Drugs sell, not supplements.

There was a Swedish study in 1977 on the effects of zinc on acne. It was overwhelming. 64 patients took part in the study all with acne problems. They were divided in 4 groups given different supplements and a placebo. The zinc groups came out on top every time. After only four weeks on zinc therapy, 65 percent of their pimples cleared and after 12 weeks, 87 percent disappeared. The evidence was overwhelming. To quote the Swedish study, "Zinc's effect on acne, even in its severe inflammatory state, is "remarkable". Those in the study took 45 mg of zinc, three times per day. They noted that they did just fine on lower doses than taken in the study.

There are other supplements that are important for skin health. Vitamin A, Biotin and Cod Liver oil. A good liver cleanse is also very helpful. It is very important to get a good quality supplement. If you don't , you may just be wasting your money or even causing harm to your body. You also need to remember that fixing the skin is not an overnight fix. It takes time and patience. Allow a good month to really see a difference. It may work quicker but allow the time. My daughter just started with acne and immediately got on zinc and Biotin. Here face is clearing up beautifully. Too bad teenage son doesn't like to take the supplements. He is missing out!

If you would like to try out supplements for your skin, a recommended amount of zinc would be 50 mg daily; One tsp. of Cod Liver oil daily and 5 mg of Biotin daily. Zinc should be in the chelated form, as a liquid or as Zinc Picolinate. Cod Live oil I recommend is by Carlson's. It tastes like lemon lime and is of great quality - very important so you don't get mercury.

New Beginnings prices are as follows:

Zinc in liquid form (preferred method) $20
Zinc in tablet form $14
Carlson's Cod Liver Oil $32
Biotin $10

The quality is top notch and the prices are better than Sprouts. Email me if interested. Shipping is $5 in the US.

New from Green Bee.

Have I told you lately how great Green Bee is ? Well, they keep getting better. In addition to the fresh fruit and veggie packs, they now have a great salsa pack with tortillas and brand newly added....

BREAD! Fresh baked daily, delivered to you with your Bee Box order at an extremely great price! They offer 3-5 varieties weekly and are ordered in two's. They are all natural, pure, Enlightened Homemaker approved ingredients. Don't miss out. Go log onto their site at GreenBeeProduce.com. Order by tomorrow night for my location or find a location near you. My Utah girls, there is now locations for you! Woo HOo!

If you ever have questions or ideas for Green Bee, email me or the company directly. They listen. Really. They want to provide what we want and really get customer service. I know first hand. Try them out. Great stuff.... really.

Warning lights

My friend, let's call her Anne, had a new teenage driver in the house. This teenage driver took out the family van to cruise the town. This teenage driver didn't really know all that much about vehicles being that he was new to the situation. He didn't know that when a warning light came on in the vehicle, it should be paid attention to. This teenage driver came home, and drove it again later. Same light on. When the light was finally paid attention to, it was too late. The engine was unrepairable. The damage was done. A simple repair was now a very costly replacement. Teenager learned a lesson. (perhaps).

What is our lesson here? We all have our warning lights. I can think of very few diseases in life that do not come with some precursory warning lights. The problem is, most of us don't pay attention until we are totally broken down. Until it requires an urgent trip to the Dr. or until medication is almost necessary. The teenager in each of us would rather just cruise the town in a borrowed car without looking at the warning lights. Unfortunately, by not paying attention to the little warnings, we may end up broken and diseased.

Our bodies have an amazing way of letting us know what is working for it and what is not. Too bad most of us don't listen. Usually it begins as a whisper.

"Hey, I don't really feel good when you eat ice cream, can we stop with the dairy...please?"

or, "Those headaches you have regularly are not normal, a Tylenol is not the solution."

Those are the whispers. They become shouts like:

"Hey, I think you have Colitis from a continuous intake of that dairy you were warned about! Keep it up and we are going to loose an intestine!"

or, "That over consumption of Tylenol has now destroyed your liver! And...you still have headaches, thanks for listening."

If we all just stop and listen to our bodies, we can prevent so much disease, so much heartache for our families. Think about how you feel when you eat something. Maybe even something that is even relatively on the healthy side. Different things trigger responses in different people. Disease begins after repetitive infractions. If it is stopped, chances are, the disease can be stopped.

What things should we be listening for?

Stomach upset. What foods make you react?

Stool. Are you regularly constipated? Have diarrhea?

Headaches. Do you suffer from regular headaches or only occasional?

Skin. Do you have eczema, acne, dermatitis?

Immune system. Do you easily catch a cold, flu, sinusitis?

Allergies. Do you have multiple allergies? Reactions?

Fingernails. Do they look smooth and of normal color or discolored and malformed?

Weight. Do you have too much weight around the middle?

Fatigue. Are you general out of energy? Crash at midday?

If we were cars, we would get regular maintenance check ups. We don't want our cars to break down leading us to costly repairs so we go in for preventative maintenance. We all need to go through the checklist. Ask yourself the questions above. See how you really feel instead of just covering them up. Start to journal your responses to try to figure out triggers. If you have regular headaches, write it down. Try to figure out why. Did you eat something that triggered it? Did you chew gum before getting a headache? Go without water for too long of a period? If you have skin problems like eczema, chart down when you get a flare up and what may have contributed. Listen to your stomach. By repeatedly offending your stomach, you will pay. Guaranteed. An offense now and then will not really cause a long term effect. The day to day will.

It is not normal to have a continual runny nose. That is a warning sign. It is not normal to have headaches. It is not normal to get a stomach ache. It is not normal to have eczema. All things that people just live with or just medicate for.

LISTEN. PAY ATTENTION. FIGURE OUT A SOLUTION. PREVENT DISEASE.

IF NOT, THE DAMAGE MAY BE IRREPARABLE. YOU DON'T GET A NEW ENGINE. ONE PER CUSTOMER. TAKE CARE. HEED THE WARNINGS.

Preparing Wisely sale

These babies are on sale at Preparing Wisely from February 15th thru March 1st for only $12.50 per #10 can. No limit! You can even order online. They are a great addition to your year supply! Don't miss out. Check out their link to the right for more great sales.

Cauliflower

I have to admit that I haven't been a huge fan of cauliflower in my life but things are changing. I guess I never really gave the veggie a chance or knew really what to do with it until recently. Like with many veggies, they are usually served one way - steamed, lifeless and tasteless. What a waste of a perfectly good veggie. It really deserves better than that, after all, look what it is offering:


It is rich in folate to help with cell growth.
It helps promote a healthy heart and lowers the chance of a stroke.
Strengthens the immune system with high Vitamin C and Selenium.
High fiber contents to help with bowel health.
Contains indole-3-carbino which helps prevent female type cancers.
It is a natural blood and liver detoxifier.
Contains Sulforaphane which removes cancer causing chemicals to stop cancer.
Contains glucosinolotes to neutralize potentially toxic substances.


Those are just to name a few. Do you see why you need to add this to your veggie line-up? Who doesn't want to have a healthy heart and remove toxins?

Another great benefit is that you can use it like a potato without the starch/carb issue. You can steam it and mash it like mashed potatoes with some garlic and butter. You can chop it up and use it in a soup in place of potatoes. I did just that this week in a curried creamy veggie soup which was simply wonderful. I used cauliflower and brocoflower (the broccoli and cauliflower mix) as my base. Recipe is below. Another great way to use cauliflower is to roast it in the oven with some olive oil and seasoning of choice. Just roast it at 400 degrees until al dente. I like to use all kinds of seasonings and roast it with a good, sweet onion.

Cauliflower is in season right now so it is a great time to get adventurous with it. Don't get stuck in a veggie rut. Try out new things. Try out new seasonings. Don't get caught in the steamed veggie trap. There is really so much more than a steamed, buttered veggie. No wonder most people don't like veggies. We need taste and texture. Go crazy! My veggies were Greek last night.....tomorrow we may go Italian! Oh, what a little spice can do!

Curried Veggie Soup

1/2 c. butter or olive oil
1 C. chopped onion
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 C. chopped cauliflower , about 1/2 inch chunks
1 1/2 C. brocoflower or potatoes (no broccoli)
1 C. green beans cut into 1 inch pieces (opt.)
1 T. curry powder
1/8 tsp. smoked paprika (opt.)
1/4 C. dried parsley or 1/8 C. fresh chopped
1/2 C. dry rice
1 C. heavy cream
6 C. chicken broth

Melt butter or oil in large pan. Add onions and veggies and saute until veggies are fork tender. Add in Curry powder and saute 1 minute longer. Be careful not to burn the curry. Add broth, rice and parsley. Add more broth if needed. Simmer 25-30 min. or until veggies are tender and rice is done.

Stir in cream and season with salt and pepper. Thicken with ultra gel or cornstarch in water. Use any other spices you desire to flavor it to your liking.

**smoked paprika, dash of cayenne, mesquite seasoning are some of my favorite soup seasonings.

Merrill + Mary

He: is really smart, loves basketball, a great listener, nickname - ears

She: loves to dance in her car, read books, is a talker, favorite color is green

Together: they will love and adore their little one and will be forever grateful for their birth mother for doing for them what they couldn't do for themselves.

Everyone deserves to be called "mama" and I have a special friend that would love nothing more than to hear those words. So, just in case you know of a special little angel that would need a home or hear anything through the grapevine, please send that little angel their way. Trust me, they are just perfect for the job.

Visit their adoption website here.

Run a 10K.....Check.

Do you see that grin! Yes. It really happened. That is an official race number on my shirt. If you told this girl a few months ago that she would be running a 10k which really was 6.75 miles instead of the official 6.2 miles, she would have told you you were crazy. But, this girl did and this girl is mighty proud of herself. I had dreams of the whole family waiting at the finish line to congratulate me and look on with looks of praise and admiration but it turned out a little different. The husband had to go on a last minute campout so I crossed the line alone. It was a sad moment but thank goodness my SIL Kelli was there and although she finished well before me, she was there in the end to give me the high five. Thanks, Kelli! You are an inspiration! My sweet kids had signs at home for me congratulating me on my race. They were really proud of their old mom which is one of the big reasons I did it.

So there are lessons to be learned. Running has many metaphors for life. Like I have said before, the race has little to do with the actual running itself. What I have learned:

Running is hard.

Running is mental.

There is nothing more satisfying than crossing a finish line, any finish line in life.

When you cross that line,no matter what the goal or challenge has been , the most important thing you want to see at the end is your family.

You can do anything you put your mind to; anything.

To accomplish your goals you have to accept that there are no exceptions.

Just do it.

This race was emotional for me. I started out with tears and ended with tears. It had a little to do with the race itself; a race for a darling little girl named London who lost her battle to cancer. We know her family and I ran next to her parents for a while who are some of the most courageous people I know. They had pictures along the course of London and other children battling cancer. They had mottos on each photo from the race, a motto I will carry for the rest of the year:

Push Harder

Run Stronger

Hope Longer

The other emotions were for the sense of satisfaction in accomplishing something hard. I, Shari Goodman, can do hard things. I will continue to do hard things and I will continually strive to Push harder, Run stronger and Hope longer. I will not give up and more than anything in the world or the next, my ultimate goal will be to cross this finish line in life with my family on the other side. What else is there.

For any of you needing a challenge, I lay it out for anyone to see what an amazing feeling it is to finish a race. Try it out. I bet you.

Thanks , Kelli! Same time, same place next year. Maybe a few in between.
Who the heck knows.

Race Day Tomorrow....

Why do I feel like I am about to go through labor? I am nervous, a little scared, a lot ready to be done with this goal. Eating my carbs right now and trying to get some sleep. Anyone else out there running the London's Run with me tomorrow?

vitamin C

So I am sure you all know that Vitamin C is good for you. You have all heard that you should get it daily but do you know why? Do you know how much?

Let's talk.

As with all things, science is now beginning to really understand the importance of vitamin C. It is needed for much more than the prevention of the common cold, although that is an important benefit.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant and boy do we need that in our polluted world today. It will help with the free radicals looming about and get them out.

Vitamin C helps with collagen production which is in all muscles and bones. Collagen is what holds cells together. It is what makes your skin elastic to give you that wrinkle free face. (You're going for that orange now, aren't you?)

Vitamin C boosts the immune system. It will help your cuts heal better and lessen your bruising factor. It helps you fight off the "bugs" around you on a daily basis and is important for gum and eye health. It is also helpful if constipation is a problem. Vitamin C intake will also help with your absorption of iron.

So where do we get this? Of course you know the orange and if you live in AZ right now, you should have no excuse why there isn't some in your house right now. Other than that, you can find it in many different foods like these:

Broccoli with 74 mg per cup
Red Bell Pepper 95 mg per 1/2 cup
Cantaloupe 59 mg per 1 cup
Orange Juice 97 mg per cup

That is just to name a few. It is in almost every orange or bright colored fruit or vegetable with the brightest containing the highest levels. I think it is God's way of saying "Pick me! I am the prettiest!"

While the daily recommended amounts use to lie somewhere around 50 mg per day, a far cry from what we really need, the limits have been raised. It is now being recommended to get upwards of 500 mg per day with a high level up to 2000 mg. If you are getting sick, take the upwards. I always advocate getting it from the real source first but taking a supplement daily is also recommended. You always want to make sure that you get a good quality supplement without all the fillers and sugars. The best form of vitamin C supplement is a buffered form. Vitamin C is water soluble so it comes out in the urine if you have too much. My kids love the New Beginnings chewables. They taste like candy and are cheap. Soon, you will see them at the Enlightened Homemaker Store website. (soon, I promise). I just love them and am guilty at eating them just because I want something sweet in my mouth.

How do you know if you are not getting enough? Some basic signs are swollen gums, wounds that don't heal quickly, easily bruised, bleeding gums, low immune system. Of course, you never want it to get to this point. It is just so easy to get enough vitamin C that we should never have an excuse. Eat your fruit and veggies.

How about that Green Bee box this week? Did you all love it as much as I did? Leave your comment, we want feedback. Green Bee is working on getting more great products like organic eggs, chocolates, bread, specialty boxes and more. I have been talking with the owner on a daily basis and he is working on making this company a great place to belong to . He is adamant about quality and wants to make sure he gets us what we want. He wants as much feedback as possible. So let him have it here.

Go eat and orange and if you were lucky enough to get a Bee Box like me, go snack on that big beautiful red bell pepper in your box. If you would like to add some Vitamin C chewables by New Beginnings to your order, it is $7 per bottle.