Just two great links to support my Friday Feature posts this month:
Boost Your Immune System for the Coming Cold Season Using Real Foods
Friday Feature: Roundup Nineteen
Reply
Category Archives: Friday Feature
Friday Feature: Guerilla-Style Cold Cocktail Method
This week I had to do all out warfare fighting colds that I heard coming on me and the boys. I needed them to be well so I wouldn’t have to miss teaching my second week at our homeschooling co-op. I went guerilla-style with the cold cocktails and all of them are fine. I should have used my onslaught of natural medicines for me. Now, though still small, I have more symptoms than the boys did. I only upped my meds a little bit but should have upped them more when considering my schedule this week: My husband’s 15-hour days and my having to educate and then take the boys on outings on three days wouldn’t allow me to get the additional rest I needed. After considering how the mix I gave the boys worked, I am now on that regime and want to share it with you. You’ll find more details on all these medicines in my previous posts that are listed at the end of this post:
Acidophilus—I gave this to them in the morning, afternoon and before bed.
Astragalus—I gave this to them three times a day, generally in the morning, before being around a crowd and after coming home from being around a crowd.
Echinacea—I administered this the same way I did the astragalus.
Garlic—I cut up a clove into tiny pill-sized pieces and had them take them like pills.
Oranges—We didn’t have orange juice this week but had a few oranges so they ate them.
Water—The boys always drink water with meals but they got extra ounces of water throughout the day to flush out the viral infection.
As soon as you feel a cold coming, why not try this guerilla-style cold cocktail method to prevent your cold from progressing and to cure it? Better yet, incorporate each of these daily to decrease your chance of getting a cold. I’m going to remember my own advice. It works!
Friday Feature: Ask God for Help with Your Health
A friend reminded me of the prophecy the Lord gave me for her to stop eating sugar because she was having digestion issues. She hadn’t eliminated for weeks. Once she stopped the sugar, she has been regular—daily—and said her energy is off the charts. This blessed me so, not that I was the deliverer of her breakthrough but that God had a breakthrough for her. He had bugged me for days to call her. When I finally did I found out that her doctor didn’t know what was going on with her so she had been praying that God would show her what was wrong with her body. I get excited every time I think about what He did for her. I get excited when I think about what he’s done for me.
I’ve told you about God leading me to find natural remedies for my yeast infections, sluggish digestion and a host of other issues. Most recently God has helped me work on an issue that has been plaguing me: my belly fat! It’s still there, but I definitely see a difference:
BEFORE: In February 2012, right after completing my raw food program (17 lbs lighter)
AFTER: In September 2012 after eating green tea and grapefruit almost daily (Still 17 lbs lighter but less belly fat)
Now I hadn’t been exercising like I should, but you know I had been eating well. That’s what I’m committed to. I may have a slice of pizza every now and then or a cookie here and there, but I have trouble compromising how I feel as a result of the way I eat. I have gotten my insides feeling good; now I’m working on getting my outside looking good. I started exercising about four times a week, was still eating right and couldn’t shake the belly fat. Then I remembered how God had shown me how to heal my infections and other ailments so I asked him and he told me to do calisthenics, drink green tea and eat grape fruit. I still have a way to go, but the belly is shrinking!
So I say don’t just ask God to help you on your job, with your marriage or those other really hard areas that we traditionally seek him for. God cares about every area of our lives, including our health, including our belly fat. He will tell you exactly what YOU need and you will be pleased!
Friday Feature: How to Add Raw Foods to Your Meal (with a recipe)
My Labor Day meal: raw collard green wrap, cole slaw and baby back rib
As I got ready to transition off the raw food program I was on for 28 days, the program director advised me that if I went back to eating cooked foods, I should make sure to eat at least one raw food item with my meals. She said the body responds to cooked foods as foreign invaders and the raw foods prevent that from happening. I don’t know about cooked food as foreign invader. God instructed His people to eat cooked food and Jesus ate cooked food while here on earth (Deuteronomy 12:5-7; Mark 14:12-18; John 21:9-13). What I do know is that God’s people did seem to eat raw foods with their meals as evidenced by their longing for cucumbers and leeks (herbs) along with some fish (Numbers 11:5). And I don’t know too many people who eat cooked cucumbers, but my point is this that I have found to be true for my own body: raw foods complement cooked foods in taste and digestion so I suggest we eat this way.
Some of you may already be doing this, like when you add a garnish of onions and tomatoes to your cooked greens. I do this, too, but here are a few more ways to add raw foods to your meal (though all ingredients may not be raw):
Food garnishes—In addition to tomatoes and onions to my greens, I add them to my beans. Cucumber is my choice garnish for anything garlicky, like falafel or hummus. I also put cucumbers and avocado on my burgers.
Salads—Some of you may eat a salad before your cooked meal but try eating one along with your cooked meal. If you make a loaded one, that has nuts and seeds in addition to your choice veggies, you increase your raw food intake and can decrease your cooked food intake. Remember, the enzymes that help your body digest your food are fully present in raw foods and are largely destroyed from the heat in cooked foods.
Slaws—Cole slaw and carrot slaws are my choices. Eat these alongside your meal on regular occasions and not just when you eat that rib or shrimp dinner from your favorite local spot. See my carrot slaw recipe below.
Drinks—We probably have all heard that we should wait until after we eat to drink our beverage, but what if your beverage is food? I think we should drink our food as we eat. So juice some vegetables and consume this along with your cooked meal.
So why not have the best of both worlds right on your dinner plate? You can have what you like and still do your body good.
Carrot Slaw
Ingredients
2 carrots
1 teaspoon of relish
2 teaspoons of your favorite mayonnaise or sandwich spread (My choice is a soy-free dressing I get at the health food grocery store.)
Directions
Shred carrots, add relish and mayonnaise, mix and serve.
Friday Feature: The Wonders of Lemon
Two weeks ago here on the blog I wrote about the body being pH balanced, noting the difference between an acidic and alkaline system. As I listed the various foods that will help the body become alkaline, which is the state we want our bodies in for good health, lemons stood out to me. Though this fruit is acidic, it has an alkalizing effect on the body and does so much more good for us. I decided today to share the ways I use lemons, including to alkaline my body. Please add to my list in the comments section.
For drinks—Lemon is one of my favorite ingredients for a refreshing fresh squeezed juice. I particularly like apple, lemon and ginger. I also squeeze the juice and pulp in my teas. Many people squeeze lemon in their water at restaurants, but why not try that at home? Just add its juice to cold or hot water and drink.
For salad dressing—I use the juice of lemon in my oil- and tahini- based dressings. It provides the right amount of zing for an otherwise flat dressing.
For food—I use lemon juice in raw and cooked soups and, like many, I from time to time squeeze the juice on my fish to eliminate the seafood odor. I know of others who use lemon zest in baked goods.
To rid mouth of film—I don’t know about you, but when I eat spinach my teeth and jaws get a film on them and feel weird. The same thing happens when I eat beet greens, but when I squirt lemon juice on them after stir-frying them, I get no film or weird feeling. Something about the lemon juice prevents those reactions and I can enjoy the leafy greens that I love.
To take away nausea—When I get nauseous, during pregnancy or not, I can suck on a lemon and the nausea ceases.
For a freshener—1) I grind up lemon peels in the garbage disposal; 2) I let the peels sit on the counter; 3) I rub the juice on my hands after using onion or garlic to take away those pungent smells; 4) I have squeezed the juice in grease after frying fish to eliminate the smell; and 6) I have even squeezed the juice of a wedge and placed the wedge into a ceramic cup with a few drops of one or more essential oils and placed the cup on my mug warmer. The heated lemon juice, wedge and oils fragrant the room.
Those are my dozen-plus ways to use lemons. What are some ways you use the amazing lemon?