Posted in Healthy Living
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My husband especially loves sourdough bread and I think it's about time I bake some for him. Several months ago, I ordered a South African sourdough bread culture (specifically for whole wheat) and yesterday I finally started activating it. It's still in my dehydrator (85° F) growing. It instructions are not too clear (or maybe I'm just dense). Hopefully the culture will not rebel and behave as it should. If it works and if you want to drive over to my place, you are free to have some, lol. I like sharing my culture (pun intended), haha. Meanwhile I have several bottles of kefir grains (“Mama, you have a kefir grains farm!” my daughter exclaimed the other day when she saw the neatly lined bottles on the bottom shelf of the fridge) and if you want some, let me know. Once more you have to live near me. I've already parted with a couple and it seems such a waste to throw them away. Of course I can eat them, but somehow, I feel a mite odd eating the cruciferous looking grains . And no one else in my family want to take the challenge. Kefir grains are pretty good in smoothies though so maybe I'll just throw the extra grains in the blender soon. Don't you wish you live near me, lol? My next project will be kimchi. I love that stuff. My Korean TDK master's wife Cathy makes the best kimchi (sorry, mom). She is going to give me a quart soon. Yeah! Okay, I better go and feed my sourdough culture now...it's pretty finicky and demanding and I need to do it just right! But anything for my dear husband... |
Posted in Healthy Living
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In less than two hours I get to eat. DH and I are on an apple cleanse today. We had planned to do this once a month but have only finally taken the bull by its horns. The concept is simple. Eat apples for breakfast and lunch. Apples in any form. Let your digestive system rest and your body gently detoxify. For dinner, have a simple one with lots of veggies and some carbs and protein (unless you believe in combining which I do but I am not that disciplined yet). This morning I packed dh 4 small cups of apple sauce and five fresh gala apples. And two packets of African Rooibos tea. When I called him at 2.00pm, he said he had a cup of apple sauce and an apple left. And a pack of tea. He asked how I was doing and I said I wasn't even hungry the whole day. It just feels good to rest my system. Over the months I've been consuming too much junk and am trying to get back on track. This gentle cleansing should boost my desire to reach my health goals. So what are we having for dinner? (I assured dh he would have a nice one) Brown rice Ginger chicken Steamed kale and broccoli Sweet potatoes Sprouts Actually, I can't wait. |
Posted in Healthy Living
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If you have various Thomas & Friends™ Wooden Railway Toys, check out this site. I'm not happy. We have several of the trains listed and I have to take them away from my children. Ingest the paint from these trains and you will be ingesting lead. My daughter made the observation that most of the vehicles listed are red. I read recently that those made-in-China drums that are colored red have one of the highest lead content among the various toys investigated. Ah, red paint, red flags. With all the cheap trinkets we can get from dollar stores and some online places, we need to be careful that we're also not poisoning our kids. Give me a few good, solid, handmade toys anytime. We don't need a lot of cheap and toxic stuff! Of course some times you can't tell as the Thomas & Friends are by no means cheap. Another good reason too to ensure our children always wash their hands before they have their meals. You never know what they have picked up while playing.
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Posted in Healthy Living
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We are looking for a whole-house water filter that doesn't cost an arm and leg. We basically want the chlorine removed from all our faucets. We already have a Mullti-Pure water filter for our drinking water (we have it for more than 7 years and I love it!) and filters for our shower heads (which need replacement). If any of you have any experience to share, I'd be much obliged. :) |
Posted in Healthy Living
 Brassica is a mix of red clover, radish, broccoli and alfafa seeds.  The brassica salad we have been enjoying the past two days.Sprouts, spinach, cherry tomatoes and home-made croutons. Yummy and refreshing! |
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We started sprouting three days ago and today we harvested two trays! Will stick a picture of our brassica sprouts (broccoli, alfafa, radish and red clover) tomorrow. I was so happy my daughter loved the brassica salad (spinach, cherry tomatoes, brassica sprouts and croutons). We also harvested our sweet pea sprouts. Made a raw dip out of it. Actually tasted pretty good! Tomorrow, I'll see if I can make some crackers using sprouted soft wheat. Today, for Botany, we also studied SEEDS. It's so cool how God has put this little life in each seed. Every seed has a potential. We can't wait to learn more about testas and hilums tomorrow and eat more sprouts! LOL. Anyway, here's my sprouter three days ago before any germination had taken place yet. I tell you, this is the sprouter of my dreams. It actually works. Really cool. |
Posted in Healthy Living
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How long does it take to juice 25 pounds of carrots? We started at 12.30pm yesterday.
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Posted in Healthy Living
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I have a confession to make. I'm a part-time chocoholic. I love chocolates. Of course I was SO happy when they announced that chocolates contain anotioxidants and flavonols like quercetin and rutin. Flavonols are super good for us. For one, they help increase blood flow to the brain (as a homeschool mama, I need that!) and they fight against heart diseases. They also do good things to our immune system. Great excuse to munch on chocolates without guilt. But of course you want chocolates with high cocoa content and not too much sugar so I'd been searching for just the perfect chocolate to occasionally indulge in. Note that I said “occasionally”. I'm hence delighted that I now can buy Green and Black Organic Dark Chocolates locally. 70% organic cocoa, and not too sweet. And best of all, they are not as expensive as some other brands. Hmmm...think I need another piece now... |
Posted in Healthy Living
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Every Tuesday, we juice two pounds of raw carrots. The children love helping me with the process. Can't imagine doing this for a larger family though as two pounds of carrots yield only 4 medium glasses of carotene-rich-goodness.  Here they are, pushing the carrots into my Mother's Day gift, my dream Omega Juicer.  Ah, 4 glasses of yummy, refreshing juice. |
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It has been a month since I blogged! Things got busy, I was relatively more active in my other blog, and the flu bug caught up with us. We are now all finally on the mend. Thank God of that. It had been rough! We need to start building up our immune system in earnest...what with the threat of avian flu, etc.
Last week, instead of going for a mammogram, I decided to do a thermogram instead. I've been asked by several what thermography entails and what the difference this is from a regular mammogram. You might want check out the two websites below and make your own informed choices.
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Were having another monthly fellowship this coming Sunday. After service was over this past Sunday, the ladies gathered to once again discuss the menu for the coming week. One of them asked me if rice and chicken were all right for my daughter. Sure, I said. Then they let me into the plan. Lunch next Sunday was going to be allergen-free! And there would be no decadent desserts. Just fresh fruit and stuff like that! Then my pastors wife showed me a sheet of paper. It had the word Javanese Rice printed on it. That was going to be our main meal and every family would be contributing towards it. How sweet and thoughtful! I was truly so touched that they would go to that extent to ensure that our family would not feel left out because of my childrens allergies (as Im nursing, I too have a limited diet). Then a three-time visitor had some words of wisdom for all of us. Now, she has 11 well- behaved home-schooled children and is expecting another one in three months. When a saint like her speaks, everyone listens! She suggested that even as we ministered to one another spiritually, we could minister to one another physically. In her former church in I could have hugged her! She expressed what has been in my heart for many years. When you live in the South, food and hospitality and love go together. And church socials are notorious for serving up really unhealthy fare. Every family seems to bring some family favorite that is just choking with bad fats, sugar, and highly processed something. Oh, the temptations are overpowering for those who seek to adopt a healthier lifestyle. And for those who are already borderline diabetic or overweight, or worse still, diabetic and struggling with heart disease, such fare dont minister to their bodies, do they? But I have been a lone voice, in fact, a silent one, till last Sunday. I almost shouted, Yes! and agreed wholeheartedly with her. I think all the mothers present that morning agreed with her too, even if it's just in theory, that thats probably the best thing to do when we have church socials. Even without the allergy issue, I want us to eat healthily and I love my church enough to want all of use to eat healthier too. Im not sure if my beloved church will eventually adopt that spirit of ministering physically to one another. I sure hope so. But even if we go back to the traditional way of eating, Ill always remember this one gesture of love this coming Sunday - that the ladies would leave behind their well-trodden path and walk on a new one just for my daughter. Even if its just for one week. J
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For a sensible approach to good health and for some really delish recipes, Dr You might also want to subscribe to his newsletter so as not to miss out on his weekly article or two. His advice has been invaluable to me as I struggle with my childrens allergies and I thought some of you might find his insights helpful too. Check him out! |