 Brent has had an ulcer for the last two weeks...not fun! In an effort to avoid taking antibiotics, he spent some time online researching natural remedies frequently used for the treatment of ulcers. The first one he found was DGL; (deglycyrrhizinated licorice root extract) used to help build up the natural mucus lining in the stomach. This helped a bit, but he could still be found clutching his gut while lying debilitated on the couch. So he continued the hunt....and found cabbage juice! When juiced and drunken as much as 32oz a day (Brent mixes it with juice - half/half), it was found to be as effective as the leading drugs prescribed for ulcers...giving patients approx. 9 days until healed! This one he had to try, being simple and relatively cost effective. Two days on the stuff and he hardly feels the ulcer at all! We've been up to our ears in cabbages...the de-juiced pulp has a terrible odor that when left standing for any amount of time permeates the kitchen...yuk!..But who would have guessed that something so simple could have such a profound effect! So pass on the news...though be prepared for the smelly side effects!
Every weekday morning the alarm goes off at 6am. I press snooze twice, then put my feet on the floor at approximately 6:12am. Sometimes there's a little boy in between us who woke up 'wet' and timed it just right so that he could spend early morning moments with daddy before he's up...around 6:25am. If not, we're both soft stepping so that mommy can keep a few quiet minutes before she's on duty. The first thing I do, sometimes even before I turn the light on, is to flip that electric kettle switch. If I'm on top of it, it's filled the night before, Brent's travel mug and my teapot sit side by side already out on the counter, waiting for the "just before boiling point" moment when...ahhhh.....curls of steam warm my face promising soothing sips...served 'straight up' (no milk, no honey). Brent has been known to laugh at me as he walks out the door with his 'mate' cocido' (yerba mate', in tea bag form, with splash of raw milk and honey) cause he knows I won't actually drink my tea till it has reached optimal drinking temperature (no risk of burning the tongue, warm enough to feel going down, cool enough to take a long drink). 'Optimal' becoming a very loose term, because sometimes I wait too long, and I drink lukewarm to cold tea all day long. By the time Brent returns, he sometimes finds the pot still half-full (not half empty) and has occasionally make the mistake of tossing this unused brew down the drain....only to find me asking where my tea went an hour later.
My morning ritual usually includes some sort of green tea, then it is a hodge podge of whatever I have in the cupboard. I started this routine as a goal to use up that which I already have before I went out and tried something new....I'm still whittling away at it...determined to make some level of a dent on the tea shelf. I'm dreading when I reach the last box of "Coca" tea that I brought back from Bolivia...or "cocaine tea" it was affectionately named by our friends. Same plant. =) That will be an interesting week....
I just wanted to say a few words directed towards my distant yet near to my heart friends...
Camee - we still walk by your house and reminisce.... wish we could sit down for a cup of nap time tea in the purple mug you gave me. =) (the one I use everyday for my cup o' tea.) Miss your laugh, sorting with you, egg sandwiches, playing with your kids, your encouragement and your listening ear. May God give you the endurance and creativity to be the best mommy and teacher ever! You are such an inspiration to me! Love you...con besos y abrazos fuertes, mi amiga especial!
Cassie Wray - thinking of you in your cozy craft room, looking out on the mounds of snow, wishing I could be crafty with you and spend some time enjoying your lovely home and sweet company. Wouldn't it be nice to be back on that boat to Greece...or on the beach at Corfu...just for a few days? I miss our adventures, a good hoot, cuddles, and talking till wee hours in the morning....Wish we could be nearer....to discover more of who you are today. I check your blog everyday...Hugs and loves....
Tenisha - I want to be house hunting with you right now...thanks for keeping me in the loop...I'm so excited for you! MIssing being able to watch Tyson change everyday and you be such a great mommy to him....I also miss building furniture and reorganizing spaces with you..we're a good team. You know we would be doing dinner 'parties' together all the time, making baby food, gardening, walking, and swapping natural remedies...Love you...always...=)
Tana - It was so fun to see where you live, the people you spend your time with, and even to know what your ring tone is when I call you (Oh when the saints...). Thanks for the fun time and for letting me organize your cupboards even though you didn't initially want me to! You are a great cook, a diligent housewife, and a fun mommy...wish we could be doing all this together...Love you so...
Heather - Ok, I just saw you last weekend so that doesn't really count...but I wanted to say "hi" to you and baby Wahl...you are a glowing pregnant mommy! Thanks again for the Green Tea frappe that tasted like bubble gum...and next time we will make you play Settlers! Always my dogg...love to you!
Bro - You never check this, but if you ever do, you'll know I'm sending you love...Miss singing with you and will force you to take me out when you come up next summer!
Christel - In far off places..living adventures on a daily basis...someday we'll meet up and go on an adventure of our own....a childhood dream come true! Miss our walks on the beach...so long ago, such wild imaginations we had! Wish we could just pick up where we left off. There's a picture of you on my fridge from that one day we took a walk in the woods near a railroad track...and next to it is your engagement magnet. =) Love you and miss you dearly, my friend.
Janel - I'm glad you made it safely home...it was so much fun to have you here and see you as much as we did. You are such a pro to organize with...I'll have some more jobs lined up for you next time you visit! Let me know when you need more gelatin and once you've read more of "the book". =) Perhaps it will be our turn to stay in the guest house next! Love you...and happy perspiring!
Remember Amy? Well, we first ate this at her house during one of our Settlers of Catan game nights... She got the recipe from her gourmet sister-in-law... So thanks, Amy and Ashley...we love this!
Very refreshing, unique taste. So quick and easy to make...the hard part is waiting for it to freeze!
It's an.....
Apple, Ginger, Basil Granita
-3 and 1/2 cups of Sparkling Apple Cider
-1/4 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice (I used a bit less than this....)
-1 TBS chopped basil (Trader Joe's has lots of organic basil for cheap)
-1/2 tsp peeled and finely grated ginger root
Put sugar, basil, and ginger in the food processor or blender (you might need to add a bit of liquid of using a blender) until sugar is green and ingredients are finely pureed. Add sparkling cider and pour into a shallow dish or bowl. As mixture hardens, scrape with a fork every half hour or so....so that the final texture is like a sno-cone. Transfer to an airtight container for freezer storage.
You can serve it in a martini glass with a thinly sliced apple or sprig of basil...it looks pretty...we just put it in little bowls for ourselves...or ate it straight out of the container!
Let me know if you try it and what you think...it a staple from now on in this house!
This is going to be a really random post...taking care of a few different topics all in one...
- I tried the sprouted grain bread in the crock pot...it turned a dark brown and smelled a bit like molasses...the outside was hard and crunchy and the inside was soft and crumbly. It was fine....not great....and think I'll try the other one that has a few more ingredients in it. I also had a hard time turning my sprouts into dough since I don't have a food processor. I used my blender and it became an ordeal. But I did throw the rest of my sprouted wheat into a batch of yummy cookies. That turned out well...might mess with it a little before I pass it on. Last night I started some lentils in the jar...sprouted lentil soup, anyone? Did I hear someone say "hippie"?
- The dishwasher soap recipe that I was trying hasn't been turning out so well...sometimes things come out rather cloudy, or with spots...and I have had to wash again. That's not the point of making my own!!! I've been quite disappointed. I've also been putting white vinegar with a dropper full of Grapefruit Seed Extract (a powerful antimicrobial agent) in the rinse cycle....you can also use Tea Tree Oil which is antibiotic, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti fungal (not everyone likes the smell, however). So I think that I'll keep my homemade rinse aid, and instead of making my own, I'll just mix up a homemade concoction and mix it with a "natural" store bought brand to stretch it. Who wants to wash their dishes twice!...that's not being very green nor thrifty!
- An update on the homemade laundry soap....my friend Amy (yep, the same one) suggested using 'Castille' soap instead of the "fels naptha". It's not that much more expensive, and it's more natural. I bought a new book while on my Wyoming journey...called The Naturally Clean Home (I'll show it to you in a future post), and it says that "naptha" is in quite a few commercial cleaning products and is a neurotoxin. Now, I'm just guessing that "fels naptha" has naptha in it...but I don't think it's too far of a stretch to assume so. I've got a full bar left that I'll use up and perhaps grate the soap outside to avoid those sneaky neurotoxins finding their way into my babies' brains!...then I'll make the switch.
- Those of you who have known that we applied for the Director of Camp Ministries position at the camp we both grew up at... I wanted to inform you that we did not get the job. We're glad that the right person was chosen...though it would have been a wonderful opportunity for our family. Apparently, in God's infinite wisdom, we are to pursue another direction. Please pray with us about what direction that should be.
 Apple Cider Vinegar? Persistent whining in our house is rewarded with a teaspoon of it. Takes care of things pretty quick. It doesn't take much to convince the mouth that whining doesn't taste very good! We call it "sass juice"...the term and the idea were borrowed from my friend Jenny who is in my 'Apples of Gold" mentoring group. She shared her mommy wisdom with me over supper one meeting, and the next day we introduced our new 'tool'. After explaining what 'sass juice' was and how it would be administered in our house, Josiah did a fake whine so that he could see what it would taste like. Once he recovered from a bit of gagging and sputtering it dawned on him that just because it has a picture of an apple on the front, doesn't mean it's gonna taste good!
So before you become disturbed about this "cruel and unusual" form of discipline, let me inform you of some of the health benefits of this 'juice'.
-Helps increase the absorption of minerals by the body, like calcium
-Helps control blood sugar levels
-Supports regularity
-It contains calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium. copper, manganese, phosphorus, and potassium.
These are just a few and enough to put my mind at ease....who knows...cod liver oil is likely to be the next one we try...or perhaps a mix of the two!
Thanks, Jenny!
I'm sprouting some wheat berries in a jar...they're sitting in my windowsill now.
Though most of you may think this is odd, "out there", and perhaps a waste of my time...let me explain.
We buy sprouted grain "squirrelly" bread from Costco (two loaves for 4.29) and use this as our staple bread. Toast, sandwiches, breadcrumbs, etc. Brent is sensitive to wheat (as am I) but does not notice the same ill effects when he eats sprouted grain bread. Though approx. $2 a loaf for this type of bread is quite a "steal", you can't beat the .69 cents a pound for organic wheat berries at our local health food store. Since reading about the amazing health benefits (VItamin C production, an increase in the vitamin B content, eight times the amount of carotene, numerous digestive enzymes, and other 'stuff' that takes time to explain) from eating sprouted grains, legumes, and seeds in "Nourishing Traditions" (there's that book again...can you tell that I'm 'knee deep' in it right now?) I decided that it's time to try this at home.
Here's how:
1. Fill a mason jar 1/3 full with a grain or seed.
2. Add filtered water to the top of the jar.
3. Soak overnight and then pour off the water.
4. Rinse the seeds well, 2-3 times a day (legumes more often).
I ran water over them in my small strainer, and dumped them back in the jar. She suggests cutting out a round wire screen to fit the jar mouth, and then screwing the lid on without the solid insert. This way you can rinse them without having to take them out of the jar. I guess if I decide to this on a regular basis I will upgrade my system...I'm on a trial basis now, however, so I'll wait and see.
5. The wheat berries should be ready in 3-4 days...we'll see. I'm on day 2 and there are already little sprouts!
What's next, you might ask.....?
THIS is what I'm going to try...though I'm a little skeptical about how it will turn out. If that isn't a favorite, then I'll try THIS recipe. I'll keep you posted...
She's a local friend whom I met at church
Here's 10 Reasons why I think she's so great...
1. She makes spinach, kale, and collard green smoothies....and they taste yummy!
2. She does the dishes when she comes over to my house!
3. She said she would never ever judge me if she came over and my house was messy.
4. I can call her and tell her that I put granulated kelp in my sea salt and she would think that's cool.
5. They have us over to their house all the time to play Settlers of Catan....and they're not weirded out if we bring our leftovers.
6. She's a really good cook even though she doesn't enjoy it....but she's really purposing to change that...wow!
7. She's always positive and smiling, and never raises her voice.
8. She's honest, straightforward, and pragmatic.
9.She gives me breast milk for Gracie....since I don't produce enough!! You can't imagine how thankful I am for her generosity....
10. She's conscientious and purposeful about her diet, about relationships, about being green, and about how she parents her kids.
And guess what she just did for me last week..???!!!....she came over and helped me sort through my kid's clothes and organize! Ok, plus, she's letting me borrow a really great book called 'Nourishing Traditions' by Sally Fallon...for a really long time!
Well, that's more than ten, though there's lots more, and I know she'll be embarrassed by this, so I'll spare her. I still have to get her permission to post a photo of her...
Thanks for being such an inspiration and example to me, Amy!
 My dear hubby blew me away this Christmas with his gift.... tucked inside the lid of a Yankee candle was a my flight information for a trip to Wyoming to visit my friend Tana. Gracie and I spent a week in Basin (1200 people!!) which is about 2 and a 1/2 hours from Yellowstone. I just got back late Wednesday night. It was wonderfully refreshing to be free from the normal routine and also to spend time catching up with my friend whom I hadn't seen in a year! This is Latahana....but everyone calls her Tana....and I purposefully posted a picture of her without make-up on just because I think she's beautiful either way! (You can't be mad, Tana!) She drove 2 and a 1/2 hours to pick me up in Billings, Montana....isn't she great???!!! It was nice to have that time to chat undisturbed because the rest of the week was full of activity...some late nights, cold walks, wildlife spotting, Health Food Store hopping, cooking, spending time with her kids, watching movies, meeting friends, crying, and lots of laughing ("Look!!...it's a fox!!",she shouted...."Ummm...I think that's actually a cat...", I said, after the animal made it's way to a moonlit doorstep. It very well could have been, since I had been amazed at the boldness of the wildlife in such a small town. We had a good laugh over that one...as we drove home from borrowing chocolate chips from the neighbor; who lives a block away.....it was too cold to walk.). Tana is one of those people that makes you feel like you are really funny and witty even when you're not....because she laughs so readily at the things you say.
Grace was carted around to her heart's content....though I think she was a bit baffled at how people she's never seen before could be so familiar to me. She stared a lot at her new friends, but soon was getting into books and magazines and chewing on girlie toys. Hannah, Amy, and Mallory adopted us as family....Gracie as sister and I as a friend with boundaries. I cried to leave....knowing that it will be long time before we're reunited, and that the next time Grace sees her "sisters" she will have to get reacquainted. Hannah cried too...which made me cry....we visited her in the lunchroom of her school to say final "goodbyes", and as we turned around for a last wave, we saw her with her hands covering her face and sobbing shoulders...she has such a tender heart.
I missed my boys, who were well taken care of by friends and family, but I hope it's not another year before we get to be together again.
Thanks for a great trip, friend!!
Hannah and Grace-buddies! Mallory Mae-she's a ham! Amy Anne-little princess. Family Fun US =)
Whew...I'm back....that was a long break! I really did have technical difficulties for a good portion of that time....then just when things were up and running, I got busy and actually left the state for a week! So thanks for hanging in there, and letting me know you're out there checking up on me!
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