Showing posts with label health body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health body. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Edamame (Eh-dah-MAH-meh)


I have been having blood sugar problems for awhile, and it has gotten worse since I have had the boys. Lately, I seem to be having an attack a few times a week. (I need to stop postponing the doctor appointment and just go already)

I have been hearing a lot about edamame lately, and have been wanting to try it. It sealed the deal for me when I read about it in the paper and its blood sugar leveling abilities.

I bought a bag of it today to try and it is surprisingly good! I haven't bought the frozen kind yet, but wanted to try them roasted first. Even the boys can benefit from this nutritious snack!

Three cheers for edamame!

http://www.edamame.com/
http://www.edamameseed.com/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/390506/edamame_a_popular_type_of_soybean.html Pin It

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Dr Bronner's

Dr Bronner's Magic Soap is absolutely the best soap I have ever bought! I have been usi8ng it for a week now, and the possibilities for this soap are neverending!

First what is it? Castille Soap is soap made from vegetable oil, or in this case, pure olive oil. You can make your own using these recipes or buy this fair trade pure organic soap. I chose to buy it.

What is fair trade?
Photobucket

Dr Bronner's site states:
"For our 60th anniversary, we are pleased to announce that we are now certified Fair Trade! We take care of our employees with generous salaries and benefits (no deductible PPO health insurance and a great profit-sharing/retirement plan that we fully fund), we cap executive pay at five times the lowest-paid position, and we give all profits not needed for business development to support progressive charities and causes. Now we have extended this philosophy to the farmers and workers around the world who produce our major raw materials (representing over 95% of our annual agricultural volume). Along with their families and communities, they benefit from fair prices, living wages and funding for local development projects. Shifting our supply chains to certified Fair Trade ingredients makes a big difference in the lives of several thousand farmers and workers — and is money well spent. We worked with the respected Swiss certifier IMO’s Fair for Life program to coordinate and certify the following projects around the world."
Now for the coolest part. It has SO many uses! For other uses besides the ones listed below, google it! You will be surprised at just how versatile this is! So far, I have used it for cloth diaper laundry, face soap, and baby wipe solution! I cant wait to keep trying it out for more things and it will eliminate the need for the other products in our house.

According to the website:

"Although the label claims eighteen uses, we do not have the space to write all these uses on the label and still accommodate for my grandfather’s philosophy, as well as the new labeling laws that are periodically implemented. In reality, there are far more than eighteen uses, as people constantly write in to tell us about yet another utility of the soap. We won’t detail them all, but below are some of the major uses and dilutions. For everyday body-washing: Get wet and pour soap full-strength onto hands-washcloth-loofah. Lather up, scrub down, rinse off, and tingle fresh and clean.
For other uses, dilute from one part soap into 40 parts water for light cleaning, to cutting it in half or using it full strength for heavy-duty grease-cutting jobs. For shampoo, people have been telling us for years that they like using our soaps to shampoo their hair. Now, paired with our new Citrus Conditioning Rinse and Organic Leave-In Conditioning Crème, it works better than ever. For details, click here. For the laundry, use 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup for one regular load; adjust as needed depending on hardness of water. I've been told that adding a dash of baking soda makes it even better.For pets, lather up well and apply to their body. Be careful to keep the soap and the lather away from their eyes. I find a mixture of peppermint and eucalyptus works best. For toothbrushing, apply a drop or two of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap (I prefer the peppermint) to a wet toothbrush. Brush as you normally would, rinsing accordingly. Be careful about using more than a couple drops of soap, as you might start foaming at the mouth (last time I checked "rabid chic" was not hip). Many people with sensitive or softer teeth like to use our soap as toothpaste because it lacks abrasives. If you're very interested in specific ratios & uses, you could find the book "Clean House, Clean Planet" by Karen Logan and published in 1996 by Pocket Books division of Simon & Schuster. They give a blurb on how individual consumers can place orders by writing to Mail Order Department, Simon & Schuster Inc., 200 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, NJ 07675. She presents hundreds of great ideas and manners to clean the non-toxic way, which gives rise for many examples that use an all-natural liquid soap like Dr. Bronner's."

Let me know if you try it and what you think!

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

last blog of the day...

....really.

I was a bloggin' fool today!

This afternoon, I loaded up the boys to go get a couple of things at Sprouts and ended up getting supplies for more smoothies! I made my very first green smoothie when I got home and an drinking it now. Because fruit is more overpowering in taste than veggies are, I am able to get my greens and still not have to taste it as much in the drink! And if you keep it to a 60:40 ratio, then its a whole lot better.

I went a little crazy this time though.

ANYWAY, here is what I put into it:
  • Wheat grass
  • Strawberries
  • Parlsey (too much!)
  • Banana
  • Spinach
  • Orange
  • ice cubes to help with the chill factor

Now I could have put it through the juicer part of the blender, but this time i just threw it all in together.

They are all mixin' it up in there!


Finished product, that I am happily sipping on now!

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Breakfast of Champions

Ok not really.

Last night I made Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings. And they were good. But I woke up feeling pretty icky about myself. When I went into the kitchen, I started to get another serving of this as a breakfast but changed my mind to something a lot healthier. A smoothie and salsa. Sure its half weird for breakfast but it worked! And you know what? I feel SO much better energy wise than if I had loaded up on that crazy apple sugar yumminess.


My smoothie was just done in the juicer part of the bullet using cut strawberries (which is why you always cut up your fruit when you get home from the store so they are ready to go when you want to use them and then you cant use the "I dont want to cut them excuse"!), banana and a peeled orange.

1 orange
1 handful of strawberries
1 banana
about 6 ice cubes
blend. mmmmm enjoy!


The salsa was made the other night and it was my first time making salsa (Micah has done it in the past). I used:

a bunch of tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
2 green onions
1 lime
1 jalepeno (and it was CRAZY hot)
cilantro from our garden
salt and pepper

pulse in food processor.

the chips are organic white corn chips seasoned from sea salt from Fresh and Easy...and they are SO good.

*everything italicized was from the farmers' market!

For some reason, the jalepeno was a lot hotter than normal. Thats ok though, the smoothie helped with the spiciness!

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Essential Oils


Last summer, I had told my sister in law, Shannon that I needed a mood booster after having Jackson and just having a bit of baby blues. Being the fabulous person she is, she introduced me to the world of essential oils. I started with Lavender and Lemon grass and bought a warmer and went to town!


I would eventually like to only use candles with lead free wicks, but for now am using up what I have here in the house. I bought these bottles from her last summer and am still using them.

Here is some info on warming essential oils I found from a website:
http://www.essentialoils.co.za/dilutions-burners.htm

  • The type of burner, vaporizer or diffuser used, size of room, age of the inhabitants of the room as well as the type of oil used will help determine the amount of essential oil to be used.

  • A whole range of pottery and electric burners are available but it should be kept in mind that the oil should be floated on water to prevent it from burning.

  • On porcelain light-bulb rings, you may not need to dilute the oil at all, but you might want to float it on water when using a metal light-bulb ring to prevent burning. In this case you will first add a small amount of water to the metal ring and then drop the essential oils on top of the water.

  • When using these porcelain or metal rings, you may also need to look at the strength of the globe on which you rest it, since a very strong light will be far warmer than a weaker one.

  • Should you be using these rings, ensure that the light-bulb is cool when placing the ring on it, and make sure never to drop any essential oil directly onto the light bulb.

  • If you are using a bowl of water on a heated surface, you would add approximately 6 drops of essential oil to the water - depending on the size of the room, as well as the type of oil used. this is how i do mine

  • Diffusers using tea candles underneath are generally not too hot, and most of the time the oil is placed on crystals to help diffuse the fragrance, or can also have top sections that can hold water into which the oil is dropped.

  • Diffusers using candles must be used with due care to prevent fires - and remember - essential oils are volatile and flammable.

  • Most modern humidifiers have a place in which to pour some essential oils - but remember that it can not be added to the water in the reservoir of the humidifier, as it would stop the humidifier working, and can also create a hazard.

  • If you wish to use essential oils in a nebulizer please contact the manufacturer for the instructions, since some essential oils should not be used in these medical instruments.

I would also like to add that Essential Oils have so many other uses besides aromatherapy. You can use them in handmade soaps, cleaning, bath, massage, compresses, room fresheners and odor eliminators, etc. So many uses!

I also want to point something else out that I found in my researches. Lavendar, Tea Tree and Chamomile are harmless with children. Lemongrass (like what I have) is too strong to use on children's skin but is ok to warm. But always keep all essential oils out of reach.

There is so much to know about essentials oils, and I will be doing a lot more research on this great subject as I learn and try new things. I'll keep things updated!

My sister in law, Melissa gave me this link after I was talking to her about essential oils today and they have quite a selection of essential oils. Check it out! http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/aroma/ess.html

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