miessence

I recently reconnected with an old friend on Facebook who asked,

You’re into organic foods, etc.? I am not especially, but I am always looking for little ways to improve overall health. If you could give me a single bit of specific advice re: food (not, “Eat organic,” I mean, because that’s too obvious) what would you recommend?

I can’t even count how many times I have been asked this question over the past 2+ years, so I thought I would share my response with you all.

My response:

Hmmm, one single bit of advice is to find one nasty food ingredient and remove it from your diet completely. Once you master that move onto another nasty food ingredient. It is all about baby steps. Now which ingredient to eliminate you ask? High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

I don’t always buy organic foods, however I have a list of ingredients I have eliminated from our foods (although when we are out of our house it is harder to control so we probably maintain this 80% of the time.) I purchase local foods from the farmers market over grocery store organic foods that have been shipped from across the U.S. I have gotten to know my local farmers and although they are not certified organic, I know their farming process well enough for it to be satisfactory.

As for organic products I put on my body, I use Miessence (which I have been marketing for the past 2 years.) I have gotten to know the creator of the products and know they are pure, potent and beneficial so I just stick with them and I don’t have to be a label detective on my personal care products any longer.

So have fun and I am sure you can find a local farmers market…they have loads of yummy goodies!

I hope this gives you some motivation to become a label detective yourselves. Enjoy the adventure!

P.S. My blogroll includes a number of great resources to healthy living too.

Be an informed consumer by purchasing products with full ingredient lists.  Don’t be fooled by green-washing tactics like the one shown in this article.

Well I broke out the Excalibur from it’s box and began the two process dehydration of my raw, unpasteurized almonds.  I soaked them overnight, dehydrated for approximately 6 hours today and will toss a nice mixture from a Green Smoothie Girl recipe in a few moments and then dehydrate for another 16 hours.  This will be a healthy, savory snack.  Next go round I will try the sweet almond recipe and make my decision on which I like best.  Most likely I will love the sweet while dear hubby will prefer the savory!  Next on my dehydrator “agenda” will be fruit roll ups or fruit leathers. My kids love those for snacks, but at $.50 a pop they tend to be a little pricey.

Technorati Tags: almonds, dehydrate, excalibur

Happy New Year!  2010 has finally arrived and I am off and running! I am making it a personal goal to keep up much better with my blogging.  I think I was getting caught up last year of how I was “supposed” to blog instead of just doing it! So while the split-pea soup is simmering on the stove I thought I would take a moment to jot down some thoughts.  Maybe this is more for me, to be able to look back and see how 2010 began, or perhaps you may find some inspiration to make your life a more healthy one.

I began with a quick run to my local natural food store.  I loaded up on grains and dry beans.  I really want to incorporate more of these into our meals this year. And what better time than the cold winter months than split pea soup and the like?  I even branched out a little and bought mung beans and several new grains I have never tried.  Now I just need to find some new recipes. I started with split pea soup because I had ham bones left from the local, nitrate free, fresh and never frozen ham we had at Christmas. By the way it was so delicious that I am planning on putting an order in for an Easter Ham as well.

Split Pea Soup

1 ham bone, 2 bay leaves, 3-4 garlic cloves, 1 T butter or coconut oil, 1-2 T olive oil, water, salt/pepper to taste

Soak peas in water for 2-4 hours.

Saute garlic, butter and oil together. Add soaked split-peas and approximately 2 quarts of water to the pot.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for an hour.  Add milk and extra ham during last half-hour of cooking. Salt and pepper to taste.

This is a basic recipe, so tweak it to your personal tastes.   I rarely follow a recipe exactly as it is written.

I also made one request on my Christmas Wish List and my sweet hubby indulged me with an Excalibur Dehydrator.  If you have any recipes feel free to add them in the comments.  I have several cups of raw, unpasteurized almonds (I bought them via the Green Smoothie Girl group-buy last November) soaking and tomorrow will be my first experience with my new fan-dangled kitchen gadget!

So blessings and health to all of you as we cultivate the body, mind and spirit connection.

Technorati Tags: almonds, dehydrator, excalibur, raw, split pea soup

Here is an interesting graphic showing how toxins outside our bodies infiltrate various areas of our bodies.  Click here.

Technorati Tags: chemcial exposure, toxic