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When I first met my husband-to-be, we talked of many things.  He spoke of a wonderful, seemingly magical place called Jamaica.  Of course, I’d heard of that popular vacation destination,  but had never been there.  He insisted that it is unlike any other in the world; the people there are genuinely kind and the whole attitude of the island tends toward relaxation, calm, peace, satisfaction, and love.

Sounds pretty good.

After several years of piquing my interest, we finally had an opportunity to go there together.  And although I was only there for 3 days, I indeed saw a tiny glimpse of what he described.  I also had an opportunity to taste some of the local flavors.  My favorite was Ackee with Saltfish for breakfast (yes, even I drank some of the famous Blue Mountain coffee with ‘sweet milk’).  Freshly squeezed orange juice was sold everywhere, sugar cane was to be chewed, and pineapple was to be munched.

And the sunsets….the white sand….the clear water….

Someday, I hope to go back.  And stay for a loooong time.

Meanwhile, we’ll have to be content with bringing some of those flavors to the dinner table.  The Jamaican Rice and Peas (which are not actually “peas” at all but red beans) is one of the simplest dishes I’ve ever made; it’s also inexpensive and healthful. You already know how I feel about beans…

These and other recipes which I have not tried I found at this site.

Jamaican Rice and Peas Recipe

3 cups of rice
1 can of tinned or 1 cup of fresh red peas (either kidney beans or pigeon peas) note: I use 2 or 2 1/2 c beans
5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 uncut scotch bonnet pepper (1 jalapeno pepper may be used as a substitute)
3 Scallion (spring onions may be used as a substitute)
1 tin (or one cup) of coconut milk
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (2 teaspoons of dried thyme may be used as a substitute)

Soak beans overnight, rinse, then cook in 7 cups of water with the garlic until cooked through, about 45 mins. Add rice, coconut milk, scallions (crush them-don’t cut), salt, pepper, and thyme.  Simmer till all water is absorbed, about another 45 mins.  Remove hot pepper and scallions, serve, and enjoy!

Of course, you can do this in the crock pot.  Just allow more time, and be ready to add more water if needed.

I usually end up adding a little more salt, and if I want to be fancy-schmanzy, I squeeze on some lime juice, sprinkle some fresh cilantro, and accompany with some mango salsa(healthy) or fried sweet plantains (unhealthy).  Some fresh sliced cucumber goes nicely with it on the side.

And if I really want to go all out, I serve it with Jerk Chicken.  Fantastic combination.

Jerk Chicken

Here’s how to make the sauce:

NOTE: this recipe makes a HUGE amount of sauce. If you don’t mind having lots leftover to store in the fridge for another time, go for it. Otherwise, cut it in half and you’ll still have plenty for 3 or 4 pounds of chicken.

6 sliced scotch bonnet peppers (jalapenos may be used if scotch bonnet peppers are unavailable) NOTE: I’ve made this sauce twice, and have omitted the hot peppers both times with good results. I’ll add some heat after the fact if needed.
2 Tbsp. thyme
2 Tbsp. ground allspice
8 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 Medium onions, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tsp. ground black pepper

1 to 2 Tsp of the following (to taste)
-ground cinnamon
-nutmeg
-ginger

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
Juice of one lime
1 cup orange juice
1 cup white vinegar

Blend it all up, marinade meat overnight, and use some of the rest for basting, and the rest for dipping.  Cook chicken (in pieces) about 1/2 hr on each side.  Enjoy!

Here’s a funny thing: I mentioned Jerk sauce to a friend, and was reminded about the “Jerk Store”.  For all Seinfeld fans, this is for you: Watch this clip (unfortunately, embedding was disabled, or I would have put a player right on here.)

I haven’t posted much in a long time, and it’s not just because having 5 children keeps me so busy (though it does) or because having them all at home because we homeschool keeps me so busy (though it does), no. It’s because for several months we’ve been preparing, for various reasons, to uproot and move away from our home in Israel all the way to the other side of the world.  Back to the good ‘ole USA.

Oh, we’ve had adventures on the way here.

Just the amount of decluttering we did in an attempt to simplify our lives was tremendous.  Wanna know how to throw a super-good house sale? I can tell you!

Wanna know how to take 5 young children on an airplane for many, MANY hours? I can tell you.

So, we made it. From Jerusalem to sunny Florida, we made it. We don’t know how long we’re staying, but we’re up for more adventures along the road.

So, I’ll share any health-related or family-related issues I find (as I have time to ha HA), as well as just those things I’m noticing that are either different than how I remember them to be, or just different from how they are in Israel.

Which will always be our home.

I know I’ve mentioned that I love making soups for a filling, healthy, and inexpensive meal. I love even more that it’s SO easy to make a double (or triple) batch and freeze it for a ready-made dinner whenever it’s needed.

Many of my creamy soups end up tasting sort of similar, so when I find a new and interesting soup, I’m excited.  This is one of those soups.

As soon as I read the recipe, I was intrigued. With the unusual combination of flavors and no unhealthy ingredients, I was enticed. And when I tasted it, I was in love. Well not really, but it was GOOD.

Here it is, from Martha Stewart:

This video is amazing. I’m inspired.

I’ve been away…well, not really. Just from posting.

We had lots of holidays here and are just now getting back into the swing of things.  Along with that, I’m getting SERIOUS about decluttering my home. Finally.

And, when the mood to write strikes me, I want to make some real progress on my book. Did I mention that I’m writing an E-book? And that if you want to get to read my book, all you have to do is register for my newsletter?

So, I’ll pop in to say hi every now and then, maybe post a link or something that I just couldn’t let pass by, but other than that…I’m taking a break.

And watching a little bit of  I Love Lucy on YouTube. It’s my favorite all-time show, you know.

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Jamie Oliver did an experiment for his Food Revolution in which he shows children how their beloved chicken nuggets are actually made, hoping to sufficiently gross them out and help them to choose differently once they know the truth. Sadly, the American children were still happy to eat the monstrosity he created. In contrast, the British children he’d practiced on previously were unwilling to eat once they knew the truth. Maybe the fluoride in our water and the drugs for the ADHD have made our children so completely stupid that they cannot make good choices. Pathetic. Watch for yourself to have an idea how these nuggets get made; it’s interesting, in a disgusting sort of way.

What difference does it make what you eat? Parts is parts, after all. Right?

And, now for some writing.  This article explains exactly how those things are made, at the end is a recipe for making your own healthier nuggets. I’m not sure I’d use the cornflakes, but whole wheat breadcrumbs would work fine.

Chicken Nuggets
By Leanne Ely, C.N.C.

Admittedly, it doesn’t take much to get my nutritional feathers ruffled. I’ve seen a lot of things that have made me crazy over the years and you’ve heard me harp on them—from “healthy” whole wheat donuts to artificial sweeteners, Olestra and acrylimide. I’ve sang the siren’s song about good nutrition and what I believe too, to be common sense nutrition. Why would we drink something, in the name of quenching our thirst, that looks like toilet bowl cleaner or antifreeze?

Anyway, today I stop singing and start sounding the alarm. We absolutely must stop the madness that is fast food. We absolutely must stop the madness and the obesity and the rise in degenerative diseases. We are raising an unhealthy generation because we feed this junk to our kids! PLEASE STOP!

I know there are attempts at some fast food places to do better. As Oprah says, “When you know better, you do better.” Well, today you are going to know better about chicken nuggets, because today, I am going to tell you all I know about them.

First, McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets contain 38 ingredients. Yes, THIRTY EIGHT ingredients! Some of those ingredients are things you wouldn’t give to your DOG. Some of those things, you could use to start a fire—well, almost. Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) is a derivative of petroleum that is sprayed on the nugget or in the box that holds the nugget to keep it fresh. TBHQ is also a derivative of butane, also known as lighter fluid. It is furthermore a suspected carcinogen—cancer-causing agent.

The batter is set in shortening (hydrogenated oils) and in turn, it is cooked in partially hydrogenated oils at the restaurant. Some of the additives in there are antifoaming agents, emulsifiers, leavening agents, preservatives, fillers and binders. Sounds yummy, doesn’t it? Something you’d want to feed your kids?

The nuggets themselves contain 53% chicken. You wanna know what that 53% chicken is? I promise you it isn’t nice white chicken breasts! If you find those nuggets spongy and watery it’s because the chicken meat and skin is ground into a slurry, binders and fillers are added, plus lots of water, then formed into neat little nuggets.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ILL. Why do we manufacture stuff like this and then call it food? Where’s the value in it?

Please, for the children’s sake and for your own health’s sake, let’s stop this craziness with the food. It’s time to get back to basics and only eat food that is 100% identifiable. If you don’t know exactly what went into what you’re eating, you’re making a mistake. Our bodies do not need to contend with more pollution than what is already in our environment.

Here’s a quick and easy alternative to chicken nuggets:

Crunchy Honey Mustard Chicken Fingers
Serves 4

1 pound chicken tenders
1/4 cup honey, warmed
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 cup corn flakes, crushed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, mix mustard and honey together. In another bowl, place the crushed corn flakes.

In assembly line fashion, dip the chicken tender in the mustard mixture, then roll in the corn flakes and place on the cooked sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes, or when cooked through

Copyright (C) 2010 www.savingdinner.com Leanne Ely, CNC All rights reserved

Huh? Why on earth would anyone want to do that? I know, only those seriously extra crispy totally off the deep end crunchy people would do it for “health” reasons, right?

Wrong. Or, at least it should be.

And, before you stop reading because you don’t want to get rid of your microwave oven because you won’t have a way to make popcorn, don’t worry. There are MUCH better and tastier ways to make popcorn. I’ll tell you at the end.

Several years ago, my friend Andrea told me that she’d heard that microwaved water (cooled, of course), given to a plant, would make it die. Hmm. I stuck that in the back of my head where it collected with other hints that microwaving food might not be a very good idea if I care at all about the nutrition in what I eat. Here’s more about the microwaved water killing plants; if you try it yourself, I’d love to know about your results.

Basically, the microwave oven destroys the nutrients in your food because the electromagnetic impulses change the molecular makeup of it. So, although it might look the same, it’s not. Of course, any amount of cooking denatures enzymes. But it seems like this is different.

Here are some articles explaining why a microwave oven is bad for your health:

http://www.naturalnews.com/022015.html

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx

http://www.health-science.com/microwave_hazards.html

I’ve been using my dehydrator to make some killer raw granola (recipe soon) each week. But it takes up a lot of counter space. And it stays out for days at a time, and it’s been driving me a little batty. So, I’ve been wishing I had a place where it could stay out and not be in the way.

Then we started this detox. And ate completely raw for the first week, and are still eating mostly raw now, for the duration.  And, the microwave oven is DEFINITELY not going to get any use during these few weeks. So, wouldn’t it make sense for the dehydrator to take its place?

I don’t cook in my microwave. I just use it for reheating, and it is so convenient! I guess I’m going to have to learn to plan ahead a little more and leave enough time to use the stove. Or oven. I’ve been knowing I need to do this for a long time; just didn’t wanna. But, the time has come to say goodbye.  To go from this:

To this:

I guess it’s time to make some more granola.

And about that popcorn…..the chemicals in the microwave bagged stuff are nasty anyway. Seriously. Try a hot air popper; they’re great. Or, do it the old fashioned way: on the stove. In a pot. With a little oil. I do it all the time here. It’s really not hard!

Just for fun….

Hmm. Kinda makes me want some. Nothing like popcorn. But I’ll take the real (GMO, unfortunately) kind.

Ever had an unwanted guest?

A few years ago we experienced the thrills of head lice. Boy, that was a hassle. Thankfully, it didn’t scar my 3 little boys too much to get a buzz cut, and I had a good friend who was willing to comb out my hair for me. Many times. But, what a hassle! Now we use rosemary oil regularly to help keep them away. It seems to work.

Last year at this time we were a little negligent lax about treating our dogs for ticks. We thought that as long as we checked them regularly and removed the ticks, that was good enough. Well, we discovered that ticks just LOOOVE to replicate in the house, and boy, are they good at it. A tick infestation is NOT a fun thing to deal with.  This spring, we did not take any chances, and have treated them with the chemicals. And, it seems to be working.

This year, we have a new unwanted guest. It’s a nasty one called Enterobius Vermicularis. Also known as Pinworm. Oh, if you don’t know about pinworm, let me enlighten you. Warning: it’s disgusting.

First, someone, presumably your young child (I’ve had 3 in and out of preschool, kindergarten, and first grade in the past 2 years) touches something that has a microscopic worm egg on it, probably at school, and puts his hand in his mouth. The egg is swallowed, and then hatches in your child’s intestine where it enjoys a nice warm place to sleep and food consumed by the child. When it’s ready, the female worm (which is very tiny, only about 8 mm long) lays eggs. Oh, this is the good part: it comes out your child’s rear end while he is sleeping and lays eggs around there. Tiny, microscopic eggs. The eggs are attached by sticky stuff that itches, so your child scratches, getting the eggs under his fingernails. And guess where the eggs go then? You got it: back in the mouth. Unless, of course, your child goes and touches ANYTHING ELSE IN THE HOUSE, like toys, etc, and then those eggs don’t go back in his mouth, oh no. They wait until someone else in the house touches that thing and gets to have the eggs for himself, sharing the love.

I know, you’re thinking THIS IS DISGUSTING! And you’re absolutely right. Want some more good news? Pinworms are EXTREMELY COMMON, and there’s a good chance that your children have them too. People often don’t experience symptoms, and they’re very hard to test for. You basically need to see one, which is tough to do.

Standard treatment is to take some nasty chemical pesticide, and treat everyone in the whole family at the same time with said nasty chemical.  We’ve tried the pesticide, but didn’t want to give something so toxic to those we weren’t sure had it. So, we probably have had this infection for ???? long without knowing it.

The good news, is now we know it. I’ve confirmed pinworms on 4 of the 5 children. I must assume that the 5th child and both my husband and I have it as well so that we can be serious about treatment. But what kind of treatment can we do without poisoning everyone? I’m not about to give that stuff to my 12 month old!

Well, we were able to get some all natural anti-parasite supplements that are safe for everyone. We are also taking apple cider vinegar, garlic, and cloves as much as I have time and creativity to prepare. And, we’re gearing up for a family detox starting next week that will leave our intestines so squeaky clean that those guys won’t even want to be there.

And as far as getting rid of the eggs….that’s the tricky part. I’m doing a LOT of laundry (sheets & towels, as often as possible), a LOT of vacuuming, and a LOT of toy washing. Yep, washing Every.Little.Toy. Sound like fun? Ha.

At least our play room will be in order by the time we’re done!

And about unwanted guests: watch this!

You can even watch the whole movie on YouTube. Here’s the link. I think I might need to watch it tonight!

Have you ever experienced a parasite? At least fleas? I know I’m not alone. Share your disgusting story here!

As some of you may have read on FamilyNatural’s Facebook Page, my 6 year old son was recently hospitalized with pneumonia.  And, thankfully, he is doing much better.  There are just so many aspects of the situation that I’d like to share; I’ll just start with first things first.

A little background: In case you don’t know me personally and can’t tell from reading this blog, I don’t have any warm fuzzy feelings toward the practices of “modern” medicine.  I believe that our bodies are made to be healthy, and created to be able to heal themselves as long as they have no interference. In other words, if we get rid of the garbage in our bodies and treat them right, they know what to do and usually need no help. Furthermore, I believe that most medical intervention (in the form of drugs) are not only unnecessary, but extremely harmful to the body, and actually create many and more severe problems than the symptom they were taken to mask.

So, what happens when someone in our family is unwell? (Notice I didn’t say “gets sick”….I do not believe that sickness is something that one “catches” or “gets”, but rather that the body develops) First, I’ll tell you what doesn’t happen. What doesn’t happen is any worry or fear. My (and my husband’s) attitude is: your body knows what it needs to do and it is doing it for a reason, even if I don’t know what that need is or understand the reason. My body was created with an inner wisdom, an innate intelligence far greater than my own. I respect it immensely.

The body needs to use its energy to do whatever healing or repairing needed. I don’t want to take that needed energy away from that work and force the body to use it for other unnecessary things.  Did you know that one third of the body’s energy is used just for digestion? ONE THIRD!!! The best way to accelerate healing is through fasting. By fasting, I mean eating no food, but drinking plenty of water and resting. So, if possible, we fast.

Not into fasting? Or can’t imagine having a child do such a thing? That’s OK. You can still help the body to use its energy more efficiently by eating only RAW foods while healing. Fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. Water. Nothing else (food wise–I do give/have supplements such as echincea, vitamin C, etc.) until symptoms are gone. Raw foods include the enzymes necessary for digestion and therefore require much less work from your body. That’s a good thing when you want to conserve energy so that it can be used for more important things. I wrote a post on including more raw foods in our diets for healing; you can read it here.

What about fever reducers? Cough suppressants? Pain killers? Decongestants? Antibiotics?  It’s best to avoid them completely.  Not only are the chemicals toxic to the body even under normal conditions, but during healing time they would be even more disruptive, giving the body extra work to deal with.  Those symptoms serve a purpose, and the drugs usually hinder, not help the body to heal

I am thankful for my education in chiropractic; through my four years of school I gained a great deal of knowledge that has been extremely helpful toward raising my family through more natural means. Fortunately, we all have access now (mostly through the internet) to information that gives us the power to take responsibility for the health of our families.  Your medical doctor most certainly has knowledge that you don’t. But that doesn’t mean that he/she is wiser.

A resource I highly recommend for every family is the book How To Raise A Healthy Child In Spite Of Your Doctor, by Robert Mendelsohn, MD.  It’s written by a pediatrician, so he knows common medical practice and also has had plenty of experience. It comes in handy when you’d like a reminder of what to look for to decide if your child actually needs a doctor visit, or if you can handle it at home. Even with my health education, I have referred to this book many times over the years, and it truly does empower the parent to make educated decisions for the child’s health.  My second child experienced febrile convulsions twice, and thanks to the book, I was able to keep myself together (though they were indeed scary) with the knowledge that my child was not in any actual danger.

I’ll share more about my son’s hospital experience in some of the posts to come. I’m thankful that he got helped. And I’m also thankful that I have the knowledge and ability to help his body recover from the help that he got (yes, his body needs to be cleaned up from all the chemicals that were put into him), now that he’s home.

As I’ve mentioned, I struggle with menu planning. Even though I KNOW it works, it helps, it’s good to do, I just don’t like to do it, which is why it’s so helpful for me to post it because I know I’ll get it done then. As you may (or may not) have noticed, I haven’t been posting them the last few weeks. And, that means, I haven’t been making them. Which means, I sometimes have no idea what I’m going to make for dinner, even half an hour before said dinner -time. I have a goal of making menus one month at a time, and doing some amount of prepping ahead and freezing what I can. Right now, the most I’ve done is make a double batch of some things and freezing the extra, and making some mixes. These are helpful, but not what I have in mind for my freezer cooking goals. Today is Tuesday. I didn’t have my menu planned for the rest of the week yet yesterday (on Monday, my menu planning/posting day). But today I am going grocery shopping, so it had to be done. And then, I did the unthinkable…..I planned the menus for the rest of the month! Using this monthly menu planner from $5 dinners, I filled in the rest. I know it’s only 2 1/2 weeks, but for me it’s a lot. Unfortunately there’s not many things I can prep ahead, but I may be able to figure some out.

So, here’s what’s planned for the next 3 weeks:

M- Baked Potatoes, grilled onion&mushroom toppings, steamed green beans

T- Eggs & toast, OJ

W-Burgers (Father’s Day–we never had it)

Th- Rainbow Salad & (hopefully) Homemade Bread

F- Chicken Pot Pie, Broccoli, Challah, Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies&Almond Milk

S- Granola, Raw Granola, Almond Milk, Pasta Tuna Salad

S-Vegetable Stuffed Eggplant

M- Spinach & Chickpeas with pita

T- Homemade Pizza, Greek Salad

W- Pancake Supper

Th- Homemade Hummus, Couscous Tabouli, pita

F- Crock pot Sweet n Sour Cabbage&Beef soup

S- Couscous Salad

S- Taco Casserole

M- Eggs & Toast, OJ

T- L/O Cabbage Soup

W- Spaghetti, Salad

Th- Cabbage & Potatoes (pan fried)

F- Baked Fish, Macaroni & Cheese, Candied Carrots, Spinach

S-Leftovers????