Powerful Overnight Breakfast
Recipe and photo from www.activevegetarian.com

This will take about 10 min of preparation the night before however the next morning you will have a super healthy and delicious breakfast waiting for you.

This is what you will need:

SERVES 2

◦1/4 cup chia seeds
◦1/4 cup dried coconut
◦1/4 cup raw cashews soaked for 2 hours and drained
◦1 cup almond milk (or water for a less calorie version)
◦1 Tbs cacao powder
◦8 dates pitted dates
◦1 banana
◦1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
◦1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
◦pinch of salt

Place all ingredients (except the coconut and chia seeds) in a high speed blender and process until smooth. Mix the chia seeds with coconut in a larger bowl. Pour mixture into a well combined bowl of chia seeds and coconut and mix well.

The chia seeds will take on a gelatinous texture/appearance as the seed can soak up to 10 times it’s weight in water.

Divide the mixture into 2 glasses or bowls and transfer into the fridge.

Wild Crafted: Project #1 Burdock (Arctium Lappa)

As a homeschooling project, the children and I are going to catalog all of the medicinal and edible plants and herbs on our property and surrounding areas (if we get to that).

Yesterday we dug Burdock root. It has large leaves that look like elephant ears, and common in field and road sides.

It is best to dig the roots of a 1st year plant (the low to the ground plant pictured above, no flowers). The root is tender not woody as it is with more mature plants. We cleaned the root and coarsely chopped it, and placed it on a screen to dry in the sun.

We plan to make a tincture from our dried Burdock root. To make a tincture: place dried Burdock root in a glass mason jar about 3/4 full. Add grain alcohol until the jar is filled 1/2in from the top. Cover and place in a dark, cool place. Shake several times per week. Strain through cheesecloth after (a minimum of) 14 days.

Burdock root has been used to treat : urinary tract infections(which happens to be what we were treating), kidney stones, arthritis, allergies, bronchitis, gout, rheumatism, rashes, acne, boils, eczema, and psoriasis, and many other conditions. It is a known blood cleanser if used consistently over a long period of time.

You can also make Burdock root tea, or eat the root boiled as you would any root-vegetable.

Nutmeg Spice Sweet Potato Soup

If you like flavor, you’ll love this exotic blend.

If it’s a little too spicy for you, leave out the all-spice next time.

Ingredients
•2 Sweet Potatoes
•1 medium to medium-large onion chopped in hunks
•4 cups water
•1 tsp nutmeg
•¼ tsp all spice
•sprinkle black pepper
•¼ tsp curry powder
•1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
•¾ tsp salt

Directions
1.Peel sweet potatoes with a carrot peeler, chop them up and put them in a pot.
2.Add onion and water.
3.Bring to a rolling boil and then let simmer until vegetables are soft. Approximately 20 minutes. 4.Blend this entire mixture, including water, in a blender. Add all spices and blend.
5.Reheat soup to serve. The flavors from the spices burst forth once heated.
When served, garnish liberally with raisins and chopped walnuts.
Serves 5

You will find this and other great, healthy recipes at

www.hacres.com

Raw Food Presentation Coming Soon!

I will be doing a RAW foods presentation/demonstation for the November C.H.O.I.C.E.S. meeting. (CHOICES is a natural birth and healthy parenting group)

I am so excited about this upcoming meeting. Sara from Happy Foody gave me some awesome ideas for the raw food demo. I plan to make (to sample) green smoothies, a couple different juices, some raw fudge balls, and maybe a couple other things.. I'm off to buy a Spirillo..

I'm also showing FOOD MATTERS! Watch the trailer here.

"Let thy Food be thy Medicine and thy Medicine be thy Food" - Hippocrates. That is the message from the founding father of modern medicine echoed in the controversial new documentary film Food Matters from Producer-Directors James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch.With nutritionally-depleted foods, chemical additives and our tendency to rely upon pharmaceutical drugs to treat what's wrong with our malnourished bodies, it's no wonder that modern society is getting sicker. Food Matters sets about uncovering the trillion dollar worldwide 'sickness industry' and gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally.
"With access to better information people invariably make better choices for their health..."

The Green Smoothie Challenge!!

For 30 days:


~Drink at least 16 oz. of green smoothie per day (a quart would be even better!)
~Do some sort of activity every day. This could be an intense workout, or just dancing with your kids around the living room. It could be a 15 minute yoga session or a walk around the block.
~Add a green leafy salad to your lunch or supper (with light dressing…stay away from the creamier sauces).
~Stop drinking pop.
~Cut out all white sugar.

Need ideas? Recipes? Inspiration?
Go to Happy Foody.
Go on. Go!

Eating Raw

Eating raw is healthy for everyone! :)

My kids (ages 11, 9, 6, and 3) are eating tons of fruit (watermelon, strawberries, apples, bananas, and peaches) some vegetables, farm fresh eggs, raw milk, almond milk, nuts, raw nut butters on sprouted bread, and more. I would say they are eating about 50-75% raw.

My husband, who has lost 35 pounds recently on the Master Cleanse is eating a lot of raw these days too! He looks and feels great, and can really feel it when he eats junk.

Being a nursing momma, I have to keep my calories up to maintain a milk supply. I am eating green smoothies for breakfast (with fruit, chia, kale, hemp protein, and Superfood), big salads for lunch (salad greens, avocado, various veggies and homemade dressing) For dinner a baked potato, baked butternut or acorn squash with a side salad or broccoli.

Thanks to Sara at Happy Foody, I have found some new favorites! Raw Food World is an online raw food store, and that's where I ordered my chia seed! You must check it out!

Raw

During the last year (most of which I was pregnant with Jesse) I ate about 50% raw. During that time I was eating farm fresh eggs, raw cheese, raw butter, and drinking a bit of raw milk. I was eating a mostly vegetarian diet..

I read the book Nourishing Traditions and loved it! It tells all about the benefits of eating a raw diet (including raw dairy, etc.) It details the difference in store-bought milk, and raw milk..and the difference in store-bought eggs, and cage free eggs, and so on. There is indeed a HUGE nutritional difference. It also tells all about the benefits if lacto-fermented foods (vegetables, kefir, etc.) Great book!

Now that I have a nursing baby, I cut out dairy altogether. Dairy causes all sorts of issues for babies, for me it's just not worth it.

After much research it is my goal to one day eat 100% raw. Right now I am doing the 80-10-10 It is going really well so far..

You can read testimonial after testimonial of people who switched to raw diets and eliminated all sorts of health issues without drugs! Obesity (or even being slightly over-weight), headaches, acne, diabetes, and cancer, just to name a few.

Here is a lady that lost 160 pounds just by going raw.
Here is a group of diabetics that got off insulin by eating raw.
Here is a RAW FOOD infomercial! and here is another!
Here is Woody Harrelson, a raw foodist!