Wholesome Bread Recipe

After contacting the ladies who taught me how to make homemade whole wheat bread without a bread machine, I am ready to post their recipe... I didn't want to infringe upon their rights and I wanted their permission.

You see, I am a recovered bread machine user. Never again will I go back to that mode of making & creating wholesome bread for my family. Over a year ago I started watching films from Franklin Springs Family Media. In a couple of their documentary-type movies, I met a family called the West Ladies. Soon they had their own dvds on the market. I snatched-up that 3-piece set immediately. These down-home, off-grid living, Christian woman are such an inspiration to me. I yearn to live a really simple life akin to theirs. I do try. And I do succeed in my own way...

Back to the bread. I am in love with making and baking and sharing bread. The textures of the flour and honey and water. The love mixed into it with kneading. The wonder of it rising. The smell of it baking. The delight on faces of those who eat it. All of it, I am in love with it! Ahhh.

Although I am a raw food vegan and I promote a vegan eating style, I must link these ladies and their blog and their website here. Get some ideas. Learn something. They offer more than recipes,they offer a glimpse into a lifestyle. They stand for something bigger, something more important than culinary choices. They are godly women who stand for Christ.

In perusing their bog and/or their site, do take the time to learn what a blessing it is to be the caretaker of the homestead, whether or not your homestead is in the country or a high-rise apartment building or somewhere in between. Take the time to do things the old-fashioned way. Take time...and be thankful for every good gift God gives you this day.

Here is the whole wheat bread recipe. Please do consider buying their Homestead Blessings dvds. A new batch will be out soon--you can pre-order your set now! 

STANDARD BREAD DOUGH 

 • 2 1/2 cups of Warm Water 

 • 2 cups of whole Wheat Flour 

 • 2 teaspoons of Salt 

 • 1/2 cup of Oil 

 • 1/2 cup of Honey 

 • 1 tablespoon of Yeast 

Add the Water, Flour, Salt, Oil and Honey and mix together. 

Then mix in the yeast. 

Add flour until you have a nice dough (4 or 5 cups). 

Knead and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes in a warm place. 

Punch down and form into loaves. 

Place in greased loaf pans and use a fork to poke several holes into dough. 

Let rise again for about an hour. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.

* I let mine rise for 90 minutes instead of 30 to 40--as per the directions on their "The Art of Bread Making" dvd.

I am off to making a batch of my own. One with onions and herbs. And another with extra honey, cinnamon, and raisins...Thank you, Hannah, for your kind response to my request! 

May God bless all that you do this day!

Cancer Education

These are both parts of an article in the recent Health News publication by the folks at Hallelujah Acres. The topic for issue #54 is entitled Discussing Cancer. In addition to being an informative-packed little magazine this month, it is full of inspiration, education and health testimonials of those who either recovered completely from their cancer diagnosis or those who where able to extend their life well beyond what the medical profession said was possible.

Why aren't more people aware of these simple dietary steps they can take to walk a path of health and healing? Why?! I want to scream it. It breaks my heart. Why don't they seek alternatives to healing? Perhaps you already read the above article snip-it. If not, please take the time to do so now.

Huh? Amazing, isn't it? Astonishing, really. Some doctors don't know and therefore cannot offer ideas beyond their cancer education (brought to them courtesy of the pharmaceutical companies selling cancer-combat & anti-cancer drugs). What is worse, some doctors know the facts, but don't bother to research and/or present the alternatives, much like Leslie Kirchmeier's doctor in that article.

Do not despair. Please read on to find out what she did in response and how she is doing now...

Let me backtrack and give you the set-up for this amazing story. Mrs. Kirchmeier was diagnosed with stage-2 cervical cancer in June of 2000. She underwent conventional treatments (precautionary lymph node removal, 6 hours a day of chemo 1/week for 6 weeks, and radiation everyday). In her words, "In the end, the treatments were all for naught. The 'heavy hit' package of chemo and radiation that I endured did not shrink the tumor as the doctors expected."

Today her blood work continues to show she is cancer free. There are many other similar health testimonials at the Hallelujah Acres site to further support this health and healing. Are you interested? Are you curious? Are you ready to discover other ways to rid your body of cancer and disease? I hope you are hollering YES! 

Imagine, if your body would heal by just making some changes to your diet. Simple. Add in more fresh fruits and veggies. Drink fresh juices extracted in your very own home. Make green smoothies and chug 'em down. Take out the whites...white sugar, white flour, white rice, white pasta, all milk products. Avoid corn syrup and other artificial sweeteners. Don't drink caffeine. Cut out the meat. All of it. Oh, come on. You can do it! Just eat like God intended us to eat. Eat like you were in the Garden. Simple.

It is not like I am suggesting you take multiple swigs of poison or inject yourself with toxins that can eat through the floor or swallow pills with so many negative side effects you need to take a nap while reading the insert...no, I will leave that to the doctors.

If you are curious and want to learn more, please take the time to visit these links. Yes, there are other links to sites that also promote healing and raw foods, but some are tainted with New Age guru poopoo (my official term for the eastern influenced junk). I am a child of God. I will do my best to discern the good from the bad. In leading someone along a path of health and healing, I don't want to lead anyone to an eternity separated from God. Please use prayerful discernment when seeking a medical regime. 

Hallelujah Acres site

full-length health testimony of Leslie Kirchmeier

H. Acres cancer dvd series (to watch on-line)

More videos with information, food prep...

Cancer DVD I previously highlighted here last year

All I can do, no, what I must do, is present you with information, education, and pray that God will lead you along the path He intends you to take in this life. 

* And it is sad, but please read the disclaimer in the sidebar. I went to law school just long enough to know about disclaimers. People, I cannot heal you. I can help you find information and adjust your diet though... Your healing is between you and God (and the path he sets before your feet).

* Please go the H. Acres site and sign-up to receive their bi-monthly publication. You can also get a weekly email.

Protein--Healthy Truth

How do you get enough protein in your diet?

That is one of the most common questions I get in regard to eating a raw food vegan diet. 

Well folks, quite simply put, there has been way too much hoopla regarding "complete" & "high-quality" protein in one's diet. The fact is, you can achieve and maintain a very healthy body by consuming plant-based proteins! Steaks, chops, roasts and burgers have been scientifically proven to promote diseased bodies, whereas the plant-based proteins have been linked to longevity.

If you haven't heard of, read, watched/listened to an interview with Dr. T. Colin Campbell in regard to his book "The China Study," you must make the time to do so. In trying to prove that the meat and dairy way of eating is the best, he came across startling evidence so he undertook a 20-year long study looking at and establishing a cause & effect between protein sources and incidence of disease. Startling evidence...

Early in his career as a researcher with MIT and Virginia Tech, Dr. Campbell worked to promote better health by eating more meat, milk and eggs -- “high-quality animal protein … It was an obvious sequel to my own life on the farm and I was happy to believe that the American diet was the best in the world.”

The research project culminated in a 20-year partnership of Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, a survey of diseases and lifestyle factors in rural China and Taiwan. More commonly known as the China Study, “this project eventually produced more than 8000 statistically significant associations between various dietary factors and disease.” 

The findings? “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease … People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored,” said Dr. Campbell.

above quote taken from http://www.thechinastudy.com/news.html

Why are his findings so startling? And why isn't this making headline news on more airwaves, doctor's offices, hospital hallways, and around water coolers? The answer really is simple. Human nature. Human nature dislikes change. Human nature is resistant to reality. Human nature doesn't like to be startled.

I would like you to be startled just enough to educate yourself and then make an informed decision about the health and welfare of you and your family. At least take the first step by reading an excerpt from his book right here. After that, it is up to you to reclaim your health and vitality. I am here to pass along pertinent information and promote an eating style that has proven itself time and again...

China Study excerpt 

Oh yes, back to the protein topic. We learned in our high school biology class or basic nutrition in health that amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Some amino acids we make within our bodies and others we must consume. In the old days, food combining was thought of as the best way to assist our bodies in the manufacture and utilization of "complete" proteins. But nowadays, it  has been shown that our bodies keep an amino acid pool. And from this pool, our body can assemble and assimilate "complete" proteins! 

These amazing bodies that God gave us in the Garden were first made to consume only plant-based foods, remember? So, God already made our bodies with the intent to survive and thrive on a plant-based diet. Hmmm.

I for one have noticed over the years as I refine my diet (my story) that my muscle mass is more lean, I recover from athletic endeavors quicker, and I have way more energy. Tri-athlete (Brendan Brazier) and even some champions in the Mr. Universe and body building world are vegans. Hmmm.

Cows. Horses. What do they eat? Where do they get their muscle mass? Where do they get their energy? How do they grow, reproduce, lactate, and live? Yes, indeed those massive animals eat plant-based diets. Hmmm.

In a future post or two I will go into more detail about protein, but I just wanted to give you a taste (pun intended) of what your protein source is doing to your health --or lack thereof.

 

Coke & Pop-tarts Are NOT Breakfast!

This video clip is Ann Cooper, the director of Nutrition Services for the Berkeley Unified School District. Ms. Cooper is the author of "Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children." In this clip she is speaking at a 2007 conference. 

Ann Cooper is also known as the "Renegade Lunch Lady." It is sad that when one is an advocate for wholesome, healthy food they are called a renegade. Well, then that makes me an official crazy lady too! Crazy for kids. Crazy for health. Crazy for you to make informed decisions.

Back to the video clip...she tells it exactly like it is. If I were standing on a stage voicing the facts and stats on this topic, this is exactly what I would want to come outta my mouth! Please take the time to watch this and pass it along to anyone you know who has kids in the public school system. 

What are the kids eating at your public schools?

What diseases are your kids at-risk for by eating at the public schools?

I love this breakdown she gives in her address:

- $110 billion spent on fast food

- $100 billion spent on diet pills

- $50 billion spent on veggies

- $200 billion spent on diet-related illnesses

Spend less on fast food & more on veggies, then the other amounts will decrease! Duh. This is a huge "duh" moment.

Do you know, we more money is spent on one gourmet cup of fancy-pants coffee than is spent within the school system per child, per week for their lunch food! 

Watch out for the crazy ladies. We are comin' round the mountain!

Dirty Dozen, Cleanest 12

Buying organic produce is very important to me and my family. And it should be to you and yours too. We don't need any sort of toxic residue, film, coating, or gunk covering the produce we eat. Simple. Eat the fruit & veggies plain & simple!

Click the above "photo" to view the short lists in pdf format. And for more details [i.e. did you know that peaches carry 100% load of pesticides? Bad news if you eat conventional peaches folks!], click the link below. 

PESTICIDES IN PRODUCE

I know that 100% organic isn't always easy or even possible for all of us, so I want you to know which foods you definitely want to buy in organic and which one you can get away with buying the conventional variety--only occasionally.

Here is a simple way to think about buying conventional produce...ask yourself this question. Would you take a spoon with you to the stinky, gagging, overwhelming, chemical control area of your local garden store? A spoon? 

Yes, would you take a spoon and ask the sales clerk to pop the top on the assorted poisonous pesticides and/or herbicides? Just so you could get a good taste of what will coat your produce if you use those chemicals on your own garden or purchase conventional produce in your marketplace. Would you go to a taste-testing party at your garden store's chemical section?

Uh, no, not likely. Think about that the next time you are strolling through or looking over fruits & veggies at your farmer's market, grocery store, produce stand, or your very own garden. 

Would I like a spoonful of poison to make the produce go down?!

Not Your Mamma's Coffee

This morning I noticed a mist in the air, nothing new for western Oregon. But really, for this time of year I would prefer a warm, clear sunrise sorta morning. 

I skedaddled outside to bring in the sleeping bags and blankets from the tent where my husband and son have been spending the last few nights. I got that "Autumn" feeling as I did the sleeping gear shuffle. 

Hey, it's not cold-morning-hot-coffee season already, is it?

Yeah, any morning can be cause for a steaming coffee concoction brew. As a self-titled "health nut" I want to offer you some information on a palette-pleasing coffee substitute. Now, come back here. This is not that nasty ground up stuff in a glass jar, this is really a great coffee. I have served it to coffee connoisseurs who think it is a wonderful substitute. And if you are a tea totaller, go on and give this drink a try.

Teecino Caffeine-free Herbal Coffee

Teecino brand has many health benefits. 

Just click the link to read it for yourself... 

you will find that it is alkaline 

(best pH level for our body!), 

full of soluble fiber 

(supports the good flora of your guts & helps with mineral absorption), 

and is potassium-rich 

(from the amazingly nutrient-dense ramon nuts). 

Maya Nut nutrition facts

From a mild brew to a moderate brew and in flavors ranging from plain to mint to chai to mocha, you will be sure to find your coffee companion. So, in favor (& flavor) of a healthier alternative to caffeinated coffee with no discernible health benefits, give this a whirl, or should I say a 

"drip" or "press" or "brew"?!

Check out your local health food store or make an order on-line at the Teecino site or go to the Hallelujah Acres link to the left and order it there.

My 4-year old son drinks it too. His favorite coffee concoction is a spoon of mint and a spoon of mocha in the french press. YUM! Start your day with a simple and healthy hot drink that will get your engines fired up -- 

naturally and healthfully!

Cancer dvd

Today I am thinking of a friend of mine who recently lost her battle to cancer. Praise the Lord that she knew Jesus and she is pain-free today while she sits at her Father's feet.

All around us people are sick. People are dying. While Jesus offers true salvation, I can offer some education. I want people to have knowledge and power to make informed decisions about their health. I want people to thrive, not just survive! I want people to know some or all of what I know.

Recently I read this statement by Charles Swindoll:

"Others won't care how much we know until they know how much we care."

People, I care. I really do. The purpose of this blog is about you and me living the life God intended for us to live. It is about being the best and healthiest people we can be.

I could be angry about all the friends and family who are touched by cancer. I could be angry about all the time and life lost due to this disease. I could be angry at the medical profession for not looking to simplicity for the answer and most times even the cure for cancer. And then I could sit here and spew for all the world to see. 

Or I could offer information, education, compassion and empowerment for you to make the best health and medical choices possible. 

So, in honor of my friend, I give you a link to a dvd on a site that I completely trust. Click here and go to the Hallelujah Acres site to preview an enlightening dvd. If you or someone you know is suffering from cancer, please explore all of your options for a complete recovery. 

Switching to a plant-based diet that primarily consists of raw fruits, veggies, nuts & seeds is the track many choose to take for healing this disease. It is simple. The theory takes you back to the Garden. It is the way God intended us to eat.

Simple...

Change what you put into your body 

and you change how your body reacts. 

Simple...

Living foods for a living body!

As you become an informed advocate for your own health and as you take healing into your own hands, know that I care.

"Carry each other's burdens, 

and in this way 

you will fulfill the law of Christ."

~ Galatians 6:2 (NIV)

What's for Lunch

When I first heard of rawfood eating, I had a lot of the same questions as you, even though I was already a vegan and knew a great deal about nutrition. Immediately after I tell people of our raw food vegan way of eating, I get a lot of questions. 

One of those is "What do you eat?" 

I think to think this particular query is so funny because at first people assume raw food vegans subsist on virtually no food. Wrongo! I eat so much! My family eats so much!

• So much healthy food. 
  
• So much variety. 
  
• So much energy-giving food. 
  
• So much freshness.
  
• So much nutrient-rich fruits.
  
• So much  nutrient-rich veggies.
  
• So much!
  

For example, lunch for my son and I today was as follows:

- corn on the cob (raw, don't cook it! and please don't put butter on it either)

- cauliflower, pea & dill salad

- some soaked raw sunflower seeds mixed with some black beans & chopped onions

- a couple of large lettuce leaves

We started out chomping our way through the corn on the cob. Then I made "boats" out of my lettuce and the sunflower/bean/onion concoction, whereas my son ate the plain ole beans. He likes his lettuce on the side if you please! And we finished with the cauliflower/pea/dill salad. My son also had some steamed yams and potatoes from yesterday with a dash of sea salt...and some mustard and ketchup!

Variety. Nourishment. Living foods. Freshness. That is what was for lunch today!

--> For my next few posts I will address some of the common questions you probably have for this way of eating. If you have something you would like to ask, please leave it for me in the comments section following the posting.

--> Also, I am trying a no-fat approach to eating for a couple of months. In support of my mom-in-law who is recovering from a heart attack and other severe health challenges, my husband and I have sent her a book entitled "Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease" by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn. Go to www.heartattackproof.com for more information. 

His basic premise for prevention and a virtual drug-free treatment is a vegan eating plan topped off with a nice hunk of NO FAT ALLOWED. His book is impressive and the results from this method are astonishing. So, if I am asking someone to do something with their dietary choices, I am going to do it too. As of last week I cut out all of my almonds, avocados, and cold-pressed olive oil. I don't look at what I cannot have, I look at what I can and do have...

• Education
• Health
• Vitality
• Fresh Fruits & Veggies & Seeds
• Energy

So, stay tuned for more questions and answers regarding raw food eating and my progress on the no-fat train. 

Thrive!

Good day to you! Monday, the beginning of the week. This first full week of summer. It is a great time to make some changes to be a healthier, happier you! Why not start with your dietary choices? Let's do it--right now!

Below is a quote from an article by Brendan Brazier, a vegan athlete from Canada. Actually he is a top Iron Man athlete. He eats a plant-based diet. He is the epitome of thriving, not just surviving. In fact he wrote a book entitled "Thrive," a best-seller up north. Click on the link to read the article in its entirety.

Have a blessed day and think before you eat because you indeed are what you eat! 

"I like to start with the dark leafy green leafy vegetables, which are a rich source of chlorophyll, the lifeblood of all plants. Able to significantly reduce lactic acid (a destructive by-product of exercise) chlorophyll also cleanses and oxygenates the blood, making it an essential modern world food and a true performance enhancer. More available oxygen in the blood translates to better endurance and an overall reduction in fatigue. In their raw state, chlorophyll-containing plants possess an abundance of live enzymes that promote the quick rejuvenation of cells. My favourite green food is chlorella because it is the richest source of chlorophyll and nucleic acids in nature, plus it provides a reliable supply of vitamin B12.

I also highly recommend a daily dose of a complete, raw plant protein such as hemp protein. Raw plant protein offers several advantages: Naturally occurring live enzymes, present only in raw protein, are absorbed and utilized in a far more efficient manner than processed proteins, and feeding the body natural whole food sources of protein greatly reduces the amount needed by improving efficacy."

http://www.vistamagonline.com/articles/page.php?tp=1&p=1&id=14&s=whole_food_diet

Meet Your Meat

This posting is something that makes me dizzy with madness and sadness. It will likely gross you out. Please, if you eat meat, watch this. If you buy meat in a store, watch this. If you order meat from a menu, watch this. 

"Oh, I don't want to see something gross," may be what you are thinking. Let me tell you, you need to watch this. For your health, the health of your family, and the health of our planet. 

My mission is education. I want people to have the information and education to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. You have control of what you put in your mouth. I want you to make the best choices based on the information at-hand. 

It is true that my blog primarily focuses on the goodness of eating healthy, that is a positive thing. And that is what the majority of information and education will be about. Goodness. Eating fruits & veggies. Having fun with the food you consume. Fueling your body for great health. Quite to the contrary, this information today focuses on the badness of eating meat raised for the mass market, that is a negative thing.

Imagine for a moment if you switched to a vegan (no animal products) diet. One, how many more people could our planet feed if all the land devoted to animal feed crops were turned into organic farms and orchards? Have you ever thought about land use in that manner? Okay that is only one issue...

I am not going to stay perched on my soap box...just watch the video. And do come back to this blog. My intent isn't to make you feel guilty or that you are doing something wrong, I just want you to be informed. Do you want to make changes and feel better? Do you want to thrive or just survive? 

Did God really intend for us to treat animals this way? Even if you have no inclination to stop eating meat, at least change your purchase habits and buy it from a reputable farm...no antibiotics, no hormones, no tumors, no disease, no madness... Please.

Let's Go Crazy!

Lately it seems we have been inundated in our home by disease. We have been touched by family and friends and church-family suffering from various states of disease from 4 different forms of cancer to cardiovascular disease to many other states of ill-health. Of course we are saddened, we pray, and we reach out to these people, our family and our friends.

What makes me so sad, and I'll admit it, even a little mad, is that most of these conditions could have been prevented, the symptoms minimized, and/or the causative factor obliterated. Folks, do this, think about every single thing that goes into your mouth. Does it have the potential to heal or to harm? Is it life-giving or life-taking?

We spend more time worrying about the brand of fuel we put into our cars and trucks than we do worrying about the fuel we put into our bodies! That is crazy. 

We groan and moan about the rising cost of gasoline and diesel, but we empty our wallets at the pharmacy counter for yet another pill to mask a symptom, or worse yet, cause a side-effect that needs another pill! That is crazy.

We take our autos in for oil changes and tune-ups, yet we ignore the red lights and warning signs flashing on the driver! That is crazy.

Please, reconsider your dietary intake and realize its importance in your very life. You need to take control of what you put into your mouth. Spend as much (or more!) time reading the label of a product before you buy it as you do reading the price boards at gas stations.

Join me in getting crazy for good, wholesome, fresh food. Join me in doing the "let's get crazy dance" in the produce isle. Join me in getting crazy dirty in the garden growing your own fruits & veggies. Let's go crazy for something worthwhile, something awesome, something God created--YOU!

And while you're at it, please go check out the blog 

"Eat Healthy, Be Happy" I have linked over there 

to the right side of the page. 

Elena has beautiful photos, scrumptious recipes, 

wonderful insight, a kind heart, 

and a she shares my quest 

for increasing the health & vitality of God's children!  ;-)

Book & Website

I have a new favorite book for raw food recipes..."Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People" by Jennifer Cornbleet. What I love about this book is that she uses simple ingredients found in your local grocery/health food store and that she uses basic kitchen equipment (blender & food processor). The book has chapters devoted to the basics of raw food eating, kitchen set-up, a glossary, and resources. Also, the recipes are nicely divided into breakfast, lunch and dinner categories.

I love this book! Finally I found a raw food recipe book that is simple! You can also visit Ms. Cornbleet's website at www.learnrawfood.com for a sampling of the recipes, photos and lots more info. I have put a link to her site and the data about her book in the sidebar to the right -->

Let me give you a hint on a fabulous dessert...Flourless Chocolate Cake...is soooooogooooood! You will find the recipe on her site. There are only a few ingredients. One note, I would use raw carob or raw cocoa powder. Her recipe doesn't specify "raw" for those ingredients, but that is what I used and it was divine.

Remember that these recipes are for 1 or 2 people and raw food desserts are quite rich and fulfilling, so don't be taken aback at the smallish size  ;-)

Here are a couple photos of my son. I gave him some of the cake "batter" and he made his own pancake-sized version. I think he is a raw food chef in the making...he put some almond crumbles on top and added some walnut shells "so the people know what's in it, mom!"