Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Stevia

We are taking off on an experiment into Stevia here at the house. It is fueled in part by a need to better control blood sugar for one member of the house. I think that from now on I will blog about the supplements we give a trial run. Think zero calories and sweet without a glycemic index at all. Interesting. Apparently it also has some effect on blood pressure as well and the girls are hinting I should try it out as well. I may as well, but I don't really look for it to make any difference as it would take me over a year to go through a whole 1 pound bag of sugar anyway.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

lazy Sunday

We did hair today, cuts and colors both. The girls both got theirs cut and Erin and I have both colored. I think Ashlee may be on the agenda for a color job later.

I realized today that I am always giving advice to people about what supplements to take for their health. I really have no qualifications for this other than years of personal experience. I was drawn to organic gardening in my early 20's. After my first child came up with a full blown milk allergy at 2 months I started reading every health book I could get my hands on. I will list the things we take here and why.

Astragulus Every fall starting about September I buy a bottle and take 1 a day to boost my immune system. I do not take flu shots and I can't remember when I last had the flu or a cold. Allergies on the other hand.....especially Elm and ragweed are hard on me. Keeping the nose flushed with Saline helps some.

Milk Thistle Flushes toxins from the liver and supports its work. The liver supports your body in all things. Keeping it healthy is your best bet.

Lecithin will make you thinner if taken long enough. It is a fat emulsifier and will take the cholesterol with it. Cholesterol is made in the liver as well and this helps to keep it from settling there.

Apple Cider Vinegar (unfiltered) This will kill germs inside and outside of your body. I drink it straight but you can put a tablespoon in a glass of water and get the same effect. This will help as a spring flush for the entire system. But we use it all year here. It is just good for you.

Chia seed I prefer the white Salba seed. Energy, fiber, stamina, omega 3 & 6. I usually put it and the lecithin in my yogurt.

Cayenne I use this liberally in cooking. Vitamins galore and it will heal anything that bleeds.

Dandelion and Chickweed both grow in my yard and I use them in my salads spring and summer for their cleansing and support of my body. They also come in pill form at the health food store.

Selenium is an antioxidant mineral that fights cancer. I try to be preemptive on that front after having watched my mother in law lose her battle to it.

Vitamin E (I prefer Tocotrienol over the Tocopherol) This is good for your skin. Tocopherol will kill the pain in a burn and prevent stretch marks. Tocotrienol will help keep you young by cutting your cholesterol and opening up your arteries, as well as is a potent cancer fighter.

Other things I use: Green Tea, Black Tea, Broccoli, Grape Seed Oil, Olive Oil, Violet, Rosemary, Bananas for their potassium content, Kelp, Garlic.

I like my veggies frozen not canned and I only use real sugar. We are trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup here so we make our own bread most of the time. The bread machine is your friend. I am planning to start purchasing hormone free meat at a local meat market. I think it may be just the thing to put us over the top here. It will be a little more expensive but I will get my over 55 discount of 10% and I would rather support the market than the doctor later on.
Speaking of doctors, I really don't have a very high opinion of them. They tend to forget who is paying their salary. They are after all only people the same as we are. After having dealt with them while three different family members were terminally ill in the last 5 years or so I have only one word for the medical profession. NO. Aren't they sworn to "first do no harm"? I am sure I remember that from somewhere. But I do seem to ramble, and this post is the culmination of two weekends.


Blessed Be.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Snow Day

It seems that Nature is reminding us all that she still has the upper hand today. It is currently snowing large fluffy flakes. At least I don't have to go anywhere today. My flowers are still covered in leaves and the only thing in the garden is asparagus and onions, both of which can weather the snow. They have predicted 6+ inches accumulation here. I had planned on spending Ostara outside planting seeds. I guess I will have to settle for a few peat pots instead.

Last night at the grocery folks were stocking up for the storm. Why? It's supposed to be 50 degrees again on Monday. My favorite customer service guy, who graduated from Rhema and I'm sure has an inkling that I am an infidel, quipped up that the Bible says in the end times the weather will be unpredictable and wild. I just looked at him and said "This is Oklahoma, it's always been like this here." He had to think a second and then he nodded his head up and down in agreement. Poor boy didn't have a chance. I was raised on that rhetoric. My mother had me scared silly by the time I was 10 with the end times this and the end times that. It took me years to talk myself through that and back to being just a normal person.

Anyway, Erin and I will go buy some wine later today to go with Ostara dinner. I may even venture to the grocery again in search of salad items.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Sometimes I wonder why idiots are in charge of the world. Those who espouse to know everything and damn you if you don't believe them. I love nothing more than making havoc with them. Perhaps I am authority challenged. For instance the current health care debacle. I really just want to shake someone over that one. Just let me have insurance at a decent rate and continue to cover my daughter until she is however old she needs to be. Who cares who is paying for it? I have paid for her insurance since she was born and now just because she isnt a full time student she is no longer insurable? What changed here? Is my money no longer good enough? Did she suddenly fall into the looking glass? Alice do you see my daughter in there? Then there are those who must ........supply your own adjective here.....excel, command, be right, be admired, be in charge. The ironic thing here is that it is usually the underlings who make their fame for them.
It seems that I must share the chair with the cat this morning. Jubie cat, my oldest kitty sits with me every morning. I must take a picture of him.

I need to try to hook my old hard drive up to the new computer and retrieve all of my pictures. When the computer died on me I thought they were gone for sure. Erin tells me that she can get the info out with a cable and it was only the mother board that died on me. Also there are some pictures that I need to scan and save to disk.

I have a long list of things to post and such. Sometimes the dialogue in my head gets out of hand if you know what I mean. Sometimes the words just flow and sometimes not.

The new computer has a webcam and I have watched Brigid two nights in a row now while she winds down for bedtime. Winds down I think is a good word for it. LOL.

Monday, March 15, 2010

New Toshiba

TaDa! New computer!! Finally.