Liver and Gallbladder Cleanse

1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 c. water

4 Tbsp. Epsom Salt

Apple Juice

Grapefruit Juice

*Use grapefruit juice for the 10:00 p.m. olive oil mix. The juice keeps the oil from separating and it taste much better than with water. Use the water for the Epsom salt mix.



Eat a no-fat breakfast and lunch such as cooked cereal with fruit, fruit juice, bread and preserves or honey (NO MILK OR BUTTER), baked potato or other vegetables with salt only. This allows the bile to build up and develop pressure in the liver. Higher pressures pushes out more stones.



Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice is best. Organic if you can get it.



2:00 p.m. Do not eat after 2:00. Drink water and apple juice only.



DO NOT EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING FROM 5:30 P.M. ONWARDS



6:00 p.m. Mix 1 Tbsp. Epsom Salt with 3/4 c. water or grapefruit juice.



8:00 p.m. Repeat by drinking another 3/4 c. Epsom salt mix.



8:30-9:00 p.m. OPTION: You can have vanilla ice cream (no carrageenan) 16-32 oz. Bryers is a good brand. You get more stones if you don't eat the ice cream.



9:45 p.m. Pour 1/2 c. olive oil into pint jar. Add 3/4 c. grapefruit juice and shake jar.



10:00 p.m. Drink olive oil mix. You can chase this with honey between sips. Get it down within 5 min.



Lie down immediately. The sooner you lie down the more stones you get out. Be ready for bed ahead of time. Lie on your right side. Try to keep still for 20 min. You may feel a train of stones traveling along the bile ducts like marbles.



Next morning upon awakening, take your third dose of Epsom salt mix. Don't take before 6:00 a.m.



2 hours later take your fourth Epsom salt mix.



2 hours later you may eat. Start with fruit juice. Half hour later eat fruit. One hour later you may eat regular food but keep it light.

**You will see not only stones but liver flukes in your stool. This works. Try it**

Pizza Night

For pizza night I did something different this time. I made a half barbeque half cheese pizza. We had some smoked brisquet left over in the freezer from another meal so I decided to experiment. You can also use leftover roast. That would work too. Joey loved it and said it was his favorite pizza now. I make my homemade pizza crust and it's ooooo so delicious!!

Joey chopped up the brisket with a hand chopper.

Once the meat is chopped and and the cheese grated, spread half of the dough with barbeque sauce and the other half with pizza sauce.

Put the meat on top of the barbeque sauce and sprinkle cheese on the whole thing.

Here is our favorite barbeque sauce. It is the best sauce we have ever tried. It's not all that healthy, but it tastes so good. This is one of our splurges.

Bake 350 degrees until done.

Homemade Rice Cereal

Tomorrow, the 22nd, Judah will be four months old. You know what that means? Baby cereal time. I can't believe it's already that time. I made homemade brown rice cereal for Libby and I am doing the same for Judah. I use my Whisper Mill grain grinder which is pictured below to grind the brown rice. It's cheaper and much healthier than the store bought kind. If you don't have a grain grinder you can use a blender. Blend how ever long you need to to make a powder.

Store in a glass container with a lid and simply mix with breast milk, formula, or water. Try adding a little apple sauce if you want it sweet. I refrain from that at first so they don't get used to it being sweet.

Judah hated it and even cried a bit. I will try it in the morning when he is in a better mood.

Fall Is In The Air

With the cooler weather upon us I have been in the mood for some Fall baking. I made molasses cookies last week and then some pumpkin bread/muffins this week. Joey loves my pumpkins muffins and there is never any left over. We love them for breakfast or snacks. There's just something about cinnamon and cloves wafting through your kitchen to get you in the mood. I also brought out my Fall decorations yesterday and decided to put them up. I don't normally do that until October 1st, but I was having a girl's night at my house last night and wanted to be festive:). Besides, it's almost October 1st.

Now, back to the food part. The secret to good molasses cookies is in the baking soda versus the baking powder. These cookies always get rave reviews and when you dig deeper into why other people's aren't as good, it's the powder. My mom uses sorghum in her cookies, but I prefer to use black strap molasses because of the health benefit it adds.

Molasses Cookies

3/4 c. soft butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses
2 1/4 c. sifted flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger

Mix butter, sugar, egg, and molasses. Sift all dry ingredients together. Add to the wet mixture and chill until firm. Roll into balls and then roll into sugar. Bake 375 for 10 minutes.
*If you choose not to chill your dough for time reasons, your cookies will be a little flatter, but I tend to like them like that anyway.
*To make your own homemade brown sugar, simply blend one cup of sugar and 1 tbsp. of molasses. Add your sugar first though. It's healthier and cost effective. Have you ever looked at the ingredients of a bag of brown sugar from the store? All it is is sugar and molasses. If you're going to use regular white sugar, then you might as well buy it from the store, but I make my own for health reasons because organic brown sugar is expensive. I buy the organic sugar from COSTCO and the molasses from our local health food store. So good!

Happy Baking!!

I am a carnivore again

*Note: I have edited this post three times and blogger won't let me insert spaces below the wraps recipe so excuse the messiness of it all. Hope you can decipher.

Yay, I can have meat and brown rice as of yesterday. Honestly, I crave dairy more than I do meat, but it was a welcome change.

I cooked a chicken breast to have on my salad for lunch.

My friend Jennifer shared the following recipe with me and I made them tonight for supper along with herbed rice and steamed carrots. I got rave reviews from my man and will make them again. They tasted soooo good after 10 years, I mean 10 days without anything but fruits and veggies.

Lettuce Wraps

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed

3 cloves of chopped fresh garlic

1/2 c. chopped onion

chopped mushrooms

chopped water chestnuts

Olive oil

Romain lettuce leaves

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add chicken, water chestnuts, and mushrooms until done. Top with course ground black pepper and sea salt.

Pour individual servings of chicken into the lettuce leaves and top with the following sauce:

Olive oil/grapeseed oil

Apple cider vinegar

Maple Syrup

Red Pepper Flakes

Salt to taste

I didn't measure anything, but just guessed on the amount to serve my family. I added approx. 3 Tbsp. of the vinegar, 2/3 c. of the oil, 1/4 c. of maple syrup and the flakes and salt to taste. Taste and then add in whatever you need. This made enough for our meal with a lot left over. The good thing is you can use the leftover sauce as a salad dressing.

Roll the wrap up like a taco and enjoy!!! They were fabuloso and healthy too!!

Note: I omitted the chestnuts and the shrooms. I like shrooms but Joey doesn't. They were still good without them. Three chicken breasts were enough for Joey and I to have two wraps each so adjust the amount depending on the size of your family.

I had two and could have eaten more, but didn't want to be a glutton, LOL

Try these and let me know what you think!!

A Bit of This and That

I wanted to share with my handful of readers my Memaw's roll recipe. It's one of the best I have ever used and so quick too. I am making them tonight to go with our supper so next time you're in the mood for super tasty, super quick homemade rolls, try this recipe.

One Hour Buttermilk Rolls

2 pkgs. yeast (4 1/2 tsp.)

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 c. room temp. buttermilk

1/4 c. warm water

1/2 c. oil or melted butter

4 1/2 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, sugar, and your oil or butter. Add flour. Beat until smooth and let stand ten minutes. Turn onto a floured surface and knead. Roll out 1/2 inch thick and cut with biscuit cutter or whatever you have. Dip both sides in melted butter. Place on baking sheet and let stand for 20-30 minutes. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Voila you are done!!

*Tips and Tricks*

1. You're water and buttermilk need to be warm. Cold water won't activate your yeast and hot water will kill it. Temperature in very important when working with yeast.


2. You can use milk instead of buttermilk, but I prefer buttermilk.


3. You can use honey instead of the sugar.


4. You can use any whole grain flour you like instead of the white flour. I use unbleached white flour or another grain depending on my time since I freshly grind my own grain.


5. I half the recipe sometimes for our family (I got 10 rolls halving it). Larger families will need the whole recipe. For smaller families, you can also cook half and then quick freeze the other half for a later use. (To quick freeze, go ahead and cut them out with a biscuit cutter, place uncooked on a cookie sheet and place in freezer until completely frozen and then remove and place in a freezer bag. Take out as many as you need. Thaw and then bake.)

New York and Co. (the store in the mall; at least the one here in our mall) is having an awesome store wide sale. 70% off the ENTIRE store. That also includes shoes and jewelry. We are going tomorrow to get some much needed clothing and at that price who can beat it? My friend went last week and the most she paid for anything was $12 for a pair of jeans. The sale will go through this weekend.

Joey and I have been burdened about the Cap and Trade Bill and the Health care Bill Obama is trying to pass. The C&B will raise everyone's electric bill $3000 annually and I don't have to explain the ramifications of the Health care Bill. If you know anything about socialized medicine, then you know this is not the way to go. We're going down a slippery slope is where we're going. Pray against these bills that they won't pass. If it's the Lord's will, then God help us to be ready.

HELP...

I have squash running out of my ears!!

For those of you who have a garden and have more squash than you know what to do with or have been given squash by someone else who has it running out their ears, than the following two recipes are for you. I am always looking for different ways to fix it so it doesn't go to waste so try these recipes. They are awesome and so tasty. Feel free to half the first recipe if you have a small family since it makes a bunch. Also, feel free to add half squash and half zucchini or all zucchini if that's what you have. I have had it both ways and it tastes good to even the pickiest of eaters in my family

Summer Squash & Sour Cream Casserole

12 c. sliced yellow squash
1 large onion
1/3 c. oil or butter (I always use butter but use what you have)
salt and pepper to taste
1 quart whole tomatoes (optional) (I never use tomatoes and it's still tasty)
1 t. ground cumin
1 c. sour cream
3 c. grated cheddar or Monterey Jack

Slice squash into thin rounds. Thinly slice onion. Heat oil or butter in large frying pan. Add squash and stir to coat with oil. Liberally sprinkle with salt and fry, stirring often until tender. Add onions and cook until soft, stirring often.

Preheat oven to 375

Add tomatoes with juice, cumin, and pepper. Break up tomatoes with a large spoon or spatula and stir. Cook until tomatoes are hot. Remove from heat. Stir in the sour cream and add one cup of the grated cheese. Lightly butter a 9x13 baking dish. Pour into the squash mixture and bake until mixture is bubbly and hot all the way through. Spread remaining grated cheese evenly over top and bake until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Crusty Summer Squash Bake

For the casserole:
2 lbs yellow squash
1 large onion
3 T. butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. sour cream

For the crust:
2 T. butter
1 c. bread crumbs
1 T. parsley flakes
1 t. paprika

Cut squash into 1/2 inch chunks. Coarsely chop onion. Heat butter in large frying pan. Cook squash and onion until soft. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add sour cream and stir well.

Preheat oven to 375

Lightly grease a casserole dish and transfer mixture into it. Melt butter in a frying pan. Combine the rest of the crust ingredients. Stir. Sprinkle over squash. Bake for 30-45 minutes until casserole is bubbly and topping is crispy.

Bread and Tortilla Recipe

OK Tarrah, here are the recipes you requested. I thought I would post them on here for everyone to have:) Enjoy!!

Side note-I have a Bosch Universal Mixer which mixes up 5 loaves of bread at a time. I also grind my grain fresh but you can buy it already ground or use white flour. Whatever floats your boat:)

Tortillas
3 c. pastry flour (you can use reg. wheat or white flour as well)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. oil
1 1/4 c. very hot water
flour for rolling out

Sift flour and dry ingredients together. Mix oil and water and add to flour mixture and stir. Roll out and knead until smooth. Divide dough into 18 pieces roughly (depends on how small or big you want them) and shape into balls. Let rest for 15 minutes covered. Dredge the balls into flour, flatten with palm of your hand and dredge in flour again. Roll out using a rolling pin until pretty thin. Heat a pan or griddle over med-high heat. Heat until it bubbles and cook other side.
*I have a tortilla press/cooker which does it all for me but I have done it this way...just takes a little longer*

Homemade Bread
*This recipe will make 5 loaves at a time so just divide it down for how many you want to make*
6 c. flour
6 c. warm water
2 TBSP yeast
2 TBSP gluten or dough enhancer

Mix and let it sit for ten minutes

Then add 1 c. honey, 1 c. oil, 1 1/2 TBSP salt and 7-8 c. flour (amount varies)

Mix together and knead for 7-8 minutes. You know you have added enough flour when the dough pulls away from the bowl. Take out and let rise in loaf pans until doubled in size. Bake at 325 degrees until brown on top.

*I use freshly ground wheat. I also made 7-grain bread last week and it is now Joey's favorite. You can also do plain white.*

We love homemade tortillas. I can't tell you the last time I bought any. They freeze well too so if you have leftovers freeze them for a later date. I also freeze the bread. When thawed, it tastes just as fresh as the day you baked it.

If you have any questions let me know.

Happy Baking!!

All About Olive Oil and Other Healthy Oils

Olives and olive oil have been used as powerful remedies for a wide variety of ills. Olive oil is one of the most digestible of all fats. A diet rich in olive oil contributes to longevity and reduces the wear and tear of aging on the body tissues, organs, and the brain. It reduces the risk of heart disease and cancer, and it can protect against stomach ulcers.

High-quality extra-virgin olive oil should not be used in cooking, though, as some of the nutrients in olive oil become less effective when heated. For that reason, I recommend that it be mixed into food once the food has cooled, although I use it some for stir fry veggies.

For the most healthful and nutritious look for extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil, also referred to as E.V.O.O., is the result of the first cold-pressing of an olive crop. Use it often in salad dressings, in pesto, and in marinades for a rich, classic Mediterranean flavor!

Other healthy oils/fats that are great for cooking include grapeseed oil, coconut oil, palm oil, and real butter. I use all the above and all are great for cooking at high temperatures. Of course organic or cold-pressed is best, but it can also be expensive so buy what you can afford. The debate is out on whether safflower oil is healthy, but I still use it. A book I read only recommends it if it is organic cold-pressed, but I just buy the kind from Wal-Mart which isn't.

Limit if not avoid vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut oil and definitely avoid shortening or Crisco and margarine of any kind because of the hydrogenation process it undergoes.

I love the following homemade salad dressing and I make it ALL the time. It is the best ever and my mom and I absolutely rave about it. Hope you enjoy it. The olive oil will give it a stronger taste so if you want something a little less "flavorful" you can use the grapeseed oil.

Simple Salad Dressing

1 clove of FRESH garlic, chopped

1 tsp. salt

1 -1/2 T. of white vinegar

4 T. of olive or grapeseed oil

1/4 tsp of dry mustard

dash of pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small jar and shake thoroughly. This is quite salty so if you are not a salt lover, you can reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp.

Best Ever Chocolate Cake/Heavenly Brownies

With two very "discriminatory" eaters in my family...who shall remain nameless to protect them from further ridicule, lol, I have been on a quest to find a scrumptious, moist, just-like-the-box-kind of chocolate cake and brownies (CC&B).These two particular eaters love the boxed not-good-for-you cake and brownies and I have to admit they are very tasty. However, in my attempt to save money and fix healthy, tasty, melt in your mouth CC&B...the ones where other's think they came out of a box, I have decided that the following two recipes have fit the bill. I have searched high and low...looked in every cookbook imagineable and found these under my very nose...right in my own kitchen. The DE (discriminatory eaters) have put their stamp of approval on them and actually ask for them over the boxed varieties. *Copy and paste the recipes into a word document if you wish to print them off.

Chocolate Cake

2 c. sugar
3/4 c. softened butter (I also have used 3/4 c. oil as a replacement and it works great)
1 1/2 c. boiling water (needs to be boiling)
2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1/2 c. cocoa
2 t. baking soda
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 T. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar or oil in a large bowl, add boiling water and mix well. Combine all dry ingredients thoroughly and add to butter mixture. Add eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice, mixing batter well. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake for 35 minutes. (Mine finishes in 30 min so just watch.)
Taken from Gooseberry Patch "Family Favorites" page 198

Fudge Brownie Pie

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. melted butter or oil
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa
1/4 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped pecans (I omit these since we don't like nuts in them)

Beat sugar and butter or oil. Add mix; mix well. Stir in flour, cocoa, and salt; mix in vanilla and pecans. Pour into a greased 9" pie plate; bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serves 6
Taken from Gooseberry Patch "What's for Dinner?" page 214

I ALWAYS double this recipe and pour into a 9x13 pan. For a smaller family you can also use an 8x8 pan as well. The pie plate makes for an interesting variation. These are oh sooo good.

Honey

*Note: I was searching the Bulk Herb Store and looking in the article archives when I came across this article on Honey. It's health benefits are amazing plus it's sweet, so what can better than that? It's something most people always have on hand and around our house honey is a "sweet" word...no pun intended. We like it on homemade biscuits, I put it in my cornbread before I bake it (it's more like cake when I'm done, but it's ooo sooo good,) various sweet recipes, I use in my homemade bread and the list goes on and on. Try using it in place of white sugar in recipes. If you do, reduce the amount of water by 1/4 c. for every 1 c. honey you use.


Honey, Do You Love Me?
by Rebekah Joy Pearl Anast
November 2005

When I was a kid, Dad occasionally referred to the jar of raw honey on our table as “bee vomit” in order to alarm the youngest sibling who may not yet know where honey comes from. In spite of the horrid mental image his words conjured, we all loved his Cinnamon-honey toast, and stood in line waiting for our share, glass of milk and plate in hand.

The list of health benefits in honey continues to grow, as scientists and home-schoolers alike discover what third world countries have experientially known for centuries.

What is Honey?
Honey is the nectar of the herbs and flowers that grow wild in the fields and woods. The benefits of hundreds of herbs are carried in the form of nectar in the stomach of the bee where it is subtly altered by the bee’s digestive enzymes in ways that modern science has been unable to explain. New compounds are created by this process before the honey is regurgitated in the hive, concentrated by evaporation, and stored in honeycomb.
Honey contains (among other things) a complex assortment of enzymes, organic acids, esters, antibiotic agents, trace minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, hormones, and antimicrobial compounds. One pound of the average honey contains 1333 calories (compared with white sugar at 1748 calories), 1.4 grams of protein, 23 milligrams of calcium, 73 milligrams of phosphorus, 4.1 milligrams of iron, 1 milligram of niacin, and 16 milligrams of vitamin C, and vitamin A, beta carotene, the complete complex of B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, iodine, sodium, copper, manganese, high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, and formic acid... and the list goes on. Honey contains more than 75 different compounds! Many of the remaining substances in honey are so complex (4-7 percent of the honey) that they have yet to be identified.

Because of the high natural sugar content, honey absorbs moisture in wounds, making it hard for bacteria to survive. Many honeys contain large amounts of hydrogen peroxide which is regularly used to disinfect cuts and scrapes. Most raw honeys contain propolis, a compound that can kill bacteria. In laboratory tests, honey put on seven types of bacteria killed all seven.

My Honey’s Honey
A couple of months ago my husband scraped a large area of skin off of his calf muscle while playing soccer. The scrape became infected within 24 hours. He was running a fever, his leg was inflamed, and a red streak was beginning to crawl up his leg, indicating a serious problem. I had never seen an infection move so quickly. Garlic had been our cure-all for months, and Gabe began eating large amounts of it. He put garlic poultices on the wound as well, and the infection halted in its tracks. But it did not seem to be healing. The garlic treatment had to be almost continual to keep the infection down, and the healing progress was too slow. We read, Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrod Buhner, about honey being effective in treating gangrene and warmed up a bowl of raw honey. We mixed Comfrey, Goldenseal, Echinacea, and Garlic into the warm honey and let it sit a few minutes before heavily coating the wound with this mixture. Gabe said the mix did not irritate the wound at all. He left it on for an hour or more at a time. Immediately, after the first treatment I noticed the wound had shrunk, and the skin color had darkened to that “blueness of a wound” that tells you the infection is gone. A few more treatments healed the wound in a remarkably short period of time. The next soccer accident was treated with honey alone, with the same good results.

What is Raw Honey?
There is a difference between raw honey straight from the hive, and processed honey which you buy in stores. Any honey is good for you, but raw honey is by far the best because it has not been through a heating process (over appr. 120 degrees) to melt the sugar, which also kills the wonderful enzymes and bacteria that are so rich in healing properties. Raw honey can be purchased by local bee farmers, and even via the Internet; although shipping can be expensive due to the weight.

Honey's Hurrah
In India, honey and cinnamon is used as a "Ram Ban" (very effective) medicine for all kinds of ailments. Cinnamon powder is mixed into honey; usually two parts honey, one part Cinnamon and eaten with chappati (bread) two or three times a day. The following list (and more) is available at www.stakich.com/hfolder/honeyinmedicine.htm
Heart Diseases: Reduces cholesterol, revitalizes veins, relieves loss of breath, strengthens the heart.
Arthritis: Massaged on painful areas will reduce pain within a few minutes. If taken daily, will considerably reduce arthritis.
Bladder Infections: Drink with lukewarm water. Destroys infection in the bladder.
Toothache: Apply paste to aching tooth 3 times daily until pain is gone (I think chewing on cloves works faster).
Colds: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon Cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic coughs, colds, and clear the sinuses.
Stomach ache and Gas: Honey taken with cinnamon powder eases stomach ache and heals stomach ulcers, combating the bacteria that causes ulcers. According to studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with Cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas. Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food, relieves acidity and aids digestion of heavy meals.
Skin: (This seemed drastic to me, but...) Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the facial skin before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it will cure acne.
Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.
Weight Loss: 1/2 hour before breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one-cup water. Drinking this mixture regularly does not allow fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

Sweet Recipes
Personally, I love a teaspoon of honey in a cup of hot chamomile tea in the evening. And honey in oatmeal is a sweet breakfast experience in our house. I enjoy recipes with honey, and would love to read some of yours. Here are some of my favorites:

Citrus Honey: Combine a 1" × 1/2" strip of both orange rind and lemon rind, 1 T. fresh orange juice, 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice and simmer in a pan. Strain and discard the rinds. Add to 1 c. warm honey and stir to mix. Serve over pancakes or waffles.
Cinnamon Honey Toast:Drizzle warm honey on fresh cut slices of buttered bread, sprinkle with cinnamon powder, and toast on a cookie sheet in the broiler.

Not for Babies
The digestive system of a baby is not ready to process honey. I don't know when it would be considered safe, but I'd guess not before the baby's first birthday.