Salt is so GOOD!

Celtic Sea Salt is on my “Must Have” grocery list. One of the most interesting things I’ve learned in the last year is about the health benefits of Salt. In October, I went to a presentation by Dr. David Brownstein called “Salt Your Way to Good Health.” The presentation advised people to throw away their table salt, which is just sodium chloride and switch to Unrefined Celtic Sea Salt which is loaded with 180 trace minerals lacking in the American diet.

Government regulations currently advise people to limit salt. Dr. Brownstein totally disagrees. The regulations are advising people to limit refined table salt, which in fact is not healthy. Unrefined Sea Salt is healthy. A book I am currently reading also backs up Dr. Brownstein’s research. The book Real Food: The Fertility Diet by Nina Plank talks about how important it is for everyone to have unrefined sea salt, especially babies. It is so nutritious. Here are some of my notes from the presentation: (By the way, please excuse my typos and grammatical errors. Grammar is NOT one of my strong points.)

There are Two Types of Salt: Unrefined and Refined

Refined- 2% toxic chemicals, bleaching agents, chlorine, made with high heat, contains aluminum, ammonia, etc. All of these chemicals ensure a long shelf life.

Unrefined- no toxic chemicals, 180 trace minerals.

(NOTE: Sea Salt can be refined. You need to read label. Brand names such as Redmond, Celtic Sea Salt and Himalayan are clean unrefined brands. Morton’s is refined and toxic. Also, kosher salt is refined.)

Your body should have a pH of 7.2. At this level you body is functioning better and is not a breeding ground for disease. Acidity causes your pH to drop. Refined foods (certain salts, breads pasta, cereals) are acidic and lack enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. Unrefined foods that are high in minerals such as the good salts are alkalizing agents in the body. A mineral deficiency leads to a pH deficiency. We should ingest ½ tsp. of unrefined salt a day.

Low Salt/Low Sodium is linked to acidity, cardiovascular disease, poor lipid profiles, and vitamin imbalances. In so many words, Dr. Brownstein basically believes the government wants to keep our country sick, causing chronic conditions that need drugs.

USES FOR SALT:

Detox Soak: Fill your bath with 1 cup of unrefined salt and 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide and it will detox your body of metals. Sometimes people see a black ring around their tub afterwards.

Salt specifically helps Ménière's disease, leg cramps, asthma (first sign of wheezing…drink a glass of water with ¼ t. added)

Ultimately, the human body was designed to require and utilize unrefined salt. Most studies done on salt, use refined salt.

The boys practicing their cooking skills!
Kid-Friendly Brussel Sprouts

Lana Eileen happily tearing my kitchen apart.

Mini Spatulas from Pampered Chef

After Dinner Prep Pics

Dinner Time Blues

Does anyone else find it challenging to make a meal while you have little ones running around your kitchen? I DO!!! Between the boys running around pretending to be Spider man and Little Miss Lana tearing my kitchen cabinets apart...it is a CHALLENGE! Lately, I have tried to get the kids involved in the cooking process. It is much more messy and a lot more work, however the kids absolutely love it. I always tell people, my goal in life is to raise good husbands. I want my boys to know how to cook a healthy meal for their family. Right now, that seems like a big task! HA! :)

I was a Life Management teacher before I decided to stay home with my kids so teaching kids about nutrition and cooking is a true passion of mine. However, it is much more challenging to teach a two and four year old these skills versus a 12 year old. A few things I have the kids help with in the kitchen are:
1. Buying blocks of cheese and letting them grate the cheese
2. Peeling carrots
3. Measuring liquids
4. Mixing
5. Seasoning food
6. Making their own PB&J sandwiches
7. Washing fruit and vegetables at the sink
8. Making pancakes on the griddle. We make a big Micky Mouse pancake and use raisins or chocolate chips for the eyes and nose.
9.Decorate their own pizza. Buy the pre-made dough from Trader Joes and have the kids decorate silly faces with the veggie and meat toppings.
10.We also make fruit and veggie pizzas with cookie dough.
11. Decorate baked goods
12. Have them help layer a lasagna or Mexican casserole.
13. Buy them their own kitchen utensils. Pampered chef has these cute mini spatulas the kids enjoy using.

There is so much you can do and it certainly makes this challenging time, easier...until you have to clean up! :)

I really believe they eat more variety because they are involved in the cooking process. I always encourage them to taste and smell different foods. One night I was chopping onions and Luke wanted to smell them. He got real close, took a big whiff and instantly got tears in his eyes and said "mom, I don't feel good, I need to lay on the couch." It was cute in a sadistic way. :) Anyway, one food I know they like now due to being involved in the cooking process is BRUSSEL SPROUTS! You heard me!! So this is the recipe:

• Wash and cut up a bunch of brussel spouts.

• Coat in olive oil and parmesan cheese.

• Spread out on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

• Sprink with garlic and Celtic sea salt.

• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. I also like to broil for a few minutes at the end to give them a little crunch.

Another veggie they like now after helping prepare it, is Kale:

• Wash a bunch of kale and pat dry.
• Coat with olive oil.
• Sprinkle with Celtic sea salt and garlic.
• Broil for 2.5 minutes. Watch closely, they burn very quickly.
• We call them green chips. They are a family fav!
  

I attached a few pictures of the kids cooking. I also attached the after pictures. Not pretty!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some days I am just not up for it. But I am always happy when I make the effort to include them. They take so much pride in cooking.

Those Darn Ants!

In light of my cinnamon post, my husband just reminded me of one more use for cinnamon. This summer we had a bad case of ants in our eating area. Instead of tradiational/poisonous ant control methods, we used cinnamon oil. It really worked! I purchased the oil and sprinkled it along the border of the porch area abutting our home. I also added it to a spray bottle and made a cinnamon oil/water mixture, which worked well. I would like to add that I did have to reapply several times throughout the summer, especially after a good rain. It was very effective and safe for the kiddies and animals.

The Power of Cinnamon!

One of my favorite snacks is two Lundberg brown rice cakes topped with peanut butter, apple slices, cinnamon and honey. It tastes like apple pie! It is a great dessert, too. Cinnamon is so nutritious. Read about the health benefits from healthdiaries.com below:

"Studies have shown that just 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day can lower LDL cholesterol.

Several studies suggest that cinnamon may have a regulatory effect on blood sugar, making it especially beneficial for people with Type 2 diabetes.

In some studies, cinnamon has shown an amazing ability to stop medication-resistant yeast infections.

In a study published by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland, cinnamon reduced the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells.

It has an anti-clotting effect on the blood.

In a study at Copenhagen University, patients given half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder combined with one tablespoon of honey every morning before breakfast had significant relief in arthritis pain after one week and could walk without pain within one month.

When added to food, it inhibits bacterial growth and food spoilage, making it a natural food preservative.

One study found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory."

Here are some fun things you can do with cinnamon:

1. Add a cinnamon stick to hot cocoa.

2. When making baby-food, add to fruit and veggie purees.

3. Add to oatmeal, applesauce, or plain yogurt.

4. Add flavor to sugar by placing cinnamon sticks in it. You can make cinnamon -flavored sugar by adding 3 to 4 cinnamon sticks to a pound of sugar and storing it for two weeks in a glass jar.

5. Brew a pot of coffee by adding pieces of cinnamon sticks along with ground coffee.

6. Add cinnamon sticks to bread pudding.

Lead in Crock Pots...Oh Joy!

As you can see from an earlier post, I love my crock pot. However, I may be asking Santa for a new one based on what I have been hearing, from some wise mamas in HMN. Read this article from insightfulnana.com to learn more.

Lead Poisoning and Crock Pots

Crock pots containing lead was the subject of an investigation that started in Salt Lake City with KUTV’s Bill Gephardt. After his investigation about lead in ceramic glazed plates, bowls and mugs and finding high a content of lead in them, his focus turned to ceramic glazed crock pots after a viewer did a little research on her own.

A mom from Weber County, was a frequent user of her crock pot. Her concern about lead poisoning prompted her to take her Rival slow cooker to the county fair, where a booth was doing free lead testing on dishes. What she discovered was her crock pot contain lead. She notified Gephardt about her findings and he took the investigation from there.

Gephardt took several slow cookers to Data Chem lab in Salt Lake City to be tested. He found that 20 percent of the cookers were leaching out measurable amounts of lead into food. When ceramic ware is heated to just 80-degrees, it releases nearly 10-times the amount of lead as a plate at room temperature. (Something to keep in mind when you heat food in the micro-wave on ceramic dishes.) Crock pots can heat up to more than 250-degrees.

Wanting additional findings, Gephardt took a crock pot to chemist Robert Aullman, who preformed the standard test established by the Food and Drug Administration for testing leaching lead. He found that the Rival slow cooker leached lead at .085 parts per million. Anything below 2.0 is considered acceptable by the FDA. (It’s important to note that lead does not leave the body easily. A build up of lead over a period of time is dangerous.)

Mr. Gephardt took his findings to Utah House Rep. Jim Matheson. Congress was looking into a proposed amendment that would force manufactures to put labels on ceramic ware to identify lead content. However, Gephardt’s investigation was reported in 2004 and, so far, no law or amendment has been put into place.

My research in to whether Rival had removed the lead from their crock pots produced conflicting information. I called Rival’s Consumer Services department (1-800-777-5452) and they confirmed that their slow cookers still contain lead. They stated that the level is below the FDA standard for lead in ceramic products.

Upon further investigation, I called Hamilton Beach (1-800-851-8900) and they assured me that their crock pots do not contain any lead or cadmium. (Cadmium is another highly toxic metal associated with zinc ores. Oil paint used by artist’s contain a lot of Cadmium and Zinc…. Cadmium Red…Cadmium Yellow… Zinc White. It’s also found in industries where ore is being processed or smelted. Ceramic can be colored with Cadmium colors.)

It’s been suggested that you can use plastic liners in your crock pot so lead doesn’t leach into your food. I personally don’t recommend doing that because plastics heated to high temperatures leach other kinds of toxins. However, Reynolds claim their liners are made from a high resin nylon which is suitable for high temperature cooking. You’ll have to be the judge on this one.

I don’t use my crock pot often, but when I do, I want to know that the food is completely safe for my family. “So long… Good-bye… Rival crock pot.”

I find it disconcerting that the FDA allows any amount of lead in products if it’s possible to manufacture them with out it. A little of this… and and little of that… here and there can amount to a lot of toxins being ingested by Americans.

I’m not convinced that the FDA always has our best interests in mind. Just look at how many drugs and products are taken off the market that have been found to be harmful… even deadly… after the FDA has put its stamp of approval on them.

Becoming aware, and taking responsibility for our own well-being is the best solution for combating toxic and lead poisoning.

Till Later
Insightful Nana

P.S. The Hamilton Beach 6 Qt. slow cooker runs about $49.99 compared to Rival’s 6 Qt. at $34.99. It looks like Hamilton Beach is a bit more expensive… but what’s $15.00 when you can have a lead free product and peace of mind.

LONG WEEKEND!

We survived the weekend! Stay-at-home moms, are you more exhausted on Sunday nights (after getting 24 hour help from your hubby all weekend) then you are when you are on your own during the week? I know I am. For the longest time, this was perplexing to me, but I believe I know why now. I think it is because on a week day when your husband gets home, he relieves you. Just cleaning the dishes after dinner by yourself seems like a break at this point. But on the weekends, you both are so exhausted from a fun filled day with the kids and there is no one to relieve you, come 6:00. Anyway, we are both cashed!!! It was a nice weekend. We played outside a lot, as you can see from a few of my pictures. It is so fun seeing the joy a simple leaf pile can bring to a small child. It makes you appreciate the simple things in life.

We are in the process of renovating our laundry room which I thought would be a simple project, but has turned into a dusty, disorganized, chaotic mess. Hopefully, the end results will make this all worth it. We took the kids five million different places this weekend. I think we visited every tile store in Michigan. Other then Lukey thinking it was funny to lick the Home Depot race car cart (yay...time to bust out the elderberry syrup! :)) and Lana wanting to stand in the cart, it went pretty smooth. We are for sure the biggest freak show every where we go. The usual comments are "ohhhh you have triplets!" and "are they all yours?" I am glad we can provide entertainment to others. :)

Soooo yes, we are winding down after playing "spider man" about one hundred times today. By the way, is anyone else's kids obsessed with spider man? We have never even watched one spider man show...I don't know where this obsession came from. Even little Lana thinks she is spider man and makes the gesture of webs come out of her fingers. Now it is time for a glass of wine and some trash T.V. I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather and had some fun of your own.

Good night!
Danielle

Pesto Crusted Beef Roast in the Crock Pot!

Just for the record, this recipe is not mine! I usually beg, borrow and steal my recipes. I am not the most creative cook. This recipe comes from Chef Jackie from www.nourish.md.com. This is my favorite website. I urge you to check it out and try some of their amazingly healthy recipes. Angelle gave a few of us a very informative shopping tour. For five of us to do a one hour tour, it was $125.oo total. Angelle was so kind to spend way more then an hour with us, free of charge...we had so many questions! It was worth every penny.

*3 lbs of chuck roast
*2 T. of butter or coconut oil
*Celtic sea salt and pepper, enough to generously rub the meat
*1/2 to 1 cup of pesto
*6 cloves of garlic
*1 cup balsamic vinegar
*8 ounces of portabella mushroom caps
*1 large onion, sliced

1. Heat oil or butter in a large skillet. Meanwhile, rub meat on all sides with salt, pepper and pesto.
2. Over medium heat, sear beef in hot oil unitl dark golden brown on all sides.
3. Place mushrooms, onion and garlic on the bottom of your crock pot. Place beef on top and then pour balsamic over the beef.
4. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 hours or until the internal temp. is 160 degrees.
5. Remove beef and place on a cutting board and let sit for 10 minutes.


I served the beef and sauce over basmait rice with green beans. It was sooooooooo good. The best part is, it took about five minutes to prepare. Chef Jackie suggest serving the left overs on crusty whole grain bread with the au juis as a French Dip or make Philly Steak and cheese sandwiches.

Is your child taking a Vitamin D Supplement?

Sue, my mother-in-law has done a ton of research on Vitamin D. Just to give you a little background, Sue is an RN and a certified massage therapist. She also is constantly self-educating and I trust her recommendations 150%. Our entire family is now taking Vitamin D supplements. Please watch this quick video on how important it is to have your child (especially 0-5 years old) on a supplement.

http://www.refresheverything.com/grassrootshealthvitamind

Baked Mac & Cheese

Kids are obsessed with Mac and Cheese!! Lukey especially loves this dish. :) I like to make this dish on a Sunday and serve it for lunches for the upcoming week. Enjoy!

12 ounces of Gruyere cheese
8 ounces of extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 lb. of Barilla whole grain macaroni (to make this even healthier use EZEKIEL 4:9 Sprouted Whole grain elbow macaroni)
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. Celtic sea salt
4 cups of organic whole milk (to make this even healthier use Farmer's Creamery organic whole milk)
1/2 t. nutmeg
8 T. organic butter, divided
1/2 cup flour (to make this even healthier, grind your own flour from large rolled oats)
1 1/2 cup of gluten free bread crumbs or organic Panko bread crumbs

1. Pre-heat oven to 375
2. Drizzle oil in large pot of boiling water. Add noodles and boil according to directions.
3. Heat milk in sauce pan and be sure not to boil.
4. Melt 6 T. of butter in pot and add flour.
5.Cook butter/flour mixture over low heat for 2 minutes, while stirring with a whisk.
6. While whisking, add milk and cook for two more minutes until thick and smooth.
7. Take it off the heat and gradually add gruyere cheese, cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add cooked macaroni and stir well.
8. Pour into 9x13 dish and cover with bread crumbs that have been mixed with melted butter.
9. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to and hour.

I think the key to getting the cheese sauce creamy is to make sure the milk is really warm. Again, be sure not to boil the milk. I think this is a fun dish because you can add veggies, bacon, chicken, etc and make your own variation.

I will also post this on the recipe page. Hope your kids like it as much as mine! :)

Yes, we are nerds! Today, my good friend (MARIA) and I decided to go on a shopping tour at Whole Foods and grocery shop together. It was fun to share some of our favorite buys. Sweet Ruby joined us for our shopping extravaganza. She was sooooooooooo good! :) Maria was so kind to take pictures of our favorite finds. Check out my "Must Have Grocery" page for our favorites. I will be updating it sporadically throughout the next few weeks. Send me your healthy favs if you get some time. :)

One More Thing About Bone Broth

If you can, get your little ones to start drinking the broth out of a sippy cup. Maria's wise mama did this when Ruby was sick...BRILLIANT! I have to work on this with my older ones. I think it is a great thing to start when they are little so it doesn't seem so foreign to them as toddlers. Ohh and do not heat the left over broth in the microwave. Bone broth must be reheated on the stove.

Stay healthy, friends! :)

Bone Broths

Today is the perfect day to cook some yummy chicken stock. It’s so cold outside and the smell of chicken soup warms you up inside. I have been making my own broths for about a year but typically only make them in the colder months. However, this very cool group I recently joined makes their broths all year round…even on 90 degree days in August. They see so much value in making broths, they don’t care about the temperature outside. I recently went to one of their cooking classes on bone broths. The class was put on by the Healthy Traditions Network. I wanted to share the cool things I learned. Here are my notes:

v Bone broths are high in calcium, magnesium, potassium, and many other trace minerals lacking in the American diet. Fish broths can be high in Iodine…vital for thyroid and breast tissue.

v Animal bones have gelatin. When you add apple cider vinegar (a fermented acid) to your broths, it extracts the minerals from the bone/gelatin. Gelatin helps with digestive issues such as chrons, IBS, anemia, arthritis, cancer. Gelatin has glucosamine in it…which is in arthritis meds.

v Chicken stock used to be considered the Jewish Penicillin.

v Beef Stock has been documented to aid in curing cancer.

v Pregnant woman should consume bone broth weekly. The minerals found in broth are essential for a developing fetus.

v If you are ill, drink bone broth. It is very healing.

v When making chicken broth, necks, backs and feet have the highest amount of gelatin. I order my necks and backs through Creswick Farms. Maria recently found out that the organic meat store in Plymouth carries chicken feet for broths. On the other side of town, Auto’s Chicken at Royal Oak Farmer’s market sells backs and necks of chicken. You need 4 backs and 4 necks for one pot. Whole Foods also carries necks and backs, but they are more expensive.

Chicken Broth:

2-3 lbs. free-range chicken bones to 1-1.5 gallons of water, 8 ounces of onion, 4 ounces of celery, 4 ounces of carrots, a few garlic cloves, 1 T. thyme, 1 bunch of parsley, 2 T. of apple cider vinegar, a bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste.

A side note on carrots: Today I used baby carrots because I had them in the fridge left over from a party this weekend. However, I usually peel organic whole carrots. You should try to use vegetables in their natural state. My MIL went to a raw seminar and they advised her to not even peel the carrots, just wash them really well. The skin holds lots of nutrition.

Add all of the items to the pot and fill with water. Do not add the parsley leaves until the last ten minutes. Let stand on stove for one hour. Then, bring items to a boil. Scoop off scum and reduce to simmer. Cover and let stand for 6-24 hours. Strain all items and from broth. When broth cools for a little bit, add to storage containers. Discard bones and veggies. Veggies have no nutritional value at this point. The nutrition has been absorbed into the broth. You can use the chicken for chicken salad, enchiladas, sandwiches, etc.

Storing:

Buy Ball jars specifically for freezing. You can get them at Meijer. Broth is only good for three days in the fridge. Try not to store in plastic…leaks in to broth. Leave an inch at the top when freezing. My cousin Kelly freezes her broth in ice cube trays and then pops them out and puts them in a freezer bag, just like you do when you make baby food. One tray equals one cup. One Ball jar is a little more than a cup. Thaw in refrigerator overnight.

Use broth for making sauces, stews and soups. I have been adding the broth to various recipes and for cooking rice. It gives the rice so much more flavor and is sooo nutritious.

REAL Beef Eat Grass -- Not Grains

"The fat content of beef is the primary reason it has lost ground as a respectable entrée on America's dinner table. Not only do most beef cuts have a high fat content, ranging from 35-75%, but the majority of it is saturated.

"Grain fed beef can have an omega 6:3 ratio higher than 20:1"
-- J. Anim. Sci. 2000. 78:2849-2855

This well exceeds the 4:1 ratio where health problems begin to show up because of the essential fat imbalance. Also grain fed beef can have over 50% of the total fat as the far less healthy saturated fat.

Grass fed beef has an omega 6:3 ratio of 0.16 to 1

This is the ratio science suggests is ideal for our diet. This is about the same ratio that fish has. Grass fed beef usually has less than 10% of its fat as saturated. If you are a pregnant or breastfeeding mom, the extra omega 3 from the grass fed beef will provide incredible nutritional benefits for your child" Dr. Mercola

I have been purchasing my beef, chicken, pork and eggs from Creswick Farms for about two years. Their animals are grass-fed. Grass-fed meat is even healthier then the organic grain-fed meat you can purchase at the grocery store. Their meat is not certified organic. However, the farmer explained to me that it is very expensive to get certified and a lot of local farmers bypass this process so that they don't have to charge their customers more money for their meat. Even though they are not certified, they still follow the organic guidelines. I usually order 3-4 times a year and stock up for 3-4 months at a time. I order 6 dozen eggs each time, as well. Their eggs are wonderful. They are only $1.25 a dozen, opposed to the $5.00 organic eggs you buy at the grocery store. Here is their website and some more information about grass-fed meat.
http://www.creswickfarms.com/

Additional Information About Health Benefits

"Products from pastured animals have an ideal balance of essential fatty acids or EFAs. There are two families of EFAs-omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. According to a new French study, when women eat food that is relatively rich in omega-3s and low in omega-6s, they have a 76 percent reduction in their risk of breast cancer. Products from grass fed (also known as grassfed or grass-fed) animals and wild game have this ideal ratio of EFAs."

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Another Pumpkin Seed Recipe: Salad Dressing!

This recipe comes from one of my health mentors, my mommy-in-law! She has taught me a lot over the years about good health and I am grateful for her wisdom. And get this girls.....she doesn't buy the kids tons of candy for Halloween! The kid's Halloween gifts were cute clothes, little Halloween trinkets, and other non-candy gifts. Such a refreshing, practical gift! :)

From Sue: "One cup of raw pumpkin seeds, lightly roasted on the stove top, 2 umbushi plums (they have little pits in there that have to be removed), or 1 1/2 Tbsp umbushi vinegar or 1 1/2 Tbsp of umbushi paste (found at health food stores, Whole Foods, etc)

Just rinse the seeds, pick up the broken or messed up looking ones, cool, throw into VitaMix, grind, add the umbushi and at least 1-2 cups water for the desired thickness (it does get thicker in the frig too) and you can always add more water to thin. Tastes great and so good for you!!!! ENJOY!!!"

My Little Pumpkin!

Lana eating a healthy treat before we dive into the goodies at our Halloween party tonight. :)

A Healthy Halloween Treat: Pumpkin Seeds

I had no idea that pumpkin seeds were such a healthy snack. This year I decided to take this traditional holiday snack one step further, by germinating the seeds. This was very simple, but did take some time. My thought is, it is time well spent. Plus we have been enjoying this healthy treat all week! :)

Here is the recipe and some info.:

"If you eat substantial quantities of raw pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts, filberts or others, you have a choice of swallowing enzymes capsules with them to neutralize their enzyme inhibitors or first germinating the nuts and letting nature do the job through increased enzyme activity resulting from germination..." Sally Fallon

4 cups of raw, hulled pumpkin seeds
2 T. unrefined sea salt
1 t. cayenne pepper (optional)
filtered water

Dissolve salt in water and add seeds and cayenne. Leave in a warm place for 7 hours or overnight. Drain in a colander and spread on a stainless steel baking pan. Place in warm oven (no more then 150 degrees) for about 12 hours or overnight. Turn occasionally, until thoroughly dry and crisp. Store in an air tight container.

*My oven only went down to 170 degrees and that still worked well. I cooked them for 12 hours.