The Pioneer Woman's Donut Story and a Trim Healthy Mama

"All I Wanted Was Donut"

This week, I am implementing some "new things" into my life.  Namely a book called "Trim Healthy Mama"… also known as "THM".  I ordered it after having read quite a bit about it on various blogs and on Pinterest.  My friend Cinnamon on "Knights and Maidens Gathering" has been talking about and following the THM book for several months now, and she got me intrigued.  I finally ordered it several  weeks ago.  I really like all that I am reading and am beginning to make out my recipe and grocery list for the week.  So here goes… I am blogging it… and now I am committed right?   I'm not saying I will do any "before and afters" on the blog; I'm not that brave yet… but I might mention how I am doing with it now and then, and will publish recipes at times that are compatible with it, along with some of my standard family recipes.  I am excited to begin.  I have not completely finished the book yet, but have gotten the "gist" of it, and it is right up my alley in terms of healthful habits and the food we eat, and I feel as if I can add it as a supplement to the "Eating Well" thoughts I have had in my own conclusions about food.  I am looking forward to balancing my hormones and blood sugar as well as loosing some weight.  While I was reading the THM book, I also happened to read Pioneer Woman's "Donut Story".  Now if you haven't read that story yet, get ready for a good laugh.  I can completely relate to her in this story… sounds like something I would do… so I couldn't resist linking it here as I begin my THM lifestyle…  a reminder that we are all human and…. well as I said we can all use a good laugh right?  Read it for yourself.  It's called  "All I wanted was a Donut" : To me laughter is a wonderful fuel for life.

Also, here is a link to Trim Healthy Mama.  Click on it and then click on their video if you want some info about it… they are cute girls, and I loved their video….I think you will be blessed by it as well.

Here's to a new Year of health and laughter.  Have a great week everyone.

Ginger Tea

Eddie is at home (sick) today.  His immune system gets more challenged than ours, probably because he gets exposed to more sickness at school,  and  I think because we have a little more discipline in eating healthier than he does (in the past there were many things he would not eat, and he's has had to overcome many food phobias... I talked a little about those issues here and here).  He has gotten more open minded about food and he does like, "Ginger Tea", Lemon and Honey and Umka Cold Care.  So when he is sick, I pump him with those and vitamin C, Vitamin D, .  He pops back to feeling better pretty quick that way.   Here's how we like to make our ginger tea:

 Cut a nice piece of ginger.

Grate it with the small side of a cheese grater.  Some people like to slice it, and that is a good option, but I like to get more juice and flavor out of it, so I grate it.

Put it in a mesh tea infuser.

Fill it according to how much ginger you want to infuse.

 Put it in the tea pot with anything else you like... I like it with black tea... some of you may like to steep it with cinnamon,  mint,  green tea, or camomile.. etc.  Pour hot water in and Cover with a tea cozy to steep about 10 minutes (the longer it steeps, the stronger the ginger).

I like mine unsweetened, but if we have a little bug like Eddie does today, I will add lemon and honey....This is a little of that Honey and Lemon "Cold Remedy" I made a couple of weeks ago; it is perfect for adding to tea... you can add just the lemon flavored honey,

or a few chunks of lemon with the honey.

Mmmmm

If I don't happen to have any fresh ginger on hand... these are good too.

Enjoy

Honey and Lemon for Coughs and Colds

God's creation is amazing; in it He gave us some wonderful remedies that don't cost very much and don't need to be choked down in pill form, and, I might add, without the side effects. The Honey and Lemon remedy  is an oldie and a goodie. My Mom used to give it to me, and I give it to our kids.  We  don't always realize why something works, we just do it because our Mom's did it, or because someone suggested it, but I love to read studies or testimonials about healthy natural things, and I love to know the details of how they help us.  Here is some of the scoop that I learned about Lemons and Honey:

Lemons:
1.      Detoxify
2.      Alkalinize (though outside your body they are acidic, inside your body they restore a    proper PH balance.         
3.      Cleanse the Liver
4.      Aid Digestion
5.      Contain: Citric Acid, Calcium,  Magnesium, Vitamin C, Bioflavonoids, pectin, 
6.      Promote immunity
7.      Fight infection
8.      Provide anti-viral, and anti-bacterial properties
9.      Contains Limonene*

*Studies have shown that limonene has anti- cancer effects. Limonene increase the levels of liver enzymes involved in detoxifying carcinogens.  Animal studies demonstrated that dietary limonene reduced mammary tumor growth. 

Honey:
1.     Helps prevent cancer and heart disease

2.    Is anti-bacterial, anti viral and anti-fungal:

3.    Reduces cough and throat irritation:

4.    Heals wounds and burns and nourishes skin:

5.    Is probiotic:

6.    Promotes digestive health

7.    Is a powerful anti-oxidant

8.    Strengthens the immune system

9.    Eliminates allergies.     

For cold or cough, we add lemon and honey  to tea, or add  a tablespoon to a cup of warm water, or for a bad cough or sore throat  a teaspoon  or tablespoon of both straight from the spoon.   It is wonderful added to Ginger tea which we drink a lot of and even Eddie likes that.  I want to do a post a little later on ginger and will show you how we make ours, but here's a to link you to another blogging friend from Knights and Maidens Gathering who makes a tea of ginger and cinnamon for a good cold remedy.

Cinnamon:
The benfits of cinnamon are all very similar to those listed above, so I won't reprint them, but it is good to know that these common ingredients are ususally right in our cupboards are wonderful remedies right at our fingertips.


Here are a couple of remedies that I put together in jars for when we need them.  I got this particular Honey and Lemon Remedy idea from Pinterest, and couldn't resist trying it; click here for the link I used.  I also, made up a cinnamon and honey mixture, which calls for 1 part cinnamon, and two parts honey... that was a little strong on the cinnamon for me, so I did reduce the cinnamon a little. I say  mix it up in proportions that you can best use it and enjoy it. These are wonderful and tasty cough medicines, sore throat medicines, immune builders and sickness fighters.  

Honey and Cinnamon Cough and Cold and Flu Remedy

Stir together:

1 part Cinnamon

2 parts Honey

These can be adapted to taste; if it seems like too much Cinnamon for you, tone it down.

Wonderful in tea, coffee, on bread or crackers or by the spoonful.

Honey and Lemon Cough Medicine

 I haven't tried this recipe before,today, but it makes sense to me, and now that I have made it up, I look forward to seeing how it develops and can't wait to taste it.  I think I might post an up-date in a week or two.

Cut up 1-2 lemons, put them in a jar and pour raw honey over them until it fills up about 1/3 of the jar (I actually just poured the honey on until it covered the lemons). You will  see the juice from the lemon being drawn out by the honey. Let me quote the blogger whose pin  inspired me; she writes " Let it sit in the fridge, over the next few weeks, the lemon will darken and the mixture will thicken. The peels and pulp will break down as well and leave behind a golden, lumpy marmalade that you can scoop into a cup and pour piping hot water over"  And, I would like to add that, to my thinking, it would be good for the many remedies listed above and delightful in a cup of tea.  She adds ginger to hers, and I think that is an awesome idea too.

When I knew I wanted to make up some Honey and Lemon Cold Remedies,  I starting thinking and looking at "everything honey" ( it is just so beautiful and amazing to me), so  I splurged and bought a honeycomb as well.  I have always enjoyed honey comb, and loved to chew on the wax as if it were gum.  I remember being intrigued with it as a kid, and always thinking it was some sort of wondrous luxury to buy.  I looked up a little info on the honeycomb part of the honey and here is an interesting link you might want to read.  

After taking pictures today of all this honey, I again, could not get over how awesome God is.  He causes a little bee to create such a beautiful, tasty, healthful elixir to be a blessing to us all.  Wow.  

The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 19:9-11

Up Date:

Two weeks have gone by, and my remedy is doing fine.  It hasn't actually  broken down the lemon much (as was predicted in the blog link I got it from), but it has broken it down somewhat.  It may take several months for that to happen, and I think it will be all gone by then.  Never the less, it is a wonderful remedy and I use it for cold remedy and with tea to add a pleasant healthful benefit... hope you enjoy it.

Chicken Soup for the Body and Soul

Chicken soup is a sure and wonderful remedy that goes back long before our Grandmothers.  It is one of the things I remember my Mom making for me when I was sick, that always helped me feel better... even if it was Cambells it still had a helpful affect both physically and emotionally and was the jump start to getting my strength back.  If you can make homemade chicken soup using fresh, natural or organic ingredients you can pack in the best healing ingredients.  Here is the chicken soup recipe I like to cook up around here when anyone is ailing from cold or flu, or broken bones. Incidentally, using the bones and cartilage of your chicken or beef or lamb, will add greatly to the nutrition of a soup.  Those elements are loaded with vitamins and minerals including glucosamine, collagen, calcium, msm and more, and are wonderful for bone, joint and tissue repair, as well as building the immune system. This broth has all the benefits from the chicken itself,  as well as generous amounts of garlic and parsley and veggies that all contribute to a healthful bowls of comforting medicine.

Homemade Chicken Soup

1 whole, natural, free-range, organic chicken

4 quarts water (or enough to cover the chicken generously)

1/4 - 1/2 cup white wine

4-5 cloves of garlic

4 stalks of celery 

2 large onion

4 small  carrots
1 small bunch of  fresh parsley

2 or 3 green onions finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste (I use Himalayan Salt, which is loaded with important minerals).

Noodles, gnocci, or rice

First make a nice chicken stock as follows: 

Place the chicken, water, and half of the following:  garlic, celery, onions and carrots in the pot and bring to a boil.  Turn soup down to low and simmer for several hours or until the meat is falling off of the bone.

Remove the entire chicken from the broth, place into a bowl and allow to cool enough to handle. Strain the broth, discarding the vegetables  and any small bones (I some times puree these vegetables and add back to broth).  Now you have a lovely stock, which you can use for  your soup... it can also be frozen into ice cube trays to have handy when ever you need a little chicken broth for recipes.

For the Soup:

Place broth back into pot.  Finely chop all remaining vegetables and add all but the parsley and green onions into broth.  Bring broth and vegetables back to simmer.  Cook until the vegetables are soft.

While the broth and veggies are cooking, pull the chicken meat off of the bone. Discard bones and skin  and chop the meat into chunks.  Add it back into the broth.  If I am using gnocci I will  add it into the soup the last ten or 15 minutes, if I am using noodles or rice, I like to cook them separately, and add  to each bowl rather than into the whole pot.. that way they don't become too soft while sitting in the broth and will hold together nicely for another meal. Add fresh chopped parsley and green onions the last 10 minutes that you simmer the soup. Put noodles into a bowl and laddle soup over them.

Serve with croutons.

Prepare your ingredients and place into stock pot.

Once chicken is well cooked, remove from bone and chop along with remaining vegetables.

I can't resist gnocchi, and love it for chicken soup, because I am one of those chewy, dumpling loving, people... and after all chicken soup should be something that makes you feel happy when you don't feel well right?  I always think emotions should be considered in the healing process.

Add final ingredients and simmer until ready to eat.

Bon Appetite and get well soon.

15 "Feel Better" Home Remedies that Work in our Family

I decided this was a good time of year to share some of the things we do at our house to help us to get better whenever we are sick, or feel as if we are on the verge of getting sick, or ailing in any way physically.  We very rarely go to the doctor around here... only for emergencies, such as horse accidents and broken bones and the like... and we try to limit those things, if you know what I mean,  hehehe.  Here is a list of what we have used to feel better and get better through the average sickness or health issue.  These are not listed in any priority order... it all depends on what the problem is.  I have linked almost all of them in some way, so that you can do a little more research on them if you are interested.  This is simply a list of what we do ... its not meant to be a perscription for anyone, but perhaps what works for us may work for you.  I know a lot of you may already use many of these remedies... so I would love to hear how you might implement them.  Leave me a comment and let me know.  For this post I wanted to list them, and in the coming weeks I  will feature one of them and talk a little more about them and how our family implements each one.  Save up your tips and thoughts and be sure to pop back in and add your comments as I go.


1.     Homemade Chicken Soup  Recipe Here

2.     Lemon   Remedy Here

3.     Honey  Remedy Here

4.     Ginger Remedy Here

5.     Coconut Oil

6.     Peppermint oil

7.     Oregano

8.     Salt Water Gargle

9.     Garlic  Remedy Here

10.     Apple Cider Vinegar

11.    Vitamins D and C

12.    Homeopathics

13.     Cayenne Pepper

14.     Hot Tea Remedy here

15.     Prayer