Chemicals. Yuck.

Chemicals. Yuck.

Today I just feel like writing about health/products/unhealthy things/and whatnot. Just cause it's such a passion of mine, and I feel like it. This blog may be a bit random, since I don't have one set subject in mind. Sorry.
If you know me well, you know that my health, and the health of those I love is very important to me. I make it a point to do all I can to make our meals, our home, and our lives in general as healthy as I can.
 To start off my random health blog, here's an interesting article that confirms what I've been saying for a while.
http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com/2007/12/processed-meats-declared-too-dangerous-for-human-consumption/?ref=nf

Random Facts:
Did you know:
The butter flavoring in microwave popcorn is a chemical that is a relative to paint thinner? Hopefully you'll think twice before letting your children eat it.

There are unsafe levels of lead, nickel, and chomium in eyeshadow?

When chemicals are heated, they vaporize, and are absorbed into you blood stream really easily? So when you take a hot shower or bath, lots of the chemicals in your shampoo go right into your bloodstream.

A serving of sugar can cut your immune system in half, and it won't get back to top shape for as long as 4 hours? That is, if you don't eat anymore sugar in the time period...

Processed feathers, chicken poop, and plastic pellets are all considered acceptable things to feed cows. Now consider the phrase "you are what you eat"...yuck.

Aspartame breaks down into formaldehyde in your body. Think about that next time you drink diet soda.

When they pastuerize milk, they leave in all the dead bacteria. I am SO EXCITED about getting a cow in the nearish future, if the LORD allows. I love raw milk and I love my home made butter.

Over using antibacterial things, such as soaps and detergents, will have the same effect as overuse of antibiotics, eventually producing super resistant strains of bacteria.

Basically, everything is bad for you. Everything you buy to clean your house with. Everything you put on your body. Perfumes, lotions, shampoo, facial wash, toothpaste, (did you know flouride is a poison?) detergents, bleach, makeup, cleaners of all kinds, air fresheners (which DON'T even freshen your air by the way, they just pollute it further while masking scents with their own stink), the water that comes out of your faucet.

BUT, there are TONS of ways to cut back on your chemical exposure. That will be my next blog. I'll have it finished soon! :)

Garlic Wine

I started a new bottle of garlic wine yesterday. Yum (not). I'm sure you already know the fantastic health benefits of garlic, so I won't go into that. The wine helps to draw out the properties, and makes a wonderful medicinal/preventative drink.

 I quarter the cloves of an entire bulb of garlic, and put them in the wine, and let it sit for at least 2 weeks. This gives it plenty of time to draw out the properties of the garlic. I use red wine.

 This time I also added cloves, for their wonderful anti-lotsofbadthings properties. Maybe it'll help the taste a little.

 Any time we feel a cold or something coming on, we have a small glass. It's a pretty handy medicine to have around.

                                               

Kombucha!

I just started another jar of kombucha. What is kombucha? It's a cultured, fermented tea.
 You take a "mother" (the culture. It has several names: mother, scobie, mushroom, starter), put it in a large glass jar (you have to use glass), brew 3 quarts of tea (green or black), add 1 cup of sugar, let it cool to room temp. and add it to the large jar.
 Cover the top of the jar with a coffee filter, paper towel, etc, and put a rubber band around it to hold it in place.
  Let it sit for 1 to 2 weeks. The longer you let it sit, the less sugary it will be. You can let it sit for longer than that, but I don't think it would taste that great. Kombucha also has a very small alcohol content, and the longer you let it sit, the greater that content becomes.
  When it's done, put it into glass jars, and put in your refrigerator. Make sure to leave at least a cup in the big glass jar for the starter, since it will die if it dries out.
 It's super easy. You can get a culture from http://www.culturesforhealth.com/, or, if you live near me, and know me, you can get one from me. They reproduce themselves...a lot.
 In the last picture you can see that mine has 3 connected. You just separate them, and voila, you have three starters. :)

My Vitamins

For the most part, I make my own vitamins. It's fun, and I know what I'm taking. That makes me happy. I (finally) found a brand of prenatals that I am taking now, but I only take one a day, instead of the 3 that they say to take (they cost too much to take 3 a day). The brand is Garden of Life. It's a wonderful brand, and the only brand I've ever found that's ALL natural. I also take Garden of Life Cod Liver Oil (vitamins A, D, and two different kinds of Omega 3's).
 I make herbal capsules, and Mark and I take them everyday. I won't add the additional health benifits of the herbs in this blog (that would take forever), just the nutritional content.
 Right now I have:
 Alfalfa: 8 amino acids, high chlorophyll content, Vit's A & K
 Black Walnut (I don't take this since I'm nursing): Potassium, magnesium, manganese, sulfur, and copper.
 Kelp: Iodine, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
 Nettle Leaf: Chlorophyll, Vit's C and A, calcium, potassium chloride, protein, and dietary fiber.
 Oatstraw: Calcium, magnesium, crude fiber, silicon, chromium, dietary fiber, vit. A.
 Spirulina: Calcium (26 times the calcium of milk), phosphorus, B12 (actually it has ALL of the B vitamins), iron, protein (it's 85% protein), beta-carotene (vit. A), chlorophyll, and amino acids.

We take more capsules than the ones I have listed, but they are for the other health benefits, not the nutritional content.

 I also make herbal smoothies (they're awesome). I make them two different ways:
Juice smoothie: I don't measure, so I don't know how much of each thing I use... but here are the ingredients.
Juice, raw milk kefir, orange juice concentrate, my powdered herbal blend (I don't remember what's in it-ha!), coconut milk or water (sometimes), spinach (when I remember), raw honey, frozen fruit, a banana, sometimes organic plain yogurt. I think that's it.
Milk smoothie: Same ingredients, except use milk instead of juice. Raw milk is best. I wouldn't use milk, kefir, and yogurt all in the same smoothie. Yuck. My hubby loves them too. They're so good!

I also drink liquid chlorophyll everyday. I have a big glass (plastic is gross!) jar that I keep full of water, and I have chlorphyll in at least one jar of water a day. People are all the time asking me what i'm drinking. :)

Well, I think that's everything that I take daily for vitamins. Thanks for reading. --Alix.

I Love It.

Since I have such a passion for being a homemaker, I decided to dedicate a whole blog to it. I am also sharing this blog with someone else who has just a great a passion for it as I do. I hope it will bless you, and maybe teach you some things you didn't know. I have a passion for cooking, home remedies, and herbs, so I'll probably be writing about those things a lot. If you have anything specific you'd like to read about, let me know. :)  --Alix.