BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!

I have set up a new domain name and have decided to stay on blogspot, due to email requests and other reasons. Check out my new blog address, www.ginnyv.com. Thank you!!

Grilled “Fried” Chicken

I offered to bring fried chicken to our July 4th picnic with our friends.  Since we are eating a more traditional foods diet, I wanted to make the fried chicken “TF”, but I wasn’t sure how.  I searched online and found a recipe on www.kraftfoods.com that I modified and made more like the diet that we eat.  It turned out so good!  My friends thought that they were eating fried chicken, when in reality, it was grilled.  When I told them it was grilled chicken, they were amazed.  Here’s the recipe with my modifications.

6-7 chicken pieces, including legs and thighs

1/3 cups or more mayo

fresh or dried garlic

1/2 cup of crushed organic butter crackers, I used Late July brand

1 tbsp crushed dried Italian seasoning

Remove the skin from the chicken, if desired.  Next, mix mayo and garlic, to taste.  Crush the crackers and mix in the Italian seasoning.  It’s best to have all of this done before you move to the next step.  When ready, preheat grill to medium-low.  Lower temps take a little longer, but will help you to not burn the cracker crust.  While the grill is preheating, coat the chicken with the mayo mixture, then roll in the crackers until the chicken is coated well.  Grill the chicken for about 15 minutes on each side.  It’s helpful to have a meat thermometer to make sure that the chicken reaches 180* before serving.   That’s it.  The coating on the chicken may get dark or even burn if the temp is too high.  That’s ok, because it’s easy to remove the dark bits without ruining the rest of the piece of chicken.

This isn’t completely “tf”, but pretty darn close. 

This is really simple and the meat is really juicy and good.  Let me know if you try it and if you changed anything.  I’d love to know how it turns out!

Great article from Mother Earth News

Since I am busy working on some other projects and trying to figure out the best way to keep the kiddos busy this summer, I don’t have lots of time to write lots of new posts.

Here’s something that is interesting to me. It describes somewhat how we eat and why it’s good for you.

I wanted to post a link to a great article I read in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue of Mother Earth News. Lucky for us they also posted it online.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/2008-10-01/Dietary-Fat-Health-Weight.aspx

Found myself a new “home”

Hey!  I’m excited to be here on WordPress.  I was on another blog site, but I was not liking it quite so much, so we’ll give this a try. 

A little about what I write about:  Mostly whatever comes to mind.  I like to discuss the latest “experiment” I’m trying out, such as “no-pooing” or the oil cleansing method.  I also post about my latest bike rides or fun days with the family.  Lately I’ve discussed a lot about Traditional Foods, which is the way my family and I eat…or at least try to.  We’re slowing eating our way to health and happiness. 

I’m currently a full-time student, but I have my first summer off since starting back to school, 2 years ago.  It wasn’t too hard to go from crazy busy with school to not quite so busy with the kiddos.  Speaking of kiddos, I have three.  “G” is 6, “R” is 5 and “I” is 3.  I’ll try to find some nice nicknames for them, because I find it safer not to mention them by name online.

So, wish me luck and check the blog from time to time. 

Ginny

Summer laziness

Summer laziness has taken over. The kids think that they just want to sit around and watch Spongebob Squarepants all day long. They don’t realize that they really want to go outside and run around. I’m going to help them realize that. It’s going to get close to 90* today, so right now is the best chance to play and not get fried.

Sorry for the long break…

I want to apologize for the long break since the last post. The last two years have been occupied by going to school full time, both during the regular school year and during the summer. Last semester almost killed me! (ok, not literally, but I was so busy!) I actually get a summer off, which I’ve been enjoying. I will start posting again, hopefully regularly, after my brother’s visit with us is over. Until then, check out some of my links and I’ll write soon!

Great article from Mother Earth News…

I wanted to post a link to a great article I read in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue of Mother Earth News. Lucky for us they also posted it online.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/2008-10-01/Dietary-Fat-Health-Weight.aspx

Traditional Foods

What foods are good for you? What foods are bad? There’s a lot of conflict over this issue; More than one would think. Is soy good or bad? Is fat good or bad? How about carbs? Artificial sweeteners? What’s a mom, who wants the best for her family, to do? Well, I think I’ve found the best answer, for my own family. It’s called traditional foods. Never heard of it? That’s not surprising! I had never heard that term before, at least not in this context. Traditional foods are basically the foods that your great-great grandmother would most likely have eaten, things like grass-fed meats, eggs from free-range poultry, raw milk and cheese, kefir, lacto-fermented vegetables, etc. The list just goes on. What you wouldn’t be eating is processed foods, pastuerized, homogenized milk and dairy, hormone-laden meats and eggs, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial colors or flavors.

Did you know that heart disease and obesity increased after the low-fat recommendations were announced and put into place? Why is that? Could it be that fat really isn’t the culprit? Well, I believe that it is not the culprit. Studies have shown that an increase in fat, with a decrease in carbs can help you lose weight and keep it off. When you increase carbs, you gain weight. (Read Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon).

The occurrences of chronic diseases keep increasing, despite our medical advances. Diseases that used to be considered as elderly diseases are showing up in younger and younger children. These diseases include diabetes type II and obesity. And let’s not forget autism and ADHD, which were hardly heard of when I was a child. Mothers know that the food that they feed their children with these problems can have an impact on that child. Artificial colors and flavors have been known to exasperate the problems, while a more whole foods approach can help immensely. Cutting out the “artificials” can have a changing effect.

But, I think it’s more than that. It’s not just what we’re putting into our bodies, but what we’re leaving out. Cultured and fermented foods contain valuable probiotics that help our digestive system to remain healthy. When was the last time you had kefir or lacto-fermented sauerkraut? How about kimchi? Raw dairy contains the “x-factor”, which is essential to good bone structure and healthy teeth. Check out the Weston A. Price Foundation.

I invite you to check it out for yourself. I am definitely NOT the expert (yet!) on the subject, so don’t just take my word for it. Here are some resources to get you started.

Two great books to get you started in eating traditional foods are The Maker’s Diet by Jordin Ruben and Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Both books have a lot of valuable information. Another good place to look for information is www.cookingtf.com. KerryAnn is very knowledgable about traditional foods. I also visit the traditional foods forum on MDC (mothering.com). http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=365

I’ve just started our journey to eating traditional foods (TF) and will post more, as I go. If you have experience with a TF diet or want to take the journey with me, leave a comment or send me an email.

Update on my No Pooing…

Ok, it’s been over a week since I posted my progress with this.

The last week, I started to mix in some honey (about 1/2 tsp) in with my baking soda. I’ve been having some flakes and thought that might help. It didn’t help too much and my scalp was worse than ever! So, I’m going back to just the BS as my wash. I’m still using 1/2 cup ACV, 1 tbsp honey in a 20 oz jar and filling the rest with warm water. I’ve started adding a few drops of tea tree oil, in addition to the lavendar oil. My hair was starting to seem a bit dry, too. I figure I’m doing something a little off, probably the amounts of BS or ACV, so I’m going to have to adjust one of those.

I started reading about the incredible benefits of coconut oil. It is used to treat all skin conditions, including dandruff and psoriasis. It can be used for conditioner, facial lotion and a ton of other things. You can find out a ton of info if you Google ‘topical coconut oil’ or ‘uses of coconut oil’. From all of the websites I’ve found, it’s practically a miracle oil. So, anyway, I started putting some coconut oil on my scalp at least 30 minutes before I shower and wash it. I’ve even put it on before bed and let it set until the next day. So far I’m having great results with it, but just like the BS and ACV, it will take time to see if it works long term. I’ve also put it on my face as a lotion and I love it. It is non-greasy after a minute, because it soaks in immediately. And it works as a yummy tasting lip balm, too.

Be careful not to use too much coconut oil at a time, though. A little goes a very long way! If you want to buy it, I went to Whole Foods and they had a huge jar for $17.99 and a bigger jar for around $25!! That was way more than I was wanting to spend. I went over to their body care area, that has their supplements, shampoos, lotions, etc. They had much smaller jars (around 12 oz) for $6-$15. From what I’ve read, as long as you keep it under your sink in the bathroom, it should be fine for at least a year or more. It will not go rancid quickly, because it is a very stable oil. It has a very high melting point of 77 degrees, so until it reaches that, it is somewhat solid. IF you put it in the refrigerator, it will become extremely hard and not very usable, so I suggest keeping it at room temperature. Plus, you don’t want it keep going between extreme temperatures.

Oh, I wanted to add that you should get Virgin Coconut Oil. Don’t get hydrogenated coconut oil or even Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. The Extra virgin is just a waste of money and ANYTHING hydrogenated is really bad for you.

Let me know if any of you tries this! I’d love to hear your feedback!

Different uses of honey…

There are so many different uses for honey, you’d be amazed! September is National Honey Month, so this is a good time to check out The National Honey Board’s website.

I thought I’d list some of my favorite ways to use honey.

Beauty
Face wash – You can make all sorts of face washes with honey. To wash your face with honey, just wet your face. Pour a small dab of honey onto your hand and smear all over your face. You can rinse right away with warm water or wait a couple of minutes. Either way, your face will be very smooth and soft. Put on a light moisturizer, like pure shea butter, and you’ll never go back to your old way of cleaning your face again!

Face mask – There are a lot of different face masks you can make with honey. One is a handful of uncooked oats with a tsp of honey and a tsp of milk. Mix the honey and milk until the honey is dissolved, then add the oats. Smear on your face and leave for 10 minutes. Rinse off and follow with a light moisturizer.
Another mask is just honey and milk. One teaspoon of each, mixed together. Smear on your face and leave for around 10 minutes. Rinse and moisturize.

One warning. Honey will remove the toxins from your skin, which is a good thing. But, sometimes you may break out a bit for the first couple days. Nothing too bad, but maybe a pimple or two. I didn’t, but I have heard that some people do.

Another thing you can do is if you do get an unexpected pimple is put a dab of honey on the pimple and cover with a bandaid. Do this right before you go to bed and you’ll wake up and the pimple will be gone or greatly reduced!

Coffee
You can sweeten your coffee with a bit of honey, just like you would tea. It’s a great alternative to sugar and gives it a really good flavor. My favorite is a honey latte. I make a plain latte in my espresso maker, then add in a tablespoon of honey, instead of a flavored syrup. It’s my favorite way to have a latte!

First Aid
Honey has natural anti-bacterial properties, so it makes a great ointment for cuts and scrapes. It is also very good to put on a burn. Some women have been known to put it on c-section’s and have great results with quick healing of the incision area. Remember, honey is sticky, so you’re going to want to put some sort of bandage over the honey, so it doesn’t get everything else sticky, too!

If you have a sore throat, take a tsp of honey every couple of hours. Not only does it sooth your sore throat, but the anti-bacterial properties will help it heal.

Allergies
Did you know that if you have seasonal allergies, honey can help? You have to get some local honey. Honey from another part of the country or world isn’t going to help with this one. Take a teaspoon of honey every day and it will help reduce your allergy symptoms!

I’ll update this post when I think of more great uses for honey. I know there are tons! Please let me know what you think of this and if you have any other great ways to use honey.