-Everything we eat either makes our body feel good or not.... (think about that when you are eyeing that big candy bar:)
-The hours of sleep before midnight are worth double the time - your body will heal faster, if you go to bed early (I knew I loved heading to bed for a reason).
-Our skin is the biggest organ on our body...... everything you put on it ends up in our bodies and affecting it in some way. Think before you put anything on that you wouldn't want inside. For this reason, I love to use organic coconut oil as a lotion even on my face- usually at night. But most often for daytime, I will use Jamie Sager's Natural anti-Wrinkle face lotion or Jojoba Oil.
-Learn to not only read labels but google the ingredients to see what things really are.... they have so many "Scientific" terms you might be surprised what you are ending up with in your food. This is great to do with small kids and help them learn what things are. (Look up 'Harmful Substances in Food' ...you might be surprised, I was!)
-If you don't get enough Vitamin D, instead of taking a pill spend at least 15 min. out in the sun (voila!).
-Cayenne Powder is great to stop bleeding..... keep this on hand in all your first aid kits.
-Fermented Foods can help clear your gut (instead of taking a probiotic pill) they are full of lots of 'Probiotic Power'. I really had to get used to the taste but now I love it. Quote from Kimberly Snyder, "Imbalanced intestinal flora is one of the root causes of disease and is essential to replenish to achieve true health and therefore true beauty. This powerful salad will lead to improved Beauty Energy and ongoing cleansing. Most importantly, it will aid you in clear up any digestive blockages or irregularities that you are experiencing. It is great for those with Candida and sugar cravings."
I will include a few recipes:
- Watch/Probiotic and Enzyme Salad (this is great to eat before each meal - about 1/2 cup) httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtO97YVRjds
-Ben Star's Fermented Bread Recipe:
The best breads are made with sourdough cultures…a symbiosis of wild yeasts and lactobacillus bacterias (which live naturally on our skin) that is kept alive by diligent feedings. Neither you nor I have the time for that, unfortunately. So this recipe is the next best thing. It uses a proper amount of yeast…around 1/4 teaspoon of it…followed by up to 24 hours of initial rise, whereas a modern bread recipe may call for as many as 5 teaspoons of yeast (2 packages) for a single loaf followed by a 2 hour initial rise. Which do YOU think will taste better?
This recipe is so easy and produces such a spectacular loaf of bread that my friends don’t believe me when I show them how it’s made.
The day before you want to bake bread, combine:
17 1/2 ounces (3 1/2 cups) bread flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table or sea salt, NOT IODIZED!!! That’s VERY important, iodine will kill yeast, and you are using such a small amount of yeast, your salt CANNOT be iodized)
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
Stir these around with your fingers. This helps “innoculate” some lactobacillus bacteria into the bread naturally from your hands. Then add:
12 fluid ounces (1 1/2 cups) filtered water (do NOT use tap water, which contains chlorine, which will kill yeast. Use filtered water from your fridge, or bottled spring water)
Stir around with a wooden spoon (I use the same spoon each time, which itself becomes a storehouse for a yeast culture) until you have something that resembles dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on your countertop for 12-24 hours. The longer, the better. Unlike modern recipes, you don’t want this bread to rise in a warm area. Room temperature 65F-75F is best.
Scoop the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. It will be much wetter and softer than when you stirred it together. Knead it a few strokes to push out excess air. Then twist it between your hands to form a round loaf. Place a kitchen towel inside a bowl about the same size as your Dutch oven, and sprinkle cornmeal or flour onto the towel. Gently lay the dough onto the towel, sprinkle more cornmeal or flour on top of the dough, and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 2-3 hours until double. 20-30 minutes before baking, place your Dutch oven into your oven and preheat to 450F degrees.
When the oven comes to temperature, carefully remove the Dutch oven and remove the lid. Flour your right hand. With your left hand, lift the bowl with the dough inside. Flip the dough out of the bowl into your right hand, then flip it again into the hot Dutch oven. After 1 or 2 times, you’ll get the hang of this very easily.
Using a razor blade or VERY sharp knife, score the top of the loaf several times. Cover the Dutch oven and return to the 450F oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes, for a total of 45 minutes of baking.
Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven, dump the loaf out onto a cooling rack, and immediately pierce the loaf in several places with a knife to let steam escape without softening the crust. Cool before slicing.
Whole-grain loaf with hemp, chia, millet, quinoa, barley, and wheat berries
The great thing about this recipe is that it can be easily modified to make any sort of loaf you want. Add a handful of chopped olives for Kalamata olive bread. Substitute half the flour for whole wheat and add wheat berries and grains and seeds for a hearty multi-grain loaf. Toss in fresh chopped rosemary and garlic. Your imagination’s the limit!
If you don’t have an enameled Dutch oven…you should buy one. It’s the pan I use more than any other in my kitchen. But if you don’t have the $60 lying around, you CAN make this recipe in conventional loaf pans. The crust will not be as good, but it’ll still be better than almost any loaf you’ve bought in the store. The ideal pan is a glass or ceramic loaf pan, but a metallic pan will work. You may need to use 2 loaf pans, depending on the size of your pans. After the overnight rise, form the loaf and let it rise for 2-3 hours in a greased pan that’s been sprinkled with corn meal. (Make sure it’s covered loosely with plastic wrap and that the top of the dough is sprayed with olive oil.) Preheat the oven to 450F. Remove the plastic wrap and LOOSELY cover the loaf pan with foil, sealing it around the edges of the pan, but giving enough room between the dough and the foil for the loaf to rise. (Basically you’re making a foil tent to hold in steam for better crust development.) After 30 minutes in the oven (20 minutes if you’re baking 2 loaves), carefully remove the foil tent. Steam burns are possible, so be cautious. Continue baking uncovered 10 more minutes (8 more for 2 loaves) or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped.
*Take some time to look up some more Fermented food recipes and see what adventures in cooking you can up with.
To health and life-
Michelle
