Cure for Cancer?

Image Credit

Do we really want a cure for cancer or do we really want a magic pill to cure cancer?

As I was shoveling my driveway this morning I realized that we often talk about wanting a cure for cancer, but yet we continue to do the same things we've always done hoping for a better outcome.

Here are the problems I see:

• instant gratification society
• extremely busy {no time to take care of your self by researching foods, preparing the right foods and playing outdoors}
• self-centered attitude
• focus on money

Unfortunately, I too am part of the problem. 

As I read Jack Kruse's blog and listened to the talk yesterday at the Paleo Summit I believe that these doctors are on to something. Will they be the ones who finally figure out the cure to cancer? Will it actually be a cure if we have to do something crazy like cold thermogensis and eat a gluten free diet?

What if we have to actually do something different in order to have a better life?

I read SoSimplyGood's blog last week. I'm sure that most people would call it a "failure" of Whole30. But is it failure if we're trying to do something better for our bodies and learn something from a mistake? I don't think so.

Notes from the Paleo Summit

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This information is mostly for me, but I thought I'd share. Right now there is a Paleo Summit going on where there are free seminars you can watch every day. I believe that you can still register. They are only up for a day though so you have to watch them ASAP. This was the best I've seen so far. It took about an hour, but even if you watched 20 minutes you'd have gained a lot of knowledge.

Paleo Summit notes from Dr. Thomas O'Brian TheDr.Com {free video available until midnight tonight - others available after that}

Started researching gluten when he heard The Migraine Study from a Naples Dr. David Perlmutter.

10 people with migraines who couldn't work (on workman's comp) were put on a gluten free diet:

• 7 out of 10 never had a headache again
• 2 out of 10 had partial relief
• 1 wouldn't participate

Gluten itself is not bad for us - toxic glutens are bad for us (wheat, rye and barley).

Autoimmune disease is when the immune system attacks itself. #1 cause of morbidity (getting sick) and mortality (dying). It's connected to gluten sensitivity. Information first started coming out in 2004. Almost everyone has issues with autoimmune disease, we just don't know it yet.

Vitamin D must be at optimal level otherwise you'll have issues with intestinal permeability (AKA Leaky Gut.)

There are many many research papers that identify reversing osteoporosis within 1-2 years of a gluten free diet.

There are over 18,000 research studies that have been done on gluten sensitivity issues.

How do you treat this besides a gluten free diet? People with gluten sensitivities don't heal completely by eating a gluten free diet. You have to HEAL THE DAMAGE that the gluten has done!

You've got to give your body extra nutrition to rebuild the damaged tissue.

IEL count is a test that can be done  for early stage detection of Celiac (instead of testing via  biopsy when a lot of damage has already occurred.)

Dr. O'Brian recommends that people try eating NO wheat or dairy for one week. He stated:

If you feel a little bit better, that's an indicator that you need to do the test. Because the underlying mechanisms that might be going on in your body are the trigger for the number 1 cause of morbidity and mortality. 

Personally, I am not going take the test. I know I felt a ton better after removing wheat from my diet and I have no desire to add it back in. I'm currently working on healing my body by adding more nutrition {I can already tell a difference because of the fermented veggies I've been taking.} TheDr.Com has a DVD and some vitamins that you can buy. The vitamins might seem expensive, but if you read JackKruse's blog post about leaky gut and bought all of the vitamins he recommends I bet it is close to the same price.

Menu Plan / Routine How To Feb 27, 2012

Image Credit Double--M

I'm totally drooling!!! Grain Free Mudslide Cookies. Unfortunately I'm the only one in my house hold that likes dark chocolate.

Menu Plan AKA Menu Routine

Breakfast Menu Plan

Lunch - leftovers or whatever for me (kids eat school lunch and they typically provide lunch for my husband at work). This will soon be changing as my husband will be changing jobs in a month.

Dinners (we eat a primalish /paleoish diet  - limited grains/sugar).

Menu planning in action:

1. Outside Activities
What will conflict with supper preparations this week?

• Nothing? Seriously!?! So happy about this.

2. Pantry
What's in my cupboards, fridge and freezer?

• Hamburger
• Cooked chicken
• meatballs
• pizza sauce
• buffalo burger
• raw chicken 
• 1 cooked German Sausage link
• Rice
• Carrots/salad stuff
• Frozen veggies (beans, peas, cauliflower and broccoli)
• Frozen (cooked) pinto beans
• Eggs
• ham broth

3. Ideas for Dinner

• What can I make that my son loves?
• What can I make that my daughter loves?
• What can I make that my husband loves?
• What can I make that I love?
• What recipes have I found online that I want to try?

4. Make a Plan

1. KISS night (keep it simple silly - same thing every week).  Roast beef, mashed or baked potatoes (sweet for hubs and white for the kids) and  roasted veggies. 
2. Mexican
3. Jambalaya
4. Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs (not sure if this is going to fly for dinner or not ~ ha ha fly!)
5. Qdoba's steak - SimplyRecipes and sweet potato fries
6. Leftovers
7. Hubby cooks

MUST TRY THIS WEEK
- no new recipes planned yet

Snacks:
hard boiled eggs or leftovers

Tried and true recipes:
Josie's Shepherd Pie, Thai Sauce over Meat, Comfort Roast and  Horseradish Sauce, Asian Beef,

Recipes to try soon:
Ranch ~ healthier alternative.
Marinade from SoSimplyGood (need to get coco aminos)
MarksDailyApple (buried in the massive post)
Salt and Vinegar Chickpeas
Cocktail

• Here is my chimichurri sauce. I think it is great on eggs in addition to flank steak .

1 bunch italian parsley
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup a mix of lemon and lime juice
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Remove tough stems from fresh herbs. Puree all in food processor

For my flank steak i do a dry rub of cumin salt pepper garlic and ground coriander. No measurements just sprinkle on as i pull them out of the cabinet.
Grill as you like.

• Recipes for Brazilian Cheese Puffs and  Food.com. I poured the batter into a mini muffin pan. This is not like bread, but I loved them. I had to make myself eat meat first! My son liked them, but my daughter and husband thought they were WEIRD!

---

Check out other menu plans at:

Orgjunkie
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven always has a lot of homemaking posts to read as well!

Lent 2012

Photo Image Credit

I grew up in a church that celebrated lent. While we no longer attend a church that celebrates this period of time, I love the tradition of doing something for God during this time.

For example, one year I gave up using the computer and another year I did a "love language" challenge. This year I decided to focus on my health.

When I feel good {physically}

 I treat people differently.

Every day I will eat 3 eggs/egg yolks, fermented veggies (3 times), a lot of lemon water (liver health), and coconut oil. I will eat other meats, beef broth, fish, vegetables and a tiny bit of fruit as well.

No white potatoes, tomatoes, or peppers (nightshades often times affect joints and my knees are not good!). No nuts for 30 days. 

Feb 22-Feb 28 - no coffee (giving my liver a break)
Feb 29-Mar 6 - limited coffee (1 cup per day max)
Mar 7 - Mar 13 - eat yogurt every day (no other dairy)
Mar 14 - Mar 20 - add in ghee or clarifed butter

Why have I made these choices?

Before I changed my diet to a primal/paleo based diet I suffered from hypoglycemia and acne. I no longer have these issues anymore, but I think they were just a symptom of underlying problems. If you read Dr. Art Ayers he believes a lot of our issues are gut issues. Dr. Jack Kruse wrote a blog post about having a leaky gut. I was on heavy duty antibiotics when I was 1 and then again at 17. I plan to take a month to work on my gut, take the recommended supplements and then see where I'm at.

At this point giving up heavy whipping cream and butter will be my biggest challenges.

This is my theme song for this period of time: Counting on God

Note: After I wrote my post on Monday called "Are you Killing Your Kids?" my kids went to the store and bought doughnuts. I have a long long road ahead of me! I used to buy doughnuts as a treat for them. UGGG. I was a very rebellious teen ~ I know that I could tell them that they can't buy them, but then I wonder if they would sneak them behind my back like I would have done.

Are You Killing Your Kids???

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I read a comment that Dr. Jack Kruse wrote that said something to the effect of:

I was killing my daughter with the food I was feeding her for many years.

My first thought was "really?" Give me a break. Seriously, that's crazy. But is it? There is an obesity and diabetes epidemic right now...are we killing our kids with the food we are feeding them?

For many years I wholeheartedly believed these lies:

1. There is NOOOOOO way I could give up bread.
2. Everything in moderation is okay.
3. People who buy organic foods are spending more money for no reason.
4. Cheaper is better as long as it tastes good.

A few years back my son began showing what we thought were ADD (attention deficit disorder) symptoms. After a while he was struggling so much we decided to try some ADD medication. His grades improved, but he couldn't ever fall asleep. After the school year was over I decided to spend the summer researching some natural ways to "cure" ADD.


The mama bear came out in me when I read that 30% of our kids are sensitive to wheat and milk. Guess what my kids had every morning before school? When my son stopped drinking milk and stopped eating "healthy whole grains" he stopped having stomach aches.

As you can imagine, I felt HORRIBLE!

He didn't know he had stomach aches because it's was normal for him. Until they were gone he didn't know how good he could feel. Today he drinks raw milk from a local dairy and he doesn't have any problems. He still has problems with store bought milk.

So are we killing our kids with the foods we feed them? While it seems a bit extreme, I have realized that for me, sometimes the truth hurts. I know that I was not helping my kiddos with the foods I fed them.

Personally I'd rather read and follow the Perfect Health Diet than Jack Kruse, but that's simply because the Perfect Health Diet would be sooooo much easier to follow. Jack Kruse's blog posts make my head spin. I want my life and diet to be easy. Who has time to think about biochemistry when they have NO desire to learn biochemistry? However, what I'm finding is that while it's difficult to understand how the body works, the diet is very easy and straight forward.

It's important to note that you don't go on a diet, you change your diet and your way of life.


Newbie Tips

• Spend 15 minutes every day researching nutrition with an open mind. 
• Forget everything you have ever learned about nutrition.
• Focus on foods that were available before the diabetes and obesity epidemic began. 

I was amazed when I looked at a recent picture at Marks Daily Apple and thought how "normal" and sweet the family looked. The after picture is just so cool to look at. I don't want to be normal!!!

I do not feel deprived when I choose to avoid eating junk...when I choose to eat junk I can see an energy level change - then I feel deprived.

Treats

Here's the irony...it's because of my son that I started looking into nutrition. During lent I will be eating way differently than my family so I can continue to heal my body. One thing that I put on my menu was pizza for the kids...they get tired of eating meat and vegetables so I figured I would buy them a "treat."

A TREAT?!?

Hello Johnlyn !!! How can something be a treat when I believe it harms them? If you read about wheat there's no doubt in my mind that it is harmful to our bodies. Perhaps I have a warped sense of a "treat". 

By the way, today I easily live without bread and sugar, however it took a while to get over the addictions of both of them.

Jack Kruse comment:

The most important part of becoming optimal is changing how you think.

If you knew that you were harming your kids by feeding them the way that you do, would you make any changes? Are you helping or hurting your kids with what you are feeding them?

Related info:
For far too long I had a warped sense of frugality....cheaper is better as long as it tastes good. Never mind that store brand sour cream has many many ingredients vs. Daisy brand that has 2 ingredients (that I can pronounce.) You might be interested in my post "Does it really cost more to feed your family a primal/paleo diet?"

Coming up on Wednesday you'll read about my plan for Lent. While we don't attend a church that practices this tradition, I still LOVE having a 40 day challenge dedicated to God.

This post has been linked up at:
We are THAT Family
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven

Homemaking Mission Statement

Isn't that picture gorgeous? I found it over at flickr.com and I'm in LOOOOVE!!! It was taken by Neal Fowler. Oh the talent of some people!

A while back I read something over at Sarah Markley that made me stop and think. She said:

So my mission, then is to try to change the game. My mission is to believe that the individual matters.

My comment was this:

When my kids were little (and I was a stay at home mom) I was always looking for something important to do. Somewhere I could serve. Someone who needed me a lot. It took way too long for me to figure out that I needed to have my house in order before I looked outside my house for people to serve. A friend of mine once said “look how many people your children will come in contact with during their life time.” OUCH! Once I got my home in order and my priorities straight I realized I had very little time for anything else. Oh how I wish I could have read your blog post then. For some reason I thought I had to do big things in order to do God’s work.

Thank you so much for this blog post. I love your mission and I need to apply this to my own life.

Questions that I had after reading this:

• Does the individual really matter? 
• Does taking the first step in faith really count?
• Can I really make a difference by being nice to one person?

You always hear about the people that make big changes in the world, but what about the one person who took the time to make your day? Doesn't that count as well? 

Recipe: Thai Beef

Image Credit: stevendepolo

Sauce:

• 1-3 T red curry paste (mix in the sauce pan with some melted coconut oil ~ 1T) 
• 1 can coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen)
• 1 cup water
• 1 clove garlic
• sea salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan, let come to a boil and simmer at least 30 minutes. Add some precooked ground beef, leftover roast, chicken or pork. The original recipe said to fry meatballs in the curry paste/oil combo.)

Serve over rice.

I'm sure this isn't authentic, but it was easy and 3 out of 4 people said it was wonderful (the 4th wasn't home to try it). Nobody thought that it was too "coconutty."  The idea came from a recipe from that my friend Mary gave me years and years ago. You absolutely must use the curry paste and don't substitute chili powder (ask me how I know LOL!)

Notes for next time: add vegies, leave it soup like, cook rice in broth, use 2T chili paste

Menu Plan / Routine How To Feb 13, 2012

Image Credit Double--M

In case you missed the post, I wrote more details about the dreaded menu plan over at my other blog WeeklyGroceryShopping.Com.

I finally tried a few new recipes last week. Brazilian Cheese Puffs were mentioned on PerfectHealthDiet.Com, but then I found another recipe on Food.com. I poured the batter into a mini muffin pan. This is not like bread, but I loved them. I had to make myself eat meat first! My son liked them, but my daughter and husband thought they were WEIRD!

I'll post the other recipe tomorrow. It was a thai recipe.

Menu Plan AKA Menu Routine

Breakfast Menu Plan ~ my daughter is tired of link sausages. Today we all had precooked meat. My daughter had leftover chicken, I had a hamburger, my son had ground beef crumbles with BBQ sauce and my husband had sausage links. Strange family aren't we LOL!

Lunch - leftovers or whatever for me (kids eat school lunch and they typically provide lunch for my husband at work). This will soon be changing as my husband will be changing jobs in a month.

Dinners (we eat a primalish /paleoish diet  - limited grains/sugar).

Menu planning in action:

1. Outside Activities
What will conflict with supper preparations this week?

• 4 basketball games -  Last week of b-ball!

2. Pantry
What's in my cupboards, fridge and freezer?

• 1 hunk o' salmon
• Hamburger 
• Roast 
• 1 cooked German Sausage link
• Rice
• Carrots
• Frozen veggies (beans, peas, cauliflower and broccoli)
• Frozen (cooked) pinto beans
• Eggs

3. Ideas for Dinner

• What can I make that my son loves?
• What can I make that my daughter loves?
• What can I make that my husband loves?
• What can I make that I love?
• What recipes have I found online that I want to try?

4. Make a Plan

1. KISS night (keep it simple silly - same thing every week).  Roast beef, mashed or baked potatoes (sweet for hubs and white for the kids) and  roasted veggies. Having this 1 night of b-ball.
2. Bball game 2 - leftovers from KISS
3. Cheesy Chowder (lots of primal / paleo changes) serve with salad. Wonder if I'll ever make this ~ it's been on my menu plan for weeks!
4. Bball game 3 -   We'll either go out or I'll pick up lunch meat from the Butcher Shop and make lettuce wraps depending on what my husband wants to do.
5. Qdoba's steak - SimplyRecipes and sweet potato fries
6. Bball game 4 - out of town game. We'll either go out or I'll pick up lunch meat from the Butcher Shop and make lettuce wraps depending on what my husband wants to do.
7. Hubby cooks (I always keep meat in the freezer for him to cook. Last week he made hamburgers.

MUST TRY THIS WEEK
Salt and Vinegar Chickpeas -


Snacks:
hard boiled eggs or leftovers

Tried and true recipes:
Josie's Shepherd Pie, Comfort Roast and  Horseradish Sauce, Asian Beef,

Recipes to try soon:
Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs (whoooo hooooo I made homemade mayo last week!)
Ranch ~ healthier alternative.
Marinade from SoSimplyGood (need to get coco aminos)
MarksDailyApple (buried in the massive post)

Here is my chimichurri sauce. I think it is great on eggs in addition to flank steak .

1 bunch italian parsley
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup a mix of lemon and lime juice
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Remove tough stems from fresh herbs. Puree all in food processor

For my flank steak i do a dry rub of cumin salt pepper garlic and ground coriander. No measurements just sprinkle on as i pull them out of the cabinet.
Grill as you like.

---

Check out other menu plans at:

Orgjunkie
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven always has a lot of homemaking posts to read as well!

Minimalism

Photo Credit: marcos_bh

A few months ago someone pointed me to the site TheMinimalists.Com. Back in the year 2000, I went down the road of minimalism after I read Getting a Life: Strategies for Simple Living but somehow over the last 12 years I got sidetracked.


I'm back on the "intentional living" road again. I loved this post about shopping.


From TheMinimalists.Com:

Rather, I needed to discover what was important in my life. I needed to replace the stuff in my life with meaningful pursuits.

More and more I'm finding that I love to hide behind the computer instead of INVESTING in real life relationships. 


Relationships
It's way more convenient to have online friends than it is to have friends in real life. Don't get me wrong, the friends I've met online are INCREDIBLE! In my case I wasn't balancing the time I spent online versus time with real people. For the past three weeks I've worked on re-establishing real life relationships and it has made a HUGE difference in my life.


For me, minimalism isn't about clearing away the clutter that I've managed to allow in my life, it's about creating meaningful relationships. I'll work on getting rid of the clutter, but my focus is on building relationships.

Menu Plan / Routine How To Feb 6, 2012

Image Credit

The picture above is my menu plan for the week. I have absolutely no desire to write a menu plan today. None. Zilch. Nada.

However, if I don't create some sort of a plan it doesn't work out so well for my family. It was different when we ate grains - throw a peanut butter sandwich together or have spaghetti. Over time I think it'll become a habit, but for now I have to write down a basic menu plan.

In case you missed the post, I wrote some tips about how to use cash at the grocery store over at my other blog WeeklyGroceryShopping.Com.

Menu Plan AKA Menu Routine

Breakfast Menu Plan ~ my daughter is getting tired of link sausages so I need to figure something else out.
Lunch - leftovers or whatever for me (kids eat school lunch and they typically provide lunch for my husband at work)

Dinners (we eat a primalish /paleoish diet  - limited grains/sugar).

You'll notice a lot of the same dinners from last week on the menu plan again this week. I rarely follow my menu plan. These are just ideas that I have that I would like to try if my world was perfect. This week I got sick, spent a lot of time visiting friends, and spent a lot of time at the basketball games so we ate really simple meals. I make sure we have the food on hand to make the meals, but I always change my mind. As long as there is healthy food on hand we can always figure something out.

I wrote more about menu planning over at my blog WeeklyGroceryShopping.Com...here it is in action:

1. Outside Activities
What will conflict with supper preparations this week?

• 3 basketball games - 1 game we're bringing dinner for the team and 2 games are out of town. 

2. Pantry
What's in my cupboards, fridge and freezer?

• 1 hunk o' salmon
• Hamburger (only 2 packs left - need to buy more this week)
• Roast (Yikes! I'm cooking the last one right now - definitely need to buy more this week)
• Rice
• Carrots
• Frozen veggies (beans, peas, cauliflower and broccoli)
• Frozen pinto beans
• Eggs

3. Ideas for Dinner

• What can I make that my son loves?
• What can I make that my daughter loves?
• What can I make that my husband loves?
• What can I make that I love?
• What recipes have I found online that I want to try?

4. Make a Plan

1. KISS night (keep it simple silly - same thing every week).  Changing it up this week: Roast beef, mashed or baked potatoes (sweet for hubs and white for the kids) and  roasted veggies. 
2. Bball game 1 - Leftovers from the superbowl {possibly?}
3. Cheesy Chowder (lots of primal / paleo changes) serve with salad
4. Qdoba's steak - SimplyRecipes and sweet potato fries
5. Bball game 2 - picking up pizza for the basketball team
6. Bball game 3 - out of town game. We'll either go out or I'll pick up lunch meat from the Butcher Shop and make lettuce wraps depending on what my husband wants to do.
7. Hubby cooks (Salmon ? ~ he made wings last week for the Superbowl)

MUST TRY THIS WEEK
Salt and Vinegar Chickpeas - I said I must make these last week, but I got sick.

Snacks:
hard boiled eggs or leftovers

Tried and true recipes:
Josie's Shepherd Pie, Comfort Roast and  Horseradish Sauce, Asian Beef,

Recipes to try soon:

---

Check out other menu plans at:

Orgjunkie
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven always has a lot of homemaking posts to read as well!

How to be a Good Wife

Image Credit: epSos.de 

Being a Better Wife
Sometimes I read sites or blogs that tell you how to be a better wife. Unfortunately for my husband those sites have the opposite effect on me. It seems as if a lot of well meaning people pull bits and pieces from the Bible to tell us what it looks like to be a good wife, but they rarely tell you to take care of yourself first. 


For example, I was reading Philippians this morning. Phil 2:3 says "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. " I've seen that passage pulled into blog posts to support what the person writes about how to be a better wife. If you continue reading Philippians, verse 2:4 says "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."


The Bible ASSUMES that we'll take care of ourselves. In real life, I don't see that happening very often...I see burned out, exhausted women who are TIRED. So tired that they can't even begin to think of blessing themselves with some quiet time. How can we change this?


Keep the End in Mind
Jesus died on the cross for ME...miraculously three days later He rose from the dead. Did you catch that? He died on the cross for ME.


Yes, He died for all of us, but do you ever look in the mirror and make John 3:16 a personal message to yourself? 

"For God so loved _______ {insert your name here} that He gave His one and only Son...because _________ {insert your name here} believes in Him she shall not perish, but have eternal life."

He did that for me....He did that for you. YOU COME FIRST. He created you before He created your marriage, before He gave you a family....YOU COME FIRST. What does this look like in "real life".


Real Life
You need to find time by yourself - nobody is going to give you this time, you have to take it. Right now it might mean 5 minutes alone, hopefully in the future it will be a lot more time than that.


You need to have time to shut off your brain and be thankful for all God has done for you. It might mean reading your Bible - I'm not talking about speed reading your Bible in a year, I'm talking about reading the one sentence over and over that keeps jumping out at you. If you allow yourself to have this time you will be blessed. Once you are blessed, you can't help but pour out that love on others. 


How does this translate to being a better wife? 


You'll have the energy to think about your spouse in a positive light. Today I was reading TheGenerousWife. Here is a snippet of what she wrote:

"For the most part, there is time to bless others and still have your needs met.  It is not an either/or situation."

I used to feel soooo guilty for putting myself first. After I studied the Bible (not other self help books) I realized that for a lot of women it's natural to put others first...it's NOT natural to take care of yourself.

Now that I put myself first,

my marriage is much stronger 

than it ever has been.