Capricious Stir-fry Potato

Hello all my veggie lovers! Looking for a fulfilling meal! This is one of my favorite meals to make. I have included pictures of each step for you to follow. We start with a $1.50 bag of frozen stir-fry veggies and a baked potato. Add light butter and season potato to your liking. Next we add some cheese. I like to add cheese at this point so that it melts into the potato. I add ranch and honey mustard dressing next to layer the flavors. For me when I eat this I like the way it tastes in this order as it brings a little sweet to the salty and it seeps into the potato giving it a richer texture as I eat. I top it off with the cooked stir-fry & bon appetite! In the photos you will see some of the veggie leftovers I made from last night which added to the stir-fry!

What to Make for Dinner?

When we start the holistic path there are many options and choices as to which way we will go. Some people love organic foods while still being a meat connoisseur. Others love going vegetarian. While others chosen vegan and in some cases go completely raw. One important thing to keep in mind when you start to eat more healthy is to reconsider your portions. Before we choose holistic health most people tend to think of vegetables as a side options or dish. In truth vegetables should always be the main item and the other portions the side items. Treating vegetables in this manner will increase your health through natural vitamin intake. For my meat connoisseurs check your daily meat allowance to be sure that you are not taking in too much protein. Many carnivorous people eat over their daily intake in just one meal! If you are looking for a way to keep things interesting expand your mind and your taste buds. You will find there are more ways to enjoy your old favorites and still make them filling when adding more vegetables! Here are some pictures of last nights dinner. We had angel hair noodles with Alfredo & Marinara sauces mixed together, onions and cucumbers lightly salted and seasoned sauteed in organic coconut oil, collard greens and fresh spinach boiled together, freshly boiled broccoli, Parmesan cheese, a little ranch dressing, and fresh baby carrots added to the side! I added sauteed kilbosa to my husbands plate and kept mine all veggies!

Have Fun Exploring as you Make a Way to Healthier You!

 

The Importance of Relaxation & Hard Work

There are two sides to creation; hard work and relaxation. When we create anything there needs to be the point of hard work. This is the creation. For some of us we get so caught up in the doing that we forget that everything needs a time of settling in. If I am creating a foundation for a house I cannot keep pouring more foundation. I need to let the concrete set and harden to see if it will be the foundation I need to build my house. I cannot build a house on an improper foundation, just as I cannot create life without allowing the creation time to take hold.

The other side is relaxation. For some they get too caught up in relaxation and do not enjoy the pressure and conflict that comes with creation. Some people want everything but do not want to work for it. If you always relax then you never have. Hard work and relaxation are yin and yang they are a part of a strong balance. You have to be balanced in both to be balanced in self.

To find balance in hard work focus on the tasks at hand, let the emotions ground and stay strong. You are only in the moment. Each moment is the only thing you have control over. Live in it, be in it! In this moment you will be the strongest and best that you can. You give yourself to this moment and when the next moment comes you treat it the same. Before you know it the creation is finished and you feel strong. Strength is not something gained from latching on to others it is found within. This does not mean rejecting help when you need it, but it means knowing when to stand strong and finish something. During the struggle we learn what we can and cannot do. But something we cannot do is only something we cannot do until we do it.

To find balance in relaxation you start the same you are only in each moment. For people who are in creation mode the settling into relaxation is just as hard as someone who is in relaxation mode trying to create. Take your time, enjoy your moment. It is important to appreciate your work when you create it. This helps to build strong self esteem and love within! There is success in doing nothing when you have accomplished a lot. It means that you can take time to honor yourself, love yourself and respect yourself. It is a grounding period that will help you move onto the next with a clear head and balanced thoughts and emotions.

Love yourself and find balance, happiness and success in every moment!

Holistic Living through the eyes of a Mother

Feeding the Body, Mind, and Spirit/Soul…

One Step at a Time

Respect Yourself.

Listen, Simplify, and Let Go

     Things that will be shared here represent fragments in a journey. These fragments represent moments in my quest to acquire whole health for my daughter and our family. May seeds of inspiration and awareness be planted from sharing our story and experiences. Important: What works for one does not mean it works for everyone!

Remember there is no right or wrong, just many rights, and your right might not fit another’s right. Take what intrigues you and leave the rest behind. Research, educate yourself, listen to your inner voice, and do what speaks to you. Become aware.

     So, let’s begin to share. For me, I thought it all began when our daughter started to show signs of poor health, when she was two years old. However, looking back through my life, I can see I had not ever had true health. I just was not aware. What have I learned up to this point to allow me to understand the nature of life? I have learned that I am still learning. I have learned that it is not just the food we fuel our bodies with, it is also, the thoughts of our minds, our emotions and how we feel about ourselves, as well as, how others affect us and make us feel. There is a life force in everything and that life force equals a whole. Now when you begin to break things down into segments of that whole, you begin to see how the food you eat, your thoughts, your actions and the actions of others are a form of that life force/energy and how it affects you. And however those segments affect you, will affect your mind and soul, and however it affected your mind and soul, will show within your physical body. So where do you begin?

     Well, our story began with food. As our daughter aged, we noticed how she seemed more sensitive to certain foods; more so than others. So, in the spring of 2005, we adapted a raw lifestyle. While this didn’t provide whole health it opened a door. I gained information of new concepts and knowledge about the food we ate. From this point, my interest began to grow. Over time, other concepts would jump out at me and I learned to pay attention.

     May you begin to plant and nurture new seeds with light and love. I have been pretty determined to find whole health for my daughter and family, so we have done some things that many would and have had a difficult time maintaining. However, it can be done and once your body starts to experience and feel true health you want more. My suggestion would be to start out bit by bit and be kind to you. People should have no guilt and just do the best they can. There are plenty of highs and lows in a journey. The following are some changes we made in the beginning and still practice today.

     1. We began by eliminating our entire kitchen of any and all processed foods and sugar. This process was accomplished by simply throwing it away or giving it away. Honestly, it was quite a liberating experience. In addition, when we went to the grocery store, we only purchased items located on the perimeter. Eventually, we really only went to the produce section and used the inner aisles to retrieve household items like toilet paper, laundry detergent, paper towels or vinegar. This is still practiced today. We focus on growing our own organically, going to the farmer’s markets to buy local organic, and all other items come from the grocery store. Yes, we always try to purchase organic when we can. We have learned which produce is sprayed more so than others and use this information when purchasing conventional produce. This link shows a list of the most heavily sprayed fruits and vegetables - http://gaiahealthcare.com/list-of-the-most-heavily-sprayed-fruits-and-vegetables/

Remember: Research and educate yourself!

     2. Keep your kitchen clean and eat out less. Have you ever noticed when you keep your kitchen clean you are more likely to have a desire to use it? Focus on eating more whole foods. Be inventive and experiment. It is a great opportunity to get the whole family involved. It is a moment to spend quality time with each other and instill great values for your children to carry on into their future.   

     3. Make a list and stay focused. Before we go to the grocery store we make a list of items we would like to have for the upcoming week. It usually contains green and red leaf lettuce, kale or collard greens, dandelions (if available), vegetables, and fruits. We do not focus on buying breads or too many milk products. We will purchase unsweetened original/vanilla coconut or almond milk once in awhile. If we are purchasing butter, we focus on making sure it is a grass-fed source. This is also focused on when purchasing our meats. When we do purchase meat, we only purchase what I refer to as clean meats; grass-fed sources, no hormones, no antibiotics, etc. Our daughter is sensitive to eggs, but my husband and I still eat them. Educate yourself about the eggs in your store. When I am not able to get farm-fresh local eggs, I only purchase pasture-raised eggs. We also keep our house stocked with Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar. This is what we use to wash our produce, besides the number of other health benefits it offers. Fruits serve as a main sugar source for our family, as well as, organic local honey. Another source is maple syrup. Learn what the different grades mean and choose the one best for you. Many individuals choose grade B, but our family is keen on organic Grade “A” Dark Amber maple syrup. From researching, I came across Casey Seidenberg, who shared how to replace a cup of white sugar in recipes with a third-cup to a half-cup of maple syrup and reduce the recipe’s liquid measurement by a quarter-cup. On another note, over the years we learned why agave was not a good sugar source. I also learned when I was craving chocolate my body was actually craving magnesium.

Here is great link to help you find and learn more clean meat sources in your area http://www.eatwild.com/products/

Educate yourself to learn the terms for the eggs you purchase. This link is a great start and presents a short video to educate the public. It is a great six minutes video to broaden the knowledge of where our food is coming from.

http://livinghomegrown.com/2012/06/decoding-the-terms-cage-free-free-range-pasture-raised-eggs.html

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a great source to learn more about health and food for the body. http://www.westonaprice.org/

     4. Prep. I will make time to pull out our very large Pyrex bowl and add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (ACV). Then I fill the bowl ¾ the way full with clean filtered water. This is used to wash all of our lettuce greens for the next couple of weeks.

Seperate the leaves from the head and rinse briefly, then place them in the bowl. Add more water to make sure water covers the top of the leaves. Leave for approximately 15 minutes. Sometime during the 15 minutes flip the bottom leaves to the top. Rinse in clean water and spin in a lettuce spinner. If you do not have a lettuce spinner, remember in the days forgotten pillow cases were used. The lettuce would be placed inside a pillow case, then it would be swung around to dry those greens. I finish off by laying the washed lettuce out on clean towels spread out on the kitchen counter to completely dry. Once the lettuce is dried well, I place them all in an extra large container with a lid in the refrigerator. This allows for instant salads or wraps when one is hungry. The vinegar bath method is also used to wash all of our fruit and vegetables. Years ago, I incorporated Anne Louise Gittleman’s Clorox bath mentioned in her book “The Fat Flush Plan”. For thin-skinned fruits I soak approximately for 5-10 minutes. I just use my judgment. For thick-skinned fruits and vegetables, I soak approximately for 30 minutes. Having fruit and lettuce greens cleaned and ready to eat makes my life a lot easier when someone becomes hungry.

Written by Me, not an expert, not a doctor, just a mother, who is moving towards whole health and happiness…one step at a time. – LeAnn Cline

Please remember health is a journey,

and like life, there is one constant…change.

What is today, might not be tomorrow.

There are always new beginnings.

Yesterday at the fresh market we walked for about 3 hours wandering through up and down the streets, in and out of shops in Jihaeng, South Korea. You can find just about anything in the fresh market. We stopped into a bakery and had some Korea style baked goods including a blueberry powdered sugar doughnut. We wandered the streets and bought fresh grapes. We passed meat stands where they sell fresh (still moving) squid out of large plastic bins filled with water. We came across fresh tofu as well! There were many people on the streets who smiled and said hi in Korean as we passed. It was a beautiful day with comfortable 70 degree weather. As we made our way through the streets we also saw vendors who sold the most beautiful flowers and plants! My random find of the day was a vendor who sold sting ray's to eat. I did not have the courage to buy one as I am not a fish connoisseur, but I did capture a picture for you to see! Hope you enjoy the pictures we took of our adventure! Never be afraid to get out and see the world you will learn more than you ever thought you would and make friends you never thought you would know! :)