I haven't been on here for awhile, have you missed me?  Didn't think so!  Anyway-summer is here and its been Farmer's market time.  Have you been?  Come on and support your local farmers!  They are a value of information and if you've never tried making anything you will find new ways!  Let me know what you found at yours and how you made it!

Would love to hear from you!

so what is BPA and why is it so bad? BPA is Bisphenol A it is used to harden plastics. It is known to mess with our hormones and it interferes with our reproductive development of the children we carry.  Studies have shown that BPA can cause developmental delays as well as Diabetes Type II, estrogen increase in men (think man boobs), obesity, heart disease, and miscarriages!  Where is it?  Plastic-yes even that healthy bottled water, can goods, dental sealants,and baby bottles (wow!!!!)  NEVER and I mean NEVER heat stuff up in m'wave in plastic-especially leftovers in butter tubs!  Save all your glass containers and use them.  I save all my glass containers with lids (ask my daughter Bailey-she hates it), but she will be the first to pour her drinks (even that stupid soda she buys from plastic into glass :/ ).  Try not to buy your food in plastic---really try not to acidic foods in plastic such as tomato sauces!  I hope this helps you out!

This Tennessee spring is wonderful!  We are generally still kinda of cold or wet-but we have been in the upper 70's and 80's this week and with it being our spring break it is wonderful!

We have been busy getting our garden ready for spring crop.  We are "gardeners in training"  and every year we try our hand at it-sometimes with success and others--well lets just leave it at that!  I would encourage you to try to grow something.  Even if you do not have the space; you can put some soil in some pots and place a tomato plant in it, try another pot and place some lettuce in it and voila! You have a salad in the making :)
There is something about putting your hand in the coolness of the dirt.  Speaking of dirt, I am so pleased with my compost.  It has been great this year-the earth worms are thriving (needed for a good garden I have heard).  Don't throw those peelings from your veggies away or the egg shells--they will rot into the ground and make a wonderful soil.  Just do NOT put meats, fats, dairy, or sugary stuff in it--you will attract some undesirable guest to your yard and a terrible smell.

This something I have had on my heart-so bear with me.  I see so often people "worshiping" mother earth and oh my....DON'T!  Worship Father God the Creator of this beautiful dwelling we are in.  He created all the awesome colors we see and the plants that grow our foods and gives us shelter from the sun and also the water we need to live on.  He is the Spirit of Truth and will guide you into ALL the truth(John 16:13).  Go out and thank Him for His creation today!

How creative can you get with staying physical?  Would love to hear your ideas!!!!!  Please post them.

If your body is achy or sore, guess what?  Sometime the last thing you need is to just sit.  NO!  Get up and move.  Take a walk outside (the sun will provide the vitamin d that is needed for good bone health and mental health) do some squats or maybe see how long you can hold a plank pose.  Take out those hand weights or some large cans from your pantry and work on your biceps. Do you have a gym membership?  Use it!  There are so many ways to get some form of exercise; God created our bodies to move, to work, not to sit all day long.  This will not only help with pain, but your mental health will thank you--oh yes and your waistline!  So come on---get up---quit making excuses. 

So the mean on flu bug has made its way here as well as strep.  My sweet daughter who rolls her eyes at me when I say things like "quit sharing your drinks with your friends" or "did you take vit. c and your vit.d?" and of course "hey go wash your hands!"  But she is a teen and I remember that I knew it all and that I was invincible!  Since we are not, let me give you some natural suggestions to hopefully protect yourself from colds and flues. 
 FIRST:  Wash your hands and wash them often.  
SECOND:  exercise (even walks) help amp up your immune system. 
 THIRD: keep your nose clear with a saline mist or by making your own and using a nettle pot or gravity thingy(technical huh? Use one cup of warm water and 1 tsp of sea salt
FOURTH:  Garlic-it is the best food in the world-ok an opinion was thrown in-but it is so awesome.  It is a natural anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral--plus it is tasty--hate garlic (?)? chop a small piece and just swallow like a pill or take a supplement.
FIFTH:  Echinacea-take as soon as you feel the first signs of a sickness and not longer than 2 weeks.
SIXTH:  plenty of water-pure H2O and lots of it.
SEVENTH:  Load up on the Vit. C.  I take it about 3 times a day when there is stuff going around.  Take 1,000 mg 3 x's a day when you are sick.
EIGHTH:  ok to shorten the list I will put a lot of information here :)   Gargle with hydrogen peroxide, take about 1-4 teaspoons of Organic Bragg's apple cider vinegar to fight off the bug and also to replace depleted minerals, onions are great too, ginger is another SUPER food-it too is anti-viral and anti-septic food as well as it helps with body pain and nausea when it comes to stomach bugs. Drink Mullein tea and/or throat coat or cold care tea (find at grocery or health food store).
Try to eliminate all sugar if possible and avoid white foods (flour, sugar, white rice, etc....)

Now you are equipped!  Enjoy LIFE!

I haven't been on here for a bit--not sure if anyone else is either-but I do this because I need to be held accountable.  So here is goes.  This whole week has been a bit--unhealthy, but no regrets.  First you can't deny a dinner with your mom--she is a busy woman (just left today for a week long cruise) and had us over for dinner----YUM.  Didn't over do it, but it wasn't the most healthiest.  Monday's breakfast was a homemade juice and walnuts, but lunch-chicken nachos--not too bad except I had the cheese sauce.  Salad for dinner.  Tues.  Oh yes Valentine's day--breakfast was a gluten free breakfast bar--not too bad, but then I had caramel mocha with soy milk at Starbuck's, massage, wine with lunch (potato soup and salad with ranch and 3 cheese sticks and about four small slices of deep fried jalapenos at REd Robin.  Dinner was at Shoney's for the food bar (no meat) carb fest of pot. soup, mashed pot. salad, and cabbage and oh yea sweet tea and  one more glass of wine and some choc.  Today I made my mom a Valentine lunch before she leaves of coconut shrimp, potato soup, steamed broccoli and sweet tea and dessert was store bought cheese cake no crust.  Tomorrow I will get back to eating more whole---trying to work myself up to doing a Candida Cleanse---Wonder if anyone out there wants to join me!  Go to www.yeastconnection.com to see if you should!

Not sure if there is anyone out there who read these blogs I write---but if you do not get Natural Health magazine--you should; at least get this month's (march 2012).  It is loaded with great information-from detoxing, to acid-reflux, empowering exercises for your body & soul, and 40 Good Food awards---I can't wait to try some of these!

Eat, Live, and Love Whole!

well my 10 days of whole food will come to an almost end on the 8th---How do I feel?  Pretty much energized!  I have been having some break-outs on my face (poss. from detoxing), although I have lost about a pound, my clothes do tend to fit better!  I realize I need to ditch so much of by beauty routine--that's the most toxins I have--I do use natural soap, but not shampoo and conditioners, a lot of my make-up.  My daily face moisturizer is natural, but I noticed my mineral make-up had spf---need to investigate that!  I do make my own detergent, but I use a name brand dishwasher detergent (the homemade version not as good and my husband the plumber doesn't like me to use the powder version).  We can all make improvements---not gonna beat myself up-but notice the areas I believe I can make a difference.    Just curious--anyone want to go raw for a week??????

WOW-my to do list is so long today, but you are on it for me to do.  Why?  YOU ARE IMPORTANT!  We have to take care of ourselves and encourage one another along.  If you are having a hard day and are thinking to yourself-"I don't want to do this or that"  refocus--write down why in the first place you are doing this-be honest with yourself.  Are you denying yourself something you REALLY want?  Find the most healthiest option--Dr. Oz had on his show this week 99 "healthy" packaged food--one was the most yummiest looking dessert called a vitamuffin brownie--go to his site and see what it is.  Try the 90/10 or 80/20 rule--do the absolute best 80 or 90 % of time, but that smaller % do what you need to do so you are not feeling deprived.  Maybe you do not feel like exercising--then don't today but do a bit extra tomorrow--or do something low key--just some stretching, yoga, even sitting with nothing on and focus on breathing--talking about a stress reducer!  Overwhelmed--go sit in your tub with a glass of wine, cup of tea, soft music, pray and spend some time alone--even if all you get is 15 min.  MAKE THE MOST of all the time the Lord had given you--make a choice to be happy today!

Want to eat more beans but can't stand the pain and bloating/gas?  Use pro-biotics, you may need to get some enzymes (think Beano)--another great idea my grandmother told me was to soak then drain them--very important-then get the beans to a boil-drain water again (you are washing the starch off them that causes the gas in the first place).  This simple trick should help you!  Beans are a great, CHEAP, whole food--try new varieties...garbonzo, black, adzuki, or try lentils if you have never tried them--they are a very quick bean to cook and are delicious!  Let me know what is your fave!  I would love to hear from you!

Why is it important to use as natural on your body as possible?  It (your skin) is the largest organ!  What you put on it-you put in it!  Read your label--would you ingest some of those?  Probably not!  There is a big movement with natural soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc...  But even with those "natural" items-check the labels-some just use the word cause it may have a natural substance in it-or smells somewhat natural (strawberry scented) but is no where near being truly a natural product.  If you have celiac or a wheat intolerance check labels--some that are natural may have wheat starch in it!  You will be amazed at what's in your cabinet that you can use--saves money, saves the environment, saves space!

wow, isn't it funny that we we try to do something "good" with or for our bodies--you hear that voice saying "you are doing without!!!!!" or whatever it says to keep your mind off your goal---give it the hands up--tell that inner evil you are doing a good thing--that what you are missing out on is energy, time with your kids, feeling good, etc....---maybe you have to go to the doctor often for your blood pressure, cholesterol, headaches, whatever...it can be treated without drugs (not telling you to stop taking them, but you might be able to) and with food!  Now for the exercise---I am not telling you to take these major aerobic classes or lifting weights, but MOVE.  If you are not use to exercising just walk (go to library for free rental or go to Wal-mart and buy) the Walk Away the Pounds video--maybe at first you can only do 5 or 10 minutes, then work your way up, do wall push-ups-easier on the body until you can do more--start simple--work your way up--its for YOU and no one else!  Be there for the future-show your kids a great example!  Love & Blessings to you!

tomorrow I will be starting the 10day whole food/whole life pledge--hope you join in!  A way to live a whole life is to recycle!  I couldn't believe how much "trash" we were able to recycle and compost.  We went from 4 bags of trash on trash day to 1--yes one!  The kids actually think its fun to recycle and want to go with me.  Sometime its me and my husband-kinda of like a date day--lunch always comes after :)

idea for dinner or brunch (unless you are watching your grains)-organic grits (cheesy garlic grits)-take 1 cup grits, 4 cups of water, 1 clove of garlic, 1 tsp of sea salt, 1 1/2 cup cheese (Amish store has raw white cheddar) 1/2 cup of real organic butter (I get mine from Amish store-not sure if organic, but local), pinch of oregano and pepper.  Mix the grits and water together and let boil to water is absorbed (@20 min) then mix all the other ing. together. put into 2 qt casserole at 350 for 1 hour----let sit about 5-10 min.  YUM!!!!

hope you join us for a 10 day EAT whole, LIVE whole, LOVE whole challenge---also add 10 days of any kind of exercise--post how you are doing--your downs and your ups!

Cleaning hard surfaces with water, white vinegar, and tea tree oil.  It is a great disinfectant.  You could add some orange essence or cinnamon for a nicer smell!

Well I had to pick up my son today from the school bus with a vomiting spell and seizure.  Of course I have been praying (and spraying).  I have heard that Apple Cider Vinegar can help not get it.  Has anyone else ever tried this?  We have taken it many times before...I will try it again.  I do thank the Lord for His provisions.

welcome

My very first time to blog---nervous yet exciting too.  This site is in hopes to encourage each other on a journey of Whole Living.  What is Whole Living?  Live to your fullest by eating well, living well, and loving well.  I have a desire to live a more natural life, eating for health, staying healthy and living a more frugal life.  I love the Lord and want to take care of this temple and this earth He has given to us.  I hope you will list your concerns, your encouragement and your ideas on how to live a Whole Life---we are on a Pilgrimage but we are NOT alone....come along with me!

sheila