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Natural Sunscreen Review (link to Kitchen Stewardship blog)

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Beach 2007

KitchenStewardship has the most thorough review of natural sunscreens I’ve ever read. Reviews from a real mom who has to grease up kids, and knows what a good sun screen is worth. I’m linking this to you OE readers, so you have a resource before you buy this year’s sunscreen. Can you believe it’s almost that time?! After greasing up, go out there and soak in that  amazing Vitamin D  we’re almost all deficient in, but do it in a smart way! And for those who need very little protection (because you’re not in direct sun or you wear protective clothing, or you’re not out for long, etc.), do some research on the natural sun block protection of real coconut oil. Happy soaking.

Encouraging Health,

Organic Eater

PS: if YOU have a recommendation for a natural sunscreen, leave a comment for the rest of us!

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Shocking Article on Wheat

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A variety of foods made from wheat.

I just added the most shocking article about wheat, to my “Sugar and Grain-free Life” blog Page, but also wanted to add a separate Post, so that all my blog followers would get an email with this update, and have a chance to read this article. I normally do not like to be any kind of “alarmist”, but this article was too intriguing, and I had to share.

Thank you, @wellnessmama, for the first tweet I saw on this!

Happy Reading. Let me know your thoughts.

Encouraging Health,

Organic Eater

Trifecta

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Don’t you love it when things happen in three’s, and you think it may be “a sign” of some kind? Well, I guess if it’s a good thing, you love it. If it’s a bad thing, probably not. Anyway, three Hemp things happened to me this week, and I’m taking it as a sign I need to incorporate the hemp plant into my healthy lifestyle. See that link for benefits of hemp protein. (as an aside, buying anything hemp always makes me smile sheepishly because of what hemp can be used for. But keep in mind, it is only a PLANT, which can be used by man for many different purposes, good and bad, like anything else on this earth Gen 1:29-30). This post is ONLY about hemp as a plant and a protein source.

First, I went to the health food store and the only protein mix I could find (that was acceptable on every point; I had a long list that day) was the Nutiva Hemp Protein Mix. I bought it for the first time, after some unusual circumstances I won’t bore you with here.

The more Nutiva products I try, the more I love them.

Second, my Maximized Living webinar that same week included a Shopping List, that raved about the advantages of Hemp Protein. That was something I had never read from ML before. I started “thinking twice” about it…….

Thirdly, I found this Hemp video whose creativity is off the charts, and is so cute I want to squeeze it. I saw it originally at the brand new kirstieinthekitch.com blog, which I hope to see more often, because she already has a Mexican recipe which makes me love her even more. 🙂

So, maybe this series of events could be called the Trifecta Effect. These three signs were leading me towards hemp protein. Maybe my body needs this protein source. The Lord works in mysterious ways, so it’s always a possibility I guess. Or maybe not.

I had it in my smoothie for the first time today. (no picture because it’s not pretty when the green hemp and brown cocoa make a “sludge” color) I put cocoa in it, so the chocolate covered the hemp taste, so I can’t say if it had much flavor. Not that I wanted it to. I want to taste all the other stuff, not the protein. It did make me feel very happy shortly afterwards though. Just kidding! I may be using it to make some hemp protein bars this weekend. Let me know if any of you try it, and what you think about it.

Encouraging Health,

Organic Eater

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Cheery Cherry “Soda” recipe and 3 More Pop Alternatives

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When you’re cutting out sugar, the best place to start is ditching sugar-filled soda. Do you need to see this post from Huffington, on how it destroys your health? Oh, but giving it up is harder to DO than it is to read about, huh? Create a doable plan such as drinking much smaller portions, or less often. I went “cold turkey”, and it was not easy, but if I can, you can too! The longer you go, the easier it becomes to live without it, I promise!  You may need some transitional drinks to get you through the hard days. I did.

Zevia

Zevia (found at EarthFare, Healthy Home Market in Charlotte, and EarthFare and Whole Foods) was  a good way for me to get my “soda fix” as I detoxed off Dr. Pepper. I needed to hear the can pop open and hear that fizzy sound on those days I felt like I was being deprived (just a few weeks). But that stuff is expensive, and I couldn’t keep that much of it in my budget for long. Fortunately for me, I got over the hump in a few short weeks, and I’m quite happy with my daily tea now, instead. Perfectly happy, actually! And this is coming from a girl who drank 1 or 2 Dr. Peppers every day!!

Which brings me to my second suggestion for cutting the soda, try tea. There are only a bazillion different kinds to try, so later I will write an entire post on my love for tea. If you have any questions on it before I can post, please leave a question in the comments and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Tea is beautiful and I love it for so many reasons! Vanessa at Healthy Living How To has a post on her love for tea and how she got off Diet Pepsi. Below is a picture of some of the teas I enjoy, and will post about later.

misc teas

organiceater.com

Another healthy suggestion is to try Kombucha. You will need to look at sugar content in the ingredients and decide which is best for you. You can buy it at most health food stores now (it’s all the rage!) or you can Google recipes for homemade kombucha. I have not made any myself yet, so I can’t recommend a recipe for you at this time. If you have a good recipe you would like to share with our readers, please leave it in the comments. It also has a zillion different brands and flavors you can experiment with. It has a fizziness to it, which I really like. Just like with tea, if your first try is one you don’t care for, don’t give up. You may need to try a few before you find one you like.

kombucha

And now for my recipe for homemade Cheery Cherry “soda”. I was sooo excited to create this. The kids loved it, and it was fun to make in the blender, hence the name “cheery”. If you have a Trader Joes near you, you’re set. If you don’t, try to make it with similar ingredients and please let me know how yours turns out. You will need only 4 things to make sugar-free cheery cherry soda:

sparkling water and tart cherry juice in equal amounts, splash of aloe juice (may be optional), and powdered organic stevia to taste (see stevia explanation here). Throw it in the blender and blend for about 10 seconds. We made small batches of about 12 oz at a time. You could add ice or frozen cherries to make it a slushy instead. OOOOOhhhh, Cheery Cherry Slushy. Love it.

copyright 2012 organiceater.com

The aloe juice can be a healthy addition, but it probably isn’t necessary for this recipe. We added it for a specific health benefit.  READ about it here.

Powdered stevia may be necessary to get that frothy head on top of this, which makes it seem so much more like soda. I used one tiny spoonful (spoon included in jar) for every 4 ounces. We tried liquid stevia and it did not work for us.

Dr. Oz has a video on the antioxidant properties of Tart Cherry Juice , which include decreasing inflammation, lowering cholesterol, and helping with sleep.

So, there you have it. So easy! So yummy! So fast! So fun! Cheery Cherry Soda. Yay! Happy transitioning.

You can use the printfriendly button below to cut the fluff and just print what you need.

Encouraging Health,

Organic Eater

Some encouragement for making life-change

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Dad2012This is my dad – a man who grew up in Union County, NC, drinking warm raw milk from the family cow. A man raised on an organic farm, although that term was not used because all farms were “organic” back then. It was a small family farm where they grew and preserved their own food, like most rural NC families in the Fifties. He claims kin to the real-life local characters that inspired the original storyline in the Dukes of Hazzard TV series, if that tells you anything. A good ole Union County boy, turned Charlotte suburbanite, he joined IBM in the mid sixties straight out of high school and eventually went into real estate.  Although a country boy at heart, he raised his own family while living in the Charlotte area all of his adult years. Nine years ago, he changed hats to become a right-of-way man – specializing in the acquisition of property and property rights for utility projects.  Today, at a time when many 64-year-olds are kicking back, slowing down and preparing for retirement, he is taking on a new challenge. Adventure was calling in Texas – an opportunity to work on a project covering more than half of the 243 counties in the state. Always the dreamer, one of his dreams was to personally experience the history, culture, and people of the Great American West. In preparation, he had attended the 2011 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, NV, and the dream of living in the west was “spurred on” with that event! Never having lived outside the Charlotte area, he pulled up 64 years of Carolina roots and moved to Grapevine, TX in February of 2012. He plans to spend the next three years traveling from the Piney Woods of East Texas to the oil fields of Midland/Odessa, all the while meeting and negotiating with salt-of-the-earth Texans. Of course there will be time for sight-seeing and travel adventures too! Texas is BIG, and so is a major life-change such as this move, away from family and lifelong friends. It was huge – way out of his comfort zone and far away from the familiarity of everything and everyone in Carolina.  I’m proud of him. I hope I am willing and able to make big changes when I’m 64. Change stretches you & tends to keep you young at heart. Let my Dad be a reminder that it’s never too late for any of us to make big changes in life, even if you start with small steps! Remember, he got there one mile at a time.

My dad’s story reminds me of Caleb in the Old Testament, who faced big change later in life, leaving familiarity to go to the Promised Land. Joshua 1:9 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” I hope you are encouraged to make changes in your own life. He is with you wherever you go , even if it’s just to the farmer’s market.

Encouraging Health,

Organic Eater

You can find more encouragement from the story of Caleb, here, including a post called “Don’t be a but person”, and a prayer if you’re feeling stuck: “God, help me move forward at the speed of your direction and intention, no matter how painful the transition may be.”