Plump, Happy, Colorful Eggs!

For a growing family, I can’t think of a more perfect food than eggs.  Rich in fat-soluble vitamins like A and D, eggs are an economical source of complete protein.

But beware: all eggs are not created equal.  I wanted to share these pictures with you to show the comparison between the fresh eggs from our own flock of chickens on the left and the commercial imitation of an egg available at your local supermarket on the right.

Notice how the egg yolk from a hen raised on pasture is a deep orange compared to the pale yellow commercial yolk.  It is actually shocking how bright the color is when you first start eating pasture-raised eggs.

Some friends have even questioned whether something was wrong with the eggs they were served because they were so orange! Imagine their horror when they found out the diet that had produced such “unnaturally” colored eggs: bugs and vegetable trimmings destined for the compost pile.  This color is a sign of the nutrient-rich diet my hens have been enjoying and the health benefits passed on to my family when we eat these delicious eggs.

Even the egg whites are different.  Did you know that the white should actually be composed of two distinct parts?  There is a firmer inner ring surrounding the yolk and a thinner portion that spreads out at the edges.  Most people don’t know this since you can’t detect it in factory-farmed eggs, but I think the picture above illustrates it well.  Give these high-quality egg whites a try for the most fabulously textured meringues you have ever eaten!

What you can’t see in these two eggs are the vast differences in nutritional quality.  When hens are allowed to feed on grass and insects as they were designed to do, they produce eggs high in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.  Commercial feeding practices, however, lead to eggs with high omega-6 fatty acids, but little omega-3s.  The modern western diet already provides a dangerously high amount of omega-6s at the expense of omega-3s due to our high consumption of refined vegetable oils.

High omega-3 content is why Asian societies consider eggs to be a brain food.  In fact, pregnant Chinese women often eat up to a dozen eggs per day and tests reveal their breast milk to be incredibly high in DHA, a fatty acid important for the brain development of their babies.

What about cholesterol, you might ask?  Numerous studies cited in Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions have found that cholesterol levels do not rise with egg consumption.  In fact, eggs are a great source of choline, a B-vitamin that helps cholesterol stay moving in the blood stream.  The cholesterol found in eggs plays a key role in brain development and forms the building blocks for hormones.  From the age of four months on, it is actually a great idea to feed your child a cooked, mashed egg yolk a day.  Wait until your baby is at least a year old before feeding egg whites, which contain proteins that are difficult for babies to digest.

Let me share a quick way to get more of this nutritional powerhouse into your diet.  Add a raw egg yolk to your smoothies. Rest assured that eggs from pasture-raised chickens pose little threat of salmonella poisoning.  Even so, you should wash the shell with hot, soapy water before using them raw and please only use pastured-raised eggs for this purpose.  Commercial eggs are much too dangerous to eat raw because the chickens that laid them have been heavily treated with antibiotics.

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Check out my downloadable CD Secret Spoonfuls: Confessions of a Sneaky Mom to find tons more tips on getting your youngsters to eat nutritious foods that taste great.  Lots more free articles and info on my website homeopathyworks.net.

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Can You Raise Your Family Without Drugs?

I can’t imagine what my life would be like without homeopathy. It has changed my life, and the lives of my entire family, too.

Years ago, I thought antibiotics were appropriate simply because my doctor said they were. I fell for immunotherapy and my allergies were driven to a deeper, more entrenched state. I firmly believed the falsehood that drugs, meds and medicaments were irrefutably valuable.

To think of the poor choices I made all of those years irritates me to this day.  But, instead of getting caught up with my mistakes, let me share with you how I overcame them.

(By the way, if you’ve made similar blunders, you can overcome them, too!)

Instead of using drugs, my foremost medicines have long been homeopathy and nutrient dense foods. Thanks to this bold resolution, my family and I took a colossal leap into robust health.  And we’ve never turned back.

I never doled out a single drug to my family; not a Tylenol capsule, not a spoonful of Benadryl and no antibiotics.

Zip, nada, zilch!

Does this sound impossible?

Well, it would be impossible without the correct tools, knowledge and motivation.

That’s why I have organized a FREE webinar called The 5 Most Common Mistakes Parents Make in Their Children’s Health.

Over the years, my clients and students have shared with me their mistakes and I’ve noted what the most popular errors have been. Many of them are made repeatedly by both parents and grandparents alike.

Some of these 5 blunders are grave, but others are minor.

Recognizing our mistakes is one thing – correcting them is another.

How did I correct my blunders?  By using intelligent methods coupled with pig-headed determination.

And that’s what you can use, too. A knowledgeable mom can aptly deal with much of what faces her family’s health. There are methods you can employ today that will help you safely uproot illness instead of just covering it up with drugs. It takes perseverance and persistence, but really, what is more important than the health of our families?

I know you have the motivation already, so let me provide you with the correct tools and knowledge that took me decades to “get”.

I’ll get you started with my Free Webinar, The 5 Most Common Mistakes Parents Make in Their Children’s Health this Tuesday, April 10 at 8PM EST.

Let’s right the wrongs together.

Note:  If you can’t make my webinar, sign up anyway and you’ll receive instructions on how to hear/view the webinar later.

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True Soup

“Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup.”

Leave it to the great Beethoven to mix morality with soup. (A tall order for his distressed servants, no doubt!)

Allow me to be “pure-hearted” here and share a recipe that represents a key nutritional foundation with a symphony of possibilities. This soup base is the foundation of every well prepared soup imaginable. Plus, it is free of MSG and preservatives that flavor many store-bought broths and soups.

I start with roasted bones and end with a gorgeous stock.  I find that the most delicious and nourishing stocks are those made from a variety of bones, so plan to save your roast chicken, roast beef, pork, lamb, buffalo and rabbit.

Here’s what else you’ll need:

4 lbs (approximately) of bones (carcass, head, feet, cartilage, antlers, etc)

4 or more quarts cold, filtered water

½ cup vinegar, distilled or raw

2 apples, halved

3 onions, halved

3 celery stalks, halved

3 carrots, halved

Several sprigs of fresh thyme

1 tsp dried green peppercorns, crushed (optional)

1 bunch parsley (optional)

Once your roast has been served, add approximately 4 quarts of water to the roasting pan and scrape the bottom to infuse the drippings into the mix. Toss in any additional bones, heads, feet, etc. and add the remaining ingredients. Be sure that the bones are covered. If not, add more water.

I like to include apples and onions because they impart a sweeter aroma to a stock that might smell gamey otherwise. Vinegar is necessary to draw out the calcium, magnesium and zinc from the bones and render the bone stock more nutritious.

Then, set the pot to simmer for 12-72 hours. Skim off the scum and discard. The pot can remain on the flames for an entire 72 hours or turned off nightly, left at room temperature and reignited in the morning. Once strained, the stock can be frozen.

While it’s still on the stove, this stock can be used as a base for a myriad of soups.  You might find that the stock doesn’t have a particularly appealing aroma but it will taste delicious after it’s strained and used to cook with.

With this base, you can offer “medicine in a bowl” in tandem with the other, family-pleasing meals you serve day after day.

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Anatomy of a Cracker

I’ve made a little discovery.  I can make crackers in infinite flavors and with a myriad of ingredients.  They can be high or low carb, gluten free or include lots o’ gluten. They can be savory when I add cheese and olives, or sweet like graham crackers when I use a touch of cinnamon and maple syrup. And since I realized how easy they are to make, I’ve been making crackers nearly every night for the last few weeks.

I think it’s my new hobby.

Now, when someone asks me “So other than being a homeopath, what do you do for fun?  I say “I’m a cracker-head.”

Familiarizing myself with the components of a cracker was the first step.   I learned that crackers are forgiving.  You can add just about any nut, bean or grain flour with some flavoring, add a liquid, roll out and bake and you’ve got something on which to serve cheese or to spread almond butter.   Last week I added Pecorino cheese, cracked pepper and chopped garlic.

They were Italian crackers.

Then one night, I added rosemary from my garden, melted coconut oil as part of the liquid and tons of shredded coconut.

These were herb crackers.

When I included cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and chopped almonds they tasted like Dutch Windmill Cookies (Speculaas).

Heavenly.

‘Don’t have tapioca flour?  No problem, just use more almond flour.  ‘No gelatin?  Don’t worry, skip it.  ‘Don’t like poppy seeds?  It’s ok.  Just add sesame seeds instead.

The only caution I found to be noteworthy, is that you don’t want to use too much liquid or they’ll stick to your rolling pin.   It’s hard to say exactly how much is just the right amount without knowing if you’ll be using coconut, almond flour or such. Each has its own idiosyncrasies and they require adjusting for more liquid or less.  So, I learned to eye ball it.  A mealy type consistency is the best so that the dough can roll out easily.

But again, crackers are forgiving.

So, if you add too much liquid, just toss more dry into the bowl until it feels as though it will roll out nicely.

Yummy Gluten Free, Low-Carb Crackers

Preheat oven to 250°

• 1 cup coconut flour
• ½ cup tapioca flour
• 1 cup almond flour or meal
• 1 cup flax meal
• 2 cups coconut flakes
• ½ cup poppy seeds
• ¼ cup gelatin
• Celtic Salt, to taste
• About 2 ½ -3 ½ cups liquid ( water, lemon juice or  yogurt whey)

In a mixer, or a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Add the liquid and mix until mealy.

Roll out the mixture between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Until it’s 1/8” thick or less.

Peel off the top layer of parchment paper and place the batter layer still on the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet.  You want the parchment to be underneath the dough directly on the cookie sheet.  Score the dough into the shape of crackers.

Bake until slightly golden, then flip, allowing the paper to release, so that the crackers are now directly on the cookie sheet.

Bake until crisp. Depending on the amount of liquid and type of flour, it may take up to an hour or so until they’re crunchy.

I keep mine in a glass container with a tight plastic lid in the pantry.  So far they’ve stayed fresh, but I think that’s because my family eats them so quickly that they haven’t a chance to get old.

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Make Your Valentine Candy, Then Relax…It’s Good Stuff

For Valentine’s Day, why not give your loved ones a truly delicious and wholesome candy; one with ingredients that you love and can feel good about? Here’s what I make for my family on Valentine’s Day.

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Chocolate  Layer

• 1 Cup Green Pasture’s coconut oil (One of the best brands)
• ¼ cup organic raw cocoa powder (Found at health food stores)
• Big pinch of Celtic salt
• 1 tsp of vanilla (I make my own, but any organic one will do)
• ¼ cup raw honey
• 1 cup organic almond flour

In a food processor, mix all ingredients except peanut butter. Scrape out ½ of it and make a  smooth layer of the mixture  on a cookie sheet lined in parchment or waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Put the other half aside  and keep at room temperature. While the first mixture is cooling begin the peanut butter layer.

Peanut Butter Layer

• 1/2 cup  organic peanut butter
• ¼ cup truly raw honey (the kind that is cloudy and crystallizes when it's cold)
• parchment or waxed paper

Add peanut butter and  honey in a clean food processor. Smear the peanut butter topping in a  uniform layer on top of the refrigerated chocolate.

Refrigerate.  Once cooled, smear the last chocolate mixture on the top of the peanut butter layer.  Place back in the refrigerator.  When cooled, break up into individual bit-sized pieces and place in paper  crinkle cups or fashion on a doily.  They may remain at room temperature but a distance from the fireplace.(Yes, there’s a story behind this caution.) Usually, I keep them in a glass covered container in the fridge.

 Minty Valentine Candy

Using the above recipe, omit the peanut butter layer and instead, add 10 drops of essential oil of mint.  Oh heavenly day!

 Orange Valentine Candy

Using the above recipe, omit the peanut butter layer and instead, add 10 drops of essential oil of orange. A little twist of orange peel on top is a lovely addition and denotes which candy is the orange one, if you decide to make a variety.

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Saturated Fats Are Where it’s At

I love good food.  Even my favorite movies attest to this: Big Night, Chocolat, Julie and Julia. And when it comes to foodstuff, I have

a difficult time getting past the low-fat paradigm.

As far as I’m concerned: fat is where it’s at.

Now, not all fats are the same.  Think of the distinction between a Dunkin’ Donut doughnut and my Sunday, homemade, buttermilk pancakes, blissfully fried in cold-pressed virgin coconut oil, and then drenched in raw spring butter and a splash of local maple syrup from my farmer.   If we only examine one aspect, it becomes apparent which is the superior choice.  Look at the oils. The former choice is fried in months-old soybean or canola oil; the latter is in concert with delectable coconut oil, which has the distinct fragrance of fresh coconuts.  Can there be any comparison?

So how do I rationalize the abundance of saturated fats for my family and me?  I did my homework and this is what I learned.

The notion that saturated fats cause heart disease is not only facile but just plain wrong.  Do you remember the Framingham Heart Study?  Well, if not, you ought to know that it’s the mainstay for the low-fat paradigm advocates. Yet, its hypothesis has been turned on its head.

In hindsight, some 40 years after the study became public, the director of the study confessed that “the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol… we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat [and] ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.”

Can we deduce that arterial sclerosis has little to do with cholesterol and fat consumption? It certainly appears that we can when we consider those telling words from the director of the lipid theorist’s flagship study.

Interestingly, clogged arteries are not choked with saturated fats, but with calcium deposits akin to lime.  This is not what we have imagined all these years.

Instead, we’ve visualized the fats from a fresh, free range, pastured egg fried in extra virgin coconut oil traveling directly from the mouth into the stomach and then straight for the arteries.  It simply isn’t so and there’s plenty of evidence to substantiate this.

Irrespective of the repetitive conventional medical mantra and unsound pop culture advice, we can reconsider the last 40 years of fat phobia to be a wash.

If butter, organic, extra virgin coconut oil, cod liver oil, whole milk, tropical and other saturated fats don’t cause heart disease, then what does?  We know that deficiencies of vitamins A, E and D are one cause.  Where are these vitamins found?  Why, in butter, lard, tropical oils and animal fats…the very same foods we’re advised to eschew!

B vitamin and mineral deficiencies are also contributors to heart disease.  These occur as a result of eating foods of commerce, such as soda, preservatives, additives and enhancers, instead of whole, homemade fare.  Vitamin B happens to be abundant in red meat and in organ meats.

Butter, lard and tropical fats, such as virgin coconut oil,  thanks to their antioxidants, protect us against free radicals and are therefore, preventative against diseases such as cancer, heart disease, depression, infections and reproductive disorders.

Get happy!  Ward off hot flashes, heart pathology, allergies, fatigue, memory loss and winter respiratory infections.  Eat like a true gourmet; include plentiful amounts of butter, organic virgin coconut oil and fresh milk.  Then go outside and take a walk.  Your brain, heart, lungs and even your arteries will thank you for a radiant life.

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The Only Eggnog Recipe You’ll Ever Need. Period.

Leave those tacky cartons at the grocery store. Wait ‘till you taste this rich and nutrient dense version of eggnog! This drink will offset any other holiday beverages, which by the way, are not as health supporting.

What you and your family deserve this Christmas is rich, thick eggnog that’s loaded with live enzymes, nutrient dense vitamins and of course, deliciously good cheer.

The quality of the ingredients add a superb benefit, but are not necessary.  Go with the highest quality you can find such as raw, organic milk and cream and free range egg yolks. If the eggs are not free-range, try to have at least organic.  Eggs eaten raw should not be conventionally produced.

Here’s what you’ll need:

12 free range eggs

6 cups raw milk

2 cups heavy, raw cream

1/2 cup raw honey (my 1^st choice, because of the accompanying raw enzymes, but maple syrup will do, too.)

1-1/2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg, plus more for dusting

 

Here’s what you do:

Submerge the eggs (still in the shell) in a large bowl of very hot water plus a few drops of dish soap. As the water cools; wash and rinse, then wipe the eggs dry.

Separate the egg yolks and place them in a mixer together with the honey and beat for 10 minutes. Refrigerate the egg whites (you’ll need them later). Allow the egg yolk mixture to cool in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.

30 minutes before you plan to serve, mix the milk into the chilled yolk mixture. If you plan to add brandy, this is the time to stir it in. Along with this, add in 1 -1/2 tsp nutmeg.

On high-speed, in a separate bowl, beat the cream until stiff peaks form.

In yet another bowl, beat the egg whites until you have stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture, then fold the cream into the egg mixture.

Ladle into frosted glasses and sprinkle with the remainder of nutmeg.   Serves 8 cups.

Oh, yum.

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