Ice Cream: A Perfect Breakfast Food

In my e-book Secret Spoonfuls, I share the insight I accumulated as a “sneaky mom” trying to get my kids to eat nutritionally dense foods that taste great.

One day, it occurred to me that ice cream, when made from raw cream and milk along with raw free-range organic eggs plus a touch of honey, was a great food. And as breakfast was the most trying meal, I began incorporating ice cream into our daily fare. Suddenly, I had no problem convincing them to eat their breakfast. (more…)

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Out, Out Blasted Spots

Jessie’s mother was in an unenviable position. She tried to keep her family as healthy as possible by cooking hearty, nutrient-packed meals and using homeopathy to address acute ailments. But as soon as her daughter turned fourteen, she was plagued with acne that embarrassed her at school and drained her self-confidence.

Dermatologists offered therapies that seemed like overkill. Put her young daughter on a birth control pill and flood her body with synthetic hormones? Antibiotics taken every day for months or even years? Creams and ointments that left her daughter’s skin red and cracked?

Jessie’s mother turned to a more powerful, gentler way: homeopathy. (more…)

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Zebu

This is my fourth week in Kolkata (Calcutta), and I’m sopping up every precious minute.

I work at the Banerji Homeopathy Clinic and Research Center from about 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but Sundays are for touring and getting to know Kolkata.

It’s an exciting beehive of a place, where life endlessly pokes at the senses.

Foods are prepared from scratch on the street, rickshaws tote people, dogs roam the alleyways and cows meander nearby.

From what I can gather, Indian cows are a breed called zebus. The only reason I know this is because when our boys were little, we had a picture book of exotic animals with a large photo of a zebu. Thus, “zebu” became one of the first words our son learned. (more…)

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Make-at-Home Vanilla Extract

I love giving people Christmas gifts that come from the heart and are homemade. But if you’re like me, your mile-long to-do list probably has convinced you that you don’t have enough time left to make anything. That’s why I’m sharing this recipe with you for homemade vanilla extract.  It’s too simple, and the results are impressive.

 

When you read how straightforward this is, you’re going to wish you had known about it years ago. Goodness!  I've spent a lot of unnecessary money on the store-bought version before I learned about this.

 

I recently made almost twenty bottles of the stuff to give as gifts in less time than it would take to drive to the grocery store and buy vanilla extract.

 

Here’s my simple recipe:

 

I started with a bulk bag of approximately 40 vanilla beans. For fun, you can experiment with different varieties like Tahitian and Madagascar. I bought mine on line, but most gourmet grocery stores or health food stores carry them. Cut each bean in half and slit lengthwise.

 

For each 4-oz. bottle I made, I added four of these vanilla pieces, then filled the bottle to the top with vodka. You can also use rum or brandy.

 

That’s it! Shake the bottles gently every week, and they will be ready to use in about 6-8 weeks.

 

To be honest, I splurge when it comes to my vanilla extract, and I buy Courvoisier brandy. This French brandy is a decadent treat, but I've also had decent results with plain-old 180-proof vodka.

 

As the volume goes down, I add more alcohol, and I’m often able to eke out another rendering.

 

Here are my sources of vanilla beans that are usually less costly than buying from the local grocery store:

1)       Bulkfoods.com

2)       Penzey’s

 

As a bonus, I recently found a free download of beautiful labels that you can print out and affix to your vanilla extract bottles to make them an even lovelier gift. Check it out here.

 

Wishing you and your family the happiest and healthiest of Christmas and Hanukkah holidays!

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Looking for a great last-minute gift?  We sell homeopathy kits to fit all budgets.  Contact us to find out more.

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Prenatal Preparation with Homeopathy: The Best Gift You Could Give!

At this joyous time of year, I’m reminded of some of the best gifts we are given in life: our children.  Did you know that there is a homeopathic protocol that can be followed during pregnancy to give the gift of robust health to your unborn child?

The best part?  This prenatal plan uses homeopathic cell salts that you can simply dissolve in water and take with you anywhere.  Plus, they’re inexpensive and give your body the easily assimilated minerals it needs at this crucial time without resorting to the artificial nutrients found in commercial prenatal vitamins.

The following schedule should be adhered to for the duration of the pregnancy and the protocol for the last month continued for as long as the baby nurses.

Recommended Monthly Program:

Month 1: Calc fluor 6x, Mag phos 6x, Ferr phos 6x

Month 2: Calc fluor 6x, Mag phos 6x Ferr phos 6x

Month 3: Calc fluor 6x, Mag phos 6x, Nat mur 6x

Month 4: Calc fluor 6x, Nat mur 6x, Silica 6x

Month 5: Calc fluor 6x, Ferr phos 6x, Silica 6x

Month 6: Calc fluor 6x, Mag phos 6x, Ferr phos 6x

Month 7: Calc fluor 6x, Mag phos 6x, Nat mur 6x

Month 8: Calc fluor 6x, Nat mur 6x, Silica 6x

Month 9: Calc fluor 6x, Ferr phos 6x, Silica 6x

Take three to four pills of each remedy assigned for the month three times each day.  Alternatively, you can dissolve the pellets in four ounces of water and take a sip of this preparation three times a day.

Just like higher potency homeopathic remedies, cell salts (sometimes called tissue salts or Biochemic homeopathy) are prepared in highly diluted dosages. This gives them a greater ability to work. Cell salts are readily available in most health food and some grocery stores and are very inexpensive.

Having considered the above, it needs mention that no amount of cell salts will substitute for a diet of wholesome and nutrient-dense foods. So, I recommend that nutrients be obtained from “Super Foods,” those that have been eaten throughout the ages in preparation for and during pregnancy. They are full-fat cheese, full-fat yogurt, and loads of butter on all vegetables, and unprocessed meats, especially liver and other organ meats.  Eggs from pastured chickens are a valuable source of the omega 3 fatty acids  your baby needs for brain development.

This is the most crucial time in your baby’s life. It is also the best time for constitutional homeopathic care, as both mother and child are treated as one. Homeopathy has no side effects and will not interfere with any other meds, although meds are an especially unwise choice at this time. Homeopathy and high-end nutrition is fully safe for mother and child from the time of conception up to and including the birth.

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To learn more about homeopathy and pregnancy, check out my Feminopathy course and read the testimonials of other women who have been helped by my Practical Homeopathy methods, click here.

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Nsalata di Aranciu (Orange Salad)

 

It’s hard to believe that this simple Italian salad has such a unique flavor from common ingredients. You have to taste it to believe it!

I grew up eating this with crusty, homemade Italian bread still piping hot from the oven. My mother served it around Christmas and into January.

Ingredients

3 oranges

Sprigs of fresh mint leaves (but dried will do)

A good drizzle of cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of Celtic salt

Freshly ground pepper (a must, as it makes the whole dish sing)

 

So easy…….

• Peel the oranges, cut into bite sized pieces and smash down so they extrude their juice. (When the olive oil is mixed with the orange juice, it makes the salad’s distinctive flavor.)
• Cut mint into ribbons and intersperse on top of the oranges
• Drizzle olive oil over the mixture, add salt and  pepper to taste and mix well
• Serve in a festive dish

 

Mangia!

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My health philosophy combine sound nutrition, like this delicious salad, with the curative power of homeopathy.  To schedule a free 15-minute conversation with me, contact our office.

 

 

 

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Feeding Your Family Well Without Breaking the Bank

Despite what you may believe, eating well doesn't have to mean a huge grocery bill. Here are some tricks I've employed over the years that helped me save money while ensuring that my children grew into strong, healthy men.

• Cut out the non-essentials. Eliminate all junk foods, including organic cookies, juice, crackers, chips and cereals. Commit to never buying anything that’s pre-prepared. If there are ingredients listed on the package, that means someone else is charging you for their pre-preparation. Costly and vacant.
• Make your own bone stocks by saving the bones from the dinner’s roast. Use the stock as a soup base to cook your rice or anything that requires water. I serve soup almost nightly, especially in cooler months. Ask hunters to give you bones, hooves and even antlers to make your rich stock.
• Get into a routine of making crackers, mayonnaise and salad dressing. The commercial versions of these are not only expensive but are also chemically-laden.
• Make your own snacks and cookies. Popcorn is cheap and easy; cookies are fun to make, and the variations are infinite. Even gluten-free is easy.
• Brew your own beverages: kombucha tea, kvass, beer, wine and herbal teas.
• Buy beans in bulk and make bean soup. Soaking the night before not only makes them more nutritious but renders them a fast food. Then, cook them up in bone stock.
• The cost of butter is high, so make your own cooking fats by skimming off the fat from your chicken soup (smaltz) and store it in the refrigerator to fry eggs or blend into biscuits, etc.  Then, learn how to render lard and tallow…easy, inexpensive and nutrient dense. Many farmers give fat away.
• Enjoy old-fashioned breakfasts: eggs and ham, oatmeal with butter and soufflés. Eliminate breakfast cereals; they’re costly and nutritionally vacant. Start with protein and fat-laden foods.
• Make your own yogurt, sour cream and simple cheeses from raw milk.
• Use cast iron, ceramic coated or enamel cookware. Most humble enamelware can be found at rummage sales and hardware stores. Avoid aluminum and Teflon; they’re unsafe.
• In spring, search around your lawn before the dandelions bud. Harvest the leaves for a tender spring salad or sauté in butter or lard and garlic to top a steak and cheese sandwich. The buds are also delicious when sautéed. The roots are prized as a tonic.
•  Just after the lilacs bloom in spring, learn to recognize wild burdock (cardoons) and fry them up for a spring liver cleanse and a delightful meal.
•  Learn to identify wild edibles in your area: lambsquarters, nettles, rosehips, wild strawberries, Queen Anne’s lace and more.
• Include gelatin in meals often. It keeps bones and nails strong, joints supple and skin radiant. Drinking 1 teaspoon of gelatin in a glass of water daily is a good practice, too.
• Grow your own culinary and medicinal herbs: oregano, basil, calendula, oatstraw, etc.
• Eat organic free-range eggs often, in fact, daily. They’re versatile and inexpensive. If you can trust your source, make a practice of using egg yolks in their raw form. They add richness of flavor and abundant nutrients.
• Employ slow-cooking methods that make a savory meal from a chunk of an inexpensive cut of meat and wild vegetables.
• Find wild berry patches and harvest enough to freeze or dehydrate for pies and blender drinks.
• Employ homeopathic cell salts instead of costly, synthetic vitamins. They’re tried and true, and you needn’t worry about additives and bifurcated nutrients. We carry a kit of cell salts in our office. Contact us if you’re interested.
• Make your own herbal tinctures. They are a fraction of the cost found at the store and a good way to prevent or treat illness. Consider St. John’s wort, comfrey, colt’s foot and many more (How to make tinctures will be featured soon).
• Keep an organic vegetable garden. If that’s not possible, join an organic subscription garden or buy organic vegetables from your local farmer.
• Forage and brew your own wild teas for their nutrients, medicinal qualities and flavors.
• Plan your meals in advance, the way our grandmothers did. It keeps waste to a minimum.
• Never throw out food scraps from your family’s plates or roasting pan. Recycle them into a stock pot and make tomorrow’s dinner with the stock.
• Stop feeding the cat. If you live in a safe, rural area with lots of critters running around, let her find her own raw meat by giving her leave at night to hunt mice.

I found that one of the best ways to raise a family is to teach the importance of knowing how to find and prepare quality meals. These are some of the routines and practices that have helped me to raise three healthy boys while leading a busy life as a homeopath, writer and educator.

 

What has helped you save money while nourishing your family?

 

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