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More on Virgin Coconut Oil

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Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is the healthiest oil – not just for cooking, but for health in general. I posted on Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) a while back, and have more info on my Resources and Recommendations pages, BUT also promised to post more info on what all it is good for here.

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Organic VCO is great for all your cooking and baking. It is a healthy, Good for You-Naturally!™ oil with NO transfats. It is the best oil to use whenever you are going to heat/cook with oil. It doesn’t undergo any changes that other oils do at high heats. It can be substituted for other oils or butter both in recipes and on foods such as bread/sandwiches, potatoes or other vegetables. But it is also a great addition to recipes and foods that don’t need added oil. Add a couple tablespoons VCO to your Good for You-Naturally!™ fresh fruit smoothies or other foods such as (already cooked) oatmeal or other grains, other drinks, or even just in warm water. (“Raw” is the best way to use VCO.) About the only place you will not want to use VCO is in salad dressings, since it is solid at room temperature. Optimal is 2-3 tablespoons per day for its health benefits. (See some of our recipes with VCO here.)

For external use coconut oil is good as a relaxing massage oil, but also so much more! – for scars, stretch marks, insect bites, athletes feet/fungus, body odor, rough skin, baby rashes, skin irritations, eczema, dermatitus, dandruff, wrinkles, corns, calluses, stop bleeding, reduces fever, reduces acne, improves digestion and aids in the absorption of nutrients including essential minerals (such as calcium,) is a great detoxifier, strengthens the immune system and increases metabolism. It is a great moisturizer and hair conditioner. Besides EFA’s (essential fatty acids,) VCO is high in vitamin E/anti-oxidents and is anti-fungal/microbial. [Scientific studies have proven that VCO’s major component, lauric acid, is an effective “anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal compound,”] (See The Virgin Coconut Oil website for one source of more info on VCO.)

“A statement released from the health experts and authorities in the coconut industry of the Philippines said, “While there is no direct proof available for the efficacy of the VCO against the H1N1 virus, scientific studies have proven that VCO’s major component, lauric acid, is an effective “anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal compound.” source and more info

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Although Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is an AWESOME oil, it is not a magic pill. Don’t expect overnight miracle results – especially if you are living in a way that is detrimental to your health. Use VCO as a part of a Good for You-Naturally!™ lifestyle of health.

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Books on Virgin Coconut Oil that may be helpful – but I haven’t read them yet.

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Another website with info on VCO – I’ve only read this page so far, so can’t vouch for the rest of the site.

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Order VCO on this page.

No GMO

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Genetically modified foods are no doubt the most dangerous to our health of all the adulterated “foods” available. As I’ve posted before, you can tell GM/GE produce by the number 8 at the beginning of it’s PLU code (a 5 digit code, beginning with 8. Organic produce has a 5 digit code beginning with 9. Conventionally grown – with herbicides, pesticides, etc. – has a 4 digit code.) But other food products do not have to disclose whether the ingredients are genetically modified/engineered.

Jeffery Smith, author of the #1 GMO bestseller Seeds of Deception, and Genetic Roulette,  is probably the most well-known figure for exposing the dangers of GM foods. He believes that consumers can quickly make a big difference in getting rid of these. It just takes education. Brochures are available on the health dangers of GM foods, as well as shopping tips for avoiding GMOs. (You can even download them for free.) Below is a great, highly informational video by Smith.

Everything You HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods from Jeffrey Smith on Vimeo.

Like CPSIA Again – by FDA

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Government controls are out of control again. Just as CPSIA hurts small American businesses and families rather than addresses the issue of unsafe, mass imported, products, HR2749 and S.510 will hurt small local farmers – and us. This time rather than through the CPSC it’s through the FDA and affects our food. It would be nice to think they just have all our best interests in mind and are keeping us safe, but Big Brother tyranny never quite works that way.

It’s already too late to act on HR2749 as it was already passed by the House of Representatives on July 29th. (To read a summary of that bill, see this link. For the full version, click here.)

However, it’s not too late to stop this latest FDA power grab as it moves into the Senate to be voted on as bill S.510.

Introduced by Illinois’ state Senator Dick Durbin, S.510 will grant more power to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the US food supply, and no matter how well-intentioned it may appear on the surface, I have doubts about the FDA’s capability to improve our food quality.


And I’m not the only one.


Small farmers across the nation are voicing their opinions in online groups such as Facebook, stating the bill will cause serious damage to their businesses.


The law would require them to focus on FDA paperwork like animal registrations and multiple other filings, rather than raising healthy crops and animals, like they’ve always done. And if they fail to follow the red tape, they will be seriously penalized….

Local foods businesses are not the same as animal factories or mega-farms that sell products into industrial scale national and international markets, and should not be regulated the same way!


Act NOW!

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with bill S.510. For the full text click this link.


Then contact your state Senators TODAY, and let them know what you think.


Time is of the essence if we want to stop this bill, so please do not delay!


Time and again the FDA has shown that it is not acting in the best interest of your health and safety. They’ve been caught, and in some cases openly admitted, to rampant conflicts of interest within their organization. Needless to say, industry has won, again and again, at the expense of your safety – the exact opposite of what the FDA has been charged to do.


Do you really want the FDA in charge of regulating your food?

Do we really need another bureaucracy regulating small farmers into oblivion so that you have even less access to healthy, locally-grown foods?


If you don’t know who your Senator is, please see this convenient list on Senate.gov showing the Senators for each state, and their contact information.

Dr. Mercola

Read more information about this and more of Dr. Mercola’s response here.

Vitamins?

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Does everyone need them? Of course! Absolutely! Our bodies wouldn’t be able to function and would soon die without vitamins. The question is, do we need “supplemental” vitamins? In America, and most of the rest of the world, today, Yes, for nearly everyone.

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The foods produced in our over-planted, nutrient-depleted, many times highly chemicalized soils is not providing the level of nutrients we need. Not only the growing process, but also the handling, shipping, and storage processes further reduce their nutritional value.

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Then as if that isn’t enough depletion, these fresh, whole, God-given foods are usually highly adulterated and further depleted by processing them into non-food forms – “refined”, further stripped of nutrients, “pasturized” and “denatured” to kill any living property in them, and then many more “enhancing” chemicals are added to make the edible, and perhaps some artificial coal tar vitamins thrown in. They throw this into a box, can or pouch and tell us this is “enriched” food. If you eat these kinds of foods, you should now understand why you (or those that eat these foods) need vitamin supplements.

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But even those that don’t eat these adulterated, stripped foods and just eat whole foods may still may not be getting enough nutrients from those foods in our society. There’s still the growing, handling, shipping, storage problems. Especially in the growing process if you aren’t able to get all organic foods, and that is really hard, if not impossible, to do in our culture. A wide variety of all organically grown foods is not available locally, year round to most of us.

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So, yes, nearly everyone needs to “supplement” their food intake to get proper nourishment. Proper nourishment will keep your body functioning as it was made to. It will give it the nutrition it needs to have the strength to fight off all the bugs, diseases, and degeneration lurking at the door for an opportunity to come in.

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So the most important question is, How shall we get supplemental nutrients? (It really is more than “vitamins”.)

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Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow.

Water to go

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pura1For the last few years I’ve been toting my purified water in plastic bottles, – BPA-free, but none the less plastic, generally Tupperware – or purchasing Aquafina, RO purified water. At home I rarely even drink out of plastic because the taste has always bothered me. I use glass. But glass didn’t seem a safe choice for travel. And aluminum bottles are not an option, bringing their own dangers – perhaps worse than BPA plastic. So what’s a girl to do?

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A couple weeks ago I found some new stainless steel water bottles – on clearance at Shopko. I decided to give them a try. The plastic cap was less than ideal, but at least wouldn’t touch your drink unless you laid the bottle on its side. I came home and began to do some research. Nowhere could I find the quality of stainless steel of the brand that I bought.

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sslidBut I did find a couple other stainless steel water bottles that also had stainless steel caps (interior). After a lot of research and reviewing the brands, I went with Pura. I bought a .8L, for everyday carrying around, and a 1.2L for trips. I am very happy with them. They seal well. They look nice. They are a nice shape for handling. But most of all they are #304 (18/10) grade stainless steel (even the cap interior) – rust resistant, unbreakable, non-polluting, and especially non-leaching, non-toxic to our bodies. I love it! Now I can carry pure water with me, without using a container that adds its own impurities/ chemical toxins.

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Want to get your own? Want to read more about Pura Stainless? Want to read more about pure water?

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Quenched by the Living Water of Life – Y’shua (Jesus the Christ),

Lisa @ Me and My House

Cleansing Fast

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Last Sunday I was just tired of the usual “going out to Sunday dinner” – tired of restaurant choices that are less than healthy. So I told the children we were going home for peanut butter and jelly – in our home that is whole wheat bread, peanuts only peanut butter, and fruit only jam, no sugar or other junk ingredients. I bought them a few extra special treats to go with it – organic applesauce in individual containers, organic baby carrots, and “fancy” 100%  juice (no sugar or other additives – something other than usual apple or orange) in individual bottles. By night, I was still tired of “less than healthy” fare, so I grabbed what Good for You-Naturally!™ food was available where I was, which was a few bites of cantaloupe. I called the sandwich, carrots, and cantaloupe good for the day.

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When I woke up Monday, I decided it was time for a cleansing fast. Time to get the junk out, that had crept in over the last few months. Summertime is always our challenge for not allowing little bits of junk to creep in, with ball schedules, vacations and such. A few fries here. A burger there. Chips. Pizza drive through. And it begins adding up. I’d had enough. Sunday was the turning point, and Monday the day to begin a cleanse. Since this was only a cleanse from a few summer junk lapses – not a lifetime build up – it didn’t have to be drastic, but it had to be done.

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Having been pregnant and/or nursing for most of the last 32 years, my “extended fasts” have always included fresh, raw fruit and vegetable juices. So although I’ve helped many others through more strenuous fasts, I had never been able to do one myself. (I’ve never done a full 40 days either.) This one was a bit different (and still not a strict water-only fast.)

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A couple weeks ago a family friend called and in the course of the conversation asked if I knew anything about the Lemonade Cleanse and what I thought of it. A couple months ago our maple syrup producer came through on his annual trip and told me he’s selling a lot of syrup to people using it for the Lemonade Cleanse.

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Yes, I told our friend (and the syrup man,) as we discussed it, I’ve heard of it and think it sounds good, but hadn’t tried it yet. I planned to give it a 3 day trial “sometime”, but didn’t know when. Monday became the “when.”

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The Lemonade Cleanse (aka Master Cleanse) is a 10 day near-fast utilizing a homemade “Lemonade” (recipe below) to help with the cleansing and detoxifying. I drink fresh lemon juice in purified water many mornings, which helps as a daily detox/ cleanser, but this was a new experience that I decided to take on last week. I went into it not knowing if I’d do 1 day, 2 days, 3 days – thinking 3 would be nice, but not knowing if I’d stick with the Lemonade, or switch to fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

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Monday came and went well – with just The Lemonade. I had just enough organic lemons to get through the day. The recipe was really good, easy to drink, and I felt great. Tuesday came, along with my Azure Standard food order – and more organic lemons – and went great. But by night I wasn’t sure if I’d continue. Decided to wait until morning to make decision. Wednesday awoke ready to tackle another day. Went great. Felt great. But out of Lemons! I came home from evening church, ate a couple slices of homemade whole wheat bread and a  natural turkey strip.

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Woke up Thursday ready to go for another day. Walmart – no organic lemons. Health food store – no organic lemons. Back to Walmart to try organic limes. They taste great in the Lemon, make that LIMEade. Thursday went great. Friday planned to go off again. Had a Brandi salad for lunch. Dh said he’d do dinner, since I was busy getting ready for company – but he forgot to make what he said he would for me – grilled veggies and salad. So back to Limeade. Saturday brought an outing day – at Railfest – pancake breakfast and burger picnic lunch. So I planned ahead and took my Limeade. I wasn’t going to break a cleansing fast with white flour and sugar nor burger. Saturday went well – except the poisonous sting I got. (See FB status.) Ended Saturday with homemade whole wheat crust veggie pizza. (Out of limes.)

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All in all a great cleanse. I will no doubt utilize the Lemonade Cleanse again in the future. I went longer than my 3 expected days. Not a full 10 days for a “Master Cleanse” – nor even a full week. But 6 days with only 3 Good for You-Naturally!™ “meals” – and 4 1/2 full cleansing days with no food. I feel more vibrant. I’m well pleased!

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Lemonade Cleanse Recipe

fresh-squeezed juice of 1/2 organic lemon (or 1 organic lime, if you can’t find organic lemons) (approx. 2 Tbl.) (Many times we note in our recipes to use organic ingredients if at all possible. For this cleanse it is very important that you use the organic ingredients listed.)

2 Tbl. organic Grade B REAL maple syrup (Don’t even think that “Pancake Syrup” would do you any good for a cleanse.)

large dash or so of cayenne pepper (ground red pepper) (1/10 tsp.) – non-irradiated/organic (Grocery store spices are irradiated. Find a good source, such as Frontier Herbs, or such at your health food store, for all your spices and seasonings.)

8-10 oz. purified water (reverse osmosis or distilled, we highly recommend that you not buy pre-bottled water in plastic containers, but if that’s all you can get…)

Mix together well. Drink immediately.

Make and drink this recipe 6 times per day. (Don’t make up all 6 glasses at once, but you can do 1 double batch for the morning, 1 double batch for the afternoon, and 1 double batch for late afternoon/evening, if you put it in an insulated container or refrigerate and drink within a couple hours.)

Also drink approx. the same amount of plain purified water or more. (When fasting, it is recommended that you drink your weight in ounces of water per day – i.e. if you weigh 128# you should drink 128 ounces of water – 1 gallon. The Lemonade would make up about 60 oz. of that.)

The Master Cleanse also recommends drinking an herbal laxative tea, such a Smooth Move, (or unrefined salt water) to help remove toxins as you are detoxing during your fast – so they aren’t reabsorbed into your system. You could also use, as I do, Fiber Cleanse.

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Perhaps you’re ready to de-junk with a Cleansing Fast – or venture into our 7-Step Transition to a Good for You-Naturally!™ Lifestyle of Eating. Bottoms Up!

Lisa @ Me and My House

In the beginning…

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Good for You-Naturally!™

… of Good for You-Naturally!™

… to Now – our upcoming Good for You-Naturally!™ Seminar

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Back in days of old – when I had many little girls and no boys yet (a couple decades ago) – I had several goals in food preparation. I wanted to help others learn to prepare Good for You-Naturally!™ foods  – and that included teaching my daughters. I did 3 main things at that time to achieve that goal.

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1) I worked up many of my recipes into “mixes” that could be made ahead, and then used like a convenience mix.

Well, maybe 1) should be, I converted many family favorites -generational family recipes- into Good for You-Naturally!™ versions. Also, I had used and loved many “Make a Mix” type recipes, for bringing convenience into making food from scratch and money-saving make-your-own into convenience. Now I was combining these principles with Good for You-Naturally!™ ingredients.

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2) I wrote a few simple Good for You-Naturally!™ recipe books.

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3) I packaged the Good for You-Naturally!™ mixes up and printed the recipe books and began to teach my daughters, and also headed for Farmer’s Market – with mixes, recipe books, and baked goods – including a trunk full of homemade whole wheat bread and cinnamon rolls.

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The man in the spot next to me, an older gentlemen that we bought eggs and honey from, told me, “Young women don’t know how to cook anymore. You need to teach classes.” Thus the beginning of the Good for You-Naturally!™ division of Me and My House ministries – a few recipe books, a bunch of Good for You-Naturally!™ mixes, a car load of prepared foods, and classes in food preparation.

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Over time those individual classes led to our complete Good for You-Naturally!™ Seminar. Although we still present individual classes (usually upon request for them,) our full Seminar is the foundation for health through nutrition. We’ve presented the Good for You-Naturally!™ Seminar as 6 individual weekly sessions; divided it into 2 days – 1 nutrition teaching, 1 food prep; and now present it as 1 full day of teaching and food prep combined, for the convenience of participant’s schedules.

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We’ve also moved this annual Seminar from the spring to the fall – so you can get equipped with the tools you need to not allow the holidays and sickness-season to wreck havoc on your health. This year’s Good for You-Naturally!™ Seminar is coming up in October. Watch this blog and the Seminar page for the date and pre-registration information.

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SDG,

Lisa @ Me and My House

Plastic, mmm, mmm good? Not!

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We all know we shouldn’t EAT plastic (like hydrogenated oils, shortening and such, as well as straws, Walmart bags, etc.) But do we know what is leaching into our foods from plastic containers? The chemicals in the plastics don’t stay in the plastics, they taint our food and are affecting our bodies. Here’s some of the latest info.

Food and chemical lobbyists know word has gotten out about bisphenol-A (BPA), an estrogen-mimicking chemical used to make hard plastics and epoxy resins that’s found in numerous products you probably use every day.

Of 115 published animal studies, 81 percent found significant effects from even low-level exposure to BPA, so there’s probably no real safe limit. Among the many health problems linked to this toxic chemical are:

See rest of the article at Mercola.com