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

Surrounded by Death

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The 3rd death on our property in about 2 weeks happened today. Plus…

Beginning at the beginning –

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Death #1 – our last guinea pig. The boys said she committed suicide. She kept going under her water bottle and pushing up on it, getting wet. They’d move her out. She’d go back and do it again. She died a couple hours later. Interrupted one of our first days back at lessons with an unexpected funeral and burial.

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Death #2 – even more traumatic. A few days later, I turned on the car and started to back out. Heard a horrible clunking in the engine, and turned the car off. Thought a tool had been left under the hood or something. Got the boys to come look. Opened the hood. Fur went flying. A stray kitten had tried to find a warm place. It was taking its last breaths when we found it. Couldn’t throw it in the trash, the garbage men had just come that day. Didn’t want to dig a deep enough hole. Called the pound to come get it.

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Death #3 – today. Young squirrel coming down the tree. Black lab jumping up the tree. There was running for them and calling dog. But not quick enough. Squirrel in dog’s mouth. Interception, but too late. Dog chained. Squirrel suffering. Boys and pellet gun mercifully end its misery.

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Just as I was ready to type up our latest death sagas, I get a call. Boys coming home from hunting. “Bring the little boys to daughter’s house, so they can watch.” 30 doves to clean. (Guess they didn’t want to bring them here around the dog.) Just what I did NOT want to watch. Boys tearing wings off dead birds and …

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I’ve seen about all the dead things I care to in a while.

Thanks be to God that though I’m surrounded by death in this fallen, decaying world, He has come to give us LIFE and that abundantly and eternally! “Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?”

Wet Socks

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Whenever someone in our family is feeling “flu-y”, like they’ve been hit by a truck, feverish, with the chills, it’s time for the wet sock treatment! I learned this from a friend, who learned it from her naturopath. And we always wake up feeling much better after the Wet Sock Treatment.

You need a pair of thin white cotton socks and a pair of wool socks. Put the cotton socks into a bowl of ice cold water. Soak your feet in hot water (not scalding, but hot as you can without harming yourself) for at least 10 minutes. (You can soak whole body in bathtub if you want.) As soon as you remove your feet from the soak (or get out of the tub), wring out and put on the cold wet cotton socks. Immediately pull the dry wool socks on over the cotton socks, wrap up in a blanket and go to bed.

Disclaimer: We are not prescribing, just describing what we do.

Chickens Smarter than People?

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Are chickens smarter than people? It appears that in this aspect they are.

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Some seem to believe that genetically modified animal feed will not cause any undue effects in the human body. This is flawed thinking at its finest. After all, we are part of the food chain!

Those who believe that what they eat will not affect them simply do not understand the basics of how the human body works.

Read the whole article at mercola.com

Savory Rice Soup – Friday Food

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fridayfood2.jpgLisa’s Savory Rice Soup

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Soup weather is coming upon us! Because you may also be in the midst of the busyness of getting back into your learning schedules, you may need some quick prep recipes. This week – and in our September newsletter – I want to share a couple super easy soup recipes that are Good for You-Naturally! Throughout this fall I’ll be sharing more of our family’s favorite soup recipes. These and many more will be available in Good for You-Naturally! Soups, an exclusive recipe book from Me and My House ministries.

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Lisa’s Savory Rice Soup

2 c. long grain organic brown rice

3/4 – 1 gallon pure water

1/4 c. all natural veggie broth powder

1/2 c. dried, chopped celery (or 1 c. fresh)

1/4 c. dried onion flakes (or med. onion fresh)

2 Tbl. dried parsley flakes

1/4 c. dried tomato bits (or 1 can organic diced tomatoes, or 2 large fresh)

1/4 tsp. dried minced garlic (or 1 clove fresh minced)

1/2 tsp. dried crushed basil

1.5 tsp. unrefined salt (Real®, himalayan, celtic)

3 cups frozen peas

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Simmer until rice is tender, about 1 hour.

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Wondering why I have all the dry ingredients listed first, and my normally preferred fresh in parenthesis? This is an easy recipe to do as a mix, mixing all dry ingredients together ahead of time and storing in a jar. (Or do several batches ahead in several jars.) When you need a quick  meal mix, just add the water and peas (and can of tomatoes, if you don’t have dried bits.)

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Serve with homemade whole wheat bread and butter, and carrot and celery sticks.

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Enjoy!

Camping – The Perfect Vacation

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We just returned from a short family campout – no internet, no computer!, no housework. Amazing! Although all the mom work continues, just getting away is usually a vacation for me (unless it’s to work 18 hours a day on a book.)

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Relaxing! ? Well …

Some people’s idea of vacation is just going somewhere quiet and doing nothing. They don’t like to plan. They don’t like to do. Just relax. No events. No concerns. (Do they live in fictional world or what? But just to get off to a realistic start, ds got a concussion from falling off his skateboard shortly before we left, and we were still questioning whether we needed to go into urgent care to have his wrist x-rayed.)

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We went to a reservoir about 3 hours away, up in the sandhills, which are still beautifully green this year. The beach was beautiful – and we were the only ones on it. The water was great. Just a few fishing boats and tubers out. The campground was clean and uncrowded, just a few nice people to talk to. What more could we ask for? Peace. Calm. Perfect vacation.

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Our first evening ended with the traditional s’mores made over an open, wood fire. Well, it didn’t really end then. Shortly after we were all nestled snug in our beds and sound asleep, the wind came, then the rain, – and hail? I may be weird but I LOVE storms, especially when I’m sleeping with windows and doors open – as long as I’m staying dry and warm. I zipped the window up when the wind began to drive the rain in, and was enjoying the sounds and the smells.

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All was well until the wind ripped our door cover off and the rain started driving through the screen. It really was comical to watch trying to secure us again. The cover was not to be found that night in the dark, wind, and rain, and nothing was going to stick to the outside of the door – not that was wanted to work outside the door. Plan B. Use a different cover and secure it to the inside. Gorilla tape to the rescue. The praises of gorilla tape had been sung all week, as repairs were made with this super strong AND WATERPROOF tape. It was now being put to the test. It was a tough job against the wind and rain, but  it got done – with assistance from our oldest ds and dd, and only slight drenching, as was the camper floor.

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5 yo ds had just rolled over further from the door and the stream pouring in, and went back to sleep. That was kind of my opinion also. What’s a little water on a campout? As I said, a nice relaxing vacation – just not a fictional world one.

Red Beans and Rice – Friday Food

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fridayfood2.jpgRed Beans and Rice

Another delicious bean recipe. My family loves this, and it is super simple to make. We sometimes cook beans ahead (either for the next few days, or we freeze them.) We also cook rice in the pressure cooker sometimes, which makes this a very fast meal to serve.

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2 c. cooked red beans

1 bay leaf

small chopped onion

minced clove (or 2) of garlic

2-3 Tbl. finely diced celery

1/2 tsp. turmeric

3/4 tsp. corriander

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

3 Tbl. olive oil

2-3 Tbl. Braggs Liquid Aminos (this is a natural soy sauce substitute, adds great flavor)

enough water to make it “saucy” and mingle the spices in (don’t cover the beans)

Simmer until vegetables are cooked and beans are saucy.

Serve over steamed brown rice.

Serve with more Bragg’s sprinkled on, if desired.

Add a great green salad for a super meal.

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Mm-mm good!