Gratitude

I am not a researcher who polls people or takes information from studies and analyzes it, but I love to read.  You can read anything on the internet and some of it is true and factual and some of it is not.  So, If an idea seems true or rings true to me I have a tendency to believe it.  You cannot count on my ideas being scientifically proven because they are not by me.  That is my disclaimer.  However, I have lived a long time and experienced a lot of life and those things I believe I share freely.

I read an article recently about gratitude being the emotion or mindset that carries the highest healthy vibes.  I loved the thought of healing through thoughts and packed it away in my memory to mull over during the season.  What are healthy vibes?  This paradigm of healing views the body as one complex, self-regulating, whole system.  This body has the ability to heal if it is given all that it needs.   NASA uses vibration therapy to help prevent bone loss in astronauts.  They aren't the only ones who use that, I do as well, but that is not what is referred to here.  Every cell of our body vibrates and every substance has it's own frequency.  Using the healing frequencies is a great way to heal and re-balance the systems.   Now take that knowledge and apply it to gratitude.

We do have control over our thoughts and we can control our emotions.  Sometimes it is hard to do, but we can do it.  Because we all want to be healthy, it is a really good idea to practice gratitude every day.  We will become a better person, and people, and we will become more healthy as well.  Say you have a devastating disease.  According to this thought, do you have anything to lose by practicing gratitude?  I think we all have a lot to gain by practicing gratitude.

We have just celebrated Thanksgiving which is a national holiday where I live.  There are some historic roots to this celebration of being thankful, but even if you don't have that you can find a reason to be thankful for something even if it is only life itself.  When it is cold, which I really do not like, I feel gratitude for the bitter cold days because of the benefits of cold.  If we have at least 43 days of cold temperatures a year the apples and peaches and many fruit trees will set on a better crop the next year.  If we have a cold winter many of the insects that plague us will die off and we won't have so many to deal with the next summer.  No matter where you live and what your circumstances, it is possible to find something to be grateful for each day.

Try focusing your thoughts on gratitude and see if you experience a higher level of health in your life.  A great way to help heal your body is to think healthy thoughts.  You are what you think, so think gratitude and heal through healthy thinking,

Turmeric and Inflamation

It has been a pain filled week for me.  I might sit a bit too long and then standing up straight was so slow.  I began to wonder if I would just stay bent.  Slowly, slowly, I have to straighten out my back.  Then put my neck on properly.  Last would be aligning my legs so they are under me in the proper position to go forward.  Is this what not having turmeric in my diet does to me?

I once read an article telling about not sitting to long.  In this article people learn that one must get up and walk around every 20 minutes to retain mobility.  If you want to live healthy and stay mobile you must do this to have quality life as you age.  This is especially true when you work at a desk.  When I concentrate on what I am doing I just plain forget to get up and walk around.  So I got an exercise ball to sit at my desk on.  That does help a lot.  But I still should stand up more often.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a chiropractor in our town.  We both are getting up there in years and it gets harder and harder to move freely.  The good doctor pantomimed how older people walk.  He bent his back forward in an unforgiving bend and moved forward as he clumped his feet down hard one after the other.  "You see," he said, "Older folks lose the feeling in their feet and they must step this way to know they are on firm ground."  Note to self:  Is this inflammation?

Is Inflammation helped with Turmeric?

Wow, did I ever feel old when he said those things.  I know I have numbness in my leg and feet.  Question to self:  Is it inflammation or is it numbness?  But I don't think I step that firmly along.  I will have to pay more attention to the way I walk.  However, I really relate to needing to know that I am on firm ground.  The past few years I am getting more and more unsure of my balance.  It might be my numbness but I don't think I can fix that.  Inflammation?  Maybe!  What I can do is bounce on a mini trampoline.  Just bouncing for 10 minutes helps move the lymph in my legs so I don't feel restless legs.

What do I do for the stiffness when I try to stand up?  Well, I do a variety of things.  I think the very best thing I have found is turmeric.  You see, turmeric truly is a super food.  However it is not so good if you try to make it stand alone.  Turmeric contains cur-cumin which  helps with inflammation.  The trick is to get your body to absorb it.  You can eat it by the tons and it will pass right through you and do you no good.  That is right, if it doesn't get through your digestion and into your blood it will do you no good at all.  Some authors say you have to have black pepper and some kind of oil with the cur-cumin to make it absorb.  Some say you need black pepper extract and CoQ10 with it to make it work.

Through the past year the articles we read tell us to use turmeric with black pepper and coconut oil to help memory, joints, digestion.  I believe in super foods but can this really be a cure all?  What about my heart?  Can this concoction help with that and low energy?  Maybe it can.  People in India use a lot of this spice in their food.  Lots of people are getting on the wagon to take cur-cumin.  My own mother believed it helped her not hurt so much.  So last night I got out my bottle of ease and that helped me sleep much better.  When I read the label one of the ingredients was cur-cumin.  So, there you have it.  In what ever form, it is worth a try.  However, I think I will add black pepper and coconut oil and take it with my CoQ10.

Pomona's Pectin is Different

What Is Different About Pomona Pectin?

I went on a search for the answer to the above question on the internet.  I have used it but I wanted some other opinions and input.  The first thing that caught my attention is that Pomona's is pure pectin and other pectin is not.  Other pectin has dextrose a corn derivative or other acids.  These things are added to make the pectin easier to mix with the fruit, but may not be what we want to eat.  Because it is pure pectin, you cannot add the pectin to the fruit directly or it will clump.  Always stir the pectin into an amount of dry sweetener that is no more than ½ the amount of mashed fruit or juice. Always stir the pectin into an amount of liquid sweetener that is no more than ¼ the amount of mashed fruit or juice. Add any remaining sweetener after the pectin is dissolved.  Another thing you need to know is that the Pomona pectin must be mixed well in enough sweeteners to keep the pectin grains from clumping together in the hot fruit.  If you follow these guidelines, and have a recipe, you will be successful and you will love your jam or jelly. 

The reason I like to use Pomona's is because it doesn't gel with sugar, but calcium and it is derived from citrus peel.  This means that you do not have to use a set amount of sugar to make the jam or jelly set up to the consistency that you want.  Prior to finding Pomona's, I had used Clear Gel to make freezer jam so I didn't have to put so much sugar in it.  Pomona's makes a better texture in the jam or jelly.  I can use any type of sweetener I want and as much as I want.

It helps to start your jam making experience using the recipes included or developed by the manufacturer, but you are not limited to them and there are tips on their web site to help you in developing your own recipes.

You can buy Pomona's in a 1 oz.  package that will make 2 to 4 batches, or a ½ lb. or 1 lb. bag.  It will keep indefinitely without going bad or getting too old to gel. 

If you want less sugar in your diet, you will love Pomona’s Pectin.

Multi-Purpose or Dedicated Juicer

Do you compromise efficiency by choosing a multipurpose juicer over a dedicated juicer?  There are so many kinds of juicers to choose from, one thing you might want to consider is what you expect it to do.  If you want it to do everything you might be sacrificing the efficiency of the machine.  Why do I say this?  Because it is hard to build a machine that will do everything and do it well.

I have some nieces and nephews who grew up in a Spanish speaking country.  Those individuals are bilingual.  Do they excel in both the Spanish and English languages?  No.  They speak them well, but they are not outstanding in either language.  We used to have a car that would run on regular gasoline or natural gas.  Did we get the best mileage on both fuels?  No, we did not.  We got a pretty good gas milage and a pretty good natural gas mileage, but not the best.  It is hard to take one engine and all the little parts that go on them to make a car run, and adjust them to work the best with two different fuels.  You have a compromise in gas mileage to get the convenience of the dual fuel.  The same is true with kitchen machines like juicers and blenders as well.

You will never get the best performance in a juicer that will do fruits, vegetables, grasses and greens, as well as make peanut butter, pasta, baby food and grind herbs.  That doesn't mean that those machines are bad.  It does mean that if you want to just juice wheat grass juice you will get better performance by getting a dedicated wheat grass juicer.


 If you want to juice oranges, or other citrus, you will get a better product and more of it with a better flavor, by getting a citrus juicer.  I honestly am not sure what I would use to juice only soft fruits if I wanted clear juice with no pulp.  It is hard to get the mush strained out so you get a very dry pulp.  I like the fiber from the fruits because that helps digestion, so I always blend my soft fruits into smoothies.  For hard fruits the choice is easy.  A centrifugal juicer works very well.  If I had a choice, I would not use a masticating juicer for soft fruits, or maybe even apples if that was all I was juicing.  The masticating juicer works well if you juice a variety of fruits and vegetables to make a juice.  The way to do it is to rotate the kind of food you are putting in so the firm and hard fruits push the soft pulp on through.  Some companies even offer a juicer-blender combination, or a mixer blender combination.  You use the same motor to power both operations or either operation.  They will most likely not be as good at doing what you want them to do as a dedicated machine, but it may save you space and money if you can deal with some inefficiency.

The advantage of buying a multi-purpose juicer machine is money and space, but be prepared to not get quite the quality in flavor or efficiency that the dedicated juicer will give you.  Know what you want to do with it before you buy.  A juicer is an investment in good health, and you don't want to get one that causes you stress.  Stress can and will kill.  If you have time constraints, do not buy a masticating juicer that works slow and takes more time to prepare the food.  Think about getting a juicer with a wide feed tube that juices fast. They might be a little harder to clean, but in the long run, you will save more time.  You also might want to consider the noise level of the machine.

Think about your personality and your needs and your assets.  Write down what you really need and want.  Consider the pros and cons.  Read all the information you can on the different models available and imagine yourself doing what you have to do to use the machine.  See how it will work for you.  Go to youtube.com and watch the videos people have put there about using the machines.  This will also give you an idea of the noise level of the machines.  When you are ready, then go shopping.

Masticating and Wheat Grass Juicer

Are you ever confused about what kind of juicer to buy?  As a juicer user, I have learned a lot about what I would do differently if I was buying my first juicer.  You may have some idea what you would like to juice at first, but maybe things will change.  If you want to juice greens and grasses, you will need a juicer with a screw, auger,or gear, called a masticating and wheat grass juicer.  The thing that crushes the food is essentially the same part but called by many different names.  There are juicers that have one gear or agar and juicers that have two.  There electric wheat grass juicers hand powered or manual wheat grass juicers that have these gears.  There are juicers that have the auger in a horizontal position, and juicers that have the auger in the vertical position.  These juicers are all masticating juicers if they have an auger/gear or two.

Any masticating and wheat grass juicer work essentially the same.  Most of them will work well juicing greens and grasses.  There are a few exceptions and when buying one you need to be aware of that fact so you get something that works for you.  These juicers are slow, have a small feed chute, and essentially need you to rotate what you are juicing as you make your serving of juice to make them work the very best.  For example, if you want apple, carrot, greens and grasses in your drink, you will need to put in greens and grasses between pieces of apple to keep the apple moving on through instead of just making applesauce and staying in the tube.  You will want to rotate different kinds of foods for the most efficiency.

The vertical masticating and wheat grass juicer has a smaller foot print so they take up a smaller space in your kitchen, but they may be a lighter weight and that may cause them to move around as they juice.  The masticating and wheat grass juicer with the horizontal auger may be more stable but certainly takes up more space.  Many of the horizontal machines and maybe some vertical ones also have the capability to extrude homemade pasta and make nut butters and baby food or purees.  If these are things you are interested in you may want to look for a machine that will do these things also.

The Champion Juicer is a masticating juicer that is made in the USA, that does not do grasses and greens well.  It does other fruits and vegetables well and has been around for more than 50 years making juicers that are built to last generations.  They do have an attachment that will do greens and grasses.  There are others of the masticating juicer type that are not specifically made for juicing the grasses and greens, so be sure to check on that before you buy.  If you cannot find the information you need, contact a merchant who sells juicers.  They will know or can find the answers to your questions.

If you want a juicer you can use on the go or want to try before you make a large investment, the manual wheat grass juicer is a good way to start.  Manual wheat grass juicers are masticating juicers and are usually inexpensive and work well.  They usually juice the grasses dryer than the electric wheat grass juicers do, but they do require work and it is a slower process.  On the plus side, you can be more mobile, and they are generally easier to clean up.

There is a learning cycle to making any juicer work for you.  If you are patient and want the full benefit of slow extracted juices, then you will want to learn to use and enjoy a masticating juicer.

24 Clever Ideas to Make Life Easier

My niece’s friend sent this to her and she forwarded it on to me and a lot of other people. Thanks so much Jocelyn. Here are some very useful ideas:


Hull strawberries easily using a straw.


Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes.




Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or
computer screen with WD40.




Microwave your own popcorn in plain brown paper bag. Much healthier and cheaper than the packet stuff.






Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box
by securing with a rubber band.









Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets
inside one of their own pillowcases and there will
be no more hunting through piles for a match.








Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod
in a bowl. The concave shape amplifies the music.





Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.










Add this item to your beach bag. Baby powder
gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?!






Attach a Velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.




Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls
against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the floor.






Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a
stocking over the vacuum hose.






Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting
crosses into a box lid.







For those who can’t stand the scrunching and
bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.






Forever losing your bathroom essentials? Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers and clippers, behind a vanity door.



Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty
soles rubbing on your clothes. And you can
find them in just about every hotel.





A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy. Magnets
hold the plastic cups down to make them tip-resistant.





Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.






Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so
much more fun and easier for kids to eat.





Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.




Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.









Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing
sunburn relief.







Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.








Use egg cartons to separate and store your
Christmas decorations.

It Is Snowing on my Kale

About the only thing left in my garden is the Kale, and I have plenty of it. I didn't do the garden this year, My sweetheart did it. I wanted a 4 ft row of Kale because I like it in my green drinks and juices. He planted all the seeds and it is about 40 feet. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have been glad for it. Kale is a cool weather plant and I thought it would bolt when the weather got hot. It didn't . I learned that it is also a biannual plant. That means it will grow this year and wait till next year to go to seed. This past spring we had a few plants that wintered over and first thing this spring we had fresh kale before the rest of the garden got mature enough to harvest.

It is so nice to have fresh greens in the spring. After the long winter our bodies are ready for some good pick me up food. Kale in my juice did that for me. I also had some spinach that came up volunteer in the fall and was ready to harvest about the time the ground thawed in the spring. Even though I am never ready for winter to come, I know I can still harvest the kale for a while and it will be there in the spring until the rest of the new little seeds grow big enough to give us the fresh food our bodies crave. The Swiss chard that has already frozen will also come back and give us greens until the new plants are ready. Then it too, will go to seed and the cycle begins again.

How do I juice my greens? I actually have 3 machines I use and they all work well to do the job. The three I have and use regularly are a power blender, a centrifugal juicer, and a wheat grass juicer. What I choose to use will depend on what I may be putting with my greens to make my drink.

The Vitamix blender is my appliance of choice if I am wanting the fiber in my diet. I always use it if I am using the soft fruits and the fruits I have frozen. This blender breaks up the seeds and skins so small you don't recognize them in the smoothie. My daughter prefers the Blendtec blender. Both of them do a fantastic job of making what you put in the blender smooth. They are both power blenders, but the difference that is most noticeable is in the size and shape of the jars. Vitamix has 2 jars. One is designed to mill grains, the other is designed to make smoothies or chop food like a food processor. The jars are the same size and shape. The Blendtec also has 2 jars. One is square and 64 oz, the other is 5 sided and 96 oz. They are both shorter and broader so that when not in use they will fit on the counter top under the upper cabinets. One or more of the Blendtec models has the motor part that will mount right into the counter top.

If I want to have juice without the pulp, I will definitely use the centrifugal juicer I have. Mine is the Breville, but there are many on the market above and below the Breville in performance and price. I use the Breville to juice hard vegetables like carrots and beets, and also apples. The feed chute is large and takes less preparation time than the smaller chute models do. This juicer also has the pulp collection bin off to the side which makes it so I can juice more without having to empty the pulp out of the juicer. This juicer will juice the kale quite dry and I also have put the tougher Swiss chard and spinach through it as well. It does great with celery and other medium hard vegetables. My juicer is 2 speed and will handle fruits if I don't want the pulp. Sometimes I have put the cores from the pineapple and the pineapple rind through this juicer. The rind gives it a slightly different flavor which doesn't bother me if I am putting other flavors with the pineapple. I also throw a part of lemon or lime into the mix when doing vegetables, and sometimes ginger root.

If I am juicing grasses as part of the mix, I always use my wheat grass juicer. Mine is an electric model, Tribest solo star. My daughter has one of the Omega wheat grass models, and hers works very well. They are masticating juicers with a single auger. The auger type juicers, and there are many to choose from, are the very best for juicing the grasses and getting the most juice from them. The grasses aren't highly juicy, so you want a juicer that will give you as much as you can get. My brother has a steel hand wheat grass juicer. He tells me he earns every bit of juice that he gets. It definitely takes more time to juice with the hand model. I have juiced my kale in the wheat grass juicer and it does a good job. It is slower and if I am going for volume and no grasses I don't choose it. I need to learn patience, because the centrifugal juicer heats the juice as it spins so fast, and the auger doesn't do that. Heating destroys nutrients and enzymes. I have juiced carrots with the auger and although it will do the job, it is harder to get the pulp as dry. With this machine, you can make sorbets and that leaves the pulp in after it is pureed, similar to the blender machines, but definitely dryer.

The wonderful thing about getting a juicer machine is that you can choose one that is right for you and your family from the many available on the market. For pulpy products you can choose the blender types or the masticating juicer. For straight juice you can choose the masticating or the centrifugal type machines. All of them are wonderful as you learn how to use them right. The most important thing is to do it, take the time to learn to use them and then make it a daily habit. This is a very healthy habit. Now the snow has stopped and the kale is waiting for me to make my next juice or smoothie meal.