Week 6

Buy and use good quality sea salt.

 

Phew - a simple challenge for everyone this week (but also VERY important for everyone).  I've photographed a few of the sea salts that I am currently using.  I will explain how I use each and where I buy them, but first some tips.

Some tips concerning sea salt:

1.  Throw away your table salt or use it to make 'play dough'.  It is that bad for you and it is dirt cheap so not much of a loss. 

Table salt is what is left when sea salt is processed by man and all the trace minerals are removed and then iodine and various chemicals are added to prevent clumping and caking.  This man-made salt has transformed a healthy necessity that God created into a toxic substance which creates numerous health problems.  After realizing table salt was causing health problems, man using the world's wisdom decided salt was not good and began to recommend low salt and no salt diets, instead of going back to God-made sea salt.  Sea salt has been a part of man's diet since the beginning of time.  Don't be misled by this misinformation.  A good quality sea salt contains about 80 trace minerals, 2% of its composition.  Trace minerals are essential for good health. 

2.  Get the best quality sea salt you can find.  Look for one that is minimally processed: hand-harvested or sun-dried.  Don't go for cheap.  Though a good sea salt may be 10 times as expensive as table salt, it is only the cost of one or two Starbucks and should last you for months.  A bag or shaker of good sea salt typically costs about $5 to $10.

3.  Don't put a salt shaker on your table.  While the many trace minerals in sea salt are essential to our health, most Americans tend to use too much salt in their foods.  Try to break yourself of the habit of salting your food at the table.  As you eliminate man-made foods from your diet and your taste buds reawaken and as you begin you use other spices in your foods, you will no longer crave an excessive amount of salt.   

4.  Use only good quality sea salt in everything you cook and bake.  Some people tell me, "I don't use salt so I don't need to buy an expensive sea salt."  But if you are eating a diet of God-made foods, even if you don't cook much, you will need to have a good sea salt available to put in your foods.  You will definitely need it for the recipes I will be sharing with you. 

Advanced challenge for those who already own and use a good quality sea salt:

 

Buy a second or third type of sea salt to use.  Aren't these sea salt grinders fun!  I have added the black Hawaiian salt to my collection this past year, and have these three on my new spice rack so they are readily available when cooking (I have a spice rack on each side of my stove now). I like to have different sea salts from different places for a couple of reason.  First, the naturally occurring mineral content within the sea salt is going to vary from place to place.  Thus by using different salts, I am potentially get a more even mix of the trace minerals that my body needs.  Second, our world is heavily polluted.  Though the hand-harvested sea salt should be coming from clean deposits, just in case, I use different ones to spread out my exposure to potential pollutants that could come from a single source.

 

The sea salts I am currently using:

The salts shown above are just some of the many different sea salts that I have used over the years.  There are many other good ones.  Read the label about how it is made and where it comes from. 

For baking, I like to use the Swanson Himalayan sea salt (on left in top photo) because it is very fine and thus distributes well throughout dough. I order this on-line from Swanson Vitamins.  It comes in a small and large size.  The Celtic sea salt, on the right in the second photo,  is a somewhat fine grain and an acceptable option also for baking.  Any of the grinders could be used, but it is more work to grind and then measure.

 

For soups and stews, I exclusively use the coarse Celtic sea salt, pictured on the left in the second photo above.  I use it in dishes which I am cooking that have a liquid base in which it will dissolve.  This sea salt in the staple that I always have on hand and that I have used since the boys were born.  I buy the Celtic Sea Salts from local natural foods grocery stores.

 

For salad dressings or any dish that needs an unmeasured amount of salt (salt to taste), I use the salt grinders, such as the Frontier salt grinders shown in the top photo.  These are my fun salts and an extravagance.  I purchased the Frontier shakers on-line directly from Frontier (if you have several friends who want to order with you, you can join Frontier as a buying club - a wholesale customer - and receive great reduced prices on all your spices and cleaning products and assorted other items).  The Himalayan pink salt grinder on the right in the top photo I purchased at Costco.

 

I do not recommend buying cheap sea salts - you do get what you pay for with salt.  These two sea salts both cost less than $2 and they are the ones I use to clean my chicken prior to baking (I salt the inside of my chicken to clean it).  The salt is all completely rinsed out of the chicken before stuffing and baking. I do not recommend buying either of these as your good quality sea salt.  I do not use either of these in the food I eat.

 

If you are just beginning the weekly challenges, be sure to read the posts under weekly challenge - in advance. 

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."  Matthew 5:13

WHICH IS A GOOD CHOICE???



Here are your choices:

             1.  Chicken Enchiladas

             2.  Hamburger and French Fries

             3.  Eggs and Bacon

             4.  Grilled Salmon and a Salad

             5.  Cookies and Milk

             6.  Pizza

 

They all look delicious, but which of these meals is a good choice?  Which would you choose to be the healthiest choice?  Take a guess and then read on. 

 

This slide is from a class I taught several years ago.  I don't think the answer has changed.  Beware though, this is a trick question.  When answering this question, we need to focus on the main concept.  Do any of these meals classify as God's food or use God's ingredients?  What are God's foods and ingredients anyway?  In today's world of marketing and profits, companies and the media have twisted and distorted the truth about food, health and diet so that it is hard to know the answers to these questions.

 

Man has become very good at 'remaking' God's foods; removing most of the nourishment through extensive processing and then add man-made synthetic chemicals back into the foods.  Man-made foods are also loaded with cheap sugars, salt and fats.  The widespread use of these ingredients has great power over us.

 

Now, which is your choice?  Have you changed your mind or do you still think your first answer is best.  Here is my answer to the question. 

I am teaching a series of 10 classes at Jon's school and will be sharing with you what we do.  This is one of their at-home challenges to ask their family members about this week.

 

If you are interested in receiving emails notices of when I post something new, add your email address and click on the link to the right.

 

Blessings,

 

Mary 

Week 5

Don't eat or drink anything (except water) after dinner.



I am SO glad I am starting over with the challenges myself because I have been cheating on this one quite a bit lately.  I need to make a conscious effort to stop eating at night after dinner and I am starting today!  I will explain below why this is so important.  I hope you will join me with this challenge.

This one should be incredibly easy - it takes no effort or shopping, it gives you more time to do something else, and it saves you money!  But, I have a feeling, that this could be incredibly hard for many.  I hope I don't lose your participation with the weekly challenges this week.  It may be hard at first, but I promise that it will soon become a habit and you will no longer struggle with cravings and hunger in the evening hours.  If this is hard for you, please turn your craving to God, and ask for His help in prayer.  This challenge is applicable and healthful for everyone, except the very young who are nursed or still take a bottle before bed.  It is key to healing and maintaining good health because it allows the body to fast and cleanse overnight.

 

Some tips and suggestions:

 

1.  Don't starve yourself during the day.  If you starve yourself all day; you will be ravenous by dinner time and you will overeat.  Starved of calories all day, you will likely continue to crave something to eat later in the evening.   To make matters worse, during the day you have slowed your metabolism (the body's defense against times of starvation), and your evening food will be turned into unhealthy fat during the night.  Try to eat three meals at fairly regular times of the day.  Your meals don't have to be difficult.  If you are not at home and don't have much time to eat; pack up some hard cheese (like cheddar), whole grain crackers, raw nuts, carrot or celery sticks, and a piece or two of fresh fruit.  I also have several suggests for to-go lunches posted.

 

2.  Try to eat your dinner by 7:00 p.m.  My family typically eats between 5:00 and 7:00.  This will allow time for your food to digest before you go to bed.

 

3.  I have many meal ideas and recipes to help you, so with the knowledge you have already, try to switch to more and more of God-made foods which provide nourishment and satisfy you, as Jennifer has seen over the last month.

 

4.  If you feel you must eat after dinner, try to identify why.  For some people it is a poor diet of man-made food (these foods don't provide the nutrients your body needs and thus they don't satisfy your hunger), but for others it is 'comfort' eating.  If you find you overeat or you eat junk food when you face a disappointment, loneliness, stress, past hurt, or any number of other reasons - recognize what is happening. This is the first step to overcoming this addiction. Typically the foods you are eating as 'comfort' foods are the very addictive man-made foods designed by man tomake you crave them.  You become trapped in a vicious cycle.

 

5.  If you are hungry, try drinking some water.  A person can feel hungry when dehydrated.

 

6.  Change your routine and distract yourself during the time you would normally be snacking.  Take a walk, play a game, connect with your family or neighbors, write a note and mail it, or call a friend.

 

7.  If it seems just impossible for you not to eat before bed, or if you get up in the night to eat, try to eat fresh fruit for your snack.  Fresh fruit takes very little energy to digest so this would be a good transition if you cannot go cold turkey on this challenge.

 

If you have not connected with someone whom you see or chat with, or text with daily, now would be a great time to do so.  It is so much easier, and fun, to face a challenge with the help and support of a friend.

 

 

I thank God that He put it on my heart to change my diet before I had my sons so I could enjoy the fun times while they grew.  I want to share my daily health struggles and thoughts from when I was eating a diet of mostly man-made food before my boys were born.  I hope this might help you if this challenge is difficult for you.

 

At one point during my adult life prior to having children, I was convinced that I had to eat in the evening before bed.  I was also convinced by my mother that I had to eat the first thing when I got up or I would pass out.  I did feel like I would pass out if I didn't immediately eat something, so it was easy for me to believe this was true.  My mother told me that hypoglycemia ran in our family, that she and my sister had it, and that she thought I had developed it too.

 

She was just conveying to me what she was told when she went to her doctor with similar symptoms and had testing done.  She said that I needed to eat multiple small meals/snacks throughout the day, starting first thing in the morning right up until bedtime, to stabilize my blood sugar.  If you know anything about hypoglycemia, diabetes 'cousin', it is not thought to be a curable disease.

 

This became my routine.  I ate upon rising, I ate frequently through the day, and I ate right before bed.  I was so far off balance and it got so bad, that I carried food in my purse for those times when I felt so weak and faint throughout the day that I thought I would collapse.  This seems so foreign to me now, like I am writing about another person, not myself!

 

For anyone who knows me now, I never have any food in my purse or the car, and can go most of the day without food if I need too.  I get up early at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m.  and drink a glass of water.  I then continue to sip on water until about 7:00 a.m. when I eat some fruit.  Next comes breakfast anywhere from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.  I eat lunch around noon, sometimes have fruit or some other light snack in the afternoon, and dinner around 6:00 p.m.  I never feel faint anymore since I have switched to a diet of excellent quality God-made foods.  God's foods satisfy me and provide the nourishment my body needs, so I do not crave food in the evening before bed nor need it to sleep.  It is amazing what 'diseases' can be cured by a diet of God-made food and following a good daily routine.

 

I am sharing this for those who might say, "But my situation is different and I must eat before bed."  Eating before bed is not the answer to your health issue; unfortunately, it is an unhealthy habit that has been adopted as an acceptable practice which will not produce the vitality, energy and good health you are trying to achieve.

 

"Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always."  1 Chronicles 16:11

Chicken Fajita Meat



I think everyone loves chicken fajitas and this marinade recipe creates a delicious grilled chicken for them.  If you are cutting down (or out) gluten from your diet, making a chicken fajita salad is also incredibly good.  As I have mentioned so many times in the past, the quality of the chicken that you purchase is critical.  I don't typically buy chicken breast meat because the breasts are expensive.  Also I buy whole chickens so I can make bone broth from the carcass, but I have found frozen organic chicken breasts at Costco that I am using for fajitas that I am pleased with. 

Ingredients:

2 - 3 organic, free-range chicken breasts

Marinade:

1 roasted hot green chili (peeled, deseeded, and diced fine)

3 Tbl extra virgin organic olive oil

juice of 1 small organic lemon

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground pepper

Thaw frozen chicken breasts in the refrigerator (don't thaw in the microwave).  Marinade meat for two to eight hours before grilling meat.  We use one Hatch New Mexico green chili for the marinade.  I keep a bag of hot ones in the freezer that we have previously roasted.  We grew a batch of really hot peppers in the garden the year before last that have great flavor.  You can also use ones that you have purchased at the store (available in August, plan to get some next year). 

Thaw the chili and then remove the roasted skin and inner veins and seeds.  Next dice fine and place in a small glass dish. (You can substitute another type hot chili if you do not have any in your freezer, just be sure you roast it so you can remove the skin).    Place the rest of the marinade ingredients with the chili, and mix together.

I cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally (but don't cut into strips yet) because they are too thick to grill evenly, and then place them in a glass bowl.  Pour the marinade over the chicken meat and thoroughly mix it so that all the meat surfaces are coated with marinade.  Cover and place in the refrigerator.

When ready, grill the whole (thin) breast pieces as you would any chicken breast until thoroughly cooked.  Bring inside and slice into strips.  (I grilled the onion and bell pepper for the fajitas on high heat in a little olive oil inside in a heavy cast iron skillet.)

For our fajitas we use:

One whole wheat or whole grain flour tortilla (or a bed of organic lettuce if having as a salad instead)

Grilled chicken fajita meat

Grilled onion and organic bell pepper strips

Fresh avocado slices

Salsa (homemade is great but tomatoes are not in season now)

Grated white cheese (grate your own, pre-shredded has anti-caking chemicals added)

Baked Ham



This is my revised version of my mom's holiday ham.  It is often so easy to modify a recipe.  For this one, I replaced the brown sugar (no better for you than any processed sugar) with honey, canned pineapple with fresh, and pasteurized orange juice from concentrate with freshly squeezed from an organic orange. 

 

It is hard to find a cured ham with a bone in it, that is not spiral cut, and that has not been injected with chemicals.  Look for local farmers and be cautious when buying hams - pigs eat anything (the garbage collectors of the earth) and were considered unclean animals, unfit to eat by the Jewish people in the Bible.  Thus the quality of ham you buy is very important.  Of course, this is true for any pork product you eat, whether it is bacon, lunch meat, pork loin or a whole ham.

This is the ham I purchased for our Christmas dinner.  As I said in that post, it was o.k., but I would like to find a source for more natural hams because this lists evaporated cane syrup in its ingredient list.  I did not look at the ingredient list when I purchased it since I was in a hurry and waited until December 23rd to buy my ham.  It is SO important to get in the habit of always reading the ingredient labels - I hope you are working on this Week 3 weekly challenge.  I am.  I have recommitted myself this year to make this challenge a habit even when shopping at grocery stores that typically carry better quality products such as Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joe's or Natural Grocer.

 

Ingredients:

One cured ham, butt or shank, any size that is not spiral sliced and which has a bone still in it.

One fresh pineapple, cut into chunks or rings

One organic orange (optional)

A handful of whole cloves

4 Tbl pure honey

You also need:

Toothpicks

A heavy, sturdy roasting pan

Heavy duty aluminum foil

 

Directions:

Place ham in the roasting pan on the rack.  Score the ham into a grid 1" to 1 1/2" (just through the outer rind layer).  Stick whole cloves in ham every 2" to 2 1/2".  Then place pineapple chunks or slices on top side with toothpicks as shown in the photo.

Mix basting sauce:  Pour pineapple juice left over from cut up pineapple (the juice that will be left in the bowl in which you have placed the cut chunks), typically about 1/4 cup into a small glass container.  Juice one orange and add that juice to the pineapple juice.  Stir in honey, and slowly drizzle about half of the mixture all over the ham.  Cover the ham carefully (so you don't poke the toothpicks through the aluminum foil), and bake in the oven at 325 °F to 350 °F for about 1 1/2 hours.  Baste once about half way through bake time with the rest of the basting mix.  (If you are using a ham that has not been already cured, be sure to cook it thoroughly, an internal temperature of at least 160 °F.)  

 



Remove from oven and allow to rest 15 to 30 minutes before cutting.  Serve cut ham immediately and enjoy the leftovers either hot or cold.  You can freeze leftover chunks and use in recipes like chicken sausage gumbo in place of the sausage.

Week 4

Eat a small handful of raw nuts or seeds each day.

A few tips and suggestions:

1.  Be sure you buy raw nuts and seeds.  Roasted and salted varieties are not as beneficial and will make you gain unhealthy weight.  They also often contain cheap salt and sugar (can be listed as other names such as high fructose corn syrup). Both cheap salt and sugar by any name are on the list of foods and ingredients to avoid.  Raw nuts and seeds are an excellent source of protein, Omega-3 oils, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals.  

2.  If you are trying to lose weight and have the time, buy nuts or seeds in the shell so you have to work to eat them.  This will also slow you down as you enjoy eating them.

 



3.  You can eat a small handful of nuts or seeds a couple times throughout the day if you wish but don't eat large quantities.  A little goes a long way and is very beneficial, but don't over do it.  Nuts and seeds, along with grains and beans and rice contain phytates (which inhibit them from sprouting until properly warmed and soaked in the spring in nature).  While most of the phytates are in the shell or hull, some are still found in the edible portion.  Soaking can reduce the amount some, and buying organic can insure a lower amount but some will still be present.  Also it is a much better idea to eat raw whole nuts and seeds, rather than nut and seed butter to maximize your nutritional intake while minimizing your phytate intake.  You do not want a diet too high in natural phytates but God did provide these things as foods, and I don't think man fully understands all the facts about them.  Nuts and seeds have been an excellent sources of nutrition for man since early Biblical times.  For those who would like more technical information on this issue (I think they are perhaps a bit overcautious though excellent information), check out this Weston Price article.

4.  There are so many options, select one or two, or try several different ones.  Possibilities include walnuts, pecans, almonds, Brazil nuts, pistachios, cashews, macadamias, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), and sunflower seeds.

5.  Store your raw nuts and seeds in the refrigerator (or extras in the freezer).  As shown, in the photo above, I store them in glass jars in the refrigerator.  Raw nuts and seeds are perishable, especially in warmer temperatures and can turn rancid if not stored properly.

6.  For men:  eat one handful of raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas) each day to ward off prostrate problems.

7.  For women:  eat 4 to 6 almonds (that have been soaked for a few hours and then peeled) to help stabilize hormones.  Soak a few almonds in a small amount of filtered water for 2 - 6 hours, then peel off the brown skin, and eat.  Almonds are an excellent source of absorbable magnesium (chocolate being another which I think is why women crave chocolate).  During the month, a woman's magnesium levels drop significantly as hormones fluctuate.

8.  For kids:  include their daily raw nuts in their lunch and/or offer as an afternoon snack.

9.  A United States federal law has recently made it illegal to sell or buy raw almonds or hazelnuts.  However, there are a few exceptions, so it is possible to obtain them raw if you research the topic.  Be aware that when you buy almonds that are labeled 'raw' at a local store, they are not really raw.  They have been flash pasteurized.  There are no 'truly' raw almonds sold in Texas; the only ones I know about are sold in California only. 

Advanced Challenge for those already eating a small handful of nuts or seeds each day.

Include a new nut or seed that you are not currently eating into your diet or investigate the properties of nuts and seeds to learn which vitamins and minerals they contain.  Then you can choose which to eat depending upon your current nutritional needs.

 

"Then their father Israel said to them, 'If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.'"  Genesis 43:11

Week 3

Read ingredient labels.

Become informed.  Take this seriously and read every ingredient list on every label for every food you eat this week.  It will probably shock and amaze you.  I love ingredient lists like the one for these diced tomatoes shown in the photo.  Unfortunately, being able to read and pronounce all the items on the list and having less than three or so ingredients is very rare.  But not eating foods that contain man-made ingredients, which your body sees as toxins, is very important. 

A few things to think about concerning ingredient lists:

1.  Read the labels on foods already in your home as you use them.  (You might consider tossing those that contain some of the worst ingredients such as artificial colors and flavorings, MSG or hydrogenated oils.) 

2.  Read the labels on foods which you buy at the grocery store (I know this can take time, but it is worth doing).  If you don't have much time, then buy mostly unprocessed foods as given to us by God that don't have labels.  Produce, raw nuts, beans, grains, eggs, white cheese, etc.  These are the best foods to eat and cook with anyway.  Begin eating more and more foods without labels.  (Of course, meats also do not have ingredient lists, but there are other very important things to learn about obtaining good quality meats.)   

3.  Try to buy foods with a short list of ingredients, only things that you can pronounce and identify as a real food items, as shown with the can of diced tomatoes above.

4.  I have a list of ingredients which I never eat, and those which I minimize.  Use my list or make your own, and stick with it.

This week, I want you to become aware of what is in the food you are eating, and then I will guide you on how to make changes in the weeks to come.  The food industry, is just that, an industry designed to make money by selling food, and they spend lots of money researching how to make their foods addictive.  Become informed, read labels, and don't be a victim.

Advanced Challenge for those already reading labels:

Read ingredient labels. I am writing this to myself!  So many times, I stop reading labels of my favorite brands of items that I regularly buy and then by chance look at the ingredient list and find that it has changed (and always for the worse).  So my challenge this week for all of us is to read labels.  Any food item which you eat that has an ingredient label, read it.

If you are just beginning the weekly challenges, please be sure to read the posts under weekly challenge - in advance.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8:32