Post Bunny Blues

Now that the Easter Bunny has gone into hiding again till next year, it's time to clean up our gut from the calamitous forage into white sugar's grip!  Ooh!  Like that!  Let's add some good ole' probiotics and enzymes to our digestive track to eat up what the Easter Bunny left behind.

Too many candies and sweets can really wreck havoc with our immune system, starting with our intestinal tract that, by this time, is screaming for some assistance!  Give it some helpful kefir (pronounced ke-feer) to do the trick.  A good yogurt is also a an option, as is any fermented unpasteurized drinks (like kombucha) or fermented veggies or chutneys.  These products eat up sugar fast than you can chow down on a 12 oz. chocolate duck!

"Nourishing Traditions" has many recipes for fermenting vegetables, fruits, and chutneys, and even drinks. If that just sounds like too much work after cooking for an army of people this weekend, most health food stores carry an array of fermented products.  Try to keep it organic with few additives, and your system should be up and running....purring, in fact, in no time!

What Do We Feed Our Children For Lunch?

Making lunches every weeknight for my children is NOT the sweetest part of my day.  Usually, I'm getting tired from a long day, my kitchen is still a mess, and my kids are still not in their PJs.  Religiously, however, I perform this ritual to ensure that they are bringing something "nourishing" to school, because you can be certain the schools are not doing that for me!
Have you ever gone to the school and experienced the lunches?  Frankenstein meets Captain Crunch comes to mind.  Leaving the health of your children to the companies who supply this food is a really bad idea.  Unfortunately, since not many moms know what real food is, they don't know enough to tackle this issue.
Again, the "Nourishing Traditions" book has some wonderful ideas, and I wrote an article for www.naturalnews.com that outlines the whole thing.  I've included a link and hope you'll read and use some or all of the ideas.  Every little bit helps!
Well fed kids=happy, smart, well-mannered kids!

Kefir in Waldbaums?

I felt a bit fashion forward the other day when carousing Waldbaums and saw kefir!  If  you aren't already familiar, kefir is a probiotic drink much like yogurt, only not as thick and a bit sweeter.  It's a real staple for me and my family when adding good bacteria into all of our guts.
When I first drank this and told friends and family about it they gave me a look like dogs do when their trying to figure you out.  It is pronounced Ke-Feer, by the way.  It's the way the Europeans pronounce it, and that's good enough for me.
Never expected to see this in Waldbaums, but I guess kefir has gone mainstream.  With it now being common knowledge that your intestinal tract is a major part of our immune system, corporate interest has spiked.  I'm glad to see this positive change, except-- watch what you're buying.  Buy the highest quality kefir you can find.  The corporate ones have dubious additives and who knows if it is active any longer.  The longer it's on the shelf, the less bang for the buck.
Now if you want the BEST kefir:  Get some pasture raised raw milk and ferment it yourself.  I have a friend I get it from occasionally.  I'm sometimes too busy or lazy to do it myself.  Perhaps I should have called my blog "The Lazy Nutritionist".
I will always defer to Sally Fallon and the "Nourishing Traditions" book for all recipes for fermenting loads of things.  With her recipes, I think you could ferment  my mom's old slippers and they'd be mighty tasty.  Fermentation increases the nutrient content of every food it interacts with.  So check out Sally's book; a book I can't recommend enough....or live without!
Eat Well--Live Well!