Quinoa for Breakfast

See the original post at A Life Enchanted

Breakfast truly can be considered the most important meal of the day. It sets the tone. It helps stabilize blood sugar, provides fuel to function properly and helps prevent cravings and over eating later in the day. When our bodies begin to use up it’s energy supplies cravings are triggered. This leads to over eating and poor food choices. Having  a healthy breakfast within 2 hours of waking is essential for proper body function.

We all know my love of quinoa. It’s a complete protein. It offers a multitude of nutrients. It’s holds up and it’s diverse. You can mix in any combination of vegetables, herbs and spices and have something delicious that will stay in the fridge for days and still be enjoyable.

But get this…. you can even mix in fruit and enjoy it for breakfast!
Check it out.

I had pear and walnuts with extra honey

Quinoa Breakfast

2c water
1c quinoa
1/2 rice, soy or almond milk
1/4 – 1/2c fresh fruit
1/8 – 1/4c nuts or seeds
cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla beans for seasoning – 1 or a combination of your favorites
honey, agave or maple syrup for sweetening

Bring the water to a boil. Add quinoa, reduce to low and simmer for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Top each serving with fruit, seeds and nuts, sweeten and add milk.

Simple.

This makes a batch large enough to last for days in the fridge. Keep the cooked quinoa separate and add fruit, nuts and milk to each serving.

Eat your breakfast!

Live Well!
~S

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For the Love of Coconut Oil

Lovely Coconut Oil. I love it. And you should too!

It’s thick and creamy. It offers substantial health benefits. It works wonders on detoxifying the body. And even helps curb appetite.

For your health –

• Is antibacterial therefore, helps fight infection
• Take a spoonful 20 minutes before eating to curb appetite
• Assists with weight control
• Use to strengthen immunity
• Helps treat arthritis
• Improves thyroid function
• Increases energy
• Improves digestion
• Treats and prevents acid reflux, heart burn and indigestion
• Treats sore throats and ear infections
• Even been known to help ADHD and Autism

Coconut Oil is for more than cooking with!

Coconut oil is also great for your hair and skin! For real.

For the hair –

• It is great for all hair types
• It works especially well on dandruff
• It offers incredible shine and softness
• Great for color treated hair
• Used to treat lice
• Removes gum from hair

For the skin –

• Heals burns fabulously
• Is antibacterial so works wonderfully for cuts and scrapes 
• Is nourishing and moisturizing
• Offers sun protection
• Is a fantastic eye make up remover
• Treats rashes, fungal and yeast infections like ringworm and athletes foot
• Soothes stings and bites
• Softens cracked rough feet
• Strengthens nails
• Treats eczema and psoriasis

You love coconut oil now, too, don’t you? I told you you would!

Over the next few weeks I will offer a tremendous amount of tips on using coconut oil throughout your life. Stay tuned! 

Live Well!
~S 

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Starting Kombucha Mother

I have had made just about everything you can imagine at one point or another. But there are two things I have yet to add to that long list…

Beer and Kombucha

Seriously! You’d think I would have done this by now.

Well, let’s change that shall we?

Starting Kombucha Mother is really quite simple. You can purchase SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of  Bacteria and Yeast) at a number of health food suppliers, but why bother? Besides being more expensive – the average mother is around $20, this way will cost you about $3.50 – it’s easy and you get to say you made it yourself!

Here’s what you need – 

• A bottle of Organic Raw Kombucha (right from the grocery store)
• 1 cup of sweetened tea
• A large glass jar ( a wide mouth mason jar is perfect)
• A kitchen towel or cheesecloth
• A rubber band

First, steep your tea – one tea bag in one cup of water. You can use any kind you like. For this batch I am using a black and orange pekoe blend. I will experiment with others next.

Sweeten your tea while it’s warm. For this you want to use regular sugar. One tablespoon. From all of my research, all other forms of natural sweeteners will cause the kombucha to be bitter. The sugar is only food for the bacteria.

Add the bottle of kombucha to the  room temperature tea and cover. You want the cover to be thin enough so it can breath, yet keep out any bugs and what ever might be floating around the kitchen. Place it on the counter or in a cupboard.

Now you wait.

That’s it! I told you it was easy. My kombucha mother has been brewing for a few days now. The temperature of your house will determine just how long it takes for the mother to be ready. A thin layer will begin to form on the surface. This is the SCOBY. You are looking  for a layer about 1/4 inch thick. When you have achieved this, you’re mother is ready and you are ready to make kombucha! It could take a week. It could take 3.

I will give you an update when mine is ready.

Happy Brewing!

Live Well!
~S 

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What to Choose Next?

I am fairly well versed in wild New England Edibles. I love to spend time, basket slung over my arm wandering the woods, fields and riverbanks of New Hampshire foraging for greens and berries and the like.

There is something inspiring, comforting and even exciting about making a meal from things found. Last year, while the Mister and Macala were fishing, I gathered berries. I made a lovely black raspberry crostada. Many Summer nights we enjoyed salads of wild greens found in my travels.

My thirty six years, though, have not been sufficient to leave me anywhere near an expert in such things.  Perhaps under other circumstances. Perhaps were we in a time when survival meant being so. Perhaps, no, certainly, then I would be schooled by a ten year old in the matter of wild edibles.

But I press on! I am determined to learn more.

So what will be next? 

I’m spending some time with my favorite guide this lovely, warm Spring afternoon in the Shire to pick.

My feeling, pick something and learn as much as you can about it before moving on to anything else.

I wonder what it will be this Spring? 

I’ll let you know as soon as I choose.

Live Well!
~S

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My Three Favorite Weight Loss Tips

Weight loss is on many minds most of the time, but with beach season.. and bathing suit season…. just around the corner it’s everywhere.

Here are my 3 favorite tips to remember when starting your weight loss adventure.

Eat Your Vegetables

So often I hear my clients say “I eat lots of vegetables. Tons.” Only to find their food journals show a very different situation. Often, vegetables are consumed at lunch and at dinner. And that’s it. But if you make sure you are eating at least one vegetable at each of your 5-6 meals, you can drastically change your health and your waistline. When building your meal or your snack start with vegetables. It should be the largest portion on your plate.

Bonus tip – Don’t forget the protein. Protein is essential for building muscle. And muscle burns fat! Be sure you are getting protein with each meal also.

Drink More Water

Again, people often think they are getting plenty of water, but the reality is that most people spend their lives dehydrated. Staying well hydrated is essential for proper body function. Keep water in your car, your bag, your desk, next to your bed and drink, drink, drink.

Bonus tip – Oolong tea has the ability to help boost metabolism and keep you well hydrated. It’s great warm or cold. Try adding a cup or so a day.

Sneak in Extra Exercise

You are going to the gym 4 – 5 days a week. You are eating healthy. You are drinking lots of water. You want to see bigger results. Perhaps you don’t have time to get to the gym as often as like. Try squeezing in bits of exercise through out your day. Do some squats while brushing your teeth. Take 3 minutes to do a few Burpee’s. Do some static lunges in the kitchen while cooking dinner. Find ways to work in some extra exercise and you will start seeing bigger results.

Bonus tip – I keep free weights under my coffee table. During those rare occasions I’m watching tv I can pull them out and do bicep curls, overhead extensions, shoulder presses… all from my couch.

A healthy body isn’t all about vanity. To live well, we must be well. 

Live Well!
~S 

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All Natural Eye Makeup Remover

There are so many skin care products on the market these days. Thousands.

Many of them are cleaner and less toxic than others. There are some really great products out there that are made from all natural products. But they are often very pricey. You can use simple ingredients, many you will find in your kitchen already, to replace most of these. For cheaper. With less chance of contamination or added harmful preservatives and toxins.

We’ve been over this a few times before, haven’t we?

There are two simple items that work great for removing eye makeup.

• Coconut Oil
• Jojoba Oil

Both can be simply applied gently and removed with a cloth or cotton ball.

Using Coconut Oil

I buy coconut oil in large batches. Then I scoop out containers for different areas of the house. I keep one next to my bed and one in the bathroom for removing eye makeup and a few other uses you can read about in For the Love of Coconut Oil. (coming soon)

To use coconut oil as an eye makeup remover take a small amount… I mean small. Like half a pea size and place in the palm of your hand. Rub it in a very small circle with the tip of your finger to soften it. Now gently spread it over the eye and work it in small circles. Then simply wipe off, gently moving from the outside of the eye toward the inside corner with a cloth or cotton ball.

Using Jojoba Oil

This might be a bit easier than coconut oil only because it’s one less step. But different skin types take to different ingredients… differently. We are all different.

With Jojoba oil simply dab a bit on a cloth or cotton ball and gently wipe across the eye from the outside corner to the inside.

There are lots of other options for eye makeup remover, like vitamin E oil, and well, many other oils too, but these two are my favorites. Right now anyway. These things change now and then.

Isn’t it nice knowing there is only one safe, edible ingredient in the things you need and use? How about knowing you can save a ton of money over the course of a year switching to that one safe ingredient?

What is your favorite eye makeup remover?

Live Well!
~S

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Sundays, Friends and Homemade Natural Sunscreen

Yesterday I spent the day with a bunch of lovely ladies. It’s rare that I have such an opportunity. And I cherished every bit of it. I forget sometimes just how important spending quality times with friends can be. It’s easy to get wrapped up in work and family. Then all of a sudden you realize you haven’t even seen someone you adore in months.

There was  one particular friend yesterday I hadn’t spent any time with in years. Years. It’s sad. We were once together every day. She was an intricate and very important part of my life. The kind of friend who is always there for you. The kind of person who is simply honest and caring and kind. How do these things happen? Because we let them, really.

I am blessed to know so many beautiful people.

I was chatting with one lovely momma about sunscreen. With temps unseasonably warm, it’s about time we talk about it here too.

We know we have to protect our skin from the suns rays, but what we might not know is that many of those products sought to do so, are loaded with harmful toxins. That’s right. There are dangers in sunscreen. Organic Lifestyle Magazine did a tremendous amount of research on the subject. You can read about it here.

   “The shocking truth is the fact that both petrochemical sunscreens (avobenzone, methoxycinnamate, padimate-o and the like) and physical sunblocks (chemically-reacted synthetics titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) are not natural and have been found to generate free radicals when exposed to sunlight, which then can attack the nuclei of your skin cells and cause mutations. That’s right, they can cause skin cancer. Furthermore, sunscreen chemicals have been found to pass through the skin and mimic the effects of estrogen, which may disrupt the delicate balance of the body’s natural hormones.”
~Organic Lifestyle Magazine

Even more alarming, since the increase in the use of sunscreen, skin cancer rates have risen. Many reports show that sunscreen actually increases cancer risks. Interesting isn’t it? For hundreds of years there was no sunscreen and there were few cases of skin cancer. And people spent far more time in the sun than we do now. The Environmental Working Group reports that only 39 of the 500 products they examined were considered safe and effective.

Did you know your diet can have a drastic affect on your reaction to the sun’s rays? Wholesome foods help our bodies immunity and ability to respond to toxins and other harmful invaders. Build your strength from the inside out. I will keep saying it, a healthy diet affects all aspects of our lives!

Ok, so now what? Even zinc oxide, used in most homemade recipes, is listed here as unsafe. This was my biggest dilemma in determining the safe route for my family. I have scoured reports and articles, books and magazines. I found that uncoated non-nano sized particles of zinc oxide are the safest form. These are found in diaper rash cream and calamine lotion.

And I have come to some delightful conclusions….

• We need some sun! Many people are vitamin D deficient because they are so afraid of the sun. But it’s actually ok to get out and get a bit of sun.
• There are a number of natural ingredients that do protect us from the sun
• We don’t need to slather on all those toxins to be “safe”
• The very best protection comes from hats and light clothing

Natural Protection From the Sun

• Coconut oil – I love this stuff!! I use it for so many things. Check out For the Love of Coconut Oil (coming later this week). It’s also great for your skin AND has a natural SPF. This is my first choice for sunscreen. I just slather it on. It can be used alone or added to other ingredients.
• Raspberry Seed Oil – This has the highest SPF of 30-50 and is very nourishing to the skin. It helps fight free radicals and is an antioxidant.
• Sesame oil – has an SPF of 30
• Carrot Seed oil – has an SPF of about 20
• Lavender, myrrh, peppermint, chamomile and marjoram are excellent added protection and skin nourishment.
• Green and Black tea – the tannin’s are great at absorbing UV rays, offer excellent protection and are great for the skin.

A Few Natural Sun Protection Recipes

• 15 drops lavender oil, 2 drops chamomile oil and 2 drops marjoram oil, 1 tablespoon avocado oil.
• 1 t coconut oil, 1 t raspberry seed oil, 10 drops lavender oil
• 1 t coconut oil, 1 t carrot seed oil, 1 T Shea Butter

Get creative! You can mix and match with whatever ingredients you have or are readily available.

Homemade Sunscreen

1 ounce oil or oil blend (I prefer coconut and raspberry seed)
1 ounce beeswax
1 ounce butter blend (shea, mango, cocoa)
1 teaspoon vitamin e oil
0.30 ounce zinc oxide
30 drops essential oil (lavender, peppermint, carrot, myrrh, coconut extract for scent)
*Do not use citrus oils – they can cause burning 

Melt oils, butter and beeswax. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, then add vitamin E oil, zinc oxide and essential oil.

*Be sure to wear a mask when handling zinc oxide and always use bowls and utensil that aren’t used for cooking. 

Stir until zinc oxide is dissolved. Pour into a used deodorant container or purchase a new one from your local herb store.

An Alternate Sunscreen Recipe

1/4 c oil (grape seed, coconut or blend)
1/2c water
5 tsps zinc oxide
3T aloe vera gel
1T beeswax
1/8 t vitamin E oil
10 drops grapefruit seed extract
*essential oils for scent

Heat oil and beeswax just to melted. Remove from heat and cool slightly, add vitamin E and essential oils.  Put in a bowl that won’t be used for food. Add zinc oxide. Now heat water and aloe vera gel. Add to bowl and mix well. This makes a lotion. It can be thinned or thickened by adding more or less beeswax.

SPF 20 as is. It can be increased by using raspberry seed oil or adding more zinc oxide.

If you aren’t into making your own sunscreen you can check how your brand fared here. 

Do you have a favorite sunscreen recipe?

Live Well!
~S 

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Butter Up, Baby!

Did you know that eating fat doesn’t make you fat? It’s true!

That stuff they call margarine isn’t real food either. It’s gross, it’s harmful and you should stop using it! But you don’t really use that junk, right?

Real food is always better. Always. But even the ones you think are real and wholesome aren’t always as they seem. Take butter for instance. Did you know that butter, yes, the real kind, usually has added preservatives? It’s sad but true. But there’s hope.

Making butter is ridiculously easy! 

Cream, a mason jar and twenty minutes easy.

Fill a mason jar half way with heavy cream.

Put the cover on.

Now shake the day lights out of it!

Shake, shake, shake…

Shake, shake, shake….

The cream will get thick. Keep shaking.

When you think something MUST have gone wrong, keep shaking.

You are almost there….

And then all of sudden, it will happen! The thick cream will separate – buttermilk and butter.

Strain the buttermilk….

But save it for something else like soaking chicken or making biscuits.

Now you have to rinse the rest of the buttermilk out of the butter.

Add some salt if you like and roll into a log and refrigerate.

You have butter!

AND buttermilk!

This butter doesn’t have preservative like that other stuff, as I mentioned, so you want to use this within two weeks.

It isn’t always cheaper to make your own butter but it can be. It depends on the cost of cream and the amount of fat. Some cows produce a fattier milk. If you are lucky enough to know someone with goats (or even better, have your own!) butter can be made with goats cream too. It will be a bit different, but just as good.

I got about 3/4 of a  pound of butter from one quart of milk. Plus about 2 cups of buttermilk. That is a savings over purchasing butter and buttermilk separately. And I don’t get the preservatives.

There is an easier way….

You can use a blender, mixer, hand mixer or food processor and cut the time in half.

There can be mistakes…

The second time I made butter, or attempted to make butter, it was a disaster. We took turns shaking the jar, the mister, babes and I. How fun! We sat and watched TV, chatted and made butter together. But in our fun we somehow missed the separation phase and just kept shaking. We ended up with what looked like chunky whipped cream. Which is just what I turned it into, with a bit of honey (or sweetener of choice) and a bit more whipping.

What happened? We shook the buttermilk back into the butter. Yes, it can happen. I had no idea. I also don’t know if the process can be altered again. I had had enough shaking for the night and never cared for the experiment to be finished.

Now let’s get a wee bit technical…

I’m not saying go ahead and smother everything you eat in butter. I’m not Paula Dean. Although I do love her to pieces. I’m just saying butter isn’t as scary and horrible as we tend to think. And it’s way better for you than something bugs won’t even touch! (Some still claim this isn’t true,but I tried it once and found the margarine free of ants and butter loaded with them. I did not, however, leave it long enough to find out if they moved over once the butter was gone.)

• A 1994 Harvard Medical Study showed that eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53%
• More recent studies have shown a strong link between consuming trans fat and earlier death
• Butter does not contain trans fat – margarine does (minus a few newer varieties)
• Both butter and margarine have the same amount of calories
• Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods
• Butter has many nutritional benefits – margarine does not, unless they are added
• Butter tastes better!

That old urban legend about margarine being one molecule away from plastic is truly false, however, real food is always best. Something made with “ingredients” like margaric acid, used in making margarine, is not.

If you aren’t into making your own butter at least opt for the real thing. Ditch that tub of tasteless, dyed stuff.

Tomorrow we will talk about flavoring your butter!

Live Well!
~S 

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Let’s Make Yogurt

Making your own yogurt is super easy!

I mean – boil milk, whisk in cultures, cover and wait – easy.

Yes, even you can do it.

Here’s what you need –

1 quart whole milk
1 Tablespoon plain yogurt (yes, just your favorite store bought yogurt)

In a pan heat the milk slowly to just before a boil. You can get technical with this and use a thermometer, but  it really isn’t necessary. You just have to heat it until the top is shiny and tiny bubbles just start to form around the outside. But if you are worried you won’t do it right, or just like to use your fancy little thermometer than heat it to 180-185 degrees. You shouldn’t get a skin, but if you do just take it off.

Now for the hard part. Take it off the heat and wait for it to cool. You have to wait until the milk is warm enough to activate the cultures but not kill them. About 140 degrees. You can put it in another bowl to help the process along. Or even put it in a water bath.

When the milk is cool whisk in the yogurt. Now, don’t get all over zealous with the yogurt. Adding extra will not make it more yogurty (there I go again) or speed the process any. It will have adverse effects. Trust me. One tablespoon per quart of milk. But you don’t have to be super precise either. I told you, this is easy.

Next, spoon it into jars. I like to use a mixture of mason jars in various sizes. Leaving a space at the top to add fruit and such. We’ll talk more about that in a bit.

Now, place the jars in a pan and wrap with a towel.

Put this pan in a warm safe place like the oven. I’m not showing you this part. It’s scary and embarrassing in there. Must. Clean. Oven.

Be sure to NOT turn the oven on. NOT. 

Now you wait. Again. It takes about 12-15 hours for the process to complete. Give or take. Again, it isn’t precise. Just be sure to leave them alone. The more you disturb them the less likely they are to do as they are told.

Once they have set to a solid consistency they are finished. Ready to eat! Or flavor. Keep in mind, this is plain, unaltered yogurt. It will be tart. You can sweeten it with some honey or agave.

You can strain the yogurt in cheese cloth to make it thicker. Essentially, the difference between Greek yogurt and regular yogurt is the straining process. Greek yogurt is strained to make it creamier. Here in the U.S. you are buying “Greek Style” yogurt not actual Greek yogurt – meaning strained and thicker. True Greek yogurt uses sheep’s or goat’s milk. If you like yogurt thicker you can strain the end product through a piece of cheese cloth or even let the milk stay at that just before boiling point a little longer to evaporate the milk some.

You can make your next batch using some of this one and never have to buy yogurt again!

Now let’s talk about flavor!

You can add anything you like. Fruits, nuts and grains.

Here are some of my favorites – 

• Pomegranate
• Banana and walnut
• Apple and cinnamon with honey and pecans
• Frozen mixed berries
• Orange
• Cherries and macadamia nuts
• Granola and dried cranberries
• Chocolate chunk granola

Mmmm. I could keep going.

You can also use it for dips and marinades – 

• Mixed with lots of fresh or dried herbs like chives, parsley, tarragon and garlic for veggie dip
• Mixed with lime, ginger, cilantro and gram marsala for chicken
• Mixed with coarse brown mustard, garlic, pepper and parsley for pork

The options are endless, as they usually are when in the kitchen. And yogurt is filled with healthy probiotics that are essential for healthy digestion and optimum immune response. They are killed off when heated, but used as a marinade yogurt helps keep meat moist and adds tremendous flavor.

Now let’s break it down….

I made 64 ounces of yogurt for $1.50

The cheapest I have found Chobani is $1.00 for 6 ounces. That equals $10.00 for 60 ounces!

4 ounces less – $8.50 more

Are you ready to try making your own yogurt?

Live Well!
~S 

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The Migraine Chronicles – Take 2

For those of you who remember The Migraine Chronicles – Take 1, I’d like to update you.

For those of you who don’t, go look. We’ll wait…

Back already?

Ok, here goes. I was super excited to share with you the fabulous news. Well, until last week that is. That’s right. I hadn’t had a single migraine since writing episode one! And since starting the supplements. I was taking magnesium and evening primrose daily. Every day. Or. Well. Almost every day.

Like with most things, I start out all gung-ho. Staying on tract. Doing everything right. Sticking to the plan. And then it starts to go south. But I had done quite well this time. I was determined to figure this thing out. And I guess by forgetting to take the magnesium and evening primrose I did just that.

All of sudden, there they were. I mean I literally blinked my eyes and they appeared. Vision spots. It was like a movie playing in slow motion. Nnnoooooo! And I was stumbling through the house, racing for the herb cabinet. Racing for the magnesium. And the ibuprofen.

It was terrible. Full bore sickness, pain, horror. Ok, ok, I’m feeling a bit dramatic today. But it was bad. Made worse by the realization that I did this to myself. I hadn’t taken either magnesium or evening primrose is two weeks. Sigh.

I really think it’s the magnesium doing the trick on the migraines, but the evening primrose has absolutely been helping with hormones and the other crazies I won’t go into detail over.

Did you know this was evening primrose?

Yup, you’ve probably seen it growing wild on the side of the road.

It works wonders for women’s health. It’s also great for inflammation. Especially for rheumatoid arthritis. Which is why it probably helps with the migraines. It also is used to treat eczema.

So, needless to say, I am back on track. Taking these supplements daily. Or, as often as I can remember.

Have you had any luck with either of these supplements?

Live Well!
~S 

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