Category: Healthy Living

Purchasing a Country Living Grain Mill

Aynaria 6 Comments

The past several months, I’ve been looking at grain mills and after much research, I’ve finally decided on the one that I will, most likely, purchase; The Country Living Grain Mill.

 

It’s made in the USA, and has a lifetime warranty. It’s not cheap, running over $400, but it will last a lifetime and from what I’ve read the customer service is superb. That’s definitely something I look for when purchasing a product. The big selling point for me is that it is manual, so even if we have no electricity. I already making my own flour, but on a much smaller scale and I don’t do it often… With this purchase it will completely eliminate my need to ever purchase store bought flour again.

I try to be as self-sustainable as possible, so naturally that applies to cooking also. While manually grinding my own grains and beans might take time, I don’t mind since it allows me to control a huge part of my food preparation. My arms will be even more toned than they are now and even if the electricity went out, I’d still be able to use my kitchen appliance. Just like my mortar and pestle. My favorite kitchen tools are manual. The reasoning behind that is blatantly obvious.

I most likely will make this purchase before the year ends. I must say, that I’m really looking forward to grinding my own corn meal and bean flours.

Of course, when I finally make the purchase. I’ll post a review here, and I’ll be sure to show some of the things I grind with my Country Living Grain Mill.

Juice Cleanse: Watermelon Juice

Aynaria 6 Comments

This watermelon came from our garden, it wasn’t overly sweet like some watermelons are, it had a touch of sweetness but the juice was great

Watermelon_1

Last week, I made this delicious juice. It stood out from the majority of the juices I made from dark leafy greens. I filled up my Green Feet canteen, and off to work I went. I still had enough left over to drink a few glasses when I returned home.

Watermelon Juice_1

Watermelon is a natural diuretic (removes excess water.) Don’t be surprised if you have to urinate a lot when drinking this juice.

When you’ve got that glow…

Aynaria 2 Comments

Not too long ago, I ran into an acquaintance when I was at the gym exercising. It had been a few years since I’d seen him, so we chatted for a little while. I must say, it was nice to catch up with him. What was interesting was, that he kept complimenting me on my skin. He said it glowed.

 

He asked me what I was doing, I told him I kicked my chronic constipation to the curb. No, I didn’t gross him out, that’s one thing he always liked about me, I’ve always been direct when it comes to health. Also, I told him I was on a juice cleanse, and was flooding my body with juice derived from mainly dark leafy greens. If that wasn’t enough, I told him I stepped up my skin care routine. Which made perfect sense, since since my digestive system was finally a thing of the past.

You know… I thought I’d seen changes to my skin, but thought it might have just been me. My daughter commented that she saw changes too, but it was nice to get feedback from someone I don’t see too often. While there aren’t major problems with my skin, I do miss the glow that I was associated with my skin before I had digestive issues. Interestingly enough, throughout my constipation issues my skin stayed extremely soft. That’s a compliment that I never stopped receiving. I know a few people were surprised that it would be so soft, since I’m muscular and in very good shape. Perhaps genetics play a role (my mom has super soft skin too) but additionally I’ve always kept my skin well nourished, hydrated and moisturized.

The thing is… you don’t have to spend a lot of money to achieve amazing results in fact all of my skin care products are created by myself. I sell them and use them on myself and my daughter. Some of the items, like my homemade vitamin C serum are great at tightening pores, eliminating fine lines and a whole host of other benefits.  I also use other things like avocado, bananas, mangoes, etc., and use them on my skin too.

 

Anyway, the acquaintance constant compliments of my “glow” made me think of the above song, The Glow. I heard it first from the movie, The Last Dragon. I loved that movie!

Fruit Pudding: Apple and Mango

Aynaria 4 Comments

For breakfast, this morning, I pureed my daughter apple and mango. Simple meal, but my goodness is it delicious. Those two fruits work so well together.

She’s been calling pureed fruit, fruit pudding since she was a toddler. It does have the consistency of pudding and since it’s pureed from fresh fruit it’s a much healthier option.

I’m currently sipping on one of my dark veggie juices. No, it’s not sweet… most of my juices are savory or even bitter. I didn’t like the bitter drinks when I started juicing many years ago, but over time I grew to like them a lot and now they are some of my favorites and I must say the results are very impressive.

This weekend, I’ll be starting another juice cleanse. I’m making sure I drink plenty of juices since I’m not trying to lose weight, additionally I’m waiting on a few items to arrive, via mail, so I can incorporate those into my juice cleanse this time around. I’m sure I’ll post about that sometime during the cleanse.

Fruit pudding Apple & Mango
Apple & Mango fruit pudding

It’s only two ingredients but apple and mango taste so good together! Try it!

Apple & Mango Fruit pudding

  • 1 medium sized apple
  • 1/2 cup mango
  • Add all ingredients to food processor
  • Blend and enjoy

Juice Cleanse: Twelve Days of juicing

Aynaria 1 Comment

This morning, I ate some solid foods. Well I should say it was pureed and I drank it as a smoothie. It tasted good. I could have gone much longer than twelve days, but I decided to break from the cleanse to see what type of reaction I’d have consuming something differently. When breaking a fast most cleansing/fasting experts recommend that you transition back into solid foods slowly by consuming whole unprocessed foods (preferably uncooked fruits and vegetables.)

I will be going back on my juice cleanse tomorrow. This morning, my daughter and I headed to the local farm where I stocked up on fresh dark leafy greens (collards, kale, mustard and spinach.) I’m actually thinking about doing longer than 12 days on a juice cleanse this time around, but we’ll see. I do know mentally and physically I’m more than prepared. I did see a cleansing reaction after about the fifth day (via my bowel movements) from drinking mainly dark leafy greens for every single meal and I thought that was amazing, more on that in another post.

I still have a lot of photos to upload of the different juices I drank, including watermelon juice, also I have to upload a few of the meals I prepared for my daughter, such as the creamy crab chowder I prepared for her yesterday. Since my mother was working, I made enough to share with my father. While he is a man of few words, when it comes to complimenting the food that is prepared for him he did make a point to tell me the creamy crab chowder was really good. I eat vegetarian/vegan meals, but I still receive compliments on the “regular meals” I prepare too. Just like my veggie meals, I make sure they are nutritious and delicious.

Over the past few years, juice cleanses/fasts have become increasingly popular the main draw seems to be weight loss. I didn’t need to lose weight, juice cleanses & water fasts have always been part of my routine. I simply like taking a break from eating solid foods. As I mentioned repeatedly while doing this cleanse, since I’m drinking food in a very concentrated form, I’m added benefits while on the cleanses that I do. There is no way I could consume that amount of food within a day.
I will say the way I eat, definitely has a lot to do with my overall health. I realize food is only part of the equation. Staying healthy mentally and  spiritually are equally important too.

Early into this fast, I stumbled upon this womans YouTube channel. I really enjoyed listening to her positive take on her juice cleanse, so I thought I’d share it here. Enjoy!

Juice Cleanse: Day 11 – Juicing dark leafy greens

Aynaria 3 Comments

This marks day 11 of my juice cleanse and I’m still feeling great!

Last evening I got a jump start on today and prepared my juice early. Isn’t it a pretty green color!
Juicing-Dark Leafy greens_1
This made more than enough to take a thermos to work today. It holds 2 liters/78 ounces.  I still have about four cups left over.

Juicing-Dark Leafy greens_2

I will say this is not a sweet juice, I think at times, that people juice too many fruit juices and ignore the awesome benefits of vegetable juices.

Years ago (when I first started juicing) I did the same thing. I liked vegetables, but tried to sweeten the non-sweet veggies by adding sweet vegetables or fruit to my juice blends. After a while I realized that I really shouldn’t do that, and started slowly increasing the non sweet juices to my juice blends. In time, my taste buds changed. Now, non-sweet vegetable juices are my go to juiced drink.

Juice Cleanse: Day 10

Aynaria 2 Comments

women-celebratingToday marks the tenth day of consuming only liquids.

No, I’m not hungry at all and while I do get the occasional craving for something “solid” I’m really liking getting all the nutrients I need in liquid form.

I’m getting more nutrients than I could possibly consume from solids or even smoothies  since the “foods” I’m drinking are the concentrated juice derived from vegetables and fruit! I feel amazing!

Since I’m drinking only liquids, I feel “lighter” than normal. My body doesn’t have to work harder since the nutrients I’m supplying it with aren’t solid or a pureed liquid. Yesterday afternoon, I developed a sore throat. I don’t think it was cold related since I didn’t have any more symptoms. Today, it’s almost gone.

The mind is extremely powerful I realized this as a child and have already set high goals for myself, many of them I was able to achieve simply because I refused to quit.

“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41

The few times that I had cravings I thought about the above verse. As I already mentioned, my body is definitely not deprived since the vegetables and fruit I consume in juice form is more than I could consume during one day.

I also realize that…

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Sounds easy enough, right? But often times many of us Christians forget about this and attempt to tackle things on our own. Are we surprised when we stumble? Remember, “The Spirit is Willing, but the fresh is weak!”