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Archive for September, 2010

Taking The Time

Published September 28, 2010 by Amy Jo

Ya know, sometimes life just gets overwhelming… Laundry is piling up, the never-ending dishes to wash, meals to prepare, home schooling to teach, diapers to change, bathrooms to clean… the list could go on and on! Sometimes, I am blessed to get an afternoon to myself (or the baby is taking an extra long nap) and I get into this Mad Dash to get things done! I’m such a person of completion, that I LOVE IT!

The downside to this is that I have a tendency to just do things myself and not let the kids help out or get involved. I know…that taking the time and energy to train and do a task together with your children is rewarding and pays off in the end… These past few years, as the children are getting older, I have retrained myself to slow down and let them help. It’s been so rewarding to share in the simple chores of daily life and is pretty darn EXCITING when the dishwasher gets unloaded or the bathroom is cleaned by someone else!

Yesterday, I had on my list of things to do: Wash The Horses! After a summer of playing, their white tails are not so white anymore and it was 90 degrees out! So, NO excuses to get this task done…

Here is a glimpse of our afternoon together taking care of the horses >>

: Baylee washing Blitz’s face!

: Bryce washing a dirty tail!

: Bryce taking a braid out of Sequoia’s mane!

: They were dirty!!

: Breanna busy brushing!

: The Hard Workers!

: All Done!!

We had such a BLAST! We talked about our responsibility of taking care of our pets and how much fun we had this summer playing with the horses! It’s a time that they will remember… and I will too, when they are all grown up and on their own. hmmm…this time will go by so fast… Let’s make the MOST of every opportunity!

Do YOU ever feel like just doing your “list” yourself? I’d love to hear from you!

From Our Family To Yours,

Amy Jo

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Real Food Nutrition

Published September 25, 2010 by Kevin and Amy Jo

Last month, we purchased an eBook called, Real Food Nutrition & Health. What a fantastic book! And guess who wrote it? A normal, home school Mom with a passion for feeding her family real food! This is such a great resource, that we thought we should pass it along to you too!

First, let us introduce you to Kristen Michaelis. She is a Wife, home school Mother, Health Coach, Author and Owner of the Food Renegade Blog. Here is what Kristen has to say about herself >>

“I’m a homeschooling mother who adores the “living books” model of education promoted by Charlotte Mason. And I’m a holistic nutrition coach who “geeks out” when reading science that reinforces what I believe about nourishing, traditional food ways.”

“I am a rebel. I like to eat red meat. I think butter is good for me. I drink my milk raw. I avoid pre-packaged foods like the plague. I don’t believe the health claims on food labels. And, I like my food to be fresh, wholesome, and traditional. I am a passionate advocate for what I call “real food” — as opposed to the edible food-like substances which dominate America’s food industry today.”

“And I’m a professional writer who not only writes for small business owners and non-profits to help them better represent themselves, their product, and their services to the public, but I also blog endlessly about all things Real Food at www.foodrenegade.com. Over the course of the past year, I’ve combined these three passions to create the first and only Nutrition textbook of this kind.”

Inspired by the same love of wholesome, traditional foods that you find in the cookbook Nourishing Traditions, the work of Weston A. Price, the Slow Food movement, and farmer’s markets everywhere, Kristen wrote this book and just released it this past summer! The book covers all the basics of Nutrition from a decidedly Real Food perspective.

Needless to say, it’s rich, deep, and relevant. She wants to pass this passion on to the next generation.

Here is a video about her new book >>

Real Food Nutrition & Health Textbook from FoodRenegade on Vimeo.

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Real Food Nutrition & Health was written as a home-school curriculum book. It is easy to read and hits so many key points about where our food industry is going and how and where we can purchase real food.

Her book is reasonably priced at $19.95 for the eBook or $29.95 for a spiral-bound hard copy. You can grab a Free sample chapter by clicking on the box below:

We hope you love it just as much as we have!

From Our Family To Yours,

Kevin and Amy Jo

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Making Bone Broth!

Published September 19, 2010 by Kevin and Amy Jo

Did you know that bone broth is packed with important minerals that have vanished from the American diet? Bone broth contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, gelatin, and many trace minerals…in a form that is easily absorbed by the body! Bone broth has been used in an array of conditions including: arthritis and joint pain, peptic ulcers, tuberculosis, diabetes, muscle diseases, infectious diseases, flus and colds, jaundice, cancer and many other ailments. It’s even been added to babies milk to aid in digestion. Bone broth can also help in activating and strengthening the thyroid. Continue Reading

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Homemade Milk Kefir!

Published September 6, 2010 by Kevin and Amy Jo

A Kefir Milk Mustache!

We love our homemade kefir milk! We use to buy it from the store and then we discovered how easy it is to make at home! Plus, many of the kefir brands found at the grocery store are loaded with sugar and are pasteurized. I started off by using a kefir powder mix and then quickly realized that the instructions asked for me to heat up the milk! I was using raw goat’s milk and did not want to destroy the good enzymes in the milk by heating it up so much!

We later found a local gal here in Southern Oregon who had milk kefir grains and she graciously gave me some of hers and explained how to make it! It was so easy! (My photo instructions are below) But first, a little information about what kefir is and why it is such a nutritious food >>

Here is what Nourish ing Traditions and The Body Ecology Diet say about Kefir ~

“Kefir is a cultured and microbial rich food that helps restore the inner ecology. It contains strains of beneficial yeast and beneficial bacteria that give kefir antibiotic properties. Thus, a natural antibiotic! Kefir does not feed yeast, and it usually doesn’t bother people who are lactose intolerant. That’s because the friendly bacteria and the beneficial yeast growing in the kefir consume most of the lactose and provide very efficient enzymes (lactase) for consuming whatever lactose is still left after the culturing process. Kefir has a clean quality to it that coats the digestive tract, creating a sort of nest where beneficial bacteria can settle and colonize.”

Milk Kefir is a superior, natural food-source for probiotics!