Kristen Bowen Studio

New Blog

2010-07-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

I am so excited I finally got my blog switched over to wordpress. All of the content has been moved so new posts will be found at the new http://kristenbowenstudio.com/blog/ Hooray for wordpress.!!!!!!!!
hugs,
kB

Running and EFT

2010-07-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

This morning I had the most amazing run I have ever had thanks to EFT. I had been talking to Miah about my frustration of not increasing my endurance very fast. He commented that it was all mental with me. I just needed to know in my mind that I could do it. If you could have heard the dialog in my head you would have heard a conversation that sounded pathetic. I thought to myself, but I had seizures. Then, well you have not had six kids. Boy, can you hear that victim mentality? So fast forward to this morning. I start my belovedCouch 25K program on my not so beloved iphone (I want the new one) The very first thing that I notice is how far I will be running today. There is no way I can do that. All of a sudden I remembered Miah's words. Mom, It is so mental with you. You just have to push through. So many times my zone clients will be stuck and it is absolutely their own limited beliefs that are keeping them down. I started tapping, working on the fact I did not think I could run that far. Starting out my run I felt great. I ran by neighbors and lifted an earphone to exchange a few words. Some guy whizzes by me. My thought was, I am talking to neighbors, I could go that fast. I get through the bulk of my neighborhood and pick up my pace a bit. I am still feeling really good. Then there she is. OH MY GOSH!!!!! She flies by me and is in impeccable shape, her arms were so incredibly toned. Toned arms are something of a genetic problem in my family and I want them. Guess what ran through my head, well she probably is younger than me and she never had seizures. Can you hear that. I was buying into the victim mentality AGAIN. Realizing what I was doing I started tapping right there on the spot. Tapping and saying things like, I am really feeling like a victim, I want to have an excuse for being the slow runner instead of taking responsibility for my own actions. Right then and there after several moments of tapping I felt it lift. There are NO words that I have to describe how I felt. My body physically reacted to the energy shift. Energy affects our muscles. Results of the tapping were running twice as far as I ever have without even feeling winded. When I was done with my run I could have conquered the world. Literally, I cannot remember feeling that good for a long time. I had crashed through a limited belief that was keeping me down literally and physically from my goal and let me tell ya it is a dang good goal to want to run with my family. So I am standing on top of a hill shouting it to the world. EFT is such a great tool for tapping into your potential. It will help your kids tap into their potential. It is so simple that many people will miss the power that is behind it.

My last EFT class is coming up. We will spend the whole day fine tuning your ability to tap into your own potential and then you can help other people tap into theirs. I love this class. Emails after the class take my breath away. So what are you waiting for? Come and learn how to do it. Join us and I promise you will not regret it.
hugs,
kB
I HEART Mizuno running shoes.

Natural Relief From Allergies

2010-07-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

Do you see it? Come on it is right there...... If you have allergies or have ever suffered from allergies you probably noticed it. POLLEN! ugh.... I hate pollen, well not really. I hate how my body reacts to pollen. As a kid I always had to get allergy shots and I remember my Dad mowing the lawn with an aspirator to protect himself from the pollen. In the old days I would go to the emergency room when it got to the point of my tongue swelling and the top of my mouth blistering. Knowing what I know now I do not want a shot of steroids as they are a quick fix that in the long term weaken my immune system. So every January I start prepping myself to boost my immune system to ward off any allergic reactions from the dreaded pollen. It has worked every year. I have made it through the allergy season with no reaction. The list went something like this.

cut my sugar intake
add pro-biotics
start on stinging nettle capsules
pump up my B vitamins
super high doses of Vitamin C
making sure I diffuse Roman Chamomile in the house

Your immune response starts in your gut and all of the above help build the flora and reduce the histamine reaction.

Guess what!!!!! This year it did not work. arrggh... What happened? I have been absolute miserable, feeling like I am going to crawl out of my skin. So I have been evaluating my lifestyle, I did the list like I always have with the exception of one thing. Sugar alcohols like xylitol. I have been using them once or twice a week and it has just been enough to drop the flora and create the perfect breeding ground for my allergies. So I have been researching what to do to help ease my symptoms. Remember, it is always easier to prevent the problem than try to stop it mid-stream. I found some great research on natural relief form allergies. I added the butterbur herb and it has helped. I also have pulled out my neti pot and that really helped. No more sugar alcohols for me. From know on I will stick to a piece of fruit for my sweet tooth.

E3Live update

2010-06-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

The good news is it will be here the 7th of July.

More good news, I placed the hugest order I have ever placed BECAUSE the bad news is the price is going up by 25% and maybe as much as 40%. I have tried numerous products to replace my beloved E3live and NOTHING (imo) even comes close to the benefits with this live food supplement.

So mark your calenders, it will be here on the 7th of July. Yippeeee!!!!!!!

hugs,

Sometimes adoption is hard............

2010-06-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

like when you are on facebook and you see YOUR son call someone else Mom. Here is the dumb thing though, ever since we fell in love with Jeremy at the age of 9, I have talked to him about his Mom. He missed her, worried about her and cried for her. That made sense to me. I would miss my mom if I was taken away from her. I always took the approach with him that his job was to become the very best person that he could so that when he met her he could share all of the wonderful things that he had done. I truly felt that. Really I did. With all of my heart. Tonight I also felt my heart rip out when I saw him call someone else Mom. I hate facebook. I love him. It is such a conflicting place to be. I want to be true and really really really good and not have a moment of sadness that he calls her Mom. In all honesty it makes me a little tiny bit sad. I start going over every mistake I made with him. Every time I should have been a better Mom to him. There is a part of me that wonders why I could not be everything to him. Most of me knows he needs her for things I cannot give him. I gave him a home when no one else would. I tried to give him security. Always knowing that he would have food and that he did not have to wait to make sure Sam had enough food before he ate. I wanted him to know there would always be enough food. For a child with reaction attachment food is usually a huge issue. They like to hide it to make sure there will always be enough.
Putting him in bed at night I wanted to make sure he knew I would be there in the morning. Some mornings were so hard. He fought everything. I knew why. He just did not want to forget her. I hope he will never forget me.

Jeremy is now serving in the United States Air Force. He is currently stationed in Kyrgyzstan on his second tour of duty, The two of us have come a long way in our relationship. Sometimes it is a hard path to blend families. The right path for our family. A path that has made me a better person.

10 things I have learned about going to a conference............

2010-05-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

Having attended several conferences I have tried to pick up on tips from other people to make the most of the time away from my family.

Get rid of the mommy guilt. Kids do better with happy energized moms and when you get a break you come back happy and ready to kick into mom mode. Do you really want your daughters growing up and never having a break? Stop living by a different set of rules. Live what you want them to live by.
Make a note on business cards as soon as you can after meeting someone. Nothing like being back in your room and looking at a stack of cards that you have no clue who it connects to. I will write something that links them to me, for example: hair color, or an item of clothing they had on.
Find out about the speakers beforehand, read their blogs, follow them on FB or Twitter.
Check out Flicker to see if anyone has posted anything. I just did for the Casual Blogger Conference and saw some of the swag that will be there. I love the packaging and want to ask her what she used. I will be looking for her at the conference, we might even meet up on twitter before the conference.
Find any hash-tags that will be used and then USE them so the conversation can be followed.
Tweet about the conference those things that really helped you on your learning curve,. Those who are not able to come will be following the conversation.
Set your intentions. Ask yourself what do you want from this conference? Focusing your thoughts on it gives you a better chance of experiencing it.
Do a search on google blogs about the conference. You can read as other people get ready for the same event.
Plan on celebrating with the extra goodies but choose when you do. The first conference I went to found me putting every dessert in my mouth, by the end I was sluggish and had gained 4 pounds. Choose how much you will celebrate beforehand.
Remember that every fear you are experiencing is also being experienced by someone else at the conference. You ARE NOT alone. Close to 90% of the other women are stressing over what to wear right along with you.

I am really looking forward to CBC10 and the connections made at events like these.
hugs,
kB
follow me @kbstudio

2010-05-18T10:41:00.001-07:00

Favorite iphone app. of the day........ Mint, makes it so easy to manage finances.

Releasing The Mommy Guilt NOW........

2010-05-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

Several clients the last month have for various reasons have had to forgo nursing. Now in my old life I would have thought hmmmmm......... they are not committed enough, anyone can nurse. In my new life I have a whole new filter on it. Mom needs to be in the best shape mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. If for some reason nursing does not assist those then we need to look at the next option. Without taking on MOMMY GUILT. What is mommy guilt? When a mom has done her best to look at all the options, then she goes forward with a decision and then continually beats herself up if only she would have done........ You know that whip we tend to beat ourselves with. THAT is Mommy Guilt and it does nothing to benefit our children. It actually plays into being a victim so just STOP it right now (feel the love that was said with). On to nursing, formula is not the best option so what else is left? Goats milk is good but it need to supplemented with many things to be able to compare to the nutrients of a breast fed baby. Check out this link to find the best alternative if you are not able to nurse. Let go of the guilt. Try a mini tapping session. While tapping on your collarbone, repeat out loud. I feel so guilty about......... Then state what you feel guilty about. It should take you down a few levels. Enjoy that baby without Mommy Guilt.
hugs,
kB
I have seen babies just thrive on the pumped up goats milk. digestion has gone back to normal and sleeping kicked in. Which is such a good thing.

14 Reasons Why I love Cache Valley Social Media Club

2010-05-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

got to catch up with jackie B3 and do a little energy work in the corner.
found a photographer that I might be able to afford.
learned how to ditch my web email and push it through to my gmail account
ate FREE chips and salsa @Cafe Sabor
connected an internship for a dear friends daughter
saw a great necklace on @bearriverhealth and I WILL find out where she got it
got to hold a baby, (I am so ready to be a grandma)
handed out some great swag
learned about a new credit card processor for my beloved iphone
talked about branding with an expert
learned about a free branding presentation at Bridgerland
learned how to sync my beloved iphone to Google calender
decided I WILL buy the new iphone when it comes out
found a new business to highlight on my blog

2 reasons why my hubby @votebowen likes Cache Valley Social Media Club

got to talk politics with a Libertarian and a Republican and being a registered Democrat that is running for congress that made him one happy man
got to remind his wife that his droid has a flash where her beloved iphone does not (wait till he sees the bill for my new xxbeloved iphone that does have a flash)

Thanks to all of those who came and everyone who made it work.... Social Media ROCKS!!!!!!

Last Time Soap and Lotion Class Will Be Offered.........

2010-05-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

Oh man it really makes me sad to even type that out. My business has grown so much that sometimes it feels like it is running me. Morgan and I have spent many hours discussing what is best for our family in terms of time. I ABSOLUTELY do not want to look back in 10 years and say, Oh how I wish I would have had more time with my kids. So some of the things in my life have to be let go of. Which means this will be the last soap/lotion class I will be teaching. sniff sniff........ Teaching this class is one of my favorite things but something has got to give somewhere and this is it. Usually I only teach one class in the morning and one on the late afternoon. I will add as many people as possible during the day. It can be a soap and lotion marathon. The links have been taken off the web page so to sign up you will need to call/email and then pay by check or credit card to reserve your spot.

Mark your Calenders:

July 10th
Soap class... Hands on, you make your own batch of cold process soap. Take the mold home to re-use and a pound of soap. Plus all of my formulas.
Lotion Class: Make 6 bottles of lotion that you scent and take home. This includes the formulas that I work form.

Learn what suppliers are out there and all about preserving your natural product. It is great fun so come and join us for one or both classes.

see you in June............

hugs,
kB

Premier Designs Jewelry is offering......Free Jewelry!!!!! Cache Valley Women In Business

2010-05-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here at Kristen Bowen Studio we love and support Cache Valley Women In Business. So to kick off our new segment we will be focusing on a small business owner every week. The really cool thing is they will be offering special discounts to YOU my blog readers. So make sure to leave a comment to register in the drawing. This drawing will be held on Friday the 14th of May 2010.

To contact Poppy Allen please call 1.435.512.0026

2010-05-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Checking to see if this posts from my iPhone to my blog.

Leavin on a jet plane........

2010-04-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

I am headed out to the Handmade Soap-makers Guild in Denver Colorado.. I will hopefully have internet and be posting throughout my trip.
Sitting in a room with one of my heroes Robert Tisserand will be one of the highlights of my trip. Does life get any better than that? He is a guru on essential oils. Stay tuned for all of the cool things I will be learning.....
My stress levels have been through the roof the last few days. what would I ever do without tapping........
hugs,
kB

How to Clean With Essential Oils

2010-04-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Edited 4/27/10 Class is full. Watch for our next series of essential oil classes coming up this summer.
Tonight is one of my favorite essential oil classes.
Come join us while we learn about cleaning with essential oils.
Class project is a bottle of homemade cleaner that you make.
Cost of the class is $10.00 includes the project
Where: 345 North 48 West Hyde Park
When: Tuesday April 27th, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm

Get rid of those chemical based cleansers once and for all......................
Only 3 spots left.....
Call or text or email to save your spot
435.881.5046

How to Handle Cleansing Symptoms

2010-04-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

When you are on the Candida cleanse it is common for your body to feel worse as the toxins are released,
There are several things that you can do to ensure it upsets the regular flow of life as little as possible.

Dry skin brushing
Try drinking Pau d'Arco tea 4-5 cups over a six hour period
Epson salt bath
Make sure your water is at a gallon a day.
Thump your Thymus to ensure your immune system is at full capacity.
If you can handle the flush of 500 mg of non-flushing niacin take that amount. If that is to much take 50 milligrams every hour.
up your magnesium by 150 milligrams
Take 4000 milligrams of vitamin C and then 2000 milligrams every hour after that until you have reached bowel tolerance.

7 Macrominerals Your Body Needs....

2010-04-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

If you have been around me in the zone room you know that I am not sold on getting health from supplements. I do not think that you can buy health in a bottle. For example: how many women do you know that take calcium? I zone so many women that have such a overabundance of calcium in their body but they are lacking the boron to drive it into their bones. The best way to get your nutrients is from nutrient dense food. Chia seeds solve calcium problems and are loaded with boron so your body can actually benefit from it. I will have people that are spending hundreds of dollars a month on supplements and still not feel that energy boost that most are looking for. So I have always just used e3live to boost my omega's. Well, I have been trying some new things and they have worked for me. Basically the philosophy is that your body has need of seven basic macro minerals. We need to primarily get those from food.
We sometimes get that backwards and think we supplement first and then eat. Food is our medicine!

Seven Essential Macro-minerals

calcium: found in almonds and spinach plus supplements
chloride: found in good ocean sea salt
magnesium: found in pumpkin seeds and almonds plus supplements
phosphorous: found in chicken and brazil nuts
potassium: found in spinach bananas and apricots
sodium: found in good ocean sea salt
sulphur: found in eggs, lemons, spinach and garlic

If you noticed I added some supplements to that list. If you are not taking Chis seeds you need to supplement with calcium. Make sure it is Calcium Citrate. Everyone needs to supplement with magnesium. Magnesium Citrate is the best kind to use and the easiest for our body to absorb. Many times people will want to buy a brand that is together but then you cannot individualize the amounts that you need. Most people do well on 600 milligrams per day of each one. Taking massive amounts of calcium will deplete the magnesium in your body. I like the 1 to 1 ratio for most people. If you get muscles cramps you need more magnesium.
Here is a way to tell what you need to balance to your individual body. Calcium and magnesium have left and right hand receptors in the cells. They work together. If you get muscle cramps and pain on your left side it means your calcium is off and the right side means your magnesium is off. When I first heard that I thought WHAT BUNK! It works though every time. Our bodies are constantly giving off clues, we just have to learn to read them. That is one of the things I loved about becoming a FootZoneTherapist. I started learning how to read those clues. Always try increasing your magnesium first with cramping. Usually 100 milligrams will make the difference. Remember it will not go away immediately. Your body needs time to store up the nutrients so give it a week before you make changes.

Ending The Candida Cleanse

2010-04-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

Edited 4/21/10 Most symptoms will show up within ten minutes. Sometimes they can be as delayed as 4 hours. After taking the peanut butter do not eat anything else within that four hour period. If you failed the test I like to do the cleanse for another week and then retest.

I love doing the peanut butter test for knowing when your body has a better balance of candida. What you say? You will always have candida you just need it in proper balance. So the next question is how do you end the cleanse? Very carefully :) Take a big spoonfull of peanut butter the kind that is loaded with rancid fat and fungus and sugar and eat it. have someone watch you for any signs of flushing. You will notice some following things if your balance is not where it needs to be.

flushing, going red on your cheeks and tops of ears
bloating
burning like heartburn
a feeling of fullness
belching
nausea
dizzy
ringing in your ears

Now that does not mean you have to experience all of these. Even one symptom would make me run and get back on the cleanse. The down side of going off to early is you will crave foods like you never have, put all the weight back in in a few short days and be right back where you started. so I like to make sure and give it a few more days after I think I am done. Just to be on the safe side. Then slowly start adding whole grains back into your diet. Give sugar a rest for awhile and stick with stevia.
Congratulate yourself on a job well done!!!!!!!!!!

Kale Chips Rock My World!!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

I detest kale. Let me say that one more time people. I totally detest Kale. I have seen these all over the web and always thought to myself what a waste of time. Well, I am the first to tell you I was wrong. Remember Miah my son who indulges in the Standard American Diet, he took a tiny, minuscule bite and said, Oh man those are good but I have to close my eyes cause they are GREEN! Kale lovers make me green with envy because Kale is probably one of the most nutritious foods in the world. Meaning this natural lovin, food density girl should love it but I sooooooo do not. Until that is, Kale Chips came into my life. They are light and crunchy and airy and you seriously cannot eat just one. I ate the whole cookie sheet and had no guilt cause they are approved. Did you hear that Candida approved. Candida Sufferers Unite we have a dang salty snack that tastes really good and will not increase the levels of candida that we are trying to get in balance. That makes me a happy women. Ok, not as happy as leaving Sephora after Micheal had painted my face with all sorts of pretty colors but almost that happy.
Baked Kale Chips
1/2 teaspoon really good sea salt salt

3 large handfuls kale, torn into shreds
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 lemon fresh lemon juice

This is a no-brainer recipe. You need to make sure the Kale is totally dry. That way you can get a really good crunch. Mix the oil and seasoning over the kale that you have torn into bite size pieces and sprinkle the salt on.Then squeeze 1/2 of a lemon. At that point put them on a cookie sheet. I used parchment paper cause I do so not like washing cookie sheets. You do not have to though. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. Here is a secret. If they start to go brown they will taste bitter. So make sure you start watching them at about 8 minutes out. Mine took about 11 minutes to Baked Kale perfection. You could even season them up with garlic or paprika or anything else that suits your fancy. Tell me how they turned out and which was your favorite flavor.

This Email Made My Day..........

2010-04-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Ever had one of THOSE days. I did today. I woke up at four and was already behind. Yikes!!!!!
As I was checking my email, this made me laugh out loud. Mutiny over soap. Think of it. My soap is keeping the itch down one family at a time :)

Kristen: I recently purchased your products for the We the People Fundraiser. I have had lots of positive feedback, especially my husband who said the soap doesn't make him itch! I would like to purchase some more but when I go to your site I can't see where the products are listed. If I have to wait until July to take a class we may have mutiny here. Please let me know how to purchase some more. I am also located close to you so I can easily pick up products. Thanks again. Chris Rupp

I immediately called her. No way am I going to be blamed for a mutiny in a family. We had a good laugh and she is coming by to pick up soap today. She does not know it yet but I am throwing in some free bars because her email made me smile.
hugs,
kB

Candida Approved Mustard

2010-04-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

Many people have a hard time without condiments. Mustard is so easy to make and so inexpensive and so much better for you than the store type.
Penzey's is my favorite place to buy spices.
Equal parts of ground mustard seed with water

Or you can get a little fancier....

2 tablespoons dry mustard powder

1 tablespoons water

1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1/2 tablespoon white wine

OR you can get even fancier

11/2 ozs. of brown or yellow mustard seeds
1/8 cup equivalent to whatever kind of stevia you are using
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. black cracked pepper)
1/2 tsp. of turmeric
1/2 cup of white vinegar
.
(this recipe makes a little over a 1/2 cup)

Put the mustard seeds, sugar salt, pepper, turmeric into a blender and whirl. Gradually add the liquid one tablespoon at a time.
You should have a coarse paste, let this stand or rest for 20 minutes.

Spoon into a clean jar,cap tightly and store in the refrigerator. This should be ready in about two weeks..

Approved Protien On The Candida Cleanse

2010-04-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

Bacon, check your label for no sugar and no nitrates
Beef
Chicken
Shrimp
Lamb
Eggs
Pork
Turkey
Scallops
Lobster
Crab
Tuna, must be packed in Olive oil
Salmon, wild not Sam's Club farmed
Sole
Snapper
Sardine
Flounder
Cod
Anchovies

On The Road During The Candida Cleanse

2010-04-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

OK Life is busy. I am on the road and not prepared with my food. AARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!! What to do? Roll with it. I drove through the arches :) and ordered just a piece of grilled chicken. Oh and do not forget the side salad with a little lemon.

2010-04-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

The best way to eat nuts while on the cleanse is to soak them and dehydrate them.

Almonds
Walnuts
Pecans
Pine Nuts

ABSOLUTELY NO PEANUTS OR PISTACHIOS! They are loaded with fungus.

Soaking nuts and legumes before you eat them initiates the sprouting process which neutralizes enzyme inhibitors and removes phytates (phytic acid) found in whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes. Phytates block absorption of minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, etc., and most of all zinc, in the intestinal tract. These minerals are needed for strong bones and teeth and overall vibrant health

How to soak them. I throw them in overnight and then rinse really well in the morning and throw them in the dehydrator until they are dry on the inside. This can really vary depending on the age of the nut and the time of the year. You just test them. It takes a minimum on almonds of 12 hours on my Excalibur Dehydrator.

Condiments Approved On The Candida Cleanse

2010-04-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

This part can sometimes get a bit overwhelming to me. Nothing unless it is homemade. They all create food for candida.
hugs,
kB

I will be posting some recipes for different sauces and condiments that I have used.

Approved Fruits On the Candida Cleanse

2010-04-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Are you ready? It is kinda a short list. It did not even frustrate me to type it.
Lemons
Limes

I heard you say WHAT!!!!!! You mean no other fruit. Yep that is what I mean.

Veggies that are GREAT on the Candida Cleanse......

2010-04-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to put this list in columns and cannot for the life of me figure it out so here is a long,

very long :) list of acceptable veggies. Since I am in the first week of the cleanse and EASILY frustrated I am so DONE trying to make it look good. Enjoy the list.

Vegetables

Asparagus

Artichoke

Avocado

Broccoli

Brussel sprouts

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Celery

Cucumber

Collard Greens

Dandelion Greens

Eggplant

Garlic

Green beans

Kale

Leek

Mustard Greens

Onion

Mustard Greens

Okra

Scallions

Snow pea pods

Spinach

String/Wax Beans

Swiss Chard

Tomato

Zucchini

Candida Approved Hollandaise Sauce

2010-04-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce

This sauces is amazing over fish or eggs.

Ingredients

1/2 pound butter
4 egg yolks
Dash white pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon water

Preparation

Melt butter until bubbling and remove it from the heat.
Put egg yolks, lemon juice, water and seasoning in the blender, and blend at high speed for 30 seconds.
Slowly pour in the hot butter, while blending at low speed.

My Candida Cleanse Dinner.......

2010-04-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

Oh Man, Oh man, Oh man. I got out of the zone room late and was I ever hungry. I mean really hungry like ready to steal food from children hungry. My family had already eaten and it was not Candida friendly so I was on my own. Imagine my plate. Close your eyes and picture a flounder fillet lightly pan-fried on a bed of roasted red peppers with just a drizzle of hollandaise sauce. Oh me-oh-my was it ever good. It was so good and so Candida friendly that I forgot to take a picture. I will defiantly make that again. So here is my request. have you quickly thrown something together for the cleanse that turned out DELISH. If so post it so we can all have a taste.

Candida Approved Chocolate Dome Cake

2010-04-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite ways to get my coconut oil in during the cleanse.

Chocolate Dome Cake

In a large mug mix well,
4 TBL almond flour
1 egg
2 TBL cocoa powder
2 TBL almond milk or rice milk Always on the Candida Cleanse homemade not store bought. edited 4/16
a pinch of Nu-Naturals stevia or about 5 packets of stevia in the raw
3 TBL melted coconut oil Tropical Traditions is my FAVE......

Mix well and microwave for 1-3 minutes depending on your microwave.
Totally delish and candida approved.
You will not feel like you are eating approved food for the cleanse but I promise it is.....
hugs,
kB

Did you know that Candida..........

2010-04-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

is a yeast overgrowth in the body.
actually starts overgrowing in order to protect the body from the effects of toxins, like antibiotics, heavy metals, drugs, and vaccines.
plays a role in every auto-immune disease. puts out 79 different toxins most of which are alcohol.
feeds off of sugar. our sugar consumption in the US is now at approx. 135 pounds per year per person.
Acetaldehyde and ethanol (2 main by-products of candida) cause the cells to go stiff making it harder to transport nutrients and oxygen.
Vitamin C helps curb sugar cravings.

Education is the key to making better decisions. So every time I do the Candida cleanse I make sure that I am learning. That way when my body is wanting something that is not productive like corn dogs (man, I have been craving those during this cleanse) I can rely on the things that I have learned to NOT even go there.

Water During The Candida Cleanse

2010-04-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

is absolutely essential. You must drink a gallon a day.
nuff said :)

Candida Supplements

2010-04-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

The first time I did the cleanse I did it only with food. Please remember it is possible and cheaper to do it that way. Adding the supplements just makes it go faster and purge a little deeper so I always add them.

Reishi extract
e3live 3 tablespoons daily
Colloidal silver up to five teaspoons daily
Oil of Oregano
Vitamin C 2000-4000 milligrams daily
Magnesium 1-3 teaspoons daily
Sea salt 1 1/2 tsp. daily
Nutritional yeast flakes 2 tablespoons daily
Coconut Oil 5-6 tablespoons daily

Remember it can be done without all of these supplements. At the end of 21 days I take a big spoonful of peanut butter to test whether or not I am done with the cleanse. Adding more supplements ensures I will be done.

Starting The Candida Cleanse

2010-04-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

In a perfect world I would have had all my supplements to start this cleanse. NOT!
I am still going to go ahead and start today and when my supplements come I will add them to my regimen.
Some of the reasons motivating me for a cleanse:

I added a lot of Xylitol to my diet and am now struggling with some yeast infections
my digestion is feeling a little sluggish
brain fog
energy is a bit low
my ears are itching, which means for me that my allergies are going to hit. Candida is always a culprit with seasonal allergies.
I feel a bit nauseous when I wake up in the morning
cravings for sugary foods are getting a little STRONGER!!!!!
weight loss is always an added bonus during the candida cleanse
my arthritis is kicking in a bit
my skin is not as clear as it usually is
my breath is really strong in the morning

Whew, that is quite a list of symptoms and they seem very unrelated but the underlying factor is Candida aggravates all of them. When I first started taking more responsibility for my own health it seemed natural practitioners wanted to blame everything on Candida. I just did not buy it,. How could one thing be a part of yeast infections and allergies. Fast forward a few years. My husband had a heart attack and we opted to work with Dr. Fuhrman. He was not in very good shape and his numbers for complications were way to high for us. I still had all six kids at home and felt way to young to be a widow. We changed his eating DRASTICALLY. In a six week period we dropped his blockage to almost nothing by only adjusting what went in his mouth. Our whole family was frightened that Morgan would not be able to do the diet so as a show of support we did it with him. The first week was rough. We were all having the same issues. nauseous like no other and feeling really overall pretty rotten. I was not sure what was going on until it hit me, we were all having Candida die off. I had read about the symptoms but we were now as a family living the symptoms. all of us. It varied in each of us how long the die off lasted. Anywhere from 5-11 days seemed to be the worst of it. The incredible thing was after that first stretch we all felt better. Clear thinking, better skin, improved digestion, increased energy were just a few of the things we all experienced as a family. I AM sold on Candida Cleanses.

leave your reasons to join us in the comment section and we can all support each other.

Join Me, On A Candida Cleanse. You Are Going To Feel Great!

2010-04-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Join me in acquiring optimal health

When: Monday April 12th - May 2nd, 2010

Where: This is the best part, wherever you are.

Cost: Whatever supplements that you desire to add.

Why: So we can support each other in optimal health.

My blog traffic has quadrupled with the candida cleanse. People have inspired me while they have done the cleanse. It is so much easier to have someone to do it with. You feel more supported and those moments you want to quit, we will be here for you. The moments I want to quit I am hoping someone will be there for me :) I thought it would be a blast to do it together and report how we are all managing. So join us, what have you got to lose. Come on it will be fun. FUN, you say! She has a sick version of fun. I lived to long sick and tired and I AM choosing to change that. JOIN ME and see how much better you will feel in just 28 days.

You know you overdosed on sugar during Easter. You totally fed the Candida and now you are feeling lousy and achy and sore. Optimal health is within your power. The choice is yours. No More Excuses, it is going to be a PARTY.

hugs,

Leave a comment in the comment section if you will be joining us.........

Probiotics: Fact & Fiction

2010-04-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

   We have talked about gut flora and how important it is to your overall health. We have now worked on creating better balance in our gut so let's increase the good flora. Choosing a good probiotic can be overwhelming, here are some pointers of what to look for.

Tips for finding a worthwhile  probiotic:
   interesting fact: pro means for biotic means life, never thought you would use greek and latin roots when it came to probiotics

should contain five or less types of beneficial bacteria
should include a prebiotic so that it can survive the acidic environment of the upper GI tract
inulin and fos are the only ones I am familiar with
if your probiotic has a good prebiotic it does not need an enteric coating
start out with low CFU's and build up
powdered probiotics are among some of my favorite

interesting fact: probiotics are grown on a medium with the choices being milk, dairy, vegetable or fruit, the longer it grows the more potent the strain

hugs,
kB

A Few Of My Favorite Things.........

2010-04-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

Jewelry rocks my world. Always has. Every once in awhile I will indulge in a piece.

Lisa Leonard She hand stamps everything on metal. The bird cage takes my breath away. Saving my pennies for this one.

The Bead Dreamer Old keys intrigue me. Not even sure why but they speak to me and make me wonder what they open. Just ordered a bracelet with old keys.

Savvy Girl & Company Two of her pieces sit in my stash and they match everything.

What are your favorite things? Family does not count because we know they are BEST!

kB

Candida Cookies

2010-03-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

While on the Candia cleanse most people struggle with just needing something a little sweet. These will hit the spot. They are different than other macaroons I have made but do the trick while on the cleanse.

Coconut Macaroons
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
3 large egg whites. if your lucky ehough to live in CV get them here
1 tsp real vanilla
3/4 tsp stevia this is my fave, If using nu-naturals you will only need a pinch of stevia.
1 1/2 cups dreid unsweetened coconut, go tropical traditions
1/4 tsp sea salt

optional 1/2 tsp cocoa powder or cinnamom

Beat your egg whites untill glossy, then gently fold in dry ingredients. At this point let the mixture sit for about ten minutes.
Drop onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake about 10-12 minutes.
makes about 20 cookies

Five quick ways to raise your endorphins.

2010-03-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

1. listen to your favorite music
2. get out in the sunshine
3. exercise
4. eat a piece of fruit
5. hang out with a member of the opposite sex that you enjoy being with.

Why should we even care about endorphins. They give you a natural high and when you feel good everything seems a bit more doable.

Random Fact: those who view pornography only tap into dopamine. They have a natural tendency to avoid things that increase endorphins the longer the addiction goes on.

My Hcg Success.

2010-03-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

Ok I have gone back and forth whether or not to spill my guts about Hcg and why I did it. I am coaching so many people and find myself retelling the story so many times that I need somewhere for them to refer to it. Sooooo what better place than the world wide web where anyone can read the absolute personal details of why I choose Hcg. Can you hear the sarcasm? I for some reason, am reluctant to share this. Probably because I have had a lot of people jump me for the choice I made. So here is the deal. If you disagree, no problem. It was the BEST thing I ever did. So let me back up to the first time I had heard about it.
My daughter came to me and wanted to give Hcg a swing. I totally broke every rule of parenting and FREAKED out and told her NO absolutely NO. I remember saying I do not even take Tylenol because of what it does to your liver, what makes you think I am ever going to feel comfortable with you injecting a hormone and reducing your calories that drastically. 500 calories that is starvation and that is not what I want my daughter doing. Please just research it was her final comment. That is where she hooked me. Research. My kids know I love to research. I think it steams from the fact that I did not go to college and it is my attempt at trying to always spend time on becoming educated. Anyway, I started researching. I read and I read and I read. The more I read and the more I understood the science behind it the more I felt my initial concern melting away. I still was not convinced it was safe to do though. So I took a few weeks and found people that had done it. People who had been successful and people who had put the weight back on. The more that I talked and took notes the more of a pattern started to emerge. So while researching I went from No to I want to do this with you. weight became a huge issue for me after my hysterectomy. all of the things that had worked before did not work anymore. No matter what I did I put weight on. Nothing was working. Now came the hardest part for me. Taking money from my families budget and spending it on myself. I went back and forth. My husband finally looked at me and said if money is the only thing that is holding you back I will go ahead and order it for you. So he did and I started. I felt more comfortable going to a doctor for the Hcg thinking that he would monitor my progress. In reality is all the doctor did was to weigh me, take my thousand dollars and hand me diluted Hcg. So on my second round I did some more research and found the very same Hcg and bought it myself. Was it hard? That is hard to answer. I find myself telling people it was the hardest, easiest thing that I have ever done. I went from a size 24 to a 10 in less than 3 months. Would I do it again? No, because my weight is at a healthy 144-146. I thought that I wanted to get back to my original 112 that I had always gotten back to after my kids were born. Shift must have happened because I do not look healthy much lower than what I am at now.

Things I heart about Hcg:

it is a very quick process
cleanses out the entire endocrine system
help purge your body of any candida overgrowth
forces you to deal with emotional eating
keeps your skin tight
helps control hunger for most people

Things that concern me about Hcg

cheating, you have as much potential to do harm as good
oral drops, I would never use these and will not coach anyone on them
eating disorders, if you have any lurking, hcg WILL magnify it
all of the mis-information that is out there about the protocol
people thinking that when the shots are over they can eat anything. There is a whole protocol when you are done with the shots.
people going in with unrealistic expectations.

So it is up to you to decide what is right for you. just do not let any one else move you from your core. I will be posting some pictures to go along with this and you have ALL heard the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. I feel better than I have in 15 years. I am stronger than I have ever been. Do not tell a soul but I so want to do a 5k. One of these days I am going to. Just not sure when.

Maybe when your ready we can do one together.

Kristen: wife to Morgan and Mom to Brennon, Jeremy, Meghan, Samantha, Miah and Hannah.

Candida Cleanse Water

2010-03-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

I just learned a great tip that I have been trying out myself while working on cleansing. After being on the road a lot my digestion always slows down. This water made a huge difference.

Take your body weight and divide it in 1/2. For example I weigh 144 pounds, so if I divide that in half it is 72. Which means that is the MINIMUM amount of water I need to get in during the day. Now for me personally I function better if I add 20 ounces to that. Oh heck! I just realized I posted my weight online for all to see. Oh well. You read it here first:) Ok, so have you figured out how much water you need? Now write it down somewhere so you never forget that because water is SO key during the Candida Cleanse. Let me re-phrase that water is ALWAYS key to optimum health.

So you have your water in a nice glass pitcher.
add 2 tbs. of apple cider vinegar (make sure it has the pulp in it)
add 2 tbs. of aloe vera
juice of one lemon
Then for me because I have such a gag reflex I add 4 packets of stevia. You do not have to add the stevia it just helps me get it down.

This is supercharged water and is great anytime not just during the candida cleanse.

Candida Recipe Egg Custard

2010-03-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

Egg Custard

Ingredients

3 large eggs
1 cup non-chlorinated water
1 teaspoon organic gelatin
2 tablespoons organic butter
1/4 teaspoon stevia powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons fresh ground vanilla bean

Preparation

Put 2 ounces of room temperature water in a small cup or bowl, and add 1 teaspoon of gelatin. Mix and leave it to soak.
Boil 1 cup of water.
While the water is heating, crack 3 eggs into a blender and add 2 tablespoons of butter.
Put 6 ounces of the boiled water in a measuring cup.
In a blender add soaked gelatin mixture, stevia powder, nutmeg, fresh ground vanilla bean and start it on slow speed. Through the opening in the top add 6 ounces of boiled water. Blend it 1 minute longer.
Pour the mixture into 2 dessert cups and put them in the freezer for 1 1/2 hours (more or less depending upon your freezer's temperature), and transfer them to the refrigerator.
Serve when custard is set and has a fluffy light topping.

Candida Recipe Banana Ice Cream...(kind of)

2010-03-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

Snacking was the hardest for me on the cleanse. I am just a snacky kind of gal.

Banana Ice Cream
banana,
nut butter
cinnamon

Put a banana in the blender. Add a Tablespoon of your favorite nut butter. ( Almond, Macadamia etc.) Blend until smooth. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon. Put in freezer for several hours or until it reaches desired consistency.

Slowing Down Candida Symptoms

2010-03-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, you started the cleanse excited to reach a new level of health and now you are feeling lousy and wondering why you ever decided to do this dang cleanse. I have been there. I promise it is worth it. You WILL feel better. One of the things that really helped me is to use some visualization. I would visualize all the yeast in my body wearing down my organs and then I would imagine it fighting right before it died its tragic death. I associated the symptoms to the candida not to my body. There are a few things that you can do to help if the die-off is to much to make it through the day.

Here is a list of some of the symptoms you might experience during Candida die-off

rest as much as possible
drink more water to help flush out the toxins
skin brushing
cut back on the anti-fungals
add 1000 milligrams of Vitamin C twice daily
add 1/2 an apple to your day

You are going to feel so good after the cleanse. Focus on the end and why you are doing this in the first place. Life is worth very little without good health.

hugs,

2010-03-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

Coconut Amaranth or Quinoa or Millet.

6 tbsps Coconut Milk
1/2 cup amaranth
1/2 of a apple if slowing down the cleanse or blueberries.
Cinnamon
Stevia
1 Cup water

Mix the water and amaranth in a saucepan, then heat to boiling. Turn heat to low, and allow to simmer for 20-25 min or until most of the water is be absorbed.

Mix in a little stevia with the amaranth, together with some sliced apple. Pour the coconut milk on top, then sprinkle with cinnamon.

Any grain can be substituted for this. You may need to adjust cooking times and water for the grain type that you choose.

Candida Diet Chicken Nugget Recipe

2010-03-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

Oh man I just found this recipe and had forgotten how much I enjoyed it on the cleanse.

Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients: Flour (any of these brown rice, almond, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth), organic chicken, crushed fresh garlic, sea salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, dried parsley, eggs

Cooking Directions: Combine flour, crushed fresh garlic, sea salt, cayenne pepper, paprika and dried parsley flakes. Dip bite-sized pieces of chicken in the beaten egg, then roll in the nut-flour mixture. Fry in coconut oil.

We super enjoyed these. Even my kids who were not doing the cleanse.

Candida Diet Zucchini Pancake Recipe

2010-03-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

I am so hearing some desperation from the motivated souls who are cleaning up their bodies. I have been ripping through my notes for some things that you can do to add variety to your diet. These are good when you are on the Candida Diet. They have not carried over to our regular recipes so I am wondering if they were good because I was so desperate for something different.

Zuchini Pancakes

Ingredients: 2 cups coarsely grated zucchini, ½ cup buckwheat flour, quinoa flour or brown rice flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, A small onion, finely chopped, 1 beaten egg

Cooking Directions: Mix together the baking powder and salt with the flour. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the onions and zucchini and stir well. Add the egg and stir the mixture again. Fry small cakes in coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil.

Good Luck! Remember you CAN do this. Your body has feasted for so many years on so many things isn't it time to cleanse out from all of the feasting?

Candida Diet Breakdown

2010-03-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

About 65% of your diet should come from vegetables, garlic and onions.

About 20% of your diet should be protein.

About 10% of your diet should be complex carbs like buckwheat, millet, quinoa, brown rice or oat groats.

About 5% of your diet should be fruit. lemon, lime ,grapefruit and blueberries.

Hopefully this will help you as you fill your plate. Remember this is a cleansing process and if it becomes to intense slow it down by adding some more complex carbs or a piece of apple. It will slow the die-off. It is a balancing act that only you can call.

hugs,

I promise your gonna feel better when this is done.

Candida approved marinade

2010-03-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

This marinade is great for adding flavor to your meat. Enough for four chicken breasts.

zest from 1 lemon (use a fine grater or a microplane if you have one)
juice from the same lemon
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil
1 teaspoon sea salt, more or less to taste
2 garlic cloves, crushed & minced
fresh cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves or a few pinches of ground oregano

I like to grill these outside or on my foreman. It could be baked also.

I am not sure where I got this from. It is one our family still enjoys.

Candida Diet Addition Two

2010-03-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

Some great questions have come up.
Can I chew gum? It is best not to. Here is why. When we chew we tell our digestion system to get ready and produce enzymes to break down our food. Our stomach cannot tell the difference between chewing gum or chewing to get ready for digestion.l If you have to chew gum with Xylitol.
Can I eat peas? No, they are to starchy.
Can I eat bacon? Nope, it has to much sugar.
Can I eat sausage? Nadda. Same reason to much sugar and preservatives.
How many days do I have to be on this diet? The minimum is 21 most people have to go 28.
How can I tell if the candida has dies off? After 21 days you can take a spoonful of peanut butter and eat the whole thing. A couple of things will happen. 1. Nothing. Which means congratulations are in order your candida is basically gone. 2. Your tummy gets bloated within ten minutes of eating the peanut butter. Oops! keep going you just feed the candida its favorite food, rancid fat with sugar and it grew, so keep going. 3. You start burping or feel really nauseated. You guessed it. It's back. Keep going. If you failed the peanut butter test go for another seven days before you try again.
keep asking me questions. It helps me to clarify it in writing.
kB

My All Time FAVE Candida Dressing

2010-03-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

Edited 4/18/2010 several people have not enjoyed this dressing. I am rechecking the recipe to see if I posted the ingredients incorrectly. Will update asap.
Edited 4/24/21010 I made this exactly as called for and my family still loves it.

This is so good my family still eats it. Garlic is excellent for Candida as it is an anti-fungal. Olive Oil contains Oleic Acid which is great at cutting Candida.

1 large clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 whole egg raw
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Blend until smooth. It is even better the next day. Enjoy!

Candida Diet

2010-03-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

OK, so you think that you want to try the Candida cleanse. What to eat, what not to eat. It can be a bit overwhelming. first lets focus on what you can eat.

Protein: beef, chicken fish and eggs.
Vegetables: Garlic, Onions, Cabbage, Broccoli, Kale, Cucumber, Peppers, Celery, Asparagus, Spinach, Tomatoes and Avocado.
Avoid starchy vegetables like Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Corn, Squash (except zucchini), Peas and all Beans.
Healthy Fats: Olive Oil and Coconut Oil.
Nuts: Walnuts and Almonds are best. Avoid peanuts and pistachios as they have to much mold.
Limited Fruits: Lemons and guess what more Lemons. Blueberries, Raspberries and Cranberries.
Non-glutinous grains: Brown Rice and Millet
Blue Green Algae: E3live is my favorite. If you are in Cache Valley I always have this available in my freezer. Scientists have found that blue green algae restores the balance in your gut and boosts your immune system.

Supplements:
Oil of Oregano
E3Live
Pau D'Arco
Reishi Mushroom Extract
Colloidal Silver
Probiotics

Sweetners:
Stevia

So you may be asking yourself, What! No Bread. No Pasta. No Sugar. No Candy. No Processed Anything. No Soda. No Peanut Butter. No Dairy. I promise you WILL survive and feel so much better after the cleanse.
I will add some links and more recipes.
hugs,
kB

Signs that you have Candida overgrowth......

2010-03-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

We all need a healthy balance in our gut. The good flora needs the bad flora to co-exist. The problem comes when the bad flora overgrows the good flora causing a disrutption in the healing vitality of your body. Numerous factors can cause this: stress, antibiotic usage, steroids, eating to much sugar, processed foods and drinking soda.

Here is a list of the symptoms of Candida overgrowth:

Frequent stomach pains and digestion problems

Skin problems (skin infections, eczema, psoriasis, acne)

Foggy brain / Trouble concentrating

Constant tiredness and exhaustion

Anxiety

Mood swings

Irritability

Headaches

Intense cravings for sugars, sweets, and breads

Itchy skin

fatigue

chronic yeast infections

Tommorow I will post the candida diet and all of the new things that I have learned about restoring the balance in your body.
hugs,
kB

8 tips to help sensitive kids with natural disasters.

2010-03-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

One of my kids noticed something. Mom, have you noticed that after a natural disaster that you get a ton of parents calling with kids not being able to sleep and really stressed out. Hannah was onto something. Energetically we are linked together. What happens to one of us effects us all. Especially a tenderhearted child. They do not have the skill to process the trauma that they are seeing or hearing about. Do you remember 911?The first time I saw that plane crash I fell to my knees. It was so traumatizing to me to see that. By the hundredth time I had seen it it was like watching a video game. It did not even seem real any more. Kids have a hard time separating the trauma from real life and so they can literally get stuck in the trauma. I started tapping with kids on the natural disasters and BINGO she was right. They were processing that Tsunami or earthquake or whatever had just happened. In light of several natural disasters lately I thought we could have a great discussion on what we can do to help our kids.

8 things to help kids process through the grief of a natural disaster.

1. Give them the facts. Focus on the relief efforts that are happening. Help them do something physically to contribute to a relief effort.

2. Have a plan if something does happen in your area. What would they do to get in touch with you? Where would they go if they could not find you? What would they eat if the fridge got smashed? Let them come up with the questions and then help them come up with the solution.

3. Let them draw, paint, color or write about there feelings. It will help them process the information in a different area of their brain.

4. Tap with them. I am such a fan of EFT.

5. Get them doing very physical activities. Throwing a ball, running, or jumping rope are all activities that can help process emotions. We love our indoor rebounder. Have them chant out their concerns while they jump.

6. Hula-Hoop. Pull out your hula hoop and get those hips moving. The natural patterning of the hula hoop increase the mind body connection and can calm frazzled nerves and increase the bodies natural energy pattern.

7. We have made the effort to get our news in print. We have friends in Chili. This has hit home a little more closely. So we have turned the tv off. The pictures have been to much for some of our kids. We are getting updated through other means so we do not have to worry if that specific building hurt one of our loved ones.

8. Talk about the details of what people are doing to help other people. Nurses going over and donating time. Volunteers working to make the roads safe again. Make a picture in their minds of the positive things that are happening.
We have dear friends that live right outside of Santiago, Chili. Just the physical act of leaving a facebook message helped us feel better. We pictured dear friends finding the message and knowing how much we love them. What have you come up with to help your kids work through fear or concern of it happening in your backyard? Let's share so we can learn from each other.
all my love,
kB

Sugar verses Cocaine, sugar more addictive than street drugs.

2010-02-25T05:15:00.000-08:00

In a recent study 94% of the rats that were previously addicted to cocaine choose sugar when they had a choice between the two. Now there is proof that M&M's are truly addictive. Proof ladies, we have proof. Both sugar and drugs stimulate dopamine in the brain. These pathways are critical for learning pathways.

Table sugar: This includes brown, powdered, granulated, and raw sugar. These sugars come from sucrose, which is made from sugar cane or sugar beets.

Corn sweeteners: These sweeteners are made from corn.

Dextrose: This sweetener is glucose mixed with water.

Fructose: which is found naturally in fruits, is also now sold in granulated form.

Honey: This familiar, natural sweetener is made by bees and is a mixture of fructose, glucose, and water.

Maple sugar: This is another natural sugar that comes from the sap of sugar maple trees.

Molasses: This sweet syrup is a byproduct of making sugar.

Sugar alcohols: includes sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol. They do not contain alcohol.

Stevia: sweet herb

So what is the big deal with sugar. Here are a few things that it does to the body.

Sugar suppresses the immune system

Sugar contributes to anxiety and depression

Sugar causes drowsiness

Sugar raises triglycerides

Sugar leads to chromium deficiency

Sugar adds to hormonal imbalance

Sugar causes food allergies

Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy

Sugar promotes tooth decay

Sugar speeds the aging process of wrinkled skin and grey hair

Sugar aggravates eczema

Sugar increases fermentation in the colon.

Sugar causes Candida overgrowth (more posts on this coming)

Now I hope you are asking yourself: "Why do I feed this to my kids." Face it, sugar is found in everything: bread, breakfast cereal, mayo, ketchup even oatmeal. What is a Mom to do to keep off of sugar?

In the last twenty years we have gone from 26 pounds a year per person to 135 pounds per person. Cancer was virtually unknown in the early 1900's. In 2010 1.6 million will be diagnosed with cancer. By 2030 the THEY brothers say that 2.3 million will be diagnosed. That is a lot of people. Sugar feeds cancer. As a mom I want to stay educated so that I can help my kids make the best decisions for themselves.. That is what this blog is hopefully about, educating families to make better decisions. Not to feel guilt over what they eat but to improve what they eat.

Here are some tips to help you break your sugar habit:

Do not keep it in the house as an option

Try stevia

Eat fruit

If you must eat sugar, eat it after meals when it affects blood sugar less

Avoid juice

Drink more water

I will be posting some info on how to cut the cravings and deal with the Candida overgrowth that usually goes along with a sugar addiction.

hugs,

Essential Oil Class: Blend Your Own Perfume

2010-02-19T05:03:00.000-08:00

EDIT: THis video post says the class is a Doctor Mom. WRONG! I put up the wrong one. It is a perfume blending class. We will be making our own perfume to help give you a way to incorporate oils every day into your life.

This class is HANDS ON!

Tuesday February 23rd

6:30 pm

345 North 48 West

Hyde Park

4 spaces left

$10.00 covers workbook and project. Sign up here . See you on Tuesday.

Twitter, Is it a waste of time?

2010-02-18T22:23:00.000-08:00

I must admit when I first got on Twitter, I thought Oh My, who needs this? I cannot keep up with my email let alone add Twitter to my schedule. I did a few really stupid tweets and wondered what the fuss was. Well, we have a dear friend that kept dropping little educational bits of info about Twitter. Enough to keep me interested. So being the googler (is that a word?) that I am I decided to Google, How To Twitter. I read a little and realized the potential for my small home based business was huge. Face it, every time I send a print mailer I have to incorporate the cost of that mailer and postage into my product. I HATE that. I know hate is a strong word but I truly HATE doing that to my clients. You see my clients end up becoming dear friends and I do not want to jack up the price of my product to tell them about a sale. It just seems like such an oxy-moron to me. So I started messing around with Twitter and whalah (another made up word) I started picking up some sales from it. Without having to jack up pricing because it is totally free. I love that word FREE. Rhymes with YIPPEEEE. I started going to Cache Valley Social Media Club to learn more about using social media in my business. They even asked me to sit on a panel and talk about Twitter. Pretty intimidating for me because they also had Jill Parker with Bear River and Mr. Thompson from IHC. They both shared how to tweet people on twitter. Let me tell ya, when they started talking about the number of followers they had I started praying for the big huge, comfy hole to drop in because I was under 20. Have you ever had the feeling you are in over your head and you were in front of people. Sinking sensation is all I can say. Here is the cool thing though. You learn so much and connect with other people. I enjoy it personally besides what it does for my buisness.

I thought maybe someone else could be wondering what is up with tweeting so I made a basic tweeting PRE-101 list.

FIVE QUICK TIPS ON TWEETING:

1. Do not tweet what you are doing. Tweet what you are interested in.

2. Follow a conversation before jumping in and commenting.

3. Keep your twitter name short, gives you more space to tweet. You only have 140 characters.

4. I did not "get" Twitter until I downloaded TweetDeck.

5. My iphone makes it easy. Can you hear the addiction? My iphone makes everything easier.

hugs,

so how about jumping in and follow me on twitter............. your are going to love it....... promise

Magic Milkshake Anyone?

2010-02-16T05:15:00.000-08:00

OK, I love this stuff. Every time I make it, I am blown away that my kids love them. They taste like a Frosty but are sugar-free and loaded with Coconut Oil. Coconut Oil is a medium chain triglyceride that has many health benefits. My favorite place to but it is here. Lecithin is what makes them so creamy. Did you know that Lecithin helps with the flow of nutrients in your body and also helps break down fats. Kind of a odd-ball ingredient but totally worth it. I found the original recipe here and then tweaked it to make it a healthier version. Miah gave this a two thumbs up. If he likes it you know you have a hit.

Magic Milkshakes

1-1/2 to 2 cups water
1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2/3 cup xylitol or erythritol
a pinch of Nu-naturals Stevia
scant 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
ice to fill your blender
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon liquid lecithin

Place all of the ingredients into the blender. Fill the blender to the top with ice cubes. Place the lid on. Process for a full 2 minutes.

Variations

Add 1 banana for a chocolate banana shake
Add a big spoonful of peanut butter for a decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake.

These just will not work without the lecithin. The original recipe has you spray Pam in the blender for five seconds. Pam has lecithin in it. Up to you if you use that option but I promise it will not work without some form of lecithin.

Would you have laughed at me?

2010-02-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was rebounding, I was chanting my affirmations. I love to tell my body good things. My kids walked in the room and started rolling on the ground laughing hysterically. I was chanting things like, I feel good, I feel strong, So excited for the great things happening. All chanted while jumping up and down to my favorite old Parowan High cheerleader chant. To be honest I was always so envious of those cheerleaders. They dated a ton and I never did. I got over that though cause I love my life. EFT really helped me with that. I USED to have a tendency to always want what other people had. Not anymore and what a day that was when I let go of that old nasty habit. My arms were pumping and I was feeling so GOOD. So good that my kids all took turns jumping this morning. Note to self, do not nag at your family when you want them to change. Live the change you want them to make. Much more effective parenting. I tend to forget this one every so often. Anyway the girls and I had a good conversation on why I like rebounding so much more than a treadmill. Here are some studies as to why.

Top Five List Of Why I Like Rebounding:

Improves muscle tone, firms skin

Improves balance and coordination

Rebounding stimulates your Lymphatic System

Improves Cell Health

Stimulates your Immune System

Keep Jumping and ALWAYS chant. Your family will love it :)

A new man in my life........

2010-02-11T09:42:00.000-08:00

I swear I think about him all the time (not really I ADORE the other guy in my life). He has passion. He has vision. He is making a difference in such a huge kind of way. The funny thing is my husband thinks he is amazing also. So many people have so many dreams but they let limiting beliefs get in the way. This man just plows through them. I love studying people who get things done and then find the patterns they use. One of his is passion for what he does. In a MONDO kind of way.

At the end of the day it is about the choices we make and what we put in our mouth that makes such a difference in the quality of our life. He gets that and is willing to devote his energy to teaching other people. GO JAMIE!!!!!!!!

I HEART JAMIE OLIVER

I dare you to spend less than 30 minutes at his sight. It is

FREAKING AMAZING (sh do not tell my kids I said freaking) Coming to Utah from California I laid the law down on some cultural things and freaking was one. Some rules need to be bent and this man is truly FREAKING AMAZING. Maybe they will put me on time out or something and I can have some down time :)

Fave Essential Oils in Soap

2010-02-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

When I started out making soap I used scents like apple and cherry blossom. I realized after awhile that the more I worked with synthetic fragrances the worse my headaches were getting. So I started researching what was in them. Surprise!!!!!! I learned that because of proprietary blends they do not have to tell you what is in them. They can have as many as 500 separate chemicals. yuck and double yuck. What is a gal to do.....switch to essential oils. Here are some of my favorite ones for soap.

Anise ( I use .7 ounces per pound of oil)
Bulgarian Lavender (I use .7 ounces per pound of oil)
Five Fold Italian Lemon (I use .9 per pound of oil)
Five Fold Valencia Orange (I use .7 per pound of oil)
Peppermint (I use.5 ounces per pound of oil)
Spearmint (I use.5 ounces per pound of oil)
Rosemary (I use.5 ounces per pound of oil)

Some of my favorite combinations are:
Peppermint and Spearmint
Lavender and any mint
Lemon and Rosemary
Spearmint and lime
Peppermint and Lemon
Anise and Orange
Anise and Lavender

What are your favorite combinations of essential oils..........
We will be having a perfume blending class at my home and I am excited to share some new blends I have been playing with. Our take home project is your very own blended perfume.

Five things to help heal from Pornography

2010-02-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

1. Pornography does not start out because of a moral weakness.
2. Pornography is an addiction and all addictions are fueled by anxiety.
3. EFT is one of the best tools to help ease anxiety.
4. Find your triggers, what is pulling you back into the cycle.
5. Pornography wrecks havoc with your mind/body connection so get outside and do something physical.
I have noticed an interesting trend in my zone room. Every person I have ever zoned that is caught up in the viscous cycle of pornography has a Candida overgrowth. Candida fuels anxiety period. Healing in my opinion comes as you add as many layers as you can. I highly recommend a Candida detox regimen for at least a 28 day period.
more to follow on the new things I have learned about Candida and how to effectively get rid of it.
healing is doable, reach out to people who will support you.
Kristen
A loving note to all Mom's who have recently realized that one of their children is struggling with this issue. The more guilt you process in the form of:
I am not a good Mom. I have failed this child. The harder you will make the healing process. Guilt is for sin and one of the lowest vibrations that there is. You never went to sleep at night and thought what can I do to fuel my child's addictions. They made the choice not you so do not process their emotion of guilt.

So please STOP...... and I mean STOP now. You have no idea the guilt they already carry and you ARE making it worse. Now they have to process your guilt and that will heighten their anxiety which will lead them to the addiction again. So remember to hold their potential and view the process as a learning curve and ask yourself what can we learn from this to strengthen our entire family. I know how hard it is I have been there. Healing is possible. I am living proof that a child can heal and it can strengthen your family in ways that you never even imagined.

clean energy, clean garbage

2010-02-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

I admit it. I have been really down the last couple of days. So much so that it is affecting my family and my work. I have tried all the things that I usually do and I have just not been able to pull out of it. I was able to pinpoint some of the reasons and realized a few things but I was still in a slump. So what to do. For me there are always some surefire things that can boost my spirits.
1. tapping: tried to but I was down enough I needed someone to guide me and was home alone
2. three thumps: Oh, that helped a bit.
3. affirmations: that one almost always helps me
4. music: really need to learn how to use my iPod. I will have to wait until kids get home. This one actually helped because it made me laugh.
5. I took a minute to zone myself and that ALWAYS helps.
arrghhh, still feeling really down......... What to do!!!!!!!!!!!
At this point my control issues kick in and I start cleaning, That always helps me feel better as my brain just works better in a clutter free zone.
So I walk over the the garbage to empty it and I pull out the liner and it hits me. This garbage can is pushing my energy. Pushing her energy, I can hear you thinking what is this woman talking about. Let me tell ya. Every time I empty the garbage can I tell myself very quietly that I am a failure. My mother NEVER would have had such a dirty, smelly garbage can. You are so stupid that you cannot even teach your children that when they empty the garbage to always put a liner in. Now I have been playing that record in my head for a few years. I have been meaning to replace the record and the garbage can for awhile but never got around to it. My energy just collapses every time I go near it because I CHOOSE to play that dumb record. When a persons energy collapses they are not living in their God centered light. Well, I decided to make a change TODAY. It was not the most frugal investment because you see, I have a garbage can (remember how dirty it is though) So I went and bought a brand new shiny garbage can and the lady at the store commented how happy I was. She actually thanked me for my smile because she was having a hard day also. So I told her about my garbage can and how sad it made me and I was taking control and changing how I talked to myself. You see I am with myself 24/7 and I must be kind or else I could suffer from burnout. So by taking charge of how I was talking to myself and getting a new garbage can I turned my whole day around. That is a good thing because a Mom is the heart of the home. Everyone plays off of how I am feeling and I feel good because my garbage is CLEAN :):):)
So what is in your garbage can? Can you change it? Can you re-program how you are talking to yourself? If you can, you will feel more of a connection to who you really are instead of playing those old records that are so harmful and keep us from true JOY.

EFT Class

2010-01-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

I am sooooo excited for the class tomorrow. The workbooks are made and the power-point presentation is almost done. We still have room for three more people. Cost of this class is 99.00. It runs from 9-4 and will be held at the Hyde Park Civic Center in the basement.
Come join us!

* Learn the basics of EFT
* Learn how to trace your meridians
* Learn how move energy instead of it moving you.
* Learn my favorite energy exercise that motivates me to MOVE every morning
* Learn how get rid of your binge eating
* Lessen anxiety
* Increase the quality of relationships
* pain managment
Can you even believe EFT can help with so many things. It almost sounds to good to be true. I promise it is not. I use it on a daily basis and cannot even imagine how hard it would be to NOT have that knowledge in my fingertips.
For those of you coming to the class please remember to bring your binge food of choice. We have some chocolate chips, potato chips and a few other energy toxins coming. You will love how easy it is to control food cravings while using EFT. See you on Saturday.
hugs,
Kristen

Ten things To Make Your Zoner Happy in 2010

2010-01-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

1. no more soda
2. cut back on your sugar
3. no fast food
4. eat two salads a day
5. no processed food...... (we call it monster food if you cannot pronounce what is in it)
6. drink your water
7. put lots of color on your plate
8. reduce your stress levels
9. tap daily
10. get a zone :)

A clean hot cocoa fix......

2009-12-29T19:37:00.000-08:00

I guess I will always consider myself a California girl..........especially when it is snowing in Cache Valley. I just do not enjoy winter sports. I do not like being cold. I do love watching the snow fall with a good book in hand and a steaming mug of hot cocoa. What is a girl to do though because I work better when I am not eating sugar and hot cocoa is loaded with sugar. So after some research and a bit of experimentation we came up with a cup that is to LIVE for. It is so rich it tastes like a drinkable custard.

Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 squares 85% cacao content chocolate I like Lindt
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
4 ounces of coconut milk
1/2 to 1 cup (depending on how rich you like it) piping hot water
Combination of sugar-free sweeteners, to taste
-1 tablespoon erythirtol
-Pinch of stevia (nunaturals is my favorite)
Splash of pure vanilla extract
1 fresh organic egg (optional)

Preparation:
Chop chocolate into chunks. Add cocoa powder and pour in coconut milk. Microwave for 30-50 seconds, stir until the chocolate has melted completely. Whisk egg lightly in a separate bowl. Transfer chocolate mixture to a blender. Add flavor extracts and sweeteners, and blend at low speed. With the blender running, add beaten egg and then piping hot water. Serve immediately.... do not reheat.

Always follow your gut........

2009-12-15T19:52:00.000-08:00

When I first started making lotion and undestanding the difference between a chemical base and a nourishing base my family was like who cares. I became a skin care freak....Reading labels and shuddering at what was in that baby lotion. I remember one time talking to a mom in front of me in the grocery store. Have you ever made friends in a instant in the grocery line.... I do it all the time and it kills my children in the biggest kind of way. Mom, how can you talk to someone about things that personal that you do not even know. Easy...... our hearts connected. For example......... My kids are past the baby stage and I find myself drooling over fat little babies in front of me in the grocery line. My children try to hide and pretend they do not know me. I will make eye contact with the baby and they will start to talk to me with their eyes and then the Mom and I will start to talk. At that point it is history, we can share stories that we both understand. One time I commented, Oh, that is the sweetest baby... How old is she? The reply, she is six months and our adoption is final. Well open my heart and connect me with that mom because I have adopted kids also. So we will share and connect and MORTIFY my kids:) After all you have not lived until you have seen your kids slink away from you in the grocery store....... Skip back to my lotion addiction. I will about jump out of my skin when I see her put that dreaded Baby Magic on the belt. My kids start pulling at my arms, non-verbal communication is so strong at this point....Please, Mom do not tell her that some of those ingredients are known cancer causing agents. Do not get a free sample out of your purse and hand to her to save the babies skin..... I cannot help myself though. It nauseates me to think of that stuff going on a baby. So today when I was reading one of my favorite blogs it made me do the happy dance right at the computer to see some of the new studies coming out on Phthalates in skin care. My products have always been pthalate free.... Yes (imagine me jumping up and down) studies to back me up. The following is an excerpt from Doctor Amen's blog. Run!!!!! do not walk to his website there is so much good info on improving your families quality of life.

On any given day, you and your child probably come in contact with dozens of products that contain phthalates. Toys, shower curtains, food containers, cleaning materials, product packaging — they all contain phthalates, which are suspected of causing numerous negative health effects.

A new study from Korean researchers has now discovered a link between exposure to phthalates and ADD in school-age children. Writing in the journal Biological Psychiatry, the team reported that children with higher concentrations of phthalate metabolites found in the urine experienced more severe ADD symptoms.

The notion that environmental triggers may make ADD symptoms worse is completely in line with what I have witnessed in my own practice. After working with hundreds of children and teens with ADD, I have found that many environmental toxins impact ADD symptoms.

Oh goodness.... unless your lotion says phthalate free it probably contains phthalates.......

A Harp Miracle

2009-12-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

Goodness this is long but it has so many good things that I wanted to share. Start Story: OK so to start this story I have to go back to when we fell in love with a three year old little girl named Samantha . Samantha was in the foster care system in California. To make a long story very short, we ended up adopting her and her brother Jeremy. Samantha has an absolute gift when it comes to music. We noticed that right when we met her. You could tell when she listened to music how soothing it was to her. As parents we were concerned about the trauma that she had experienced in the many homes that she had lived in during her time in foster care. We were open to anything that was soothing to her sweet little soul. We had a tradition of meeting at my sisters house with all of our family. Twelve kids can make a lot of noise and I think that it would be fair to say that when we would get together we were loud. My sister Teri had a bond with Samantha from the beginning and also had a harp. In the midst of a crazy, loud, really fun (I miss those morning birthday parties) family interaction, Samantha went over to the harp and started to play a simple melody. The whole family quieted down (first miracle) to watch this little girl who was absolutely absorbed in playing on that harp. I have always desired my children to be able to play the piano so at that point the harp was not huge on my priority list. Fast forward several years and Samantha still wanted her own harp. So she saves and saves. She delivers papers in the middle of Cache Valley winters to buy a harp. She had her eye on a Blevins harp. She works and works and finally has enough money for the harp. She gets online to buy it and heartache sets in because the price has almost doubled in the time that it has taken her to save the money. So she keeps saving and she saves and saves. Finally she has enough money to buy her harp. She has the ability to take her piano and put it to her harp. She plays for hours on end. Her fingers bleed she plays for such long periods of time. My concern as a mom is not Sam you need to practice but Sam you need to get off of your harp and drink some water and try fitting lunch in your schedule :) Sam is in love with her little blevins melody harp. It has a sweet tone and brings so much resonance into our home. She feels pretty limited on it though because it is like playing on a quarter of a piano. She looks at bigger harps but the price is daunting. She debates whether or not to go into debt for a harp. Debt is not something we take lightly so she never feels like that is the right thing to do. She drools over harps and eventually starts taking harp lessons which is a good thing because she had picked up a few bad habits being self taught. Her teacher is a true mentor and never puts Samantha down for her sweet Melody harp. Let me explain that in the harp world it is easy to get caught up in how big your harp is and it can be a rich mans sport. There are some pretty unkind things that have been said to Samantha about the size of her harp. Some of them have made my mama bear blood boil but Sam is willing to do anything and put up with anything to be involved in the harping world. Many times people will call and want Sam to play her harp and she has to say no because she is limited in what keys she can play in. As a mom that breaks my heart. One day I was so frustrated about her having to turn down another amazing life experience because of the size of her harp. I felt like a failure in the fact that I had tried to provide her with all the opportunities that I could but the cost of a full size harp seemed always out of my grasp. I know you have had times that you just hit your knees in total frustration and poured out your heart to God. It was one of those times for me. I got up from my prayer and felt better and had the thought how grateful I was for this daughter and the sweetness and calmness that she had brought into our family. Fast forward another ten minutes. HMMMM, maybe I should check ksl for a used harp. I get on and there is a full size lever harp for sale for 600.00 dollars. I start to cry and think to myself that has to be a typo no way can it be six hundred because I can afford that. I call and ask about the harp. She explains that they were rental harps for her students and that they are a little beat up on the bottom. At this point I am sobbing on the phone realizing how directly involved my Creator is in my life. It is not until later that I start to kick myself for not asking sooner :) I have since spent alot of time pondering how much could He help me if I only would ask.We bring the harps home, she actually had two of them. TWO....... I am about to purchase tow Lyon and Healy Troubador harps for my daughter. So we plan the suprise. Oh the joy I recieved from just thinking about how excited this daughter would be about these harps. We sit in the front room and wait for Sam to come home. I will never forget the look on her face as she realized that there were two Lyon and Healy Troubadour harps in her house. She was so overcome with emotion she just stood there and ran her hand up and down the wood and cried. Truly a harp miracle....... Samantha will be using her harp for therapy. It is such an interesting modality. I love to sit in front of her while she plays because of the resonance that comes off of the harp. There are many studies that show the resonance of the harp increases the resonance in your body. Zoning and essential oils follow the same pattern, increasing the resonance in your body. When you have more resonance you have a closer connection to God. People with brain injuries and autism respond with more brain wave patterns after being exposed to harp music. We have both in our family and Samantha is excited to think that her harp playing could bring them healing. I am excited to learn along with her the healing power of the harp. I am still in awe of our harp miracle......

Kristen Bowen Studio Holiday Sale

2009-11-24T19:42:00.001-08:00

And the winner is

2009-11-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

Drum roll Please................Laurie.......... you and I have communicated by email. If you could send me your snail mail I will get your TRULY FREE Stevia out to ya right away.
SHHHHHHH I have a secret to tell. We did not draw this one out of a hat. Hannah has had a huge week and so I found a web-site called randompick I put in everyone's name and pouf there was the winner.
Be on the look out for our next drawing. It is coming soon and you are gonna love it......... I will also be posting some recipes to use with the stevia. Everyone will hopefully enjoy those.

kristen

Free Stevia Give-Away......

2009-11-04T05:05:00.000-08:00

this is my all time favorite stevia on the planet. I have tried so many kinds of stevia and had almost given up using it. Happy Mother Goose Day! Leave a comment and it could be yours. Totally Free........... I have to laugh at the totally free comment. I have started using coupons and refunding. We have gotten a few free things and the kids have had fun getting them in the mail. Hannah is my resident cupcake baker and saw a free baking set and was so excited to get it. When she read the fine print she was disgusted that it really cost about 10.00 with shipping and handling.
She said I better give things away that are totally free:) Leave a comment and it could be yours. Your chances are really good cause are numbers are small..............

My thoughts on swine flu........

2009-11-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

Almost every day I will get a call on swine flu and my opinion of the shot and what to do. For me personally I am not getting the shot. Neither is my family. We work at prevention through other means. That is what I want to focus on. What we can be doing to make sure we are as healthy as possible.
#1. Avoid Sugar: It decreases your immune system for 12 hours every time you eat it. Think of your diet, some people start their morning with sugar and end with sugar. They have successfully depleted their immune for a entire day.
#2. Hydration: Water is our bodies dominant chemical. It washes through our organs to bring the nutrients to our cells. H20 also flushes the toxins and waste from our cells. If you are feeling thirsty you are already dehydrated.
#3. Rest: A rested body can fight infection.
#4. Garlic: Eat garlic regularly. It is a daily occurrence in our home. It is anti-fungal,anti- bacterial and anti-viral. Fresh garlic is the only way to go. The active ingredient Allicin is destroyed after an hour. So garlic pills are useless.
#5. Reduce your stress: EFT is the best way to do this. Stress depletes the B vitamins.
#6. Rebounding: increases nutrients, oxygen, and circulation which nourishes and rebuilds cells.
#7. Soap: Wash your hands for two minutes with real soap not anti-bacterial hand soap. The anti-bacterial liquid hand soap strips the good bacteria off of your skin along with the germs. Leaving you in worse shape than when you started.
#8. Hydrogen Peroxide: In 1928 Doctor Richard Simmons conducted studies that colds and virus entered our bodies through our ear canals. A few drops of H.P in each ear at the onset of symptoms is 80% effective at combating illness.
#9. Essential Oils: thieves has a 99.6 percent kill rate of airborne bacteria.
#10. Vitamin D: increases production of over 200 anti-microbial peptides that fight infection. We like the liquid drops found at vitacost.
Interesting Facts: People who receive the flu shot every year are at a greater risk for swine flu.
People who were born before 1950 have antibodies to H1N1.
Focusing on health has many layers to it. When you add as many as you can they WILL add up and make a huge difference in the immune response that you have. Our family has experienced this and you can to.
kristen

This makes me so sad........

2009-11-02T14:39:00.000-08:00

UGGHHHH..............
The American Academy of Family Physicians has announced a corporate sponsorship with Coca-Cola and is also accepting an undisclosed amount of money from them as well.

The AAFP today announced a corporate partnership with The Coca-Cola Co., in which the beverage giant will provide a grant for the Academy to develop consumer education content related to beverages and sweeteners for the AAFP's award-winning consumer health and wellness Web site, FamilyDoctor.org.

According to the Kansas City Business Journal, Coca-Cola is providing a grant of an unspecified amount to the AAFP for the project.

Now it comes full circle. The drug industry manipulates and controls the drug information given to doctors and now soda companies fund the nutrition information. Even if the AAFP changes their mind due to public outcry it won’t be enough for me. They need to clearly state publically that drinking soda has been a significant contributor to the epidemic of overweight, heart disease and cancer in this country and is disease and death promoting. What if the AAFP accepted funding from Phillip Morris and promoted smoking in moderation?
P.S. Just in case you didn’t know, the American Dietetic Association, the organization that certifies nutritionists and dietitians, also accepts money from Coca-Cola, as well as PepsiCo, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Mars and the National Dairy Council.

Children Eating Sweets Daily Linked to Violence

Children who eat more sweets every day are more likely to be convicted for violent crime. Junk food doesn’t just cause adult cancers, it also damages the brain.

Salt Intake Related to Childhood Obesity

Researchers who analyzed the National Diet and Nutrition Survey for young people in Great Britain have found that when young people have a higher sodium intake than others their age that their total soft drink intake rises as well. On average those who consume 1g/d more sodium consumed an average of 2.3 more sugar sweetened drinks per week.¹ And drinking soft drinks are associated with obesity and later life diabetes. The CDC predicts this generation of children will have significantly shorter lifespan than their parents.

This is a partial article from Doctor Furhman. He has a great email that is free to sign up for

Last essential oil class of the year....

2009-11-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, November 10th starting at 6:30 p.m.
This is a very hands on class. We will make three projects during the course of the evening.I am a hands on learner and do better retaining things if I am working with my hands.The cost is 10 dollars per person. I only have room for two more people so holler if you would like to be a part of the group. This class is limited to six people so that we can get everything made. We run until about eight thirty or nine at my home.

And the Winner is...........

2009-11-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Just remember I think all of you are winners:)
The official winner of the E3live is Heather........
Keep your eyes for this weeks prize with all the flu going around you are going to love it......... I promise. Heather already got to pick up her loot and is on her way to optimal vitality.
kristen

Free E3 Live.....Oh My............

2009-10-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

I so know what you are thinking. What in the WORLD does a picture of Mother
Goose's Hey Diddle Diddle have to do with you the reader getting your hands on FREE E3live. Well let me tell ya. My husband (Morgan) had a Dad....(duh). His name was Larry. My husband (Morgan) had a Mom (insert same duh). Her name was Jody. So now that you have the family history straight I will tell you why this picture has anything to do with E3live. Jody was as close to a giving shopaholic as I have ever met. She adored my children and boy did it show. Christmas was downright embarrassing. I can remember one year that 2 of my children actually asked when they would ever be done opening presents. Larry was a product of the depression and his philosophy was do not want a lot of stuff but what you do want buy the best. He basically wanted a big screen TV and a Mercedes and he had the best of both. Anyway Christmas was painful to him but the culture of my husbands family was that you did not mess with the Matriarch (Jody) So Larry decided he would have nothing to do with gift giving at Christmas or Birthdays. He decided to create Mother
Goose Day. Mother Goose day was a day that he wanted to give presents to people he loved because he loved them not because he felt obligated. So many times in our home you will here me say Happy Mother Goose Day to one of my kids. People give and receive love in so may ways and for me giving presents is how I demonstrate feelings of gratitude. So here is the point....ahhh finally.....I am giving away a free bottle of E3live. if you have ever been in my zone room you know how much I love E3live. I just think it is a must for anyone wanting optimal health. Here are 10 things I love about E3live
(I just counted and there is way more than 10 things)

Blue green algae is one of the most nutritional foods you can have.

It is organic, easily digested and full of antioxidants.

It is extremely rich in minerals and has a higher concentration of beta-carotene than broccoli.

Blue green algae also contain about 60 to 70% of vegetable protein, and provides all essential amino acids.

A rich source of calcium, iron, vitamin B12, enzymes and antioxidants make the blue green algae an ideal food for both adults and children.

Being highly concentrated in so many nutrients, blue green algae offer numerous benefits to our health.

1) Anti-Aging: Loaded with more essential nutrients and iron than most foods that we consume, blue green algae is perfect as an anti-aging food. Its high concentration of antioxidants means our bodies can combat more free radicals and toxins.

2) Relief from headaches aches and pain: our immune systems are strengthened.

3) Energy Booster – has rejuvenating effects

4) Better Digestion – it coats the stomach lining and is packed with enzymes that help to improve digestion.

5) Sleep better – it is detoxifying, resulting in better rest.

6) Lose weight – Less food cravings, a more balanced appetite.

7) Greater concentration and focus – increase in energy and clarity of mind

8) High in protein which is the main building block for healthy hair, skin and nails

9) Less anxiety – it has beneficial effects on our brain development and can help us cope with stress better.

10) Improves memory – effects our brain development, regular consumption of blue green algae has also shown to have an impact on our memory.

11) Loaded with micro and macro nutrients.

I just love the stuff. So here is how to get it for free. Leave a comment on this post and that will include you in the drawing. Lets face it, I have a incredibly small group of people that read this blog so your chances are REALLY good. I will pull a name on Friday the 30th of October. It will help offset all the sugar your family is consuming for Halloween. Here is the downside, you have to come and pick it up because it is a frozen product and shipping one bottle is a no go. So if you can get to my house you can have a chance to get some for FREE.

I must admit I wish I could give it to everyone for reading through the entire post.......:)

You have to leave a comment to enter into the drawing................

Coconut macaroons and a suprise ending........

2009-09-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

I got a little tired of paying for Jennie's Macaroons and decided that there had to be a recipe that we could imitate with all the chewy goodness intact. Oh goodness! my family loved these. They are like little clouds of puffy snow. Made a pretty darn good lunchbox treat for the kiddos and hubby.

Coconut Macaroons

6 egg whites
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup of honey
1 Tbl. vanilla
3 1/2 cups shredded coconut (ours was unsweetened)
1/4 tsp. almond extract or lemon zest...we left ours plain

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
whisk egg whites with the salt, until stiff peaks (took me about 7 minutes)
Fold in honey, vanilla, coconut and if you choose zest or extract.
We used a cookie scoop and dropped on parchment paper. They were sticky so really grease it well if you do not use parchment.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until brown at the very tip and on the bottom.
Try dipping in melted chocolate..........

Now what to do with all of those creamy egg yolks.......... Can you hear me... I am jumpin on my chair with my hand in the air callin out the answer LEMON CURD........... I love Lemon Curd. One of my kids sarcastically asked me if I wanted to marry it and I had to pause because that sounds like a pretty good idea :)
Lemon Curd Recipe
6 egg yolks
4 Tbl. butter
juice and zest of 2 lemons

Set up a double boiler which if you are really into cooking you will call it a bain marie.
Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, zest and honey. Whisk all ingredients together.
Slowly add small pieces of butter until it is all in the bowl. I must have missed this cause I dumped it and it worked perfectly.
Keep the pot simmering and whisk until it is thick.
Remove from heat and refrigerate.

Then are you ready...............................................

Here comes the best part....put a drum roll right here..........

I promise it is going to be GOOD........

Oh me oh my!!!!!!! the creamy tartness will just blow your mind. So fresh, better than almost anything...... Lemon Curd and Blueberries are like peanut butter and jelly. They just go hand in hand.

Almond Cracker Recipe

2009-09-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Sam came home the other day with a realization that just because it says whole grain on the package does not mean it is a healthy option. Her box of wheat thins were loaded with High Fructose Corn Syrup.... Oh my was she frustrated. So we hit the kitchen and came up with these crackers that we all enjoy. They are so easy to make that Hannah is now responsible for making a batch a week.

They are so easy to make.... One thing that is a must though is parchment paper.

One cup almond Flour (Honeyville is best)
One egg white whipped
pinch of sea salt
Mix together and roll between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Take off the top layer of parchment and bake on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. I say about because this can really vary depending on how thick you rolled them. You want them to be golden brown.

Mango Sauce they liked....

2009-08-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

This morning on my quest to serve breakfast to my family, I needed a quick sauce to lighten up the baked oatmeal I served. We had some frozen mangos from Sam's Club in the freezer so I pulled them out and popped them in the blender to puree them and added the juice of one orange and walla.... is that even a word:) We had a easy fruit sauce that could have gone over anything.

Recipe

I cup frozen mango defrosted

juice of one orange

blend in the blender

My comp is not letting me link to some of my favorite baked oatmeal sites....The only thing that I change is the amount and type of sweetener. I have been experimenting with some stevia but more on that later.......

Waffles at 5:45 In the mornin, Oh My........

2009-08-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

Now please, do not be freaking out that I plate up as beautiful as this picture at 5:45. Stock footage free photos are amazing when your camera is down....
I have been doing some major re-evaluating as a Mom and trying to focus on things that really count for our family. Like making a hot breakfast for everyone. Which at our house means it has to be on the table by 5:45 which truth be told....KILLS ME..... Truly it does in all sorts of ways but (and remember the word but negates everything I just said) BUT my family adores a breakfast meal in the morning. So this morning we made our very favorite waffles with Blueberry/Lemon Compote and fresh whipping cream. Can you say Happy Campers. The pay off for rolling my carcass out of bed at dark o'clock are the Thanks Mom, You are the Best! or You Rock! Mom. Does it get better than that. Not for me. So I will continue to research and find the healthiest breakfast food that I can to keep my family going.

Crispy Brown Rice Waffles

Mix in a large mixing bowl:
4 cups brown rice flour (just grind brown rice in your grain mill)
1 1/4 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
4 eggs separated
2 3/4 cups milk (if using almond milk add an extra egg yolk)

Put the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix well, Carefully separate the egg whites from the yolks, reserving the whites in a mixing bowl. Beat the whites just until soft peaks form that bend over at the tip. Put the yolks in the center of the flour mixture along with the liquid milk. Stir just until mixed. Gently, gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter so that all the air stays in them—this makes your waffles light and delicious! Cook in a waffle maker until crisp. Serves 4.

Blueberry Compote
2 cups frozen blueberries
1/4 cup water
Lemon Zest
spoonful of cornstarch
Bring the blueberries and water to a boil. Add the cornstarch slurry and heat until thick.
Take off of the heat and add the the lemon zest we like about 1/2 of a lemon....
Enjoy on top of your waffles......

Oh, How I Love Thee.......

2009-08-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Truly my heart flip flopped when I saw one of the sweetest clients that I have hand me a basket of her freshly picked raspberries. My mind immediately went to all of the things that I could make....... Something like this
Or this
Well I have a confession. They never made it to anything that time consuming. I ate the whole basket one by luscious one. Thank You Carol. I loved my gift of freshly picked with love raspberries.

It is an every day occurrence.....

2009-08-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Truly it is. The saddest part is every single person that comes in thinks they are the only person in this corner of the world that has ever dealt with pornography. Looking over my stat counter shows that every time I post a link to help overcome pornography that it is bombarded with hits. So after using EFT all day to help overcome the shame of this addiction. I wanted to share several of my favorite books to throw some light on this subject.
The first one is excellent and a must read in my opinion for any parent........ The second helps all of us understand how easy it is to become addicted no matter what the addiction. It also helps the entire family recognize how much this addiction affects our whole society. Again, it is one of the reasons I love zone therapy because it is truly helping you tap into your true sense of self.

Don't Jump: EFT on the Golden Gate Bridge

2009-07-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

Oh man it tasted soooo good.........

2009-07-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

OK so the plan was to check out this raw food culinary school for Meghan. She has been wanting to go to it for about a year and the cost keeps holding her up. It is very expensive for the amount of time you are there. We were close (kind of) so we decided to check it out in person. It is called Living Light and is located in Fort Bragg, California. AS we walked up we were a little confused because the pictures make it look a lot bigger than what it really is. They have a little shop where you can pick up 100% raw food lunches. I told Morgan to go ahead and pick something out to eat....... dumb idea........ He picked the sushi rolls. I love sushi and did not want to eat what I considered a fake version of sushi. I rolled my eyes and thought fine, buy the dang sushi. Oh My, Oh My! Can I even begin to tell you how good it was. It looked beautiful which made me laugh because Meghan has always presented food in a artistic way, even when she was a little girl. I knew that she would appreciate the presentation of this plate of sushi much more than her Dad was. We got even more excited for her to participate in the program here because it is all the things that she loves wrapped up into one program.

Almost Time......

2009-07-21T12:13:00.001-07:00

I still cannot believe it myself. We are getting close to actually leaving on a 7 day husband /wife trip. Did you get that important little side note......no kids. We will enjoy San Fransisco to the fullest. Riding our bikes over the bridge to have lunch in Tiburon, tickets to Wicked and the top down along Highway One. Seven days to totally catch up with my husband. We will have limited phone access but will do our best to return calls.
I of course will buy soap everywhere we go, I always do. Maybe I will find some that is so inspiring that we all will have to get together and make soap...... :)
California or Bust...........

My secret weapon.....

2009-07-16T18:09:00.001-07:00

Today I had a dear client ask me a question that actually made me laugh out loud. If you know me, you know that is something that does not happen often. Not that I do not enjoy things, it just does not happen a lot. She asked me in all sincerity, How do you do everything that you do...... First off she must always see me on a good day. Cause let me tell ya we have the other kind to. The secret is not letting it get to me when I do have an off day. Here is my secret weapon..... My Family........... My business, if it were to truly incorporate a name that represented it, it would be Bowen Family Studio..... Cause it takes all of us working as a team to pull it off. Sam is the best at working on labels for me. Today she printed several thousand to get me through the next month. She does it on a regular basis. I always read Dr. Amen's Blog and he wrote a great piece on how gratitude can help make your brain healthier. So today my brain is so healthy that it might burst. All because I am so grateful for this daughter of mine.......... So lets hear it......What are you grateful for................???????

A busy day.......

2009-03-31T21:26:00.001-07:00

Blair came today to interview me for a piece that she is doing on alternative health. For some reason my brain did not compute that it would include a camera. I was thinking old school reporter with a notepad and paper:) Imagine my surprise when she showed up with this massive camera. She made me feel so comfortable that I almost forgot that there was a huge camera in my zone room. She said she would email the piece when she was done. It will be fun to watch and see how it turned out. Zoning is something I cannot imagine my life without so it was worth being stretched to get the word out to other people. Right after she left we ran over to the radio station to run a radio ad on KVNU for the next set of Foot Zone Therapy Classes. Usually right before I go into production for the radio ad I get pretty nervous....... This time after having the camera on me the radio ad seemed easy:) We got it with one take, usually it takes me several. Moral of the story: stretching yourself makes things that seem hard a whole lot easier.

More salad anyone.......

2009-03-31T20:22:00.000-07:00

Morgan has not been feeling so great lately and it all boils down to drift in his diet. It is so easy for it to happen. A little treat her a little treat there and then all of a sudden his blood sugar is out of control. Type 2 Diabetes can be totally controlled by what goes into your mouth and exercising. So he got really motivated and started OPERATION HEALTH. He got so motivated that it got me excited and then it trickled to Meghan. So here is what we are doing........ All of the vegetables that we can eat cooked or raw. Salads at every meal as the main course. 1/2 of an avocado every day. A small handful of nuts every day. At least four pieces of fruit daily. No salt, dairy, sugar, oil or meat. We are also eating 2 ounces of fish a few times a week. All of the legumes we can eat. No butter which is killing me. Oatmeal every morning with just a touch of Agave to sweeten it.
Meghan and I are also T-Tapping every day and rebounding and running. We are on Day 6 and cannot believe the difference. I will start posting updates...........

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2009-03-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

If your house is like my house there is always laundry to do. Always......... Here is a laundry recipe that my family has used and literally takes pennies a load.

Recipe For Laundry Soap

1 quart Water (boiling)
2 cups Bar soap (grated) we only like fels naptha
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda

Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep it on low heat until the soap is melted.

Pour the soap water into a large, clean bucket and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.
Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed. At this point I will use a slug of orange essential oil. I mix it in very last. Why, it helps with the grease cutting and smells delightful.........
Cover the bucket and let it sit overnight. Use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it (it will gel)

Here are some answers that always get asked......

What is washing soda?

The brand of washing soda I’m most familiar with is Arm & Hammer. It is not the same as baking soda.........
Look in the laundry aisle of Lee's or Wal-mart, that’s where I find it.
The UPC code is 33200-03020 or 033200- Sometimes local grocery stores are willing to carry it.

What is Fels-Naptha?
It is a bar soap made by the Dial Corporation.... I have tried many other types of soap and they do not clean as well so I will only use Fels-Naptha. It is wrapped in paper and is a long bar of soap.

Kristen, I cannot believe you are recommending a bar of soap like Fels- Naptha...Why don't you use your handmade soap?
Believe me, I have tried it just does not work as well. Fels Naptha does have chemicals in it but compared to what is in laundry detergent it is a much bettter choice.

How long does it last...... Depends on how much laundry you do. I have made it in five gallon buckets and had it last for several weeks.

How do you grate the soap?
I use a salad shooter or you could grate it by hand.

One thing that you must know about this soap is.... If you have food stains you must pre-treat. I also use a downy ball filled with white vinegar in the rinse cycle. I do not like the vinegar smell it leaves so I keep a gallon with a few drops of lemon essential oil to help cut the smell.

I do not over dry my clothes therefore I do not use dryer sheets. My clothes come out smelling like sunshine.........

I make my own stain stick that I really like with this soap but that is for another post.......

There are many versions on the web. I have tried many and kept coming back to this one. How hard your water is will make a differece if you need to tweak the formula.

It was a party.......

2009-03-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Can you say trashed....... I always get so worried that people feel like they can go home and recreate that I forget to clean up after myself...... This class asked the best questions ever. I wanted to get a picture of everyone but I forgot......
One of my favorite things about class is meeting new people that are truly kindred spirits. This class was no exception. It will be fun to watch as they progress in their new found skills.

Why would you take the time to make your own.....

2009-03-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

lotion. The call went something like this...... Hi, I just heard your ad on the radio and I have a question. Why in the world would you take the time to make your own lotion when you can buy a bottle of Jergen's for a few bucks. I had to smile, not laugh, just smile:) It may seem strange to some people that I make all of my family's skin-care products. First of all, Jergen's preservative system creates formaldehyde which your liver does not break down but has to store. If you have dry skin it literally preserves it making the dry skin a lasting problem. I used to always buy Burt's Bee's. The product was natural did not have a lot of fillers and I liked the preservative system that they used. Fast forward several years and Burt's Bee's started making my girls skin itch. I started doing a little research and found out that it had been sold to none other than the CLOROX Corporation and slowly very slowly they have been changing the ingredients to boost the bottom line. For example real Vitamin E is good for your skin and can actually heal topically. Clorox has now put synthetic Vitamin E in everything. Synthetic Vitamin E does nothing for your skin and is chemically derived. The reason is, it is so cheap and many people do not realize the difference in the labeling. So what is a mom to do, other than figure out how to make her own stuff for a fraction of the cost. Over the years the ingredients have changed and I am just waiting for them to add mineral oil which is truly one of the worst oils for your skin. Anyway, it was a wake up call for me. Making it myself, I control what goes on our skin and I save a ton of money in the process. I also love the creative outlet. It is a fun learning curve for me to learn about blending and processing and oil properties. My girls love it because we always have handmade gifts on hand for their friends. So it is a win-win situation for all. No more steroid creams for their skin, no more dry itchy skin that actually cracks and bleeds in the winter time and a project that the whole family has enjoyed.
added: Here is a ingredient list of their lip balm. Notice the Canola Oil and may contain Carmine. uck!!!!!! I do not want crushed beetle wings on my lips. We ingest about 30% of what goes on our lips so I deleted all the carmine from my product line. So many people are sensitive to Carmine but it is the cheapest way to color a lip balm. The bottom line profit. I truly do not want that to be the decision maker for what goes on my skin. The only way to do that is to make my own. Let me teach you how in one of my hands on classes. Cut the learning curve because I already made the mistakes. I will show you how to make your own body-care products quickly and teach you how to save money in the process.

Classes Soap and Lotion.....

2009-03-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

When: Saturday March 21st
Soap starting at 10:00 am cost of class 125.00
Lotion starting at 2:00 pm cost of class 125.00
Take both classes and take the scrub class for FREE!!!!!!!!!!
I supply everything that you need for the class. Is all you do is show up ready to learn.......

This is an intensive hands on class. You will take home all of the product that you make. Either a pound of soap or several pounds of lotion. You get to choose the scent.
You also receive a binder with the formulations that I use in my own business and websites to help you explore further.
* You will learn the shelf life of your products
* How to determine what kind of preservative to use
* How to tweak the formulation for problem skin
* Labeling options
* How to keep hexane out of your products

We have so much fun in this class come and join us.........
Location to be announced.........

Essential Oil Class

2009-03-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday March 10th) is one of my favorite classes. Probably because it is different every time I teach it. The cost is 10.00 and it starts at 6:00 pm. It takes place around my kitchen table. So bring a note pad and pen and lets talk oils. We will have some first hand exploration with several of my favorite oils. Which oil do I turn to when my family feels a cold coming on.....? Which oil is my favorite to clean with? We will go over the history of oils and how to incorporate them in the day to day happenings of life. My all time favorite oil (at least for this week) is pain ease. We will talk about how to use it for a headache and what points to apply it to. Experience each oil and how it smells. We have room for two more people in this class so it is not to late to join us............

Homemade Baby Food........

2009-03-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

My FIL had few opinions on how we raised his grand kids. He said he trusted us to do a good job. I will get back with my opinion on how we have done after all of them have become giving, caring adults. He did voice 2 major concerns. One of them being what we started feeding them. He did not want me using commercial baby food. He was pretty adamant about it also. His passion was in sustainable agriculture and he worked with large growers like Blue Diamond Almonds and Gerber Peaches. His goal was to try to get them to use less pesticides. The chemical salesman would come around and say spray and he educated them on not falling prey to the pressure of the chemical salesman. He would work with them on beneficial applications. His concern over Gerber baby food was that for their peaches they used a extremely soft skinned peach that was genetically modified so the skin was so thin they did not have to peel them thereby saving money on processing them into baby food. The problem is every bug within miles had an easy treat of peaches. They were the most chemically sprayed fruit he had ever seen and the skin were processed right into the baby food. My in-laws bought me a little food grinder and I used ice cube trays and made my own. It was really a simple process and so much better as you can control what kind of produce you are using. The grinder is still around along with a whole line of things to make it even easier to make your own baby food. The cost is a huge money saver even with a couple of fun add ons to make it easier. There are so many websites I do not think you would even need to buy a book.

Very Sensitive Subject...........

2009-03-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

I hesitate to even speak of this. Pornography takes no break though. Once infested in your mind it is pervasive in the most important relationships in your life. It's ugly face has reared its head in our home. As I speak with clients it has touched your lives also. It has no boundaries regarding age or gender. I have shared with many of you the use of EFT in relieving the guilt cycle. My husband sees the consequences with students that are trapped in the cycle. It seems to me that the guilt and shame keep us from supporting each other through the process. Think of 20 years ago the taboo of talking molestation ran deep. The culture has changed as victims come forward they have a network of support to facilitate the healing process. I hope that it does not take 20 years to create that culture for those who have been touched by porn. This is a resource that is helping people to change the cycle of porn. The site is http://candeocan.com/..... It has helped many people. Start the healing by exposing the darkness. I really like what I see on this site. I have not gone in depth but if it rears its ugly head again this is one of the first places I would go to for help.

Decent Snacking........

2009-03-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

Ok! this is exciting news. These cookies are delish. They are chewy and a little sweet and have only three ingredients. Unsweetened coconut, honey and egg whites. We always buy a can when we go on a road trip (ok we buy a couple) but hey there are a lot of us and these are so addictive. I picked up a can today at Smith's Marketplace and they were $3.49 a can. If you buy 2 cases online at amazon you get free shipping and they come to $3.18 a can. My family is going to be so happy. Nice treat food without all the junk....Now where I am going to hide two cases of cookies:)
Here is a little more info on these cookies.

Garden Update.....

2009-03-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

I must admit I think my husband has jumped the gun this year on the garden. We are going to have major foliage in the house waiting until it is warm enough to go outside. It makes him sooooooo happy though that I have not said anything. These are the cucumbers that we will feast on this summer. Cucumbers are a good source of Vitamin C and A but my favorite part of cucumbers is the silica. Why do I adore silica???? Let me count the ways:) I will tell you a little secret, in the summer I will juice cucumbers and the silica will smooth out the wrinkles around my eyes. Go ahead look at my about me page on blogger and you will see them. The silica in the cucumber is one of the best things for your skin. I will juice them every day in the summer and you can tell by the way my skin will glow and firm up. I do not like to juice the ones from the store with wax because it can contain ethanol which is not a good thing for your skin. So summer the Bowen family is ready and waiting for your appearance...........

You are not going to believe this one

2009-03-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

We (I always say we when my girls do something) made marshmallows with agave nectar. They were so easy that Hannah made them by herself and they taste like a real marshmallow. Now please bear in mind that just because agave is not sugar it still needs to be used sparingly. Think of what we could make though without the excess sugar........ snap crackle and pop are coming to my mind. It will be interesting to see how they dry.
Recipe
1 cup agave
2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1 tsp.vanilla
6 TBL. cold water
1/4 tsp. salt
Dissolve the gelatin in the water (Hannah put it the bowl in a bowl of hot water to help dissolve it) and then add the agave and other ingredients.
Beat for about 10 minutes until thick. Spread them out on a lightly floured cookie sheet. Let dry for several hours and cut.

review: these tasted just like the real thing while they were wet. We will see what they taste like in the morning and how they melt to make rice krispy treats............UPDATE....The next morning they were dry on the outside and still tasted like a marshmallow. They do not toast like a marshmallow but made rice krispy treats that no one could tell the difference........

Moments that change you.....

2009-02-28T22:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in life there is a moment suspended in time that changes your course forever. The last three days of my life was one of those moments. Living through the moment was effortless. Leading up to THE moment was almost my undoing. It sat on my shoulders and weighed me down, it talked to me in my mind on a constant basis that I was not capable. Sometimes I would fight down the fear and conquer it but most of the time it just bubbled inside me. I should say I thought it bubbled inside me. It had been leaking out for days weaving its claws around the people that I love most. I was sick (literally) from carrying the weight of the fear. I had it so built up in my head that it was consuming me. When it was over, one of my children put their arms around me and said Mom you are back, I was not sure if we would ever see you again. I must admit that stung a little. I thought that I had masked the FEAR a little better than that. I have just spent the last three days in the company of people who lovingly supported me while I attempted to share with them the things that I have learned over the last few years of Zoning. There was such an array of people in the room and I felt the pressure to please them all. Living the moment ended up not being about pleasing them but about being a part of them. We became stronger as a whole than we were individually. I laughed with them and shared with them. They were patient with me as I asked questions about how I had done. Looking back moments later I realized that I felt so comfortable with them that I was asking for reassurance and they freely gave it to me. I think that they learned some new things that they can take forward and share with people in their lives. I seldom feel apart of things. It's as if I am on the outside looking in. Today I was in the middle and participating. Thank You, all of you, for your strengths and sharing things that you want to strengthen. In the process of doing that you helped me to find my wings. I will always remember the last three days and smile. In a way it was like a zone, a three day long glorious zone. It purged out the old and reconnected me with my original genetic coding. I feel closer to the person that God intended me to be. And that is the essence of zoning.

When I think of Eucalyptus I think of

2009-02-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

Koala bears....Not sure why but that is what comes to mind. My sinuses were killing me and my neti pot had broken........ insert screaming here....... So I turned to my essential oils to see what I could do to help relieve the pressure. I knew that Eucalyptus was anti viral and anti bacterial and I was concerned that I was going into infection so I tried a steam bath. Be careful on these......... the oils are concentrated in the steam. It really did help relieve the congestion which in turn helped the pressure but there was a huge side benefit..... my pores!!!!!! sorry to get so personal but the pores on my nose are huge and I am always trying things to help them. Using the eucalyptus as a steam for my face tightened them up. The skin on my face felt so good after the steam bath.
So I have added pore reducer to my list of things I love about eucalyptus...Think of the application here... oily skin and pore reduction... I love it....... I have always used it to help bring fevers down. Try rubbing it on your ankles and then putting on a pair of socks. I use it in a spray bottle to clean the bathroom also. So what ways do you use eucalyptus? I like the radiata for kids and the globulus for adults. The radiata is not quite as strong. I have a new sample coming of some Lemon Eucalyptus that I am excited to try.

What is worse than

2009-02-21T19:04:00.002-08:00

a sinus infection? A sinus infection and a broken finger........... arggghhhh
I realized that I totally view illness differently. 10 years ago I would have run to the Doctor and gotten an antibiotic and just plowed through life. Fast forward to 2009 and I realized that my body was trying to tell me to slow down. My eating had gotten erratic getting ready for classes and my water intake had significantly decreased. WaaLaa a sinus infection... Miah made me some soup that I added a little miso . Oh man it was so good. I made an herbal steam (i used chammomile) to unclog my nose and relieve some of the pressure and then I took a nap so my body could focus on healing. I also took a tincture of echinacea and garlic. Both of those help pump up immune. I also pumped up my water intake to thin the secretions. The herbal steam totally cleared me out. What did I ever do without those.........
The other thing that I did was look up emotional reasons for a sinus infection. Oh man sometimes that really hits the spot. Emotional reasons behind a sinus infection is another person irritating you. I had really let someone get under my skin so to speak. It gave me a chance to look at the problem with a different filter. I really tried to process some of the emotion so that I could truly let it go. I am feeling better and am more aware of my body again after being called to task.
all typing to be forgiven becasue of my hurt finger......:)