"Wheat is Evil"--I'm not buying it

I know this might bring the grain-hating crusaders out of the woodwork, but I want to speak up.

Swearing off whole wheat and all grains is really, really popular right now. It seems that every third person has suddenly discovered they are gluten intolerant.  It reminds me of 20 years ago when every third person was lactose intolerant.  (and now most of those people are back to consuming dairy and most of the lactose-intolerance products are long gone)  Suddenly everybody is suffering from eating something that we've been eating all along, and this was just figured out in the last 5 years?  Um....ok.

While I FULLY respect your experience, I just cannot get on board with this myself, nor as a sweeping generalization for all people.  

Last year I did a 19-day juice fast.  I did it as a cleanse and detox.  I did it to get down to no dependency on sugar/dairy/wheat/grains/anything and then see how I felt and what seemed to work for me once I went back to eating regular food.  Know what happened?  Here's a bit from what I wrote 4 months after the juice fast ended:

For me, I did not experience any amazing energy, mental clarity, 

or general extraordinary wonderfulness either during my fast or after it.  

When I eventually tried eating a little bread, I found that my tumultuous stomach calmed down a bit, 

which was a better reaction than I had experienced with anything else I had eaten since exiting the fast.  

I didn't experience any adverse reactions that I could identify, and so wheat and brown rice and oatmeal have continued to be a regular part of my diet ever since.

I'm in the midst of updating my healthy eating class today, and I wondered about my recommendation of using whole wheat and other whole grains as a part of a healthy diet.  Seeing as how most people are eating non-whole grains all the time, I have to believe that switching to whole grains will be healthier for them. For people that suspect that they may have an intolerance to wheat/gluten/whatever, I think you should do a serious experiment with eliminating it from your diet and see what happens.  I know my mom is experiencing some encouraging health improvements after going gluten-free, and I think that's great.  What I cannot support is the vast vilification of all grains for all people.  

Yes, I read Wheat Belly.  All of it.  And that is one of the reasons I decided to do the juice fast.  But I remain unconvinced.  Sorry.

Amazon is My Favorite Health Food Store

Many years ago when I first opened Supermom's Health and Wellness, it was very challenging to find some of my favorite products if a person didn't live near a health food store.  Thankfully, as time has gone on, Amazon has become an absolutely fabulous resource for almost all of my favorite healthy staples.

What's so great about it?

It's easy to find everything.  No more struggling through an unfamiliar store layout trying to track down something you need.  (or making a special trip and then finding out they've discontinued it or are out of stock)

Product reviews let you know how others feel about the items, and if there is something that people like better.  When trying new things, it's especially nice to have some assurance from other customers that what you're considering getting is a good product.

Free Shipping!  Most of what's available on amazon is eligible for free shipping with a low minimum order.  Lots of that is available for even faster shipping through the Amazon Prime program, which I love!

What is Amazon Prime?  For an annual fee you get FREE 2-day shipping on all of your qualifying purchases (which is almost every single thing I ever look at), without  a minimum purchase. (You also get free streaming movies and some other benefits that you should check out.) Seeing as how I often find myself thinking, "Oh no!  I need a birthday gift STAT!" that 2-day shipping has saved me from spending a day driving to The Big City to purchase Legos for birthday boys.  It is also great when I need more coconut sugar, maple syrup, or other pantry items. (or missing vacuum cleaner heads!)  With a couple simple clicks amazon will have it on the way to me and it'll be here before I would have had time to go buy it in person.  (Maybe a third of the time my Amazon Prime purchases arrive **the next day**!!!)

Subscribe & Save makes my life so easy!  Very often when shopping on Amazon for grocery and household items you will see an option to add it to your Subscribe & Save account.  Depending on the timing and amount of items you purchase through Subscribe & Save, this can save you 5-15% off the regular prices, PLUS give you Free Shipping!  Some of the things I love about this:

--The even lower price, off of what was already a GREAT price to begin with!

--The fast shipping.

--I never forget what items I like to get and never have to look them up again.  I can easily see from my Subscribe & Save management area what I bought last time.

--Amazon sends an email about about a week before it's time for your next Subscribe & Save shipment.  This I especially love because I have the opportunity to adjust my order.  If I don't want to get an item this time around, it's a simple click to solve.  If I need a different quantity than I ordered last time, I can change that too.  It also shows me if the price is higher or lower than last time I bought, so if I bought something when it was on sale but now it is not, I know that and can decide if I want to get it at the current price.  And if I don't want something at all, that's easy to click and remove as well.

--Basically, there is no risk to you taking the good deal on the Subscribe & Save price when you are buying something.  Amazon allows you to discontinue that item and never get it again, easily and with no hijinks.

All-in-all, Subscribe & Save gives me great prices that are normally lower than I would have gotten in-store, and I don't have to leave the house to get it done.  The ease of using the system is fabulous, and there are no sneaky tricks to worry about.

What do I buy from Amazon?  Here's a list of a few things I regularly get through my Subscribe & Save?

Heritage O's Cereal

Heritage Flakes cereal

Coconut Sugar

Organic Oats

Coconut oil when it goes on good sales

My daughter's favorite shampoo

Fair Trade Dutch Process Cocoa

Himalayan Sea Salt

Maple Syrup (I stock up when there are good deals)

I also buy birthday and Christmas gifts, school supplies, household goods, office supplies, and many other things from Amazon.  It makes my life so much easier!


So, you'll see me recommending Amazon for a ton of products nowadays.  I feel like they system is so beautifully easy to use, it's definitely a wonderful tool available to busy and budget-conscious families!  I hope this post has been helpful to you in understanding how Amazon can help YOU!

Are you an Amazon shopper?  Do you use Subscribe & Save?

You Might Want to Check Out....Aldi!

I've been to Aldi maybe 4 times in my life.  While I heard people talking about their low prices, when I would scan the ads, it always seemed like they only sold the kind of foods I would never buy.  (And by that I mean canned and processed stuff.)

But then I checked it out and what do you know?  They had an organic cheerios cereal!  And that got my attention, oh yes it did!  (General Mills has spent a lot of money to avoid having to label their GMO-containing foods.  Cheerios don't seem so wholesome or safe anymore...)

And now?  MORE organics are coming!  Starting July 10, 2013 there will be quite a few organic items on special for the week, so you'll want to get in there with your cash or debit card and buy 'em while they are available!

Also, organic grass-fed beef and antibiotic-free chicken!

You can read more about the specifics of what's coming here, and check out this helpful article about buying whole foods at Aldi's.  And, for those of you who do not know the mysterious ways of shopping at Aldi's, you simply must learn the ropes here.

I'd love to know:  Do you have an Aldi near you?  Have you ever shopped there?  For seasoned Aldi shoppers, tell us your best tips for what to buy!

Using Up a Bunch of Milk

We were given two gallons of milk the other day.  While I'm not much of a fan of cow's milk, much less non-organic milk, I'm not a purist.  If someone gives us two gallons of milk, I use it up as best I can before it goes bad.

I love to make use of what I have on hand.  I enjoy finding recipes that make something tasty out of the stuff that's left when it seems like "There's nothing to eat!"  It is a little game I play by myself, where I try to figure out what meals and snacks can be made from what we have in the house, and grocery shop as little as possible.

I have to stay on top of the makins' as much as possible.  Seeing as how we're a family that doesn't offer much in the way of convenience foods, we can quickly run into this situation:

My boys say some version of that to me, like......every other day.

Boys:  "Mom, there's nothing to eat!"

Me:  "What do you mean there's nothing to eat?  There are grapes, bananas, bread, butter, sandwich stuff, leftover pasta, leftover casserole, crackers, cheese, refrigerator oatmeal, quinoa salad, stuff to make burritos, stuff to make soup, stuff to make......"

Boys:  "Yeah....but.....there's nothing to eeeeaaaattttt......."

Yeah.

So....free milk.  How to use it up?  And produce identifiable food stuffs?

2 batches of homemade yogurt in the crock pot:  The older milk went into this so that I could stretch the use-by date way out.  The yogurt will be used in morning smoothies, as a sour cream substitute in casseroles, and instead of heavy cream in some recipes.

Homemade Hot Cocoa: Once for a snack, once with our German Pancake meal

Awesomesauce:  Will by mixed into casseroles that I will get made ahead and put into the freezer.

German Pancakes:  A simple recipe that my boys enjoy

Refrigerator Oatmeal:  Will provide breakfasts and snacks for my boys for a few days.


What are some of your favorite ways to use up milk or other perishable pantry staples?

Productive Morning in the Kitchen

Some days I get into the kitchen with a plan and it is a beautiful thing.

After my delicious morning smoothie I got to work:

I'm making homemade yogurt in the crock pot.

I made a batch of refrigerator oatmeal for my boys.

One pan of Banana Chocolate Chip Brownies.  (I had two elderly bananas that needed to be used up.)

A batch of Mediterranean Quinoa Salad.  (My go-to lunch and dinner this summer.  Throw it on a salad or eat it alone!)

5 pound of organic potatoes are baking in the oven.  Later today they will be turned into a delicious vegetarian casserole.

One pitcher of healthy lemonade.  (Today I also added lime juice.  So nice!)

And I had a whole lot of abandoned aging clementines that nobody is eating, so I decided that we would turn them into juice.  Voila!  Gorgeous and delicious.  I have drawer space now for something else that people actually do want to eat, and will have no trouble getting takers to drink the juice.

It feels good to have a plan, to use what I have on hand, and to piggyback various projects upon each other so that clean-up and appliance use is shared and maximized.

For instance:

--the Banana Choc. Chip Brownies called for butter, but I have quite a bit of coconut oil on hand, so I used that instead.

--the organic potatoes really needed to hurry up and get used, so I planned to make a casserole with them today.  (recipe here)

--I accidentally over-bought organic milk, so turning half a gallon of it into yogurt helps preserve it for another use.

--the clementines were actually given to us, but were getting old and the kids weren't enjoying the texture that much.  Since I already had the electric citrus juicer out, we decided to also use it for the clementines.  One of the kids came along and volunteered to do the juicing, because, you know, that's a fun thing!  :)

--the quinoa salad helped me use up one garden-fresh tomato and the last half of a cucumber.

--the oven was in use for baking the brownies, and then went on to bake the potatoes as well.  (only one pre-heating time needed, and there will be plenty of time for the taters to cool down before I take them on to the next step later today)

I love, love, love to use up the food I already have on hand!  Am I the only one who would enjoy successfully clearing the shelves of the freezer and pantry and not having to go to the store for a long, long time?!

Thoughts on PMS, the cyclical nature of women, and respect

It never fails that when I talk about any of the products that help with hormones or fatigue, there are women eagerly wanting to buy some.  Recently one of my friends purchased some of the new liquid B-12 because of how tired she feels, particularly during PMS.  Her comments got me thinking about these issues, and I had some thoughts I wanted to share, and I hope to open up a conversation about these things.

Some women have it worse than others.  It isn't nice to spend a week or 10 days a month (or more) feeling like you hate people, want to quit life, or crying and feeling miserable.  Hormones that are out-of-whack can sure make like feel harder than it really is.  I'm all for taking some vitamins to help me feel less homicidal one week a month.  LOL

However, I also have an intuition about this:  We are cyclical creatures, ladies.  We are not, by nature, made to be "even-steven" every day of our lives.  We are created to live out our childbearing years on a rollercoaster, of sorts.  Should we always be at war with this?  Is there a way we can make peace and accept this and allow it to nourish us?

I get it.  We live in a go, Go, GO! world.  Most of us are busier than we'd ideally like to be.  Most of us give and give to our families and our friends and our jobs and our social obligations, leaving ourselves in the dust.

I get it.  Nobody cares if you've got cramps or need a nap or are crying at commercials.  They all NEED you, and so you stuff it all down, or set it aside, and carry on.  I have been a mother for 20 years and have six children.  I know.  I know.  I know.

You can take some vitamins or supplements to help you not feel quite-so-strongly that you want to -smack- somebody.  You can eat some extra chocolate, too.  But what if you anticipated each cycle and made space for what your very nature is communicating to you month after month, year after year?  What if instead of fighting what your body is asking for, you choose to surrender, and see what happens?

Here is my challenge to you:  For your next couple of cycles, be mindful of how you feel and when you feel it.  Take notes if you need to.  Download the P Tracker app for your phone and make notes in there.  Notice when you feel energetic and full of ideas.  Notice when you feel tired and need naps.  Notice when the cramps come and you want to just curl up and rest quietly.  Notice what is really coming out when you feel angry or upset.  (Maybe you aren't crazy!  Maybe, just maybe, it is true stuff coming up at a time when you do not have the reserves available to ignore it.  Maybe it is stuff you should deal with later in the month.)  Take note of how you think and how you feel, and after a couple cycles you will probably start to see a trend.  From there, start to plan to take care of yourself by honoring these stages of your cycle.

When the time comes that you need a nap, make time for it, and thank your body for helping you to take a much-needed and well-deserved rest.

When the time comes that your body is crampy and sore, don't automatically silence it with a pill and keep forcing your way through life.  Try to take time to nurture yourself as kindly and sweetly as you nurture everyone else that you love in your life.

When the time comes that you feel quiet and want to curl up with a book and stay at home, try to give yourself that space.  Get your cozy blanket, a box of tissues, and read and laugh or cry or whatever you feel like doing, and just accept yourself at that point.

It does us no good to only find ourselves acceptable when we are energetic, At Your Service, prettied up, cheerful, and thin.  Ladies--you are more than all of that.  It is time to accept yourself in all of your womanliness, including the times that ask us to pull away and take time for ourselves.  Honor it.

Getting Well

Earlier this year I shared that I've been working with a naturopath in order to solve the mystery of why I wasn't really experiencing a high level of health/wellness even when I was putting forth a lot of effort to eat really well and exercise.  She had several observations and suggestions for me, all of which centered around the idea that my thyroid, adrenals, and parasympathetic nervous system needed a lot more support.  All of that made sense to me, so I got started on some Standard Process supplements (some thyroid support and some iodine and something else I can't remember right now), tried to follow the lifestyle suggestions for helping burnt-out adrenals to heal (everything from no sugar and no caffeine --easy because I don't caffeinate-- to no stress  --hahahaha-- and going to bed early and sleeping in til 9am --again double, triple, and quadruple HA to all of that).  She also suggested that I start going to a specific chiropractor that uses the activator method and has the type of thinking process and approach that she felt was going to really benefit me.

The kicker to the chiropractor was that he is an hour away from me.  And he is out-of-network for my insurance.  And he would want to see me multiple times a week for quite some time.

Can you hear my groans???

And of course, there is nobody else that does his special brand of what he does anywhere closer.  (only one other one in the state, in fact)

Well, I was told to do this in April.  But then we started taking some of our kids to brain training 5 days a week (2 hour minimum chunk of our day each time we go) I didn't think it was possible to fit in anything else.  But by the end of July I had decided that somewhere in all of this crazy, busy life, my health had to be supported as well.  After all, just about everything runs on Mom Power around here, in one way or another.  Looking toward the upcoming school year and many exciting but challenging possibilities for the year, I wanted to be experiencing a much higher degree of energy, health, and vitality.  So off to the new chiropractor I went.

It has now been probably 6 weeks or so since I began.  It has not been easy to scrape the time for this out of my schedule.  But you know what?  It's helping!!  My terrible lower back problems are fading off into the distance more and more each week.

I used to be just about crippled every time I would get out of bed in the morning.  It would take me about an hour of getting going in the morning before I felt like my back could do things like bend over to unload the dishwasher, bend over to tie my shoes, carry laundry, etc.  There have been times when I have wondered how I would even get myself and all the kids out of the house safely if there was ever a fire or emergency at night if my husband wasn't home.  (yes, these are the things I think about)

Now almost every day I wake up without any back pain or weakness.  I am regularly hauling around laundry right from the time I wake up, with no problems at all!  Not that I had big dreams of slinging laundry from dawn til dusk for my whole life, but it is really great to have so much more of my back strength working!

The other great thing is that I really think my parasympathetic nervous system thing is improving too.  I used to be tired a lot.  My body could not recover from exercise or exertion very well.  Where all the "other people" would exercise and then sing praises of their increased energy and wonderful mental clarity, I would never, ever get that.  I would just feel zapped, hungry, and needing a nap.  (I didn't have time to take the naps, mind you, I just wished I could!)  Exercise had become such a zapper for me, hijacking whatever energy I had for the entire day's supply, that eventually I just took exercise off my list because I couldn't spare the energy for it and still homeschool my boys and run the rest of my life as well!  (Yes, I gained back all the weight I had lost from all of my exercise diligence, but at least I didn't feel as awful and I could manage my life fairly well.)

Since getting into the chiropractic care, I have had one really interesting and consistent improvement, and that is that my body is waking up early almost every day.  I've not ever been an early riser by nature.  My default preference (if I could live like a teenager) would be to stay up late and sleep in every day.  Of course, The Life of Supermom cannot accomodate this option most of the time.  It has just been really, really, REALLY nice to have my body rest and then wake up and say, "OK, I'm good.  Let's go get some of this stuff done!" With all of the many, many things that I have going and that I'd like to have going, this is a big, big blessing!

I don't know if I can count on this early-riser thing to keep going, but I'm very pleased with it for what it has been.  See?  Today I woke up at 5:30, and now YOU get to read this blog post!  ;)

Supermom's Ten Tasty Zucchini Recipes

Nobody needs 101 zucchini recipes to wade through. You know you’d only end up wasting a ton of time and ingredients in search of a few decent ones that you’d actually want to have again.

Over the years my family has grown zucchini in our garden over and over again, and it’s always the same: After a few hot days in June or July, every flat surface of the house is covered with zucchini, and other than zucchini bread, I have no idea what else to do with it.

Sure, I’ve tried a few recipes here and there, but usually my kids didn’t like it, and it felt like a waste. Are there any *good* recipes for zucchini out there?

Well, this year I decided to find out. My mission: Develop just ten *really good* and healthy recipes. And they couldn’t all be variations of zucchini bread.

My test kitchen was fired up for most of June and July. It was *much* harder than I expected! Eventually persistence prevailed and I found ten that I am really pleased with.

This collection includes great zucchini recipes for lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts! We have a fabulous soup, a knock-your-socks-off grilled sandwich (it’s true!), a yummy casserole, two great cookie recipes, a chocolate cake recipe that will soothe your chocolate cravings with compromising your health goals, as well as one delicious zucchini bread recipe and a couple muffin recipes, and more. I also share my best tips on freezing your abundant supply of zucchini so that you can enjoy it year-round!

Better yet: every recipe is healthified! For the baked goods you will be using whole wheat flour and nutritious and delicious coconut sugar. (It’s not weird. You’ll love it. I promise.) Every recipe is vegetarian-friendly. All of these recipes use healthy, natural ingredients that will do your body good.

This is the ebook that will make you look forward to zucchini season and enjoy using it all year long! Available for instant download.  Priced super cheap, so everybody can enjoy it!

Clickety-click to buy it now!

Breakfast Salad?

This is the first that I've heard of a breakfast salad being "all the rage."  Have you heard of it?  Maybe it's just something that's raging in places where people normally eat Weetbix.  ;)  Go check it out and tell me what you think.  Would you want to try breakfast salad?  Have you heard of this phenomenon?  Am I the last to know about this?!

(Personally, I do not think it looks appealing, but I am going to have to sleuth this out some more and see what else I can find.  I very much love my morning smoothies, as you know, and since I put spinach or greens into it, plus now add chia seeds, I feel quite good about it.  There's something about a cool, refreshing, and sweet glass of smoothie in the morning that seems so -right- to me.  ;)  )

It's Finally READY!

FINALLY!  It's done.  Go check it out here.  If you would like to save yourself some time in the kitchen while also feeding your family good, nutritious food, you are going to love this.  Use coupon code "bloggylove" to take 50% off. (just because I love ya)

Our children are always with us, and we are always with them

So often scientific discovery echoes what we already know instinctively and in our hearts.  This article is awesome, and so is this video.

 

Moms: Keep on building

"I'm starting to kinda freak out, Mom."

It was my oldest.  He's nearly 20, and in a short while he'll be moving across the country for a great adventure.  Some of the realities of his plans were starting to seem a little scary to him this morning.

So we grabbed our morning smoothies and sat on the couches in the living room early today and talked about it.

It was going well until he said, "So how do you really feel about all of this, Mom?  You don't really ever say anything about how you really feel."

Yeah.  That.

Well, what can I say?


When I think of you going all the way to Texas, I know you can do it. 

I know you are going to be fine, that you can get a job and manage your life and eat decent food and make decent choices.

I'm happy that you are having a grand adventure because I know life will tend to funnel out those opportunities more and more as the years go by.

I know you will make some mistakes, too, but you'll be ok.

You've got everything you need to spread your wings and fly, which is exactly where you should be as a 20 year old young man.

But when I think of you going all the way to Texas, I know that

-I will miss being able to talk to you and work on projects together in person

-you might end up staying longer than expected, or putting down roots and living far away from us for a long time or forever.  This could be a bigger goodbye than just a few months.

-and I think about my little boy that I adored to a level that I didn't even know was possible before he was placed in my arms.  He is the one who brought out the warrior mother in me and changed me forever.  He is the one I never slept without touching for years when he was little.


I won't tell you that the years go by quickly.  If anything, having my oldest being a little tyke seems a million miles away from today.  It's like a distant, beautiful dream that makes me cry just because of the overwhelming amount of pure love and joy that is contained in all of it.

Childhood memories often make me cry.  I think it's because it seems like something has been lost.  There once was a beautiful, curly-haired, spunky little boy who disappeared because he grew up.  It's bittersweet.  Yes, he's still in there, and I love it when I see glimpses of that same fun little character that was my close buddy for so many years.  We have built upon an amazing storehouse of unconditional love, adoring companionship, laughter, memories, great conversations, and much more.  I don't regret a minute of the time I spent lavishing love on any of my kids, and as I am now moving into this stage where they are starting to leave the nest at greater distances and for longer periods of time, I can see even more clearly the value of all the investments I have made as a mother.

You won't regret it, moms.  Your generous, wholehearted love toward your children is what you are building on.  It is a strong foundation.  Build it up.  You can do this.

I got riled up today...

All of the kerfluffle surrounding Chick-Fil-A recently resulted in several facebook friends urging everyone to go to the nearest establishment to buy up chick'n sandwiches to show support for their recent public stance on a social/political issue.  My reaction was basically, "Why would I go eat garbage on purpose?"  Regardless of anything Chick-Fil-A does or does not agree with, I don't eat their food because it's full of chemicals, preservatives, MSG, and a whole bunch of other non-real-food items.  Did you know that their chicken sandwich has nearly **100** ingredients?!  ONE HUNDRED, people!  ONE HUNDRED!  For something that should theoretically be chicken and bread.  Wow.  You can see the label here and learn more about what all of those lovely chemicals actually are, and why you shouldn't be eating them at all.

Of course, Chick-Fil-A is no different from pretty much every other fast "food" place.  In order to be that fast, that cheap, and that tasty, corners have to be cut.  And typically that means that fresh food has to be tinkered with and altered to the point that it is frankenfood.  The more you learn about this stuff, the worse it gets, and the more motivated you will be to pack food for the car or wait to eat when you get home.

One facebook friend said I was being pretty harsh in my observations, and after some thought I decided that I do have harsh feelings on this subject. I started thinking about dear friends and relatives that have died from cancer and leukemia, and about young children that have also had cancer and died.  All the time I hear people say how much they hate cancer.  They say, "What is causing cancer?"  "Why does this happen?"  We wear pink ribbons and "walk for the cure" and donate money for cancer research, to find a cure for cancer.

What about prevention?

Not enough people want to look at what we are putting in our mouths, what is in the water we drink, what is in the cleaners and cosmetics and body care products we use, what is in our medicines and vaccines, and what's going into every bit of our environment and the very air we breathe.

Why do so many human bodies have thriving cancer cells, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure, obesity, and a zillion other problems?  Why do we see young children even having high rates of these problems?  Might there be a connection to how we are (not) taking care of ourselves?  Might we be damaging our bodies with our food, water, air, environment, medical approach, or something else?

Our bodies are made to run on certain types of fuel, and yet it is getting harder and harder to be able to make that happen.  As one of my friends pointed out, it often seems like in order to have truly healthy food, we have to DIY pretty much everything.

I feel that way every time I find out that one more thing that I thought was safe isn't.

It's a bummer.

It can be incredibly hard to manage all of these things in our culture.  Even as passionately as I feel about these issues, I find it difficult to consistently live out my convictions to the extent that I would like to.  And for all of the many very good things that I *do* consistently manage to do, even I do not experience perfect health, perfect energy, or have ease with weight management.  So, when I tell you that I have great compassion for all of us as we strive to respond to these issues and guard our health, believe me that it's true.  I have to have compassion for my own human frailties and shortcomings every single day.  We all have to be kind to ourselves, as the deck is stacked against us in so many ways.

What I do think is possible is for us to continue to educate ourselves, read labels, ask questions, and not turn away from the job of doing better as we respond to what we learn.

Food, cosmetics, cleaners, body care, basic health care, and water are all generally things that we can find solutions for and work toward improving in our everyday lives.  Unfortunately, there are many things within our environment that we cannot immediately control that can still interfere with our health.  We could do all the "right things" that we know to do and still not experience great health, not be healed from an illness, or we could even get sick with something terrible and die.  We don't have any guarantees.  We can do our best to keep ourselves and our families strong and healthy, and leave the rest to God.

Who Needs a Hug?

What do you think?  Are you a hugger?  

Do you hug a lot in your family?

One of the best things about having a bunch of kids 

is that we have a lot of people to hug at our house!  :)

I am a work in progress

And so are YOU!

Isn't that good to know?

We don't have to be *all done* and have it *all right* right now!

We are all growing, glowing, works in progress!  (even if you can't see the glow right now, I believe it is in there)

I love that.  It gives me a happy lift and takes the pressure off.  Today is not the finish line for having it all together.  (GOOD THING, too!  Can I get an amen?)

Yesterday I re-joined the local fitness center.  It closed to members awhile back, and in recent months as I have seen all of those lost 15 pounds (from my juice fast) find their way right back to my body, I have been thinking oh-me-oh-my-what-am-I-going-to-do?!  This situation is getting out of control, yo!

And then my friend Maria mentioned that the fitness center had re-opened (Don't worry.  I don't think it was a hint.) and the next morning I was down there first thing, signing myself up for a 6-month membership.

I am not 24 anymore, folks.  The "baby weight" ain't never gonna go away.  (Hey--I gave it 9 years...I think I'm convinced now.) At 40+, it seems my body wants to stay in a long-term relationship with fat, regardless of what I eat.  (except for juice-only, which I'm not going to do again.  Remember why?)  I'm still working on that whole thyroid/adrenal issue, too, so I'm sure that is a contributing factor.  But I'm feeling better in some ways, and decided that regardless of the crazy and breathless pace of life that I live right now, exercise just has to be on the docket, one way or another.  

I made the commitment to six months, figuring that the thrifty side of me will needle me out of bed and over to the weight room on those mornings when I just don't wanna.  ("You already spent the money!  You have to go now!")

As a mom it can be very hard to invest in yourself.  This is something I have struggled with so much for the 20 years I've been a parent.  Everybody needs stuff.  Money is always needed elsewhere.  Your time is spoken for by all of those wonderful people in your life.  And if you homeschool or work away from home or add in any other stuff, boy howdy!, the demands get mighty intense.  Sometimes the season of life that you are in makes it pretty nearly impossible to get away for exercise.  I have certainly been in that spot a lot.

There have been times when I've thought that I might just give up on trying to be at a more "ideal" weight until the kids are older....or maybe after they've moved out.  I don't know.  Just some mystical time in the future when I could exercise without cramming it in between cooking breakfast and spelling lessons.  Crazy thing is, I don't want to go through the rest of my kids' childhood feeling bad about how I look in pictures, and not wanting to join them for a swim because of how I look in a bathing suit.  So, the time is now.  Or at least, I hope it is.

My Juice Feast: The Aftermath

It has been four months since I ended my 19-day juice fast/feast and I guess I'm finally ready to give my impressions of how I feel about having done it, and whether or not I would do it again.

Ending the fast was difficult. Although I thought I was prepared with plenty of good recipes for eating the way I wanted to go forward (which was mainly a high-raw, vegan diet), I found that this did not seem to work well for my body.  Although I thought I ended the fast gently and with wise food choices, my digestive system was a wreck.  Everything I ate, no matter how mild, how small a portion, or how healthy it was, gave me abdominal discomfort, gas (nice!), and general digestive and elimination misery.  I had expected a small amount of transition time, but nothing that I had read (including an entire book on juice fasting, and many web sites, and being in a support group) prepared me for anything like this.  It went on and on and on and on for days, weeks, and then well past the one month mark.  It was uncomfortable, embarrassing, and frustrating.  Eventually I decided to branch out of the "perfect" things I was eating, to see if other items could soothe my tummy.

Part of what I wanted to see with the juice fast was if I would notice any difference in my health/energy/body while cutting out so many non-beneficial items, plus some questionable ones.  I was particularly interested in seeing if I could pinpoint any adverse reactions to grains (and mainly wheat) because of a book that I had read which basically vilified wheat and all grains.  I was curious if what the author had to say would ring true for me.  (and if possibly I might learn something important that would be beneficial for my health)

For me, I did not experience any amazing energy, mental clarity, or general extraordinary wonderfulness either during my fast or after it.  When I eventually tried eating a little bread, I found that my tumultuous stomach calmed down a bit, which was a better reaction than I had experienced with anything else I had eaten since exiting the fast.  I didn't experience any adverse reactions that I could identify, and so wheat and brown rice and oatmeal have continued to be a regular part of my diet ever since.

It was really amazing and kind of disheartening to see that even a full two months after ending the fast, my stomach was still really "off."  Having never had problems with digestion, gas, bloating, etc., it really stunk (ha.  excuse the pun.) that this was my reward for all of my hard work and determination to do a juice fast.

I went to see a naturopath to discuss my health, my reasons for doing the juice fast, how my body was refusing to let go of fat even though I would eat no sugar, etc. etc. etc., and the way that despite all of my biggest and bestest efforts in eating healthfully, I still felt so so weary all the time.  She mentioned that in the case of a juice fast, when smooth digestion is interrupted in that way, it can take a long time for it to get back to being running well.  Certainly this has been true in my case.  I also found out that I apparently have some serious thyroid and adrenal issues that are probably the real cause of my low level of energy and the great difficulty with managing my weight successfully.  Juice fasting and healthy eating alone will not fix these problems for me.  Thankfully there are some supplements and other things that I can do to help my body heal and go forward.  I'm working on it.  (It is very humbling to be an overweight health and wellness educator!  And it is very difficult to be a wife, mom, home educator, and business owner when you feel like you are running on empty almost all the time.)

Here we are at approximately the 4-month mark and my stomach issues are still not fully resolved, though slowly things are improving.  Between what seems to work for my stomach, and what seems to work for my life, my diet now is vegetarian, with a large percentage of what I eat being veggies and fruits.  I do not want to eat meat and I do not find it difficult to go without it.  Although I do keep dairy products to a smaller amount, I am eating them for now.  Ideally I would prefer not to, but ideals are not serving me well these days, and so I am continuing to humbly walk along, open to learn, and giving myself permission to live without pressure to be perfect.

For me, I do not think I would be willing to do a juice fast again, unless I thought it was necessary as a matter of life and death.  19 days of hard work and sacrifice has turned into months of discomfort and embarrassment that I would not want to repeat ever.  I do think that juicing can be a great thing for the body, and I think that eating well and including fresh fruit and veggie juices is a great idea.  If your health is in really dire straights, it may be that a long juice fast is the right answer for you.  In my case, I do not believe it was overly beneficial.

I Need Your Feedback on This

When I started my business years ago I decided to offer a few products that I found difficult to find locally but felt were the best in quality and price.  SweetLeaf stevia was one of those items.  I strongly believe in the quality and value of the product, and I enjoy using it in my home regularly.  What I've noticed more and more is that SweetLeaf Stevia has gotten a lot more mainstream.  I now see it at Kroger and Walmart, and you can also get it from amazon for a lower price than I can normally sell it for, plus free shipping!

I'm wondering if the time has come for me to liquidate my current inventory of SweetLeaf Stevia and stop offering it through the store.  What do you think?  I don't know if others are also finding these products in local stores, or if you have any issues with shopping at amazon.

My goal with what I offer isn't to try to wrangle you into buying everything from me.  The idea was always to help you conveniently get items that are really good, and not necessarily easy to find in your local area.  I will continue to recommend SweetLeaf Stevia regardless of whether or not I personally sell it.  I just don't know that it is continuing to serve you for me to keep it on the shelves.

Your thoughts?

Q & A: How much do you spend on food?

I received this question from one of my customers and thought others would appreciate it as well:


Hi Erica!


I was just wondering what your weekly or monthly budget for food is for your family?  (If you don't mind divulging that information that is...)  This is one of the biggest struggles my husband and I have regarding a healthier eating lifestyle.   He doesn't want to pay for it!  We live in rural upstate NY.  We raise chickens for eggs and meat.  We barter for raw milk with my uncle who owns an organic dairy farm.  Jason hunts so we have turkey and venison.  Still--for a family of six......it is expensive at the grocery store.   Our budget is around $240 a week, but I  have been known to go over this and that is not even everything organic.  I would love to know how/where you shop and how you manage it.  We have four kids- you have six?    I do order some bulk foods and have also ordered from vitacost....but still I wonder how all these people (on the blogs I follow) manage to do it .  Funny they never say what their food budget is (at least that I've seen).....
~Heidi


Hi Heidi!

Good to hear from you.  It sounds like you guys have a lot of good healthy-living resources available to you!

I feel like a shmuck to say that I don't even know anymore how much I spend on food.  (My husband handles all of the account stuff, so I never even look to see how it all adds up.)  It seems to vary quite a bit.  Some weeks either because I'm already well-stocked, or because money is a little tight and I'm doing more super-cheap meals, I may spend well under $100 (Or even buy nothing some weeks).  Some weeks I have to stock up on stuff or we are having company or someone is having a birthday or whatever, and I might spend $300 or more.  Plus, we do stock up on stuff, like today I am buying a bunch of honey from a friend who just harvested last week, I spent $100 two weeks ago on 9 gallons of freshly-pickled organic strawberries and now all of those are in the freezer for months worth of morning smoothies.  In the fall I stock up on raw almonds, pecans, walnuts, and cashews and have that for the year.  I buy 50 lb. bags of wheat and use that for bread and baked goods for months.  Heck--we still have a 5 gallon bucket of organic rice from Y2K preparations that we are eating (and yes, it still tastes good!).  My husband does hunt some, so there is a hot-or-miss factor in what venison is available for the year.  Also, I spend around $100 monthly for some Thrive freeze dried foods from Shelf Reliance as a way to both stock up on items for emergency food storage, plus I use a lot of that in everyday cooking. We are gardening this year, so of course once that food comes in, we'll spend less at the grocery store.  I sporadically do super couponing, so sometimes that gets us a lot of goodies for way cheap (even healthy stuff), but there are plenty of months in the year that I just can't keep up on it.

I do buy quite a few things through amazon's subscribe and save option when they have good sale prices.  I take advantage of great deals at places like VitaCost and Tropical Traditions.  I usually have enough wiggle room in the budget to stock up on good deals when they come along, and then of course I'm set on that item for months, at least.

We don't do all organic.  We don't even do 100% perfectly healthy.  (True confessions:  My children really like Little Caesar's Hot and Ready pizzas.)  I am constantly flexing what I'm buying according to finances, my ability to make things from scratch vs. needing to cut corners on my time, how much time we are away from home and may have to pick up food while we're out and about, sometimes the kids want to learn how to cook certain things, my various personal health goals/things I'm trying/bees in my bonnet, and also trying to make stuff that guests and extended family members will enjoy.

Cooking from scratch definitely saves money when doing healthy food.  I have learned how to make my own almond milk and other nut milks.  Most treats we have are homemade.  However, there is always the reality of the trade off between your time/energy and your money.  Sometimes I have noticeably more or less of one or the other, and I flex in the direction that needs it the most.  Sometimes I am short on time, money, AND fortitude, and on those days you might find us going through the Little Caesar's drive thru window or buying bakery cookies at Kroger, and I just try to do better the next day!

I have found that some people can get away with more flexibility (health-wise) in their diet, other people really feel the health effects one way or another.  I tend to get sick easily if I eat junk, and I really feel it in my energy levels if I eat poorly.  (Sadly, I do not experience great energy even when I'm eating really, really healthfully.  At this point I'm more teetering between somewhat low energy and completely pitiful.  Working on my thyroid and adrenal issues these days!)  For a family of 8, we need to go to the doctor very, very rarely.  This is partially because we do not get sick very much, and partially because I have learned enough over the years to handle most ordinary sicknesses at home.  For families that find doctor's visits and illness to be a regular feature of life, eating a healthier diet can be a really good investment and trade-off.  For families with children struggling with behavior issues, concentration issues, etc. they may also find helpful solutions when changing dietary standards for their family. (I know that's not true for everybody.)  I don't know what specific "side effects" (pro or con) your family may be experiencing from how you eat, but I do take that into consideration when making choices about what we're going to eat.  Enjoying good health, modeling good choices and developing good taste buds and cooking skills for our children, getting older with fewer health issues, etc. are all very worthy side benefits of choosing to eat as healthfully as you can realistically manage.

I have some serious limits for our diet that generally I will not break.  These include MSG, aspartame, and processed meats (deli meat, hot dogs, ham), and anything GMO.  Those are items that I would not put on the table even if they were free.  The next level of stuff I avoid includes High Fructose Corn Syrup, non-organic corn in all forms, non-organic soy, and soda.  Those I avoid very strongly, but realize that sometimes they sneak in, usually during special occasions like birthday parties, etc.  I do my best to buy organic for the "dirty dozen" items, and flex more on the "clean 15" items.  I have found really good mark downs at my Kroger produce dept., and I understand how their pricing and sales work, so I can do pretty well even with buying organic produce a lot.  Some items I just can't find organically in my area (kale comes to mind) so I just buy it and enjoy eating it anyhow, and try not to worry too much.  We can't do everything perfectly, and it isn't going to do anybody any good to beat ourselves up about that.  :)

This was a great question that has now turned into a blog post.  (Thanks!  I needed some inspiration!)  I am sorry that I don't have a more direct answer for you as far as a number.  We do have six kids, though the oldest hardly ever eats here any more.  Let me know if you have any more questions.  :)

~Erica

Dogs and Deals

I don't know about where you live, but here in central Kentucky we are having a weird winter.  We have gone from snow and icy cold to springlike temperatures and sunny days, and back again, week after week.  I'm used to some mild temps in February some years, but nothing like this!  Nevertheless, I am not complaining!  It has been great weather for the kids to play outside, and also for us to spend time with our dogs.

Have I never introduced you to our family dogs?  Well, here we have beautiful Brandi, our Golden Retriever.  She is the sweetest and most loyal dog ever.  We often remark that she is the perfect dog....except for her occasional transgression of getting into the trash if we forget to put it up before we leave the house.  :) Brandi has been with us for 2 years now.

Back in December two sweet puppy sisters were found wandering in the road near my mom's house. Long story short, we decided to adopt cute little Rosie.  (some friends of ours adopted her sister Copper)  As you can see, she has a very hard life here with my family.  :)  We have been thankful for less severe weather and sunny skies since it has made puppy training and play time much more enjoyable for all of us!

Since we just don't have enough to do are dog lovers, last week we decided to take on the adventure of also fostering a Great Pyrenees from our local animal shelter. She was so big that it was very hard on her to be in the shelter environment and she really needed room to run.  We decided to get involved, so for a few days we hosted Miss Carli, the gentlest giant you could ever hope to meet.  (How could I say no to that sweet face?!)  Happily, Carli was adopted and moved to her new home last Friday.

Although it was very busy, it was fun to have a dog pack in the house.  I started calling them "small, medium, and large."  :)

We are now planning to take some "time off" without any extra pets in the house for awhile.  (6 kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats...what *is* this time off of which you speak?!)

And what does all of this have to do with Supermom's Health and Wellness?

Mostly nothing.  :)  I just thought you would enjoy a little visual peek into our life.  Animals isn't all of it, but we do what we can. Maybe someday soon I will introduce you to our cats!


In the store this week we have some 25% off sales going on!

#1: Vitex: Don't let the combination of winter blues and PMS cause you to do any damage to anybody! LOL Stock up now while it's a bargain and enjoy having your hormones on a more level playing field. (Your husband and children will thank you!)

#2. Winter Breeze: This is one of those items that you want to have on hand ahead of time in case of respiratory illnesses, because once you need it, you need it NOW.

#3. Supermom vitamins 180 tabs:  One of our most popular items is now even more affordable!  This is the week to stock up.  Great for anyone--men or women, even teens, who need an excellent quality multivitamin with iron.

Sale prices are valid through February 5.

In other news:

I am slowly-but-surely working on a re-launch of my online health eating class, which includes a new format that makes it easy for all past and present class members to have all of the latest information handy, additional classes have been added, updated information, personal coaching options, and even a way for all of my previous class members to earn money by telling others about the class!  I had hoped to have it ready by January 1, but here we are still plodding away. (For some crazy reason it is really hard for me to do big work projects while also homeschooling and wrangling dogs!  Strange, isn't it?)   I'm hoping to somehow make the big push toward completion within the next two weeks and will be sure to let you know when it's ready to roll.

Phew.  I think that's enough newsy bits for one night, don't you?  Stay cozy, my friends!

Leftover Soup

Tomorrow I am making leftover soup! I thought I would tell you a little about how it goes.

Leftover soup is delicious, easy, and thrify.

The base for the soup ingredients is....leftovers! After meals when you have a little bit of rice or veggies or broth or meat that nobody wants to eat, stick in the freezer til soup day. Eventually you'll need a crock pot meal, and you should have a nice variety of items to go into your soup.

Start with some liquid. Whether you have homemade broth, or an organic broth like Imagine brand (please none with MSG), or a creamy soup base (I often get Imagine brand organic soups marked down at Kroger), any of it plus some water will work. Pour it into your crock pot.

Now is the time to empty all of your little containers and ziploc baggies of leftover bits and pieces. Put it all in the crock pot.

Then add in any fresher leftovers that you have in the fridge as well.

Then if you aren't happy with the amount of stuff in there, chop up some onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, etc. Toss in some frozen veggies if you like. I now like using my Thrive freeze-dried veggies--I have a really nice variety, so it makes my soups so much more flavorful and colorful than I used to have when I didn't have so many different veggies on hand all the time!

You can add cooked or uncooked brown rice, wild rice, or barley. If you want to add pasta it does best to go in toward the end of cook time since it gets pretty mooshy after being in the crock pot all day.

Once you've added all the food bits that you want, add more water or broth if you feel that it's needed. Then add seasonings like parsley, a bay leaf, marjoram, sea salt, pepper, or any other herbs or seasonings that you think will add to the taste.

Cook it on low in your crock pot. Come home to a beautiful dinner!

It's never the same soup twice, but it's really good regardless. As long as you get the liquid-to-food ratio right, you can't really go wrong.

Enjoy!