I Wish I Had One

I wish that every person that we help would put the reforms into practice 100% and see just how much better they feel.

It is one of the greatest frustrations to spend 2 weeks with a person teaching them, cooking for them and working with them to help them get well and then later have them tell me all the things they have done to sabotage the work that has been done. I was talking to a person recently that was a guest of ours. He told me how he had lost 10 pounds while he was here. He told me how he was off of 2 of the 3 blood pressure drugs he was wanting to get off of. He told me of his hopes that he could get off the last one soon. Then later he began telling me about the yogurt he had the day before. Then he mentioned that he and his girlfriend had some chickens and were eating their eggs. Then he told me that he had some ice cream recently. Just a little of this and just a little of that and just a bit of the other. How it hurt to think that all this work we had done was going to be a huge disappointment for him the next time he goes to see the doctor. Because I know that his health will be back to where it was before he came. I just want to cry at times like that. If I ever find someone that will put their whole heart into getting well and staying well I will cry tears of joy. I want that for everyone that watches my videos and I want it for everyone that comes to our retreat. I want it for our family but I don't know if I will every find that one person. I hope so. If I had a million dollars I would give it to that one person.

I can look back to one man that made the changes. His name is Bill. He had had triple bypass surgery and was on 17 pills a day. I mentioned to him the idea of going to Weimar Institute. He checked into them and ordered their homestyle video set and he and his wife watched and actually put what they learned into practice. He began walking. A couple of years later I saw them and he told me that he was off all but one of the pills and was so happy. I wish I could have stayed in touch with them but they moved away. So I will keep that story in mind and hope that someday I will find another one like Bill.

The Bus Stop Of Misery

This morning I read an interesting comment that got me thinking. It read: "There is many a wife hungering for an occasional word of approval, who will be buried in a rosewood casket."

As I went to fix breakfast I began pondering the quote and I thought of how futile it would be to sit at the curb of a street that had no bus service and wait for days, weeks maybe even months for a bus that just doesn't come there. If someone did that we would look at them and probably wag our heads and say that they have lost their minds. But women who waste their mental energy in expecting something that is not part of their husbands character is like waiting for a bus that isn't coming. Why wait for something that won't happen?

A woman may ask: "Well then how do we get our sense of self worth? How are we suppose to feel better about ourselves?" I think the first thing to do is to set a right example for him to follow and begin looking at his virtues and make our focus what HE does that is good and right and worthy of a compliment. Tell him that we appreciate his efforts to do something that is good. Every man has his virtues. Think on those and make mention of them. This one thing will actually do two things. It will stop our own negative thoughts and replace them with contented thoughts. And it will gradually change our husband as he sees a sweet, kind, gentle person. By beholding our kindness he will become kind and thoughtful.

Second, don't expect your husband to be the source of all your happiness. In other words make God your God instead of your husband being your God. Jesus loved you so much that he came and died for you. He wants to give you everlasting happiness in heaven. Out of all the huge universe He is a whisper away and is ready to listen to your chatter all day long. He wants to tenderly care for you and can fill that need you feel is lacking from a husband. He will give you wisdom to know how to speak to your husband and will help you bind your affections to your husband even if he doesn't meet every expectation you have. Find an old favorite hymn or learn a new one or a scripture song from off the internet and begin singing a song to the One that is always there to help.

Third, let us remember that no one wants to draw closer to a grump or a complainer. Treat your husband as you would a cat. If I want to attract a cat to me I wouldn't get a squirt gun and squirt it every time it turned away from me. That would just make the cat run away all the faster. No. The way to attract a cat is to talk softly, gently and feed it things it likes. I would get down at the level of the cat and let it sniff my hand and pet it. I would do those things that the cat enjoys.

Wild Food

Recently my husband and I were looking at our old garden that is located at the other end of our property and we noticed that so many of the vegetable plants had for a couple of generations have gone to seed and naturalized themselves into the area around the planters. It occured to us that maybe they could naturalize around the house. Since the carrots seem to be the most adventurous I began gathering seed from them, took them home and scattered the seeds on the downhill side of the yard.

This year one carrot plant did come up and so far the gophers haven't eaten it yet. That one carrot has now gone to seed and is ready to plant the next generation of carrots. I am hopeful that they will grow and spread around.

Now for the walking Egyptian onions. If I can just get them to walk over here. :)

Vitamin B12

Is it important for a vegan to be concerned about vitamin B12?

This important question came to my attention when I came across a video of a woman who gave up a raw vegan diet because she had a B12 deficiency. This subject is a very important one that shouldn't be ignored because it can cost our health.

The answer I give is not based on my opinion but is based on the research of my uncle Dr. Milton G. Crane MD who was an endocrinologist and the director of research at one of the oldest vegan whole plant food health recovery medical institutes, Weimar Institute in Northern California. He told my husband and I that even meat eaters can have a B12 deficiency. His recommendation was not milk, eggs, cheese or dead animals. His recommendation was to take B12 supplements---the dots that go under the tongue. He said that it has to be mixed with the saliva to get the benefit so the dots are ideal for that reason.

A simple supplement is far safer than any animal product and will save us from serious nerve damage.

Gone Batty

Imagine the surprise we had yesterday when I got up and found myself in the flight path of a bat in the bedroom. He was kind enough to avoid me but I was afraid to open my mouth to talk to Jon about what should be done about the bat.

He had gotten into the room through the attic door that we had left open for cooling the house.

I quickly closed the door to the rest of the house, closed the curtain that I had just opened and then opened the door to the balcony. Soon the little friend found the exit and made a hasty exit.

Later I read a book about bats and found out some very interesting stuff about the little friend. One thing that I found intersting is that some bats eat their weight in bugs in a night. I like that idea.

Scents

I was walking in the woods and didn't see the blooming flowers from the Buckeye tree. I had no idea that they were still in bloom but as I reached down for a stick my dog had left in my path for me to find there was the sweet fregrance of the Buckeye. It reminded me of how so often we go about our lives not noticing the blessings that the Lord surrounds us with. He doesn't quit giving them if we neglect to notice them but in his mercy he continues to bless us. How sad our lives would be if God were to give up on us as quickly as we give up on people.

It also reminds me of the carnation flower. When I was a child they all had the wonderful spicy scent but as the years have passed man in his "wisdom" has bred out the scent that makes them prized by so many people. How sad to find one that has no smell.

Our Food Philosophy

So what is our philosophy about food? What do we understand to be healthy? Is it raw food that only gives health? Is it whatever is popular---food fads?

We promote "whole plant food eaten whole" as the healthiest way to eat. Unrefined, unprocessed in a natural state with simple easy preparation that is appetizing and nutritious. All raw is not the best. Some nutrients are better when cooked. An example of that is lycopine that is found in tomatoes is more available when cooked. Grains should be well cooked and some vegetables are more digestible when lightly cooked. We generally do not mix fruits and vegetables at the same meal because this causes digestion problems which affects the health. We do not rely on smoothies, green drinks or juice fasting or feasting. We use whole raw nuts that are the most nutritious and digestable and avoid roasted nuts. We use olives and avocadoes in abundance. Plain salt cured olives are good for digestive problems and are healthy enough to be eaten every day. Neither olives, raw nuts or avocadoes will cause obesity but rather are health restoring.

Some people point to "live enzymes" and call cooked food as being dead but there is much more to food than enzymes and raw is not always most digestible.

We feel that food should be palatable, nutritious and easy to prepare.

We use no refined fats such as oils or margarine. We use no refined grains such as white flour, "whole wheat flour" that is lacking the germ, white rice, pearled barley or things of that kind. We use no alcohol or vinegar or other rotten substances. We do not use refined sweeteners such as white sugar, brown sugar, "cane juice", nutri-sweet, honey or etc.  We do use active yeast. We cook more or less 50 percent with 50 percent raw. We never count calories, we don't encourage dieting but rather a lifetime change of lifestyle that will give lifelong health. We use B12 supplements and encourage everyone to do the same. We know that a salt free diet isn't healthy--- we encourage the moderate use of salt of about 1/2 teaspoon per day. We know from experience that weekly cheating or occasional indulgence is a lie and that good health can never be achieved with those methods because the cravings for the unhealthy foods will continue with that method. It is actually easier to make a total break from unhealthy food and let our taste buds forget what it tasted like than it is to torture oneself with a weekly indulgence. It is better to create a new favorite food list than it is to try to retain the old list and keep wishing we could go back to it. When tempted to indulge move those thoughts to what is good and healthy such as our brownie recipe or our strawberry shake. They taste good and there is no guilt associated with them.

Psycology's Boxes

I was recently talking with an acquaintance who told me that someone was "controlling". As I considered the comment I recognized that this was the way the psychologist looks at people. They have this great desire to put people in boxes and label them. The problem with this idea is that it is rooted in evil surmising. It doesn't look at the uniqueness or the motivation of the person and with that label comes a host of methods of dealing with the person according to the misconception of the one doing the evil surmising and the psychologist that has never met the one under consideration. The person in this case was a very kind and loving person who was trying to help the evil surmiser. Their efforts were being viewed from a perspective that didn't look at the motives but only the self centered perspective of the one that had listened to pop psychology. Christ said, "If ye love me keep my commandments". This worldly view of others would label God as being a "control freak" but they fail to see the love that motivates God. It is love that prompts a parent to keep their child from swallowing a bottle of pills---it is love that prompts a parent to grab their child as they begin to dart in front of a car and it was love that prompted the actions of this person to help their friend but it was selfishness that labeled his efforts as being controlling. How I wish people could see beyond the labels and see the person and learn to love them not because they are perfect but because they just might have some wisdom to share that would save them from making a serious mistake. My fear is that selfishness and ingratitude is often what prompts such labeling of other people.  I hope that we can all see beyond the appearances and look deeper from the perspective of the other person. Put the best motives on their actions and treat them kindly and our own health will be better. Labels do nothing to help a relationship, they only block communication and create a wall of discontent.

Blog Beginnings

Yesterday I was talking to my sister who recently started doing blogs and she told me that it was fun. I was enjoying her blogs and the more I thought about it the more I realized that this would be a great way of staying in touch with my youtube friends as well as my sister and then I also realized that I could put on here stuff that would work better in written form instead of video. Plus being that we have dial-up and have to wait until I can upload videos at my dad's house I thought this would help increase the information that I want to share. So please check back here as I add new stuff. Some of the things I want to include will be other recipes, favorite books and other media on health, failed kitchen experiments and more.

I think you would really enjoy reading some of the funny and special stuff my sister has on her blog so please visit her at: http://grandmacsplace.blogspot.com/ On her blog you will find out just how blonde I am. lol