Oil Pulling

Another video for my health and beauty series. This video is on a really nifty thing called oil pulling. Oil pulling pulls bacteria puss, and toxins from your body, helping your body to repair itself and heal from infections, disease, and any other illness including tumors and diabetes. It also improves your oral health and whitens your teeth, plus it's cheep!  It is really easy to do. First thing in the morning before you drink or eat anything put a tablespoon of olive, coconut, sunflower or sesame oil, in your mouth. (I prefer coconut oil for its added benefits. No mater what oil you choose make sure it is ether cold pressed, extra virgin or organic or a combination.)

Swish for 20 minutes, if you find that your jaw starts to hurt then don't swish so much, the goal is to simply get the oil to move around in your mouth. I recommend starting off at about 5 minutes and then working up to 20. It may seem like a long time at first but you will get used to it quickly.
Rinse with something such as salt water which is very helpful as an antimicrobial and to soothe any inflammation and proven to be effective in rinsing out any toxins which may be left in the mouth, then brush your teeth. That is it! So simple, and so effective.
Easy toothpaste recipe


Link to My Youtube channel 

2 easy "Knotted" braids

Takes literally 10 seconds to do. 2 kinds of braids that are basically three strand braids but with one thick strand and two thin strands. One is done with the strands on the same side, and the other with the strands on opposite sides. Watch the video bellow and it will make sense.

Tacos and Lasagna rolls

I have a couple of rather delicious and easy to make recipes for you today. The first on is a one pot meal for beans and chicken tacos, it tastes almost like a Mexican barbecue of sorts. The second is lasagna roll ups/spirals (I'm really not sure what their called) that can be made with any filling and any sauce. It isn't as easy as lasagna because the noodles need to be cooked before you put everything together, but it is relatively simple.

In a dutch oven (a cast iron pot) saute a chopped onion. Put in a can or two of pinto beans depending on how many people you have and a half a can of water. Put in a couple tbsp of coriander and cumin in, a tsp to 1 tbsp of chili powder depending, a pinch of cayenne, a couple tsp of molasses (you can also put in some maple syrup or honey in if you want the beans sweet) juice from a lime,a couple to a few cloves of minced garlic, and about a half a bunch of chopped cilantro. Put a pound of boneless chicken in the middle, making sure that they get covered in some sauce. You might want to add in some more water so that the beans are just covered. cook at 350 until the chicken is done. About 40 minutes or until the temperature reaches 165. Shred the chicken, place in taco shells with some lettuce and such. 

Cook your lasagna noodles and drain. Make sure to coat them in some olive oil so that they don't stick. In each lasagna noodle, spread some of whatever filling you decide to use in it and roll it up. place in a pan on its side like a small enchilada. Continue until you have your pan filled. Cover with the sauce of your choice and bake at 350 for 40 min. Put some cheese on top if you wish, and put back in the oven for 10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

Both of these recipes are easy to alter and make your own, like the tacos, you can use just simple Mexican seasoning, make it more of a tex-mex, or add in some Indian spices such as turmeric or some coriander which would be quite nice if you make the sauce sweeter. Have fun! 

Easy toothpaste DIY

If you remember a while back I did a post on an oil blend that I use to brush my teeth. Click HERE to check that out. I made a video that is part of my DIY Health and Beauty series on toothpaste made from baking soda, coconut oil, and the oils that I recommend using in my healthy teeth oil. This toothpaste is great for cleaning  your teeth, making them white without using any whiteners, as well as keeping them strong, healthy, and clean. Most toothpastes in the store (including health food stores) contain toxic ingredients such as titanium dioxide, FD&C Blue Dye # 1 & 2, sodium lauryl sulfate, synthetic types of glycerin and sodium fluoride. Click HERE for an interesting video from Mamma Natural.
Coconut oil is antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-fungal  Studies have shown that coconut oil destroys the bacteria that can cause tooth decay. Baking soda is a very mild abrasive which aids in cleaning and whitening teeth, and restoring pH balance. to read about the benefits of the essential oils click HERE.

Mix equal parts baking soda and coconut oil, I use about 2 Tbsp of each, with 2 drops of clove oil, 10 drops of birch oil, and 5 drops of orange oil. Adjust to your liking. You can always try other citrus oils, and other oils like cinnamon, wintergreen etc but make sure to not make it to hot! Also xylitol can be added to sweeten it, and a clay (such as bentonite) can be added along with the baking soda, and/or a powdered magnesium but I just like to keep it simple.

Cranberry macadamia nut cookies

These cookies are absolutely delicious! With just a hint of almond, oohmygoodness! So good! And the batter? Oh let me tell you! Awesomeness! I used Pamela's flour mix to make these in place of flour, it acts exactly the same way as wheat all purpose flour.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup of turbanado or brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter
1/3 cup of milk
1/2 tsp of almond extract
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup of flour
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 -1/2 cup of macadamia nuts choped
1/4 -1/2 cup of dried cranberries

Directions:

Mix everything together. Heat oven to 350. Make balls of dough and flatten them out a bit.
Put them on a greased baking pan and bake for 10-12 minutes. 

The "No Poo" Method

I decided to do a series of videos on Health and DIY beauty. The first one is on Washing your hair without shampoo, thus the "No Poo" method. Instead by using Baking Soda your hair isn't stripped of it's natural oils.   Conventional shampoos strip the hair of it's natural oils causing your scalp to overproduce oils to compensate  leaving you with oily hair the next day. With the "No Poo" method the baking soda gets rid of all of the build up, but leaves the natural oils to keep your hair healthy, but not oily. Apple Cider Vinegar is sprayed on the ends of the hair as a conditioner, and it works very, very well! I know is seams odd and foreign  but It works really well for all hair types, and it is so much cheaper than shampoo.

Lemon Chicken Fricasse with veggies and mashed yam

This recipe is so yummy and easy. I used a recipe from sortedfood.com, but made it more to my liking. I did't batter the chicken, I don't like mushrooms or broad beans so I didn't use those (although you easily could) and used mixed veggies instead, and I made mashed yams/sweet potatoes instead of rice, which might I add is so delicious with the sauce! The white wine, garlic, herbs, and lemon meld so beautifully in this dish. It could easily be a crock pot or one pot meal.

Serves 4, prep time, about 10 to 15 min, cook time 1hr
Ingredients

• 4 pieces of chicken, bone in.
• 4Tbsp of butter
• Some oil such as grapeseed 
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, or alter to your liking (I like a lot)
• 1 1/2 cups of white wine
• 1 cup of water or chicken broth 
• A very heavy pinch of dried thyme or 1 sprig of fresh, chopped
• A very heavy pinch of dried tarragon or 1 fresh chopped sprig
• 1/3 cup of cream
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Steamed or boiled veggies such as, peas, carrots, broccoli, etc.
• 3 yams or sweet potatoes skinned, cooked, and mashed
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Heat the oil and butter in a pan. Fry the chicken on both sides just to brown the skin. Take the chicken out and add the onions with some salt into the pan, cooking them until they just start to get soft, then add in everything from the chicken to the lemon juice. If the liquids don't cover the chicken, then add a bit more till it dose. Let cook for 1 hr. The liquid should reduce quite a bit, so you may need to turn the chicken so that it cooks all the way through. Use a few Tbsp of the sauce in your mashed yams to flavor them along with salt and pepper. To serve, plate the chicken with the yams and veggies, using the sauce as a gravy, you could even thicken it up a bit with some cornstarch or flour if you'd like.

Beans, are they healthy?

Yes! In fact they are highly nutritious.
Beans are high in fiber, protein, iron, potassium, magnesium  B vitamins, zinc, magnesium (which is low in many diets) and copper! Like, WOW! Have you ever heard of a book called The Blue Zones? It is a book about the certain people groups around the world who live the longest. These groups of people live in a city or area in either Japan, California, Italy, Costa Rica, and Greece. One of the things in their diets that they all have in common are beans! They also eat fruits and veggies, don't really smoke, are fairly active, and are family and community oriented. But Beans! Who would have thought that such a cheap, readily available food could be, dare I say it? Considered a supper food? Eating beans regularly could decrease your risk of heart disease, colon cancer, and diabetes. How exciting is that?! So maybe I shouldn't hop right on to the "beans are a supper food" band wagon, but they are just so awesome that I don't know if I can help myself!

Want to know a great way to cook your beans so that you don't get that gas that usually comes with it? It is so easy. When you cook your beans, add in some seaweed! Not only dose it add some nutrients and flavor (from the minerals and salt) but is also for some reason makes it so that you don't have awful gas afterwards. If you want to, you can leave the seaweed in when they are done cooking, or take it out. It all depends on what you like. I know what you might be thinking, but No, the seaweed wont make you beans taste fishy.