Earthly Eating

Those successful at shedding at least 30 pounds, and keeping them off, do more than just eat breakfast regularly. Here are other behaviors that can help you lose weight, and the big additon is: THESE HABITS HELP YOU KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF AS WELL:

Crunch the numbers: Read lables, be mindful of the number of calories in food, and actively monitor and limit your daily intake to be sure that you are buring at least as many calories as you are taking in. Simple inattention leads to mindless over-eating of nonessential calories and fats.

Always in moderation: If your favorite past-time was sitting on grandma’s porch, packing back the nutty buddies and sipping on Kool-Aid® without a care in the world, and you still do this practice at the age of 30, STOP! A child’s metabolism is a lot higher than an average, healthy adults. Remember, you may like that Hershey’s® candybar, but only eat some and save the rest for later. You don’t want to undo what you have worked so hard to achieve. Plus, if you eat it all the time, it’s not a treat. Allow a day to give thanks to your grandma for such wonderful times on the porch and eat a FEW cookies in that/her memory.

Go low-fat, not low-carb: No matter how they initially lost weight, People say they keep the weight off by limiting fat, not corbohydrates, in their daily diets.

Exercise at least one hour a day: You have probably got this one covered, but if not here are some ideas to get your motivated. Everyone needs a break from their day to day activitys and choas. Go for a short stroll, possibly a 15 minute one at breakfast, and another one at lunch then head out just before dinner or after dinner for a 30 minute walk. If you have a treadmill in your home or office, it’s even easier than you think. Investing in exercise equipment like a treadmill, is never a waste of money (you have to use it though.)

Step in the scale: Those who maintain thier weight use the scale at least once a week, and they take action as soon as they notice the number tipping more north. Never be affraid of seeing how much you weigh. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, it is however, ashaming to not fix the problem. Be it over-weight or under-weight.

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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Apricot Oatmeal Cookies:
Serves: Makes, 4 dozen large cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degress and place rack in the center position in your oven. Beat butter and shortening with sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after weach addition. Stir in vanilla. Grind oats in a blender or food processor until fine, then combine together with flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually stir flor mixture into butter mixture. Fold oats, apricots and nuts into batter and drop by heaping tablspoons, about 2 inches apart, onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool 2-3 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool throughly before serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Happy Eating!

Variety, speed and ease are all important to a successful breakfast. These quick-menu ideas provide plenty of carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy fats to help you stay fueled through the entire day.

• Multigrain bagel with low-fat cream cheese, sliced melon, a glass of skim milk, and 100 precent fruit juice or sports drinks with low-sugar content.

• One to two cups of ready-to-eat, low-sugar cereal with skim milk, 1/2 cup of berries or one small banana, and juice.

• Fresh fruit salad, two slices of whole-whear toast spread with alond butter, a glass of milk, and furit juice.

• One cup of granola or muesli topped with nofat or low-fat yogurt and berries, and fruit juice.

• One or two whole-grain English muffins spread with whole-fruit jam, a handful of whole alomnds or trail mix without sugary additions (such as M&Ms) and a bottled low-fat smoothies.

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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Tropical Dessert Pizza:
Serves: 12 slices

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-inch pizza pan. Place cookie dough rounds in a circle in middle of greased pan. Press rounds to form a 9-inch circle. 2. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Allow to cool, about 15 minutes. 3. Stir pectin and sugar in a bowl until well blended. Add pineapple, papya and mango. Continue stirring for 3 minutes. reserve 1 cup jam. Set aside. 4. Ladle remaining jam into clean plastic 8 oz. freezer jars to fill line. Twist on lids. Let stand until thickened, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate up to three weeks of freeze up to one year. 5. Spread whipped topping over cooled cookie. refrigerate additional 5 minutes, just to set. Spread reserved tropical jam on top of whipped topping. Sprinkle ith macadamia nuts, white chocolate chips and cocnut. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Happy Eating!

A nutritional, medicinal, and highly flavorful guide to the perfect drink.

You’re standing in front of the min-mart fridge considering your options. Water isn’t quite enough so here’s something new: A juice belnd called pomegrante blue. Sounds refreshing and, as a bonus, it’s healthy. But is it? Al;; juices are not created equal. Are you getting nutrients or are you drinking sugar water? Indeed. some fruit-juice products contain only 10 to 15 percent juice; the balance includes as much as 27 grams of high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose, or even the healthful-sounding organic can sugar. They may look like fruit jice, but technically they’re fruit drtinks and the distinction is important. Nutritionally speaking, furit drinks are not much better than soda and should be consumed sparingly. The truick is to scrutinize the label for the words “100 precent juice” Chooseing only 100 precent juice ensures you’re getting nutrients. It’s worth the effort because fruit juice can deliver big benefits. Eight ounces of OJ, for instance, provides 120 precent of the Daily Value (DV) of vitamin C and is a good source of potassium and folic acid; fortified versions offer up to 35 precent of calcium or 25 precent of vitamin D. Pineapple juice has 100 precent of your vitamin C and 10 precent of your potassium for the day. The polyphenoils in Concord grape juice have the same protective effect against heart disease as red wine, minue the buzz.

Drinking three servings of juice a week-your choice-may help fight dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Juice’s status as a high glycemic index beverage makes it a great choice, because it helps restock your carb supply during the day, especially after working out or even working hard at a job all day. Blend it with yogurt (for a little protein) and you have got a prefect recovery drink.

But hold on before you gulp dfown that second big glass of 100 precent pinapple-orange-strawberry blend. Juices pack a lot of calories compared with their whole-fruit sources. An eight-ounce glass of orange juice has 110 claories, while the fruit has only 65, which doesn’t sound like such a big deal until you realize how much easier it is to keep sipping than to peel another orange. And juices are less filling. If you eat the whole orange or apple, you get fiber, which is mostly lost during the juicing process. Whole fruit bulk make you feel fuller than liquid calories. Plus, some nutrients are lost during the juicing process as stated above because they hide out in the skins, peel, and membranmes of many fruits. Oranges, for example, contain five times the amouth fo the antioxidant flavanone in orange juice. To rpevent from going oberboard on calories, keep you intake of all drinks- milk, juice, smoothies-to no more than 14 precent of your daily intake calories. For a 2,000 calorie diet, that might be a glass of low-fat or fat-free milk (80 to 140 calories) and four to eight ounces of juice (50 to 120 calories).

Some juices to consider:
• If you are looking for fiber:

1. Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice with Fiber; Why? Eight ounces contain three grams of fiber-the same amount in a whole orange.

2. Welch’s 100% Grape Juice with Fiber; Why? Has about two grams of fiber, or 10 precent of your DV.

• If you are looking for a multivitamin:

1. Knudsen Vita Juice; Why? Boats 100 precent of the DV for 11 vitamins per eight-ounce serving.

• If you are looking for one with antioxidants:

1. Santa Cruz Organic Concord Grape Juice; Why? Concord grape juice contains more free-radical-fighting antioxidants than a cup and a half of fresh blueberries.

2. Nantucket Nectars Organic Cloudy Apple; Why? Cloudy varieties contain four times as much of the antioxidant phytochemical polyphenol as clear juice.

3. CherryPharm CHERRish; Why? A new study suggests that drinking cherry juice can speed upo recovery due to its high antioxidant levels and anti-inflammatory properties.

4. V8 Juice; Why? An eight-ounce glass equals two servings of vegetables and contains four times as much of the antioxidant lycopene as a medium tomato.

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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Easy Layer Taco Pie:
Serves: 4

Microwave 4 minutes. Top with lettuce, green onions and sour cream just before serving.

Happy Eating!

Cure for bellyaching, most people grab over-the-counter remedies, but have you ever stopped to think, what is it exactly I am taking to soothe that belly? Here are natural remedies to help just about everyones belly troubles:

• Dried Plums: Good for irregularity. A hefty amount of sorbitol, and indigestible type of carbohydrate, acts like a laxative.

• Chamomile Tea: Good for cramping and gas. An oil in the leaves relaxes spasms in the small intestine and also reduces flatulence.

• Raspberry Leaf Tea: Good for diarrhea. High amounts of tannins (bitter tasting plant compounds) slow bowel movements.

• Ginger: Good for indestion and nausea. Gingerol, a plant compound helps neutralize stomach acids.
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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Chocolate Strawberry Burst
Serves 1

*Tip: One container (6 to 8 ox. strawberry fat free refrigerated yogurt and 1 cup ice cubes can be used in place of frozen yogurt.

Happy Eating!

• Agrimony: For those who conceal mental anguish behind a “brave face.”

• Aspen: For those troubled by vague fears, apprehension, and anxiety.

• Beech: For those who are critical and intolerant of others.

• Centaury: For those who are unable to say “no” and are easily imposed upon.

• Cerato: For those who are unable to make decisions without advice from others.

• Cherry Plum: For those fearful of losing control of thoughts and actions.

• Chestnut Bud: For those who repeatedly make the same mistakes and are unable to learn from past experience.

• Chicory: For those who are possessive and always know just what is “right” for others.

• Clematis: For those who are dreamy, absentminded with an inability to concentrate.

• Crab Apple: For those who have a poor physical self-image and are overcome by feelings of shame and uncleanliness.

• Elm: Fort those who are temporarily overwhelmed and burdened by their responsibilities.

• Gentian: For those pessimist who tends to make “mountains out of molehills.”

• Gorse: For feelings of hopelessness and despair.

• Heather: For those who seek the company of any who will listen to their troubles and are over-talkative.

• Holly: For those who are jealous, suspicious, and vengeful.

• Honeysuckle: For those who dwell in the past, of what was and could have been.

• Hornbeam: For those who feel fatigue and tiredness and just need to be restrengthened.

• Impatiens: For those who are impatient and fast paced.

• Larch: For those who lack self-confidence and anticipate their own failure.

• Mimulus: For the fear of known things, such as heights, the dark, being alone, etc.

• Mustard: For melancholia, gloom, and deep despair which comes and goes.

• Oak: For workaholics who can always be depended upon to complete a task even at the expense of themselves, and those close to them.

• Olive: For mental and physical exhaustion as a result of having gone through an illness or personal ordeal.

• Pine: For prefectionist who are often dissatisfied with their own accomplishments.

• Red Chestnut: For those who worry excessively over the health and safety of friends and family, often anticipating that the worst may happen to them.

• Rock Rose: For panic, hysteria, or feelings of terror and fright; also for nightmares.

• Rock Water: For an overly-ridged, strict adherence to a particular belief or life-style.

• Scleranthus: For those caught between choices unable to decide between one thing and another.

• Star of Bethlehem: For traumas from which an individual is not fully recovered for example, accidents, surgery, or personal loss.

• Sweet Chestnut: For those who have reached the limits of their endurance.

• Vervain: For those with strong opinions, who feel they are always right and who often attempt to convert others to their way of thinking.

• Vine: For those “born leaders” who are strong willed, confident, and self-assured, but if taken to the extreme, can be over bearing, domineering and tyrannical.

• Walnut: For those experiencing periods of transition and change.

• Water Violet: For private people who, as a result, have difficulty developing close relationships.

• White Chestnut: For persistent, unwanted thoughts, mental chatter, and associated sleeplessness.

• Wild Oat: For those who are dissatisfied with their current career and would like to do something else with their life, but cannot decide what direction to take or career to choose.

• Wild Rose: For those who have become indifferent and apathetic toward life and are resigned to their circumstances.

• Willow: For those who have become resentful and bitter at having been treated unfairly.
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Earthly Eating Recipe:

4. Garnish each serving with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired, and a tsp. of pomegranate syrup.

Happy Eating!

They are actually great in dishes as well.

• Aloe (Aloe vera)-With its soothing anti-inflammatory properties, aloe gel helps heal gum inflammation. If you have a fresh aloe vera plant, cut off a leaf, slice it, and apply the gel from the inner leaf directly to the affected area.

• Calendula (Calendual officinalis)- With soothing, anti-inflammatory properties, calendula helps heal irritated, tender gums. It also has mild antiseptic action. A cup of warm calendula tea is a simple solution for sore gums.

• Clove ( Syzygium aromaticum)- Cloves are rich in eugenol, an excellent topical anesthetic. A toothache always warrants a visit to the dentist, but you can temporarily numb the pain with clove oil. Dip a cotton swab into clove essential oil and gently rub the painful tooth and gum with the oil.

• Echinacea (Echinacea spp.)- As a powerful immune-stimulating herb, echinacea healps combat infection, add 1/2 teaspoon of liquid extract to 1/2 glass of tepid water, rinse your mouth and then swallow the mixture. Repeat three times a day until the infection subsides.

• Goldseal (Hydrastis canadensis)- Rich in astringent and antimicrobial compounds, goldseal often is included in commercial toothpastes and mouthwashes. It’s helpful both for preventing and healing gum problems.

• Myrrh (Comminphora spp.)- Is one of the best herbs for healing bleeding gums and mouth ulcers, and helps combat the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease. Add myrrh liquid extract to mouthwash or use powdered myrrh in a homemade toothpaste or poultice for healing gum infections.

• Neem (Azadirachta indica)- Highly regarded for centuries in Ayurvedic healing as a premier antibacterial herb, neem is included in natural toothpastes and mouthwashes to help prevent plaque buildup.

• Oregon Grape Root (Mohonia spp.)- With a high concentration of antimicrobial compounds. Oregon grape is excellent for helping to prevent and heal gum problems. Because of its astringent properties. Oregon grape also helps heal bleeding gums.

• Peppermint (Mentha xpiperita)- is a favorite ingredient in toothpastes and mouthwashed. Menthol, the ingredient responsible for the flavor of peppermint, is an excellent breath freshner. Add a couple drops of peppermint essential oil to a glass of water and use as a mouth rinse.

• Sage (Salvia officinalis)- The strong astringent properties of sage have made it a favorite herb for helping tighten the gums and soothe a sore mouth. A warm tea made from sage makes an excellent mouth rinse for helping to heal the gums.

• Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)- A potent antimicrobial, tea tree essential oil fights the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease. Add 3 drops of tea tree essential oil to 1/2 cup of tepid water and use as a mouth rinse.

• White Oak (Quercus alba)- Strongly astringent white oak bark, used in a mouth rinse, is helpful for healing swollen, tender and bleeding gums.

(Source: The Natural Dentist)
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Eartly Eating Recipe:

Remove onions from oven. Carefully spoon juices from the bottom of the pan into a small bowl and add turmeric. Mix well. Drizzle juice over onions. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, 5 minutes. Serve hot and warm.

Happy Eating!

A soothing cup of tea is a safe way to treat many of children’s and some adults minor ailments. Use prepared tea bags or a teaspoon of the dried herbs below in a cup of boiling water.

Symptom: Upset stomach; colic and crankiness in babies.

Herb: Chamomile

For ages: Six months and older

Try: Celestial Seasonings Organic Chamomile
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Sympton: Constipation

Herb: Senna

For ages: 1 year and older

Try: Traditional Medicinals Smooth Move
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Symptom: Sore throat

Herb: Licorice, slippery elm

For ages: Three years and older

Try: Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat
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Symptoms: Stomachaches or Nausea

Herb: Ginger

For ages: Five years and older

Try: Traditional Medicinals Organic Ginger
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Symptoms: Generally Unwell

Herb: Green Tea (decaf)

For ages: Five years and older

Try: Choice Organic Teas Decaf Green Tea with Peach