Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Wednesday: Doggy Days~Heat


Here in Utah, it is getting very hot, has been for a few weeks. I am not looking forward to July, August time if it is already in the 100's this early in June.

 That being said, I still have to make sure my two puppies, Mungo and Otto, get all of their exercise in without heat exhaustion. My two get a lot of exercise,. Hublet always says they have more exercise than most dogs so I should not feel bad when they do not get more! Which, being their Mommy I do. I have a Weim, they have more energy than you could ever give them exercise for, I do try. The heat makes things very challenging. If it is sunny and over about 60 degrees, it is already too hot for Mungo, my Scottie. This means we leave our house around 5:30 to 6 A.M.! If we do not leave this early, it is too hot and we try to beat the sun. If you think it is hot, imagine how hot it is when you are covered in fur? Always take precautions when it is hot out for both you and your puppies. Remember, dogs only sweat through their noise's and paws. They do not have the ability to sweat any other way so they can over heat very quickly. This also makes it hard for them to cook off. Have plenty of cool fresh water for them when you return home to help them cool down.

If they are not wanting to run and play, just allow them to sleep and be lazy. It is not called "the dog days of summer" for no reason. They know what is best for their bodies, better than we do in fact. Allow them to be dogs and listen to their bodies.

If they have to be out while you are gone, of course, be sure they have plenty of water, more than what you would normally gibe them. Some shade through out the entire day, specially the hottest parts of the day. When you arrive home, allow your puppy to come inside to cool off, if you can. They dislike the heat as much as we do, if not more.


Frozen treats are great! My two love ice. If you take ice out, you had better give a piece to both of them, or they will let you know you about it! Something else to try, mix their dry food with some pumpkin, if you feed dry, and then stuff it into a kong toy and freeze for a few hours. If you feed raw, you can either mix it with some pumpkin or just put it right into the toy. Once it has sat for awhile in the freezer, take out and feed to your doggy outside. There are many benefits to this as well. One it is cold and will help them cool off. Two it will keep them occupied for some time, it is forzen and they have to work to get the food out of the toy, using their brains. Which is another great benefit, they have to think and figure it out. Dogs need brain stimulation as well, not just exercise, this is a perfect way to accomplish this task for them, brain things.

Most of all it is about common sense. Try to keep your puppy happy and cool and enjoy the summer months with him!

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Wednesday: Doggie Days

I am thinking I just might make Wednesday's dedicated to our four legged members of our families! We need to take just as good of care of them as we do ourselves.

Today's post is a guest post from The Raw Dog Food System. They have some great info over there about switching to a raw food diet, how to's and other great info. Make sure you check them out!

The Nitty-Gritty of the Raw Dog Food Diet


To properly transition your dog properly to the raw dog food diet, you must understand detoxification, introducing fish, and the quantitative requirements involved in raw-feeding.
On detoxification
Once or twice a week, allow your dog to fast. Give only clean drinking water. This mimics the dog’s natural environment in the wild. It hunts, gorges itself with the prey, then does not eat for a period of time. As a safety precaution, puppies, ferrets, cats, and sick or underweight dogs must never be allowed to fast or to undergo detoxification.
On introducing fish
Fresh whole fish does not seem to agree with the prey model of raw feeding, because fish is not found in the natural environment of dogs and their ancestors in the wild. That is why many raw-feeding manuals (such as the one written by Dr. Tom Lonsdale of New Zealand) recommend that raw whole fish must be fed sparingly, like once a week. Some dogs develop a taste for it. Some don’t. Fish is an excellent source of lean protein, and incorporating it once in a while (depending on the dog’s appetite) is beneficial for the dog. The only exception for fish to be introduced in raw feeding is the use of Pacific salmonids. Pacific salmonids (like trout and salmon) may contain a parasitic fluke that’s only deadly for dogs. At 6 weeks of age, you may feed kittens and puppies with whole chicken carcasses, rabbit carcasses, and fish. Refer to this article, How to Introduce Fish in a Raw Dog Food Diet, to learn about giving fish to your dogs.
How much should you give?
It is recommended that you feed your carnivorous pet with one very large piece that he can rip, tear, and gnaw for a certain period of time (let’s say, half an hour or forty-five minutes of uninterrupted mealtime). This will prevent all dental problems for your pets for the rest of their lives. Also, consider the size and temperament of your pet. Pets that are very active and have big appetites require more food.
Based on raw meaty bones, a feeding recommendation of 15 – 20% of body weight in one week or 2 – 3% per day is ideal. For example, a 25-kg dog needs 5 kg of raw meaty bones or carcasses per week.
All lactating females, pregnant females, and growing pets (kittens and puppies) need more food than their counterparts with the same body weight.
Thank you so much Maggie for a great article on switching to a raw food diet and some things to watch our for. 
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's many blessing,
Jenn


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Tuesday Recipe: Strawberries Marinated Pinot Vinegar


I love spring, when all the babies animals are born and the yummy fresh fruit! All a sign that God wants the world to go... I am a huge fan of fresh berries, they are packed with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and loads of other healthy stuff, eat them is really what I am saying and enjoy.

At my local grocery story, they had strawberries on sale. After having many desserts with the strawberries, strawberries, fresh whipped cream, dark chocolate and a touch of honey, my brain began putting a recipe together, I also had this vinegar to use. Thus this was born!

What you need:
Strawberries- depending on how many you want and how many people you are making this for. For    the two of us, I think I did about a 2 cups.
1 tsp of raw honey, more if the strawberries are not sweet or you like things sweeter.
1TBS of Pinot Noir vinegar, any type of flavored vinegar will work or balsamic
A grind or two of sea salt
Cream for fresh whipped cream
Garnish with fresh mint, from your garden is the best

fresh strawberries from my garden

Method:
Mix the honey, vinegar and salt together and then cute the strawberries into bite sizes pieces, place in the mixture. Allow the marinade to sire for a few hours to overnight. The longer you allow the berries to sit, the more mushy they will become, I would not do more than 24 hours, but you do need several hours for marinating. If marinating for more than a few hours, place in the fridge and shake every so often.
Getting ready for their soak

After several hours of marinating 
Once ready, place the strawberries into your individual serving dishes with some of the liquid. Then pour cream into a bowel to whip, along with some of the liquid from the marinade. This made the cream very smooth and yummy. Whip the cream mixture to your liking. Place a nice big, huge, dollop of cream on the strawberries. If you want, you can also put some dark chocolate shaving on top, or chocolate chips. Serve and enjoy!



Due to the marinade, the cream will not stiffen as much

A note on the vinegar.
My wonderful Mommy gave me this Pinot Noir vinegar for my Birthday! It is from a company here in Utah, Mountain Town Olive Oil Company. There web page is: http://www.mountaintownoliveoil.com/
It is potent, vinegar after all, you do not need much. Play with the amounts to your liking, getting the flavor, but not over powering.

Hublet gave his stamp of approval! As it was marinating on the counter, he did not know what it was. He opened it to find out, then was tempted to use the mixture for a mixed drink, he thought it smelled so yummy. He refrained, but thought the dessert was delicious.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn



Yummy


Monday, June 11, 2012

Detox Part 2

The next part in my rant about detoxing, elimination.
In the previous post, I talked about two of three ways our bodies were designed to eliminate toxins naturally, exhaling and our skin. I hope you found this helpful.

The processes of eliminating is something we tend to find funny, uncomfortable, we do not want to talk about, but we are going to. Why? Because this is VERY important! By pooping, our bodies ride themselves of very dangerous toxins as well as many other toxins produce naturally by our bodies. By peeing, we also rid the body of toxins.

Let us being with peeing. The urinary system is there to help clean the blood, among other duties. Once the blood has been cleaned, the toxins, dead cells, anything our bodies need to ride themselves of, goes to the bladder and then we pee. Of course, one of the best ways of increasing our urination, is by drinking water, other fluids and food. The questions is always, how much water should I be drinking? This depends on the person, your activity level, how much you are sweating, what types of food you consuming, how much alcohol and caffeine you drink. A good rule of thumb is, you want your urine to be light, pale yellow in color. Too dark and you are dehydrated, no color and you might be consuming to much water, there is a balance. Like with anything, to much water can be a bad thing. We can really mess up the balance of electrolytics with too little or too much water. I do talk more about water in this post. 


Foods do contain water, except for processed foods. When we eat veggies, fruit, meat, dairy, we are taking in water with these. This will decrease our need for water. When it is a hot summer day, one of the foods we tend to crave is watermelon. This is because there is water in this fruit as well as other minerals to help with the balance of electrolytes. Watermelon quenches our thirst and gives us good vitamins and minerals, keeping everything in balance. This is one example of eating food that will decrease the amount of water we need to drink. Really, the best way to know how much water to drink, is by the color of your pee. Everyone is different.

Let's move on. How often do you poo? You should be about two to three times daily, after each meal. Are you? Is it difficult? Do you have diarrhea? Are you only going once a week? These are all symptoms of issues, some of these can be big issues.

When we poo, our bodies get ride of fat soluble toxins. Fat soluble toxins are some of the worst we have and they are everywhere. In fact, most of our modern toxins are fat soluble. Understanding why it is SOOO important to flush poo down the toilet? Not only are external toxins fat soluble, but so are some that our bodies make naturally. The easiest way to eliminate these toxins is by defecating. When we do not go for long periods, these toxins are reabsorbed by the body. Nasty. If they are not bad enough the first time around, they are even worse the second or third or fourth time around. This makes our bodies even more toxic, which causes more illness. If you have a yeast overgrowth, these darn little things can permeate your gut wall, allowing even more toxins to escape into your body. Not good. We need to rid our bodies of the waste daily.

Now that we know we want to poo two to three times a day, what can be done to help the body with this issue?
This goes beyond taking in more fiber, especially from grains. This step could actually be making your constipation worse. I know it is always touted, eat more whole grains and this will fix your constipation. Well, not so fast. If you have celiac or gluten intolerance this can make you worse. Be sure to be tested for celiac first, then you do not have to go back on the grains. I discussed more on these issues with these posts, Celiac and Gluten Intolerance, and two on Grain or Not to Grain and the second.
A deficiency in vitamins and minerals can cause you to be constipated. Magnesium being one of the top contenders. Magnesium is important not only for sleep and preventing migraines, but elimination as well. Without it, we are constipated. One of the best ways to take magnesium is actually from the skin. Soaking in Epsom salt can help as well as applying magnesium oil to the skin. What I found works great is putting magnesium on a cotton ball and rubbing it on my under arms and rib cage area, best places for absorption. It will tingle and possible burn a little. Be aware, this can help clean you out. Be sure you are taking enough water, salt and potassium to prevent dehydration and other serious side effects of diarrhea. Not all diarrhea is a sign of something bad. Sometimes it is because our bodies are trying to get rid of something, toxic, a bug a virus, in these cases, it is good. Just take necessary precautions as you should already be aware of. Deficiencies in fat soluble vitamins can also contribute to constipation.
Be sure you are drinking enough water. This will soften the stool and make it easier to eliminate.
Yeast over growth can hamper your elimination.
A toxic, overworked liver. More on steps to detoxing the liver later.
Make sure you are eating enough fat and protein. Our bodies need fat to help make bile, which helps with elimination. Protein is also very important. If you are not eating enough protein, you will be constipate, try eating more animal protein.
Veggies and fruit have good sources of fiber which feed our gut flora and help clean out.
Live cultures from foods like raw milk, kefirs, kombucha, real yogurt or supplements.
Avoid eating processed foods and sugar, other than real fruit, raw honey, stevia.
Medications can also cause constipation. If you suspect this, talk with your doctor and see if another medication can be used, if you even really need the medication or what else can be done.
Aloe vera is packed with nutrients, one of the most nutrient dense foods, and helps clean the body.

This is by means an exhaustive list, just some things to get you started. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me, or talk with your doctor.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.  
Many blessings from God,
Jenn











Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Tuesday Recipe: Rhubarb and Brussels Sprouts


If you ask my family, they will tell you I come up with some really weird recipes. If you ask my older brother, he will tell you I make some "extremely weird shit." From the title of this recipe, I am sure you will agree with them! Do not worry, I will not feel bad.

Here is how this recipe came together. I was at the grocery store about two weeks ago doing my weekly shopping. I knew I needed a veggie of some sort to go along with a dinner or two and just did not know what I wanted to make. I thought while I am at the store and see what they have, I will decide on something. Well, then I walked past where the Brussels Sprouts were and thought those sound good, but what to do with them. That is when the light bulb light, I saw the rhubarb! How perfect, Brussels sprouts and rhubarb, they will be yummy together. Weird I know. Here is what I came up with.

What you need for 2 servings:
Several strips of bacon, 2-3, sliced
1 good size rib of rhubarb
About 1/2 pound of Brussels sprouts, I did the sprouts and rhubarb about equal portions
1 tsp raw honey or to taste, but do not go over board
1/2 fresh lemon juice
Big dash of nutmeg
Dash of Allspice
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter or bacon grease

What to do:
Cut bacon into slices, about 1/4 inch
Cute the rhubarb into slices, 1/4 inch
Cute Brussels sprouts. Cute off end, slice in half, if large cute in half again, quarters.

Heat pan over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook. You want to render the fat out of the bacon, but not crispy. The bacon will cook longer with the rest of the veggies.
Once the fat has been rendered, add the Brussels sprouts. Let them get color on all sides, browned. Once browned, add the rhubarb. Don't cook the rhubarb for too long, it becomes mushy. It will only take a few minutes to cook, 1-2 minutes.
Add the nutmeg, allspice and honey, toss to coat everything.
Squeeze the lemon over everything, give it a good toss and it is ready to serve.

I have made this as a side for fish, tilapia and salmon, and chicken. All very tasty.

I know it sounds really weird, but trust me, it is delicious!

Saving the wold one stick of butter at a time!
Blessings,
Jenn

Monday, June 4, 2012

Detox

Detoxing is a bit of a buzz word today isn't it? It is almost one of those, you feel like you are on the outside if you have not done a detox. Or, has it come up with conversations with your friends and family, which one have you done, this one worked for me or this did not, try this one or that one. Lets talk about detoxing about, shall we, my thoughts anywho.

Some of the basics:
Our bodies were designed to detox themselves. Detoxing is not something new that has been started as a fade in recent years. God knew that our bodies needed to detox, so He designed them to do so. Keep in mind, it is not just taking in toxins that we need to "detox from". Our bodies make toxins naturally from the processes of breaking down food, exercising, natural break down of cells, our bodies replenishing themselves, which creates waste products. Even in a perfect world, there are still toxins which need to be eliminated. If we give our bodies what they need, they will detox naturally.

Ways we detox naturally:
Exhaling
Our skin, through sweating.
Eliminating, both our urinary system and gastrointestinal intestinal system.

Some ways to help our bodies detox naturally through each of these systems:
There is not to much more to say about exhaling other than breathing! Deep breathing everyday is very important. Deep breathing is also a wonderful way to help relieve stress from the body. Breath in through your nose using your stomach, try to use all of the cavities in your lungs, fill your lungs with air. Place your hands on your stomach so you can feel your stomach rise, hold your breath for a several seconds and then exhale slowly through your mouth placing your tongue on the back of your upper front teeth, making a sighing noise. Try to take three to five breaths like this as often as you think about it. The best place to do this, is out side in the fresh air getting some sun. Also, be sure to air out your house everyday. This is extremely important. Our homes can be more toxic than the largest cities. Your furniture, carpets, woods glues, pressed particle board, basically everything in your house out gases, they release toxic, nauseous fumes. New buildings and homes are the worst. Also your cleaning products can be toxic. If you have headaches, nausea, fatigue, this could be part of the reason. Your home, or place of work, could be toxic. Air it out!
Sweating
Not only is sweating used to keep us cool, but this is one of the best ways to detox. Our skin is our largest organ. When we sweat, our bodies is getting ride of toxins. So, you so not want to stop this! That means your anti-perspirant, is not healthy. I know, having sweaty pits is not the sexiest thing, however, allow your body to ride itself of toxins or keep them in...? Easy choice. You want your body to sweat every day to release both toxins taken in and as well as the bodies natural toxins. Other ways to make sure you get your sweat on, a good hard work out, like HIIT, three days a week, walking daily, a sauna, taking a hot bath with Epsom Salt , due watch the chlorine, sitting out in the hot sun, whatever it is, make sure you are sweating every day. With that, be sure you hydrate and take in sodium and potassium, you lose all of these when you sweat. By staying hydrated when you are sweating, you can help your body sweat even more! Wearing clothing that is loser fitting can also help your body to sweat, does not cut off circulation and not as sweaty of pits!
Also, exfoliating the skin is important. Our pores can become clogged and then the toxins cannot escape. Using a loofah or a skin brush will help to lift the dead skin cells away, clean the pores and bring more blood flow and oxygen to the lymphatic system. This can help reduce cellulite as well ladies! Or you can use this coffee scrub to exfoliate. After exfoliating and cleaning the pores, watch what you put on your skin. Most of those lotions and creams are full of nasty toxins and you will absorb them. My rule of thumb is, if I will not eat it, then I will not put it on my skin. When you put something on your skin, you are indirectly eating it. We sweat and also absorb through our skin. I love to use coconut oil on my skin. Since switching to this and changing my diet, I know get many compliments on my skin. It is even and I do not need any makeup other than mascara.

I will cover elimination in another post, I think this one is long enough. Give you a few nuggets at a time!
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time!
God many blessing be showered upon you,
Jenn