Health Notes - Supper/Cleaning Products

Yes, I realize I am on a roll here -- posting several days in a row.

I better get on it while I have a chance...right?

Anyway, I haven't posted a health note in a while. I hope you guys are by now white flour and white sugar free! Come on, I know you are! Don't you feel better already?

Last night for supper we put olive oil in a pan and seared some fresh venison (yes, that's deer meat, but it is low fat and all-naturale'), we used only salt and pepper to season it and I whipped up a batch of homemade gravy to top it with, using only chicken broth, whole wheat flour, fresh sea salt - it tasted just great. With that, I boiled some little red potatoes and then smashed them a little, not creamy, just broken open and added a little butter and salt, I steamed some fresh asparagus and drizzled it with olive oil, and made a mixed green salad topped with garden fresh, ripe tomatoes and onions and drizzled with olive oil. Voila! We had color - various shades of green and red and good, raw healthy fat in the olive oil. Yummy!! The kids ate it up. After supper we broke open a nice, cold organic watermelon and ate the WHOLE thing!!!

Now that you know what we had for dinner, let me give you a couple of easy and cheap cleaning tips. Many of you may not know that typical cleaning products are full of chlorine and phosphates and other cancer causing agents. The fumes are harsh and harmful when you inhale them and the agents are harmful when you get them on your hands. There are many options available in stores from companies such as Seventh Generation. I use these products and they are great, but I am aware that they are a little pricey. I also use products from an online company called Shaklee (www.shaklee.com). These products are concentrated and are very cost effective.

What I really want to share with you today, however, is a cleaning tip that you can incorporate using something you probably have in your kitchen.

White Vinegar - Vinegar is cheap and you can buy it anywhere. It disinfects and softens clothes in the wash. I use it to mop my floors, wash mirrors and glass doors, and I pour it in my white clothes and towels to kill germs and soften. You can put it in a spray bottle with water and use it on your counter tops or bathrooms. It kills germs as well as the harmful agents and it safe.

Using anti-bacterial products on our bodies and to clean with is not necessary and I believe it is adding to problems such as anti-biotic resistance. A little bacteria is not all that bad for you, it strengthens the immune system. We wash with plain old castille soap around here - hands, bodies, face - and our main "lotion" is pure coconut oil. I think we are pretty clean most of the time...well, except Graham, but that is another post!

Healthy Living!!