Happy December

Looks like I forgot about this blog. Now it's winter and dreary but beautiful in its own way. I can easily get cabin fever. yesterday we walked in a park.

July Garden

enjoying tomatoes, green beans, basil and the ever present garlic chives and mints

taco seasoning

Bulk Taco Seasoning Mix

¾ c dried onions
½ c chili powder
¼ c salt
3T garlic powder
3T cornstarch
3T ground cumin
1T to 3T cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you like it)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Store in plastic or glass container with a lid.

It takes approx. 3T of this mix to equal one packet that you would buy in the store.

This recipe makes about 2 cups.

eating better for arthritis pain

good information This site has a bunch of diets. I've been diet crazy since high school, reading and trying different ones, not that I'm ridiculously overweight, but I always worry about it too much, and food is interesting. Here's a diverticulitis diet.

I think I have arthritis pain in my thumbs at time.

from vaxa.com - foods best to eat

Fruits (Those that are high in Vitamin C)

# Strawberries
# Kiwi Fruit
# Peaches
# Mango
# Cantaloupe
# Papaya
# Apples

Vegetables (High in Vitamin A (beta-carotene) and Vitamin C)

# Collards
# Squash
# Sweet Potatoes
# Broccoli
# Spinach
# Brussels Sprouts
# Bell Pepper

Fish (Rich in Omega-3 essential fatty acids & high in Vitamin E)

# Salmon
# Mackerel
# Sardines
# Herring
# Tuna
# Trout

Unsalted Nuts and Seeds (Also high in Omega-3 essential fatty acids & high in Vitamin E)

# Walnuts
# Brazil nuts
# Almonds
# Sunflower seeds
# Linseeds
# Pumpkin seeds

Pulses and Grains

# All lentils
# Chick Peas
# Brown rice
# Whole wheat bread

Anti-Inflammatory Foods

# Turmeric
# Ginger
# Garlic
# Apples

If suffering from gout avoid foods high in purines and high proteins such as beans and meats. In general avoid red meats, tomatoes, tea, coffee, dairy products, fried foods, chocolate, preservatives and additives. Medical Literature contains and many documented cases indicate how diet modification can improve inflammatory arthritis. Try altering your diet and see if you notice improvement.

Bread Machine Yeast Zucchini Bread

from bellaonline.com

Zucchini Sunflower Seed Bread

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup packed shredded zucchini
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons soft butter
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon dry yeast

Place the ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order given; turn the machine to the dough cycle. When the cycle is finished, remove the dough from the pan and shape it into a large round loaf or two smaller round loaves. Place on a parchment-lined baking pan. Let rise until double.

Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 20-25 minutes or until browned.

Note: If you’d rather not take the time to shape the dough, then set the machine to the large loaf cycle and let the machine do all of the work for you. Hands-on time is about 10 minutes to place the ingredients in the bread machine pan, and that’s it.

June garden

We are making garden progress - we've had lots of rain.


dog in sleeping mode

sunflower patch

tomatoes

more tomatoes


zucchinis

basil

beans

possible new cure for breast cancer and other things

My mom suffered for 15 years with breast cancer that turned to bone cancer. She had the whole gamet - radiation therapy and chemotherapy. She was in remission for 5 years between the 2 cancers. She was a trooper, but died at 80 in 2005. I was excited to read this encouraging new find about a possible effective treatment for the remedy. To read the whole article, go to my other healthdietgardening blog.

Israel-US Team Kills Breast Cancer in the Dark

by Karin Kloosterman

(IsraelNN.com) With the alarming incidence of breast cancer in America -- one in eight women can expect to get it sometime in their life -- new solutions for women, their mothers, sisters, aunts, daughters and friends, cannot come fast enough.

An Israeli-American research team has stumbled onto a new and interesting find - a non-radiation based therapy that may provide relief for an aggressive and hard to treat breast cancer cell known as HER2+, but which could also have wider applications for treating all kinds of cancer.

Breast cancer alone is the most common form of cancer among U.S. women, and the second leading cause of death after lung cancer. About 200,000 women in the U.S. alone had breast cancer in 2008, and about 40,000 will die from it each year....

My mom at 78, 13 and a baby - she was a great MOM

Kathy Loidolt

I just heard Kathy Loidolt on Skinny Wednesday - the 700 Club. She explained how typical household cleaners cause cancer. She has a website here. I already use mostly natural cleaners but I'd love to read her book. I will try to get rid of all my toxic cleaning products I have - better to be healthy than not.

I use white vinegar to clean up ants on the counter. Plus when I braid garlic from the garden I put some around the sink; they don't like that either. I just don't want to buy insect poison.

Yay for the simple, tried and true!

Homemade noodles

I bought a noodle maker a few years ago for about $20 but rarely make them. It does make nice noodles - here's a receipe I need to try. With the noodle maker you make the dough and then the noodle maker cuts it into strips. It works pretty good.

Noodle Dough

2 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, well beaten
2 TB warm water

Sift flour and salt onto a pastry board, make a well in the center and add eggs and water. Work the flour into the egg mixture, adding more water if necessary to make a stiff but malleable dough. Knead on the board until smooth. Divide dough in half and let it rest for 30 minutes, covered. Roll out as thin as possible and cut into any desired shapes. Spread noodles on board and let them dry well before using.

about poison ivy

This is the first year I've really been bothered with poison ivy. My husband never seems to get it. I liked this information article.

"Ask Dr. H - Can you still spread poison ivy even after you've washed?
By Dr. Mitchell Hecht

Q: My doctor says that once you wash off poison ivy sap from the skin, you can't spread it. If that's right, then why is it that whenever I get poison ivy it seems to spread to other areas? -D.C., Philadelphia

A: The skin rash (dermatitis) that causes poison ivy is due to the chemical "urushiol" contained in the plant's sap. All parts of the plant, from the leaves to the roots, contain urushiol. 85-90% of people who come in contact with the sap will get a poison ivy rash. The sap containing urushiol can rapidly penetrate the skin within 10 minutes after contact. Washing your skin within 5-10 minutes with soap and water or even hydrogen peroxide may prevent the rash. The problem is that either we don't know we've brushed against a plant, or the sap is left behind on our clothes to cause a rash days later when we handle them while doing laundry. Urushiol is an oil, and will stick to almost anything - clothing, sports equipment, hiking gear, garden tools- even your dog's or cat's fur.

Once you've developed the rash, you can't spread it to other parts of the body or to another person. That's because once the sap is washed away, there's no more allergen around to cause a rash. Those blisters you see are your body's reaction to a foreign substance on the skin. Blister fluid does not contain any sap and therefore can't spread the rash. New lesions that appear a few days after the initial rash are just less sensitive skin areas or areas where there was less sap exposure - not a spreading of the rash."

eat chickweed

I saw this information here. I love learning about wild edibles.

Yes, this is the stuff I pull out of the ground when weeding.

labneh

live to cook blog recipe

This looks very good - I'm eager to try it - will try to post a picture after I make some. First I will make my own yogurt because I have the best way to make yogurt using a non-electric yogurt maker. It makes a quart. It just has a plastic container you put in an insulated container - you could probably use a thermos; I haven't tried that. We have so much mint around here; I'm always trying to find ways to use it up.

May garden

I took a few pictures of things growing outside - always fun to compare them later on in the summer. I have a bunch of these type plants everywhere - they are so easy to make more and more of them.

In this picture, I planted lettuce in the white box and marigolds around it. You can see some poison ivy on the fence - I pulled a bunch today but missed that bit. Pineapple mint is growing here too.

Speaking of poison ivy, our neighbor to the east has it growing up their house. You can see it next to the house. Sadly they don't cut down any of the trees growing up around the perimeter - wonder what it will be like in a few years??

I've planted many tomato plants here and there around the borders and on the northern part of our yard. I'm sure they'll be much bigger in a month.


a bit of lettuce
green strawberries
basil itty bitty seedlings

wood floor

Grandma's wood floors




Dining Room


The Den

tomato plants

I planted 18 of my tomato plants - have lots left to plant. I thought I'd sell at Farmer's Market this summer, then I sprained my ankle the end of February and the farmer market person didn't contact me with info like she said she would, so I'm not doing farmer's market but I will have lots and lots of tomatoes if they all grow well. They look good now. I have Yellow Plum Tomato, big slicing tomatoes, Beef Sandwich tomato and some other kinds. I'm not taking many pictures; maybe later.

The picture I posted I got from somewhere or other.

Good morning

It rained today. My sprained ankle is getting better but I still can't walk normal. It's been since the end of Feb. but it's gradually improving. My tomato plants are growing and I'll be glad to get some of them in the ground. I mostly blog at wwww.pray4Israel.wordpress.com because I like to share spiritual insights and our trip we took to Israel last May almost a year ago.

seedlings

This morning I planted a bunch of tomato seeds, also marigolds and zinnias. I'm not using this blog much - in fact I forgot I had it. I like wordpress, but this will be fun to use more too.