My first line of defense: Acerola powder and cod liver oil

It seems a funny thing to talk about. Winter is over and summer is on the way. Today is sunny and gorgeous and expected to hit 90 degrees! Well, I want to talk about immune system support anyhow. You may have heard about the Swine Flu that is going around. Now, it seems to be mild in the US, but it is a good idea to take proper precautions.

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to take supplements. We would get all the nutrition our body needs to remain healthy just by eating a healthy diet. Well, we don’t live in a perfect world. Many of us haven’t been eating healthy our whole life, so we are already at a disadvantage. Many if us still don’t eat perfectly, even if we would like to. There are pollutants in the air around us that make our body work harder. There are lots of reasons why diet just doesn’t cut it.

That being said, I still prefer to get my vitamins and minerals from food sources. Here is what I take/eat to support my immune system:   Read the rest of this entry »

A Nourished Start Sharing Carnival

This post is part of the Nourished Start Carnival at the Nourished Gourmet.  Breakfast can be a rough meal.  For me, my biggest hurdles are not wanting to eat something too heavy too early and being able to prepare something quickly that can be consumed in front of the computer while I check email or in front of the TV while I check the weather.  My time is limited, so I want to multitask in the morning instead of spending time at the stove or in the kitchen.

I used to be big on skim milk and breakfast cereal.  Every single morning.  But despite always going for the “natural” and organic cereals, most are still highly processed.  Many are extruded, which means heated at an extremely high temperature and then forced through something to make it into a fun shape (such as a flake, or twig).  This is not a natural process, nor is it something that was ever done traditionally.  Well, then there are the granolas.  I love a good granola.  But most are made with canola oil or other vegetable oils I prefer not to eat.  Vegetable oils have only been in our diet for 100 years (or less!), and I do not believe they are good for us.  I eat mainly animal fats, coconut oil, and olive oil.  And then there is the milk – I don’t drink skim milk anymore.  Only whole, pure, unadulterated milk, fresh from a cow.

So, what is for breakfast?  Here are a few standbys I enjoy these days:

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A neighborhood market

I’m a busy person. I work 40-60 hours a week with a 1 hour commute each way. I frequently babysit on evenings and weekends. I have 3 cats that I have to care for, not to mention an apartment to clean, errands to run, and oh yeah, I do have friends I like to see and hobbies that do not involve cooking! And yet here I am, talking about preparing food from scratch. How do I make it work? It really isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Read the rest of this entry »