Self-Reliance Tip of the Week - Rockin' the Homemade Ranch Dressing!

Nothin' really says "American Cooking" like Ranch Dressing. Hidden Valley Ranch made the most serene commercials of beautiful green farms and freshness. The only problem is, when you pick up a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch, there are a few ingredients you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy if you knew how they affected your body. Here's a few to consider: 

• MSG (causes headaches, weight gain, skin rashes, nausea, heart irregularities, and even seizures in sensitive individuals)
• Disodium EDTA ( a purin - robs your body of Vit C and important minerals)
• Disodium Guanylate (also a purin flavor enhancer) 
• Disodium Inosinate (also a purin flavor enhancer)
• Other artificial ingredients and preservatives

Purines also complicate problems for people with gout (ouchie) and kidney stones (double ouchie). 

Bummer - but it tastes sooo good! I have a friend who lived for a time in China and they put MSG on EVERYTHING!! She had consumed so much MSG that she started to loose her hair. She had to have hair extensions for several years because her hair was so thin. After years of avoiding it and trying to cleanse her body, her hair began to grow back. 

So lets take a second and look at a Ranch Dressing Mix that you can make at home without all the junk mentioned above. It is food storage friendly and loaded with such amazing ingredients, you'll never look back! I found this website and I love it. I have purchased a few of her cook books. They are inexpensive and have great ideas. I got the original idea for the ranch dressing from this site: http://www.simplehealthytasty.com/

I played with her Ranch Dressing Mix recipe and made a few changes. I cut the dill in half because it was just a little too strong for my liking. But, everything else worked great. Here is the bulk mix with my changes: 

Dry Ranch Dressing Mix

• 1/4 cup basil (fights bacteria, reduces stress, detoxes liver)
• 1/2 cup dill (is helpful with insomnia)
• 1 cup parsley (reduces kidney inflammation, strengthens liver and spleen, a pint of tea daily can help remove gall stones)
• 1/2 Tablespoon garlic granules (anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-Nephi-Lehi...the list goes on...)
• 1/4 cup onion powder (contains necessary minerals and vitamins)
• 1 Tablespoon Real Salt 
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Mix everything together and mash with your hands. Put (or vacuum seal in a jar - wink wink) ingredients in air tight container. Use 2 table spoons per batch of dressing. 

http://www.simplehealthytasty.com/2012/08/ranch-dressing-mix.html

Now, all you need are a few more ingredients to make a dip or dressing: 

• 1 C Mayo
• 1 C Sour cream
• 3T apple cider vinegar
• Milk (rice worked just fine for me) to the consistency you want

Mix well and add dry Ranch Dressing Mix. Add more milk if you want. 

http://www.simplehealthytasty.com/2008/06/just-like-mom-homemade-ranch-dressing.html

If you want to make it vegetarian, simply substitute the mayo for Vegenaise and the sour cream with  

Sunflower Seed Sour Cream:

• 1 cup raw (not roasted) sunflower seeds
• 1 cup water
• 4+ Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove pressed or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in a blender and blend. Done (will thicken in the fridge). 

We can treat our bodies a little better than we do. Even though it is easy to be fooled by distracting commercials that couldn't be further from nature - our tongues as well as the rest of our body need not argue. We know the real deal when we taste it. Our bodies know the real deal when it is digested. I think it is time to rethink what All American Food means to us. The Dry Ranch Dressing Mix also works great for Ranch Potatoes and Taco Soup. These are great food storage meals that are easy!!

Sources for adverse effects of additives in foods: 

http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/7-ingredients-are-robbing-you-nutrients/slide/4 

http://saveourbones.com/12-dangerous-ingredients/

Self-Reliance Tip of the Week - How Long Will They Last?

I have a sick boy today, so this will be short and sweet...

In 2011 I vacuum sealed Oreos to see what would happen. How long would they last? I wasn't sure, so I am always experimenting. Four years later I cracked a jar open and fed it to my teenage sons. 

"Wow, mom these are so good!" 

I thought, "Well, maybe it is because they are teenagers, they're supposed to eat anything." 

So I tried one. They tasted like I just got them from the store. If ya'll don't have a vacuum sealer and jar attachment for your favorite comfort foods - you need to get one. 

http://www.foodsaver.com/accessories-and-parts/foodsaver-wide-mouth-jar-sealer/T03-0023-01P.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwwIKxBRDKhOz7ytT30vkBEiQAT1NaPdjnFghKnUWK8e_nQGGt3aivb8VancRcSA5yIXOiSxgaApz_8P8HAQ&kwid=productads-plaid^45349594235-sku^T03@ADL40023@ADL401P-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^55532708770

Self - Reliance Tip of the Week - What's In A Name?

Once upon a time...in an elementary school far far away...there was a substitute teacher who thought it was so funny to write a note to me on a tennis-shoe shaped paper. On it he wrote "What's in a name?". In order to understand that a little bit, you should know that my maiden name is "Tenney" and I was called "Tennis-shoe" for many years. I felt kind of special though, because no one else got a note from the substitute teacher...it might have had something to do with me being his daughter's friend. What makes us "nick-name" things? Where my family is from they have a nick-name for EVERYTHING! My mom even named our cars! 

The Native Americans have known the plants that surround us and had unique names for them. They aren't known by Latin names to them. They were known by what they did for the body. The gift they shared with the people from their "Mother" the Earth. I would like to highlight a few of these plants and what they can do for the body. 

Comfrey:

I have talked about comfrey before, but I haven't given it any justice. The Native Americans called it "Bone Knit". When a broken bone was set, they would apply crushed comfrey leaves to the outside of the skin and they would drink comfrey tea. Bones and tissue would heal quickly. It sounds like a myth, but a friend of mine broke his leg as an adolescent (jumping out of a swing shattered it), after the bone was set, his mother had him take comfrey in capsules for several weeks. After three weeks, they went in for a check up  and the doctors were amazed because they had never seen a bone heal so quickly. There are many websites that say (thanks to the F. D. A.) that comfrey isn't safe to take internally. The Natives did for many many years. I'll let you decide. Comfrey also has other great benefits: 

• excellent fertilizer for other plants
• great for asthma and other bronchial conditions
• heals skin and prevents scarring 
• great for wounds, scratches and sunburns
• excellent feed for goats, sheep, chickens etc.

I have also been using comfrey for a toothache with great success. Teeth are bones after all! A tooth is a tooth, no matter how small (ok, getting a little Dr. Seussy on ya....) 

http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-health/comfrey-medicinal-uses-zmaz92jjzshe.aspx

Aloe Vera:

Another herb with a different name is Aloe vera. The Native tribes called it "Wands of Heaven". Aloe is so amazing for more than just sunburned skin! I shall call it "Wanda". 

• improves cells throughout the body
• externally it is an astringent, emollient and antifungal (Whhhaaattt?)
• internally lowers cholesterol, improves circulation to lower extremeties
• some studies showed that it prevented bacteria, viruses, and other invaders from multiplying 
• it acts as a steroid for inflammation without the side effects

I don't know about you, but all those benefits sound pretty heavenly!! 

http://www.herballegacy.com/Baldwin_Medicinal.html

Sometimes it doesn't really matter what you call something. Some of the plants from Heavenly Father's Medicine Cabinet could be called just about anything. The point is that they are placed here for his children to use with wisdom and prudence for our benefit... AND I LOVE IT!!!

Self-Reliance Tip of the Week - Bucket List

The Five Gallon Bucket - More Than Meets the Eye (though...not a Transformer)

While I was a "Ma" to ten youth in my stake this summer, I took the opportunity to get to know them individually a little more. As we walked...and walked...and walked I asked them what they had in their buckets (we had a list we were supposed to have filled before we came on Trek). They told me the usual:

• socks
• jacket
• extra shoes
• mess kit (pie tin and a spoon)
• cup with handle  and d-ring (for them to have easy access to their cups for water breaks)
• toiletries ( washcloth, soap, hand towel etc)
• no extra snacks
• no electronics

Then I started asking them, "What if you were doing this for real, and you could choose only enough of your personal items to fit in a five gallon bucket, what would you take? They answered: 

• my phone
• my basketball
• other similar answers

Then I asked the clincher... "What if the place you were going had no electricity? What would you take then?" The answers changed dramatically. 

• a pocket knife
• fire starters
• soap
• survival things
• other similar answers

A phone was never mentioned again. Why? The obvious answer is, that without electricity, phones would not work and would then be worthless. It is amazing to me how such simple questions can change our thinking on certain issues. I think this can be a great lesson to us on many levels. 

Recently in the news I have seen the Catholic Pope under attack by saying things like, "Pope Forgives All Women Who Have Had an Abortion" or " Pope Endorses Climate Change." If the reader reads the full article, it isn't true at all. The headline has been misleading. The media can be so deceptive, so we have to be careful. It would be easy to abandon other faithful people of various Christian religions because of a headline. When we change our thinking just a little bit, like the bucket list, it can change our whole outlook. 

The most famous quote by Martin Niemoller (a German Protestant Pastor) who became a prisoner after he spoke against Hitler. The quote goes as such: 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Please, remember when we hear or read something about another faith, to do a little bit of research first before we pass it on. It might be inaccurate. We need to have all Christians on our side walking arm in arm for wouldn't it be amazing to have Catholics on our left flank, Protestants on our right flank, and Baptists surrounding the enemy in back? If we support each other, despite the differences in doctrine, we will become more united through Jesus Christ. 

President Henry B. Eyring said :

We see increased conflict between peoples in the world around us. Those divisions and differences could infect us. That is why my message of hope today is that a great day of unity is coming. The Lord Jehovah will return to live with those who have become His people and will find them united, of one heart, unified with Him and with our Heavenly Father.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/our-hearts-knit-as-one?lang=eng

What kinds of things could we put in our spiritual buckets to look forward to a great day of unity?

• Kindness
• understanding
• let go of unrighteous judgments
• release misunderstandings
• forgive

Let us fill our spiritual buckets with things that would unite all Christian faiths. The persecutions of the past would be better compared to the second list above. They will be useless if we are to look forward to a "great day of unity" as President Eyring says. It will not only help us survive, but flourish and blossom as the rose.

Self-Reliance Tip of the Week - Win One With the Kefir

The gift that keeps on giving....

In 1940 Ronald Reagan played the role of George Gipp (real person) who was a Notre Dame football star. Just before the team was to play a monumental game, George was dying of a throat infection. His dying request was when things are tough to win it for the Gipper. The actually phrase, "That one was for the Gipper," was supposedly uttered by halfback Jack Chevigny immediately after he vaulted for a one-yard touchdown in the 1928 Notre Dame victory. That is why when Ronald Reagan ran for president, his slogan was, "Win One For the Gipper!" What does this have to do with the price of hairless chihuahuas in the Savannah? Well, just like football is a battle field where boys are turned to men, the flora (or good bacteria) in our gut is getting slaughtered by modern life. The "Gipp" played both offense and defense, but in our story, the battle cry will be, "Win One With the Kefir!"

Flora - Much More Than a Beautiful Latin Name

Our modern day has us loaded with everything, "antibacterial" - hand soap, hand sanitizer, antibiotics...sometimes multiple rounds, etc. All of these can be necessary at times, but used too often, leaves our beautiful little Latin good bacteria on stretchers being taken from the field of battle. Antibiotics kill the good, the bad, the ugly of bacteria, but we must have good bacteria in our gut or it will be overtaken with yeast. Yeast when kept in its proper place is necessary. Picture them as body guards. They help to keep the peace in the digestive system. The good bacteria are the peace makers. When there is too little flora, the yeast run around looting and pillaging because the softer side of the digestion circus isn't there to gently keep the yeast in check. When yeast over runs the digestive system, it then we have what we call "candida overgrowth". I have personally felt its destructive force and it was not pretty: headaches, yeast infections in the most uncomfortable of places, no energy (my thyroid was being targeted), serious eyeball headaches, inability to concentrate, uncontrollable sugar cravings etc etc. I had to kill it by starving it from the things it wanted. I couldn't have bread, sugar, anything with vinegar, etc etc. I lived on brown rice and vegetables with a little meat. It was very painful, but I did it. 

If we must have an antibiotic, we need to follow with good bacteria to keep those yeast where they need to be, and that is where kefir comes in. 

Kefir is a cute little squishy grain that gives cultures to milk and when consumed, fills the gut with the good bacteria. When it is added to a cup of full fat milk and left at room temperature on the counter, it does a beautiful dance (probably without castanets) and turns the milk to a gentle sour. The kefir grain is strained out to be added again to a new cup of milk to do its beautiful dance again. It is a gift that truly keeps on giving. 

This blog has some great information on kefir. Some sensitive people can't drink kefir because it upsets their stomach, the author explains why and how you can get around it: http://www.homemademommy.net/2012/09/why-i-love-kefir-and-what-are-kefir-grains.html

Where Do You Get Kefir?

Amazingly enough, you can get a starter grain at Indigo Mountain for free. You can also get a starter from Amazon. When you get a starter, it will slowly grow bigger and bigger. Eventually you can break it off and give starters to friends and family.  It's like Amish Friendship Bread...without the bread...or sugar. 

How Do I Care For My Pet Kefir?

This is the easiest pet in the world to care for. 

• You feed with with a cup of milk in a cup for 18 to 24 hours
• It takes the milk and changes it with cultures
• you strain out the lightly soured milk into a new cup
• plop the kefir grain back into the original cup
• add more milk
• put it on counter or cupboard for another 18 to 24 hours

If you will be going out of town or don't want to drink it every day, it stays happy in the fridge and cultures the milk much more slowly. This pet just like any other can die if it isn't fed or if washed with chlorinated water. Commercial kefir must be pasteurized...so it kills the good bacteria and is thus rendered useless. This is really the best way to do this.

Isn't Yogurt the Same Thing?

Here's the difference. Yogurt feeds the current good bacteria. It doesn't make more. Kefir has a wide spectrum of good bacteria plus healthy yeasts. It is so much different. Plus, if you want to keep the yeast in check, eating sugared yogurt doesn't help that situation, at all. Most commercial yogurt is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup which is more like  "Frankin Sugar" anyway. Some people don't really like the "sour" flavor. I was raised on buttermilk, so its no big deal to me. It can be added to smoothies where you don't even know it's there - problem solved.

As you study kefir further, hopefully you'll get some great insight. Then you will know how to win this battle and keep your little Latin dancing soldiers in good numbers as they slide down and you are able to "Win One With the Kefir". Your body will thank you. 

Self-Reliance Tip of the Week - Bulldoze That Old Bouillon!

Look! It even has parsley on the top :) 

There is nothing like an old fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup! The stuff in the cans doesn't even touch the nutrition found from a recipe passed down for generations of REAL DEAL Chicken Noodle Soup. I read a book once (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon)  that was LOADED with great information on why this rare, home-made from scratch, dripping with all the greatness of lovin' from mama's kitchen was so nutritious. It was all in the marrow from the chicken. Whaaaat? Yep. When it is mixed with carrots, celery, parsley, some salt and the fingerlickin' chicken, you can't go wrong! Today many people try to make "from scratch" broths and soups with commercial bouillon ( slight gagging sound). Ok, maybe I'm being a little dramatic here, but lets take a closer look at what is in bouillon and why we should find a healthier alternative. 

Lets take a look at the ingredients....shall we? Here goes: 

Salt, sugar, partially hydrogenated palm oil, monosodium glutamate (MSG)...

Ok, STOP... MSG. Who cares if it has MSG in it? Well, many people are sensitive to MSG without even knowing it because they often get headaches. MSG is a NEUROTOXIN, or brain "neuron" cell toxicity. Not good...moving on...

Chances are, we won't always have a fresh chicken to slaughter and dress for chicken noodle soup. It is most nutritional this way, but I have another idea that also has lots of nutrition, easy to make, no fillers or chemical additives and tastes really great. 

I came across this recipe recently and I've started using it and I love it! I found it on www.simplehealthytasty.com (here is the link to this recipe 

http://www.simplehealthytasty.com/2010/07/homemade-vegetable-broth-powder.html) She has some REALLY great whole food recipes. 

Veggie Chicken Broth Mix

2 C. Nutritional Yeast

1/2 C real salt

2 T turmeric

2 tsp dried dill weed

2 tsp marjoram (optional)

2 tsp dried powdered lemon peel (optional)

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp basil

1 tsp powdered thyme

1 T dried parsley

Place all, except parsley, in a blender in the listed order. Blend until powdered together. Add parsley and pulse to chop. Store in an airtight container indefinitely in the cupboard. To make veggie broth, add 1 T to every quart of water 
Mix in ingredients in blender and then store broth mix in an air-tight container. Add 1 T. of mix per cup of water and use as chicken or veggie broth in recipes.

I have been using this recipe a lot lately and my hubby has even said, "This is good stuff."

Now for the nutritional side of this kind of bouillon...you're gonna love this :). We are going to take each ingredient and see what their nutritional components are - 

• Nutritional Yeast ( very similar to Brewers Yeast but better) : Chromium, selenium, magnesium, Vitamin B's, protein (and it can also be used in making ethanol to fuel your car :) ).
• Real Salt : This is different than your table salt from the store. This has NATURAL iodine in it and is so much better for your body (Pink Himalayan salt can also be used). It helps to balance the pH of the body and balance electrolytes. More info here: http://fitlife.tv/10-amazing-benefits-of-pink-himalayan-salt/
• Turmeric: balances blood (like cayenne) , reduces inflammation (like arthritis), antibacterial for stomach bugs like Ecoli, 
• Dill: Can be used for insomnia
• Marjoram: relaxing and pain relieving
• Celery seed: benefits the kidneys and relieves bloating
• Basil: LOADED with Vitamin K, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, good for the heart
• Thyme: beneficial for respiratory, stomach, uterine and bowel problems 
• Parsley: arthritis, kidneys, bladder and edema (water retention)

When these whole food ingredients are taken individually at higher concentration, you'll see better results than just as a flavor for your soup broth, but it sure kicks the stuff out of the old junk doesn't it? So, grab your bulldozer and get rid of the other stuff! Your body will thank you sooner than you might think. 

Self-Reliance Tip of the Week - That Darn Debt

I know...its a little early for Turkey day...but...

You know when you've eaten a Thanksgiving dinner and you know you've eaten a little too much? It is nice to be full and have that fresh yummy food in your belly, but you've overeaten just a little bit too much. It is kind of uncomfortable, but you'll live. If you take a little nap, maybe that feeling will go away. Debt can weigh on your mind like that Thanksgiving dinner. It can become so burdensome that you wish you could just take a nap and have the load lightened enough to feel normal. The only problem is, that debt cannot be digested like corn, turkey or olives. It is always there, lurking to remind you. 

This is one of my favorite quotes about finance because it kind of gives a little bit of a face to debt: 

Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; . . . it never pays taxes; it buys no food; it wears no clothes; it is unhoused and without home and so has no washing, it has neither wife, children, father, mother, nor kinfolk to watch over and care for; it has no expense of living; it has neither weddings nor births nor deaths; it has no love, no sympathy; it is as hard and soulless as a granite cliff. Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.

So much for the interest we pay. Whoever borrows should understand what interest is; it is with them every minute of the day and night. — President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, April 1937, pp.102-103

I have a friend that I remind (whenever it seems proper) that they do not want a new car because the one they have works great and is paid off. The grass can always be greenersomewhere else. But that green grass can get smashed and run over with a bulldozer if times become tight and that payment can't be made. We have been counseled for years along with self-reliance to avoid debt and save a little. Here are some of the great ones given by our prophets.

• “Let us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague; where we are now in debt, let us get out of debt; if not today, then tomorrow. “Let us straitly and strictly live within our incomes, and save a little." Ezra Taft Benson, “Prepare for the Days of Tribulation,” Ensign, Nov 1980

• President Ezra Taft Benson said, “Do not leave yourself or your family unprotected against financial storms. . . . Build up savings.” — Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts,” Ensign, May 2004, pp. 40-41

• When I was married my wise father said to me, “Get a modest home and pay off the mortgage so that if economic storms should come, your wife and children will have a roof over their heads.” — President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Living Worthy of the Girl You Will Someday Marry,” Ensign, May 1998, p. 50

And my favorite - 

• First, and above and beyond anything else, let us live righteously. . . . Let us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague; where we are now in debt, let us get out of debt, if not today, then tomorrow. Let us straightly and strictly live within our incomes, and save a little. Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and where possible fuel also, for at least a year ahead. You of small means put money in foodstuffs and wearing apparel, not in stocks and bonds; you of large means will think you know how to care for yourselves, but I may venture to suggest that you do not speculate. Let every head of every household aim to own his own home, free from mortgage. Let every man who has a garden spot, garden it; every man who owns a farm, farm it. — President J. Reuben Clark , Jr., Conference Report, April 1937, p. 26

For most of us, I feel, try to live within our means. However, when our dollars are stretched too far, it makes it nearly impossible to store extra goods when we are so strapped. Avoidance is the first line of defense. Avoiding it like a plague has been mentioned several times. Sometimes, debt cannot be avoided.  Buying a home makes more financial sense than renting. Even in order to even rent an apartment or buy a car you have to have good credit. Many years ago, a good handshake and your word was good enough. That is not the case anymore. 

Here is some advice to get you on the road to becoming debt free: 

• Pay your tithing
• Pay your highest interest credit first (even if its the smallest, interest can eat you ...like a plague)
• After your highest interest is paid off, begin with the next highest and so on.
• Live strictly within your means, don't confuse needs and wants

There are many online calculators and phone apps to help you figure out the best plan of attack. 

Even though paying off debt isn't nearly as fun eating Thanksgiving dinner, we will feel huge relief when it has moved on and doesn't weigh us down any longer. Freedom never felt so good.