Heart to Heart with Diane

You are important to me!  Thank you for reading what I write.  None of us live long enough to figure things all out on our own.  I so appreciate what I’ve learned from others, and sharing my own experiences and what I learn with you makes my life more meaningful.

Thank you!

Have a wonderful, meaningful, full-of-love day with your family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Diane

My daughter Louisa (14) and I have been sugar-free for a year and a half now. And guess what I miss most?  Yep, ice cream!  I’ve tried the artificially sweetened (or should I say “poisoned”?) ice creams, and although I’m thrilled to have ice cream in most any form, it comes at a high price:  usually pain—in the form of earaches, digestive ouches, etc.  It feels pretty obvious to my body that Splenda, and other sugar substitutes aren’t healthy.

So, in the quest for healthy ice cream, here’s what we came up with.  This dessert is fresh, healthy, sugar-free and yum!

Instead of Ice Cream

4 cups plain unsweetened yogurt

1 cup milk (I like raw milk)

1-2 cups fresh or frozen fruit, optional

stevia to taste (here’s the brand I like best)

Mix ingredients together.  If adding firm fruit like mangoes or peaches, use a blender to fully mix it in. Reserve some small pieces of fruit to add near the end of freezing if you want it chunky.  If using berries, just pour them in, and they will get mashed in during the churning process.

Now taste your mixture and add liquid stevia until it tastes sweet.  Pour into a 2 quart ice cream freezer and churn until frozen (about 25 minutes). Eat right away or scoop into a plastic container to store in the freezer. Take it out about 10 minutes before serving so it can soften and be scooped.

The “ice cream” in the photo was made by adding 1/2 of a 16 oz. package of frozen raspberries to the yogurt-milk-stevia mixture.  The churning mashed it all up and made it a pretty pink color!  I reserved the other half of the bag of raspberries to sprinkle on top.  We also topped it with salted peanuts and the salty/sweet combination was tasty!

Delicious, wonderful, healthy, low calorie frozen yogurt!  Yay!

Sugar-free Louisa thinks it's great!

Just who am I?

The very first lesson of homeschooling is obedience.

Here’s the second homeschool lesson: Teach your children who they are.

Why is “who am I?” such an important lesson to learn?  Because it colors your perception of everything else in life!

If we teach our children that they are mammals—a part of the animal kingdom—then by observation and interaction with animals, they can easily conclude that they do not have much control over their behavior, urges, and capacity to delay gratification.

If we teach our children from their infancy that God is their Heavenly Father, and that making choices using their free will is the thing that sets them apart from the other creatures on this earth, then every choice can be calculated for good.

In a 2003 nationwide poll* researcher Geogre Barna found some thought-provoking results.  He discovered that if children are taught who they are and their relationship to Jesus between the years of 5 and 13, they have a  32% chance of accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.  If they are not taught until the ages of 14-18, just a tiny 4% of adolescents will accept Him. Those who have not become a Christian by the age of 19 years, only have a 6% chance of ever doing so during their lifetime.  There is no time to lose in teaching our children who they really are!

How do we teach our children of their divine heritage?

When my babies were tiny, I would hold them up before the large picture of Christ that hangs in my living room as the centerpiece of our home.  I would point to it and say, “Jesus”.  I wanted them to recognize Him. Some of my babies’ first word was “Jesus”.  It truly is the most important word in our lives.

“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”—Psalm 34:11.  Homeschooling gives us the perfect opportunity to weave testimony into every subject.  The first book I teach my children to read from reinforces the scripture stories that they have been hearing since before they could sit up.  Scripture verses becomes their first memorization lessons.  I played songs that taught the simple truths from the Bible, like “Hide ‘Em in Your Heart”.  (Psalm 119:11)

Every day I would remind them of who they are;  that God is their Father, and Jesus Christ is their Savior, and that their duty is to act as God’s hands on this earth.  Our children are “mission-drenched”—they have a purpose for being here and the best thing we can do for them is to teach them who they really are!

As my children grew, I made sure that the incoming influences supported faith.  I screened what came home from the library, what came in through the television and computer.  I wanted stories that portrayed human beings at their most noble, and Christlike.  I wanted uplifting, inspiring influences to keep their tender hearts sensitive to God. I worked to get the best, nutrition-packed food to feed their bodies, and likewise, I wanted faith to feed their souls. I only wanted those things that were lovely and of good report, and praiseworthy, to fill their minds.

Mom, our work is crucial!  We can’t wait until we are ready or less busy or more organized. It must be done when they are young. We must teach our children who they are, and how to please that God that gave them life.

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” —Deuteronomy 6:6-7

I am a child of God, and He has sent me here . . .

*John W. Kennedy, “The 4-14 Window”, Christianity Today, July 2004, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/july/37.53.html.

“A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person’s Life”, December 1, 2003, http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/131-a-biblical-worldview-has-a-radical-effect-on-a-persons-life

Get your kids to smash these veggies, and they’ll want to eat them too!

Give each child a heavy weight ziplock bag, quart size.  Distribute into each bag:

• 2 medium-sized boiled potatoes in skins, still hot
• 1 4 x 6″ piece of cooked squash, peel removed
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup dairy:  sour cream, cream cheese, yogurt or cream (in any combination)

To season, add to bag:

• 1-2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• dash of pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of any seasoning mix
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley

Zip the bag tightly shut, and now the fun begins!  Smash and squash and squish the hot bag with your hands to mix the ingredients.  When all the colors are blended, and everything is mixed thoroughly, open a small section of the ziplock and squeeze the contents onto your plate.  Bag makes enough for a child to share some with a parent too.

Enjoy!

Here’s a solution to bathroom clutter, and never being able to find what you are looking for while you are getting ready (usually in a rush).  I bought these bins at the local dollar store, and used a sticker to put names on them.  Having a transparent bin makes it easy to see and locate what you need.

Each person has one, and all of his personal grooming supplies go in it.  At first I felt reluctant to buy multiples of items that the whole family uses, but this has simplified organization so much that it is worth the price or everyone to have their own stuff.

No more searching for the brush, or toothpaste.  It is all there, in your very own bin!  No one seems to leave stuff out on the counter anymore either.  Hooray!

Another way to keep things orderly is having a spot for each person’s towel, with their name written (on a piece of masking tape, or something fancier) above the rack or hook.  It is easy to see who forgot to hang up their towel, plus it keeps sickness from spreading and cuts down on laundry.  When my kids were young and still learning to hang up their towel, I safety-pinned a 4″ piece of grosgrain ribbon to each towel with their name written on it in permanent marker.  Each child had a different color of ribbon so I could identify who needed to hang their towel up at a glance.  These went right through the washer and dryer so it was easy and really kept them in the habit of hanging up their towels!

Just to make life a little easier . . .

Every Thanksgiving, I put my turkeys up on the dining room wall in some new design.  This year, I added 3 new turkeys!  One for Michael, Julianna’s newlywed husband.  One for Joseph, my #6 grandchild, son of my son Nathan.  One for Elizabeth, my #7 grandchild, daughter of my son Daniel.  Our family is definitely growing!

This is an accidental tradition, but it always makes me smile to watch my grandkids, or my  children, search for their own name when they come to my house. It makes us all feel like we belong. And we all stop and count the turkeys and marvel at our growing family!  My married children are having lots of precious grandchildren, and with marriages too, we now have 19 turkeys to count, and 19 plates around the table for Thanksgiving (some years)!

What joy!

Childbirth: the ultimate cure for morning sickness! My precious new grandbaby: Elizabeth Kathryn

Most women are glad to be pregnant, but who welcomes that queasy, awful flip-flopping tummy!?  Unfortunately 75% of pregnant mothers have it. There is something you can do to help your morning sickness!

I took the prescription drug Bendectin to prevent nausea with my first pregnancy.  I was so sick, that I spent a lot of the day throwing up, and my doctor edged my dosage up to 10 pills per day!  A few years after my healthy baby boy was born, I read that particular drug had been pulled off the market because of its dangerous side effects. That made up my mind for me: I determined to be responsible for my health and not shift the decision-making to my doctor or any other person.  I had to be cautious and take care of my baby and my body.

So my quest began to find a way to get through pregnancy without that constant awful “urpy” feeling.  Here’s what I learned:

Morning Sickness Prevention

1- Make red raspberry leaf a daily addition to your diet from puberty on.  This herb has the power to strengthen your uterus, and balance a woman’s reproductive system.  Learn to take it in every form:  hot herb tea, iced tea, or capsules. Every female from puberty on is helped by this  herb!  This is not the raspberry-flavored tea in the grocery store, but the real leaf of the raspberry plant you have growing in your garden.

Buy dried cut leaves in the health food store or find unsprayed raspberry bushes and harvest the leaves yourself, using them fresh or drying them for storage.  To make a tea, put 1/4 cup dried (1 cup fresh) finely chopped leaves into a glass quart jar.  Pour boiling water over them, putting a metal utensil into the jar so it doesn’t break when you pour in the water.  Put a lid on loosely and let it steep for 1/2 hour or more, until the infusion is dark and strong.  Drink it hot, or make ice tea by pouring cooled tea over ice cubes, sweetening with honey or stevia.  Use the plain tea instead of water when reconstituting fruit juice, or adding liquid while cooking.  Drink at least a quart a day for relief of morning sickness as well as strengthening the uterus for delivery.  You can sip a cup of warm tea before getting up in the morning, or suck on ice cubes made of raspberry leaf tea.  This is the key herb for pregnancy and things will go a lot easier if you drink a quart per day.

2- Eat a snack every 2 hours so your blood sugar levels stay high and prevent nausea.  Protein rich snacks work well (cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, cold chicken strips, hard-boiled eggs, nuts).  So do complex carbohydrates such as potatoes, whole grain crackers, and bread.

3- A handful of raw nuts (other than peanuts) can give you the protein boost that will break nausea.  Keep a little zip-lock bag with you whenever you go.  Make up a bunch of them and store them in the freezer until you need one.

4- Walk daily to release build-up of hormones in the bloodstream, which worsen nausea.

5- Get a natural source of iron to prevent morning sickness.  Herbal Minerals, Chlorophyll or Floridix (available at health food store) work very well.

6- Take a natural vitamin B. Vitamin B6 deficiency may be at the root of your morning sickness and supplements can completely relieve this form of nausea.  Vitamin B6 is found in all whole grains, so keep away from white stuff (white rice, white flour, white sugar).

8- Get out of the bed slowly and avoid any sudden movements.

9- Drink one teaspoon of real apple cider vinegar in one cup of warm water first thing in the morning.  You can sweeten it with honey if you want.

10- Peppermint is a strong cure for nausea. Drink peppermint tea, or mix a drop of peppermint oil into your stevia-sweetened yogurt.  I have had a lot of success with using peppermint.  In fact, I used that pink peppermint ice cream that they sell at Christmas time as a medicine. I always had it in my freezer and took a big spoonful before bed, and whenever nausea overtook me. The strong peppermint, plus the fat in the cream, worked together to keep heartburn in control.  Without it, I would wake about 4 AM throwing up from heartburn.  My children would longingly beg for some of my ice cream, but I told them it was medicine, and that I didn’t particularly like it.  I promised them that when the baby came, they could eat all my peppermint ice cream, which they thoroughly enjoyed!    If you are in a pinch, try one of those red and white striped peppermint candies or a candy cane.  Anything that has peppermint oil in it will help.

11- Avoid stuffy or smoky rooms.  And people who wear cologne.  And raw meat.  And anything else that triggers queasiness.

12- Keep food by your bedside and eat a bit in the night when you feel ill, or before getting up.

13- To avoid actually throwing up, what helped me the most was to go outside immediately into the fresh, cool air, and slowly deep-breathe. And to distract myself—think about anything else. If my husband was with me, I would ask him to talk about something diverting to help me focus on something else . . . Sometimes that was enough to get over the bump!

14- Rest. Morning sickness worsens when you are tried or spent and stressed.  Getting enough rest, laying on the couch, taking naps  . . .  these are all valuable in keeping morning sick at a minimum.

15- Wear accupressure wrist bands. Acupressure is applying pressure to a point on the body, in this case, the wrist, which is supposed to unblock energy flow that is causing morning sickness.  This works wonders for some women!

16- Take your vitamins and supplements in the middle of your largest meal to prevent an upset stomach.

17- Try Milk Thistle (silymarin ) which is a great liver detoxifying herb.  High pregnancy hormone levels are what are responsible for making you nauseous.  This herb helps cleanse those from the liver relieving queasiness. Fully safe for pregnancy.  I’ve had excellent results with this herb!

Still feeling bad?  Then try . . .

Serious Morning Sickness Prevention

If none of the above work for you, here are the stronger remedies,  100% safe for pregnancy!

1- Ginger root. You can buy ginger root in grocery store or health food store and slice it into your Asian dishes, or buy capsules in the health food store.  Bake with it, or drink real ginger ale (health food store), or eat strong ginger snaps. Just peeling and suck/chewing on the ginger root itself works too!  This herb is really effective at stopping queasiness.

A recent study in the Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology suggests that ginger may reduce vomiting in 63 percent of pregnant women without the side effects associated with prescription anti-nausea drugs and doesn’t have any negative effects on your pregnancy. In another study, 19 out of 27 women who received 250 mg. of ginger root powder, given 4 times a day,  showed a significant reduction in both the severity of the nausea and the number of attacks of vomiting. For severe morning sickness, you can safely take up to 25 (yep, twenty-five!) capsules of ginger root per day for complete control of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.  The easy way would be to buy it in bulk (health food store) and stir a tablespoon into some applesauce or other food.

Homemade Ginger Ale
2 tablespoons fresh chopped ginger root (buy in grocery store)
2  lemon rinds, chopped
4 tablespoons  honey, to taste, or use liquid stevia (my favorite)
1 c  boiling water
1 quart seltzer (grocery store in liquor section)
Put the ginger and lemon rinds in a small bowl with the honey or stevia.  Pour in 1 cup boiling water (or just enough to cover). Let steep for five minutes.  Strain and chill. When ready to serve, add the seltzer water.  Makes 4 servings (10 ounces each).

Ginger Ale
Le the syrup concentrate rest in the refrigerator overnight for best taste.

Syrup concentrate:
3 1/2 cups water
4-inch long piece of ginger, peeled & chopped
2 tablespoons vanilla
Lemon zest (yellow part of lemon peel), grated finely
Stevia liquid (to taste)
1 cup sparkling water or club soda per serving

Boil down the ginger and lemon in water for 10 minutes. The longer you cook it, the stronger it will be.  Pour through a strainer into a jar. Add vanilla and sweeten with liquid stevia.  Let cool and store in refrigerator as a syrup concentrate.
To serve:  Add 1/8 – 1/4 cup of syrup to 6-8 oz of sparkling water.

2- Wild Yam root
Wild Yam root is powerfully effective for nausea in pregnancy.   It is slower to work but far safer than the doctor’s prescription medicine for morning sickness.  Take sips of strong tea (make it like raspberry leaf tea above) throughout the day, or buy the tincture and use a dropperful in peppermint tea several times a day for control of nausea.  Capsules work too.

3- Vitamin C and Vitamin K (taken together!)

Vitamin K and C are effective remedies when taken at the same time. Use 5 mg. of vitamin K along with  500 mg. of vitamin C, taken together once a day to provide remarkable relief of nausea and vomiting. You can increase this dose to 3 times a day if needed. Give it about 2-3 days to show results, but it is amazing how well it works.  In fact, 91% of pregnancy women showed complete relief of morning sickness within 3 days of talking Vitamin C and Vitamin K in combination. (Am Journal of Ob Gyn 64, 1952: 416-8). Strangely enough, taking the same vitamins separately did not have any effect.

My friend Cynthia, who is mother to a dozen, taught me something that her mother taught her, and I have often thought of it.  She would giggle after she threw up—giggle in delight that she was pregnant.  Giggle for the joy of having a baby!  If you have ever had a miscarriage, I am sure you can relate to the exultant relief that morning sickness confirms—that you are “definitely pregnant”!  While my natural inclination is not to laugh when nauseous,  just the thought of my friend’s advice made me want to have a better attitude! 

What a great blessing and joy it is to carry and birth your very own child!  That is worth smiling about, even if you feel green!

Hoping your morning sickness will go away!

Feelin’ good this morning!

I just cooked up a very nutrition-brimming, home-grown breakfast.  This is all food that I grew myself in my garden, plus eggs from our chickens!  What a way to feel provident and self-sufficient.

Home Grown Breakfast

Saute in olive oil:

1 red chili pepper, seeds removed, diced into tiny pieces

2 small or 1 large onion, diced

1 small leaf kale, finely sliced into shreds

3 sprigs parsley, chopped

When tender, add:

3 cooked potatoes with skins on, diced

Fry over medium high heat until potatoes begin to brown.

Beat together:

6-8 eggs

1/3 cup cottage cheese

Chop:

3 garden tomatoes

Scramble eggs into the potatoes until nearly cooked.  Top with grated cheese and cover with lid until cheese is melted. When ready to serve, top with fresh chopped tomatoes.

Yummy!

Love, love, love my grandbabies!

Sharing my joy!