At Home…in Alaska

Archive for October, 2005

Here’s a fun little quiz as “filler” until I can write some “real” posts…

You are ‘Gregg shorthand’. Originally designed to
enable people to write faster, it is also very
useful for writing things which one does not
want other people to read, inasmuch as almost
no one knows shorthand any more.

You know how important it is to do things
efficiently and on time. You also value your
privacy, and (unlike some people) you do not
pretend to be friends with just everyone; that
would be ridiculous. When you do make friends,
you take them seriously, and faithfully keep
what they confide in you to yourself.
Unfortunately, the work which you do (which is
very important, of course) sometimes keeps you
away from social activities, and you are often
lonely. Your problem is that Gregg shorthand
has been obsolete for a long time.

What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I wrote this as a quick response to a lady that is on an elist with me and had questions about the book. I decided to share my response here as a “quicky-review” for others who may be interested in knowing more about it as well.

__________ ,

I’ve just finished reading this book. Interestingly enough, I’ve
gleaned a lot of the info over the years from various sources. There
was enough new info though to make it a good read overall and I
recommend it - especially if you are new to “healthy” eating.

The first part of the book covers his battle and win over Crohn’s disease. It also has some testamonies from other’s who have followed this way of eating.

He gives the pros and cons of various “diets” including (but not
limited to): SAD (standard american diet - no pros! ha!), Hallelujah,
vegan, etc.

He is pro “clean meat” based on biblical dietary laws. He doesn’t
recommend food combining necessary - except the melon thing _____
mentioned. Yes, ORGANIC! Raw dairy if possible. Cow dairy is ok-ed
if you don’t have access to other forms but cultured preferably.

He guides you through a 40 day process. The beginning phase is very
restricted but if you’ve done any natural health cleansing, you’ll
understand why, what and how. The second phase reintroduces some restricted foods. It ends with the third phase which reintroduces the rest of the “good for you foods” and he recommends as the eating plan all should stick to for “life.” He does say that “slipping” occasionally isn’t the end of the word and just get back on the health wagon again as soon as possible.

What was most refreshing to me was that the author is a Christian. I
had seen his before and after photos in health magazines for years and read the blurbs but I did not realize he was a believer. Obviously, I knew there must be some sort of “Christian-faith thing” because of the title but I was a little leery of what new-agey stuff might be included. None that I saw! Also refreshing was his integration of mind and spirit not just physical. He encourages you to have prayer times in the morning, evening and throughout the day to keep your focus right - and not just the food angle. Exercise is approached naturally too. He does not advocate aerobic exercise but that which is natural to the body - walking being the most obvious. All in all, a very balanced approach imo.

Many of the recipes included are used with permission from the book
Nourishing Traditions.

Hope this was helpful. Again, I really enjoyed reading it and it
expresses the direction that our family has been trying to go in
health and diet wise the last few years.

A dear lady from an elist I’m on was so kind as to send me some Kefir grains recently! I checked the mail late in the evening on Tues. and they were nearly frozen. I let them sit out on the kitchen counter all night/day and this evening I opened them up to strain/restart them. I strained them into a large glass jar with a jelly filter and, not wanting to waste any good stuff, some water to rinse out the baggy. When it was nearly done straining, I used a plastic spoon to scoop out the mothers (3) and plopped them into another large glass jar that I had some fresh organic milk in waiting for them. Then, I scraped the curds from the jelly filter and stirred them back into the whey and restrained them to make sure I didn’t miss any. I stirred slowly to keep as much as the curds mixed with whey as I could. There were curds lining the filter despite this so I scooped them out a spoonful at a time and placed a spoonful each into a cup which I then mixed with some natural vanilla yogurt and gave one to each child. The whey made a wonderful smoothie with some frozen strawberries and honey.

The kefir starter that arrived was pretty sour and I read that it’s recommended that it be thrown out. I don’t like wasting anything if I can help it and I like “strong” things - spicy, sour, herbed-up…doesn’t matter - and I’ve trained my children’s palate to enjoy the same things. (They’ll readily eat my unsweetened homemade yogurt. ) So, we ate it! And, it was great! Granted, the yogurt cut it some…but still, we thought it wonderful.

Our house is really on the chilly side now all the time so I’m not sure when the new kefir will be ready. It’s in my pantry at the moment (which is dark most of the time) as, the few cabinets available, are full. I think I’ll make room in my pots/pans cabinet though as it’s warmer and darker there more than the pantry.

Anyhoo…

This is going to be a fun new experiment!

I just learned through a message board that I’m a part of that Carla Emery Delong, the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living (linked in my sidebar under Audio and Books Reference — > ), died yesterday. Although I didn’t know her in person, her personality certainly came through in her writing and, as a reader, I felt like a friend was passing on a treasechest full of terrific advice in book form to me. I will appreciate my copy of that book all the more…

Carla’s site

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming. People love you, but sometimes you’re just too much.

ROFLOL!!