Simple Raw and Natural

Yesterday was my birthday.  We didn't do anything special, but I enjoyed my time at home.  Travis was gone to South Arkansas with his retired agriculture teacher buddies.  I got awesome presents this year!  My son and his family paid over half on the Lifetime Dual Bin Compost Tumbler I wanted.  It has already arrived and is sitting in the garage waiting on someone to put it together.  The date stamp on my pictures are obviously wrong, because according to the date this is a Christmas present.  Here is the link:   Lifetime Dual Bin Compost Tumbler Awesome birthday present! My daughter and her family contributed towards the Aris Latham Culinary Certification Workshop on 13 DVD's.  I can hardly wait for them to arrive.  I posted one of Aris Latham's recipes on a previous post. Here is the link to his Salad and Tahini Dressing Recipe: http://www.simplerawandnatural.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html Here is a link to the vide...

It is cold and icy here today.  The trees are laden down with ice.  Spring will be here soon, though.    My seeds arrived yesterday. One of the frozen pear trees. I ordered all organic heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Mansfield, MO.  They have a Facebook page for anyone that wants to follow them on Facebook.  I ordered so many seeds that they sent me three packages of free seeds...Aunt Ruby's German Cherry Tomato, Parisienne Carrot, and Korean Hyssop.  I have no idea what to do with Korean Hyssop.  The package says it makes a great base for herbal tea, and it is one of the 50 Fundamental Herbs in Chinese traditional medicine. The seeds are here!  All organic heirlooms. The free seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I usually don't watch the videos that You Tube recommends for me, but for some reason yesterday I watched one called The Art of Raw Foods w/Aris Latham.  I am now a fan of Dr. Aris Latham, t...

I have started using an app on my i-phone called My Fitness Pal to keep up with my food, water and exercise.  The most helpful part of the app to me is keeping up with the amount of fat grams I am getting.  It is so easy to over-do on fat grams even on all raw foods. Oranges are good this time of year.  This is my favorite way to eat them....freshly squeezed orange juice.  There is nothing better.  I have a little citrus juicer that makes the job easy. Freshly juiced orange juice. Cheers!  A young friend of mine turned me on to the idea of making my own laundry detergent and fabric softener.  I finally got around to making a batch.  It's easy, and it works better than any commercial detergent.  I don't think I will need to use bleach to keep the whites looking good enough.  The dutch oven I used to boil the soap was not quite deep enough.  I had to work at keeping the temperature low enough to not boil over, yet still k...

I'm feeling really good right now.  Eating an almost totally raw diet makes such a difference.  I feel JOY for no reason.  I still have some pain in my kidney, a sore nose, and arthritic hands, but other than that I feel GREAT!  Healing takes time.  Patience is important.  There is no need to be in a rush.  This is a work that will last as long as I do, I'm sure.  But that's okay.  Living the natural, healthy lifestyle is my pleasure, my hobby, my avocation! I love all of it. Tuesday was all-flute day with two lessons and a rehearsal.  Lunch was lovely with a green smoothie (pineapple, greens from the garden, apple, kiwi, bananas, orange, coconut water, and water); 1/2 avocado; freshly grated coconut; and papaya.  Dinner was the usual green salad, veggie cocktail, 1/2 avocado, and trail mix.  I also drank herbal tea throughout the day. Vegetarianism is not the same thing as Natural Hygiene.  Natural Hygiene is all abou...

I have been eating almost all raw.  I have had a couple of the Mariani Bars which are all whole foods, but I doubt very much that they are raw.  I think I need to give them up. I completely got off focus when I started searching for properties within five miles of my house where I could possibly plant some fruit trees.  Travis and I ended up spending an entire morning driving around and looking.  The main place I was interested in would be okay for someone a lot younger, but it is very hilly and there is enough work to be done there to last a lifetime.  By the time we got home I was settled back down, content with what I already have, and trusting God to take care of us where we are.  This tiny piece of property we live on will keep us busy enough. I still want to plant some more fruit trees, get dechlorinators for the hose and showers, get a rain tank, fence the garden beds, put in a wood burning stove, find a source for trace mineral fertilizer, fi...

I made a new toothpaste that is very simple, and I like it.  The recipe is 2 Tbsp. melted coconut oil stirred into 3 Tbsp. baking soda.  I keep it in a little glass jar, and it works great. I bought some spiralina and some frozen blackberries to use for my makeup per the video I posted last week.  My method is a little different from the one on the video.   I used a little water with a little spiralina to make eyeliner, but I used Cover Girl mascara on my eyelashes.  Hopefully, this will be okay since it doesn't touch my skin.  I applied the eyeliner with an angle brush.  The juice from the thawing blackberry was applied with a brush for lip color and with a make-up sponge to add cheek color.  I thought it looked fine. I am using a mild bar soap to wash my hair and then blow drying it on the cool setting.  I'm trying not to use any products on it. It felt good to get out and walk around the neighborhood for an hour on Saturday.  We...

Did the groundhog see his shadow or not?  I'm confused.  I read that Punxsutawney Phil failed to see his shadow as it was overcast and 8 degrees in Punxsutawney, PA.  A friend in Tennessee, however, posted on Facebook that he did see his shadow.  Does each location have it's own groundhog?  I'm expecting six more weeks of winter, but it is supposed to be in the 60's here today. Travis bought me a new book, Natural Grace, by Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake.  It arrived in the mail a few days ago.  Karl suggested to Travis that this was a book I would like.  I can't wait to get into it.  Chapter One is entitled Living Nature and Creation Spirituality.  Maybe I will do some reports on this book as we go along. I hope I am getting more fit by working out at the Fitness Center.  I still look dumpy in the mirror, but I have faith it will make a difference.  There are some very fit old people that come to work out.  We saw m...

When I retired, I took out a high deductible insurance policy with Golden Rule Insurance company.  I almost had the nerve to go uninsured, but decided to play it safe in case I had an accident.  I called them  a month or so ago to cancel since I am now eligible for Medicare.  I was upset when I saw they drafted my account for another $165.53 after I told them to cancel.  This morning, though, Travis reminded me that they told me on the phone that I would have to pay the pro-rated amount for the last month.  I had forgotten that.  Nevertheless, they made 100% profit off of me.  I carried the policy for about three years at $273.88 per month and never made one claim on the policy. Favorite quotes of the day: Invoke the power vested in you for your own best and highest good. - Ilume Ao The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our own senses to grow sharper. - W.B. Yeats My favorite Facebook post yesterday was from Michael Ellsb...

I try to keep my grocery shopping convenient and, therefore, sustainable.  Just like our diet requires us to have our food readily available, we also must keep our shopping habits such that we can maintain them.  The whole world is conspiring to keep us from living the simple, natural life, so we must have our intentions set and have a system in place so we don't get drawn off track. I do most of my shopping within three miles of my house.  Village Nutrition is a health food store near here.  They are expensive, and I don't buy much there.  They have flax seed oil, nut butters and some specialty items I buy from time to time. Cranfords is a grocery store where we can get Gundelsheim sauerkraut, bananas, and occasionally some other fruit.  The Gundelsheim sauerkraut is the only one that is stocked in this area that is an acceptable product.  It is packaged in a glass jar and has two ingredients, cabbage and salt. I buy almost all my food at Walmar...