Sick economy has patients skimping on meds

That's the headline of an Associated Press  news story that I found onMSNBC. One of the things I am grateful for here in Canada is that, even during difficult financial times, I can still see my doctor and get tests if I need them and not have to worry that I will go bankrupt because of it. Oh, that's an issue for another day though!

Next to the picture of the Hendricks family is this caption.

I think it is horrible when people can't work and are faced with financial burden while trying to rause a family HOWEVER is this what it is going to take to drive people to look for healthy alternatives to medicine and doctors?

Don't get me wrong, I think doctors and drugs have their place, (I am a retired nurse after all) but for even the most serious and scary diseases (cancer!?!) there are societies outside of the Western world that have treatments hailing from nature that actually work with MORE efficacy than OUR current doctor recommended treatments of chemotherapy and radiation. There are ALL KINDS of safe and effective ways to treat infections and viruses that don't require a trip to the doctor's office.

I have a suggestion. Why not research natural alternatives to doctors and drugs NOW. Why not start implementing some natural preventative and therapeutic measures into your life today BEFORE you are sick and can't afford the fees for treatment. Not only will you FEEL better just knowing you are taking some steps towards better health, but you may even need to see your doctor LESS. Think of the money you could save, for example, by strengthening your immune system, and getting less colds and flu. What about removing toxins from your system and avoiding aching and tiredness now, and perhaps fibromyalgia, MS, cancer… down the road.

Here are my 6 steps to optimum health. Why not do the research now, so that you can save money, worry, and youth down the road!

6 STEPS TO OPTIMUM HEALTH

1. EAT foods that help to create an alkaline environment in your body. That means more vegetables, fruits, and less red meat. More RAW and less cooked. Try to aim for an 80% vegetarian raw diet. Do you have a juicer? If not, you can get an inexpensive one at your local hardware or kitchen store . (Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro works just fine) Juice an 8 ounce glass of carrots and an 8 ounce glass of broccoli and drink it EVERY day. (add an apple for sweetness if desired).

2. DRINK water that is filtered, ionized and alkaline. If you don't have a water ionizer already, you can get one for a couple thousand dollars at www.alkalinewaterfountain.com. If you don't want to spend that kind of money you can get Real Water Concentrate -ionized water concentrate that turns your filtered water into an alkaline health beverage. Get more information on this Water treatment (including tons of info on acid/alkaline diets and reasons) at www.RealWaterHealth.com

3. DETOXIFY- with the Original Liquid Zeolite (www.naturalzeoliteliquid.com)

4. BOOST IMMUNE system by increasing the numbers and action of the Natural Killer Cells (a normal part of your immune system) with Agaricus Blazei (order it when you order your liquid zeolite)

5. AVOID toxins and poisons by using biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning and household products, eating organic produce and hormone free animal products, and drinking filtered water.

6. Get off the couch! Move it baby!

Live and Raw Just Got Easier!

Oh Yeah! I unpacked my Excalibur 5 tray dehydrator last evening and set it up on the counter, and then I spent the rest of the evening reading about what kinds of foods etc.

When I ordered it I was mostly thinking raw crackers and cookies,  to enhance my meals so I don't feel like I am eating celery, carrots and apples all the time. I realized last evening though that this is going to be a fantastic way to save all the abundant fresh produce to eat year round.

Live and Raw Just Got Easier!

Oh Yeah! I unpacked my Excalibur 5 tray dehydrator last evening and set it up on the counter, and then I spent the rest of the evening reading about what kinds of foods etc.

When I ordered it I was mostly thinking raw crackers and cookies,  to enhance my meals so I don't feel like I am eating celery, carrots and apples all the time. I realized last evening though that this is going to be a fantastic way to save all the abundant fresh produce to eat year round.

My family is eating so much more raw then they used to. It is interesting, because I have never considered myself the driving force behind what my family eats. Even though I am home all day, I never spent much time in the kitchen, and everyone pretty much forages :-) for themselves. Of course when the kids were little it was different.

What I've noticed though, is that because I am taking time every day to plan a healthy menu, my family is following my lead. The other night I made a broccoli and cauliflour salad. Justin suggested maybe I could snap some green beans that he could eat raw since he isn't fond of Broccoli. So I did, and his beans were sitting necx to the salad.  When it came time to sit down, I noticed his plate was mounded with broccoli salad, and no beans! I said, "Hey, I thought you didn't like broccoli". He said, "I don't BUT this looks really good!". Oh man, I laughed!

So anyway back to the dehydrator. Right now I have 4 trays of tomatoes and 1 tray of garlic cloves dehydrating. It was easy…. I simply washed and sliced the tomatoes, and put them on the trays…the dehydrator is a LOT bigger than it looks in the picture too, and holds lots of food! I am going to dehydrate tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, carrots, zucchini, hot peppers, … you name it … everything I can get my hands on from the farmer's market. I bought a huge grocery cart full of fresh veggies and tomatoes today and all for $30. In the winter at the grocery, that same amount of produce will cost 4 times that amount. (Don't forget I live in Canada!)

I am going to powder some of it and put it in jars to use for cooking, and some I am going to store in chunks in mason jars to use in soups and stews for the family who like their hot meals in the winter! (I probably will too!)

I am also going to do the crackers, and maybe try some raw cookies too. It is SO easy. I will probably have the thing running daily for the first month while I prepare for winter. This is SO much easier than canning or pickling, and MUCH more nutritious as I am saving all the nutrients and enzymes. Very little is lost in the dehydrating process.

Read this article about Dehydrating foods, from Excalibur:

Raw Food Dehydration health benefits

Many people are now choosing to follow a raw food diet for the extreme health benefits of eating only raw, unprocessed foods. One way to follow this type of diet is to dehydrate raw foods, so that they are conveniently available. Dried vegetables and fruits provide convenient and delicious additions to all types of meals.

Raw foods, also known as living foods, are uncooked, free from animal products, organic, easy to digest and highly nutritious. Anyone following this lifestyle consumes a large portion of uncooked, unprocessed and often organic foods in their diet.

Some raw food dehydration requires refreshing the dried food.  Refreshing is accomplished by soaking or cooking the dried food in water until the desired volume is restored.  Depending on the food being refreshed, you would adjust the amount of water and the length of time.

Here are some general guidelines for refreshing various dried foods:

• Root, stem and seed vegetables are soaked for 30 to 90 minutes in enough cold water to keep them immersed.
• Spinach, kale, cabbage, chard or tomatoes are refreshed by covering with warm water.
• Dried fruits are soaked in warm water.  Of course, dried fruits can be eaten as is, and do not need to be refreshed to enjoy.

Another reason raw food dehydration is so popular is that dehydrating does not subject the foods to high temperatures associated with traditional canning.  This has an added nutritional benefit because when a raw food is heated to an internal temperature of over 120F, the majority of its nutritional value is lost, particularly the enzymes.  In addition, the canning process also leaks out water-soluble minerals and vitamins, thus depleting the nutritional value even further.

Another added bonus of raw food dehydration is the ability to make a beverage like a juice or smoothie using the powdered fruits and vegetables from the dehydration process.  This allows you to boost the nutritional value and content of your raw food beverage even further!

Visit Excalibur Dehydrator online store to learn more about the health benefits, ease and convenience or raw food dehydration.

So anyway… Angela gave me an idea for the post and that is to give you a glimpse of my preparation. You see a huge part of my preparation takes place only a couple of times a week, and this is a huge time saver over the week. I also REALLY do not like to be caught unprepared with no ready to grab food. Eating mostly vegan, mostly raw, I am hungrier more often than if I were eating foods with denser calories.

So here is what I did this morning. First lets start with the vegetables and fruits I am going to prepare, that I get all out… (I have a very large kitchen with lots of counter space.

What I did this morning.

1. Made a huge veggie salad,
2. put veggies and fruits "ready to eat" in containers for snacking
3. made a fresh  smoothie.

Time in Kitchen 1 hour, 10 minutes. What you see above is an accurate (close to) view of the fruits and vegetable amounts I processed.

2 pounds carrots – 3 large, peeled chunked and set aside for juice,  2 large, sliced thinly in bowl for salad,, and the rest cut in 'sticks' in container for snacking.

1 head of celery – 2 stalks sliced in bowl with salad, The rest cut in 'sticks' in container for snacking.

Peppers chunked and tossed in the salad,

Beets – washed, tops and thin root removed, 3 set aside for juice, the rest in container for later.

onion – 1/2 chopped in the salad,. The rest saved for something else.

Beans (Yellow and Green) 1/2 of each chopped for salad,, the rest topped, snapped and in container in fridge for snacking.

Broccoli – 1 head…. 1/2 of the florets in salad, 1/2 the florets in fridge for snacking and the stalk set aside for juice.

Cucumber half – chopped for salad

1 cup frozen mixed berries in the blender for my smoothie

Apple set aside for juice

Grapes washed and put in serving sized containers (6) for snacking

Flax seed oil in blender for smoothie.

Once the veggies were prepared and salad put away, and snacking sticks strips etc put away, I took my carrots, broccoli stalk, beets, and apple that I had set aside and juiced them. Then I put the juice in the blender with the berries and the flax seed oil and made a YUMMY mid morning smoothie for my snack!

So now I am ready for the day. this amount of produce will do me 2 days in summer because I am not eating much else. It also encourages my daughter to eat better (she grabs a container of grapes and some carrots for school snack) and my son who LOVES raw fresh green and yellow beans. In the winter I am eating other things as well because the produce is not as nice or as abundant as it is from local farms right now!

:-)

Smoothie enough for two

If you want to share!

I'm one of those who doesn't care for greens on their own. it's an acquired taste for sure. I still need to make sure I am getting my greens every day though, so I try some creative ways to disguise the taste. This was a SMASH hit. My husband drank it. I just told him it was a smoothie without telling him there were green things in it, and he loved it! It makes lots!

Juicy Smoothie for two

Blender and Juicer

1 cup frozen mixed berries – in the blender

Juice

2 large carrots

1 stalk celery

2 cups loosely packed spinach leaves

1/2 head of brocolli

1 red delicious apple

1/2 cup green grapes

(TIP - juice spinach leaves sandwiched between pieces of hard fruits or vegetables.)

Pour juice over berries in the blender, add 1 tablespoon flax seed oil and a teaspoon of raw organic honey.

Blend until smooth.

YUMMY!

If you are new to juicing, it is VERY easy to get fresh yummy juice.

Wash fruit  well (I like mine from the refrigerator so my juice won't be too warm). I recommend that for fruits and vegetables that you do not have to peel (apples, grapes, pears) buy organic. Juicing concentrates everything including whatever washing doesn't get off.

Peel the fruits and/or vegetables you would normally peel (oranges, pineapple etc)

Chunk them into large pieces and feed them into the chute. Use the plunger provided to push the fruit into the juicer. Juice comes out one end into a cup of some kind and pulp comes out the other and is caught in some kind of receptacle.

Drink the juice right away so you get the full advantage of enzymes, vitamins and minerals all of which begin to degrade (oxidize) as soon as they are exposed to air.

Clean up will vary depending on the machine and needs to be done as soon as you've finished your juice. Small sticky fruit bits will stick like glue if left over a few hours without soaking.  I have a rule… don't buy a juicer that takes more than 5 minutes to clean!

So let's get to some of the combinations that are great for beginners. (If you've never had 'greens' then add them slowly. Most people find the taste needs to be acquired.

BetaCarotene Drink

3 LARGE carrots

1 Granny Smith Apple

2 Large stalks of celery (With or without celery this is delicious!)

Beet Beat

1 medium beet root

2 pears

a thumbnail size ginger root

hand squeeze 1/2 lime

Cool as a Cucumber

1 medium cucumber

1 red delicious apple

1 medium carrot

"Ginger Ale"

A dozen Green Grapes

1 Granny Smith Apple

thumbnail  of ginger root (less if you find the taste too strong)

squeeze 1/2 lime and 1/2 lemon

sparkling water

 Summer Punch

dozen strawberries

1 Orange

Sparkling Water

Apple Greens

2 Granny Smith Apple

Handful fresh Spinach Leaves

squeeze 1/2 lime

Stress Breaker

2 Pears

2 Apples

1 Celery

1 Kiwi

Vegetable Cleanse Drink

3 celery stalks

Large Handful fresh Spinach

3 Large Carrots

There…..That should get you started ! I try to do at least 16 ounces of freshly juiced drinks every day. Some days I am totally on the fly though. I am sure you know what days I mean… :-) when I absolutely can NOT get my fresh juice made I can still get all of the goodness on fresh.

I have found a WHOLE FOOD RAW (dehydrated at less than 100 degrees) mix of picked fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. This juice has been tested at every stage for quality. I am convinced that it is a VERY good alternative to fresh made juice. In the winter (at least here in Canada) it likely has more freshness and enzymes than the produce we can get at the grocery.

It's called URI International. They have a wonderful line of products including some toxin free cleaners and an organic coconut oil (more on that later) but the two products that caught my raw juicers eye were The FEAST and Beyond Berries.

If you click on the image below you will be able to see the introductory pack you can get of this product. The prices are out of this world too! A month supply of the FEAST (2 servings a day) is under $50 which of course is what I spend in a week on fresh produce for my juicing. At any rate… it's great to have a few cannisters on hand.

Click the image below to view the FEAST sample pack

Click the image below if you want to view the rest of the whole food product line.

Another day, another half pound!

I went to the store yesterday and picked up another load of fresh fruits and vegetables. The night before last I had quite a stomach ache, and I wondered if it had something to do with all the RAW I was eating, so I gave myself a bit of a rest, and steamed my veggies. Then I realized that I had eaten a banana. I haven’t eaten bananas in years and years, because they have always given me the worst heartburn ever. I had just totally forgotten about that. So no more bananas and back to raw and we’ll see how that works out.

Oh by the way, did you know bananas are not meant to put in the fridge? But I have always found that leaving them on the counter wasn’t the best idea either. I have recently discovered banana hooks. You can hang your bananas as long as you have more than one, and it keeps things neat and tidy, allows air to circulate so they don’t ripen quite as fast, and they look kind of pretty too!

So it seems like I am averaging a half pound a day, which isn’t too bad consideringI haven’t gotten in the exercise groove yet! I seem to be only able to handle these life changes one at a time. So first it was no smoking (conquered), now it is eating habits (nearly conquered), and then I will assimilate exercise. Not that I am totally neglecting it, but it just seems almost overwhelming to do everything all at once (or even to THINK about it.

So here is how I am looking at it, and I think it is something that makes sense for anyone who is trying to totally rehaul their life. My mind is telling me this isn’t just a phase I am going through. I am changing my life. There is no big hurry to do everything today. I do not want to set myself up for failure. So I am taking a new little step every day.

If you are simply on this journey to lose weight then get to it! You need to diet and exercise today, right now, to reach your goal… BUT if you are changing lifelong patterns then you want to make sure that you lay the foundation down first, before building the house. In other words, do it right, one step at a time, KNOW why you are taking that step, and understand that it takes time, commitment, reinforcement, and effort to change lifelong habits and attitudes!

I just tripped across a blog post by Laura Fenamore entitled "You are not fat or thin– You are energy". I have stopped being amazed at how, when you send a thought out into the universe, it comes back to you in concrete form. (You’ve heard that expression "What goes around comes around"… who says my husband can’t be profound! LOL)

So Here is an exerpt from Laura’s post and I think you will see why she is speaking directly to you and I this morning.

For many of us, losing weight has been the distracting focus of much of our lives. It has been our limiting, lying nemesis. Our mind says, IF ONLY I were thin . . . IF ONLY I could lose weight.

Ironically, the problem with this thought, from the very first moment, is that weight simply does not get lost. You can’t hide it under the bed and hope everyone forgets about it – or lose it in a closet full of old clothes that don’t fit; because the one who can’t forget – not for a second – is you. And worse, the thing you do risk forgetting is the vibrant, magnificent woman that you are and the incredible life that you are meant to have right now – at this very moment.

As women filled with self-love, the idea of “losing” weight must be bravely replaced with the larger truth … using weight.

Using weight. That is a truth you can wrap your head around and participate in. Instead of frantically waving a magic wand around your belly or rear-end and feeling like your own body’s victim, you can dance and plant a garden or do loving service for others. You can enjoy and love your precious, active life and refuse to be distracted with self-loathing ever again.

Think of your body as a bank. You have simply deposited extra energy that you are now ready (and more than willing) to lose.  Read The Rest……

What a wonderful thought Laura. Thank you!  I think one of the worst things about this ‘journey’ we are taking (and one of the BEST things about a blogging community like Be Naturally Well is that you feel so alone, and then you discover that you aren’t. Other people feel the same way! Isn’t it so EASY to get caught up in HOW I FEEL? Isn’t it great to find someone who can help us shift that energy and redirect in a way that helps us appreciate who and what we are right now?

I am energy. I can use that stored energy to do all of the things I need to do. That’s powerful stuff!!

Chili (adapted slightly from Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen)

3 cups sprouted whole wheat or whole (hulled, not pearled) barley (Wait, wait, stick with me here. If you are put off by the idea of sprouting anything, I suggest you just go ahead and cook your whole grains, then stick 'em in the fridge to chill before using in this recipe)

1/2 tsp. curry
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne
2 Tbl. chili powder
1 Tbl. italian seasoning
2 Tbl. Braggs Liquid Aminos (or just use some salt)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 ear of corn, shaved (I used frozen corn, sue me)
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 orange
5 large tomatoes, diced
1 cup dates, pitted and soaked
1 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked

1. In a big bowl combine everything except dates and sundried tomatoes
2. In a food processor, blend dates and sundried tomatoes into a paste
3. Add paste to everything else, stir well. Easy peasey!

Faux Sour Cream and Onion Topping
2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked
1/2-1 cup water
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup onions, leeks or scallions

1. In a food processor, blend macadamia nuts, water and salt until smooth and creamy. Add water a little as a time, just enough to help the nuts blend.
2. I went ahead and cooked my onions because I REALLY don't like smelling onion breath for 2 days after eating them raw. So, your choice.
3. Combine onions with creamy mixture and chill. Use a dollop on top of the chili when serving.

Juicing is not just for fruit!

Keep in mind that I am a 45 year old 'work from home' mom, with grown teens. I live on Canada's east coast… we are not exactly overflowing with diversity of any kind here. I don't even KNOW a vegetarian! (no I am not kidding!) There are no juice bars… oh there may be one opened up over there at the Goodlife Fitness Center. Seems to me that the last time I was there they had some such, and there could very well be the odd juice type franchise popping up here or there, but our entire province only has 900,000 or so people, so there really isn't a huge market out of the very small percentage of people who might be into all this 'fringe' health stuff.

Anyway… I digress. I started this journey (have been led?) a while ago. Juicing, just vegetarianism, veganism, and raw foodism, has me intrigued. So I dug around and read websites, and blogs, articles and books. I am a 'sometimes' reader of Mike Adams over at NaturalNews.com (it used to be News Target) and he likes the whole juicing thing. At any rate, I've discovered that when it comes to juicing, just like anything else, there's a whole spectrum of people. On one end… where I used to be, there's the person who buys "Florida Sunshine" in a carton and drinks a small glass every day with breakfast. On the other end of the spectrum there are the "Juice Feast" proponents who do 92 days at a time drinking ONLY 100% fresh fruit and vegetable juice, pressed through their kitchen counter top juicer and consumed immediately. Up to 4 gallons a day of fresh pressed juices with no solid foods what so ever for 92 full days.

Apparently the health benefits of the "Juice Feast" are huge, although I may never be able to give you a first hand account. Admittedly, my blog articles are aimed at the "in between" crowd which is where I seem to be planted at the moment. I've been fond of saying that this journey of mine is not a religion. It's simply a day by day choice. while many people might find that non-committal (and they would be right) it suits my lifestyle, and is still a radical shift from how I survived up until a couple of weeks ago.

SO… back to juicing…. oh yeah … for BEGINNERS.

There are so very many reasons why juicing fresh fruits and vegetables is really good for you. I am going to list just a few of them for you.

1. Enzymes: "Until recently, the scientific community believed that the digestive enzymes in our body are constant and last forever. Researchers now know that we lose digestive enzymes through sweat, body waste and the natural ageing process of the organs that produce our digestive enzymes.
   Our current fast-paced society with its preoccupation with convenience has resulted in more chemical pollution, overly processed foods and microwave cooking, all of which create a lot of free-radical damage in our body, also known as a process of accelerated ageing. This process of free-radicals lowers the body's natural ability to produce enzymes and meet its demands to function well."

   1. Digestive Enzymes, secreted by the salivary glands, stomach, pancreas, and the small intestine help break down food into simple components.

   2. Food Enzymes exist naturally in raw food. If the food is cooked above 47 degrees Celsius, the high temperature involved in the cooking process destroys the enzymes. Digestive enzymes and food enzymes serve the same function; they digest the food so it can be absorbed into the blood stream. The difference between the two is that food enzymes are derived from fresh, raw, uncooked foods such as fruits, vegetables, eggs, raw unpasteurised dairy, meat and fish (sashimi), whilst digestive enzymes are made inside our body.

   3. Metabolic Enzymes are produced in the cells and are found throughout the body in the organs, in the bones, the blood, and inside the cells themselves. Metabolic enzymes help run the heart, brain, lungs, and kidneys. Hundreds of metabolic enzymes are necessary for the working of our body.
   ref: The Power of Enzymes

2. Juicing is a way to get vitamins and minerals in the most absorbable form to the body.
3. Juicing is a way to get far MORE in nutrients than you would if you were eating.
4. What we're finding today is not only that raw foods are good medicine, but in fact raw foods are the BEST medicine for virtually all the big diseases now devastating Western civilization. Juicing super concentrates the beneficial compounds in raw fruits and vegetables.
5. Heat (cooking) and irradiation destroys the beneficial ingredients in foods.
6. Mike Adams (NaturalNews.com) says " Cancer simply melts away when bathed in these vegetable juices."

And a final note from Mike Adams

The bottom line to all this, folks, is that juicing vegetables is the secret to reversing disease now and preventing disease for a lifetime. But it has to be fresh, raw, living juice.

Remember, pasteurized vegetable juices purchased in bottles at the store are worthless! That includes all the Naked Juice, V8, Odwalla and other brands that claim to be good for you. While they're not bad for you, they're also DEAD JUICE. That means they have virtually none of the nutritional healing benefits of fresh, living juice. Don't be fooled by healthy-sounding bottled juice products. If it's in a bottle, it's dead. And dead juice doesn't support life.

There is only one way to get fresh, unprocessed, living juice: Make your own juice! This is the simple secret to staying healthy, vibrant and mentally sharp for the rest of your long, enjoyable life: Juice your way to health! (And then supplement with superfoods, herbs, and other targeted nutritional needs.)

Juicing is the future of medicine. It cures cancer. It reverses heart disease. It stabilizes cholesterol and blood pressure. It ends kidney stones and gall stones. It reverses depression and psychosis. It builds strong bones and strong muscles. It absolutely reverses diabetes in a matter of days, and it obliterates obesity in a matter of weeks. And in doing all that, it makes virtually all pharmaceuticals obsolete.

Juicing and raw foods go hand in hand. They are the answers to disease and sickness. No wonder Big Pharma and the FDA don't want you to find out about the true healing power of plant-based nutrition, huh?

So what do you need if you wanted to start juicing? Well  to start with you might want to get a juicer.

 The other thing you want is a good variety of fruits and vegetables for juicing. If you've never had fresh green juice before I will recommend you start with romaine lettuce, celery, cucumber, spinach and maybe some alfalfa or broccoli sprouts. These are milder. I found (and still do) that green juice is an acquired taste. I will juice a couple of apples with mine or some carrots (or both) most days.

Other vegetables that are great for juicing are beets, red cabbage (one of my faves), all kinds of lettuce, zucchini, tomato, yellow and green beans… just about any vegetable you can imagine. I do not like the starchy veggies juiced (potatoes, yams, squashes) but you can try and see what strikes you.

For fruit, lots of whatever is in season.  Go organic whenever possible but if you find it is too expensive, save the organic for those fruits and vegetables that are hard to wash (broccoli, cauliflour, lettuce etc) or that you are not going to peel.

Drink the juice right out of the juicer, or add it to a smoothie, but DO drink it right away, as the digestive enzymes and oxidation will begin breaking down the nutrients. If you must make it and save for later, then put it in mason jars (GLASS) and refrigerate no more than 24 hours!

Go for ALL the colors Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and purple, and orange and mix them up. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Please let me know all about YOUR first experience with juicing! Bottoms Up!!

Shred the zucchini length-wise to make long strings (I used the big holes on my cheese grater). Throw everything together into a pot and heat on low just until warm. Take care to keep temp below 105 degrees or it won't be raw any more.

It was good cold too, but I liked it warmed up a wee bit. Note that mothers will not miss hot food. Since their babies were born, they haven't had a hot meal anyway! 

A recipe from Althea Hughes Wills